Tese de mestrado. Mestrado em Inovação e Empreendedorismo Tecnológico. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2010

Introduction: Disabling hearing loss is one of the most common sensory deficits; affecting approximately 466 million people worldwide. In the South African context, public health facilities have an uneven ratio between audiologists and patients in need and thus audiological services are often minimal. Successful application of tele-health may increase the scope of audiological services for hearing aid (HA) users. Research is needed to investigate feasibility of tele-health for audiological rehabilitation programmes such as auditory training (AT). Aim and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of implementing a telerehabilitation programme in a South African public health context. Objectives included: 1) determining online AT compliance; 2) determining the effect of online AT on speech perception in noise; 3) assessing experience and benefit of tele-rehabilitation through questionnaires and interviewing; and 4) cost estimation around tele-rehabilitation implementation. Research Design: A convergent mixed methods design with a feasibility approach was utilized. Data collection was through questionnaires, in-booth speech assessments, online AT and face-to-face interviewing. Participants undertook online AT over four weeks. Pre-/post- online AT: the APHAB, QuickSIN, Entrance/Exit Questionnaires, Interviews and System Usability Scale were administered. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data collected, and descriptive thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. Study sample: Purposive sampling was used and three female adult (35 - 55 years) HA users from a public health facility participated. Results: 1) High compliance rate (84.82%) with 3 hours 25 minutes total clinician contact time, 2) clinical benefit with improvement in listening skills and perceived HA benefit, 3) positive participant feedback, and 4) estimated cost at R1350.00 per person. Conclusions: Findings from this feasibility study can be seen as positive indicators towards the use of tele-health as a delivery modality for audiological rehabilitation, also a tele-health hybrid model is recommended. However, larger-scaled research is needed.

No description available.

Die neue interaktive Online-Bildungsplattform openHPI (https://openHPI.de) des Hasso-Plattner-Instituts (HPI) bietet frei zugängliche und kostenlose Onlinekurse für interessierte Teilnehmer an, die sich mit Inhalten aus dem Bereich der Informationstechnologien und Informatik beschäftige¬n. Wie die seit 2011 zunächst von der Stanford University, später aber auch von anderen Elite-Universitäten der USA angeboten „Massive Open Online Courses“, kurz MOOCs genannt, bietet openHPI im Internet Lernvideos und weiterführenden Lesestoff in einer Kombination mit lernunterstützenden Selbsttests, Hausaufgaben und einem sozialen Diskussionsforum an und stimuliert die Ausbildung einer das Lernen fördernden virtuellen Lerngemeinschaft. Im Unterschied zu „traditionellen“ Vorlesungsportalen, wie z.B. dem tele-TASK Portal (http://www.tele-task.de), bei dem multimedial aufgezeichnete Vorlesungen zum Abruf bereit gestellt werden, bietet openHPI didaktisch aufbereitete Onlinekurse an. Diese haben einen festen Starttermin und bieten dann in einem austarierten Zeitplan von sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Kurswochen multimedial aufbereitete und wann immer möglich interaktive Lehrmaterialien. In jeder Woche wird ein Kapitel des Kursthemas behandelt. Dazu werden zu Wochenbeginn eine Reihe von Lehrvideos, Texten, Selbsttests und ein Hausaufgabenblatt bereitgestellt, mit denen sich die Kursteilnehmer in dieser Woche beschäftigen. Kombiniert sind die Angebote mit einer sozialen Diskussionsplattform, auf der sich die Teilnehmer mit den Kursbetreuern und anderen Teilnehmern austauschen, Fragen klären und weiterführende Themen diskutieren können. Natürlich entscheiden die Teilnehmer selbst über Art und Umfang ihrer Lernaktivitäten. Sie können in den Kurs eigene Beiträge einbringen, zum Beispiel durch Blogposts oder Tweets, auf die sie im Forum verweisen. Andere Lernende können diese dann kommentieren, diskutieren oder ihrerseits erweitern. Auf diese Weise werden die Lernenden, die Lehrenden und die angebotenen Lerninhalte in einer virtuellen Gemeinschaft, einem sozialen Lernnetzwerk miteinander verknüpft. / The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network.

The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network. / Die neue interaktive Online-Bildungsplattform openHPI (https://openHPI.de) des Hasso-Plattner-Instituts (HPI) bietet frei zugängliche und kostenlose Onlinekurse für interessierte Teilnehmer an, die sich mit Inhalten aus dem Bereich der Informationstechnologien und Informatik beschäftige¬n. Wie die seit 2011 zunächst von der Stanford University, später aber auch von anderen Elite-Universitäten der USA angeboten „Massive Open Online Courses“, kurz MOOCs genannt, bietet openHPI im Internet Lernvideos und weiterführenden Lesestoff in einer Kombination mit lernunterstützenden Selbsttests, Hausaufgaben und einem sozialen Diskussionsforum an und stimuliert die Ausbildung einer das Lernen fördernden virtuellen Lerngemeinschaft. Im Unterschied zu „traditionellen“ Vorlesungsportalen, wie z.B. dem tele-TASK Portal (http://www.tele-task.de), bei dem multimedial aufgezeichnete Vorlesungen zum Abruf bereit gestellt werden, bietet openHPI didaktisch aufbereitete Onlinekurse an. Diese haben einen festen Starttermin und bieten dann in einem austarierten Zeitplan von sechs aufeinanderfolgenden Kurswochen multimedial aufbereitete und wann immer möglich interaktive Lehrmaterialien. In jeder Woche wird ein Kapitel des Kursthemas behandelt. Dazu werden zu Wochenbeginn eine Reihe von Lehrvideos, Texten, Selbsttests und ein Hausaufgabenblatt bereitgestellt, mit denen sich die Kursteilnehmer in dieser Woche beschäftigen. Kombiniert sind die Angebote mit einer sozialen Diskussionsplattform, auf der sich die Teilnehmer mit den Kursbetreuern und anderen Teilnehmern austauschen, Fragen klären und weiterführende Themen diskutieren können. Natürlich entscheiden die Teilnehmer selbst über Art und Umfang ihrer Lernaktivitäten. Sie können in den Kurs eigene Beiträge einbringen, zum Beispiel durch Blogposts oder Tweets, auf die sie im Forum verweisen. Andere Lernende können diese dann kommentieren, diskutieren oder ihrerseits erweitern. Auf diese Weise werden die Lernenden, die Lehrenden und die angebotenen Lerninhalte in einer virtuellen Gemeinschaft, einem sozialen Lernnetzwerk miteinander verknüpft.

摘要。哈索•普拉特纳研究院 (HPI) 的新型互动在线教育平台 openHPI (https://openHPI.de) 可以为从事信息技术和信息学领域内容的工作和感兴趣的学员提供可自由访问的、免费的在线课程。与斯坦福大学于 2011 年首推，之后也在美国其他精英大学提供的“网络公开群众课”（简称 MOOC）一样，openHPI 同样在互联网中提供学习视频和阅读材料，其中综合了支持学习的自我测试、家庭作业和社交讨论论坛，并刺激对促进学习的虚拟学习团队的培训。与“传统的”讲座平台，比如 tele-TASK 平台 (http://www.tele-task.de) 不同（在该平台中，可调用以多媒体方式记录的和已准备好的讲座），openHPI 提供的是按教学法准备的在线课程。这些课程的开始时间固定，之后在连续六个课程周稳定的提供以多媒体方式准备的、尽可能可以互动的学习材料。每周讲解课程主题的一章。为此在该周开始前会准备一系列学习视频、文字、自我测试和家庭作业材料，课程学员在该周将精力用于处理这些内容。这些计划与一个社交讨论平台相结合，学员在该平台上可以与课程导师和其他学员交换意见、解答问题和讨论更多主题。当然，学员可以自己决定学习活动的类型和范围。他们可以为课程作出自己的贡献，比如在论坛中引用博文或推文。之后其他学员可以评论、讨论或自己扩展这些博文或推文。这样学员、教师和提供的学习内容就在一个虚拟的团体中与社交学习网络相互结合起来。 / Abstract. The new interactive online educational platform openHPI, (https://openHPI.de) from Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), offers freely accessible courses at no charge for all who are interested in subjects in the field of information technology and computer science. Since 2011, “Massive Open Online Courses,” called MOOCs for short, have been offered, first at Stanford University and then later at other U.S. elite universities. Following suit, openHPI provides instructional videos on the Internet and further reading material, combined with learning-supportive self-tests, homework and a social discussion forum. Education is further stimulated by the support of a virtual learning community. In contrast to “traditional” lecture platforms, such as the tele-TASK portal (http://www.tele-task.de) where multimedia recorded lectures are available on demand, openHPI offers didactic online courses. The courses have a fixed start date and offer a balanced schedule of six consecutive weeks presented in multimedia and, whenever possible, interactive learning material. Each week, one chapter of the course subject is treated. In addition, a series of learning videos, texts, self-tests and homework exercises are provided to course participants at the beginning of the week. The course offering is combined with a social discussion platform where participants have the opportunity to enter into an exchange with course instructors and fellow participants. Here, for example, they can get answers to questions and discuss the topics in depth. The participants naturally decide themselves about the type and range of their learning activities. They can make personal contributions to the course, for example, in blog posts or tweets, which they can refer to in the forum. In turn, other participants have the chance to comment on, discuss or expand on what has been said. In this way, the learners become the teachers and the subject matter offered to a virtual community is linked to a social learning network.

One in ten adults in the U.S. report depression, and thirty-eight percent of those receiving treatment are receiving minimally adequate treatment. Studies show that evidence-based Internet interventions are highly effective in treating depression at a low cost. The aim of this study was to reduce symptoms of depression in subjects through the use of a new, electronic Problem Solving Treatment (ePST). Adult participants with moderate to severe depression symptoms were randomly assigned to either treatment or a wait-list condition. The Beck Depression Inventory-II was used as the primary outcome measure. A Repeated Measure Design with one factor in the between (treatment vs control) and one factor in the within (pre, mid-point, and post-treatment) was used in the analysis. Study results showed that participants in the ePST group improved their depression symptoms (from Moderate to Mild levels of depression) after receiving 3 session of ePST, as well as after receiving six session of ePST (from moderate to minimal levels of depression). On the other hand, participants assigned to the control group remained with Moderate levels of depression. / text

Submitted by LIVIA FREITAS (livia.freitas@ufba.br) on 2016-01-22T15:54:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissertacaoMscEdnaldo.pdf: 18094265 bytes, checksum: abe612737a6df2686311f28fc738d312 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Uillis de Assis Santos (uillis.assis@ufba.br) on 2016-02-15T21:23:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissertacaoMscEdnaldo.pdf: 18094265 bytes, checksum: abe612737a6df2686311f28fc738d312 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-15T21:23:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissertacaoMscEdnaldo.pdf: 18094265 bytes, checksum: abe612737a6df2686311f28fc738d312 (MD5) / Neste trabalho apresenta-se a metodologia para concepção de equipamento para estudo da eletrofisiologia cardíaca, desenvolvendo uma interface de hardware/software capaz de adquirir, tratar e exibir os sinais biomédicos do coração. Requisitos de projeto como o baixo custo, a portabilidade, a compatibilidade eletromagnética e a isolação galvânica da rede elétrica foram estabelecidos, porém foram respeitadas todas as regras de ergonomia, amostragem, filtragem e padronização da representação gráfica do eletrocardiograma (ECG) visando atender as normas vigentes. Para tanto, uma breve introdução sobre a área de eletrocardiografia foi realizada, contextualizando o presente Trabalho. O sistema e composto por três subsistemas principais: um hardware microcontrolado que capta o sinal de três derivações de ECG através de eletrodos colocados na superfície do corpo do paciente e os transmite a um computador pessoal (PC) remoto por tecnologia sem fio (wireless); um firmware residente no núcleo do sistema, um DSP (Digital Signal Processor), responsável pelo gerenciamento do sistema, pelo calculo numérico e pelo processamento digital de sinais; e um software, escrito em linguagem C++ (sistema operacional Windows), executado no PC responsável pela visualização e padronização dos dados adquiridos. Este trabalho contempla também um estudo do protocolo Bluetooth, para a formação de redes wireless com os equipamentos desenvolvidos, com o objetivo de monitorar o comportamento cardíaco de vários pacientes em um único ponto de concentração.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:57:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3145_1.pdf: 1882548 bytes, checksum: 53ccbdf2ab11952ee38813ea044d4987 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / A Web Semântica é uma extensão da Web atual onde é atribuído significado bem definido às informações, permitindo sua melhor manipulação pelos programas, que podem se encarregar de tarefas mais sofisticadas. Para viabilizar este cenário, é necessário que os programas tenham acesso a coleções de informações estruturadas e conjuntos de regras de inferência a partir das quais possam fazer raciocínio automatizado. Para que a Web Semântica possa se desenvolver, os sistemas de representação de conhecimento devem compartilhar as definições de conceitos comuns e isto pode ser alcançado aplicando-se ontologias. A publicação destas ontologias na Web torna seus conceitos globalmente acessíveis, permitindo que qualquer sistema, na rede, possa referenciar e buscar informações nelas. Informática Médica lida com armazenamento, recuperação e uso da informação, dados e conhecimento biomédicos. O registro eletrônico de informações de pacientes, apoio a tomada de decisões e a assistência remota estão entre as áreas em que a Informática Médica vem se desenvolvendo. Além disso, pela natureza da área, onde as informações dos pacientes ficam fragmentadas em diversos estabelecimentos de saúde, também existe um grande esforço para promover a interoperabilidade entre os sistemas utilizados em cada um destes estabelecimentos. Uma vez que estes sistemas lidam com um grande volume de dados e com necessidades constantes de integração e extração de informações, alguns dos maiores progressos no campo da Web Semântica vêm ocorrendo na área de saúde. Na Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, o Núcleo de Telesaúde atua no desenvolvimento e aplicação da Informática Médica, e disponibiliza o sistema Healthnet, pelo qual seus parceiros podem discutir casos clínicos na Internet. Uma nova versão deste sistema está sendo desenvolvida, e o objetivo deste trabalho é incluir nela tecnologias da Web Semântica, buscando prover apoio aos usuários na utilização do sistema. Para tanto, foi criada uma ontologia e definidos novos componentes na composição do sistema que viabilizem a criação de uma base de conhecimento e permitam seu acesso ao usuário. Foi, ainda, definido um método para guiar extensões da ontologia para possibilitar o apoio às pesquisas e processos de tomada de decisão executados pelos usuários do Healthnet. O rastreamento de pacientes com risco de desenvolver Doença Renal Crônica foi utilizado como estudo de caso, para verificar a viabilidade da solução

The confluence of rapid technology developments in microelectronics, telecommunication, computers, networking and displays is making it possible to conceive of systems that offer new ways for people to interact and collaborate. Multi-user networking allows team collaboration for both application development and simulation while hardware and software modularity bring economy of scale. Advances in low power technologies and high energy density storage devices is making it possible to move these technologies off the desk and into the hands of mobile individuals. The human interface to these technologies is still largely unexplored but offers significant potential in applications that have a need for flexibility, improved information flow, and group participation at reduced costs. <p>This objective of this project is to develop a system that will increase performance and reduce costs associated with the interaction and collaboration of people who are remotely located from each other and who are engaged in team-oriented work. The Mobile Electronic Conferencing System (MECS) is designed to solve a problem facing a large (fictitious) manufacturing firm, Macropolis, that has a large percentage of mobile and distributedly located employees who need to confer and share data in real time. Macropolis is not unlike other large corporations that need to find new ways to promote more efficient collaborative work. <p>The concept of MECS is based upon rapidly accelerating trends in microelectronics, displays, telecommunications, computers, information management, etc. that will make it possible to construct an affordable, high value-added system for remote collaboration within the next decade. The approach taken in this project is to design a workable system using technology that is available now. While current technology is limited in bandwidth, resolution, human-computer interfaces, computational speed and energy efficiency for portable equipment, this project shows that a cost effective system can be designed and beneficially used today. The MECS is designed to be modular so that new technologies can be incorporated as they become available. The MECS can also serve as a testbed for evaluating alternatives and to gain a better understanding of human factors issues associated with the efficient use and social acceptability of remote, electronic-based, conferencing in the future. / Master of Science