2025
Authors
Martins, AR; Ferreira, MC; Fernandes, CS;
Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INFORMATICS
Abstract
Purpose:To synthesizethe availableevidenceaboutthe use of HealthInformationTechnology(HIT)to supportpatientsduringhemodialysis.Methods:TheJoannaBriggsInstitute's methodologicalguidelinesfor scopingreviewsandthe PRISMA-ScRchecklistwereemployed.BibliographicsearchesacrossMEDLINE (R), CINAHL (R), PsychologyandBehavioralSciencesCollection,Scopus,MedicLatina,and Cochraneyielded932 records.Results:Eighteenstudiespublishedbetween2003and2023wereincluded.Theyexploreda rangeof HITs,includingvirtualreality,exergames,websites,and mobileapplications,all specificallydevelopedfor use duringthe intradialyticperiod.Conclusion:Thisstudyhighlightsthe HITsdevelopedfor use duringhemodialysistreatment,supportingphysicalexercise,diseasemanagement,and enhancementof self-efficacyand self-care.
2025
Authors
Botelho, TC; Duarte, SP; Ferreira, MC; Ferreira, S; Lobo, A;
Publication
EUROPEAN TRANSPORT RESEARCH REVIEW
Abstract
The evolution of transport technologies, marked by integrating connectivity and automation, has led to innovative approaches such as truck platooning. This concept involves linking multiple trucks through automated driving and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, promising to revolutionize the freight industry by enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs. This systematic review explores the current state of truck platooning testing literature, focusing on simulator and on-road tests. The objective is to identify key scenarios and requirements for successfully developing and implementing the truck platooning concept. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched the Web of Science and Scopus databases, leading to the inclusion of thirty pertinent articles encompassing simulation-based, on-road, and mixed-environment experiments. In addition to the type of testing environment, these articles were assorted into three groups corresponding to their main thematic scope, human-centered, technology-centered, and energy efficiency studies, each providing unique insights into core themes for the development of truck platooning. The results reveal a commonly preferred platoon formation consisting of three trucks maintaining a constant speed of 80 km/h and a stable distance of 10 m between them. Simulator-based studies have predominantly concentrated on human factors, examining driver behavior and interaction within the platooning framework. In contrast, on-road trials have yielded tangible data, offering a more technology-driven perspective and contributing practical insights to the field. While the literature on truck platooning has grown considerably, this review recognizes some limitations in the existing literature and suggests paths for future research. Overall, this systematic review provides valuable insights to the ongoing development of robust and effective truck platooning systems.
2025
Authors
Oliveira, BB; Ahipasaoglu, SD;
Publication
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART E-LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW
Abstract
Balancing supply and demand in free-floating one-way carsharing systems is a critical operational challenge. This paper presents a novel approach that integrates a binary logit model into a mixed integer linear programming framework to optimize short-term pricing and fleet relocation. Demand modeling, based on a binary logit model, aggregates different trips under a unified utility model and improves estimation by incorporating information from similar trips. To speed up the estimation process, a categorizing approach is used, where variables such as location and time are classified into a few categories based on shared attributes. This is particularly beneficial for trips with limited observations as information gained from similar trips can be used for these trips effectively. The modeling framework adopts a dynamic structure where the binary logit model estimates demand using accumulated observations from past iterations at each decision point. This continuous learning environment allows for dynamic improvement in estimation and decision-making. At the core of the framework is a mathematical program that prescribes optimal levels of promotion and relocation. The framework then includes simulated market responses to the decisions, allowing for real-time adjustments to effectively balance supply and demand. Computational experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and highlight its potential for real-world applications. The continuous learning environment, combining demand modeling and operational decisions, opens avenues for future research in transportation systems.
2024
Authors
Ali, S; Ramos, AG; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF;
Publication
APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING
Abstract
In online three-dimensional packing problems (3D-PPs), unlike offline problems, items arrive sequentially and require immediate packing decisions without any information about the quantities and sizes of the items to come. Heuristic methods are of great importance in solving online problems to find good solutions in a reasonable amount of time. However, the literature on heuristics for online problems is sparse. As our first contribution, we developed a pool of heuristics applicable to online 3D-PPs with complementary performance on different sets of instances. Computational results showed that in terms of the number of used bins, in all problem instances, at least one of our heuristics had a better or equal performance compared to existing heuristics in the literature. The developed heuristics are also fully applicable to an intermediate class between offline and online problems, referred to in this paper as a specific type of semi-online with full look-ahead, which has several practical applications. In this class, as in offline problems, complete information about all items is known in advance (i.e., full look-ahead); however, due to time or space constraints, as in online problems, items should be packed immediately in the order of their arrival. As our second contribution, we presented an algorithm selection framework, building on developed heuristics and utilizing prior information about items in this specific class of problems. We used supervised machine learning techniques to find the relationship between the features of problem instances and the performance of heuristics and to build a prediction model. The results indicate an 88% accuracy in predicting (identifying) the most promising heuristic(s) for solving any new instance from this class of problems.
2024
Authors
Golalikhani, M; Oliveira, BB; Correia, GHD; Oliveira, JF; Carravilla, MA;
Publication
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART E-LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW
Abstract
One of the main challenges of one-way carsharing systems is to maximize profit by attracting potential customers and utilizing the fleet efficiently. Pricing plans are mid or long-term decisions that affect customers' decision to join a carsharing system and may also be used to influence their travel behavior to increase fleet utilization e.g., favoring rentals on off-peak hours. These plans contain different attributes, such as registration fee, travel distance fee, and rental time fee, to attract various customer segments, considering their travel habits. This paper aims to bridge a gap between business practice and state of the art, moving from unique single-tariff plan assumptions to a realistic market offer of multi-attribute plans. To fill this gap, we develop a mixed-integer linear programming model and a solving method to optimize the value of plans' attributes that maximize carsharing operators' profit. Customer preferences are incorporated into the model through a discrete choice model, and the Brooklyn taxi trip dataset is used to identify specific customer segments, validate the model's results, and deliver relevant managerial insights. The results show that developing customized plans with time- and location-dependent rates allows the operators to increase profit compared to fixed-rate plans. Sensitivity analysis reveals how key parameters impact customer choices, pricing plans, and overall profit.
2024
Authors
Biró, P; Klijn, F; Klimentova, X; Viana, A;
Publication
MATHEMATICS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH
Abstract
In a housing market of Shapley and Scarf, each agent is endowed with one indivisible object and has preferences over all objects. An allocation of the objects is in the (strong) core if there exists no (weakly) blocking coalition. We show that, for strict preferences, the unique strong core allocation respects improvement-if an agent's object becomes more desirable for some other agents, then the agent's allotment in the unique strong core allocation weakly improves. We extend this result to weak preferences for both the strong core (conditional on nonemptiness) and the set of competitive allocations (using probabilistic allocations and stochastic dominance). There are no counterparts of the latter two results in the two-sided matching literature. We provide examples to show how our results break down when there is a bound on the length of exchange cycles. Respecting improvements is an important property for applications of the housing markets model, such as kidney exchange: it incentivizes each patient to bring the best possible set of donors to the market. We conduct computer simulations using markets that resemble the pools of kidney exchange programs. We compare the game-theoretical solutions with current techniques (maximum size and maximum weight allocations) in terms of violations of the respecting improvement property. We find that game-theoretical solutions fare much better at respecting improvements even when exchange cycles are bounded, and they do so at a low efficiency cost. As a stepping stone for our simulations, we provide novel integer programming formulations for computing core, competitive, and strong core allocations.
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