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Publicações

Publicações por HumanISE

2026

Software Testing Education and Industry Needs - Report from the ENACTEST EU Project

Autores
Saadatmand, M; Khan, A; Marín, B; Paiva, CR; Asch, NV; Moran, G; Cammaerts, F; Snoeck, M; Mendes, A;

Publicação
Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Abstract
The evolving landscape of software development demands that software testers continuously adapt to new tools, practices, and acquire new skills. This study investigates software testing competency needs in industry, identifies knowledge gaps in current testing education, and highlights competencies and gaps not addressed in academic literature. This is done by conducting two focus group sessions and interviews with professionals across diverse domains, including railway industry, healthcare, and software consulting and performing a curated small-scale scoping review. The study instrument, co-designed by members of the ENACTEST project consortium, was developed collaboratively and refined through multiple iterations to ensure comprehensive coverage of industry needs and educational gaps. In particular, by performing a thematic qualitative analysis, we report our findings and observations regarding: professional training methods, challenges in offering training in industry, different ways of evaluating the quality of training, identified knowledge gaps with respect to academic education and industry needs, future needs and trends in testing education, and knowledge transfer methods within companies. Finally, the scoping review results confirm knowledge gaps in areas such as AI testing, security testing and soft skills. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

2026

Evidence-Based Activism and Knowledge Co-production: A Case Study of Online Communities on Therapeutic Cannabis

Autores
Rangel Teixeira A.; Teixeira Lopes C.;

Publicação
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems

Abstract
This study examines the role of online health communities in Brazil dedicated to cannabis treatments for chronic diseases as platforms for evidence-based activism. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative analysis with computational techniques, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, to analyze six online groups from WhatsApp and Facebook. Key themes emerging from the analysis include treatment per pathology, treatment effects, access barriers, peer support, and advocacy efforts. The findings reveal how these communities act as epistemic networks, where patients and caregivers co-produce knowledge by sharing personal experiences and engaging in dialogue with healthcare professionals. This study highlights how online health communities transform experience sharing into structured evidence, enabling collective action to address barriers such as limited access to cannabis-based treatments. It underscores the potential of digital platforms to empower patients, foster collaboration with healthcare professionals, and influence health governance.

2026

Enhancing Knowledge Access in Online Health Communities: A Chatbot Prototype for Cannabis Treatment Support

Autores
Rangel Teixeira, A; Teixeira Lopes, C;

Publicação
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems

Abstract
Online health communities enable patients and caregivers to share experiences, seek advice, and collaboratively generate knowledge about treatments and condition. However, accessing relevant information often proves challenging due to platform limitations like insufficient search functionalities. A previous study identified key topics discussed in Brazilian online health groups centered on cannabis treatments for chronic diseases. Building on these findings, this study introduces a proof-of-concept chatbot designed to enhance access to the collective knowledge within these communities. The chatbot prototype, built using Google Dialogflow, was tailored to provide contextually relevant, accurate, and user-friendly responses. A user study involving 38 participants evaluated its performance, showing high user satisfaction, task completion rates, and trust in the information provided. The results highlight the chatbot’s potential enhance knowledge accessibility, promote patient engagement, and support evidence-based activism by organizing and disseminating community-generated content effectively. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

2026

Comparing and extending satisfiability solution methods for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

Autores
Coelho, J; Vanhoucke, M;

Publicação
COMPUTERS & OPERATIONS RESEARCH

Abstract
This paper solves the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with a satisfiability problem (SAT) solver. This paper builds further on various existing SAT models for this well-known project scheduling problem and extends them with two methods to satisfy the resource constraints. Specifically, we use the wellknown minimal forbidden sets and compare them with the so-called covers that are traditionally used in SAT implementations. Moreover, we also implement an existing binary decision trees approach under various settings and extend the model with networks with adders, so far never used for solving the RCPSP, to guarantee that resource constraints are satisfied. The algorithms are tested under different settings on a set of 13,413 project instances with diverse network and resource structures, and the experiments demonstrate that a combination of these approaches help in finding better solutions within a reasonable time. Moreover, 393 new lower bounds, 62 new upper bounds, and 290 optimally solved instances (including 18 from the PSPLIB) have been discovered, which, to the best of our knowledge, had not been found before. The strong performance of the new algorithm motivated additional experiments, and the preliminary results suggest several promising directions for future research.

2026

A framework for supporting the reproducibility of computational experiments in multiple scientific domains

Autores
Costa, L; Barbosa, S; Cunha, J;

Publicação
Future Gener. Comput. Syst.

Abstract
In recent years, the research community, but also the general public, has raised serious questions about the reproducibility and replicability of scientific work. Since many studies include some kind of computational work, these issues are also a technological challenge, not only in computer science, but also in most research domains. Computational replicability and reproducibility are not easy to achieve due to the variety of computational environments that can be used. Indeed, it is challenging to recreate the same environment via the same frameworks, code, programming languages, dependencies, and so on. We propose a framework, known as SciRep, that supports the configuration, execution, and packaging of computational experiments by defining their code, data, programming languages, dependencies, databases, and commands to be executed. After the initial configuration, the experiments can be executed any number of times, always producing exactly the same results. Our approach allows the creation of a reproducibility package for experiments from multiple scientific fields, from medicine to computer science, which can be re-executed on any computer. The produced package acts as a capsule, holding absolutely everything necessary to re-execute the experiment. To evaluate our framework, we compare it with three state-of-the-art tools and use it to reproduce 18 experiments extracted from published scientific articles. With our approach, we were able to execute 16 (89%) of those experiments, while the others reached only 61%, thus showing that our approach is effective. Moreover, all the experiments that were executed produced the results presented in the original publication. Thus, SciRep was able to reproduce 100% of the experiments it could run. © 2025 The Authors

2026

The Ecosystem of Information Systems in Higher Education: A Strategic Perspective on Business Intelligence and Decision Support

Autores
, R; Reis, A; Branco, FA; Alves, P;

Publicação
Communications in Computer and Information Science

Abstract
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) face significant challenges in managing and integrating diverse Information System (ISs) that support academic, administrative, and strategic operations. As digital transformation advances, the need for seamless interoperability and data-driven governance becomes increasingly crucial. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the ISs Ecosystem (ISE) in HEIs, emphasizing the importance of system integration, Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, and Decision Support Systems (DSS) in fostering efficient, data-driven decision-making. By examining a real-world case study of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), this research validates the role of BI in transforming fragmented information landscapes into cohesive digital environments. The findings demonstrate that successful BI adoption requires well-defined governance structures, seamless data flow, and alignment with institutional objectives. Additionally, the study underscores the strategic impact of interoperability, highlighting how institutions can enhance institutional intelligence, streamline decision-making processes, and improve operational efficiency through an integrated BI ecosystem. The insights contribute to ongoing discussions on digital transformation in higher education, offering a scalable framework for HEIs seeking to transition from isolated systems to an interoperable and intelligent data ecosystem. The paper also explores emerging trends such as AI-driven analytics and predictive modelling, outlining potential pathways for HEIs to further optimize their decision-support infrastructures. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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