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Publicações

2026

Co-Design de um Jogo Sério para Tratamento da Percepção de Tempo em Distúrbios Neurobiológicos

Autores
Leinylson Fontinele Pereira; Daniel Lima Sousa; José Everton da Silva Fontenele; António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho; Silmar Silva Teixeira;

Publicação
Journal of Health Informatics

Abstract
A percepção temporal é frequentemente comprometida em distúrbios neuropsiquiátricos, impactando a qualidade de vida. Este artigo apresenta o desenvolvimento do ‘Chronos: Odisseias Alternativas’, um jogo sério híbrido e imersivo para reabilitação da percepção temporal. Objetivos: Descrever o processo de co-design e os resultados, destacando a importância da colaboração interdisciplinar na criação de soluções tecnológicas para a saúde. Métodos: O desenvolvimento seguiu uma metodologia de co-design em dois workshops com uma equipe multidisciplinar formada por clínicos e profissionais de Tecnologia da Informação. O jogo integra tarefas cognitivas, treinamento da percepção temporal e autorrelatos emocionais, utilizando uma arquitetura de Metaverse as a Service para modular a percepção do tempo por meio de estímulos multimodais. Resultados: O co-design indicou ampla aceitação interdisciplinar e validação conceitual. Os participantes destacaram o engajamento, o potencial terapêutico para Alzheimer, Parkinson e TDAH, e a inovação da abordagem multimodal. Conclusão: O Chronos demonstra viabilidade técnica e metodológica, configurando-se como um ambiente digital multimodal promissor.

2026

Key Functional Elements for Digital Twin Implementation in Complex Operations Environments

Autores
Ghanbarifard, R; Almeida, A; Azevedo, A;

Publicação

Abstract
Complex Operations Environments (COEs), found in domains such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare, are characterised by structural and behavioural complexity, interdependence, and unpredictability. Managing these environments requires a clear understanding of their characteristics, which is important for implementing emerging technologies such as Digital Twins (DTs). While DTs hold significant potential in COEs, their effective deployment depends on identifying and aligning with the specific traits of these environments. Drawing on a systematic literature review (SLR), this study refines a hierarchical conceptualisation of COEs, categorises their characteristics as functional and non-functional, and assesses their applicability to DT implementation. A conceptual mapping illustrates how DTs can address these characteristics to support COE management. The research is conducted in two phases. First, iterative practitioner engagement in an industrial manufacturing context is used to examine and refine the conceptualisation through empirical insights from experts holding cross-functional and strategic responsibilities across different business units. Second, DT experts assess these characteristics in terms of their applicability to DT implementation, classifying them as Possible, Hard, or Very Hard. The findings highlight both the potential and challenges of applying DTs in COEs. The resulting framework provides structured guidance for DT developers, system architects, and managers by supporting DT scoping and implementation planning, while linking theoretical and practical perspectives to inform adaptive DT architectures that enhance visibility, interoperability, and resilience. 

2026

A systematic approach to classify and reduce recurrent deviations in the pharmaceutical industry: A detailed case study

Autores
Carneiro, F; Miguéis, V; Novoa, H; Carvalho, AM; Ferreira, D; Antony, J; Tortorella, G; Furterer, S;

Publicação
QUALITY MANAGEMENT JOURNAL

Abstract
In the pharmaceutical industry, noncompliance with any good manufacturing practice (GMP) leads to deviation, resulting in potential retention of finished product batches, reprocessing, or rejection-consequently increasing lead time and cost. This study aimed to outline a strategy to define, classify, and mitigate recurrent deviations occurring more than once within 12 months. This research followed an action research methodology, carried out within a Portuguese pharmaceutical company. A transversal analysis of the deviation management process was conducted across three phases: recording, investigation, and conclusion. The intervention included defining objective recurrence criteria, developing investigation models based on structured problem-solving, and redesigning the deviation management information system. The implementation decreased recurrent deviations by 78 percent, and a new process was established, facilitated by the participation and involvement of everyone in the organization. This article introduces pioneering contributions to the pharmaceutical industry by presenting novel criteria for assigning recurrence to recorded deviations and integrating Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) with big data and analytics. Our approach enhances decision-making and manufacturing processes by structurally incorporating all types of causes beyond the human factor, emphasizing recurring deviations over extended periods. It defines conditions for correct deviation classification and constructs a decision matrix for investigation models. Additionally, it presents workshop management, providing analysis templates and a prototype information system, and outlines key steps to mitigate deviations, highlighting research limitations and future directions.

2026

Mapping the Evidence on Virtual Reality for Post-Intensive Care Syndrome: A Systematic Review and a Five-Axis VR-PICS Taxonomy

Autores
Oliveira, I; Torneiro, A; Ferreira-Coimbra, J; Sampaio, A; Morgenstern, NA; Oliveira, E; Coelho, A; Rodrigues, NF;

Publicação
BIOMEDICINES

Abstract
Background: Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS), comprising physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments, affects 50-75% of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors and leads to long-term deficits. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a tool to reduce ICU-related stress and support recovery, yet evidence remains fragmented and heterogeneous. Objective: To systematically review the safety, feasibility, and effects of immersive VR interventions targeting PICS-related outcomes in ICU and post-ICU populations, and to introduce a standardized taxonomy to classify and compare VR interventions in critical care contexts. Methods: This systematic review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251174623). Seven databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, SpringerLink, and Scopus) were searched from inception to 2 August 2025. Eligible studies included ICU patients receiving immersive VR via head-mounted displays and targeting at least one PICS domain. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT, 2018). Due to substantial heterogeneity, findings were synthesized narratively. Results: Eleven studies were included. The most consistent effects concerned acute psychological outcomes, with 63.6% of studies reporting reduced anxiety or distress. Evidence for physical, cognitive, or long-term outcomes was limited and inconsistent, largely due to small samples, non-randomized designs, and brief intervention dosing. Conclusion: Current evidence supports VR as a feasible adjunct for acute psychological support in ICU settings. However, meaningful rehabilitation effects remain underexplored. The Five-Axis VR-PICS taxonomy clarifies intervention heterogeneity and provides a structured framework to guide rehabilitation-oriented VR research in critical care.

2026

The Impact of Quality of Financial Information on the Decline of Food Manufacturing Companies in the European Union

Autores
Landu, M; Mota, JH; Bandeira, AM; Moreira, AC;

Publicação
CUADERNOS DE GESTION

Abstract
This study examines the relationship between quality of financial information (QFI) and the probability of corporate decline in the food manufacturing sector within the European Union (EU) controlled by a set of internal (age, size, liquidity, return on assets, and debt) and external (gross domestic product and unemployment rate) determinants. The study employs a logit regression model applied to a balanced panel dataset of 335 large food manufacturing firms in the EU from 2011 to 2021. Quality of financial information is estimated using discretionary accruals, based on the Jones model (1991), while corporate decline is measured by fluctuations in sales. The findings indicate that low-quality financial information (high discretionary accruals) is positively associated with corporate decline, highlighting the role of financial transparency in business sustainability. The results suggest that earnings management practices can increase business vulnerability, reinforcing the importance of accurate financial reporting in mitigating corporate failure. The study underscores the need for enhanced regulatory oversight and financial reporting transparency in the food manufacturing industry. Policymakers and stakeholders should strengthen financial disclosure requirements to curb earnings management practices and ensure better resource allocation for long-term sustainability. This research contributes to the limited literature on quality of financial information and corporate decline, particularly in the food manufacturing sector, which is crucial for economic stability and public welfare. By integrating financial reporting quality into corporate failure analysis, this study provides new insights into the role of earnings management in business deterioration.

2026

LogicMix: Sample mixing data augmentation for multi-label image classification with partial labels

Autores
Chong, CF; Guo, JL; Yang, X; Ke, W; Abreu, PH; Wang, YP; Im, SK;

Publicação
PATTERN RECOGNITION

Abstract
Multi-label image classification datasets are often partially labeled where many labels are missing, posing a significant challenge to training accurate deep classifiers. Most existing approaches assume the missing labels as negatives and/or exploit image and category relationships to regularize training. Orthogonally, this paper studies blending samples in such incomplete datasets as new samples, extending the training data magnitude to increase generalization. First, the proposed LogicMix mixes multiple partially labeled samples to produce new samples, where their unknown labels are naturally mixed by OR's logical equivalences, without replacement with constants. Subsequently, a Decouple Partial-Asymmetric Loss is proposed to assign separate label-focusing policies to original and new samples, addressing the learning imbalance from the different positive-negative label imbalances between original and augmented samples. Finally, we propose a complete learning framework called 2WayAug-PL. LogicMix and conventional data augmentation collaborate to extend the diversity of new samples in both the sample-sample relation and human prior knowledge, while pseudo-labeling compensates for the lack of labels to provide more supervision signals. 27 partially labeled dataset scenarios derived from three benchmarking datasets with various learning difficulties are utilized for comprehensive experiments. LogicMix has shown remarkable effectiveness and generality in improving mAP against compared sample-mixing data augmentation methods. In particular, 2WayAug-PL achieves state-of-the-art average mAP of 84.3%, 50.1 %, and 93.8% on MS-COCO, VG-200, and Pascal VOC 2007, respectively. It further pushes the previous best performance achieved by different frameworks by 0.6% (CFT), 0.6% (CFT), and 0.1 % (SR). Moreover, 2WayAug-PL significantly outperforms all compared frameworks, as shown by statistical tests. Code is available at: https://github.com/maxium0526/logic_mix.

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