This paper presents the development of a moisture sensor matrix based on textile materials provided with conductive yarns. The measurement principle is based on the measurement of electrical resistance of the textile. The main purpose of this work is to support research on the prevention of pressure ulcers in people committed to bed rest or using wheelchairs. In the first stage of development, the project is studying the relation between physical parameters, exposure time and the levels of discomfort and pain experienced by the patients. In a later stage, the underlying measurement and evaluation principles will be used to develop single sensors or sensor matrixes to be connected to active patient monitoring systems able to warn in situations of excess of moisture and/or pressure (produced by sweat, open wounds, incontinence, etc.).

The CPGC – Cork-Polyurethane Gel Composite is a material that is mechanically characterized by non-linear elastic behaviour at large deformations. The non-linear behaviour can be modelled by hyperelastic constitutive models based on strain energy functions enabling a structured phenomenological framework for CPGC material modelling. The CPGC is a promising material for human comfort enhancement and dynamic damping/control applications. This paper presents the experimental methodology used for the CPGC evaluation of material parameters used in the hyperelastic models and the finite element model build-up. A 3D foot FEA model is presented in order to evaluate the performance of the hyperelastic model in a real case situation and the mechanical performance of shoe insoles, namely, trough the monitoring of the contact pressure values at the insole/foot interface.

The development of mobile systems for monitoring bioelectric signals outside a hospital environment involves many challenges that do not arise when it is in a controlled environment, like a hospital. The dimensions of these systems are an important factor to consider in order to facilitate their use without interfering with the daily activities of individuals.The purpose of this work is the implementation of a singlesupply battery-powered, low power ECG/EMG signal monitoring system based on the ADS1198 Analog Front-End from Texas Instruments. The system was designed to acquire ECG signals from three electrodes using the integrated Right-Leg-Drive (RLD) circuit from the ADS1198.The developed analog front-end was connected for testing purposes through the SPI interface to a NI-USB 8451 board and signals were acquired using LabVIEW. The circuit was tested in several situations and proved to provide high quality signals using textile integrated electrodes and conventional disposable gel electrodes.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Portuguese schools have been closed twice. This fact causes teachers to quickly adapt the content of learning to the characteristics of distance learning. In some courses, this adaption is straightforward, although all activities on lab were limited to videos of experiments without any interaction by the students. These aspects could be very prejudicial to the learning process since the success of students in lab is proportional to the experimentation and training. To address this problem, a design science research-based project was launched to develop a prototype of a virtual lab that could allow the students the training that is as much as possible a replication of the real experiences' protocols. The preliminary results of the use of this virtual lab prototype were conducted by chemical teachers (as expert judgment). At the same time, we have implemented in the prototype checking points to give feedback to the student that are spread from the solid quantity calculation for the solution through the techniques of prevention of contamination of the solution in the process. Next step in this research will be the evaluation of vLab in large scale, addressing the evaluation of virtual lab versus real lab context, user friendly and early adoption of technology (students and teachers). Besides this, the prototype will still be developed to evolve for a virtual lab with haptics.

No abstract