Valeria Martins Da Silva

Bio: Valeria Martins Da Silva is an academic researcher from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agriculture & Agile software development. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 7 publications receiving 33 citations.

Towards a more in-depth understanding of the IoT Paradigm and its challenges

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new technological paradigm that brings together the physical and virtual worlds to provide software systems everywhere through daily life objects. The IoT can transform how we interact with the environment surrounding us, leading to a significant multidisciplinary technological shift. However, since it is a new field of research and development, there is a lack of consensus and understanding of its concepts and features, as we observed when engineering some software systems in the field. Therefore, we performed investigations to characterize IoT regarding its definition, characteristics, and applications, organizing the area and revealing its challenges and research opportunities. A structured literature review of secondary studies supported the answering of three research questions: What is “Internet of Things”? Which characteristics can define an IoT domain? Which are the areas of IoT application? The structured literature review leads to 15 subsequent studies from which we recovered 34 definitions - discussed in the light of the technical evolution - 29 characteristics and several IoT application areas. Furthermore, the results include an IoT characterization based on identification, sensing, and actuation capabilities, besides a discussion of the relation between IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), regarding other research areas and terms often associated with IoT aiming at to bring clarification to the field. In this work, we offer an essential overview of the IoT state-of-the-art and a characterization, presenting issues that should be addressed to contribute to its strengthening and establishment.

Generating Software Engineers by Developing Web Systems: A Project-Based Learning Case Study

Abstract: The novelty proposed in this work regarding teaching and training of software engineering is about how the Project-Based Learning approach is performed for developing a web system for managing academic projects. The supporting project is a real-life problem. Its development was planned in four phases: prototype, code refactoring, release-to-manu-facturing and deployment. We employed some strategies such as role-playing, a software house simulation, and the Model-View-Controller pattern combined with Evolutionary Acquisition and the Interdisciplinary Research Project Management framework.

ScenarIoT: support for scenario specification of internet of things-based software systems

Abstract: Internet of Things (IoT) e um paradigma que permite compor sistemas a partir de objetos equipados com comportamentos de identificacao, sensoriamento ou atuacao alem de capacidades de processamento, os quais podem se comunicar e cooperar para alcancar objetivos. Assim como toda mudanca de paradigma, IoT faz emergir desafios relacionados a diversas areas de pesquisa, incluindo a Engenharia de Software nas diferentes fases de desenvolvimento. Considerando fases iniciais de projeto, este trabalho propoe a abordagem ScenarIoT visando apoiar a especificacao de cenarios no desenvolvimento de sistemas de software baseados em IoT. Esta abordagem e fundamentada em Arranjos de Interacao, os quais representam fluxos recorrentes de interacao entre elementos abstratos do dominio IoT. Estes arranjos puderam ser desenhados aplicando-se uma abordagem baseada em evidencia, ou seja, considerando os resultados obtidos por meio de uma revisao estruturada da literatura conduzida com o objetivo de identificar, analisar e interpretar os conceitos e propriedades do dominio IoT. A abordagem ScenarIoT foi aplicada em dois projetos de turmas de graduacao com o objetivo de observar a sua utilidade. Os resultados dos estudos mostraram que a abordagem e util considerando o contexto onde foi aplicada.

Patient-centric healthcare service systems: evidence-based medicine as architecturally significant requirement

Abstract: Healthcare Service Systems may use and support evidence-based medicine, and to accomplish that, their design has to be patient-centered focusing on quality of evidence and strength of recommendation. Hence, this paper intends to promote the debate on the design of Healthcare Service Systems. We propose a framework that attempts to systematize the design and development of Healthcare Service Systems, especially in terms of software engineering. The framework is intended to support the design of Healthcare Service Systems by understanding a complex health treatment as a project, which would provide naturally patient-centeredness, and by considering Evidence-Based Medicine guidelines and recommendations as architecturally significant requirements in the design of Healthcare Service Systems, which would provide focus on quality of evidence and strength of recommendation. Therefore, we would have a SOA user-centric approach and a systematic service design.

How the Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine

Abstract: Do you need to read published papers? Or are you a scientific paper non-reader or recluse? This book (very thoughtfully) starts off by asking whether you need to read this book—how many textbooks actually ask you whether you need to use/read/buy it? The need for such a book is certainly there, as this excellent little book is intended to help existing readers read, and actually interpret, medical papers better. Current non-readers and scientific recluses may even be encouraged to open medical journals for once! The book provides an excellent practical and pragmatic approach to critical analysis of much of the uninspiring and unread published literature (which often makes you wonder how it got into print in the first place!). There is a systematic discussion on evidence-based medicine and a thoughtful practical section on how to search the medical literature. Despite the age of the Internet and computerised databases, even the most experienced Medline surfer often only manages to find approximately a third of the published material on a particular subject—handy tips are provided to improve searches, to increase one’s gain and to reduce eye strain or repetitive strain injury from a long, tiring session at the Medline computer terminal. The book describes the various sections of a published paper, including appraisal of the nature of the study and statistics for the non-statistician. It then discusses what you would hope to gain from reading a particular paper, including papers that report drug trials, diagnostic screening tests, systematic reviews and guidelines. It also has information on economic analyses and qualitative research. Finally, it gives some examples of how to implement evidence-based findings. Since much of clinical medicine is still not evidence-based, perhaps this goes some way to rectify this appalling state of affairs. I also found the Appendix with a checklist for finding, appraising and implementing evidence fairly helpful. Readers of this excellent book who are like me — struggling to understand much of the published literature and also to produce an intelligible published paper every so often—this book not only helps you read a paper but tries to make you a better paper writer as well. Perhaps my understanding of evidence-based medicine will improve after reading this book, and make me a better teacher and researcher. Perhaps it will make me reject more of the papers submitted to the journal I help edit! At the cost of £14.95, this book is an absolute bargain and it fulfils its advertised aim of being a compressed introduction to the usefulness and potential applications of evidence-based medicine in the clinical setting. I recommend it wholeheartedly as an obligatory read.

Incorporating Considerations of Resources Use into Grading Recommendations

Abstract: Guideline panellists have differing opinions on whether resource use should influence decisions on individual patients. As medical care costs rise, resource use considerations become more compelling, but panellists may find dealing with such considerations challenging

Cross-course project-based learning in requirements engineering: An eight-year retrospective

Abstract: This paper focuses presents a study of eight years of cross-course project-based learning (CC-PjBL) in an upper-level requirements and project management (RPM) course. Project-based learning (PjBL) is a method of instruction in which students learn by investigating and solving real-world problems in and open-ended, time-limited context1. Our instantiations of CC-PjBL matched paired students in an introductory software Requirements and Project Management (RPM) with students in different technology-oriented software development course(s) to utilize the requirements deliverables created by their RPM-course colleagues. The paper includes a review of relevant related PjBL literature, descriptions of our initiative and experience in applying CC-PjBL to RPM topics over eight years, and the lessons learned thereof. This paper reports summary experiences from student evaluations of these courses to evaluate the CC-PjBL experiences. The discussion also includes problems encountered with CC-PjBL assessment, faculty participation, and course hand-off, which may be useful to instructors that are considering to apply CC-PjBL as a method of instruction and to those that are currently practicing PjBL.

A Requirements Engineering Process for IoT Systems

Abstract: Nowadays there is a great interest in IoT systems and many applications take advantage of this technology. The elicitation, specification and management of requirements for IoT systems present new challenges to requirements engineering. There is a lack of systematic approaches to the development of IoT applications and more specifically for IoT-based requirements engineering. To fill this gap this paper presents the definition of a Requirements Engineering process for IoT systems. This process is a tailored and harmonized version of the following processes of ISO IEC/IEEE 12207:2017 aiming to accomplish the needs of IoT systems: Business or Mission Analysis process, Stakeholder Needs and Requirements Definition process and System/Software Requirements Definition process.

The effects of automation of a patient-centric service in primary care on the work engagement and exhaustion of nurses

Abstract: Digitalising patient-centric services to address society’s challenges with an ageing population and healthcare provision is by many seen as important. Studying the effects of the digitalisation on the work engagement of the users of the new systems is vital in this context, especially since previous research has established that the work engagement at work in healthcare is problematic. Work engagement is defined as a positive, fulfilling, affective-motivational state of work related well being, as is closely connected to the experience of resources and demands in the work context. These resources can be for example digital support, experienced demands or empowerment whereas exhaustion is connected to work demand in a workplace. This study contributes to knowledge about the effects of digitalisation on work engagement and exhaustion in the context of patient-centred services and eHealth. Contextual interviews were conducted on site for 5 h with nurses using a new chat function and using telephone for medical advice to patients. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with all the nurses participating in this digitalisation project to gather more insights into their work engagement in the two work situations. Results were analysed in different themes of areas affected by the digitalisation in the two overarching themes: job demands and job resources. The results show that the change to a chat function when communicating with advice seekers had connection to work engagement in several ways. The nurses experienced less time pressure and emotional pressure, but also a loss of job control and feedback from colleagues working from home.