Endividamento dos particulares e suas consequências

Mestrado em Contabilidade e Gestão das Instituições FinanceirasA temática endividamento encontra-se presente no nosso quotidiano. A controversa do excessivo endividamento dos particulares e as dificuldades sentidas no cumprimento das suas obrigações, é preocupante, sobretudo se relacionarmos as dificuldades que os particulares estão a sentir em liquidar os seus créditos, com o consecutivo aumento da taxa de desemprego. Nos últimos três anos, os níveis de endividamento atingidos pelos particulares, foram os mais altos das últimas duas décadas. Com esta investigação pretende-se compreender quais as causas que contribuíram para o endividamento dos particulares, o que os motivou no consequente recurso ao crédito, bem como a responsabilidade que as campanhas de marketing das instituições bancárias tiveram neste conceito. Desta forma torna-se imprescindível identificar alternativas para que as famílias não entrem em incumprimento. É extremamente importante que os particulares tenham consciência da importância de uma boa gestão do seu orçamento, tendo presente o conceito de literacia financeira

Polyglutamine diseases (PolyQ): construction and characterization of yeast models

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Genética Molecular e Biomedicina, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaThere are a number of serious diseases which have in common the inappropriate folding of a particular protein, as polyglutamine disease group. Machado-Joseph‟s and Huntington‟s disease are grouped in the polyglutamine diseases, being the cause of the disease the presence of a CAG repeat tract in the causative gene, ATXN3 and HTT, respectively. This CAG repeats tract leads to the formation of polyglutamine tract in ataxin-3 and huntingtin proteins, respectively, that do not allow the correct protein folding. In diverse models, the expansion of the poluglutamine tract into disease related-proteins, promote their aggregation and their negative effect on cellular metabolism were described as associated to toxic effect. In this study, it was proposed the construction of the first yeast model for Machado-Joseph‟s disease and the characterization of the role of autophagy in the yeast model for Huntington‟s disease during yeast life cycle. For the yeast model for Machado-Joseph‟s disease we successfully constructed a Tet On system harboring the variant 1 genes, normal and expanded, fused with GFP gene, to further allow the subcellular localization of the expressed protein into yeast cells. In yeast model for Huntington‟s disease the chronological lifespan (CLS) of yeast cells at different physiological states after expressing the normal and the pathogenic protein and their subcellular localization, using epifluorescent microscopy was studied. It was demonstrated that cells harboring the huntingtin with 103 glutamines (pathogenic protein) during the inhibition of autophagic process, by chloroquine, presents an increased in CLS and the formation of large foci that could correspond to aggregosomes. In aged cells this effect is more pronounced leading to the hypothesis that in these cells the autophagic mechanism is impaired and enhances the toxic effects of expressed huntingtin 103Q and that the inhibition of the autophagic process can rescue the cells from the toxic effects. On the other hand, when the normal huntingtin (25Q) was expressed at exponential phase the inhibition of autophagy led to a drastic decrease on CLS, demonstrated that in functional cells the autophagy had a positive effect being a crucial process, probably removing unwanted intracellular components and providing energy

Can advergames boost children’s healthier eating habits?: a comparison between healthy and non-healthy food

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThis research aims to investigate the effects of food advergaming on children’s eating habits. A total of 231 elementary school-age children were randomly assigned to one of the following two conditions: (i) play the healthy advergame; (ii) play the less healthy advergame. A pos-treatment pictured questionnaire was used to assess their behavior in terms of immediate food choice, food liking, and nutritional knowledge. Results showed that children tend to choose a snack accordingly to what was being advertised in the game. In terms of food liking, children who played the less healthy version of the game reported a higher preference for some of the less healthy options. Regarding nutritional knowledge no differences were registered which leads us to conclude that they already have a solid understanding of what are “good” and “bad” foods for their health. These findings have important legal, educational, management and social marketing contributions

Bio-Radar Applications for Remote Vital Signs Monitoring

Nowadays, most vital signs monitoring techniques used in a medical context and/or daily life routines require direct contact with skin, which can become uncomfortable or even impractical to be used regularly. Radar technology has been appointed as one of the most promising contactless tools to overcome these hurdles. However, there is a lack of studies that cover a comprehensive assessment of this technology when applied in real-world environments. This dissertation aims to study radar technology for remote vital signs monitoring, more specifically, in respiratory and heartbeat sensing. Two off-the-shelf radars, based on impulse radio ultra-wideband and frequency modu lated continuous wave technology, were customized to be used in a small proof of concept experiment with 10 healthy participants. Each subject was monitored with both radars at three different distances for two distinct conditions: breathing and voluntary apnea. Signals processing algorithms were developed to detect and estimate respiratory and heartbeat parameters, assessed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Concerning respiration, a minimum error of 1.6% was found when radar respiratory peaks signals were directly compared with their reference, whereas a minimum mean absolute error of 0.3 RPM was obtained for the respiration rate. Concerning heartbeats, their expression in radar signals was not as clear as the respiration ones, however a minimum mean absolute error of 1.8 BPM for heartbeat was achieved after applying a novel selective algorithm developed to validate if heart rate value was estimated with reliability. The results proved the potential for radars to be used in respiratory and heartbeat contactless sensing, showing that the employed methods can be already used in some mo tionless situations. Notwithstanding, further work is required to improve the developed algorithms in order to obtain more robust and accurate systems.Atualmente, a maioria das técnicas usadas para a monitorização de sinais vitais em contexto médicos e/ou diário requer contacto direto com a pele, o que poderá tornar-se incómodo ou até mesmo inviável em certas situações. A tecnologia radar tem vindo a ser apontada como uma das mais promissoras ferramentas para medição de sinais vitais à distância e sem contacto. Todavia, são necessários mais estudos que permitam avaliar esta tecnologia quando aplicada a situações mais reais. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo o estudo da tecnologia radar aplicada no contexto de medição remota de sinais vitais, mais concretamente, na medição de atividade respiratória e cardíaca. Dois aparelhos radar, baseados em tecnologia banda ultra larga por rádio de impulso e em tecnologia de onda continua modulada por frequência, foram configurados e usados numa prova de conceito com 10 participantes. Cada sujeito foi monitorizado com cada um dos radar em duas situações distintas: respirando e em apneia voluntária. Algorit mos de processamento de sinal foram desenvolvidos para detetar e estimar parâmetros respiratórios e cardíacos, avaliados através de métodos qualitativos e quantitativos. Em relação à respiração, o menor erro obtido foi de 1,6% quando os sinais de radar respiratórios foram comparados diretamente com os sinais de referência, enquanto que, um erro médio absoluto mínimo de 0,3 RPM foi obtido para a estimação da frequência respiratória via radar. A expressão cardíaca nos sinais radar não se revelou tão evidente como a respiratória, no entanto, um erro médio absoluto mínimo de 1,8 BPM foi obtido para a estimação da frequência cardíaca após a aplicação de um novo algoritmo seletivo, desenvolvido para validar a confiança dos valores obtidos. Os resultados obtidos provaram o potencial do uso de radares na medição de atividade respiratória e cardíaca sem contacto, sendo esta tecnologia viável de ser implementada em situações onde não existe muito movimento. Não obstante, os algoritmos desenvolvidos devem ser aperfeiçoados no futuro de forma a obter sistemas mais robustos e precisos