Estudo da variabilidade intra e inter-anual das trocas entre a Ria Formosa e o oceano - estudo de caso, a barra de Faro-Olhão

Dissertação de mestrado, Sistemas Marinhos e Costeiros, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2016A Ria Formosa é um sistema de ilhas-barreira localizado na costa sul portuguesa, sob a influência de marés semi-diurnas, constituído por 5 ilhas, 2 penínsulas e 6 barras. É através destas barras que ocorrem as trocas de água com o Oceano Atlântico. O objetivo deste estudo foi compreender o papel da principal barra, a barra de Faro-Olhão, nas trocas de massa (água, nutrientes, clorofila a e sólidos em suspensão) com o oceano costeiro e a sua variação sazonal, dada a elevada importância da produtividade biológica deste ecossistema. Além disso, a influência dos diferentes mecanismos forçadores, incluindo as marés quinzenais, foram analisadas de forma a compreender o seu impacto na atividade fitoplânctónica dentro deste ecossistema e no oceano adjacente. Para alcançar os objetivos desta investigação, foram realizadas medições in situ e amostragens de água de hora a hora ao longo de uma seção selecionada, em 7 ciclos de maré semi-diurnos, abrangendo diferentes condições mareais e estações do ano. Os resultados mostraram que os principais fatores que explicaram a variabilidade das trocas de massas pela barra de Faro-Olhão foram os processos físicos que predominaram na zona adjacente à lagoa e o ciclo de produtividade fitoplantónica das águas, que se sobrepuseram à influência mareal. Estacionalmente, a barra de Faro-Olhão comportou-se como fonte de matéria nas campanhas da primavera (maré viva) e verão, que contribuiu para o aumento da produtividade biológica na zona costeira. A ocorrência de eventos de afloramento costeiro, particularmente na campanha de outono (maré viva) e no inverno, revelou um importante papel na importação de nutrientes para este sistema lagunar, contribuindo para o aumento da produtividade biológica da Ria Formosa. No entanto, os dias de precipitação que influenciaram a campanha de inverno condicionaram também a exportação de alguns compostos para a zona costeira adjacente, revelando o carácter produtivo da Ria Formosa

Uma app móvel gamificada para a Universidade a partir das experiências e propostas dos estudantes

É muito comum nos dias de hoje os indivíduos recorrerem ao telemóvel para obter apoio nas mais diversas tarefas do seu dia-a-dia. Este estudo é focado em como é que uma app móvel da Universidade do Porto poderia ajudar a responder a algumas necessidades que os estudantes têm ao longo do seu percurso académico. Nesta investigação, começou-se por analisar um conjunto de elementos que se consideraram relevantes para conceber e desenhar a aplicação, considerando os desafios vividos pelos estudantes, e que nos ajudou a compreender como uma aplicação pode vir a melhorar vários aspetos na vida universitária tais como o rápido acesso à informação, e uma melhor integração, usando também a gamificação. Analisaram-se algumas aplicações direcionadas diretamente para estudantes e foi realizada uma análise de algumas aplicações móveis nacionais que já existem para estudantes universitárias. Foi ainda necessário abordar as questões da integração, já que se pretende que a app funcione como elemento integrador, assim como as da gamificação. Materializando o foco nos estudantes e na sua experiência, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas a 12 estudantes que haviam já frequentado 8 faculdades da Universidade do Porto para os escutar sobre as suas experiências e propostas para a existência deste tipo de aplicação e sobre quais são as funcionalidades que considerariam essenciais neste tipo de aplicativo. Transcritas e analisadas as respostas, foi elaborado e testado um protótipo de um aplicativo móvel que explicita e intencionalmente procurou integrar as informações dadas pelos estudantes da Universidade do Porto e que foram recolhidas ao longo das entrevistas. Este trabalho fornece argumentos a favor de uma potencial utilização de uma aplicação gamificada da Universidade do Porto como forma de auxiliar algumas das necessidades dos estudantes para uma maior facilidade de acesso à informação e integração académica.It's very common nowadays for individuals to resort to mobile phones in order to obtain some help and guidance in their daily basis tasks and actions. This study is focused on how a simple mobile APP from the University of Porto could help and give assistance to some of the needs that the students may have during their academic journey. In this investigation, the first step was analyzing a set of elements that are considered relevant to the conception and design of the application, considering the challenges that are experienced on the daily basis by students. This step also involved a deeper understanding and comprehension of how an application can aid the life of a university student in some aspects, such as the fast access to information, a better integration, and how gamification can be a part of that. There was also the analysis and research of some applications that were directly aimed at students, as well as an analysis of some national mobile applications that already exist for university students. It was also required to address some integration questions, since it is intended for the app to work as an integration element, such as the gamification ones. In order to materialize students' focus and their experience, the research proceeded with the development of semi-structured interviews with 12 different students, which already had frequented 8 faculties from the University of Porto, to listen to their experiences and retrieve some feedback or advice regarding the existence of this type of mobile application, and to find out which functionalities are considered essential for this application. Right after the transcription and analysis of the interviews feedback, a prototype of the mobile application was elaborated, which explicitly and intentionally looked to integrate the information gathered by the Porto's University students during the interviews. This prototype was further tested. This investigation provides arguments in favor of a potential use of a gamified application from the University of Porto to help some of the students' needs for a greater ease of access to information and academic integration

Uma app móvel gamificada para a Universidade a partir das experiências e propostas dos estudantes

É muito comum nos dias de hoje os indivíduos recorrerem ao telemóvel para obter apoio nas mais diversas tarefas do seu dia-a-dia. Este estudo é focado em como é que uma app móvel da Universidade do Porto poderia ajudar a responder a algumas necessidades que os estudantes têm ao longo do seu percurso académico. Nesta investigação, começou-se por analisar um conjunto de elementos que se consideraram relevantes para conceber e desenhar a aplicação, considerando os desafios vividos pelos estudantes, e que nos ajudou a compreender como uma aplicação pode vir a melhorar vários aspetos na vida universitária tais como o rápido acesso à informação, e uma melhor integração, usando também a gamificação. Analisaram-se algumas aplicações direcionadas diretamente para estudantes e foi realizada uma análise de algumas aplicações móveis nacionais que já existem para estudantes universitárias. Foi ainda necessário abordar as questões da integração, já que se pretende que a app funcione como elemento integrador, assim como as da gamificação. Materializando o foco nos estudantes e na sua experiência, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas a 12 estudantes que haviam já frequentado 8 faculdades da Universidade do Porto para os escutar sobre as suas experiências e propostas para a existência deste tipo de aplicação e sobre quais são as funcionalidades que considerariam essenciais neste tipo de aplicativo. Transcritas e analisadas as respostas, foi elaborado e testado um protótipo de um aplicativo móvel que explicita e intencionalmente procurou integrar as informações dadas pelos estudantes da Universidade do Porto e que foram recolhidas ao longo das entrevistas. Este trabalho fornece argumentos a favor de uma potencial utilização de uma aplicação gamificada da Universidade do Porto como forma de auxiliar algumas das necessidades dos estudantes para uma maior facilidade de acesso à informação e integração académica.It's very common nowadays for individuals to resort to mobile phones in order to obtain some help and guidance in their daily basis tasks and actions. This study is focused on how a simple mobile APP from the University of Porto could help and give assistance to some of the needs that the students may have during their academic journey. In this investigation, the first step was analyzing a set of elements that are considered relevant to the conception and design of the application, considering the challenges that are experienced on the daily basis by students. This step also involved a deeper understanding and comprehension of how an application can aid the life of a university student in some aspects, such as the fast access to information, a better integration, and how gamification can be a part of that. There was also the analysis and research of some applications that were directly aimed at students, as well as an analysis of some national mobile applications that already exist for university students. It was also required to address some integration questions, since it is intended for the app to work as an integration element, such as the gamification ones. In order to materialize students' focus and their experience, the research proceeded with the development of semi-structured interviews with 12 different students, which already had frequented 8 faculties from the University of Porto, to listen to their experiences and retrieve some feedback or advice regarding the existence of this type of mobile application, and to find out which functionalities are considered essential for this application. Right after the transcription and analysis of the interviews feedback, a prototype of the mobile application was elaborated, which explicitly and intentionally looked to integrate the information gathered by the Porto's University students during the interviews. This prototype was further tested. This investigation provides arguments in favor of a potential use of a gamified application from the University of Porto to help some of the students' needs for a greater ease of access to information and academic integration

An overview on the use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers in irrigated Mediterranean agriculture

In Mediterranean regions climate change has led to greater inter and intra-annual rainfall irregularity, causing an increase in the demand for irrigation water, inevitably accompanied by an increase in the use of others resources like nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen is associated with negative economic and environmental impacts, which requires particularly important decision-making in terms of its application to meet crop needs. The agronomic efficiencies of water and nitrogen vary widely among different environments and can be modified due to management practices. However, some studies suggest that agronomic practices alone are not sufficient to entirely avoid nitrogen losses. In irrigated cropping systems, where classical nitrogen fertilizers are partially applied through irrigation water, Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers (EEF), namely slow release and controlled release products, and nitrification inhibitors, have the potential to reduce nitrogen losses, contributing to higher resource-use efficiencies. This work aims to provide an overview of the possibilities of successfully using this type of fertilizers in irrigated agriculture, especially in Mediterranean climate regions, and the need for research in this field

Context-dependent functional divergence of the notch ligands DLL1 and DLL4 In Vivo

Copyright: © 2015 Preuße et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedNotch signalling is a fundamental pathway that shapes the developing embryo and sustains adult tissues by direct communication between ligand and receptor molecules on adjacent cells. Among the ligands are two Delta paralogues, DLL1 and DLL4, that are conserved in mammals and share a similar structure and sequence. They activate the Notch receptor partly in overlapping expression domains where they fulfil redundant functions in some processes (e.g. maintenance of the crypt cell progenitor pool). In other processes, however, they appear to act differently (e.g. maintenance of foetal arterial identity) raising the questions of how similar DLL1 and DLL4 really are and which mechanism causes the apparent context-dependent divergence. By analysing mice that conditionally overexpress DLL1 or DLL4 from the same genomic locus (Hprt) and mice that express DLL4 instead of DLL1 from the endogenous Dll1 locus (Dll1Dll4ki), we found functional differences that are tissue-specific: while DLL1 and DLL4 act redundantly during the maintenance of retinal progenitors, their function varies in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) where somites form in a Notch-dependent process. In the anterior PSM, every cell expresses both Notch receptors and ligands, and DLL1 is the only activator of Notch while DLL4 is not endogenously expressed. Transgenic DLL4 cannot replace DLL1 during somitogenesis and in heterozygous Dll1Dll4ki/+ mice, the Dll1Dll4ki allele causes a dominant segmentation phenotype. Testing several aspects of the complex Notch signalling system in vitro, we found that both ligands have a similar trans-activation potential but that only DLL4 is an efficient cis-inhibitor of Notch signalling, causing a reduced net activation of Notch. These differential cis-inhibitory properties are likely to contribute to the functional divergence of DLL1 and DLL4.Funding: This work was supported by grant GO 449/13-1 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (http://www.dfg.de) to AG, by funding of the Cluster of Excellence “From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy” to AG (http://www.mh-hannover.de/rebirth.html) and by grant PTDC/SAU-BID/121846/2010 of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (http://www.fct.pt/index.phtml.en) to DH.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combined effects of irrigation management and nitrogen fertilization on soft wheat productive responses under Mediterranean conditions

Wheat yield responses to water and nitrogen vary widely among different environments and they can be shifted due to technological, environmental, or economic factors. In regions with a Mediterranean-type climate, the balance between the key climate variables and the most critical stages of wheat grow implies that the success of the crop depends to a very large degree on the knowledge of proper water management combined with suitable fertilization strategies. For this purpose, we studied the productive responses of soft wheat to the interactive effects of irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization. Two trials were carried out during 2016/2017 in Beja (Southern Portugal). In both experiments, wheat responses were assessed under two water supply regimes: D1 (100% of full irrigation throughout the cycle) and D2 (100% of full irrigation at four stages: stem extension; booting; heading; grain filling). In the first trial, 165 kg of slow-release and stabilized N fertilizers were applied through 6 splitting treatments, five of them (A1 to A5) with a slow-release N fertilizer (A1 – 100% at sowing; A2 – 50% at sowing and 50% at booting; A3 - 50% at sowing, and 25% at stem extension and at heading; A4 – 75% at sowing and 25% at booting; A5 - 75% at sowing and 25% at stem extension) and another one (A6) with a stabilized N fertilizer 100% applied at sowing. In the second trial, 165 kg of conventional N fertilizer was applied through 5 splitting treatments (A1 – 33% at sowing, at tillering and at stem extension; A2 – 25% at sowing, at tillering, at stem extension and at heading; A3 - 25% at sowing, at tillering, at stem extension and at booting; A4 – 50% at tillering and 25% at booting and at heading; A5 - 50% at sowing and 25% at stem extension and at booting). In the first trial, only the number of heads per square meter showed significant influence of the irrigation regime, the highest values being registered in the D1 treatment. In the trial with conventional fertilizer, significantly higher yields and weights of 1000 grains were obtained in the D1 irrigation treatment. Significant effects of split N fertilizer application occurred only in the first trial: yield was higher in the A5 treatment, showing that early N applications with this type of fertilizers do not compromise N availability throughout the wheat grow cycle and therefore the grain production; grain protein content was higher in the A2 treatment, indicating the importance of N availability at the booting stage in order to obtain grains with desirable quality traits

Creative tourism on islands : a review of the literature

In the last two decades, creative tourism has evolved as a burgeoning field, encompassing a wide range of concepts and practices, in di_erent places around the world. From the very beginning, however, creative tourism has aimed to contribute to sustainable development and increased community wellbeing, as an alternative to mass cultural tourism. With this review article, our main objective is to identify and analyze a body of literature that specifically addresses creative tourism in islands, contributing to fill a gap in the knowledge since no reviews with this focus have yet been undertaken. Our aim is to provide a critical overview of creative tourism experiences at island destinations worldwide, addressing the plurality of empirical contexts and methodological approaches found in academic research. This review highlights the key trends in creative tourism, pointing out two distinct approaches: creative tourism in urban contexts, based on creative events, “cultural clusters” or Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), versus community-focused small-scale tourism experiences in rural contexts. This paper also provides an opportunity to assess the evolution of sustainable creative tourism approaches in islands.CREATOUR AZORES project, funded by FEDER through the operational program AZORES 2020 and by regional funds through the Regional Directorate of Science and Technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable creative tourism on islands and the pandemic: The Creatour Azores project

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt worldwide, the tourism sector was forced to seek ways of reinventing itself. Two decades prior to this crisis, in varied rural areas and island contexts, small-scale, community-based creative tourism had appeared as a sustainable place-making solution to foster place vitality, competitive distinctiveness, regenerative development and destination resilience. From an island perspective, this article presents the theoretical framework, methodological approaches, and empirical practices of the Creatour Azores project, which was carried out in the North Atlantic archipelago of the Azores from 2019-2022. Given this timeframe, the investigators and pilot projects that implemented this research-practice project were confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, which accentuated the isolation and remoteness that tend to characterize islandscapes, especially peripheral islands such as the Azores. At the same time, however, this devastating global pandemic, which impacted the tourism sector especially, ended up offering unexpected opportunities along with special challenges, seeming to underscore the relevance of studies focused on the isolation and remoteness that characterize islandscapes. After describing the project methodologies and practices, as well as the adjustments adopted due to the pandemic, this article considers future possibilities for creative tourism on islands, in general, and in the Azores.N/

CARREIRA DOCENTE EM EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA: HISTÓRIA DE VIDA DE UMA PROFESSORA EMÉRITA

This study examined the implications of personal, training and professional aspects for career development of a Physical Education teacher at the Emeritus stage. Data collection used a semi-structured interview was subjected to content analysis. The teacher’s life history illustrates the intertwining of development paths in which her personal journey is marked by being away from her family for studies and work and by professional improvement represented by her fascination with the initial training course and constant updating through continued education processes in order to improve teaching practice, while her career is supported by significant moments experienced over the five cycles of teaching life.     Este estudio analizó las implicaciones de los recorridos personal, formativo y profesional en el desarrollo de la carrera docente de una profesora de Educación Física en la fase emérita. Para recolectar informaciones se utilizó una entrevista semiestructurada, la cual fue analizada por la técnica de análisis de contenido. La historia de vida de la profesora ilustra cómo se entrelazan los recorridos del desarrollo, donde el recorrido personal es marcado por el alejamiento de la familia por los estudios y el trabajo y el recorrido formativo, representado por el encantamiento con el curso de formación inicial y por la constante actualización a través de procesos de formación continua en servicio y buscando la mejoría de la práctica pedagógica, mientras el recorrido profesional es sustentado por los momentos significativos vividos a lo largo de cinco ciclos de vida docente.Este estudo analisou as implicações dos percursos pessoal, formativo e profissional no desenvolvimento da carreira docente de uma professora de Educação Física na fase emérita. Na coleta das informações utilizou-se uma entrevista semiestruturada, a qual foi analisada pela técnica de análise de conteúdo. A história de vida da professora ilustra os entrelaçamentos dos percursos de desenvolvimento, em que o percurso pessoal é marcado pelo afastamento da família em prol dos estudos e do trabalho e o formativo representado pelo encantamento com o curso de formação inicial e pela constante atualização por meio dos processos de formação continuada em serviço e em prol da melhoria da prática pedagógica, enquanto o percurso profissional é sustentado pelos momentos significativos vivenciados ao longo de cinco ciclos de vida docente.

Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in pigs slaughtered for human consumption, a potential source for Humans?

Objective: To assess the role of pig reservoir as potential transmission vehicle of Salmonella spp. and E. coli to humans, in order to understand the epidemiology and population structure of these zoonotic agents in Portugal.This work was developed within the scope of the strategic project “ResisCampyOH”, supported by FMV-ULHT in 2022-2023.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio