Determinants of default: empirical evidence from portuguese small and medium-sized manufacturing firms

Previous studies focus on modelling credit default in the bank perspective when analysing the bank-customer relationship. Inversely, this paper aims to develop a credit scoring model that could be used by SMEs, and that improves their knowledge about their default risk. Using data of 1260 Portuguese Manufacturing SMEs, over the period of 1998-2006, the results show that the probability of non-default is an increasing function of profitability, liquidity, coverage and activity, and a decreasing function of leverage. Concerning qualitative factors, the results report that smaller firms and firms with just one bank relationship have a higher probability of default. The analysis of management quality and ownership factors demonstrate that firms where the owner is at the same time the manager and non-family firms are more financially secure in terms of the Probability of Non-Default. Moreover, the performance and qualitative measures for the model developed show that the model is accurate.Estudos prévios focam-se, essencialmente, em analisar o risco de crédito na perspectiva do banco, quando investigam a relação entre o cliente e este. Contrariamente, este paper pretende desenvolver um modelo de credit scoring que possa ser usado pelas Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PMEs) e que melhore o seu conhecimento sobre o risco de incumprimento. Usando dados de 1260 PMEs Portuguesas que operam no sector transformador durante o período de 1998 a 2006, os resultados do modelo mostram que a probabilidade de cumprimento no próximo ano é uma função crescente da rentabilidade, liquidez, cobertura e actividade e uma função decrescente do endividamento. Tendo em conta os factores qualitativos, os resultados indicam que as pequenas empresas e empresas com apenas uma relação bancária têm uma elevada probabilidade de incumprimento. A análise dos factores de qualidade de gestão e de propriedade mostram que as empresas onde o proprietário é simultaneamente o gestor e empresas não familiares são mais seguras financeiramente em termos de probabilidade de cumprimento

Gastronomy and Wines in the Alentejo Portuguese Region: Motivation and Satisfaction of Tourists from Évora

Abstract: Food and winemaking are a recognized tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Portugal. From the relationship between these two components, a strategic product emerged with a considerable potential for tourism industry, which is not ignored by many of tourism organizations. This chapter intends to analyze food and winemaking from a tourism demand perspective. Particularly, this study describes visitors’ profile, including, their motivations, their knowledge about the enological and gastronomic resources and the degree of satisfaction. A total of 308 questionnaires were collected between February and May of 2012, from the visitors that visited the historic center of Évora (Alentejo-Portugal). Results reveal a visitor profile associated with regional cuisine and wine products from Portugal. Moreover, visitors’ evidenced a high level of knowledge regarding the Portuguese cuisine and regional wines; although this not matches with their primary motivation for visit the city of Évora. R. Amara

Perceções da Motivação e da Satisfação para uma melhor qualidade no Trabalho: O caso do Hotel Convento do Espinheiro

Diversos autores (Day e Peters, 1994; Evans e Lindsay, 2002) têm-se confrontado com o conceito de qualidade nos serviços, como um meio que tende a divulgar a eficácia e eficiência dos mesmos. A noção de qualidade denota, atualmente, uma estratégia de competitividade e um agente para o desenvolvimento sustentado, de modo a responder às expetativas dos consumidores. No setor turístico, esse desenvolvimento ambiciona-se que seja em harmonia com um turismo melhor e de mais qualidade (Cândido, 2005). O objetivo do presente trabalho consiste em avaliar a qualidade de uma organização do setor turístico na região do Alentejo (Évora), do ponto de vista dos colaboradores internos e superiores hierárquicos, através da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário, com vista à obtenção de melhorias contínuas em todas as áreas organizacionais. A importância que a satisfação e a motivação têm no ambiente de trabalho faz com que todas as práticas de gestão formem uma estrutura coerente, que é aperfeiçoada constantemente, e que sustenta o desempenho da estratégia pretendida para a organização

Transplante hepático sequencial: o fim de uma técnica cirúrgica?

Trabalho final de mestrado integrado em Medicina (cirurgia geral), apresentado à Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra.O Transplante Hepático Sequencial (THS) utilizando fígados de doentes com Polineuropatia Amiloidótica Familiar (PAF) é um procedimento cirúrgico introduzido inicialmente em Portugal em 1995 com vista a ultrapassar a crescente escassez de órgãos. Desde então já foram realizados 1085 THS de acordo com «Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy World Tranplant Registry», dados de 31 de Dezembro de 2012. Estudos realizados demonstram excelentes resultados a curto e médio prazo, contudo, é agora demonstrado nesta pesquisa que a sintomatologia PAF ocorre em média 7.6 anos após o transplante. Este estudo reveste-se de particular importância uma vez que englobou doentes com um tempo de follow-up médio de 8.5 anos, o que nos permitiu averiguar as consequências a longo-prazo desta técnica cirúrgica. A amostra avaliada consistiu em 72 doentes seguidos no Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC) que receberam THS/PAF entre Outubro de 1995 e Novembro de 2010. A análise de factores implicados no aparecimento e evolução de Polineuropatia Familiar Adquirida (PNAA) realçou potenciais características benéficas como a presença do vírus da hepatite C. Contrariamente, constatou-se que a idade do receptor e consumo de álcool contribuem para uma evolução mais precoce de PNAA, assim como, doença avançada no dador. A sobrevida dos pacientes após o THS/PAF foi de 76.8%, 62.5% e 33.9% aos 1, 5 e 10 anos e a função do enxerto estava preservada em 90.7% e 93.3% aos 1 e 10 anos respectivamente. A pesquisa e identificação de factores que facilitem o depósito da amilóide e acelere a neuropatia são uma mais-valia quer para a compreensão mais aprofundada do mecanismo da doença, quer para uma selecção mais cuidadosa de potenciais receptores e dadores.Sequential Liver Transplantation (THS) using livers from patients with Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy (PAF) is a surgical procedure first developed in Portugal in 1995 in order to overcome the growing scarcity of organs. Since then, 1085 THS have been made according to data from the "Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy World Transplant Registry” that dates of 31th December 2012. Studies show excellent results in short and medium term, however, it is now shown in this study that the PAF symptoms occurs in average 7.6 years after transplantation. This study was of particular importance as it included patients with a mean follow-up time of 8.5 years, which allowed us to investigate the consequences of this surgical technique in long term. The analyzed sample consisted of 72 patients followed at the “Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra” (CHUC) who received THS / PAF between October 1995 and November 2010. The analysis of the factors involved in the onset and progression of Acquired Amyloid Polyneuropathy (PNAA) highlighted the potential beneficial features such as the presence of hepatitis C virus. In contrast, it was found that the age of the recipient and alcohol consumption contribute to an earlier evolution of PNAA, as well as advanced disease in the donor. Patient survival after THS / PAF was 76.8%, 62.5% and 33.9% at 1, 5 and 10 years and graft function was preserved in 90.7% and 93.3% at 1 and 10 years respectively. Research and identification of factors that facilitate the deposit of amyloid and accelerate the neuropathy are an asset both for the better understanding of the disease mechanism, as for a more careful selection of potential recipients and donors

Highly skilled portuguese professionals: who are they and what moves them out of the country? profiles, factors and motivations

In the context of the financial and social-economic crisis, Portugal has recently been the scene of massive outflow of professionals who seek/find employment alternatives in other countries. Also the young-adults most skilled are being affected by this lack of opportunities. Who they are and what moves this highly skilled population out of the country? Based on the outputs of an online inquiry applied to a wide network of these emigrants with higher education degree, we propose both the understanding of conditions – pull and push factors – as the knowledge of the characteristics, motivations, trajectories, strategies and ways of life of the emigrants` profile

AcademiaUP: Empowering Distance Education at University of Porto

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for online. University of Porto (U.Porto), established an unit of Educational Technologies 20 years ago and after an accumulated experience in providing an Learning Management Systems (LMS) to support face-to-face teaching and learning (T&L), in 2016, the U.Porto developed AcademiaUP, a portal and a LMS platform for the delivery of e-learning and blended learning courses. Based on LMS Moodle, AcademiaUP considers the specificities of deployment and creation of distance education contents and materials, as well as the target audience characteristics. Moodle was chosen because our acquired experience but also for its maturity, for being open source and fully customizable and for a large support community.AcademiaUP, has an extensively customized interface and technical infrastructure. It integrates with external tools, BigBlueButton to better respond to synchronous online communication and Panopto for lecture capture and video production. AcademiaUP uses new plugins and a new theme to improve usability and enable a more suitable navigation for formal and non-formal T&L environments - sequential content delivery and contextual presentation of activities and resources. When designing the new LMS for AcademiaUP we were inspired in Coursera Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) approach for the marketing of the courses and in Open2Study for the delivering of the courses. All changes, however, avoided altering Moodle's core code, allowing for easier upgrades whenever newer Moodle versions are available.For the future, we intend to integrate AcademiaUP with the University information system to improve consistency of courses and users essential to accreditation procedures and quality assurance

MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION IN CONTEXT OF JOB TRAINING IN TOURIST ORGANIZATIONS

This research aims to determine the dimensions of motivation and satisfaction, acquired, through the perception in context of job training, by future technicians (students) in the hospitality and tourism industry, particularly by technical courses in the hotel and restaurant sector. The methodology comprises three distinct stages. First were recovered instruments (questionnaires), already validated by other authors of motivation and satisfaction, which had the intention to replicate studies conducted in other scientific knowledge fields, such as tourism. Those instruments were recovered from the reviewed literature conducted about other themes. On second place the measuring instruments were submitted to a pre-test, or rather, were subject of a pioneer study, in order to verify other assumptions such as semantic errors or see if there was the possibility of some prepared questions to be consider invalidated by poor formulation or interpretation. Finally, were applied in three educational institutions who agreed to cooperate on the research, with the reservation that the interviewed needed a mandatory pre-requirement that consisted in conducting a minimum training in work context (TWC). Then, proceed the statistical analysis to support all the empirical part. The results show that, in general, motivation and satisfaction were present during the period of training in work context. To some people it meant a very important period of personal and professional life, concerning the interactions, emotions and involvement with touristic organizations but also the personal and social relationships

QUALITY PERCEPTIONS IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION – THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRAINING WHILE PROVIDING A SERVICE

The present article is intended to evaluate the quality of training and initial vocational qualification of young people, of professional courses secondary levels, with school accreditation and professional qualification of level IV. In that sense, it´s intended to know the perspective of students of professional courses in various areas of knowledge, their perceptions and expectations about the quality observed in a vocational education organization in Alentejo – Portugal through the SERVQUAL methodology. With this work it is shown that, on the one hand, the continuous improvement in the quality of vocational training process brings new approaches and best strategies in order to achieve competitive and sustainable development. On the other, it was found that the need for investment in quality management systems must not be separated from the acquisition of specific knowledge, justifying the analysis of perceptions of trainees in vocational education

Essential and non-essential trace metals in scalp hair of men chronically exposed to volcanogenic metals in the Azores, Portugal

Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Volcanoes produce and release large amounts of toxicants, and the concentration of metals in hair can be used as a biomarker of exposure to trace metals. In order to investigate whether humans exposed to volcanic emissions demonstrate higher concentrations of essential and non-essential trace metals, scalp hair of men (3–89 years) living in two areas of the Azores, one exposed to volcanic emissions and the other not, was sampled, and their content in Cd, Cu, Pb, Rb, Se, and Zn was quantified by using High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. In average, men exposed to volcanic emissions presented higher concentrations of Cd (96.9 ppb), Cu (16.2 ppm), Pb (3417.6 ppb), Rb (216.3 ppb), and Zn (242.8 ppm), but not Se (469.6 ppb). Also, strong and significant correlations were found between Cd–Rb and Pb–Rb in the exposed men. In conclusion, humans living chronically exposed to volcanic emissions show high concentrations of essential and non-essential trace metals in scalp hair, and is suggested that this type of exposure may be as harmful as living close to industrial facilities.CIRN (University of the Azores), and DRCT (Government of the Azores). André F. S. Amaral was supported by a Postdoctoral grant from FCT (SFRH/BPD/27136/2006)

Formação inicial de Educadores de Infância: competências e práticas matemáticas sobre padrões

Tese de mestrado em Educação (Didáctica da Matemática), apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2008A presente investigação assenta na seguinte questão: Como é que as educadoras de infância, em formação inicial, colocam em prática os conhecimentos matemáticos sobre padrões, dando resposta ao desenvolvimento das crianças? Depois de proceder à análise dos relatórios de estágio do 3º ano das alunas do curso de Educação de Infância, foram seleccionados os participantes, sendo estes três alunas estagiárias que frequentavam, no decorrer da investigação, o 4º ano do curso de Educadores de Infância (2005-2006). De acordo com o paradigma qualitativo, para a recolha de dados foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: análise dos relatórios de estágio; entrevista exploratória; observação naturalista na sala do jardim-de-infância e reflexões de grupo de estágio. Privilegiando a abordagem reflexiva durante o estágio, a análise incidiu no desenvolvimento das competências que as educadoras do 4º ano revelam sobretudo no domínio de padrões e regularidades. Os resultados obtidos foram descritos e ilustrados com respostas, figuras, comentários e diálogos resultantes das reflexões e observações realizadas às alunas estagiárias. No que respeita às conclusões, emergem por um lado a necessidade de maior clarificação no âmbito da abordagem dos padrões nas Orientações Curriculares para a Educação Pré-escolar, por outro lado, uma abordagem mais significativa sobre o tema padrões no plano curricular da disciplina de Matemática do curso de Educação de Infância. Foi igualmente possível constatar que a prática das alunas foi sendo alterada conseguindo trabalhar padrões com crianças em idade pré-escolar de forma mais confiante e ajustada às capacidades destas. Também o conhecimento didáctico sobre o tema padrões foi gradualmente evoluindo em consequência das reflexões realizadas no grupo de estágio bem como das leituras feitas pelas alunas sobre a referida temática. Em suma, a criação de momentos de reflexão e de pesquisa que possibilitem a partilha de ideias e a realização de leituras complementares revelou ser um aspecto fundamental na promoção da qualidade das práticas pedagógicas no âmbito da abordagem dos padrões. Aliado a esta conclusão, sugere-se a criação de um espaço de apoio à prática profissional, com materiais e com alguém especializado que esteja mais próximo das dificuldades manifestadas pelas educadoras na formação inicial, revelando ser um contributo para a qualidade pedagógica relativamente ao domínio da matemática no início da actividade profissional.The present research has been carried out based on the following question: How might kinder garden educators, during their initial training, put into practice their mathematical knowledge of Patterns, while answering to the development of the children? After carrying out an analysis of the internship reports of the 3rd year students on the course of Infant Education, the participants were selected. They were three internship students who were attending the 4th year of the course of infant education (2005-2006).In order with the qualitative paradigm, the following instruments were used to collect data: analysis of intern reports; exploratory interviews; naturalist observations and group reflections. Privileging the reflexive approach during the period of inter ship, the analysis happened in the development of the abilities that the educators of 4º year over all disclose in the domain of patterns and regularities. The results obtained were described and illustrated with some of the answers, figures, comments and the resulting dialogues of reflection and observation carried out by the students. As far as conclusions are concerned, certain implications emerge in the area of approaches to Patterns in Curricular Orientations for Pré-School Education, encouraging, on the other hand, a more significant approach to the theme of patterns in the curricular plan in the subject of Mathematics in the course of Infant Education. It was equally possible to contest that students' practices were being altered by managing to work on Patterns with children of pre-school age in a more confident manner and adjusting to their capacities. Furthermore, the didactic knowledge on the theme of Patterns gradually evolved as a consequence of the reflections carried out, as well as the reading done by students on the theme in question. To sum up, the creation of moments of reflection and research which make possible the sharing of ideas and the carrying out of complementary readings has been shown to be a fundamental aspect in the promotion of quality in pedagogic practices in the area of approaches to Patterns. Allied to this conclusion is the need for the creation of a support space, with materials and with a specialised individual who is closer to the difficulties manifested by the educators during initial training, which has been shown to be a contribution to pedagogic quality with reference to the area of mathematics in the beginning of professional activities