Chemical and physical pretreatments of microalgal biomass

Non-axenic microalga Chlorella sorokiniana was cultivated in batch cultures, and its total sugar composition was determined. The microalga under study showed a total sugar concentration of 21.44 ± 0.46% (w/w). The effects of freeze-drying, oven-drying, freezing and thawing, chemical and the combination of hydrothermal and chemical pretreatments were evaluated. In the combined pretreatment different concentrations of H2SO4 and reaction times were also optimized. It was possible to determine that the sugar extraction yields more significant were 59.5% for the lyophilization, 6.2% with 6 cycles of freeze and thawing and around 100% for 2 and 4% (v/v) of H2SO4 at 121 °C for 30 min. Some of the methods that were described in this study are interesting to facilitate cost-efficient conversion of microalgal biomass into biofuels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

As práticas dos educadores de infância no domínio da matemática

O presente estudo1 pretende compreender as práticas dos Educadores de Infância no domínio da Matemática na Educação Pré-Escolar, uma problemática relevante, dada a influência que as experiências de ensino-aprendizagem neste domínio têm na estruturação do pensamento humano, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento integral da criança. Com este estudo procuramos: i) conhecer as práticas pedagógicas dos Educadores de Infância no domínio da Matemática na Educação Pré-Escolar; ii) averiguar quais as condições de trabalho dos educadores para a realização da sua prática; iii) avaliar as concepções que os educadores têm relativamente à Matemática; iv) caracterizar qual a formação inicial e contínua dos educadores. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, de carácter descritivo, com recurso ao inquérito por questionário para a recolha de informação. Este foi realizado a partir de uma amostra de 217 Educadores de Infância do distrito de Viseu. Tendo em conta os resultados obtidos, verificamos que o domínio da Matemática não é muito valorizado nas práticas dos educadores. Constatamos, ainda, que os Educadores de Infância revelam dificuldades ao nível da didáctica da Matemática, especialmente na abordagem dos conceitos de medidas e grandezas, padrões, números e numeração, e que os mesmos não valorizam, e até excluiriam, os conceitos de padrões e medidas. Ficou também patente a necessidade de os educadores receberem formação na área da Matemática, particularmente ao nível da Educação Pré-Escolar, a fim de poderem criar práticas educativas mais coerentes e eficazes

The Impact of Corporate Rebranding on the Firm's Market Value

Rebranding corresponds to the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors. Increased competition has led firms to an avenue of differentiation, and rebranding has been approached by firms in order to differentiate themselves and to promote the corporate image. Corporate rebranding, although commonly referred in the press, has received little attention from academia. This paper tends to contribute to fill this gap in the academic literature, by analysing the impact that corporate image through rebranding has on the firms' stock market value, using event study methodologies. We focus on firms listed on the Lisbon Stock Market in the period 2000 - February 2009. We do not find evidence of a positive impact of corporate rebranding on firm value, in Portuguese firms. In fact, our results suggest that these events may have a negative impact on firm value, even though our empirical evidence is weak, in supporting this conclusion

Determinants of bank performance in the context of crisis: A panel data analysis for Portugal

Purpose: This research aims to study the determinants of the performance of the Portuguese banking sector, in the period between 2005 and 2011, characterized by economic downturn and by the bailout of Portuguese economy. Design/Methodology/Approach: Bank performance is measured through Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE), following the studies that relies on financial statements. We test the impact of a set of internal factors such as the bank's capital, costs, liquidity, asset quality, size and diversification, and external factors such as GDP, inflation, unemployment and market concentration in the performance of Portuguese banks, using a panel data model with fixed effects for a representative sample of Portuguese banks. Findings: The results showed that the variables with the highest explanatory power on the ROA, in terms of internal determinants were operational costs and liquidity and in terms of external determinants, were GDP and Inflation. For the ROE, the variables with greater significance were the capital, operating costs and liquidity. The variables GDP and Inflation suggested weak significance. Practical Implications: Our results showed that macroeconomic variables such as product growth, inflation and unemployment rate influence the performance of banks, and therefore it is important to monitor these economic indicators in order to incorporate them in the decision-making process. The results obtained for the internal variables, under the control of bank managers, show that liquidity and operating costs are relevant for performance. Originality/Value: The value of this article is that it provides empirical evidence on the determinants of bank performance in the Portuguese banking sector, thus adding to international evidence of country studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nurses' Perceptions of Clinical Decision Making in relation to Patients in Pain

Clinical decision-making (CDM) research has focused on diagnostic reasoning, CDM models, factors influencing CDM and the development of expertise. The research approaches used, including phenomenology, have not addressed the question of how CDM is perceived and approached by nurses. This study describes perceptions of CDM in relation to patients in pain using a phenomenographic methodology. At semi-structured interviews, participants were asked to recall their responses to a situation involving a patient in pain. The responses fell into four categories: (1) the effect of the clinical environment; (2) the role of other health professionals; (3) the place of the patient; and (4) the role of experience. Examples of differences in perceptions that were likely to impact on the nurses� approach to CDM include: the ongoing effects of time and workload demands on CDM; nurses are initially dependent but were eventually able to make decisions autonomously; the patient who may be peripheral or central to CDM; and the nurses� move from the use of theoretical principles to experiential knowledge as reflection-on-practice is employed. Perceptions in all categories are strongly implicated in the nurses� sense of confidence and independence. Implications for nursing practice and nursing education suggested by the findings relate to the number of areas in which graduates work in the first year of practice, the size of new graduate workloads, graduate transition programs, the place of reflection-on-practice and undergraduate (UG) program clinical experience patterns. Among issues for further research arising from the study are: replication of the study; detailed examination of the development of CDM in the first year of nursing practice and during UG nursing education programs; the role of other health professionals in the development of CDM behaviour; the links between CDM and clinical knowledge development; and the type of clinical environments that foster confidence and independence. A conclusion of the study is that the way CDM is approached is influenced by the amount, quality, relevancy and recency of clinical experience. In this study, phenomenography was shown to be an appropriate approach to the description of nurses� perceptions of CDM in relation to patients in pain. In addition, nurses� changing perceptions over two years and the subsequent effect on CDM behaviour were described

Percepção da pessoa com lesão medular sobre sua condição

TCC (graduação em Enfermagem) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Curso de Enfermage

Community-based tourism in Cape Verde - a case study

Community-based tourism is taking its place in the world as an alternative to traditional tourist destinations, especially in developing countries. This form of tourism allows for greater contact with the local community and for the tourist to experience new sensations while enabling the economic and social development of the geographic area. In this paper, the results of fieldwork carried out in the island of Fogo (Cape Verde) are presented, assessing the opinion and perception tourists visiting this island have of both the quality of the services offered by community-based tourism enterprises, as well as the potential of the tourism resources in the area. The main results of the investigation endorse the quality of services offered to tourists by local businesses and highlight the hospitality of the local community, a key element for the development of this kind of tourism, particularly in different african countries. Similarly, it highlights the passenger satisfaction with services received and the need to strengthen the training to tourism staff through aid, for example, international cooperation, NGOs and universities. The originality of this research comes from analysis of the demand made on a concrete island of Cape Verde, a country which is producing a huge economic development through the tourism sector

Avaliação de modelos analíticos para a determinação da absorção sonora de materiais poroelásticos

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológio. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Mecânica, Florianópolis, 2013Materiais porosos flexíveis como espuma, lã de vidro e lã de rocha são amplamente utilizados em tratamentos acústicos. Esses materiais apresentam sua capacidade de absorção sonora devido à dinâmica interna que converte a energia sonora e vibracional em energia térmica. As propriedades físicas desses materiais como resistividade ao fluxo, módulo de elasticidade, porosidade, tortuosidade, fator de perda e coeficiente de Poisson podem ser obtidas experimentalmente e utilizadas nas simulações da absorção sonora. Foram considerados os modelos analíticos de Ingard e de Biot-Dazel para a propagação de ondas em meios porosos e fibrosos. As propriedades físicas macroscópicas de três materiais, melamina, lã de rocha e fibra de vidro, com diferentes densidades foram determinadas experimentalmente. A absorção sonora foi medida em tubo de impedância e comparada com resultados analíticos. As curvas analíticas pelo modelo de Biot Dazel apesentaram melhor concordância com as curvas experimentais que as curvas analíticas geradas pelo modelo de Ingard. A fim de verificar o efeito do ar nos poros dos materiais, o módulo de elasticidade foi determinado com as amostras posicionadas em um ambiente com vácuo, indicando pequena variação do módulo quando na presença do ar. Quando a velocidade relativa do fluido em relação à estrutura è nula, a curva de absorção apresenta um valor mínimo em uma frequência específica. Este efeito foi observado nas curvas experimentais e analíticas 2013-12-06T00:10:42

O cuidado à saúde da pessoa com amputação à luz da bioética

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, Florianópolis, 2013.Abstract : Introduction: The assistance offered to amputated people should provide conditions that favor their integration into society, even with the limitations that were awarded. Knowing this population allows the formation/strengthening of public policy actions, in addition to contextualize health assistance to people with amputation. Objectives: To characterize the amputation surgery undertaken in members except limbs between 2008-2010, occurred into the public hospitals in Florianópolis regarding the type of amputation, sex, age, origin, reason of the complication; to analyze the assistance offered by all professionals in the process of amputation in the perspective of the amputated people; to identify the process of assistance to the health of the amputee in the bioethics perspective. Methodology: A qualitative and quantitative research with a descriptive and exploratory approach. Initially we conducted a research through the examination of logs of the surgeries of amputation, except limbs. The main aspects that were evaluated were related to sex, age, type and year of amputation, reasons of complications and source. Then, we interviewed 18 participants, besides looking at the medical records in order to identify the base on the causes, the associated diseases and some previous amputations. For the quantitative analysis of the data we used the statistical program SEstatNET and for the qualitative analysis we used the thematic content analysis. The Ethics Committee under the No. 95,521; approved the study. Results: The results were divided in two manuscripts; the first entitled "Characterization of the amputation surgery undertaken in public hospitals of reference" were performed 206 amputation surgeries except limbs during the study period. OF them 69.4% (143) men, whose average age was 59.7 years. The amputation causes were related to external causes, vascular disease, gangrene, infectious processes, tumors and other diabetic complications. In the second manuscript entitled: "The health care of the amputated person: under the bioethical analysis" of the 18 participants who were interviewed, twelve were men and about 80% (14) of respondents were older than 50 years old, after the transcription and analysis of the collected material, four categories emerged: the process of amputation; the acting of the professional team, the rehabilitation, the acquisition and use of prosthesis. Discussion: In the first manuscript was found that most men are amputated and they are younger than women. External causes were one of the reasons related to amputation and impacts into young adults, the greater the age exists most probabilities of relationship with a chronic degenerative diseases. It is important for health professionals to establish actions that promote health and reduce the rate of complications. The second manuscript shows the possibility of using bioethics as a reflection on the assistance offered to the amputated people and refers to problematize the relationship between the process of health care with available subsidies through public health policies. Those who suffered an amputation experienced some triggered feelings and the performance of the professional team is essential to the recovery of this person. The amputated person must be informed regarding his/her condition so he/she can exercise autonomy. Final Considerations: The Prevention and the health promotion are essential to reduce the level of amputation; it is necessary that educational practices be adopted. Therefore, think about bioethics in the care context enables to think quality care that affects the success of the recovery of the amputated person

Evolução da população microbiana ao longo do processo de fermentação natural de azeitonas de mesa da cultivar Negrinha de Freixo

A “Azeitona de Conserva Negrinha de Freixo” é um produto de denominação de origem protegida (DOP), da região do Nordeste Transmontano, consumida após tratamento ou em salmoura. Este trabalho pretendeu avaliar a evolução da população microbiana (mesófilos, bactérias lácticas, bolores e leveduras) ao longo do processo de fermentação natural, em salmoura, de azeitonas de mesa da cultivar Negrinha de Freixo. Pretendeu-se ainda identificar morfologicamente e molecularmente, através da amplificação termocíclica da região internal transcribed spacer (ITS) do rDNA nuclear, as espécies de leveduras presentes durante a fermentação e correlacionar a sua presença com os parâmetros químicos avaliados na salmoura (pH e acidez titulável). Os resultados indicam que a fase inicial do processo de fermentação natural é conduzida maioritariamente por leveduras e numa fase posterior também por bactérias lácticas. A identificação de leveduras durante a fermentação permitiu registar um total de 1130 isolados na salmoura e de 1492 na polpa, pertencentes ao género Candida, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Debaryomyces, Galactomyces e Rhodotorula. As espécies mais abundantes na salmoura e polpa de azeitona foram S. cerevisiae, C. tropicalis, P. membranifaciens e C. boidinii. Ao longo do processo de fermentação registaram-se variações na população de leveduras predominando nos primeiros 4 dias C. boidinii na salmoura e P. membranifaciens na polpa, e a partir dos 17 dias S. cerevisiae e C. tropicalis em ambas as matrizes. A diversidade de espécies de leveduras foi superior na salmoura face à polpa, durante todo o processo fermentativo, apresentando valores máximos a partir dos 44-54 dias. A dinâmica populacional das leveduras mostrou estar significativamente correlacionada com o valor de pH e acidez, em que decorre o processo fermentativo. Espera-se que os resultados possam contribuir para a melhoria das condições de fermentação da “Azeitona de Conserva Negrinha de Freixo”, permitindo o aumento da sua qualidade e, simultaneamente, da sua segurança.The “Azeitona de Conserva Negrinha de Freixo” is a product with protected designation of origin (PDO) of the northeastern region of Trás-os-Montes, generally consumed after treatment or in brine. This study intends to assess the evolution of microbial population (mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds) during the natural fermentation process, in brine, of table olive cultivar “Negrinha de Freixo”. It is also intends to identify the yeast species present during the fermentation process, by using both morphological and molecular methods (sequencing of the ITS region of the nuclear rDNA), and correlate them with chemical parameters (pH and titratable acidity) of the brine. The results indicate that the initial phase of the natural fermentation is driven mainly by yeasts and at later stage also by lactic acid bacteria. During the fermentation was identified a total of 1130 yeast isolates in brine and 1492 in the pulp belonging to the genera Candida, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Debaryomyces, Rhodotorula and Galactomyces. The most abundant yeast species in the brine and olive pulp were S. cerevisiae, C. tropicalis, P. membranifaciens and C. boidinii. Yeast population was changed throughout the fermentation process. In the first 4 days, the most abundant species found on brine was C. boidinii and on olive pulp was P. membranifaciens. After 17 days of fermentation, S. cerevisiae and C. tropicalis were the most abundant on both brine and olive pulp. The diversity of yeast species was highest in the brine when compared to the olive pulp, throughout the fermentation process, showing the highest values after 44-54 days of fermentation. The yeasts population dynamics was showed to be significantly correlated with the pH and acidity values that occur during the fermentation process. It is hoped that the results may contribute to the improvement of "Azeitona de Conserva Negrinha de Freixo" fermentation, allowing the increase of their quality and, simultaneously, of their security