Predictors of hotel clients’ satisfaction in the Cape Verde Islands

Tourism has been fundamental for countries’ economic development, and Africa is the destination with the biggest tourism growth potential. Using 1414 travelers’ online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the present work aims to understand which variables predict the satisfaction of Cape Verde’s hotel clients. Satisfaction was analyzed using sentiment analysis and ANOVA to predict the effect of the gathered variables on clients’ satisfaction. Results indicate that 90% of the clients revealed positive satisfaction and that nationality, date of stay, and previous traveler experiences affect satisfaction. Contrarily to our predictions, there is no statistically significant evidence that gender influences satisfaction. The findings of this study will help hotel marketing managers to align their strategies accordingly and meet their clients’ expectations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desempenho produtivo de caprinos mestiços da raça Anglo-Nubiana, no Acre.

O experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda Experimental do Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal do Acre - CPAF-Acre, localizada no município de Rio Branco. Foram utilizados inicialmente 20 matrizes e dois reprodutores mestiços da raça An-glo-nubiana, criados em regime semi-intensivo de exploração, tendo como base alimentar pastagens de colonião (Panicum maximum) e brizantão (Brachiaria brizan-tha). O sistema de acasalamento adotado foi o da monta natural a campo, onde o macho permanecia com as fêmeas durante todo o ano. Foram obtidos os índices de prolificidade (1,26%) natalidade (125,2 %); fertilidade ao parto (87,5%); intervalo entre partos (266,2 dias); proporção sexual (50%); mortalidade de 0-6 meses (14,63%); peso ao nascer para machos (2,81 i<g), para fêmeas (2,71 kg) e fêmeas com três partos em dois anos (7,9%). Ocorreram parições em quase todos os meses do ano (exceto setembro), com uma maior concentração no período de junho a agosto (413%). As cabras que tiveram parto duplo apresentaram um peso ao parto maior (P< 0,01), em relação àquelas com panos simples. Conclui-se que o desempenho reprodutivo do rebanho estudado foi bom, podendo, no entanto, atingir índices mais elevados, desde que se introduzam, no sistema de criação, algumas práticas de manejo reprodutivo e melhores condições nutriclonais.bitstream/item/161362/1/975.pd

A semiautomated microfluidic platform for real-time investigation of nanoparticles' cellular uptake and cancer cells' tracking

Aims: develop a platform composed of labeled dendrimer nanoparticles and a microfluidic device for real-time monitoring of cancer cells fate. Materials and Methods: The physicochemical and biological characterization of the developed Carboxymethyl-chitosan/poly(amidoamine) (CMCht/PAMAM) dendrimer nanoparticles were performed using TEM, AFM, Zeta Sizer, DSC and cytotoxicity screening. Cancer cell lines derived from different tumor types, including HeLa (Cervical Carcinoma), HCT-116 (Colon Carcinoma) and U87MG (Glioblastoma), were exposed to different concentrations of CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles over a period of 3 days (MTS/DNA). Results: Nanoparticles were successfully modified with an average size of 50 nm. Internalization levels go from 87% to 100% in static and from 95% to 100% in dynamic conditions. Viability levels range from 95% to 100% in static and from 90% to 100% in dynamic conditions, being HCT the most sensitive to the presence of the NP. Conclusions: the results show different responses to the presence of 0.5 mg.mL-1 dendrimer nanoparticles when comparing static to dynamic conditions, with a tendency towards higher sensitivity when subjected to confinement. This work demonstrated that the proposed microfluidic-based platform allows real-time cell monitoring, which, upon more studies, namely the assessment of the drug release effect, could be used for cancer theranostics.FR Maia acknowledges ERC-2012-ADG 20120216–321266 (ComplexiTE) for her Postdoc scholarship. JM Oliveira thanks Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for his distinction attributed under the FCT Investigator program (IF/00423/2012). BM Costa also thanks Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/SAU-GMG/113795/2009 and IF/00601/2012 to BM Costa), Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (BM Costa) and Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro (BM Costa). MR Carvalho also thanks the funding through the LA ICVS/3Bs project (UID/Multi/50026/2013). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies. I. Sample Selection, Properties and Completeness

This is the first in a series of papers describing the recently completed all-sky redshift-distance survey of nearby early-type galaxies (ENEAR) carried out for peculiar velocity analysis. The sample is divided into two parts and consists of 1607 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with cz < 7000 km/s and with blue magnitudes brighter than m_B=14.5 (ENEARm), and of galaxies in clusters (ENEARc). Galaxy distances based on the Dn-sigma and Fundamental Plane (FP) relations are now available for 1359 and 1107 ENEARm galaxies, respectively, with roughly 80% based on new data gathered by our group. The Dn-sigma and FP template distance relations are derived by combining 569 and 431 galaxies in 28 clusters, respectively, of which about 60% are based on our new measurements. The ENEARm redshift-distance survey extends the earlier work of the 7S and the recent Tully-Fisher surveys sampling a comparable volume. In subsequent papers of this series we intend to use the ENEAR sample by itself or in combination with the SFI Tully-Fisher survey to analyze the properties of the local peculiar velocity field and to test how sensitive the results are to different sampling and to the distance indicators. We also anticipate that the homogeneous database assembled will be used for a variety of other applications and serve as a benchmark for similar studies at high-redshift.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa

Redshift-distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies: The D_n-sigma Relation

In this paper R-band photometric and velocity dispersion measurements for a sample of 452 elliptical and S0 galaxies in 28 clusters are used to construct a template D_n-sigma relation. This template relation is constructed by combining the data from the 28 clusters, under the assumption that galaxies in different clusters have similar properties. The photometric and spectroscopic data used consist of new as well as published measurements, converted to a common system, as presented in a accompanying paper. The resulting direct relation, corrected for incompleteness bias, is log{D_n} =1.203 log{sigma} + 1.406; the zero-point has been defined by requiring distant clusters to be at rest relative to the CMB. This zero-point is consistent with the value obtained by using the distance to Virgo as determined by the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. This new D_n-sigma relation leads to a peculiar velocity of -72 (\pm 189) km/s for the Coma cluster. The scatter in the distance relation corresponds to a distance error of about 20%, comparable to the values obtained for the Fundamental Plane relation. Correlations between the scatter and residuals of the D_n-sigma relation with other parameters that characterize the cluster and/or the galaxy stellar population are also analyzed. The direct and inverse relations presented here have been used in recent studies of the peculiar velocity field mapped by the ENEAR all-sky sample.Comment: 46 pages, 20 figures, and 7 tables. To appear in AJ, vol. 123, no. 5, May 200