"Picos e Avelã à descoberta da floresta do tesouro": Monitorização e análise compreensiva da sua implementação em contexto pré-escolar e de 1º ciclo

Tendo em conta a escassez de estudos sobre materiais de prevenção primária ou universal em torno da problemática do abuso sexual, sobretudo para crianças em idade pré-escolar e 1º ciclo, a presente dissertação apresenta os resultados de uma análise compreensiva sobre a implementação do material didático "Picos e Avelã à descoberta da floresta do tesouro" (Alexandre, Agulhas, & Lopes, 2017). A mesma foi levada a cabo com Educadores de Infância (N = 6) e Psicólogas (N = 3), em contexto de sala de aula, junto de crianças não só do pré-escolar, como de 1º ciclo. Os resultados dos dois estudos foram obtidos através do recurso a uma metodologia qualitativa (entrevistas e folhas de registo). Em geral, os resultados indicam que os participantes consideram que os materiais estão construídos de forma acessível e aplicável para o contexto de Jardim de Infância, podendo os mesmos ser alargados pelo menos até aos oito anos de idade. Como maiores dificuldades destaca-se a sua aplicação para crianças de três anos, sugerindo-se melhorias em pequenos detalhes dos materiais que auxiliam a realização das atividades, assim como que haja a preocupação em relação ao tempo dedicado à implementação (número de sessões e duração das mesmas) e à formação prévia de quem implementa. Esta investigação vem contribuir para a importância que deve ser dada a processos de monitorização, na implementação de materiais pensados para crianças, em concreto, tendo em conta que a qualidade e eficácia dos mesmos dependem, de forma significativa, do recurso a este tipo de avaliação.Given the lack of studies on primary or universal prevention materials around the issue of sexual abuse, especially for preschool and primary school children, this dissertation presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the learning materials "Picos e Avelã à descoberta da floresta do tesouro" (Alexandre, Agulhas, & Lopes, 2017). This dissertation was carried out with Childhood Educators (N = 6) and Psychologists (N = 3), in a classroom setting, with children from both preschool and primary school. The results of both studies were obtained through the usage of a qualitative methodology (interviews and record sheets). In general, the results indicate that the participants consider the materials to be affordable and applicable to kindergarten context, and may be extended to at least eight years of age. The biggest difficulties are its application for children of three years, suggesting improvements in small details of the materials that support the activities, as well as the concern about the time devoted to implementation (number of sessions and duration and the prior training of the implementer). This research emphasizes the importance that should be given to monitoring processes in the implementation of materials designed for children, especially considering that their quality and effectiveness depends significantly on the usage of this type of evaluation

Destination management systems: creation of value for visitors of tourism destinations

Considering the important role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism, a growing number of destination management organisations (DMOs) have been adopting more complex destination web-applications/websites to tourism destinations – destination management systems (DMSs). However, the concept of DMS is far from being consensual. The present study aims to clarify the concept of DMS by identifying the main differences between DMS and other DMO web-applications/websites regarding functionalities targeted at potential visitors of destinations. This study is carried out based on a comparison between DMS-specific and DMS-non-specific sources (papers and book chapters). The results suggest that the major difference between DMS and more traditional DMO websites relies in the transaction dimension. While DMS-non-specific reviewed sources tend to focus more on informational functionalities, DMS-specific studies clearly highlight transaction tools. The study highlights the need to develop DMS including a more varied range of transactional and communication/relationship functionalities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Validação para a população portuguesa do instrumento C3 e da escala PPOS e caracterização do currículo oculto da FCS-UBI em relação ao cuidado centrado no paciente

Introdução: O cuidado centrado no paciente tem vindo a ser proposto como um método clínico com contribuição fundamental para a qualidade dos serviços de saúde. Assim, ao longo do tempo, tem-se vindo a constatar a importância de transmitir aos estudantes de medicina conceitos relacionados com este tipo de cuidado no seu relacionamento com os doentes. No entanto, vários estudos demonstram um declínio nos comportamentos e atitudes centradas no paciente em estudantes de medicina ao longo do seu percurso académico. Por trás destes achados poderá estar a influência negativa do currículo oculto. Conhecer e reflectir sobre o currículo oculto de uma escola médica é o primeiro passo no caminho para o modificar e/ou minimizar os seus potenciais efeitos negativos na formação médica. Assim, em 2005, foi desenvolvido e validado em língua inglesa o Instrumento C3, um questionário que pretende caracterizar o currículo oculto de uma escola médica no que diz respeito ao cuidado centrado no paciente; sempre que se aplicou este questionário, foram também avaliadas as atitudes dos estudantes face à relação médico-paciente, através da escala PPOS. Objectivos: validar e adaptar para a população portuguesa o Instrumento C3 e a escala PPOS; caracterizar o Currículo Oculto da FCS-UBI no domínio dos cuidados centrados no paciente. Material e métodos: após autorização dos autores de ambos os questionários para os validar e aplicar, foi efectuado um rigoroso processo de tradução, retroversão e pré-teste das duas escalas em estudo. Os questionários foram aplicados aos alunos do 5º e 6º ano do MIM da FCS-UBI. Foram também recolhidos alguns dados demográficos, com intuito de melhor caracterizar a população estudada. As respostas foram analisadas estatisticamente, aplicando conceitos de análise de validade e fiabilidade (AFE e coeficiente alfa de Cronbach), descritiva e inferencial (MANCOVA). Resultados: O instrumento C3 e a escala PPOS foram aplicados a 145 alunos, conseguindo-se uma taxa de resposta de 94%. O Instrumento C3 em língua portuguesa apresentou uma boa consistência interna em todas as dimensões estudadas. O mesmo não se verificou no caso da escala PPOS, tendo sido identificados problemas ao nível da validade, com a AFE a identificar 6 dimensões na escala; e ao nível da fiabilidade, com estas dimensões, bem como as descritas pelos autores da versão original, a apresentarem baixas consistências internas. Conclusão: Relativamente à escala PPOS, recomenda-se que apenas se considerem os resultados obtidos na totalidade da escala e não aqueles obtidos nas duas dimensões originalmente descritas ou nas descritas neste estudo. A versão em Língua Portuguesa do Instrumento C3 provou ser um ferramenta válida e fiável para caracterizar o currículo oculto de uma escola médica no domínio do cuidado centrado no paciente. Na FCS-UBI, o currículo oculto parece ser comparável ao de outros países nas três áreas avaliadas pelo Instrumento C3, apesar de uma análise mais detalhada evidenciar alguns pontos em que a instituição de ensino deverá desenvolver estratégias que procurem modificá-lo ou minimizar os seus efeitos negativos sobre o desenvolvimento humano e profissional dos seus estudantes.Introduction: Patient-centred care has been proposed as a fundamental clinical method contributing towards the quality of healthcare. In this context, the importance of conveying concepts related to this type of care to medical students in their relationship with patients has been acknowledged. However, several studies have shown a decline in patient-centred behaviours and attitudes in medical students, throughout their academic pathway. The negative influence of a hidden curriculum may underlie these results. To get to know and reflect upon the hidden curriculum of a medical school is the first step in the path towards modifying it and/or minimizing its potential negative effects upon medical training. Thus, in 2005, the C3 tool was developed and validated in the English language. C3 is a questionnaire which aims to characterize the hidden curriculum of a medical school as far as patientcentred care is concerned. Whenever this questionnaire was applied, student attitudes in terms of doctor-patient relationship were also analysed using the PPOS scale. Objectives: to validate and adapt the C3 tool and the PPOS scale to the portuguese population and to characterize the hidden curriculum in FCS-UBI in what concerns patientcentred care. Material and methods: Upon obtaining authorisation from the authors of both questionnaires to validate and apply them, a rigorous process of translation, back-translation and pre-testing of both scales under study was carried out. Questionnaires were applied to year 5 and year 6 students of the FCS-UBI medical course. Some demographic data was also taken, in order to better characterize the population under study. Responses were analysed statistically, by applying concepts of validity and reliability tests (AFE and Cronbach´s alpha coefficient), as well as descriptive and inferential tests (MANCOVA). Results: The C3 Instrument and PPOS were completed for 145 students, with a response rate of 94%. C3 Instrument revealed a good internal consistency in all the studied dimensions. The same was not true for PPOS – we found validity issues, with the factorial exploratory analysis identifying 6 dimensions in the scale; the majority of these dimensions as well as the two previously described by the authors of the scale presented poor internal consistencies. Conclusion: we believe that the PPOS’s original dimensions and the ones found in this study should not be used to evaluate Portuguese medical students’ attitudes towards patientcentred care. The Portuguese version of C3 Instrument proved to be a valid and reliable tool to characterize the patient-centredness of hidden curricula in medical schools. The results at FCS-UBI seem to be comparable to the ones found in USA medical schools; after a more detailed analysis, we found some points where some intervention is needed to modify it or to decrease its negative impact upon human and professional development of medical students

A study about web accessibility in Portuguese museums: How to overcome the main difficulties

Museums and their websites are an important component in the promotion of accessible tourism. However, some problems related to web accessibility may raise great barriers to the practice of tourism by people with disabilities. This study evaluates the level of website accessibility of museums located in Portugal, as it illustrates the importance of information being presented in an accessible way. A sample of 575 websites was analysed based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, using an automatic web diagnostic tool (AccessMonitor). This analysis was performed considering the A, AA, and AAA conformance levels of WCAG. Currently the state of web accessibility levels is medium, and there are still constraints that make information gathering difficult for visitors with disabilities. After the barriers are identified, proposals to design more accessible websites are presented. These proposals contribute to making museums’ online information accessible to all people, independently of their needs and functional limitations

Phylogenetic analysis and in-depth characterization of functionally and structurally diverse CE5 cutinases

Cutinases are esterases that release fatty acids from the apoplastic layer in plants. As they accept bulky and hydrophobic substrates, cutinases could be used in many applications, ranging from valorization of bark-rich side streams to plastic recycling. Advancement of these applications, however, requires deeper knowledge of cutinases’ biodiversity and structure–function relationships. Here, we mined over 3000 members from carbohydrate esterase family 5 for putative cutinases and condensed it to 151 genes from known or putative lignocellulose-targeting organisms. The 151 genes were subjected to a phylogenetic analysis, which showed that cutinases with available crystal structures were phylogenetically closely related. We then selected nine phylogenic diverse cutinases for recombinant production and characterized their kinetic activity against para-nitrophenol substrates esterified with consecutively longer alkyl chains (pNP-C2 to C16). Each investigated cutinase had a unique activity fingerprint against the tested pNP substrates. The five enzymes with the highest activity on pNP-C12 and C16, indicative of activity on bulky hydrophobic compounds, were selected for in-depth kinetic and structure–function analysis. All five enzymes showed a decrease in kcat values with increasing substrate chain length, whereas KM values and binding energies (calculated from in silico docking analysis) improved. Two cutinases from Fusarium solani and Cryptococcus sp. exhibited outstandingly low KM values, resulting in high catalytic efficiencies toward pNP-C16. Docking analysis suggested that different clades of the phylogenetic tree may harbor enzymes with different modes of substrate interaction, involving a solvent-exposed catalytic triad, a lipase-like lid, or a clamshell-like active site possibly formed by flexible loops

The role of social organisations in the promotion of recreation and tourism activities for people with special needs

Although leisure and tourism are recognised as rights for all people, many people with special needs (PwSN) still have very limited opportunities for participating in these activities. Social organisations (SO) are potential mediators between the tourism industry and this market, especially for reducing barriers to participation. However, there is a lack of research on the role these organisations perform as facilitators of access to leisure and tourism. This paper aims to identify the difficulties faced and strategies adopted by SO when developing recreation and tourism activities, as well as the benefits of these activities for PwSN. A qualitative approach was adopted, namely semi-structured interviews with representatives of Portuguese SO working with PwSN. The findings highlight that Portuguese SO have had a dynamic and proactive behaviour in the development of recreation and tourism activities, contributing to increased access of PwSN to tourism activities, especially for people belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged groups. However, the results also show that SO face several constraints, specifically financial constraints, lack of specialised human resources and the lack of suitable tourism supply (e.g. accommodation, transportation) for this market. The paper ends with strategies that these organisations may adopt to cope with these constraints.This research was funded by the project ACTION – Accessible Tourism: Co-Creation of Tourism Experiences Through Web-Based Intelligent Systems, funded by FEDER, through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030376), and by national funds (OE), through FCT/MCTES (PTDC/EGE-OGE/30376/2017publishe

Reasons for Declining Venom Immunotherapy

Introduction: Hymenoptera venom allergy is associated with significant morbidity and deterioration in health-related quality of life, and risk of fatal systemic reactions. Although venom immunotherapy is safe and the only effective treatment in allergic individuals, some patients prefer not to pursue this treatment. Since 2011, when the 50% reimbursement was stopped, patients must fully support the cost of immunotherapy. This study aimed to ascertain the reasons why patients decline immunotherapy. Material and Methods: A medical records review of all patients proposed to receive venom immunotherapy at an Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department in Porto, Portugal, between 2006 and 2015, followed by a phone interview to patients refusing treatment. Results: A total of 83 subjects were enrolled, with a mean (± SD) age of 44.4 (14.7) years and 55 (66%) males; 27 refused venom immunotherapy between 2006 and 2015. Nineteen were interviewed and 14 of those stated price as the main reason for declining treatment. The only identified risk factor associated with immunotherapy refusal was being proposed after 2011 (OR: 3.29; 95% CI: 1.12 – 9.68; p = 0.03). Discussion: The number of patients refusing venom immunotherapy doubled since reimbursement was withdrawn. Price was identified as the major obstacle to treatment completion. Immunotherapy proposal after reimbursement was stopped was associated with a 3-fold increase in the risk of refusing treatment. Conclusion: These findings show how economic decisions may have a detrimental effect on patient care, as immunotherapy refusal left them exposed to an avoidable life-threatening risk

Caracterização do betão da Ponte Luiz Bandeira em Sejães

A Ponte Luiz Bandeira, localizada na N333-3 sobre o Rio Vouga próxima da localidade de Sejães (Oliveira de Frades), é hoje considerada como a mais antiga ponte de betão armado em utilização no nosso país, e uma das mais velhas da Europa. Segundo relatos históricos, a ponte terá sido construída num tempo recorde de 3 meses pela empresa Moreira de Sá & Malevez, em 1907. Esta ponte em arco, com um vão de cerca de 44 m, foi construída de acordo com o sistema patenteado Hennebique datado do final do século XIX. Cerca de 50 anos após a construção da ponte, esta sofreu obras de requalificação tendo os diversos elementos estruturais sido reforçados por encamisamento, i.e. adição de novas armaduras e aumento das secções de betão. Apesar da idade e do reduzido número de intervenções, a ponte apresenta, de uma forma geral, um nível de danos relativamente reduzido. Nos últimos tempos o Departamento de Engenharia Civil da Universidade do Minho tem vindo a efectuar diversos estudos a esta ponte envolvendo diversas entidades públicas e privadas, de forma a caracterizar a técnica de construção utilizada, os materiais utilizados, e o desempenho estrutural da ponte. No âmbito do presente trabalho, é feita uma descrição das metodologias usadas, bem como os principais resultados obtidos na caracterização do betão existente na ponte. Esta caracterização foi realizada para os diferentes elementos estruturais que compõem a ponte e a diferentes níveis, nomeadamente: geométrica, mecânica e material. Neste artigo é apresentado o contributo para a caracterização material do betão original empregue na ponte. Assim, é determinado a composição física do traço (relação entre o teor de material inerte e de ligante), composição química do ligante e do agregado, bem como a distribuição granulométrica e a mineralogia deste último. Adicionalmente, foi caraterizado do ponto de vista químico o aço original. Pretende-se, desta forma, contribuir para a actualização do estado do conhecimento sobre pontes em betão armado construídas no início do século passado