Student Satisfaction in Polytechnic Higher Education: Assessment Model Based on the ECSI Index

The assessment of student satisfaction is an integral part of the concerns of those responsible for Higher Education Institutions. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify the determinants of students' satisfaction in Polytechnic Higher Education. The study was based on ECSI (European Customer Satisfac-tion Index). The methodology was based on the application of a survey with a sample of 361 Polytechnic students, in order to understand which attributes stu-dents most value in a higher education institution. The results show that the at-tributes that most contribute to the students' satisfaction are, in order of im-portance, the expectations, the quality and perceived values and the image, all pre-senting statistically significant values. In turn, satisfaction is the variable that most influences loyalty, which is also influenced by image and complaint resolution. The levels of global satisfaction towards the Higher Education Institutions ana-lysed are significantly lower than the levels of other sectors, also studied in Por-tugal through this same methodology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O marketing das cidades

O Marketing das Cidades, é uma área de aplicação do Marketing, com crescente importância para o desenvolvimento e crescimento de cidades, regiões, países, no limite de qualquer lugar. É o processo de gestão que é desenvolvido nas cidades para atender à satisfação das necessidades e desejos de indivíduos e organizações. Assim pretende-se, neste artigo, descrever e analisar o uso e a importância das ferramentas de marketing no desenvolvimento das cidades, através da elaboração de um modelo para posterior aplicação na análise do marketing de cada cidade. The Marketing of Cities consists in a marketing application field with growing importance for the development and growth of cities, regions, countries, wherever they are located. It is the management process developed in cities in order to fulfil the needs and desires of the individuals as well as organizations. Therefore, this paper is aimed at describing and analysing the use and importance of marketing tools in the development of cities by a model that will be later applied in the marketing analysis of each city.The Marketing of Cities consists in a marketing application field with growing importance for the development and growth of cities, regions, countries, wherever they are located. It is the management process developed in cities in order to fulfil the needs and desires of the individuals as well as organizations. Therefore, this paper is aimed at describing and analysing the use and importance of marketing tools in the development of cities by a model that will be later applied in the marketing analysis of each city

Solid dosage forms of biopharmaceuticals in drug delivery systems using sustainable strategies

Funding Information: C. Costa, T. Casimiro and A. Aguiar-Ricardo are grateful for the financial support of the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, Faculdade de Ci?ncias e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020). C. Costa thanks FCT (Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia) and ESF (European Social Fund) through POCH (Programa Operacional Capital Humano) for her PhD grant ref. PD/BD/142880/2018 and Project PD/00184/2012-PDQS. M.L. Corvo is grateful for the financial support of the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, which is supported in part by UID/DTP/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020 from FCT/MCTES, Portugal. Funding Information: Funding: C. Costa, T. Casimiro and A. Aguiar-Ricardo are grateful for the financial support of the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020). C. Costa thanks FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and ESF (European Social Fund) through POCH (Programa Operacional Capital Humano) for her PhD grant ref. PD/BD/142880/2018 and Project PD/00184/2012-PDQS. M.L. Corvo is grateful for the financial support of the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, which is supported in part by UID/DTP/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020 from FCT/MCTES, Portugal. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Drug delivery systems (DDS) often comprise biopharmaceuticals in aqueous form, making them susceptible to physical and chemical degradation, and therefore requiring low temperature storage in cold supply and distribution chains. Freeze-drying, spray-drying, and spray-freeze-drying are some of the techniques used to convert biopharmaceuticals-loaded DDS from aqueous to solid dosage forms. However, the risk exists that shear and heat stress during processing may provoke DDS damage and efficacy loss. Supercritical fluids (SCF), specifically, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), is a sustainable alternative to common techniques. Due to its moderately critical and tunable properties and thermodynamic behavior, scCO2 has aroused scientific and industrial interest. Therefore, this article reviews scCO2-based techniques used over the year in the production of solid biopharmaceutical dosage forms. Looking particularly at the use of scCO2 in each of its potential roles—as a solvent, co-solvent, anti-solvent, or co-solute. It ends with a comparison between the compound’s stability using supercritical CO2-assisted atomization/spray-drying and conventional drying.publishersversionpublishe

A proof-of-concept

Funding Information: C. Costa, T. Casimiro and A. Aguiar-Ricardo are grateful for the financial support of the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa , Portugal, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES ( UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020 ). C. Costa thanks FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and ESF (European Social Fund) through POCH (Programa Operacional Capital Humano) for her PhD grant ref. PD/BD/142880/2018, COVID/BD/152744/2022 and Project PD/00184/2012-PDQS . C. Costa and A. Aguiar-Ricardo acknowledge also CA18224 GREENERING (“Green Chemical Engineering Network towards upscaling sustainable processes”). COST Actions are funded within the EU Horizon 2020 Programme . M.L. Corvo is grateful for the financial support of the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa , Lisbon, Portugal, which is supported in part by UID/DTP/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020 from FCT/MCTES , Portugal. The authors are grateful to Prof. M. Dionísio for the DSC facility. Publisher Copyright: © 2023Enzyme-based inhalable therapeutics for lung inflammation are gaining interest as an alternative to long-term corticosteroids treatments. However, enzymes have poor pharmacokinetics. Encapsulating enzymes in liposomes can increase their half-live and modify their biodistribution. But both liposomes and enzymes are susceptible to destabilization during storage. This drawback can be surpassed, by converting liposomal suspension into solid dosage forms for different administration routes, including inhalation. In this study, Cu, Zn- superoxide dismutase (SOD) was encapsulated in liposomes, then dried using supercritical CO2-assisted spray-drying to make SOD-loaded liposomal dry powder formulations (SOD_Lip-DPFs). Upon resuspension in water, liposomes maintained structural integrity, with 99% SOD encapsulation efficiency and preserved enzymatic activity. Stability studies showed that SOD_Lip-DPFs maintained liposomal and enzyme stability for 50 days at 40% relative humidity. This offers a stable and efficient delivery system for enzyme-based inhalable therapeutics.publishersversionpublishe

Dry Dosage Forms of Add-Value Bioactive Phenolic Compounds by Supercritical CO2-Assisted Spray-Drying

PTDC/BII-BIO/30884/2017—POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030884 PD/00184/2012-PDQSEvery year, grapevine pruning produces huge amounts of residue, 90% of which are from vine shoots. These are a rich source of natural antioxidants, mostly phenolic compounds, which, when properly extracted, can give rise to added-value products. However, their lack of solubility in aqueous media and high susceptibility to thermal and oxidative degradation highly limit their bioavailability. Encapsulation in suitable carriers may have a positive impact on their bioavailability and bioactivity. Previous data on vine-shoot extraction have identified gallic acid (GA) and resveratrol (RSV) as the main phenolic compounds. In this work, model dry powder formulations (DPFs) of GA and RSV using hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as carriers were developed using Supercritical CO2-Assisted Spray Drying (SASD). A 32 full factorial Design of Experiments investigated the solid and ethanol contents to ascertain process yield, particle size, span, and encapsulation efficiency. Amorphous powder yields above 60%, and encapsulation efficiencies up to 100% were achieved, representing excellent performances. SASD has proven to be an efficient encapsulation technique for these phenolic compounds, preserving their antioxidation potential after three months in storage with average EC50 values of 30.6 µg/mL for GA–DPFs and 149.4 µg/mL for RSV–DPF as assessed by the scavenging capacity of the DPPH radical.publishersversionpublishe

Association between Salivary Leptin Levels and Taste Perception in Children

The satiety inducing hormone leptin acts not only at central nervous system but also at peripheral level. Leptin receptors are found in several sense related organs, including the mouth. A role of leptin in sweet taste response has been suggested but, until now, studies have been based on in vitro experiments, or in assessing the levels of the hormone in circulation. The present study investigated whether the levels of leptin in saliva are related to taste perception in children and whether Body Mass Index (BMI) affects such relationship. Sweet and bitter taste sensitivity was assessed for 121 children aged 9-10 years and unstimulated whole saliva was collected for leptin quantification, using ELISA technique. Children females with lower sweet taste sensitivity presented higher salivary leptin levels, but this is only in the normal weight ones. For bitter taste, association between salivary leptin and caffeine threshold detection was observed only in preobese boys, with higher levels of salivary hormone in low sensitive individuals. This study is the first presenting evidences of a relationship between salivary leptin levels and taste perception, which is sex and BMI dependent. The mode of action of salivary leptin at taste receptor level should be elucidated in future studies.FC

A Formação de Educador@s e Professor@s: Olhares a partir da UniverCidade de Évora.

Este livro é resultado do II Seminário de educador@s/professor@s da univerCidade de Évora. Nesta edição registámos a partilha de experiências de formação que se cruzaram por diversas vias e da totalidade dos artigos propostos, destacámos a convergência para pensamentos e ações no âmbito da Formação e Identidades Profissionais, dando origem ao primeiro eixo constituído por 13 artigos. Um alinhamento por relações entre Investigação e Práticas Profissionais constituiu o segundo eixo do livro e conta com 14 artigos. Os textos são de professores/as e investigadores/as de diferentes regiões de Portugal e incluem-se, ainda, alguns contributos oriundos do Brasil. Revela-se nas temáticas e problemáticas que encerram que as parcerias e projetos de internacionalização de estudantes e de docentes podem ser fonte de pensar e de fazer melhor. Olhares sobre e a partir do que ocorre fora de Évora e que reforçaram a compreensão do que vai acontecendo nesta universidade, em cooperação com as instituições, as pessoas e a própria cidade

One-step microfluidics production of enzyme-loaded liposomes for the treatment of inflammatory diseases

The biopharmaceuticals market is constantly growing. Despite their advantages over the conventional drugs, biopharmaceuticals have short biological half-lifes, which can be increased using liposomes. However, the common bulk methods to produce biopharmaceuticals-loaded liposomes result in lost of encapsulation efficiency (E.E.), resulting in an expensive process. Herein, the encapsulation of a therapeutic enzyme in liposomes is proposed, using a glass-capillary microfluidic technique. Cu,Zn- Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is successfully encapsulated into liposomes (SOD@Liposomes). SOD@Liposomes with a mean size of 135 ± 41 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.13 ± 0.01, an E.E. of 59 ± 6 % and an enzyme activity of 82 ± 3 % are obtained. In vivo experiments show, through an ear edema model, that SOD@Liposomes administered by the intravenous route enable an edema inhibition of 65 % ± 8 %, over the 20 % ± 13 % of SOD in its free form. The histopathological analyses show a higher inflammatory cell accumulation on the ear treated with SOD in its free form, than treated with SOD@Liposomes. Overall, this work highlights the potential of microfluidics for the production of enzyme-loaded liposomes with high encapsulation efficiency, with the intrinsic advantages of the low time-consuming and easily upscaling microfluidic assembly method.Peer reviewe

All-in-one microfluidic assembly of insulin-loaded pH-responsive nano-in-microparticles for oral insulin delivery

Here, a continuous two-step glass-capillary microfluidic technique to produce a multistage oral delivery system is reported. Insulin is successfully encapsulated into liposomes, which are coated with chitosan to improve their mucoadhesion. The encapsulation in an enteric polymer offers protection from the harsh gastric conditions. Insulin permeability is enhanced across an intestinal monolayer.Peer reviewe

Comparison of salivary proteome of children with different sensitivities for bitter and sweet tastes: association with body mass index

Background/objectives: Oral sensorial perception is a key aspect in food choices and knowing the mechanisms modulating such perception is of major importance in the context of child obesity, which is reaching high rates in Mediterranean countries. Salivary proteome has been linked to taste sensitivity in adults. The aim of this study was to search for differences in salivary proteomes of children with different bitter or sweet taste sensitivities and to assess if these potential differences are associated with their body mass index percentile (BMI percentile). Subjects/methods: 387 children aged 8-9 years old were assessed for BMI percentile and classified according to their sensitivity to bitter and sweet tastes, according to their caffeine and sucrose detection thresholds, respectively. Saliva protein composition was compared among taste sensitivity groups, taking into account BMI percentile and gender, using gel-based proteomics approaches, coupled to mass spectrometry for protein identification. Results: Among the salivary proteins related to bitter taste sensitivity, higher levels of cystatins were observed in bitter-sensitive children, in the case of those of normal weight, and in bitter low-sensitive, in the case of overweight children. For sweetness, the relationship between saliva and taste perception was also dependent on BMI percentile, with several proteins (including salivary cystatins) differing between taste sensitivity groups, with disparities arising between normal-weight and overweight children. Cystatin isoforms A, B and SA were observed to be considerably increased in saliva from obese children. Conclusions: Salivary proteome is related with sensitivities to bitter and sweet tastes in children, but the association is dependent on BMI percentile and gender