Local communities and sport activities expenditures and image: residents’ role in sustainable tourism and recreation

The practice of sports by resident communities is a tool for healthy lifestyles, inclusive growth and the promotion of sustainable cities. Nevertheless, the relationship between sport, tourism and recreation still remain an under researched theme. Focusing on the economic pillar of sustainability, this study intends to quantify and analyse the economic costs incurred by families in formal and informal sport practices, as well as the contribution of these activities and related events to the territory's image projection and attractiveness, by overlapping resident's and visitor's perception of sports in the destination. Applied to the municipality of Guimaraes (Portugal), this analysis of the sports consumer's behaviour contributes to filling the gap of knowledge resulting from the studies that, as a rule, exclusively evaluate the investments (supply) and/or the expenses (demand) of events and not the regular practice of sport. A total of 179 questionnaires were applied to residents throughout 2017, through the self-administrate questionnaire method. Findings reveal that residents see sports as one of the factors contributing to the identity of the municipality, underlying motivations for participation as the search for happiness, health, wellbeing, and fun. Expenditures generate multiplier effects in the local economy, allowing to compare growth scenarios. This analysis is a scientific instrument to support territorial innovation and the decision at the local level of public policies for sustainable development, in agreement with objective eight of sustainability defined by the United Nations.Funding Agency Municipality of Guimaraes/Sports Studies Centre of Guimaraesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Competitividade de Destinos Turísticos: um Modelo de Aplicação para o sul de Portugal versus as regiões Mediterrânicas de Espanha: COMPETITIVTOUR

Tourism destination competitiveness analysis benefits from a growing number of theoretical and applied developments. To support competitiveness strategies and despite the paraphernalia of competitiveness indexes available, there is not just a single set of indicators that can be used for all destinations at all times. The COMPETITIVTOUR model, developed since 2009 is applied to the south of Portugal versus the Mediterranean regions of Spain, a geographical area that aggregates 14 provinces, 20.2 million inhabitants and 180.1 million overnight stays. COMPETITIVTOUR's objective is to create and apply a territorial assessment model, adapted to the common specificities of these regions, aiming to assist in guiding the complex task of destination competiveness management, with inputs from 25 official producers of information from Portugal and Spain. The outputs are aggregated in three main topics: territory management, markets, and resources&products. Critical areas were identified, with emphasis on the growing seasonality of demand, the market demand and supply adjustment and accommodation prices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How to expand a vintage men’S grooming brand worldwide? the case of musgo real from Claus Porto/Ach Brito

Nowadays, wearing a beard and/or moustache is common and it is considered trendy – we are actually facing a “peak beard”. Bearded men adopt specific products for functional reasons. Additionally, men are increasingly involved in the purchasing decision process, looking for a store experience around their interests in sync with their styling interests, and then buying their own men’s grooming products. Within this context, the present work project aims to study how to expand the vintage men’s grooming brand Musgo Real worldwide. In order to address the above mentioned objective, an exploratory research was conducted (qualitative interviews) followed by a quantitative survey to test the hypothesis inferred from the qualitative research. The main findings are: 1) Musgo Real is considered a high-quality, aesthetic and premium grooming brand exclusively for men; 2) However, the brand is lacking awareness. 3) Bearded men do not feel that the brand is targeting them. 4) On the other hand, we consider that Musgo Real has the potential to enter successfully into the beard care segment. Specific recommendations to achieve this goal are presented in this work project

Cell surface engineering to control cellular interactions

Cell surface composition determines all interactions of the cell with its environment, thus cell functions such as adhesion, migration and cell–cell interactions can potentially be controlled by engineering and manipulating the cell membrane. Cell membranes present a rich repertoire of molecules, therefore a versatile ground for modification. However the complex and dynamic nature of the cell surface is also a major challenge for cell surface engineering that should also involve strategies compatible with cell viability. Cell surface engineering by selective chemical reactions or by the introduction of exogenous targeting ligands can be a powerful tool for engineering novel interactions and controlling cell function. In addition to chemical conjugation and modification of functional groups, ligands of interest to modify the surface of cells include recombinant proteins, liposomes or nanoparticles. Here, we review recent efforts to perform changes to cell surface composition. We focus on the engineering of the cell surface with biological, chemical or physical methods to modulate cell functions and control cell–cell and cell–microenvironment interactions. Potential applications of cell surface engineering are also discussed

A opção pelo justo valor nas entidades com títulos cotados: caso de Portugal, Espanha e Irlanda

Dissertação de mestrado, Fiscalidade, Escola Superior de Gestão, Hotelaria e Turismo, Universidade do Algarve, 2017A presente investigação tem como principais objetivos analisar as opções de mensuração de ativos não financeiros divulgados como ativos não correntes – com especial enfoque no justo valor, os fatores explicativos dessas opções, designadamente a influência do fator cultural (proxy país), e de que forma os investidores incorporam a informação do justo valor no preço das ações. O objeto de estudo é composto por 133 empresas (36 da Euronext Lisbon, 69 da Bolsa de Madrid e 28 da Irish Stock Exchange) com títulos cotados nas respetivas praças no período de 2007 a 2015 (inclusive). Os resultados obtidos revelam que 22% das entidades da amostra aplicam o justo valor, sendo as portuguesas as que mais o utilizam (37%), seguidas das irlandesas (21%) e, por fim, das espanholas (14%). O estudo indica que dos ativos em análise, os fixos tangíveis e as propriedades de investimento influenciam positivamente a opção pelo justo valor. Outros fatores como a crise financeira global, a pertença setorial (setores de consumo e materiais industriais e de construção) e nacional (Portugal e Irlanda) também são fatores explicativos dessa opção. Conclui-se ainda que o mercado acionista reage de forma negativa à aplicação do justo valor nos ativos intangíveis e nas propriedades de investimento

Exploring the potential of using Marine-Derived Ingredients: From the extraction to Cutting-Edge Cosmetics

The growing understanding and knowledge of the potential of marine species, as well as the application of “blue biotechnology” have been motivating new innovative solutions in cosmetics. It is widely noted that that marine species are important sources of compounds with several biological activities that are yet to be discovered. This review explores various biological properties of marine-derived molecules and briefly outlines the main extraction methods. Alongside these, it is well known the legislative and normative framework of cosmetics is increasingly being developed. In this research segment, there is a growing concern with sustainability. In this sense, “blue biotechnology”, together with the use of invasive species or marine waste products to obtain new active ingredients, haven been emerging as innovative and sustainable solutions for the future’s cosmetics industry. This review also examines the regulatory framework and focus on the recent advancements in “blue biotechnology” and its relevance to the sustainable development of innovative cosmetics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Previsão do sucesso de leads : uma abordagem em machine learning

Mestrado em Métodos Quantitativos para a Decisão Económica e EmpresarialEste Trabalho Final de Mestrado advém de um estágio realizado na empresa Quidgest S.A., em parceria com o Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG), no âmbito do mestrado de Métodos Quantitativos para a Decisão Económica e Empresarial (MQDEE). Este trabalho resulta da necessidade em aumentar o sucesso de vendas, através da previsão do sucesso de leads, recorrendo a técnicas e algoritmos de Machine Learning. Neste domínio, foi realizada uma prévia análise e compreensão do cenário empresarial, para que a utilização dos algoritmos pudesse oferecer uma adequada compatibilidade com os padrões de negócio da empresa. Previamente, foram aplicadas técnicas de tratamento, aumento e limpeza de dados, nomeadamente: SMOTE; ADASYN e TOMEK. Relativamente aos algoritmos de Machine Learning, foram utilizados algoritmos assentes no âmbito da aprendizagem supervisionada, nomeadamente: Support Vector Machines; Random Forest; Neural Networks; Adaboost e C5.0. As etapas deste trabalho foram alinhadas com a metodologia CRISP-DM, que é uma das mais conhecidas abordagens no que toca à logística de processos para a construção de sistemas computacionais. Os softwares utilizados foram: software R (com recurso ao R Studio); Microsoft SQL Server e o GENIO, que é o software próprio da Quidgest S.A.This Master's Final Work results from an internship performed at Quidgest S.A., in a partnership with Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG), within the scope of the Master of Quantitative Methods for Economic and Business Decision (MQDEE). The purpose of this work is to increase the company's sales success, by predicting the success of leads, using Machine Learning techniques and algorithms. In this domain, a previous analysis of the business scenario was studied and analyzed, to allow that the usage of the algorithms could be suitable with the company's standard business processes. Then, techniques for processing, increasing and cleaning the data were applied, such as: SMOTE; ADASYN and TOMEK, and then, algorithms within the scope of supervised learning were used, such as: Support Vector Machines; Random Forest; Neural Networks; Adaboost and C5.0. The sequential steps of this work were aligned with the CRISP-DM methodology, which is one of the most used tools in terms of logistics for building computer systems. The used softwares were: R software (using R Studio); Microsoft SQL Server and GENIO, which is the owned and created software by Quidgest S.A.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Automatic Model Transformation from UML Sequence Diagrams to Coloured Petri Nets

A dependência da sociedade em sistemas de software cada vez mais complexos torna a tarefa de testar e validar estes sistemas cada vez mais importante e desafiante. Em vários casos, múltiplos sistemas independentes e heterogéneos formam um sistema de sistemas responsável por providenciar serviços aos utilizadores e as ferramentas e técnicas atuais de automação de testes aos mesmos oferecem pouco suporte e apoio para para o desempenho desta tarefa.Este trabalho está inserido num projeto de maior escala que tem como objetivo produzir uma ferramenta de Model-based Testing que automatizará o processo de teste de sistemas distribuídos, a partir de diagramas de sequência UML. Estes diagramas definem graficamente a interação entre os diferentes módulos de um sistema e os seus atores de uma forma sequencial, facilitando a compreensão do funcionamento do sistema e possibilitando a definição de secções críticas dos sistemas distribuídos como situações de concorrência e paralelismo. Esta dissertação pretende desenvolver um dos componentes deste projeto que terá como objetivo a conversão dos diagramas descritivos do sistema em Petri Nets. Petri Nets são um formalismo de modelação que é indicado para descrição de sistemas distribuídos pela sua capacidade de definição de tarefas de comunicação e de sincronização, e pela possibilidade de execução usando ferramentas como CPN Tools.O objetivo será a definição de regras de tradução Model-to-Model que permitirão a conversão de modelos, de modo a possibilitar a integração com o sistema desejado, tirando partido de frameworks existentes de transformação de modelos (por exemplo, EMF - Eclipse Modeling Framework). Com isto conseguimos esconder a complexidade da análise do sistema ao utilizador (Software Tester) introduzindo automação, geração e execução de testes a partir dos diagramas de casos de teste, e apresentando os resultados (Erros e Cobertura de Código) visualmente.Este documento está dividido em quatro secções. A primeira secção apresenta o contexto e motivação para a dissertação e define o problema e objetivos. A segunda secção consiste no resumo dos conceitos necessários à compreensão da dissertação, o estado da arte dos estudos neste domínio e análise das ferramentas para implementar a solução. A terceira sec�\xA7ão explica a arquitetura e as escolhas tecnológicas para a solução proposta. Finalmente, a última secção explica as conclusões para este estudo e define o plano para trabalho futuro.The dependence of our society on ever more complex software systems makes the task of testing and validating this software increasingly important and challenging. In many cases, multiple independent and heterogeneous systems form a system of systems responsible for providing services to users, and the current testing automation tools and techniques provide little support for the performance of this task.This dissertation is part of a larger scale project that aims to produce a Model-based Testing tool that will automate the process of testing distributed systems, from UML sequence diagrams. These diagrams graphically define the interaction between the different modules of a system and its actors in a sequential way, facilitating the understanding of the system's operation and allowing the definition of critical sections of distributed systems such as situations of concurrency and parallelism.This dissertation intends to develop one of the components of this project that will be in charge of the conversion of the descriptive diagrams of the system in Petri Nets. Petri Nets are a modeling formalism that is indicated for describing distributed systems by their ability to define communication and synchronization tasks, and by the possibility of executing them in runtime using tools such as CPN Tools.The objective will be to define Model-to-Model translation rules that will allow the conversion of models, in order to allow integration with the target system, taking advantage of existing model transformation frameworks (e.g. EMF - Eclipse Modeling Framework). With this, we have been able to hide the complexity of the system analysis to the user (Software Tester) introducing the possibility of automation, generation and execution of tests from the diagrams of test cases, and presenting the results (Errors and Code Coverage) visually.This document is divided in four sections. The first section introduces the context and motivation for the dissertation and defines the problem and goals. The second section consists in the summarization of concepts required to understand this dissertation, the state of the art of studies in this domain and an analysis of the tools to implement the solution. The third section explains the architecture and technological choices for the proposed solution. Finally, the last section explains the conclusions for this study and defines the future work plan

Tourism Destination Image and its Implications for Destination Branding and Competitiveness: The case of the UK Market in the Algarve

This study develops and empirically tests a model of tourism destination image in different periods of time, namely in the pre/post-visit (measuring the tourist satisfaction) and the peak/off-peak (exploring the seasonality factor). It is applied to the UK market visiting the Algarve as a tourism destination. Its aim is to contribute towards a better conceptualization of destination branding and competitiveness practices. The existence of a gap in the literature related to the field of destination marketing strategies based on knowledge of destination images was the starting point for this research. This knowledge can improve the efficient allocation of resources, particularly in the context of increasing destination competitiveness and travellers’ limitations in terms of time and money. To empirically test the model, the research applies a mixed-methods approach based on semi-structured interviews conducted with tourist stakeholders within the Algarve and questionnaires applied to tourists who visit the destination. The findings suggest that the Algarve’s image tends to be differentiated in the pre/post-visit and in the peak/off-peak, which result in establishing important aspects to distinguish the marketing strategies. The segments of the first-time and the repeaters have different preferences and characteristics regarding the type of accommodation chosen, the return intention and age profile. The Algarve image modifications are connected with the type of booking the visitors opt to make the reservation, the return intentions, the willingness to recommend the Algarve to friends and relatives and if it is the first or repeat-visit. Generally, tourists do not recognise “administrative boundaries” but rather the entire destination of the Algarve. As a consequence, the competitiveness and branding approach to the region should be global, as defended in the literature. The results are considered an on-going process, where the stakeholders must be continuously involved due to the importance of their opinion to identify the main strengths and weaknesses of the Algarve as a tourism destination