Impact of learning process in fashion students: link with industry, social media and websites

The Portuguese fashion industry (textile, apparel and footwear) shows an excellent economic performance in the last years. With own brands, own collections and own products, the quality, the innovation and international image of the Portuguese clothes, accessories and shoes is increasing year by year. University of Minho has the Bachelor in Fashion Design and Marketing (BFDM). The young students came from different schools and places, with different backgrounds and links with fashion issues. The fashion industry needs good professionals to design and marketing functions, but these skills have to be worked in the university. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media are opportunities that the companies want to grab to promote and sell their products to the new global consumer. The Bachelor in Fashion Design and Marketing applies time and resources to increase the use and knowledge in these new tools. But remains an important question: does it works? To answer this question was designed this investigation. It is a qualitative research and the methods were "focus group" and longitudinal analysis. During January and February a focus group with ten young students from BFDM first year participated in two sessions. After an individual analysis of three different fashion brands (with presence in websites, facebook and Instagram), according a matrix designed to the investigation, the researchers made a discussion with the group. The results are very interesting and they will be used to evaluate the changes in the skills of the future fashion designers, before and after the bachelor degree in Fashion Design and Marketing. But they are preliminary results. In the future, we are planning to compare the results with students in BFDM and other bachelor degrees (without any link with fashion issues or interests). The fashion industry is ready to get inside this new, global and social world. The skills of the new professionals need to be prepared to reply these new demands.This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Program me - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00713

Basel III: The impact of an increase in regulation in a recession framework

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThis work project aims to assess the impact of Basel III’s proposal in the Portuguese banking sector, a sector experiencing particularly difficult times in a distressed country. The industry is represented by its three largest quoted banking groups, two of them under government intervention. The impact is evaluated through the estimation of the banks’ capital ratios through Basel III’s expected implementation calendar, through the analysis of the banks’ capital needs based on their publicly available information and industry research. The impact will vary depending on the bank; on average, it will result in a decrease in banks’ excess capital. Banks will have difficulties to comply if state-owned CoCos are not considered part of regulatory capital. The new standards will penalize those banks with a recent history of poor performance, and decrease the difference between regulatory and equity capital

Development of a Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface for Neurorehabilitation

Neurological disorders, in particular Stroke, have an impact on many individuals worldwide. These individuals are often left with residual motor control in their upper limbs. Although conventional therapy can aid in recovery, it is not always accessible, and the procedures are dull for the patient. Novel methods of therapy are being developed, including Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Although BCI research has been flourishing in the past few years, most rehabilitation applications are not yet suitable for clinical practice.This is due to the fact that BCI reliability and validation has not yet been achieved, and few clinical trials have been done with BCIs. Another crucial factor, is that modern BCIs are often comprised of inconvenient hardware and software. This is a major factor of aversion from both patients and clinicians. This Master Dissertation introduces the EmotivBCI: an easy to use platform for Electroencephalogram acquisition, processing and classification of sensorimotor rhythms with respect to motor action and motor imagery. The acquisition of EEG is done through 8 channels of the Emotiv Epoc wireless headset. Signals are pre-processed, and the 2 best combinations of channel/frequency pairs that exhibit the greatest spectral variation between the rest and action conditions are extracted for different time frames. These features are then used to build a feature matrix with 2 sets of attributes and 2 class labels. Finally the resulting feature matrix is used to train 3 different classifiers, in which the best is selected. The EmotivBCI enables users to keep record of their performances, and provides additional features to further examine training sessions. To assess the performance of the EmotivBCI, two studies were conducted with healthy individuals. The first study compares classification accuracies between two different training paradigms. The second study evaluates the progress in performance of a group of individuals after several training sessions

Weaning of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) postlarvae to an inert diet with a co-feeding regime

The objective of this study was to evaluate the weaning success of Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis, postlarvae when co-fed a compound diet, by means of the analysis of growth parameters (relative growth rate [RGR] and condition factor [K]), survival, protein and lipid content. Total ammonia in the rearing water was also measured. The experiment lasted for 46 days (36 to 82 days posthatching). One group was fed only with enriched Artemia sp. metanauplii (Artemia treatment), whereas in another group, the Artemia sp. metanauplii were gradually replaced by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) diet over a period of 39 days (ICES treatment). Postlarvae were sampled on rearing days 0, 9, 23, 30, 39 and 46 for growth and biochemical analysis. Water was sampled on rearing day 30 during a 24-h cycle in both treatments. Postlarvae from the ICES treatment were weaned, though by the end of the experiment the Artemia treatment exhibited significantly higher values for growth, RGR, K and survival rates (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed concerning total lipid content. Protein content was significantly higher for the Artemia treatment after 46 days of rearing (P < 0.05). The total ammonia nitrogen concentration in the water increased after each meal and remained below a harmless level for postlarvae.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effectiveness of Psycho-Educational Intervention in HIV Patients' Treatment

Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is the main prognostic factor associated with HIV disease progression and death. The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a psycho-educational program to promote adherence to HAART in HIV patients. A longitudinal study (n = 102) over 9 months in an Infectious Diseases Hospital was carried out. Adherence to HAART was measured with standardized scales and values of viral load. Two groups were defined: adherents and non-adherents. In the latter, a psycho-educational program was implemented and 6 months later measured adherence to HAART. Knowledge about the infection, CD4 T lymphocytes and HIV-ribonucleic acid values were measured before and after this program. The sample was predominantly male (70%), heterosexual (78%), with a mean age of 49 (SD = 12.7) years, and 48% of participants were not adhering to HAART. After the program, non-adherence decreased to 21.6%. Knowledge about the infection increased from 79 to 97%. A significant increase in CD4 T lymphocytes (mean 540-580) and a decrease in viral load (mean 5411-3052) were observed, the latter of statistical significance. This program seems to be feasible and efficient, improving adherence to HAART

Social networking as tool for global communication for fashion brands

The emergence of new information technologies, development and exploration of the digital platforms and social networks in recent decades, have caused major changes in lives of individuals, as well as in the business sphere, opening up new opportunities and challenges, and changing consumption behaviours on a global scale. This paper presents a research of customer participation to the footwear brands community network, depending on the brands involvement level, since footwear sector places its importance to the Portuguese economy, through significant and stable growth within this recent decade. With the increasing use of digital platforms, such as social networks and website, as communication channels used in marketing strategies for fashion brands, it became necessary to empirically analyse the impact of these digital platforms to the brands. The major findings of this longitudinal research showed that brands, that are new to market, have a better performance in social media, with rapid growth of its communities and already surpassing the established companies.EDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00713

Importance of digital brand presence in the Portuguese footwear companies with different types of market retails

Este artigo apresenta e analisa a importância da presença digital nas empresas portuguesas de calçado. Notou-se que as marcas portuguesas de calçado têm desempenhos distintos quando se trata dos seus interfaces de utilizador do site e da comunicação com os seus clientes através das várias plataformas digitais, o que causou a necessidade de investigar as causas dessas diferenças. O objectivo foi identificar as causas e a necessidade de adaptação das estratégias de marketing digital de marcas com diferentes mercados e modelos de negócio. Para realizar a investigação foi utilizada uma abordagem de estudo qualitativo. Múltiplos estudos de caso foram conduzidos nas empresas de calçado para recolher informações detalhadas. O estudo demostrou que as marcas emergentes, de nicho de mercado, têm uma necessidade maior, uma adaptação mais fácil e um melhor desempenho em plataformas digitais do que as empresas estabelecidas com mercado de massas.This article presents and analyzes the importance of digital presence in the Portuguese footwear companies. It was noticed that Portuguese footwear brands have diverse performances when it comes to its websites user interface and communication with their customers through various digital platforms, causing the need to investigate the causes. The objective was to identify these causes and the need for adoption of brands digital marketing strategies with different business models and market retails. To address this investigation a qualitative study approach was used. Multiple case studies were conducted within footwear companies to collect detailed information. The study showed that emerging, niche market companies have a greater need, easier adoption and better performance in digital platforms than well-established companies

Comparison of two methods to assess the root architecture as the potential factor influencing the diversity of a stand

In this article we describe two methods for acquisition and examination of the root architecture of trees in order to evaluate the possible influence on stand diversity and horizontal structure. The roots and belowground biomass in semi-arid areas of south Portugal can be understood as the main competition area for the trees so understanding of their growth and architecture is essential for understanding of growth, interaction among plants and finally the diversity of the stand

Weaning of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) postlarvae to an inert diet with a co-feeding regime | Destete de postlarvas del lenguado senegalés (Solea senegalensis) a una dieta inerte utilizando un régimen de coalimentación

The objective of this study was to evaluate the weaning success of Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis, postlarvae when cofed a compound diet, by means of the analysis of growth parameters (relative growth rate [RGR] and condition factor [K]), survival, protein and lipid content. Total ammonia in the rearing water was also measured. The experiment lasted for 46 days (36 to 82 days posthatching). One group was fed only with enriched Artemia sp. metanauplii (Artemia treatment), whereas in another group, the Artemia sp. metanauplii were gradually replaced by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) diet over a period of 39 days (ICES treatment). Postlarvae were sampled on rearing days 0, 9, 23, 30, 39 and 46 for growth and biochemical analysis. Water was sampled on rearing day 30 during a 24-h cycle in both treatments. Postlarvae from the ICES treatment were weaned, though by the end of the experiment the Artemia treatment exhibited significantly higher values for growth, RGR, K and survival rates (P <0.05). No significant differences were observed concerning total lipid content. Protein content was significantly higher for the Artemia treatment after 46 days of rearing (P < 0.05). The total ammonia nitrogen concentration in the water increased after each meal and remained below a harmless level for postlarvae.El objetivo de este estudio consistió en evaluar el éxito del destete de postlarvas del lenguado senegalés, Solea senegalensis, utilizando un régimen de coalimentación. El estudio se realizó mediante el análisis de parámetros de crecimiento (tasa de crecimiento relativa [RGR] y factor de condición [K]), supervivencia y contenido de proteínas y lípidos. La concentración del amonio total en el agua de cultivo también fue analizada. El experimento se realizó durante 46 días (de 36 a 82 días posteclosión). Un grupo de postlarvas se alimentó únicamente con metanauplios de Artemia sp. enriquecidos (tratamiento con Artemia), mientras que en otro grupo los metanauplius de Artemia sp. fueron gradualmente substituidos por la dieta del International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (tratamiento ICES) durante un periodo de 39 días. Las postlarvas se muestrearon durante los días 0, 9, 23, 30, 39 y 46 de cultivo para el estudio de crecimiento y el análisis bioquímico Las muestras de agua se tomaron el día 30 de cultivo durante un ciclo de 24 h en ambos tratamientos. Las postlarvas del tratamiento ICES fueron destetadas, aunque al final del experimento se registraron valores significativamente mayores en relación al crecimiento, RGR, K y tasas de supervivencia (P < 0.05) en el tratamiento con Artemia. No se observaron diferencias significativas en el contenido total de lípidos. El contenido de proteínas fue significativamente mayor en el tratamiento con Artemia a los 46 días de cultivo (P < 0.05). La concentracion de amonio total en el agua se incrementó después de cada toma de alimento pero se mantuvo por debajo del nivel tóxico para las postlarvas de peces marinos