Project management practices in private Portuguese organizations

Organizations are experiencing increasing pressure that is amplified by the current economic crises we are facing, where innovation, cost reduction, resource optimization, quality and customer satisfaction are increasingly even more important issues. Likewise, project management appears as a subject that has been growing over the years helping organizations to meet their goals, through the implementation of their projects, following good practices that are documented in various standards and methodologies. This research focuses on such practices. The goal was to find which are the most used project management tools and techniques in Portuguese Private Organizations and what factors influence their use

Cloud-Based Implementation of an Automatic Coverage Estimation Methodology for Self-Organising Network

UIDB/EEA/50008/2020One of the main concerns of telecommunications operators is related to network coverage. A weak coverage can lead to a performance decrease, not only in the user experience, when using the operators' services, such as multimedia streaming, but also in the overall Quality of Service. This paper presents a novel cloud-based framework of a semi-empirical propagation model that estimates the coverage in a precise way. The novelty of this model is that it is automatically calibrated by using drive test measurements, terrain morphology, buildings in the area, configurations of the network itself and key performance indicators, automatically extracted from the operator's network. Requirements and use cases are presented as motivations for this methodology. The results achieve an accuracy of about 5 dB, allowing operators to obtain accurate neighbour lists, optimise network planning and automate certain actions on the network by enabling the Self-Organising Network concept. The cloud implementation enables a fast and easy integration with other network management and monitoring tools, such as the Metric platform, optimising operators' resource usage recurring to elastic resources on-demand when needed. This implementation was integrated into the Metric platform, which is currently available to be used by several operators.publishersversionpublishe

The contribution of tourism to the Portuguese economy: comparison between 2019 and 2022 (pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19)

Tourism has developed in the last decade (2011/2020), allowing the growth of different destinations. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to understand the main characteristics of tourism supply and demand in Portugal and identify its importance and contribution to the Portuguese economy, through the comparison of data from 2019 with that from 2022 (pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19). In this article, we opted for a qualitative methodology, in a systematic review of the literature, and a quantitative methodology, in the analysis and interpretation of the various official statistics on Portuguese tourism. Regarding the results, the importance of the sector can be seen in the comparison of overnight stays from January to September of 2019 and 2022, where there was an increase in demand. Regarding revenues in the same period (January to September), it shows that in 2022 these were 14.4 billion euros, while those recorded in 2019 were 12.66 billion euros. In 2022 it was found that the United Kingdom is the country that stands out most in terms of international overnight stays in Portugal, and thus the one that contributed most to tourism revenue. We conclude that there was, in 2022 as compared to 2019, a significant growth in revenue that shows a positive relationship between the tourism sector and its impact on the Portuguese economy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glycoengineered nanoparticles enhance the delivery of 5-fluoroucil and paclitaxel to gastric cancer cells of high metastatic potential

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with half of patients developing metastasis within 5 years after curative treatment. Moreover, many patients cannot tolerate or complete systemic treatment due severe side-effects, reducing their effectiveness. Thus, targeted therapeutics are warranted to improve treatment outcomes and reduce toxicity. Herein, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and paclitaxel were surface-functionalized with a monoclonal antibody targeting sialyl-Lewis A (sLeA), a known glycan mediating hematogenous metastasis. Nanoparticles, ranging from 137 to 330 nm, enabled the controlled release of cytotoxic drugs at neutral and acid pH, supporting potential for intravenous and oral administration. Nanoencapsulation also reduced the initial toxicity of the drugs against gastric cells, suggesting it may constitute a safer administration vehicle. Furthermore, nanoparticle functionalization significantly enhanced targeting to sLeA cells in vitro and ex vivo (over 40% in comparison to non-targeted nanoparticles). In summary, a glycoengineered nano-vehicle was successfully developed to deliver 5-FU and paclitaxel therapeutic agents to metastatic gastric cancer cells. We anticipate that this may constitute an important milestone to establish improved targeted therapeutics against gastric cancer. Given the pancarcinomic nature of the sLeA antigen, the translation of this solution to other models may be also envisaged.publishe

Análise da influência dos processos de plasticidade e fratura no comportamento mecânico de microestruturas de Compósitos de Matriz Metálica

O presente trabalho trata da simulação numérica do comportamento mecânico de microestruturas de Compósitos com Matriz Metálica (CMMs) utilizando uma proposta de modelo de homogeneização computacional baseada numa abordagem multi-escala. Na microestrutura do compósito, as inclusões são consideradas elásticas e o comportamento da matriz é governado pelo modelo de von Mises com endurecimento isotrópico. Um modelo de fratura coesiva é desenvolvido para simular a fase de descolamento da interface matriz/inclusão. Todo o estudo é baseado no conceito de Elemento de Volume Representativo (EVR), no qual podem ser empregados modelos constitutivos que levam em conta os fenômenos dissipativos de fissuração e plasticidade. Uma série de EVRs com diferentes composições de inclusões elásticas e submetidos a diferentes condições de restrição cinemática foram analisados. Também observou-se a sensibilidade paramétrica do modelo de fratura coesiva e a importância de se considerar a fase de descolamento matriz/inclusão no processo de ruptura da microestrutura. De modo geral, os resultados encontrados contribuem para a discussão acerca do emprego de modelos simples, em termos de formulação e identificação paramétrica, na modelagem da microestrutura de materiais heterogêneos, refletindo assim na acurácia de resultados qualitativos quanto ao seu comportamento macroscópico.Palavras-chave: Homogeneização, compósitos com matriz metálica, plasticidade, fratura coesiva

Elderly Women's Perception About Nursing Gynecological Consultation: A Comprehensive Analysis

The Brazilian elderly population, that is, the population aged 60 or older according to the Elderly Estatute, has increased in recent decades, a phenomenon observed in Brazil and worldwide. This rapid growth represents a major political and social impact, reflecting the consequent rise in cost of health services because this is the population that most need this service. Objective: To understand the meaning of Nursing Consultation for elderly women assisted at a School Clinic in Mountain Region-RJ-Brazil. Method: The is a qualitative study of descriptive and exploratory nature supported by the theoretical and methodological framework of Alfred Schutz through sociological phenomenology. The study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Arthur Sá Earp Neto Faculty on April 11, 2015 under Opinion number 1.019361. We used phenomenological interview. Results: We performed 19 interviews with elderly women aged 60-80 years. The responses provided the understanding of women's experiences during the nursing consultation. This study gave rise to three categories that revealed the intentionality of this social group when searching for the nursing consultation: "To be well assisted", "To have resolving power" and "To prevent health problems". Conclusions: The found that the nursing consultation promotes the approximation between women and the nursing professionals, establishing bonds, presenting efficient and effective results to treatment and prevention, besides providing mutual learning