The case of Madeira International Airport Cristiano Ronaldo

The increased demand for air transportation has enlarged congestion problems in the areas of Passenger Terminals. This study proposes how to optimize the flows of passengers at the airport of Madeira to increase airport efficiency. There are two specific approaches to achieve this study objective. Firstly, we analyse the flow of passengers at the airport terminal to detect where are the most critical congestion points. Secondly, using simulation software (MassMotion) we analyse different layouts of the airport terminal, including ramp area, considering passengers flows of different typologies, to find the most efficient layout configuration. This study optimizes the flow of passengers in the terminal area of the International Airport of Madeira, making it more efficient in routing passengers and thus maintaining control over congestion levels. Thus, the proposed configurations for Check-in, Security, Border Control, Boarding Gates, Embark, Disembark, and Luggage Claim areas allow to considerably reduce (or even eliminate) passenger congestion at these critical points. An airport is a complex transport infrastructure, and therefore any change in its physical structure must be made during its period of operation. Structural modifications must be simulated in software to be validated before being implemented; this was the option of Madeira International Airport, which thus seeks solutions to keep congestion levels under control, increase the efficiency of the terminal, and raise the level of passenger satisfaction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intermediate water masses off south-southwest Portugal: Chemical tracers

Biogeochemical tracers, as dissolved oxygen and nutrients, were measured during several surveys carried out between 1999 and 2001, off south-southwestern Portugal. The dense vertical and horizontal sampling allows the extensions of intermediate water masses present in the region to be resolved. A subsurface minimum salinity water layer, exhibiting values of apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) in the range 40 – 60 μmol/kg and intruding into the study area mainly from the south-southwest, is proposed to be a remnant of the Subarctic Intermediate Water (SAIW). A deeper salinity minimum displaying high concentrations of nutrients and AOU (~100 μmol/kg) and identified as a branch of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), is observed to derive from the western African coast and to penetrate the area predominantly from the south-southeastern side. The salty and warm Mediterranean Water (MW) present in the same density range as the fresher intermediate waters, reveals differentiated chemical properties at the various depths depending on the surrounding waters. Analysis of water masses gives an indication that the collapse of the fresher waters into a narrow range of salinity values (35.58 –35.64) at intermediate levels is favored by the strong presence of the MW outflow, and that the admixture of the fresher waters with the MW outflow very likely induces the formation, splitting and spreading of several MW cores extending westwards along the Portuguese coast

Consumer Behaviour in Fitness Club: Study of the Weekly Frequency of Use, Expectations, Satisfaction and Retention

This study aims to understand the relationship between the weekly frequency of use, expectations, satisfaction and retention of members in a fitness Clubs. In this market it is indispensable to understand the characteristics of faithful members, in order to act appropriately with each segment. Accordingly, the weekly frequency, which a member goes to the gym, their expectations, satisfaction and retention are key variables to understand them. Data was collected with a sample of 146 members. The instrument was constituted by the sample characterization and questions to understand the consumer behaviour in fitness (weekly frequency of use, expectations, satisfaction and retention behaviours). The statistical analysis consisted on descriptive and inferential analyses, using SPSS software. In this study the weekly frequency did not show the explanatory capacity to predict the satisfaction and retention. The relationship between expectations with satisfaction (73%) and retention (64%) was statistically significant. Finally, the relationship between satisfaction and retention (63%) was positive and significant. The results indicated that fitness club managers must act to keep those who are less likely to remain, who aren’t the ones who go less times a week to the club, but those who have a lower satisfaction and, consequently, lower retention.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Water supply and access to safe water in developing arid countries

The supply of drinking water is one of the major concerns in semi-arid and arid climates, mainly in developing countries. The present study reviews the situation of the water supply in a West African coast country, the archipelago of Cape Verde, with focus on the most populous island (Santiago), regarding the rate of public coverage and the water quality. As main insights, the research indicates that at Santiago Island only 54% of the population has con- nection to the public network, while 24% uses wells, springs and other potentially non-potable sources. The region of São Domingos is one of the most critical, with only 6.5% of public supply, justifying the assessment of the water quality used by this population. With regard to water quality, the results of this study indicate that natural and anthropic factors are contributing to degradation of the water resources, with salinity, chloride, nitrates, and nitrites as major concerning pollutants. The insufficiency of the public supply in this island could be a reflection of the situation in other arid re- gions of Africa. Though the recent advances it is vital to continue or even increase with the interna- tional cooperation to provide for adequate water supply infrastructures.Nemias Moniz Goncalves avails to acknowledge Gulbenkian Scholarship Service from FCG (CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION), for the granted individual scholarship, under the program of Postgraduate Scholarships for students of PALOP and East Timor - Stimulating research and professional appreciation, process Nº. 139758. The FCG has been an indispensable support in carrying out all academic activities. This work was also supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização) - project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00769

Water quality in the Municipality of São Domingos (Santiago island, Cape Verde)

O presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a qualidade da água e potencialidades de uso no concelho de São Domingos, na ilha de Santiago (Cabo Verde). Os resultados obtidos mostram, o carácter mineralizado destas águas, com valor médio de condutividade elétrica de 1361 µS/cm. A classificação hidroquímica, de acordo com o diagrama de Piper, conduziu à discriminação dos seguintes tipos: águas mistas (bicarbonatadas, cloretadas) e mistas sódicas (cloretadas e bicarbonatadas). Considerando o que está estabelecido na legislação Cabo-verdiana e Portuguesa relativamente à qualidade da água, verificouse que apenas 36 % das amostras têm qualidade suficiente para consumo humano. No que respeita à utilização da água para rega, cerca de 68 % das amostras apresentam evidências de risco de salinização alto a muito alto.This research aims the evaluation of water quality and potential uses at São Domingos municipality, at Santiago Island (Cape Verde). The results show the mineralized nature of these waters, with an average electrical conductivity of 1361 μS/cm. The hydrochemical classification, according to the Piper diagram, led to the following types: mixed (bicarbonate and chloride) and mixed with sodium (chloride and bicarbonate). Considering what is established for water quality in the Cape Verde and Portuguese legislation, only 36 % of the water samples are able for human consumption. Regarding irrigation use, approximately 68 % of the samples present high-to-very-high salinization risk.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Representations des professeurs d’eux memes: adaptation portugaise de l’echelle “Teacher self-concept evaluation scale”

Este estudo foi apoiado financeiramente pela FCT e apresentado no XIV Colóquio Internacional da AFIRSE/AIPELF, sobre o tema “Para um Balanço da Investigação em Educação de 1960 a 2005. Teorias e Práticas”, realizado em 16, 17 e 18 de Fevereiro de 2006, na Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Lisboa.Apresenta-se o estudo de adaptação para Portugal da escala de autoconceito profissional dos professores, denominada “Teacher self-concept evaluation scale” (TSCES), de Villa e Calvete (2001). A amostra foi constituída por 251 professores de diferentes grupos disciplinares e níveis de ensino, diferenciados, ainda, quanto a variáveis pessoais, escolares e sociais. No estudo psicométrico da escala, recorreu-se à análise factorial de componentes principais com rotação varimax – que evidenciou os seis factores esperados (competência, relação com colegas, relação com os alunos, satisfação, aceitação de iniciativas, auto-aceitação); procedeu-se ainda à determinação dos coeficientes de fiabilidade, para diferentes grupos, sendo 57,59% a variância total explicada. Para o estudo da validade externa, considerou-se a relação entre os resultados na TSCES e os resultados na escala EAPP (Escala de Autoconceito Profissional dos Professores), de Veiga e outros (2003), observando-se significativas correlações. Os elementos apresentados mostraram-se consistentes e salientam as qualidades da “Teacher self-concept evaluation scale” em diferentes grupos, bem como a sua utilidade para a investigação com professores

Processamento de imagem digital com MatLab : uma aplicação em ambiente industrial

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Touristic site attractiveness seen through Twitter

Tourism is becoming a significant contributor to medium and long range travels in an increasingly globalized world. Leisure traveling has an important impact on the local and global economy as well as on the environment. The study of touristic trips is thus raising a considerable interest. In this work, we apply a method to assess the attractiveness of 20 of the most popular touristic sites worldwide using geolocated tweets as a proxy for human mobility. We first rank the touristic sites based on the spatial distribution of the visitors’ place of residence. The Taj Mahal, the Pisa Tower and the Eiffel Tower appear consistently in the top 5 in these rankings. We then pass to a coarser scale and classify the travelers by country of residence. Touristic site’s visiting figures are then studied by country of residence showing that the Eiffel Tower, Times Square and the London Tower welcome the majority of the visitors of each country. Finally, we build a network linking sites whenever a user has been detected in more than one site. This allow us to unveil relations between touristic sites and find which ones are more tightly interconnected.Partial financial support has been received from the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO) and FEDER (EU) under project INTENSE@COSYP (FIS2012-30634), and from the EU Commission through project INSIGHT. The work of ML has been funded under the PD/004/2013 project, from the Conselleria de Educación, Cultura y Universidades of the Government of the Balearic Islands and from the European Social Fund through the Balearic Islands ESF operational program for 2013-2017. JJR acknowledges funding from the Ramón y Cajal program of MINECO. BG was partially supported by the French ANR project HarMS-flu (ANR-12-MONU-0018).Peer Reviewe