Competitiveness and clusters in the portuguese tourism sector

Tourism has a truly strategic importance to any international, national or regional economy, together with the reasons that justify the immense interest in the area of clusters and their likely impact on the economic performance of companies, regional development and competitiveness of countries, seems to justify the fundamental need to investigate this issue. The discussion about clusters of tourism is still at an early stage, which explains the low number of investigations that address this problem. Moreover, taking into account the role that tourism and clusters have on the economic performance of companies for most countries, in general, and particularly in Portugal, we have identified, positioned and evaluated the economic performance of tourism clusters in Portugal. The competitiveness of tourist destinations is becoming increasingly important for countries seeking to control a large part of the growing tourism market, and this is particularly important for those who rely heavily on the situation in the sector of tourism and travel industry. Given the present statement of the problem under study, the following four questions are raised: What is the most appropriate methodology to identify clusters of tourism in Portugal? Where are the tourist clusters in Portugal? What is the positioning of the clusters against the economic performance of tourism in the region? And what are the factors that determine regional competitiveness? The present thesis aims to study the competitiveness and clusters of Tourism sector in Portugal. In this sense we explore the clusters of all Portuguese companies that make up the economic activities outside the satellite account of the World Organization of Tourism of the regional areas and tourism development poles in Portugal and make their respective mapping. It was empirically and consistently observed the identification and localization of 555 clusters spread over 10 activities related to housing, restaurant trade and animation. Therefore, we used a methodology based on the 2008 turnover of companies in Portugal, based on data from the National Statistics Institute (InstItuto Nacional de EstatÍstica - INE), distributed by regions and by economic activities, the results allowed to identify three distinct clusters - low, medium and high performance. We have done an empirical application of a conceptual model of competitiveness based on the proposed collection of primary and secondary data. The primary data used as a research tool is the questionnaire. Secondary data were obtained from the database of the Directorate-General for Research, Statistics and Planning of the Portuguese Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity, and the National Institute of Statistics for the year 2009, including employment, number of establishments, area and number of inhabitants of the areas of tourism and tourism development poles in Portugal. Through the methodology it was possible to measure the competitiveness of tourist destinations, contributing to reduce the gap identified in the literature - the assessment of competitiveness of tourist destinations is still at a very early stage, and simultaneously contribute to understand the phenomenon of competitiveness in the context of tourist destinations

Estudio genético y biodemográfico del archipielago de las Azores (Portugal)

Consultable des del TDXTítol obtingut de la portada digitalitzadaLa presente tesis está formada por dos bloques principales, uno centrado en la caracterización biodemográfica y genética (empleando el mtDNA) de la población del archipiélago de las Azores (Portugal) y otro enfocado en el propio DNA mitocondrial (DNAmt), concretamente en el desarrollo de una metodología para la clasificación poblacional en haplogrupos y en el estudio de la tasa de mutación de la región de control. Para proceder a la caracterización biodemogáfica y genética del archipiélago de las Azores y hacer inferencias sobre el origen de sus pobladores, se han utilizado diferentes aproximaciones: 1) Estudio del DNAmt en individuos no emparentados de origen azoreano, representativos de los 3 grupos de islas: Oriental, Central y Occidental; 2) Caracterización de la estructura genética de la isla de Flores a lo largo del tiempo (grupo Occidental) utilizando apellidos; y 3) Caracterización biodemográfica (endogamia, exogamia, migración y consanguinidad) de las distintas parroquias de Flores (grupo Occidental) para el periodo comprendido entre 1675 y 1875. Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir los siguientes puntos: 1) La población de las Azores se presenta como una población con valores de endogamia medio-altos, y valores de consanguinidad similares a los obtenidos para Portugal continental y en otras poblaciones del sur de Europa. 2) Cuando se considera globalmente el archipiélago, el »pool» genético mitocondrial de los azoreanos presenta una elevada diversidad, aunque el grupo Occidental se diferencie de forma significativa respecto de los otros dos grupos de islas. 3) La fuerte reducción poblacional que ocurrió en todo el archipiélago, y particularmente en Flores, no parece haber tenido consecuencias significativas en la estructura genética de la población de la isla. 4) El análisis filogeográfico del DNAmt ha permitido verificar que la gran mayoría de los linajes de DNAmt encontrados en las Azores tienen su origen en poblaciones europeas, principalmente en Portugal continental. Además, se han podido detectar linajes típicos de poblaciones africanas y de poblaciones del Próximo Oriente. En relación al estudio del DNAmt, se ha desarrollado una metodología jerárquica que permite la clasificación del DNAmt en haplogrupos en poblaciones caucasoides. Asimismo, el análisis del DNAmt en familias de origen azoreano, ha permitido realizar las siguientes aseveraciones: 1) La heteroplasmia no puede ser considerada como una condición excepcional, como se halla mayoritariamente establecido, siendo un fenómeno bastante frecuente. 2) Existe la posibilidad de que el DNAmt recombine 3) No se ha verificado contribución paterna del mismo. 4) El valor de la tasa de mutación para el D-loop es de 4.1878_10-6 mutaciones/pb/generación, un valor que está en el rango superior de los valores obtenidos en las estimaciones filogenéticas.The present thesis focuses on tow major areas: one centred on the biodemographic and genetic 8using mtDNA) characterization of the archipelago of the Azores, and the other focusing on the study of the own mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This last one, dealing specifically with in the development of a methodology to classify haplogrups and in the study of the mutation rate of the control region. The parameters considered to characterise, biodemographically and genetically this population, as well as to infer about the origin of its founders were: 1) The study of mtDNA of unrelated individuals with Azorean ancestry, from the 3 groups of islands: Eastern, Central and Western; 2) Characterization of the genetic structure of the island of Flores (Occidental group), from its discovery to present, using surnames; 3) Biodemographic characterization (endogamy, exogamy, migration and consanguinity) of the parishes of Flores (Occidental group), between the years of 1675 and 1875. The results obtained allowed to conclusions that: 1) The Azores present medium-high values of endogamy and consanguinity values similar to those observed in mainland Portugal and other south Europeans populations; 2) When considered as a all, the archipelago exhibits high degree of diversity, despite the significant differentiation of the Occidental group when compared to the other groups islands; 3) The strong population decrease that affected the archipelago and particularly the Flores island, have no major consequences on its genetic structure; 4) According to the phylogeographic analysis of mtDNA the majority of the lineages found in the Azores have their origins in European populations, primarily in mainland Portugal. There were also detected typical lineages from African and Near East populations. Based on the study of the mtDNA it was possible to develop a hierarchical methodology that allows the classification of DNAmt haplogroups in Caucasoid populations. The results obtained based on the study of the mtDNA in families allows to conclude that: 1) Heteroplamy must not be regard as an exceptional event, but as a very frequent phenomenon; 2) It is possible that mtDNA recombine; 3) There are no paternal contribution of mtDNA. 4) The value of the mutation rate for the D-loop is of 4.1878_10-6 mutations/pb/generation, a value that is in the upper end of that obtained using phylogenetic estimations

Optimization of β-cyclodextrin-based extraction of antioxidant and anti-browning activities from thyme leaves by response surface methodology

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) has been demonstrated to extend the shelf-life of food products, being also a potential source of bioactive compounds. The aim of this research was to optimize the ultrasound assisted extraction employing β-cyclodextrin aqueous solutions as no-contaminant technology and Response Surface Methodology to obtain thyme extracts with the maximum antioxidant capacity. The optimal extraction conditions were: a solution of β-ciclodextrin 15 mM, an ultrasonic treatment time of 5.9 min at a temperature of 36.6 °C. They resulted in an extract with a polyphenolic content of 189.3 mg GAE/mL, an antioxidant activity (DPPH[rad]) of 14.8 mg GAE/mL, and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) of 3.3 mg GAE/mL. Interestingly, the extract demonstrated to inhibit the production of Maillard browning products and can be considered a potential antiglycant agent. The obtained data is important for developing eco-friendly technologies in order to obtain natural antioxidant extracts with a potential inhibitory capacity of Maillard glycation reaction.Fil: Favre, Leonardo Cristian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; ArgentinaFil: dos Santos, Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Fernandez, Maria Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Mazzobre, Maria Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; ArgentinaFil: Buera, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentin

Avaliação da autenticidade de alheiras de caça por técnicas de biologia molecular

O fabrico de enchidos à base de carne representa uma longa tradição na região transmontana, onde são produzidos, sendo muito apreciados pelas suas características organolépticas peculiares e elevado valor cultural. A alheira é um dos produtos tradicionais mais típicos de Portugal. Actualmente, para além da alheira tradicional, produzida à base de carne de porco e/ou de aves (galinha e peru) são comercializadas as alheiras de caça, geralmente com preço mais elevado. Neste tipo de produtos processados, é difícil a diferenciação das carnes utilizadas, pelo que são propícios a adulterações. Para isso, o recurso a técnicas de biologia molecular, em especial a Reacção em Cadeia da Polimerase (PCR), tem-se mostrado como uma alternativa específica, rápida, sensível e adequada para a identificação de espécies em produtos alimentares. A elaboração desta dissertação visou a avaliação da autenticidade de amostras comerciais de alheiras de caça. Para tal, foi necessária a optimização de técnicas de PCR qualitativa, recorrendo à preparação de amostras binárias contendo as espécies em estudo. Desta forma, foram utilizados primers específicos para a detecção dos genes mitocondriais cytb e rARN 12S. Dentro dos primers escolhidos, alguns foram propostos pela primeira vez neste trabalho, com especial destaque para a lebre. Os resultados demonstraram elevada especificidade e sensibilidade das reacções para as espécies em estudo, permitindo detectar a adição de faisão, perdiz, pato, coelho, vaca e lebre em carne de porco até ao limite de 0,01% e adição de veado em carne de porco até ao limite de 0,1%. No caso da detecção de galinha e peru, obteve-se um limite de detecção de 0,01% e 0,1%, respectivamente. No entanto, foi verificada alguma reactividade cruzada, pelo que estas duas técnicas deverão ser optimizadas com novos primers. As metodologias propostas foram aplicadas com sucesso a 18 amostras comerciais de alheiras de caça, tendo-se detectado várias inconsistências na rotulagem, nomeadamente a ausência de espécies de caça declaradas (faisão, perdiz, pato, veado, lebre e coelho) e a presença de carnes não rotuladas (vaca, galinha e peru). A lebre mereceu neste estudo um destaque importante por não terem sido encontrados estudos anteriores relativamente à identificação específica desta espécie. Pelo que, neste trabalho foram propostas duas técnicas de PCR para a detecção de lebre que permitiram atingir níveis da ordem de 0,01% de carne de lebre em carne de porco. Adicionalmente, por PCR em tempo real com a utilização do novo corante EvaGreen® atingiu-se o limite de detecção absoluto de 0,1 pg, tendo a nova metodologia proposta mostrado ser adequada para quantificação. The manufacture of traditional meat products is a long-established tradition in Northeastern region of Portugal, in particular the case of “alheiras”, which are very popular for its unique organoleptic characteristics. Besides the traditional “alheiras” mainly produced with pork and poultry meat, others are currently available in the market, which are produced with different game meats, such as “alheiras de caça”. Since this kind of meat products are prepared using more expensive meats, they are prone to adulterations due to the economic profit that might result from the replacement or decrease of those high valued meats. Thus, the use of molecular biology techniques, especially Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), has become a reliable alternative, rapid in performance, sensitive and suitable for species identification in food. The preparation of this thesis aimed to evaluate the authenticity of commercial samples of “alheiras de caça”. For this purpose, it was necessary to optimize qualitative PCR technique, using the binary mixtures containing the species under study. Specific primers were also used for the detection of mitochondrial genes cytb and 12S rRNA. From the chosen primers, some were available on the literature while others were proposed for the first time in this work, with special emphasis to hare. PCR results revealed high sensitivity and specificity of the primers, allowing detecting the addition of pheasant, partridge, duck, rabbit, cow and hare in pork mixtures down to 0.01% and the addition of deer in pork down to 0.1%. The detection of chicken and turkey using the new designed primers enable positive amplifications until 0.01% and 0.1%, respectively. However, for these reactions it was also observed some cross-reactivity, indicating that the technique should be optimized using different primers. The proposed methods were successfully applied to 18 commercial samples of “alheiras de caça”, being detected several discrepancies in the labeling, including the absence of game species declared (pheasant, partridge, duck, deer, hare and rabbit) and the presence of meat species not labeled (cow, chicken and turkey). In this study, hare meat earned a prominent role due to the lack of reported works regarding specific identification of hare. With the techniques applied to hare detection it was possible to achieve a relative limit of detection (LOD) of 0.01% using qualitative PCR. By the use of real-time PCR with the new EvaGreen dye, an absolute LOD of 0.1 pg was reached, having the novel proposed methodology demonstrated its adequacy for quantification

New polymer mortar formulations : development, characterization and application forms

Tese de Doutoramento. Doutoramento em Engenharia Mecânica. Universidade do Porto. Faculdade de Engenharia. 200

The Need of Continuous Teachers Training in the Coaching of Vocational Education

The accelerated changing of the social, economic and political world, makes new individual and social requirements at the development of human resources level, arise, particularly from the teachers who teach courses in vocational education.CFAEC

Used food oils: physical-chemical indicators of quality degradation

Comunicação apresentada em 11th Baltic Conference on Food Science and Technology “Food science and technology in achanging world” FOODBALT 2017 Conference Proceedings. Jelgava, LLUUsed food oil (UFO), designated as frying oil, is a residue. Degradation by reuse or during storage, may occur by contacting, chemical, enzymatic and microbiological pathways, but oxidation is a major concern of the industry, as it affects sensory and nutritional quality of edible oils, with potentially toxic compounds formation. In Portugal, UFO's main destination still is the sewerage system, an environmental problem and waste of raw material, which can be re-qualified for non-food uses. However, quality control applied to UFO's, often results into expensive analysis inappropriate for small laboratories and catering industry. This project, developed with the Musketeers Group Portugal co-promotion (2012-2016), aimed to identify low-cost physicochemical parameters for further implementation as UFO's Quality Degradation Indicators (QDI) indicating defects quickly and accurately. UFO's analysis was tested on the use, for industrial frying, and by degradation induced in the laboratory (frying and heat stability tests) by applying following parameters: moisture, water activity (a(w)), total acidity, peroxide index, iodine index, colour (CIE, CIE Lab), UV absorbency, total polar compounds and microbiological indicators. Internal procedures (ESAS) were validated, redefining working ranges and test conditions, as standards procedures did not provide reliable results for the entire life cycle of oils, whose profile changes with time and reuse. Results demonstrate significant differences with quick response parameters as Total Acidity, Peroxide Index and CIE Lab colour, outlined as QDI's. Moisture, aw and CIE Lab colour proved to be inadequate for this purpose. Iodine Index and UV Absorbency are more complex and time-consuming and were profiled as reference methods.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Designing a tangible interface for collaborative storytelling to access 'embodiment' and meaning making

This work presents an ongoing study of the design and development of a physical interface that addresses storytelling. The current prototype is the result of several design iterations with four to five years old preschoolers and six preschool teachers. The interaction model was motivated by findings from research on tangible user interfaces as well as embodied cognition. Although research in these areas has revealed potential benefits of the use of physical interfaces, until now no extended in depth study of a prolonged use in the classroom of such interfaces has been carried. This work proposes to carry such an investigation, observing a group of preschoolers interacting with the interface for a period of six months.(undefined

Leaders' voices on curriculum and curricular flexibility

The responsibilities of teachers as curriculum managers are today a challenge given the curricular flexibility. These challenges stem from the discourse of autonomy and the capacity for collaborative deliberation of teachers, which refers to decisions at the level of educational policy, which can be operated in the transformation of schools oriented to the success and meaningful learning of students. This article aims to present a part of a more comprehensive project entitled "Beliefs, knowledge, and practices of teachers". It analyzes the voice of the leaders of eleven groups of schools of the Intermunicipal Community of Lands of Trás-os-Montes (CIM-TTM), Portugal. The study follows a qualitative methodology, using group interviews with school principals, department coordinators, and class directors as a data collection technique. From the content analysis on the school, category emerged the following subcategories: meanings of curriculum and curriculum management. The data reveal that participants associate the concept of the curriculum with knowledge, disciplinary content, experience, learning, and school. The influence of the hidden curriculum in the teaching and learning process was perceived, and its political connotation and utopian sense. Regarding the management of the curriculum, the teacher emerged in the participant's conceptions as an executor, a builder, and a decision-maker. The curriculum was specifically recognized as guidance and control over compliance with the program. In the context of curricular flexibility, the: (i) the adequacy to specific contexts was emphasized; (ii) the integration of the regional or local component of the curriculum; (iii) hope for curricular flexibility: recognition of potentialities and limitations; and (iv) the discrepancy between design and implementation. In conclusion, it points to the need to respond to the current and future challenges of the school, and to value the curriculum for the creation of opportunities favourable to the success of studentsThis work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UIDB/05777/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Salmonella e os ovos um perigo real?

Perigo Salmonella associado ao consumo de ovo