Computer-assisted audit tools and techniques use: Determinants for individual acceptance

During the last fifteen years, several studies on the research topic of Individual Technology Acceptance have been developed, and several new models have been proposed. All these models aim to understand and define determinant contributions for the acceptance of technologies and what the drivers leading to successful adoption are. This dissertation’s main emphasis is to gain an understanding of individual acceptance of Computer-assisted Audit Tools and Techniques (CAATTs) in the context of Portuguese Statutory Auditors. Previous research in other countries, utilizing several and distinct research universes, has informed this work and the definition of the main objectives of the present research. This dissertation has as its main objectives: 1) understanding the tasks in which CAATTs are used; 2) to identify the adoption drivers of CAATTs; 3) to explore the current usage of CAATTs among statutory auditors and 4) to develop a CAATTs adoption model. To reach the objectives two studies were conducted: a qualitative study, supported by interviews to experts, and a quantitative study operationalized by a questionnaire to 110 Portuguese statutory auditors. This latter study was the cornerstone, which allowed testing the CAATTs acceptance model. This dissertation presents significant contributions impacting the various stakeholders: individual Statutory Auditors, Statutory Auditors Firms, The Portuguese Institute of Statutory Auditors, Software houses and higher education.Nos últimos 15 anos, vários estudos de investigação foram desenvolvidos abordando a temática da aceitação individual de tecnologia, tendo sido apresentados novos modelos. Esses modelos têm como objetivo compreender e identificar os determinantes sobre a aceitação de tecnologias que levem a uma adoção bem-sucedida. A principal ênfase da tese é compreender a aceitação individual de “Tecnologias de Informação para Auditoria”, também designadas, em Português, por “Ferramentas Informáticas de Suporte à Auditoria” ou “Técnicas de Auditoria Assistidas por Computador” (CAATT), no contexto dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas em Portugal. Investigações anteriores realizadas em diferentes países, com distintos universos de investigação, inspiraram este trabalho na definição dos principais objetivos da presente pesquisa. A presente dissertação tem como principais objetivos compreender as tarefas em que as CAATT são utilizadas; identificar os fatores de adoção de CAATT; explorar o atual uso de CAATT entre Revisores Oficiais de Contas e desenvolver um modelo de adoção de CAATT. Para alcançar estes objetivos foram realizados dois estudos: um estudo qualitativo e exploratório, apoiado por entrevistas com peritos, e um estudo quantitativo operacionalizado através de um questionário a 110 Revisores Oficiais de Contas portugueses. Este estudo foi a pedra angular que permitiu testar o modelo de aceitação de CAATT. Esta dissertação apresenta contribuições significativas com impactos para os principais stakeholders: Revisores Oficiais de Contas, empresas, Ordem dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas, software houses e instituições de ensino superior

Cerebral malaria model applying human brain organoids

Neural injuries in cerebral malaria patients are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, a comprehensive research approach to study this issue is lacking, so herein we propose an in vitro system to study human cerebral malaria using cellular approaches. Our first goal was to establish a cellular system to identify the molecular alterations in human brain vasculature cells that resemble the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in cerebral malaria (CM). Through transcriptomic analysis, we characterized specific gene expression profiles in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) activated by the Plasmodium falciparum parasites. We also suggest potential new genes related to parasitic activation. Then, we studied its impact at brain level after Plasmodium falciparum endothelial activation to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying CM. For that, the impact of HBMEC-P. falciparum-activated secretomes was evaluated in human brain organoids. Our results support the reliability of in vitro cellular models developed to mimic CM in several aspects. These systems can be of extreme importance to investigate the factors (parasitological and host) influencing CM, contributing to a molecular understanding of pathogenesis, brain injury, and dysfunction.This research was funded by National funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) SFRH/BD/131540/2017, SFRH/BD/5813/2020, COVID/BD/152416/2022 and UMINHO/BIM-CNCG/2022/143. This work has been funded by ICVS Scientific Microscopy Platform, member of the national infrastructure PPBI - Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBIPOCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122; by National funds, through the FCT—project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020. Moreover, this work was funded by IF/00143/2015/CP1294/CT0001, PTDC/SAU-PAR/2766/2021 and UIDB/04469/2020. O.M. is funded by the project NORTE-01- 0247-FEDER-045914, supported by POFC–COMPETE and FCT, under the programs PT2020 and NORTE2020. M.I.V. thanks FCT for her contract funding provided through 2020.03113.CEECIND.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Educomunicação e suas áreas de intervenção: Novos paradigmas para o diálogo intercultural

oai:omp.abpeducom.org.br:publicationFormat/1O material aqui divulgado representa, em essência, a contribuição do VII Encontro Brasileiro de Educomunicação ao V Global MIL Week, da UNESCO, ocorrido na ECA/USP, entre 3 e 5 de novembro de 2016. Estamos diante de um conjunto de 104 papers executivos, com uma média de entre 7 e 10 páginas, cada um. Com este rico e abundante material, chegamos ao sétimo e-book publicado pela ABPEducom, em seus seis primeiros anos de existência. A especificidade desta obra é a de trazer as “Áreas de Intervenção” do campo da Educomunicação, colocando-as a serviço de uma meta essencial ao agir educomunicativo: o diálogo intercultural, trabalhado na linha do tema geral do evento internacional: Media and Information Literacy: New Paradigms for Intercultural Dialogue

Choosing a Higher Education Course: A personal ranking

Anualmente, dezenas de milhares de jovens portugueses candidatam-se a uma vaga no ensino superior, numa das mais importantes escolhas que farão ao longo das suas vidas. Neste trabalho propomos um portal que possui todos os critérios e indicadores disponíveis e relevantes para a escolha de um curso superior, disponibilizando os recursos e as opções necessárias para que sejam os candidatos e não o Estado ou qualquer outra entidade a hierarquizar as suas prioridades. De acordo com o algoritmo proposto, atribuindo uma maior ou menor importância aos critérios e indicadores que considerar relevantes de acordo com os seus objetivos, o candidato poderá gerar várias simulações criando um ranking pessoal de pares de cursos/instituições.Palavras chave: Acesso ao Ensino Superior; Educação; Sistemas de Apoio à Decisão.Every year tens of thousands of Portuguese youths applied for a position in higher education, one of the most important choices that make throughout their lives. In this paper we propose a portal that contains all the criteria and indicators that are available and relevant during the process of choosing a course, providing the resources and the necessary options, so that it can be the candidates and not the State or any other entity to choose their priorities. According to the proposed algorithm, assigning a greater or lesser importance to criteria and indicators that one can consider relevant according to his/her objectives, the candidate can generate several simulations creating a personal ranking of the pair course/institution.Keywords: Higher Education Access; Education; Decision Support Systems

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data