Barclaycard: A Go-To Brand for Payments and Lending in the Iberian Peninsula: Strategies of Portfolio Optimization in the Portuguese Market and New Customer Engagement in Spain

CEMSThe CEMS-MIM Business Project carried in partnership with Barclaycard implied the creation of strategies to increase the customer database value, which highly depends on consumer loyalty levels and new customer acquisition rate. In a first stage, the current competition was assessed. Secondly, by studying consumers’ preferences through the creation of two distinct surveys, it was possible to derive the main priorities for Barclaycard’s product portfolio development. Generally, customers highly value immediate benefits and financial benefits. Therefore, Barclaycard is advised to implement cashback, Email/ SMS alerts, and keep flexible repayment conditions, in order to achieve its goals

Digitally augmenting the physical ground space with timed visual cues for crutch-assisted walking

This late-breaking work presents initial results regarding a novel mobile-projection system, aimed at helping people to learn how to walk with crutches. The existing projection-based solutions for gait training disorders are based on walking over a fixed surface (usually a treadmill). In contrast, our solution projects visual cues (footprints and crutch icons) directly into the floor, augmenting the physical space surrounding the crutches, in a portable way. Walking with crutches is a learning skill that requires continuous repetition and constant attention to detail to make sure they are being used correctly, avoiding negative consequences, such as falls or injuries. We conducted expert consultation sessions, and we identified the main issues that patients face when walking with crutches. This informed the design of Augmented Crutches. We performed a qualitative evaluation and conclude with design implications: the importance of timing, self-assurance and awareness.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

School interventions for students with ADHD and learning difficulties : a mini review

Considering the prevalence of students with ADHD and learning difficulties, it is necessary to think about interventions in the school environment that can qualify teaching work and provide effective learning for these students. In this sense, this mini review seeks to highlight some important evidence in the literature and indicate the need for further studies on the subject with which it is possible to generalize some results and, with that, establish adequate guidelines for teachers

The magnetic Purcell effect: the case of an emitter near an antiferromagnet

In this paper we discuss the magnetic Purcell effect of a magnetic dipole near a semi-infinite antiferromagnet. Contrary to the electric Purcell effect, the magnetic one is not so well studied in the literature. We derive the dispersion relation of the surface wave existing at an antiferromagnetic-dielectric interface from the calculation of the reflection coefficient of the structure. After characterizing the surface wave we quantize the electromagnetic vector potential of the surface wave. This allows us to discuss the magnetic Purcell effect via the Fermi golden rule. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2019- BAF and NMRP acknowledge discussions on the topic of this paper with Bruno Amorim and Gil Farias, and the Center of Physics of the University of Minho and the University of Porto for funding in the framework of the Strategic Financing UID/FIS/04650/2013. NMRP acknowledges support from the European Commission through the project "Graphene-Driven Revolutions in ICT and Beyond" (Ref. No. 785219), COMPETE2020, PORTUGAL2020, FEDER and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028114

The Impact of Mobile Phone Reminders on Perceived Self-Care Levels of Informal Caregivers

: Informal caregivers play a fundamental role in caring for people that need assistance and provide an effective service in managing their loved ones’ health. Because of this, they have little time to attend to themselves and perform self-care practices. Some of these practices can improve mental health. By snowball sampling, we recruited 15 informal caregivers, 12 females and three males. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, we analyzed the impact of the reminders on a self-care scale. We used the Mindful Self-Care Scale, comparing the same population without reminders and with reminders. Results indicated that total self-care scores with reminders increased statistically significantly, T = 13, Z = −2.481, p ≤ 0.013, with a large effect size (r = 0.64). This study shows a significant self-care increase in informal caregivers after using reminders. Future development of a reminders-based approach could focus on increasing self-care and the time caregivers take for themselves, empowering them to take a more active role in meeting their own needs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quantization of graphene plasmons

In this article we perform the quantization of graphene plasmons using both a macroscopic approach, based on the classical expression for the average electromagnetic energy in a dielectric medium, and a quantum hydrodynamic model, in which graphene electrons are modeled as a charged fluid. Both models allow one to take into account the dispersion in the optical response, with the hydrodynamic model also allowing for the inclusion of the momentum dependence of the optical response (nonlocal effects). Using both methods, the electromagnetic field mode functions, and the respective frequencies, are determined for two different graphene structures. We show how to quantize graphene plasmons, considering that graphene is a dispersive medium, within the local and nonlocal descriptions. It is found that the dispersion of graphene's optical response leads to a nontrivial normalization condition for the mode functions. The obtained mode functions are then used to calculate the decay of an emitter, represented by a dipole, via the excitation of graphene surface plasmon polaritons. The obtained results are compared with the total spontaneous decay rate of the emitter and a near perfect match is found in the relevant spectral range. It is found that nonlocal effects in graphene's conductivity become relevant for the emission rate for small Fermi energies and small distances between the dipole and the graphene sheet.B.A.F. and N.M.R.P. acknowledge support from the European Commission through the project "Graphene-Driven Revolutions in ICT and Beyond" (Ref. No. 785219), and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Financing UID/FIS/04650/2013. Additionally, N.M.R.P. acknowledges COMPETE2020, PORTUGAL2020, FEDER, and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Projects No. PTDC/FIS-NAN/3668/2013 and No. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028114. B.A. acknowledges the hospitality of CeFEMA, where he was a visiting researcher during part of the time in which this work was developed, and financial support from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Project No. CEECIND/02936/2017

Estimativa numérica, memória de trabalho e raciocínio quantitativo

Há evidências de que tanto a estimativa numérica quanto a memória de trabalho são habilidades importantes para o desempenho em matemática, porém pouco se sabe sobre a relação entre estimativa numérica e memória de trabalho. Assim, pretendeu-se neste estudo verificar as relações entre as capacidades de: estimativa numérica, memória de trabalho e raciocínio quantitativo. Para isso, 143 crianças de 3.º e 4.º anos do Ensino Fundamental de duas escolas municipais de Porto Alegre/RS foram avaliadas. Verificaram-se relações significativas entre as três medidas, sendo que os maiores níveis de correlação foram entre raciocínio quantitativo e estimativa numérica e entre os componentes executivo central e buffer episódico da memória de trabalho com o raciocínio aditivo. Os resultados indicam associação direta entre as medidas avaliadas