Piloting VAKE (Values and Knowledge Education) in the Education for Practice of Nurses.

Imagine the following situation: You are a nurse for elderly people, going to the homes of your patients. A female patient tells you on our first visit after hospital discharge following a hip fracture surgery that she does not want to be at home, because she is not well enough to be alone and she needs therapy with oxygen in permanent basis until she recovers from a respiratory temporary infection situa¬tion. This kind of situations is the starting point for an educational sequence that ad-dresses both values (here: life, human dignity, respect, loneliness) and knowledge (different medical treatments, legal rules, etc.). The example shows how intensely interrelated the values and the facts are. Based on this example we introduce the constructivist didactical tool VaKE (Values and Knowledge Education) that permits to combine both issues, and present a pilot study using this method in the education of nurses.Tempus/LLAF; VAKEinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tourism recovery: The municipality of Sintra

Taking into account the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the hospitality and tourism industry, and specifically to tourism destinations, this master thesis presents a strategic marketing plan for the municipality of Sintra aimed at the recovery of its tourism industry. Tourism destinations need to adapt to the current crisis circumstances and create strategies to overhaul them, while still providing meaningful experiences to customers. In this matter, it is crucial to understand the evolution of consumers’ needs, expectations, and preferences, as well as to have a strong knowledge of the industry, the destination’s strengths, and the positioning of its competitors. Evolving with the pandemic is a necessity, hence the development of a redesigned positioning for Sintra, as well as a new approach for its target market, product offering, and communication strategy. This master thesis intends to take advantage of this crisis to improve Sintra’s tourism industry and establish it as a prime tourism destination in Portugal.Tendo em conta o impacto da pandemia COVID-19 na indústria do turismo, especificamente para os destinos turísticos, a presente dissertação de mestrado expõe um plano de marketing estratégico para o concelho de Sintra visando a recuperação da sua indústria turística. Os destinos turísticos precisam de se adaptar às circunstâncias criadas pela crise, assim como desenvolver estratégias para ultrapassá-las, enquanto oferecem experiências autênticas aos seus consumidores. Assim, é indispensável compreender a evolução das necessidades, expectativas, e preferências dos consumidores, bem como ter um forte conhecimento da indústria, dos pontos fortes do destino turístico, e do posicionamento dos seus concorrentes. Evoluir com a pandemia é uma necessidade, por isso foi desenvolvido um novo posicionamento para Sintra, bem como uma nova abordagem ao seu mercado-alvo, oferta de produtos turísticos, e estratégia de comunicação. A presente dissertação de mestrado pretende aproveitar a atual crise para melhorar a indústria do turismo de Sintra e torná-la num destino turístico de referência em Portugal

A aprendizagem proporcionada pela transformação de um texto escrito num texto multimédia

Neste texto apresenta-se uma reflexão crítica sobre práticas pedagógicas de dois professores responsáveis pela lecionação conjunta da unidade curricular de Língua Portuguesa e Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, da licenciatura em Educação Básica. A reflexão assenta em resultados recolhidos através da observação participante durante aulas com duas turmas, através das reflexões individuais finais escritas pela totalidade dos estudantes das duas turmas, através de três trabalhos produzidos a pares por alguns estudantes e, por fim, através de entrevista com estes estudantes. Com o conjunto de atividades em análise, pretendia-se desenvolver a competência de escrita narrativa e de produção de um texto multimédia. Constatou-se, porém, que as novas aprendizagens mais relevantes se verificaram noutras áreas: na produção do guião, ferramenta transformadora do texto escrito em texto multimédia, e no registo da expressão oral planificada das crianças que colaboraram na criação do PhotoStory.This paper is a critical reflection about teaching practices of two professors responsible for the teaching of Portuguese Language and Information and Communications Technology, a subject of the degree in Elementary Education. The reflection is based on results collected through participant observation during lessons with two classes, through the final individual reflections written by all students of both classes, through three tasks produced by some students and, finally, through interviews with these students. The set of activities under consideration were intended to develop the competence of narrative writing and of a multimedia text production. It was found, however, that the new, more relevant learning has taken place in other areas: the production of the script, a tool that transforms the written text into a multimedia text, and the recording of planned speaking by children who collaborated in the creation of the PhotoStory

Learning provided by the transformation of a written text into a multimedia text

This paper is a critical reflection about teaching practices of two professors responsible for the teaching of Portuguese Language and Information and Communications Technology, a subject of the degree in Elementary Education. The reflection is based on results collected through participant observation during lessons with two classes, through the final individual reflections written by all students of both classes, through three tasks produced by some students and, finally, through interviews with these students. The set of activities under consideration were intended to develop the competence of narrative writing and of a multimedia text production. It was found, however, that new more relevant learning has taken place in other areas: the production of the script, a tool that transforms the written text into a multimedia text, and the recording of planned speaking by children who collaborated in the creation of the PhotoStory.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes implicated in the process of ketogenesis

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em BiotecnologiaFatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis play an important role in metabolic adaptation of the liver. Ketogenesis is a crucial process, especially in fasting. It is the last step of lipid metabolism and provides energy in the form of ketone bodies for the extra hepatic tissues, saving glucose for vital tissues, as the brain. In this project there were studied mechanisms by which genes involved in ketogenesis are regulated. In the first part, the hypothesis was to test whether the FoxO family members, FoxO3a and FoxO1, were responsible for HMGCS2 induction by p53 activation. HMGCS2 is a key regulator of the ketone body production, and it was published by the laboratory where this project was developed that it is a FoxO3a/FoxO1 target. P53 was described to stimulate FAO in conditions of food restriction, and that this could be a part of its effect as a suppressor gene, related to the Warburg effect. During the development of this project, it was seen that FoxO3a and FoxO1 were not related to HMGCS2 induction, when there is p53 activation, induced by DNA damage with doxorubicin treatment. In the second part, Fsp27, from the CIDE family, was studied. Fsp27 is a lipid droplet associated protein. Its expression is regulated by HMGCS2 activity and this gene is expressed during early fasting. Fsp27 is able to down-regulate FAO when it’s overexpressed. The objective was to seek a regulatory role of Fsp27 in mouse liver. During the development of this project, it was confirmed that this protein had a nuclear localization and that its expression would affect PPAR signaling pathway. In AML12 cells, Fsp27 inhibited the activation of the HMGCS2 promoter by PPARα. The hypothesis was that Fsp27 would be sequestering PPARα’s endogenous ligands, since this inhibition would disappear when the cells were treated with the pharmacological agonist WY14643

Understanding the Visual Communication of Science and Technology in Translation: Initial Results of an E-survey

Visuals hold a prominent position in the communication of science and technology (S&T), helping scientists and engineers conceptualize ideas, understand the ideas of others, and present them publicly. But creating and understanding visuals depends on learned cultural experiences. Also, visuals are “constructed” objects shaped by processes of selection, idealized visions of representation, truth and objectivity, ethical values, power and gender, technology, among other factors. This constructedness questions the ability of S&T visuals to transcend language, disciplinary, professional, national, and other differences. We address this issue in the VISTAC – Science and Technology Visuals in Translation, or “VISTAC in Translation”, study and the Visualizing Science and Technology across Cultures (VISTAC) pilot study that led to it. The pilot study results showed that people visually portray S&T concepts differently for audiences from different cultures and nationalities. This brings up the question of what happens to visuals when S&T documentation is translated. The VISTAC in Translation study, a two-stage e-survey-based study, was developed to answer this question. Specifically, it seeks to understand how translators, translation companies, and publishers perceive the importance of translating visuals in S&T documentation, as well as the procedures they follow when preparing S&T documents for translation. This article describes the research methodology of the first-stage e-survey and the esurvey itself: the data collection method, e-survey questions, and dissemination strategies. It also presents and discusses a partial set of results, and succinctly relates these findings to the forthcoming second-stage e-survey.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quidgest internationalization strategic plan to Brazil

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsAn International Strategic Plan to Brazil is the subject of this work project. The author studies the prospect of the Portuguese company Quidgest increasing its international presence. Quidgest is a software consultant that develops Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. After an extensive analysis focused on Brazil’s economy, business conjecture and its ERP market potential, the major conclusion drawn was the fact that the company should send its operations to Brazil, mainly to the state of Minas Gerais, and initiate a partnership with a consulting company already present in this country, in a Strategic Alliance arrangement

ePortfolio as a learning and assessment tool

This paper falls within the ERASMUS+ KA2 project Empowering Eportfolio Process (EEP). This project aims to promote the development of best practices in Higher Education, by encouraging cooperation and sharing between teachers and researchers from several European countries using digital portfolios. The work so far has allowed us to systematize some reflections on the students’ perspective related to the use of digital portfolios as learning and evaluation tools. Among the conclusions of the project, we highlight the opinion students have built on the role of portfolios as a transforming element of evaluation processes, giving it a character of greater integration in learning. The students suggest that evaluation should be run more frequently and should meet their needs. This analysis was carried out by the Portuguese working group that promoted three collective interviews with students of several courses of the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (ESE-IPS). The analysis of the collected data allowed us to perceive the evaluation that the students attribute to the feedback and to the monitoring of their work by the teacher. We advocate that these aspects should be appropriated by teachers, thus promoting the quality of the process of learning and teaching in higher education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Further contributions towards the molecular analysis of NIPBL and SMC1A genes in a cohort of patients with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome

Resumo publicado em: European Journal of Human Genetics. 2012 Jun 1;20 Suppl 1: Sec1:298Cornelia de Lange Syndrome [CdLS (MIM#122470)] is a rare multisystemic disorder, characterized by a typical phenotype that includes distinctive facial dysmorphism, hirsutism, growth and psychomotor developmental delay, abnormalities of the upper extremities, and relatively frequent gastrointestinal and congenital heart defects. CdLS is essentially caused by mutations in the NIPBL and SMC1A genes (~50% and 5% of cases, respectively), but mutations have been also described in other genes (PDS5A, PDS5B, SMC3) (http://www.lovd.nl/CDLS). This genetic heterogeneity in CdLS can however be explained by a close functional relationship at the cellular level, since all these proteins are involved in chromatid cohesion. The molecular and clinical characterization of 42 Portuguese CdLS patients has been previously described (Oliveira et al., 2010). In this work we conducted the molecular analysis of NIPBL gene and more recently expanded this study to other 20 patients. Subsequently, all the molecularly unresolved patients were screened for large deletions and duplications in NIPBL by MLPA, and point mutations in SMC1A by high resolution melting curve analysis and sequencing. Preliminary results allowed us to identify 4 previously known mutations (including a case with somatic mosaicism), 3 novel mutations (c.3316C>T, c.6983C>G and c.7307C>T) and 2 large deletions in the NIPBL gene. Mutation screening in SMC1A is still ongoing. Our results, at least for NIPBL gene analysis, suggest that the use of several different techniques is essential for attaining a high mutation detection rate. CdLS cases with somatic mosaicism are probably underestimated in the literature and may explain some degree of phenotypical variability

VaKE(Values and Knowledge Education). Piloting a strategy for NursingEducation

Nurses are expected to have health responses which imply interdisciplinary, multi-professional dynamics, require high responsibility and consistent general knowledge to deal with many different, very specific patient needs, which lead them to deal with situations often triggering dilemmasthat involve moral dimensions. Although it is accepted that nursing is a moral activity and that ethical reflection requires practitioners to think critically about their values and to ensure that these values are integrated into caring in every interaction(1), the focus of teaching is more centered on knowledge (about responsibilities, Code of Ethics, …). In fact, personal values are accepted as inherent to human life, seen as attitudes, beliefs and priorities that bind individuals together and guide behavior(2), and some authors acknowledge that personal values can influence the nurses’ professional behavior(3,4). Academic professors of graduation nurses need to take into account all these dimensions, inasmuch as higher education must maintain dynamics of permanent relevance and adequationto society needs and to the quality control of this offer(5)and these must not be dealt with independently but in relation with each other. Awareness of the importance of a reflected and discussed process that enables rationalization of personal and professional values within the process of care, was the motivation to adhere to a proposal of piloting VaKE methodology within Nursing Academic framework.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio