Time matters: genetic composition and evaluation of effective population size in temperate coastal fish species

Extensive knowledge on the genetic characterization of marine organisms has been assembled, mainly concerning the spatial distribution and structuring of populations. Temporal monitoring assesses not only the stability in genetic composition but also its trajectory over time, providing critical information for the accurate forecast of changes in genetic diversity of marine populations, particularly important for both fisheries and endangered species management. We assessed fluctuations in genetic composition among different sampling periods in the western Portuguese shore in three fish species.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Empowering private labels through packaging : an analysis about the implementation of copycat strategies on private labels

Private Labels (PLs) are an important instrument for retailers to increase their relative market power since they may increase customer loyalty, improve margins and sales and lower prices. In fact, retailers are constantly being challenged to search for methods which can leverage their own brands, namely packaging strategies. However, in order to reach its full potential, it is imperative to comprehend the real value behind the new prevalent packaging trend across PLs: Copycat packaging strategy. Hence, the present dissertation aims to analyze and understand the potential effects of PLs´ copycat packaging strategy on consumers’ perceptions toward products, assessing to what extent the adoption of this strategy triggers consumers’ purchase intention. To this end, the Portuguese retailer Sonae MC kindly provided access to the necessary data for this study. By conducting exploratory and descriptive research approaches, results revealed that the higher the level of copycat packaging on PLs, the higher the probability that PLs are perceived as being produced by the same manufacturer as National Brands (NBs), contributing to enhanced perceptions of quality. Moreover, consumers perceive copycat packaging PL’ products as being more expensive than PL’ products which follow distinct packaging strategies. Ultimately, the present dissertation demonstrates that copycat packaging strategy is a beneficial strategy that must be adopted by retailers, since it increases consumers’ purchase intention of PLs.As Marcas Próprias (MPs) assumem um papel crítico e de grande relevância para os retalhistas, uma vez que representam um valioso contributo para o aumento da sua quota de mercado, tendo em conta que possibilitam o aumento da lealdade dos consumidores, melhoram margens, e permitem a oferta de preços baixos. Desta forma, os retalhistas são constantemente desafiados para procurarem métodos que alavanquem as suas próprias marcas, nomeadamente estratégias relacionadas com o embalamento. No entanto, para que as MPs aproveitem todo o seu potencial, é imperativo a compreensão do valor acrescentado da nova tendência de embalamento das MPs: Estratégia Copycat. Neste sentido, esta dissertação visa analisar e compreender o potencial impacto da adoção da estratégia copycat na perceção dos produtos pelos consumidores, avaliando em que medida a adoção desta estratégia estimula a intenção de compra dos consumidores. Para este fim, o retalhista português Sonae MC, gentilmente cedeu acesso aos dados necessários para este estudo. Através de métodos descritivos e exploratórios, concluiu-se que, quanto maior o nível de copycat nas MPs, maior é a probabilidade dos consumidores percecionarem que estes produtos foram produzidos pelo mesmo fornecedor que produtos de Marca de Fornecedor, contribuindo consequentemente para perceções de qualidade mais elevadas. Adicionalmente, os consumidores percecionam os produtos copycat como mais caros que os outros produtos de MPs. Por fim, este estudo demonstra que é benéfico a adoção da estratégia copycat, uma vez que, em última análise, aumenta a intenção de compra dos consumidores dos produtos de MPs

Satisfação Profissional e Práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos: Estudo de Caso

Dissertação submetida como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Empresariais: Ramo Gestão de PME’sAo longo dos anos, tem vindo a tornar-se cada vez mais importante o desenvolvimento de uma Gestão de Recursos Humanos eficiente, o que implica a implementação de uma rede de práticas organizacionais estruturadas, que fomentem a satisfação dos trabalhadores. Apesar do crescimento da evidência sobre esta temática, a diversidade, quer em termos metodológicos, quer pelas bases teóricas que sustentam os diferentes estudos, bem como a ausência de respostas concretas sobre as práticas de gestão de recursos humanos mais valorizados pelos trabalhadores, demonstram que este é um tema que ainda não se encontra suficientemente explorado e muitas são as questões que se colocam relacionadas com as práticas de gestão de recursos humanos e a valorização dessas mesmas práticas pelos trabalhadores. Objetivo: O presente estudo teve assim como objetivo avaliar a Satisfação Profissional e estudar as Práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos que contribuem para a Satisfação Profissional dos trabalhadores numa loja de uma empresa nacional da eletrónica de consumo. Metodologia: Para tal foi desenvolvido um estudo de caso numa empresa na área da electrónica de consumo com reconhecimento e notoriedade no mercado nacional, onde foram realizadas entrevistas a trabalhadores e responsáveis de Recursos Humanos, tendo sido igualmente aplicado o Inventário de Satisfação Profissional aos trabalhadores. Resultados: Constatou-se uma perspetiva global positiva das PRH na perspetiva dos trabalhadores e na sua satisfação profissional. Na perspetiva da empresa e trabalhadores, todas as práticas de GRH abordadas são consideradas importantes, no entanto, destacam-se para a empresa, o recrutamento e seleção bem como os programas de integração e formação, que na perspetiva da organização, são práticas de especial relevância, uma vez que são a forma de encontrar os perfis indicados e de reter os trabalhadores numa fase inicial. Para os trabalhadores as práticas remuneratórias revestem-se de maior importância. Conclusão: Com este estudo constatámos que as práticas de gestão de recursos humanos influenciam a satisfação, a motivação e a retenção dos trabalhadores, e que estas são características essenciais para acrescentar valor à organização.Over the last years, it has become important the development of efficient human resources management. This implies the implementation of a structured network of organizational practices that promote profissional satisfaction. Despite the growing evidence on this subject, the diversity in both, methodological and the theoretical bases in the different studies, as well as the lack of concrete answers on the human resources management practices most valued by the workers, demonstrate that this is not yet sufficiently explored yet and many of those issues are related to Human Resources Management practices and the valuation of these same practices by workers. The aim of this study was identify the Professional Satisfaction and explore the Human Resources Management Practices (HRMP) in a store of a national company of electronics consumers. Metodology: For this purpose was developed a case study in a company with recognition and notoriety in the the national market. Interviews were conducted with workers and managers of Human Resources, and it was also applied the Professional Satisfaction Inventory to workers. Results:From the perspective of the company and workers, all the HRM practices considered are important, however, the recruitment and selection as well as the integration and training programs are highlighted for the company, which in the organization's perspective are practices of special relevance once which are the way to find the profiles indicated and to retain the workers at an early stage. For workers, the remuneration practices are very important. There were also a positive overall presumption of HRP in the perspective of workers and their professional satisfaction. Conclusion: With this study we found that human resources management practices influence workers' knowledge, satisfaction, motivation and retention, and these are essential characteristics to add value to any institution

Multilocus phylogeny and systematics of Iberian endemic Squalius (Actinopterygii, Leuciscidae)

Inferring the evolutionary history of a group of species can be challenging given the many factors involved. In recent years, the increased availability of sequences of multiple genes per species has spurred the development of new methodologies to analyse multilocus data sets. Two approaches that analyse such data are concatenated supermatrix and coalescent-based species-tree analyses. In this study, we used both of these methods to infer the phylogenetic relationships of Iberian species of the genus Squalius from one mitochondrial and six nuclear genes. We found mitonuclear discordance in the phylogenetic relationships of the group. According to the mitochondrial gene analysis, all species were recovered as monophyletic except S. pyrenaicus; besides, in the concatenated supermatrix analysis of the nuclear markers, this species resolved as polyphyletic with three divergent evolutionary lineages. The coalescent-based nuclear species-tree analysis rendered a well-resolved phylogeny compared with the supermatrix analysis, which was unable to discern between S. carolitertii, S. castellanus and one of the evolutionary lineages of S. pyrenaicus. This result is likely due to the better integration of population uncertainty in the coalescent approach. Furthermore, Bayesian multilocus species delimitation analyses based on a BPP approach strongly supported the distinct nuclear lineages as different species. Nevertheless, the supermatrix analysis was able to obtain well-supported relationships in the divergent lineages with low numbers of individuals. Our study highlights the usefulness of different analytical methodologies to obtain a more complete picture of the evolutionary history of taxa, especially when discordant patterns among genes are found.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

UGROŽENE VRSTE RIBA U SVIJETU: Cobitis vettonica Doadrio & Perdices, 1997 (Cobitidae)

Cobitis vettonica is an endemic cobitid fish from the Iberian Peninsula with a distribution area restricted to the River Águeda (Douro river basin) and the Alagón and Eljas rivers (Tagus river basin). This species is endangered due to pollution, habitat destruction by sediment removal and damming, and introduction of exotic species.Cobitis vettonica je endemska vrsta s Iberijskog poluotoka ograničene distribucije na rijeku Águeda (sliv rijeke Douro) te rijeke Alagón i Eljas (sliv rijeke Tagus). Vrsta je ugrožena zbog zagađenja, destrukcije staništa iskorištavanjem sedimenta, gradnjom brana i unošenjem egzotičnih vrsta

UGROŽENE VRSTE RIBA U SVIJETU: Squalius castellanus Doadrio, Perea i Alonso 2007 (Cyprinidae)

Squalius castellanus is an endemic cyprinid fish from the Iberian Peninsula, with a distribution area restricted to the River Tagus (Gallo sub-basin). This species is critically endangered mainly due to pollution and fluctuations of the water regime.Squalius castellanus je endemska ciprinidna vrsta ribe s Iberijskog poluotoka, s distribucijskim područjem ograničenim na rijeku Tagus (podsliv rijeke Gallo). Ova je vrsta kritično ugrožena uglavnom zbog zagađenja i fluktuacija vodnog režima

UGROŽENE VRSTE RIBA U SVIJETU: Squalius malacitanus Doadrio i Carmona 2006 (Cyprinidae)

Squalius malacitanus is an endemic cyprinid fish from the south of the Iberian Peninsula. This species is endangered due to habitat destruction, damming and low water availability.Squalius malacitanus je endemska ciprinidna vrsta ribe s juga Iberijskog poluotoka. Ova vrsta ugrožena je zbog uništavanja staništa, postavljanja brana i slabe dostupnosti vode

UGROŽENE VRSTE RIBA U SVIJETU: Cottus hispaniolensis Bacescu-Mester, 1964 (Cottidae)

Cottus hispaniolensis is a critically endangered cottid fish which is endemic from the Pyrenanean Garonne river basin.Cottus hispaniolensis je kritično ugrožena vrsta ribe iz porodice Cottidae, a endemska je u slivu pirenejske rijeke Garonne

Some features of the behaviour of the marbled newt Triturus marmoratus (Latreille, 1800) in captivity

The behaviour in groups of both sexes of marbled newts (Triturus marmoratus) from Sintra, Portugal, kept for a few weeks in a large aquarium, is described. Behaviour patterns described for this species and for other species in this genus were recognised. The following behaviours are described for the first time: Walk-over, Land-over, Stand-on, Show, Erect-body, Yawn, Circle, and Dig. Females seem to have a more active role in courtship than is usually considered. The behaviour frequencies for each sex were analysed using simulation statistics. Some elements usually classified as male sexual behaviours occur in both sexes and are likely to play other social roles

Climatic alterations influence bacterial growth, biofilm production and antimicrobial resistance profiles in aeromonas spp.

Research Areas: Infectious Diseases ; Pharmacology & PharmacyClimate change is expected to create environmental disruptions that will impact a wide array of biota. Projections for freshwater ecosystems include severe alterations with gradients across geographical areas. Life traits in bacteria are modulated by environmental parameters, but there is still uncertainty regarding bacterial responses to changes caused by climatic alterations. In this study, we used a river water microcosm model to evaluate how Aeromonas spp., an important pathogenic and zoonotic genus ubiquitary in aquatic ecosystems, responds to environmental variations of temperature and pH as expected by future projections. Namely, we evaluated bacterial growth, biofilm production and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Aeromonas species in pure and mixed cultures. Biofilm production was significantly influenced by temperature and culture, while temperature and pH affected bacterial growth. Reversion of antimicrobial susceptibility status occurred in the majority of strains and tested antimicrobial compounds, with several combinations of temperature and pH contributing to this effect. Current results highlight the consequences that bacterial genus such as Aeromonas will experience with climatic alterations, specifically how their proliferation and virulence and phenotypic resistance expression will be modulated. Such information is fundamental to predict and prevent future outbreaks and deleterious effects that these bacterial species might have in human and animal populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio