A new look into the evolution of clusters literature. A bibliometric exercise

In the contemporary globalising knowledge-based economies, local clusters have become crucial elements of regional development, assuming a significant role in both academic and political fields. Although there is an intuitive awareness about the raising importance of the theoretical debate on clusters, there is a substantial lack of empirical support of its precise magnitude and evolution. Moreover, the majority of literature surveys on clusters are exclusively qualitative-based. Aiming at filling this gap, the main purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative survey of the cluster literature, using bibliometric techniques based on articles. Based on a throughout analysis of all abstracts of articles on clusters published in journals indexed on the Econlit and EBSCO databases, covering the period 1962-2007, our research show that besides their importance in academic fields, the role of clusters has also been widely acknowledged in political spheres. In parallel with the increasing interest in the ‘local’, there has been, as well, an emergent body of literature on global networks and clusters. Moreover, on the basis of the recent boom on clusters literature stands the emergent themes of ‘local networks and social approaches’ and ‘knowledge-based theories’. Literature associated to ‘regional and national innovation systems’ and to ‘institutional approaches’ (local enrooted cultures, governance and customs) has been object of a particular dynamism since the 1990s. Despite the evidence of a clear positive correlation between journals ‘quality’ and formal related research, the evolution of the literature on clusters continues to be mostly appreciative led.Clusters, Industrial Clusters, Industrial Location; Bibliometrics

The changing publicness of urban spaces

Public spaces have long been the main element of the urban structure.However, the social and spatial configuration of the contemporary city haveradically altered the role of public space and inherent public sphere in the set ofurban dynamics. Privatization schemes have created new arenas for public life,distorting the traditional urban public spaces. Still, there needs to be a way tocharacterize public spaces. This paper will set the framework for a new form ofevaluating a spaces publicness, forging the path for a more accurate andcomprehensive understanding of these spaces dynamics. This will allow a betterassessment of the features that constitute a successful urban space and how thepublic can experience and take advantage of it, contributing to redefine thepublic/private paradigm

Where to go or where not to go: a method for advising communities during extreme temperatures

Climate change is producing more extremes and increasing the number and magnitude of risks that impact people's lives, so identifying and understanding local climate risks is a long but essential process for defining adaptation strategies. The availability of technologies to sensitize and educate people about risks, and to assist people with becoming active observers and monitors of climatic elements has helped to promote permanent surveillance and proactive attitudes towards climatic phenomena that lead to undesirable risks. This paper proposes a methodological approach to guide citizens moving around the city when extreme temperatures occur, minimizing climatic risks and negative health comes, using a very simple method based on Landsat 8 temperature data images at a subsection spatial scale level. The results obtained indicate the places of higher extreme temperatures risks, as well as some of the potential places that people can use to protect themselves. This work demonstrates the value of mapping climatic factors at a local scale and deliver tailored and accurate maps with the places suitable for alleviating bioclimatic stresses and the places that should be avoided

Financial distress and the role of management in micro and small-sized firms

In this paper, we focus on managerial characteristics of micro and small-sized firms. Using linked employer-employee data on the Portuguese economy for the 2010-2018 period, we estimate the impact of management teams' human capital on the probability of firms becoming financially distressed and on their subsequent recovery. Our estimates show that the relevance of management teams' formal education on the probability of firms becoming financially distressed depends on firms' size and the type of education. We show that management teams' formal education and tenure reduces the probability of micro and small-sized firms becoming financially distressed and increases the probability of their subsequent recovery. The estimates also suggest that those impacts are stronger for micro and small-sized firms. Additionally, our results show that functional experience previously acquired in other firms, namely in foreign-owned and in exporting firms and in the area of finance, may reduce the probability of micro firms becoming financially distressed. On the other hand, previous functional experience in other firms seems to have a strong and highly significant impact on increasing the odds of recovery of financially distressed firms. We conclude that policies that induce an improvement in the managerial human capital of micro and small-sized firms have significant scope to improve their financial condition, enhancing the resilience of the economy against shocks.This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science andTechnology, projects UIDB/03182/2020 and PTDC/EGE-ECO/29822/2017 (“It’s All About Produc-tivity: contributions to the understanding of the sluggish performance of the Portuguese economy”)

Prática supervisionada em educação pré-escolar: a transição do pré-escolar para o 1º ciclo do ensino básico

O presente relatório foi realizado no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES) do curso de Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e tem como temática «A transição do pré-escolar para o 1º Ciclo». Com este pretendi compreender como se processa a transição da educação pré-escolar para o 1º ciclo do ensino básico e qual o papel do educador neste processo. Procurei também demonstrar o quanto é importante existir continuidade e articulação entre estas duas etapas do processo educativo. A fundamentação teórica do tema centrou-se na perspetiva ecológica do desenvolvimento humano de Bronfenbrenner, abordando o conceito de transição ecológica. Ao longo deste relatório também fiz uma descrição e reflexão da minha prática, tornando visível o processo de construção da minha profissinalidade enquanto futura educadora. Enquadrando-me numa metodologia de investigação-ação, serão abordados alguns instrumentos que suportaram a minha ação educativa; ABSTRACT: This report was compiled in the context of the curricular unit "Teaching Practices" of the degree of Pre School Education and its theme is "The transition of Pre School to the 1st Primary School" With this report I intended to understand how is made the educational transition from pre-school to the 1º cycle of basic teaching and the role of the educator in this process. I've also tried to demonstrate the importance of continuity between these two stages of the educational process and how they interact with one another. Thus, proving that this synchronization between these two processes promotes a good adaptation to the new environment. The theoretical bases of this theme are focused on the ecological perspective of the human development according to Bronfenbrenner, approaching the concept of ecological transition. In the length of this report, I've also included a description and reflection on my practice, with the support of some of the instruments that supported me. These are fit under the section of Methodology of Action-Research

Studies with screening and assessment instruments in communication and language in Portuguese children with and without language difficulties in inclusive contexts.

[Excerpt) The acquisition of communication and language is fundamental for the child's overall development. Therefore, communication difficulties may negatively influence the child's development, namely at the behavioral, socio-emotional, and cognitive levels (Prelock & Hutchins, 2018). Given the high prevalence of Portuguese children with communication and language difficulties, as well as with difficulties in school learning (Castro et al., 2019), it is essential to identify as early as possible the cases at risk that may require intervention. Thus, this paper aims to present and analyze valid and accurate screening and assessment tools, and to recognize Portuguese children at early ages at risk of language difficulties and disorders

An Application of the Walkability Index for Elderly Health-WIEH. The Case of the UNESCO Historic Centre of Porto, Portugal

This work provides a follow-up to the article Walkability Index for Elderly Health: A Proposal, published in 2020. Previous research linked the quality of public spaces, walkability characteristics relevant to older people, and the direct health benefits of walking for the same target group. The present article, on the other hand, aims to validate the conceptual design of the walkability index for elderly health (WIEH), developed by the authors in the previous study, by applying it to a study area located in the historic center of Porto, Portugal. Therefore, public spaces and the pedestrian network are analyzed according to their suitability for older people's walkability. Presented in a visual format, the results show that only a few paths within the study area were strongly suited to older people, and emphasize the impact of existing steep slopes on the quality of the pedestrian network

Intervalos de confiança para combinações lineares de proporções

Doutoramento em MatemáticaNesta tese é apresentada a derivação de vários métodos de construção de intervalos de confiança para combinações lineares de proporções binomiais de k 2 populações independentes (Xi Bin(ni, pi) , i = 1, . . . , k). Reconhecidas as deficiências do método de Wald clássico, a utilização de uma versão ajustada deste método, baseada na família paramétrica de estimadores de contração (Xi + hi)/(ni + 2hi), hi > 0, permite a derivação de vários métodos alternativos que têm vindo a ser propostos na literatura. Contudo, tanto quanto foi possível apurar, nenhum dos parâmetros hi sugeridos pelos vários autores considerou o efeito da estimativa encontrada para pi na estimação da combinação linear. Para colmatar esta lacuna, é proposta nesta tese uma nova variante do método de Wald ajustado. Além das cinco variantes do método de Wald ajustado aqui consideradas, que se baseiam no modelo não restrito, são também apresentados outros métodos baseados em modelos restritos, designadamente os métodos de Newcombe-Zou e Wilson-score- Yu, desenvolvidos segundo a metodologia MOVER, e os métodos Peskun e score. A avaliação e comparação do desempenho dos vários métodos são feitas através do cálculo de várias medidas baseadas nas probabilidades de cobertura exata, nos comprimentos esperados e nas probabilidades de não- -cobertura mesial e distal de cada um dos intervalos. Os conceitos de probabilidade de não-cobertura mesial e distal são estendidos e é introduzido um novo critério de classificação para a localização intervalar adaptado a amostras pequenas e à presença de observações extremais. Os resultados para os cenários aqui considerados mostram que os intervalos de confiança obtidos a partir da nova variante têm, em geral, um desempenho similar aos das outras variantes, mas um desempenho melhorado quando entre as k populações existem desequilíbrios entre os pesos de cada proporção da combinação linear e o tamanho da amostra. Foi realizado um estudo meta-analítico no contexto de prevalências baixas ou muito baixas, usando quer o modelo de efeito fixo quer o modelo de efeitos aleatórios, em que foi utilizado o método de Monte Carlo para avaliar e comparar o desempenho dos intervalos de confiança obtidos através da variante proposta nesta tese com o dos intervalos de confiança obtidos através de outras variantes do método deWald ajustado e do método deWald clássico com transformações logit e duplo arco-seno. Os resultados da simulação mostram que o método com melhor desempenho é o método de Wald clássico com a transformação duplo arco-seno, exceto quando o número de estudos é relativamente elevado e as prevalências são baixas ou muito baixas, situação em que a nova variante apresenta um melhor desempenho.This thesis presents the derivation of several confidence interval construction methods for linear combinations of binomial proportions of k 2 independent populations (Xi Bin(ni, pi) i = 1, . . . , k). Acknowledging the deficiencies of the classic Wald method, the utilization of an adjusted version of this method, based on the parametric family of shrinkage estimators (Xi +hi)/(ni +2hi), hi > 0, has allowed the derivation of alternative methods that has been proposed by several authors. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the parameters hi suggested to date by the various authors takes into account the effect of the estimate found for pi on the estimation of the linear combination. To overcome this lack, a new variant of the adjusted Wald method is proposed in this thesis. Besides the five variants of the adjusted Wald method herein considered, which are based on the unrestricted model, other methods, based on restricted models, are also presented, namely the methods Newcombe-Zou and Wilson-score-Yu, which were developed according to the MOVER methodology, and the Peskun and score methods. The evaluation and performance comparison of the various methods are performed by calculating several measures based on the exact coverage probabilities, the expected lengths and the mesial and distal non-coverage probabilities of each of the confidence intervals. The concepts of mesial and distal non-coverage probabilities are extended and a new classification criterion for interval location suited to small samples and the presence of extremal observations is introduced. The results for the scenarios herein considered show that the confidence intervals obtained from the new variant proposed in this thesis have, in general, a similar performance to those from other variants, but show improved performance when there is an imbalance between the weight of each proportion of the linear combination and the size of the sample among the k populations. A meta-analytic study was conducted in the context of low or very low prevalences, using either the fixed-effect model or the random-effects model, in which we used the Monte Carlo method to evaluate and compare the performance of the confidence intervals obtained through the variant proposed in this thesis with that of the confidence intervals obtained from other variants of the adjusted Wald method and from the classical Wald method with the logit and double arcsine transformations. The simulation results show that the method that performs better is the classic Wald method with the double arcsine transformation, except when the number of studies is relatively high and prevalence is low or very low, in which case the new variant performs better