A Capacity Building for Higher Education ERASMUS+ Project: Strategic Human Resources Management for Southeast Asian Universities (HR4ASIA)

The development and optimization of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is becoming more and more important. Consequently, Human Resources Management (HRM) has gained greater prominence in the management of these institutions. Due to the complexity of academic contexts of HEIs, HRM models need to be able to respond to new challenges. These challenges concern selection, motivation and development of their staff. Currently, especially in Southeast Asian countries, Human Resources approaches need to be more efficient and tailored to current labor and societal needs. In order to support Higher Education organizational changes in Southeast Asia, a consortium of 4 institutions from Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Lithuania) and 8 from Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand) lead by the University of Danang (Vietnam), applied to a Capacity Building for Higher Education project under the framework of the Erasmus+ Program. The project “Strategic Human Resources Management for Southeast Asian Universities” (HR4Asia) approved in 2016 and co-funded by the European Commission aims at contributing to Higher Education organizational reform in Southeast Asia by improving HRM at the target HEIs from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Thailand. Each partner has well defined tasks according to the work packages established on the project. This research is focused on the competences that workers need to achieve to have a better performance in the institution. It was necessary to present and deconstruct, among others, the concepts of competence as capacity and competency as performance, to learn how to measure competencies and to manage competency and Human Resources. Staff involved in this project will be able to design and define the competencies model of the structures of each HEI to define the competency model per structure (mapping of organizational competencies and a model of competences of structures). This is one more step to achieve the following final goals: introduce in Southeast Asian HEIs a scheme to developing and implementing innovative HRM approaches, paying attention to transversal and additional skills, such as communication and self-learning. Tailor-made dissemination activities addressing non-partner HEIs, Ministries of Higher Education and other stakeholders will promote the project objectives, paving the way for its sustainability

The Use of the Common Assessment Framework Tool: Empiric Study on the University of Evora (Academic Services)

As far as our study is concerned, there were several underlying questions deemed relevant: what will the grade of satisfaction of the students and of the internal collaborators be? What kind of diagnosis will the internal collaborators and managers of the Academic Services make? What are the weak and strong points of the Academic Services? Which improvement measures can be devised? Our study aims at being the basis of a self-assessment tool to be systematically undertaken at the Academic Services of the University of Évora, a tool which will provide a means to develop a process of continuous progress, based on a systematic self-assessment. To meet this end, answers to the above questions will have to be given regularly

TQM and SDGs for Erasmus+ Programme—Quality education, Reducing inequalities, Climate change, Peace and justice

Any element that enables higher education institutions (HEIs) to set themselves apart in a positive and superior way in terms of their performance would be advantageous given the competitive climate in which they operate. The Erasmus+ Programme provides HEIs with yet another option to become more competitive and to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via the improvement of educational quality (SDG 4), reducing inequalities (SDG 10), climate action (SDG 13), and peace and justice (SDG 16). The goal of this work was to explore the potential relationships and synergies between HE sustainability and Total Quality Management (TQM) issues through the SDGs. The methodological approach was concentrated on the qualitative study of academic papers on TQM, sustainability, and the SDGs in HE as well as on the analysis of Regulation (EU) 2021/817, which established Erasmus+. We concluded that TQM and sustainability have synergies related to the SDGs, and the Erasmus+ Programme can support the sustainability of HEIs by promoting these SDGs. Leadership; education and training; the participation of staff members; measurement, evaluation, and control; and other stakeholders are essential factors for the effective implementation of TQM and sustainability in HEIs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quasi-one-dimensional system as a high-temperature superconductor

It is well-known that quasi-one-dimensional superconductors suffer from the pairing fluctuations that significantly reduce the superconducting temperature or even completely suppress any coherent behavior. Here we demonstrate that a coupling to a robust pair condensate changes the situation dramatically. In this case the quasi-one-dimensional system can be a high temperature superconductor governed by the proximity to the Lifshitz transition at which the Fermi level approaches the lower edge of the single-particle spectrum.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

The Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Impact Ranking: Quality education in Portuguese higher education institutions

Sustainability based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is currently a relevant dimension for the competitiveness of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Portuguese HEIs will have, therefore, to adapt to the demands of the times and follow the Sustainable Development practices. Therefore, Quality Education is, then, a factor that allows HEIs to have competitive advantages, given that Education is a critical success factor for these institutions. Through a qualitative analysis of articles on the theme of Sustainability in Higher Education and the THE Impact Ranking platform, we tried to understand the impact that SDG 4 - Quality of Education has on Portuguese Higher Education Institutions, registered on this platform from 2019 to 2022. The main conclusion is that SDG 4 does not seem to be considered yet by Portuguese HEIs as a distinctive factor to obtain competitive advantage in the universe of HEIs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Membrane Type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase Regulates Monocyte Migration and Collagen Destruction in Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global pandemic and drug resistance is rising. Multicellular granuloma formation is the pathological hallmark of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP or MMP-14) is a collagenase that is key in leukocyte migration and collagen destruction. In patients with TB, induced sputum MT1-MMP mRNA levels were increased 5.1-fold compared with matched controls and correlated positively with extent of lung infiltration on chest radiographs (r = 0.483; p < 0.05). M. tuberculosis infection of primary human monocytes increased MT1-MMP surface expression 31.7-fold and gene expression 24.5-fold. M. tuberculosis-infected monocytes degraded collagen matrix in an MT1-MMP-dependent manner, and MT1-MMP neutralization decreased collagen degradation by 73%. In human TB granulomas, MT1-MMP immunoreactivity was observed in macrophages throughout the granuloma. Monocyte-monocyte networks caused a 17.5-fold increase in MT1-MMP surface expression dependent on p38 MAPK and G protein-coupled receptor-dependent signaling. Monocytes migrating toward agarose beads impregnated with conditioned media from M. tuberculosis-infected monocytes expressed MT1-MMP. Neutralization of MT1-MMP activity decreased this M. tuberculosis network-dependent monocyte migration by 44%. Taken together, we demonstrate that MT1-MMP is central to two key elements of TB pathogenesis, causing collagen degradation and regulating monocyte migration

Environmental comfort indicators for school buildings in sustainability assessment tools

Decades ago, the only requirement to construct a building was to give men the right conditions for the execution of their work or leisure activities. With the development of knowledge about the internal and external environments of buildings, other requirements have been added such as the issue of user comfort. New construction techniques have been incorporated and new products have been created to improve internal environment comfort. This research addressed the importance of using indicators related to environmental comfort in sustainability assessment tools applied to school buildings. It also considered the importance of environmental issues for the good performance of human beings, and the harmonious coexistence of the comfort indicators indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and ergonomic comfort based on data gathered in research carried out with users of high schools (only students). This research was carried out in two different cities of different countries, Guimarães (Portugal) and Juiz de Fora (Brazil), that have similar characteristics of teaching standards and climate conditions (temperature and air humidity). In this study, interviews were made through questionnaires and, later, the information collected was analyzed. This study demonstrates the need to include an ergonomic indicator for school buildings in sustainability assessment tools.The corresponding author wants to thank: the teacher and Administrative Director of Francisco de Holanda High School, Abílio Ferreira, for showing me the school and giving all the necessary information, always with great attention; Parque Escolar Company (EPE) for supplying the necessary material for the execution of the work; and Mrs. Catarina Araujo for helping me in the conception of this article. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Practices and cultures of adaptive governance for rapidly eroding Portuguese coastlines

Portuguese coasts, which are among the most energetic and eroded coastal stretches in Europe, have experienced intense urban and tourist pressure over the last decades. 80% of the coastal population and 85% of GDP are concentrated on coastal stretches. 50% of the urban areas are located within 13km of the coastline, and coastal erosion reaches retreats over 220m in the last 50 years.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio