Predicting uptake of online customer service through mobile instant messaging applications : the effects of social presence on behaviour intention

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Marketing Research e CRMOnline shopping is rapidly increasing, creating new opportunities and challenges in the highly-competitive services market. In this context, companies are trying to come with new ways of connecting, as consumers seek easier and faster ways of interacting. This study employs the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) as the theoretical paradigm and extends it, to explore the key factors influencing the uptake of mobile instant messaging applications in online customer service, by introducing social presence as a crucial construct. The data was collected from an online questionnaire conducted to 222 Portuguese mobile instant messenger’s users. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to verify and validate the research model. The results showed that performance expectancy represents the greatest influence on users’ intention to engage in online customer service through mobile instant messaging. In addition, social presence was found to directly impact behavioural intention and indirectly, through the mediation of performance expectancy and habit. This study fills the gap in the literature, where little attention has been devoted to examining the use of mobile instant messaging applications by organizations for online customer service. The findings will help practitioners make appropriate strategies for this new channel

Comfort analysis comparison between Alfapendular and Intercity Portuguese trains at the north rail

Nowadays, trains are one of the most used public transportation modes. Comfort is the key to keeping and attracting new users. Vibration highly influences comfort levels and, once it is derived from the train motion it is stated as a primary concern. Due to contact with the seat and floor, passengers are subjected to whole-body vibration. ISO 2631 standard is fully dedicated to the evaluation of this type of vibration. Following its approach, the present research evaluates the comfort levels of Alfapendular and Intercity trains operating in Portugal at the Porto Campanhã – Lisbon Oriente connection. Measurements were performed at the beginning, middle, and end of the train, allowing a comparison between seat types within the same train and the same types from different trains. Results showed higher comfort levels for the Alfapendular trains, while for the Intercity train, both middle and end of train locations were ranked as “Little uncomfortable”. As a complementary analysis, it was observed the vibration transmission of the seat based on the Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility (SEAT). Results were above 100%, showing vibration amplification by all tested seats. Higher SEAT values were found for the Intercity train seat. This was the first study conducted on Portuguese trains regarding comfort analysis and vibration transmission.The first author thanks to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for a PhD scholarship under the project iRail (PD/BD/143161/2019). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the projects FCT LAETA– UIDB/50022/2020, UIDP/50022/2020 and UIDB/04077/2020

Estudo e conceção de um sistema de encaixe rápido e simples para próteses de membros inferiores

A variedade dos sistemas de suspensão, ou sistemas de encaixe, entre o membro residual e a prótese passam por mecanismos de pino de bloqueio, vácuo, sucção, magnéticos e híbridos. Cada tipo de mecanismo apresenta um conjunto de vantagens e desvantagens que o torna mais adequado para determinados tipos de situações. Contudo, o descontentamento demonstrado por parte dos pacientes amputados em relação às suspensões utilizadas incide principalmente na dificuldade em estabelecer uma boa suspensão, quer pela pouca destreza manual demonstrada pelo paciente, quer pela dificuldade de montagem do próprio mecanismo [1]. Surge assim a necessidade para o estudo e a conceção de um novo sistema de encaixe. No estudo realizado foram utilizadas várias ferramentas de auxílio ao projeto (como a árvore de objetivos, o diagrama de funções, o mapa morfológico) que permitiram a obtenção de diferentes soluções alternativas, de entre as quais foi selecionada uma que apresenta um sistema de encaixe que proporciona uma ligação rápida, simples e ergonómica.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What makes a school a happy school?: parents’ perspectives

Well-being, equity, and inclusion are central aspects of happy schools. In this context, we aim to provide information to identify the characteristics of happy schools and Portuguese children’s level of happiness at school. In total, one thousand three hundred and ninety-nine parents of children from five to twenty years old participated in this study by answering a mostly open-ended questionnaire. They indicated their perceptions of how happy their children were at school, the moments they associated with individual happiness and unhappiness, and the characteristics of schools that they found conducive to promoting happiness. The findings show that parents value the relationships their children establish at school, teachers’ personal and professional skills, learning strategies, and the fact that students can be creative while learning valuable content. From the perspective of parents, unhappy schools are characterized by teachers with negative attitudes and attributes, bullying, an excessive workload, and consequent stress. Differences in terms of gender and age were not significant in this study. We found that levels of happiness at school decrease as students’ ages increase.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What makes a school a happy school?: Portuguese students’ perspectives

Introduction: UNESCO has sparked interest in the study of happy schools and, through its Happy Schools Project (HSP) framework, provides tools that enable the teaching and learning community to work towards making “happy schools” a reality. Since the understanding of happiness is culturally influenced (HSP studied Asian countries), we sought to identify parallels between the HSP framework and Portuguese schools through the eyes of students. Methods: We asked a group of Portuguese students to rate their happiness at school and answer three open questions: What makes you happy at school? What makes you unhappy at school? What is a happy school? Using an online survey, 2708 students participated in this study. We coded the answers with variables derived from the HSP framework, aiming to understand what characteristics students value most when referring to their happiness or unhappiness at school and what features a happy school should have. Results: Findings show that most Portuguese students consider themselves to be reasonably happy. No relevant difference exists between boys’ and girls’ self-reported happiness levels, and their happiness decreases as age increases. Children emphasized relationships with friends and teachers and teachers’ attitudes, competencies, and capacities as elements of a happy school. We found that school unhappiness is related to excessive workload and bullying. Discussion: Even though there are cultural differences between countries, when we identified the characteristics of a happy school from the perspective of Portuguese students, we found similarities with the HSP framework guidelines.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Supervised teaching practice in initial teacher education of early childhood teachers in Portugal

Supervised teaching practice (STP) is a fundamental stage of initial teacher education, including preschool educators and teachers of the first cycle of basic education (1st CBE), which impacts their future practices. Our objectives were: a) to characterize STP in the curricula of degrees habilitating teachers for preschool education and teaching of the 1st CBE; b) to gather indicators about the process of STP implemented by the same cycles of studies; and c) to describe the improvement recommendations by the Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) to the same cycles of studies, concerning STP. The study was based on the documentary analysis of the plans of study, and A3ES reports on the initial teacher education programs preparing preschool educators and teachers of the 1st CBE of public higher education institutions (HEI) in Portugal, available during the academic year of 2020/2021. The results point to discrepancies in the definition of contact hours and the number of hours dedicated to supervised teaching practice across HEI. The recommendations for improvement by the A3ES about STP encompass cooperating teachers, the accompaniment by the HEI, and the conditions of reception at the cooperating schools.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Indirect assessment of railway infrastructure anomalies based on passenger comfort criteria

Railways are among the most efficient and widely used mass transportation systems for mid-range distances. To enhance the attractiveness of this type of transport, it is necessary to improve the level of comfort, which is much influenced by the vibration derived from the train motion and wheel-track interaction; thus, railway track infrastructure conditions and maintenance are a major concern. Based on discomfort levels, a methodology capable of detecting railway track infrastructure failures is proposed. During regular passenger service, acceleration and GPS measurements were taken on Alfa Pendular and Intercity trains between Porto (Campanhã) and Lisbon (Oriente) stations. ISO 2631 methodology was used to calculate instantaneous floor discomfort levels. By matching the results for both trains, using GPS coordinates, 12 track section locations were found to require preventive maintenance actions. The methodology was validated by comparing these results with those obtained by the EM 120 track inspection vehicle, for which similar locations were found. The developed system is a complementary condition-based maintenance tool that presents the advantage of being low-cost while not disturbing regular train operations.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, grant number PD/BD/143161/2019. The authors also acknowledge the financial support from the Base Funding-UIDB/04708/2020 and Programmatic Funding-UIDP/04708/2020 of the CONSTRUCT—Instituto de Estruturas e Construções, funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).This work is a result of the project “FERROVIA 4.0”, reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER- 046111, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020) and the Lisbon Regional Operational Programme (LISBOA 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement. The first author thanks Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for a PhD scholarship under the project iRail (PD/BD/143161/2019). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the projects FCT LAETA–UIDB/50022/2020, UIDP/50022/2020, and UIDB/04077/2020. No potential competing interest was reported by the authors

Selection of the most adequate suspension system for lower limb amputees: evaluation parameters

A proper suspension system influence the overall satisfaction of a lower limb ¬amputee on the daily basis. The present study aimed to establish the main parameters needed to evaluate and support the advantages of the new proposed suspension system by reviewing the literature related with amputee’s satisfaction. Eleven studies were select and detailed analyzed. Most of the mentioned studies used Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) as a method to classify the amputee’s satisfaction in different domains. Several studies pointed out pistoning and easy donning and doffing as the main parameters that addresses the amputee’s satisfaction with the currently available suspension systems. Amputees had a general preference for suspension systems that have an easy donning and doffing. However, the current studies do not explore the impact of the amputee’s characteristics on their satisfaction with the suspension system. The authors believe that amputee’s characteristics such as age, activity level, duration of prosthetic use, skin quality of the residual limb and hand functionality can influence the selection of the suspension system. Further research is still needed to objectively define the clinical parameters for the selection of the most adequate suspension system. Therefore the research should be carried out using a homogenous study group to perceive the advantages, drawbacks and problems using different suspension systems and, consequently, to understand the full potential of the suspension system proposed by the authors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of an easy and effective attachment system for lower limb prosthesis

This study aimed to introduce a new suspension system that is capable of increasing the amputee’s satisfaction in terms of locking the residual limb inside the prosthetic socket. This paper describes the design and development phases carried out to optimize the final solution. The design system was based on the amputee’s needs and the requirements of prosthetic suspension systems. The final solution is a combination of a guiding and fixation system, to overcome some of the reported problems with the current systems, presenting a new simple suspension method that improves the donning and doffing of prosthesis. The new suspension system is a good alternative system to improve the life quality of amputees with lower activity level on the daily basis and, consequently, ease their rehabilitation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio