Banks’ capital, regulation and the financial crisis

This paper investigates whether regulatory capital requirements play an important role in determining banks’ equity capital. We estimate equity capital regressions using panel data of a sample of 560 banks for 2004-2010. Our results suggest that regulatory capital requirements are not first order determinants of banks’ capital structure. We document differences on the effect of most factors on banks’ share of equity according to the type of bank and to the region of the bank. Finally, we show that the determinants of this share are sensitive to the recent international financial crisis and to a set of regulatory country factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A study on health care workers' knowledge, attitudes and experiences of DOTS in the Windhoek District of the Khomas Region (Namibia)

The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of health care workers who care for patients receiving treatment under DOTS strategy at public health facilities in the Windhoek District of the Khomas Region. A qualitative explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used in this study. A purposive sampling was used to select participants who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The inclusion criteria was to be a health care worker who at the time of the study was working with patients who are on DOT for at least 6 months. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data. The study was conducted in the Windhoek district of the Khomas region, with a sample of 14 health care workers. Data was analysed by means of content analysis, a process of organizing and integrating narrative, qualitative data according to emerging themes and concepts. The three themes, which emerged from data analysis, were the knowledge of health care workers regarding the implementation of DOTS, the attitudes of health care workers towards patients on DOT which may affect the success of their treatments, and the experiences of health care workers when attending to patients on DOTS. The findings from the study may be used to engage stakeholders to address the shortcomings that exist in the implementation of the DOTS strategy in the district.Health StudiesM.A. (Nursing Science

Patient-derived explant cultures for cancer modelling

"Cancer remains one of the deadliest diseases in the world. The process of drug discovery to find new drugs for oncology treatment takes more than a decade of research and it is associated with high attrition rates during clinical trials. One of the most common reasons claimed for the poor efficiency of new developed drugs is the lack of physiological relevance of the in vitro models used to select the novel compounds and to evaluate their potency. The role of tumor microenvironment on tumor progression and drug sensitivity is being increasingly studied and it is expected to provide significant clues for the development of novel therapies. Therefore, the incorporation of microenvironment features on cancer cell models during pre- clinical stages of research has the potential to improve significantly their predictive value. (...)"N/

Bringing the city to the people: Urban and territorial regeneration challenges in the outskirts of Guimarães

This paper aims to contribute with a new commitment to the concept of urban regeneration, which assumes diffuse/ transgenic territories as new forms of city life, using the continuous (sub)urbanization we find in the outskirts of Guimarães as case study. Along the national roads N101, N105, N206 and N207 a set of clusters have emerged, slowly, linearly and apparently disconnected, establishing a set of extensions of the urban core. We believe that these are not mere links between different cities; they prolong urban life outside the recognizable limit of the urban form, although their appearance does not present itself according to the mental image we associate to a city. Therefore, we propose that the concept of urban regeneration should be applied to these territories, but it should be considered with a particular approach, different from traditional solutions: little improvements in the basic structure of these axes can help to bring the city to the people instead of bringing the people to the city.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Suma Qamaña as a strategy of power: politicizing the Pluriverse

The “pluriverse” has recently gained momentum in International Relations among scholars focused on ontological pluralism. Nevertheless, theoretical debates may obscure several political tensions observed in local experience. In this paper, I analyze narratives on Suma Qamaña, which synthesizes Aymara cosmology and is both reproduced and criticized by political actors in Bolivia. I argue that the discourse on Suma Qamaña entails a strategy of power by both Aymara people and the government. The paper is developed in three parts: first, I examine the term`s framing in literature, Suma Qamaña`s risen in Bolivian society and its connection to the reconstruction of Aymara identity. Then, I analyze Suma Qamaña`s insertion into governmental discourse. Finally, I stress power disputes over Suma Qamaña. I suggest that the emphasis attributed by IR academics to its ontological potential without considering this strategic facet might lead them to depoliticize the term, reproducing a similar pattern advanced by other theorists and the government

Burnout e estilos de ensino em docentes: estudo longitudinal de curto prazo

Mestrado em Psicologia da Saúde e Reabilitação NeuropsicológicaDas profissões que englobam o contacto direto com pessoas, a docência é uma das que é tida como das mais sujeitas e vulneráveis ao burnout. Assim, a atividade de ensinar tem implicações na saúde física e mental e também no desempenho dos docentes. Considerando, ainda, que os docentes estão em constante relação com os seus alunos, e têm que fazer a gestão dos seus comportamentos, é importante perceber os estilos de ensino adotados e a sua possível relação com burnout. Para tal, o presente estudo pretende estudar a avaliar a associação entre estes constructos de duas formas: concorrente, analisando dados recolhidos num mesmo momento de avaliação, e preditiva, investigando dados recolhidos em diferentes momentos de tempo. Para estudar o definido anteriormente, a amostra do estudo é constituída por 73 docentes aos quais foram aplicados o Questionário de Dimensões e Estilos de Ensino (QDEE), adaptado do Questionário de Dimensões e Estilos Parentais, que avalia três tipos de estilos de ensino, sendo eles o autoritativo, o autoritário e o permissivo, e o Questionário de Burnout para Professores (CBP-R) que visa avaliar os níveis de stress e burnout na profissão docente. Esta aplicação aconteceu em dois momentos que distam entre si 3 meses. Como principais resultados obtidos verificamos a existência de correlações positivas entre as subdimensões de burnout (exaustão emocional e falta de realização) entre o primeiro e o segundo momento e correlação positiva entre o estilo de ensino permissivo avaliado no segundo momento e as dimensões de burnout também avaliadas no segundo momento. Verificamos também a existência de uma correlação negativa entre o estilo de ensino autoritativo e as dimensões de burnout, ambos avaliados num segundo momento. A nível de preditores, o próprio estilo de ensino é o único preditor de si mesmo, num segundo momento, sendo que o burnout é predito em 70% pelo estilo de ensino permissivo e pela exaustão emocional e falta de realização, no segundo momento de avaliação. O presente estudo inova ao conjugar os estilos de ensino e as dimensões de burnout de uma forma concorrente e de uma forma preditiva. As suas implicações vão de encontro à importância da prevenção do burnout e permitem compreender a relevância dos estilos de ensino como preditores de burnout, particularmente o estilo permissivo. Por outro lado, constatamos que a adoção de um estilo de ensino autoritativo é o ideal, dada a sua correlação com uma diminuída falta de realização e exaustão emocional. Este estudo permitirá, também, o explorar da investigação, neste campo particular da docência, e possivelmente auxiliar à definição de um perfil com características que indiquem e estejam subjacentes ao aparecimento e consequente desenvolvimento de burnout nos docentes.Thinking of jobs where the interaction with the others is the key, teaching is considered one of the most vulnerable to burnout. Therefore, to teach is an activity that has consequences in the physical and psychological health and in the teacher’s performance. Attending that teachers are in constant relationship with their students, it is also significant to understand their teaching styles and their possible connection with burnout. Considering this information, the present study aims to acknowledge the association between burnout and teaching styles with correlations and predictions. Therefore in this study 73 teachers were asked to answer to the QDEE that evaluates the 3 types of teaching styles: authoritative, authoritarian and permissive style and the CBP-R that measures the levels of stress and burnout. The questionnaires were answered with a 3 months gap. As main results we verify a positive correlation between the dimensions of burnout (reduced personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion) from the first to the second moment and also between permissive teaching style and the dimensions of burnout, both in the second moment of the evaluation. There’s also a negative correlation between the authoritative teaching style and the dimensions of burnout, both in the second moment. Attending to predictors, the teaching style is the only predictor of itself and burnout is predicted in 70% by the permissive teaching style and emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment, all in the second moment. This study creates a new ground by gathering teaching styles and the dimensions of burnout in two different ways (correlations and predictions) and also by evaluating burnout in relation to teaching styles.The implications of this study suggest the importance of preventing burnout and the significance of teaching styles as predictors, especially the permissive style. On the other hand an authoritative style is considered as ideal, having in mind its correlation to a low reduced personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion.This study will allow the investigation to grow further and, possibly, it will help to create a profile with the characteristics that are more susceptive to the emergence and subsequent development of burnout in teachers

Bio-Radar: sistema de aquisição de sinais vitais sem contacto

The Bio-Radar system is capable to measure vital signs accurately, namely the respiratory and cardiac signal, using electromagnetic waves. In this way, it is possible to monitor subjects remotely and comfortably for long periods of time. This system is based on the micro-Doppler effect, which relates the received signal phase variation with the distance change between the subject chest-wall and the radar antennas, which occurs due to the cardiopulmonary function. Considering the variety of applications where this system can be used, it is required to evaluate its performance when applied to real context scenarios and thus demonstrate the advantages that bioradar systems can bring to the general population. In this work, a bio-radar prototype was developed in order to verify the viability to be integrated in specific applications, using robust and low profile solutions that equally guarantee the general system performance while addressing the market needs. Considering these two perspectives to be improved, different level solutions were developed. On the hardware side, textile antennas were developed to be embedded in a car seat upholstery, thus reaching a low profile solution and easy to include in the industrialization process. Real context scenarios imply long-term monitoring periods, where involuntary body motion can occur producing high amplitude signals that overshadow the vital signs. Non-controlled monitoring environments might also produce time varying parasitic reflections that have a direct impact in the signal. Additionally, the subject's physical stature and posture during the monitoring period can have a different impact in the signals quality. Therefore, signal processing algorithms were developed to be robust to low quality signals and non-static scenarios. On the other hand, the bio-radar potential can also be maximized if the acquired signals are used pertinently to help identify the subject's psychophysiological state enabling one to act accordingly. The random body motion until now has been seen as a noisy source, however it can also provide useful information regarding subject's state. In this sense, the acquired vital signs as well as other body motions were used in machine learning algorithms with the goal to identify the subject's emotions and thus verify if the remotely acquired vital signs can also provide useful information.O sistema Bio-Radar permite medir sinais vitais com precisão, nomeadamente o sinal respiratório e cardíaco, utilizando ondas eletromagnéticas para esse fim. Desta forma, é possível monitorizar sujeitos de forma remota e confortável durante longos períodos de tempo. Este sistema é baseado no efeito de micro-Doppler, que relaciona a variação de fase do sinal recebido com a alteração da distância entre as antenas do radar e a caixa torácica do sujeito, que ocorre durante a função cardiopulmonar. Considerando a variedade de aplicações onde este sistema pode ser utilizado, é necessário avaliar o seu desempenho quando aplicado em contextos reais e assim demonstrar as vantagens que os sistemas bio-radar podem trazer à população geral. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um protótipo do bio radar com o objetivo de verificar a viabilidade de integrar estes sistemas em aplicações específicas, utilizando soluções robustas e discretas que garantam igualmente o seu bom desempenho, indo simultaneamente de encontro às necessidades do mercado. Considerando estas duas perspetivas em que o sistema pode ser melhorado, foram desenvolvidas soluções de diferentes níveis. Do ponto de vista de hardware, foram desenvolvidas antenas têxteis para serem integradas no estofo de um banco automóvel, alcançando uma solução discreta e fácil de incluir num processo de industrialização. Contextos reais de aplicação implicam períodos de monitorização longos, onde podem ocorrer movimentos corporais involuntários que produzem sinais de elevada amplitude que se sobrepõem aos sinais vitais. Ambientes de monitorização não controlados podem produzir reflexões parasitas variantes no tempo que têm impacto direto no sinal. Adicionalmente, a estrutura física do sujeito e a sua postura durante o período de monitorização podem ter impactos diferentes na qualidade dos sinais. Desta forma, foram desenvolvidos algoritmos de processamento de sinal robustos a sinais de baixa qualidade e a cenários não estáticos. Por outro lado, o potencial do bio radar pode também ser maximizado se os sinais adquiridos forem pertinentemente utilizados de forma a ajudar a identificar o estado psicofisiológico do sujeito, permitindo mais tarde agir em conformidade. O movimento corporal aleatório que foi até agora visto como uma fonte de ruído, pode no entanto também fornecer informação útil sobre o estado do sujeito. Neste sentido, os sinais vitais e outros movimentos corporais adquiridos foram utilizados em algoritmos de aprendizagem automática com o objetivo de identificar as emoções do sujeito e assim verificar que sinais vitais adquiridos remotamente podem também conter informação útil.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Eletrotécnic

Evidence from Latin America and Caribbean countries

The impact of criminal activity on tourism is analysed for a panel of 14 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region between 1995 and 2016. The repercussions of economic growth, inflation, the exchange rate and income inequality are also studied. Pre-tests’ performance suggested that the best approach is an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) to analyse the dynamic relationships between variables in the short and long- run. The results for the fourteen countries, as expected, revealed a negative impact of crime and a positive impact of GDP on tourism activity, for both the short- and long run.O impacto da atividade criminosa no turismo é analisado para um painel de 14 países da região da América Latina e Caribe entre 1995 e 2016. As repercussões do crescimento económico, da inflação, da taxa de câmbio e da desigualdade de rendimento também são estudadas. A execução dos pré-testes sugeriu que a melhor abordagem para analisar as relações dinâmicas entre as variáveis no curto e longo prazo é o modelo autorregressivo de defasagem distribuída (ARDL). Os resultados para os catorze países, conforme esperado, revelaram um impacto negativo do crime e um impacto positivo do PIB na atividade turística, tanto no curto quanto no longo prazo

Turismo de base comunitária: experiências em pequenas localidades

The populational dispersion, decrease in jobs offers and essential local services, local heritage loss, among other problems, arouses local communities the necessity and interest to seek alternatives as a tourist activity. However, a major part of the attractive and touristic resources, although located in these small localities, are not enough to maintain the tourist flow who are just passing through and are dispersed to medium and big cities. This context raises reflections about the benefits that are left in small localities interested in working with tourism. Thus, we sought to problematize how CBT contributes to the development in small localities considering their social dimension? What experiences reveal? For the execution of this research was raised and analyzed the literature about community-based tourism and related themes. Posteriorly the research identifies CBT experiences in small localities in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico that allowed us to reflect on the limits and possibilities of CBT to face the challenges in small localities. As a result, it was observed that CBT is a way out to face socio-spatial challenges but, it alone is not able to solve all problems. It is necessary to constantly monitor and analyze the experiences.El objetivo de la investigación fue contribuir a las reflexiones sobre el alcance del turismo comunitario (TBC) para el desarrollo de pequeñas localidades en términos de su dimensión social. La dispersión de la población, la disminución de la oferta de trabajo y los servicios locales esenciales, la pérdida del patrimonio local, entre otros problemas, despierta en las comunidades locales la necesidad y el interés de buscar alternativas de desarrollo como el turismo. Sin embargo, se observa que una gran parte de los recursos y atracciones turísticas, si bien se encuentran en estas pequeñas localidades, no son suficientes para mantener el flujo de turistas que está de paso y se dispersa a ciudades medianas y grandes. Este contexto, entonces, plantea reflexiones sobre los beneficios que quedan para las pequeñas localidades interesadas en trabajar con el turismo. De esta manera, ¿buscamos problematizar cómo el turismo comunitario contribuye al desarrollo de pequeñas localidades considerando su dimensión social? ¿Qué revelan las experiencias existentes? Para llevar a cabo la investigación, se recopiló y analizó la literatura sobre turismo comunitario y temas relacionados. Posteriormente, el trabajo identificó experiencias de turismo comunitario en pequeñas localidades en Brasil, Ecuador y México que nos permitieron reflexionar sobre los límites y las posibilidades del turismo comunitario para enfrentar los desafíos que existen en pequeñas localidades. Como resultado, se observó que el turismo comunitario es una forma de enfrentar los desafíos socioespaciales, pero por sí solo no puede revertir todos los problemas. Es necesario monitorear y analizar constantemente las experiencias.O objetivo da pesquisa foi contribuir com as reflexões acerca dos alcances do turismo de base comunitária (TBC) para o desenvolvimento de pequenas localidades quanto à sua dimensão social. A dispersão populacional, a diminuição na oferta de empregos e de serviços locais essenciais, a perda do patrimônio local, entre outros problemas, desperta nas comunidades locais a necessidade e interesse em buscar alternativas de desenvolvimento como a atividade turística. Porém, observa-se que grande parte dos recursos e atrativos turísticos, embora localizados nessas pequenas localidades, não são suficientes para manter o fluxo de turistas que está apenas de passagem e, se dispersa para as médias e grandes cidades. Esse contexto levanta, então, reflexões sobre quais os benefícios que ficam para as pequenas localidades interessadas em trabalhar com o turismo. Dessa forma, buscou-se problematizar sobre se o TBC contribui para o desenvolvimento de pequenas localidades considerando a sua dimensão social? O que revelam as experiências existentes? O estudo se trata de revisão bibliográfica e, como procedimento metodológico utilizou-se para a execução da pesquisa levantamento e análise da literatura sobre o turismo de base comunitária e temas correlatos. Posteriormente foram identificadas experiências de TBC em pequenas localidades no Brasil, Equador e México que permitiram refletir sobre os limites e possibilidades desse modelo para o enfrentamento dos desafios existentes nas pequenas localidades. Como resultados observou-se que o TBC pode ser uma saída para os desafios socioespaciais, mas ele sozinho não é capaz de reverter todos os problemas. É necessário acompanhar e analisar as experiências constantemente

Fake News and Post-truth: Numerical Simulations of Information Diffusion in Social Networks

The year 2016 was crucial in terms of the use of social networks as tools for disseminating information for political purposes. The election of candidate Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States of America lit a warning signal about the influence that the information disseminated through social networks exerted in the choice of candidates by the American people. Since then, researchers from different areas have focused on the topic, which involves different aspects: computing, social sciences, mathematics, among others. Therefore, the object of study of this work is the phenomenon of behavioral changes brought about by the new social relationships established by digital social networks, under the scope of the spread of fake news through them. To guarantee the intended study, the general objective was to adapt mathematical models consisting of ordinary differential equations for the dissemination of information on social networks for the spread of fake news. As specific objectives, the contribution of the mathematical models proposed in the mitigation, through algorithms, of the spread of false or distorted information was discussed, as well as the discussion on the concepts of fake news and post-truth from a social point of view, in a way that individuals can also distinguish true information from disinformation through individual interpretation tools. As a research methodology, bibliographic research was chosen and a systematic literature review was carried out, to consider published works on the proposed research object. For the numerical simulations, a numerical code was developed in MATLAB, which was able to carry out the desirable experiments. It is concluded that innovation diffusion models can adapt to fake news dissemination models. However, such models are not able to robustly simulate the mitigation of fake news