Improving housing quality as markefing strategy

Prospective housing clients in Portugal face up a marked lack of information on the characteristics of housing products, which most often turn out to be very different of their expectations. This lack of information does not allow them to relate adequately quality and cost. Furthermore, housing products are not adequately differentiated owing to an inefficient approach to the market from the part of different actors in the property sector, which makes difficult the understanding of the true needs and wishes of the client. Nowadays, in a highly competitive housing market, it is increasingly needed to weigh the quality of supply, for housing investment is one of the most important decisions of the Portuguese households. Due to the fact that competition on that market is almost exclusively based on price, there is a need for change in the culture of the housing sector that would promote adequate strategies of marketing and quality. This research project has as the main aim to develop a support tool for the construction enterprises in the housing sector in order to improve the value of their products/services and, to a certain extent, the competitiveness of the sector. The model, which is specifically developed for the town of Bragança, is based on information collected from users in newly occupied housing. It was done through the use of a questionnaire- survey conducted on respondents from fourteen multi-family housing, which were built by four contractors/developers

Contributos práticos para operacionalização do frisbee na escola

A disciplina de Educação Física é um meio privilegiado para aplicação de novas metodologias e instrumentos que visem o desenvolvimento holístico e integral do aluno, sendo que temos a possibilidade de enriquecer o currículo da disciplina com uma grande diversidade de matérias. Considerando as potencialidades do Frisbee como matéria alternativa nas aulas de Educação Física, nomeadamente ao nível do grau motivacional do aluno, temos por objetivo apresentar algumas propostas de operacionalização desta matéria de ensino, expondo alguns exemplos de organização da aula e exercícios que solicitam comportamentos relevantes. Para tal, apresentaremos três propostas de abordar o Frisbee nas aulas de Educação Física: (1) entrada em ação (10 a 20 minutos da parte inicial da aula); (2) durante uma aula (45 ou 90 minutos); ou (3) aulas politemáticas (juntamente com outras matérias de ensino). As propostas tratam-se de ferramentas didático-pedagógicas para abordar o Frisbee, como matéria alternativa, nas aulas de Educação Física. Cabe a cada professor adaptá-las ao seu contexto escolar e a cada aluno em particular.Physical Education is a privileged place to apply new methodologies and instruments to develop the student holistic and integral, and we have the possibility to enrich the curriculum of the discipline with a great diversity of subjects. Considering the possibilities of Frisbee as an alternative subject in Physical Education classes, especially in terms of motivational degree student, we aim to present some proposals for the operationalization of this subject of teaching, exposing some practical examples regarding the organization of the class, as well as the exercises that develops relevant behavior. To do this, we will present three proposals to approach Frisbee in Physical Education classes: (1) warm (10 to 20 minutes from the beginning of the lesson); (2) during a class (45 or 90 minutes); Or (3) polythematic classes (along with other teaching materials). The proposals are pedagogical-didactic tools to approach Frisbee, as an alternative subject, in Physical Education classes. It is up to each teacher to adapt them to their school context and to each student in particular.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kin-ball at school

Nos dias que correm deparamo-nos com várias problemáticas associadas à escola atual, mais especificamente à abordagem sistemática dos mesmos Desportos Coletivos, ao longo dos diferentes ciclos de ensino, que por vezes se apresentam trabalhados de modo precário nas aulas de Educação Física. Neste contexto e atendendo a que esta disciplina é um meio privilegiado para aplicação de novas metodologias e instrumentos que visem o desenvolvimento holístico e integral dos alunos, propomos a abordagem do Kin-ball como matéria alternativa às que já são instituídas. É de referir que esta apesar de solicitar o mesmo tipo de comportamentos implícitos nos Desportos Coletivos, surge como uma ferramenta pedagógica eclética, de fácil adaptação aos espaços e que possibilita ao Professor jogar com aspetos motivacionais dos seus alunos, relacionados, por exemplo, com as grandes dimensões da bola. Contudo e apesar de reconhecermos o potencial da introdução de novas matérias de ensino nas aulas de Educação Física, estas não podem ser um pretexto para que tudo fique basicamente na mesma. É fundamental que sejam selecionadas para dar resposta às necessidades dos alunos e aos comportamentos que queremos solicitar, para que existam as transformações que se pretendem e não porque “estão na moda” ou “são giras e diferentes”.These days we are faced with several problems associated with the current school, more specifically the systematic approach of the same Collective Sports, throughout the different teaching cycles, which are sometimes presented precariously in Physical Education classes. In this context and considering that this discipline is a privileged means for the application of new methodologies and instruments that aim at the holistic and integral development of the students, we propose to approach Kin-ball as an alternative to those that are already instituted. It is worth mentioning that, despite asking for the same behaviors implicit in Collective Sports, it emerges as an eclectic pedagogical tool that is easy to adapt to the spaces and that enables the Professor to play with his students' motivational aspects related to the great dimensions of the ball. However, while we recognize the potential of introducing new teaching materials in Physical Education classes, these can not be a pretext for everything to remain exactly the same. It is fundamental that they be selected to respond to the needs of the students and the behaviors that we want to ask for, so that the transformations are intended and not because they are "in fashion" or "they are different tours".info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Avaliação Inicial: situações jogadas como ferramenta pedagógica

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Carbohydrates as targeting compounds to produce infusions resembling espresso coffee brews using quality by design approach

All coffee brews are prepared with roasted coffee and water, giving origin to espresso, instant, or filtered coffee, exhibiting distinct physicochemical properties, depending on the extraction conditions. The different relative content of compounds in the brews modulates coffee body, aroma, and colour. In this study it was hypothesized that a coffee infusion allows to obtain extracts that resemble espresso coffee (EC) physicochemical properties. Carbohydrates (content and composition) were the target compounds as they are organoleptically important for EC due to their association to foam stability and viscosity. The freeze-drying of the extracts allowed better dissolution properties than spray-drying. Instant coffee powders were obtained with chemical overall composition resembling espresso, although with lower lipids content. The extracts were able to produce the characteristic foam through CO2 injection or salts addition. Their redissolution at espresso concentration allowed a viscosity, foamability and volatile profile representative of an espresso coffee, opening new exploitation possibilities.Thanks are due to the University of Aveiro and FCT/MCT for the financial support for the QOPNA research Unit (FCT UID/QUI/00062/2019) and the LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020) through national founds and, where applicable, co-financed by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. The authors thank FCT co-financed by Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização, Portugal 2020 and União Europeia by the FEDER (FCT - Compete2020 - Portugal 2020 – FEDER/EU) N° POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029560, project “PulManCar”. Guido R. Lopes was supported by an individual doctoral grant by FCT (SFRH/BD/104855/2014). Sílvia Petronilho (SFRH/BPD/117213/2016) and Cláudia P. Passos (CEECIND/00813/2017) also thanked FCT for the Post-doc grant and the assistant research contract, respectively. The authors thank Prof. Margarida Almeida for the use of spray-drying facilities and Ana Bastos for the help in the equipment operation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mobility of highly qualified portuguese professionals to Europe

Skilled emigration has been analyzed according to two contrasting models: a) the model of the exodus that stresses the idea that more skilled individuals are forced to the exile, allowing them to get a job and a remuneration corresponding to their training; b) the model of the Diaspora that stresses the mutual benefits of intercultural exchanges opened by the circulation of academic, scientific and cultural cosmopolitan elites. This research aims to test the comprehensive power of each of these theses referencing to the various types of mobility of highly qualified Portuguese professionals to Europe in the last decade. The research strategy is suitable to the characteristics of an exploratory study. Articulating an extensive research with an in-depth analysis we seek to identify the subjectivity of the direct actors of emigration in some of its main working contexts. We use a mixed strategy which makes use of multilateral technical quantitative and qualitative data collection: questionnaire surveys; life stories and interviews with focus groups that will draft the life trajectories. Using a multiple case methodology we will describe and compare the circumstances, the modalities and the characteristics of the mobility of two types of migration of high skilled Portuguese individuals in Europe

Burnout, resilience, and subjective well-being among Portuguese lecturers’ during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Lecturers face a large wide of occupational stressors. If the prolonged stress and the symptomatology associated with the working conditions to which lecturers were exposed were already a concern before the pandemic, the pandemic may have exacerbated this psychosocial vulnerability. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. This study aims to describe burnout amongst lecturers working in Portugal and to analyse potential determinants of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using an online questionnaire distributed via social networks. The survey collected sociodemographic and sleep patterns data in addition to applying the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (personal, work- and student-related burnout), the Resilience Scale, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: The sample included 331 lecturers from 35 different colleges and faculties. Three significant models explained personal (R2 = 54%), work- (R2 = 47%) and student- (R2 = 19%) related burnout. Lower levels of resilience and higher levels of depression and stress were significantly associated with personal and work-related burnout. Changes in sleep patterns were additionally associated with both personal and work-related burnout. Conclusion: Higher education institutions must recognize the impact of the work environment and organizational culture on faculty mental health and take proactive measures to improve this environment. These institutions can implement support strategies such as educational technology training, professional development programmes, emotional support resources, and workload flexibility. Implementing measures to enhance lecturers’ resilience and overall life satisfaction could potentially help mitigate burnout and improve the well-being of educators, ultimately contributing to the overall quality of education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sexualidade e género nas revistas juvenis : o caso da Bravo

Publicado em "Sexualidade e educação sexual : políticas educativas, investigação e práticas", ISBN 978-972-8746-91-9CIDTFF-Universidade de Aveir

Molecular Beacon Assay Development for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Detection

The fast spread of SARS-CoV-2 has led to a global pandemic, calling for fast and accurate assays to allow infection diagnosis and prevention of transmission. We aimed to develop a molecular beacon (MB)-based detection assay for SARS-CoV-2, designed to detect the ORF1ab and S genes, proposing a two-stage COVID-19 testing strategy. The novelty of this work lies in the design and optimization of two MBs for detection of SARS-CoV-2, namely, concentration, fluorescence plateaus of hybridization, reaction temperature and real-time results. We also identify putative G-quadruplex (G4) regions in the genome of SARS-CoV-2. A total of 458 nasopharyngeal and throat swab samples (426 positive and 32 negative) were tested with the MB assay and the fluorescence levels compared with the cycle threshold (Ct) values obtained from a commercial RT-PCR test in terms of test duration, sensitivity, and specificity. Our results show that the samples with higher fluorescence levels correspond to those with low Ct values, suggesting a correlation between viral load and increased MB fluorescence. The proposed assay represents a fast (total duration of 2 h 20 min including amplification and fluorescence reading stages) and simple way of detecting SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples from the upper respiratory tract.This work was supported by project No. 149 “Track and Trace COVID-19” funded in first edition “RESEARCH 4 COVID-19” by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) in collaboration with Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (AICIB)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio