Benefícios e riscos percebidos pelos consumidores online

Mestrado em GestãoNos últimos anos, o do volume de negócio realizado através da Internet aumentou substancialmente e esta tendência deve manter-se no curto prazo, muito provavelmente com incrementos ainda maiores. No entanto, no “e-commerce” não é fácil conseguir consumidores habituais, isto é, não é fácilconseguir a lealdade do cliente. Por isso, os responsáveis pelas empresas e os marketeers necessitam de conhecimentos profundos acerca do cliente, nomeadamente, acerca das suas atitudes para com a compra pela Internet e das suas percepções acerca dos benefícios e dos riscos que a compra virtual acarreta. Desta forma, poderão actuar no sentido de aumentar as vantagens e de reduzir as desvantagens percebidas. Como pequena contribuição neste campo do conhecimento, desenvolveu-se o trabalho que aqui se apresenta. O estudo de campo envolve a aplicação de um questionário em dois países europeus, Espanha e Escócia. Os resultados mostram que a percepção dos benefícios e dos riscos por parte dos compradores online varia de um país para outro. ABSTRACT: The importance the Internet on volume of business has incresed in the latter years. However, this influence will grow in the future. The most difficult issue is to get a regular customer, in other words, to get a loyal client. For this reasons companies´ managers need to have a deep knowledge about markets of the Internet. If they understand the percived risk and benefits they will be capable of improving advantages and decreasing disadvantages. As a small contribution to this field of knowledge I have developed a research on the percived advantages and disadvantages of buying through the Internet in two different countries: Spain and Scotland. The results show that perceptions of advantages and disadvantages change from one country to another. The Internet retailers must consider this fact because they could get more profits and loyalty. Moreover, the expected benefits could enable companies´ managers to make improvements of this type of services

Análisis comparativo sobre la producción de maíz en extensivo mediante riego por goteo y otros sistemas de irrigación

El trabajo de centra en analizar económica y ambientalmente cuatro sistemas de riego diferentes en el cultivo de maíz en grano, de forma extensiva. Se comparan el riego por inundación, el riego por aspersión, mediante cobertura total y pívot, y el riego localizado. De forma explicativa se centra cada sistema de riego en el entorno productivo del maíz. No sólo se enfrentan datos relativos al beneficio final, si no también de factores independientes; como son el coste de las infraestructuras, del agua, la necesidad de mano de obra, el gasto energético, las labores de cultivo propias en cada caso, las materias primas empleadas, la producción final lograda y la repercusión ambiental. Por último, las conclusiones destacan aquellos factores por los que destaca el riego localizado, demostrando su viabilidad frente a otros sistemas competitivos, como es el riego por aspersión mediante pívot.Máster en Ingeniería Agronómic

Análisis de cobertura de medicina prepagada en Pichincha (2019-2020)

The present research aims to determine the health companies that are established and certified in the province of Pichincha, and to analyze prepaid health in the area. For this purpose, the regulatory bodies of prepaid medicine are examined, classifying them according to their volume of revenues and profits. Through this qualitative study, the health coverage profile, and its consequent economic sustainability in relation to its cost-benefit is synthesized. The private system has a particular market with a pharma-economic approach that implies a certain investment for the client with an uncertain outcome. In 2019 in Ecuador, US$ 581 million was spent on prepaid healthcare, which represented approximately 12% of total healthcare spending. 80% corresponds to prepaid medicine billing and 20% to insurers' premiums. These resources affect the efficiency of the health system and the quality of life of a part of the population that seeks greater utility at the lowest possible cost. Investing in healthcare is a bet on development, in a country with almost zero economic growth in the last two yearsLa presente investigación tiene como objetivo determinar las empresas sanitarias que se encuentran establecidas y certificadas en la provincia de Pichincha, y analizar la salud prepagada de la zona mencionada. Para ello se examinan los organismos reguladores de la medicina de pago anticipado, clasificándoles en función de su volumen de ingresos y beneficios. A través de este estudio cualitativo se sintetiza el perfil de cobertura sanitaria y su consecuente sostenibilidad económica en relación con su coste-beneficio. El sistema privado tiene un mercado particular con enfoque farmaeconómico que implica una cierta inversión para el cliente con un resultado incierto. En el año 2019 en Ecuador se gastó en salud prepagada 581 millones de dólares que representó aproximadamente un 12% del gasto total en salud. El 80% corresponde a la facturación de la medicina prepagada y el 20% a las primas de las aseguradoras. Estos recursos afectan a la eficiencia del sistema de salud y a la calidad de vida de una parte de la población que busca una mayor utilidad con el mínimo coste posible. Invertir en sanidad es apostar por el desarrollo, en un país con un crecimiento económico casi nulo estos dos últimos año

Characterisation of Spanish investment in the Republic of Ecuador during the second period of Alianza País (2013-2017)

El propósito de esta investigación es caracterizar la inversión española en Ecuador, y analizar las percepciones sobre ésta de las empresas ibéricas que desarrollan su actividad en esta república Latinoamericana. Esta información es de especial relevancia para las instituciones gubernamentales, y para los potenciales inversores. Para realizar el trabajo se utilizó una metodología cualitativa con una perspectiva socioeconómica de tipo exploratoria de bola de nieve. Los resultados muestran como principal conclusión que los diez años del gobierno del presidente Rafael Correa han sido positivos para la inversión en términos generales debido a la continuidad del gobierno que influyó en una mayor estabilidad política y social, que dio lugar a un periodo de crecimiento económico por encima de muchos países desarrollados. En relación a las multinacionales españolas, también fue favorable, por su participación en grandes proyectos de obra civil que supusieron importantes ingresos en una época de recesión económica y reducida inversión en España.The purpose of this research is to characterize Spanish investment in Ecuador, and to analyze the perceptions of Iberian companies operating in this South American republic. This information is of particular relevance for government institutions and potential investors. A qualitative methodology with an snowball of exploratory socio-economic perspective was used to carry out the study. The results show that the main conclusion is that the ten years of President Rafael Correa's government have been positive for investment in general terms, due to the continuity of the government, which has led to greater political and social stability, resulting in a period of economic growth that has surpassed that of many developed countries. In relation to Spanish multinationals, it was also favorable, due to their participation in large civil works projects that brought in significant revenues at a time of economic recession and reduced investment in Spain

Las competencias transversales en los títulos de biblioteconomía y documentación: ¿avance o retroceso?

The aim of this study is to compare the acquisition of generic skills implied in the former Library and Information Science (LIS) degrees with the acquisition of generic skills explicited in the current LIS studies at the University of Extremadura. Three samples were collected: students of both the former and new studies, graduates of the previous programmes, and teachers. The results show no significant difference between the two pregraduate programmes, thus indicating that generic skills were being tacitly imparted and acquired in the old studies.  El objetivo del presente trabajo es comparar la adquisición de competencias transversales implícitas en las antiguas titulaciones de Biblioteconomía y Documentación con la adquisición de competencias transversales explícitas del actual Título de Grado en Información y Documentación que se imparte en la Universidad de Extremadura. Para ello, se trabaja con tres muestras: los alumnos de antiguos y nuevos estudios,  los egresados de títulos antiguos y los docentes. Los resultados demuestran que no existe una diferencia significativa entre ambos estudios lo que indica que dichas competencias se estaban impartiendo y adquiriendo  de forma tácita en los planes antiguos

Dynamics of organizational climate and job satisfaction in healthcare service practice and research: a protocol for a systematic review

Organizational climate and job satisfaction have been established as fundamental pillars of research and practice in organizational behavior and organizational psychology, inspiring many explanations and operationalizations over time. In most sectors, global trends such as labor shortages, high rates of turnover and absenteeism, the need to increase productivity, and the interest in new work models concur to keep climate and job satisfaction on top of the research agenda. The situation is particularly acute in the healthcare sector, where related factors have the capacity to influence all aspects of care provision, including patient safety and the physical and mental health of care providers. Nevertheless, a gap in knowledge persists regarding climate, job satisfaction, and their relationships in healthcare services. This protocol describes a study that aims to examine the dynamics of climate and job satisfaction in healthcare organizations from the practice and research perspectives. The protocol complies with PRISMA-P. PRISMA will be used to report the results of the study. Databases will be searched for published studies in May 2023, and we expect to complete the study by December 2024. A framework based on a multi-dimensional concept of quality in research will be used to examine the quality of any studies before inclusion. The results will be disseminated in two systematic reviews. We will describe proposed models depicting the dynamics of climate and job satisfaction in healthcare organizations. We will systematize and discuss available evidence regarding the outcomes of climate and job satisfaction in healthcare work environments. We will synthesize information on research designs and methodological options of included studies. We will identify measures of climate and job satisfaction used in healthcare settings, assess their psychometric properties, and appraise the overall quality of underlying studies. Finally, we expect to identify areas in need of further research

Screening of the antioxidant properties of crude extracts of six selected plant species from the Canary Islands (Spain)

The extracts of six common plants from the Canary Islands were screened for their antioxidant activities and compared with several phenolic compounds of natural origin (quercetin, catechin, rutin and gentisic acid) and synthetic (butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)). The in vitro antioxidant activity determined by using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method revealed that Plantago major L., Artemisia canariensis (Bess.) Lessing and Bidens aurea (Dryand.) Sherff exerted greater activity than the other plants (90.9%, 89.0% and 88.2% inhibition rate, respectively). The most active plants were Bidens aurea (Dryand.) Sherff and Plantago major L. (9.5 and 7.2 trolox μmol equivalents), when the cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity assay (CUPRAC) was used. All the plants species exhibited higher antioxidant capacities than the synthetic antioxidants BHA and BHT. Among the natural phenolic compounds, gentisic acid was the most active. However, two of the plant extracts showed higher antioxidant activity than any other of the pure compounds studied, even than that of gentisic acid. The use of reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) allowed the identification of the natural phenolic constituents listed above in Bidens aurea (Dryand.) Sherff and Plantago major L. extracts. Catechin and quercetin were the most prominent phenolic compounds. The presence of phenolic compounds in the plant extracts and their high antioxidant activities underline their phytomedicinal potentials. These plants may be exploited in the production of health foods and as an antioxidant carrier in the food and pharmaceutical industries

Different Strategies for Resilience to Wildfires: The Experience of Collective Land Ownership in Galicia (Northwest Spain)

Resilience is not a particularly novel concept, but it has recently become frequently used as a measurement indicator of adaptation capacity under different approaches depending on the field of study. Ideally, for example, forest ecosystems would be resilient to wildfires, one of the most serious types of perturbation they are subjected to. In areas such as the northwest of Spain, a region with one of the most severe records of wildfire occurrence in western Europe, resilience indicators should be related with changes in land planning aimed to minimize the effects of forest fires. This article aimed to analyze the fire resilience strategies of a selected group of forest communities in northwest Spain. More specifically, the perceived risk of wildfires was compared with the actual record of fire events in these communities and the presence or absence of adaptive changes in management practices to reduce risk and improve recovery capacity. A mixed quantitative–qualitative approach was used to gather information about good practices, innovative solutions, and major obstacles for forest fire resilience in Galician common lands. The results suggest that while there is no single form of successful management, a key characteristic of resilient communities is the integration of fire as a management toolThis research was funded by the EU Interreg V-A España-Portugal (POCTEP) program 2014–2020, project 0577-FORVALUE (https://forvalue.eu/ (accessed on 21 April 2021))S

Spatial variability in threshold temperatures of heat wave mortality: impact assessment on prevention plans

Spain’s current heat wave prevention plans are activated according to administrative areas. This study analyses the determination of threshold temperatures for triggering prevention-plan activation by reference to isoclimatic areas, and describes the public health benefits. We subdivided the study area – the Madrid Autonomous Region (MAR) – into three, distinct, isoclimatic areas: ‘North’, ‘Central’ and ‘South’, and grouped daily natural-cause mortality (ICD-10: A00-R99) in towns of over 10,000 inhabitants (2000–2009 period) accordingly. Using these three areas rather than the MAR as a whole would have resulted in a possible decrease in mortality of 73 persons (38– 108) in the North area, and in aborting unnecessary activation of the plan 153 times in the Central area and 417 times in the South area. Our results indicate that extrapolating this methodology would bring benefits associated with a reduction in attributable mortality and improved effectiveness of public health interventions.This study was funded by a ‘Miguel Servet type 1’ grant (SEPY 1037/14), as well as a Health Research Fund grant (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias/FIS Project ENPY1133/16 from the Carlos III Institute of Health

Impact of urban heat islands on morbidity and mortality in heat waves: observational time series analysis of Spain's five cities

Urban heat islands (UHIs) have become an especially relevant phenomenon as a consequence of global warming and the growing proportion of people living in cities. The health impacts that are sometimes attributed to the rise in temperature generated in an UHI are not always adequately justified. The objective is to analyse what effect UHIs have on maximum (Tmax) and minimum daily temperatures (Tmin) recorded in urban and non-urban observatories, and quantify the impact on morbidity and mortality during heat waves in Spain's five cities