Good match: consumer perception of company-cause fit in corporate social initiatives of psi-20 corporate brands

Esta investigação enquadra-se no âmbito da Responsabilidade Social Corporativa com o tema do Alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa das empresas do PSI-20 nas iniciativas sociais corporativas. Assim, caracterizou-se esse alinhamento e analisaram-se os factores que o influenciam. Para responder aos objectivos de investigação realizou-se um inquérito por questionário assente numa amostra por conveniência de 283 consumidores Portugueses, entre os 18 e os 64 anos, residentes na Grande Lisboa e no Grande Porto. Os resultados demonstram que o Tipo de Causa é factor influenciador do alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa e factor influenciador do alinhamento entre Sector e Empresa. Nas características do Consumidor (Cliente, Geração Millennial e Género), os resultados dos testes de hipótese não comprovaram a relação com o Alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa ou com o Alinhamento entre Sector e Causa em qualquer uma delas. Foram parcialmente comprovadas a correlação positiva entre o Alinhamento entre Sector e Causa e o Alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa, a relação entre a Identificação do Consumidor com a Causa e o Alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa e a relação entre a Identificação do Consumidor com a Causa e o Alinhamento entre Sector e Causa. Finalmente, não se comprovou a correlação positiva entre o Alinhamento entre Causa e Empresa e a Reputação da Empresa via RSE. Conclui-se que o Tipo de Causa é importante na tomada de decisão sobre iniciativas sociais corporativas e que deve ser seleccionado em função do Alinhamento entre Empresa e Causa.This study fits in the extent of Corporate Social Responsibility, and it is about Company- Cause Fit of social corporate initiatives of 10 PSI-20 companies. In order to better understand the construct of Company-Cause Fit, a full description of the concept (10 causes pre-determined and 10 companies) was made and the factors influencing that alignment were analyzed (Company, Cause and Consumer characteristics). In order to achieve the investigation goals a structured questionnaire was delivered through a sample of 283 Portuguese consumers living in Lisbon and Porto with ages between 18 and 64 years old. Concerning the Cause’s characteristics, the results demonstrate that the Cause’s Type is an influencer of Company-Cause fit and an influencer of Sector Cause fit. In spite of that, when consider the Consumer characteristics (Client, Millennial Generation and Gender) the tests do not prove the relation with Company-cause fit. On the other hand, partial proof was achieved concerning the correlation between Company-cause fit and Sector-cause fit, between Cause relevance to the Consumer and Company-cause fit and between Cause relevance to the Consumer and Sector cause fit. Lastly, the positive correlation between Company-cause fit and Company Reputation through Corporate Social Responsibility was not confirmed. This investigation concludes that the decision of which Type of cause to choose is an important one when a Company develops corporate social initiatives and that it should be oriented to manage Company-cause fit (an exploratory decision making support instrument is proposed – the Good Match analysis)

Prática de Ensino Supervisionada em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

O presente relatório reporta-se à apresentação e discussão crítica da prática pedagógica desenvolvida em contexto de creche, pré-escolar e 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (1. CEB), no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES), e inclui uma dimensão investigativa acerca de uma temática de grande relevância no âmbito da educação e do desenvolvimento das crianças – a leitura. Reconhece-se que é essencial promover ambientes educativos que estimulem o contacto com a escrita e a leitura, integrando no quotidiano das crianças uma grande variedade de textos, e possibilitando, desse modo, não só o desenvolvimento do prazer de ler e da sensibilidade estética como também o reconhecimento das múltiplas funcionalidades do texto escrito, que se institui como potenciador de aprendizagens diversas. Constituíram-se como objetivos de trabalho e estudo: (i) Caracterizar o tipo de literatura colocada à disposição das crianças, nos contextos da intervenção em PES; (ii) Promover atividades pedagógicas que integrem diversidade de leituras, permitindo às crianças refletir acerca de conteúdos veiculados por obras literárias e obras científicas; (iii) Analisar a reação das crianças perante obras literárias e científicas e os processos de construção de sentido que elas elaboram a partir da leitura dessas obras; (iv) Analisar as perceções e as preferências das crianças acerca das suas práticas de leitura. Ao nível do enquadramento teórico, visa-se um aprofundamento da reflexão acerca das seguintes temáticas: (i) literacia e desenvolvimento de competências literárias; (ii) literacia emergente; (iii) relação entre leitura científica e leitura literária: diálogo possível; (iv) literacia científica em educação de infância e no 1º. ciclo de ensino básico; (v) o caso da literacia literária e científica em Portugal e em Trás-os-Montes; (vi) o espaço da biblioteca como promotor de literacia. Neste relatório, procede-se a uma breve, mas clara, revisão do estado da arte sobre estes tópicos. Caraterizam-se os contextos e valoriza-se a observação e a intervenção no sentido da promoção de aprendizagens literácitas e dá-se ênfase a uma dimensão praxiológica, apresentando e analisando dados recolhidos ao longo do período de intervenção em PES. Procedeu-se à recolha de dados através de diário de bordo; registo fotográfico; questionário e análise documental. Os dados recolhidos evidenciam uma presença pouco significativa de obras de leitura científica nos contextos de educação de infância. A nossa intervenção, porém, permite-nos concluir que, ao abordarmos temas relacionando a leitura literária com a científica, esta é simultaneamente significativa e prazerosa para as crianças. O trabalho descrito e analisado revela como é pedagogicamente enriquecedor trabalhar conteúdos fazendo a referida articulação entre leitura literária e científica.This document reports on the presentation and critical discussion of the pedagogical practice developed in the context of nursery, preschool and 1st Cycle of Basic Education (1. CEB), within the scope of the curricular unit of Supervised Teaching Practice (PES), and includes an investigative dimension on a topic of great relevance in the field of education and development of children – reading. It is recognized that it is essential to promote educational environments that stimulate contact with writing and reading, integrating in children's daily life a wide variety of texts, thus enabling not only the development of reading pleasure and aesthetic sensibility but also the recognition of the multiple functionalities of the written text, which is established as an enhancer of diverse learning. The following were established as work and study objectives: (i) To characterize the type of literature available to children, in the contexts of the PES; (ii) To promote pedagogical activities that integrate diversity of reading, allowing children to reflect on content conveyed by literary works and scientific works; (iii) Analyze the children's reaction to literary and scientific works and the processes of meaning construction that they elaborate from the reading of these works; (iv) Analyze children's perceptions and preferences about their reading practices. At the level of the theoretical framework, it is aimed at deepening the reflection on the following themes: (i) Literacy and development of literary competences; (ii) emerging literacy; (iii) relation between scientific reading and literary reading: possible dialogue; (iv) scientific literacy in childhood education and in the 1st. cycle of basic education; (v) the case of literary and scientific literacy in Portugal and in Trás-os-Montes; (vi) the library space as a promoter of literacy. In this report, there is a brief but clear review of the state of the art on these topics. Contexts are characterized and observation and intervention are promoted in the sense of promoting literacy learning with emphasis placed on a praxisological dimension, presenting and analyzing data collected during the period of intervention in PES. Data were collected by logbook; photographic register; questionnaire and documentary analysis. The collected data show a small presence of scientific reading in the contexts of childhood education. Our intervention, however, allows us to conclude that, when we approach themes related to literary and scientific reading, both are significant and enjoyable for children. The work described and analyzed reveals how it is pedagogically enriching to work on content making the said articulation between literary and scientific reading

Proposta de um balanced scorecard para a teleperformance Portugal

O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com base no conceito do Balanced Scorecard, desenvolvido por Kaplan e Norton. A ausência deste instrumento de gestão estratégica dentro da empresa foi uma lacuna detetada, uma vez que aquele ajuda à sua sustentabilidade e crescimento. Deste modo, o objetivo do trabalho passou pela concetualização de um BSC adaptado à realidade da empresa Teleperformance Portugal e ao ambiente operacional em que o setor do call center se insere. O BSC permitiu a interligação da informação proveniente de várias áreas e ainda o equilíbrio entre os objetivos de curto e longo prazo. Para tal foram usados pressupostos que vão de encontro ao paradigma teórico da investigação interpretativista. O método de investigação utilizado foi o estudo de caso, e a recolha da informação foi maioritariamente feita através da análise documental disponível sobre a empresa e de conversas informais com colegas de trabalho. Após análise da literatura relativa aos conceitos em causa e da documentação referente à empresa e ao seu contexto atual, foram definidos objetivos, indicadores e iniciativas que permitem implementar a estratégia que se julgou adequada, tendo em consideração a visão, a missão e os valores da Teleperformance Portugal. Concluiu-se que era possível e benéfica a criação de um BSC para este tipo de atividade, uma vez que se trata de um setor voltado para a prestação de serviços, onde o capital humano tem grande importância no sucesso da organização, no qual é de extrema importância a avaliação e acompanhamento de outros indicadores para além dos financeiros.The present work was developed based on the concept of the Balanced Scorecard, brought to us by Kaplan and Norton. The absence of this strategic management instrument inside the company was an issue detected, once it helps to improve the company’s sustainability and growth. The main objective of this work was the conceptualization of a BSC adapted to Teleperformance’s reality and to the operational environment where the call center sector is inserted, which allowed the connection between the information from different areas and balanced the short term and long term goals. To do so, some assumptions in accordance to the theoretical paradigm of interpretativist research were made. The method used was the case study, and the information was mainly gathered through documental analysis and informal conversations with work colleagues. After the literature review on the relevant concepts and the analysis of the company and its sector were made, objectives, indicators and initiatives were defined in order to monitor the strategy extracted from Teleperformance’s mission, vison and values. The study showed that it was possible and benefic to create a BSC to this sort of activity, where the human capital has great importance in the success of the organization, being really important the review and evaluation of non-financial indicators

Trabalhando a relação entre a leitura literária e leitura científica em contexto de jardim de infância

A presente comunicação, centrando-se na apresentação e discussão crítica de uma experiência pedagógica desenvolvida em contexto de jardim de infância, enquadra-se numa temática de grande relevância no âmbito da educação e do desenvolvimento das crianças – a leitura. Não obstante as inovações tecnológicas com grande impacto no uso dos meios audiovisuais, continuamos a viver no mundo “scripto”. Como é reconhecido nas "Orientações Curriculares para a Educação Pré-escolar", importa promover ambientes educativos que estimulem o contacto com a escrita e a leitura, integrando no quotidiano das crianças uma grande variedade de textos, e possibilitando, desse modo, não só o desenvolvimento do prazer de ler e da sensibilidade estética como também o reconhecimento das múltiplas funcionalidades do texto escrito, que se institui como potenciador de aprendizagens diversas. Constituíram-se como objetivos de trabalho e estudo: (i) caracterizar o tipo de literatura colocada à disposição das crianças, num contexto de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES), e, partindo da realização de atividades pedagógicas que integraram a leitura de obras literárias e obras científicas, (ii) analisar a reação das crianças perante essas obras, problematizando os processos de construção de sentido e as suas preferências em relação às práticas de leitura realizadas. Assim, procedeu-se à recolha de dados através de (i) diário de bordo; (ii) registo fotográfico; (iii) questionário e (iv) análise documental. Os dados recolhidos apontam para uma menor presença de obras de leitura científica nos contextos de educação de infância. A nossa intervenção, porém, evidencia que, ao abordarmos temas relacionando a leitura literária com a científica, esta é simultaneamente significativa e prazerosa para as crianças.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COVID-19 Next Day Trend Forecast

Historically, weather conditions are depicted as an essential factor to be considered in predicting variation infections due to respiratory diseases, including influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS-CoV-2, best known as COVID-19. Predicting the number of cases will contribute to plan human and non-human resources in hospital facilities, including beds, ventilators, and support policy decisions on sanitary population warnings, and help to provision the demand for COVID-19 tests. In this work, an integrated framework predicts the number of cases for the upcoming days by considering the COVID-19 cases and temperature records supported by a kNN algorithm.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Recent advances in β-galactosidase and fructosyltransferase immobilization technology

The highly demanding conditions of industrial processes may lower the stability and affect the activity of enzymes used as biocatalysts. Enzyme immobilization emerged as an approach to promote stabilization and easy removal of enzymes for their reusability. The aim of this review is to go through the principal immobilization strategies addressed to achieve optimal industrial processes with special care on those reported for two types of enzymes: β-galactosidases and fructosyltransferases. The main methods used to immobilize these two enzymes are adsorption, entrapment, covalent coupling and cross-linking or aggregation (no support is used), all of them having pros and cons. Regarding the support, it should be cost-effective, assure the reusability and an easy recovery of the enzyme, increasing its stability and durability. The discussion provided showed that the type of enzyme, its origin, its purity, together with the type of immobilization method and the support will affect the performance during the enzymatic synthesis. Enzymes’ immobilization involves interdisciplinary knowledge including enzymology, nanotechnology, molecular dynamics, cellular physiology and process design. The increasing availability of facilities has opened a variety of possibilities to define strategies to optimize the activity and re-usability of β-galactosidases and fructosyltransferases, but there is still great place for innovative developments.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimento

Analysis of DNA damage and repair in saccharomyces cerevisiae using the comet assay in the characterization of antigenotoxicity of plant extracts and phytochemicals

In this work we used the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae to characterise the biological activity and the mechanism of action of phytochemicals. One of the goals is to use mutant strains affected in basic mechanisms of oxidative stress response and DNA repair in order to uncover the molecular targets of phytochemicals. We have assessed DNA damage and repair using the comet assay, evaluated as “comet tail length”, which displayed a dose-response relationship with different DNA-damaging agents1. Subsequently, we used this system to assess the antigenotoxic properties of a leaf extract from Ginkgo biloba (GBE). Typical experiments involved incubation of yeast cells, or spheroplasts, with GBE before and during oxidative shock with hydrogen peroxide. Our results obtained with the comet assay show that DNA damage was significantly decreased upon GBE treatment in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, DNA repair kinetics was significantly improved in cells incubated with GBE. However, in the mutant strain affected in CDC9, encoding a DNA ligase involved in the mechanisms of nucleotide excision repair and base excision repair, oxidative DNA damage repair kinetics was unchanged with GBE, suggesting that the activity of this extract involves one of these mechanisms, or both. Hydrogen peroxide-induced cell cycle arrest in G2 was abolished when cells were incubated with GBE after oxidative shock, suggesting that the improved repair kinetics allows progression of the cell cycle and/or GBE can have a direct effect on its regulation. As expected, GBE treatment improved survival of yeast cells when challenged with oxidative shock with H2O2 and intracellular oxidation was considerably decreased upon pre-treatment with GBE as revealed by flow cytometry. Reference(s) 1. Azevedo F., Marques, F., Fokt, H., Oliveira, R. and Johansson, B. (2011) Measuring oxidative DNA damage and DNA repair using the yeast comet assay. Yeast, 28, 55-6

Evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the Angolan Cymbopogon Citratus essential oil with a view to its utilization as food biopreservative

It was studied the chemical composition, antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal properties of the essential oil obtained from the Cymbopogon citratus of Angolan origin. Its major constituents analyzed by GC-MS were α-citral (40.55%), β-citral (28.26%), myrcene (10.50%) and geraniol (3.37%). The essential oil antioxidant capacity was statistically identical to that of synthetic antioxidants (DPPH IC50 of 41.7 μg/ml) and superior to that of extracts obtained from fresh leaves of the plant (DPPH IC50 of 55.7 μg/ml). The oil also demonstrated to possess high antibacterial activity even against multidrug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Non-Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis. The results of this study, in conjunction with already published data on the properties of other Cymbopogon citratus oils, provide evidence that it could have a potential application as food preservative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combining power electronic converters and automation to simulate solar PV systems

This paper presents a solar photovoltaic panel simulator system with the ability to perform automatic tests in different condition according to manufacture parameters. This simulator is based on three buck-boost DC-DC converters controlled by a microcontroller and supported by a Programmable Logic Controller which is responsible for the automatic tests. This solution will allow to achieve fast response, like suddenly changes in the irradiation, temperature, or load. To control the power converter, it will be used a fast and robust sliding mode controller. Therefore, with the proposed system is possible to perform the I-V curve simulation of a solar PV panel, evaluate different MPPT algorithms considering different meteorological and load variation. The main advantage of this work is the possibility to evaluate and test several MPPT algorithms and understand the operation and typical operation of solar PV panels in different conditions. Several simulations and experimental results from a laboratory prototype are presented to confirm the theoretical operation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio