Evolution of the Aviation Industry: Impact of Digital Transformation of Learning Solutions

Growing innovation in the aviation industry and the impact of Covid-19 is driving the transformation of learning strategies. Research has demonstrated the need and growth of digital learning solutions for the future workforce and so the purpose of this dissertation is to examine these new learning experiences and their impact on both academic and business environments in the aviation industry. Based on the literature review of the evolution of the aviation industry, the impact of Covid19, and the digital transformation of learning solutions, an online survey was made and distributed to potential participants. These participants were part of the aviation industry and were asked to answer eight different questions. The first three questions were aimed at the distribution of the population between academic and business environments, and between student/trainee and teacher/trainer, and the distribution of the different digital learning solutions that are being used by them. The next four questions were asked to see the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of using digital learning solutions. The last question consisted in a space to be filled in with additional observations, if that participants had any. Analysis of the answers allowed to make a SWOT matrix on the use of these digital solutions which then allowed to make a TOWS analysis in order to prepare a strategy to mitigate the negative impact. On this basis, it is recommended that academic and business organizations define adequate stratagies in order to promote the use of these solutions in the future.A crescente inovação na indústria aeronáutica e o impacto do Covid-19 estão a impulsionar a transformação das estratégias de aprendizagem. A investigação tem demonstrado a necessidade e o crescimento de soluções de aprendizagem digital para a mão-de-obra futura e por isso o objectivo desta dissertação é examinar estas novas experiências de aprendizagem e o seu impacto tanto no ambiente académico como empresarial na indústria da aviação. Com base na revisão bibliográfica sobre a evolução da indústria aeronáutica, o impacto do Covid-19, e a transformação digital das soluções de aprendizagem, foi feito um inquérito online que foi distribuído aos potenciais participantes. Estes participantes faziam parte da indústria aeronáutica e foram convidados a responder a oito perguntas diferentes. As três primeiras perguntas destinavam-se à distribuição da população entre ambientes académicos e empresariais, e entre estudante/formando e professor/formador, e à distribuição das diferentes soluções de aprendizagem digital que estão a ser utilizadas pelos mesmos. As quatro perguntas seguintes foram feitas para identificar os principais pontos fortes, fraquezas, oportunidades e ameaças da utilização de soluções de aprendizagem digital. E a última pergunta para ser preenchida com observações adicionais, caso existissem. A análise das respostas permitiu fazer uma matriz SWOT sobre a utilização destas soluções digitais que consequentemente permitiu fazer uma análise TOWS a fim de preparar uma estratégia para mitigar o impacto negativo. Nesta base, recomenda-se que as organizações académicas e empresariais utilizem estratégias diferentes como factor chave para prosperar a utilização de soluções digitais no futuro

Savings and inflation - a panel threshold model approach

This research investigates the impact of inflation on savings through a panel of 42 countries observed annually between 1995 and 2014. A panel threshold model approach is followed, being one-year lagged inflation the threshold variable and gross savings the dependent one. Findings suggest that inflation has a positive impact on gross savings, particularly at lower levels of inflation. The robustness tests conducted led to conclude that the model does not hold for less developed economies where savings are not so correlated with the inflation level as it is among developed economies

The impact of ageing on savings: a panel data study among the OECD countries

JEL: C23, J14Ageing has been pointed out as the most prominent demographic trend of the 21st century and is expected to impact economies at a micro and macro scale. One of the main consequences of this global phenomenon is the change in savings behaviour, which has been resulting in a decrease on the rate of savings. This thesis aims to study the impact of ageing on the gross savings rate through a panel data of 28 OECD countries observed between 1990 and 2013. The main ageing determinant considered in this study is the old age dependency ratio but some control variables as life expectancy, health expenditure and social expenditure with elderly, education level, unemployment and interest rate are also included. Non-stationarity and co-integration properties between gross savings and its drivers are studied and the long-run relationship is estimated using the Group Means Panel-Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (PDOLS) framework. The findings suggest that ageing has a negative impact on savings, mainly through the negative influence of old age dependency ratio, health expenditure and social expenditure with elderly on the gross savings rate.O envelhecimento da população tem sido indicado como a tendência demográfica mais relevante do século XXI, sendo expectável que os seus efeitos afetem de forma determinante a economia aos níveis micro e macro. A alteração no comportamento-padrão de aforro individual é uma das consequências deste fenómeno global, que tem vindo a resultar numa diminuição da taxa de poupança. Este estudo tem como objetivo a análise do impacto do envelhecimento populacional na taxa de poupança bruta, com recurso a um painel de 28 países da OCDE, durante o período de 1990 a 2013. Para medir o envelhecimento foi usado neste estudo o índice de dependência de idosos, como variável nuclear. A esperança média de vida, despesa pública com saúde, despesa pública com idosos, bem como, o nível de escolaridade, taxa de desemprego e taxa de juro, foram também incluídas na qualidade de variáveis de controlo. Nesta análise foram realizados testes à não-estacionariedade e cointegração das variáveis e o modelo foi estimado através do método de Group Means Panel-Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (PDOLS). Os resultados obtidos apontam para um impacto negativo do envelhecimento na poupança, explicado maioritariamente pela influência negativa do índice de dependência de idosos, despesa pública com saúde e despesa pública com idosos

Regul-A: A Technological Application for Sensory Regulation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Home Context

Background: Sensory processing disorder is now recognised as a core feature of autism spectrum disorder that influences children’s adaptive behaviours, which, in turn, may interfere with their participation in life situations. This study describes the process of developing a technological platform, in the form of an app, to help families regulate children with ASD, aged 3–6 years old, by applying sensory strategies to improve the child’s participation in daily routines in the home context. (2) Methods: A focus group formed by four specialised occupational therapists who intervene with children with ASD was selected in order to understand and discuss content that should be included in the app. At a later stage, a group of three was involved to ensure quality and veracity in technological platform elaboration. (3) Results: The purpose of the app, named Regul-A, is to help parents regulate children with ASD regarding their participation in home routines. The sensory strategies provided by the focus group in the three major occupations of the child were the first results obtained, followed by the development of the app structure. (4) Conclusions: The next phase of the study will be the use of the platform by families of children with ASD and occupational therapists. It is believed that, in the future, Regul-A will be used as a tool to gather, analyse and manage data on the occupational performance of children with ASD in the home context, particularly for activities of daily living, sleep, rest and play, facilitating the implementation of strategies and the sharing of information between parents and occupational therapistsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O epitélio respiratório em ratos Wistar após 48 horas de exposição contínua ao ruído de baixa frequência

ABSTRACTPrevious studies show that exposure to low frequency noise (LFN) (≤500Hz, including infrasound) produces irreversible lesions in Wistar rat respiratory epithelia. Recovery periods for LFN-induced lesions have thus become an object of interest. Changes in the respiratory epithelia of Wistar rats after continuous short-term exposure to LFN are described. Twelve rats were exposed to continuous LFN for 48hrs, and 10 age-matched rats were kept in silence. Animals were treated in accordance with 86/609/CE. After exposure ceased, two rodents were sacrificed immediately, and another two after 6, 12, 24, 48hrs, and 7 days of post-exposure silence. Respiratory epithelial fragments were prepared for light and scanning/ transmission electron microscopy. Six hours after exposure, intense and irregular cellular tumefaction was visible and rosetta structures, formed by secretory cells (SC) centered on a brush cell (BC), were identifiable. Cilia were shorter and shaggy. BC microvilli tended to group, losing the uniform distribution seen in controls. Twelve hours after exposure, cell balooning was still present, BC shape was highly irregular and microvilli were grouped. SC microvilli were still shorter than controls. Seven days after exposure, controls and exposed were indistinguishable. LFN-induced epithelial lesions seem to be reversible if recovery periods are respected.REV PORT PNEUMOL 2003; IX (6): 473-47

Pre-neoplastic lesions associated with liver and colon responses to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine in an animal model of colorectal cancer

Background: The high incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC) combined with the lack of an effective method for early diagnosis and effective treatments make CRC one of the most relevant cancers to be studied. Thus, our work aims to study the spectrum of liver and colon lesions induced in rats by the 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Materials and methods: Twenty-nine male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two control groups (CTRL1 (n=6) and CTRL2 (n=6)) administrated with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-saline; and two induced groups (CRC1 (n=8) and CRC2 (n=9)) administrated with DMH (40 mg/kg) for 7 consecutive weeks. The CRC1 and CTRL1 groups, and the CRC2 and CTRL2 groups were sacrificed 11 and 17 weeks after the first administration, respectively. A complete necropsy was performed. Liver and colon samples of all animals were collected, fixed in formalin, and processed for histopathological analysis. The animals' blood and a small portion of the liver were collected to analyze serum markers of inflammation and to validate chemical induction through the comet assay, respectively. Results: Half of the animals belonging to the CRC1 group presented mild to moderate dysplasia foci (n=3) in the colon. The incidence of neoplasia was only 16.7% (n=1) in the CRC2 group. Moreover, one animal from the CRC2 group also exhibited severe dysplasia and two presented mild to moderate dysplasia foci. Inflammatory lesions in colon samples were present in all animals from CRC groups. Although the animals showed local inflammation, there was no evidence of systemic inflammation (normal CRP and IL-6 serum levels). Lymphoid inflammatory aggregates were observed in the liver of all animals. Furthermore, DMH induced other changes, such as hepatocyte megalocytosis and single-cell necrosis. Results from liver comet assay showed a lower genetic damage index in control groups when compared to DMH-exposed groups (p<0.05), i.e. DMH induced DNA damage in rats’ liver. Conclusions: Once animals showed predominantly pre-neoplastic lesions, our data suggest that the disease was at an early stage. In the future, we intend to change the dose of the carcinogen and the time of exposure to observe advanced stages of CRC development. We consider that this model is useful in the study of CRC chemoprevention associated with local inflammation

Pre-neoplastic lesions associated with liver and colon responses to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine in an animal model of colorectal cancer

Background: The high incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC) combined with the lack of an effective method for early diagnosis and effective treatments make CRC one of the most relevant cancers to be studied. Thus, our work aims to study the spectrum of liver and colon lesions induced in rats by the 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two control groups (CTRL1 (n = 6) and CTRL2 (n = 6)) administrated with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-saline; and two induced groups (CRC1 (n = 8) and CRC2 (n = 9)) administrated with DMH (40 mg/kg) for 7 consecutive weeks. The CRC1 and CTRL1 groups, and the CRC2 and CTRL2 groups were sacrificed 11 and 17 weeks after the first administration, respectively. A complete necropsy was performed. Liver and colon sam- ples of all animals were collected, fixed in formalin, and pro- cessed for histopathological analysis. The animals' blood and a small portion of the liver were collected to analyze serum markers of inflammation and to validate chemical induction through the comet assay, respectively. Results: Half of the animals belonging to the CRC1 group presented mild to moderate dysplasia foci (n = 3) in the colon. The incidence of neoplasia was only 16.7% (n = 1) in the CRC2 group. Moreover, one animal from the CRC2 group also exhibited severe dysplasia and two presented mild to moderate dysplasia foci. Inflammatory lesions in colon samples were present in all animals from CRC groups. Although the animals showed local inflammation, there was no evidence of systemic inflammation (normal CRP and IL-6 serum levels). Lymphoid inflammatory aggregates were observed in the liver of all animals. Furthermore, DMH induced other changes, such as hepatocyte megalocytosis and single-cell necrosis. Results from liver comet assay showed a lower genetic damage index in control groups when compared to DMH-exposed groups (p < 0.05), i.e. DMH induced DNA damage in rats’ liver. Conclusions: Once animals showed predominantly pre- neoplastic lesions, our data suggest that the disease was at an early stage. In the future, we intend to change the dose of the carcinogen and the time of exposure to observe advanced stages of CRC development. We consider that this model is useful in the study of CRC chemoprevention associated with local inflammation

Regul-A: App to regulate children with ASD between 3-6 years old in the home setting

O livro de atas da 1ª Conferência Lusófona de Terapia Ocupacional é uma iniciativa do Núcleo de Terapia Ocupacional da RACS (Rede Académica de ciências da Saúde da Lusofonia). Nesta primeira edição, em formato virtual, no seguimento da pandemia que assolou o planeta, foram apresentados assincronamente 15 pósteres em formato vídeo e disponibilizados em https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKUR7eWoyi2QAmZdHuB8qapIIA3PGxPVf . Foram também apresentadas de forma síncrona 14 comunicações livres que resultaram em 13 artigos completos que foram publicados na RevSALUS - Revista Científica Internacional da Rede Académica das Ciências da Saúde da Lusofonia – RACS - https://revsalus.com/index.php/RevSALUS. Uma comunicação oral encontra-se em artigo completo neste livro. Neste livro de Atas encontram-se publicados os resumos dos artigos completos publicados na RevSalus assim com os artigos curtos que originaram os vídeo-pósteres. Com mais de 100 participantes internacionais, esta edição obteve um sucesso considerável atendendo à sua novidade e constrangimentos pandémicos.Introdução: Crianças com PEA são caracterizadas por apresentarem respostas atípicas aos estímulos sensoriais, tendo impacto no envolvimento e na participação funcional. Objetivo: O presente estudo descreve o processo de desenvolvimento de uma app com o intuito de ajudar as famílias a regular as crianças com PEA, entre os 3-6 anos, através da aplicação de estratégias sensoriais, para melhorar a participação nas rotinas diárias em contexto de casa. Material e Métodos: Para o estudo foi selecionado um focus group composto por quatro terapeutas ocupacionais com vários anos de experiência em trabalhar com crianças com PEA e com formação especializada na área da Integração Sensorial, de forma a desenvolver e a analisar o conteúdo da app. Estabeleceu-se uma colaboração com o Departamento de Engenharia Informática, e através de reuniões quinzenais conjuntas, foi possível desenvolver toda a configuração e programação da app de forma articulada. Resultados: “Regul-A” foi o nome atribuído à app, uma vez que apresenta como principal finalidade ajudar na regulação de crianças com PEA. Os resultados abrangem as diversas estratégias sensoriais selecionadas pelo focus group, assim como, a estrutura da app, desenvolvida em colaboração com o Departamento de Engenharia Informática. Conclusões: Acredita-se que a app “Regul-A” venha a constituir-se uma potencial ferramenta para reunir, analisar e gerir dados da criança relativos ao seu desempenho ocupacional, facilitando a implementação de estratégias e a partilha de informação entre os pais e os terapeutas ocupacionais.Introduction: Children with ASD are characterized by atypical responses to sensory stimuli, which have an impact on involvement and functional participation. Objective: This study describes the several steps of an app development that intends to help families to regulate children with ASD aged 3-6 years old through the application of sensory strategies to improve participation in daily routines in home setting. Material and Methods: To develop and analyze the content of the app, a study was performed by a focus group formed by four occupational therapists with several years of experience in working with children with ASD and with specialized training in Sensory Integration Therapy. A collaboration was established with the Department of Computer Engineering of Polytechnic of Leiria, and through biweekly meetings it was possible to develop the entire configuration and programming of the app. Results: “Regul-A” is the name assigned to the app, since it has the main purpose to help parents regulate children with ASD. The results cover the various sensory strategies selected by the focus group, as well as the structure of the app. Conclusions: It is believed that the “Regul-A” app will become a potential tool to gather, analyze and manage children's data related to their occupational performance facilitating the implementation of strategies and the sharing of information between parents and occupational therapists.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Restoration of Noncarious Cervical Lesions: When, Why, and How

At this time, restoration of noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs) is a common occurrence in clinics nowadays. Some reasons for this are the growth of the elderly population, a smaller rate of tooth loss, and possibly the increase of some etiologic factors. These factors include inadequate brushing techniques in gingival recession cases, corrosive food and drink consumption, and occlusal stress concentrating factors (occlusal interferences, premature contacts, habits of bruxism, and clenching). Unfortunately, Class V restorations also represent one of the less durable types of restorations and have a high index of loss of retention, marginal excess, and secondary caries. Some causes for these problems include difficulties in isolation, insertion, contouring, and finishing and polishing procedures. This work aims to help dentists in choosing the best treatment strategy, which necessarily involves steps of problem identification, diagnosis, etiological factor removal or treatment, and, if necessary, restoration. Finally, appropriate restorative techniques are suggested for each situation