Sapientia
UAlg Scientific Repository
About Sapientia
SAPIENTIA brings together all scientific publications produced by teachers, researchers, and students (theses and dissertations) from the University of Algarve and cooperating entities (ULSALG-Unidade Local de Saúde do Algarve and Ciência Viva network centers in the Algarve) and aims to maximize their visibility, ensure easy access to this collection, improve the public impact of the scientific activity of the University and other entities, as well as ensure the preservation of their memories.
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Recent Submissions
Infrastructure beyond cities: perspectives from the Americas
Publication . Henry, Edward R.; Ellis, Grace; DeSanto, Carly M.
The study of infrastructure is becoming a common focus in research across the social sciences. In this endeavor, archaeologists are uniquely situated to assess how societies in the past created, and relied on, infrastructure over time, and the different ways it facilitated or impeded communication, movement, and social interaction through an understanding of the material record. However, most archaeological engagements with the study of infrastructure occur through case studies that closely mirror the modern contexts in which contemporary social scientists study infrastructure: within state-organized sociopolitical contexts or urban places. We use this article as an opportunity to review the literature on infrastructure, contextualize how it has been adopted in archaeology, and then advocate for expanding the study of infrastructure to non-urban small-scale societies. In doing so, we reassociate the notion of infrastructure with connective and cooperative human projects that unfold within and between places situated across social landscapes. This perspective requires one to divorce infrastructure from modernity and early urban projects and to recenter it within the material nature of human interaction. It is our goal to offer themes and perspectives drawn from contemporary notions of infrastructure to better understand the diverse forms and functions of built and natural environments apart from early urban places in the ancient Americas.
Psychosocial Safety Climate as an Enabler of Teacher Health and Occupational Well-Being
Publication . Viseu, João; Borralho, Liberata; Afsharian, Ali; Domingues, Tiago
The aim of this quantitative research was to understand the mechanisms that intervene in the relationship between Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) and work outcomes through the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model in a sample of Portuguese school teachers. 1481 participants, mostly female (78.9%), completed a research protocol consisting of six self-report questionnaires and one sociodemographic and professional questionnaire. The results indicated that PSC correlates positively with teacher health, work engagement and positive psychological capital (PsyCap); teacher health mediates the relationship between PSC and both work engagement and PsyCap, promoting both; PsyCap is linked to higher job satisfaction and lower stress; and work engagement and PsyCap partially mediate the relationship between PSC and job satisfaction, promoting the latter, and stress, reducing its levels. It would be important that these results would have a driving effect on interventions with teachers to prevent and improve their health and well-being.
Navigating uncertainty: enhancing hotel cancellation predictions with adaptive machine learning
Publication . Silvestre, Pedro; Antonio, Nuno; Carrasco, Paulo
Accurately predicting hotel booking cancellations is critical for hotel management, especially during volatile periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior work demonstrated that machine-learning (ML) models perform well on historical data, yet few studies test robustness under severe disruption. We evaluate ML classifiers trained on pre-pandemic data from four hotels and assess their adaptability to pandemic conditions (Study One). We then examine whether adding pandemic observations via a dynamic sliding-window approach improves accuracy (Study Two). Pre-pandemic models exhibit reasonable discrimination, but including pandemic-period data can raise the Area Under the Curve (AUC) by up to 5% points. A nine-month training window balances stability and responsiveness, capturing rapid shifts in booking patterns and customer behavior. Feature importance also changes: Lead time and other drivers show altered effects during the pandemic, underscoring the need for continuously updated models. Anchored in concept-drift theory, we interpret the pandemic as an abrupt shift in the cancellation decision boundary and show that sliding-window retraining together with interpretable diagnostics (e.g., the Lead time crossover threshold) provides a theoretically grounded blueprint for prediction under distributional change. Our results advocate scheduled retraining and lightweight drift diagnostics to sustain forecast accuracy and managerial actionability. For hotel managers and technology providers, the proposed approach supports proactive cancellation management, more reliable forecasting, and resilient operations in volatile markets, demonstrating the robustness of adaptive ML under conditions of extreme market volatility. The study advances theoretical understanding and practical applications by operationalizing concept-drift management in revenue-critical settings.
Unraveling the potential of gasotransmitters as neurogenic and neuroprotective molecules: focus on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Publication . Simao, Sonia; Filipa Santos, Daniela; Teixeira, Mariana; Agostinho, Rafaela R; Rodrigues, Joana; Vitorino, Marta; Araújo, Inês M
Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are the two most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders worldwide, both characterized by progressive neuronal loss. Despite distinct pathophysiological features, they share cellular dysfunctions such as abnormal protein aggregation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation, research into which might be beneficial for developing novel therapeutic strategies that could tackle both conditions. This review highlights the emerging role of the gasotransmitters nitric oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide as modulators of adult neurogenesis and neuroprotection in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. We have gathered recent evidence demonstrating that these endogenous gases exert anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic effects, and, critically, promote neurogenesis - suggesting a dual neuroprotective and neuroregenerative therapeutic potential. The unique physicochemical features of these gasotransmitters, including their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and diffuse rapidly throughout the neural tissue, further support their suitability as candidates for innovative neuroregenerative treatments. While clinical translation remains challenging, harnessing the neurogenic and neuroprotective actions of these gasotransmitters may offer transformative avenues for addressing the increasing burden of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Decent work and burnout: the moderating role of career calling
Publication . Porto, Sofia; Faria, Liliana
Burnout is a critical issue in occupational mental health, and decent work is recognised as a key factor in promoting employee well-being. Drawing on the Psychology of Working Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this study examined whether Career Calling, as a personal resource, moderates the relationship between Decent Work and Burnout among Portuguese workers. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 173 participants, and data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro. Results indicated a significant negative relationship between Decent Work and Burnout, with Career Calling moderating this association: its protective effect was stronger when decent work conditions were adequate. These findings highlight the importance of prioritising decent work as the primary strategy to prevent burnout, while supporting the development of Career Calling as a complementary resource to enhance resilience, engagement, and meaning in work.