Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-04-04"
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- The challenges faced by higher education students and their expectations during COVID-19 in PortugalPublication . Viana, Joana; Gonçalves, Sónia P.; Brandão, Catarina; Veloso, Ana; Vieira dos Santos, J.This article reports on a study about higher education students’ perceptions of the teaching situation in Portugal during the pandemic, with the purpose of investigating: (i) what challenges did students feel?; (ii) how did institutions provide support to students?; and (iii) what expectations do students have about the continuity of their academic path and of higher education? The study was developed through a questionnaire distributed online and sent to the student associations. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and frequency statistics. Additionally, a categorical content analysis was performed for the qualitative data. A total of 694 students participated in the study. The results show that the main challenges felt by the students were related to the assessment of learning, that higher education institutions were little or not prepared for an emergency, and that the support given to students was mostly through the professors. Most students felt that the pandemic will have quite an impact on their academic paths and on the organization and functioning of higher education, highlighting a belief in the adoption of online or blended learning. It was concluded that it is necessary to invest in pedagogical training for Portuguese higher education teachers, namely, to teach using digital technologies.
- Análise do risco dos grossistas do ramo alimentar na atribuição de crédito a empresas do canal HORECA no AlgarvePublication . Quintino, Patrícia Cavaco; Ferreira, Eugénia Maria Dores Maia; Matos, NélsonA concessão de crédito implica que as empresas incorram em risco de crédito, resultantes do incumprimento das datas de pagamento previamente acordadas. As empresas acabam por gerar dificuldades financeiras sempre que consentem que os seus clientes dilatem os prazos de pagamento. Este risco pode, no entanto, variar dependendo da robustez da política de crédito, tipo de cliente e o tipo de produtos ou serviços prestados. Assim, é essencial que as empresas grossistas apresentem uma eficiente gestão e análise do risco de crédito de modo a diminuírem os possíveis incumprimentos da sua carteira de clientes. Neste sentido, o objetivo geral desta dissertação é analisar o risco dos grossistas do ramo alimentar na atribuição de crédito a empresas do canal HORECA. Para isso, procurou-se analisar uma base de dados de empresas grossistas com informações económicofinanceiras, para identificar os fatores de risco na concessão de crédito. Com recurso ao modelo HJ-biplot (Galindo, 1986), foi efetuada uma análise multivariada, que permitiu estudar as relações entre as variáveis, entre os indivíduos e entre as variáveis e os indivíduos, cumprindo assim o propósito do estudo. Face ao objetivo geral desta dissertação, constata-se que nos três segmentos estudados existe a possibilidade de atribuição de crédito na grande maioria das empresas em cada sector, clusters classificados a ‘’verde’’. Existem também empresas nos três grupos que não é aconselhável a atribuição de crédito, clusters classificados a ‘’vermelho’’, essas empresas apresentam valores baixos nos indicadores estudados, sendo, no entanto, em menor quantidade. De uma forma intermédia, encontrou-se também a classificação a ‘’amarelo’’, que são empresas que necessitam de uma análise mais detalhada por parte dos analistas.
- Interrelationship between muscle fitness in childhood and bone mineral density in adulthood: mediation analysis of muscle fitness in adulthoodPublication . Barbosa, Cynthia C. L.; da Costa, Julio C.; Romanzini, Catiana L. P.; Batista, Mariana B.; Blasquez-Shigaki, Gabriela; Fernandes, Rômulo A.; Martinho, Diogo V.; Oliveira, Tomás; Ribeiro, Luís Pedro; Coelho-e-Silva, Manuel J.; Ronque, Enio R. V.Background This study was aimed to examine the relationship between muscular fitness indicators in childhood and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in adulthood and to verify whether the relationship is mediated by performance on muscular fitness indicators in adulthood. Methods A sample of 138 healthy adults (69 males; 22.3 years) were followed after a previous assessment at the age of 7–10 years. Stature, body mass and muscular fitness indicators (handgrip strength, standing long jump and sit-ups tests) were assessed in childhood and adulthood. Additionally, total body, upper limbs, lower limbs, right femoral neck and lumbar spine aBMD was assessed in adulthood using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Analysis included descriptive statistics; t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test for comparison between males and females, multiple linear regression for the prediction aBMD from muscular fitness indicators in childhood, mediation analysis of the respective muscular fitness indicators in adulthood and the relationship between muscular fitness indicators in childhood and aBMD. Results Males were stronger compared to females regarding muscular fitness indicators in childhood and adulthood, and presented higher mean values for aBMD in adulthood, except for lumbar spine (p<0.05). Regression analysis revealed that some muscular fitness indicators in childhood showed significant positive relationship with bone health indicators in adulthood, such as: handgrip strength and total body aBMD (β=0.005; R2=0.35; p=0.040) and upper limbs aBMD (β=0.005; R2=0.55; p=0.019); and sit-ups test was a significant predictors of lumbar spine BMD (β=0.003; R2=0.06; p=0.039). Mediation analysis pointed out the following: adulthood handgrip strength mediated relationships between childhood handgrip strength and total aBMD (indirect effect (IE)=0.0025; 95%CI=0.0005– 0.0048), and upper limbs aBMD (IE=0.0040; 95%CI=0.0017–0.0069). Conclusions Muscular fitness indicators in childhood showed significant relationship with bone health indicators in adulthood and the sit-ups test in childhood had direct effect on lumbar spine aBMD in adulthood. Adulthoodhandgrip strength mediated the relationship between childhood handgrip strength and total body and upper limb aBMD, pointing out that muscular fitness in childhood may be a aBMD determinant in adulthood, especially when higher muscle fitness performance is maintained in adulthood.
- Valorisation of wasted immature tomato to innovative fermented functional foodsPublication . Pereira, Nelson; Farrokhi, Mahsa; Vida, Manuela; Lageiro, Manuela; Ramos, Ana Cristina; Vieira, Margarida; Alegria, Carla; Gonçalves, Elsa M.; Abreu, MartaIn this study, the lactic fermentation of immature tomatoes as a tool for food ingredient production was evaluated as a circular economy-oriented alternative for valorising industrial tomatoes that are unsuitable for processing and which have wasted away in large quantities in the field. Two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were assessed as starter cultures in an immature tomato pulp fermentation to produce functional food ingredients with probiotic potential. The first trial evaluated the probiotic character of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LAB97, isolated from immature tomato microbiota) and Weissella paramesenteroides (C1090, from the INIAV collection) through in vitro gastrointestinal digestion simulation. The results showed that LAB97 and C1090 met the probiotic potential viability criterion by maintaining 6 log10 CFU/mL counts after in vitro simulation. The second trial assessed the LAB starters’ fermentative ability. Partially decontaminated (110 ◦C/2 min) immature tomato pulp was used to prepare the individually inoculated samples (Id: LAB97 and C1090). Non-inoculated samples, both with and without thermal treatment (Id: CTR-TT and CTR-NTT, respectively), were prepared as the controls. Fermentation was undertaken (25 ◦C, 100 rpm) for 14 days. Throughout storage (0, 24, 48, 72 h, 7, and 14 days), all the samples were tested for LAB and Y&M counts, titratable acidity (TA), solid soluble content (SSC), total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (AOx), as well as for organic acids and phenolic profiles, and CIELab colour and sensory evaluation (14th day). The LAB growth reached ca. 9 log10 CFU/mL for all samples after 72 h. The LAB97 samples had an earlier and higher acidification rate than the remaining ones, and they were highly correlated to lactic acid increments. The inoculated samples showed a faster and higher decrease rate in their SSC levels when compared to the controls. A nearly two-fold increase (p < 0.05) during the fermentation, over time, was observed in all samples’ AOx and TPC (p < 0.05, r = 0.93; similar pattern). The LAB97 samples obtained the best sensory acceptance for flavour and overall appreciation scores when compared to the others. In conclusion, the L. plantarum LAB97 starter culture was selected as a novel probiotic candidate to obtain a potential probiotic ingredient from immature tomato fruits.