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Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-06-21"

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  • The value of Web Data Scraping: An application to TripAdvisor
    Publication . Barbera, Gianluca; Araujo, Luiz; Fernandes, Silvia
    Social Media Analytics (SMA) is more and more relevant in today’s market dynamics. However, it is necessary to use it wisely, either in promoting any kind of product/brand, or interacting with customers. This requires its effective understanding and monitoring. One way is through web data scraping (WDS) tools that allow to select sites and platforms to compare them in their performances. They can optimize extraction of big data published on social media. Due to current challenges, a sector that can particularly take advantage of this source is tourism (and its related sectors). This year has the hope of tourism’s revival after a pandemic whose impacts are still affecting several activities. Many traders and entrepreneurs have already used these versatile tools. However, do they really know their potential? The present study highlights the use of WDS to collect data from TripAdvisor’s social pages. Besides comparing competitors’ performance, companies also gain new knowledge of unnoticed preferences/habits. This contributes to more interesting innovations and results for them and for their customers. The approach used here is based on a project for smart tourism consultancy, from the identification of a gap in our region, to aid tourism organizations to enhance their digital presence and business model. Many things can be detected in this big source of unstructured data very quickly and easily without programming. Moreover, exploring code, either to refine the web scraper or connect it with other platforms/apps, can be an object of future research to leverage consumer behavior prediction for more advanced interactions.
    2023-06-21Journal article Open access Show more
  • Incidence of microplastics in the marine ecosystem of the Cíes Islands & surrounding areas of Atlantic Islands National Park, Galicia (NW Spain): seabirds as vectors of plastic contamination
    Publication . Senes, Giovanni Paolo; Nunes, Luís Miguel; Otero, Xosé Lois
    The Atlantic coast of Galicia (Spain) is home to a region called the Rías Baixas where the Atlantic Island National Park and the Cíes Islands lie. These islands are home to the Larus michahellis, or yellow-legged gull. This species is a transport vector for microplastic analysis. The study was conducted in April and focused on cast pellet as well as excrement samples of the yellow-legged gull. KOH and H2O2 digestion and density separation using a ZnCl2 solution were utilized alongside the aid of RAMAN spectroscopy to identify microplastics. Sampling of the sand at Rodas beach was conducted alongside a marine litter survey to quantify the amount of plastic contamination present in the island. The results show that microplastics are present in both the yellow-legged gull samples. Microplastics were present mostly in fiber form (68% of MPs in cast pellets and 48.4% in excrement), with the most common plastic types being sulphones (26% in cast pellets and 29% in excrement), polypropylene (20% in cast pellets and 32.3% in excrement), and cellulose (26% in cast pellets and 19.4% in excrement). Most MP colors were dark (blue, purple, and black; 76% in cast pellets and 71% in excrement) and followed the findings of previous researchers. Additionally, Estimates show that 12.63 million particles of microplastics are deposited each year by the feces of Larus michahellis in the Cíes Islands. The quantity of microplastic items in the sand of Rodas beach can be estimated to be approximately 1.1 million items within the first 5 cm of depth. Sand samples show primarily fibers (49%), with sulphone-based polymers as the most common (52.5%), and dark colors (blue, purple, and black; 78%)
    2023-06-21Master thesis Open access Show more