Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021"
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- The Impact of Gender on Entrepreneurial Intention in a Peripheral Region of Europe: A Multigroup AnalysisPublication . Gomes, Sofia; Lopes, João Nuno Morais; Oliveira, José Castro; Oliveira, Márcio; Santos, Tânia; Sousa, MarleneThe last two decades were characterized by an increase in attention on entrepreneurship. An emerging trend in the literature is associated with the different contributions that genders may have regarding entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions. This paper assesses gender impact on entrepreneurial intention in a peripheral region of Europe. The methodology used is quantitative and based on a sample of 1114 observations. The obtained results suggest that women’s perceived behavioral control does not have a less direct positive impact on entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s. Women’s personal attitude has a less direct positive impact on entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s, as social norms, on the one hand, have a less direct positive impact on women’s personal attitude when compared to men’s, and, on the other hand, have a less direct positive impact on women’s perceived behavioral control when compared to men’s. Finally, it was also verified that social norms have a less positive indirect impact through personal attitude and perceived behavioral control on women’s entrepreneurial intention when compared to men’s. These findings contribute to enlighten the literature by strengthening the theoretical framework on women’s entrepreneurial intention in peripheral regions. Regarding practical contributions, suggestions are addressed to public decision makers, universities, and civil society, to adopt practices to increase entrepreneurship in women. This research is original because it is the first to perform this study in Portugal, a peripheral region of Europe.
- Real-Time Vital Signs Monitoring System Towards Livestock Health FurtherancePublication . Reigones, Ana Rita Runa da Silva; Gaspar, Pedro DinisThe application of information and communication technologies & electronics (ICTE) in agriculture has proved to be very efficient and revolutionary. With the adoption of increasingly efficient and modern technologies, the competitiveness and production in agriculture activities is carried out in a more sustainable way. Precise positioning and geolocation, geographic mapping, sensors and communication systems are tools that help the development of a complete and accurate system for livestock monitoring. This paper includes the proposal for a cattle or equine ICTE-based monitoring system developed as a belt. It contains a microcontroller that is used to evaluate the animal's heart rate and detect abnormal mobility. The correct evaluation of these two parameters proves very useful for the detection of many of the pathologies and anomalies that constitute economic losses for the producers. With accurate monitoring, it is possible to circumvent these events that are detrimental to animal production.
- Extended Performance Research on IEEE 802.11 a WPA Multi-node Laboratory LinksPublication . Carvalho, José Pacheco De; Veiga, Hugo; Pacheco, Cláudia Ribeiro; Reis, AntónioWireless communications, involving electronic devices, are increasingly important. Performance is a fundamental issue, leading to more reliable and efficient communications. Security is also, no doubt, most important. Laboratory measurements were achieved about several performance aspects of Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a 54 MbpsWPA links. Our study enriches performance evaluation of this technology, using accessible equipment (HP V-M200 access points and Linksys WPC600N adapters). New accurate results are given, namely at OSI level 4, from TCP and UDP experiments. TCP throughput is measured against TCP packet length. Jitter and percentage datagram loss are evaluated versus UDP datagram size. Results are examined for point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and four-node point-to-multipoint links. Comparisons are also made mainly to related data obtained for Open links. Conclusions are extracted about performance of the links.
- Sweet Cherries as Anti-Cancer Agents: From Bioactive Compounds to FunctionPublication . Fonseca, Lara R. S.; Silva, Gonçalo R.; Luís, Ângelo; Cardoso, Henrique J.; Correia, Sara; Vaz, CV; Duarte, Ana Paula; Socorro, SílviaSweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are among the most appreciated fruits worldwide because of their organoleptic properties and nutritional value. The accurate phytochemical composition and nutritional value of sweet cherries depends on the climatic region, cultivar, and bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific compounds. Nevertheless, sweet cherry extracts are highly enriched in several phenolic compounds with relevant bioactivity. Over the years, technological advances in chemical analysis and fields as varied as proteomics, genomics and bioinformatics, have allowed the detailed characterization of the sweet cherry bioactive phytonutrients and their biological function. In this context, the effect of sweet cherries on suppressing important events in the carcinogenic process, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, was widely documented. Interestingly, results from our research group and others have widened the action of sweet cherries to many hallmarks of cancer, namely metabolic reprogramming. The present review discusses the anticarcinogenic potential of sweet cherries by addressing their phytochemical composition, the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific bioactive compounds, and the existing knowledge concerning the effects against oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, deregulated cell proliferation and apoptosis, invasion and metastization, and metabolic alterations. Globally, this review highlights the prospective use of sweet cherries as a dietary supplement or in cancer treatment.
- Recensão a Sob céus vermelhos, de Karoline KanPublication . Mancelos, João deRecensão ao ensaio biográfico "Sob céus vermelhos", de Karoline Kan, acerca de três gerações de mulheres que testemunharam as mudanças políticas na China, centrando-me em questões como cultura, alteridade e transformação socioeconómica.
- Accounting for Sources of Information in Trade Fairs: Evidence from Portuguese ExhibitorsPublication . Silva, Pedro M. da; Santos, José F.; Moutinho, VictorTrade fairs are important sources of information for decision making in marketing management. Currently, trade fairs are places where participants share useful data and information, while creating relationships between customers (visitors) and suppliers (exhibitors). However, only a limited number of studies have focused on the identification of the sources of information that exhibitors can provide for marketing managers at trade fairs. This study examines the importance of the different types of information resources that can be delivered by exhibitors to managers in order to transfer information about product and market trends. Based on the data from a survey of 172 Portuguese executives from different industries, the theoretical hypotheses are tested, using CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis). Consistent with our hypotheses, the results show that Direct Marketing techniques, such as face-to-face contacts and product/service demonstrations, are often used by exhibitors. Information in digital formats and demonstration in digital equipment (Digital Marketing) are also used in trade fairs to display information to potential customers. Additionally, the organization of parallel events (Event Marketing) during a trade fair supplements the package of activities developed by exhibitors to transmit and capture information for their companies. These results provide certain support for the importance of trade fairs in view of being a rich source of market information about not only new technological developments of products, but also major strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and future market trends, among other types of information needed for the marketing planning.
- Computational decision-making support tool for the optimized application of phytopharmaceuticalsPublication . Lopes, Vasco Miguel Pires; Canhão, Tiago; Antunes, Maria; Lima, Tânia M.; Gaspar, Pedro DinisNowadays, agriculture deals with intensive production, plagues, pests and inefficient use of natural and energy resources, also due to global temperature increase and climate change. This work seeks to answer the need to create new decision support tools for the application of phytopharmaceuticals. Mathematical objective functions capable of answering two problems were gathered. The first simulates the route and life cycle of a phytopharmaceutical. The second objective function provides the ideal quantities of phytopharmaceutical to be applied, based on climatic conditions, temperature, size of the tree canopy and dimensions of the agricultural fields.
- The Role of Open Innovation, and the Performance of European Union RegionsPublication . Lopes, João; Gomes, Sofia; Oliveira, José Castro; Oliveira, MárcioThis research aims to detect the factors that best explain the performance of regional innovation in the European Union (EU), in the year 2019, and compare the obtained results with the factors used to elucidate the performance of regional innovation in the EU during the year 2016. This comparison allowed us to identify the variations that have occurred during these 3 years. The methodology used is quantitative and served to identify the factors that clarify the performance of regional innovation in the EU in 2019. The data collected was treated in the econometric software Eviews10. Estimations used a multiple linear regression method. The attained results show that with the implementation of the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3), the Leader and Strong Regions benefited from its implementation. On the other hand, Moderate and Modest Regions failed to improve their innovative performance with the implementation of RIS3. On the practical contributions, it provides suggestions to the actors of the triple helix (Academy–Government–Industry) to improve the performance of innovation. Furthermore, it contributes to the theory by updating the knowledge of the existing literature with new dimensions from the 2019 RIS database. This research is original as it allows to appraise the evolution of the open innovative performance of the regions, by using comparative data from 2019 and 2016.
- In Vitro Study of the Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility of the Main Compounds Present in Ayahuasca BeveragesPublication . Gonçalves, Joana; Castilho, Miguel; Rosado, Tiago; Luís, Ângelo; Restolho, José; Fernández, Nicolás; Gallardo, Eugenia; Duarte, Ana PaulaAyahuasca is a psychoactive beverage that contains the psychoactive compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine and β-carboline alkaloids. This study aims at determining in vitro the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of the main compounds present in decoctions of four individual plants, in a commercial mixture and in four mixtures of two individual plants used in the preparation of Ayahuasca. The samples were subjected to an in vitro digestion process, and the Caco-2 cell line was used as an absorption model. The integrity and permeability of the cell monolayer were evaluated, as well as the cytotoxicity of the extracts. After digestion and cell incubation, the compounds absorbed by the cell monolayer were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector. The results showed that compounds such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine, Harmine, Harmaline, Harmol, Harmalol and Tetrahydroharmine were released from the matrix during the in vitro digestion process, becoming bioaccessible. Similarly, some of these compounds, after being incubated with the cell monolayer, were absorbed, becoming bioavailable. The extracts did not show cytotoxicity after cell incubation, and the integrity and permeability of the cell monolayer were not compromised.
- Experimental testing of the thermal response of different food alveoli solutions for packaging boxesPublication . Leitão, Fábio António Soares Pinto; Madhan, Sasi; Silva, Pedro Dinho da; Gaspar, Pedro DinisFruits and vegetables are perishable fresh products that have a short shelf life. Post-harvest treatments intend to slow down the physiological processes in fresh fruits and vegetables such as respiration, senescence, and ripening. In addition, those treatments also reduce the occurrence of pathogen attacks and microbial contamination to increase the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. Refrigeration plays an important role in food preservation, as low temperatures helps in preventing or delaying microbial, physiological, and chemical changes in food The food alveoli are used to protect and prevent products to suffer from external damages while their transportation in a package. This experiment was developed to analyse the thermal response in two different types of alveoli. The experiments were repeated for the 2 different alveoli and after that bags of phase change materials (PCMs) were added in the packages and the thermal behaviour of the packages with and without the PCM’s were compared. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) balls are used as fruit simulators in the alveoli. Paraffin wax RT11HC was used as PCM. The aim of this experiment is to evaluate the heat transfer in the different food alveoli made from carton and aluminum foil material with respect to time. The test was performed by lowering the temperature inside the cold chamber for 8 hours Once the 8 hours passed the cooling period finishes and the chamber is opened, exposing the packages and artificial fruits to the environmental temperature in the laboratory for a period of 15 hours. Results shown that in the cooling process, aluminum foil alveoli have quick response in the heat transfer to the fruit simulator and it took longer time in the heating process with PCMs. Hence the PCM which stores cold thermal energy is an effective method for cold storage food products in a packaging.