Mapping numbers onto space in preschool children and adults

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia - Especialidade em Psicologia Experimental e Ciências Cognitivas

The influence of low-frequency noise pollution on the quality of life and place in sustainable cities: a case study from northern Portugal

Discussing urban planning requires rethinking sustainability in cities and building healthy environments. Historically, some aspects of advancing the urban way of life have not been considered important in city planning. This is particularly the case where technological advances have led to conflicting land use, as with the installation of power poles and building electrical substations near residential areas. This research aims to discuss and rethink sustainability in cities, focusing on the environmental impact of low-frequency noise and electromagnetic radiation on human health. It presents data from a case study in an urban space in northern Portugal, and focuses on four guiding questions: Can power poles and power lines cause noise? Do power poles and power lines cause discomfort? Do power poles and power lines cause discomfort due to noise? Can power poles and power lines affect human health? To answer these questions, we undertook research between 2014 and 2015 that was comprised of two approaches. The first approach consisted of evaluating the noise of nine points divided into two groups â near the sourceâ (e.g., up to 50 m from power poles) and â away from the sourceâ (e.g., more than 250 m away from the source). In the second approach, noise levels were measured for 72 h in houses located up to 20 m from the source. The groups consist of residents living within the distance range specified for each group. The measurement values were compared with the proposed criteria for assessing low-frequency noise using the DEFRA Guidance (University of Salford). In the first approach, the noise caused discomfort, regardless of the group. In the second approach, the noise had fluctuating characteristics, which led us to conclude that the noise caused discomfort.

O sentido espacial das crianças de 3 e 4 anos

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1ºCiclo do Ensino Básico

A confraria do comentário do futebol na TV: evolução dos programas televisivos feitos com adeptos dos maiores clubes portugueses

Em Portugal, os programas de televisão feitos com adeptos notáveis de três grandes clubes de futebol correspondem a um formato com menos de uma década e meia de existência: apareceram primeiro na RTP2 e, logo a seguir, na SIC. Os canais generalistas rapidamente os adoptaram como conteúdos privilegiados para atrair audiência. Hoje constituem âncoras das grelhas dos três canais temáticos de informação, rivalizando entre si nos comentadores permanentes que conseguem fixar em estúdio. Apresentados por jornalistas, estes programas criam momentos de grande polémica e, com isso, marcam, de certa forma, a agenda do campo do futebol. Neste artigo, explicamos a génese destes formatos, traçamos o seu percurso na TV portuguesa e, através de entrevistas aos seus responsáveis editoriais, analisamos a estratégia que seguem na construção do alinhamento, discutimos a distância que mantêm dos clubes que comentam e perspectivamos formas de evolução deste tipo de conteúdos televisivos. Uma linha sobressai neste trabalho: quem participa nestes programas é uma elite de comentadores que se apresentam como adeptos do Futebol Clube do Porto, do Sporting e do Benfica, mas que mais não são do que uma confraria do comentário do futebol que semanalmente contribui para a construção de um espaço público cada vez mais rarefeito em torno daquilo que se discute no futebol.

Dynamic group formation in mobile computer supported collaborative learning environment

Forming suitable learning groups is one of the factors that determine the efficiency of collaborative learning activities. However, only a few studies were carried out to address this problem in the mobile learning environments. In this paper, we propose a new approach for an automatic, customized, and dynamic group formation in Mobile Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (MCSCL) contexts. The proposed solution is based on the combination of three types of grouping criteria: learner’s personal characteristics, learner’s behaviours, and context information. The instructors can freely select the type, the number, and the weight of grouping criteria, together with other settings such as the number, the size, and the type of learning groups (homogeneous or heterogeneous). Apart from a grouping mechanism, the proposed approach represents a flexible tool to control each learner, and to manage the learning processes from the beginning to the end of collaborative learning activities. In order to evaluate the quality of the implemented group formation algorithm, we compare its Average Intra-cluster Distance (AID) with the one of a random group formation method. The results show a higher effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in forming homogenous and heterogeneous groups compared to the random method.

Relação entre regulação das ordens profissionais e gestão jurisdicional dos profissionais de contabilidade: estudo comparado entre Portugal e o Brasil

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciência da Administração

Evidence for inter- and intra-species biofilm formation variability among a small group of coagulase-negative staphylococci

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are common bacterial colonisers of the human skin. They are often involved in nosocomial infections due to biofilm formation in indwelling medical devices. While biofilm formation has been extensively studied in Staphylococcus epidermidis, little is known regarding other CoNS species. Here, biofilms from six different CoNS species were characterised in terms of biofilm composition and architecture. Interestingly, the ability to form a thick biofilm was not associated with any particular species, and high variability on biofilm accumulation was found within the same species. Cell viability assays also revealed different proportions of live and dead cells within biofilms formed by different species, although this parameter was particularly similar at the intra-species level. On the other hand, biofilm disruption assays demonstrated important inter- and intra-species differences regarding extracellular matrix composition. Lastly, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) experiments confirmed this variability, highlighting important differences and common features of CoNS biofilms. We hypothesised that the biofilm formation heterogeneity observed was rather associated with biofilm matrix composition than with cells themselves. Additionally, our results indicate that polysaccharides, DNA and proteins are fundamental pieces in the process of CoNS biofilm formation.

The group inverse of a product

In this paper, we characterize the existence and give an expression of the group inverse of a product of two regular elements by means of a ring unit.

A informação e a comunicação na escola: tecnologias, redes e fluxos

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos da Criança (Especialidade de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação)

Relacionamentos em MMORPGs: online e offline

Dissertação de mestrado em Comunicação, Arte e Cultura

A importância dos espaços verdes para a promoção de Guimarães a capital verde da Europa

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Geografia (área de especialização em Planeamento e Gestão do Território)

Internship report of blog translation at the company Menina Design Group

Dissertação de mestrado em Tradução e Comunicação Multilingue