Economic ideas and policies in nineteenth-century Portugal

Luso-Brazilian Review Vol.38 Issue 2, p1-15

The role of literature: english textbooks and literature in secondary teaching in Portugal

Trabalho de Projecto apresentado para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ensino de Inglês

Evaluation of a volunteered geographical information trust measure in the case of OpenStreetMap

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Logistics in the health sector

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Inteligência emocional como competência na formação do futuro gestor de saúde de instituições de saúde : proposta de uma unidade curricular

RESUMO - Introdução: A formação de um gestor neste século é um verdadeiro desafio, pois apesar das instituições de ensino superior formarem profissionais com capacidade para actuar na área da Gestão da Saúde, é difícil afirmar que tal formação seja suficiente para produzir os grandes gestores exigidos actualmente para orientarem Instituições de Saúde modernas. Assim, muitos são os estudos que têm mostrado que os gestores de saúde mais eficazes se assemelham num requisito crucial: a Inteligência Emocional (IE). Objectivos: Perceber a importância do ensino das competências emocionais nos Cursos de Mestrado em Gestão da Saúde; analisar de forma descritiva/analítica e crítica o módulo opcional de Emoção, Liderança e Coaching na Gestão da Saúde leccionado no Mestrado em Gestão da Saúde na Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública; e por fim construir uma proposta de Unidade Curricular de Inteligência Emocional. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma revisão da literatura que permitiu desenvolver e adquirir conhecimentos, conceitos e teorias na área da IE. De seguida, procedeu-se a uma análise descritiva/analítica e crítica do módulo opcional de Emoção, Liderança e Coaching na Gestão em Saúde leccionado no Mestrado em Gestão da Saúde na Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, com base na revisão de literatura anteriormente efectuada; e por fim tentou-se construir uma proposta de Unidade Curricular de Inteligência Emocional a ser leccionada a futuros gestores de saúde. Conclusões: Este trabalho tem como principal intuito por um lado, mostrar através da vária literatura consultada que a Inteligência Emocional é uma competência essencial a ser desenvolvida pelos gestores em saúde de hoje em dia, pois as competências que a englobam fazem toda a diferença na organização, tornando os funcionários mais motivados, seguros e comprometidos com o que fazem; por outro lado foi um trabalho que permitiu reunir dados e ampliar as ideias sobre Inteligência Emocional. Da análise efectuada do módulo leccionado no Mestrado em Gestão de Saúde na Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, o que se pode concluir é que a carga horária assim como o peso do módulo que é opcional, é pouco significativo (tendo uma percentagem apenas de 3,33% dos ECTS (Sistema Europeu de créditos curriculares que significa European Credit Transfer System) e de acordo com os dados disponibilizados pela colega Mestre Joana Areias no IV Curso de Mestrado em Gestão da Saúde, apenas 36,6% dos alunos frequentaram este módulo, o que revela que ainda nem todos os futuros gestores de saúde estão dispertos para a importância do desenvolvimento da Inteligência Emocional como competência essencial nas suas práticas.

Orientalism and Imperialism in French West Africa. Considerations on travel literature, colonial tourism, and the desert as a “commodity” in Mauritania

In this article we intend to make a summary overview of the influence that literary production, originated under colonial mapping missions or later in travel writing, had in the construction and establishment of a discourse to advertise and promote tourism in Mauritania. To this end we will draw on travel narratives that are illustrative of different periods and that correspond in some way to discourses of otherness. In this specific case, such discourses relate to the “Moors” of the West African coast and were produced in various historical contexts. We will also consider the discourse present in the tourism promotion materials of the colonial period and we will demonstrate to what extent it can be engaged in a dialogue with 19th and 20th centuries’ Western colonial literature.

Three essays on the term structure of interest rates

A PhD Dissertation, presented as part of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the NOVA - School of Business and Economics

Sintomas somatoformes em Medicina Geral e Familiar

RESUMO: Os doentes que vão à consulta com sintomas físicos para os quais o médico não encontra uma causa orgânica, são frequentes na Medicina Geral e Familiar, embora não sejam específicos, e são o objecto de estudo do presente trabalho. Não deixar uma doença por diagnosticar (erro de tipo II) sem contudo rotular pessoas saudáveis como doentes (erro de tipo I) é um dos mais difíceis problemas da prática clínica diária e para o qual não existe uma orientação infalível e não é previsível que alguma vez venha a existir. Mas se o diagnóstico de doença ou não-doença é difícil, o tratamento dos que não tem doença, embora com sofrimento, também não é mais fácil, sobretudo, se estivermos conscientes do sofrimento que determina a medicalização e a iatrogenia. O presente trabalho está estruturado em 3 partes. Na primeira parte descrevemos a nossa visão integrada do que apreendemos da leitura da literatura publicada e à qual tivemos acesso. À semelhança do que se verifica na maioria das áreas da Medicina esta é também uma em que o conhecimento cresce a ritmo exponencial. No entanto, à falta de conceitos precisos e de definições consensuais sucede um conhecimento, por vezes, pouco consistente, tanto mais que estamos na fronteira entre a cultura leiga e a cultura erudita médica em que os significados devem, a todo o momento, ser validados. Fizemos uma revisão sobre as definições do que está em questão, sobre o que se sabe sobre a frequência dos sintomas físicos na população, quantos recorrem aos serviços de saúde e o que lhes é feito. Passámos por uma revisão da fisiologia destes sintomas e algumas explicações fisiopatológicas para terminarmos sobre o que os doentes pensam sobre os seus sintomas e os cuidados que recebem e o que os profissionais pensam sobre estes doentes. Esta parte termina com uma revisão das propostas de abordagem para este tipo de doentes. Na segunda parte, descrevemos os estudos empíricos focados no problema dos pacientes com sintomas físicos mas sem evidência de doença orgânica. Começa por uma apresentação dos aspectos processuais e metodológicos dos estudos realizados, mais especificamente, de dois estudos quantitativos e um qualitativo. No primeiro estudo pretendeu-se avaliar quais são os sintomas físicos e a sua frequência na população em geral e a frequência de pacientes que procuram (ou não) os serviços de saúde tendo como motivo este tipo de sintomas. O objectivo deste estudo é contribuir para a demonstração que este tipo de sintomas faz parte da vida do dia-a-dia e que, na maioria das vezes, só por si não significa doença, sem contudo negar que representa sofrimento, por vezes até maior do que quando há patologia orgânica. Se no primeiro estudo era demonstrar que os sintomas físicos são frequentes na população, no segundo estudo o objectivo é demonstrar que pacientes com este tipo de sintomas são igualmente frequentes e que o tipo de sintomas apresentados na consulta não difere dos referidos pela população em geral. Pretendia-se ainda saber o que é feito ou proposto pelo médico a estes doentes e se estes doentes traziam ou não, junto com os sintomas, ideias explicativas para os mesmos. Finalmente e não menos importante, é avaliar o grau de fidedignidade do diagnóstico de sintoma somatoforme, chamando assim ao sintoma físico que foi “levado” à consulta e que o médico diagnosticou como não tendo causa orgânica. O terceiro estudo parte do conhecimento adquirido que a Medicina tem muitas respostas para este problema, mas poucas que se possam considerar satisfatórias se usadas isoladamente. Que a maioria das soluções é procurada entre a cultura médica e num paradigma reducionista de separação mente-corpo. Contudo, se o sintoma é “construído” pelo doente, se o principal problema não está no sintoma mas na forma como o paciente o vê, então pareceu-nos lógico que a solução também tem que passar por integrarmos no plano de abordagem o que o doente entende ser melhor para si. Nesta sequência, entrevistaram-se alguns doentes cujo diagnóstico de sintomas somatoformes estava demonstrado pelo teste do tempo. Por isso, entrevistaram-se doentes que já tinham ido à consulta de MGF há mais de 6 meses por sintomas somatoformes e, na data da entrevista, o diagnóstico se mantinha inalterado, independentemente da sua evolução. As entrevistas visaram conhecer as ideias dos doentes sobre o que as motivou a procurarem a consulta, o que pensavam da forma como foram cuidados e que ideias tinham sobre o que os profissionais de saúde devem fazer para os ajudar a restabelecer o equilíbrio com o seu ambiente evitando a medicalização, a iatrogenia e a evolução para a cronicidade. Na terceira parte, discutem-se e integram-se os resultados encontrados no conhecimento previamente existente. Tenta-se teorizar, fazer doutrina sobre o tema e contribuir para abordagens terapêuticas mais personalizadas, abrangentes, variadas e multimodais, baseadas sempre no método clínico centrado no paciente, ou de modo menos correcto mas enfático, baseadas no método centrado na relação. Apresentam-se algumas hipóteses de trabalhos futuros sobre o tema e, sobretudo, esperamos ter contribuído para o reconhecimento da necessidade de a comunicação médico-doente ser uma aprendizagem transversal a todos os profissionais de saúde e ao longo da vida, com a ideia que é sempre possível fazer melhor, caso contrário tenderemos, inexoravelmente, a fazer cada vez pior.-----------ABSTRACT: Patients who go to consultation with physical symptoms, for which the doctor does not find an organic cause, are the subject of the present study. They are common in family medicine, although not specific. Do not let an undiagnosed disease (type II error), but without labeling healthy people as patients with disease (type I error) is one of the most difficult problems in clinical practice and for which doesn’t exist an infallible guide and it is unlikely that any since coming into existence. But, if the diagnosis of disease or non-disease is difficult, the treatment of those who do not have the disease, though suffering, it is not easy, especially if we are aware of the suffering that medicalization and iatrogenic determines. This work is structured in three parts. In the first part we describe our integrated view of what we grasp from reading the published literature and to which we had access. Similar to that found in most areas of medicine, this is also one in which knowledge grows exponentially. However, the absence of precise concepts and consensual definitions determines an inconsistent knowledge, especially because we're on the border between secular culture and medical culture where, at all times, the meaning must be validated. We did a review on the definitions of what is at issue, what is known about the frequency of physical symptoms in the population, how many use the services of health and what they receive as care. We went through a review of the physiology of these symptoms and some pathophysiological explanations, to finish on what patients think about their symptoms and how they perceived the care they received and, finally, what professionals think about these patients. This part ends with a review of the approaches proposed for such patients. In the second part, we describe the empirical studies focused on the problem of patients with physical symptoms but no evidence of organic disease. Begins with a presentation of the procedural and methodological aspects of studies, more specifically, two quantitative and one qualitative. The first study sought to assess which are the physical symptoms, their incidence in the general population and the frequency they seek (or not) health services on behalf of those symptoms. The aim behind this study was to contribute to the demonstration that this type of symptoms is part of life's day-to-day and that, in most cases, does not represent disease by itself, without denying that they represent suffering, sometimes even greater than when there are organic disease. The first study endeavor to demonstrate that the physical symptoms are common in the population. The second study aspires to demonstrate that patients with such symptoms are also common and that the type of symptoms presented in the consultation does not differ from those in the general population. The aim was also to know what is done or proposed by the physician for these patients and if these patients brought or not, along with the symptoms, explanatory ideas for them. Finally and not least, it would try to assess the degree of reliability of diagnosis of somatoform symptoms, thus drawing the physical symptom that patient presents in the consultation and that the doctor diagnosed as having no organic cause. The third study starts from the acquired knowledge that medicine has many answers to this problem, but few can be considered satisfactory if used in isolation. The most solutions are sought in the medical culture and based on a reductionist paradigm of mind-body. However, if the symptom is "built" by the patient, if the main problem is not the symptom but the way the patient sees it, then it seemed logical to us that the solution must integrate the approaches that patients believes are best for them. Subsequently, a few patients, whose diagnosis of somatoform symptoms was demonstrated by the test of time, were interviewed. Therefore, patients who were interviewed had gone to the consultation of family medicine more than 6 months before for somatoform symptoms and. at the moment of the interview, the diagnosis remained unchanged, regardless of their evolution. The interviews aimed to ascertain the patients' ideas about what motivated them to seek consultation, what they thought about the care they got and which ideas they have about what health professionals should do to help these patients to re-establish equilibrium with its environment avoiding medicalization, iatrogenic effects and the evolution to chronicity. In the third section, we discuss and integrate the results found in previously existing knowledge. Attempts to theorize on the subject and contribute to more personalized treatment, comprehensive, varied and multi-modal approaches, always based on patient-centered clinical method, with emphasis on the relationship. We presents some hypotheses for future work on the subject and,above all, defend the recognition of the importance of lifelong learning communication skills for all health professionals, with the idea that we can always do better, otherwise we tend inexorably to do worse.

Humor impresso: cultura e política em O Espreitador do Mundo Novo

The aim of this paper is to identify, analyse and question the expressions of humour in O Espreitador do Mundo Novo, a monthly periodical published by José Daniel Rodrigues da Costa throughout 1802. It is a chapter of a PhD thesis in History and Theory of Ideas with the title “Correcting by laughter. Humour in Portuguese periodical press 1797-1834”. Positing humour as a social and cultural phenomenon, it is regarded here in a broad sense, comprehending wit, joke, ridicule, satire, jest, mockery, facetiousness or irony, displayed with recourse to various figures of speech. This interdisciplinary work intends listing and researching the themes and issues of the periodical and its targets, namely the social, age or gender stereotypes and to acknowledge its political stances. Another main purpose of this paper is to assess the role of humour as expressed in the printed periodical as a political and social weapon, criticizing ways (and which ways) and/or fashions, often ridiculing novelty just for being new in order to maintain the statu quo, and to establish in which senses humour was used in the context of late Ancien Régime and early liberalism culture. The humour of O Espreitador has also played a part in framing a public sphere in early nineteenth-century Portugal, as can be seen by the different “stages” and backgrounds where the monthly installments of the periodical take place: squares, coffee houses, fairgrounds, private houses, jailhouses, churches, public promenades, pilgrimages, bullfights, parties, the opera house – each of them a space of sociability and socialization. In this one, as in other periodicals of the time, printed humour stands at the crossroads of politics and culture, in spaces boldly widening before the reader. Albeit, there are quite a few loud silences in O Espreitador: not even the slightest remark to the church, the clergy or the Inquisition, only reverential references to the established order and the powers that be. The periodical criticizes the criticizers; it is against those who are against. The repeated disclaimers are intended not only to protect the author from libel suits or other litigation. They belong to a centuries-old tradition which, as early as the Middle Ages, has set apart escárnio (scorn) from maldizer (slander): José Daniel Rodrigues da Costa distinguishes satire from rebuking vice – a “cheerful criticism” forerunner of the ironic humour which was to become a trademark of Portuguese literature in the second half of the nineteenth century. Targeting those who deviate from the social norm (for example social climbers and older women who marry young men) or the followers of fashion (sometimes specifically “French fashion”), O Espreitador charges at liberal and progressive ideas. It ridicules the ways of the “New World” in order to perpetuate an idealized version of the “Old World”. Notwithstanding two exceptions – it condemns racism and bullfighting –, the humour of O Espreitador is conservative and conformist from a social and political standpoint.

Lag-user method: Using laggards to leverage user innovation

Laggards are the last users to adopt a product. Prior literature on user-led innovation ignores laggards’ impact on innovation. In this paper, we develop the Lag-User Method, through which laggards can generate new ideas. Through six studies with 62 teams in three countries, we apply the method to different technologies and services and present our findings to executives to get managerial insights. Findings reveal that laggards who generate new ideas (lag-users) have different perceptions of user-friendly products and different unfulfilled needs. They prefer simple products. We propose that by involving lag-users in NPD, firms can improve the effectiveness of NPD.

Omni-channel retail strategies in the luxury world

It’s impossible to neglect the changes that internet and e-commerce caused in the retail sector, by increasing customers’ expectations and forcing retailers to adapt the business to the new digital era. Internet is characterized by the increase in accessibility to everyone, which can be good or not so. For instance, luxury products rely on the sense of exclusivity, instead of being accessible to everyone. Hence, internet represents a challenge for luxury brands once, although they are able to provide a fullness service to their customers, they need to maintain the exclusiveness in which luxury is sustained. Consequently, the appearance of omni-channel was more than a challenge for the luxury sector, in particular, given the need to provide a full integrated experience through different channels. The aim of this dissertation is to find out how important is omni-channel, even in the luxury industry, and how it’s actually implemented based on the case of one of the most successful companies on luxury fashion e-commerce industry – Farfetch. Even though the company started in London, its founder is a Portuguese entrepreneur, and it’s in Portugal where most of its employees work, divided in two offices – Guimarães e Porto. Therefore, a literature review was written on relevant concepts and ideas about luxury, e-commerce and the different channels’ approaches. There were formulated five propositions that were after discussed according to the information gathered about the company and its strategies. In the end, it was possible to identify which propositions are in accordance with theory and which are not, as well as understand which are the most important strategies and trends about omni-channel in the luxury fashion e-commerce sector.

The role of crowdfunding in promoting entrepreneurship

Crowdfunding is a collaborative initiative, usually via internet, where people network to collectively raise funds in order to invest in and support projects delivered by other people or organizations. Tools such as crowdfunding are born and thrive in a grassroots environment, with a strong potential to positively disrupt the entrepreneurial generation setting and grow to a position of significant relevance in society, namely at a time when alternatives to traditional forms of finance are welcome and the technology to deliver them is abundant. Entrepreneurship is the act of transforming ideas and projects into economic products or services. Entrepreneurship related to starting new businesses is better known as start‐up ventures. Entrepreneurs face a series of challenges, from idea conception and business plan design, to obtaining finance, promoting new products and services, generating revenues and profits and generally growing and sustaining a business for the long‐run. These challenges can be overwhelming, namely in the start‐up phase of a new venture, leaving several ideas on paper without them having a chance to “grow legs and walk”. This paper and its analysis offer important insights about the contribution of crowdfunding to facilitate the attainment of critical factors for successful entrepreneurship. With extensive use of real practical examples, leveraging previous analytical studies of other crowdfunding implications and reviewing expert literature, by interviewing entrepreneurs, crowdfunding platform owners and by benefitting from hands on experience of working in such an organization, we intend to clarify the impact of crowdfunding in what we considered to be 7 key entrepreneurial requirements detailed further in the introduction section and later in the body of the paper. The findings have implications for entrepreneurs, naturally, and for business generation theory, extending current entrepreneurial guidelines with innovative tools and methodologies capable of sustaining successful ventures in a newly highlighted cooperative world. We live in innovative times where the channels for the transfer of funds and resources suffer disruptive changes with the potential to significantly improve the ability to generate new initiatives for the well‐being of entrepreneurs and all related communities.