U-TRACER® - the use of communication technology in higher education - an information visualization tool for the context of Portuguese public higher education

Information Visualization is gradually emerging to assist the representation and comprehension of large datasets about Higher Education Institutions, making the data more easily understood. The importance of gaining insights and knowledge regarding higher education institutions is little disputed. Within this knowledge, the emerging and urging area in need of a systematic understanding is the use of communication technologies, area that is having a transformative impact on educational practices worldwide. This study focused on the need to visually represent a dataset about how Portuguese Public Higher Education Institutions are using Communication Technologies as a support to teaching and learning processes. Project TRACER identified this need, regarding the Portuguese public higher education context, and carried out a national data collection. This study was developed within project TRACER, and worked with the dataset collected in order to conceptualize an information visualization tool U-TRACER®. The main goals of this study related to: conceptualization of the information visualization tool U-TRACER®, to represent the data collected by project TRACER; understand higher education decision makers perception of usefulness regarding the tool. The goals allowed us to contextualize the phenomenon of information visualization tools regarding higher education data, realizing the existing trends. The research undertaken was of qualitative nature, and followed the method of case study with four moments of data collection.The first moment regarded the conceptualization of the U-TRACER®, with two focus group sessions with Higher Education professionals, with the aim of defining the interaction features the U-TRACER® should offer. The second data collection moment involved the proposal of the graphical displays that would represent the dataset, which reading effectiveness was tested by end-users. The third moment involved the development of a usability test to the UTRACER ® performed by higher education professionals and which resulted in the proposal of improvements to the final prototype of the tool. The fourth moment of data collection involved conducting exploratory, semi-structured interviews, to the institutional decision makers regarding their perceived usefulness of the U-TRACER®. We consider that the results of this study contribute towards two moments of reflection. The challenges of involving end-users in the conceptualization of an information visualization tool; the relevance of effective visual displays for an effective communication of the data and information. The second relates to the reflection about how the higher education decision makers, stakeholders of the U-TRACER® tool, perceive usefulness of the tool, both for communicating their institutions data and for benchmarking exercises, as well as a support for decision processes. Also to reflect on the main concerns about opening up data about higher education institutions in a global market.

The economic consequences of Portuguese State’s movement towards business sector

Over the last 36 years, the relationship with the Portuguese state-owned enterprises registered several dynamics: nationalizations, privatizations and corporatization of public services. However, until now the State Business Sector from a national accounts perspective was never analyzed. Based on data collected and compiled for the first time at Statistics Portugal, this PhD thesis aims to test, analyzing in eight dimensions, whether the weight of the State Business Sector increased and if it contributed positively to the Portuguese economy, from 2006 to 2010. In addition to this analysis, an overview of the economic theory of state intervention in the economy, the paradigm changes of public policy in the international context, the evolution of the Portuguese State Business Sector since 1974, accompanied with a business and national accounting perspective between 2006 and 2010, are also presented. The results allow us to conclude that, in general, the weight of the State Business Sector in the Portuguese economy increased and had a tendency of a positive contribution to its economic growth. The State Business Sector also contributed positively to the nominal labour productivity (although with a decreasing trend of contribution to growth over the period under review) and the profitability of the non-financial corporations sector (although impairing the overall ratio of this sector). Nonetheless, the State Business Sector contributed negatively to the fairness in compensation of employees (although with an improvement trend) and to the competitiveness of labour cost, investment and sectorial sustainability of the Portuguese economy (reinforced by a falling trend). The results also suggest that the State Business Sector had an economic behaviour closer to a welfare maximizing model than to a profit maximizing model. This distinct performance with respect to the institutional sector in which is included, highlights the need to study and reassess the relationship of the state with public corporations, in light of agency theory using micro-data. Lastly, contributions to improve the economic performance of the State Business Sector and future prospects of evolution are presented.

Interactions of cetaceans with Spanish and Portuguese fisheries in Atlantic waters : costs, benefits and implications for management

With the aim to provide new insights into operational cetacean-fishery interactions in Atlantic waters, this thesis assesses interactions of cetaceans with Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels operating in Iberian and South West Atlantic waters. Different opportunistic research methodologies were applied, including an interview survey with fishers (mainly skippers) and onboard observations by fisheries observers and skippers, to describe different types of interactions and to identify potential hotspots for cetacean-fishery interactions and the cetacean species most involved, and to quantify the extent and the consequences of these interactions in terms of benefits and costs for cetaceans and fisheries. In addition, the suitability of different mitigation strategies was evaluated and discussed. The results of this work indicate that cetaceans interact frequently with Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels, sometimes in a beneficial way (e.g. cetaceans indicate fish schools in purse seine fisheries), but mostly with negative consequences (depredation on catch, gear damage and cetacean bycatch). Significant economic loss and high bycatch rates are, however, only reported for certain fisheries and associated with particular cetacean species. In Galician fisheries, substantial economic loss was reported as a result of bottlenose dolphins damaging artisanal coastal gillnets, while high catch loss may arise from common dolphins scattering fish in purse seine fisheries. High cetacean bycatch mortality arises in trawl fisheries, mainly of common dolphin and particularly during trawling in water depths below 350 m, and in coastal set gillnet fisheries (mainly common and bottlenose dolphins). In large-scale bottom-set longline fisheries in South West Atlantic waters, sperm whales may significantly reduce catch rates through depredation on catch. The high diversity of cetacean-fishery interactions observed in the study area indicates that case-specific management strategies are needed to reduce negative impacts on fisheries and cetaceans. Acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) may be used to prevent small cetaceans from approaching and getting entangled in purse seines and set gillnets, although possible problems include cetacean habituation to the pinger sounds, as well as negative side effects on non-target cetaceans (habitat exclusion) and fisheries target species (reduced catch rates). For sardine and horse mackerel, target species of Iberian Atlantic fisheries, no aversive reaction to pinger sounds was detected during tank experiments conducted in the scope of this thesis. Bycatch in trawls may be reduced by the implementation of time/area restrictions of fishing activity. In addition, the avoidance of fishing areas with high cetacean abundance combined with the minimization of fishery-specific sound cues that possibly attract cetaceans, may also help to decrease interactions. In large-scale bottom-set longline fisheries, cetacean depredation on catch may be reduced by covering hooked fish with net sleeves ("umbrellas") provided that catch rates are not negatively affected by this gear modification. Trap fishing, as an alternative fishing method to bottom-set gillnetting and longlining, also has the potential to reduce cetacean bycatch and depredation, given that fish catch rates are similar to the rates obtained by bottom-set gillnets and longlines, whereas cetacean by-catch is unlikely. Economic incentives, such as the eco-certification of dolphin-safe fishing methods, should be promoted in order to create an additional source of income for fishers negatively affected by interactions with cetaceans, which, in turn, may also increase fishers’ willingness to accept and adopt mitigation measures. Although the opportunistic sampling methods applied in this work have certain restrictions concerning their reliability and precision, the results are consistent with previous studies in the same area. Moreover, they allow for the active participation of fishers that can provide important complementary ecological and technical knowledge required for cetacean management and conservation.

Derivation of soil screening values for metals in Portuguese natural soil

The increasing human activity has been responsible by profound changes and a constinuos degradation of the soil compartment in all the European territory. Some European policies are appearing focusing soil’s protection and the management of contaminated sites, in order to recover land for other uses. To regulate the risk assessment and the management of contaminated soils, many European member states adopted soil guideline values, as for example soil screnning values (SSV).These values are particularly useful for the the first tier of the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) processes of contaminated sites,especially for a first screening of sites requiring a more site-specific evaluation. Hence, the approriate definition of regional SSVs will have relevant economic impacts in the management of contaminated sites. Portugal is one of European Member States that still lack these soil guideline values. In this context, this study gaves a remarkable contribution in the generation of ecotoxicological data for soil microbiological parameters, terrestrial plants and invertebrates for the derivation of SSVs for uranium (U), cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu), using a Portuguese natural soil, representative of a dominant type of soil in the Portuguese territory. SSVs were derived based on two methods proposed by the the Technical Guidance Document for Risk Assessment of the European Commission; namely the assessment factor method (AF) and the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) method (with some adaptations). The outputs of both methods were compared and discussed. Further, this study laid the foundation for a deeper reflection about the cut-off (hazard concentration for a given percentage of species - HCps) to be estimated from the SSDs, and to be selected for the derivation of SSVs, with the adequate level of protection. It was proven that this selection may vary for different contaminants, however a clear justification should be given, in each case. The SSvs proposed in this study were for: U (151.4 mg U kg-1dw), Cd (5.6 mg Cd kg-1dw), and Cu (58.5 mg Cu kg-1dw) These values should now be tested for their descriminating power of soils with different levels of contamination. However, this studies clarifies the approach that should be followed for the derivation of SSVs for other metals and organic contaminants, and for other dominant types of Portuguese natural soils.

Describing vocal performance of Portuguese cantadeiras of Alto Minho

Portugal has strong musical traditions, which have been perpetrated by decades through folkloristic activities. In folk groups from Alto Minho (north of Portugal), folk singing is mostly performed by cantadeiras, amateur female solo singers who learn this style orally. Their vocal characteristics are distinctive when compared with other regions of the country; however, deep understanding of these vocal practices is still missing. The present work aims at studying Alto Minho cantadeira’s vocal performance in a multidimensional perspective, envisioning social, cultural and physiological understanding of this musical style. Thus, qualitative and quantitative data analyses were carried out, to: (i) describe current performance practices, (ii) explore existent perceptions about most relevant voice features in this region, (iii) investigate physiological and acoustic properties of this style, and (iv) compare this style of singing with other non-classical singing styles of other countries. Dataset gathered involved: 78 groups whose members were telephone interviewed, 13 directors who were asked to fill in a questionnaire on performance practices, 1 cantadeira in a pilot study, 16 cantadeiras in preliminary voice recordings, 77 folk group members in listening tests, and 10 cantadeiras in multichannel recordings, including audio, ELG, air flow and intra-oral pressure signals. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics, hierarchical principal components, and multivariate linear regression models. Most representative voices have a high pitched and loud voice, with a bright timbre, predominance of chest register without excessive effort, and good text intelligibility with regional accent. High representativeness levels were obtained by few cantadeiras; these sing with high levels of subglottal pressure and vocal fold contact quotient, predominance of high spectrum energy and vocal loudness, corroborating indications of prevalence of pressed phonation. These vocal characteristics resemble belting in musical theatre and share similarities with country (USA) and ojikanje (Croatia) singing. Strategies that may contribute to the preservation of this type of singing and the vocal health of current cantadeiras are discussed, pointing at the direction of continuous education among folk groups, following practices that are already adopted elsewhere in Europe.

Scholarly chronographics: can a timeline be useful in historiography?

Our paper is concerned with the visualisation of historical events and artefacts in the context of time. It arises from a project bringing together expertise in visualisation, historiography and software engineering. The work is the result of an extended enquiry over several years which has included investigation of the prior history of such chronographics and their grounding in the temporal ontology of the Enlightenment. Timelines - visual, spatial presentations of chronology - are generally regarded as being too simple, perhaps too childish, to be worthy of academic attention, yet such chronographics should be capable of supporting sophisticated thinking about history and historiography, especially if they take full advantage of the capabilities of digital technologies. They should enable even professional academic historians to 'make sense' of history in new ways, allowing them insights they would not otherwise have achieved. In our paper we highlight key findings from the history of such representations, principally from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and show how, in a project to develop new digital chronographics for collections of cultural objects and events, we have explored new implementations of the important ideas we have extracted about timewise presentation and interaction. This includes the representation of uncertainty, of relations between events, and the epistemology of time as a 'space' for history. We present developed examples, in particular a chronographic presentation of a large database of works by a single author, a composer, and discuss the extent to which our ambitions for chronographics have been realised in practice. Keywords: timeline, chronographics

Genetic evidence fails to discriminate between Macroramphosus gracilis Lowe 1839 and Macroramphosus scolopax Linnaeus 1758 in Portuguese waters

Fish belonging to the genus Macroramphosus are distributed throughout the Atlantic, Indian and PaciWc oceans. Some authors consider this genus monotypic, Macroramphosus scolopax being the only valid species. Other authors consider (based on several morphological and ecological characters) that another species (Macroramphosus gracilis) exists and occurs frequently in sympatry with the Wrst one. Intermediate forms are also reported in literature. In this paper, using the mitochondrial control region and the nuclear Wrst S7 intron markers, we failed to Wnd genetic diVerences between individuals considered to belong to both species as well as the intermediate forms. Our results suggest that in the northeastern Atlantic, Macroramphosus is represented by a single species, M. scolopax, with diVerent morphotypes interbreeding in the sampling areas.

The fishery for Norway lobster off the portuguese coast: a biological and economic assessment

Dissertação de mest., Aquacultura e Pescas, Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, 2009

Analysis of genetic diversity in Portuguese Ceratonia siliqua L. cultivars using RAPD and AFLP markers

Although carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is of great economic importance little is still known about the pattern of genetic variation within this species. Morphological characteristics based on 31 fruit and seeds of continuous characters determinant for agro-industrial uses, were compared with RAPD and AFLP markers for assessing genetic distances in 68 accessions of carob trees, from different cultivars, varieties and eco-geographic regions of Algarve. Eighteen selected RAPD primers applied to the 68 accessions produced a total of 235 fragments ranging from 200 to 2000 bp, of which 93 (40%) were polymorphic. Four AFLP selective primer combinations generated a total of 346 amplification fragments of which 110 were polymorphic. The average level of polymorphism based on four primer combinations was 31.8%. The phenetic trees based on RAPD and AFLP analyses gave high co-phenetic correlation values, and were found to be consistent in general with the analysis of morphological data, carried out on the same accessions. A number of RAPD and AFLP markers were found to be diagnostic for ‘Canela’ cultivar and 13 wild ungrafted trees.

A definition of literary literacy: a content analysis of literature syllabuses and interviews with Portuguese lecturers of literature

The aim of this paper is to present a definition of literary literacy in the context of majors in languages, literatures and cultures, in Portugal. A definition of literary literacy was deduced from a content analysis of primary data sources and from the theoretical underpinnings of the transactional theory of reading. The primary data sources are fourteen Portuguese and English literature syllabuses from four Portuguese universities (Lisboa, Nova, Coimbra and Porto) and twelve interviews with Portuguese university lecturers of literature. Based on the findings of a content analysis of both syllabuses and interviews, from the lecturers‘ point of view, a literary literate student doing a major in languages, literatures and cultures must, above all, be able to contextualize literary texts and their authors both historically and culturally, must be able to present an interpretation as a coherent text, and must be able to do and organize bibliographical research.

The discursive construction of Portuguese national identity in the media thirty years after the 1974 revolution

Tese dout., Philosophy, Lancaster University, 2010

‘A true feeling of authentic portuguese golf'? The discursive construction of the Algarve region in portuguese golf websites

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the need for golf destinations to differentiate themselves from competitors has become more critical than ever. This paper raises questions about the promotional strategies employed by the golf sector in the Algarve, focusing on internet communication strategies, since this medium has become the biggest driving force towards the commoditisation of all aspects of the tourism experience. By offering a complementary perspective to the field of (critical) tourism studies, and drawing on a qualitative, multi-modal discourse analysis, this work-in-progress looks at the particular ways that representations and images presented on the Algarve golf websites constitute and frame identities (of people and places) and socio-spatial relationships. This paper analyses a corpus of 45 texts collected from official websites of the 40 Algarve golf courses and from five entities which promote the Algarve as a golf destination, along with the golf images that are displayed alongside them. Findings point to salient discursive and visual representations of a global setting enjoyed by the global elite. Whereas the courses‟ positioning in relation to their regional competitors draws on similar discursive strategies which reflect those used in tourism advertising discourses in general – e.g. reiteration of explicit comparisons, superlatives and hyperbolic statements -, representations of local emplacedness are not salient; in some cases local place seems to have been almost intentionally suppressed.

Repply to: Brito, A.C., Brotas, V., Caetano, M., Coutinho, T.P., Bordalo, A.A., Icely, J., Neto, J.M., Serôdio, J., Moita, T. (2012) "Defining phytoplankton class boundaries in Portuguese transitional waters: an evaluation of the ecological quality status according to the Water Framework Directive" [Ecological Indicators 19, 5-14]

We write to comment on the recently published paper “Defining phytoplankton class boundaries in Portuguese transitional waters: an evaluation of the ecological quality status according to the Water Framework Directive” (Brito et al., 2012). This paper presents an integrated methodology to analyse the ecological quality status of several Portuguese transitional waters, using phytoplanktonrelated metrics. One of the systems analysed, the Guadiana estuary in southern Portugal, is considered the most problematic estuary, with its upstream water bodies classified as Poor in terms of ecological status. We strongly disagree with this conclusion and we would like to raise awareness to some methodological constraints that, in our opinion, are the basis of such deceptive conclusions and should therefore not be neglected when using phytoplankton to assess the ecological status of natural waters.

“Should we all be on Marx’s side?” Contributions of post-marxist discourse theory to the historiography of communism

Drawing on post-marxist discourse theory inspired by the writings of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, this article puts the case for a literature on communism situated at the crossroads of critical theory, cultural studies and historiography. Specific illustration is provided by the author's own research on British communism and the Spanish Civil War. However, the scope of the article is much broader and it is intended as a contribution to the theoretical discussion of future possibilities for communist history-writing. The article concludes that discourse should be regarded neither as a flat surface of tightly knit signifiers nor as an impenetrable monolith of meaning systems. Rather, it should be seen as an inherently dynamic phenomenon, with its own condensations and dispersions along the historical continuum. In this lies its significance for historians of communism.

Special issue on the 6th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control (Controlo 2004)

The Portuguese Association of Automatic Control (APCA) organizes, every two years, the Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control. Its 6th edition (Controlo 2004) was held from 7 to 9 June, 2004 at the University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal, by its Centre for Intelligent Systems (CSI). CONTROLO 2004 International Program Committee (IPC) has decided, from the very start, to ask for submission of full draft papers, to encourage special sessions with well-defined themes, and for student papers. All papers have been reviewed by three separate reviewers. From the 122 contributions submitted, the IPC selected 89 oral papers, 20 special session papers, and 5 student posters. CONTROLO 2004 Technical Programme consists of 33 oral sessions (5 being special sessions) and 1 poster session, covering a broad range of control topics, both from theory and applications. The programme also includes three plenary lectures, given by leading experts in the field, Professors Ricardo Sanz, João Miranda Lemos and Rolf Isermann.