Studies on mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and anthropic environment: 9- Synanthropy and epidemiological vector role of Aedes scapularis in South-Eastern Brazil

Behaviour comparisons of Aedes scapularis and Ae. serratus are presented. Results were obtained by sampling Aedes adult mosquitoes at several places in the rural anthropic environment in the Ribeira Valley region of S. Paulo State, Brazil. Aedes dominance was shared by those two species, but Ae. scapularis Sshowed a clear tendency to frequent the modified environment, while Ae. serratus was to be found in the more preserved ones, here represented by the vestigial patchy forests. Regarding the open cultivated land and the dwelling environments, Ae. scapularis preponderates. Considering the regional developmental phases, this mosquito showed a remarkable increase in the modified environment differently from Ae. serratus that underwent a considerable decrease in migrating from the forest to the anthropic environment. As a consequence of these results it is reasonable to conclude that Ae. scapularis may be considered as an epidemiologically efficient vector and that it quite probably played this role in the Rocio encephalitis and other arbovirus epidemics.

The role of European "ro-ro" port terminals in the automotive supply chain management

The aim of this paper is concerned with the design and development of a functional framework for maritime mode integration in European automotive supply chain management when considering outbound distribution. Furthermore, it provides a readjustment of traditional concepts and terminology with findings that the role of ro-ro port terminals should be considered as decoupling points, poles and postponement platforms. Case studies examine relevant Western European ro-ro port terminals for cars and respective links to assembly/factories of vehicles localized in the hinterland and concludes that ro-ro port terminals reduce logistical friction and impedance, as well as promote space/time compression.

The role of an illiquidity factor in the Portuguese stock market

This study examines the role of illiquidity (proxied by the proportion of zero returns) as an additional risk factor in asset pricing. We use Portuguese monthly data, covering the period between January 1988 and December 2008. We compute an illiquidity factor using the Fama and French [Fama, E. F., and K. R. French (1993), "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds", Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 33, Nº. 1, pp. 3-56] procedure and analyze the performance of CAPM, Fama-French three-factor model and illiquidity-augmented versions of these models in explaining both the time-series and the cross-section of returns. Our results reveal that the effect of characteristic liquidity is subsumed by the models considered, but the risk of illiquidity is not priced in the Portuguese stock market.

The role of discriminant analysis in the refinement of customer satisfaction assessment

OBJECTIVE: To test discriminant analysis as a method of turning the information of a routine customer satisfaction survey (CSS) into a more accurate decision-making tool. METHODS: A 7-question, 10-multiple choice, self-applied questionnaire was used to study a sample of patients seen in two outpatient care units in Valparaíso, Chile, one of primary care (n=100) and the other of secondary care (n=249). Two cutting points were considered in the dependent variable (final satisfaction score): satisfied versus unsatisfied, and very satisfied versus all others. Results were compared with empirical measures (proportion of satisfied individuals, proportion of unsatisfied individuals and size of the median). RESULTS: The response rate was very high, over 97.0% in both units. A new variable, medical attention, was revealed, as explaining satisfaction at the primary care unit. The proportion of the total variability explained by the model was very high (over 99.4%) in both units, when comparing satisfied with unsatisfied customers. In the analysis of very satisfied versus all other customers, significant relationship was identified only in the case of the primary care unit, which explained a small proportion of the variability (41.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Discriminant analysis identified relationships not revealed by the previous analysis. It provided information about the proportion of the variability explained by the model. It identified non-significant relationships suggested by empirical analysis (e.g. the case of the relation very satisfied versus others in the secondary care unit). It measured the contribution of each independent variable to the explanation of the variation of the dependent one.

Environmental sustainability in superior education: case study of Lisbon College of Health Technology

Over the centuries there has been a growing trend of societies and it is possible to verify their economic growth. This growth has provided an increased pressure on natural resources, often over-reaching the boundaries of each country, which has called into question the level of environmental sustainability in different countries. Sustainability is understood as a complex concept involving ecological, social, economic dimensions and temporal urban processes. Therefore, Firmino (2009) suggests that the ecological footprint (EF) allows people to establish dependency relations between human activities and the natural resources required for such activities and for the absorption of waste generated. According to Bergh & Verbruggen (1999) the EF is an objective, impartial and one-dimensional indicator that enables people to assess the sustainability. The Superior Schools have a crucial role in building the vision of a sustainable future as a reality, because in transmitting values and environmental principles to his students, are providing that they, in exercising his professional activity, make decisions weighing the environmental values. This ensures improved quality of life. The present study aims to determine the level of environmental sustainability of the Academic Community of Lisbon College of Health Technology (ESTeSL), by calculating the EF, and describe whether a relation between Footprint and various socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects.

Learning to manage in knowledge based organizations: the role of portfolios

Paper presented at the 8th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Barcelona, 6-7 Sep. 2008 URL: http://www.academic-conferences.org/eckm/eckm2007/eckm07-home.htm

The role of Lifelong Learning in the creation of a knowledge-based society for Europe: european policies

Link do editor: http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/role-lifelong-learning-creation-european/13314

Web survey system to discover the actual role of experience in learning in higher education: a case study

March 19 - 22, 2006, São Paulo, BRAZIL World Congress on Computer Science, Engineering and Technology Education

Dissecting the role of CLASP1 in the mammalian development

A mitose é o evento celular, através do qual uma células transmite uma cópias do seu DNA às células filhas. Este processo é mediado pelo fuso mitótico, o qual consiste numa rede bipolar microtubulos. A dinâmica dos microtubulos é regulada por proteínas associadas a estes (MAPs – Microtubule-Associated Proteins), tais como as proteínas associadas às extremidades positivas dos microtubulos (+TIPs – Plus-ends Tracking proteins). As proteínas associadas às CLIPs (CLASPs – CLIP-associated proteins) pertencem a esta família e estão altamente conservadas nos eucariotas. Estas interagem com os microtubulos regulando o fuso mitótico, a segregação dos cromossomas e o comportamento dos microtubulos ao nível do cinetocoro. Assim, as CLASPs têm sido descritas como essenciais à manutenção da integridade genética durante a divisão celular. Um modelo animal knockout para o gene Clasp1 é uma ferramenta indispensável à descoberta do papel da CLASP1 a nível fisiológico. Nos animais knockout foi observado um fenótipo letal, no qual 100% dos recém-nascidos morreram poucos minutos após o nascimento, no decurso de falência respiratória. Após análise histopatológica, observamos que os pulmões dos animais knockout apresentam um atraso no desenvolvimento. Porém, a análise da expressão de marcadores de diferenciação celular, mostrou que os pneumócitos tipo I e II estão presente e diferenciados nos animais knockout aquando do seu nascimento. No entanto, um defeito primário a nível pulmonar ainda não pode ser excluído. Níveis elevados de glicogénio no parênquima alveolar dos animais knockout sugerem imaturidade pulmonar ou deficiente produção do líquido surfactante. Adicionalmente, ainda não está esclarecido de que forma pode este atraso explicar a letalidade observada nos recémnascidos knockout. Verificamos também que expressão de CLASP1 é transiente ao longo do desenvolvimento, sendo particularmente elevada no cérebro, o que pode explicar o seu papel já descrito na biologia dos neurónios. A CLASP1 é ubiquamente expressa em mamíferos adultos, o que sugere que esta proteína é também importante em tecidos diferenciados. Nesta fase, o significado biológico da CLASP1 em mamíferos ainda não foi descortinado. No entanto, nenhum animal knockout para Clasp1 foi capaz de sobreviver ex uterus, o que sugere um papel fundamental desta proteína na fase final do desenvolvimento dos mamíferos.

The Role of lifelong learning in creation of a european knowledge-based society

The dominant discourse in education and training policies, at the turn of the millennium, was on lifelong learning (LLL) in the context of a knowledge-based society. As Green points (2002, pp. 611-612) several factors contribute to this global trend: The demographic change: In most advanced countries, the average age of the population is increasing, as people live longer; The effects of globalisation: Including both economic restructuring and cultural change which have impacts on the world of education; Global economic restructuring: Which causes, for example, a more intense demand for a higher order of skills; the intensified economic competition, forcing a wave of restructuring and creating enormous pressure to train and retrain the workforce In parallel, the “significance of the international division of labour cannot be underestimated for higher education”, as pointed out by Jarvis (1999, p. 250). This author goes on to argue that globalisation has exacerbated differentiation in the labour market, with the First World converting faster to a knowledge economy and a service society, while a great deal of the actual manufacturing is done elsewhere.

Supporting leadership development by exposure to role models: two case studies

The idiomatic expression “In Rome be a Roman” can be applied to leadership training and development as well. Leaders who can act as role models inspire other future leaders in their behaviour, attitudes and ways of thinking. Based on two examples of current leaders in the fields of Politics and Public Administration, I support the idea that exposure to role models during their training was decisive for their career paths and current activities as prominent characters in their profession. Issues such as how students should be prepared for community or national leadership as well as cross-cultural engagement are raised here. The hypothesis of transculturalism and cross-cultural commitment as a factor of leadership is presented. Based on current literature on Leadership as well as the presented case studies, I expect to raise a debate focusing on strategies for improving leaders’ training in their cross-cultural awareness.

The role of demand response in future power systems

Power systems are planed and operated according to the optimization of the available resources. Traditionally these tasks were mostly undertaken in a centralized way which is no longer adequate in a competitive environment. Demand response can play a very relevant role in this context but adequate tools to negotiate this kind of resources are required. This paper presents an approach to deal with these issues, by using a multi-agent simulator able to model demand side players and simulate their strategic behavior. The paper includes an illustrative case study that considers an incident situation. The distribution company is able to reduce load curtailment due to load flexibility contracts previously established with demand side players.

Role on serine protease inhibitors in the pathogenisis of Steinernema carpocapsae

Tese de Doutoramento, Biologia (Biologia Celular e Molecular), 18 de Novembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Marine palaeo-ecological and depositional processes on the shallow-waters of the Azores archipelago: the mobile Ostracoda (Crustacea) and the sessile Bryozoa as case-studies

Tese de Doutoramento, Biologia (Taxonomia Zoológica), 11 de Outubro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Bryophytes distribution along an altitudinal gradient of native forest in Pico island (Azores): preliminary results of epiphytic genera

MOVECLIM, Mid Course Meeting, 2-6 September 2013, Réunion (Mascarenes).