Institutional Repository Universidade Portucalense
Not a member yet
6170 research outputs found
Sort by
Integration of causal models and deep neural networks for recommendation systems in dynamic environments: A case study in StarCraft II
No full textIn the context of real-time strategy video games like StarCraft II, strategic decision-making is a complex challenge that requires adaptability and precision. This research creates a mixed recommendation system that uses causal models and deep neural networks to improve its ability to suggest the best strategies based on the resources and conditions of the game. PySC2 and the official StarCraft II API collected data from 100 controlled matches, standardizing conditions with the Terran race. We created fake data using a Conditional Tabular Generative Adversarial Network to address data scarcity situations. These data were checked for accuracy using Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests and correlation analysis. The causal model, implemented with PyMC, captured key causal relationships between variables such as resources, military units, and strategies. These predictions were integrated as additional features into a deep neural network trained with PyTorch. The results show that the hybrid system is 1.1% more accurate and has a higher F1 score than a pure neural network. It also changes its suggestions based on the resources it has access to. However, certain limitations were identified, such as a bias toward offensive strategies in the original data. This approach highlights the potential of combining causal knowledge with machine learning for recommendation systems in dynamic environments
Stakeholders' engagement in digital transformation initiatives
No full textDigital transformation (DT) has shifted from a trend to an increasingly accepted reality in the global and organizational scenarios, shaping behaviors, social interactions, economies and operations, as well as driving innovation. While DT, powered by emergent technologies, holds significant potential for businesses, its success hinges on effective stakeholder engagement. By involving stakeholders actively in the transformation process, organizations can maximize the impact of the change initiative and drive long-term success. The DT literature lacks an understanding of the stakeholders' involvement in the DT process. The lack of roadmaps capable of successfully conducting DT initiatives is also acknowledged. In this chapter, as a predominantly theoretical contribution, the types of stakeholders involved in DT initiatives are identified and characterized and their roles presented. Moreover, to reduce the gap between theory and practice, different practical approaches and activities to framing stakeholders in DT roadmaps and promote their active participation in the DT are discussed
Reenvio prejudicial e conflito armado em Gaza: Entre a lógica jurídica e a proteção humanitária no Direito Internacional: O processo C-563/22 do TJUE [comunicação oral]
No full textEste artigo propõe uma análise crítica do reenvio prejudicial à luz do Acórdão do Tribunal de Justiça da União Europeia de 13 de junho de 2024 no PROCESSO C‑563/22 – PEDIDO DE DECISÃO PREJUDICIAL, em aplicação do artigo 98.º, n.º 1, do Regulamento de Processo do Tribunal de Justiça – e a sua relação com a realidade do conflito armado em Gaza. A pesquisa explora os desafios que o Direito Internacional enfrenta perante contextos de instabilidade e de privação material extrema, destacando a tensão existente entre a lógica do reenvio prejudicial e o imperativo da proteção humanitária em zonas de conflito. Em especial, o estudo assinala como os argumentos jurídicos que fundamentam a decisão podem ser transpostos para a avaliação da proteção internacional em ambientes marcados pela violência, pelo bloqueio e pela deterioração dos serviços essenciais. A investigação aproxima o reenvio prejudicial do cenário de Gaza, propondo uma reflexão que articula o Direito Internacional Humanitário e as normas internacionais de proteção dos refugiados, bem como o princípio da não repulsão e da proibição de tratamentos desumanos
Building Human Capital in Tourism and Hospitality: Perspectives from theory and practice
No full textCareer development in the tourism and hospitality industry has attracted greater attention, leading to a higher recognition of the relevance of formal and industry-specific education and training. New career opportunities emerge as new challenges arise, urging for ongoing and renewed debates surrounding higher-level skills and the development and optimization of human capital. Building bridges between higher education institutions, the industry, and other relevant stakeholders - primarily via needs assessment, curriculum design, and monitoring of on-the-job training practices and processes - is critical to promoting the employability of a graduate-level skilled workforce
Marketing desportivo: relação dos adeptos com o clube. Rio Ave Futebol Clube
No full textO presente relatório insere-se no segundo ano do Mestrado em Marketing e Negócios
Digitais da Universidade Portucalense Infante D Henrique e tem como principal objetivo
descrever todo o trabalho realizado durante o Estágio Curricular.
O estágio foi realizado na instituição desportiva Rio Ave Futebol Clube e teve início no
dia 2 de outubro de 2023 e teve o seu fim no dia 30 de junho de 2024, em full-time e em
regime presencial e contou com a orientação do Drº Pedro Israel.
Este relatório consiste na apresentação e exposição do estágio realizado no Rio Ave
Futebol Clube, com apoio teórico, tendo como tema “Marketing Desportivo: Relação
Adeptos e Clube”. Neste documento vai ser feita uma avaliação ao trabalho que a equipa
de marketing do clube realizada, baseada nas atividades realizadas durante todo o
período de estágio.
Em relação à metodologia utilizada para a elaboração deste relatório de estágio, iniciouse
com uma revisão da literatura onde foi possível aprofundar os conceitos que estão
inerentes a todo o estágio, que neste caso são conceitos como marketing, marketing
digital, marketing desportivo. Toda esta parte teórica tornou-se bastante importante para
a realização da parte prática.
Na segunda parte é feita uma descrição pormenorizada á cerca das principais tarefas
realizadas durante todo o estágio, para no final ser tirada uma conclusão à cerca do
tema principal do mesmo e como as tarefas contribuíram positivamente para o
crescimento da instituição durante os 6 meses. Este relatório limita-se à experiência
obtida durante a realização do estágio no Rio Ave Futebol Clube.
A partir das atividades realizadas durante o estágio, foi possível entender que o
marketing digital está cada vez mais presente nos clubes de futebol e tem cada vez mais
importância no dia a dia dos mesmos. Desta forma, é necessário estes mesmo clubes
se adaptarem á realidade digital e criarem conteúdo atrativo e interativos, para desta
forma conseguirem envolver os seus adeptos e consequentemente criar uma maior
procura dos canais digitais do mesmo.
Foi ainda possível entender quais os aspetos dentro do marketing digital que são mais
importantes e que ajudam a maximizar a sua presença no digital, a conectar-se melhor
com os seus adeptos e gerar novas oportunidades de receita.This report is part of the second year of the Master's Degree in Marketing and Digital
Business at Universidade Portucalense Infante D Henrique and the main objective is to
describe all the work carried out during the Curricular Internship.
The internship was carried out at the Rio Ave Futebol Clube sports institution and began
on October 2, 2023 and ended on June 30, 2024, full-time and in person, and was
supervised by Dr. Pedro Israel.
This report consists of the presentation and exposition of the internship carried out at Rio
Ave Futebol Clube, with theoretical support, on the theme of “Sports Marketing: Relation
between Fans and Club”. This document evaluates the work carried out by the club's
marketing team, based on the activities carried out throughout the internship period.
With regard to the methodology used to draw up this internship report, it began with a
literature review where it was possible to delve deeper into the concepts that are inherent
to the whole internship, which in this case are concepts such as marketing, digital
marketing and sports marketing. This whole theoretical part was very important for
carrying out the practical part.
In the second part, a detailed description is given of the main tasks carried out throughout
the internship, so that at the end a conclusion can be drawn about the main theme of the
internship and how the tasks contributed positively to the growth of the institution during
the 6 months. This report is limited to the experience gained during the internship at Rio
Ave Futebol Clube.
From the activities carried out during the internship, it was possible to understand that
digital marketing is increasingly present in football clubs and is increasingly important in
their daily lives. It is therefore necessary for these clubs to adapt to the digital reality and
create attractive and interactive content, so that they can engage their fans and
consequently create greater demand for their digital channels.
It was also possible to understand which aspects of digital marketing are most important
and help maximize their digital presence, better connect with their fans and generate
new revenue opportunities
Kinematic and kinetic gait principal component domains in older adults with and without functional disability: A cross-sectional study
No full textObjectives: Gait kinematic and kinetic changes have been identified in older adults, highlighting the need to explore the principal age-related components and how these are associated with functional disability. This study aims to perform a factor analysis, including gait kinematic and kinetic parameters in older adults to establish determinant gait domains. Additionally, this study aims to identify which domains differentiate those without and with functional disability. Methods: Through a cross-sectional design, older adults aged 60 and over (n = 35 without and n = 25 with functional disability) were analyzed during overground gait. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine principal components from gait parameters previously demonstrated to express age-related effects (spatiotemporal parameters, sagittal ankle moment and power, ground reaction forces peak, and tridimensional lower limb joints range of motion and positions at heel strike and toe-off). Results: Pace, variability, propulsion, hip and knee control, transverse ankle control, asymmetry, sagittal ankle control, frontal ankle control, frontal hip control, and pre-swing control domains explained 83.90% of the total gait variance in older adults. pace and frontal hip control distinguished individuals with disabilities. Conclusions: PCA identified ten gait domains in older adults. Pace and frontal hip control distinguished disabilities, revealing cautious walking patterns and weaker hip abductor strength
The use of AI by undergraduate students of Social Education in Spain and Portugal: A case study
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) is currently transforming many areas of society, including education. AI offers innovative tools and methods that personalise learning, automate processes and improve the educational experience. Social education seeks to foster integral human development and collective well-being, and AI can be a powerful tool to achieve these goals. For this reason, the main objective of this study is to learn about the use of AI by future social educators. This research is approached from a qualitative methodology. A total of 69 undergraduate students of Social Education from two universities in Spain and Portugal participated in the study. As results and conclusions, it is worth highlighting that future social educators define AI with key words such as tools, technology or help-solution. Most of the students had used AI throughout their academic life. In fact, they used AI academically, at work and personally to search for information or to generate images, mainly through ChatGPT (version 4.0). They highlighted as an advantage the speed of the information, a time-saving feature. The main limitation was the reduction in activities. In general, they considered that AI has a positive impact and would like to continue using it
Clinical relevance of an online self‐management intervention in Haemodialysis: A secondary data analysis of the ‘Connected We St@nd’ Programme
No full textBackground
The ‘Connected We St@nd’ programme is an Internet-mediated self-management intervention that combines health education with psychosocial support, with evidenced feasibility and acceptability in haemodialysis.
Objectives
To evaluate the clinical relevance of the programme and to better understand which intervention outcomes/health-related self-report measures are most sensitive to reflect changes between pre- and post-intervention assessments.
Design
This study followed a pre-post quasi-experimental design.
Participants
Twenty-six individuals (16 people on haemodialysis and 10 family caregivers) completed the intervention.
Measurements
Participants filled out a web-based assessment protocol before and after the intervention. To determine the clinical relevance of within-group pre-post changes, effect sizes, minimal clinically important differences, and reliable change indexes were calculated.
Results
Clinically meaningful results were found on outcome measures with reasonable sensitivity to detect pre-post changes in the positive affect dimension of subjective well-being, purpose in life, overall quality of life, and psychological health. The latter was the variable that obtained the greatest number of respondents with reliable post-intervention improvements.
Conclusions
Participation in the programme led to clinically important and reliable improvements in several intervention outcomes, hinting that this evidence-informed intervention has the potential to be a valuable resource for promoting successful psychosocial adjustment among this population. Suggestions were made to fine-tune the evaluation and implementation of a large-scale trial to, in due course, encourage the integration of this technology-assisted interdisciplinary initiative into existing kidney care services
Wellness Tourism in the Himalayas: A structural analysis of motivation, experience, and satisfaction in Spa Resorts
No full textThis study investigates the impact of wellness tourism motivation (WTM) on tourist satisfaction (TS) and tourist experience (TE), while also examining the mediating role of TE in the relationship between WTM and TS in the context of luxury spa resorts situated in the Himalayan regions of India. Drawing on an extensive review of the literature, this study proposes a conceptual model that hypothesizes the influence of WTM on TS and TE, as well as the impact of TE on TS. Data were collected through 260 questionnaires distributed to tourists visiting prominent spa resorts to validate the proposed model empirically. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships between the constructs. The results revealed that wellness tourism motivations have a positive impact on both TS and TE. Additionally, TE serves as a mediator, further enhancing the connection between WTM and TS. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on wellness tourism by providing empirical evidence on the unique dynamics of WTM, TE, and TS in Himalayan spa resorts, which cater to a distinct segment of wellness tourists. The results offer valuable insights for tourism operators and policymakers, enabling them to design tailored wellness experiences that enhance customer satisfaction and meet the specific needs of wellness-focused travelers. This research underscores the importance of prioritizing tourist experiences as a strategic tool for fostering satisfaction and loyalty in the luxury wellness tourism sector
Two-player zero-sum stochastic differential games with Markov-switching jump-diffusion dynamics
No full textWe consider a two-player zero-sum stochastic differential game (SDG) with hybrid state variable dynamics given by a Markov-switching jump-diffusion. We study this game using a combination of dynamic programming and viscosity solution techniques, generalizing the seminal work of Fleming and Souganidis to a broader class of SDGs. Under some mild assumptions, we prove that the value of the game exists and is the unique viscosity solution of a certain nonlinear partial integro-differential equation of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman-Isaacs type