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Publicações

2022

A network Data Envelopment Analysis to estimate nations? efficiency in the SARS-CoV-2

Autores
Pereira, MA; Dinis, DC; Ferreira, DC; Figueira, JR; Marques, RC;

Publicação
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS

Abstract
The ongoing outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has been deeply impacting health systems worldwide. In this context, it is pivotal to measure the efficiency of different nations' response to the pandemic, whose insights can be used by governments and health authorities worldwide to improve their national COVID-19 strategies. Hence, we propose a network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the efficiencies of fifty-five countries in the current crisis, including the thirty-seven Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, six OECD prospective members, four OECD key partners, and eight other countries. The network DEA model is designed as a general series structure with five single-division stages - population, contagion, triage, hospitalisation, and intensive care unit admission -, and considers an output maximisation orientation, denoting a social perspective, and an input minimisation orientation, denoting a financial perspective. It includes inputs related to health costs, desirable and undesirable intermediate products related to the use of personal protective equipment and infected population, respectively, and desirable and undesirable outputs regarding COVID-19 recoveries and deaths, respectively. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study proposing a cross-country efficiency measurement using a network DEA within the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The study concludes that Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and New Zealand are the countries exhibiting higher mean system efficiencies. Their national COVID-19 strategies should be studied, adapted, and used by countries exhibiting worse performances. In addition, the observation of countries with large populations presenting worse mean efficiency scores is statistically significant.

2022

Fostering the Adoption of DMP in Small Research Projects through a Collaborative Approach

Autores
Maciel, A; Castro, JA; Ribeiro, C; Almada, M; Midão, L;

Publicação
Int. J. Digit. Curation

Abstract
In order to promote sound management of research data the European Commission, under the Horizon 2020 framework program, is promoting the adoption of a Data Management Plan (DMP) in research projects. Despite the value of a DMP to make data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) through time, the development and implementation of DMPs is not yet a common practice in health research. Raising the awareness of researchers in small projects to the benefits of early adoption of a DMP is, therefore, a motivator for others to follow suit. In this paper we describe an approach to engage researchers in the writing of a DMP, in an ongoing project, FrailSurvey, in which researchers are collecting data through a mobile application for self-assessment of fragility. The case study is supported by interviews, a metadata creation session, as well as the validation of recommendations by researchers. With the outline of our process we also outline tools and services that supported the development of the DMP in this small project, particularly since there were no institutional services available to researchers

2022

Diversification of student consumption during the pandemic - Albania, Poland and Portugal

Autores
Grzywinska Rapca, M; Duarte, N; Kulli, A; Enkelejda, G;

Publicação
Central European Economic Journal

Abstract
This paper aims to identify changes in consumption by students from Albania, Poland and Portugal in the era of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The study was conducted on a sample of 668 students of the Qiriazi University College and Aldent University in Albania, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland and the School of Technology and Management of Porto Polytechnic in Portugal. The estimated volumes of basic macroeconomic indicators for this period prove that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic may be the cause of many adverse changes in various areas of life. The empirical study aimed to determine the impact of the epidemiological situation on changes in the shopping habits of students - designated as young consumers. The main goal was to identify differences in the purchasing decisions of young consumers depending on gender and nationality. The research instrument was a standardized survey questionnaire, which was divided into three thematic blocks. The first part of the questionnaire contains questions on the housing conditions of students, in the second part - activity on the labor market, and in the third part - issues related to shopping and the use of cultural services and the way of spending free time. Some conclusions were drawn from the research: (1) pandemic did not change the periodicity of purchases, (2) from online buying did not show a boom in the samples analyzed in this study, (3) students from these countries changed their shopping behavior in terms of shopping places. The conclusions formulated in the study, as well as the topicality of the issues, allow them to be considered useful for institutional entities interested in observing changes in consumption during the pandemic. The scientific contribution of theoretical and empirical considerations is primarily the systematization of theoretical foundations and the conceptualization of the category of factors determining the diversity of purchasing behavior of young people (students). © 2022 Malgorzata Grzywinska-Rapca et al., published by Sciendo.

2022

Communication During a Pandemic

Autores
Carvalho, CL; Barbosa, B;

Publicação
Research Anthology on Managing Crisis and Risk Communications

Abstract
Although the literature on crisis communication is quite vast, business communication related to global crises (e.g., natural disasters) is largely unexplored. This chapter aims to fill this gap and shed light on brand communication strategies during a pandemic. A netnographic study was carried out with the purpose of identifying brand positioning and communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and of understanding the engagement of brands' followers during that period. The study included four brands of large Brazilian companies and comprised the analysis of brands' feed on Instagram during the first five weeks of the outbreak in Brazil. Findings enable to identify two distinct profiles: unprepared brands and leading brands. The chapter provides valuable clues for both managers and researchers dealing with crisis communication.

2022

Selective localization of Mfn2 near PINK1 enables its preferential ubiquitination by Parkin on mitochondria

Autores
Vranas, M; Lu, Y; Rasool, S; Croteau, N; Krett, JD; Sauvé, V; Gehring, K; Fon, EA; Durcan, TM; Trempe, J;

Publicação
Open Biology

Abstract
Mutations in Parkin and PINK1 cause early-onset familial Parkinson's disease. Parkin is a RING-In-Between-RING E3 ligase that transfers ubiquitin from an E2 enzyme to a substrate in two steps: (i) thioester intermediate formation on Parkin and (ii) acyl transfer to a substrate lysine. The process is triggered by PINK1, which phosphorylates ubiquitin on damaged mitochondria, which in turn recruits and activates Parkin. This leads to the ubiquitination of outer mitochondrial membrane proteins and clearance of the organelle. While the targets of Parkin on mitochondria are known, the factors determining substrate selectivity remain unclear. To investigate this, we examined how Parkin catalyses ubiquitin transfer to substrates. We found that His433 in the RING2 domain contributes to the catalysis of acyl transfer. In cells, the mutation of His433 impairs mitophagy. In vitro ubiquitination assays with isolated mitochondria show that Mfn2 is a kinetically preferred substrate. Using proximity-ligation assays, we show that Mfn2 specifically co-localizes with PINK1 and phospho-ubiquitin (pUb) in U2OS cells upon mitochondrial depolarization. We propose a model whereby ubiquitination of Mfn2 is efficient by virtue of its localization near PINK1, which leads to the recruitment and activation of Parkin via pUb at these sites.

2022

Exploring Timing Covert Channel Performance over the IEEE 802.15.4

Autores
Severino, R; Rodrigues, J; Ferreira, LL;

Publicação
2022 IEEE 27TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND FACTORY AUTOMATION (ETFA)

Abstract
As IoT technologies mature, they are increasingly finding their way into more sensitive domains, such as Medical and Industrial IoT, in which safety and cyber-security are paramount. While the number of deployed IoT devices continues to increase annually, they still present severe cyber-security vulnerabilities, turning them into potential targets and entry points to support further attacks. Naturally, as these nodes are compromised, attackers aim at setting up stealthy communication behaviours, to exfiltrate data or to orchestrate nodes of a botnet in a cloaked fashion. Network covert channels are increasingly being used with such malicious intents. The IEEE 802.15.4 is one of the most pervasive protocols in IoT, and a fundamental part of many communication infrastructures. Despite this fact, the possibility of setting up such covert communication techniques on this medium has received very little attention. We aim at analysing the performance and feasibility of such covert-channel implementations upon the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. This will enable a better understanding of the involved risk and help supporting the development of further cyber-security mechanisms to mitigate this threat.

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