Search

This article presents the results of a pioneering online survey of short-term rental (STR) hosts (N=879) in Portugal about the impact of Covid on their activity, with a sample structured into four areas (Lisbon, Porto, Algarve and the rest of the country). Despite the very high losses, especially in the cities, most of the respondents intend to continue operating in the STR sector. A massive migration from STR to long-term rental is not predicted for a number of reasons, including financial, those related to the nature of this type of supply – more temporary – and the high level of distrust of the state, specifically in terms of guaranteeing legislative stability. In the cities, medium-term rental is the alternative most commonly considered, suggesting there may be a possible restructuring of the sector. Survival capacity over the medium term will depend on the degree of losses and type of public support received during the pandemic, which has benefited hosts constituted as companies more than the sole proprietorships. Este artigo apresenta os resultados de um pioneiro inquérito online aos anfitriões de Alojamento Local (AL) em Portugal (N=879), com uma amostra estruturada territorialmente em quatro áreas áreas (Lisboa, Porto, Algarve e resto do país), sobre os impactos da COVID na sua atividade. Apesar das enormes perdas, sobretudo nas cidades, a maioria dos inquiridos tenciona continuar a operar no sector do AL. Não se prevê uma migração massiva do AL para o arrendamento de longa duração por várias razões: desde as financeiras, às relativas à natureza deste tipo de oferta –mais temporária –ou a elevada desconfiança em relação ao Estado, especificamente em termos de estabilidade legis-lativa. Nas cidades, o arrendamento de média duração é a alternativa mais considerada, sugerindo a possibilidade de alguma reestruturação do sector. A capacidade de sobrevivência a médio prazo dependerá do grau das perdas e do tipo de apoio público recebido durante a pandemia o qual bene-ficiou mais os anfitriões constituídos como empresas do que os empresários em nome individual. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Background:- \ud \ud People with visual impairment have benefitted from recent developments of assistive technology that aim to decrease socio-economic inequality. However, access to post-secondary education is still extremelly challenging, especially for scientific areas. The under representation of people with visual impairment in the evolution research community is connected with the vision-based communication of evolutionary biology knowledge and the accompanying lack of multisensory alternatives for learning.\ud \ud Results:- \ud \ud Here, we describe the development of an inclusive outreach activity based on a multisensory phylogeny representing 20 taxonomic groups. We provide a tool kit of materials and ideas that allow both the replication of this activity and the adaptation of others, to include people with visual impairment. Furthermore, we provide activity evaluation data, a discussion of the lessons learned and an inclusive description of all figures and visual data presented.\ud \ud The presented baseline data show that people with visual impairment indeed have lack of access to education but are interested in and apt to understand evolutionary biology concepts and predict evolutionary change when education is inclusive.\ud \ud Conclusions:- \ud \ud We show that, with creative investment, basic evolutionary knowledge is perfectly possible to be transmitted through multisensory activities, which everyone can benefit from. Ultimately, we hope this case study will provide a baseline for future initiatives and a more inclusive outreach community.

In this work, the energy associated to the pyrolysis products of different biomass types (acacia, gorse, giant reed, olive pomace, and eucalyptus sawdust) in fixed-bed batch-reactor, were analyzed. For this purpose, pyrolysis experiments at 450 °C of peak temperature and 10 °C/min of heating rate were performed. For each experiment, the mass of biomass, biochar, and bio-oil were quantified, and by difference, the mass of permanent gas was calculated. The biomass and biochar ultimate analysis (CHNOS), and the permanent gas composition (H2, CH4, CO, CO2, C2H4, C2H6, C3H8) were determined. The bio-oil ultimate analysis (CHNOS) was calculated based on mass balance to the biomass pyrolysis process. According to the results, for the pyrolysis of different feedstocks, the biochar yield was between 0.27 and 0.36 kgbiochar·kg-1biomass,db, the bio-oil yield was between 0.51 and 0.68 kgbio-oil·kg-1biomass,db and the gas yield was between 0.19 and 0.27 kggas·kg-1biomass,db. Regarding composition of the biochar, the carbon content was between 75.3 and 81.8 wt%, the hydrogen content was between 2.80 and 3.20 wt%, and the oxygen content was between 9.10 and 20.0 wt%. The volumetric composition of the permanent gas was mainly consisting of CO and CO2, around 87%v. In relation to the ultimate composition of the bio-oil, the carbon content was between 25.97 and 35.25 %wt, the oxygen content was between 52.51 and 60.01 %wt and the hydrogen content was between 9.99 and 12.89 %wt. According to the balance of energy associated to pyrolysis products, the specific energy content of biochar was between 7.39 and 10.52 MJ·kg-1 dry biomass, the energy content of permanent gas was between 1.01 and 1.64 MJ·kg-1 dry biomass, and the energy content of bio-oil was around 4.67 and 8.07 MJ·kg-1 dry biomass. The information obtained is relevant to support the design and scale-up of pyrolysis processes and to assess the energy integration and sustainability of pyrolysis processes., Proceedings of the 30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 9-12 May 2022, Online, pp. 954-959

In this work it is analyzed the combustion of pyrolysis gas to produce the thermal energy required in biomass pyrolysis process. For this purpose, the pyrolysis vapor composition was obtained from experimental data using a bench scale fixed reactor. The biomasses used in this work were acacia, gorse and eucalyptus sawdust. Reactant and product species, in pyrolysis and combustion processes, had theirenthalpy of formation and sensible enthalpy variationsevaluated in order to quantify the species absolute enthalpy and mixture total enthalpy. Knowing the inlet and outlet mixture total enthalpy, the heat required forthe pyrolysis process was determined. Similarly, for the combustion process, knowing the inlet total enthalpy and the amount of heat needed to the pyrolysis process, the exhaust gas total enthalpy was determined.The objective here was to determine the amount of pyrolysis vapors thatneeded to be burned toprovide the minimum amount of heat for the pyrolysis process at distinct operating conditions. The simulations showed that a minimum of 30%, in molar basis, of the pyrolysis vapors is need to be burned. The equivalence ratios adopted for the combustion process are in the range of 0.6 to 0.8. Adiabatic and exhaust gas temperatures in the combustion chamber were evaluated and are in the range of 600K to1200K.Regarding the combustion reactordimensions, an analysis involving the combustion gas residence time as a function of the pyrolysis vaporsfraction burned, equivalence ratio and temperature was used. The results show that the hydraulic diameter of the combustor can be between 0.4m and 0.6m with 1.0m of length., Proceedings of the 30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 9-12 May 2022, Online, pp. 971-979

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented detrimental impact on mental health in people around the world. It is important therefore to explore factors that may buffer or accentuate the risk of mental health problems in this context. Given that compassion has numerous benefits for mental health, emotion regulation, and social relationships, this study examines the buffering effects of different flows of compassion (for self, for others, from others) against the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, and social safeness. Methods: The study was conducted in a sample of 4057 adult participants from the general community population, collected across 21 countries from Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Asia, and Oceania. Participants completed self-report measures of perceived threat of COVID-19, compassion (for self, for others, from others), depression, anxiety, stress, and social safeness. Results: Perceived threat of COVID-19 was associated with higher scores in depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower scores in social safeness. Self-compassion and compassion from others were associated with lower psychological distress and higher social safeness. Compassion for others was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Self-compassion moderated the relationship between perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas compassion from others moderated the effects of fears of contracting COVID-19 on social safeness. These effects were consistent across all countries. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the universal protective role of compassion, in particular self-compassion and compassion from others, in promoting resilience by buffering against the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social safeness. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

A personalidade polifacetada de Isabel Guerra, assim como o seu trabalho desmesurado no âmbito da academia e fora dela, torna qualquer texto de apresentação um exercício sempre incompleto e parcial. Limitações que assumimos neste texto onde se pretende ilustrar, a partir das nossas experiências pessoais, alguns dos contributos da Isabel Guerra para a sociologia, para a cidade e, sobretudo, para a concretização, na academia, da difícil e sempre frágil articulação entre a investigação científica, a formação/ensino e a resposta às solicitações que a cidade nos dirige. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion