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The various volumes coordinated by Pierre Nora to pursue a history of the places of memory in France have become a multidisciplinary theoretical reference for those who, like us, seek to reconstruct the memories with which the land of the Potiguara aborigines of Brazil is organized today. In the introduction to the voluminous work that he directed for eight years, Nora explained his epistemic understanding of the notion of “places of memory”, stressing that a “lieu de mémoire” is any significant entity that, material or immaterial in nature, through a human will or the wear and tear of time, has become a symbolic element of a community's memorial heritage. The French historian also added that, since memory is the fundamental structure of this generally lengthy process, it was convenient to understand it as a phenomenon of emotions and magic that only accommodates the facts that feed it. Strictly speaking, memory is always vague, and reminiscent, stirring both general impressions and fine symbolic details. Furthermore, memory is always vulnerable to transference, repressed and imagined memories, censorship, and all kinds of projections. (Nora, 1984). In this article, we try to understand that the places of memory are also almost always what comes to us, stays, and selects the past. The reserve where they live appears as a symbolic locus to which the Potiguara aborigines cling with all their strength to preserve what remains of their past.

This study explores the relationship between student teachers' beliefs and practices in early Chinese literacy instruction. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and document analysis were conducted with six student teachers during their teaching practices. Findings indicated that the student teachers believed explicitly teaching literacy skills and imperceptible acquisition of literacy abilities through communication and meaning-making processes are essential in Chinese early literacy learning. However, they mainly taught Chinese literacy skills in their practices, which means the student teachers still needed to practice what they preached fully. The study suggests that possible reasons for the discrepancies include 'direct teaching' and 'rote learning' might be much easier for student teachers to design and conduct a lesson. Student teachers have limited abilities and experiences in conducting an ideal lesson, and the kindergarten curriculum and onsite supervisors highly influenced their teaching practices. The findings from this study suggested that more operational activities (such as designing lesson plans and conducting micro-teaching) should be used during pre-service training. Furthermore, the communication of educational beliefs between the university supervisor and the onsite supervisor should be strengthened.

This paper examines the extent to which China’s aid policies integrate poverty alleviation as a goal of their aid in general, particularly in Guinea. More specifically, the paper analyzed how aid donors focus on poverty alleviation and which policies and mechanisms are in place to address poverty in the countries receiving aid. Regarding the methodology, the author collected data from secondary sources, including government declarations of donors, policy documents at both the donor and recipient levels, as well as from scholarly publications. The following findings resulted from study:  China’s aid policies have progressively incorporated poverty alleviationobjectives and identified sectors for intervention against poverty. However, the limitations of China approach to poverty is that China adopts a top-down approach to poverty reduction and lacks of an impact evaluation mechanism based on poverty alleviation.

Macau, Macau Business, MAG, MB, MB Featured, Opinion | As Macau rebuilds its post-pandemic economy, one could be forgiven for believing that the good life for all has arrived, as evidenced in the manifest opulence on display in its up-market shopping malls. However, this is not the case; social justice needs attention in Macau.

Consumers' selections and decision-making processes are some of the most exciting and challenging topics in neuromarketing, sales, and branding. From a global perspective, multicultural influences and societal conditions are crucial to consider. Neuroscience applications in international marketing and consumer behavior is an emergent and multidisciplinary field aiming to understand consumers' thoughts, reactions, and selection processes in branding and sales. This study focuses on real-time monitoring of different physiological signals using eye-tracking, facial expressions recognition, and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) acquisition methods to analyze consumers' responses, detect emotional arousal, measure attention or relaxation levels, analyze perception, consciousness, memory, learning, motivation, preference, and decision-making. This research aimed to monitor human subjects' reactions to these signals during an experiment designed in three phases consisting of different branding advertisements. The nonadvertisement exposition was also monitored while gathering survey responses at the end of each phase. A feature extraction module with a data analytics module was implemented to calculate statistical metrics and decision-making supporting tools based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Feature Importance (FI) determination based on the Random Forest technique. The results indicate that when compared to image ads, video ads are more effective in attracting consumers' attention and creating more emotional arousal.

We prove the consistency of the different approaches for deriving the black hole radiation for the spherically symmetric case inside the theory of Massive Gravity. By comparing the results obtained by using the Bogoliubov transformations with those obtained by using the Path Integral formulation, we find that in both cases, the presence of the extra-degrees of freedom creates the effect of extra-particles creation due to the distortions on the definitions of time defined by the different observers at large scales. This, however, does not mean extra-particle creation at the horizon level. Instead, the apparent additional particles perceived at large scales emerge from how distant observers define their time coordinate, which is distorted due to the existence of extra-degrees of freedom.

Resumo Os bibliotecários são profissionais que se devem manter constantemente atualizados, procurando ativamente o desenvolvimento das suas competências profissionais, pelas próprias características das funções que desempenham. Porém, é importante perceber o que pensam estes atores acerca da sua atual formação de base, concretamente se esta tem vindo a acompanhar as tendências de atualização. Assim, partindo de uma análise prévia ao conteúdo de diversos documentos orientadores, emanados de associações internacionais, no sentido de encontrar as competências preconizadas para a área de atuação, é realizado um questionário ao nível nacional e internacional a futuros profissionais, estudantes na área das ciências documentais. O principal objetivo é o de procurar entender, comparativamente, que habilidades e competências são valorizadas para o futuro desempenho profissional. O questionário foi aplicado a grupos de estudantes de ciências da documentação e informação em Portugal, Macau e República Checa, evidenciando-se as perspetivas comuns entre os inquiridos sobre as competências necessárias e aquelas que são recebidas na formação inicial, concluindo-se que existem ainda algumas assimetrias entre as necessidades da profissão e a formação recebida, na perspetiva dos futuros profissionais, independentemente do território a que pertencem.

O presente estudo faz parte de uma investigação mais alargada que pretende i) estudar, numa população estudantil de ensino superior, as suas necessidades e comportamento perante a informação e ii) desenvolver um programa de formação em literacia da informação, integrando este conhecimento e os contributos dos diversos intervenientes (estudantes, docentes, bibliotecários). Sabemos hoje que a integração da literacia da informação nas aprendizagens melhora o desempenho dos estudantes e que, por esse motivo, os bibliotecários académicos podem desempenhar um papel importante ao colaborarem no desenho e formação de programas nestas áreas. Esta comunicação apresenta a primeira fase deste estudo. Trata-se da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário a uma população de estudantes de graduação, no ensino superior, em Macau. Os resultados demonstram as perceções dos estudantes relativamente às suas necessidades de informação, bem como o uso dos recursos informativos preferidos na prossecução dos seus estudos. A formação destes estudantes na pesquisa, recuperação, análise e uso da informação parece ser essencial. A construção de programas de formação em literacia da informação deve ser concebida à medida, recorrendo-se a um diagnóstico próximo e efetivo. A par, é importante continuar a desenvolver ambientes físicos e virtuais que disponibilizem informação credível e que deem resposta às necessidades informacionais dos que os utilizam, apoiando a aprendizagem.

Purpose Research on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has typically considered environmental concern a key determinant of behavioral intention that leads individuals to prefer electric vehicles. This paper challenges this assumption and argues that technology frameworks may require new variables to capture consumers' preferences. A UTAUT2-based study has been developed to assess the role of environmental concern in the BEVs context and put forward the technology show-off (TS) concept to explain the technology's acceptance. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative and cross-sectional look at behavioral intention is adopted. The study uses structural equation modeling to analyze a sample of 236 Macau residents to determine the relevance of the factors behind the choice to adopt BEVs. Findings The findings indicate that environmental concern and price may be relevant to explain behavioral intention to adopt the BEVs technology. Furthermore, the UTAUT2 framework seems to benefit from adding new variables, with TS playing a pertinent role in explaining technology acceptance. Social implications The findings show that environmental concern fails to build an argument for the shift to full electric mobility and promote the desired behavioral change toward adopting BEVs. Herein lies the necessity to consider new variables that can better describe the characteristics of modern society. Originality/value This paper proposes the TS construct, combining visibility and trialability as significant determinants of behavioral intention to use technology. The study also stresses the need to reconsider the role of environmental concerns' impact on consumer decision-making.

By using the Hamiltonian formulation, we demonstrate that the Merton-Garman equation emerges naturally from the Black-Scholes equation after imposing invariance (symmetry) under local (gauge) transformations over changes in the stock price. This is the case because imposing gauge symmetry implies the appearance of an additional field, which corresponds to the stochastic volatility. The gauge symmetry then imposes some constraints over the free-parameters of the Merton-Garman Hamiltonian. Finally, we analyze how the stochastic volatility gets massive dynamically via Higgs mechanism.

The following Arbitration practice note provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Arbitration as a dispute resolution method in Macau

The question of how to adequately integrate environment and labor provisions in free trade agreements is still a difficult one for both States and academicians. This article explores China’s approach to environment and labor issues in free trade agreements. For reference and comparison, it relies on the European Union’s and the United States’ approaches in their respective FTAs. The article identifies China’s preference for a case-by-case approach to the inclusion of environmental chapters in its FTAs. Additionally, in most FTAs it avoids to include provisions on labor standards. These two preferences represent major divergences from the European Union’s and the United States’ approaches, characterized by inclusion of chapters on environment and labor in all their modern FTAs. The article also finds that China’s FTAs rely solely on consultations and cooperation for the implementation of environmental and labor provisions, within the framework of Joint Committees and avoid the inclusion of civil society mechanisms. Moreover, resolution of disputes relies exclusively on consultations, in a diverse procedure than the one applicable to trade disputes. Despite alignment with the European Union model, this is another major point of divergence with the United States’ model, which applies the same enforcement mechanism for both environment and labor issues and trade issues and includes the possibility of applying sanctions. Finally, the article concludes that China’s options with regards to the treatment of environment and labor concerns in its free trade agreements aligns with both its domestic governance approach and its approach to international cooperation.

Dance education has undergone significant changes with the integration of information technology. Traditional dance pedagogy is now complemented by innovative digital software tools and applications. This work surveys the diverse applications of information technology in dance education at college or university level and the impact it has on teaching and learning processes. We discuss the integration of technology in various aspects of dance education, including skill development, choreography, performance analysis, VR/AR, online virtual learning, and collaborative learning. Additionally, the benefits and challenges associated with the use of information technology are also examined and the future research directions for research and practice in this field are proposed.

In recent years, the integration of Machine Learning (ML) techniques in the field of healthcare and public health has emerged as a powerful tool for improving decision-making processes [...]

The Black-Scholes equation is famous for predicting values for the prices of Options inside the stock market scenario. However, it has the limitation of depending on the estimated value for the volatility. On the other hand, several Machine learning techniques have been employed for predicting the values of the same quantity. In this paper we analyze some fundamental properties of the Black-Scholes equation and we then propose a way to train its free-parameters, the volatility in particular. This with the purpose of using this parameter as the fundamental one to be learned by a Machine Learning system and then improve the predictions in the stock market.