Patrícia Ávila

Biobanks for clinical research collect human biological samples and associated data for biomedical research. The establishment of biobanks in Portugal is still an understudied phenomenon, although there are signs of a growing trend in setting up these repositories to support biomedical research. Among other factors, individuals’ willingness to donate samples and public trust in biobanks play a crucial role in sustaining biobanking activities. In this article, we analyse public attitudes in Portugal towards biobanking, based on data from the biotechnology survey conducted by Eurobarometer in 2010. Different assumptions about science and technology enabled profiling the Portuguese population into four distinct groups: the optimistic, the cautious, the sceptical and the pessimistic. Each profile implies a diverse range of intentions and attitudes regarding biobanks. Furthermore, we found that previous study of science could be an important predictor of the willingness to donate information to biobanks.

Nas sociedades atuais, marcadas pela centralidade do conhecimento, da informação e da educação, uma parte da população adulta tem ainda níveis de escolaridade muito baixos e persiste arredada das dinâmicas da chamada Aprendizagem ao Longo da Vida (ALV). Tratando-se de um segmento da população que, do ponto de vista da análise sociológica e da incidência das políticas públicas, tem sido deixado para trás e sobre o qual pouco se conhece, pretende-se contribuir para o conhecimento e visibilidade do fenómeno dos indivíduos pouco escolarizados que, apesar das iniciativas implementadas no âmbito da educação e formação de adultos e da aprendizagem ao longo da vida, permaneceram nas margens da sociedade educativa. Na ausência de estudos extensivos especificamente centrados neste segmento da população, foi mobilizada a edição de 2016 do Inquérito à Educação e Formação de Adultos para tentar mapear o fenómeno em Portugal. Com uma presença transversal na sociedade portuguesa é um grupo de dimensão expressiva, cuja diversidade se captou através da identificação de diferentes perfis. Os mesmos dados permitiram ainda retratar as práticas e atitudes, perante a ALV, da população com baixa escolaridade em Portugal.

The aim of this article is to revisit the question of the social origins of the armed forces officer corps, using data drawn from a survey to all cadets following military training at the three Portuguese service academies in 2016. It puts forward the question of whether the sociological characteristics of the future military elite reveal a pattern of convergence with society or depart from it, in terms of geographical origins, gender and social origins. The article offers a sociological portrait of the cadets and compares it with previous studies, identifying trends of change and continuity. The results show that there is a diversified and convergent recruitment pattern: cadets are coming from a greater variety of regions in the country than in the past; there is a still an asymmetric but improving gender balance; self-recruitment patterns are rather stable, and there is a segmented social origin pointing to the dominance of the more qualified and affluent social classes. In the conclusion questions are raised regarding future civil-military convergence patterns as well as possible growing differences between ranks.

Scientific interest in the impact of the school composition effect on pupil performance has been reflected in the literature for several decades and has recently intensified. In Portugal, sociological research in this field has been scarce, especially quantitative approaches. Taking fourth-grade pupils and their maths results as a reference, the present study seeks to contribute to this field. The objective was to identify the main effect and the moderating effect of school composition (socio-economic and ethnic) on pupil results, controlling the effect of individual and school variables, such as socio-economic status (SES), gender, school trajectory and school size. We particularly sought to understand whether school composition affects pupils’ results and whether the effects vary with their national origins. The current research was supported by an extensive database containing information on 23,143 pupils at 522 public schools in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. A multilevel analysis was developed, considering pupil and school levels. The dependent variable was the mathematics results of fourth-grade pupils in the 2015 National Attainment Test. The results showed that the effect of school’s social composition is more important to student performance than that of the school’s ethnic composition and that pupils from PALOPs (non-immigrants vs. Portuguese-speaking African countries) benefit more than others when they attend schools with a higher average SES.

Twenty professional wine experts were asked to describe their prototypical construct of a representative young red wine from each of the 12 Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) of mainland Portugal. No samples were assessed; the experiment was based on memory alone by completion of 12 extended self-reported sensory questionnaires. Four large-scale areas were differentiated, the typicality being statistically validated and described from a sensory standpoint. Alcohol, acidity, bitterness, and astringency were cross-linked; the respective variations were correlated with published literature and expressed as key factors for the regional macroscale area differentiation. Bitterness and astringency were found to be sensory different and related on a geographical scale, as bitterness was primarily affected by inland/coastal influence; while astringency confirmed its customary north/south dependence that finding is to be considered a new understanding. Moreover, with the proposed methodology, it was possible to achieve a novel nationwide sensory characterization of PGIs, overcoming present day limitations on macroscale sensory research and sample representativeness. Results by uncalibrated prototypical memory assessment of single PGI Beira Atlântico were compared with the outcome of calibrated wine sampling assessment by local experts, using the same sensory questionnaire, and were found significantly correlated. The need for a calibration stage was found uneven regarding the overall group of scrutinized wine descriptors.

Research on media and information literacy has been growing exponentially over the past years, but it has focused more on the examination of media practices than on the assessment of media and information literacy skills. In this paper we describe the process of designing and implementing a Media and Information Literacy Test comprising 20 items. We present the results of the analysis carried out to validate the items and to construct a scale of media and information literacy skills using Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings indicate that the conceptual framework adopted is adequate to measure media and information literacy and that the test has good discrimination and difficulty parameters. The test is based on a more comprehensive framework used to assess media and information literacy skills than those used in previous studies and can be used on an item-by-item basis. In this sense, it is a novel contribution to current efforts to measure media and information literacy skills.

White wine sensory profiling of all 12 Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs) of mainland Portugal was achieved through completion of extended sensory questionnaires by 20 professional wine experts. No samples were assessed; the experiment was based on memory alone. Three macro‐zonings were found and typicality differences were statistically validated and sensory described. PGI MINHO was found the most typical of all PGIs, with several extreme rates on Color, Aroma and Taste. SOUTHERN cluster of the four meridional PGIs presented several extreme, therefore typical, sensory assessments, mostly opposite to the profile of PGI Minho. Color tonality, alcohol and acidity were mutually related and respective variations were correlated with published findings and expressed as key factors for regional macro‐zoning differentiation. Moreover, with the proposed methodology it was possible to achieve a novel nationwide sensory characterization of PGIs, overcoming ongoing macroscaling and sample representativeness limitations and envisaging new nation‐sized sensory studies.Practical Applications: This innovative nationwide study on white wine typicality, namely on sensory profiles of PGI (and PDO) certified wines, may contribute to the debate of scale factors that result in significant gains in areas such as wine certification (3–5 certification boards instead of existent 12), admission of transregional wine certification for high volume brands and a better and clearer communication and marketing that would reach a larger group of consumers with condensed information on typicality. Moreover, to develop a method that bypass the sampling problem of wines that would be representative of a given PGI or, in general, a nation‐sized area may be considered useful and widely applicable to sensory studies.

Ciência e Técnica Vitivinícola, Journal of Viticulture and Enology