Reclamações ambientais em Aveiro, Portugal: atores, preocupações, padrão territorial e resoluções

This paper presents an environmental diagnosis based on public complaints on environmental issues submitted to the Environmental Department of the Aveiro City Council, Portugal, between 2000 and 2005. It discusses the potential influences of these in local environmental planning and governance. The paper has been organised into five sections. The first of these introduces the study. The second section focuses on the conceptual approaches relating to environmental grassroots movements, the main actors involved in these movements and the role played by local government. It also contains a brief review of the most recent urban environmental quality challenges in the European context together with a description of the main features of the associated political and legal framework in Portugal. The third section describes the case study and the methodology used. The results of the empirical study are detailed in the fourth section. The final section critically analyses these results with emphases on the temporal evolution of the submission of complaints, the actors involved, the local environmental problems and their associated spatial pattern as well as the responses given by the City Council. This information may then be used to provide a useful indicator for the perception of environmental quality as well as a credible instrument for the visualisation and evaluation of local performance in terms of environmental planning and management.AlBan Programme - n. E05M053040B

Fault activity studies in the Lower Tagus valley and Lisbon region using geophysical data

he Metropolitan Area of Lisbon and the Lower Tagus Valley (LTV) region are located in central Portugal and inhabited by nearly 4 million people. The region has suffered throughout its history the effect of destructive earthquakes caused by hidden faults, possibly related to the plate boundary, which is sited approximately 400 km south of the region (Figure 1). In spite of low slip-rates and big recurrence times that have been estimated for these local, regional faults, they can produce moderate-to-large earthquakes that cause large damage and loss of life, as in 1344, 1531, or 1909 (e.g. Justo and Salwa, 1998; Cabral et al., 2003; 2013). The shorter occurrence time of the earthquakes might be owing to the existence of multiple active faults and/or time clustering owing to stress drop caused by proximal faults (e.g. Carvalho et al., 2006). Therefore, the seismic hazard and risk evaluation of the region has long been a reason of concern. Geological outcrop and geomorphologic mapping identified several regional faults in the LTV region that could be the source the historical earthquakes, but some of them do not affect. Quaternary sediments and lacked the proofs that they were active faults. On the other side, in the vast quaternary alluvial plains that cover the region, it was difficult to identify active faults, as the sedimentation/erosion rates erase any possible surface rupture caused by the low slip-rate faults (<0,35 mm/y). By the late-20th century, seismic reflection data that had been acquired for the oil-industry till the beginning of the 1980s began to be used to identify the major hidden fault zones (e.g. Cabral et al., 2003; Vilanova and Fonseca, 2004; Carvalho et al., 2006). Potential field data was also used to locate active faults in the areas where no seismic data is available (Carvalho et al., 2008; 2011). Though a few more active faults have been proposed, the vast majority of authors agree that the following active faults threaten the region: Nazaré-Caldas da Rainha, Lower Tagus Valley, Ota, Azambuja, Vila Franca de Xira (VFX), Pinhal Novo and Porto Alto faults (Garcia-Mayordomo et al., 2012; Vilanova et al., 2014). In this work, we discuss the acquisition, processing and interpretation of near surface geophysical works carried out over three of these faults — the VFX, Porto Alto and Azambuja faults — in order to confirm they have had activity during the Holoceneera. Their location is shown in Figure 2. We further estimate some of its fault parameters (vertical displacement, slip-rate, length, etc.) and respective implications in terms of seismic hazard

Attitudes towards unethical behaviours in organizational settings: an empirical study

Employee misconduct is prevalent in organizations and may be counterproductive in social and material terms. It is thus important to better understand how misconduct is construed by employees and the factors that determine its ethical acceptability in specific cases. This study explores attitudes towards unethical and minor deviant behaviours by examining the degree of acquiescence towards them in a sample of employees. Based on previous studies it was hypothesized that both organizational commitment and job satisfaction would be negatively related to the acceptance of such behaviours in organizational settings. Results show that there is a relationship between the degree of acquiescence and organizational commitment and a more modest relationship with job satisfaction. They further indicate that organizational tenure impacts very significantly on the degree of acceptance. Although differences were found for age, neither gender nor organizational variables were found to be significant

Efeitos de um programa de Enfermagem de Reabilitação na pessoa submetida a cirurgia abdominal programada

Introdução – Está amplamente descrito na literatura que a cirurgia abdominal é responsável por alterações na função respiratória. Destacam-se, ainda, na literatura os bons resultados obtidos na prevenção ou correção de complicações, nomeadamente na componente respiratória, quando programas de reabilitação são implementados no pré e pós-operatório. Objetivo –Avaliar a efeito do plano de Enfermagem de Reabilitação sobre variáveis fisiológicas, clínicas e a ansiedade nos doentes submetidos a cirurgia abdominal programada do serviço de cirurgia I da unidade de Vila Real do Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Métodos – Realizou-se um estudo quase-experimental e transversal. A amostra foi constituída por 30 indivíduos, que se submeteram de forma voluntária a um programa de Enfermagem de Reabilitação. A colheita de dados foi efetuada mediante o preenchimento da grelha de avaliação, em dois momentos distintos: pré-operatório e 4º dia de pós-operatório. Foram registadas variáveis de caracterização, variáveis fisiológicas, fluxo expiratório máximo (PEF), dor e ansiedade. A escala utilizada para a avaliação da ansiedade foi a escala Visual analógica VAS-A. Resultados - Na amostra em estudo, 73,3% dos indivíduos eram do sexo masculino. A idade variou entre 30 e 80 anos, com média 66,67 anos. Três dos participantes (10%) dos participantes sofrem de algum tipo de patologia respiratória e relativamente a hábitos tabágicos, estes estão presentes em 2 (6,7%) participantes. Dos principais resultados destacase que o programa de Enfermagem de Reabilitação diminuiu os níveis de ansiedade e aumentou o valor do pico de fluxo expiratório (PFE) mas não teve efeitos estatisticamente significativos nas restantes variáveis Conclusões – Os resultados vão no sentido de confirmar a necessidade e utilidade da intervenção especializada em Enfermagem de Reabilitação no doente submetido a cirurgia abdominal programada.Introduction - It is widely described in the literature that abdominal surgery is responsible for changes in respiratory function. The literature also shows that good results are obtained in the prevention or correction of complications, particularly in the respiratory component, when rehabilitation programs are implemented in the pre- and postoperative period. Objective - To evaluate the effect of a Rehabilitation Nursing plan on physiological and clinical variables and anxiety in patients undergoing scheduled abdominal surgery at the surgery department of Vila Real unit of Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Methods - A quasi-experimental and cross-sectional study was carried out. Where included 30 participants, who voluntarily underwent a Rehabilitation Nursing program. Data collection was performed by filling out the evaluation grid at two different times: preoperative and postoperative day 4. Characterization variables, physiological variables, peak expiratory flow (PEF), pain and anxiety were recorded. The Visual Analogue VAS-A scale was used for anxiety assessment. Results - In the study sample, 73.3% of the individuals were male. The age ranged from 30 to 80 years, with a mean of 66.67 years. Three of the participants (10%) suffer from some type of respiratory pathology and in relation to smoking habits, these are present in 2 (6.7%) participants. The main results highlight that the Rehabilitation Nursing program reduced anxiety levels and increased peak expiratory flow (PEF), but did not have statistically significant effects on the other variables Conclusions - The results are aimed at confirming the need and utility of the specialized intervention in Rehabilitation Nursing in patients undergoing scheduled abdominal surgery

Foreign direct investment and worker rights : a case study of a private security multinational in Mozambique.

This article intends to contribute with the reflection upon the theories that link FDI with social and economical development. For this purpose, the meanings of the expression “human and economical development” will be briefly reviewed, and later it will be approached along the theories on the relation of FDI with development. The theories are used as a support in order to reach this article’s goal of pointing out the FDI impacts on labour conditions on the private security multinational G4S in Mozambique, thus examining the impacts of this sort of FDI towards the country’s human development

Water-related citizens' complaints on a coastal wet land area: exploring the influence of local administrative boundaries

This paper explores the water-related citizens’ complaints submitted to the municipalities surrounding ‘Ria de Aveiro’, a natural lagoon located in the center of Portugal close to the Atlantic coast, and is aimed at analyzing how local administrative boundaries might influence the frequency, typologies and territorial pattern of complaints. It also analyzes the frequency of water-related complaints in relation to other environmental problems raised by local population. The proposed analysis assesses how the existence of such a large water territory that ‘Ria de Aveiro’ is, influences the typologies of water-related complaints and the propensity of the population to complain about problems specifically related to the quality of this area. It also analyzes the relationship between the extent of the water body of ‘Ria the Aveiro’ within each municipality and the frequency of water-related complaints. The paper is organized into four sections. The first presents a brief literature review about citizen environmental complaints and their relevance for environmental and water resources governance, highlighting the role played by different sorts of stakeholders involved. The second section describes the case study and the methodology adopted. The results of the empirical study are presented in the third section with emphases given on the actors involved, the typologies of water-related problems referred to in the complaints, as well as, their territorial pattern. The final section critically analyses these results and questions the actual relevance of local administrative boundaries in the perception of water-resources related values as interpreted and communicated by citizens’ complaints

Nitric Oxide Regulates Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus following Seizures

Hippocampal neurogenesis is changed by brain injury. When neuroinflammation accompanies injury, activation of resident microglial cells promotes the release of inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen/nitrogen species like nitric oxide (NO). In these conditions, NO promotes proliferation of neural stem cells (NSC) in the hippocampus. However, little is known about the role of NO in the survival and differentiation of newborn cells in the injured dentate gyrus. Here we investigated the role of NO following seizures in the regulation of proliferation, migration, differentiation, and survival of NSC in the hippocampus using the kainic acid (KA) induced seizuremouse model. We show that NO increased the proliferation of NSC and the number of neuroblasts following seizures but was detrimental to the survival of newborn neurons. NO was also required for the maintenance of long-term neuroinflammation. Taken together, our data show that NO positively contributes to the initial stages of neurogenesis following seizures but compromises survival of newborn neurons.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal); COMPETE; FEDER [PTDC/SAU-NEU/102612/2008, PTDC/NEU-OSD/0473/2012, PEst-C/SAU/LA0001/2013-2014, PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013-2014]; FCT, Portugal [SFRH/BPD/78901/2011, SFRH/BD/77903/2011

Caracterização do consumo de substâncias psicoactivas nos estudantes de medicina da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra

Trabalho final de mestrado integrado em Medicina área científica de Farmacologia, apresentado à Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de CoimbraIntrodução: Em Portugal são escassos os estudos que avaliem o consumo de substâncias psicoactivas pelos estudantes de Medicina. Investigações realizadas em outros países referem que a prevalência de consumo não difere entre estes e outros jovens pertencentes ao ensino superior. Objectivos: Analisar o padrão de consumo e as motivações que levam ao uso de substâncias psicoactivas pelos estudantes de Medicina da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra. Métodos: Aplicação de questionário de preenchimento anónimo, distribuido por toda a comunidade estudantil do Mestrado Integrado em Medicina, em Outubro de 2011; 27,13% da população (426 alunos) colaborou no preenchimento do inquérito. Resultados: Praticamente não se verifica uma maior prevalência de consumo de substâncias psicoactivas em estudantes de Medicina relativamente a outros cursos do ensino superior. As excepções prendem-se com o consumo de psicofármacos, que assume valores mais elevados, e de ecstasy, com uma menos prevalência. As substâncias mais utilizadas foram o álcool, bebidas energéticas e tabaco. No que toca a substâncias ilícitas, os canabinóides ocupam o primeiro lugar de consumo. O factor diversão foi considerado o mais importante para o consumo das substâncias questionadas. Não se verificou associação entre a alteração de residência durante o período lectivo e o consumo da maioria das substâncias psicoactivas, exceptuando-se na ingestão de bebidas energéticas. Verificou-se associação (p<0,05) entre o ano de curso e a prevalência de consumo de álcool, bebidas energéticas, substâncias canabinóides e psicofármacos tranquilizantes. Conclusão: O consumo de substâncias psicoactivas pelos estudantes de Medicina não difere do de outros estudantes, à excepção de medicamentos psicotrópicos e de ecstasy, que adquirem aqui uma maior e menor prevalência, respectivamente. A utilização das substâncias investigadas é, tendencialmente, de carácter experimental, à excepção do álcool, que apresenta elevada frequência de consumo na questão “consumo no último mês”. A principal motivação enunciada pelos estudantes para a utilização de substâncias psicoactivas foi o factor diversão.Introduction: In Portugal, there are few studies to evaluate the use of psychoactive substances by medical students. In other countries, studies report that the prevalence of consumption did not differ between these and other college students. Objectives: To analyze the pattern of psychoactive substance’s use by students of Medicine from Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, and their motivations. Methods: Application of anonymous questionnaire, distributed to all the student community of the Integrated Master in Medicine, in October 2011; 27.13% of the population (426 students) had completed the survey. Results: There is no greater prevalence of psychoactive substances among medical students than other college students. However, there are two exceptions: the use of psychotropic drugs takes higher values, and ecstasy has lower prevalence. The most used substances all-time were alcohol, energy drinks and tobacco. From the group of illegal substances, cannabinoids occupy the first place of consumption. “To have fun” was considered the most important factor for the use of substances questioned. No association was found between the change of residence during class time and most of psychoactive substance consumption, except for energy drinks. An association (p<0.05) was verified between the year of the course in the integrated master of medicine and consumption of alcohol, energy drinks, cannabinoids and psychotropic tranquilizers drugs. Conclusion: The use of psychoactive drugs by medical students does not differ from other college student, except for psychotropic medication and ecstasy, which have a higher and lower prevalence, respectively. The use of investigated substances tends to be experimental, except for the alcohol, which has a high frequency of use in question “use in last month”. The main motivation enunciated by students for the use of psychoactive substances was “to have fun”