Towards industry 4.0: a case study in ornamental stone sector

A movement to mobilize the Portuguese Ornamental (OS) sector to reduce waste and improve flexibility began in 2004. Boosted by R&D Mobilizing Projects in consortium and fostered by two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG9 and SDG12), this mobilization resulted in a new generation of technologies, concepts and innovative practices, matching the needs of Portuguese OS companies, stressing an integrated approach to European Competitiveness that should be fostered by a sustainable industrial policy, combined with innovation and skills. Bearing in mind that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, and considering the importance of following the goals and guidelines of SDGs 9 and 12 in the industrial processes optimization achievement in the Portuguese OS sector, the following research question arises: What is the impact of the R&D Mobilizing Projects on the efficiency and image of Portuguese OS companies? The objective of this research is to conceptualize an empirical framework based on a mixed methodology, to assess the efficiency and image benefits resulting from participation in these R&D Mobilizing Projects. Through applying the empirical framework to two case studies, it was concluded that for companies that since 2004 have been part of R&D Mobilizing Projects, the evolution in terms of improved energy and raw-material efficiency, soft skills and improved facilities is more positive than in other OS companies. Moreover, there are potential gains in efficiency and image of 9.62%, compared to companies that have never participated in this type of project. This results match with the EU's integrated climate and energy policy and an integrated approach to the sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The sustainable production and consumption revealed in the Portuguese OS sector are among the drivers for achieving objectives under both the SDG and the Lisbon strategy.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Erosion perceptions, beliefs and the sustainability of coastal areas: an individual or collective endeavour?

Coastal erosion (CE) is a phenomenon that has undergone a conceptual evolution. Nowadays, it is considered a physical and social process that is scientifically studied, quantified, and technically mitigated. It may also be approached by following the individual/collective perceptions of coastal communities. Risk and vulnerability associated with CE may also be addressed by considering different aspects that require a differentiated and trans-disciplinary analysis. A gap regarding the social perception of CE in Portuguese coastal communities was detected in the literature review. Therefore, the initial questions and aim of this study are, as follows: to research the social perceptions of CE and to understand how they impact public decisions/participation aimed at mitigating CE. The purpose of this research, supported by a hypothetical-deductive-approach, is exploratory and followed a multiple-case study strategy. The study was conducted using a mixed methodological paradigm (qualitative and quantitative). The Paramos/Espinho and Costa-da-Caparica cases, which differ environmentally, geographically and socioeconomically, were selected. Social and environmental vulnerability indicators were determined through the Analytical-Hierarchy-Process. These indicators were used to structure/draft the exploratory interviews and a questionnaire. These were applied to three categories of stakeholders: politicians/decision-makers, presidents of recreational associations and fishermen/inhabitants; all chosen by convenience sampling. The interviews identified both the historical and current perception of CE, as well as the public-institutional interaction within the scope of the planned/executed interventions targeting the mitigation of this problem. The questionnaire also revealed memories of damaging events, recognition of the causes of CE and sea encroachment, identification of risk perception, and understanding of the feedback about the strategies developed for mitigating erosion. The results showed that the perception of CE was derived from constructed experience and social memory. For the participants, the erosion «issue» is a serious daily problem. They identified risks and mentioned natural causes that are magnified by both climate change and human causes. Disengagement of the state through inefficient decision-making, inadequate construction and maintenance of defence structures, and through their laxness regarding building new constructions were all mentioned as significant examples of human causes. Participants highlighted the authorities’ lack of sensitivity towards traditional knowledge and their lack of will to welcome/integrate the contribution participants’ experience could make. The main contribution of this work resides in the empirically based development of a model for the social perception of CE, by positioning vulnerability in the context of CE. The perceived vulnerability/risk was deemed to result not only from CE, but also from a variable and dynamic context-specific framework, and from internal/external factors that were identified.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

From “boat to plate”: creating value through sustainable fish supply chain visibility

Environmental concerns about the scarcity of marine resources are critical driving forces for firms aiming to prepare their supply chains for sustainability. Building on previous work, this paper highlights the mplementation of good practices geared towards sustainable operations in the seafood department, which were pursued in an exploratory retailer case. Outcomes of the adopted environmentally and socially acceptable fish retailing strategies, ranged from traceability, to self-certification and eco-labelling. The consequences for business were, as follows: stronger collaboration and trust across the chain of custody, improvement of sponsors’ image and of consumers’ loyalty and, progress in the Greenpeace retailers’ evaluation ranking.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Perceptions of future leaders towards business ethics and sustainability

This paper examines the perception of business students (BS) concerning business ethics (BE) and sustainable operations management (SOM), in cases reporting ethical dilemmas. The BS have not previously attended any specific course, either dealing with BE, SOM or providing training in ethics. A test administered to 60 BS enabled to picture perceptions regarding: (i) ethical maturity level based on general education/personal sensitivity; and (ii) ethical decision-making processes of BS. The study also determined that BS have a surprisingly high ethical maturity. However, they are not sensitive to BE/SOM scientific’ research importance. Findings point out to development of Business School curricula

Water productivity and crop yield in five chickpea varieties – how important is supplemental irrigation?

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important pulse crops in the world as a source of protein for human consumption. In Mediterranean regions, chickpea is traditionally grown as a rainfed crop, thus highly dependent on rainfall. In this situation, supplemental irrigation may be applied. The objective of our study was to evaluate the improvement in crop yield and water productivity with supplemental irrigation in five chickpea varieties (three kabuli type and two desi type) from the Portuguese breeding selection program. Field tests were carried out over two cropping seasons (2009, dry year and 2010, wet year), in Southern Portugal, using four irrigation treatments, full (100%) crop irrigation requirements(IR), 50 % of IR, 25 % of IR and rainfed. A significant increase in grain and shoot biomass yields was observed especially in dry years. Elixir (kabuli type) variety showed the highest grain and biomass yield, harvest index and water productivity. In the dry year, the highest water productivity for grain and biomass production was attained at the 50% and in the wet year in the rainfed treatment

The role of collaborative networks in product-service system business models for an advanced manufacturing technology SME

This research appreciates the relevance of servitization business models for an Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) SME in the Ornamental Stones (OS) cluster. A holistic conceptual model was designed and tested addressing strategy, organizational structure and technological infrastructure. Primary data gathered by semi-structured interviews were completed by unstructured observation and documentation studying. The model usefulness/usability was qualitatively confirmed by the outcomes relevance. As regards results, primary stages of servitization are already occurring in the case. They might progress towards advanced servitization, if both digital business platforms and Industry4.0 and collaborative networks are deployed. Moreover, the lack of open innovation in the OS SME generates strong feelings of ownership towards resources, which constrains servitization progress and provides a threat to cluster survival. However, a mandatory progress towards Building Information Modelling is expected, which is going to demand virtual breeding environments and virtual organizations that will leverage competitive advantage and enable servitization progress.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Evaluating chickpea genotypes for abiotic stress tolerance

Being a leguminous crop chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is important for the establishment of sustainable and economically viable farming systems. Chickpea is grown and consumed across five continents, making this crop more important in international markets than other food legumes. Adaptation trials of 15 accessions of chickpea, 13 from the ICARDA collection and 2 from the Portuguese national catalogue, took place during two years in two different countries (Portugal, Syria). The trials were conducted under rainfed conditions using a late sowing date to naturally expose the plants to drought and heat stress. The accumulated results indicate a high variability in the yield response among genotypes and regions. In Portugal differences between the most productive accession and the least productive one was higher than 1000 kg/ha in 2009 (drought year) and than 1500Kg/ha in 2010 (rainy year). In general, genotypes that fasten their development cycle showed higher grain yield, especially in drought years. Comparing the two years, we observed three groups of genotypes: i) Stable genotypes, well adapted to distinct environments (like ILC588). ii) Genotypes adapted to adverse conditions, but not responding to favourable conditions (ICL 216); this genotype was also among the best performers under drought conditions in Syria. iii) Genotypes adapted to good conditions, but with bad performance under adverse conditions (ICL 3279). Across the two locations, Portugal and Syria, FLIP03-145C, FLIP87-8C and ILC 588 were on the top 5 during 2009. In 2010, only FLIP87-8C standout to be among the best performers under drought conditions in both countries

Calibration and validation of SALTMED model under dry and wet year conditions using chickpea field data from Southern Portugal

The SALTMED model is one of the few available generic models that can be used to simulate crop growth with an integrated approach that accounts for water, crop, soil, and field management. It is a physically based model using the well-known water and solute transport, evapotranspiration, and water uptake equations. In this paper, the model simulated chickpea growth under different irrigation regimes and a Mediterranean climate. Five different chickpea varieties were studied under irrigation regimes ranging from rainfed to 100 % crop water requirements, in a dry and a wet year. The calibration of the model using one of the chickpea varieties was sufficient for simulating the other varieties, not requiring a specific calibration for each individual chickpea variety. The results of calibration and validation of the SALTMED model showed that the model can simulate very accurately soil moisture content, grain yield, and total dry biomass of different chickpea varieties, in both wet and dry years. This new version of the SALTMED model (v. 3.02.09) has more features and possibilities than the previous versions, providing academics and professionals with a very good tool to manage water, soil, and crops

Parent's knowledge towards their child suffering from fever

INTRODUÇÃO A febre, um problema comum na infância, é uma das maiores preocupações dos pais nas situações de doença dos seus filhos, essencialmente pela falta de informação sobre o seu significado. OBJETIVO Identificar as variáveis sociodemográficas que interferem no conhecimento dos pais perante os filhos com febre. MÉTODOS Estudo quantitativo, transversal, descritivo e correlacional, numa amostra não probabilística por conveniência, constituída por 360 pais que frequentavam as consultas de vigilância de saúde infantil com os seus filhos, em instituições de saúde públicas da região centro de Portugal. O instrumento de colheita de dados, submetido a validação e pré-teste, foi construído pelos investigadores com base na revisão teórica. RESULTADOS Trata-se de uma amostra com uma média de idade de 34,7 anos (±7,9), maioritariamente feminina (51,7%). Os conhecimentos sobre a febre revelaram-se fracos nos pais com idade ≥ 38 anos (36.2%), a residirem na zona rural (69.3%) e com uma escolaridade até ao 9º ano (53.9%). Os pais com menos de 37 anos (68.2%), a residirem na zona urbana (53.0%) e com o ensino superior (43.3%) revelaram bons conhecimentos. CONCLUSÕES Os resultados revelam a necessidade dos enfermeiros capacitarem os pais para cuidar dos filhos com febre, promovendo a melhoria do nível de literacia em saúde.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of chronic exposure to aluminium on isoform expression and activity of rat (Na+/K+)ATPase

The ability of aluminum to inhibit the (Na+/K+)ATPase activity has been observed by several investigators. The (Na+/K+)ATPase is characterized by a complex molecular heterogeneity that results from the expression and differential association of multiple isoforms of both catalytic (alpha) and regulatory (beta) subunits. For instance, three main alpha (alpha(1), alpha(2) and alpha(3)) and three beta (beta(1), beta(2) and beta(3)) subunit isoforms exist in vertebrate nervous tissue, whereas only alpha(1) and beta(1) have been identified in kidney. However, no studies have focused on determining the change in (Na+/K+)ATPase isoforms caused by chronic exposure to aluminum and its relation with aluminum toxicity. In this study, adult male Wistar rats were submitted to chronic dietary AlCl3 exposure (0.03 g/day of AlCl3 for 4 months), and the activity and protein expression of (Na+/K+)ATPase isozymes were studied in brain cortex synaptosomes and in kidney homogenates. The intracellular levels of adenine nucleotides, plasma membrane integrity, and aluminum accumulation were also studied in brain synaptosomes. Aluminum accumulation upon chronic dietary AlCl3 administration significantly decreased the (Na+/K+)ATPase activity measured in the presence of nonlimiting Mg-ATP concentrations, without compromising protein expression of alpha-subunit isoforms in brain and kidney. Aluminum-induced synaptosomal (Na+/K+)ATPase inhibition was due to a reduction in the activity of isozymes containing alpha(1)-alpha(2) and alpha(3)-subunits. The onset of enzyme inhibition was accompanied by a decrease of the (Na+/K+)ATPase sensitivity to submicromolar concentrations of ouabain, and it preceded major damage in plasma membrane integrity and energy supply, as revealed by the analysis of lactate dehydrogenase leakage and endogenous adenine nucleotides. The data suggest that, during chronic dietary exposure to AlCl3, brain (Na+/K+)ATPase activity drops, even if no significant alterations of catalytic subunit protein expression, cellular energy depletion, and changes in cell membrane integrity are observed. Implications regarding underlying mechanisms of aluminum neurotoxicity are discussed.FCTPOCTI/BSE/46721/2002BD/21343/9