Being in or being out: social exclusion and destructive collective behaviour of disadvantaged groups

Classificação: 3000: Social Psychology; 3020: Group & Interpersonal ProcessesA presente tese expõe uma abordagem baseada na identidade social para explicar acções colectivas praticadas por grupos em desvantagem social consideradas pela maioria em vantagem social como mais problemáticas (i.e., destrutivas/danosas/violentas). Propomos que o comportamento destrutivo, e respectivas emoções negativas, não são meras expressões de conflito intergrupal, sendo antes respostas a acções praticadas pela maioria em vantagem percepcionadas pela minoria em desvantagem como transgressões que violam standards mínimos (por comparação a standards máximos), standards esses estabelecidos por categorias supra-ordenadas. Resultados de dois estudos de campo (Estudo 1 com imigrantes em Portugal e Estudo 2 com fumadores) e dois estudos experimentais laboratoriais nos quais se recorreu a um jogo virtual (Estudos 3 e 4) corroboram, em geral, as nossas hipóteses: A percepção de violação de standards mínimos conduz a emoções negativas e a comportamento destrutivo. Os Estudos 3-4 revelam que estas percepções são mais prováveis no caso de exclusão social (em comparação com formas mais benignas de privação, i.e., marginalização), sugerindo uma mediação em cadeia desde a exclusão até ao comportamento destrutivo, via percepção de standards mínimos e emoções negativas. Inesperadamente, a mediação via emoções negativas foi parcial, sugerindo uma ligação directa entre violação de standards mínimos e comportamento destrutivo. Também inesperadamente, ser marginalizado já conduz a emoções negativas (Estudos 2-3), mas não a comportamento destrutivo. Resultados do Estudo 1 sugerem que a identificação com categorias supra-ordenadas promove percepções de standards como mínimos e emoções negativas quando estes são violados, podendo também atenuar as intenções de recorrer a acções destrutivas.The current thesis presents a social-identity-based approach to explain collective actions by disadvantaged groups that are considered by advantaged majority members to be most problematic (i.e., destructive, harmful and/or violent). We propose that destructive behaviour and corresponding negative emotions are not mere expressions of intergroup conflict, but are responses to actions by the advantaged majority perceived by the disadvantaged minority as transgressions that violate minimal (as compared to maximal) standards established by inclusive superordinate categories. Results of two field studies (Study 1 with immigrants in Portugal and Study 2 with smokers) and two laboratory experiments using a virtual ball toss setting (Studies 3 and 4) generally support our hypotheses that perceived violation of minimal standards leads to stronger negative emotions and destructive behaviour. Studies 3-4 also show that these perceptions are most likely in the case of social exclusion (as compared to more benign forms of deprivation, i.e., marginalization), suggesting a two-step chain mediation from exclusion to destructive behaviour via minimal standard violation perception and negative emotions. Unexpectedly, mediation by negative emotions was only partial, speaking for a direct link between minimal standard violation perception and destructive behaviour. Unexpectedly as well, being only marginalized but not excluded increases already negative emotions (Studies 2 and 3), but these do not translate into destructive behaviour. Results of Study 1 suggest that identification with superordinate categories foster perceptions of standards as minimal and negative emotions when they are violated, but can also attenuate intentions to destructive actions

Exploring the social representations of vulnerable populations being helped

Resorting to Social Representation Theory, the aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of help recipients about Help, namely in terms of the shared representations about Helping Institutions, the self-perceptions of aid recipients and the potential Social Status Distance with regard to their helpers. Twenty-five members of vulnerable groups that benefited from help programs offered by Non-Profit Institutions/Organizations, aged between 18 and 70-years-old, responded to semi-structured interviews. Following the theoretical-methodological orientation of the structural approach of Social Representation Theory (Abric, 1984), the 800 free evocations and 149 words produced during the interviews, underwent a prototypical analysis with open-EVOC software (2000). In addition to contributing to Social Representation Theory by considering the theme of helping relations, the results of the present study showed – in contrast to the literature on orientations toward help (Nadler, 1997; 1998; 2002; 2015) – the importance, at different levels, of both autonomy and dependency orientations (and not just the latter). This study showed the importance, for the recipients of help, of being protagonists, active and autonomous in the process of improving their psychological and material situation; together with the importance of enjoying material goods, even if it means depending on an institution. Results are discussed as a potential contribution to designing help programs that might provide greater benefits and well-being to help recipients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Agência Lusa como fonte na imprensa escrita generalista portuguesa

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estudos dos Media e JornalismoPartindo de uma viagem pela história das agências noticiosas, esta dissertação analisa o percurso e a atividade das cinco agências portuguesas – Lusitânia, Agência de Notícias e Informação (ANI), Agência Noticiosa Portuguesa (ANOP), Notícias de Portugal (NP) e Agência Lusa –, focando-se nesta última e avaliando o seu papel de fonte na imprensa generalista portuguesa. Tendo por base uma análise quantitativa e qualitativa dos cinco jornais generalistas portugueses com maior quota de mercado – Correio da Manhã (CM), Diário de Notícias (DN), i, Jornal de Notícias (JN) e Público –, aferimos a presença e o peso da Agência Lusa nestes títulos, a par e em comparação com as suas congéneres internacionais. Para tal, analisámos, durante sete semanas, os cinco jornais generalistas e selecionámos todas as unidades de redação que citaram agências noticiosas, constituindo a amostra do estudo. Foram criadas categorias de análise para perceber quais os jornais que mais recorreram às informações divulgadas pelas agências, quais as mais citadas como fonte pela imprensa generalista portuguesa e de que forma foram referenciadas. Ao mesmo tempo, foi possível identificar os jornais que mais citaram a Lusa e de que forma esta agência foi usada pelos cinco diários

Rastreabilidade e gestão de incidentes numa fábrica de bolacha

Mestrado em Engenharia Alimentar - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaFood safety has been a growing concern within the European Union. The responsibility of the producers in order to ensure the supply of safe food to the population is constantly increasing. Some of the events that led to the implementation of traceability programs were incidents such as contamination with dioxins and BSE. These events had adverse impacts on markets worldwide. These events had their origin in the primary production sector. However, their harmful effects were only detected at the end of the food chain. This means that products without quality and safety were sold to consumers. After several crises related to food safety, was published, in January 2000, the White Paper on Food Safety. In this publication, the traceability of food, feed and its ingredients appears as the basis for the European food safety policy. As a result of the discussion around the White Paper on Food Safety, was elaborated Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002, in force since January 1st, 2005. This Regulation requires that any person involved in the supply chain should be able to identify the origin of all ingredients, and also the customers to whom the products were sold. Traceability is a legal requirement and a competitive tool that allows to track any food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution. This work was elaborated in a food industry company that produces wafers. This study tried, in the first stage, to evaluate the existing traceability within the company, in order to detect eventual gaps. In a second stage, procedures were developed and implemented, in order to guarantee the efficiency of the traceability system, complemented with an Incident Management component. Finally, a test was made to check the efficiency of the implemented system. It revealed to be an instrument which is easy to consult and to understand, integrated in Quality Management and corresponding to legal requirements and consumers´ expectations. - RESUMO - No seguimento de diversas crises relacionadas com a Segurança Alimentar, foi publicado, em Janeiro de 2000, o Livro Branco sobre a Segurança dos Alimentos. Nesta publicação, a rastreabilidade dos alimentos para consumo humano e animal e seus ingredientes surge como o pilar mestre sobre o qual deveria assentar a política europeia de segurança alimentar. Resultante da discussão do Livro Branco sobre a Segurança dos Alimentos, foi elaborado o Regulamento (CE) n.º178/2002 de 28 de Janeiro, em vigor desde 1 de Janeiro de 2005. No seu artigo 18º, está expressa a obrigatoriedade de implementação da rastreabilidade. O presente trabalho foi realizado numa empresa do sector alimentar, produtora de bolacha. Este estudo pretendeu, numa primeira fase, avaliar o sistema de rastreabilidade existente na empresa, por forma a detectar eventuais lacunas. Numa segunda fase, foram desenvolvidas e implementadas acções de melhoria para garantir a total eficiência do sistema de rastreabilidade, complementadas por uma componente de gestão de incidentes. Por fim, foi feito um teste, para aferir a eficácia do sistema implementado. Este sistema manifestou-se uma ferramenta de fácil consulta e compreensão, integrada na gestão da garantia da qualidade, respondendo na íntegra às exigências legais e dos consumidores

Evaluation of welfare during transport and lairage through the occurrence of lesions in slaughtered pig carcasses

Animal welfare is the state of the animal in its attempts to cope with its environment, and it can be measured and improved by the action of man. Recently, the topic “Animal Welfare” has become more important, resulting from the discovery that the management of animals in life has impact on the post mortem meat quality. This study aimed to determine the effect of transport batch number of pigs transported by batch, type of route and the time elapsed between the exploration and slaughter in the occurrence of lesions, considered as indicators of animal welfare at the slaughterhouse. At one slaughterhouse of pigs located in the northern of Portugal, 834 animals were monitored in order to check the occurrence of lesions consistent with lacerations, erythema, bruising and fractures, from a total of five different transport batches. The global analysis of the data showed that lacerations were present in 72% of animals and was the most common type of lesion, followed by erythema, bruises and broken bones presented in 20%, 11% and 1% respectively. The size of each batch, the duration of the journey and the time spent in the lairage significantly influenced the occurrence of observed lesions, particularly, lacerations, erythema and bruising. Bem-Estar Animal consiste no estado do animal em sua tentativa de adaptação ao meio ambiente envolvente, podendo ser medido e melhorado com a ação do ser humano. Nos últimos anos o tema “Bem-Estar Animal” tem adquirido importância, resultante das grandes preocupações com o manejo dos animais em vida e constatação da influência que este tem na qualidade da carne post mortem. Este trabalho teve como objetivo determinar o efeito do lote de suínos transportados, respectivo tamanho, tipo de trajeto e do tempo decorrido entre a origem e o abate na ocorrência de lesões, consideradas indicadores mínimos de bem-estar animal em matadouro. Nos matadouros de suínos da região norte de Portugal, foram monitorados 834 animais com relação à ocorrência de lesões compatíveis com lacerações, eritemas cutâneos, hematomas e fraturas, em cinco diferentes lotes. Pela análise global dos dados, verificou-se que as lacerações estavam presentes em 72% dos animais e foi o tipo de lesão mais frequentemente observado. Seguiram-se os eritemas cutâneos em 20%, os hematomas em 11% e as fraturas em apenas 1% dos animais. O tamanho do lote de animais transportados, a duração da viagem e o tempo de permanência no matadouro influenciaram significativamente a ocorrência das lesões monitoradas, nomeadamente lacerações, eritemas e hematomas.

Population wide testing pooling strategy for SARS-CoV-2 detection using saliva

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced frequent testing of populations. It is necessary to identify the most cost-effective strategies for the detection of COVID-19 outbreaks. Nasopharyngeal samples have been used for SARS-CoV-2 detection but require a healthcare professional to collect the sample and cause discomfort and pain to the individual. Saliva has been suggested as an appropriate fluid for the diagnosis of COVID-19. We have investigated the possibility of using pools of saliva samples to detect SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Two hundred and seventy-nine saliva samples were analyzed through RT-PCR of Envelope, Nucleocapsid and Open Reading Frame 1ab genes. Reproducibility assays showed an almost perfect agreement as well as high sensitivity (96.6%), specificity (96.8%), positive predicted value (96.6%), and negative predicted value (96.8%). The average Cycle Threshold of the genes detected was 29.7. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were detected when comparing the cycle threshold average of two consecutive reactions on the same positive saliva samples. Saliva samples have a higher median viral load (32.6) than in nasopharyngeal samples (28.9), although no significant differences were detected (p > 0.05). Saliva-pool samples allowed effective SARS-CoV-2 screening, with a higher sensibility (96.9%) on 10-sample pools than in 20-sample pools (87.5%). Regardless of pools size specificity was high (99.9%) and an almost perfect agreement was observed. Our strategy was successfully applied in population wide testing of more than 2000 individuals, showing that it is possible to use pooled saliva as diagnostic fluid for SARS-CoV-2 infection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clonal expansion across the seas as seen through CPLP-TB database: A joint effort in cataloguing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in Portuguese-speaking countries

This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tuberculosis across the seas: CPLP-TB - a joint effort in cataloguing mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in the lusophone space

The Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) comprises nine countries across four continents, accounting for 7.2% of the world’s land area, and where tuberculosis (TB) is still a cause of public health concern. A marked variation in TB incidence (23 to 551 cases per 100 000 habitants) can be observed across the different member-states and, despite of this, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and country-level geospatial distribution still exists. To address this we have gathered a comprehensive set of molecular and phenotypic drug susceptibility data on approximately 1150 different clinical isolates, from different partners, across 5 distinct portuguesespeaking countries. This initial dataset comprises molecular genotypic data obtained by either 12, 15 or 24-loci Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit – Variable Number of Tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) and/or Spoligotyping. The complete dataset therefore includes M. tuberculosis clinical isolates from Portugal (n≈370), Angola (n≈80), Guinea-Bissau (n≈13), Mozambique (n≈14) and Brazil (n≈680). To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we have developed CPLP-TB, an online database coupled with webbased tools that enable exploratory data analysis. This new tool specifically directed at CPLP countries include advanced data analysis capability together with graphical visualization tools (e.g. dendrogram and choropleth mapping). As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute for a deeper knowledge on the combined population structure and strain circulation between countries, thus enabling the assessment of strain specific trends in a broader macroepidemiological context. Furthermore, this new tool provides a new framework for interlaboratory cooperation on TB molecular epidemiology.N/

Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clonal expansion across the seas as seen through CPLP-TB database: A joint effort in cataloguing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends