ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS IN SMEs: THE CASE OF THE TRANSFORMING INDUSTRY IN PORTUGAL

The competitiveness of organizations depends, among other things, of their performance levels. For such, it is vitally important that they have a measurement and evaluation system that, from a set of indicators, provides them reliable information to reflect their goals and evaluate their performances. The aims of this study are: (i) to identify the most discussed approaches in the literature to evaluate the organizational performance, and (ii) to carry out a diagnosis of how small and medium enterprises with economic activity in Portugal measure and operationalize the evaluation of their performance. To meet the objectives of the study, we proceeded to the analysis of published studies in scientific journals and conducted twelve interviews in SMEs. The results indicate that, in addition to the majority of the studied organizations not having a formal process of their strategy, they also do not measure their results in an integrated system that would allow them to make an evaluation according to their strategic goals

Performance of sheep grazing Panicum maximum cv. Massai and supplemented with protein sources during the dry season

The low quality of tropical grasses in the dry season justifies the use of dietary supplements to meet the nutritional needs of sheep. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementation with high-protein feed on mutton sheep performance and yield in Massai grass pastures during the dry season. The treatments corresponded to four supplements, namely Leucaena leucocephala leaf hay, Gliricidia sepium leaf hay, soybean meal, and a treatment that received only multiple mixture (protein salt) ad libitum. The pasture was evaluated for canopy height, forage supply, and chemical composition of leaf blade, stem and dead material. Average daily gain, weight gain per area, and the stocking rate were also evaluated. There were four grazing cycles because the grazing method was rotational stocking with seven days of occupation and 35 days of rest. The interaction between supplements and grazing cycles was not significant, and no effects of the supplements were found for any of the variables. The highest forage and leaf blade offerings were observed in the first grazing cycle. The highest levels of crude protein and lower neutral detergent fibre and lignin of pasture components were observed in cycles 3 and 4. The highest average daily gains per animal and per area were observed in cycles 1 and 2. Protein supplementation of sheep in Massai grass pastures promotes satisfactory gains during the dry season, and Leucaena and Gliricidia hays can be used as protein sources instead of soybean meal. Keywords: Gliricidia sepium, leguminous, Leucaena leucocephala, pastur

The upper Hauterivian Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) Arrifes section (Algarve Basin, Southern Portugal): a palynostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental approach

ABSTRACT: Integrated sedimentological, palynological, and palynofacies analyses of the Arrifes section in the central Algarve Basin (southern Portugal) provided new information on the age and environments of this Lower Cretaceous sequence. The sedimentary succession at the Arrifes section consists of fossiliferous interbedded limestones, marly limestones, and marls, dated as latest Hauterivian to late Barremian age (Lower Cretaceous) based on key dinoflagellate taxa. During this interval, the Arrifes area records climatic shifts and, multiple sea-level fluctuations; overall deposition was in shallow subtidal to intertidal settings, with deposition of carbonate and marly sediments. During the latest Hauterivian to earliest Barremian interval, an evident sea-level fall culminated in the subaerial exposure of the local carbonate ramp with increased influx of clastic sediments. However, during the Barremian, both sedimentological and palynological analyses suggest an overall deepening of the water depth towards the top of the section. These overall increase in the water column are confirmed by oscillation of terrestrial/marine palynomorph groups and supported by dinosaur track levels at the top of the succession; the latter indicate that sedimentation occurred in intertidal to subtidal environments. Finally, an attempt was made to correlate the Arrifes section with other sections from the Algarve Basin, as well as with broader region. These new data suggest a setting in the Tethyan basin influenced during the latest Hauterivian to the end of the Barremian. These new data allow local correlations and new palynological ages and paleoenvironmental interpretations for the Lower Cretaceous succession of the Algarve Basin.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The upper Hauterivian–Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) Arrifes section (Algarve Basin, Southern Portugal): A palynostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental approach

Integrated sedimentological, palynological, and palynofacies analyses of the Arrifes section in the central Algarve Basin (southern Portugal) provided new information on the age and environments of this Lower Cretaceous sequence. The sedimentary succession at the Arrifes section consists of fossiliferous inter-bedded limestones, marly limestones, and marls, dated as latest Hauterivian to late Barremian age (Lower Cretaceous) based on key dinoflagellate taxa. During this interval, the Arrifes area records cli-matic shifts and, multiple sea-level fluctuations; overall deposition was in shallow subtidal to intertidal settings, with deposition of carbonate and marly sediments. During the latest Hauterivian to earliest Barremian interval, an evident sea-level fall culminated in the subaerial exposure of the local carbonate ramp with increased influx of clastic sediments. However, during the Barremian, both sedimentological and palynological analyses suggest an overall deepening of the water depth towards the top of the section. These overall increase in the water column are confirmed by oscillation of terrestrial/marine palynomorph groups and supported by dinosaur track levels at the top of the succession; the latter indicate that sedimentation occurred in intertidal to subtidal environments. Finally, an attempt was made to correlate the Arrifes section with other sections from the Algarve Basin, as well as with broader region. These new data suggest a setting in the Tethyan basin influenced during the latest Hauterivian to the end of the Barremian. These new data allow local correlations and new palynological ages and paleoenvironmental interpretations for the Lower Cretaceous succession of the Algarve Basin.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thresholds of ultrasound synovial abnormalities for knee osteoarthritis: a cross sectional study in the general population

ObjectiveTo establish “normal” ranges for synovial thickness and effusion detected by ultrasound (US) and to determine cut-offs associated with knee pain (KP) and radiographic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA) in the community.Methods147 women and 152 men ≥40 years old were randomly selected from the Nottingham KP and Related Health in the Community (KPIC) cohort (n = 9506). The “normal” range was established using the percentile method in 163 participants who had no KP and no RKOA. Optimal (maximum sensitivity and specificity) and high specificity (90%) cut-offs were established using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in a comparison between people with both KP and RKOA and normal controls.ResultsEffusion and synovial hypertrophy differed by gender but not by age or laterality, therefore gender-specific reference limits were estimated. However, the “normal” ranges between men and women were similar for effusion (0–10.3 mm vs 0–9.8 mm), but different for synovial hypertrophy (0–6.8 mm vs 0–5.4 mm). Power Doppler Signal (PDS) in the healthy controls was uncommon (1.2% in men and 0.0% in women). The optimal cut-off was 7.4 mm for men and 5.3 mm for women for effusion, and 3.7 and 1.6 for hypertrophy respectively. The high specificity cut-off was 8.9 for men and 7.8 for women for effusion, and 5.8 and 4.2 for hypertrophy respectively.ConclusionsUS effusion and synovial hypertrophy but not PDS are common, but differ by gender, in community-derived people without painful knee OA. Currently used cut-offs for abnormality need reappraisal

Alcohol use and cognitive functioning in young adults : improving causal inference

Background and Aims: There have been few longitudinal studies of association between alcohol use and cognitive functioning in young people. We aimed to examine whether alcohol use is a causal risk factor for deficient cognitive functioning in young adults. Design: Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between longitudinal latent class patterns of binge drinking and subsequent cognitive functioning. Two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) tested evidence for the causal relationship between alcohol use and cognitive functioning. Setting: South West England. Participants: The observational study included 3,155 adolescents and their parents (fully adjusted models) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Genetic instruments for alcohol use were based on almost 1,000,000 individuals from the GWAS & Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine use (GSCAN). Genome-wide association studies for cognitive outcomes were based on 2,500 individuals from ALSPAC. Measurements: Binge drinking was assessed at approximately 16, 17, 18, 21, and 23 years. Cognitive functioning comprised working memory, response inhibition, and emotion recognition assessed at 24 years of age. Ninety-nine independent genome-wide significant SNPs associated with ‘number of drinks per week’ were used as the genetic instrument for alcohol consumption. Potential confounders were included in the observational analyses. Findings: Four binge drinking classes were identified: ‘low-risk’ (41%), ‘early-onset monthly’ (19%), ‘adult frequent’ (23%), and ‘early-onset frequent’ (17%). The association between early-onset frequent binge drinking and cognitive functioning: working memory (b=0.09, 95%CI=-0.10 to 0.28), response inhibition (b=0.70, 95%CI=-10.55 to 11.95), and emotion recognition (b=0.01, 95%CI=-0.01 to 0.02) in comparison to low-risk drinkers were inconclusive as to whether a difference was present. Two-sample MR analyses similarly provided little evidence that alcohol use is associated with deficits in working memory using the inverse variance weight (b=0.29, 95%CI=-0.42 to 0.99), response inhibition (b=-0.32, 95%CI=-1.04 to 0.39), and emotion recognition (b=0.03, 95%CI=-0.55 to 0.61). Conclusions: Binge drinking in adolescence and early adulthood may not be causally related to deficiencies in working memory, response inhibition, or emotion recognition in youths

Quality control in blood irradiation

Irradiation is a technique used in hemotherapy to functionally inactivateviable lymphocytes, in cellular blood components, to reduce the risk of Transfusion-associated Graft-versus-Host Disease (AT-GVHD), is rare but letal. One way to avoid it is to irradiate blood componentes in situations such as: intrauterine transfusion, newborns, patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy in bone marrow transplantation. Thus, it is extremely important that blood component is irradiated and, above all, ensure that the minimum dose is 25 Gy.The blood policy in Brazil is implemented through laws and normative decrees, giving rise to a legal system that underpins the actions of hemotherapy services. In order to correct verify absorbed doses and the quality assurance process as well as the safety for the irradiator operators we describe in this paper a several of physical measurements that is mandatory to support a physicist to evaluate the quality assurance during and after the irradiation process. The results obtained from this physical measurements  provided a guarantee of proper radiation dose used in hemotherapy as well as methods and procedures applied to protect the patient, employees and general public due to procedure of blood irradiation accordling the Technical Regulation of Hemotherapy Procedures of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) and safety regulations by National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN)

Peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a biomarker in bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis of 52 studies

Background The neurotrophic hypothesis postulates that mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (BD) are associated with a lower expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, its role in peripheral blood as a biomarker of disease activity and of stage for BD, transcending pathophysiology, is still disputed. In the last few years an increasing number of clinical studies assessing BDNF in serum and plasma have been published. Therefore, it is now possible to analyse the association between BDNF levels and the severity of affective symptoms in BD as well as the effects of acute drug treatment of mood episodes on BDNF levels. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies on serum and plasma BDNF levels in bipolar disorder. Results Through a series of meta-analyses including a total of 52 studies with 6,481 participants, we show that, compared to healthy controls, peripheral BDNF levels are reduced to the same extent in manic (Hedges' g = −0.57, P = 0.010) and depressive (Hedges' g = −0.93, P = 0.001) episodes, while BDNF levels are not significantly altered in euthymia. In meta-regression analyses, BDNF levels additionally negatively correlate with the severity of both manic and depressive symptoms. We found no evidence for a significant impact of illness duration on BDNF levels. In addition, in plasma, but not serum, peripheral BDNF levels increase after the successful treatment of an acute mania episode, but not of a depressive one. Conclusions In summary, our data suggest that peripheral BDNF levels, more clearly in plasma than in serum, is a potential biomarker of disease activity in BD, but not a biomarker of stage. We suggest that peripheral BDNF may, in future, be used as a part of a blood protein composite measure to assess disease activity in BD

AVALIAÇÃO FÍSICO-QUÍMICA E MICROBIOLÓGICA DA ÁGUA “IN NATURA”, DISTRIBUÍDA PELA REDE DE ABASTECIMENTO E DO RESERVATÓRIO OSSEAN ARARIPE/CRATO-CE.

A água de consumo humano é um dos importantes veículos  de enfermidades diarréicas de natureza infecciosa, sua contaminação pode ocorrer na fonte, durante a distribuição ou nos reservatórios. Assim, direta ou indiretamente, a água pode levar à transmissão de variados microrganismos principalmente onde as condições de saneamento básico são precárias.Este trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar o padrão de potabilidade da água “in natura”, distribuída pela rede de abastecimento do Poço Recanto nos bairros Ossean Araripe e Pimenta, da cidade do Crato, Ceará. Foram feitas análises físico-químicas (pH, turbidez e cloro) e microbiológica (Coliformes totais e E.coli). Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que de acordo com as características físico-químicas e a maioria das microbiológicas estão dentro dos padrões de potabilidade