A glance at the competing values framework of Quinn and the Miles & Snow strategic models: Case studies in health organizations

AbstractThe present research seeks to describe and understand how strategy influences leadership and how this in turn interacts in the process of innovation and change in health organizations.This is an exploratory and descriptive study that involved five health organizations: four Portuguese and one Spanish. We used a mixed approach of research (qualitative and quantitative), which enabled us to understand, through case study, how strategy and leadership were articulated with innovation in these five health organizations.Despite their complexity and specificity, both the model of Miles & Snow (organizational strategy) and the model of the Competing Values Framework of Quinn (organizational culture and leadership), suitably adapted, have proven heuristic power and are able to be applied to healthcare organizations.Public and private healthcare organizations, as well as public–private partnerships, can be tracked and monitored in their processes of innovation and change in order to understand its kind of culture, leadership or organizational strategy adopted.Health organizations coexist in a continuum, where the environment (internal and external) and time are key factors which determine the strategy to be adopted. Here too depending on the dynamic and complex reality where the organization moves, there are no pure types. There is indeed a great organizational plasticity and flexibility.Leaders usually carry the formal authority by circular normative. They are not pairs (or primi inter pares). Instead they are, sometimes, in a position of superiority, when the best thing is partnership, collaboration, cooperation, building consensus and cooperation with all stakeholders, in order that they are the real protagonists and facilitators of change and innovation

The performance of ultrasonic pulse velocity on the prediction of tensile granite behaviour : a study based on artificial neural networks

The rehabilitation and repair of existing structures requires inspection. This generally includes in situ non-destructive testing. A very economical test is the non-destructive ultrasonic pulse velocity test (UPV). Lower information is available in the literature in relation to the use of this technique for the estimation of the tensile strength of materials. Therefore, this paper aims at using artificial neural networks (ANN) in the prediction of the mechanical behaviour of granites under tensile loading. The parameters under analysis are the tensile strength, displacement at peak stress and critical crack opening. For this, experimental results obtained from the physical and mechanical characterization under tension of distinct types of granites are combined and the performance of the developed models using the UPV index alone and combined with other physical parameters is analysed. The results of the ANNs models are also compared with respect to the results of regression models. The criteria used to evaluate the predictive performances of the models were the coefficient of correlation (R) and root mean square error (RMSE)

On the cyclic behaviour of stone dry masonry joints

Dry masonry mechanics received little attention from research community, when compared with resources invested in traditional (mortared joint) masonry. Therefore, this work focuses on the characterization of Coulomb failure criterion and the loaddisplacement behaviour of dry masonry joints under cyclic loading, including aspects as surface roughness, dilatancy, inelastic behaviour, different stones and moisture contents. A displacement controlled test set-up using masonry couplets is used for this purpose. Besides providing a basis for understanding the behaviour of masonry joints, the experiments contribute also to the definition of non-linear numeric models

Lab-on-a-chip for biological fluids analysis by spetrophotometry

The healthcare sector is nowadays one of the most dynamic and where the novelty is a strategic and operational imperative. The possibility of increase the quantity and quality of clinical analysis, performed with instantaneous results and outside the clinical laboratories, contributes to a better quality in the health care services and also a better efficiency in the clinical and administrative processes [1]. This possibility can be achieved with the presented lab-on-a-chip for spectrophotometric analysis of biological fluids. It allows the selective measurement of the concentration of several biomolecules in biological fluids, with instantaneous results, at any location, with small quantities of reagents and samples and with low-cost. That measurement is based on colorimetric detection by the optical absorption in a part of the visible spectrum defined by the reaction of the specific biomolecule with a specific reagent. The device comprises a highly efficient and selective optical filtering and colorimetric detection system. This system allows the measurement with a regular white light illumination, thus avoiding the use of complex and expensive analysis systems like the ones that comprise spectrophotometers, for example. This feature highly facilitates portability and ensures analysis within consultation time, at a patient house (allowing a first trial) and in clinical laboratories or hospitals.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/BD/1281/2000 Escola de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho - Projecto IN2TEC. Centro Algoritmi da Universidade do Minh

Monastery of Salzedas (Portugal) : intervention in the cloister

A comprehensive program involving inspection, diagnosis, safety assessment and remedial measures of a Cistercian cloister is presented. The cloister was in very bad structural conditions and the consolidations works aimed at stopping further degradation and at preventing collapse. With the objective of keeping the abandoned / ruined condition of the cloister, all works have been hidden, while ample information is available to document the intervention

Phytochemical composition and biological activities of Geranium robertianum L.: a review

Abstract After a period of a certain indifference, in which synthetic compounds were favored, the interest in the study of the biological properties of plants and the active principles responsible for their therapeutic properties has been growing remarkably. Geranium robertianum L., commonly known as Herb Robert or Red Robin, is a spontaneous, herbaceous plant that has been used for a long time in folk medicine of several countries and in herbalism’s practice for the treatment of a variety of ailments. Herein, we present a comprehensive review on the phytochemical characterization and the biological activities of this species, which, accompanying the remarkable increase of its use in herbal medicine, has been disclosed in the literature mainly in the last decade. The phytochemical characterization of G. robertianum has been focused mostly on the investigation of solid-liquid extracts of the plant, with special emphasis on phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids. Studies concerning the essential oils of this species are still scarce but the number of identified compounds is high. The chemistry of G. robertianum is clearly dominated by phenolic constituents, the most studied classes of compounds being tannins, flavonoids and phenolic acids. The confirmation of the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycaemic and cytotoxic activities of G. robertianum, closely related to the high content of phenolic compounds, has come to corroborate in some extent the recognized beneficial proprieties of this medicinal plant.This work is supported by national funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. V.C. Graça thanks to FCT for a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/52542/2014)

Characterization of the fracture surfaces obtained in direct tensile tests

The study presented herein deals with an investigation of the dependence of the mode I fracture energy on the fracture path. The relief of the fracture surfaces resulting from direct tensile tests conducted on different types of granites was characterized by means of classical parameters, mean roughness and root-mean-square roughness. These parameters were obtained from the data acquired by a 3D laser topographical inspection system used to capture the texture of fracture surface profiles at various locations of the surface. A scattered linear correlation between fracture energy and the mean (micro)roughness was attained. Additionally, it was found that microstructural aspects, like planear anisotropy and grain size, as well as the weathering state, influence the fracture surface relief

Foeniculum vulgare Essential Oils: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities

The essential oils from Foeniculum vulgare commercial aerial parts and fruits were isolated by hydrodistillation, with different distillation times (30 min, I h, 2 h and 3 h), and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The antioxidant ability was estimated using four distinct methods. Antibacterial activity was determined by the agar diffusion method. Remarkable differences, and worrying from the quality and safety point of view, were detected in the essential oils. trans-Anethole (31-36%), alpha-pinene (14-20%) and limonene (11-13%) were the main components of the essentials oil isolated from F. vulgare dried aerial parts, whereas methyl chavicol (= estragole) (79-88%) was dominant in the fruit oils. With the DPPH method the plant oils showed better antioxidant activity than the fruits oils. With the TBARS method and at higher concentrations, fennel essential oils showed a pro-oxidant activity. None of the oils showed a hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity >50%, but they showed an ability to inhibit 5-lipoxygenase. The essential oils showed a very low antimicrobial activity. In general, the essential oils isolated during 2 h were as effective, from the biological activity point of view, as those isolated during 3 h.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Caracterização da terapêutica não farmacológica dos utentes diabéticos de uma farmácia do concelho de Sintra

A diabetes tipo 2 é uma doença metabólica que se estima que atinja 9,8% dos portugueses acima dos 20 anos. O reconhecimento de que o bom controlo glicémico permite reduzir de forma significativa as suas complicações estabeleceu como prioridade nestes doentes o tratamento eficaz da hiperglicemia. Na base do tratamento encontram-se as modificações dos estilos de vida, considerando-se a sobrenutrição e o sedentarismo (associados a excesso de peso e/ou obesidade e insulino-resistência) os principais factores ambientais que aumentam o risco de diabetes tipo 2, num contexto de susceptibilidade genética. Por essa razão, as intervenções que contrariem estes factores têm demonstrado um efeito benéfico no controlo glicémico. Nesse contexto cabe também às farmácias comunitárias a promoção de estilos de vida saudáveis juntodas suas populações. Objectivo do estudo: caracterizar a terapêutica não farmacológica, nomeadamente hábitos alimentares e prática de exercício físico, dos utentes diabéticos de uma farmácia do concelho de Sintra