Green perceptions or green practices : What are the strongest influences on work engagement?

Green practices promoted in terms of people management, and which embody a Green Human Resources Management, are important tools for establishing a workforce which understands, values and practices green initiatives, which in turn will enable the organizations to attain their sustainability objectives. Workers also need to perceive that their organizations are concerned with and values sustainability, a phenomenon known as the organisational rationale for sustainability, and when they experience a close psychological connection with the organization, workers adopt its organizational objectives and targets for themselves, showing higher levels of organizational identification and work engagement. This paper analyses which factors most influence levels of work engagement in an organizational framework of pro-sustainability actions and concerns. Based on a sample of 275 workers from different organizations, economic sectors and occupations, the results show that implementing HRM green practices, especially in recruitment and selection and compensation (and, to a lesser extent, training), and reinforcing organizational identification are stronger determinants of greater work engagement than the perception that workers have of the importance which their organization attaches to sustainability..info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Going green and sustainable : The influence of green HR practices on the organizational rationale for sustainability

Organizations that go green need their employees to perceive that sustainability is a priority in order to increase pro-sustainability behavior. Several factors can influence how employees perceive their organization’s com- mitment to sustainability; however, no research has yet explored how green human resource management can influence that perception. This study thus examines the role of green hiring, green training, and green com- pensation, along with age and gender, in sustaining the organizational rationale for sustainability (ORS). Results from a sample of 275 Portuguese employees, analysed through the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), shows that perceived ORS is mainly grounded in green hiring, and to a lesser extent, in green training. Green hiring is especially important for older employees, whereas younger employees require green training. Green compensation is surprisingly irrelevant. The study is useful for researchers and practitioners who seek to understand employees’ perception about the value and priority their organizations give to sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High prevalence and mortality due to Histoplasma capsulatum in the Brazilian Amazon: An autopsy study

Background: Histoplasmosis is acquired by inhalation of spores of the dimorphic fungus Histoplasma spp. Although this pathogen is distributed worldwide, it is more prevalent in the Americas. However, the real burden of histoplasmosis remains undefined in many endemic regions. Methodology: We conducted a series of 61 autopsies to individuals who died in a hospital in the Brazilian Amazon focused on infectious diseases. We performed a detailed histological and microbiological evaluation with genetic characterization of Histoplasma strains with the aim to evaluate the contribution of histoplasmosis to morbidity and mortality. Additionally, we assessed the clinicopathological correlation. Principal findings: Evidence of Histoplasma infection was detected in 21 patients (34%). Eight cases were disseminated infections, all of them occurred in HIV-positive patients. Six cases were localized histoplasmosis, limited to the lungs. In seven patients Histoplasma DNA was detected by PCR in patients with no histological lesions. Histoplasma infection was detected in 38% of HIV-positive patients and was a major contributor to death in 22% of them. Lungs, liver and spleen were affected in all cases of disseminated histoplasmosis. Phylogenetic analysis of the strains suggested a high diversity of Histoplasma species circulating in the Brazilian Amazon. Histoplasmosis was clinically missed in 75% of the disseminated infections. Conclusions: The high incidence of histoplasmosis, the low index of clinical suspicion, and the severity of the disseminated disease highlight the need of proactively implementing sensitive routine screening methods for this pathogen in endemic areas. Antifungal prophylaxis against Histoplasma should be encouraged in the severely immunocompromised HIV patients in these areas. In conclusion, substantial mortality is associated with disseminated histoplasmosis among HIV-positive patients in the Brazilian Amazon

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A ética do silêncio racial no contexto urbano: políticas públicas e desigualdade social no Recife, 1900-1940

Mais de meio século após o preconceito racial ter se tornado o principal alvo dos movimentos urbanos pelos direitos civis nos Estados Unidos e na África do Sul, e décadas depois do surgimento dos movimentos negros contemporâneos no Brasil, o conjunto de ferramentas legislativas criado no Brasil para promover o direito à cidade ainda adere à longa tradição brasileira de silêncio acerca da questão racial. Este artigo propõe iniciar uma exploração das raízes históricas desse fenômeno, remontando ao surgimento do silêncio sobre a questão racial na política urbana do Recife, Brasil, durante a primeira metade do século XX. O Recife foi eé um exemplo paradigmático do processo pelo qual uma cidade amplamente marcada por traços negros e africanos chegou a ser definida política e legalmente como um espaço pobre, subdesenvolvido e racialmente neutro, onde as desigualdades sociais originaram na exclusão capitalista, e não na escravidão e nas ideologias do racismo científico. Neste sentido, Recife lança luzes sobre a política urbana que se gerou sob a sombra do silêncio racial.More than half a century after racial prejudice became central to urban civil rights movements in the United States and South Africa, and decades after the emergence of Brazil’s contemporary Black movements, Brazil's internationally recognized body of rights-to-the-city legislation still adheres to the country's long historical tradition of racial silence. This article explores the historical roots of this phenomenon by focusing on the emergence of racial silence in Recife, Brazil during the first half of the 20th Century. Recife was and remains a paradigmatic example of the process through which a city marked by its Black and African roots came to be legally and politically defined as a poor, underdeveloped and racially neutral space, where social inequalities derived from capitalist exclusion rather than from slavery and scientific racism. As such, Recife'sexperience sheds light on the urban policies that were generated in the shadow of racial silence

Understanding leadership effectiveness in organizational settings : an integrative approach

Doutoramento em GestãoOs líderes estão envolvidos no processo de influenciar pessoas para atingir metas que sustentam o elevado desempenho corporativo ao longo do tempo. Tradicionalmente, os investigadores têm estudado este fenómeno usando modelos teóricos não integrados (ou seja, considerando isoladamente traços de personalidade, competências ou comportamentos de liderança). Esta tese preenche esta lacuna na literatura, ao adotar uma perspetiva integradora da teoria da liderança. Para responder à questão de "como alguns líderes são mais eficazes do que outros?", este estudo utilizou uma metodologia mista com carácter exploratório, composta de um estudo qualitativo para o investigador obter informação relevante sobre o tema, e de um estudo quantitativo para confirmar as principais conclusões da fase exploratória. Os resultados do estudo qualitativo revelam que a eficácia da liderança é um constructo multidimensional composto por quatro dimensões: (1) traços, (2) competências, (3) comportamentos, e (4) processos. Além disso, o modelo testado na fase quantitativa identifica fatores que explicam uma variância significativa da eficácia organizacional. Estes resultados sugerem que os líderes que são orientados para objetivos, bons comunicadores interpessoais, autoconfiantes, e que exibem certos comportamentos são mais propensos a serem altamente eficazes e têm um impacto maior sobre a eficácia organizacional. Em geral, os resultados suportam um modelo integrativo da eficácia da liderança, contribuem para o debate teórico sobre a forma como a eficácia da liderança pode contribuir para o desempenho organizacional, e ajuda os gestores a entenderem melhor o processo de liderança eficaz dentro das organizações.Leaders are involved in the process of influencing people to achieve corporate goals that sustain high-performance over time. Previous research addressing this phenomenon has traditionally adopted a single approach (i.e., traits, skills, or behaviors). This thesis fills this gap in the literature by adopting an integrative perspective of the leadership theory. To address the question of “how are some leaders more effective than others,” an exploratory mixed method approach was used, comprised of a qualitative study to provide the researcher with meaningful insights on the topic, and a quantitative study to confirm the main findings of the exploratory stage. Qualitative findings reveal that leadership effectiveness is a multidimensional construct comprised of four dimensions: (1) traits, (2) skills, (3) behaviors, and (4) processes. Additionally, the model tested during the quantitative phase identifies key predictors, and explains a significant variance of organizational effectiveness. These findings suggest that leaders that are learning goal-oriented, good interpersonal communicators, self-confident, and exhibit certain behaviors are more likely to be highly effective and to have a greater impact on organizational effectiveness. Overall, the results give a substantive support for an integrative model of leadership effectiveness, contribute to the theoretical debate on how leadership effectiveness can sustain organizational performance, and help managers understand the effective leadership process inside organizations.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Prevalence and associations of symptoms of upper extremities, repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and 'RSI-like condition'. A cross sectional study of bank workers in Northeast Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The repetitive strain injury syndrome (RSI) is a worldwide occupational health problem affecting all types of economic activities. We investigated the prevalence and some risk factors for RSI and related conditions, namely 'symptoms of upper limbs' and 'RSI-like condition'. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study with 395 bank workers in Recife, Northeast Brazil. Symptoms of upper limbs and 'RSI-like condition' were assessed by a simple questionnaire, which was used to screen probable cases of RSI. The diagnosis of RSI was confirmed by clinical examination. The associations of potential risk factors and the outcomes were assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: We found prevalence rates of 56% for symptoms of the upper limbs and 30% for 'RSI-like condition'. The estimated prevalence of clinically confirmed cases of RSI was 22%. Female sex and occupation (as cashier or clerk) increased the risk of all conditions, but the associations were stronger for cases of RSI than for less specific diagnoses of 'RSI-like condition' and symptoms of upper limbs. Age was inversely related to the risk of symptoms of upper limbs but not to 'RSI-like' or RSI. CONCLUSION: The variation in the magnitude of risk according to the outcome assessed suggests that previous studies using different definitions may not be immediately comparable. We propose the use of a simple instrument to screen cases of RSI in population based studies, which still needs to be validated in other populations. The high prevalence of RSI and related conditions in this population suggests the need for urgent interventions to tackle the problem, which could be directed to individuals at higher risk and to changes in the work organization and environment of the general population