12 research outputs found
Building future societies? A brief analysis of Braga’s school bus project
This paper seeks to demonstrate the importance of implementing trans-
port policies that meet home to school (and vice versa) mobility needs of children
and young people. Over the last few years families’ mobility has been given
increasing attention. One of the most investigated aspects is home to work mobil-
ity. Nowadays there is an urgent need to study and propose intervention measures
regarding children’s mobility to school. In fact, studies show that the car is the
preferred mode of transportation in Portugal. This trend has undoubtedly negative
social, environmental and health consequences. Based on an evaluation study on
the School Bus project in Braga (a research- intervention activity of BUILD-Braga
Urban Innovation Laboratory Demonstrator), this paper discusses the difficulties
in implementing sustainable mobility initiatives, pointing out anticipatory mea-
sures that can be taken in medium-sized cities in order to stop the expansion of
children’s transportation by car, and give them back spaces in the cities.UIDB/00736/202
A relative absence: exploring professional experiences of funerals without mourners
When someone dies, it is usual for relatives to gather at a funeral to embody a collective act of eulogy for the deceased and stand against the finality of death. When someone who lived alone dies alone at home, it is not always possible to identify anyone to attend a funeral. In such cases, funeral professionals are required to perform the appropriate social rites in the absence of the confirmatory power of a society. Drawing on interviews with funeral professionals and ethnographic observations of funerals without mourners, we explore how professionals understand their roles in performing social rites against death when there is no one to participate in them. We consider the impact of attempting to make good a death generally perceived as bad, and we examine the significance of funerals as a social rite when the deceased is assumed to have forgone social relationships during their lifetime. Peer reviewe
Business continuity management in Jordanian banks: Some cultural considerations
This article investigates the extent to which the Jordanian banking
sector uses Business Continuity Management (BCM) as a way to manage organizational
risk, disasters and crises, as well as business interruptions. The population
in this study consists of the 17 Jordanian banks registered with the Amman Stock
Exchange. Data were collected via an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Eleven
completed questionnaires were obtained, representing a response rate of 64.7 per
cent. Questionnaires were followed by three semi-structured interviews conducted
with BCM managers from three Jordanian banks from different cultural backgrounds;
local, Islamic and foreign. All the respondents have BCM programmes in place. There
are no statistically significant differences in the practice of BCM between Jordanian
banks in terms of organizational characteristics, such as size and age. However, the
cultural backgrounds of the banks and culturally determined differences in their
operations more generally have influenced the practice of BCM in significant ways
Paramagnetic rims are a promising diagnostic imaging biomarker in multiple sclerosis
Background: White matter lesions (WMLs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) may contribute to misdiagnosis. In chronic active lesions, peripheral iron-laden macrophages appear as paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs). Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of PRLs in differentiating MS from mimics using clinical 3T MRI scanners. Method: This retrospective international study reviewed MRI scans of patients with MS (n = 254), MS mimics (n = 91) and older healthy controls (n = 217). WMLs, detected using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI, were analysed with phase-sensitive imaging. Sensitivity and specificity were assessed for PRLs. Results: At least one PRL was found in 22.9% of MS and 26.1% of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) patients. Only one PRL was found elsewhere. The identification of â©ľ1 PRL was the optimal cut-off and had high specificity (99.7%, confidence interval (CI) = 98.20%-99.99%) when distinguishing MS and CIS from mimics and healthy controls, but lower sensitivity (24.0%, CI = 18.9%-36.6%). All patients with a PRL showing a central vein sign (CVS) in the same lesion (n = 54) had MS or CIS, giving a specificity of 100% (CI = 98.8%-100.0%) but equally low sensitivity (21.3%, CI = 16.4%-26.81%). Conclusion: PRLs may reduce diagnostic uncertainty in MS by being a highly specific imaging diagnostic biomarker, especially when used in conjunction with the CVS