Do individual factors matter? : A survey of scientists’ patenting in Portuguese public research organisations

This paper addresses scientists’ behaviour regarding the patenting of knowledge produced in universities and other public sector research organisations (PSROs). Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in patenting and licensing activities by PSROs. We argue that the whole process depends to a certain extent on scientists’ willingness to disclose their inventions. Given this assumption, we conduct research into individual behaviour in order to understand scientists’ views concerning the patenting of their research results. Data from a questionnaire survey of Portuguese researchers from nine PSROs in life sciences and biotechnology is presented and analysed and complemented with in-depth interviews. The results reveal that overall the scientists surveyed show a low propensity to become involved in patenting and licensing activities, despite the fact that the majority had no “ethical” objections to the disclosure of their inventions and the commercial exploitation of these. Perceptions about the impacts of these activities on certain fundamental aspects of knowledge production and dissemination are however divergent. This may account for the low participation levels. Furthermore, most scientists perceived the personal benefits deriving from this type of activity to be low. Similarly, the majority also believed that there are many difficulties associated with the patenting process and that they receive limited support from their organisations, which lack the proper competences and structures to assist with patenting and licensing.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Fatores que influenciam a forma como os hotéis respondem às reclamações dos clientes

Empresas que oferecem serviços em geral, e serviços hoteleiros em particular, devem centrar a sua atenção na prestação de um serviço de qualidade e orientar os seus vetores estratégicos para o cliente satisfeito, de forma a garantir e manter um portfolio de clientes leais e rentáveis. No entanto, devido às características peculiares que distinguem serviços de bens, as falhas são eventos inerentes em encontros de serviço, constituindo um continuum as preocupações em recuperar essas falhas / reclamações. O objetivo deste artigo é expor, de forma teórica, quais os fatores organizacionais que a indústria hoteleira deve ter em consideração, para responder às reclamações apresentadas pelos seus clientes, bem como, qual o impacte destes fatores na satisfação, na intenção de recompra, no word-of-mouth e nas intenções de reclamações futuras dos clientes. Mais precisamente, foram tidas em consideração variáveis como: o Comprometimento e Foco no Cliente; o Preconceito em Relação às Reclamações; a Compreensão da Importância da Gestão de Reclamações; a Estrutura Organizacional; os Sistemas, as Políticas e os Procedimentos de Gestão de Reclamações e os Recursos Humanos, e foi mencionado qual o seu possível contributo para a formulação das respostas dadas pelas empresas aos clientes que reclamam. Posteriormente foi descrito como é que respostas organizacionais às reclamações e a justiça organizacional influenciam a Satisfação dos Clientes, e os consequentes impactes na Intenção de Recompra, Word-of-mouth e Intenções de Reclamações Futuras, decorrentes da satisfação após ocorrer uma falha de serviço e resultante recuperação.Companies that provide services in general and particularly those which provide hotel services should focus their attention in a quality service and guide its strategic vectors to a satisfied costumer, in a way to assure and maintain a loyal and profitable costumers’ portfolio. However, due to its peculiar characteristics that distinguish from other services, hotel services errors are inherent events, constituting a continuum concern in rectifying those mistakes / complaints. The goal of this article is to expose theoretically, which organizational factors a hotel industry must take in consideration, in order to respond to the customer’s complaints, as well as, the impact that these factors have on the satisfaction, repatronage intentions, word-of-mouth and customer’s future complaint intentions. More precisely, some constructs were taken in account, such as: Guest Focus and Commitment; Prejudgments Towards Guest Complaints; Understanding the Importance of Complaints Management; Organizational Structure, System, Policy, and Procedures of Complaint Management; Heeling the Complaints; Human Resource, and was mentioned what was the possible contribute to the formulation of the responses given by the companies to the complaining customers. Furthermore, it was described how the organizational responses to the complaints may lead to Customer Satisfaction, as well as, which are the behavioural consequences (repatronage intentions, word-of-mouth and future complaint intentions) resulting from satisfaction, after a service failure and recovery.publishe

Aspectos mineralógicos das "Viagens Filosóficas" pelo território brasileiro na transição do século XVIII para o século XIX Mineralogical aspects of 'Philosophical Voyages' through the Brazilian territory during the transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries

O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar os aspectos mineralógicos das "Viagens Filosóficas" realizadas no Império português na transição do século XVIII para o XIX, com ênfase no Brasil. Tais expedições científicas e seus resultados inserem Portugal e suas possessões no contexto científico do período. Acreditamos que as "Viagens Filosóficas" estão entre os elementos mais relevantes para entender o processo de institucionalização das ciências naturais no Brasil, particularmente - no caso deste artigo - as ciências mineralógicas.<br>The late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century scientific expeditions undertaken by the Crown earned Portugal and its possessions a place on the period's scientific stage. These Philosophical Voyages provide us with invaluable elements for understanding the process by which the natural sciences were institutionalized in Brazil, especially - in the case of this article - the mineralogical sciences

Epigenetic activation of a cryptic TBC1D16 transcript enhances melanoma progression by targeting EGFR.

Metastasis is responsible for most cancer-related deaths, and, among common tumor types, melanoma is one with great potential to metastasize. Here we study the contribution of epigenetic changes to the dissemination process by analyzing the changes that occur at the DNA methylation level between primary cancer cells and metastases. We found a hypomethylation event that reactivates a cryptic transcript of the Rab GTPase activating protein TBC1D16 (TBC1D16-47 kDa; referred to hereafter as TBC1D16-47KD) to be a characteristic feature of the metastatic cascade. This short isoform of TBC1D16 exacerbates melanoma growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. By combining immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we identified RAB5C as a new TBC1D16 target and showed that it regulates EGFR in melanoma cells. We also found that epigenetic reactivation of TBC1D16-47KD is associated with poor clinical outcome in melanoma, while conferring greater sensitivity to BRAF and MEK inhibitors