Empregabilidade e a iniciativa novas oportunidades: um estudo de caso

Mestrado em Governação, Competitividade e Políticas PúblicasAs políticas de educação de adultos em Portugal sofreram, ao longo do tempo, avanços e retrocessos. Apesar dos esforços feitos nunca nenhum programa público neste âmbito alcançou uma tão grande notoriedade – a nível nacional e internacional – ou sequer conseguiu uma adesão semelhante à da Iniciativa Novas Oportunidades. A Iniciativa conseguiu colocar os portugueses a pensar sobre este assunto, sendo isto espelhado nas muitas críticas e polémica em que sempre esteve envolta. Primeiramente, as críticas recaíam sobre a sua ‘inovadora’ metodologia e sobre os seus objetivos ambiciosos. Posteriormente, a polémica girou em torno da sua eficiência e eficácia no alcance desses mesmos objetivos, nomeadamente no que respeita ao da promoção da empregabilidade. Estas dúvidas aliadas aos cortes no financiamento no quadro da atual recessão foram cruciais para despoletar o atual ímpeto de reestruturação da Iniciativa, ainda que este tenha sido iniciado num quadro de uma quase ausência de informação empírica sobre o impacto da Iniciativa a este nível. É precisamente neste contexto de dúvidas, polémica e falta de informação de suporte à tomada de decisão, que surge o interesse em desenvolver o tema desta dissertação. Assim, este estudo que considera a promoção da empregabilidade e a Iniciativa Novas Oportunidades pretende dar a conhecer – através do estudo de caso – as perceções dos adultos já certificados no nível escolar secundário, por esta Iniciativa, sobre o seu impacto na sua empregabilidade, bem como a avaliação dos benefícios esperados e percecionados. As três grandes questões de investigação que serviram de linha orientadora deste trabalho foram as seguintes: P1: O objetivo da promoção da empregabilidade da Iniciativa Novas Oportunidades, no âmbito da oferta Processo de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências, terá sido alcançado se avaliado sob a ótica dos adultos já certificados? P2: No âmbito da empregabilidade quais terão sido as dimensões que representaram maiores ganhos para os adultos segundo a sua ótica? P3: Terão sido questões relacionadas com a empregabilidade que mais motivaram os adultos a inscreverem-se na Iniciativa Novas Oportunidades? A dissertação encontra-se dividida em duas partes distintas. Na primeira parte, que é constituída por três capítulos é feita uma abordagem aos antecedentes da Iniciativa, à sua caracterização e à sua envolvência até à atualidade (abril 2012). Nesta parte, é ainda apresentada uma breve abordagem à abrangência de empregabilidade e à importância que lhe é dada, aqui considerada pertinente devido ao foco deste trabalho e são apresentadas algumas das críticas que surgiram sobre a Iniciativa. Na segunda parte, que é também composta por três capítulos é então dado a conhecer o estudo de caso, a metodologia e os seus resultados. No final são apresentadas algumas conclusões reflexivas que conduzem a propostas para uma possível reestruturação e é lançada uma agenda de pesquisa futura.Adult education policies in Portugal have, over the time, suffered advances and setbacks. In spite of the efforts no public programme in this area reached such notoriety – at a national and international level – or even achieved a similar adherence as the New Opportunities Initiative. The Initiative has succeeded in making the Portuguese think about this subject, which is visible through the criticisms and controversy that has always have involved the Initiative. Firstly the criticisms were about its new methodology and about its ambitious aims. Later, the controversy concerned its efficiency and effectiveness in achieving those aims, particularly the one that relates to improving employability. These doubts combined with the cuts in the financing in the current recession context were crucial to boost the present impetus of the restructuring of the Initiative, even though it was initiated in a situation of almost absence of empirical information about the Initiative impact at this level. It is precisely in this context of doubts, controversy and gap of information to support the decision-making that the interest in developing the theme of this dissertation appears. Thus this study that considers the improvement of employability and the New Opportunities Initiative intends to present – through the case study – the perceptions of the adults, already certified with upper secondary level by this Initiative, about its impact on their employability, as well as the evaluation of the expected and perceived gains. The three main investigation questions that served as guidelines in this work were the following: Q1: Was the aim of improving employability of the New Opportunities Initiative, in the area of the Competences Recognition, Validation and Certification Process achieved from the point of view of the adults already certified? Q2: Which have been the dimensions in the employability sphere that represent greater gains to adults according to their point of view? Q3: Were there issues related to employability that motivated adults more to enroll in the “New Opportunities” Initiative? The dissertation is divided in two distinct parts. In the first part, which is composed of three chapters is presented an approach to the antecedents of the Initiative, characterization, and circumstances until today (April 2012). In this part a short approach to the scope of employability and its importance is also presented as it is here considered relevant to the focus of this work and some of the criticisms that have emerged about the Initiative are presented too. In the second part, which is also composed by three chapters, there is the case study, methodology and the results. In the last part some reflexive conclusions are made that lead to proposals for a possible restructuring and it is launched an agenda for future research

Viral genetic clustering and transmission dynamics of the 2022 mpox outbreak in Portugal

Pathogen genome sequencing during epidemics enhances our ability to identify and understand suspected clusters and investigate their relationships. Here, we combine genomic and epidemiological data of the 2022 mpox outbreak to better understand early viral spread, diversification and transmission dynamics. By sequencing 52% of the confirmed cases in Portugal, we identified the mpox virus sublineages with the highest impact on case numbers and fitted them into a global context, finding evidence that several international sublineages probably emerged or spread early in Portugal. We estimated a 62% infection reporting rate and that 1.3% of the population of men who have sex with men in Portugal were infected. We infer the critical role played by sexual networks and superspreader gatherings, such as sauna attendance, in the dissemination of mpox virus. Overall, our findings highlight genomic epidemiology as a tool for the real-time monitoring and control of mpox epidemics, and can guide future vaccine policy in a highly susceptible population.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Viral genetic clustering and transmission dynamics of the 2022 mpox outbreak in Portugal

Pathogen genome sequencing during epidemics enhances our ability to identify and understand suspected clusters and investigate their relationships. Here, we combine genomic and epidemiological data of the 2022 mpox outbreak to better understand early viral spread, diversification and transmission dynamics. By sequencing 52% of the confirmed cases in Portugal, we identified the mpox virus sublineages with the highest impact on case numbers and fitted them into a global context, finding evidence that several international sublineages probably emerged or spread early in Portugal. We estimated a 62% infection reporting rate and that 1.3% of the population of men who have sex with men in Portugal were infected. We infer the critical role played by sexual networks and superspreader gatherings, such as sauna attendance, in the dissemination of mpox virus. Overall, our findings highlight genomic epidemiology as a tool for the real-time monitoring and control of mpox epidemics, and can guide future vaccine policy in a highly susceptible population.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Síndrome do coração Pós-feriado: pacientes acometidos por arritmia cardíaca em detrimento do consumo exagerado de álcool: Post Holiday coração Syndrome: patients suffered by cardiac arrhythmia to the detriment of exaggerated alcohol consumption

INTRODUÇÃO: O álcool é conhecido por beneficiar o sistema cardiovascular com a ativação do sistema fibrinolítico, redução da agregação de plaquetas e aperfeiçoamento do perfil lipídico, entre outros mecanismos, quando consumido em doses moderadas. Todavia, seu uso de maneira abusiva culmina em patologias graves que podem evoluir para a morte, como a hipertensão arterial, a cardiomiopatia alcoólica, a arritmia cardíaca e até a “Síndrome do Coração Pós Feriado” ou do inglês, “Holiday Heart Syndrome”. OBJETIVOS: O presente estudo tem como objetivo delinear sobre a Síndrome do Coração Pós Feriado, transpassando por suas características clínicas, repercussões eletrofisiológicas, diagnóstico e manejo terapêutico. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Dessa forma, o presente trabalho realizou uma revisão sistemática qualitativa, realizado no período entre julho e agosto de 2022, através de artigos das bases de dados Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) e United States National Library of Medicine (PubMed). RESULTADOS E DISCUSSÃO: A interação do álcool no organismo está diretamente relacionada com o sistema nervoso autônomo do indivíduo, gerando um estado de desequilíbrio autonômico, assim há alterações elétricas, como acréscimo da frequência cardíaca, gerando um estado de taquicardia. A principal patologia encontrada em questão foi a taquicardia sinusal, sendo um tipo de arritmia e por conseguinte, notou-se a presença da fibrilação atrial, sendo o excesso no consumo de etanol é causador de aproximadamente 67% dos casos de emergências desta última enfermidade. CONCLUSÃO: Portanto, com base na literatura analisada, observou-se que a ingestão alcoólica aguda age retardando o sistema de condução cardíaco, atua no encurtamento do período refratário e o aumento da atividade simpática, além de aumentar os níveis de catecolaminas circulantes. Por fim, também se evidenciou uma associação entre álcool e fatores de risco, principalmente hipertensão e obesidade e essas patologias aumentam os episódios de fibrilação atrial

Validation of a Simple HPLC-Based Method for Lysine Quantification for Ruminant Nutrition

Robust and selective quantification methods are required to better analyze feed supplementation effectiveness with specific amino acids. In this work, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection is proposed and validated for lysine quantification, one of the most limiting amino acids in ruminant nutrition and essential towards milk production. To assess and widen method applicability, different matrices were considered: namely Li2CO3 buffer (the chosen standard reaction buffer), phosphate buffer solution (to mimic media in cellular studies), and rumen inoculum. The method was validated for all three matrices and found to be selective, accurate (92% ± 2%), and precise at both the inter- and intra-day levels in concentrations up to 225 µM, with detection and quantification limits lower than 1.24 and 4.14 µM, respectively. Sample stability was evaluated when stored at room temperature, 4 °C, and −20 °C, showing consistency for up to 48 h regardless of the matrix. Finally, the developed method was applied in the quantification of lysine on real samples. The results presented indicate that the proposed method can be applied towards free lysine quantification in ruminant feeding studies and potentially be of great benefit to dairy cow nutrition supplementation and optimization

Viral genetic clustering and transmission dynamics of the 2022 mpox outbreak in Portugal.

Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the engagement and willingness of all participants to share information critical to the investigation. We are grateful to the authors and laboratories that originated and submitted the genetic sequences released in GenBank. The acquisition of equipment associated with whole-genome sequencing used in this study (including the Illumina NextSeq 2000) was funded by the HERA (Human and Environmental Risk Assessment) project (Grant/2021/PHF/23776), supported by the European Commission through the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and partially funded by 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 the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). This study was also supported by the ERINHA-Advance project (funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation program, grant agreement no. 824061) and benefited from co-funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement no. 773830 (One Health European Joint Programme), in particular by the co-funding of the post-doctoral fellowships of J.S.D. and V.M. and the development of INSaFLU. We also thank M. Pinheiro (iBiMED at the Universidade de Aveiro) for his continuous support in updating the INSaFLU platform and the Infraestrutura Nacional de Computação Distribuída (INCD) for providing computational resources for testing it. INCD was funded by the FCT and FEDER under the project 22153-01/SAICT/2016. M.P.D. is funded by the Gates Cambridge Scholarship (no. OPP1144). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The GAT-Intendente team also thanks A. Vasques, L. Fortuna, J. Moreira, I. Correia and Á. Baginha.Pathogen genome sequencing during epidemics enhances our ability to identify and understand suspected clusters and investigate their relationships. Here, we combine genomic and epidemiological data of the 2022 mpox outbreak to better understand early viral spread, diversification and transmission dynamics. By sequencing 52% of the confirmed cases in Portugal, we identified the mpox virus sublineages with the highest impact on case numbers and fitted them into a global context, finding evidence that several international sublineages probably emerged or spread early in Portugal. We estimated a 62% infection reporting rate and that 1.3% of the population of men who have sex with men in Portugal were infected. We infer the critical role played by sexual networks and superspreader gatherings, such as sauna attendance, in the dissemination of mpox virus. Overall, our findings highlight genomic epidemiology as a tool for the real-time monitoring and control of mpox epidemics, and can guide future vaccine policy in a highly susceptible population

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved