Regulating privatized infrastructures and airport services

For a World Bank Institute course on transport privatization, the authors cover basic issues associated with the regulation of privatized airport infrastructure and services: 1) Economic characteristics of airport. Three types of activities are carried out in airports: essential operational services (aeronautical and non-aeronautical), handling services (aeronautical and non-aeronautical), and commercial activities. Demand for basic airport services is directly influenced by trip purpose. The two types of airline customers (business and leisure travelers) need different levels of flexibility and tend to travel at different times. Analyzing airport capacity (practical and saturation) under peak demand is essential to airport success. Among other important issues: runway cost, level and volume of service, pollution, congestion, and air traffic control. 2) Recent trends in the airport industry. The movement toward privatization may involve public ownership and private operation, including joint ventures; partial or majority divestiture; management contracts; and BOT (build-operate-transfer) schemes and variants, including BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) schemes and LDO (lease-develop-operate) schemes. Or it may involve private ownership and operation. 3) Price regulation. Topics covered include traditional pricing policies'price regulation through an RPI-X formula; charges for congestion, noise, and other externalities; investment plans; and design of the regulatory system. 4) Regulation of quality in the industry. Topics covered: regulation of services to passengers (as measured by targets for check-in queues, immigration queues, baggage reclaim queues, concourse crowding, shopping, parking, and so on); fault repair times; average levels of passenger boarding and disembarkation and baggage delivery; safety; and investment obligation. 5) Performance indicators in the industry. Topics covered: strategic indicators and other financial indicators (including revenues), as well as indicators of cost, productivity, and quality of service.Transport and Trade Logistics,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Decentralization,Roads&Highways,Airports and Air Services,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Transport and Trade Logistics

Polyphonic Memories of the Revolution

UID/HIS/04666/2013In the early 2010s, most Portuguese had to manage to keep their heads above the waters of a serious financial crisis, aggravated by the austerity measures imposed by the Troika in 2011. The Troika representatives left Portugal in 2014, after the bailout agreement had formally finished. There was a new horizon of economic prosperity, with prospects of improvement in the standards of living of the Portuguese. In the meantime, Portugal celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. O verdadeiro ator (2011) and O Coro dos Defuntos (2015) are two novels whose narratives use fantasy to represent the persistence of the late years of the New State and the Carnation Revolution as phantasmagoria in the collective memory. These narratives confirm that the legacy of the post-revolutionary discourse (Cardoso Pires and Lídia Jorge, among others) can shed light on the political, social and cultural tensions experienced in the 2010s, re-defining the Portuguese as the metaphor of the collectively-driven subject to overcome conflict. Ultimately, the memory of the Revolution in the 21st century shows that these are melancholic times, burdened by the lack of utopia, aggravated by the tensions between depoliticized collective memory policies and efforts to ignite hope to reverse melancholia.authorsversionpublishe

Ladeira, A. (2020). Montanha Distante. Onyva, 159 pp. ISBN 978-9895301904.

UIDB/04666/2020 UIDP/04666/2020publishersversionpublishe

Book Review - Establishing the Efficacy of Telemedicine as a Clinical Tool for Physiotherapists: From Systems Design to Randomised Controlled Trial

Trevor G. Russell’s 2010 book, Establishing the Efficacy of Telemedicine as a Clinical Tool for Physiotherapists: From Systems Design to Randomised Controlled Trial, is based on his University of Queensland doctoral thesis that systematically demonstrates the feasibility of telemedicine for physical therapists. The book sets forth a highly effective answer to skeptics on this point, especially in the context of the traditional “hands-on” subset of physical therapy (PT) represented by supervised postoperative physical rehabilitation. Russell has included much specific detail, such that clinicians, information managers, and logisticians planning the rollout of a telehealth system could streamline that process by referring to this important guide

Structure and Utilisation of Information and Communication Technologies for Continuing Education in Teledentistry in Brazil

The strengthening of Primary Care and the expansion of the Family Health Strategy have led to the need to offer quality services for health promotion. In this context of reformulation and need for qualification through effective actions of Continuing Education in Health, Teledentistry emerges from Telemedicine, which can be defined as the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the exchange of data and information in health and provision of health services in situations where it is necessary to overcome geographical, temporal, social and cultural barriers. The objective of this study was to identify the existence of equipment in the health units and to verify the use of Telehealth by oral health teams in Brazil. This is an exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative approach, in which secondary data from the 1st Cycle of the Program for Improving Access and Quality in Primary Care for the year 2011/2012 were used. The results indicate that 19,889 (51%) of the health units evaluated have computers and 13,748 (35%) had Internet access. Among the professional dental surgeons evaluated, 254 (76%) noted that there are continuing education activities in their municipality, and they attended, in increasing order, on-site courses 213 (84%), exchange of experience 150 (59%), tutoring and preceptorship 56 (22%), Telehealth 54 (21%), distance learning / Open University of the Unified Health System 51 (20%) and Telemedicine University Network 9 (3.5%). It is concluded that the deficiency in the Brazilian regions in relation to the acquisition of computer equipment and connectivity capable of guaranteeing the use of information technologies becomes an obstacle to the digital inclusion of health professionals and the continuing education actions related to Telehealth

Bipartição de redes de pequeno mundo

We studied the bipartitioning of small-world networks. We generated small-world networks from a square lattice via a modified Watts- Strogatz algorithm. We compared several partitioning algorithms, such as Monte Carlo with Kawasaki dynamics and Simulated Annealing, Extremal Optimization and Multilevel K-way partitioning. We obtained the critical percolation values of the mean degree and the threshold partition values for several networks in the continuum between a square lattice and a random network. We obtained the exponents of the minimum partition cost as a function of the mean degree in the vicinity of the bipartition threshold, as well as the exponent of finite size scaling. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to tackle this issue. We observed that all small-world networks have the same exponents, different from those of the square lattice, regardless of the number of modified edges. The values for the exponents of the random network are in accordance with previous results.Neste estudo, investigámos a bipartição de redes de pequeno mundo. Utilizámos um modelo de Watts-Strogatz modificado para a geração de redes de pequeno mundo a partir de redes quadradas. Comparámos vários algoritmos de partição, tais como Monte Carlo com dinâmica Kawasaki e Simulated Annealing, Extremal Optimization e Multilevel K-way Based Partitioning. Obtivemos os valores críticos do grau médio das redes na transição de percolação e os valores limite na transição de partição para redes ao longo do espetro entre uma rede quadrada e uma rede aleatória. Obtivemos os expoentes de variação do custo de partição mínimo em função da grau médio da rede na proximidade do valor limite de partição, assim como o expoente de escalonamente em função do tamanho da rede. Este é o primeiro trabalho a estudar este problema, tanto quanto sabemos. Observou-se que as redes modificadas apresentam os mesmos expoente, independemente do número de arestas modificadas, enquanto que a rede quadrada tem um comportamento distinto de todas as redes de pequeno mundo. Os valores dos expoentes para a rede aleatória estão em concordância com resultados prévios.Mestrado em Físic

Impacto das Políticas de Austeridade no Protelamento de Altas Sociais em Hospitais Públicos e o Trabalho dos Assistentes Sociais

O protelamento de alta social é uma área de extrema importância no trabalho do assistente social nos hospitais. Este problema existe nos hospitais públicos e diz respeito aos doentes que permanecem internados após a alta clínica, por falta de condições sociais adequadas à continuidade de cuidados após a alta. Com este trabalho pretende-se fazer uma aproximação à realidade dos protelamentos de alta em hospitais públicos depois da crise de 2008 e 2011; analisar o impacto da austeridade na condição dos doentes e famílias e o seu reflexo nos protelamentos de alta e no trabalho do assistente social nos hospitais; caracterizar a condição social dos doentes em situação de protelamento de alta no Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo entre 2013/2014 e compreender o trabalho desenvolvido pelo serviço social nas situações de protelamento de alta e nas equipas de saúde. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Foram analisados os relatórios e contas dos hospitais públicos, E.P.E. entre 2008 e 2013 e os processos sociais dos doentes com alta social protelada no CHMT entre 2013 e 2014. A análise dos relatórios permitiu uma aproximação ao problema, uma vez que a fragmentação da informação disponibilizada não permite uma análise plena do problema. Existiu um aumento de 7 registos entre 2008 e 2013 e um aumento de 1847 doentes em protelamento de alta nesse período. No CHMT estiveram 45 doentes em protelamento de alta, 33 dos quais com mais de 65 ano e 37 tinha rendimentos abaixo do salário mínimo nacional. A maior parte das famílias não tem capacidade para dar apoio aos e a falta de vaga em lares comparticipados condiciona a resolução destas situações. A restrição de direitos sociais que as medidas de austeridade têm implementado, refletem a desmoronamento do Estado Social e precariza a condição social de doentes, necessárias após a saída do hospital. O trabalho do assistente social no planeamento e protelamento de alta é condicionado pela falta/ insuficiência de políticas sociais, sendo analisadas algumas possibilidades no seu trabalho. / The delay of social discharge is a very important area in the work of social worker in the hospitals. This problem exist in the public hospitals and concerns patients, who stay in the hospital after the hospital discharged, because of the failure to the appropriate social conditions for keeping the necessary care after the discharge. This work itend to show, as soon as possible, the reality of the delays in the public hospitals after the crisis of 2008 and 2011, analyze the impact of austerity in the life of patients and families, characterize the social condition of patients from delay of social discharge in Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo between 2013/2014 and understand the developed work from social workers in this situations and in the health teams. The methodology used was bibliographic and documentary research. Reports accounts from public hospital E.P.E. between 2008 and 2013 were analyzed, as the social process from patients with social discharge in the CHMT between 2013 and 2014. The analysis of reports, allowed the approach to the problem, because shortage of information does not allow the real analysis of the problem. Between 2008 and 2013 exist more 7 records, and an increase off 1847 patients with hospital discharge in this period. In CHMT were 45 patients with social delay, 33 of them, with more than 65 years old and 35 with low social income. Majority of this families have no capacity to give the necessary support to this patients, and the few reimbursed places, available, determines to solve this problem. The limitation of social rights, because of the austerity, show the colapse of social conditions, and decreases the social condition of patients necessary after hospital discharge. The work of the social worker in the process of planning and delay the dischargeis conditioned for the nonexistence/ insuficiency of social policies, it is analized some possibilities in their work

A navegação eletrónica na Marinha Portuguesa e a sua aplicabilidade

A navegação eletrónica (e-navigation) tem sofrido um grande desenvolvimento ao longo dos últimos anos, decorrente da necessidade de padronizar e aperfeiçoar os sistemas de navegação, melhorar a tomada de decisão relativa à segurança da navegação e definir orientações para a produção de tecnologia marítima. Esta investigação tem como objetivo estudar o ponto de situação da informação marítima atualmente disponibilizada aos utilizadores no mar e em terra, no âmbito das competências da Marinha Portuguesa, e analisar o processo transformacional necessário para disponibilizar essa informação num formato específico. A investigação baseia-se no estudo de caso do e-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan, publicado pela International Maritime Organization, para o período 2015-2021, que define um plano sinérgico para o desenvolvimento e padronização dos grupos de informação marítima, denominados Maritime Services. Verificou-se que, apesar de já existir informação disponibilizada no formato apropriado, será necessário proceder ainda à informatização de uma grande quantidade de informação, identificada no presente trabalho, a converter, posteriormente, no formato padronizado e-navigation Common Maritime Data Structure. Neste sentido, foi elaborada uma análise detalhada de toda a informação que será necessário transformar no processo de operacionalização da e-navigation, assim como foram identificadas as principais dificuldades e necessidades da Marinha Portuguesa neste processo. Abstract: E-navigation has undergone a great deal of development over the last few years, mainly with the International Maritime Organization's approval of the e-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan. The focus on e-navigation development stems from the need to standardize and improve navigation systems in order to support decision making for navigation safety and to create standardized guidelines for the development of technology by the maritime industry. The main objective of this research is to study the state of the maritime information currently available to users at sea and onshore, within the scope of the competences of the Portuguese Navy, and to analyze the transformational process necessary to make this information available in the format required by e-navigation. The research is based on a case study of the e-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan published by the International Maritime Organization for the period 2015-2021 to define a plan to create synergies in the development and standardization of maritime information groups, named Maritime Services. It was verified that although there is a lot of information already available in digital format, it will be necessary to digitize a large amount of information identified in the present work and later transform it, into the standard e-navigation format Common Maritime Data Structure. As a conclusion of the work, we have a detailed analysis of all existing maritime information that will need to be transformed into the e-navigation operational process, as well as identifying the main difficulties and needs for the Portuguese Navy during this process.N/