LOCATION DETERMINANTS OF FDI: A LITERATURE REVIEW

The development of economic activity and the rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent decades has prompted a great deal of research into the phenomenon of multinational companies. A vast amount of empirical literature on FDI catalogues a long list of determinants that try to explain direct investment by multinational companies in a particular location, but it is noticeable that the results are not always consensual. This article provides a review of the theoretical approaches to and empirical studies on FDI in an attempt to single out the most robust factors for explaining the geographic distribution of FDI flows worldwide. It also suggests paths for future research in this area.FDI, determinants of FDI, literature review

Burden of disease of dietary exposure to aflatoxins in European countries

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human biomonitoring (HBM) as a tool to support policy and regulatory action to prevent chemicals exposure

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A desinstitucionalização do portador de transtorno mental segundo a produção bibliográfica

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Sócio Econômico, Curso de Serviço Social.Este trabalho analisa a produção científica sobre serviços substitutivos e redes de apoio ao hospital psiquiátrico. A assistência psiquiátrica no Brasil foi construída com base na internação e exclusão dos 'doentes', o que os afastava do convívio com a sociedade. No Brasil, a partir da década de 1970, começam a surgir os movimentos sociais, reflexo das insatisfações econômicas, políticas e sociais, inclusive o Movimento Sanitário e Psiquiátrico. Estes questionam a política de saúde e propõem reformas para a saúde e assistência psiquiátrica. Logo, a assistência asilar é questionada e inicia um processo de mudanças estruturais, que visavam à constituição de serviços extra-hospitalares de base comunitária, a fim de reinserir os portadores de transtorno mental na sociedade, em detrimento do modelo votado ao hospital psiquiátrico como centro de tratamento. A criação da Lei 10.216 (2001) foi o marco no que diz respeito à Reforma, pois consolidou todo o processo de luta e reivindicações que os movimentos sociais há anos alvitravam. Além disto, tem como enfoque o tratamento que envolve a visão global do indivíduo, levando em consideração os aspectos de sua vida social, econômica e cultural. Com base nesta discussão foram analisadas as produções bibliográficas dos periódicos Cadernos de Saúde Pública e Revista de Saúde Pública. Para tanto, utilizamos a abordagem qualitativa e a análise temática (Bardin, 1995) para a construção dos dados. Como principais resultados, identificamos a dificuldade de superar o paradigma do hospitalocentrismo, que apesar dos preceitos da Reforma ainda se configura como o modelo vigente de tratamento ao portador de transtorno mental. A dificuldade de instituir a desinstitucionalização devido à falta de financiamento adequado para constituição da rede se serviços extra-hospitalares, bem como, a carência de profissionais qualificados para lidar com a demanda que se apresenta

Greening the plate: mycotoxin risks in sustainable food systems transition

The world population has changed dramatically over the last few centuries: an increasing number of people living on our planet; the world population today is around 2,000 times the size of what it was 12,000 ago when it was around 4 million — less than half of the current population of London. Pressure food systems exert on the environment has amplified over time: growth of the human population; changes in food consumption patterns; and intensification of production systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cross-sectional study to investigate the presence of sarcopenic dysphagia in a Portuguese geriatric population

Oropharyngeal Dysphagia (OD) and sarcopenia have been recognized as geriatric syndromes and have shown a higher prevalence in institutionalized elderly, being associated with increased socioeconomic burdens. The objectives were to investigate the presence of sarcopenia and risk of OD in a geriatric population and to analyse the relationship between the factors associated with Sarcopenic Dysphagia (SOD). We have observed that female gender, low educational level and score ≥4 on the SARC-F screening test are associated with higher odds of being at risk for OD, sarcopenia, and even probable SOD. Based on the results, we suggested including a Speech and Language Therapist in the multidisciplinary geriatric teams in order to improve the prevention of OD, sarcopenia and SOD, avoiding its consequences.publishe

Teacher education during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Insights from a formative intervention approach involving online feedback

This paper examines preservice teachers’ perspectives on assessment feedback developed in a teacher education course during the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As initially negotiated with students, feedback was learner-centred and involved a formative intervention approach applied iteratively by the teacher educator over the course of one semester. Although such feedback was initially face-to-face, it had to be given exclusively online following the unexpected closure of the university. Analysis of student teachers’ perspectives, which were collected through an online questionnaire completed after their final assessment, reveals both positive and critical aspects regarding the feedback provided by the teacher educator. While reaffirming the significance of feedback as a crucial element for learning in online teacher education contexts, the findings also show that the clarity, affective bonding and multimodal meaning-making involved in face-to-face interaction are particularly challenging when the communication of feedback is digitally mediated. The implications and limitations of such findings are discussed.This work is supported through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT by CIEd—Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, projects UIDB/01661/2020 and UIDP/01661/2020, and by CIEC—Research Centre on Child Studies, Institute of Education, University of Minho, projects UIDB/00317/2020 and UIDP/00317/2020

Risk assessment of Portuguese children dietary exposure to co-occuring mycotoxins in processed cereal-based foods

Distinguido com o prémio melhor poster (best poster award) pela MoniQA Association. A MoniQA Association é uma rede internacional interdisciplinar que integra membros de diversas áreas da segurança alimentar, nomeadamente, laboratórios, institutos públicos, indústria, centros de investigação e universidades. A atribuição deste prémio ocorreu no âmbito da 5th MoniQA International Conference.People, animals and the environment can be exposed to multiple chemicals at once from a variety of sources, but current risk assessment is usually carried out based on one chemical substance at a time. In human health risk assessment, ingestion of food is considered a major route of exposure to many contaminants, namely mycotoxins, a wide group of fungal secondary metabolites that are known to potentially cause toxicity and carcinogenic outcomes. Mycotoxins are commonly found in a variety of foods including those intended for consumption by infants and young children and have been found in processed cereal-based foods available in the Portuguese market. The present study aims to characterize, for the first time, the risk associated with the exposure of Portuguese children to single and multiple mycotoxins present in processed cereal-based foods (CBF). Portuguese children (0-3 years old) food consumption data (n=103) were collected using a 3 days food diary. Contamination data concerned the quantification of 12 mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins and trichothecenes) were evaluated in 20 CBF samples marketed in 2014 and 2015 in Lisbon; samples were analyzed by HPLC-FLD, LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. Daily exposure of children to mycotoxins was performed using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. Different strategies were used to treat the left censored data. For aflatoxins, as carcinogenic compounds, the margin of exposure (MoE) was calculated as a ratio of BMDL (benchmark dose lower confidence limit) to the aflatoxin exposure. The magnitude of the MoE gives an indication of the risk level. For the remaining mycotoxins, the output of exposure was compared to the dose reference values (TDI) in order to calculate the hazard quotients (ratio between exposure and a reference dose, HQ). For the cumulative risk assessment of multiple mycotoxins, the concentration addition (CA) concept was used. The combined margin of exposure (MoET) and the hazard index (HI) were calculated for aflatoxins and the remaining mycotoxins, respectively. 71% of CBF analyzed samples were contaminated with mycotoxins (with values below the legal limits) and approximately 56% of the studied children consumed CBF at least once in these 3 days. Preliminary results showed that children exposure to single mycotoxins present in CBF were below the TDI. Aflatoxins MoE and MoET revealed a reduced potential risk by exposure through consumption of CBF (with values around 10000 or more). HQ and HI values for the remaining mycotoxins were below 1. Children are a particularly vulnerable population group to food contaminants and the present results point out an urgent need to establish legal limits and control strategies regarding the presence of multiple mycotoxins in children foods in order to protect their health.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT

Exposure to PM2.5 and cardiovascular diseases in Portugal: the contribute of PMCardImpact project

Particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) is one of the air pollutants more detrimental to human health, being responsible for around 400 000 premature deaths in Europe every year. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and air pollution are linked, with existing evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to particulate matter and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Under the scope of PMCardImpact, a nationally funded project, data collected from the Portuguese air monitoring platform (2005-2021) (>60 stations) was used to estimate the attributable number of cases of acute myocardial infarction. The air monitoring data and parameters such as exposure-response factors will support the risk assessment in AirQ+ software (WHO Regional Office for Europe). Preliminary results showed that exceedances of the Air Quality Directive in Portugal ranged between 0.1 % and 10.2% for PM10 and PM2.5 in 2019. Results obtained will include the number of cases of CVD attributable to exposure to PM2.5 in the Portuguese population. Four scenarios of exposure will be considered for presenting the results: the current scenario of exposure, new WHO Air Quality guidelines, the European Commission Air Quality Directive, and lastly, a worst-case scenario. This assessment will be the starting point for calculating the burden of the disease of CVD that exposure to PM2.5 represents in Portugal. With a view to promoting the science-to-policy interface, the PMCardImpact project will make available to policymakers the needed supporting information to act, including actionable knowledge on air pollution trends and related health effects, to implement reducing air pollution policies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A formação inicial de professores de física e química: perceções de alunos em processo de prática pedagógica

Enquadrando, histórica e legalmente, a formação inicial proporcionada nos últimos anos aos professores, em Portugal, pretendemos identificar as principais mudanças aí ocorridas, após o início da adoção, na área da Educação, de políticas europeias comuns, com especial incidência em algumas das áreas dos cursos de formação de professores de Física e Química. As nossas opções metodológicas permitem-nos classificar o nosso estudo como qualitativo, intensivo, realizado num micro nível, com cinco participantes, alunos de um Mestrado em Ensino da Física e da Química, de uma universidade pública. Os dados foram recolhidos através de entrevistas semiestruturadas e notas de campo, em dois momentos distintos. Na análise das entrevistas recorremos à técnica de análise de conteúdo. A nossa investigação mostra a adoção, por parte dos futuros professores, de estratégias de sala de aula que potenciam o interesse dos jovens pelas áreas das ciências; de práticas reflexivas consideradas como muito importantes na melhoria da formação inicial proporcionada; de um regime de avaliação dos mestrandos (quase) isento de problemas; de um grau elevado no cumprimento das expetativas pessoais destes. Encontrámos, igualmente, evidências de escassa integração dos futuros professores na comunidade escolar; disparidade nas experiências proporcionadas, em contexto escolar, aos mestrandos; a necessidade de refletir sobre a formação proporcionada pela universidade, nomeadamente, na coordenação das unidades/áreas curriculares constituintes deste ciclo de estudos; Abstract: Initial education of Physics and Chemistry teachers: Impressions from teachers in training Taking into account the historical and legal background surrounding the initial training offered to teachers in the past decades, we aim to identify the major changes that occurred with the adoption of common European policies concerning education, with a particular focus on Physics and Chemistry teachers in training. The methods used in this study can be classified as qualitative, intensive and at a microlevel. It encompassed the experience of five participants that attended a Masters program at a public university, focusing on Teaching Physics and Chemistry. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and field-notes collected at two independent time points. The interviews were then analysed through a technique of content analysis. Our research supports the notion that future teachers are implementing strategies to potentiate their pupils´ interest in science in general; the adoption of reflective practices considered important in the initial training provided; an evaluation system for the Masters students that is (almost) problem-free and a good match of the personal expectations of the students. During this study, we also found evidence for scant integration of future teachers in the teaching community; a wide range of teaching experiences offered to the Masters students in training within their host schools; the need for further reflection on the teaching practices offered at the university level, namely the coordination between subject areas within the Masters program