The walkability of Alvalade neighbourhood for young people: An agent-based model of daily commutes to school

The Alvalade neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, was built in the mid-XX century as low-cost housing for workers, but it has become inhabited by the middle and upper classes. The neighbourhood is home to a large population of young people, including children and teenagers who attend the schools located in the area. We present an agent- based model which aims to investigate the walkability of the neighbourhood for these young people, focusing on the mobility patterns of children and teenagers as they navigate their daily routines of going to school. We simulate the pedestrian movement of these young people, considering factors such as the availability of sidewalks, crosswalks, distance to schools, and the presence of other amenities. Our research reveals the mobility patterns emerging in this area and compares them across the different schools in the area. These results inform both urban policies and interventions that promote safe and accessible routes to school.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Random-walk mobility analysis of Lisbon’s plans for the post-1755 reconstruction

The different options for the reconstruction of the city of Lisbon in the aftermath of the 1755 earthquake are studied with an agent-based model based on randomwalks. This method gives a comparative quantitative measure of mobility of the circulation spaces within the city. The plans proposed for the city of Lisbon signified a departure from the medieval mobility city model. The intricacy of the old city circulation spaces is greatly reduced in the new plans and the mobility between different areas is substantially improved. The simulation results of the random-walk model show that those plans keeping the main force lines of the old city presented less improvement in terms ofmobility. The plans that had greater design freedom were, by contrast, easier to navigate. Lisbon's reconstruction followed a plan that included a shift in the traditional notions of mobility. This affected the daily lives of its citizens by potentiating an easy access to the waterfront, simplifying orientation and navigability. Using the random-walk model it is shown how to quantitatively measure the potential that synthetic plans have in terms of the permeability and navigability of different city public spaces.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of physicians’ sensibility for the risk of unplanned pregnancy

Prémio em Contraceção 2012 da Sociedade Portuguesa de ContraceçãoABSTRACT: In Portugal, about 94% of sexually active women who don`t want to become pregnant, use a contraceptive method. From these, oral hormonal contraceptives are the most used. Despite this, unplanned pregnancies are a reality. The current study aimed to evaluate physicians’ sensibility to contraceptive counselling on the introduction of new therapies in women with underlying medical conditions and in polymedicated ones. It was a survey study with ten closed-ended questions. Physicians who care for women of reproductive age in a tertiary referral centre (n= 181). It was conducted an opinion survey among physicians who care for women of childbearing age. The differences in medical opinion considering age, sex, medical / surgical specialties and years of clinical practice were analyzed. In the introduction of new therapies, asked about the contraceptive method in use: always 16,6% (n=30) of respondents, nearly always 28,7% (n=52) and sometimes 44,8% (n=81). From these, 62% (n=101) neither provided complete information nor remitted to family planning appointments. When pregnancy was contraindicated 38,7% (n=70) informed about a safe method. About 89,5% (n=162) of the respondents didn't attended updates on contraception in the last year. Even though 64,6% (n= 117) considered it useful taking into account clinical practise. The respondents had poor knowledge about the resources in family planning, 79% (n=118). The female doctor showed a greater information about family planning topics (p=0,001). The younger physicians (<35 years old) and those with few years of clinical practise (<8 years) referred more constantly the importance of professional qualification on family planning (p=0,034; p=0,034). Despite the care of women in childbearing age the issues on drug interactions haven't been addressed constantly. There is evidence of a poor knowledge of the respondents of existing resources which limits an effective contraceptive counselling

Life paths of patients with transthyretin-related familial amyloid polyneuropathy Val30Met: a descriptive study

Transthyretin-related familial amyloid polyneuropathy Val30Met is a fatal progressive disease. It is a rare hereditary amyloidosis, manifesting as a sensorimotor neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction. It begins during adulthood and is a disabling disease, posing a great psychological burden to patients and their families. Our aim was to describe and characterize life events related to the disease and discuss its psychosocial implications. Social and demographic data and a questionnaire on history of family and personal disease, and biographic events, were applied to 209 subjects attending an outpatient specialized clinic. Descriptive and statistical analyses were performed. They were 84 men and 127 women belonging to three groups: pre-symptomatic carriers, patients, and subjects with no established diagnosis. Most subjects were married/lived with a partner and had children (mean of 4). Most (96.3%) had contact with the disease before having a diagnosis; the affected or at-risk parent was the mother in 53.8% and the father in 43.3%; 71.8% of these had deceased. At their parent’s death, many subjects were aged under 10 (9.9%), 10–14 (15.5%), or 15–24 years (31.7%). Most were under age 14 (44.9%) at their parent’s disease onset; 37.2% referred this brought life changes with psychological and familial impact; most had been parent’s caregivers; 7.5% had not been raised by the parents. Some (8.4%) declined to know their genetic tests results for over 1 year. Parent’s disease and death are very common early in these patient’s lives. During childhood or youth, many subjects became caregivers, implying changes in family roles. This disease and its life implications pose a significant psychosocial burden since childhood. TTR-FAP patients and their relatives are highly vulnerable to emotional stress and psychopathology during their lifetime. Psychological and psychiatric support, implying a multidisciplinary group, must thus be available for all of them

Produção de capim-massai em sistema silvipastoril na sub-região Meio-Norte do Brasil.

Conduziu-se este estudo na Embrapa Meio-Norte em Teresina, PI, com o objetivo de avaliar a produtividade e os componentes de produção do capim-massai (Panicum maximum x Panicum infestum) sob a copa de quatro leguminosas arbóreas: pau-ferro (Caesalpinia ferrea.), sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia), bordão-de-velho (Samanea saman) e angico-de-bezerro (Piptadenia moniliformis), e ao pleno sol, constituindo cinco tratamentos com três repetições, no delineamento em blocos ao acaso. Foram avaliados: altura, relação folha colmo (F/C), teor de matéria seca (MS) e massa de forragem (MF - kg de MS ha-1), em plantas com 28 dias de rebrota. Nos tratamentos com as árvores de maior copa as gramíneas apresentaram as maiores alturas, sendo o maior valor encontrado sob a copa do sabiá (60,22 cm) e o menor a pleno sol (34,50 cm). Os menores teores de MS foram observados para o capim sob a copa de sabiá e angico-de-bezerro, 28,19% e 27,01%, respectivamente, valores baixo em contraste com 36,18% ao pleno sol. A MF sob a copa de angico-de-bezerro foi de 872,36 kg de MS ha-1, não diferindo (P>0,05) nos demais tratamentos e variando de 1051,83 a 1229,40 kg de MS ha-1. Os maiores e menores valores de F/C foram registrados, respectivamente, sob a copa de sabiá (4,2) e bordão-de-velho (3,23). Sob a copa de árvores, o capim Massai apresenta menor teor de MS e a maior F/C que a pleno sol, com maior altura de plantas sob copas de maior área. O capim-massai mostra-se eficiente quando manejado em sistema silvipastoril na sub-região Meio-Norte