A Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos nas Autarquias Locais: estudo de caso na Câmara Municipal de Cantanhede

Os Recursos Humanos são fundamentais para o prosseguimento da missão e dos objetivos de qualquer organização. A Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos, permite que uma organização alcance os seus objetivos, através do aumento da probabilidade de realização dos mesmos. Esta lógica de Gestão dos Recursos Humanos, revela-se como uma promessa explícita de eficácia organizacional, que pode ser alcançada pelo desenvolvimento do conjunto de práticas de RH internamente consistentes e adequadas aos contextos organizacionais. O concretizar de uma Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos nas organizações da Administração Pública, considerando a complexidade humana e o valor inerente, é uma via para o desenvolvimento a todos os níveis. Nas Câmaras Municipais, enquanto órgãos executivos de uma das formas de Autarquias Locais que é o Município, a Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos torna-se um investimento necessário para a melhoria contínua na prestação de serviços públicos. Isso, tendo em conta que a descentralização de competências da Administração Pública Central, para as Autarquias Locais, acarreta um aumento de responsabilidades e requer maior capacidade de resposta às demandas sociais. É no contexto da Administração Pública, em particular das Autarquias Locais, que se realiza o estudo de caso na Câmara Municipal de Cantanhede. O objetivo desta investigação é compreender a dinâmica do sector dos Recursos Humanos nas Autarquias Locais, sob a perspetiva da Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos, e perceber a importância que esta tem no desempenho global dessas organizações. O tipo de pesquisa que se materializa é qualitativo e exploratório, com a realização de observação direta, análise documental e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Verifica-se com este estudo, que é preocupação da Câmara Municipal de Cantanhede e do sector dos Recursos Humanos, desenvolver procedimentos estratégicos de Gestão dos Recursos Humanos. Apesar de ser um processo limitado pelos problemas relativos à atualização das carreiras, baixa remuneração, ausência de compensações e prémio de desempenho. Para que a Gestão Estratégica dos Recursos Humanos tenha efetivamente campo de ação, é preciso que a Gestão dos Recursos Humanos seja desmistificada enquanto conceito e experienciada de forma expressiva nas Autarquias Locais, em conjunto com o reforço da autonomia dessas organizações. / Human Resources are fundamental for the pursuit of the mission and goals of any organization. The Strategic Management of Human Resources allows an organization to achieve its objectives by increasing the probability of achieving them. This Human Resource Management logic is an explicit promise of organizational effectiveness that can be achieved by developing a set of HR practices that are internally consistent and appropriate to organizational contexts. The realization of a Strategic Management of Human Resources in Public Administration organizations, considering the human complexity and the inherent value, is a way for development at all levels. In the Municipal Councils, as an executive bodies of one of the forms of Local Authorities that is the Municipality, the Strategic Management of Human Resources becomes a necessary investment for the continuous improvement in the provision of public services. This, taking into account that the decentralization of competences of the Central Public Administration, for Local Authorities, entails an increase in responsibilities and requires greater capacity to respond to social demands. It is in the context of the Public Administration, in particular the Local Authorities, that the case study is carried out in Cantanhede Town Hall. The objective of this research is to understand the dynamics of the Human Resources sector in Local Authorities, from the perspective of the Strategic Management of Human Resources, and realize the importance it has in the overall performance of these organizations. The type of research that materializes is qualitative and exploratory, with direct observation, documental analysis and semi-structured interviews. It is verified with this study, that is concern of the Cantanhede Town Hall and of the Human Resources sector to develop strategic human resources management procedures. Although it is a process limited by the problems related to the updating of the careers, low remuneration, absence of compensations and performance bonus. In order for the Strategic Management of Human Resources to have an effective field of action, it is necessary that the Human Resources Management be demystified as a concept and experienced in an expressive way in Local Authorities, together with the reinforcement of the autonomy of these organizations

QDB: A new database of plasma chemistries and reactions

One of the most challenging and recurring problems when modeling plasmas is the lack of data on the key atomic and molecular reactions that drive plasma processes. Even when there are data for some reactions, complete and validated datasets of chemistries are rarely available. This hinders research on plasma processes and curbs development of industrial applications. The QDB project aims to address this problem by providing a platform for provision, exchange, and validation of chemistry datasets. A new data model developed for QDB is presented. QDB collates published data on both electron scattering and heavy-particle reactions. These data are formed into reaction sets, which are then validated against experimental data where possible. This process produces both complete chemistry sets and identifies key reactions that are currently unreported in the literature. Gaps in the datasets can be filled using established theoretical methods. Initial validated chemistry sets for SF 6 /CF 4 /O 2 and SF 6 /CF 4 /N 2 /H 2 are presented as examples

Adding 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy to postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of short-course versus no androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised controlled trial

Background Previous evidence indicates that adjuvant, short-course androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves metastasis-free survival when given with primary radiotherapy for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the value of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy is unclear. Methods RADICALS-HD was an international randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of ADT used in combination with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to radiotherapy alone (no ADT) or radiotherapy with 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT), using monthly subcutaneous gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue injections, daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as distant metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. Standard survival analysis methods were used, accounting for randomisation stratification factors. The trial had 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 80% to 86% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·67). Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00541047. Findings Between Nov 22, 2007, and June 29, 2015, 1480 patients (median age 66 years [IQR 61–69]) were randomly assigned to receive no ADT (n=737) or short-course ADT (n=743) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 121 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 9·0 years (IQR 7·1–10·1), metastasis-free survival events were reported for 268 participants (142 in the no ADT group and 126 in the short-course ADT group; HR 0·886 [95% CI 0·688–1·140], p=0·35). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 79·2% (95% CI 75·4–82·5) in the no ADT group and 80·4% (76·6–83·6) in the short-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 121 (17%) of 737 participants in the no ADT group and 100 (14%) of 743 in the short-course ADT group (p=0·15), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Metastatic disease is uncommon following postoperative bed radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy. Adding 6 months of ADT to this radiotherapy did not improve metastasis-free survival compared with no ADT. These findings do not support the use of short-course ADT with postoperative radiotherapy in this patient population

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of long-course versus short-course androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised trial

Background Previous evidence supports androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with primary radiotherapy as initial treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the use and optimal duration of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy remains uncertain. Methods RADICALS-HD was a randomised controlled trial of ADT duration within the RADICALS protocol. Here, we report on the comparison of short-course versus long-course ADT. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after previous radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to add 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT) or 24 months of ADT (long-course ADT) to radiotherapy, using subcutaneous gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (monthly in the short-course ADT group and 3-monthly in the long-course ADT group), daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. The comparison had more than 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 75% to 81% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72). Standard time-to-event analyses were used. Analyses followed intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00541047 . Findings Between Jan 30, 2008, and July 7, 2015, 1523 patients (median age 65 years, IQR 60–69) were randomly assigned to receive short-course ADT (n=761) or long-course ADT (n=762) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 138 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years (7·0–10·0), 313 metastasis-free survival events were reported overall (174 in the short-course ADT group and 139 in the long-course ADT group; HR 0·773 [95% CI 0·612–0·975]; p=0·029). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 71·9% (95% CI 67·6–75·7) in the short-course ADT group and 78·1% (74·2–81·5) in the long-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 105 (14%) of 753 participants in the short-course ADT group and 142 (19%) of 757 participants in the long-course ADT group (p=0·025), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Compared with adding 6 months of ADT, adding 24 months of ADT improved metastasis-free survival in people receiving postoperative radiotherapy. For individuals who can accept the additional duration of adverse effects, long-course ADT should be offered with postoperative radiotherapy. Funding Cancer Research UK, UK Research and Innovation (formerly Medical Research Council), and Canadian Cancer Society

Ten-m3 influence on the structural maturation of the mouse neuromuscular junction

The neuromuscular junction is a key synapse involved in motor control and coordination. Many important proteins at the level of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) have been described to have key roles in the regulation of synaptic maintenance. Ten-m3 is a known protein that localises at the central nervous system and has been shown to play important regulatory roles in neuronal circuitry mapping. Recently, Ten-m3 has been implicated to possess roles at the neuromuscular junction in Drosophila. An overview of literature relevant to neuromuscular synapse structure and Teneurin protein function is provided in Chapter One. Whilst Chapter Two provides a basic overview of the methods used in neuromuscular synapse quantitation. Chapter Three is a journal article publication, published in the Journal of Visualised Experiments (2014) where a detailed overview of the methods used in quantitation of neuromuscular synapse parameters is described. It describes the process of refining the dissection, freezing, cryosectioning, staining and confocal imaging protocols involved in endplate parameter quantitation. The methods are subsequently used heavily in Chapter Four to quantitate the effect of Ten-m3 at the level of the NMJ in the mammalian mouse model. Ten-m3 was found to play a developmental role at the mammalian neuromuscular synapse. Ten-m3 KO animals showed a delayed progression of post-natal body weight gain. At the NMJ KO animals showed evidence of a decreased percentage of perforated endplates, indicative of an immature structural endplate morphology. Chapter Five provides concluding remarks and makes suggestions for further studies that can build on my current work. This work provides the first evidence that Ten-m3 plays a role in structural reorganisation of NMJs in the mammalian mouse model

VALUATION OF MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT SITES WITH THE AID OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING

Bachelor'sBACHELOR OF SCIENCE (REAL ESTATE

Creating A “Meet your Farmer Event” at UBC Food Service’s Place Vanier Residence Cafeteria

Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Land and Food Systems, Faculty ofUnreviewedUndergraduat