Os métodos multibloco de três-vias na tomada de decisão em serviços de saúde. Uma abordagem COSTATIS para a melhoria da gestão num laboratório de análises clínicas

Na última década, os Laboratórios de Análises Clínicas em Portugal, evidenciaram um aumento da concorrência, maioritariamente através da integração de pequenos laboratórios privados em organizações multinacionais. Neste cenário competitivo, as decisões relacionadas com o desempenho empresarial, cada vez mais, utilizam informação variada e detalhada por forma a propor estratégias específicas e criar prioridades de gestão. Contudo, a crescente necessidade por uma análise de dados, sobretudo em contextos dinâmicos, que permita detetar, identificar e caracterizar as questões mais relevantes para um processo de tomada de decisão mais eficiente, revela-se imprescindível. Esta investigação baseou-se em dados, relativos ao período 2014-2017, provenientes de um Laboratório Privado de Análises Clínicas localizado no Algarve. O recurso a duas estruturas de informação que se inter-relacionam, designadamente 14 Postos de Colheita e as subsequentes 10 Análises Clínicas que maior volume de faturação apresentaram em 2017, levou à aplicação do método COSTATIS (Thioulouse et al., 2011) por forma a captar uma co-estrutura comum que analize a estabilidade ou instabilidade das duas estruturas de dados. Trata-se de um método exploratório de Análise MutiBloco de Três-Vias que destaca as relações entre duas estruturas de dados como um todo. Deste modo, a interpretação das relações de influência da produção de Análises Clínicas no desempenho dos Postos de Colheita pode revelar discrepâncias e/ou coincidências particularmente úteis para a gestão. Com esta informação pormenorizada torna-se possível propor iniciativas de melhoria ou de correção e promover estratégias funcionais com o objetivo de auxiliar o processo de gestão laboratorial e sugerir estratégias mais eficientes.In the last decade, the Clinical Laboratory sector, in Portugal, witnessed an increase in competition through the integration of small private laboratories in multinational organizations. In this competition scenario, it is imperative that decisions related to the management are made based on the analysis of varied and detailed information data in order to propose strategies and prioritize management. However, the growing need for data analysis, especially in dynamic contexts, to detect, identify and characterize the most relevant issues for a more efficient decision-making process, is essential. This research was based on data, for the period 2014-2017, from a Private Clinical Laboratory located in the Algarve. The use of two interrelated information structures, namely 14 Collection Points and the subsequent 10 Clinical Analyzes with the highest billing volume in 2017, led to the application of the COSTATIS method (Thioulouse et al., 2011) in order to capture a common co-structure that analyzes the stability or instability of the two data structures. It is an exploratory method of MutiBloco Three-Way Analysis that highlights the relations between two data structures as a whole. So, the interpretation of the influence relationships of the production of Clinical Analyzes on the performance of Collection Points can reveal particularly useful discrepancies and/or coincidences for the management. With this detailed information it is possible to propose initiatives for improvement or correction and to promote functional strategies with the objective of assisting the laboratory management process and suggesting more efficient strategies

Os auditores internos portugueses e o risco de interrupção do negócio

Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júriO risco faz parte do dia a dia das organizações e, atualmente, mais do que nunca deve ser gerido de uma forma consciente. Afinal o Risco de Interrupção do Negócio é real, consiste no risco de o volume de negócios ser afetado negativamente devido a um risco a “montante”. Face à evolução e ao papel relevante que o controlo interno e a gestão de risco têm adotado como ferramentas de gestão, é cada vez mais necessário que as organizações detenham adequados sistemas de gestão de risco e de controlo interno, alinhados entre si, integrando-os na sua cadeia de valor e nos seus processos de negócio. A auditoria interna com pensamento baseado no risco, estimula os auditores internos a desenvolverem maior atenção nesta área preponderante para os dias de hoje. Daí que, com este estudo, tivéssemos pretendido responder à questão “Como os Auditores Internos Portugueses vêm o Risco de Interrupção do Negócio”, com o objetivo de analisar o processo de gestão do risco de interrupção do negócio, analisar a sensibilidade do auditor interno perante o risco de interrupção do negócio e o impacto daquele risco. O estudo foi realizado aos auditores internos das empresas inscritas no IPAI. Como principais resultados apurados, salienta-se a debilidade do processo de gestão de risco de interrupção do negócio embora exista o reconhecimento do risco.Risk is a part of the day-to-day in organizations, and today, more than ever, it must be managed in a conscious manner. After all, the business interruption risk is real, it consists of the risk that the turnover will be negatively affected due to a sum of risks. In view of the evolution and relevant role that internal control and risk management have adopted as a management tool, it is increasingly beneficial for organizations to have appropriate risk management and internal control systems, aligned with each other and integrating them into their chain of value and in their business processes. Internal auditing with a risk-based thinking, encourages internal auditors to develop more attention in this preponderant area on the present day. Hence, with this study, we intended to answer the question "How do Portuguese Internal Auditors perceive the Business Interruption Risk", with the purpose of analysing the risk management process of business interruption, analysing the internal auditor's sensitivity to the risk of business disruption and the impact of that risk. The study was conducted on internal auditors of the companies registered in IPAI. As the main results found, the weakness of the risk management process of business interruption is highlighted, although there is risk recognition

Sustainability and healthy habits in School: eating and physical activity

Obesity in childhood has become a major global public health concern. Its considerable increase in the last decades took the World Health Organization (WHO) to regard this fact as one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century. Diagnosing, intervening and, above all, preventing obesity in the early stages of life becomes urgent and justified by the innumerable health complications found in adults. It´s expect and fundamental that schools provide practices in order to promote good health habits, given opportunity to the students keeping them for their future life according a lifelong education. This research was carried with 15 students, aged 6 to 7 years old. Their body mass index (BMI) was calculated, we held a questionnaire about their eating habits related to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) and the significance of healthy eating and physical activity (PA) practicing was discussed. We measured their PA using accelerometers. Data were analyzed with specific software and some of them were discussed bases on qualitative analysis. The results of this study showed improvements in the PA of the participants after intervention, it`s also demonstrate that is possible promote health behaviours in articulation with other areas of knowledge. Keywords: Childhood obesity; healthy habits; physical activity; sustainability; lifelong educatio

Microwave-assisted extraction for methylmercury determination in sediments by high performance liquid chromatography-cold vapour-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A simple and rapid procedure for methylmercury extraction from sediments based on microwave-assisted alkaline digestion with methanolic potassium hydroxide was optimized on parameters such as microwave power, extraction time and sample size. Organomercury species were extracted with dichloromethane in hydrochloric acid medium and back-extracted into ultra-pure water. The sediment extracts were injected into an analytical system composed of high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-post-column oxidation-cold vapour-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-UV-PCO-CV-AFS) for methylmercury determination. Quantitative methylmercury recoveries were obtained when 0.15 g of sediment were suspended into 6 mi of 25% m/v methanolic potassium hydroxide and the slurry was exposed to microwave irradiation at 84 W for 2 min. The detection limit of proposed method was 12 ng g(-1) while the relative standard deviation was less than 5%. The method was validated by the analysis of two sediment certified reference materials and the methylmercury concentrations found were in good agreement (95% confidence level) with the certified values

Simple methodology for methylmercury and inorganic mercury determinations by high-performance liquid chromatography-cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry

An analytical methodology was developed to separate and quantify methylmercury (MeHg) and inorganic mercury by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). The use of UV oxidation of the organic forms of mercury, the tin(II) chloride reduction in acidic medium of mercury and the introduction of a water vapour trap based on H2SO4/CaCl2 resulted in a low detection limit (DL) (10 +/- 2 pg, mean value +/- S.D.). The apparatus was operationally optimised through the modified simplex method leading to an increase of the signal by a factor of 2. The method performance has been tested by determining the MeHg concentration in a sediment certified reference material (CRM) and the results were statistically indistinguishable from the certificate value (alpha = 0.05) both for the mean value and S.D

Ética e Moral no processo de tomada de decisão : o caso dos alunos de Ciências Económicas e Empresariais

Dissertação de mestrado em ContabilidadeEste trabalho tem como objetivo central conhecer a propensão dos alunos de ciências económicas e empresariais para tomar decisões éticas e morais quando confrontados com dilemas que possam surgir num contexto profissional de Contabilidade. Para além disso, pretendeu-se ainda responder a objetivos específicos relacionados com a identificação de possíveis diferenças entre as respostas dos inquiridos de acordo com as variáveis sexo, idade, nacionalidade, curso que frequentam, ano em que estão matriculados, frequência de alguma unidade curricular de ética, experiência profissional e número de anos de experiência profissional. No sentido de enquadrar teoricamente o trabalho empírico realizado, o estudo baseia-se nos conceitos genéricos da ética e da moral, através da análise da noção e raízes filosóficas que lhe deram origem, bem como uma descrição do processo de tomada de decisão ética e moral do contabilista. O estudo empírico foi realizado através de uma metodologia de investigação por questionário, entregue a alunos da Universidade do Minho, mais concretamente do 1º e 3º Anos das Licenciaturas de Economia, Gestão, Administração Pública, Negócios Internacionais, Contabilidade e Marketing, bem como a alunos do 1º Ano dos Mestrados de Contabilidade, Estudos de Gestão, Finanças, Negócios Internacionais e Gestão de Unidades de Saúde. A análise dos dados foi feita com recurso ao programa SPSS utilizando-se técnicas de estatística descritiva e testes paramétricos. O questionário utilizado foi traduzido e adaptado daquele que é exposto no artigo de Sweeney e Costello (2009). Entre as diversas conclusões obtidas neste estudo, salienta-se que os indivíduos com mais idade, os que frequentam a Licenciatura em Contabilidade e aqueles que têm um maior número de anos de experiência profissional empregam uma maior intensidade ética e moral nas decisões que tomam. Assim, concluiu-se que os estudantes de ciências económicas e empresariais têm uma propensão significativa para tomar decisões éticas e morais.As main goal, this research intends to know the tendency of economic and business sciences students to make moral and ethical decisions when they face dilemmas that appear in a professional context of Accounting. Furthermore, it intends to answer to specific objectives regarding possible differences between the replies of the interviewed according to gender, age, nationality, course attending, year in which they are enrolled, frequency of any ethics course, professional experience and years of professional experience. In order to theoretically frame the empirical study realized, the literature review is based on the general concepts of ethics and moral through the analysis of the concept and philosophical roots that gave rise to it, as well as a description of the moral and ethical decision-making of the Accountant. The empirical study was realized through a research methodology using a questionnaire answered by students of University of Minho, particularly students from 1st and 3rd years of graduation Economics, Management, Public Administration, International Business and Accounting and Marketing degrees as well as students from 1st year of under graduate Accounting, Management Studies, Finance, International Business and Management of Health Units. Data analysis was performed with the SPSS software using techniques of descriptive statistics and parametric tests. The questionnaire was translated and adapted from the one that is exposed in Sweeney and Costello (2009) article. Among the several conclusions obtained in this research, it is noted that older individuals, those attending the graduation in Accounting and those who have a greater number of years of professional experience employ a greater moral and ethical intensity in the decisions they make. Thus, it was concluded that students of business and economic sciences have a significant propensity to make ethical and moral decisions

Three-Way Multiblock Methods for Decision-Making in Health Services: A COSTATIS Approach to Improving Management at a Private Clinical Laboratory

In the last decade, the clinical laboratory sector in Portugal has witnessed an increase in competition through the integration of small private laboratories in multinational organizations. In this competition scenario, it is imperative that decisions related to management are made based on the analysis of varied and detailed information data in order to propose strategies and prioritize management. Thus, the growing need for data analysis, especially in dynamic contexts, to detect, identify and characterize the most relevant issues for a more efficient decision-making process, is essential. This research was based on data for the period 2014-2017, from a private clinical laboratory located in the Algarve. The use of two interrelated information structures, namely 14 collection points and the subsequent 10 clinical tests with the highest billing volume in 2017, led to the application of the COSTATIS method (Thioulouse et al., 2011) in order to capture a common co-structure that analyses the stability or instability of the two data structures. An exploratory three-way multiblock method highlights the relations between two data structures as a whole. Therefore, the interpretation of the influence relationships of the production of clinical tests on the performance of collection points can reveal particularly useful discrepancies and/or coincidences for the management. With this detailed information, it is possible to propose initiatives for improvement or correction and to promote functional strategies with the objective of assisting the laboratory management process and suggesting strategies that are more efficient

Genealogia do desejo : a influência da satisfação conjugal no estabelecimento da relação precoce entre mãe-bebé

Tese de mestrado, Psicologia (Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde - Núcleo de Psicologia Clínica Dinâmica), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, 2009A satisfação conjugal é considerada uma fonte privilegiada de bem-estar, contribuindo de um modo significativo para a felicidade individual. A vivência da conjugalidade vai ainda ser importante na forma como o casal gere a transição para a parentalidade, nomeadamente para a mulher. Desta forma, uma conjugalidade positiva surge como contentora para a futura mãe, permitindo-lhe desenvolver o seu papel materno. Surge, igualmente, enquanto facilitadora do bonding, isto é, do envolvimento emocional materno face ao bebé. O presente estudo tem, deste modo, como objectivo a compreensão da influência da satisfação conjugal, tal como percebida pela mulher, no estabelecimento do bonding na relação precoce mãe-bebé. A hipótese elaborada vai no sentido de que um maior nível de satisfação conjugal pré-natal terá uma influência positiva e significativa em termos do posterior estabelecimento do bonding na relação mãe-bebé. Para a testagem desta hipótese, procedeu-se à aplicação da Escala de Avaliação da Satisfação em Áreas da Vida Conjugal (EASAVIC) a uma amostra de 20 participantes, durante o último trimestre de gravidez, de modo a avaliar o nível de satisfação conjugal. Sendo que cerca de 4 semanas após o parto, procedeu-se à aplicação da Escala de Ligação Mãe-Bebé (ELMB), um questionário de bonding elaborado para este estudo. Os dados obtidos não permitem a confirmação da hipótese formulada, no entanto, são discutidos os resultados, bem como as limitações do estudo. Propõem-se ainda direcções para investigação futura neste domínio.Marital satisfaction is considered to be a privileged source of well-being, contributing to individual happiness in a significant way. The manner in which the couple experience their conjugality will also be important in how they'll manage the transition to parenthood, namely for the woman. Therefore, a positive conjugality appears as container for the future mother, allowing her to develop her maternal role. It also appears as facilitating to the bonding process, that is, the maternal emotional involvement towards the baby. In this way, the present study has the objective of comprehending the influence of marital satisfaction, as perceived by the woman, on the establishment of bonding in the mother-baby relationship. The formulated hypothesis sustains that a greater level of pre-natal marital satisfaction will have a positive and significant influence on the later establishment of bonding in the mother-baby relationship. For the testing of the hypothesis, the Satisfaction in Areas of Marital Life Evaluation Scale (EASAVIC) was applied to a sample of 20 participants, during the last trimester of pregnancy, to assess their level of marital satisfaction. About 4 weeks after childbirth, the Mother-Baby Bonding Scale (ELMB), a bonding questionnaire elaborated for this study, was also applied. The obtained data doesn't allow the confirmation of the formulated hypothesis. However, a discussion of the results ensues, as well as the limitations of the study. Directions for further research are also proposed