A identificação organizacional e a recordação de acontecimentos afetivos nas organizações

O presente trabalho pretendeu compreender de que forma a identificação organizacional (IO) condiciona a memória afetiva do individuo, nomeadamente a maneira como este se recorda de episódios afetivos, positivos e negativos, que ocorrem em contexto organizacional, e a representação cognitiva retrospetiva que o individuo faz destes episódios. Com base na teoria do nível de abstração (TNA; e.g. Trope & Liberman, 2003), advogámos que a congruência afetiva entre o nível de IO e a valência do episódio recordado pode ser uma dimensão de distância psicológica do indivíduo face ao acontecimento em causa. Neste estudo quasi-experimental (2x2: IO elevada vs. baixa x recordação de acontecimento afetivo positivo vs. recordação de acontecimento afetivo negativo), participaram 113 estudantes de 1º ano de licenciatura, do ISCTE-IUL. A IO foi medida e a valência do acontecimento afetivo recordado foi manipulada através do pedido de recordação de um incidente crítico que tivesse ocorrido no ISCTE-IUL e que tivesse evocado emoções positivas vs. emoções negativas. Consistentes com as nossas hipóteses, os resultados mostraram que quanto maior a congruência entre o nível de identificação do individuo à organização em que está inserido (alta vs. baixa) e a valência do acontecimento afetivo recordado (respetivamente positivo vs. negativo), menor é a distância psicológica do individuo a esse acontecimento; pelo que as descrições retrospetivas do acontecimento recordado se mostraram mais detalhadas, sendo esse episódio representado cognitivamente a um menor nível de abstração. Porém, não se verificou o efeito da congruência na intensidade emocional com que os participantes descrevem o acontecimento afetivo recordado.The present study sought to understand how organizational identification (IO) determines individual´s affective memory, particularly the way he remembers affective events (positive and negative) that occur in an organizational context, and the retrospective cognitive representation that the individual makes about these episodes. Based on the Construal Level Theory (CLT; e.g. Trope & Liberman, 2003), we have advocated that the affective congruence between IO and the remembered episode´s valence may be a dimension of individual´s psychological distance from that event. In this quasi-experimental study (2x2: high vs. low IO x recollection of positive affective event vs. recall of negative emotional event) participated 113 students from the 1st year of degree, ISCTE-IUL. The IO was measured and the affective valence of the remembered event was manipulated by asking participants to recall a critical incident that had occurred at ISCTE-IUL that had evoked positive emotions vs. negative emotions. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that the greater the congruence between the individual´s level of identification with the organization to which he belongs (high vs. low) and the affective valence of the remembered event (respectively positive vs. negative), the lower the individual´s psychological distance to that event; in this case, the retrospective descriptions of the remembered events were more detailed, and the episodes were cognitively represented at a lower level of abstraction. However, there was no congruence effect in the emotional intensity with which participants describe the remembered affective even

A crise económica na Argentina no início do século XXI : lições para Portugal

Mestrado em Economia Internacional e Estudos EuropeusApesar do sucesso das políticas impostas para reduzir a inflação em 1991, a vulnerabilidade externa da economia Argentina e os restantes indicadores macroeconómicos revelaram a insustentabilidade do programa a médio prazo. Uma década mais tarde, a mudança do rumo da economia argentina foi inevitável. Depois da desvalorização cambial em 2002, registou-se uma rápida recuperação e, a partir daí, um crescimento económico sustentável e intenso. As crises Argentina e Portuguesa têm como principais causas fatores de natureza sistémica. Contrastando com a teoria imposta pelas autoridades competentes de que a irresponsabilidade orçamental foi o embrião daquele que viria a ser o episódio mais dramático das duas economias, ambos os casos revelaram semelhanças no período antes da crise difíceis de refutar: um sistema financeiro frágil em regime de câmbios fixos sobrevalorizados e entradas de capitais massivas associadas a défices da Balança Corrente. Tendo em conta a experiência Argentina e o falhanço das políticas de austeridade em ambos os países, Portugal deve ter em atenção a estratégia de crescimento e emprego apresentada e rever os seus modelos de recuperação neoliberais.Despite the success of the economic policies imposed in 1991 to reduce inflation, the external vulnerability of the Argentine economy and other macroeconomic indicators have revealed the unsustainability of that program in the medium-term. A decade later, a change of direction in the Argentine economy was inevitable. After the devaluation in 2002, Argentina registered a quick recovery and, thereafter, a sustainable and intense economic growth. The main reasons behind the Argentinean and Portuguese crises are factors of systemic nature. In spite of the theory imposed by the competent authorities, that fiscal irresponsibility was the main culprit of what was to prove to be the most dramatic episode of both economies, both cases revealed similarities which are difficult to refute, in the period before the crisis: a fragile financial system in an overvalued fixed exchange rate regime and massive capital inflows associated with deficits in the Current Account. Given the Argentine experience and the failure of austerity policies in both countries, Portugal must take into account the strategy for growth and employment submitted and revise their models of neoliberal recovery

Negative Effect of Smoking on the Performance of the QuantiFERON TB Gold in Tube Test.

False negative and indeterminate Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) results are a well documented problem. Cigarette smoking is known to increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) and to impair Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses to antigenic challenge, but the impact of smoking on IGRA performance is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of smoking on IGRA performance in TB patients in a low and high TB prevalence setting respectively. Patients with confirmed TB from Denmark (DK, n = 34; 20 smokers) and Tanzania (TZ, n = 172; 23 smokers) were tested with the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube (QFT). Median IFN-γ level in smokers and non smokers were compared and smoking was analysed as a risk factor for false negative and indeterminate QFT results. Smokers from both DK and TZ had lower IFN-γ antigen responses (median 0.9 vs. 4.2 IU/ml, p = 0.04 and 0.4 vs. 1.6, p < 0.01), less positive (50 vs. 86%, p = 0.03 and 48 vs. 75%, p < 0.01) and more false negative (45 vs. 0%, p < 0.01 and 26 vs. 11%, p = 0.04) QFT results. In Tanzanian patients, logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex, age, HIV and alcohol consumption showed an association of smoking with false negative (OR 17.1, CI: 3.0-99.1, p < 0.01) and indeterminate QFT results (OR 5.1, CI: 1.2-21.3, p = 0.02). Cigarette smoking was associated with false negative and indeterminate IGRA results in both a high and a low TB endemic setting independent of HIV status

Effectiveness of service models and organisational structures supporting tuberculosis identification and management in hard-to-reach populations in countries of low and medium tuberculosis incidence: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE: To determine which service models and organisational structures are effective and cost-effective for delivering tuberculosis (TB) services to hard-to-reach populations. DESIGN: Embase and MEDLINE (1990–2017) were searched in order to update and extend the 2011 systematic review commissioned by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), discussing interventions targeting service models and organisational structures for the identification and management of TB in hard-to-reach populations. The NICE and Cochrane Collaboration standards were followed. SETTING: European Union, European Economic Area, European Union candidate countries and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. PARTICIPANTS: Hard-to-reach populations, including migrants, homeless people, drug users, prisoners, sex workers, people living with HIV and children within vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the interventions. RESULTS: From the 19 720 citations found, five new studies were identified, in addition to the six discussed in the NICE review. Community health workers from the same migrant community, street teams and peers improved TB screening uptake by providing health education, promoting TB screening and organising contact tracing. Mobile TB clinics, specialised TB clinics and improved cooperation between healthcare services can be effective at identifying and treating active TB cases and are likely to be cost-effective. No difference in treatment outcome was detected when directly observed therapy was delivered at a health clinic or at a convenient location in the community. CONLCUSIONS: Although evidence is limited due to the lack of high-quality studies, interventions using peers and community health workers, mobile TB services, specialised TB clinics and improved cooperation between health services can be effective to control TB in hard-to-reach populations. Future studies should evaluate the (cost-)effectiveness of interventions on TB identification and management in hard-to-reach populations and countries should be urged to publish the outcomes of their TB control systems

The Compartmentalisation of Phosphorylated Free Oligosaccharides in Cells from a CDG Ig Patient Reveals a Novel ER-to-Cytosol Translocation Process

BACKGROUND: Biosynthesis of the dolichol linked oligosaccharide (DLO) required for protein N-glycosylation starts on the cytoplasmic face of the ER to give Man(5)GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol, which then flips into the ER for further glycosylation yielding mature DLO (Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol). After transfer of Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2) onto protein, dolichol-PP is recycled to dolichol-P and reused for DLO biosynthesis. Because de novo dolichol synthesis is slow, dolichol recycling is rate limiting for protein glycosylation. Immature DLO intermediates may also be recycled by pyrophosphatase-mediated cleavage to yield dolichol-P and phosphorylated oligosaccharides (fOSGN2-P). Here, we examine fOSGN2-P generation in cells from patients with type I Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG I) in which defects in the dolichol cycle cause accumulation of immature DLO intermediates and protein hypoglycosylation. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells from CDG I patients and normal subjects a correlation exists between the quantities of metabolically radiolabeled fOSGN2-P and truncated DLO intermediates only when these two classes of compounds possess 7 or less hexose residues. Larger fOSGN2-P were difficult to detect despite an abundance of more fully mannosylated and glucosylated DLO. When CDG Ig cells, which accumulate Man(7)GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol, are permeabilised so that vesicular transport and protein synthesis are abolished, the DLO pool required for Man(7)GlcNAc(2)-P generation could be depleted by adding exogenous glycosylation acceptor peptide. Under conditions where a glycotripeptide and neutral free oligosaccharides remain predominantly in the lumen of the ER, Man(7)GlcNAc(2)-P appears in the cytosol without detectable generation of ER luminal Man(7)GlcNAc(2)-P. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: The DLO pools required for N-glycosylation and fOSGN2-P generation are functionally linked and this substantiates the hypothesis that pyrophosphatase-mediated cleavage of DLO intermediates yields recyclable dolichol-P. The kinetics of cytosolic fOSGN2-P generation from a luminally-generated DLO intermediate demonstrate the presence of a previously undetected ER-to-cytosol translocation process for either fOSGN2-P or DLO

Measuring impact inside emergent organizations - an in-depth case study of adopting the sustainable development goals

Measuring impact inside emergent organizations –An in-depth case study of adopting the Sustainable Development Goals is a work project which aims to demonstrate the challenges emergent social organizations must face when measuring impact and the best approach to surpass them. Through an in-depth analysis of Academia Ten, where multiple qualitative data methods and a “Framework” approach (Richie and Spencer 1994) were used, the case study enables the recognition of inefficiencies and strategic actions to consider. This research highlights the lack of literature related to this topic and the considerable differences between emergent social organizations and big-size organizations, where existing studies are focused. The case study also enables a better understanding of the reason why existing measuring impact tools are not suitable for thisspecific context