Comparing the content of instruments assessing environmental factors using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Purpose: To describe and compare the content of instruments that assess environmental factors using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL and PEDro databases was conducted using a pre-determined search strategy. The identified instruments were screened independently by two investigators, and meaningful concepts were linked to the most precise ICF category according to published linking rules. Results: Six instruments were included, containing 526 meaningful concepts. Instruments had between 20% and 98% of items linked to categories in Chapter 1. The highest percentage of items from one instrument linked to categories in Chapters 2–5 varied between 9% and 50%. The presence or absence of environmental factors in a specific context is assessed in 3 instruments, while the other 3 assess the intensity of the impact of environmental factors. Discussion: Instruments differ in their content, type of assessment, and have several items linked to the same ICF category. Most instruments primarily assess products and technology (Chapter 1), highlighting the need to deepen the discussion on the theory that supports the measurement of environmental factors. This discussion should be thorough and lead to the development of methodologies and new tools that capture the underlying concepts of the ICF.

Motivations and management factors of volunteer work in nonprofit organisations: a literature review

The objective of this paper is to review and discuss the literature about volunteers’ motivations to donate their time to NPOs and the management factors that can influence volunteer work. Firstly, the paper illustrates and compares the different types of motivation followed by a presentation of a typology that organises the volunteers’ motivations into four types: (i) altruism, (ii) belonging, (iii) ego and social recognition and (iv) development and learning. Secondly we discuss the key management factors in volunteering: recruitment, training and rewarding. Finally, we present four gaps in the literature that justify the scope for further research: (i) omission of differences between motivations related to volunteers’ "Attraction" versus "Retention"; (ii) focus of the research on the USA, UK and Australia context; (iii) absence of comparative analyses that relate motivations by NPO types and (iv) comprehension of how management factors (recruitment, training and rewarding) influence volunteers’ satisfaction and retention.

Size matters when we talk about corporate social responsibility: the case of portuguese companies

Social responsibility arises as a measure of the corporate policy that goes beyond the production activity, thus covering also the social and environmental activities. This issue has been gaining importance over time. The number of companies that are implementing socially responsible actions has been growing steadily even though it is still centered on large and medium sized companies. Social responsibility is an accessible theme to any company of any size, once the social and environmental issues are resolved through concrete actions, but in the small and micro-sized companies there are factors that inhibit such actions. Some of these factors are: reduced investment capacity; minimal expectations of medium to long term returns; or even the short-term management focus that is aimed at survival. Such facts can be verified in the case of Portuguese companies, where out of the 41 companies certified by SA 8000 only 5 are micro-sized or small and even these are linked to large organizations.

User perception and influencing factors of technology in everyday life

An increasing amount of research is being developed in the area where technology and humans meet. The success or failure of technologies and the question whether technology helps humans to fulfill their goals or whether it hinders them is in most cases not a technical one. User Perception and Influencing Factors of Technology in Everyday Life addresses issues of human and technology interaction. The research in this work is interdisciplinary, ranging from more technical subjects such as computer science, engineering, and information systems, to non-technical descriptions of technology and human interaction from the point of view of sociology or philosophy. This book is perfect for academics, researchers, and professionals alike as it presents a set of theories that allow us to understand the interaction of technology and humans and to put it to practical use.

Papel do polimorfismo Pro12 Ala no gene PPAR Gama 2 na obesidade e diabetes mellitus tipo 2 - uma meta análise

A obesidade e a diabetes mellitus tipo 2 (DM2) são considerados dois grandes problemas de saúde pública. A má alimentação e a falta de atividade física encontram-se entre os principais desencadeadores de um crescente número de indivíduos obesos, diabéticos e com sensibilidade à insulina diminuída. Este aumento tem motivado a comunidade científica a investigar cada vez mais para o elevado contributo da herança genética associada aos fatores sociais e nutricionais. O gene dos recetores ativados por proliferadores do peroxissoma gama 2 (PPARγ2) desempenha um papel importante no metabolismo lipídico. Uma vez que o PPARγ2 é maioritariamente expresso no tecido adiposo, uma redução moderada da sua atividade tem influência na sensibilidade à insulina, diabetes, e outros parâmetros metabólicos. Vários estudos sugerem que tanto fatores genéticos como fatores ambientais (tais como a dieta), poderão estar envolvidos na formação de padrões associados ao polimorfismo Pro12Ala com a composição corporal em diferentes populações humanas. Os diversos estudos genéticos envolvendo o estudo do polimorfismo Pro12Ala do PPARγ2 na suscetibilidade de possuir risco de diabetes e obesidade em várias populações têm proposto conclusões diversas. Em alguns parece haver mais associações do que outros e, às vezes, não demonstram sequer associação. Desta forma, o presente trabalho teve como objectivo contribuir para a elucidação do impacto do polimorfismo Pro12Ala do PPARγ2 na resistência à insulina associada à DM2 e na obesidade, mediante estudo sistematizado da literatura existente até à data, através de meta análise. Do total de uma pesquisa de 63 publicações, foram incluídos 32 artigos no presente estudo, sendo que destes 25 foram incluídos na síntese qualitativa e 11 incluídos na sintese quantitativa. No presente trabalho pode-se concluir que existe evidência estatística que suporta a hipótese de que o polimorfismo Pro12Ala do PPARγ2 pode ser considerado um fator protetor para a DM2 [p <0,05 e OR (odds ratio) 0,702, com IC (intervalos de confiança) com valores que nunca incluem o 1]. No entanto, e mediante os mesmos pressupostos, o mesmo polimorfismo pode ser considerado um fator de risco ao desenvolvimento de obesidade, pela evidência estatística [p <0,05 e OR de 1,196, com IC com valores que nunca incluem o 1].

Volunteers and management factors in nonprofit organisations: a brief literature review

The objective of this paper is to review and discuss the literature about the management factors that can influence volunteer work. First we present the different management factors. This discussion is followed by the identification of the key management factors in volunteering: recruitment, training and rewarding. Finally, we present two main gaps in the literature that justify the scope for further research: (i) how management factors (recruitment, training and rewarding) influence volunteers’ satisfaction and retention; and (ii) predominance of the investigations in the North American context, followed by English and Australian context.

Air pollution from traffic emissions in Oporto, Portugal: health and environmental implications

Air pollution represents a serious risk not only to environment and human health, but also to historical heritage. In this study, air pollution of the Oporto Metropolitan Area and its main impacts were characterized. The results showed that levels of CO, PM10 and SO2 have been continuously decreasing in the respective metropolitan area while levels of NOx and NO2 have not changed significantly. Traffic emissions were the main source of the determined polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; 16 PAHs considered by U.S. EPA as priority pollutants, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene and benzo[j]fluoranthene) in air of the respective metropolitan area. The mean concentration of 18 PAHs in air was 69.9±39.7 ng m−3 with 3–4 rings PAHs accounting for 75% of the total ΣPAHs. The health risk analysis of PAHs in air showed that the estimated values of lifetime lung cancer risks considerably exceeded the health-based guideline level. Analytical results also confirm that historical monuments in urban areas act as passive repositories for air pollutants present in the surrounding atmosphere. FTIR and EDX analyses showed that gypsum was the most important constituent of black crusts of the characterized historical monument Monastery of Serra do Pilar classified as “UNESCO World Cultural Heritage”. In black crusts, 4–6 rings compounds accounted approximately for 85% of ΣPAHs. The diagnostic ratios confirmed that traffic emissions were the major source of PAHs in black crusts; PAH composition profiles were very similar for crusts and PM10 and PM2.5.

Distributed Belief Revision and Environmental Decision Support

This article discusses the development of an Intelligent Distributed Environmental Decision Support System, built upon the association of a Multi-agent Belief Revision System with a Geographical Information System (GIS). The inherent multidisciplinary features of the involved expertises in the field of environmental management, the need to define clear policies that allow the synthesis of divergent perspectives, its systematic application, and the reduction of the costs and time that result from this integration, are the main reasons that motivate the proposal of this project. This paper is organised in two parts: in the first part we present and discuss the developed - Distributed Belief Revision Test-bed - DiBeRT; in the second part we analyse its application to the environmental decision support domain, with special emphasis on the interface with a GIS.

Distributed Belief Revision and Environmental Decision Support

This article discusses the development of an Intelligent Distributed Environmental Decision Support System, built upon the association of a Multi-agent Belief Revision System with a Geographical Information System (GIS). The inherent multidisciplinary features of the involved expertises in the field of environmental management, the need to define clear policies that allow the synthesis of divergent perspectives, its systematic application, and the reduction of the costs and time that result from this integration, are the main reasons that motivate the proposal of this project. This paper is organised in two parts: in the first part we present and discuss the developed ; in the second part we analyse its application to the environmental decision support domain, with special emphasis on the interface with a GIS.

O relato integrado e a responsabilidade social da empresa no contexto da economia social

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças, sob orientação de Doutora Ana Maria Alves Bandeira e de Doutora Deolinda Aparício Meira

Contextual and Environmental Awareness Laboratory for Energy Consumption Management

The recent changes on power systems paradigm requires the active participation of small and medium players in energy management. With an electricity price fluctuation these players must manage the consumption. Lowering costs and ensuring adequate user comfort levels. Demand response can improve the power system management and bring benefits for the small and medium players. The work presented in this paper, which is developed aiming the smart grid context, can also be used in the current power system paradigm. The proposed system is the combination of several fields of research, namely multi-agent systems and artificial neural networks. This system is physically implemented in our laboratories and it is used daily by researchers. The physical implementation gives the system an improvement in the proof of concept, distancing itself from the conventional systems. This paper presents a case study illustrating the simulation of real-time pricing in a laboratory.

Back pain in Portuguese schoolchildren: prevalence and risk factors

2 Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention In Sport, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Portugal Background: Regarding children aged _10 years, only a few international studies were conducted to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for back pain. Although other studies on the older Portuguese children point to prevalence between 17% and 39%, none exists for this specific age-group. Thus, the aim of this study was conducted to establish the prevalence of and risk factors for back pain in schoolchildren aged 7–10 years. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among 637 children was conducted. A self-rating questionnaire was used to verify prevalence and duration of back pain, life habits, school absence, medical treatments or limitation of activities. For posture assessment, photographic records with a bio-photogrammetric analysis were used to obtain data about head, acromion and pelvic alignment, horizontal alignment of the scapulae, vertical alignment of the trunk and vertical body alignment. Results: Postural problems were found in 25.4% of the children, especially in the 8- and 9-year-old groups. Back pain occurs in 12.7% with the highest values among the 7- and 10-year-old children. The probability of back pain increased 7 times when the children presented a history of school absences, 4.3 times when they experienced sleeping difficulties, 4.4 times when school furniture was uncomfortable, 4.7 times if the children perceived an occurrence of parental back pain and 2.5 times when children presented incorrect posture. Conclusions: The combination of school absences, parental pain, sleeping difficulties, inappropriate school furniture and postural deviations at the sagittal and frontal planes seem to prove the multifactorial aetiology of back pain.

A DCAP for the social and solidarity economy

This article presents a work-in-progress version of a Dublin Core Application Profile (DCAP) developed to serve the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). Studies revealed that this community is interested in implementing both internal interoperability between their Web platforms to build a global SSE e-marketplace, and external interoperability among their Web platforms and external ones. The Dublin Core Application Profile for Social and Solidarity Economy (DCAP-SSE) serves this purpose. SSE organisations are submerged in the market economy but they have specificities not taken into account in this economy. The DCAP-SSE integrates terms from well-known metadata schemas, Resource Description Framework (RDF) vocabularies or ontologies, in order to enhance interoperability and take advantage of the benefits of the Linked Open Data ecosystem. It also integrates terms from the new essglobal RDF vocabulary which was created with the goal to respond to the SSE-specific needs. The DCAP-SSE also integrates five new Vocabulary Encoding Schemes to be used with DCAP-SSE properties. The DCAP development was based on a method for the development of application profiles (Me4MAP). We believe that this article has an educational value since it presents the idea that it is important to base DCAP developments on a method. This article shows the main results of applying such a method.

Resident's perceptions on impacts of hosting the “Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture

. Residents tend to have high expectations about the benefits of hosting a mega‐event. So, it was not surprising that the nomination of Guimarães, Portugal, as the 2012 European Capital of Culture (2012 ECOC) had raised great expectations in the local community towards its socio‐economic and cultural benefits. The present research was designed to examine the Guimarães residents’ perceptions on the impacts of hosting the 2012 ECOC approached in two different time schedules, the pre‐ and the post‐event, trying to capture the evolution of the residents` evaluation of its impacts. For getting the data, two surveys were applied to Guimarães` residents, one in the pre‐event phase, in 2011, and another in the post‐event phase, in 2013. This approach is uncommonly applied to Portugal data and it is even the first time it was done to a Portuguese European Capital of Culture. After a factor analysis, the results of t‐tests indicate that there were significant differences (p<0.05) between the samples from the pre‐ and post‐2012 ECOC on two positive impact factors (Community’ benefits and Residents’ benefits) and one negative impact factor (Economic, social and environmental costs). Respondents also showed a negative perception of the impacts in all dimensions, except Changes in habits of Guimarães residents. 

Assessment of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic pharmaceuticals in seawaters of North of Portugal: Occurrence and environmental risk

The occurrence of seven pharmaceuticals and two metabolites belonging to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics therapeutic classes was studied in seawaters. A total of 101 samples covering fourteen beaches and five cities were evaluated in order to assess the spatial distribution of pharmaceuticals among north Portuguese coast. Seawaters were selected in order to embrace different bathing water quality (excellent, good and sufficient). Acetaminophen, ketoprofen and the metabolite hydroxyibuprofen were detected in all the seawater samples at maximum concentrations of 584, 89.7 and 287 ng L− 1, respectively. Carboxyibuprofen had the highest seawater concentration (1227 ng L− 1). The temporal distribution of the selected pharmaceuticals during the bathing season showed that, in general, higher concentrations were detected in August and September. The environmental risk posed by the pharmaceuticals detected in seawaters towards different trophic levels (fish, daphnids and algae) was also assessed. Only diclofenac showed hazard quotients above one for fish, representing a potential risk for aquatic organisms. These results were observed in seawaters classified as excellent bathing water. Additional data is needed in order to support the identification and prioritization of risks posed by pharmaceuticals in marine environment.