Innovation assessment of a Portuguese railway branch of a foreign multinational - a case study

Paper developed for the unit “Innovation Economics and Management” of the PhD programme in Technology Assessment at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2009-10 under the supervision of Prof. Maria Luísa Ferreira

Bridging present and future of brain-computer interfaces: an assessment of impacts

Based on the report for the “Project III” unit of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment under the supervision of Prof. António B. Moniz. This report was discussed also at the 2nd Winter School on Technology Assessment held at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica Campus, Portugal on December 2011.

Obama's law : analysis of a breakthrough law on healthcare access and lessons for the Portuguese health system management

ABSTRACT - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shook the foundations of the US health system, offering all Americans access to health care by changing the way the health insurance industry works. As President Obama signed the Act on 23 March 2010, he said that it stood for “the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care”. Unlike the U.S., the Article 64 of the Portuguese Constitution provides, since 1976, the right to universal access to health care. However, facing a severe economic crisis, Portugal has, under the supervision of the Troika, a tight schedule to implement measures to improve the efficiency of the National Health Service. Both countries are therefore despite their different situation, in a conjuncture of reform and the use of new health management measures. The present work, using a qualitative research methodology examines the Affordable Care Act in order to describe its principles and enforcement mechanisms. In order to describe the reality in Portugal, the Portuguese health system and the measures imposed by Troika are also analyzed. The intention of this entire analysis is not only to disclose the innovative U.S. law, but to find some innovative measures that could serve health management in Portugal. Essentially we identified the Exchanges and Wellness Programs, described throughout this work, leaving also the idea of the possibility of using them in the Portuguese national health system.

Brain-computer interface (BCI): a methodological proposal to assess the impacts of medical applications in 2022

Based on the report for “Project IV” unit of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment (Doctoral Conference) at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (December 2011). This thesis research has the supervision of António Moniz (FCT-UNL and ITAS-KIT) and Armin Grunwald (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-ITAS, Germany). Other members of the thesis committee are Mário Forjaz Secca (FCT-UNL) and Femke Nijboer (University of Twente, Netherlands).

Money for nothing?: The net costs of medical training

A Masters Thesis, presented as part of the requirements for the award of a Research Masters Degree in Economics from NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Prospective system analysis of stationary battery systems under the frame of Constructive Technology Assessment

Based on the report for the unit “Project IV” of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment under the supervision of Dr.-Ing. Marcel Weil and Prof. Dr. António Brandão Moniz. The report was presented and discussed at the Doctorate Conference on Technologogy Assessment in July 2013 at the University Nova Lisboa, Caparica campus.

Evaluation of the effect of hearing aids using electroencephalographic analysis

based on the report for the Doctoral Conference of the PhD programme in Technology Assessment, held at FCT-UNL Campus, Monte de Caparica, July 2013. The PhD thesis has the supervision of Dr. Salomé Almeida (Central Hospital of Lisbon), and co-supervision of Prof. Manuel Ortigueira (FCT-UNL).

Foresight exercises as a tool for decision-making: the example of two case studies in health

Based on the report for the unit “Foresight Methods Analysis” of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. António B. Moniz

Public perspective towards social impact of chang e lunar probe program

The present article is based on the MA thesis of Hou Bowen (Ph.D candidate) and on the presentation made at the ISA World Congress of Sociology held in Yokohama (Japan) on July 2014 at the Session on “Assessing Technologies: Global Patterns of Trust and Distrust” of RC23-Sociology of Science and Technology.

An approach to health and safety in E.U. forestry operations – Hazards and preventive measures

Forestry in general and logging in particular continue to be among the three most hazardous sectors in European countries. The aim of this article is to characterize health and safety problems and solutions in E.U. forestry operations, and particularly in Portuguese operations. Forest types, production, employment and ownership are used to characterize the forest sector. Forestry accidents and health problems data are mentioned. Typical hazards associated to the nature of logging operations are systematized. Preventive measures, focused on a wide spectrum of measures, making safety considerations an integral feature of all operational activities from planning to organization to execution and supervision of work are emphasized in this article.

Sobrecarga vivenciada por familiares cuidadores de pacientes esquizofrénicos e sua relação com a depressão

RESUMO: A partir da desinstitucionalização psiquiátrica, a ênfase nas políticas públicas de saúde mental passou para os serviços comunitários e para períodos mais curtos de hospitalização. As famílias, então, tornaram-se as principais provedoras de cuidados cotidianos e de apoio aos pacientes. As dificuldades e o despreparo em assumir este novo papel têm gerado um sentimento de sobrecarga nos familiares, o que pode afetar sua saúde física e mental. Vários estudos investigaram as consequências de se tornar um cuidador de um paciente psiquiátrico, mas poucos pesquisaram o impacto na saúde mental desses cuidadores. A presente pesquisa investigou a relação entre a sobrecarga e a saúde mental dos familiares cuidadores de pacientes psiquiátricos. Participaram deste estudo 74 familiares cuidadores de pacientes com diagnóstico de esquizofrenia, atendidos no ambulatório do Serviço de Referência em Saúde Mental, da cidade de Divinópolis, MG. Os familiares participaram de uma entrevista estruturada. Nela foram aplicadas a Escala de Avaliação da Sobrecarga dos Familiares de Pacientes Psiquiátricos (FBIS-BR) e, para avaliar a saúde mental dos cuidadores, a Escala de Depressão de Beck (BDI). Foram realizadas análises estatísticas descritivas, univariadas e multivariadas. Os resultados mostraram que a maioria dos cuidadores era do sexo feminino (78,40%), pais (62,20%) e com idade média de 59,14 anos. Os cuidadores apresentaram uma média de sobrecarga global objetiva de 2,05 (DP ± 0,54), em uma escala de 1 a 5 pontos, e uma média de sobrecarga global subjetiva de 2,44 (DP ± 0,71), em uma escala de 1 a 4 pontos. Os resultados da escala BDI mostraram que 42 cuidadores poderiam ser classificados com depressão mínima (56,80%), 17 com depressão leve (23,00%), 7 com depressão moderada (9,50%) e 8 com depressão grave (10,80%). Foram encontradas correlações positivas significativas entre o grau de sobrecarga global e das subescalas e o nível de depressão. As análises multivariadas mostraram que o principal preditor de depressão dos cuidadores foi a sobrecarga global subjetiva. Outros preditores foram a obrecarga objetiva das rotinas diárias e da supervisão dos comportamentos problemáticos dos pacientes e a sobrecarga subjetiva das preocupações com o paciente. As informações levantadas mostraram o impacto do papel de cuidador na saúde mental dos familiares e apontaram para a necessidade de uma maior atenção, por parte dos gestores e profissionais da área, aos cuidadores de pacientes psiquiátricos.----------ABSTRACT: The emphasis in public policy on mental health was transferred to community services and for shorter periods of hospitalization from the psychiatric deinstitutionalization. Then the families become the first provider of daily care and support to patients. The difficulties and unprepared to assume this new role has generated a sense of overload in the relatives, which can affect your physical and mental health. Several studies have investigated the consequences of becoming a caregiver of a psychiatric patient, but few scholars have researched the impact on the mental health of caregivers. The present study has investigated the relationship between overload and mental health of family caregivers of psychiatric patients. The study included 74 family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and outpatient clinic of the Department of Mental Health Reference, in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The Rating Scale Burden of Relatives of Psychiatric Patients and the scale of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess the mental health of caregivers were applied in the interview. Descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate analysis have performed. The results showed that the majority of caregivers were female (78.40%), parents (62.20%) and mean age of 59.14 years. The caregivers had an average burden overall objective of 2.05 (± 0.54) on a scale of 1 to 5 points, and a subjective global average burden of 2.44 (± 0.71) in a scale of 1 to 4 points. The results of the BDI showed that 42 caregivers could be classified with minimal depression (56.80%), 17 with mild depression (23.00%), 7 with moderate depression (9.50%) and 8 with severe depression (10 80%). Significant positive correlations were found between the degree of overloading and global subscales and depression levels. Multivariate analysis showed that the main predictor of caregivers' depression was the global subjective burden. Other predictors were the objective burden of daily routines and supervision of problem behaviors of patients and subjective burden of the concerns about patient. The resulting information showed the impact of caregiver role in the mental health of relatives and pointed to the need for higher attention of managers and professionals to caregivers of psychiatric patients.

Networking as a route for corporate foresight in SMEs

Paper presented at the 1st Winter School of PhD Programme on Technology Assessment on the December 6th and 7th, 2010, at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa campus of Caparica (Portugal). A final version was developed for the unit “Project III” of the same PhD programme on Technology Assessment at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2010-11 under the supervision of Prof. António Brandão Moniz

Ambient intelligence in home care in the Netherlands

Paper based in the report for the unit “Social Factors of Innovation” of the Master degree on Computer Sciences at Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, under the supervision of António Brandão Moniz

Decision making processes based on innovation indicators: which implications for technology assessment?

Based on the report for “Project IV” unit of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment. This thesis research has the supervision of António Moniz (FCT-UNL and ITAS-KIT) and Manuel Laranja (ISEG-UTL). Other members of the thesis committee are Stefan Kuhlmann (Twente University), Leonhard Hennen (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-ITAS), Tiago Santos Pereira (Universidade de Coimbra/CES) and Cristina Sousa (FCT-UNL).

Decision-making process in radiology: the magnetic resonance example in the TA context

Based on the report for “Project IV” unit of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment (Doctoral Conference) at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (December 2011). This thesis research has the supervision of António Moniz (FCT-UNL and ITAS-KIT) and Michael Decker (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-ITAS). Other members of the thesis committee are Carlos Alberto da Silva (University of Évora), José Maria de Albuquerque (Institute of Welding and Quality), Lotte Steuten (University of Twente), Mário Forjaz Secca (FCT-UNL) and Nelson Chibeles Martins (FCT-UNL).