Environmental performance of aquaculture in Rondônia state, Brazil

The objective of this study was to analyze the environmental performance of aquaculture in the city of Colorado do Oeste, Rondônia State, Brazil. Fifteen fish farmers were interviewed. For data collection, structured interviews were carried out, using a questionnaire based on information supplied by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The questionnaire considered 12 items, organized into three main topics: a) social and legal standards b) environmental standards c) standards of food safety and hygiene. The questionnaire considered 12 items, organized into three main topics: a) social and legal standards b) environmental standards c) standards of food safety and hygiene. Aquaculture in the city of Colorado do Oeste, Rondônia presents two fish production systems: extensive and semi-intensive. In the semi-intensive system, stocking rate was one fish per m3, on average; tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), tilapias (Oreochromis spp.), pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) and pintado (Pseudoplatystoma spp.) were the species farmed at the largest number. The rate of water renewal was due to the greater availability of natural food in this system. Water renewal was constant in the ponds (1,500 liters per minute). In the semi-intensive system using dug ponds, alevins were stocked and fed during the entire rearing time with natural and exogenous food. The extensive system relied on the natural production of the pond, with stocking density limited by the production of natural food. The little renewal of water made the cultivation tank itself acted as a decantation lake, with the occurrence of oxidation and sedimentation of residual organic matter, consisting of feces, debris and organic fertilizer. Production of reduced effluent volume took place in the extensive system, compared to the cultivation area. In addition, there was high water turbidity, caused by high concentration of planktonic organisms, and low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water. Data showed that nine estates of the interviewed fish farmers had critical environmental performance (less than 30.0%). Six estates of fish farmers had bad environmental performance (between 30.0 and 50.0%) (Coefficient of sustentainability = green square x 100 ÷ Total Questions less the yellow squares)

IDEA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT IN THE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY AND INNOVATION

It is known the power of ideas is tremendous. But there are employees in many companies who have good ideas but not put them into practice. On the other hand, there are many others who have good ideas and are encouraged to contribute their ideas for innovation in the company. This study attempts to identify factors that contribute to success in managing ideas and consequent business innovation. The method used was the case study applied to two companies. During the investigation, factors considered essential for the success of an idea management program were identified, of which we highlight, among others, evidences the results, involvement of the top management, establishment of goals and objectives; recognition; dissemination of good results. Companies with these implemented systems, capture the best ideas from their collaborators and apply them internally. This study intends to contribute to business innovation in enterprises through creation and idea management, mainly through collecting the best ideas of their own employees. The results of this study can be used to help improving deployed suggestions systems, as well as, all managers who wish to implement suggestions systems/ideas management systems.

Innovation and adoption of mobile technology in public organizations: the IBGE case

The use of Mobile and Wireless Information Technologies (MWIT) for provisioning public services by a government is a relatively recent phenomenon. This paper evaluates the results of MWIT adoption by IBGE (The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) through a case study. In 2007, IBGE applied 82,000 mobile devices (PDAs) for data gathering in a census operation in Brazil. A set of challenges for a large scale application of MWIT required intensive work involving innovative working practices and service goals. The case reveals a set of outputs of this process, such as time and cost reductions in service provision, improved information quality, staff training and increased organizational effectiveness and agility.

Innovation for sustainable urban tourism: some thoughts on best practice

This paper examines a series of strategic initiatives that have been undertaken by Tourism Queensland (TQ), a State Tourism Organization in Australia, to develop tourism and in particular to develop networks in tourism destinations. This paper firstly examines the nature of sustainable urban tourism (SUT) and discusses approaches to defining it. It suggests that developing SUT requires a generic approach to improving sustainable tourism operations amongst all suppliers in an urban area. Further, this approach suggests that best practice in marketing and policy development can be adopted to attract tourists to a SUT destination and examples of this approach are provided.

Environmental life cycle assessment of concrete made with fine recycled concrete aggregates

The majority of worldwide structures use concrete as its main material. This happens because concrete is economically feasible, due to its undemanding production technology and case Of use. However, it is widely recognized that concrete production has a strong environmental impact in the planet. Natural aggregates use is one of the most important problems of concrete production nowadays, since they are obtained from limited, and in some countries scarce, resources. In Portugal, although there are enough stone quarries to cover coarse aggregates needs for several more years, Supplies of fine aggregates are becoming scarcer, especially in the northern part of the country. On the other hand, as concrete structures' life cycle comes to an end, an urgent need emerges to establish technically and economically viable solutions for demolition debris, other than for use as road base and quarry fill. This paper presents a partial life cycle assessment (LCA) of concrete made with fine recycled concrete aggregates performed with EcoConcrete tool. EcoConcrete is a tailor-made, interactive, learning and communications tool promoted by the Joint Project Group (JPG) on the LCA of concrete, to qualify and quantify the overall environment impact of concrete products. It consists of an interactive Excel-spreadsheet in which several environmental inputs (material quantities, distances from origin to production Site, production processes) and outputs (material, energy, emissions to air, water, soil or waste) are collected in a life cycle inventory, and are then processed to determine the environmental impact (assessment) of the analysed concrete, in terms of ozone layer depletion, smog or "greenhouse" effect.

Exposure assessment: the influence of environmental monitoring methodology

Exposure assessment is an important step of risk assessment process and has evolved more quickly than perhaps any aspect of the four-step risk paradigm (hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response analysis, and risk characterization). Nevertheless, some epidemiological studies have associated adverse health effects to a chemical exposure with an inadequate or absent exposure quantification. In addition to the metric used, the truly representation of exposure by measurements depends on: the strategy of sampling, random collection of measurements, and similarity between the measured and unmeasured exposure groups. Two environmental monitoring methodologies for formaldehyde occupational exposure were used to assess the influence of metric selection in exposure assessment and, consequently, in risk assessment process.

Occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in hospitality venues: are genetic- or proteomics-based biomarkers predictive of respiratory diseases?

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is recognized as an occupational hazard in the hospitality industry. Although Portuguese legislation banned smoking in most indoor public spaces, it is still allowed in some restaurants/bars, representing a potential risk to the workers’ health, particularly for chronic respiratory diseases. The aims of this work were to characterize biomarkers of early genetic effects and to disclose proteomic signatures associated to occupational exposure to ETS and with potential to predict respiratory diseases development. A detailed lifestyle survey and clinical evaluation (including spirometry) were performed in 81 workers from Lisbon restaurants. ETS exposure was assessed through the level of PM 2.5 in indoor air and the urinary level of cotinine. The plasma samples were immunodepleted and analysed by 2D-SDSPAGE followed by in-gel digestion and LC-MS/MS. DNA lesions and chromosome damage were analysed innlymphocytes and in exfoliated buccal cells from 19 cigarette smokers, 29 involuntary smokers, and 33 non-smokers not exposed to tobacco smoke. Also, the DNA repair capacity was evaluated using an ex vivo challenge comet assay with an alkylating agent (EMS). All workers were considered healthy and recorded normal lung function. Interestingly, following 2D-DIGE-MS (MALDI-TOF/TOF), 61 plasma proteins were found differentially expressed in ETS-exposed subjects, including 38 involved in metabolism, acute-phase respiratory inflammation, and immune or vascular functions. On the other hand, the involuntary smokers showed neither an increased level of DNA/chromosome damage on lymphocytes nor an increased number of micronuclei in buccal cells, when compared to non-exposed non-smokers. Noteworthy, lymphocytes challenge with EMS resulted in a significantly lower level of DNA breaks in ETS-exposed as compared to non-exposed workers (P<0.0001) suggestive of an adaptive response elicited by the previous exposure to low levels of ETS. Overall, changes in proteome may be promising early biomarkers of exposure to ETS. Likewise, alterations of the DNA repair competence observed upon ETS exposure deserves to be further understood. Work supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, ACSS and FCT/Polyannual Funding Program.

Environmental exposure to toxicants mixtures from a multi-purpose estuary: perspectives for a biomonitoring study in Portugal

This work was focused on a multi-purpose estuarine environment (river Sado estuary, SW Portugal) around which a number of activities (e.g., fishing, farming, heavy industry, tourism and recreational activities) coexist with urban centres with a total of about 200 000 inhabitants. Based on previous knowledge of the hazardous chemicals within the ecosystem and their potential toxicity to benthic species, this project intended to evaluate the impact of estuarine contaminants on the human and ecosystem health. An integrative methodology based on epidemiological, analytical and biological data and comprising several lines of evidence, namely, human contamination pathways, human health effects, consumption of local produce, estuarine sediments, wells and soils contamination, effects on commercial benthic organisms, and genotoxic potential of sediments, was used. The epidemiological survey confirmed the occurrence of direct and indirect (through food chain) exposure of the local population to estuarine contaminants. Furthermore, the complex mixture of contaminants (e.g., metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) trapped in the estuary sediments was toxic to human liver cells exposed in vitro, causing cell death, oxidative stress and genotoxic effects that might constitute a risk factor for the development of chronic-degenerative diseases, on the long term. Finally, the integration of data from several endpoints indicated that the estuary is moderately impacted by toxicants that affect also the aquatic biota. Nevertheless, the human health risk can only be correctly assessed through a biomonitoring study including the quantification of contaminants (or metabolites) in biological fluids as well as biomarkers of early biological effects (e.g., biochemical, genetic and omics-based endpoints) and genetic susceptibility in the target population. Data should be supported by a detailed survey to assess the impact of the contaminated seafood and local farm products consumption on human health and, particularly, on metabolic diseases or cancer development.

Acompanhamento dos trabalhos de construção de um hotel SANAHotels Amoreiras

Este trabalho final de mestrado baseou-se no acompanhamento da construção do hotel SANA Amoreiras, situado na Avenida Duarte Pacheco nº 12. O empreiteiro geral foi a empresa FDO Construções. Existindo também uma equipa de fiscalização, LMSA, contratada pelo Dono de Obra de forma a efectuar todo o controlo de qualidade. O TFM baseou-se no estágio efectuado para o Dono de obra do hotel onde fui devidamente acompanhada por uma engenheira, orientadora de estágio, que acompanhou de perto o desempenho da minha actividade. Esta função teve como objectivos a gestão de projecto de hotel, interligação entre projectistas e empreiteiro geral, bem prestar o devido acompanhamento de todos trabalhos a realizar. Acompanhei a realização de dois quartos modelo onde o objectivo do Dono de Obra foi testar as diversas soluções ao nível de revestimentos, sanitários, iluminação, mobiliário, decoração e outras soluções de arquitectura, soluções estas a implementar no hotel. Acompanhei também a realização de reuniões de compatibilização e coordenação de todos os projectos de especialidades com o projecto de arquitectura, nomeadamente Avac, Instalações eléctricas, Comunicações, Segurança, Águas, Esgotos, Gás, Incêndio, Cozinhas de forma a ser possível efectuar consultas aos empreiteiros e adjudicar todas estas empreitadas. Foi efectuada uma abordagem à descrição do hotel, suas características, indicação das razões que levaram à sua construção e descrição das várias empreitadas de construção realizadas até então, tal como, demolição, escavação, estrutura, acabamentos e especialidades.

Otimização de sistema de absorção, com coletores solares, para refrigeração de espaços condicionados termicamente (a chiller)

Nos dias que correm questões ambientais e considerações energéticas obrigam a uma inovação constante na procura de soluções de baixo consumo energético e de impacto ambiental baixo, nomeadamente no que diz respeito aos sistemas de climatização e refrigeração. Têm vindo a ser criadas medidas, tanto a nível internacional como nacional, no sentido de reduzir as emissões nocivas para a atmosfera, consequência do excessivo consumo de combustíveis fósseis, e do aumento da rentabilidade da energia e maior utilização de energias renováveis. O presente estudo de dimensionamento de um sistema de absorção, a brometo de lítio/água, com coletores solares, tem por base o sistema de compressão existente num edifício de serviços no centro de Lisboa. Foi efetuada uma analise simplificada dos seus dados de consumo energético, de maneira a verificar a viabilidade económica da substituição do equipamento existente e instalação de um sistema de coletores solares. Concluiu-se que a substituição do equipamento e a instalação de coletores solar, não é atrativa do ponto de vista económico, nesta solução em particular. Contudo, verifica-se uma considerável redução do impacto ambiental do consumo energético do edifício.

Innovation through virtual communities of Practice: motivation and constraints in the knowledge-creation process

Communities of Practice are places which provide a sound basis for organizational learning, enabling knowledge creation and acquisition thus improving organizational performance, leveraging innovation and consequently increasing competitively. Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP‟s) can perform a central role in promoting communication and collaboration between members who are dispersed in both time and space. The ongoing case study, described here, aims to identify both the motivations and the constraints that members of an organization experience when taking part in the knowledge creating processes of the VCoP‟s to which they belong. Based on a literature review, we have identified several factors that influence such processes; they will be used to analyse the results of interviews carried out with the leaders of VCoP‟s in four multinationals. As future work, a questionnaire will be developed and administered to the other members of these VCoP‟s

Environmental sustainability in superior education: case study of Lisbon College of Health Technology

Over the centuries there has been a growing trend of societies and it is possible to verify their economic growth. This growth has provided an increased pressure on natural resources, often over-reaching the boundaries of each country, which has called into question the level of environmental sustainability in different countries. Sustainability is understood as a complex concept involving ecological, social, economic dimensions and temporal urban processes. Therefore, Firmino (2009) suggests that the ecological footprint (EF) allows people to establish dependency relations between human activities and the natural resources required for such activities and for the absorption of waste generated. According to Bergh & Verbruggen (1999) the EF is an objective, impartial and one-dimensional indicator that enables people to assess the sustainability. The Superior Schools have a crucial role in building the vision of a sustainable future as a reality, because in transmitting values and environmental principles to his students, are providing that they, in exercising his professional activity, make decisions weighing the environmental values. This ensures improved quality of life. The present study aims to determine the level of environmental sustainability of the Academic Community of Lisbon College of Health Technology (ESTeSL), by calculating the EF, and describe whether a relation between Footprint and various socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects.