The impact of night work on subjective reports of well-being: an exploratory study of health care workers from five nations

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a survey data collection from health care workers in Brazil, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine and the USA with two primary goals: (1) to provide information about which aspects of well-being are most likely to need attention when shiftwork management solutions are being developed, and (2) to explore whether nations are likely to differ with respect to the impacts of night work on the well-being of workers involved in health care work. METHODS: The respondents from each nation were sorted into night worker and non-night worker groups. Worker perceptions of being physically tired, mentally tired, and tense at the end of the workday were examined. Subjective reports of perceived felt age were also studied. For each of these four dependent variables, an ANCOVA analysis was carried out. Hours worked per week, stability of weekly work schedule, and chronological age were the covariates for these analyses. RESULTS: The results clearly support the general proposal that nations differ significantly in worker perceptions of well-being. In addition, perceptions of physical and mental tiredness at the end of the workday were higher for night workers. For the perception of being physically tired at the end of a workday, the manner and degree to which the night shift impacts the workers varies by nation. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to determine if the nation and work schedule differences observed are related to differences in job tasks, work schedule structure, off-the-job variables, and/or other worker demographic variables.

Job control, job demands, social support at work and health among adolescent workers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate physical and psychological dimensions of adolescent labor (such as job demands, job control, and social support in the work environment), and their relation to reported body pain, work injuries, sleep duration and daily working hours. METHODS: A total of 354 adolescents attending evening classes at a public school in São Paulo, Brazil, answered questionnaires regarding their living and working conditions (Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, 1998), and their health status. Data collection took place in April and May 2001. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine relations among variables. RESULTS: Psychological job demands were related to body pain (OR=3.3), higher risk of work injuries (OR=3.0) and reduced sleep duration in weekdays (Monday to Thursday) (p<0.01). Lower decision authority in the workplace (p=0.03) and higher job security (p=0.02) were related to longer daily working hours. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that besides physical stressors, psychological factors are to be taken into account when studying adolescent working conditions, as they may be associated with negative job conditions and health effects.

Articulação do tratamento das águas lixiviantes de infraestruturas de resíduos com ETAR urbanas: caso de estudo

A deposição de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) em aterros sanitários (AS) tem uma dimensão que necessita de uma atenção especial por parte da sociedade. Deste acto podem resultar situações gravosas para o meio ambiente se não forem tomadas as medidas correctas. Um dos pontos que necessita de uma particular atenção é o tratamento das águas lixiviantes dos aterros sanitários, uma vez que estas apresentam geralmente cargas altamente poluentes. O presente trabalho apresenta a estrutura de um aterro sanitário, definindo os seus princípios de funcionamento, bem como as principais características a ter em consideração para a sua concepção e construção. É ainda abordada a composição dos resíduos sólidos produzidos em Portugal de acordo com (1) e as características quantitativas e qualitativas do lixiviado produzido por um AS. São apresentados os sistemas tratamento convencionais, biológicos e físico-químicos, mais utilizados em Portugal para o tratamento de águas lixiviantes, relacionando as problemáticas e as limitações associadas a cada um deles. É ainda apresentado o tratamento combinado de águas lixiviantes com águas residuais e a recirculação de lixiviado no sistema de tratamento, assim como algumas das vantagens associadas a estas práticas. Tendo por base, uma situação real, avalia-se um caso de estudo, que visa a avaliação do funcionamento da estação de pré-tratamento das águas lixiviantes produzidas no aterro sanitário do ecoparque de Palmela, tendo em consideração o facto de este tratamento ser realizado em combinação com o tratamento de águas residuais urbanas. A avaliação do funcionamento da estação de pré-tratamento de águas lixiviantes (EPTAL) é realizada de acordo com os dados fornecidos nos relatórios elaborados pela empresa LUSÁGUA, que apresentam os valores das cargas poluentes medidos à entrada e saída da EPTAL, verificando com estes dados se os valores limite de emissão medidos à saída da EPTAL são respeitados. São ainda propostas algumas alterações baseadas em pareceres técnicos que acompanham os relatórios elaborados pela LUSÁGUA e um estudo elaborada pela ECOserviços em Fevereiro de 2010 onde se obtêm eficiências de etapas de tratamentos com base em testes laboratoriais e testes realizados na própria EPTAL.

Cooperation mechanism for team-work based multi-agent system in dynamic scheduling through meta-heuristics

This paper describes a Multi-agent Scheduling System that assumes the existence of several Machines Agents (which are decision-making entities) distributed inside the Manufacturing System that interact and cooperate with other agents in order to obtain optimal or near-optimal global performances. Agents have to manage their internal behaviors and their relationships with other agents via cooperative negotiation in accordance with business policies defined by the user manager. Some Multi Agent Systems (MAS) organizational aspects are considered. An original Cooperation Mechanism for a Team-work based Architecture is proposed to address dynamic scheduling using Meta-Heuristics.

Work in progress: representar o «outro» segundo o pensamento antropofágico casos de estudo - Hans Staden e Les Maîtres Fous

O presente artigo analisa o filme de Luis Alberto Pereira «Hans Staden» (1999), baseado no livro de Hans Staden «Duas Viagens ao Brasil» (1557), e o documentário/filme «Les Maîtres Fous» (1955) de Jean Rouch, tendo em consideração o pensamento antropofágico. Estas obras focalizam o choque cultural entre “civilizado” e “selvagem”, entre ritual canibal e ritual antropofágico, entre o «Nós» e os «Outros», encontros que permitem uma análise mais concreta à concepção de alteridade. A representação cinematográfica permite uma aproximação ao conceito antropofágico de apropriação da cultura externa, para posteriormente a reproduzir numa interpretação segundo a concepção ocidental do que figuram os rituais em questão. O Movimento Antropófago, pelo seu carácter vanguardista, concilia a matriz fundadora brasileira e ao mesmo tempo enaltece a irreverência de análise, e neste artigo serve de fundamento teórico e prático à decomposição dos exemplos. O pensamento antropófago e a sua aplicabilidade aos exemplos seleccionados permitem também aprofundar o estudo sobre o imaginário europeu enquanto recriação de relatos datados de viajantes ou colonizadores, pois a manutenção de um acervo estereotipado historicamente serve como forma de “legitimar” concepções. As duas obras focalizam a representação indígena e africana - o “selvagem” - na construção do imaginário ocidental - “civilizado” - dicotomia que nos permite desmistificar relações interculturais.

Health, sleep and lack of time: relations to domestic and paid work in nurses

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether reported morbidity and complaints of lack of time and sleep are associated with the burden of professional work and housework among nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional exploratory study was carried out among female nurses and nurse assistants (N=206) of a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The prevalence ratio and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. RESULTS: Mean duration of professional work and housework time was 40.4 and 31.6 hours/week, respectively. Long professional working time (over 44 hours/week) were associated with mild emotional disorders (PR=1.37; 95% CI: 1.05-1.80), complaints of lack of time for resting/leisure (PR=1.61; 95% CI: 1.31-1.97), housework (PR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.12-1.97), and childcare (PR=1.99; 95% CI: 1.51-2.63). Long housework time (over 28 hours/week) was associated with lower prevalence of lack of time for childcare (PR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.46-0.84). High housework load was associated with lack of personal time and complaints of varicose veins (PR=1.31; 95% CI: 1.14-1.50 and PR=1.31; 95% CI: 1.08-1.58, respectively). Complaints of varicose veins were also frequent among female nurses with a total work load above 84 hours (PR=1.30; 95% CI: 1.05-1.61), though this group has shown a lower prevalence of arterial hypertension and recurrent headaches (PR=0.35; 95% CI: 0.15-0.83 and PR=0.53; 95% CI: 0.32-0.89, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that both professional and home environments are relevant in the evaluation of work overload on nurses' health and their family and social life. It is stressed the need for instruments for analyzing total workload among female populations.

ß-lactamases in the biochemistry and molecular biology laboratory

β-lactamases are hydrolytic enzymes that inactivate the β-lactam ring of antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins. The major diversity of studies carried out until now have mainly focused on the characterization of β-lactamases recovered among clinical isolates of Gram-positive staphylococci and Gram-negative enterobacteria, amongst others. However, only some studies refer to the detection and development of β-lactamases carriers in healthy humans, sick animals, or even in strains isolated from environmental stocks such as food, water, or soils. Considering this, we proposed a 10-week laboratory programme for the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology laboratory for majors in the health, environmental, and agronomical sciences. During those weeks, students would be dealing with some basic techniques such as DNA extraction, bacterial transformation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gel electrophoresis, and the use of several bioinformatics tools. These laboratory exercises would be conducted as a mini research project in which all the classes would be connected with the previous ones. This curriculum was compared in an experiment involving two groups of students from two different majors. The new curriculum, with classes linked together as a mini research project, was taught to a major in Pharmacy and an old curriculum was taught to students from environmental health. The results showed that students who were enrolled in the new curriculum obtained better results in the final exam than the students who were enrolled in the former curriculum. Likewise, these students were found to be more enthusiastic during the laboratory classes than those from the former curriculum.

Motivations in volunteer work

The objective of this paper is to review and discuss the literature about volunteers’ motivations to donate their time to NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations). According to Parboteeah, Cullenb & Lim (2004) management research has not paid much attention to voluntarism, however, voluntarism is a substantial part of productive work for many societies. Wilson & Pimm (1996) show that in Great Britain about 39% of the adult population has been involved in some volunteer activity for some period of time. In the U.S.A. these values reach 50% (Wilson & Pimm, 1996). Considering the benefits that voluntarism can bring to an organisation, we understand that more attention must be devoted to this phenomenon. The more an organisation knows volunteers, the better this organisation will be able to meet the needs and expectations of these individuals. We present a literature review that illustrates and compares the different motivations associated with volunteer work. The paper includes a bibliographical databases search in specialised journals. The search used the key words “motivations” and “voluntarism” (in the heading and text body) and covered all numbers between 2000 and 2007. We identify the existence of repeated motivations (Holmberg & Söderlung, 2005; Prouteau & Wolff, 2008; Soupourmas & Ironmonger, 2001; Yavas & Riecken, 1997), which allow the establishment of a typology of volunteers’ motivations, based on four categories: altruism, social needs, self-esteem, learning and self-development. Finally we identify three main gaps in the literature that justify further research. First, research focusing on the differences between motivations related to volunteers’ "Attraction" versus "Retention" in NGO’s is nil. Second, the great majority of the studies rely on north American (USA and Canada) and Australian context, which demands for further research in European countries. Third, the majority of NGOs researched are related to sport, art or the environment, and it would be interesting to explore the relationship between motivation and NGO type. These questions may obtain interesting answers for NGO management, in particular with regard to volunteer attraction and retention.

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.

As expressões artísticas no Pré-Escolar e 1º ciclo do Ensino Básico e o desenvolvimento da autonomia e da cooperação

Mestrado, Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, 20 de Junho de 2013, Universidade dos Açores (Relatório de Estágio).

Betão betuminoso com betume anti-querosene Formulação, aplicação e comportamento

Mestrado em Engenharia Geotécnica e Geoambiente

Percurso pedestre no Rio Este: contribuição para a educação ambiental e promoção do ensino experimental

O ensino praticado nas nossas escolas necessita ser mais consentâneo com os princípios e valores veiculados pela Educação Ambiental. Pretende-se, com este trabalho, levar os alunos a percepcionar a natureza com um olhar diferente, a estabelecer uma nova relação com o meio, adoptando uma postura pró-activa na defesa do espaço ribeirinho. Por meio de um percurso investigativo ao longo da margem esquerda de um troço do rio Este, na zona envolvente da Escola, os alunos de uma turma do 5º ano estudaram a flora autóctone existente na zona ribeirinha e recolheram amostras de água onde puderam aplicar processos de tratamento. Os temas abordados pertencem aos conteúdos leccionados nas aulas de Ciências da Natureza. Considerando que estas actividades podem ser importantes ferramentas na educação para o ambiente, elaborou-se para o grupo experimental um caderno de campo, que serviu de orientação ao estudo da flora, realizou-se uma actividade prática no laboratório, com a amostra da água recolhida. Posteriormente aplicou-se um teste, para conhecer o grau de conhecimento adquirido após a actividade e, no final, os alunos responderam a um inquérito para se conhecer o seu grau de satisfação. Ainda que os resultados do teste não mostrem diferenças significativas na aquisição de conhecimento em relação à turma não participante no projecto, a interpretação da paisagem mostrou-se um meio eficaz de envolver os alunos, desenvolver sensibilidades, construir conceitos, promover atitudes positivas que vão de encontro a uma Educação Ambiental ligada à cidadania.

Uma caracterização dos teores de azoto ureico no leite (AUL/MUN) nas explorações leiteiras da Ilha Terceira

Dissertação de Mestrado, Engenharia Zootécnica, 04 de Junho de 2014, Universidade dos Açores.

Preparatory and field work phases in the qualitative empirical research process in management: the case studies approach

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to promote qualitative methodology within the scientific community of management. The specific objective is oriented to propose an empirical research process based on case study method. This is to ensure rigor in the empirical research process, that future research may follow a similar procedure to that is proposed. Design/methodology/approach: Following a qualitative methodological approach, we propose a research process that develops according to four phases, each with several stages. This study analyses the preparatory and field work phases and their stages. Findings: The paper shows the influence that case studies have on qualitative empirical research process in management. Originality/value:. Case study method assumes an important role within qualitative research by allowing for the study and analysis of certain types of phenomena that occur inside organisations, and in respect of which quantitative studies cannot provide an answer.

Contribuição para o estudo da combinação de cal com cimento no tratamento de solos

Mestrado em Engenharia Geotécnica e Geoambiente