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Emotional management (EM) is a crucial skill for achieving relevant biopsychosocial goals, and there has been an increased demand for the effective measurement of EM ability. The current study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the brief Situational Test of Emotional Management (STEM-B) using the item response theory in a sample of 899 participants. The global fit indicated the model had a good adjustment, with most items aligning vertically across the logit scale and presenting an adequate range of item difficulty and fit. Differential item functioning analysis showed no differences in difficulty between genders, but some items differed according to the education level and age-groups. Overall, findings suggest the STEM-B is a psychometrically sound measure for specific testing of EM skills that has the potential to be used across cultures and fields.

Based on data collected from managers of wine tourism businesses in rural areas in Portugal, this study highlights the equal potential of female leadership in wine tourism. Specifically, women's profiles, management practices and leadership narratives were analyzed and contrasted with corresponding data reported by their male counterparts. Concerning personality traits, no statistical difference between men and women was identified, which was also the case for some management practices, with sustainability concerns being important for both male and female business managers. Differences were found in communication with markets, being dominated by online devices, particularly with social networks in the case of women. As for their leadership position, women further tend to prefer a shared management approach in opposition to a more individualist management style followed by men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The western-European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is an insectivore with a wide distribution in Portugal and a potential tool for biomonitoring relevant One Health hazards, including heavy metal(loid)s' pollution. The aim of this study was to positively contribute to the current knowledge about the metal(loid) pollution in Portugal. Forty-six hedgehogs (from rescue centres; with known provenance) were necropsied. Sex, age category and weight were determined. Spines, liver and kidney were collected, and metalloid concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry (ICP-MS). In general, results did not present alarming metal(loid) concentrations, with the exception of cadmium (Cd) (in the kidneys) and copper (Cu). Hedgehogs from Viana do Castelo and Viseu showed elevated concentrations of arsenic (As) and Castelo Branco presented concerning values of cadmium (Cd). Adult and heavier hedgehogs tended to present higher levels of metal(loid)s. Sex does not seem to significantly affect the metal(loid)s' concentrations. Further analysis would be needed to prioritize areas with detail and allow the application of the necessary mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how biographical materials may be used in youth arts education projects to develop new methodologies and approaches that can stimulate artistic and social intervention in contemporary urban communities, thus changing the field of arts education policy at the community level. Through their creation of Artistic Society Projects, a group of young people from the arts education project Bando à Parte: Youth Cultures, Arts and Social Inclusion (O Teatrão, Coimbra, Portugal) have created a voice that may be used to transform their own communities. The starting points for this transformation are the young peoples' biographical paths. The influence of youth on education policy may be strategically understood in the context of formal and nonformal school curricula. How can youth use their biographies to develop specific contributions both to change in individual behaviors and to social change in urban communities, influencing arts education policies to instigate action? The exploration of these processes through the work of artistic creation, inspired by collected biographical materials, represents a contribution to ongoing reflection on the issues of memory, identity, youth resistance, and community change in urban settings, influencing the ways in which arts education policy is understood and implemented.

Asset management involves the coordinated activities of an organisation to derive value from assets, which may include physical assets. It encompasses activities related to design, construction, installation, operation, maintenance, renewal, and asset disposal. Asset management ensures the coordination of all activities, resources, and data related to physical assets. Recording and monitoring all maintenance activities is a key part of asset management, often done using work orders (WOs). Technicians typically create WOs using "free text", which can result in missing or ungrammatical words, making it difficult to identify trends and analyse information. To standardise the terminology used for the same asset maintenance operation, this paper proposes a method that suggests words to technicians as they complete WOs. The word suggestion algorithm is based on past maintenance records, and a Bayesian network-based recommender system adapts to present needs verified by technicians using implicit user feedback. Implementing this system aims to normalise the terms used by technicians when filling in a WO. The corpus for this work comes from asset management records collected in a health facility in Portugal operated by a private company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Heavy metal(loid)s are hazardous substances for humans, animals and ecosystems. The liver is one of the most affected organs, presenting lesions after being acutely or chronically exposed to these substances. In this study, hepatic metal(loid)s' concentrations were associated with biliary hyperplasia, which was the most common hepatic lesion found in a group of western-European hedgehogs from rescue centres in Portugal. With exception of arsenic (As), all metal(loid)s were present in higher concentrations in animals with biliary hyperplasia. Further research is necessary to support these results and clarify the molecular mechanisms that lead to hepatic lesions provoked by these compounds. Heavy metal(loid) pollution of ecosystems is a current One Health problem. The liver is one of the most affected organs in cases of acute or chronic exposure to abnormal amounts of these substances, inducing histopathologic lesions. In order to assess the influence of heavy metal(loids), forty-five European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) were submitted to necropsy, and liver samples were collected for a routine histopathology exam and metal(loid)s determination (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu and Pb) by ICP-MS. Age was estimated during the necropsy exam. Biliary hyperplasia was the most frequent lesion observed (16/45; 35.56%). No statistically significant associations were found between biliary hyperplasia and age or sex. Metal(loid)s' concentrations were higher in animals with biliary hyperplasia (except for As). There was a statistically significant difference for both Cd and Co. For As, Cd and Co, cubs and juveniles animals showed significantly lower concentrations than elder individuals. Only for Pb were significant differences found between females and males. As described in the literature, exposure to metal(loid)s may be a cause of biliary hyperplasia, although further research (including the use of biochemical methods) is needed to support these results. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of this association in hedgehogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shares collaborative scientific work done by researchers from the Centre for Social Studies (University of Coimbra, Portugal) and from the Technology, Restoration and Arts Enhancement Center (Polytechnical Institute of Tomar, Portugal) within the REDE ARTÉRIA in cooperation with MOVTOUR. REDE ARTÉRIA is an action research project that aims to create cultural presentations and performances to tour the Centro Region of Portugal. It aspires to encourage a greater professionalization of agents, while aiming to enrich and enhance the cultural offering. Simultaneously, it intends to stimulate a community practice of participatory cultural mapping influencing creation processes and cultural policies in this region. The analysis is made in the specific context of the artistic creation VAGAR, conceived by the Portuguese choreographer Marina Nabais and co-produced by the Municipality of Ourém (Portugal). The analysis results from participatory workshops with local agents, field notes from rehearsal observation, interviews with artists, local participants, local government, and from the final report produced by the dance association responsible for the performance. This work critically reflects on how processes of community participation and of tangible and intangible resource mapping – by providing dialogue opportunities between artists, local agents, municipalities and the local cultural fabric – can develop innovative projects of artistic intervention that link heritage to local, social and cultural civic dynamics. It thus epitomizes the importance of the social dimension of cultural activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Geographies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Based on an exploratory research, this study highlights the role of pure rural entrepreneurship towards rural development of an inland and mountainous area of Portugal—Montemuro. Thanks to the Institute of Cultural Affairs and the energy of the rural communities, some people of the rural area have been stimulated thirty years ago to develop endogenous, entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives in the countryside. The benefits of all these rural entrepreneurial and endogenous initiatives are visible nowadays. Some villages of the rural area have more people, socio-economic dynamics were revitalized, and some job opportunities were created. Therefore, in a context of depopulation and crisis of peripheral and interior areas, our study demonstrates that rural entrepreneurship and innovation based on endogenous resources are key for the welfare of the rural society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Relações Internacionais is the property of Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Soils from the old Mortórios uranium mine area were studied to look for contamination, as they are close to two villages, up to 3 km away, and used for agriculture. They are mainly contaminated in U and As and constitute an ecological threat. This study attempts to outline the degree to which soils have been affected by the old mining activities through the computation of significant hot clusters, Traditional geostatistical approaches commonly use raw data (concentrations) accepting that the analyzed elements represent the soil's entirety. However, in geochemical studies these elements are just a fraction of the total soil composition. Thus, considering compositional data is pivotal. The spatial characterization, considering raw and compositional data together, allowed a broad discussion about not only the concentrations' spatial distribution, but also a better understanding on the possibility of trends of "relative enrichment" and, furthermore an insight in U and As fate. The highest proportions (compositional data) on U (up to 33%), As (up to 35%) and Th (up to 13%) are reached in the south-southeast segment. However, the highest concentrations (raw data) occur in north and northwest of the studied area, pointing out to a "relative enrichment" toward the south-southeast zone. The Mondego Sul area is mainly contaminated in U and As, but also in Co, Cu, Pb and Sb. The Mortórios area is less contaminated than the Mondego Sul area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses segregation regimes in relation to housing policies, analysing their effects on residential occupation patterns and their connections with other urban policies in the Portuguese context. First, we focus on the effect of national housing policies from the past two decades, including social housing policies, on residential occupation patterns. Second, we examine the main instruments of housing policy implemented under the austerity programme, looking ahead to the new needs and segregation mechanisms linked to the crisis as well as the responses to the crisis. We show that during the past four decades, housing policies ended up acting as segregation regimes, unable to oppose centrifugal market forces present in the metropolisation process. In central metropolitan areas, as well as in neighbourhoods with social housing, the economic crisis and the austerity programme are magnifying problems regarding access to housing. The adopted policies have direct consequences on spatial segregation, as they contribute to the increase of housing stress in low-income dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study analysed the importance of physical forces on land-use change, on the planning framework in a Portuguese periurban area. A temporal matrix showing the trajectories of land transformation was obtained. A multivariate redundancy analysis explored the importance of physical parameters on temporal and spatial land-use change. A content analysis on urban or municipal master plans was made framing the importance of physical parameters on the planning process. The results highlighted a consistent trajectory of profound land-use changes with distinctive trajectories, with increasingly complex patterns with a limited dependence on physical variables. The trajectories were more related to the planning framework, where political actors and planning managers seemed to be most important. A theoretical model balancing three main components – physical forces, actors, and land transformation (DFA-C model) is proposed, reflecting the informal relationships between physical parameters and actors during the planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies the potential role of the dopamine-2 receptor (DRD2) gene in the genetic etiology of schizophrenia in a sample of Portuguese subjects. Functional polymorphism of DRD2; Allelic association and linkage disequilibrium between the insertion allele and schizophrenia.

Copyright of Culture & Local Governance / Culture et Gouvernance Locale is the property of Culture & Local Governance, Centre on Governance and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Soil quality in urban areas is affected by anthropogenic activities, posing a risk to human health and ecosystems. Since the pseudo-total concentrations of potentially toxic elements may not reflect their potential risks, the study of element mobility is very important on a risk assessment basis. This study aims at characterising the distribution and major sources of 34 elements in two Portuguese urban areas (Lisbon and Viseu), with different geological characteristics, industrial and urban development processes. Furthermore, the potential availability of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn was assessed, by measuring the fraction easily mobilised. Lisbon is enriched in elements of geogenic and anthropogenic origin, whereas in the smaller city, the high levels observed are mainly related to a geogenic origin. Background values can be more relevant than the dimension of the city, even when anthropogenic components may be present, and this parameter should be considered when comparing results from different cities. Regarding the potential available fraction, a high variability of results was observed for elements and for sampling sites with an influence of the soil's general characteristics. Elements showing very high concentrations due to geological reasons presented, in general, a low mobility and it was not dependent on the degree of contamination. For elements with major anthropogenic origin, only Zn was dependent on the pseudo-total content. Yet, the highest available fractions of some elements, both with major geogenic and anthropogenic origin, were observed in specific contaminated samples. Therefore, a site-specific evaluation in urban soils is important due to the high spatial variability and heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim if this study was to assess the distribution of mercury in water, suspended particulate matter, surface sediments and biota from the Sado estuary, which, for the most part, is classified as a natural reserve, so as to evaluate its environmental quality status in terms of mercury contamination. Besides the diffuse sources of mercury coming into the Sado estuary, there are also additional contributions from the northern industrial zone and from the urban areas within the system. Applying national and international guidelines to different environmental matrices, the results obtained show that the system does not seem to be under environmental risk as far as mercury contamination is concerned. These quality guidelines can be used to rank and prioritise sites of concern. Hence, the area at the northern industrialised area deserves particular attention. The concentration of mercury in sediments of this area (0.54 mg kg) simultaneously succeeded the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD) reference value, the OSPAR Convention Ecotoxicological Assessment Criteria (EACs) and is classified as class 2 in degree of contamination by the National legislation, which implies some legal restrictive rules. Considering the stations close to urbanised areas, one exceeded the OSPAR EACs for dissolved mercury, whilst the other exceeded the EU-WFD reference value for mercury concentrations in sediments. No statistical significant relations were found between mercury concentrations in biota ( Ulva sp, Hediste diversicolor, Scrobicularia plana, Cerstoderma edule and Carcinus maenas) and in the abiotic matrices (sediment and water column, including mercury in its dissolved form and associated to suspended particulate matter). This paper provides an overview of the guidelines for Hg proposed for a considerable number of coastal systems of the northern hemisphere and highlights the complex interactions of Hg in the different environmental compartments in low contaminated systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) is a coast al lagoon adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and it has an inner bay (Laranjo bay) that received a highly contaminated effluent discharged by a mercury cell chlor-alkali plant from the 1950s until 1994. The aim of this study is to review in a holistic way several research studies that have been carried out in the Ria de Aveiro, in order to evaluate the remobilization of the mercury accumulated within the system and the recovery of the lagoon. The spatial distribution of the total mercury in the surrounding terrestrial environment has also been considered. Results indicate that the main mercury contamination problems in the Ria de Aveiro are confined to the Laranjo bay. Mercury export to the coastal waters and its impact on the nearshore compartments (water column, sediment and biota) are low. No direct effects of the mercury from nearby industrial activities were detected in Aveiro’s urban soils, although historical mercury contamination is still affecting soil quality in the immediate vicinity of the chlor-alkali plant, located in Estarreja. Moreover, macrophyte harvesting for human direct or indirect use and the consumption of mussels, crabs and the sea bass from the Laranjo bay may constitute a health risk. Further studies focusing on developing skills for the restoration of the ecosystem are presently underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract   Nurse rerostering arises when at least one nurse announces that she will be unable to undertake the tasks previously assigned to her. The problem amounts to building a new roster that satisfies the hard constraints already met by the current one and, as much as possible, fulfils two groups of soft constraints which define the two objectives to be attained. A bi-objective genetic heuristic was designed on the basis of a population of individuals characterised by pairs of chromosomes, whose fitness complies with the Pareto ranking of the respective decoded solution. It includes an elitist policy, as well as a new utopic strategy, introduced for purposes of diversification. The computational experiments produced promising results for the practical application of this approach to real life instances arising from a public hospital in Lisbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antuã River, located in northwestern Portugal, drains a region with a high population density and a strong economic dynamism. These factors, together with a lack of facilities for appropriate treatment of domestic and industrial sewage, are putting increasing pressure on water resources. In this context, the aim of the present study was to identify point sources of pollution and to assess the surface water quality in the Antuã basin by monitoring physicochemical variables. A total of 40 point sources of wastewater, including some with a high pollution load, were detected in the most populated and industrialized areas of the São João da Madeira and Oliveira de Azeméis municipalities. These sources explained the strong degradation of water quality observed in the upper and medium Antuã River and in one of its tributaries, where maxima of 49 mg l−1 for biochemical oxygen demand, 29 mg l−1 for Kjeldahl nitrogen and 3.7 mg l−1 for total phosphorus, were found after five surface water monitoring campaigns. Despite the relevance of pollution problems, a considerable water quality improvement, promoted by favourable reaeration conditions, was observed in the final stretch of the river, giving evidence of a great self-depuration capacity. However, the Antuã is a significant contributor of nutrients to the Ria de Aveiro, the coastal lagoon where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ria de Aveiro, a Portuguese coastal lagoon that exchanges water with the Atlantic Ocean, received the effluent from a chlor-alkali industry for over 50 years; consequently several tons of mercury had been buried in the sediments of an inner basin. To assess the importance (and seasonal variation) of the lagoon waters as carriers of mercury to the nearby coastal area, we measured total mercury levels in several compartments: in surface sediments, in surface and deep waters (including dissolved and particulate matter), and in biota. Dissolved (reactive and total) mercury concen- trations both in surface and deep waters were low (<1 to 15 ng L-1). Mean mercury values in suspended particulate matter varied between 0.2 and 0.6 μg g-1 and in sediments between 1 and 9 ng g-1. Aquatic organisms displayed levels below regulatory limits but exhibited some bioaccumulation of mercury, with concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 0.8 μg g-1 [dry weight (dw)]. No seasonal pattern was found in this study for mercury-related determinations. Levels found in the estuary mouth during ebb tide provide evidence for the transport of mercury to the coastal zone. No significant changes in the partition of mercury between dissolved and particulate phases were found in the coastal waters in comparison with the values found in the estuary mouth. In spite of the high levels of mercury found inside some areas of the lagoon, the wide web of islands and channels allows some spreading of contaminants before they reach the coastal waters. Moreover, the low efficiency of local marine sediments in trapping mercury contributes to a dilution of mercury transported in suspended particulate matter over a broader area, reducing the impact in the nearby marine coastal zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective was to estimate the seasonal and inter-tidal variability of dissolved and particulate mercury fluxes between the Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) and the Atlantic Ocean. The mercury fluxes were estimated by means of a two-dimensional vertically integrated hydrodynamic model. Results showed that the particulate fraction plays an important role in the transport of mercury while the contribution of the seston fraction to the transport of mercury was always <0.5%. During spring tides, in summer, about 2% of mercury transported in seston was present in an organic form. The mass balance for the mercury fractions revealed that the mercury export to the Atlantic Ocean varied with season and tidal regime, mainly in terms of the relative importance of the dissolved and particulate fractions. An approximate range of values for the annual mass balance between 42 and 77kg shows that the export of dissolved and particulate mercury makes little impact on the near shore region of the Atlantic Ocean and that the recovery of the lagoon from mercury contamination is likely to remain a long-term issue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The problem of rerostering nurse schedules arises in hospitals when at least one nurse informs that she will be unable to perform the shifts assigned to her on one or more future work days. As a result, the current roster must be rebuilt in accordance with labour contract rules and institutional requirements. All such restraints are regarded as hard constraints. However, major alterations in the previously assigned nurse schedules must be avoided. This paper is based on a case study of a public hospital in Portugal. It presents two new integer multicommodity flow formulations for the rerostering problem, besides a computational experiment performed using real data. The first model is based on a directed multilevel acyclic network. The aggregation of nodes in this network led to the second model. The results obtained show that the second integer multicommodity flow formulation outperforms the first, both in terms of solution quality, as well as in computational time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is a common psychiatric disorder with a complex genetic etiology. To understand the genetic basis of this syndrome in Portuguese Island populations, we performed a genome-wide scan of 29 families with schizophrenia, which identified a single region on 5q31-5q35 with strong linkage (NPL=3.09, P=0.0012 at D5S820). Empirical simulations set a genome-wide threshold of NPL=3.10 for significant linkage. Additional support for this locus in schizophrenia comes from higher-density mapping and mapping of 11 additional families. The combined set of 40 families had a peak NPL=3.28 (P=0.00066) at markers D5S2112-D5S820. These data and previous linkage findings from other investigators provide strong and consistent evidence for this genomic region as a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia. Exploratory analyses of a novel phenotype, psychosis, in families with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder detected evidence for linkage to the same markers as found in schizophrenia (peak NPL=3.03, P=0.0012 at D5S820), suggesting that this locus may be responsible for the psychotic symptoms observed in both diseases.Molecular Psychiatry (2004) 9, 213-218. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001418 Published online 30 December 2003 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Schizophrenia is associated with expanded CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats. We wished to determine whether the presence of such expansions correlated with specific subsyndromes or other clinical features of schizophrenia.Method: Seventy patients from England and Wales and 44 patients from Portugal with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia were rated on the OPCRIT checklist. Patient's maximum CAG/CTG repeat length was measured using repeat expansion detection (RED). Significant differences were sought for repeat lengths in subjects categorised according to dimensional and categorical schizophrenia subsyndromes, affective episodes, individual symptoms, and a range of demographic variables.Results: Maximum CAG/CTG repeat length did not differ significantly for any of the clinical or demographic variables studied.Conclusion: There are no subsyndromes or other clinical features of schizophrenia associated with CAG/CTG repeat expansion. Therefore, the identification of the gene(s) that contain expanded CAG/CTG repeats and which are associated with schizophrenia is unlikely to be facilitated at present by using any subsyndromes of schizophrenia as phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Land/ocean boundaries constitute complex systems with active physical and biogeochemical processes that affect the global carbon cycle. An example of such a system is the mesotidal lagoon named Ria de Aveiro (Portugal, 40°38′N, 08°45′W), which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a single channel, 350m wide. The objective of this study was to estimate the seasonal and inter-tidal variability of organic carbon fluxes between the coastal lagoon and the Ocean, and to assess the contribution of the organic carbon fractions (i.e. dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC)) to the export of organic carbon to the Ria de Aveiro plume zone. The organic carbon fractions fluxes were estimated as the product of the appropriate fractional organic carbon concentrations and the water fluxes calculated by a two-dimensional vertically integrated hydrodynamic model (2DH). Results showed that the higher exchanges of DOC and POC fractions at the system cross-section occurred during spring tides but only resulted in a net export of organic carbon in winter, totalling 85t per tidal cycle. Derived from the winter and summer campaigns, the annual carbon mass balance estimated corresponded to a net export of organic carbon (7957=6585tyr−1 POC+1372tyr−1 DOC). On the basis of the spring tidal drainage area, it corresponds to an annual flux of 79gm−2 of POC and 17gm−2 of DOC out of the estuary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]