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Organizations are under increasing pressure to comply with various rules, standards, and policies in today’s regulatory environment. Compliance controls are put in place to avoid legal or regulatory violations, which could lead to severe penalties, loss of reputation, and financial damages. However, these controls may have similar scopes and objectives, resulting in duplicated work and unnecessary costs for the organizations. To address this issue, researchers carry out the mapping and integration of these standards to avoid duplication, streamline compliance efforts, and identify best practices. Our work aims to improve the State-of-the-Art by exploring the main benefits and problems resulting from these processes, as well as identifying methods or artifacts that can be reused in the future. We focus on the fields of Risk, Security, and Business Continuity, as these are critical areas where compliance is crucial for organizations. Through our research, we have found that current methods of generating mapping artifacts are not only cumbersome to execute but also ineffective, as they output a single artifact without the reasoning behind it.

Background: Organizations allocate substantial resources to Information Technology (IT) to ensure its long-term success. Hence, effective IT Governance (ITG) is crucial for business/IT alignment. However, factors like employee behavior and Organizational Culture (OC) play vital roles in applying ITG but remain underexplored. Objectives: This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the relationship between ITG and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Additionally, it investigates the moderating effect of different cultures in the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) on the ITG-OCB relationship. Methods/Analysis: A survey was conducted involving 513 employees from over 150 companies worldwide. The data were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: This study confirms that institutionalizing ITG enhances OCB. Furthermore, a moderating effect was observed in most relationships, highlighting the influence of different OC types. Market and hierarchy cultures exhibited the most significant moderating effect. Novelty: This research contributes to the understanding of ITG's impact on employee behavior, extending the investigation to new dimensions of OCB and confirming the moderating role of OC. The practical implications of this study enable organizations to foster a culture that promotes ITG and cultivates employees' OCB, leading to improved business-IT alignment, enhanced IT-enabled value, and, ultimately, enhanced organizational effectiveness. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-010 Full Text: PDF

The northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula is an important spawning and nursery area for several marine fish species, some of which are economically exploited by fisheries and under management plans. Larval stages of fish are highly sensitive to environmental change and anthropogenic pressures, and Marine Protected Areas (MPA) can help mitigate the impacts on fish populations. This study investigated the environmental drivers of the temporal and spatial patterns of the larval fish assemblages inhabiting a small coastal MPA along the NW Portuguese Iberian Coast. Seasonal surveys were conducted over two years at nine sampling stations distributed throughout the MPA to collect larval fish samples and water parameters. Results showed that a total of 39 different fish taxa were identified. In terms of abundance, reef-associated species, such as Parablennius gattorugine (54.6%), and marine species that use estuaries as nursery areas, such as Ammodytes tobianus (15.7%) and Clupeidae n.i. (8.8%) dominated the larval fish assemblages. The larval fish assemblages were characterized by a strong temporal pattern that, according to CCA analyses, was related to the temporal variability of water temperature, pH, chlorophyll α, TPM, and also the river flow of an adjacent river. This study showed that 47% of the fish larvae belonged to commercially exploited species, highlighting the importance of this MPA as a nursery area for the early life stages of the fish population. Overall, these new findings emphasize the role of MPAs in ensuring the connectivity of fish species between marine-estuarine habitats and enhancing the conservation of fish populations.

The present work aims to evaluate the MP contamination of zooplankton and its impact on MP trophic transfers at the lower levels of the food web in a field study. During 1 year, seasonal surveys were conducted to collect zooplankton and water samples from different sites in two estuaries, the Douro and Lima estuaries (NW, Portugal). The zooplankton was quantified and identified into major zooplanktonic groups. Dedicated protocols that had been previously optimized were used to assess the MP presence in the water samples and in two of the most abundant zooplankton groups (copepods and chaetognaths). The results showed the presence of MPs in all water samples, with similar MP concentrations in both estuaries (Lima: 2.4 ± 2.0 MPs m−3; Douro: 2.3 ± 1.9 MPs m−3). In general, no temporal or spatial variations were observed. Fibres, blue and of a small size (−1) and Douro (2.0 ± 2.8 MPs ind−1) estuaries than Copepoda, which tended to have lower levels of MP contamination (Lima: 0.95 ± 1.12 MPs ind−1; Douro: 1.1 ± 1.2 MPs ind−1). Such differences in the MP concentrations between these two categories of zooplanktonic organisms indicate a possible MP trophic transfer at the lower levels of the food web. The results highlight the novel possibility of an MP trophic transfer in zooplankton and the need to fully assess the impacts of MPs in real scenarios.

Stating “how things are done here,” organizations are defining their culture. Organizational Culture (OC) is the set of values, norms, goals, and expectations shared by all members of an organization that aids in improving their commitment and performance. On the organizational level, it impacts behavior, productivity, and long-term survival by influencing organizational capability. Due to employee behavior being a competitive differential, this study examines how specific OCs influence individual behavior. In particular, how the different cultures in the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) affect employees' main dimensions of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). A descriptive-confirmative ex post facto research was conducted by surveying 513 employees from over 150 organizations worldwide. The Kruskal–Wallis H-test was used to validate our model. The general hypothesis was confirmed, showing that the predominant organizational culture type affects the level and the kind of OCBs individuals demonstrate. It is possible to provide organizations with a breakdown of their employees' OCBs based on their OC type and which changes they can make to their organization's culture to increase the employees' OCB and, consequently, the efficiency of their organization.

Observational, cross-sectional prevalence studies are costly and time-consuming. The development of indirect methods estimating prevalence used to obtain faster, less-expensive, and more robust results would be an advantage for several healthcare applications. This study aimed to use the drug dispensing data from community pharmacies to estimate the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Portuguese population. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a database of dispensed medicines with an indication for Diabetes mellitus in 2018 and 2021, stratified by geographic region. The methodology was based on a sequential method of acquiring prevalence estimates obtained through exposure to medicines using the daily doses defined per thousand inhabitants per day and adjusted to the rate of adherence to therapy, prescription patterns, and concomitance of antidiabetic drugs. The estimated overall T2DM prevalence in 2018 was 13.9%, and it was 14.2% for 2021. The results show the increased consumption of antidiabetic drugs, with fixed-dose combination antidiabetics and new antidiabetics being particularly important in 2021. This work allowed for the development of a model to obtain the estimated prevalence of T2DM based on drug consumption, using a simple, fast, and robust method that is in line with the available evidence. However, with the recent expanding indications for new antidiabetics, the inclusion of further data in the model needs to be studied.

Childhood experiences have a significant impact on the development of resilience, shaping an individual’s capacity to cope with stress and adversity throughout their lifespan. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between positive childhood experiences (PCEs), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and resilience in adulthood. The results revealed that emotional and physical abuse and emotional and physical neglect are negatively correlated with PCEs and resilience. PCEs protect individuals against ACEs and promote better health and resilience in adulthood. The findings emphasize the importance of reducing ACEs and increasing PCEs in childhood, preventing long-term impacts and mental health outcomes, and increasing resilience levels.

Concerns regarding plastic pollution, especially microplastics, have increased, as they can be present in different environmental compartments, including estuarine areas and saltmarshes. Although saltmarshes are highly vulnerable to different human activities and pressures, they have the ability to trap/retain contaminants in their vegetated sediments. However, there is still little information regarding the role of saltmarshes in microplastic retention. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the capability of an estuarine saltmarsh to trap microplastics by comparing microplastic concentrations in vegetated (saltmarsh) and non-vegetated sediments. Microplastic content from sediment (vegetated and non-vegetated) samples collected at different sampling sites in Lima River estuary was estimated using previously optimised extraction protocols, and the observed particles were then characterised accordingly to their size, colour, shape, and polymer (by FTIR). Water samples were also collected and analysed for their microplastics content to complement MPs characterisation within the estuarine area. Microplastics were detected in all sediment samples, with fibres being the most common type of microplastic found, followed by fragments/particles. Overall, vegetated sediments, especially those of saltmarsh species Juncus maritimus, presented a higher number of plastic items. These results indicated that microplastics tend to be trapped in vegetated sediments, supporting the fact that saltmarshes have a significant influence on the transport, distribution, and accumulation of MPs in estuarine areas.

Nearly forty years have passed since the term Organizational Citizenship Behavior appeared. Despite a current consensus among scholars about the citizenship gestures as prosocial acts of employees that benefit the organization, it does not apply commonly to the exponential growth of all OCB-related concepts. The concept's expansion has confused the researchers and practitioners, mainly when choosing the most appropriate instruments (constructs) and dimensions to use in their area of interest and context. A systematic literature review was conducted and 420 articles were analyzed. Results point that the trends on OCB-like behaviors goes higher, with an average annual growth rate of new studies of 3.13%. United States (39%) and China (25%) lead but some ''under-studied'' contexts like Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania start being studied towards OCB. New trends appear in the spectrum of the many different domains and disciplines related to OCB, while leadership and task performance remain the most studied domains and disciplines. In future studies, researchers must freely choose the OCB dimensions and constructs they want to use or adapt to meet their needs and research needs since there is no written rule about their use, only the care to be taken with the context and discipline studying.

Graphene-based materials (GBM) are considered one of the 21st century’s most promising materials, as they are incredibly light, strong, thin and have remarkable electrical and thermal properties. As a result, over the past decade, their combination with a diverse range of synthetic polymers has been explored in tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine (RM). In addition, a wide range of methods for fabricating polymer/GBM scaffolds have been reported. This review provides an overview of the most recent advances in polymer/GBM composite development and fabrication, focusing on methods such as electrospinning and additive manufacturing (AM). As a future outlook, this work stresses the need for more in vivo studies to validate polymer/GBM composite scaffolds for TE applications, and gives insight on their fabrication by state-of-the-art processing technologies.

Information technology (IT) service management is considered a collection of frameworks that support organizations managing services. The implementation of these kinds of frameworks is constantly increasing in the IT service provider domain. The main objective is to define and manage IT services through its life cycle. However, from observing the literature, scarcely any research exists describing the main concepts of ITSM. Many organizations still struggle in several contexts in this domain, mainly during implementation. This research aims to develop a reference study detailing the main concepts related with ITSM. Thus, a systematic literature review is performed. In total, 47 articles were selected from top journals and conferences. The benefits, challenges, opportunities, and practices for ITSM implementation were extracted, critically analysed, and then discussed.

This research work presents an information system to handle the problem of real-time guidance towards free charging slot in a city using past date and prediction and collaborative algorithms since there is no real-time system available to provide information if a charging spot is free or occupied. We explore the prediction approach using past data correlated with weather conditions. This approach will help the driver in the daily use of his electric vehicle, minimizing the problem of range anxiety, provide guidance towards charging spots with a probability value of being available for charging in a context for the app and smart cities. This work handles the uncertainty of the drivers to get a suitable and vacant place at a charging station because missing real-time information from the system and also during the driving process towards the free charging spot can be taken. We introduce a framework to allow collaboration and prediction process using past related data.