City In Portugal Research Articles

Implementation of a Sleep Hygiene Program in 4 - 6 Year Old Portuguese Children: the “It is Time to Sleep” Project First Results

Abstract Introduction Sleep, as one of the most determining and present factors in our life, is fundamental for humans, and especially during childhood: it is indispensable for good cognitive, physical and emotional development. Objectives Designed in the scope of the Portuguese National School Health Program, the objectives of this project were to promote adequate sleep routines, raise awareness of children’s sleep deprivation and to the consequences of an abusive contact with technologies. At the end of this activity, children should be able to recognize the importance of these dimensions. Methodology The formative activity, performed by 2 school nurses, was applied to 104 children (from 3 different schools from a northern city of Portugal), with 4 (41.3 %), 5 (44.2 %) and 6 years old (14.4 %), and lasted 45 minutes. The project comprises 4 stages: the first one relates to nurses and project theme presentation; the second one is the implementation of a theatre where major issues of the project are presented, namely the importance of sleep and nap, sleep hygiene rules, consequences of sleep deprivation and the influence of technologies on sleep; the third one is the discussion of the main ideas using the song "Sleep Hour"; at the end, a questionnaire was applied to assess children knowledge about sleep hygiene habits divided into six questions with two images each, in which one corresponds to a healthy practice and the other does not. Results The percentage of correct answers ranged between 96.6 to 98.3 %, suggesting that the formative activity had a positive impact on children’s knowledge about healthy sleep hygiene habits. The 2 questions on which the rate of incorrect answers was higher relate to the fact that sleeping with parents is better than sleeping alone (6.3 %) and that watching TV before going to sleep is a better option than reading a story (4.4 %). Conclusion This intervention has given children important knowledge about healthy sleep hygiene habits, resulting in its understanding through an approach tailored to their age.

Loadings, chemical patterns and risks of inhalable road dust particles in an Atlantic city in the north of Portugal

Road dust resuspension has a significant contribution to the atmospheric particulate matter levels in urban areas, but loadings, emission factors, and chemical source profiles vary geographically, hampering the accuracy of emission inventories and source contribution estimates. Given the dearth of studies on the variability of road dust, in the present study, an in-situ resuspension chamber was used to collect PM10 samples from seven representative streets in Viana do Castelo, the northernmost coastal city in Portugal. PM10 samples were analysed for organic and elemental carbon by a thermo-optical technique, elemental composition by ICP-MS and ICP-AES, and organic constituents by GC–MS. Emission factors were estimated to be, on average, 340 and 41.2 mg veh−1 km−1 for cobbled and asphalt pavements, respectively. Organic carbon accounted for 5.56 ± 1.24% of the PM10 mass. Very low concentrations of PAHs and their alkylated congeners were detected, denoting a slight predominance of petrogenic compounds. Si, Al, Fe, Ca and K were the most abundant elements. The calculation of various geochemical indices (enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, pollution index and potential ecological risk) showed that road dust was extremely enriched and contaminated by elements from tyre and brake wear (e.g. Sb, Sn, Cu, Bi and Zn), while lithophile elements showed no enrichment. For As, the geochemical and pollution indices reached their maximum in the street most influenced by agricultural activities. Sb, Cd, Cu and As can pose a very high ecological risk. Sb can be regarded as the pollutant of highest concern, since it represented 57% of the total ecological risk. Hazard indices higher than 1 for some anthropogenic elements indicate that non-carcinogenic effects may occur. Except for a street with more severe braking, the total carcinogenic risks can be considered insignificant.

The impacts of Airbnb in Athens, Lisbon and Milan: a rent gap theory perspective

ABSTRACTThe 2007–2008 Global Financial Crisis profoundly impacted the housing markets, particularly of the so-called PIGS countries. Main cities in Portugal, Italy and Greece have seen a sharp decrease in house prices and rent value since 2010. At the same time, the rise of Airbnb has contributed to the reframing of housing market demand in cities, with an increase of temporary lettings in prime urban tourist areas. Understandably, this has direct implications for local residents, with renters’ displacement, tourism gentrification and raising cases of tourismphobia. This article provides insights from three cities – Athens, Lisbon and Milan – to show how the dynamics in the housing market and the boost of Airbnb over the last decade are steadily changing the urban populations of the aforementioned cities. This research builds upon the rent gap theory and the Luke’s’ Power Theory to illustrate how Airbnb is fostering a new form of urban displacement at a faster rate than traditional housing gentrification, with the renting of prime residential areas to tourists.

Economic and environmental analysis of measures from a Sustainability Urban Mobility Plan – Application to a small sized city

Urban mobility causes significant negative externalities namely emissions from individual transport. Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) have been designed and implemented in an attempt to reduce transport-related externalities, setting several measures to improve the efficiency and sustainability of urban mobility. The assessment of environmental and economic impacts of the measures predicted in a SUMP can be potentially useful for supporting decision-making and encouraging policy makers to implement the proposed measures with success.In this paper, a case study is performed to analyze the economic and environmental impacts of the measures predicted in a SUMP of a small sized city in Portugal. It consists of estimating the emissions and external costs for a base live scenario and after the measures are implemented, as well as to perform an economic analysis based in economic indicators such as Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). All the measures equated showed a great potential of emissions reduction. One of the measures can reach a CO2 reduction of about 9% and a reduction of external costs of around 11%. The measures were all aggregated as a single project, analyzing the economic aspects, using the external costs as a mean of economic measurement, it was possible to conclude that the project is profitable after 6 years and half with a NPV of 1.245.448€ and an IRR of 10% (which is above the discount rate of 2,3%).

Stuttering Impact: A Shared Perception for Parents and Children?

Background/Aims: Previous research has provided information about how school-aged children perceive their own stuttering; however, less is known about how stuttering is perceived by their parents. The ways that parents view their children’s stuttering could influence how the children themselves react to it. This study proceeds to assess how parents’ perceptions of the impact of stuttering relate to the perceptions of children. Method: Participants were 50 children who stutter aged 7–12 years (mean = 9.10; SD = 1.7) and their parents, recruited from different cities in Portugal. The European Portuguese version of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering was administered to the children, and an adapted version of the tool was administered to their parents. Results: Both parents and children showed generally similar overall impact ratings, typically falling in the mild and moderate ranges. Differences were observed in families with a history of stuttering: for those families, a comparison of parents’ and children’s scores revealed, in some domains, that parents perceived the impact of stuttering to be greater than the children did, especially related with children’s reactions to stuttering and their quality of life. Conclusion: Knowledge about how parents perceive the impact of stuttering on their children is important because families can play a key role in helping children cope with stuttering. These findings highlight the benefits of using an individualized treatment approach for each child that focuses on their perceptions, as well as on those of the parents, in order to address negative attitudes toward children’s stuttering.

Are meats indeed sold in Portugal without Clostridioides difficile?

The incidence and severity of diarrhoea associated with Clostridioides difficile have been increasing exponentially. In 2014, an outbreak with the hypervirulent ribotype 027 strain was firstly reported in Portugal and, among others, this ribotype have been mainly isolated from animals and food. This study aimed to detect and quantify C. difficile from different meats sold in traditional commerce and hypermarkets in two different cities of Portugal, Porto and Lisboa. Techniques of quantification and detection of C. difficile were performed, but absence of C. difficile in the 143 analysed samples indicates that, if present, the level of contamination should be very low (below 2 log CFU g−1). Despite the lack of confirmed cases of foodborne diseases caused by C. difficile, the increased CDI incidence suggests that contaminated foods may contribute to C. difficile-acquired infections.

A Rare Event Modelling Approach to Assess Injury Severity Risk of Vulnerable Road Users

Vulnerable road users (VRUs) represent a large portion of fatalities and injuries occurring on European Union roads. It is therefore important to address the safety of VRUs, particularly in urban areas, by identifying which factors may affect the injury severity level that can be used to develop countermeasures. This paper aims to identify the risk factors that affect the severity of a VRU injured when involved in a motor vehicle crash. For that purpose, a comparative evaluation of two machine learning classifiers—decision tree and logistic regression—considering three different resampling techniques (under-, over- and synthetic oversampling) is presented, comparing both imbalanced and balanced datasets. Crash data records were analyzed involving VRUs from three different cities in Portugal and six years (2012–2017). The main conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that oversampling techniques improve the ability of the classifiers to identify risk factors. On the one hand, this analysis revealed that road markings, road conditions and luminosity affect the injury severity of a pedestrian. On the other hand, age group and temporal variables (month, weekday and time period) showed to be relevant to predict the severity of a cyclist injury when involved in a crash.

Influence of thermal insulation of facades on the performance of retrofitted social housing buildings in Southern European countries

The socioeconomic reality of the social housing neighborhoods in Southern European countries imposes the application of passive energy rehabilitation schemes to minimize the thermal discomfort.A program to evaluate the indoor climate using experimental measurements was developed during one year, in a social housing neighborhood in Porto, Portugal. The results allowed validating a dynamic numerical simulation model for a reference dwelling, to assess thermal comfort in eight cities of Portugal and Spain.The study allowed concluding that for social housing buildings without heating or cooling systems installed, it is possible to have thermal comfort for a scenario without additional thermal insulation in facades, considering the remaining construction elements well insulated. During winter, in Lisbon, Faro and Seville, the percentages of thermal discomfort are less than 8% for the category III of EN 15251:2007. In summer, the thermal comfort may be achieved in Porto and Bilbao, since the percentage of thermal discomfort is negligible. The small reduction (13%) on thermal discomfort with the increasing of the thermal insulation in facades makes evident that it is impossible to have thermal comfort in Bragança, Madrid, Bilbao and Porto without heating the buildings and in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Faro without cooling the buildings.

Study of historical value mortars

The rehabilitation of buildings, or historic landmarks, has gained in importance over the years. It is increasingly important to safeguard the cultural identity and history of a country. In this research the mortars of the Roman city of Conimbriga were studied, being one of the oldest archaeological cities in Portugal. Conímbriga has its origin in a Celtic Castro of the tribe of the Conii, at the end of the Iron Age. It was occupied by the Romans from 139 BC. It was under the Emperor Augustus Empire, in the second century AD, that the city achieved its splendor, having then been built public baths and a Forum. With the decline of the Empire, in the late fourth century, a monumental defensive wall was erected, which did not prevent the assault of the city by the Suevi, in 468, and the consequent decline of the city. Large excavations carried out throughout the 20th century revealed a valuable and complex set of buildings, including thermal baths, an aqueduct that runs more than 3,400 meters from the source, and remains of a Christian basilica, probably from the 6th century. In this type of rehabilitation works the use of mortars was predominant, hence the importance of their study to know how they behave. In order for a rehabilitation intervention to be successful it is necessary to know the existing support in place to guarantee the compatibility of the materials. It was necessary to go “in situ” to collect the samples with the proper authorization of the Museum of Conimbriga. These mortar samples were analyzed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for further analysis. The composition of the samples will allow to adjust dosages and to choose a restoration mortar, as close as possible, to the one that was collected in order to preserve the maximum historical identity of the place.

Smart cities-A case study of Porto and Ahmedabad

Porto is the second-largest city of Portugal followed by Lisbon. In March 2015 Porto became one of the ‘beacon cities’ under Grow Smarter innovative by the European Commission to promote smart cities in the European Union[1]. From there it has transformed itself into one of the major smart city in Portugal which has also bolstered its tourism industry. Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the first Indian city to be conferred with the title of UNESCO World Heritage city in 2017. With this title, Ahmedabad hopes to become a major tourist destination in the western part of India. Both Porto and Ahmedabad are on their way to become smart cities in the future and by doing so they can increase tourism and their standard of living in the coming future.

A one-year record of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at an urban background site in Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of organic chemicals that are widely distributed in the atmosphere and well known for their adverse health effects. This study aims to describe, for the first time, the levels, sources and associated health risks of particulate PAHs in an urban background atmosphere of Lisbon, the capital and largest city in Portugal. PM10 aerosol samples were collected from early January to the end of December 2012 with a high-volume sampler and were later analyzed for 10 PAHs by high-performance liquid chromatography. The annual average of the sum of the concentrations of PAHs (ΣPAHs) was 1.64 ± 1.85 ng/m3. The dominant PAHs were pyrene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, fluoranthene and benzo[g,h,i]perylene. Together these species accounted for approximately 70% of the ΣPAHs. A marked seasonal variation was observed for the investigated PAHs, with the highest values in winter and the lowest in spring and summer, reflecting the variation of emissions and meteorological conditions over time. The average concentration of benzo[a]pyrene was found to be 0.107 ± 0.152 ng/m3, not exceeding the target value of 1 ng/m3 established by European air quality legislation. Diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis were employed for the source apportionment of PAHs. Both tools indicated that vehicle exhaust was the main contributor to the atmospheric levels of PAHs in the study area.

Prison sentences: last resort or the default sanction?

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the sentencing purposes for penal penalties, judges’ perceptions of sentencing purposes and prison sentences, and the effects of penal sanctions. We examine judges’ positions towards different penalties, with a focus on imprisonment, since their views on the different penalties are related to their sentencing decision-making. Understanding these views is then critical for several practical and political purposes, including bridging the gap between academic discourse and legal practice. We accessed judges’ views on penal sanctions through a questionnaire and an interview. Our sample is compounded by the judges of the criminal courts from the three major cities in Portugal. Despite the most recent criminological empirical knowledge, judges valued imprisonment as the most adequate sentence, both for different crimes and for different judicial purposes. This result is not consistent with viewing imprisonment as a ‘last resort’ solution. Indeed, we did not find this ‘last resort’ position in our data, and it is not apparent in the judicial statistics on imprisonment rates. Our data highlight the importance of increasing judges’ training on criminological and sociological issues as well as the importance of changing the influence of their personal beliefs regarding penal sanctions into research-based positions.

An optimization model for integrated transit-parking policy planning

The optimization model proposed in this paper is aimed to assist city councils (or other transport authorities) in the planning of integrated transit-parking policies. The objective is to minimize the joint operating deficit of the transit and parking operators while ensuring given minimum levels of (motorized) mobility in a city. The key decision variables are transit fares and parking fees. The impact of price changes on transit and car modal shares are described by logit functions of the generalized travel costs. The practical utility of the model is illustrated with a case study involving a midsize city in Portugal.

Creative tourism: catalysing artisan entrepreneur networks in rural Portugal

Purpose Given limited research about how artisans become integrated into tourism, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of artisan entrepreneur–mediators who link artisans to tourism in rural areas and small cities in Portugal. Using social embeddedness as a conceptual framework, this paper views artisan entrepreneur–mediators as existing within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The paper investigates their role within this ecosystem and how social networks influence the artisan entrepreneur–mediators’ roles in connecting artisans to creative tourism. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on new (2017 and 2018) empirical evidence developed through two rounds of semi-structured interviews of five artisan entrepreneur–mediators. Findings This paper finds that artisan entrepreneur–mediators in rural areas or small cities take on multiple roles as networking agents who organize and offer creative tourism experiences, providing the missing link between artisans and tourists. An analysis of the nuances of the operations of these artisan entrepreneur–mediators suggests that high levels of social embeddedness within local rural communities are important in order for these neo-rural entrepreneurs to attain their goals. Originality/value Originality lies in the identification of a gap in artisan entrepreneurship literature in a rural context. It is the first time that a critical analysis of artisan entrepreneur–mediators who facilitate the link between artisans and tourism is carried out in terms of social embeddedness, their roles and connections to creative tourism, and types of community engagement.

Surfing safe waves: integration of water quality modelling in the evaluation of potential health risks

Surfing is becoming an important asset for local development, despite engaging water quality concerns is often limited to bathing season - thus, a tool for decision support is required to yearly forecast the water quality, in order to minimise health risks and support water management decisions. The QUAL2E model was used on a watershed, in Peniche, a coastal city in Portugal. This study area was chosen due to complaints related to the water quality by the local surfing community. Results returned a total coliform concentration of 1,500 MPN/100 mL, with pig farming effluents being the major contamination source. These results constitute evidence that surfing here may represent a health risk - as winter months are more favourable to wave sports. Therefore, it would be of the uttermost importance to improve monitoring and mitigate the potential health risk. This should include a more profound analysis of the contribution of diffuse sources and to extend the current bathing season monitoring scheme during winter times.

Sharing Dissatisfaction Online: Analyzing the Nature and Predictors of Hotel Guests Negative Reviews

ABSTRACTSocial media has expanded word of mouth (WOM) into a massive mean of online communication. Thus, consumers can now impact the reputation of a business by spreading positive or negative WOM worldwide. The hospitality industry is particularly vulnerable since the decision process is increasingly influenced by online reviews, especially about negative guests’ experiences, which are considered highly valuable and helpful. However, only a few articles on online complaining behavior on the hospitality industry have been published. As such, this research aims to characterize complainers’ profile and online complaints, and to determine which factors may impact them. The study analyzed 1,191 guest reviews of hotels located in Oporto, the second largest city in Portugal (a popular Mediterranean tourism destination), listed on TripAdvisor, including 463 complaints regarding 835 incidents. Results identify dominant complaint categories and show that guest’s demographics and hotel class play a critical role. The study adds to the growing body of knowledge on e-Tourism and e-Complaints and draws on relevant conclusions for both researchers and hospitality managers.

Assessing the market potential of electric bicycles and ICT for low carbon school travel: a case study in the smart city of Águeda

Abstract Electric bikes (e-bikes) may help in transport decarbonisation in European cities. To fully assess the market potential of e-bikes, further research is needed to understand users’ preferences and the range of factors that can contribute for people to shift from car use to low carbon vehicles such as e-bikes. This paper is built on the Be4Schools R&D project implemented in the city of Agueda which is considered the first smart city in Portugal. It comprised the former study in the country that examined the willingness of students (aged 15-21 years) to use e-bikes for daily trips to school and that gathered their preferences towards specific ICT related attributes. The methodology comprised a mobility survey and a stated-choice experiment (SC). The SC experiment gathered 2232 observations which were able to provide the relevant attribute trade-off information between car travel and e-bike (with or without specific ICT equipment). An extensive econometric analysis was performed to assess the nature and extent of students’ heterogeneity of preferences which also considered gender issues. The study aimed to contribute to the regional economic cluster on powered two-wheels’ industry & innovation. Research results are interesting for city mobility policies and the regional industry as the possible integration of ICT equipment in e-bikes may speed up the market uptake of this technology.

“Lisboa Criativa”: why it is important to connect

This article is double aimed—it addresses the relevance of connections among the participants of the Lisbon creative ecosystem and presents a distinct model of a platform which creates and facilitates connection within this network. This research project is part of a strategy set up by the creative economy sector of the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa [Lisbon City Council], the CML, whose ambition is to position Lisbon as one of the most creative cities in Europe. Lisbon is currently the most creative city in Portugal. However, the professionals and institutions connected to the city’s creative ecosystem still lack a significant grasp of the rich infrastructure available in the city, as well as the existing knowledge, skills, and tools that can facilitate establishing of new creative partnerships and sharing of experiences and equipment. Considering this situation, we decided to carry multiple research projects aimed at finding the most appropriate model of an online platform which could fulfil these needs. The platform which was created as a result of these research projects is called Lisboa Criativa [—Creative Lisbon]. Its primary goals are to connect participants of the city’s creative ecosystem; foster partnerships; generate national and international visibility; and support local projects. These goals ultimately concur with positioning Lisbon as a creative city. The focus on its Cultural and Creative Industries (the CCIs) would allow Lisbon to combine the aforementioned strategies with the development of a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem and foster further economic activity.

Trends in hotel pricing

Purpose The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the effect of different hotel characteristics and room attributes on room rates of hotels in the cities of Lisbon and Porto, the capital and second most important city in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach Using the hedonic pricing method, hotel characteristics are decomposed and analyzed, giving us the perception of the impact of each hotel attributes on the room rates and the people’s willingness to pay for this. Ordinary least square regression analysis was applied to the hedonic price model to find which variables could explain differences in the hotel room rates in Lisbon and Porto. Findings The results suggest that in Lisbon and in Porto, a number of common characteristics have significant effects on consumer willingness to pay for a stay in a hotel as star rating, consumer rating and the room size. In Porto, the existence of a fitness centre and in Lisbon, the distance to the city centre are also attributes that create a premium in room rates. Practical implications The knowledge of the most valued characteristics by consumers is an important tool for hotel managers to define a price strategy. Also important is the knowledge of the attributes that provide more added value for consumers as these should be taken into account in new investment decisions. Originality/value This study highlights the implications of the way one defines and measures qualitative hotel characteristics in hedonic pricing. Although the hedonic method has been applied in several studies, to our knowledge, in Portugal, there are few studies applied only to hotel room rates, and there are no studies comparing hotel room rates in different Portuguese cities. Moreover, the research highlights the critical role of a proper definition and measurement of the variables in hedonic pricing in general and the hotel star in particular.

Modelling the time to detection of urban tuberculosis in two big cities in Portugal: a spatial survival analysis

Portuguese National Tuberculosis Control Programme. To examine delays in tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis using a spatial component in two high-incidence cities, Lisbon and Oporto, in Portugal, a low-incidence country. A retrospective nationwide study was conducted based on official TB data between 2010 and 2013 to analyse diagnostic delays at the lowest administrative level (freguesias) using spatial survival analyses, taking into account individual level covariates. Median diagnostic delays in Lisbon (n = 2706 cases) and Oporto (n = 1883) were respectively 62 (range 1-359, mean 81.01) and 60 days (range 1-3544, mean 79.5). In both cities, case detection rates initially rose until 50 days, then stabilised, but rose again at about 200 days. Diagnostic delay was significantly shorter among males and human immunodeficiency virus positive individuals in both cities, but was significantly longer among migrants in Lisbon. There is evidence of spatial correlation between freguesias; different spatial patterns were observed in diagnostic delays and in likelihood of case detection. These results are concordant with existing literature. The two study areas present considerable spatial variations in diagnostic delay, highlighting the fact that large cities should not be treated as homogeneous entities. The potential of spatial survival methods in spatial epidemiology is highlighted.