Southern Region Of Portugal Research Articles

Knowledge and Consequences of Violence Against Health Professionals in Southern Portugal

Background: Violence against health professionals is a global and growing problem, with significant impacts on the quality of care and the mental health of workers. Objectives: To analyze the level of knowledge, reporting practices and consequences of violence against health professionals in the Alentejo region (southern Portugal). Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study involving 440 health professionals (doctors and nurses). Data were collected using an online platform and a structured questionnaire created specifically for this study. In the statistical analysis, the data were described as counts and proportions and the X2 test was used considering a significance level of 0.05. Results: This study reveals that violence against health professionals in the southern region of Portugal is a frequent problem (40%), with a higher incidence among nurses (80%). Despite awareness of the existence and functioning of reporting channels, reporting is low (52%). The main causes are related to the health system, professionals and users. The consequences include mental health problems and a reduction in the quality of care provided. Suggested measures to combat violence include improving security, training and punishing aggressors. Conclusions: This study reveals that violence against health professionals in the southern region of Portugal is a frequent, under-reported problem with serious consequences for professionals and the quality of care.

Nurses' perception of the impact of professional development sessions on their pre-hospital clinical practice with trauma victims.

Continuing education is important for the quality of clinical practice because it complements it and focuses primarily on producing qualified pre-hospital nurses with operationally defined competence in nursing standards. The objective of this study was to assess pre-hospital nurses' opinion of the impact of professional development sessions on their clinical practice. A descriptive and quantitative study was carried out involving Portuguese pre-hospital nurses. Six professional development sessions were presented in 2020 to pre-hospital registered nurses in four of Portugal's main cities. To collect the data, at the end of each session, we apply a questionnaire designed specifically for this study. This data collection instrument consists of 11 questions, six designed to evaluate the session and five designed to evaluate the trainer responsible for the session. A five-point Likert scale was used for each question, where 1 corresponds to very dissatisfied and 5 to extremely satisfied. Two hundred and two nurses, which represents 55% of all Portuguese pre-hospital nurses, took part in the assessment of the professional development sessions. The nurses were from the Northern region of Portugal (51%; n = 102), the Centre region (29%; n = 59) and the Southern region of Portugal (20%; n = 41). Nurses found the session extremely satisfactory. All the assessment scores ranged between 4.4 and 4.7 points, on a scale of 1 to 5. 76.2% of the participants considered that the knowledge acquired could have a major impact [score = 5] on their future clinical practice. The majority of pre-hospital nurses (96.5%) felt that the session could have a major impact [score = 5; 76.2%, n = 154] or a very important impact [score = 4; 20.3%, n = 41] on their clinical practice. The professional development sessions provide pre-hospital nurses with the latest research findings and the majority of nurses considered that the training had a huge impact on their clinical practice. However, it is important that future research aims to explore the cause-effect relationship between training and improved clinical practice.

A Multi-Step Ensemble Approach for Energy Community Day-Ahead Net Load Point and Probabilistic Forecasting

The incorporation of renewable energy systems in the world energy system has been steadily increasing during the last few years. In terms of the building sector, the usual consumers are becoming increasingly prosumers, and the trend is that communities of energy, whose households share produced electricity, will increase in number in the future. Another observed tendency is that the aggregator (the entity that manages the community) trades the net community energy in public energy markets. To accomplish economically good transactions, accurate and reliable forecasts of the day-ahead net energy community must be available. These can be obtained using an ensemble of multi-step shallow artificial neural networks, with prediction intervals obtained by the covariance algorithm. Using real data obtained from a small energy community of four houses located in the southern region of Portugal, one can verify that the deterministic and probabilistic performance of the proposed approach is at least similar, typically better than using complex, deep models.

Kaolin particle films disrupt landing, settling behavior and feeding of Trioza erytrae on lemon plants.

The citrus greening disease or Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most devastating disease of citrus crops. Trioza erytreae is a vector of HLB. Since its introduction in Europe, the insect reached the northern region of Spain and the southern region of Portugal, threatening relevant citrus production areas. Limiting the spread of HLB vectors is mandatory to prevent this disease. In this work, we assessed the effect of kaolin, a white mineral clay, on the landing, settling behavior and feeding behavior of Trioza erytreae on lemon plants. After kaolin application, the number of plants on which the insect was found was significantly lower than on untreated plants in the laboratory and in the field. Moreover, there were significantly fewer T.erytreae and a shorter duration of phloem-related events on kaolin-treated than untreated plants. The use of kaolin could be a suitable and efficient tool for inclusion into integrated pest management programs or organic production to reduce populations of T.erytreae and subsequently limit the spread of HLB in citrus crops. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus circulating among sheep of Portugal: a nationwide serosurvey assessment.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a widespread zoonotic pathogen that can cause mild to severe hemorrhagic disease in humans. CCHFV may be transmitted through direct contact with tissue or blood of viremic animals; however, the primary transmission route is through infected tick bites. CCHFV RNA has been detected in ticks feeding on domestic and wild animals in western Spain, suggesting an established circulation of CCHFV in Western Europe. Ruminants have been recognized as important CCHFV reservoirs and have been linked to human cases in endemic regions. Given the emergence of CCHF in neighboring Spain, and a report of two CCHFV seropositive humans in southern Portugal in 1985, we investigated the potential circulation of this virus in the country by performing a nationwide anti-CCHFV IgG serosurvey in sentinel sheep of Portugal. Sera (n = 459) randomly selected from widely distributed farms (n = 20) of Portugal were tested using a commercial double-antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, yielding an overall seroprevalence of 0.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04-1.56%). Positive sheep were from the southern region of Portugal (Alentejo region), which raise the seroprevalence of this region to 0.74% (95% CI 0.09-2.66%). This is the first study reporting the presence of CCHFV antibodies in sheep of Portugal, thus suggesting a geographical expansion of CCHFV to this country. It seems likely that CCHFV may exist focally in southern Portugal.

Real-Time Quantification of Crude Protein and Neutral Detergent Fibre in Pastures under Montado Ecosystem Using the Portable NIR Spectrometer

The Montado is a Mediterranean agro–forestry–pastoral ecosystem. Knowledge of pastures’ nutritional value is critical for farm managers’ decision-making. Laboratory determinations are very expensive, destructive and costly, in terms of time and labour. The objective of this experimental work was to calibrate and validate a portable near-infrared spectrometer (micro-NIR) to predict the nutritive value (neutral detergent fibre, NDF and crude protein, CP) of pastures in the peak of spring 2021. Thus, a total of 87 pasture samples were collected at eight experimental fields located in the Alentejo, Southern region of Portugal. The results show good correlations between in-situ micro-NIR measurements and pasture NDF reference values (R2 of 0.73 and 0.69 for calibration and validation models, respectively), and a moderate correlation between micro-NIR measurements and pasture CP reference values (R2 of 0.51 and 0.36 for calibration and validation models, respectively). These results show the potential of this tool for the quick evaluation of pasture quality and constitute a starting point for future work, which should include the monitoring of temporal variability (throughout the entire vegetative cycle of the pasture) and spatial (with geo-referenced information) diversity of pastures characteristic of the Montado ecosystem in the Mediterranean region.

Procedures for solar radiation data gathering and processing and their application to DNI assessment in southern Portugal

This work proposes a step-by-step data gathering and processing methodology of solar irradiance measurements for producing filtered and continuous data series for the assessment of solar energy availability. The method is applied to data from 8 measuring stations in the southern region of Portugal. With the current amount of stations and as the measurement period continuously increases, it allows a better regional characterization of DNI availability and creates conditions for in depth studies. This infrastructure has high relevance for the region, known for its high annual GHI availability and its reduced inter-annual variability, thus a high annual DNI availability is expected.The proposed step-by-step data processing methodology includes a comprehensive set of data filtering, gap filling, and QC procedures based in both physical limits and statistical analysis. An extra QC check, with basis on daily totals, is proposed. The results obtained with the proposed methodology are analyzed and discussed; the results are used for the assessment of mean yearly DNI availability for the region. It is expected that this effort will significantly help to realize the region high potential for the development and implementation of Concentrated Solar Power plants, with annual mean DNI availabilities ranging from 1918 to 2097 kWh/m2/year.

Los huesos olvidados del dolmen de Carrascal (Agualva, Sintra, Portugal). Examinando los restos humanos antiguos

El dolmen de Carrascal (Sintra, Portugal) fue descubierto a finales del siglo XIX. Los restos óseos humanos depositados en el Museu dos Serviços Geológicos (Lisboa) han sido re-analizados con un programa que investiga el estilo de vida de las poblaciones del Neolítico Final de las regiones del centro/sur de Portugal.Según los recientes trabajos de campo enmarcados en el proyecto de Recuperación y Valorización del monumento llevados a cabo por el Municipio de Sintra, estos han permitido clarificar aspectos de la construcción y la recuperación del material osteológico y arqueológico.Los datos de radiocarbono de los restos óseos humanos nos permiten encuadrar las prácticas funerarias en una fase inicial del megalitismo en el oeste de la península ibérica. La colección comprende un mínimo de 9 adultos (ambos sexos) y 5 no adultos.Se han observado evidencias de enfermedades infecciosas, cambios degenerativos, alteraciones metabólicas y una trepanación remodelada realizada en un parietal derecho.Los restos dentales ofrecen información particularmente interesante con respecto a otros usos no masticatorios de los dientes. Esto se manifiesta en forma de astillas y agujeros en los dientes anteriores.Estos datos han sido comparados con otras colecciones contemporáneas de Portugal con el objetivo de observar la salud y el comportamiento de estas poblaciones prehistóricas.

Gestão diferenciada das pastagens baseada na monitorização da condutividade eléctrica aparente do solo

Fertilization is the main cost of maintenance of permanent pastures. Its incorrect use results in important direct economic losses and in environmental pollution. Usually, soils utilised for pasture and livestock production in Southern region of Portugal have high spatial variability. Consequently, it is necessary to determine the spatial patterns of the main soil properties as the first stage in implementing site-specific management strategies. However, this has to be performed using an inexpensive technique because the profitability in this type of farms are very low, so owners need an economical, effective, and reliable method to know which zones have similar potential management. The use of soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), as it integrates many soil properties affecting crop productivity (for instance, soil texture, organic matter and cation exchange capacity), constitutes one of the most appropriate soil variables to characterize the management zones of a field. In the present study ECameasurements obtained with a Veris 2000 XA contact-type sensor and soil samples taken at 0-0.30m depth in two permanent pastures were used. The aim was to assess the spatial pattern of some soil properties, based on ECameasurements as ancillary information and a guided soil sampling. Relationships between ECa and some important soil properties were analyzed and, later, some maps were produced to visualize the spatial variability of the soil properties. Finally, homogeneous zones were delimited for attaining a site-specific management of the fields. Results showed that ECa can be considered as support information with the aim of obtaining data to be used to implement site-specific management (intelligent soil sampling or differential and optimal fertilization), in soils with permanent pastures and to contribute to the increased sustainability of these systems.

Academic success in schools in the Algarve: when leadership is part of the solution and not of the problem

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a case study conducted among school principals in the southern region of Portugal, located in urban, suburban and rural settings. The five cases that comprise this study were subjected to a final rating of “Very Good” in the external evaluation process of schools, whose data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis (regulations and educational project, reports of the external evaluation of responsibility of Inspeção Geral de Educação e Ciência de Portugal). The data collected in this exploratory study were systematized and analyzed according to the following indicators: the students’ academic success, the teachers’ professional development, the organizational development and the identifying features of schools principals. Overall, we cannot affirm the existence of differences according to geographical area, although some particularities which proved to be interesting and indicative of good leadership practices could be highlighted.

Incidence and case-fatality from spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in a southern region of Portugal

BackgroundThere is scarce information on incidence and case fatality of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH) in certain regions of the world, including in Europe. There is no community-based data on SICH in Southern Portugal. AimTo determine the incidence and early case-fatality from SICH in Algarve, the southernmost region of Portugal. MethodsThe recommended criteria for stroke incidence studies was used to identify cases of incident first-ever SICH from January 1st to December 31st 2015 in a subregion with 280,081 inhabitants. Crude incidence rates per age group and gender; standardized rates to the European population; and age adjusted case fatality rates were calculated. ResultsEighty-two first-ever cases of SICH (64.6% men) occurred. The mean age was 72.3 years (SD±12.1); women were 3 years older than men on average and had more frequently lobar SICH. The crude annual incidence rate was 29.2/100,000 (95% CI 23.4- 38.6; p<0.001); higher in men (39.7/100,000) than women (19.8/100,000). The standardized to the European population incidence was 15.1/100,000 (95% CI 3.6–18.9; p<0.05); 26.9 and 10.9/100,000 for men and women respectively. The 30-day case-fatality was 40 % (95% CI 29–51) and increased steeply with age ConclusionThe incidence of SICH in Southern Portugal was high, but within the figures found in some parts of Europe. However, a marked predominance of males was found and the case-fatality rate was amongst the highest reported in western countries.

Community pharmacists’ knowledge and perceptions on risk management plans in the Southern Region of Portugal

AbstractA Risk Management Plan (RMP) is a detailed description of the activities and interventions designed to identify, characterize, prevent, or minimize risks relating to medicine’s use. The objective of this article is to assess RMP-related knowledge of community pharmacists and explore the reasons behind any potential issues with its use. This study has two focus points: (1) A cross-sectional survey within a sample of pharmacies in the area covered by the South Pharmacovigilance Center; and (2) a focus group (FG) with key-informants, in order to increase the explanatory scope of quantitative results. In total, 41.6% of the participants in the study knew what a risk management plan was, but 50% rated their knowledge as poor. According to focus group participants, this lack of knowledge seems to be related to three main factors: (i) this subject not being addressed during graduation training; (ii) professionals’ attitude; and (iii) lack of communication among different stakeholders. It is recommended t...

Eco-efficiency assessment in the agricultural sector: the Monte Novo irrigation perimeter, Portugal

In the context of an increasing commitment to water efficiency in the EU policy, a different approach for eco-efficiency assessment in the agricultural sector, at the meso level, was applied to the Monte Novo irrigation perimeter, located in the southern region of Portugal, targeting the new agricultural paradigm being implemented in the Alentejo region, focusing on the assessment of the environmental and economic impacts and the eco-efficiency performance associated with the water value chain for both the baseline scenario and a set of potential eco-efficiency agricultural improvements. These improvements would be resource efficient or pollution preventing. The agricultural eco-efficiency improvements which promote the efficiency of water use, like the Regulated Deficit Irrigation, allow the reduction of water and energy consumptions, whereas those promoting pollution prevention as the use of sludge from waste water treatment plants or the use of organic fertilizers, make it possible to reduce pollution caused by the use of chemical fertilizers. The selection of the agricultural eco-efficiency improvements to be tested was based on stakeholders' involvement and perceptions; the chosen methodology highlights the impacts of the application of each of those eco-efficiency improvements and the potential investments required, in order to facilitate stakeholders' decisions. The results to be presented focus on the relative performance of the scenarios corresponding to the application of each of the proposed eco-efficiency improvements compared to a baseline scenario. The set of eco-efficiency indicators evaluated is complemented with an economic performance assessment, allowing to present some policy recommendations on technology uptake.

Prevalência de depressão nos internos de medicina geral e familiar da região sul de Portugal Continental: um estudo multicêntrico

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of depression and antidepressant use among Family Medicine residents in the Southern Region of Continental Portugal and to study the associations between depression and gender, age, internship year, location of the health center, and type of health care facility. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Family Health Units and Personalized Health Care Units from the south of Portugal. Participants: Family Medicine residents from the south of Portugal. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were sent electronically to Family Medicine residents from the Southern Region of Portugal. The Beck Depression Inventory II was used to measure depression. The Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation were used to evaluate associations of variables, with a significance level of 0,05 and 95% confidence intervals. Results: The response rate was 33%, giving a sample of 216 participants. Almost 80% of the participants were female. The average age was 30 years old. The residents were equally distributed among the four years of postgraduate training. The majority (88,9%) worked in Family Health Units and 61,1% worked in the Lisbon area. About 19% of the residents had some degree of depression: 8,9% (4,7-13,0) were classified as mild depression, 6,9% (3,2-10,6) as moderate depression and 2,9% (0,4-5,5) as severe depression. Seven percent were treated with antidepressants. Levels of depression were not related to age, gender, internship year or type of health unit. Conclusions: The study represents the first effort to quantify depression among Portuguese Family Medicine residents. It can serve as a starting point for further studies about physicians’ mental health, leading to interventions to improve their performance.

Detection of inhomogeneities in precipitation time series in Portugal using direct sequential simulation

Climate data homogenisation is of major importance in climate change monitoring, validation of weather forecasting, general circulation and regional atmospheric models, modelling of erosion, drought monitoring, among other studies of hydrological and environmental impacts. The reason is that non-climate factors can cause time series discontinuities which may hide the true climatic signal and patterns, thus potentially bias the conclusions of those studies. In the last two decades, many methods have been developed to identify and remove these inhomogeneities. One of those is based on a geostatistical simulation technique (DSS — direct sequential simulation), where local probability density functions (pdfs) are calculated at candidate monitoring stations using spatial and temporal neighbouring observations, which then are used for the detection of inhomogeneities. Such approach has been previously applied to detect inhomogeneities in four precipitation series (wet day count) from a network with 66 monitoring stations located in the southern region of Portugal (1980–2001). That study revealed promising results and the potential advantages of geostatistical techniques for inhomogeneity detection in climate time series. This work extends the case study presented before and investigates the application of the geostatistical stochastic approach to ten precipitation series that were previously classified as inhomogeneous by one of six absolute homogeneity tests (Mann–Kendall, Wald–Wolfowitz runs, Von Neumann ratio, Pettitt, Buishand range test, and standard normal homogeneity test (SNHT) for a single break). Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the number of simulated realisations which should be used to infer the local pdfs with more accuracy. Accordingly, the number of simulations per iteration was increased from 50 to 500, which resulted in a more representative local pdf. As in the previous study, the results are compared with those from the SNHT, Pettitt and Buishand range tests, which were applied to composite (ratio) reference series. The geostatistical procedure also allowed us to fill in missing values in the climate data series. Finally, based on several experiments aimed at providing a sensitivity analysis of the procedure, a set of default and recommended settings is provided, which will help other users to apply this method.

Improving Energy Efficiency and Cost Reduction in Airports: Contributions from a Wireless Network Web-Based Monitoring Solution

In the present case study – an airport located at the southern region of Portugal with an increasing number of passengers (more than 5.7 million passengers) - a web-based monitoring system was installed, collecting, displaying and registering the information generated by a wireless network of sensors. The monitoring of indoor environmental quality parameters, along with billed energy data control and outdoor weather conditions observation, permitted a continuous tuning of the HVAC systems set- points. Through the comparison of a six month period in two consecutive monitored years, during the cooling season, energy savings up to 13.4% in the HVAC system were achieved.

Sustainability of crop and livestock dominant dryland systems of Alentejo region: differences in economic returns and environmental consequences

This paper presents a case study with two traditional Mediterranean-type farming systems: cropping dominant and grazing or livestock dominant. Traditional farming systems from the Mediterranean area in the Alentejo, southern region of Portugal, are compared in terms of economic returns, environmental impacts and trade-offs. A linear programming model that considers the economic and environmental issues for each farming system was developed. The models maximize farm profit subject to managerial, resource and environmental constraints. Environmental impacts were evaluated from cradle-to-grave and assessed following an input-output (I/O) analysis of environmental accounts and a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Results are used for economic evaluation and environmental impacts of farming systems. Results show that livestock predominant farming has larger environmental impact and lower net farm income than the crop farming system. Shadow prices of environmental constraints are compared for both systems to evaluate cost and efficiency of policies that constrains environmental consequences and promote sustainability. Costs required to compensate farmers for reductions of environmental impacts are lower for livestock predominant farming than for crop farms. Therefore, policy priorities should be targeted firstly to livestock predominant farming system effects. Subsidies represent a substantial part of the net farm income in both cases. Hence, in both cases, but particularly with the livestock predominant farming, there is considerable margin to improve policy effectiveness to control environmental impacts.

Community pharmacists’ attitudes towards adverse drug reaction reporting and their knowledge of the new pharmacovigilance legislation in the southern region of Portugal: a mixed methods study

Objective The study aimed to investigate the habits of spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) by community pharmacists employed in pharmacies across the southern region of Portugal, as well as their knowledge of the new pharmacovigilance legislation.

Spatial and temporal distribution of Culicoides species in mainland Portugal (2005-2010). Results of the Portuguese Entomological Surveillance Programme.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and causes an infectious, non-contagious disease of ruminants. It has been rapidly emerging in southern Europe since 1998. In mainland Portugal, strains of BTV belonging to three serotypes have been detected: BTV-10 (1956-1960), BTV-4 (2004-2006 and 2013) and BTV-1 (2007-2012). This paper describes the design, implementation and results of the Entomological Surveillance Programme covering mainland Portugal, between 2005 and 2010, including 5,650 caches. Culicoides imicola Kieffer was mostly found in central and southern regions of Portugal, although it was sporadically detected in northern latitudes. Its peak activity occurred in the autumn and it was active during the winter months in limited areas of the country. Obsoletus group was present at the highest densities in the north although they were found throughout the country in substantial numbers. Culicoides activity occurred all year round but peaked in the spring. A generalized linear mixed model was developed for the analysis of the environmental factors associated with activity of the species of Culicoides suspected vectors of BTV in the country. For C. imicola Kieffer, the most important variables were month, diurnal temperature range (DTR), the number of frost days (FRS) and median monthly temperature (TMP). For the Obsoletus group, the most important factors were month, diurnal temperature range (DTR), and linear and quadratic terms for median monthly temperature (TMP). The results reported can improve our understanding of climatic factors in Culicoides activity influencing their distribution and seasonal pattern.

Breast cancer patients survival and associated factors: reported outcomes from the Southern Cancer Registry in Portugal.

Although the breast cancer incidence in Portugal is lower than the European average, it is the most frequent cancer in women. Overall, mortality rates are heterogeneous throughout Portugal. Implicated factors may include demographic and socioeconomic aspects, tumor biological characteristics, and access to medical care. The aim of this study is to detect survival differences in female breast cancer and identify the main associated factors. We have conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study with follow-up. Incident breast cancer cases diagnosed in 2005 of residents in the southern region of Portugal were included. Data was collected from the Southern Portugal Cancer Registry (ROR-Sul) database and completed with clinical chart information. A total of 1 354 patients were included in this study. Observed geographical variations were as follows: for age distribution, with an aging population in Alentejo; for tumor sub-types, there was a higher incidence of HER2-positive tumors in the Algarve and a higher incidence of HER2-negative tumors in Região Autónoma da Madeira. Reported estimated 5-year overall survival was 80%, with significant association with tumor stage, hormone receptor and HER2 status. No survival differences were identified among women from distinct geographical regions. Although we found differences in age and tumor sub-type distribution between geographical regions, our study does not support the existence of discrepancies in breast cancer survival between these regions. Tumor biological characteristics seem to be the main associated factor with breast cancer survival in our population. Our study confirms the association between patient survival and tumor stage, hormone receptor and HER2 status. However, no differences in patient survival were observed among different regions of residence.