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1.
Front Psychol ; 14: 1201521, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37187564

ABSTRACT

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821786.].

2.
Front Psychol ; 13: 821786, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35369190

ABSTRACT

The studies presented here apply the concept of entitativity in order to understand how belonging to a particular geographical area - neighborhood - can determine the way others organize information and form impressions about area's residents. In order to achieve this objective, three studies were carried out. The first study aims to verify if a neighborhood varies in terms of perceived entitativity, and identify the physical and social characteristics of the neighborhoods that are more strongly associated with the perception of entitativity. The Study 2 and 3 used an experimental paradigm to explore how people's perceptions of neighborhoods' entitativity influenced their impressions of residents. To activate stereotypes, Study 2 used the name of real neighborhoods, and Study 3 employed only a set of pictures of unknown neighborhoods. The results show that the neighborhoods vary significantly with the regard to the perception of entitativity, and a set of physical attributes of place were strongly related with entitativity. The results showed that, independent of stimuli, the neighborhoods perceived as highly entitative, the supposed residents were subject to more extreme and quicker trait judgments, supported by greater confidence on the part of perceivers. Study 3 also reported that in highly entitative neighborhoods, the perceivers transferred more traits from the group to individual members. These results provide strong evidence that physical structure of neighborhoods imply different entitatity judgments that influences the way in which residents are perceived.

3.
Int J Implant Dent ; 7(1): 81, 2021 09 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34467461

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Crown-to-implant ratio and crown height space, associated with the use of short implants, have been related with marginal bone loss. However, it is unclear which of the two entities would play the most important role on the bone remodelling process. Using a finite element analysis, the present work aims to help clarifying how those two factors contribute for the stress generation at the marginal bone level. A numerical model (reference model), with a crown-to-implant ratio of 4, was double validated and submitted to a numerical calculation. Then, it was modified in two different ways: (a) by decreasing the prosthetic height obtaining crown-to-implant ratios of 3, 2.5 and 2 and (b) by increasing the implants length obtaining a crown-to-implant ratio of 2.08. The new models were also submitted to numerical calculations. RESULTS: The reference model showed a marginal bone stress of 96.9 MPa. The increase in the implants' length did not show statistically significant differences in the marginal bone stress (p-value = 0.2364). The decrease in the prosthetic height was accompanied with a statistically significant decrease in the marginal bone stresses (p-value = 2.2e- 16). CONCLUSIONS: The results represent a paradigm change as the crown height space appears to be more responsible for marginal bone stress than the high crown-to-implant ratios or the implants' length. New prosthetic designs should be attempted to decrease the stress generated at the marginal bone level.


Subject(s)
Crowns , Finite Element Analysis , Stress, Mechanical
4.
J Radiol Prot ; 40(4)2020 Oct 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33111712

ABSTRACT

In case of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear emergency, there are recommended or required behaviours to be adopted by the public, e.g. go inside, stay inside, stay informed. The initial response can be crucial to outcomes, all the while recognising that changes may be needed as the emergency progresses. The recent coronavirus pandemic demonstrated how the course of action taken by authorities endorsing these protective behaviours early on can save thousands of lives. Factors that determine response success include public compliance with authorities' recommendations and cooperation between experts and rescuers. In particular, the way rescuers perceive the risks of ionising radiation hazards will influence their preparedness to respond in case of a radiological or nuclear emergency. Having found no previous studies on radiological hazard and risk perception amongst rescuers in Portugal, mental models were used as a descriptive approach. The target groups were firefighters and the military formally trained to deal with radiation hazard emergencies. Their representations of radiological hazards and risks were analysed in the light of an expert model built ad hoc. The results show several overlays between experts and rescuers on the understanding of radiation hazards and potential risks. We conclude that the main gap between radiation risk perceptions by rescuers and experts involves the concepts and mechanisms of radiation contamination and its spread among individuals, in particular, if persons exposed to radioactive sources may also become a radioactive source themselves. This gap can have practical implications for an emergency response.


Subject(s)
Civil Defense , Disaster Planning , Radioactive Hazard Release , Humans , Perception , Radiation, Ionizing , Risk Assessment
5.
Entropy (Basel) ; 21(4)2019 Apr 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33267150

ABSTRACT

Retailers need demand forecasts at different levels of aggregation in order to support a variety of decisions along the supply chain. To ensure aligned decision-making across the hierarchy, it is essential that forecasts at the most disaggregated level add up to forecasts at the aggregate levels above. It is not clear if these aggregate forecasts should be generated independently or by using an hierarchical forecasting method that ensures coherent decision-making at the different levels but does not guarantee, at least, the same accuracy. To give guidelines on this issue, our empirical study investigates the relative performance of independent and reconciled forecasting approaches, using real data from a Portuguese retailer. We consider two alternative forecasting model families for generating the base forecasts; namely, state space models and ARIMA. Appropriate models from both families are chosen for each time-series by minimising the bias-corrected Akaike information criteria. The results show significant improvements in forecast accuracy, providing valuable information to support management decisions. It is clear that reconciled forecasts using the Minimum Trace Shrinkage estimator (MinT-Shrink) generally improve on the accuracy of the ARIMA base forecasts for all levels and for the complete hierarchy, across all forecast horizons. The accuracy gains generally increase with the horizon, varying between 1.7% and 3.7% for the complete hierarchy. It is also evident that the gains in forecast accuracy are more substantial at the higher levels of aggregation, which means that the information about the individual dynamics of the series, which was lost due to aggregation, is brought back again from the lower levels of aggregation to the higher levels by the reconciliation process, substantially improving the forecast accuracy over the base forecasts.

6.
Risk Anal ; 38(3): 620-634, 2018 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28697284

ABSTRACT

Shared ownership of property and resources is a longstanding challenge throughout history that has been amplifying with the increasing development of industrial and postindustrial societies. Where governments, project planners, and commercial developers seek to develop new infrastructure, industrial projects, and various other land-and resource-intensive tasks, veto power shared by various local stakeholders can complicate or halt progress. Risk communication has been used as an attempt to address stakeholder concerns in these contexts, but has demonstrated shortcomings. These coordination failures between project planners and stakeholders can be described as a specific kind of social dilemma that we describe as the "tragedy of the anticommons." To overcome such dilemmas, we demonstrate how a two-step process can directly address public mistrust of project planners and public perceptions of limited decision-making authority. This approach is examined via two separate empirical field experiments in Portugal and Tunisia, where public resistance and anticommons problems threatened to derail emerging industrial projects. In both applications, an intervention is undertaken to address initial public resistance to such projects, where specific public stakeholders and project sponsors collectively engaged in a hypothesis-testing process to identify and assess human and environmental health risks associated with proposed industrial facilities. These field experiments indicate that a rigorous attempt to address public mistrust and perceptions of power imbalances and change the pay-off structure of the given dilemma may help overcome such anticommons problems in specific cases, and may potentially generate enthusiasm and support for such projects by local publics moving forward.

7.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int ; 24(13): 12038-12048, 2017 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28401393

ABSTRACT

Atmospheric dust pollution, especially particulate matter below 2.5 µm, causes 3.3 million premature deaths per year worldwide. Although pollution sources are increasingly well known, the role of ecosystems in mitigating their impact is still poorly known. Our objective was to investigate the role of forests located in the surrounding of industrial and urban areas in reducing atmospheric dust pollution. This was tested using lichen transplants as biomonitors in a Mediterranean regional area with high levels of dry deposition. After a multivariate analysis, we have modeled the maximum pollution load expected for each site taking into consideration nearby pollutant sources. The difference between maximum expected pollution load and the observed values was explained by the deposition in nearby forests. Both the dust pollution and the ameliorating effect of forested areas were then mapped. The results showed that forest located nearby pollution sources plays an important role in reducing atmospheric dust pollution, highlighting their importance in the provision of the ecosystem service of air purification.


Subject(s)
Air Pollutants/analysis , Dust , Environmental Monitoring , Forests , Air Pollution/prevention & control , Particulate Matter/analysis , Portugal
9.
Eur J Appl Physiol ; 104(3): 579-86, 2008 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18758806

ABSTRACT

Exertional rhabdomyolysis is a complex and poorly understood entity. The inflammatory system has an important role in muscle injury and repair. Serum creatine kinase (CK) is often used as systemic biomarker representing muscle damage. Considerable variation exists in CK response between different subjects. Genetic elements may act as predisposition factors for exertional rhabdomyolysis. Based on their biological activity, we hypothesized that in healthy subjects IL6 G-174C and TNFA G-308A promoter polymorphisms would be associated with CK response to exercise. We determined serum CK activity pre- and post-maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexor muscles. IL6 G-174C and TNFA G-308A genotypes were analyzed for possible relationship with changes in serum CK activity. IL6 G-174C genotype was associated with CK activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Subjects with one or more of the -174C allele had a greater increase and higher peak CK values than subjects homozygous for the G allele (mean +/- SE U/L: GG, 2,604 +/- 821; GC, 7,592 +/- 1,111; CC, 8,403 +/- 3,849, ANOVA P = 0.0003 for GG + GC genotypes versus CC genotype, P = 0.0005 for linear trend). IL6-174CC genotype was associated with a greater than threefold increased risk of massive CK response (adjusted odds ratio 3.29, 95% confidence interval 1.27-7.85, P = 0.009). A milder association (P = 0.06) was noted between TNFA G-308A genotype and CK activity. In conclusion, we found a strong association of the IL6 G-174C genotype with systemic CK response to strenuous exercise. Data suggest that homozygosity for the IL6-174C allele is a clinically important risk factor for exercise-induced muscle injury, further supporting the central role of cytokines in the reactive inflammatory process of muscle damage and repair.


Subject(s)
Creatine Kinase/blood , Exercise , Interleukin-6/genetics , Muscle Contraction/genetics , Muscle, Skeletal/physiopathology , Polymorphism, Genetic , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Rhabdomyolysis/genetics , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics , Adult , Elbow , Female , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Homozygote , Humans , Male , Muscle, Skeletal/enzymology , Muscle, Skeletal/immunology , Odds Ratio , Rhabdomyolysis/enzymology , Rhabdomyolysis/immunology , Rhabdomyolysis/physiopathology , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors
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