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- School personnel perception of parental involvement and students’ behavior problems: practical implicationsPublication . Caridade, Sónia; Azevedo, Vanessa; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Sani, Ana Isabel; Nunes, Laura M.School is a privileged context to prevent specific behavior problems. Parental involvement in school activities is crucial to promote social functioning. This study aimed to access the Portuguese school personnel perception of parental involvement and students’ behavior problems. A study with 333 school personnel, aged between 29 and 66 (M = 50.84, SD = 7.54), was developed. School personnel’s participants rated parental involvement as low and nearly one in five professionals rated student’s general behavior as bad. A significant association between parental involvement and the perception of students’ general behavior was found. 80% of the professionals rating student’s general behavior as bad also rating parental involvement as poor. Additional research into implications of parental involvement in school activities and school students’ behavior problems is necessary aiming assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies in this area.
- Social networks, the internet, and risks: portuguese parents' perception of online groomingPublication . Sani, Ana Isabel; Vieira, Ana Paula; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaThe paper presents an exploratory and descriptive quantitative study, involving 560 Portuguese parents with school children, aged between 6 and 17 years. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire that was made available online and focused on the use of social networks, the Internet and the risk of online grooming. The results showed that about half of the participants did not know the term 'online grooming'. After defining the phenomenon, 97% of the participants considered it very seriously. To prevent risk, 52% of the participants reported talking with their children about online risks and taking precautions to reduce the children's vulnerability. Approximately 89% of the respondents said they knew where to report cybercrime. The study aimed to contribute to a greater awareness of the risks associated with the Internet, involving parents and caregivers in the prevention of situations of victimization of children and adolescents.
- Recent advances in geomathematics in Croatia: examples from subsurface geological mapping and biostatisticsPublication . Malvić, Tomislav; Bošnjak, Marija; Velić, Josipa; Sremac, Jasenka; Ivšinović, Josip; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Barudžija, UrošGeomathematics is extremely important in geosciences, particularly in the geology. The key for any geomathematical analysis is the definition of a typical model to be applied for further prognosis, either through deterministic or stochastic approaches. The selection of the appropriate procedure is presented in this paper. Two different geomathematical subfield datasets were used in subsurface geological mapping and palaeontology and different biostatistics applications, representing important geomathematical subfields in the Croatian geology. The different subsurface interpolation methods tested, validated and recommended for application were used to obtain the best possible outcome in reservoir modelling, in the cases with small datasets. Cross- validation may be chosen as the main selection criteria, applied to the Croatian part of the Pannonian Basin System (CPBS). Recent advances in biostatistics applied in palaeontology and case studies from Croatia are also presented, where biometric studies are of significant importance in fossil biota. Data, methods and problems in geosciences are vast subjects, and address a wide spectrum of fundamental science. Because geology includes subsurface and surface geology, and very different datasets regarding variable and number of data, we have chosen here two representative case study groups with original samples from Northern Croatia. Subsurface mapping has been presented on limited petrophysical datasets from the Northern Croatian, Miocene, hydrocarbon reservoirs. Biostatistics have been presented on very different samples, allowing us to achieve paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the size of relevant fossils, such as dinosaurs or other species and their paleoenvironments. All examples highlight examples of the valuable application of geomathematical tools in geology. The results, cautiously validated and correlated with other, non-numerical (indicator, categorical) geological knowledge, are of enormous assistance in creating better geological models.
- Geotourism social constraints and protection instruments from a sustainability perspective - evidence from the Northernmost Brazilian StatePublication . Saldanha Veras, Ana Sibelonia; Vidal, Diogo Guedes; Barros, Nelson; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaIn the last decades, the anthropogenic actions on the planet have dually gained visibility: on the one hand as promoters of strategies for safeguarding the environment at a global level and on the other hand as protagonists of the excessive exploitation of its natural resources, threatening the natural balance of the planet. Considering this scenario that results in a need to seek sustainable renewal, the Brazilian indigenous communities living in regions dominated by rock formations classified as natural heritage assume themselves as important vehicles in safeguarding the geological sites through the information they have. There is a lack of knowledge and devaluation regarding the potential of these indigenous communities. Accordingly, the objective of this chapter is to present a vision of the constraints of geotourism in the northernmost Brazilian state of Mucajaí, Roraima (RR), i.e., the duties and responsibilities necessary for the full implementation of geotourism, seeking to safeguard geodiversity in territories dominated by natural heritage, in which the community is sustainably integrated. A review of the official websites of the RR State and of the official legislation was carried out to understand the current geotourism constraints in this region. Based on the results found, regional leaders will be able to identify the specific needs of the region to fully implement the geotourism activity and to promote more sustainable practices to safeguard this region from the anthropic pressure. The use of strategic environmental assessment tools in decision-making on policies and plans for the development of geotourism in a given region should be considered by the official entities in order to ensure the correct assessment of the economic, social, and environmental impacts of this type of interventions.
- Child and adolescent multiple victimization and/or polyvictimization: a portuguese comparative studyPublication . Sani, Ana Isabel; Bastos, Daniela; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaWorldwide, children and adolescents are exposed to violence every day and in countless contexts, whether in the family, at school, or in the community. Child multiple victimization has been the subject of extensive international research because of the impact on child and youth development. A quantitative and comparative study aiming to understand child multiple victimization and/or polyvictimization from the perspective of children is presented. Two groups were studied, with and without psychological counselling, with 20 children each, aged 12–18 years old. All the participants answered to juvenile victimization questionnaire (JVQ). The study was approved by the University Ethics Committee responsible for the study in Portugal, and it was initiated after the obtained consent of the children’s legal guardians. The results indicated that young people frequently experience violent situations, with particular emphasis on conventional crimes, e.g., theft, robbery, vandalism, and assault with or without a weapon, with sexual victimization being less common. The results also show that there is a cumulative experience of violence, which evidences multiple victimization and polyvictimization of the child/adolescent throughout their life. These phenomena are not necessarily more common between populations with clinical follow-up. When the types of violence were compared, multiple victimization and polyvictimization, this study found no differences between the samples with and without psychological counselling. It can be concluded that the multiple victimization or polyvictimization problem is not unusual among the population in the studied age range. It is important to alert to the phenomenon of child/adolescent multiple victimization, aiming at a more effective assessment and intervention among these populations. Raising awareness of the phenomenon of multiple child and youth victimization or polyvictimization is of particular importance for preventing violence at all stages of development.
- Health behaviors as a mediator of the association between interpersonal relationships and physical health in a workplace contextPublication . Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Sousa, Helder Fernando Pedrosa; Moura, Andreia de; Viterbo, Lilian Monteiro Ferrari; Pinto, Ricardo J.The etiology of diseases is multifactorial, involving genetic, environmental, and lifestyle-related behaviors. Considering the pathway that involves behavioral processes, a huge body of empirical evidence has shown that some healthy behaviors such as non-smoking, any or moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, (e.g., fruit and vegetable intake), and physical activity, decrease the risk of disease and mortality. This study aimed to explore the potential mediating effect of combined health behaviors on the association between interpersonal relationships and physical health in a Brazilian adult worker population from the Occupational Health Service within the oil industry in Bahia, Brazil. The sample included 611 workers, of which 567 (92.8%) were males and 44 (7.2%) females, age ranging from 18 to 73 years (M = 41.95; SD = 8.88). The significant predictors of physical health were interpersonal relationships and health behaviors. Health behaviors contributed significantly to a reduction in the effect of interpersonal relationships on physical health outcomes. As far as it is known, there has been no prior work in Brazil that simultaneously examined the best predictors of physical health in oil workers using this conceptual model. Interventions in the workplace environment need to consider health behavior as a mediator between interpersonal relationships and physical health, aligned in a global psychosocial approach to health at work.
- Occupational health resource classification instrument (OHRCI) in the oil industry, BrazilPublication . Albuquerque, Rafael Amaral; Carvalho, Marcelo Barbosa; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Viterbo, Lilian Monteiro FerrariThe study describes the development of the Occupational Health Resource Classification Instrument (OHRCI) aiming to classify the levels of occupational health care in the oil industry, Brazil, considering the aspects of prevention and health promotion.OHRCI was developed by 6 recognized experts in occupational health management with at least 10 years of experience. For content validation, the Delphi Technique was used, with 20 specialists from the fields of medicine, dentistry, social work, nutrition and psychology participating in 40 meetings with an average duration of 2 hours each. All proposed adjustment recommendations were incorporated and accepted.OHCRI tool was structured. It considers the characteristics of the oil companies regarding the assessment of risk scenarios, location and exposed population, resulting in a score between 1 and 16. Nine levels of occupational health care were defined, which allows to objectively consider the dimension of the workforce and attendance modality. The results of OHCRI tool allow specific strategic actions in people management, related to the monitoring of work processes and adaptation of professional skills.The proposed tool is considered validated and its application generates business value, ensuring the maintenance of resources for comprehensive health care and attendance level adequate to the needs of the oil industry and workers and associated compliance aspects.
- Landscape sustainability: contribution of Mucajaí-RR (Brazil) RegionPublication . Saldanha Veras, Ana Sibelonia; Vidal, Diogo Guedes; Barros, Nelson; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaSustainable development should be at the core of countries’ policies, and nature-based solutions are an efficient solution to promote healthy spaces to healthy people. Landscape sustainability consists in a complex and dynamic process of long-term ecosystem services provided by landscape. These services are important to environmental and public health quality improvement, and to maintaining human well-being at local, regional, and international contexts. Due to the contemporary socioenvironmental challenges, landscape sustainability science assumes an important contribution to mediate and interpret the relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being. Alongside, landscape sustainability allows developing sustainable awareness and responsible consumption behavior. The recognition of the landscape potential, and its contribution to environmental regeneration and provision, is a path to safeguard and preserve the available resources, aligned with the vision of sustainable development.
- Predicting frequent and feared crime typologies: individual and social/environmental variables, and incivilitiesPublication . Caridade, Sónia; Magalhães, Mariana; Azevedo, Vanessa; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Maia, Rui Leandro; Estrada, Rui; Sani, Ana Isabel; Nunes, Laura M.The lack of organisation in urban spaces plays a decisive role in the level of integration, communication and social bonds of the residents, impacting the citizens’ feelings of trust and security. Different personal variables and contextual characteristics have been associated with the fear of crime (FOC). The main objective of this study is to analyse how individual and social/environmental variables, and incivilities, predict crime against people and property, crime that has either happened or is feared to happen. Five hundred and fifty-four residents (M = 43.82; SD = 18.38) in the Historic Centre of Porto (HCP), Portugal, answered 61 items of the Diagnosis of Local Security (DLS) Questionnaire. The results of this study show that in the most frequent crime category, 72% of occurrences represent crime against property. In the feared crime category, there is a preponderance of crime against people (61%). Age of the respondents predicted the most frequent and feared crime, while sex predicted the most feared crime only. Social/environmental variables, as well as incivilities, also predict the frequent and feared crime in two typologies, i.e., crime against people and crime against property. Practical implications to reduce FOC and areas for further investigation are discussed.
- An assessment of requirements in investments, new technologies, and infrastructures to achieve the SDGsPublication . Filho, Walter Leal; Vidal, Diogo Guedes; Chen, Chen; Petrova, Maria; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Yang, Peter; Rogers, Steven; Álvarez-Castañón, Lorena; Djekic, Ilija; Sharifi, Ayyoob; Neiva, SamaraBackground The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires much planning and the provision of resources, especially regarding the necessary investments, technologies and infrastructures needed. Yet, it is presently unclear how available these elements are, what gaps exist, what changes have taken place in terms of their availability since the adoption of the SDGs and what their requirements will be in the future. The knowledge gap has become even more concerning because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a bibliometric analysis, an assessment of the global progress of SDG implementation and requirements, identifying challenges through the development of a matrix, and a set of 11 case studies to triangulate the holistic analysis, an assessment of the global progress of the SDGs implementation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this process was carried out. Results The findings suggest that the scope and width of resources limitation are currently undermining the implementation of the SDGs. Apart from the fact that the pace of progress has been insufficient, the potential of the SDGs in pursuing sustainability and improving life quality is not fully realised. This trend suggests that a substantial acceleration of the efforts is needed, especially for the five SDGs whose progress since 2015 has not been optimal, namely SDG2, SDG11, SDG13, SDG15, and SDG16, while SDG3, SDG7, SDG9, SDG14, and SDG17 show signs of progress. The case studies showed that different industries have dissimilar effects on achieving the SDGs, with the food sector correlating with 15 SDGs, as opposed to the energy sector correlating with 6 SDGs. Accordingly, the priority level assessment in terms of achieving the SDGs, points to the need to further advance the above-mentioned five SDGs, i.e., 2, 11, 13, 15 and 16. Conclusions This study fills in a knowledge gap in respect of the current need for and availability of investments, new technologies, and infrastructures to allow countries to pursue the SDGs. It is suggested that this availability is rather limited in specific contexts. In respect of the needs to be addressed, these include resource-related constraints, limited technologies and infrastructures, affecting SDG2, SDG11, SDG13, SDG15, and SDG16, whose progress needs to be enhanced. Since the global progress in the process of implementation of the SDGs depends directly and indirectly on addressing the resource gaps, it is suggested that this topic be further investigated, so that the present imbalances in the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental, be adequately addressed.