Sapientia
Repositório Científico da UAlg
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Public perception of the portuguese national health service: A social media sentiment analysis approach
Publication . Lami Leal, Jorge; Ramos, Celia
Analysing social media testimonials about public health is vital for understanding public perceptions and emotions, leading to better policy- making and health services.
This investigation reviews recent research on sentiment analysis in healthcare, focusing on public perception of the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) through interactions on its Instagram and Facebook pages. Using a Machine Learning approach, the study finds a negative perception of the NHS, posing a high reputational risk. It recommends persistent institutional mediation through comments and systematic sentiment analysis to monitor social media opinions, improve communication, and refine policies based on real- time feedback.
Intentional sustainable communities and sustainable development goals: from micro-scale implementation to scalability of innovative practices
Publication . Nogueira, Carla; Marques, João Filipe; Pinto, Hugo
Intentional sustainable communities (ISCs) are commonly described as micro-based community initiatives that seek to develop sustainable lifestyles with low environmental impact. More recently, they have been analyzed as laboratories for the emergence of innovation, namely social innovation, and as actors that can contribute to sustainable transitions. This reinforces their role as pressure agents and as microscale communities of practice. Theoretically, it is argued that this scalability of innovation dynamics requires a multi-level and multi-actor perspective, mechanisms of reciprocity and that actors are not isolated and atomized. These mechanisms, such as networks, are crucial for the dissemination of sustainability practices and for increasing their potential impact. This article argues that these communities can also be important micro agents in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to mainstream the importance of scaling their innovation practices. To this end, the study uses quantitative data from a survey applied to the ISCs in Europe. The data corroborates the communities’ contribution to the SDGs, namely to SDG12, SDG13 and SDG16 and presents the collaboration network structure established within these communities.
Determinants of readiness for strategic value co-creation in hospitality and tourism organisations
Publication . Cloarec, David; Ribeiro, Manuel Alector; Font, Xavier
This paper examines how servant leadership influences an organisation’s readiness for strategic value co-creation through service climate, innovation climate, locus of control and self-efficacy. A model that draws on servant leadership and social cognitive theories is tested by surveying 222 hospitality and tourism business managers operating in France and the UK, and the data is analysed with structural equation modelling and ordinary least squares. The study contributes to personality research showing that servant leadership practices influence a manager’s internal locus of control and self-efficacy. We demonstrate that service climate and innovation climate mediate between servant leadership and readiness for strategic value co-creation, and moderate between a manager’s beliefs and the firm’s readiness for strategic value co-creation. The findings show that servant leadership has a stronger effect on innovation climate than on service climate, and that innovation climate has more influence on readiness for strategic value co-creation than on service climate.
What can lithics tell us about hominin technology's ‘primordial soup’? an origin of stone knapping via the emulation of mother nature
Publication . Eren, Metin I.; Lycett, Stephen J.; Bebber, Michelle R.; Key, Alastair; Buchanan, Briggs; Finestone, Emma; Benson, Joseph; Gürbüz, Rebecca Biermann; Cebeiro, Adela; Garba, Roman; Grunow, Anne; Lovejoy, C. Owen; MacDonald, Danielle; Maletic, Erica; Miller, G. Logan; Ortiz, Joseph D.; Paige, Jonathan; Pargeter, Justin; Proffitt, Tomos; Raghanti, Mary Ann; Riley, Teal; Rose, Jeffrey Ian; Singer, David M.; Walker, Robert S.
The use of stone hammers to produce sharp stone flakes—knapping—is thought to represent a significant stage in hominin technological evolution because it facilitated the exploitation of novel resources, including meat obtained from medium-to-large-sized vertebrates. The invention of knapping may have occurred via an additive (i.e., cumulative) process that combined several innovative stages. Here, we propose that one of these stages was the hominin use of ‘naturaliths,’ which we define as naturally produced sharp stone fragments that could be used as cutting tools. Based on a review of the literature and our own research, we first suggest that the ‘typical’ view, namely that sharp-edged stones are seldom produced by nonprimate processes, is likely incorrect. Instead, naturaliths can be, and are being, endlessly produced in a wide range of settings and thus may occur on the landscape in far greater numbers than archaeologists currently understand or acknowledge. We then explore the potential role this ‘naturalith prevalence’ may have played in the origin of hominin stone knapping. Our hypothesis suggests that the origin of knapping was not a ‘Eureka!’ moment whereby hominins first made a sharp flake by intention or by accident and then sought something to cut, but instead was an emulative process by hominins aiming to reproduce the sharp tools furnished by mother nature and already in demand. We conclude with a discussion of several corollaries our proposal prompts, and several avenues of future research that can support or question our proposal.
Antioxidant and a-amylase inhibition activities of six plants used in the management of diabetes in Morocco
Publication . Aazza, Smail; El-Guendouz, Soukaina; Miguel, Maria da Graça
Diabetes mellitus is one of the major health problems in the world. Conventional antidiabetic drugs are effective; however, they also with unavoidable side effects. On the other hand, plants may be an alternative source of antidiabetic agents. In the present study, six plants (Cynara scolymus, Ceratonia siliqua, Centaurium erythraea, Marrubium vulgare, Salvia officinalis, and Ziziphus lotus reputed for their antidiabetic effect in Moroccan traditional medicine were chosen. The work was focused on the determination of the antioxidant activities by several methods, including as well as their -amylase inhibitory capacity. It was noted that S. officinalis extract contained the highest phenolic contents and the strongest ABTS and nitric oxide scavenging activities. C. erythraea has the highest total flavonoid content and the best total antioxidant activity. M. vulgare showed the best -amylase inhibitory activity and the best chelating power abreast with C. scolymus, which presented very weak antioxidant activities unless good -amylase inhibition. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a very good correlation between total phenolic content and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) along with 2,2'-azino-bis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radicals scavenging activities. M. vulgare displayed the best α-amylase inhibition capacity.