Browsing by Author "Ferreira, Jorge"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Association of acute COVID-19 severity and long COVID fatigue and quality of life: prospective cohort multicenter observational studyPublication . Pires, Ligia; Marreiros, Ana; Saraiva, Cátia; Reis, Cláudia; Neves, Djamila; Guerreiro, Cláudia; Tomé, José Boleo; Luz, Maria Inês; Pereira, Margarida Isabel; Barroso, Ana Sofia; Ferreira, Jorge; Gonzalez, Lucía Méndez; Moniri, Armin; Drummond, Marta; Berger-Estilita, JoanaLong COVID, or post-COVID-19 condition, is characterized by symptoms persisting beyond 12 weeks after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, affecting individuals regardless of acute disease severity. Fatigue – often linked with depression and anxiety – is among its most debilitating manifestations. However, the associations between fatigue subtypes (physical vs mental), mental health symptoms, and acute disease severity on long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remain unclear. This study examines the relationships between long COVID fatigue, depression, anxiety, acute disease severity, and HRQoL in a post-COVID-19 cohort. This prospective observational cohort study was conducted across 5 Portuguese hospitals between November 2020 and June 2022. Adults (≥18 years) with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection ≥6 months prior and fulfilling World Health Organization criteria for long COVID were included. Acute Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity was classified per World Health Organization definitions. The sampling strategy included patients across the severity spectrum. At 3 months postinfection (T1), patients received physician-led clinical assessments. At 6 months (T2), they attended in-person follow-up visits, completing standardized forms and validated questionnaires assessing post-acute sequelae. Fatigue was reported both binarily (yes/no) and via the chalder fatigue scale (11-item version). Anxiety and depression were assessed using the hospital anxiety and depression scale; post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms with the 14-item post-traumatic stress scale; and HRQoL with the EuroQol-5 dimensions. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, chi-square, and correlation analyses (Pearson’s or Spearman’s) were used to evaluate associations. Analyses were performed using SPSS (v27; IBM Corp., Amonk). Among 208 patients, fatigue was significantly associated with anxiety and depression (P < .001). Physical fatigue correlated more strongly with depression (r = 0.65, P < .001) and anxiety (r = 0.58, P < .001) than mental fatigue (r = 0.50 and R = 0.48, respectively; P < .001). Surprisingly, severe acute COVID-19 cases reported lower fatigue (CFQ: 13.3 ± 8.4) than mild (17.7 ± 7.2) or moderate (17.4 ± 8.0) cases (P < .005), and higher HRQoL (EuroQol visual analog scale: 74.3 ± 20.3, P = .002). Anxiety symptoms were more common in mild cases (P < .001); post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms did not differ by severity. Long COVID fatigue – especially physical – is strongly linked to depression and anxiety. Mild/moderate acute COVID-19 cases show greater fatigue and lower HRQoL than severe cases, highlighting the need for tailored long-term care regardless of initial severity.
- Green infrastructure, climate change and spatial planning: learning lessons across bordersPublication . Samora-Arvela, André; Ferrao, Joao; Ferreira, Jorge; Panagopoulos, Thomas; Vaz, EricClimate change will further induce a generalized rise in temperature, heat waves, exacerbation of heat island effect, alteration of the precipitation regime variability with higher occurrence of high precipitation and flood events, reduction of quantity and quality of freshwater resources, disruption of agricultural production, leading to food security risk, degradation of recreational and aesthetic amenities, and loss of biodiversity. On other hand, Green Infrastructure, that is, the network of natural and semi-natural spaces within and around urban spaces, brings a constructive and protecting element that may mitigate and adapt to the local level impacts of climate change, strengthening local resilience. This paper presents a comparative study of various green infrastructures' implementation based on analytics in the United States of America, United Kingdom and Portugal, and focuses on the degree of its alignment with the public policies of mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Pursuant to the identification of successes and failures, this paper infers common strategies, goals and benchmarking on outcomes for more adequate decision implementation and sustainable spatial planning, considering the importance of green infrastructure.
- Modeling nature-based and cultural recreation preferences in mediterranean regions as opportunities for smart tourism and diversificationPublication . Samora-Arvela, André; Ferreira, Jorge; Vaz, Eric; Panagopoulos, ThomasThe tourism and recreational o er of Mediterranean destinations involves, essentially, the promotion of mass tourism, based on the appeal of the sun and beach, and the quality of its coastal assets. Alongside the impacts of climate change, poor tourism diversification represents a threat to the resilience of the territory. Thus, heterogenization of noncoastal tourism products presents an opportunity to strengthen regional resilience to present and future challenges, hence the need to study, comparatively, the complementary preferences of tourists and residents of these regions in order to unveil their willingness to diversify their recreational experience, not only in coastal spaces, but also—and especially—in interior territories with low urban density. Consequently, this strategic option may represent a way of strengthening resilience and sustainability through diversification. In this context, a survey was conducted among 400 beach tourists and 400 residents of a case study—namely, three municipalities of the Algarve region in southern Portugal—in order to analyze their degree of preference for activities besides the sun and beach, such as nature-based and cultural tourism activities, and to probe the enhancement potential of each tourism and recreational activity through the various landscape units considered by experts, stakeholders, and tour operators. The respective degree of preference and enhancement potential were indexed to the area of each landscape unit. Subsequently, respecting the existing recreational structure and constraints, a suitability map for territory enhancement and the implementation of smart tourism practices for each tourism activity and landscape unit is presented. Results show a significant preference for noncoastal outdoor recreational activities.
- Multidisciplinary cardiorenal program for heart failure patients: Improving outcomes through comprehensive carePublication . Calça, Rita; Malho, Anabela; Domingos, Ana Teresa; Fernandes, Raquel Menezes; Silva, Francisca Gomes da; Aguiar, Carlos; Tralhão, António; Ferreira, Jorge; Rodrigues, Anabela; Fonseca, Cândida; Branco, PatríciaThe cardiorenal program (CRP), implemented within a specialized heart failure and kidney disease clinic, encompasses a multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with heart failure and kidney disease. It focuses on optimizing therapy and improving patient outcomes. The CRP includes a range of services, including clinical evaluation, diagnostic testing, medical treatment, and patient education. The program provides comprehensive care for patients with cardiorenal syndrome, and includes a variety of healthcare professionals, such as cardiologists, nephrologists, pharmacists, and nurses, working together to provide the best possible care. The program also incorporates specific performance indicators to continuously evaluate and improve patient outcomes. The CRP's integrated multidisciplinary care and patient-centered approach is promising for the management of patients with cardiorenal syndrome. (c) 2025 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
- Parabolic reaction-diffusion systems with nonlocal coupled diffusivity termsPublication . Ferreira, Jorge; de Oliveira, Hermenegildo BorgesIn this work we study a system of parabolic reaction-diffusion equations which are coupled not only through the reaction terms but also by way of nonlocal diffusivity functions. For the associated initial problem, endowed with homogeneous Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions, we prove the existence of global solutions. We also prove the existence of local solutions but with less assumptions on the boundedness of the nonlocal terms. The uniqueness result is established next and then we find the conditions under which the existence of strong solutions is assured. We establish several bow-up results for the strong solutions to our problem and we give a criterium for the convergence of these solutions towards a homogeneous state.
- Preparação de compostos para agricultura biológicaPublication . Ferreira, Jorge; Reis, Mário; Fernandes, Maria Mendes; Rosa, Armindo José Gonçalves; Oliveira, Paulo Miguel Gomes; Brito, João Manuel Carrasco de; Dionísio, Lídia; Guerrero, Carlos; Coelho, LuísaDurante o Projecto Agro 282 testou-se a compostagem de diferentes misturas de materiais de origem agrícola e agro industrial: resíduos hortícolas, palha de trigo, aparas de relva, laranjas de refugo e bagaço de azeitona. Procurou-se utilizar materiais de ocorrência vulgar na região, e por isso mais acessíveis aos agricultores, que contudo são comuns noutras regiões do país. A compostagem realizou-se em pilhas com reviramento mecânico e em pilhas com arejamento forçado. Para a preparação das pilhas empregaram-se equipamentos habituais em muitas explorações agrícolas. A moenda dos materiais mais grosseiros efectuou-se com um corta-forragem para milho, fixo, no qual se iam introduzindo os materiais a compostar, nas proporções adequadas. O reviramento realizou-se com um tractor agrícola com pá carregadora frontal. Numa das compostagens foi necessário uma trituração adicional do material em compostagem, para o que se usou um cultivador rotativo. O humedecimento do material durante a compostagem efectuou-se microaspersores, e com mangueira com ralo durante os reviramentos. A compostagem foi monitorizada, controlando-se a temperatura e algumas variáveis físico-químicas. Os compostos foram caracterizados no final do período de compostagem, isto é, após estabilização da sua temperatura.