Sapientia
Repositório Científico da UAlg
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Understanding air passengers' motivations and constraints for supporting sustainable air travel
Publication . Siegl, Laura; Almeida, Cláudia Margarida Brito Ribeiro de
This work addresses the problem of achieving sustainable development in the aviation sector within the context of tourism. It combines a systematic literature review and a quantitative empirical study to provide a comprehensive analysis of the field. The review follows PRISMA 2020 guidelines and includes 48 peer-reviewed publications from 2011 to 2024, selected from Scopus, Web of Science, B-On, and Google Scholar. Eligible sources met strict quality, relevance, and methodological criteria and were assessed using a CASP-based checklist. The results allow for a characterisation of current research trends, highlighting a post-2020 shift toward optimisation models, value-based communication, and climate equity, alongside earlier work focused on behavioural factors. Despite growing academic attention, a gap remains between scholarly insight and practical application. Building on these findings, the empirical investigation analysed 432 air passenger survey responses using descriptive statistics, inferential analysis, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), and cluster analysis. The study examined motivations and constraints influencing support for and willingness to pay for sustainable flights. Environmental concerns such as carbon reduction and intergenerational responsibility emerged as strong motivators, while cost, lack of awareness, and booking complexity posed significant barriers. SEM results show that sustainability awareness mediates the relationship between motivation, constraint, travel regularity, and willingness to pay. Frequent flyers, although more aware, showed lower spending inclination, suggesting cognitive dissonance. Demographic factors such as age and income had some influence, gender differences were not significant. Evidence from the study shows that the problems surrounding sustainable aviation require both behavioural and systemic solutions. The insights gained led to the presentation of interdisciplinary recommendations, emphasising targeted policy strategies, better communication, and non-price incentives to align consumer behaviour with climate goals.
Functional respiratory re-education interventions in people with respiratory disease: a systematic literature review
Publication . Dias, Pedro Miguel Martins; Teixeira, Helena Margarida dos Santos; Palma, Magali Cavaco; Messias, Patrícia Alexandra Lopes; Vieira, João Vítor da Silva; Ferreira, Rogério Manuel Ferrinho
Objectives: to identify nursing interventions in rehabilitation, within the scope of functional respiratory reeducation, which allow a respiratory function improvement in people with respiratory disease. Methods: systematic literature review using the MEDLINE database search, adopting the PICO mnemonic and the Joanna Briggs Institute’s assessment of the level of evidence and methodological quality. The search for randomized controlled trials was carried out in June 2021 considering the period from 2015 to 2020, in English or Portuguese. Results: a sample of nine randomized controlled trials with methodological quality was obtained which highlighted the use of positive expiratory pressure devices as an important component and intervention for respiratory functional reeducation. Conclusions: nursing interventions in rehabilitation with an emphasis on functional respiratory reeducation are essential, showing improvements in people’s general health.
Unveiling inter- and intra-patient sequence variability with a multi-sample coronavirus target enrichment approach
Publication . Lado, Sara; Thannesberger, Jakob; Spettel, Kathrin; Arapović, Jurica; Ferreira, Bibiana; Lavitrano, Marialuisa; Steininger, Christoph
Amid the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, unraveling the genomic intricacies of SARS-CoV-2 became crucial. This study explores viral evolution using an innovative high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach. By taking advantage of nasal swab and mouthwash samples from patients who tested positive for COVID-19 across different geographical regions during sequential infection waves, our study applied a targeted enrichment protocol and pooling strategy to increase detection sensitivity. The approach was extremely efficient, yielding a large number of reads and mutations distributed across 10 distinct viral gene regions. Notably, the genes Envelope, Nucleocapsid, and Open Reading Frame 8 had the highest number of unique mutations per 1000 nucleotides, with both spike and Nucleocapsid genes showing evidence for positive selection. Focusing on the spike protein gene, crucial in virus replication and immunogenicity, our findings show a dynamic SARS-CoV-2 evolution, emphasizing the virus–host interplay. Moreover, the pooling strategy facilitated subtle sequence variability detection. Our findings painted a dynamic portrait of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, emphasizing the intricate interplay between the virus and its host populations and accentuating the importance of continuous genomic surveillance to understand viral dynamics. As SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, this approach proves to be a powerful, versatile, fast, and cost-efficient screening tool for unraveling emerging variants, fostering understanding of the virus’s genetic landscape.
The influence of subclinical active inflammation on IFX pharmacokinetic modeling and disease progression assessment: findings from a prospective real-world study in inflammatory bowel disease patients
Publication . Magro, Fernando; Fernandes, Samuel; Patita, Marta; Arroja, Bruno; Lago, Paula; Rosa, Isadora; Sousa, Helena Tavares; Ministro, Paula; Mocanu, Irina; Vieira, Ana; Castela, Joana; Moleiro, Joana; Roseira, Joana; Cancela, Eugénia; Sousa, Paula; Portela, Francisco; Correia, Luís; Moreira, Paula; Dias, Sandra; Afonso, Joana; Danese, Silvio; Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent; Vucicevic, Katarina M; Santiago, Mafalda
Background and aims: Effective management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) relies on a comprehensive understanding of infliximab (IFX) pharmacokinetics (PK). This study’s primary goal was to develop a robust PK model, identifying key covariates influencing IFX clearance (CL), while concurrently evaluating the risk of disease progression during the maintenance phase of IBD treatment. Methods: The multicenter, prospective, real-world DIRECT study was conducted in several care centers, which included 369 IBD patients in the maintenance phase of IFX therapy. A two-compartment population PK model was used to determine IFX CL and covariates. Logistic and Cox regressions were applied to elucidate the associations between disease progression and covariates embedded in the PK model. Results: The PK model included the contributions of weight, albumin, antidrug antibody (ADA), and fecal calprotectin (FC). On average, higher ADA, FC concentration and weight, and lower albumin concentration resulted in higher IFX CL. In the multivariate regression analyses, FC levels influenced the odds of disease progression in the majority of its definitions, when adjusted for several confounding factors. Additionally, alongside FC, both IFX and CL demonstrated a significant impact on the temporal aspect of disease progression. Conclusion: In this 2-year real-world study, readily available clinical covariates, notably FC, significantly impacted IFX availability in IBD patients. We demonstrated that subclinical active inflammation, as mirrored by FC or CRP, substantially influenced IFX clearance. Importantly, FC emerged as a pivotal determinant, not only of IFX pharmacokinetics but also of disease progression. These findings underscore the need to integrate FC into forthcoming IFX pharmacokinetic models, amplifying its clinical significance.
Self-organization of social hierarchies studied with Monte-Carlo simulations; self-destroying join-believe-fight system as an inevitable outcome
Publication . Stallinga, Peter
Monte-Carlo simulations were used to describe the interactions between cellular automata, socio-economic ‘agents’, in society. In a first simulation we repeat work in literature of a system of independent agents. We repeat the finding that the strongest agent will confiscate all wealth. In a second simulation we show how agents can prevent against such theft, or steal better, by joining forces. So-called join-believe fight (joining, believing unquestionably in the narrative of the faction, and fighting other factions). We now take cooperations between factions of joined agents into account. The final outcome is that society obliterates libertarians (those that are reluctant to join forces) and winds up in a situation in which all surviving agents are joined in a single faction. However, it is reasoned that then fights within this single faction will start, since this end situation resembles the starting point of entire society; the single faction has become entire society and the game recommences. It is a snake that bites its own tail and goes around forever attacking.