Polytechnic Institute of Viseu

About: Polytechnic Institute of Viseu is a education organization based out in Viseu, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Agriculture. The organization has 392 authors who have published 989 publications receiving 14134 citations. The organization is also known as: IPV.

Acute hepatitis E complicated by Guillain-Barre syndrome in Portugal, December 2012--a case report.

Abstract: Autochthonous hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been increasingly reported in Europe and the United States, mostly arising from genotype 3 and less frequently genotype 4. We report here on a patient with HEV genotype 3a infection complicated by Guillain-Barre syndrome in Portugal in December 2012. We draw attention to the diagnosis of autochthonous HEV infection and to its rare, but important, neurological complications.

Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life in Older Adults: Trajectories of Influence across Age

Abstract: This study focuses on the influence of anxiety and depression on individual trajectories of quality of life in old age through a longitudinal approach. A representative sample of adults aged 50+ living in Portugal and participating in wave 4 (W4) and wave 6 (W6) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project was considered. Participants, 1765 at baseline (W4) and 1201 at follow up (W6), were asked about their quality of life (CASP-12) and emotional status (Euro-D scale; five items from the Beck Anxiety Inventory). Linear Mixed Effects models were performed to identify factors associated with changes in quality of life across age. Increasing age was found to have a significant negative effect on quality of life. Lower education and higher levels of depression and anxiety at baseline were also associated with worse quality of life; 42.1% of the variation of CASP-12 across age was explained by fixed and random effects, being depression followed by anxiety as the factors that presented with the highest relative importance. Both depression and anxiety play an important role in quality of life in older adults and must be acknowledged as important intervention domains to foster healthy and active aging.

Prefabricated versus conventional construction: Comparing life-cycle impacts of alternative structural materials

Abstract: Prefabrication can have advantages in terms of materials and time efficiency, but the overall environmental and cost trade‐offs between the two construction methods are unclear and influenced by the choice of the structural material. A life cycle assessment was carried out to compare two constructive systems (prefabrication and conventional) and different structural materials for a single-family house. Impacts, waste, costs, and production time were assessed for two prefabricated construction systems – lightweight steel frame (LSF) and wooden frame (WF) – and two conventional construction systems – reinforced concrete (RC1) with a single layer concrete block or with a double-layer brick external wall (RC2). Results showed that WF has the lowest impacts followed by LSF, and that embodied impacts can represent more than half of total impacts. Prefabricated houses have up to 65% less embodied impacts, and end-of-life impacts of prefabricated LSF are lower due to recycling; thus, unveiling the importance of embodied and end-of-life phases. Prefabrication can decrease impacts, materials consumption, and waste generation, pushing forward circularity within the construction sector.