Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Unit: Centre for Biodiscovery'

There are value and importance for inpatient and day-patient psychiatric units, particularly for children and adolescents. These facilities, which are scarcely established in South Africa, offer multidisciplinary and multifaceted treatment to persons experiencing varying symptoms and conditions of mental illness. This dissertation presents the findings of an implementation evaluation conducted for the Therapeutic Learning Centre (TLC), a child inpatient psychiatric unit in Rondebosch, Cape Town. The evaluation aimed to compare the TLC’s service and programme implementation with international standards. The Quality Network for Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (QNIC) checklist was used to assess the TLC on seven focused categories of service and implementation quality. Data were provided from selected TLC team members, which included mental health practitioners from various fields (e.g., psychology, psychiatry and social work to name a few). Overall, the programme established within the TLC was found to be implemented with fair fidelity when compared to the international unit standards. Most unit standards required and expected to be carried out by an inpatient unit were found to be satisfied by the TLC. There are, however, key aspects of the unit’s environment and facilities, staffing and training, care and treatment, and clinical governance that were highlighted as needing improvement. While the research yielded mostly positive results, the evaluator was able to make several recommendations to the TLC stakeholders. This evaluation contributes to limited research and implementation evaluations within the context of child inpatient psychiatric units. Furthermore, the findings are intended to support the promotion of quality psychiatric and behavioural treatment and mental health service policy in these units within South Africa.

Cette recherche porte sur l’une des traditions urbanistiques britanniques de l’après-guerre, le town design, et sur sa transmission en France dans le cadre de la construction des villes nouvelles. Ma thèse se développe ainsi en deux temps : la première partie définit ces savoirs urbanistiques dans le milieu britannique et étudie leur mise en pratique ainsi que leur formalisation ; la seconde partie analyse leur réception et leur reformulation dans le contexte français, ainsi que les motivations des acteurs impliqués. Mon travail s’attache à analyser la façon dont la tradition du town design se codifie progressivement au travers des plans anglais des années d’après-guerre, ces études urbaines commanditées par des municipalités dans lesquelles s’exprime et se formalise une façon de faire la ville. Un enjeu important de mon travail est de replacer, dans l’histoire des débats urbains, l’apport de ces professionnels « installés », modernistes, en tant qu'inventeurs de formes et de doctrines. Cette histoire des savoir-faire étudie plus spécifiquement la façon dont des concepts sont mobilisés par les acteurs et transformés par leur pratique. Au fondement de la tradition du town design se trouve la méthode du neighbourhood planning, qui repose sur l’opérationnalisation du concept d’unité de voisinage. Ce concept opératoire, appliqué au développement d’un territoire, se traduit directement par l’usage de trois outils de conception : le programme (distribution spatio-temporelle et fonctions des équipements), la mobilité (connexions et temporalité des déplacements) et la composition par groupements (et non via un tracé ordonnateur). Ces outils se trouvent appliqués dans la centralité avec l’opération du Barbican Centre, chef d’œuvre ambigu du town design qui, s’appuyant sur un dispositif de precinct, propose un environnement autonome et attractif comme réponse au défi de la construction de logements dans les conditions de la centralité. Un autre enjeu, qui fait l’objet de la seconde partie de ce travail, est d’étudier différents modes de transmission de ces savoir-faire urbanistiques et d’identifier des « chaînes de transmission » et les « agents de transfert » dans le contexte français. Je montre l’intérêt profond des concepteurs français de villes nouvelles pour le travail sur la programmation et pour l’exigence rationnelle générale (accumulation de données, élaboration d’hypothèses…) qui caractérisent l’approche britannique. À la fin des années 1960, les acteurs des villes nouvelles veulent rompre avec l’urbanisme de plan, caractéristique des savoir-faire urbains appliqués en France depuis l’après-guerre. Une étude de cas autour de la collaboration de la Mission de Cergy-Pontoise avec Shankland et Cox fournit un exemple clair de transfert de savoir-faire entre deux grandes institutions publiques : il s'agit d'une part du département d’architecture du London County Council (LCC) – en charge, notamment, de l’élaboration du plan de Londres de 1944 et de sa mise en application – et d'autre part de l’Institut d’aménagement et d’urbanisme de la région parisienne (IAURP), en charge de la création des villes nouvelles autour de la capitale. L’intérêt pour l’expérience britannique s’explique par les instructions très claires du ministère, relayées par le directeur de la Mission, Bernard Hirsch, qui exigent de laisser aux sociétés privées une plus grande part d’initiative dans le développement de la ville nouvelle. L’expérience britannique permet aussi aux jeunes architectes de la Mission, comme l’ont fait avant eux les jeunes architectes du LCC, de définir une nouvelle pratique d’aménageur-concepteur : un concepteur dont l’action n’est ni exclusivement réglementaire ni celle d’un « auteur », et qui accepte l’incertitude de l’évolution du projet dans le temps
My research focuses on a post-war British planning tradition called “town design”, and on its transfer and diffusion in France through the work of new towns designer. The first part of the dissertation defines this tradition as a specific set of urban skills and concepts developed during the British post-war years. The second part analyses its reception and reformulation in the 1960’s French context. The dissertation aims to show how the tradition of town design was gradually codified through the making of urban plans commissioned by municipalities in the post-war years. An important issue was to establish that “mainstream” professional modernist architects could be inventors of forms and doctrines. This study shows more specifically how concepts are mobilised and transformed by professional pratice. The tradition of town design relies on neighbourhood planning and uses the neighbourhood unit’ as an operational concept in the development of central areas. As such, the Barbican Center may be considered an ambiguous masterpiece of town design. It confronts the challenge of building dwellings in central areas within a pedestrian precinct conceived as an autonomous and attractive environment. The second part of this work is dedicated to the study of the different ways in which the urban tradition has been “transmitted” to France and of its "transmission chains" and "transfer agents" in the French context. The thesis shows that the French new town designers praise the British tradition for its emphasis on briefing and programming, as well as its data-driven, firmly rational approach. The case study of the close collaboration between the Mission de Cergy-Pontoise and the Shankland and Cox practice demonstrates that a full set of skills and concepts was transferred between two major public institutions: the architects’ department of London County Council (LCC) and the Institut d’aménagement et d’urbanisme de la région parisienne (IAURP), which was in charge of the creation of new towns around the capital

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between research and policymaking in South African higher education, using the Education Policy Unit at the University of the Western Cape (UWC-EPU) -recently renamed the Centre for the Study of Higher Education - as a case study. The study begins by examining the various models that explain the nature of policymaking in Western democracies, as well as the main theoretical frameworks - namely the "two communities" theory and the enlightenment model of knowledge utilisation - that explain the relationship between the production of knowledge and its utilisation in policymaking. It is argued that, although most of these models were developed to analyse the policymaking process within the context of mature democracies, they nonetheless raise important issues for developing countries like South Africa. The study proceeds to provide an overview of the process of policy development in South Africa. It is suggested that a better way of understanding the evolution of higher education policy development in South Africa is to see it as having gone through four phases, each of which marks a significant turning point within higher education itself, as well as in the broader political context. The process of the policy development, and in particular the role of (higher education) research within it, is shown as one that was largely driven by political and ideological imperatives. The study then shifts to a discussion of the CSHE, commencing with an overview of its organisational history, and highlighting the main objectives of its research programme and the changes that occurred with regard to its research orientation. These are examined in relation to external factors - for example the shift from the development of policy frameworks to the focus on implementation - and in terms of the dynamics that were internal to the University of the Western Cape. This discussion also highlights the challenges that were faced by the EPUs and other progressive academics in the early phases of the policy development process, namely that of engaging in a 'reconstructive' agenda on the one hand, while undertaking intellectual/scientific work on the other hand. In the case of the CSHE, there was also the added challenge of contributing to the development of the nascent field of higher education studies. One of the key issues that emerge in the analysis of the interviews, which form the core source of data collection for this study, is the multifarious understanding of the way in which the research undertaken by the CSHE was to be utilised. The three notions of 'use' that are highlighted - which are also embedded in the objectives of the CSHE as set out in its constitution - are the following: • Utilisation as generation of ideas, and particularly as a contribution to the debates on social reconstruction • Utilisation as input into the policymaking process • Utilisation as contribution to scholarship The study shows that there is a mixed assessment of the extent to which the CSHE was able to address these competing - and sometimes contradictory - challenges. In the main, its efforts were hamstrung by a confluence of factors, ranging from its inability to recruit or attract experienced researchers, to the orientation of its research towards critique, something which was a feature of the scholarship emanating from the progressive academic community at the time.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die verhouding tussen navorsing en beleidsvorming binne die konteks van die Suid- Afrikaanse hoër onderwysomgewing te ondersoek. Met die oog hierop word die Education Policy Unit aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland (UWC-EPU), onlangs herdoop tot die Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CHSE), deur middel van 'n gevallestudie beskryf. Die studie begin met 'n ondersoek na die verskillende modelle wat poog om die aard van beleidsvorming binne Westerse demokrasieë te verduidelik. Verder word die hoof teoretiese raamwerke, tewete die "two communities" teorie asook die "enlightenment model", wat die verhouding tussen die skep van kennis en die aanwending daarvan binne 'n beleidskonteks wil verduidelik, ook ondersoek. Hoewel die meeste modelle van hierdie aard ontwikkel is om die proses van beleidsvorming binne volwasse demokrasieë te analiseer, word aangevoer dat hulle desnieteenstaande belangrike kwessies na vore bring vir ontwikkelende lande soos Suid-Afrika. Die studie gaan verder deur 'n oorsig te gee oor die proses van beleidsontwikkeling in Suid- Afrika. Daar word gesuggereer dat 'n meer verantwoorde wyse om die evolusie van hoër onderwysbeleid in Suid-Afrika te verstaan, sou wees om erkenning te gee aan 'n vier-fase-benadering, waarvan elk 'n betekenisvolle rigtingverandering aangedui het, sowel as die invloed van die breër politieke konteks. Die proses van beleidsontwikkeling, en meer spesifiek die rol van (hoër onderwys) navorsing daarbinne, word aangetoon as synde hoofsaaklik gemotifeer deur politieke en ideologiese imperatiewe. Hierna verskuif die fokus van die studie na 'n bespreking van die CSHE deur te begin met 'n oorsig oor die geskiedenis van die sentrum. Die hoof doelwitte van die sentrum se navorsingsprogram asook die veranderinge wat onlangs plaasgevind ten opsigte van navorsingsoriëntasie, word bespreek. Hierdie aspekte word ondersoek aan die hand van eksterne faktore - byvoorbeeld die verskuiwing wat plaasgevind het vanaf die klem op ontwikkelingsraamwerke na 'n fokus op implimentering - en in terme van die dinamika wat eie is en was aan die Universiteit van Wes Kaapland. Die gesprek poog verder om lig te werp op die tipiese uitdagings waarmee Education Policy Units en navorsers in hierdie veld mee te doen gehad het in die beginjare van die beleidsontwikkelingsproses, naamlik om vanuit 'n rekonstruktiewe agenda te opereer en terselftertyd betrokke te wees met navorsing op 'n akademiese en wetenskaplike vlak. In die geval van die CSHE, het die verdere uitdaging om deurlopend bydraes tot die veld van hoër onderwysstudies te lewer, hoë eise aan die eenheid gestel. 'n Sleutelaspek wat na vore gekom het tydens die analise van die onderhoude (laasgenoemde vorm die sentrale bron van vir die data-versameling van die studie) is dat uiteenlopende interpretasies bestaan van hoe die navorsing soos deur die CSHE onderneem, benut behoort te word. Die drie perspektiewe op benutting ("use") wat uitgelig word, en wat In sentrale deel van die doelwitte van die CSHE uitmaak soos in die grondwet van die sentrum vervat, is die volgende: • Benutting as die skep van idees, en in die besonder as 'n bydrae tot debatte oor sosiale rekonstruksie • Benutting as inset tot die proses van beleidmaking • Benutting as bydrae tot navorsing Die studie toon aan dat die maniere waarop die CSHE in staat was om hierdie kompeterende, en soms teensprekende, uitdagings te hanteer, op uiteenlopende wyses geëvalueer was. In hoofsaak is die pogings van die sentrum aan bande gelê deur 'n sameloop van verskillende faktore wat gestrek het vanaf die probleem om ervare navorsers te lok en aan te stel tot met die probleem om sy navorsing aan te pas en te heroriënteer gegrond op kritiese stemme, dikwels die gevolg van die progressiewe akademiese gemeenskap van die tyd.

Mestrado em Biomedicina Farmacêutica
This report presents my experience during an internship at the Clinical Investigation Centre of the Department of Neurology at Hospital of Santa Maria, together with some activities at the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and at the Pharmacovigilance Unit of Lisbon and Tejo Valley . The internship took place between September 2013 and June 2014. The internship is part of the curricular activities of the second year of the Masters in Pharmaceutical Biomedicine, University of Aveiro . This report will address CT and OS coordinating activities, as well as the description of the process that led to the development of a systematic review. During the internship, I had the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the Masters, and deepen my knowledge of the coordination activities of clinical and OS. I also had the opportunity to observe, along the internship, all the advantages that exist in CT which are conducted in a research centre but also the difficulties that these centres face in conducting CT and OS . Regarding scientific writing, I had the opportunity to be educated on how to develop a systematic review, and thus perform an investigation. In conclusion, the internship allowed me to contact with the daily life of CT centre and put into practice the knowledge acquired at the university, still serving as a resource for learning , preparing me for my future career .
Este relatório apresenta a minha experiência adquirida durante o estágio no Centro de Investigação Clínica do Departamento de Neurologia do Hospital de Santa Maria, simultaneamente com algumas atividades no Laboratório de Farmacologia Clínica e Terapêutica e na Unidade de Farmacovigilância de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo. O estágio realizou-se entre Setembro de 2013 e Junho de 2014. O estágio insere-se nas actividades curriculares do segundo ano do Mestrado em Biomedicina Farmacêutica da Universidade de Aveiro. Neste relatório irão ser abordadas as actividades de coordenação de ensaios clínicos e estudos observacionais, bem como a descrição do processo que levou ao desenvolvimento de uma revisão sistemática. No decurso do estágio, tive a possibilidade de pôr em prática os conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo do Mestrado, e aprofundar o meu conhecimento sobre as actividades de coordenação de ensaios clínicos e observacionais. Também tive a possibilidade de observar, ao longo do estágio, todas as vantagens que existem em se realizarem ensaios clínicos num centro de investigação mas também as dificuldades que estes centros enfrentam na condução de estudos clínicos e observacionais. No elemento de escrita científica, tive a possibilidade de ter instrução de como desenvolver uma revisão sistemática, podendo assim executar uma investigação. Em conclusão, o estágio permitiu-me contactar com o quotidiano de um centro de ensaios clínicos e pôr em prática o conhecimento adquirido na Universidade, servindo ainda como nova fonte de aprendizagem, preparandome para o meu futuro profissional.

Comparaison de la commande centrale de la decharge electrique, de frequence irreguliere, de gnathonemus petersii avec celle de la decharge, de frequence reguliere, d'eigenmannia. Des techniques d'electrophysiologie, de marquage intracellulaire, de microscopie optique et electronique et d'immunohistochimie ont ete associees

The Master’s Thesis deals with the design of a wellness centre and guesthouse in Ostrava. The building is in the shape of letter V with a cut corner. The wellness part consists of one and two above-ground floors and the guesthouse consists of three. The guesthouse has eleven accommodation units. Five of the units are equipped with balconies of reinforced concrete. All roof planes have a 15° slope, are non-walkable and covered by a shed roof. The supporting structure is longitudinal with cross reinforcing walls. The whole structure is made of ceramic bricks. The building does not have any basement and stands on base belts.

En undersökning om möjligheterna att använda återandvändningsbara pallband och de ekonomiska förutsättningarna för detta. En genomsökning av vad som finns på marknaden. Beräkning av de krafter som enhetslasten kan utsätta pallbanden för. Utveckling av egna förslag till återanvändningsbart pallband med snabbspänne och bandning på tre sidor. En översikt av de positiva och negativa effekter som blir vid ett byte från dagens bandning med PP-band till ett återanvändningsbart pallband

An investigation of the possibility to use reusable strapping and the economic conditions for this. Going trough what exist on the market. Calculation of the forces that the unit load can expose the strapping for. Developing of own suggestions for reusable strapping with quick buckle and strapping on three sides. A short look at the positive and negative effects that comes from a change from today’s strapping with PP-strap to a reusable strapping.

Cette thèse porte sur la modélisation, pour le contrôle, des profils de compositions dans les colonnes de distillation cryogénique. Nous obtenons un modèle non-linéaire de convection-diffusion par réduction d'un modèle d'équations-bilans singulièrement perturbé. Du point de vue de l'automatique, nous nous intéressons à la stabilité des profils de compositions résultants, ainsi qu'à leur observabilité. Du point de vue du procédé, la nouvauté de notre modèle réside dans la prise en compte d'une efficacité de garnissage dépendant des conditions d'opération de la colonne. Le modèle est validé par des comparaisons avec des données de fonctionnement dynamique issues d'une unité de séparation réelle, pour la séparation d'un mélange binaire. Sur le cas plus complexe d'une cascade de colonnes séparant un mélange ternaire, le modèle montre une grande sensibilité aux erreurs d'estimation des taux de reflux. Des résultats adaptés du champ de la chromatographie nous permettent de relier cette sensibilité à des erreurs d'estimation des vitesses d'ondes de compositions cohérentes. En parallèle, nous proposons et testons également un modèle de fonctions de transfert simple (fondé sur des gains statiques et des retards purs uniquement) pour les petites dynamiques de compositions, qui dépend explicitement de valeurs mesurables ou observables sur le procédé

Magister Educationis - MEd
Since the inception of the University in 1960 under the Apartheid regime and up until a few years ago Afrikaans had dominated both as educational and as communication medium. However, political change - at the University and in South Africa - has brought about a change in language patterns. According to the HSRC Work Committee on Languages and Language Instruction (1981), a high percentage (40%) of Afrikaans-speaking people classified as coloured and living in the Cape Peninsula choose English as the medium of instruction and also regard it as the most important language to be learnt at schools (also 40%). As a result of this, and the enrolment of a large percentage of Xhosa speaking students, who generally prefer English to Afrikaans as an educational medium, English has become the language most commonly used both inside and outside the classroom. The homogeneity of preference has, however, not been matched by mastery of the language. For approximately 70% of all first-year students English is a second or even a third language. Though University entry is based on at least ten years of the study of English, standards of proficiency differ quite considerably as a result of inequalities in education. Because students need to improve their level of English proficiency I investigated the effectiveness of using senior students as tutor assistants in an academic development programme, the English Special Project, at UWC. This study aims at revealing that the tutor assistantships in the English Special Project can alleviate problems that occur with annual increases in student numbers under certain conditions. These are that: 1 prospective tutor assistants undergo proper tutor assistant training; 2 tutor assistants are committed to the course of academic development; 3 tutor assistants have the time available that is necessary for the task. In Chapter 1 give an insight into what this study is about, the reasons for conducting it and what my personal involvement with the ESP has been. In Chapter 2 I review some of the overseas and local literature on TA systems. In Chapter 3 I describe a case-study to evaluate the success of the TA system in the ESP with reference to academic development. I emphasize the intensive, individual care of and attention to first-year students. In an attempt to address the problem, the effectiveness of senior students as tutor assistants to assist in tutorial sessions is described. In Chapter 4 I discuss the value of TA intervention in the ESP at personal and social levels. Chapter 5 contains the general conclusions and my recommendations to improve the ESP.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the components of unit management, namely; architecture, case management, risk management and human rights in South African Youth Development Centres. The concept of unit management in correctional centres was adopted by the South African Correctional system in March 1995. However, the formal introduction of the concept was announced by the former Minister of Correctional Services, Dr. Sipho Mzimela, on 16th February 1996. The implementation of unit management was viewed as a vehicle for service delivery in South African correctional centres. Moreover, this concept was also viewed as a strategic move to ensure that corrections and the rehabilitation of inmates, as the core business of the department, are achieved. In an attempt to assess the application of unit management at South African Youth Development Centres, and how unit management influences the rehabilitation of sentenced youth offenders, a descriptive study was conducted to obtain knowledge and perspective from the available literature. In addition to a descriptive study, the researcher employed a quantitative methodology. Using the quantitative approach, data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire. In the case of coding and data analysis, a Statistical Analysis System (SAS) was utilized. In sum, Frequency Tables and Bar Charts were used to simplify the analysis per section and category. The findings from this study revealed that the conditions of detention at Youth Development Centres, specifically the level of overcrowding, influence of old correctional centre structures and the absence of custodial therapists contribute to the violence, violation of basic human rights and failure to rehabilitate youth offenders in these centres. Moreover, the findings also indicate that any efforts to implement the unit management approach proactively fails due to the abovementioned conditions in Youth Development Centres.
Unit management as a rehabilitation tool for youth offenders
Department of Penology
D.Litt. et Phil. (Penology)

碩士
中原大學
建築研究所
96
Take demographic change of society lay with advanced age, compatriot’s idea of bring up also change thereupon, in addition, the level of education raise generally, advanced age person pay more attention to independent life and treatment way. Some Northern European countries propose the policy goal of aging in place, to consider it should help advanced age person or physical and psychological function obstacle person keep one’s home as much as possible to be take care for a long time , and pass the life of the independent normality. In recent years, government actively promote the idea of ' get rid of organization ', spread the function of the organization into the communities, treatment accepting the ' community care ' in the community enabling advanced age person to live and is used to living in oneself. The community care is in an extremely important point of the course from taking the home type into organization , this research hopes to improve the type that the advanced age person of the organization type care facilities of the present stage attitude, think that looks after the demand that the person who reduces advanced age looks after for the organization type with the community, in order to the time to wear out of person who delays advanced age, achieve the following purpose: 1. Study and distinguish every principle of the idea ' unit care ', and expects to improve a enhance the quality of day care services and the environment for the elderly. 2. To investigated and analysis care environmental demand and the unused space , probe into the feasibility of constructing welfare facilities for advanced age person by re-sing the unused space. 3. To understand the environment of day care organization and the relevant subjects in the software and hardware aspect of present situation of environmental facility, and put forward the countermeasure to establish the community day care centre in the future. The content of this study can be categorized into three parts. In the first part, to distinguish the present situation of care service and unused space in Chu-Tung area, carry on interview investigation 25 pieces secretary. In the second part, via is it serve questionnaire investigation result of demand is it cross the dominance is analysis to go on to look after , in order to understand locality to looking after the view and demand served in the day care of advanced age person. In the third part, after gather together the theory and investigation analysis result to draft the design condition and design criteria, and according to the analysis result of unused space, select case operation of carrying on the environmental transformation plan of warehouse of peasant association of Chu-Tung area, do it for the support and verification between the theory and practice. The research results look after with constructing a community day care centre for the elderly by re-using of unused space with the concept of unit care, and based on the findings, several conclusions and research recommendations are to be proposed. The conclusions include analysis result of two subject care environmental demand and re-using of unused space. As for the research recommendations, to bring up proposition of the operation strategies of constructing a community day care centre for the elderly by re-using of unused space with the concept of unit care and the attention point of software and hardware subject

The study reports on the perceptions of the midwives and pregnant women of the PMTCT of HIV programme at the antenatal care and maternity ward at the Johan Heyns Community Health Centre. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct the study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants and was informed by social behavioural theories. Data was collected using interviews and analysed using thematic categorisation. The findings show that at the first PMTCT encounter participants had little to no knowledge of the PMTCT programme, generally displayed a lack of interest, experienced emotional distress, and fear at the thought of having to disclosing their HIV-positive status to their partners/family and had certain trepidations about participating in the PMTCT programme. The participants’ perception on their roles was that their roles were interlinked, midwife needs the recipients (pregnant woman) and pregnant woman needs the provider (midwife) therefore one cannot do PMTCT without the other. The study recommends that the capacity building of pregnant women be optimised, that PMTCT awareness campaigns for women of childbearing age should be a priority and PMTCT skills to be prerequisite for midwives deployed to ANC clinics and maternity ward units.
Health Studies
M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Tese de mestrado, Ciências Biofarmacêuticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2019
Although the number of clinical trials is growing positively, both in Portugal and in other European countries, the number of investigator-initiated clinical trials (IICTs) remains very low. Nevertheless, IICTs are essential due the use of a patient-oriented approach, not aiming at the protection of a commercial institution's interests. In this type of studies, the ownership of the data and the intellectual property rights arise from the trial lies with the person or group of persons who conceives of and conducts the study. Despite its importance, these studies go through several challenges due to limited resources, financial constraints, lack of local supportive infrastructures, inadequate research training and complex and strict regulation. The involvement of local and distributed (i.e., spanning across different countries) infrastructures to support investigators throughout the entire process of a clinical study seems crucial to fulfil the requirements and achieve the objectives in IICTs. As such, the involvement of European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network (ECRIN) a non-profit organisation and a distributed network, and a Portuguese Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (PtCRIN), a national network encompassing multiple Portuguese partners, is a step in the right direction to increase the number of IICTs in Portugal, although still insufficient. In order to increase the number of clinical trials in Portugal, given its relevance both to raising the quality of life of individuals and to the wellbeing of society in general, it would be important to identify the problems and needs of clinical investigators and respective research centres to carry out further IICTs. Thus, the main goal of this work is to identify the type of support needed of clinical investigators and respective clinical research centre (CRCs) in Portugal to become more competitive in conducting IICTs. As secondary objective we intent to characterize the IICTs registered in Portugal from 2004 to 2018. This work will be under the framework of PtCRIN and will ultimately contribute to align the strategy of this national network of research infrastructures, with the needs of its members. To achieve this goal, a systematic search of trial registrations from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2018 – using four clinical trials registries – was carried out to characterize the IICTs registered in Portugal. The Portuguese institutions (CRCs and investigators) conducting higher number of IICTs were identified and a survey on Google Forms was built and launched to the principal investigators of IICTs in order to characterize the investigator, identify their previous experience in commercial trials and IICTs, the support infrastructures and the needs that the investigator consider necessary for conducting IICTs. Three hundred and thirty-nine IICTs were identified in Portugal. Of these, 41.9% (n=142) were trials with medicinal products and 26.8% (n=91) behavioural trials, mostly sponsored by universities and funded by public organizations. The CRC that participates, as a recruiting center, in more IICTs in Portugal is the Hospital Centre of Lisboa Norte followed by the Portuguese Institute of Oncology Francisco Gentil of Lisbon (IPO-L) and Hospital Centre of São João. For the survey, 132 Portuguese investigators were identified. The survey was received by 94 investigators but only 18 (19.1%) answered it. The lack of specific funding for clinical research, the missing support infrastructures, such as CTUs, the statistical support and bureaucracy were the limitations more frequently pointed by these investigators. A wellstructured CTU can help investigators overcome most of these limitations. The needs that investigator identified in the survey are totally aligned with PtCRIN objectives and mission. PtCRIN started with two CTUs and in the last five years the number the CTU has increased to five. PtCRIN will continue to develop CTUs, provide support to national investigators seeking to internationalise clinical trials and also involve their country in clinical trials initiated by investigators in other European countries, develop specific forward-looking initiatives to show the importance of specific clinical research funding and how this might have impact on the national performance in IICTs.
Embora o número de ensaios clínicos esteja a crescer de forma positiva, tanto em Portugal como noutros países da Europa, o número de ensaios clínicos da iniciativa do investigador (ECIIs) permanece relativamente baixo (cerca de 7% do total de ensaios clínicos em Portugal). Os ECIIs são de enorme importância, pois usam uma abordagem voltada para os doentes, não tendo como objetivo a proteção dos interesses de uma instituição comercial. Além disso, neste tipo de estudos, a propriedade dos dados e os direitos de propriedade intelectual que surgem dos ensaios pertencem à pessoa ou ao grupo de pessoas que o concebeu e que conduziu o estudo. Contudo, apesar da sua elevada relevância, estes estudos enfrentam diversas dificuldades devido à falta de recursos, às restrições financeiras, à falta de infraestruturas de suporte locais, à inadequada formação em investigação e à complexa e estrita regulamentação. O envolvimento de infraestruturas locais e internacionais (que abrangem diferentes países) para suportar os investigadores durante todo o processo de um ensaio clínicos parece crucial para atender às necessidades e atingir os objetivos nos ECIIs. Como tal, a Rede Europeia de Infraestruturas de Investigação Clínica (ECRIN), é uma organização sem fins lucrativos e uma rede internacional, que fornece aos seus membros diversos serviços de suporte para a gestão dos ensaios clínicos e contribui para projetos de desenvolvimento de infraestruturas. Portugal é parceiro da ECRIN através da Rede Portuguesa de Infraestruturas de Investigação Clínica (PtCRIN). A rede nacional é constituída por várias instituições portuguesas desde unidades de ensaios clínicos, unidades de saúde e universidades. A missão da PtCRIN é a de apoiar os investigadores nacionais no desenvolvimento de ECIIs, ajudando-os a internacionalizar as suas ideias. Iniciativas como a PtCRIN são passos na direção certa para aumentar o número de ECIIs em Portugal, embora seja, ainda, insuficiente. Com o objetivo de aumentar o número de ensaios clínicos em Portugal, dada a sua relevância tanto para o aumento da qualidade de vida dos indivíduos como para o bem-estar da sociedade em geral, seria importante identificar os problemas e as necessidades dos investigadores clínicos e dos respetivos centros de investigação clínica para permitir a realização de mais ECIIs. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é identificar o tipo de suporte necessário para que investigadores e os respetivos Centros de Investigação Clínica em Portugal se tornem mais competitivos na realização de ECIIs. Como objetivo secundário, pretende-se caracterizar os ECIIs registados em Portugal de 2004 a 2018. Este trabalho vai estar enquadrado com a PtCRIN e irá contribuir para alinhar a estratégia desta rede nacional de infraestruturas de investigação com as necessidades dos seus membros. Para atingir o objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa sistemática dos registos de ensaios clínicos de 1 de outubro de 2004 a 30 de setembro de 2018 – utilizando quatro plataformas de registo de ensaios clínicos (EUCTR, ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN and ANZCTR). A pesquisa nestas quatro plataformas de registo de ensaios clínicos, além de identificar os ECIIs em Portugal, serviu também para os caracterizar. Após a identificação e caracterização dos ECIIs registados em Portugal no período mencionado anteriormente foram identificadas as instituições portuguesas (centros de investigação clínica e investigadores) que estão a realizar o maior número de ECIIs. Por fim, foi construído e divulgado um inquérito por questionário através do Google Forms para identificar as necessidades para a realização deste tipo de ensaios clínicos. A população-alvo deste inquérito foram os investigadores de ECIIs com medicamentos e/ou dispositivos médicos que tinham como promotor ou centro de recrutamento um membro da PtCRIN. Este inquérito foi realizado em português e consistia num questionário de 18 perguntas que permitiam caracterizar os investigadores, identificar a sua experiência prévia tanto em ensaios comerciais como ECIIs e, também, identificar as infraestruturas de suporte e as necessidades que os investigadores consideram importantes para a realização deste tipo de ensaios clínicos em Portugal. No presente estudo foram identificados 339 ECIIs em Portugal, dos quais 41.9% (n=142) são ensaios clínicos com medicamentos e 26.8% (n=91) são ensaios clínicos de comportamento. Do número total de ECIIs, apenas 12.1% (n=41) são ensaios clínicos com dispositivos médicos. Estes ensaios têm sido promovidos maioritariamente por universidades, nomeadamente a Universidade do Porto e a Universidade de Lisboa, e financiados por organizações publicas. Apesar da intervenção mais utilizada nos ECIIs em Portugal ser produtos medicinais, as universidades promovem maioritariamente estudos de comportamento. São os hospitais e as organizações especificas de doenças que promovem o maior número de estudos com medicamentos, o que se pode dever à maior complexidade, aos padrões mais rigorosos e à maior despesa requerida por estes estudos. A identificação dos centros de investigação clínica onde decorrem os ECIIs não foi uma tarefa fácil devido à falta de informação existente tanto nas bases de dados como nas publicações. Como a utilização da plataforma do Registo Nacional de Estudos Clínicos (RNEC) só foi possível para estudos de medicamentos e dispositivos médicos em ensaios registados a partir de 2017, podem estar em falta alguns dados em ensaios anteriores a essa data. Apesar das dificuldades foi possível a identificação de centros de investigação clínica na grande maioria dos estudos. Em Portugal, o centro de investigação clínica que tem participado, como centro de recrutamento, num maior número de ECIIs tem sido o Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Norte (n=37). Seguido do Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil (IPO-L) e do Centro Hospitalar de São João que participaram em 28 ECIIs cada um. Para permitir a realização do questionário foram identificados 132 investigadores pertencentes à populaçãoalvo, contudo na pesquisa feita nas bases de dados e publicações (principalmente de estudos internacionais) apenas foi possível encontrar o contacto de 104 investigadores. Dos 104 investigadores que foram convidados a preencher o inquérito via email, apenas 94 receberam o inquérito. A taxa de resposta ao questionário foi muito baixa, apenas de 19.1% (18 investigadores). Este fato levou a que não fosse possível realizar uma análise estatística mais rigorosa, permitindo apenas obter tendências de associação. A maioria destes investigadores pertenciam a Unidades de Investigação financiadas pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (76.5%). Foram estes que participaram num maior número de ensaios clínicos (tanto comerciais como ECIIs) e, também, os únicos que obtiveram autorias em publicações de resultados de ensaios comerciais. Do mesmo modo, os investigadores pertencentes a estas Unidades de Investigação foram também aqueles que conseguiram um maior número de autorias em publicações referentes aos resultados dos ECIIs em que participaram. O número de investigadores com doutoramento e sem doutoramento não foi muito diferente (8 tinham doutoramento e 9 não tinham doutoramento). Apesar do fato de ter o grau de doutor não parecer influenciar a participação em ensaios comerciais, foram os investigadores com doutoramento que participaram num maior número de ECIIs. Foram, também, estes investigadores que obtiveram um maior número de autorias em publicações de resultados de ensaios clínicos (tanto comerciais como ECIIs). Sessenta e cinco por cento dos investigadores que responderam ao questionário eram docentes universitários e este fato também pareceu influenciar a participação em ECIIs, mas não em ensaios comerciais. Já na obtenção de autorias em publicações de resultados dos ensaios clínicos, foram os investigadores que eram professores universitários aqueles que obtiveram um maior número de autorias (tanto em ECIIs como em ensaios comerciais). Apesar do reduzido número de respostas por parte dos investigadores, foi possível identificar algumas das limitações que os investigadores sentem na realização dos ECIIs. As limitações mais apontadas pelos investigadores foram a falta de financiamento e a falta de Unidades de Ensaios Clínicos (CTUs). Também a falta de apoio estatístico e a enorme burocracia, principalmente na aprovação dos ensaios clínicos pelas Entidades Nacionais foram referidos como maiores limitações. Outras limitações apontadas foram a falta de apoio no desenho do protocolo do estudo e o tempo dedicado por parte dos investigadores. Muitas destas limitações podem ser ultrapassadas se existirem CTUs bem estruturadas e, por isso, o desenvolvimento de um maior número de CTUs em Portugal parece ser um fator essencial para que o número de ECIIs aumente. As necessidades que os investigadores identificaram no inquérito estão totalmente alinhadas com os objetivos e com a missão da PtCRIN. A PtCRIN, sendo a rede nacional infraestruturas de investigação clínica, começou por estruturar essa rede e, inicialmente, em 2014, constituíam a PtCRIN apenas duas CTUs e nos últimos cinco anos o número de CTUs subiu para cinco. De futuro, a PtCRIN pretende continuar a desenvolver a rede de CTUs em Portugal, assim como continuar a prestar apoio aos investigadores nacionais para que estes internacionalizem os seus ensaios clínicos. Para além disso a PtCRIN, através da sua ligação à ECRIN, continuará a envolver investigadores e centros de investigação clínica portugueses em ECIIs multinacionais. Este estudo mostrou ainda a importância da existência de financiamento específico para a investigação clínica e a capacitação e formação de todos os envolvidos nesta área. A PtCRIN tem vindo a desenvolver várias iniciativas de formação específicas para os vários envolvidos na investigação clínica assim como mostrar, através de várias publicações de artigos científicos e apresentações em conferencias, a importância da existência de financiamento específico para a investigação clínica e do seu impacto no desempenho nacional da investigação clínica, nomeadamente dos ECIIs.

Since Brown (1952), habit formation models of consumption have assumed that utility is additively separable in durables and non-durables, and memory loss is a unidimensional process. This thesis dispenses with these assumptions to extend the theory of habit formation and introduce habit modification in consumption. Two alternative representative-agent models are proposed: the first allows for a complementarity between durables and non-durables, the second emphasises the role of credit. The thesis concentrates on the latter model where the contractual nature of household credit produces a beneficial externality: credit erases the memory of ‘customary’ consumption and, thus, depletes the habit stock. The effect, however, is asymmetric since it is the commitment to a debt contract that induces a change in consumer behaviour. The model predicts the following: (i) past experience in debt motivates the consumer towards a more forward-looking behaviour; (ii) ‘excess sensitivity’ and ‘excess smoothness’ of consumption are likely to be time-varying, and (iii) increased access to credit will lead to higher levels of consumption in the long-run. Thus, under perfect capital markets, the model suggests that consumer behaviour will approximate that predicted by Hall (1978). The thesis also undertakes an empirical investigation to test the hypothesis of habit modification via credit. It utilises quarterly U.S. data for consumption expenditure on non-durables and services over the period 1959-1997. The study takes a broader view to consider several measures of credit; these include total household credit, consumer credit and interest paid on consumer debt. Testing begins with GMM estimation to see whether the model is consistent with the data in the short-run. The analysis is extended further to examine the validity of the hypothesis in the long-run. Residual-based tests and the Johansen procedure are applied to test whether credit cointegrates with consumption expenditure. Finally, recent econometric techniques are adopted to allow for an unknown structural break in the long-run relation between consumption, disposable income and credit. Overall, the data are consistent with the habit modification hypothesis in both the short-run and the long-run. More precisely, the evidence can be summarised as follows. First, lagged increases in consumer credit help predict changes in consumption. Second, the habit modification effect is asymmetric as predicted by the theory. Third, higher levels of household indebtedness seem to have contributed to a weaker habit effect over the period 1975-1997. Fourth, a long-run relationship exists between consumption expenditure, disposable income and household credit. Fifth, the long-run relation has undergone a structural shift in 1987. Last, it is unclear whether the asymmetry in habit modification extends to the long-run.

The main topic of this thesis is the CUNC basic organization unit and Podblanické Ecocentre CUNC in Vlašim. The first part of the thesis presents the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (CUNC) followed by an overview of its Environmental Centres. The next section contains a summary of all the activities carried out by the CUNC basic organization unit and Podblanické Ecocentre CUNC in Vlašim from their establishment to the present and recapitulates the formation of these organisations themselves. The thesis also covers a characteristic of all the one-day as well as residential teaching programmes for secondary schools, technical schools and grammar schools carried out by the Ecocentre. The greatest emphasis is laid on four selected one-day teaching programmes, for which a research was conducted by using a questionnaire method. Its aim was to determine the influence on pupils and students of the educational programmes from secondary schools, technical schools and grammar schools.