Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The work was developed during four weeks in order to allow the evaluation of parameters of an entire menu cycle. The index of waste/consumption (%) was obtained by the ratio between plate waste and the quantity of foods distributed, subtracting the weight of leftovers. Findings – The average index of waste/consumption was approximately 24 percent, higher in the days with a fish menu, values considered unacceptable. Each canteen user is served with approximately 940 g of foods, from which only 660 g were effectively consumed, corresponding to 80 g of leftovers and 200 g of waste. Originality/value – It seems possible and desirable to reduce food waste in order to optimize food unit profitability and sustainability. Reducing food waste will contribute to improve foodservice quality as well as consumer's satisfaction. Potential strategies to achieve this goal may include previous booking of meals, to adopt tray less during lunch and additionally analyze the eating patterns for a particular forecasted meal, and then prepare and serve food based on the appropriate forecast.

BackgroundComputer-based learning (CBL) has been widely used in medical education, and reports regarding its usage and effectiveness have ranged broadly. Most work has been done on the effectiveness of CBL approaches versus traditional methods, and little has been done on the comparative effects of CBL versus CBL methodologies. These findings urged other authors to recommend such studies in hopes of improving knowledge about which CBL methods work best in which settings.ObjectiveIn this systematic review, we aimed to characterize recent studies of the development of software platforms and interventions in medical education, search for common points among studies, and assess whether recommendations for CBL research are being taken into consideration.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of the literature published from 2003 through 2013. We included studies written in English, specifically in medical education, regarding either the development of instructional software or interventions using instructional software, during training or practice, that reported learner attitudes, satisfaction, knowledge, skills, or software usage. We conducted 2 latent class analyses to group articles according to platform features and intervention characteristics. In addition, we analyzed references and citations for abstracted articles.ResultsWe analyzed 251 articles. The number of publications rose over time, and they encompassed most medical disciplines, learning settings, and training levels, totaling 25 different platforms specifically for medical education. We uncovered 4 latent classes for educational software, characteristically making use of multimedia (115/251, 45.8%), text (64/251, 25.5%), Web conferencing (54/251, 21.5%), and instructional design principles (18/251, 7.2%). We found 3 classes for intervention outcomes: knowledge and attitudes (175/212, 82.6%), knowledge, attitudes, and skills (11.8%), and online activity (12/212, 5.7%). About a quarter of the articles (58/227, 25.6%) did not hold references or citations in common with other articles. The number of common references and citations increased in articles reporting instructional design principles (P=.03), articles measuring online activities (P=.01), and articles citing a review by Cook and colleagues on CBL (P=.04). There was an association between number of citations and studies comparing CBL versus CBL, independent of publication date (P=.02).ConclusionsStudies in this field vary highly, and a high number of software systems are being developed. It seems that past recommendations regarding CBL interventions are being taken into consideration. A move into a more student-centered model, a focus on implementing reusable software platforms for specific learning contexts, and the analysis of online activity to track and predict outcomes are relevant areas for future research in this field.

Objective To identify the academic scientific production on palliative care in master dissertations and PhD theses carried out by nurses in Portugal. Method A descriptive retrospective study of bibliometric type with search for the abstracts available in repositories of higher education institutions in the period 2000-2014. Results Of the 1814 papers identified, 249 met the inclusion criteria (ten doctoral theses and 239 master dissertations). The most representative methodological approach was quantitative (31.35%) and the most studied area was family/informal caregiver (20.69%). The most studied target population were the students/health professionals (38.51%). Conclusion The academic scientific production in this area has been growing in spite of the need for continued investment in order to fill the identified gaps.

: Subscrevendo os pressupostos da abordagem da Sociologia da Infância que considera as crianças como actores sociais e advoga a etnografia como uma metodologia útil para fazer ouvir as vozes das crianças na produção de dados sociológicos (James & Prout 1990), reflectem-se neste texto algumas questões epistemológicas, teóricas, metodológicas e éticas inerentes à experiência no terreno com um grupo de crianças dos 3-6 anos, durante um ano lectivo, num Jardim de Infância (JI) localizado em meio urbano. A abordagem do princípio teórico e ético da obtenção do consentimento informado e da sua prática junto de crianças pequenas, visa discutir as tensões e os limites entre aquela noção e a de assentimento no decurso da observação participante. A análise de algumas configurações que o assentimento e as recusas por parte destas crianças podem assumir ao longo da pesquisa, procura evidenciá-lo como um processo contingente, heterogéneo e dependente da relação social de investigação que vai sendo construída bem como das interpretações que as crianças tecem acerca da pessoa da investigadora. Palavras-Chave: Infância, Metodologia de Pesquisa, Etnografia

The time, material, and staff-consuming nature of anatomy's traditional pen-and-paper assessment system, the increase in the number of students enrolling in medical schools and the ever-escalating workload of academic staff have made the use of computer-based assessment (CBA) an attractive proposition. To understand the impact of such shift in the assessment method, an experimental study evaluating its effect on students' performance was designed. Additionally, students' opinions toward CBA were gathered. Second-year medical students attending a Clinical Anatomy course were randomized by clusters in two groups. The pen-and-paper group attended two sessions, each consisting of a traditional sectional anatomy steeplechase followed by a theoretical examination, while the computer group was involved in two similar sessions conducted in a computerized environment. At the end of each of the computer sessions, students in this group filled an anonymous questionnaire. In the first session, pen-and-paper group students scored significantly better than computer-group students in both the steeplechase (mean ± standard deviation: 66.00 ± 14.15% vs. 43.50 ± 19.10%; P < 0.001) and the theoretical examination (52.50 ± 12.70% vs. 39.00 ± 21.10%; P < 0.001). In the second session, no statistically significant differences were found for both the steeplechase (59.50 ± 17.30% vs. 54.50 ± 17.00%; P = 0.085) and the theoretical examination (57.50 ± 13.70% vs. 54.00 ± 14.30%; P = 0.161). Besides, an intersession improvement in students' perceptions toward CBA was registered. These results suggest that, after a familiarization period, CBA might be a performance equivalent and student accepted alternative to clinical anatomy pen-and-paper theoretical and practical examinations. Anat Sci Educ 11: 124-136. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.