| 1. |
- Costa, Joao, et al.
(författare)
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The burden of atherosclerosis in Portugal
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes. - : Oxford University Press. - 2058-5225 .- 2058-1742. ; 7:2, s. 154-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims This article sought to estimate the burden of disease attributable to atherosclerosis in mainland Portugal in 2016.Methods and results The burden of atherosclerosis was measured in disability-adjusted life years following the latest 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) methodology. Disability-adjusted life years were estimated as the sum of years of life lost (YLL) with years lived with disability (YLD). The following clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis were included: ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (including acute myocardial infarction, stable angina, and ischaemic heart failure), ischaemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD), and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Years of life lost were estimated based on all-cause mortality data for the Portuguese population and mortality due to IHD, ICVD, and PAD for the year 2016 sourced from national statistics. Standard life expectancy was sourced from the GBD study. Years lived with disability corresponded to the product of the number of prevalent cases by an average disability weight for all possible combinations of disease. Prevalence data for the different clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis were sourced from epidemiological studies. Disability weights were sourced from the published literature. In 2016, 15123 deaths were attributable to atherosclerosis, which corresponded to 14.3% of overall mortality in mainland Portugal. Disability-adjusted life years totalled 260943, 75% due to premature death (196438 YLL) and 25% due to disability (64505 YLD).Conclusion Atherosclerosis entails a high disease burden to society. A large part of this burden would be avoidable if evidence-based effective and cost-effective interventions targeting known risk factors, from prevention to treatment, were implemented.
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| 2. |
- Fiolhais, Miguel C. N., et al.
(författare)
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A variational proof of Thomson's theorem
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physics Letters A. - : Elsevier. - 0375-9601 .- 1873-2429. ; 380:35, s. 2703-2705
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thomson's theorem of electrostatics, which states the electric charge on a set of conductors distributes itself on the conductor surfaces to minimize the electrostatic energy, is reviewed in this letter. The proof of Thomson's theorem, based on a variational principle, is derived for a set of normal charged conductors, with and without the presence of external electric fields produced by fixed charge distributions. In this novel approach, the variations are performed on both the charge densities and electric potentials, by means of a local Lagrange multiplier associated with Poisson's equation, constraining the two variables.
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| 3. |
- Karlin, Beth, et al.
(författare)
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Process matters : Assessing the use of behavioural science methods in applied behavioural programmes
- 2022
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Ingår i: ECEEE 2022 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency : Agents of Change - Agents of Change. - 1653-7025 .- 2001-7960. - 9789198827002 ; , s. 541-549
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Behavioural science methods have significant potential to help policy makers, practitioners and energy programme managers design, implement and evaluate behavioural campaigns addressing hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users. But when facing budget and logistic constraints, how many real-life programmes actually follow through? How are behavioural science methods actually applied in a real-world setting? This paper presents a scientific process for behaviour change programmes - the “Building Blocks of Behaviour Change” - and analyses 19 case studies from seven countries to see how many are actually utilising these methods in practice. The case studies focus specifically on HTR energy users and the authors also share their perspectives in feasibility and acceptability of utilising such a process in their work. We found that most programmes utilised some behavioural science research methods, but few followed a full scientific “best practice” process. Limitations of this study include selection bias (the case studies for analysis were chosen by country experts), design issues and some missing data in the cases with regards to exact methods employed. But it is the first study of its kind, to our knowledge, that takes a look at the extent of how scientific methods are being applied in the real world with HTR energy users. Based on this comparative analysis of the cases and feedback from the case study authors, we present recommendations on how programmes can continue to realistically integrate best practice methods into their programmes while also meeting budget, competency, and timeline constraints.
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| 4. |
- Mundaca, Luis, et al.
(författare)
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Hard-to-reach energy users : An ex-post cross-country assessment of behavioural-oriented interventions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research and Social Science. - 2214-6296. ; 104
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users encompass individuals who are physically difficult to reach, underserved, or challenging to engage and motivate in demand-side energy programmes. Given a mix of societal challenges (e.g. inequity, energy poverty, decarbonisation, the COVID-19 pandemic), HTR energy users are receiving increasing attention. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the performance of interventions that target (explicitly or implicitly) HTR energy users, particularly from a behaviour change perspective. Our study addresses this knowledge gap, and aims to provide a systematic ex-post comparative cross-country assessment of nineteen case studies, implemented in eight countries. From a methodological point of view, our study explores and tests the usefulness of applying the ‘Building Blocks of Behaviour Change’ (BBBC) in assessing the extent to which interventions employ design and implementation practices that are known to drive behaviour change. Our findings reveal that interventions perform well with respect to the Audience, Behaviour, and Delivery building blocks, but show room for improvement in the Content and Evaluate blocks. Assessing the BBBC framework reveals promising results in terms of credibility, confirmability, transferability, and reliability; however, limitations and uncertainties are also present. Considering the exploratory methodological nature of our study, the results highlight numerous context-specific factors that frame our findings and the suitability of the research approach. We underscore that greater attention must be paid to both the integration of behavioural science methods into HTR interventions, and the systematic analysis of heterogeneity in future HTR-related energy research.
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