Abstract
Objectives: To understand and build a collective vision of all existing institutions in the Portuguese National Health Service as well as to perceive how and how far the interaction between those multiple institutions is supported by Information Systems (IS). Methods: Upon identification of the institutions involved in the healthcare process, a set of interviews with experienced people from those institutions was conducted, which produced about five hours of tape. The research was focused exclusively on processes involving two different organizations and any internal processes were altogether excluded from it. Results: The study allowed the identification of about 50 recurrent interaction processes, which were classified into four different varieties in accordance with the nature of the information flow: administrative, clinical, identificational and statistical. In addition, these processes were divided in accordance with the way how that integration is achieved, from completely automated to email or telephone-based. Conclusions: Funds/Money related processes are technologically more rigid and standardized, whereas auditing and inspection ones are less supported by automatic systems. There emerged an interesting level of sharing and integration in clinical processes, although the integration is mostly made at the interface level. The authors identified 5 particularly relevant and dominant actors (2 classes of individuals and 3 institutions) with which there is a need for coordination and cooperation. The authors consider that, in future works, an effort should be made to provide the various institutions with guidelines/interfaces and prompt such institutions to elaborate upon these.

Abstract

Abstract
The atmospheric dispersion of NOx and PM10 was simulated with a second generation Gaussian model over a medium-size south-European city. Microscopic traffic models calibrated with GPS data were used to derive typical driving cycles for each road link, while instantaneous emissions were estimated applying a combined Vehicle Specific Power/Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (VSP/EMEP) methodology. Site-specific background concentrations were estimated using time series analysis and a low-pass filter applied to local observations. Air quality modelling results are compared against measurements at two locations for a 1 week period. 78% of the results are within a factor of two of the observations for 1-h average concentrations, increasing to 94% for daily averages. Correlation significantly improves when background is added, with an average of 0.89 for the 24 h record. The results highlight the potential of detailed traffic and instantaneous exhaust emissions estimates, together with filtered urban background, to provide accurate input data to Gaussian models applied at the urban scale.

Abstract
Urban traffic emissions have been increasing in recent years. To reverse that trend, restrictive traffic measures can be implemented to complement national policies. We have proposed a methodology to assess the impact of three restrictive traffic measures in an urban arterial by using a microsimulation model of traffic and emissions integrated platform. The analysis is extended to some alternative roads and to the overall network area. Traffic restriction measures provided average reductions of 45%, 47%, 35%, and 47% for CO2, CO, NOx, and HC, respectively, due to traffic being diverted to other roads. Nevertheless, increases of 91%, 99%, 55%, and 121% in CO2, CO, NOx, and HC, respectively, can be expected on alternative roads.

Abstract
Eco-routing has been shown as a promising strategy to reduce emissions. However, during peak periods, with limited additional capacity, the eco-friendliness of various routes may change. We have explored this issue empirically by covering about 13,300 km, in three different areas, using GPS-equipped vehicles to record second-by-second vehicle dynamics. This study has confirmed the importance of the eco-routing concept given that the selection of eco-friendly routes can lead to significant emissions savings. Furthermore, these savings are expected to be practically unchanged during the peak period. However, some potential negative externalities may arise from purely dedicated eco-friendly navigation systems.

Abstract
In general, car manufacturers face trade-offs between safety, efficiency and environmental performance when choosing between mass, length, engine power, and fuel efficiency. Moreover, the information available to the consumers makes difficult to assess all these components at once, especially when aiming to compare vehicles across different categories and/or to compare vehicles in the same category but across different model years. The main objective of this research was to develop an integrated tool able to assess vehicle's performance simultaneously for safety and environmental domains, leading to the research output of a Safety, Fuel Efficiency and Green Emissions (SEG) indicator able to evaluate and rank vehicle's performance across those three domains. For this purpose, crash data was gathered in Porto (Portugal) for the period 2006-2010 (N = 1374). The crash database was analyzed and crash severity prediction models were developed using advanced logistic regression models. Following, the methodology for the SEG indicator was established combining the vehicle's safety and the environmental evaluation into an integrated analysis. The obtained results for the SEG indicator do not show any trade-off between vehicle's safety, fuel consumption and emissions. The best performance was achieved for newer gasoline passenger vehicles (<5year) with a smaller engine size (<1400 cm(3)). According to the SEG indicator, a vehicle with these characteristics can be recommended for a safety-conscious profile user, as well as for a user more interested in fuel economy and/or in green performance. On the other hand, for larger engine size vehicles (>2000 cm(3)) the combined score for safety user profile was in average more satisfactory than for vehicles in the smaller engine size group (<1400 cm(3)), which suggests that in general, larger vehicles may offer extra protection. The achieved results demonstrate that the developed SEG integrated methodology can be a helpful tool for consumers to evaluate their vehicle selection through different domains (safety, fuel efficiency and green emissions). Furthermore, SEG indicator allows the comparison of vehicles across different categories and vehicle model years. Hence, this research is intended to support the decision-making process for transportation policy, safety and sustainable mobility, providing insights not only to policy makers, but also for general public guidance.