Vodafone Portugal entry in the Pay-TV market: What is the potential for profitability?

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

The impact of banks dimension on profitability, sustainability and efficiency: An analysis for the Iberian financial system

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Preparation and characterization of microfiltration flat polymeric membranes for biomedical applications

Dissertation presented to Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa for obtaining the master degree in Membrane Engineering

Dual track sell-out: Signaling through IPO and Underpricing

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Internationalization strategies and methods of construction firms – a comparative study between Hong Kong - Chinese and Portuguese – European approaches

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau Mestre em Engenharia Civil – Perfil de Construção

Functional and structural studies of a mini-ferritin protein

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Bioquímica

Role of Yap8 and Yap1 b-ZIP transcription factors in arsenic stress

Arsenic compounds are highly toxic substances; nevertheless they are used in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Therefore it is pressing to gain knowledge on its toxicity and detoxification mechanisms. The cellular entry pathways have been discovered and by transcriptome analysis it is known that arsenic activates the transcription of genes activated by, among others, Rpn4, Met4 and Yap1.(...)

Spinoffs and other entrants: Evidence from Portugal

This thesis studies the prevalence and survival of spinoff entrants in Portugal from 1987 to 2008. Information on worker flows is used to identify them at a population level, providing evidence on other operations such as mergers and acquisitions. We show that the number of spinoffs has been increasing at a higher rate than other entrants of comparable size. Studying the determinants of their exit suggests that the most important predictor is whether the spinoff was motivated by the failure of the parent firm. The effect of industry specific knowledge and previous experience of the founders from working together in the parent firm is seemingly negligible, with only weak evidence supporting the latter.

The graduate: Spillovers from the entry of the first worker with a college degree in a firm

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Double Degree in Economics from NOVA School of Business and Economics and Maastricht School of Business and Economics

Low cost carriers: The case of Oporto Airport and its touristic impact in the region

Both Oporto and the North Region of Portugal definitions of tourism have evolved significantly during the past decade. In this journey it is relevant to highlight the contribution of the arrival of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, thus contributing to a rapid expansion of this region as a tourism destination. Hence, this work project aims to understand the touristic and economic impact motivated by the entry of LCCs in Oporto and in the North Region of Portugal and tries to understand if this event was in fact an asset in the development of the aforementioned tourism destinations.

The World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum : implementation of key modules and its impact on patient safety knowledge, skills, and attitudes of medical students at the University of Algarve

ABSTRACT - Objectives: We attempted to show how the implementation of the key elements of the World Health Organization Patient Safety Curriculum Guide Multi-professional Edition in an undergraduate curriculum affected the knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards patient safety in a graduate entry Portuguese Medical School. Methods: After receiving formal recognition by the WHO as a Complementary Test Site and approval of the organizational ethics committee , the validated pre-course questionnaires measuring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to patient safety were administered to the 2nd and3rd year students pursuing a four-year course (N = 46). The key modules of the curriculum were implemented over the academic year by employing a variety of learning strategies including expert lecturers, small group problem-based teaching sessions, and Simulation Laboratory sessions. The identical questionnaires were then administered and the impact was measured. The Curriculum Guide was evaluated as a health education tool in this context. Results: A significant number of the respondents, 47 % (n = 22), reported having received some form of prior patient safety training. The effect on Patient Safety Knowledge was assessed by using the percentage of correct pre- and post-course answers to construct 2 × 2 contingency tables and by applying Fishers’ test (two-tailed). No significant differences were detected (p < 0.05). To assess the effect of the intervention on Patient Safety skills and attitudes, the mean and standard deviation were calculated for the pre and post-course responses, and independent samples were subjected to Mann-Whitney’s test. The attitudinal survey indicated a very high baseline incidence of desirable attitudes and skills toward patient safety. Significant changes were detected (p < 0.05) regarding what should happen if an error is made (p = 0.016), the role of healthcare organizations in error reporting (p = 0.006), and the extent of medical error (p = 0.005). Conclusions: The implementation of selected modules of the WHO Patient Safety Curriculum was associated with a number of positive changes regarding patient safety skills and attitudes, with a baseline incidence of highly desirable patient safety attitudes, but no measureable change on the patient safety knowledge, at the University of Algarve Medical School. The significance of these results is discussed along with implications and suggestions for future research.

A wave of change: Labor market and social security impacts of the EU refugee inflow

The recent massive inflow of refugees to the European Union (EU) raises a number of unanswered questions on the economic impact of this phenomenon. To examine these questions, we constructed an overlapping-generations model that describes the evolution of the skill premium and of the welfare benefit level in relevant European countries, in the aftermath of an inflow of asylum-seekers. In our simulation, relative wages of skilled workers increase between 8% and 11% in the period of the inflow; their subsequent time path is dependent on the initial skill premium. The entry of migrants creates a fiscal surplus of about 8%, which can finance higher welfare benefits in the subsequent periods. These effects are weaker in a scenario where refugees do not fully integrate into the labor market.