A model to screen and improve business potential of micro and small enterprises in developing countries: Evidence from the Island of Mozambique

Programmes supporting micro and small enterprises in developing countries have been showing that capital is not enough to allow business success: survival and growth. Literature does not provide comprehensive and practical tool to support business development in this context, but allowed the collection of forty-nine success variables that were studied in a sample of successful and unsuccessful businesses in the Island of Mozambique to discover what were the key factors affecting those businesses’ performance. Empirical data gave the insights for the development of a model to screen and improve business potential of micro and small enterprises in this context.

Differences and reasons in IASB accounting standards between small and large companies

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

Differences and reasons in IASB accounting standards between small and large companies

This paper studies the main differences in accounting standards of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) between small and large companies, materialised in the dissimilarities between the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities and the full International Financial Reporting Standards, as of 2010. Another element of this project is the analysis of the reasons behind the differences between the two aforementioned frameworks, which intends to expose the rationale and the mindset that led to an adaptation of the full standards in a stand-alone document designed for small companies.

An overview of the higher level classification of Pucciniomycotina based on combined analyses of nuclear large and small subunit rDNA sequences

Mycologia, Vol. 98, nº6

Interplay of Exoribonucleases, Hfq and Small RNAs Structural Determinants in the Control of Gene Expression

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Biology

Writing/erasing 3D micro and nano wrinkles in flexible elastomers for volatile organic compounds sensor

Micro/nano wrinkled patterns on cross-linked urethane/urea polymeric flexible free standing films with two soft segments, polypropylene oxide and polybutadiene, can be induced by UV-irradiation. The ability to write/erase these 3D structures, in a controlled manner, is the main focus of this work. The imprinting of the wrinkled structures was accomplished by swelling in an appropriate solvent followed by drying the membranes after the cross-linking process and UV irradiation. The surface tailoring of the elastomeric membranes was imaged by optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy and by atomic force microscopy. To erase the wrinkled structures the elastomers were swollen. The swelling as well as the sol/gel fraction and the UV radiation were tuned in order to control the wrinkles characteristics. It was found that the wrinkles wavelength, in the order of microns (1±0,25μm), was stamped by the UV radiation intensity and exposure time while the wrinkles' amplitude, in the order of nanometers (150-450 nm), was highly dependent on the swelling and sol/gel fraction. A prototype for volatile organic compounds detection was developed taking advantage of the unique 3D micro/nano wrinkles features.

Correlation between the mechanical cycling behavior and microstructure in laser welded joints using NiTi memory shape alloys

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia de Materiais

Return on equity: A comparison between companies in Portugal and Brazil: Similarities and differences

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

Provide instructions and resources for assessment and training in earth building: the Pirate project

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Return on equity: A comparison between companies in Portugal and Brazil: Similarities and differences

The purpose of this research is to study the Return on Equity of Portuguese and Brazilian companies, through the DuPont method. This project analyses whether differences in the ratios depend on specific features of the country, or if it is influenced by the industry where it is located. From the comparisons it is concluded that Brazilian companies pay higher corporate taxes and while the Portuguese companies are more leveraged, it is the Brazilian companies which pay higher interests. It is also noticeable that Portuguese companies take more advantage from the financing decisions and Brazilian on the investing decisions.

Transport mechanism in ionic liquid membranes and the study of thiomersal biodegradation

The initial goal of this work was the development of a supported liquid membrane (SLM) bioreactor for the remediation of vaccine production effluents contaminated with a highly toxic organomercurial – thiomersal. Therefore, two main aspects were focused on: 1) the development of a stable supported liquid membrane – using room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) – for the selective transport of thiomersal from the wastewater to a biological compartment, 2) study of the biodegradation kinetics of thiomersal to metallic mercury by a Pseudomonas putida strain. The first part of the work focused on the evaluation of the physicochemical properties of ionic liquids and on the SLMs’ operational stability. The results obtained showed that, although it is possible to obtain a SLM with a high stability, water possesses nonnegligible solubility in the RTILs studied. The formation of water clusters inside the hydrophobic ionic liquid was identified and found to regulate the transport of water and small ions. In practical terms, this meant that, although it was possible to transport thiomersal from the vaccine effluent to the biological compartment, complete isolation of the microbial culture could not be guaranteed and the membrane might ultimately be permeable to other species present in the aqueous vaccine wastewater. It was therefore decided not to operate the initially targeted integrated system but, instead, the biological system by itself. Additionally, attention was given to the development of a thorough understanding of the transport mechanisms involved in the solubilisation and transport of water through supported liquid membranes with RTILs as well as to the evaluation of the effect of water uptake by the SLM in the transport mechanisms of water-soluble solutes and its effect on SLM performance. The results obtained highlighted the determinant role played by water – solubilised inside the ionic liquids – on the transport mechanism. It became clear that the transport mechanism of water and water-soluble solutes through SLMs with [CnMIM][PF6] RTILs was regulated by the dynamics of water clusters inside the RTIL, rather than by molecular diffusion through the bulk of the ionic liquid. Although the stability tests vi performed showed that there were no significant losses of organic phase from the membrane pores, the formation of water clusters inside the ionic liquid, which constitute new, non-selective environments for solute transport, leads to a clear deterioration of SLM performance and selectivity. Nevertheless, electrical impedance spectroscopy characterisation of the SLMs showed that the formation of water clusters did not seem to have a detrimental effect on the SLMs’ electrical characteristics and highlighted the potential of using this type of membranes in electrochemical applications with low resistance requirements. The second part of the work studied the kinetics of thiomersal degradation by a pure culture of P. putida spi3 strain, in batch culture and using a synthe tic wastewater. A continuous ly stirred tank reactor fed with the synthetic wastewater was also operated and the bioreactor’s performance and robustness, when exposed to thiomersal shock loads, were evaluated. Finally, a bioreactor for the biological treatment of a real va ccine production effluent was set up and operated at different dilution rates. Thus it was possible to treat a real thiomersal-contaminated effluent, lowering the outlet mercury concentration to values below the European limit for mercury effluent discharges.

Periplasmic nitrate reductases: structural and spectroscopic studies

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Bioquímica, especialidade Bioquímica-Física, pela Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Métodos ágeis: características, pontos fortes e fracos e possibilidades de aplicação

Trabalho realizado sob orientação do Prof. António Brandão Moniz para a disciplina “Factores Sociais da Inovação” do Mestrado Engenharia Informática realizado na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Are societal changes new? Questions or trends and future perceptions on knowledge-based economy

With the emergence of a global division of labour, the internationalisation of markets and cultures, the growing power of supranational organisations and the spread of new information technologies to every field of life, it starts to appear a different kind of society, different from the industrial society, and called by many as ‘the knowledge-based economy’, emphasizing the importance of information and knowledge in many areas of work and organisation of societies. Despite the common trends of evolution, these transformations do not necessarily produce a convergence of national and regional social and economic structures, but a diversity of realities emerging from the relations between economic and political context on one hand and the companies and their strategies on the other. In this sense, which future can we expect to the knowledge economy? How can we measure it and why is it important? This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the future visions and possible future trends in different countries, sectors and industries, given empirical evidences of the case studies applied in several European countries, underling the importance of foresight exercises to design policies, prevent uncontrolled risks and anticipate alternatives, leading to different ‘knowledge economies’ and not to the ‘knowled

Analysing and visualising areal crime data. A case study of residential burglary in San Francisco, USA

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.