Medium-short-term and repetition effects of advergames on children consumer behaviour

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

Polycystic hydatid disease in Brazil: report of five new human cases and a short review of other published observations

This paper describes five additional Brazilian human cases of polycystic hydatid disease due to Echinococcus vogeli, reviews the previous cases reported in Brazil, including one report of E. oligarthus (20 in total), and some epidemiological aspects of this disease which is no longer a curiosity but rather a problem that is not medically easy to handle. Its presence should be expected in any rural area of the New World where humans have not eliminated wild felids/canids, bush dogs, pacas, agoutis and other wild rodents.

A short review of the previous and current epidemiological situation of schistosomiasis in China

Schistosomiasis japonica has long been endemic in the People's Republic of China. In the 1950s, the number of the infected persons was estimated at 10 million; infected snail habitats were estimated at more than 14 billion square metres and infected cattle at 1.2 million. After schistosomiasis control measures were carried out, it was a great success. According to the survey of 1989, infected persons were estimated at 0.95 million; infected snails at 3.47 billion and infected cattle at about 0.1 million.These results compared with those of the 1950s show big reductions in prevalence rates 90.5%, 75.2% and 91.6%, respectively. At present, the disease is a threat in the marshland and lake regions and the high mountainous regions. To maintain the success achieved in effective control and to bring the yet endemic marshland and lake regions and mountainous areas under control are hard and long-term tasks confronting the People's Republic of China.

Mansfield and Lewis: impressionism and vorticism in the short story

The affinities of the short story with the style of painting dominating the period in which it is produced have often been debated by critics. The effects of the application of impressionist and vorticist principles in painting turns out differently in Katherine Mansfield and Wyndham Lewis’ short stories structure and strategies, according to their conceptions of Art and Life and to his career as a painter.

Native american women in sherman Alexie's short stories: stereotypical representations

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas

Which consumer capabilities are actually triggered by children in-store?

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

Machine learning Gaussian short rate

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Estatística e Gestão do Risco

Molecular regulation of secondary gorwth: searching for SHORT-ROOT function in cork formation

The analysis of molecular regulators involved in controlling the maintenance and function of plant meristems has been the subject of many studies. Some master regulators of these processes have been identified in Arabidopsis benefiting from the array of tools available for genetic and molecular analysis in this model plant. However, aspects such as secondary growth that are more extensively observed in woody plants, have been less studied. Secondary growth is responsible for the enlargement of the plant stems and roots and results from the activity of the lateral (secondary) meristems, vascular cambium and cork cambium (phellogen), which produce two important renewable natural resources, wood and cork, respectively.(...)

Risky behavior regarding drug use and HIV infection: an Internet questionnaire coupled with short education texts for Portuguese speakers

Surveys of risky behavior relating to HIV/AIDS are generally made for groups at risk of infection, for which HIV/AIDS prevalence is usually expected to be higher than in the general population. Therefore, an educational homepage in Portuguese was created on the Internet to inform/ask internauts regarding knowledge and behavior. The internauts were classified as adolescents (13 to 25 years) and adults (>25 years). The number of STDs was reported as 1. 8 ± 2. 6 infections (range: 1 to 20 infections); 43% used condoms during sexual intercourse. Alcohol consumption was reported by 63% and illicit drug use by 32% (marijuana 24% and inhalants 15%). Among the adolescents, 31% did not classified alcohol as a drug. The adults more frequently reported homosexuality, anal intercourse and STDs, although the adolescents also presented high rates of risky behavior. These results show the need to reach out to internauts through better control strategies. Different types of strategies must be encouraged, in order to reach people that use this means of communication and entertainment.

How can clusters help in the product type choice? The case of a specialized retail store

This work project (WP) is a study about a clustering strategy for Sport Zone. The general cluster study’s objective is to create groups such that within each group the individuals are similar to each other, but should be different among groups. The clusters creation is a mix of common sense, trial and error and some statistical supporting techniques. Our particular objective is to support category managers to better define the product type to be displayed in the stores’ shelves by doing store clusters. This research was carried out for Sport Zone, and comprises an objective definition, a literature review, the clustering activity itself, some factor analysis and a discriminant analysis to better frame our work. Together with this quantitative part, a survey addressed to category managers to better understand their key drivers, for choosing the type of product of each store, was carried out. Based in a non-random sample of 65 stores with data referring to 2013, the final result was the choice of 6 store clusters (Figure 1) which were individually characterized as the main outcome of this work. In what relates to our selected variables, all were important for the distinction between clusters, which proves the adequacy of their choice. The interpretation of the results gives category managers a tool to understand which products best fit the clustered stores. Furthermore, as a side finding thanks to the clusterization, a STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) was initiated, being this WP the first steps of a continuous process.

Measuring the impact of short and lending practices using the DGTW benchmarks

Mutual fund managers increasingly lend their holdings and/or use short sales to generate higher returns for their funds. This project presents a first look into the impact these practices on performance using the performance measures: i) Characteristic Selectivity (CS), the ability of the fund's managers to choose stocks that outperform their benchmarks; ii) Characteristic Timing (CT), the ability of the manager to time the market; iii) and Average Style (AS), the returns from funds systematically holding stocks with certain characteristics. These returns are computed through the DGTW benchmarks. The effect of other variables that have also been shown to impact fund’s returns – total net assets under management, investment styles, turnover and expense ratios – will also be analyzed. I find that managers who use short-sales do not exhibit better stock picking abilities than those who do not, while mutual funds that lend do present higher CS returns. In addition, while lending is not significant for the total performance of a fund, the employment of short-sales and of both short-sales and lending has a negative impact on the fund’s performance.

Essays in health economics: Volume-Outcome Effect, upcoding behaviour and the evaluation of a short-term intervention program

Evidence in the literature suggests a negative relationship between volume of medical procedures and mortality rates in the health care sector. In general, high-volume hospitals appear to achieve lower mortality rates, although considerable variation exists. However, most studies focus on US hospitals, which face different incentives than hospitals in a National Health Service (NHS). In order to add to the literature, this study aims to understand what happens in a NHS. Results reveal a statistically significant correlation between volume of procedures and better outcomes for the following medical procedures: cerebral infarction, respiratory infections, circulatory disorders with AMI, bowel procedures, cirrhosis, and hip and femur procedures. The effect is explained with the practice-makes-perfect hypothesis through static effects of scale with little evidence of learning-by-doing. The centralization of those medical procedures is recommended given that this policy would save a considerable number of lives (reduction of 12% in deaths for cerebral infarction).

Clinical use of growth hormone and glutamine in short bowel syndrome

Growth hormone (GH) and glutamine (GLN) are considered bowel trophic factors and are used experimentally after bowel resection. Their clinical uses in short bowel syndrome (SBS) are still not standardized. It is of interest to verify metabolic, nutritional and side effects of the association of GH and GLN in SBS. Three patients, 39 (A), 33 (B), and 01 years old (C) underwent bowel resection with jejunum anastomosis 15 cm (A) and 60 cm (B) distant from the Treitz angle, and 40 cm (C) preserving the ileo cecal valve. GH Saizen (Serono - A), Genotropin (Pharmacia - B), and Norditropin (Novonordisk C) were administered in doses of 0.14 mg /kg/day. GLN (0.4 g/kg/day) was given orally for 10 days (A), 30 days (B) and 60 days to patient C (0.28 g/kg/day). Central TPN and adequate oral diet was administered according to the bowel adaptation phase. On the first day after beginning treatment patient A exhibited symptoms of hypoglycemia. There were no other side effects. After treatment, body weight was higher and analysis by bioelectrical impedance showed more lean mass and less fat mass compared to pre-treatment measurements. Nitrogen retention was progressively higher with treatment. Simultaneous treatment with GH and GLN does not cause significant side effects, and is associated with a favorable distribution of the body compartments and nitrogen retention in patients with the short bowel syndrome.

Nutritional follow-up of critically ill infants receiving short term parenteral nutrition

Few studies have tried to characterize the efficacy of parenteral support of critically ill infants during short period of intensive care. We studied seventeen infants during five days of total parenteral hyperalimentation. Subsequently, according to the clinical conditions, the patients received nutritional support by parenteral, enteral route or both up to the 10th day. Evaluations were performed on the 1st, 5th, and 10th days. These included: clinical data (food intake and anthropometric measurements), haematological data (lymphocyte count), biochemical tests (albumin, transferrin, fibronectin, prealbumin, retinol-binding protein) and hormone assays (cortisol, insulin, glucagon). Anthropometric measurements revealed no significant difference between the first and second evaluations. Serum albumin and transferrin did not change significantly, but mean values of fibronectin (8.9 to 16 mg/dL), prealbumin (7.7 to 18 mg/dL), and retinol-binding protein (2.4 to 3.7 mg/dL) increased significantly (p < 0.05) from the 1st to the 10th day. The hormonal study showed no difference for insulin, glucagon, and cortisol when the three evaluations were compared. The mean value of the glucose/insulin ratio was of 25.7 in the 1st day and 15.5 in the 5th day, revealing a transitory supression of this hormone. Cortisol showed values above normal in the beginning of the study. We conclude that the anthropometric parameters were not useful due to the short time of the study; serum proteins, fibronectin, prealbumin, and retinol-binding protein were very sensitive indicators of nutritional status, and an elevated glucose/insulin ratio, associated with a slight tendency for increased cortisol levels suggest hypercatabolic state. The critically ill patient can benefit from an early metabolic support.