The effectiveness of the “Processo Especial de Revitalização” as an instrument of corporate restructuring in the context of the current economic crisis

This work project intends to evaluate the effectiveness of the Portuguese Government’s strategy to promote the orderly deleveraging of the corporate sector in the context of the current economic crisis. The recommendations of the Troika and the commitments assumed under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government in 2011 required the creation of formal processes to avoid disorderly deleveraging. Conclusions and recommendations were drawn based on past experiences of large-scale corporate restructuring strategies in other countries and on the analysis of financial and statistical data on companies applying for “Programa Especial de Revitalização”.

The effectiveness of supply chain management on firm's performance: A comparative case study

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the effectiveness of supply chain management (SCM) practices to increase a company’s performance based on a cross-border and cross-sector analysis. The paper follows a comparative case study approach which was achieved by interviewing supply chain management experts of three companies operating in different industries and positions in a supply chain. Practices that were mutually applied by the firms and their contribution to achieve quality, economic, cost, and time advantages were analyzed. The paper revealed practices, which contribute the most to increase specific performance areas.

How to increase reach efficiency and effectiveness of Meo's digital marketing campaigns

Field lab: Business project

Young adult Brazilian beauty consumers perception of Lancôme and the effectiveness of social media relationhips with local celebrities on their purchase intention

The aim of this research is to evaluate if a premium beauty brand, in this case, Lancôme, can influence positively the purchase intention from Brazilian young adults, between 18 and 29 years old, consumers of beauty products, by initiating a relationship with a local celebrity or “it” girl on social media. This hypothesis has not been tested, and this research is a first attempt of evaluating it. Additionally, the consumer behavior, brand preferences and social media activeness of this age segment in Brazil are further studied as important insights for beauty brands to conquer these consumers. Results did not confirm the positive influence of local celebrities on this age segment’s purchase intention but several suggestions are made for future research to revisit this topic. Furthermore, there is a significant brand love for M.A.C., an international Lancôme competitor, amongst this target, as well as a probable price sensitivity facing premium beauty brands.

How to increase reach efficiency and effectiveness of MEO’s digital marketing campaigns?

Field lab: Business project

Assessment of the effectiveness of steel fibre reinforcement for the punching resistance of flat slabs by experimental research and design approach

The present paper deals with the experimental assessment of the effectiveness of steel fibre reinforcement in terms of punching resistance of centrically loaded flat slabs, and to the development of an analytical model capable of predicting the punching behaviour of this type of structures. For this purpose, eight slabs of 2550 x 2550 x 150 mm3 dimensions were tested up to failure, by investigating the influence of the content of steel fibres (0, 60, 75 and 90 kg/m3) and concrete strength class (50 and 70 MPa). Two reference slabs without fibre reinforcement, one for each concrete strength class, and one slab for each fibre content and each strength class compose the experimental program. All slabs were flexurally reinforced with a grid of ribbed steel bars in a percentage to assure punching failure mode for the reference slabs. Hooked ends steel fibres provided the unique shear reinforcement. The results have revealed that steel fibres are very effective in converting brittle punching failure into ductile flexural failure, by increasing both the ultimate load and deflection, as long as adequate fibre reinforcement is assured. An analytical model was developed based on the most recent concepts proposed by the fib Mode Code 2010 for predicting the punching resistance of flat slabs and for the characterization of the behaviour of fibre reinforced concrete. The most refined version of this model was capable of predicting the punching resistance of the tested slabs with excellent accuracy and coefficient of variation of about 5%.

On the Hill estimator: a comparison of methods

Extreme value theory (EVT) deals with the occurrence of extreme phenomena. The tail index is a very important parameter appearing in the estimation of the probability of rare events. Under a semiparametric framework, inference requires the choice of a number k of upper order statistics to be considered. This is the crux of the matter and there is no definite formula to do it, since a small k leads to high variance and large values of k tend to increase the bias. Several methodologies have emerged in literature, specially concerning the most popular Hill estimator (Hill, 1975). In this work we compare through simulation well-known procedures presented in Drees and Kaufmann (1998), Matthys and Beirlant (2000), Beirlant et al. (2002) and de Sousa and Michailidis (2004), with a heuristic scheme considered in Frahm et al. (2005) within the estimation of a different tail measure but with a similar context. We will see that the new method may be an interesting alternative.

A critical evaluation of methods for the reconstruction of tissue-specific models

Under the framework of constraint based modeling, genome-scale metabolic models (GSMMs) have been used for several tasks, such as metabolic engineering and phenotype prediction. More recently, their application in health related research has spanned drug discovery, biomarker identification and host-pathogen interactions, targeting diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer, obesity or diabetes. In the last years, the development of novel techniques for genome sequencing and other high-throughput methods, together with advances in Bioinformatics, allowed the reconstruction of GSMMs for human cells. Considering the diversity of cell types and tissues present in the human body, it is imperative to develop tissue-specific metabolic models. Methods to automatically generate these models, based on generic human metabolic models and a plethora of omics data, have been proposed. However, their results have not yet been adequately and critically evaluated and compared. This work presents a survey of the most important tissue or cell type specific metabolic model reconstruction methods, which use literature, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics data, together with a global template model. As a case study, we analyzed the consistency between several omics data sources and reconstructed distinct metabolic models of hepatocytes using different methods and data sources as inputs. The results show that omics data sources have a poor overlapping and, in some cases, are even contradictory. Additionally, the hepatocyte metabolic models generated are in many cases not able to perform metabolic functions known to be present in the liver tissue. We conclude that reliable methods for a priori omics data integration are required to support the reconstruction of complex models of human cells.

An empirical study of the effectiveness of Irish banks’ lending regulations

The objective of this thesis will be to examine the effectiveness of lending regulations for Irish banks both prior to and after the collapse of the banking sector. The research developed a profile of the banking sector in Ireland, then evaluate the levels of stability in the Irish banking sector. In the course of this research, the author tried to establish an understanding of who is responsible for lending regulations for banks in Ireland, Investigate in particular: AIB, Ulster Bank & Anglo Irish Bank’s level of compliance with lending regulations between the Celtic Tiger and the present.

effectiveness of partial coordination among decentralized institutions

Externalities, fiscal competition, partial coordination, wage formation

Ripening of mango fruits. Competition of methods

Mangoes, cv. Imperial, were exposed, in post harvest, to the following methods of ripening: 1) sawdust burning; 2) alcohol vaporization; 3) calcium carbide (acetylene), 4) vapour of ethylene; and, 5) immersion in ethefon. All methods resulted in acceleration of ripening, when compared to controls. Calcium carbide, ethelene and ethefon were the best, methods. Alcohol vaporization also showed good results sawdust burning method showing low efficiency.

The interference of methods in the collection of teredinids (Mollusca, Bivalvia) in mangrove habitats

In the estuary of the Mamanguape River (Paraíba, Brazil), a new collection technique was developed and applied with virgin poles of mangrove trees Avicennia schaueriana (Verbenaceae), Rhizophora mangle (Rhizophoraceae), and Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae), taking into account wood preference, water salinity and depth influence during teredinid larval settlement. Sets of poles were vertically fixed in the riverbed at three sites along a decreasing salinity gradient, where they stayed for four months. The poles were collected and divided into upper, median, and lower segments, in agreement with different immersion regimes. An increase of 239% was obtained in the number of individuals when compared to a previous study in the same area using a different methodology. The species Teredo bartschi (Clapp, 1923), Nausitora fusticula (Jeffreys, 1860) and Bankia fimbriatula Moll & Roch, 1931 were registered in both studies, and the species Psiloteredo healdi (Bartsch, 1931) is here registered for the first time as occurring in that estuary. The species Neoteredo reynei (Bartsch, 1920), previously registered on tree branches of the mangrove habitat, was not found in the present work. Bankia fimbriatula, the most abundant species, did not show preference for any substratum but occurred significantly on the lower segment of the poles. N. fusticula, second in abundance, preferred to settle on poles of A. schaueriana and on any of the three segments. Aiming to assess the habitat variations, a more accurate study on teredinids diversity in mangrove ecosystems should be performed through a concomitant analysis from tree branches of the mangrove habitat, as well as from poles of mangrove trees or panels made of pine wood or mangrove trees wood. These collection devices should be maintained along a decreasing salinity gradient exposed to different tide levels.

Comparing impact and cost-effectiveness of primary prevention strategies for lipid-lowering.

BACKGROUND: Lipid-lowering therapy is costly but effective at reducing coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-effectiveness and public health impact of Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) guidelines and compare with a range of risk- and age-based alternative strategies. DESIGN: The CHD Policy Model, a Markov-type cost-effectiveness model. DATA SOURCES: National surveys (1999 to 2004), vital statistics (2000), the Framingham Heart Study (1948 to 2000), other published data, and a direct survey of statin costs (2008). TARGET POPULATION: U.S. population age 35 to 85 years. Time Horizon: 2010 to 2040. PERSPECTIVE: Health care system. INTERVENTION: Lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). OUTCOME MEASURE: Incremental cost-effectiveness. RESULTS OF BASE-CASE ANALYSIS: Full adherence to ATP III primary prevention guidelines would require starting (9.7 million) or intensifying (1.4 million) statin therapy for 11.1 million adults and would prevent 20,000 myocardial infarctions and 10,000 CHD deaths per year at an annual net cost of $3.6 billion ($42,000/QALY) if low-intensity statins cost $2.11 per pill. The ATP III guidelines would be preferred over alternative strategies if society is willing to pay $50,000/QALY and statins cost $1.54 to $2.21 per pill. At higher statin costs, ATP III is not cost-effective; at lower costs, more liberal statin-prescribing strategies would be preferred; and at costs less than $0.10 per pill, treating all persons with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels greater than 3.4 mmol/L (>130 mg/dL) would yield net cost savings. RESULTS OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: Results are sensitive to the assumptions that LDL cholesterol becomes less important as a risk factor with increasing age and that little disutility results from taking a pill every day. LIMITATION: Randomized trial evidence for statin effectiveness is not available for all subgroups. CONCLUSION: The ATP III guidelines are relatively cost-effective and would have a large public health impact if implemented fully in the United States. Alternate strategies may be preferred, however, depending on the cost of statins and how much society is willing to pay for better health outcomes. FUNDING: Flight Attendants' Medical Research Institute and the Swanson Family Fund. The Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study are conducted and supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Cost-effectiveness of low-molecular-weight heparin for secondary prophylaxis of cancer-related venous thromboembolism.

Although extended secondary prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin was recently shown to be more effective than warfarin for cancer-related venous thromboembolism, its cost-effectiveness compared to traditional prophylaxis with warfarin is uncertain. We built a decision analytic model to evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of a 6-month course of low-molecular-weight heparin or warfarin therapy in 65-year-old patients with cancer-related venous thromboembolism. We used probability estimates and utilities reported in the literature and published cost data. Using a US societal perspective, we compared strategies based on quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and lifetime costs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of low-molecular-weight heparin compared with warfarin was 149,865 dollars/QALY. Low-molecular-weight heparin yielded a quality-adjusted life expectancy of 1.097 QALYs at the cost of 15,329 dollars. Overall, 46% (7108 dollars) of the total costs associated with low-molecular-weight heparin were attributable to pharmacy costs. Although the low-molecular-weigh heparin strategy achieved a higher incremental quality-adjusted life expectancy than the warfarin strategy (difference of 0.051 QALYs), this clinical benefit was offset by a substantial cost increment of 7,609 dollars. Cost-effectiveness results were sensitive to variation of the early mortality risks associated with low-molecular-weight heparin and warfarin and the pharmacy costs for low-molecular-weight heparin. Based on the best available evidence, secondary prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin is more effective than warfarin for cancer-related venous thromboembolism. However, because of the substantial pharmacy costs of extended low-molecular-weight heparin prophylaxis in the US, this treatment is relatively expensive compared with warfarin.