Industrial networks: are they a new and alternative way to conduct business or just a logical consequence of a globalising economy?

Based on a report for the seminar Industrial Networks, at Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main Dozent: Prof. Dr. Blättel-Mink, Prof. Dr. António Moniz SS 2011

Celebrar a vida e a morte. A festa em "The garden party" (Katherine Mansfield), e "Feliz Aniversário" (Clarice Lispector)

O conto “The Garden Party” foi escrito em Outubro de 1922. Depois de terminar o famoso “At the Bay” e pôr de parte “Married Man”, que nunca chegou a concluir, Katherine Mansfield inicia uma história sobre a família Sheridan, baseada em acontecimentos reais, ocorridos quando em 1907 Mrs. Beauchamp dera uma festa no jardim, em Wellington. O seu objectivo é, como dirá mais tarde no diário, transmitir a diversidade da vida, o que inclui a morte. “Feliz Aniversário” (1960), tal como “The Garden-Party”, estrutura-se a partir de uma dualidade de significados: a conformidade em relação às convenções sociais, que liga cada ser humano ao seu semelhante e o obriga a um determinado comportamento, representado na festa, e as pequenas hipocrisias e verdades, a solidão e a indiferença escondidas por detrás das máscaras usadas nessa situação.

Preparation of affinity membranes using alternative solvents

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia Química e Bioquímica

No right to perform a contract?

Thesis submitted in Trinity Term 2001 for the degree of Master of Philosophy, Worcester College, Oxford

Coreceptor Usage by HIV-1 and HIV-2 Primary Isolates: The Relevance of CCR8 Chemokine Receptor as an Alternative Coreceptor

The human immunodeficiency virus replication cycle begins by sequential interactions between viral envelope glycoproteins with CD4 molecule and a member of the seven-transmembrane, G-protein-coupled, receptors' family (coreceptor). In this report we focused on the contribution of CCR8 as alternative coreceptor for HIV-1 and HIV-2 isolates. We found that this coreceptor was efficiently used not only by HIV-2 but particularly by HIV-1 isolates. We demonstrate that CXCR4 usage, either alone or together with CCR5 and/or CCR8, was more frequently observed in HIV-1 than in HIV-2 isolates. Directly related to this is the finding that the non-usage of CXCR4 is significantly more common in HIV-2 isolates; both features could be associated with the slower disease progression generally observed in HIV-2 infected patients. The ability of some viral isolates to use alternative coreceptors besides CCR5 and CXCR4 could further impact on the efficacy of entry inhibitor therapy and possibly also in HIV pathogenesis.

Insights into the biological significance of alternative splicing in Arabidopsis: functional characterization of a dual-targeted E3 ligase and the SCL30a SR protein

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Molecular Biology

Alternative solvents in separation processes

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Sustainable Chemistry

Femoral Approach: an Exceptional Alternative for Permanent Pacemaker Implantation

The classic transvenous implantation of a permanent pacemaker in a pectoral location may be precluded by obstruction of venous access through the superior vena cava or recent infection at the implant site. When these barriers to the procedure are bilateral and there are also contraindications or technical difficulties to performing a thoracotomy for an epicardial approach, the femoral vein, although rarely used, can be a viable alternative. We describe the case of a patient with occlusion of both subclavian veins and a high risk for mini-thoracotomy or videothoracoscopy, who underwent implantation of a permanent single-chamber pacemaker via the right femoral vein.

A Homemade Snare: An Alternative Method for Mechanical Removal of Dirofilaria Immitis in Dogs

Canine dirofilariosis is a life-threatening parasitic disease that is increasingly reported worldwide. Once diagnosed the main treatment goals are to improve the animal's clinical condition and to eliminate all life stages of the parasite with minimal posttreatment side effects. This can be achieved through mechanical, surgical, or chemotherapeutical approaches. Currently, manual extraction is the preferred method to remove adult heartworms due to its diminished invasiveness, reduced damage to the vascular endothelium, and shortened anaesthesia duration. However, it remains an expensive technique that can be highly traumatic. To address this issue, a nontraumatic homemade catheter-guided snare was developed for heartworm removal by adapting and folding a 0.014-inch coronary wire (BMW, Abbott Vascular). Transvenous heartworm extraction was performed on a dog severely infected with adult heartworms by inserting the modified snare into a 6-F Judkins right coronary guiding catheter BMW (Cordis) and advancing it into the right ventricle under fluoroscopic guidance. Fifteen adult specimens of Dirofilaria immitis were successfully extracted from the pulmonary artery and right ventricle without complications. To assure the death of both larvae and adults, postoperative treatment was successfully managed using ivermectin, doxycycline, and melarsomine, with no recurrence after surgery.

Intravenous Busulfan for Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: a Survey of 952 Patients on Behalf of the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Oral busulfan is the historical backbone of the busulfan+cyclophosphamide regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation. However intravenous busulfan has more predictable pharmacokinetics and less toxicity than oral busulfan; we, therefore, retrospectively analyzed data from 952 patients with acute myeloid leukemia who received intravenous busulfan for autologous stem cell transplantation. Most patients were male (n=531, 56%), and the median age at transplantation was 50.5 years. Two-year overall survival, leukemia-free survival, and relapse incidence were 67±2%, 53±2%, and 40±2%, respectively. The non-relapse mortality rate at 2 years was 7±1%. Five patients died from veno-occlusive disease. Overall leukemia-free survival and relapse incidence at 2 years did not differ significantly between the 815 patients transplanted in first complete remission (52±2% and 40±2%, respectively) and the 137 patients transplanted in second complete remission (58±5% and 35±5%, respectively). Cytogenetic risk classification and age were significant prognostic factors: the 2-year leukemia-free survival was 63±4% in patients with good risk cytogenetics, 52±3% in those with intermediate risk cytogenetics, and 37 ± 10% in those with poor risk cytogenetics (P=0.01); patients ≤50 years old had better overall survival (77±2% versus 56±3%; P<0.001), leukemia-free survival (61±3% versus 45±3%; P<0.001), relapse incidence (35±2% versus 45±3%; P<0.005), and non-relapse mortality (4±1% versus 10±2%; P<0.001) than older patients. The combination of intravenous busulfan and high-dose melphalan was associated with the best overall survival (75±4%). Our results suggest that the use of intravenous busulfan simplifies the autograft procedure and confirm the usefulness of autologous stem cell transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia. As in allogeneic transplantation, veno-occlusive disease is an uncommon complication after an autograft using intravenous busulfan.

Validation of alternative additives for paste production

Dissertation presented to confer Master Degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Going beyond duopoly: Connectivity breakdowns under receiving party pays

We show that the prediction of strategic connectivity breakdowns under a receiving-party-pays system and discrimination between on and off-net prices does not hold up once more than two mobile networks are considered. Indeed, if there are at least three competing networks and enough utility is obtained from receiving calls, only equilibria with finite call prices and receiving prices exist. Private negotiations over access charges then achieve the efficient outcome. Bill & keep (zero access charges) and free outgoing and incoming calls are efficient if and only marginal costs of calls are zero.

An alternative antimonial schedule to be used in cutaneous leishmaniasis when high doses of antimony are undesirable

Despite more than half a century of use in leishmaniasis, antimony therapy still presents serious problems concerning dosage and toxicity. Low and high doses have been shown to be equally effective. In this paper, the feasibility of injecting one ampoule of meglumine antimoniate intramuscularly every other day until clinical cure is demonstrated, while studying a series of 40 cutaneous leishmaniasis cases. Total dose used varied from 1,822.5 to 12,150mg of pentavalent antimony and total time of treatment varied from 3 to 10 weeks, with 86% efficacy. Thirty-six out of the 40 patients are still on follow-up with a mean time of 10.7 ± 7 months and a median of 9 months. No relapse or mucosal lesions have been noted so far. The schedule showed good tolerance and easy application and its efficacy was comparable to the officially recommended WHO schedule. Therefore, such a schedule represents a valuable alternative for the cases with high toxicicity to antimony or daily injections are an obstacle to the treatment.

Essays on bounded rationality: Individual decision and strategic interaction

Economics is a social science which, therefore, focuses on people and on the decisions they make, be it in an individual context, or in group situations. It studies human choices, in face of needs to be fulfilled, and a limited amount of resources to fulfill them. For a long time, there was a convergence between the normative and positive views of human behavior, in that the ideal and predicted decisions of agents in economic models were entangled in one single concept. That is, it was assumed that the best that could be done in each situation was exactly the choice that would prevail. Or, at least, that the facts that economics needed to explain could be understood in the light of models in which individual agents act as if they are able to make ideal decisions. However, in the last decades, the complexity of the environment in which economic decisions are made and the limits on the ability of agents to deal with it have been recognized, and incorporated into models of decision making in what came to be known as the bounded rationality paradigm. This was triggered by the incapacity of the unboundedly rationality paradigm to explain observed phenomena and behavior. This thesis contributes to the literature in three different ways. Chapter 1 is a survey on bounded rationality, which gathers and organizes the contributions to the field since Simon (1955) first recognized the necessity to account for the limits on human rationality. The focus of the survey is on theoretical work rather than the experimental literature which presents evidence of actual behavior that differs from what classic rationality predicts. The general framework is as follows. Given a set of exogenous variables, the economic agent needs to choose an element from the choice set that is avail- able to him, in order to optimize the expected value of an objective function (assuming his preferences are representable by such a function). If this problem is too complex for the agent to deal with, one or more of its elements is simplified. Each bounded rationality theory is categorized according to the most relevant element it simplifes. Chapter 2 proposes a novel theory of bounded rationality. Much in the same fashion as Conlisk (1980) and Gabaix (2014), we assume that thinking is costly in the sense that agents have to pay a cost for performing mental operations. In our model, if they choose not to think, such cost is avoided, but they are left with a single alternative, labeled the default choice. We exemplify the idea with a very simple model of consumer choice and identify the concept of isofin curves, i.e., sets of default choices which generate the same utility net of thinking cost. Then, we apply the idea to a linear symmetric Cournot duopoly, in which the default choice can be interpreted as the most natural quantity to be produced in the market. We find that, as the thinking cost increases, the number of firms thinking in equilibrium decreases. More interestingly, for intermediate levels of thinking cost, an equilibrium in which one of the firms chooses the default quantity and the other best responds to it exists, generating asymmetric choices in a symmetric model. Our model is able to explain well-known regularities identified in the Cournot experimental literature, such as the adoption of different strategies by players (Huck et al. , 1999), the inter temporal rigidity of choices (Bosch-Dom enech & Vriend, 2003) and the dispersion of quantities in the context of di cult decision making (Bosch-Dom enech & Vriend, 2003). Chapter 3 applies a model of bounded rationality in a game-theoretic set- ting to the well-known turnout paradox in large elections, pivotal probabilities vanish very quickly and no one should vote, in sharp contrast with the ob- served high levels of turnout. Inspired by the concept of rhizomatic thinking, introduced by Bravo-Furtado & Côrte-Real (2009a), we assume that each per- son is self-delusional in the sense that, when making a decision, she believes that a fraction of the people who support the same party decides alike, even if no communication is established between them. This kind of belief simplifies the decision of the agent, as it reduces the number of players he believes to be playing against { it is thus a bounded rationality approach. Studying a two-party first-past-the-post election with a continuum of self-delusional agents, we show that the turnout rate is positive in all the possible equilibria, and that it can be as high as 100%. The game displays multiple equilibria, at least one of which entails a victory of the bigger party. The smaller one may also win, provided its relative size is not too small; more self-delusional voters in the minority party decreases this threshold size. Our model is able to explain some empirical facts, such as the possibility that a close election leads to low turnout (Geys, 2006), a lower margin of victory when turnout is higher (Geys, 2006) and high turnout rates favoring the minority (Bernhagen & Marsh, 1997).

The use of saliva as a practical and feasible alternative to urine in large-scale screening for congenital cytomegalovirus infection increasesinclusion and detection rates

INTRODUCTION: Although urine is considered the gold-standard material for the detection of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, it can be difficult to obtain in newborns. The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of detection of congenital CMV infection in saliva and urine samples. METHODS: One thousand newborns were included in the study. Congenital cytomegalovirus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Saliva samples were obtained from all the newborns, whereas urine collection was successful in only 333 cases. There was no statistically significant difference between the use of saliva alone or saliva and urine collected simultaneously for the detection of CMV infection. CONCLUSIONS: Saliva samples can be used in large-scale neonatal screening for CMV infection.