The internationally standardized process of public accounting: the perspective of different stakeholders in Portugal

New Public Management (NPM) led to great pressures for to introduce and adapt businesslike accounting in the public sector (Hood, 1995; Lapsley, 2008; Lapsley et al., 2009), specially the transition from cash basis to accrual-based accounting. In consequence, since the last 20 years we assist to a movement towards internationally standardized of public sector accounting that led to the publication of 32 International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for all public sector entities from national central governments to local governments (IFAC, 2008). These standards are accrual-basis and they emphasize the balance sheet approach, the fair value measurement and the revenue-expense approach (Hints, 2007). The main innovations are associated with the use of the balance sheet approach and the fair value measurement because, traditionally, public accounting systems are mainly focused on the revenue-expense approach and on historical cost valuation (Oulasvirta, 2014).

O regime de exigibilidade de caixa no IVA

Mestrado em Contabilidade

The accounting system of the Hieronymite Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém circa 1833

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

Abordagem histórica e institucional da mudança em contabilidade de gestão: o caso da normalização nos hospitais públicos portugueses

A teoria institucional constituiu o enquadramento no qual foi suportada a pergunta geral desta investigação: como e porquê a Normalização da Contabilidade de Gestão (NCG) nos hospitais públicos portugueses surgiu e evoluiu? O objetivo geral foi compreender de forma profunda o surgimento e a mudança nas regras de NCG dos hospitais públicos portugueses no período histórico 1954-2011. Face ao enquadramento institucional que justificou uma investigação interpretativa, foi usado como método de investigação um estudo de caso explanatório. A evidência sobre o caso da NCG nos hospitais públicos portugueses foi recolhida em documentos e através de 58 entrevistas realizadas em 47 unidades de análise (nos serviços centrais de contabilidade do Ministério da Saúde e em 46 hospitais públicos, num total de 53 existentes). Quanto aos principais resultados obtidos, no período 1954-1974, as regras criadas pelo poder político para controlo dos gastos públicos e a contabilidade orçamental de base de caixa estiveram na génese dos primeiros conceitos de Contabilidade de Gestão (CG) para os serviços públicos de saúde portugueses. A transição de um regime ditatorial para um regime democrático (25 de Abril de 1974), a criação do Plano Oficial de Contabilidade (POC/77) e a implementação de um estado social com Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) criaram a conjuntura crítica necessária para o surgimento de um Plano Oficial de Contabilidade para os Serviços de Saúde (POCSS/80) que incluiu regras de CG. A primeira edição do Plano de Contabilidade Analítica dos Hospitais (PCAH), aprovada em 1996, não foi uma construção de raiz, mas antes uma adaptação para os hospitais das regras de CG incluídas no POCSS/91 que havia revisto o POCSS/80. Após o início da implementação do PCAH, em 1998, ocorreram sequências de autorreforço institucionalizadoras destas normas, no período 1998-2011, por influência de pressões isomórficas coercivas que delinearam um processo de evolução incremental cujo resultado foi uma reprodução por adaptação, num contexto de dependência de recursos. Vários agentes internos e externos pressionaram, no período 2003-2011, através de sequências reativas para a desinstitucionalização do PCAH em resposta ao persistente fenómeno de loose coupling. Mas o PCAH só foi descontinuado nos hospitais com privatização da governação e rejeição dos anteriores sistemas de informação. Ao nível da extensão da teoria, este estudo de caso adotou o institucionalismo histórico na investigação em CG, quanto se sabe pela primeira vez, que se mostra útil na interpretação dos processos e dos resultados da criação e evolução de instituições de CG num determinado contexto histórico. Na condição de dependência de recursos, as sequências de autorreforço, via isomorfismo coercivo, tendem para uma institucionalização com fenómeno de loose coupling. Como resposta a este fenómeno, ocorrem sequências reativas no sentido da desinstitucionalização. Perante as pressões (políticas, funcionais, sociais e tecnológicas) desinstitucionalizadoras, o fator governação privada acelera o processo de desinstitucionalização, enquanto o fator governação pública impede ou abranda esse processo.

Rahavirta-analyysit, erityisesti kassavirtalaskelma, kunnan talouden ohjauksen apuvälineenä

 The aim of this research was to determine whether a cash basis financial statement would give additional value for the financial management of a local government and whether the cash flow statement would assist in getting a true and fair view of the financial position of the local government. The goal was to develop a cash flow statement and cash flow based key ratios for the needs of local government and the possibilities to utilise them were studied. In the theoretical part of this work, the literature review section,municipal economy, the main objectives and key ratios of financial control in municipal financial management, central control systems, control instruments and different financial statements were studied. In the empirical part the possibilities of utilising the information of these different financial statements as onecontrol instrument of municipal financial management were compared. Also empirical testing of the exploitation of these financial statements was carried out. The suggestion for municipal cash flow statement and its key ratios were defined on the basis of the theoretical and empirical parts. The results show that the municipal cash flow statement is most effective in a three-part form: cash flow from ordinary operations, cash flow from investments and funding cash flow. The added value of the cash flow statement comes from its ability to better attest the financial ability for investments better than the profit and loss account. Themunicipal cash flow statement is therefore especially suitable when analysing of the sufficiency of money. In addition to absolute ratios, such as the financial margin, also relative cash basis ratios such as the financial margin percentage, liquidity percentage and investment income financing percentage are important. Also the simple cash based calculation about receiving and using money is applicable to local governments. The statement could be a part of municipal financial statements, budgets and annual reports. On the other hand, working capital flow and expense and revenue flow statements do not give added value for municipal financial management.

Conditional cash transfer programmes: the recent experience in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes Bibliography

How much is corporate cash-pooling worth? Modelling and simulation

The paper analyzes a special corporate banking product, the so called cash-pool, which gained remarkable popularity in the recent years as firms try to centralize and manage their liquidity more efficiently. The novelty of this paper is the formalization of a valuation model which can serve as a basis for a Monte Carlo simulation to assess the most important benefits of the firms arising from the pooling of their cash holdings. The literature emphasizes several benefits of cash-pooling such as interest rate savings, economy of scale and reduced cash-flow volatility. The presented model focuses on the interest rate savings complemented with a new aspect: the reduced counterparty risk toward the bank. The main conclusion of the analysis is that the value of a cash-pool is higher in case of firms with large, diverse and volatile cash-flows having less access to the capital markets especially if the partner bank is risky and offers a high interest spread. It is also shown that cash-pooling is not the privilege of large multinational firms any more as the initial direct costs can be easily regained within a year even in the case of SMEs.

Changes In Motor Behavior During Pregnancy In Rats: The Basis For A Possible Animal Model Of Restless Legs Syndrome.

Pregnant women have a 2-3 fold higher probability of developing restless legs syndrome (RLS - sleep-related movement disorders) than general population. This study aims to evaluate the behavior and locomotion of rats during pregnancy in order to verify if part of these animals exhibit some RLS-like features. We used 14 female 80-day-old Wistar rats that weighed between 200 and 250 g. The rats were distributed into control (CTRL) and pregnant (PN) groups. After a baseline evaluation of their behavior and locomotor activity in an open-field environment, the PN group was inducted into pregnancy, and their behavior and locomotor activity were evaluated on days 3, 10 and 19 of pregnancy and in the post-lactation period in parallel with the CTRL group. The serum iron and transferrin levels in the CTRL and PN groups were analyzed in blood collected after euthanasia by decapitation. There were no significant differences in the total ambulation, grooming events, fecal boli or urine pools between the CTRL and PN groups. However, the PN group exhibited fewer rearing events, increased grooming time and reduced immobilization time than the CTRL group (ANOVA, p<0.05). These results suggest that pregnant rats show behavioral and locomotor alterations similar to those observed in animal models of RLS, demonstrating to be a possible animal model of this sleep disorder.

Kinase Inhibitor Profile For Human Nek1, Nek6, And Nek7 And Analysis Of The Structural Basis For Inhibitor Specificity.

Human Neks are a conserved protein kinase family related to cell cycle progression and cell division and are considered potential drug targets for the treatment of cancer and other pathologies. We screened the activation loop mutant kinases hNek1 and hNek2, wild-type hNek7, and five hNek6 variants in different activation/phosphorylation statesand compared them against 85 compounds using thermal shift denaturation. We identified three compounds with significant Tm shifts: JNK Inhibitor II for hNek1(Δ262-1258)-(T162A), Isogranulatimide for hNek6(S206A), andGSK-3 Inhibitor XIII for hNek7wt. Each one of these compounds was also validated by reducing the kinases activity by at least 25%. The binding sites for these compounds were identified by in silico docking at the ATP-binding site of the respective hNeks. Potential inhibitors were first screened by thermal shift assays, had their efficiency tested by a kinase assay, and were finally analyzed by molecular docking. Our findings corroborate the idea of ATP-competitive inhibition for hNek1 and hNek6 and suggest a novel non-competitive inhibition for hNek7 in regard to GSK-3 Inhibitor XIII. Our results demonstrate that our approach is useful for finding promising general and specific hNekscandidate inhibitors, which may also function as scaffolds to design more potent and selective inhibitors.

Structural and chemical basis for anticancer activity of a series of 'beta'-tubulin ligands: molecular modeling and 3D QSAR studies

An important approach to cancer therapy is the design of small molecule modulators that interfere with microtubule dynamics through their specific binding to the ²-subunit of tubulin. In the present work, comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) studies were conducted on a series of discodermolide analogs with antimitotic properties. Significant correlation coefficients were obtained (CoMFA(i), q² =0.68, r²=0.94; CoMFA(ii), q² = 0.63, r²= 0.91), indicating the good internal and external consistency of the models generated using two independent structural alignment strategies. The models were externally validated employing a test set, and the predicted values were in good agreement with the experimental results. The final QSAR models and the 3D contour maps provided important insights into the chemical and structural basis involved in the molecular recognition process of this family of discodermolide analogs, and should be useful for the design of new specific ²-tubulin modulators with potent anticancer activity.

Molecular basis for porcine parvovirus detection in dead fetuses

Reproductive failures are still common grounds for complaint by commercial swine producers. Porcine parvovirus (PPV) is associated with different clinical reproductive signs. The aim of the present study was to investigate PPV fetal infection at swine farms having ongoing reproductive performance problems. The presence of virus in fetal tissues was determined by nested-polymerase chain reaction assay directed to the conserved NS1 gene of PPV in aborted fetuses, mummies and stillborns. Fetuses show a high frequency of PPV infection (96.4%; N = 28). In 60.7% of the fetuses, PPV were detected in all tissue samples (lung, heart, thymus, kidney, and spleen). Viral infection differed among fetal tissues, with a higher frequency in the lung and heart (P < 0.05). Fetuses with up to 99 days of gestational age and from younger sows showed a higher frequency of PPV (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the presence of PPV was detected among the three clinical presentations. The results suggest that PPV remains an important pathogenic agent associated with porcine fetal death.

Structural basis of GC-1 selectivity for thyroid hormone receptor isoforms

Background: Thyroid receptors, TRa and TR beta, are involved in important physiological functions such as metabolism, cholesterol level and heart activities. Whereas metabolism increase and cholesterol level lowering could be achieved by TR beta isoform activation, TRa activation affects heart rates. Therefore, beta-selective thyromimetics have been developed as promising drug-candidates for treatment of obesity and elevated cholesterol level. GC-1 [ 3,5-dimethyl-4-(4'-hydroxy- 3'-isopropylbenzyl)-phenoxy acetic acid] has ability to lower LDL cholesterol with 600-to 1400-fold more potency and approximately two-to threefold more efficacy than atorvastatin (Lipitor(C)) in studies in rats, mice and monkeys. Results: To investigate GC-1 specificity, we solved crystal structures and performed molecular dynamics simulations of both isoforms complexed with GC-1. Crystal structures reveal that, in TRa Arg228 is observed in multiple conformations, an effect triggered by the differences in the interactions between GC-1 and Ser277 or the corresponding asparagine (Asn331) of TR beta. The corresponding Arg282 of TR beta is observed in only one single stable conformation, interacting effectively with the ligand. Molecular dynamics support this model: our simulations show that the multiple conformations can be observed for the Arg228 in TR alpha, in which the ligand interacts either strongly with the ligand or with the Ser277 residue. In contrast, a single stable Arg282 conformation is observed for TR beta, in which it strongly interacts with both GC-1 and the Asn331. Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that the key factors for GC-1 selectivity are the presence of an oxyacetic acid ester oxygen and the absence of the amino group relative to T(3). These results shed light into the beta-selectivity of GC-1 and may assist the development of new compounds with potential as drug candidates to the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and obesity.

Immunological Basis for the Gender Differences in Murine Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Infection

This study aimed to investigate the immunological mechanisms involved in the gender distinct incidence of paracoccidioidomycosis (pcm), an endemic systemic mycosis in Latin America, which is at least 10 times more frequent in men than in women. Then, we compared the immune response of male and female mice to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection, as well as the influence in the gender differences exerted by paracoccin, a P. brasiliensis component with carbohydrate recognition property. High production of Th1 cytokines and T-bet expression have been detected in the paracoccin stimulated cultures of spleen cells from infected female mice. In contrast, in similar experimental conditions, cells from infected males produced higher levels of the Th2 cytokines and expressed GATA-3. Macrophages from male and female mice when stimulated with paracoccin displayed similar phagocytic capability, while fungicidal activity was two times more efficiently performed by macrophages from female mice, a fact that was associated with 50% higher levels of nitric oxide production. In order to evaluate the role of sexual hormones in the observed gender distinction, we have utilized mice that have been submitted to gonadectomy followed by inverse hormonal reconstitution. Spleen cells derived from castrated males reconstituted with estradiol have produced higher levels of IFN-gamma (1291+/-15 pg/mL) and lower levels of IL-10 (494+/-38 pg/mL), than normal male in response to paracoccin stimulus. In contrast, spleen cells from castrated female mice that had been treated with testosterone produced more IL-10 (1284+/-36 pg/mL) and less IFN-gamma (587614 pg/mL) than cells from normal female. In conclusion, our results reveal that the sexual hormones had a profound effect on the biology of immune cells, and estradiol favours protective responses to P. brasiliensis infection. In addition, fungal components, such as paracoccin, may provide additional support to the gender dimorphic immunity that marks P. brasiliensis infection.

Transcriptomic basis for an antiserum against Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) venom

Background: Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) is a tropical forest snake belonging to the family Elapidae. Its venom shows a high neurotoxicity associated with pre- and post-synaptic toxins, causing diaphragm paralysis, which may result in death. In spite of a relatively small incidence of accidents, serum therapy is crucial for those bitten. However, the adequate production of antiserum is hampered by the difficulty in obtaining sufficient amounts of venom from a small snake with demanding breeding conditions. In order to elucidate the molecular basis of this venom and to uncover possible immunogens for an antiserum, we generated expressed sequences tags (ESTs) from its venom glands and analyzed the transcriptomic profile. In addition, their immunogenicity was tested using DNA immunization. Results: A total of 1438 ESTs were generated and grouped into 611 clusters. Toxin transcripts represented 46% of the total ESTs. The two main toxin classes consisted of three-finger toxins (3FTx) (24%) and phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) (15%). However, 8 other classes of toxins were present, including C-type lectins, natriuretic peptide precursors and even high-molecular mass components such as metalloproteases and L-amino acid oxidases. Each class included an assortment of isoforms, some showing evidence of alternative splicing and domain deletions. Five antigenic candidates were selected (four 3FTx and one PLA(2)) and used for a preliminary study of DNA immunization. The immunological response showed that the sera from the immunized animals were able to recognize the recombinant antigens. Conclusion: Besides an improvement in our knowledge of the composition of coral snake venoms, which are very poorly known when compared to Old World elapids, the expression profile suggests abundant and diversified components that may be used in future antiserum formulation. As recombinant production of venom antigens frequently fails due to complex disulfide arrangements, DNA immunization may be a viable alternative. In fact, the selected candidates provided an initial evidence of the feasibility of this approach, which is less costly and not dependent on the availability of the venom.

Use of correlated potential harmonic basis functions for the description of the (4)He trimer and small clusters

A correlated many-body basis function is used to describe the (4)He trimer and small helium clusters ((4)HeN) with N = 4-9. A realistic helium dimer potential is adopted. The ground state results of the (4)He dimer and trimer are in close agreement with earlier findings. But no evidence is found for the existence of Efimov state in the trimer for the actual (4)He-(4)He interaction. However, decreasing the potential strength we calculate several excited states of the trimer which exhibit Efimov character. We also solve for excited state energies of these clusters which are in good agreement with Monte Carlo hyperspherical description. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3583365]