Search

Mestrado Bolonha em Finanças Over the last decades the concern for the environment and the development of sustainable initiatives has soared, with renewable energy playing a vital role in attaining the green goals set by international organizations and national governments for the present and future economy. With these measures, there is a big incentive to develop renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar, which has increased the predominance of these energies exponentially. Which in turn increases the necessity of investment and financing to build wind and solar projects. As such, these renewable energy companies have been undertaking a strategy called Asset Rotation (AR), which allows them to sell portions or all assets at early stages of a project to crystallize upfront value and recycle capital to invest in new valuable projects, with lower external debt burden, with this self-funding model bringing many other accounting and market rewards. In this business case will be studied the use of AR strategy at EDPR, one of the major multinational renewable energy production, development, and operation companies. To do so, the current context of the renewable energy industry will be initially addressed, as well as all the theoretical aspects of AR that make it suitable for this capital-intensive industry. Then we will focus on EDPR and its business, to understand the fundamentals of this strategy in the company, its theoretical basis, the decision process, and its advantages. The goal of this case is firstly to understand what AR means and how it works, and if this strategy is an added value to EDPR's business strategy. After a theoretical analysis of the implementation of AR in the company, and its benefits for EDPR's business, accounts and credit reputation, the conclusion was that AR is an enhancement for the company and fits with its present and future goals. Moreover, through a practical example from EDPR, it was possible to compare the outputs of a wind project embedded in the AR strategy compared to a project held till the very end of its useful life, with AR once again proving its advantage in financial terms. Nas últimas décadas, a preocupação com o ambiente e o desenvolvimento de iniciativas sustentáveis aumentou, tendo as energias renováveis desempenhado um papel vital na consecução dos objetivos verdes estabelecidos por organizações internacionais e governos nacionais para a economia presente e futura. Com estas medidas, existe um grande incentivo para desenvolver projetos de energias renováveis, tais como eólica e solar, o que aumentou exponencialmente a predominância destas energias. O que, por sua vez, aumenta a necessidade de investimento e financiamento para a construção de projetos eólicos e solares. Como tal, estas empresas de energias renováveis têm vindo a empreender uma estratégia chamada Rotatividade de Ativos (AR), que lhes permite vender partes ou todos os ativos nas fases iniciais de um projeto para cristalizar o valor inicial e reciclar capital para investir em novos projetos de valor, com menor peso da dívida externa, sendo que este modelo de autofinanciamento traz muitas outras recompensas contabilísticas e de mercado. Neste caso empresarial será estudada a utilização da estratégia AR na EDPR, uma das maiores empresas multinacionais de produção, desenvolvimento e operação de energias renováveis. Para tal, será inicialmente abordado o contexto atual da indústria das energias renováveis, bem como todos os aspetos teóricos da AR que a tornam adequada para esta indústria de capital intensivo. Depois centrar-nos-emos na EDPR e nos seus negócios, para compreender os fundamentos desta estratégia na empresa, a sua base teórica, o processo de decisão, e as suas vantagens. O objetivo deste caso é, em primeiro lugar, compreender o que significa AR e como funciona, e se esta estratégia é uma mais-valia para a estratégia empresarial da EDPR. Após uma análise teórica da implementação da AR na empresa, e dos seus benefícios para o negócio, contas e reputação creditícia da EDPR, a conclusão foi que a AR é uma melhoria para a empresa e se enquadra nos seus objetivos presentes e futuros. Além disso, através de um exemplo prático da EDPR, foi possível comparar os resultados de um projeto eólico incorporado na estratégia AR com um projeto realizado até ao fim da sua vida útil, tendo a AR provado mais uma vez a sua vantagem em termos financeiros. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Background Vitamin K (VK) is a fat-soluble vitamin known for its essential role in blood coagulation, but also on other biological processes (e.g. reproduction, brain and bone development) have been recently suggested. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms behind its particular function on reproduction are not yet fully understood. Methods The potential role of VK on reproduction through nutritional supplementation in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) was assessed by gonadal maturation and 11-ketosterone, testosterone and estriol plasma levels when fed with control or VK supplemented (1250 mg kg−1 of VK1) diets along a six month trial. At the end, sperm production and quality (viability and DNA fragmentation) were evaluated. Circulating small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) in blood plasma from males were also studied through RNA-Seq. Results Fish fed with dietary VK supplementation had increased testosterone levels and lower sperm DNA fragmentation. SncRNAs from blood plasma were found differentially expressed when nutritional and sperm quality conditions were compared. PiR-675//676//4794//5462 and piR-74614 were found up-regulated in males fed with dietary VK supplementation. Let-7g, let-7e(18nt), let-7a-1, let-7a-3//7a-2//7a-1, let-7e(23nt) and piR-675//676//4794//5462 were found to be up-regulated and miR-146a and miR-146a-1//146a-2//146a-3 down-regulated when fish with low and high sperm DNA fragmentation were compared. Bioinformatic analyses of predicted mRNAs targeted by sncRNAs revealed the potential underlying pathways. Conclusions VK supplementation improves fish gonad maturation and sperm quality, suggesting an unexpected and complex regulation of the nutritional status and reproductive performance through circulating sncRNAs. General significance The use of circulating sncRNAs as reliable and less-invasive physiological biomarkers in fish nutrition and reproduction has been unveiled.

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças Este estudo teve como objetivo, identificar os determinantes da estrutura financeira das empresas portuguesas exportadoras para o mercado comunitário, que representa 80% do total das exportações nacionais. Assim, estudaram-se as 250 maiores empresas portuguesas exportadoras nesse segmento de mercado, de modo a identificar os principais condicionantes do financiamento da atividade dessas empresas e que possam dificultar a internacionalização dos competidores internacionais. Estudaram-se os dados económicos e financeiros do exercício mais recente com informação disponível (2015), sendo os resultados obtidos, comparados com os de outros estudos elaborados sobre o mesmo tema. Nos determinantes da estrutura financeira utilizaram-se as seguintes variáveis explicativas: o efeito de alavanca financeiro, a taxa efetiva de imposto, os outros benefícios fiscais, o custo de financiamento, o risco do negócio, a dimensão, as garantias colaterais, a reputação, os ativos intangíveis, a rendibilidade, o crescimento e o setor de atividade. De salientar que estas variáveis foram analisadas tendo em consideração o passivo total, o passivo de médio e longo prazo e o passivo de curto prazo. Os resultados obtidos, demonstraram, que as variáveis custos financeiros, garantias colaterais e rendibilidade (e o efeito de alavanca financeiro que lhe estava associado) eram significativas em todos os modelos estudados, condicionando claramente a estrutura financeira das empresas analisadas. Por outro lado, verificou-se que o risco de negócio, os ativos intangíveis e o ritmo de crescimento, não eram estatisticamente relevantes em nenhum dos modelos. Quanto à variável associada às especificidades dos setores de atividade, evidenciou que as características intrínsecas ao funcionamento de cada tipologia de negócio, condicionam as estruturas financeiras das empresas. Relativamente às restantes variáveis analisadas, não foram significativas em simultâneo nos três modelos utilizados. A taxa efetiva de imposto e a reputação condicionavam o nível de endividamento total e de curto prazo. Os outros benefícios fiscais e a Dimensão apresentavam uma relação significativa apenas com o passivo de médio e longo prazo. This study aimed to identify the determinants of the financial structure of Portuguese exporting companies to the Community market, which represent 80% of total national exports. Thus, we studied the 250 largest Portuguese exporting companies in this market segment, in order to identify the main constraints of the financing of the activity of these companies and that may hinder the internationalization of international competitors. The economic and financial data of the most recent exercise with available information (2015) were studied, and the results obtained, compared to other studies elaborated on the same theme. In the financial structure determinants, the following explanatory variables were used: financial leverage, effective tax rate, other tax benefits, financing cost, business risk, size, collateral guarantees, reputation, intangible assets, profitability, growth and the business sector. It should be noted that these variables were analyzed taking into account total liabilities, medium and long-term liabilities and short-term liabilities. The results showed that the variables financial costs, collateral guarantees and profitability (and associated leverage effect) were significant in all models studied, clearly determining the financial structure of the companies analyzed. On the other hand, it was verified that the business risk, the intangible assets and the growth rate, were not statistically relevant in any of the models. As for the variable associated with the specifics of the activity sectors, it was shown that the intrinsic characteristics of the operation of each type of business, condition the financial structures of the companies. Regarding the remaining variables analyzed, they were not significant simultaneously in the three models used. The effective tax rate and reputation conditioned the level of total and short-term indebtedness. The other tax benefits and the dimension had a significant relationship only with the medium and long-term liabilities.

Busulfan, a cytotoxic alkylating agent used for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia has effects in mammalian germ cells. In fish species, the use of this compound is of special interest in intra and interspecies germ cell transplants. To determine the effects of busulfan in fish a previous range finding experiment was designed. Survival and growth rate of 150-days after hatching (150DAH) Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) juveniles was determined. In a second experiment, the effects of a sublethal busulfan dose in fish germ cell depletion and in somatic tissues were analysed. Sublethal effects of several busulfan treatments (B10-10 days after injection, B20-20 days after injection, B20+-20 days after injection with double injection) were determined in somatic and gonadal tissues. Alterations were registered through histopathological techniques, TUNEL (cell apoptosis) and quantified at molecular level (Q-PCR analyses) using the vasa mRNAs (Ssvasa1-2 and Ssvasa3-4 mRNAs) as molecular markers for germinal cells in Senegalese sole juveniles. Several sublethal effects were observed with 40 mg kg-1 busulfan, a non-lethal dose, such as: pyknosis in liver, increase of melanomacrophage centres and blood stagnation in spleen and interruption of gonadal development. Females were more affected by busulfan treatments than males in terms of germ cell disruption, since a significant decrease in the expression of both Ssvasa1-2 and Ssvasa3-4 markers was found in the gonad of treated females rather than males. At 10 days post-treatment (B10), females already presented a decrease in germ cell proliferation, as confirmed by Q-PCR. Ssvasa expression proved to be a reliable tool for the direct evaluation of the effects of busulfan on Senegalese sole gonadal development, proving that busulfan can be a suitable treatment for causing transient sterility in recipient gonads for germ cell transplantation.

As leishmanioses são doenças causadas por protozoários do género Leishmania que são parasitas intracelulares obrigatórios das células fagocíticas. O objectivo deste estudo foi caracterizar a infecção por Leishmania infantum em murganhos BALB/c inoculados por via intradérmica, analisando a evolução do parasitismo e as respostas imunitárias desenvolvidas. A carga parasitária foi determinada por PCR em tempo real. Foram detectados parasitas desde o 7º dia pós‑infecção, verificando-se a disseminação visceral do parasita ao 56º dia pós-infecção. Os linfócitos dos animais do grupo infectado proliferaram em resposta à estimulação antigénica, enquanto que os macrófagos peritoneais produziram nitritos na presença do antigénio. Estes resultados demonstraram que os murganhos BALB/c inoculados por via intradérmica constituem um bom modelo experimental de leishmaniose visceral., Saúde & Tecnologia, N.º 05 (2011): Maio 2011

A malária é responsável pela morte de milhares de pessoas em todo o mundo. O bloqueio de transmissão do parasita ao vector, através da concepção de fármacos gametocitocidas, como é exemplo a primaquina, continua a ser uma das prioridades na luta contra a malária. Este trabalho apresenta os primeiros resultados sobre a actividade gametocitocida de novos derivados da primaquina – os primacenos – em murganhos infectados com P. berghei ANKA-GFP. Entre os seis compostos analisados, um deles bloqueou a transmissão em 100% dos casos estudados. A proteína verde fluorescente provou ser uma alternativa mais favorável na execução deste tipo de investigação, sobretudo na observação dos oocistos no intestino-médio dos mosquitos. Malaria is a disease that causes thousands of deaths all over the world. The blockage of the transmission of the parasite to mosquito vector, through gametocytocides drugs, such as primaquine, is still a priority in the fight against malaria. This work presents new results on the gametocytocide activity of novel primaquine derivatives – the primacenes – on murines infected with P. berghei ANKA-GFP. Among the six compounds analyzed, one of them achieved a parasite transmission blockage ratio of 100% of the study cases. The green fluorescent protein proved to provide significant advantage when conducting a study of this kind, particularly for detecting oocysts in the medium intestine of mosquitoes.

International audience

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Jurídico-Económicas (Economia Política), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Direito, 2010. Submitted by Marta Nogueira (mnogueira@reitoria.ul.pt) on 2010-12-14T11:01:49Z No. of bitstreams: 2 ulsd059132_td_tese_Rute_Saraiva.pdf: 8599571 bytes, checksum: 5eb34201b0750498c023a622aaa17cbe (MD5) ulsd059132_td_capa_Rute_Saraiva.pdf: 41148 bytes, checksum: 298534067eaf55054787c18ddc891a86 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2010-12-14T11:01:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ulsd059132_td_tese_Rute_Saraiva.pdf: 8599571 bytes, checksum: 5eb34201b0750498c023a622aaa17cbe (MD5) ulsd059132_td_capa_Rute_Saraiva.pdf: 41148 bytes, checksum: 298534067eaf55054787c18ddc891a86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010

The particular characteristics of fish embryos require the development of specific methods for cryopreservation. One of the main obstacles is related to the presence of membranes and compartments with different water and cryoprotectant permeability. To assess dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO4) permeability, we exposed turbot embryos (Scophthalmus maximus) at F stage (tail bud) to the cryoprotectant solutions used in a vitrification protocol and then evaluated the Me2SO4 content inside the embryo using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The Me2SO4 influx was analyzed in normal embryos and in embryos treated with pronase (2 mg/ml) in order to increase chorion permeability. The evaluation was made after each step of cryoprotectant incorporation and removal. Three embryo compartments were distinguished: the perivitelline space (PVS), the yolk sac (YS) and the cellular compartment (CC), and the relative volumes of each, estimated using stereoscopic microscopy imaging, were 11.37, 81.23 and 7.40%, respectively. The Me2SO4 concentration inside the embryos was calculated based on their entrance into one, two or three compartments. Results suggest high entrance of Me2SO4 into the PVS and a low concentration of this cryoprotectant inside the other compartments. Pronase did not significantly increase Me2SO4 influx, but facilitated its elimination during the washing steps., Sí

Sí

Sí