O processo de internacionalização do grupo Casais: sequencial ou irregular?

O fenómeno da globalização, a liberalização dos mercados e a eliminação de “fronteiras” entre países colocaram novos desafios às empresas portuguesas, com muitas delas a encarar esses desafios como oportunidades. Desta forma, estas acabam por ponderar a exploração de mercados externos, iniciando a internacionalização. À medida que o número de empresas que se internacionalizaram aumenta, a relevância dos estudos referentes aos processos de internacionalização também aumenta. Utilizando a metodologia de estudo de caso, procedemos à análise do processo de internacionalização do Grupo Casais, uma empresa portuguesa do setor da Construção e Engenharia. Após estudar o processo, chegamos à conclusão de que o processo de internacionalização do Grupo Casais é sequencial, estando intimamente ligado à Teoria das Redes devido à presença da organização em redes que facilitam o acesso à informação sobre os mercados externos e a entrada nos mesmos.The phenomenon of globalization, the liberalization of markets and the elimination of “borders” between countries have set new challenges for Portuguese companies, with many of them seeing these challenges as opportunities. So they end up considering the exploration of foreign markets, starting the internationalization process. As the number of companies that have internationalized increases, the relevance of studies regarding internationalization processes also increases. Using the case study methodology, we proceeded to analyze the internationalization process of the Grupo Casais, a Portuguese company in the Construction and Engineering sector. After studying the process, we have concluded that the internationalization process of the Grupo Casais Casais is gradual, being closely linked to the Networks Theory due to the presence of the company in networks that facilitate access to and information about foreign markets

A Particle Model for Prediction of Cement Infiltration of Cancellous Bone in Osteoporotic Bone Augmentation.

PMC3693961Femoroplasty is a potential preventive treatment for osteoporotic hip fractures. It involves augmenting mechanical properties of the femur by injecting Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement. To reduce the risks involved and maximize the outcome, however, the procedure needs to be carefully planned and executed. An important part of the planning system is predicting infiltration of cement into the porous medium of cancellous bone. We used the method of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to model the flow of PMMA inside porous media. We modified the standard formulation of SPH to incorporate the extreme viscosities associated with bone cement. Darcy creeping flow of fluids through isotropic porous media was simulated and the results were compared with those reported in the literature. Further validation involved injecting PMMA cement inside porous foam blocks - osteoporotic cancellous bone surrogates - and simulating the injections using our proposed SPH model. Millimeter accuracy was obtained in comparing the simulated and actual cement shapes. Also, strong correlations were found between the simulated and the experimental data of spreading distance (R2 = 0.86) and normalized pressure (R2 = 0.90). Results suggest that the proposed model is suitable for use in an osteoporotic femoral augmentation planning framework.JH Libraries Open Access Fun

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

EFFECTS of ENDOTHELIN-1 ON the ISOLATED GUINEA-PIG ILEUM - ROLE of NA+ IONS

Endothelin-1 induced an unusual transient biphasic effect (relaxation followed by contraction) in the isolated guinea-pig ileum. the contractile component of the response was concentration-dependent in the dose range studied, but the relaxant component was not. Neuronal mechanisms and cyclic GMP do not seem to be involved in the relaxing effect since this component was not affected by either tetrodotoxin, atropine or methylene blue. Endothelin-1 induced desensitization which was well characterized for the contractile component of the response, and was only partially reversed after a 3-h resting period. the effects of endothelin-1 were particularly sensitive to decreases in the Na+ gradient induced either by lowering the Na+ concentration in the medium or by treating the tissue with ouabain or by a previous treatment with acetylcholine. Amiloride partially inhibited the response induced by endothelin-1 indicating that Na+ channels and/or Na+ /H+ exchange are probably involved in its action. Our results suggest that the contractile response induced by endothelin-1 in the isolated guinea-pig ileum depends greatly on Na+ ions, in contrast to the responses observed in vascular smooth muscle.ESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,DEPT BIOPHYS,CP 20388,BR-04034 São Paulo,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,DEPT BIOPHYS,CP 20388,BR-04034 São Paulo,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,DEPT BIOPHYS,CP 20388,BR-04034 São Paulo,BRAZILWeb of Scienc

CONFORMATION of ANGIOTENSIN-II in AQUEOUS-SOLUTION - TITRATION of SEVERAL PEPTIDE ANALOGS and HOMOLOGS

ESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,04023 São Paulo,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,04023 São Paulo,BRAZILWeb of Scienc

SYNTHESIS of OCTANOYL[8-LEUCYL]ANGIOTENSIN II, A LIPOPHILIC ANGIOTENSIN ANTAGONIST

ESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,São Paulo 04023,SP,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,São Paulo 04023,SP,BRAZILWeb of Scienc

HOMOLOGOUS DESENSITIZATION of the EFFECTS of ENDOTHELIN ON RABBIT AORTA RINGS and ON CULTURED RAT AORTA SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS

ESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,DEPT BIOFIS,CP 20388,BR-04034 São Paulo,SP,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH,DEPT BIOFIS,CP 20388,BR-04034 São Paulo,SP,BRAZILWeb of Scienc