The choice of tax shields’ discount rate on firm valuation: Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa - Sociedade Gestora de Hospitais, S.A. case study

JEL Classification System: G24, G30, G31, G32, I10.This dissertation suggests that the tax savings, in firm valuation, are discounted at a rate computed through a model presented in the literature review1, which is different from the rates usually used for this purpose either by the top text books from, for example, Neves (2002), Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe (2005), Berk and DeMarzo (2011), and Brealey, Myers and Allen (2007) or the investment banks. In this model the necessity to fix a priori important parameters such as the interest rate, the debt level or the leverage ratio, and, consequently, the tax shields’ discount rate is challenged, assumptions that are required by Modigliani & Miller (1963), Harris & Pringle (1985), Miles & Ezzell (1980), among others. In this model all these parameters are endogenized. The only assumptions necessary are the risk free rate and the unlevered cost of capital, whereas the capital structure of the company is computed iteratively by the model. A graphic representation of the case study was built from which were drawn theoretical and practical inferences that can be generally used in any case. Moreover, an assessment on the pertinence of the model that determines the tax shields’ discount rate was made, as well as on how the model reconciles with the state of the art. Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa – Sociedade Gestora de Hospitais, S.A. (CVP-SGH,S.A.), a publicly unlisted company, became an interesting valuation case study when, in 2012, the cooperation agreement between CVP-SGH, S.A. and Administração Regional de Saúde de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (ARSLVT) was suspended after the recommendation of the Portuguese Audit Court of non-renewal of such agreement. In this scenario, CVP-SGH,S.A.’s EBIT drops abruptly to levels that no longer cover totally the interest expenses, which, as we will see, jeopardizes the adoption of the standard WACC valuation methodEsta dissertação propõe que as poupanças fiscais, na avaliação de empresas, sejam atualizadas a uma taxa calculada de acordo com um modelo apresentado para o efeito na revisão da literatura2, que é diferente das taxas usadas para este fim quer nos livros de texto de, por exemplo, Neves (2002), Ross, Westerfield e Jaffe (2005), Berk e DeMarzo (2011) e Brealey, Myers e Allen (2007), quer pela banca de investimento. Neste modelo a necessidade de fixar a priori parâmetros tão importantes como a taxa de juro, o nível da dívida ou o rácio de endividamento e, consequentemente, a taxa de atualização das poupanças fiscais é desafiada, pressupostos requeridos por Modigliani & Miller (1963), Harris & Pringle (1985), Miles & Ezzell (1980), entre outros. Neste modelo todos estes parâmetros são endogeneizados É apenas necessário, como pressuposto, a taxa livre de risco e o custo do capital não alavancado, não sendo necessário a estrutura de capital da empresa, uma vez que esta é determinada iterativamente pelo modelo. É feita uma representação gráfica do estudo de caso, a partir da qual são retiradas ilações teórico-práticas aplicáveis genericamente a qualquer outro caso e feito um juízo sobre a pertinência da utilização do modelo de determinação da taxa de atualização especifica para as poupanças fiscais e a forma como ele se concilia com o estado da arte. A Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa - Sociedade Gestora de Hospitais, SA (CVP-SGH, SA), uma empresa não cotada em bolsa, tornou-se um caso de estudo interessante quando, em 2012, o acordo de cooperação entre a CVP-SGH, S.A. e Administração Regional de Saúde de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (ARSLVT) foi suspenso devido a uma recomendação do Tribunal de Contas Português de não renovação de tal contrato. Neste cenário, o EBIT da CVP-SGH, S.A. cai abruptamente para níveis que não cobrem totalmente os encargos financeiros, o que põe em risco a adoção do standard WACC como método de avaliação

Make the most of each order, by boosting cross-selling strategies: Worten Use Case

Project Work presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Driven Marketing, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceWorten prioritizes metrics such as Items per Order and Average Order Value, highlighting the urgency to achieve predefined objectives. Over the past year, a dedicated focus has been directed towards addressing a challenge in Worten's e-commerce operations: the lack of a clear strategic plan to leverage omnichannel opportunities for optimizing each customer order. As an e-commerce specialist at Worten, my tasks focus on optimizing the user's online journey. This includes identifying key touchpoints for implementing attachment strategies like cross-selling initiatives. The research question, “How to make the most of each order by boosting cross-selling strategies?” aligns perfectly with my responsibilities, making it an ideal fit for this project and enabling me to leverage my expertise for enhanced contributions to the company. As the Worten Marketplace integrates new product categories due to its expansion, strategic planning becomes increasingly crucial. Therefore, conducting a study to analyze all customer touchpoints is essential for identifying the most strategic stages to implement cross-selling initiatives across different categories and offer types. Given these considerations, this project aims to address these gaps and provide actionable insights to optimize cross-selling efforts in Worten's e-commerce operations. Additionally, it seeks to identify potential business opportunities in various categories. The selected method for this study was the Market Basket Analysis technique, also known as Association Rule Mining, chosen for its business adaptability and simplicity. Throughout the project, I will use the term 'Market Basket Analysis' to distinguish association rules from other types of rules, such as sequential rules. But, it’s important to note that both terms, Market Basket Analysis and Association rules, can be used interchangeably. The goal was to identify associations among items frequently purchased together. In this case, the focus is on discovering patterns within the smartphones category, the chosen segment for this project. After obtaining the patterns, two separate A/B tests were conducted for iOS devices and Smart Android DSIM, separately. Each test included one control and one experimental group, aiming to discover user preferences for purchasing compatible or original accessories with each smartphone type. Significantly, the iOS experiment exhibited superior performance in the experimental variant containing insights from the Market Basket Analysis, prompting the team to optimize the strategy based on the gathered insights. Thus, this project has proven to be a relevant and initial strategy for studying and identifying patterns in customer behavior. Most importantly, it will help us uncover behavioral patterns in newer categories such as home and decor, sports, beauty—categories experiencing constant growth

Inditex croup equity research - multiples and sensitivity analysis

The aim of this Master thesis is to present a fair valuation of Inditex, a Global Fashion Retail group, headquartered in Spain, and operating in a completely new era of fast fashion, where technology leads the sector ahead of time. The Group is a recognized giant of the Apparel industry, performing its activity in 92 markets, with more than 7300 stores, where almost 4900 are located in Europe. Not to mention, the diversified concept inherent to each of the eight brands owned by Inditex, from more accessible to exclusive high-quality products: Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Zara Home, Oysho, Massimo Dutti and Uterqüe. Highlight, that Zara is responsible for almost 70% of the total revenues generated. Following the initial purpose, it was performed an extensive investigation on Inditex, analysing the current macroeconomic situation, together with the industry mains risks and future perspectives of growth, not disregarding the Group’s key competitors and its influence on the market. All of this, in order to be able to ground the two valuation approaches, Discounted Cash Flow and the Multiples valuation, although only the last one is developed in this report. Leading us to choose a TOP 6, of comparable companies grounded on the EBITD A margin, Revenue growth and Debt-to-Equity factors, which highlighted the fact that the market is undervaluing the stock and, that the comparables are providing biased results, influenced by the current Pandemic crisis. As a projected target price varying from 15,33€to 23,48€,according to the EV/EBIT multiple, much below the perspective price. In this way, the results were challenged through a sensitivity analysis, where the major risks where considered, culminating into the conclusion that only another wave of the COVID-19 virus, the prolongation of the economic recover until 2023, or an increase in Cost of Goods Sold mainly due to cost inefficiency and sustainability expenses, could lead the recommendation to change, to Sell and Hold, respectively .In addition, we considered a delay in the vaccine efficacy, which led us to conclude the delay cannot be higher than 6 months for the investor to profit in terms of capital and dividend gains. Leading to the affirmation that Inditex will be able to overcome these uncertainties and deliver a 17,40% return to the investors at the end of 2021, through our main valuation approach, analysed in the principal report (annexed).Hence, we reinforce our Buy recommendation

Antioxidantes em frutos e vegetais

O oxigénio é um elemento necessário à sobrevivência da maioria dos seres vivos. Contudo, este pode revelar-se tóxico, provocando a oxidação e a destruição celular. Em consequência desta oxidação formam–se, a partir do oxigénio molecular (O2), grupos de átomos extremamente reactivos – os radicais livres. A oxidação, tanto dos tecidos animais como dos tecidos vegetais, pode ocorrer tanto como resultado do simples metabolismo celular aeróbio formando os designados radicais livres endógenos, como também pelas agressões externas ao organismo que levam à formação dos radicais livres exógenos (Plummer, 1989)

The impact of gender on the first phase of hiring process: field experiments in Portugal

Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão.This paper focuses on the first phase of the hiring process and tries to understand whether there is discrimination in gender and which main determinants are behind this process. The hiring process is presently the least studied aspect in the labor relationship. This lack of awareness is due to the difficulty in gathering data on the processes that occur at the initial stage of hiring. We conducted a correspondence test, sending more than two thousand applications to randomly assigned men and women with Portuguese Master 's degrees and/or foreign Master 's degrees. The current study revealed clear differences between female and male applicants. Our findings provided significant evidence that, when two identical applicants are interested in the same job advertisement, the male and female applicant would receive similar replies, but the female would have higher probabilities of callbacks for an interview. This means that women are not at a disadvantage in getting offers. We find that women applicants are more likely to receive callbacks, with higher estimated probabilities in female dominated occupations when applying for management levels. Inversely, small companies discriminate more against women. Our results indicate that employers give preference to female candidates who have invested in their human capital. During this crisis period, unemployment is one of the worst features affecting the workforce. Our results indicate that employers are not "forgetting women" and women are not discriminated during the first phase of the hiring process. It is clear that gender discrimination is a reality in the labor market when viewed in long term career, but not during the admission phase.Este trabalho aborda a primeira fase do processo de selecção e recrutamento e tenta perceber se há discriminação por género, e quais são os principais determinantes por trás deste processo. O processo de selecção e recrutamento é presentemente o aspecto menos estudado da relação de trabalho. Este desconhecimento deve-se à dificuldade de recolha de dados sobre os processos que ocorrem na fase de selecção e recrutamento. Realizou-se um teste de correspondência, com mais de duas mil respostas a anúncios, feitos por mulheres e homens com mestrado concluído em Portugal e com mestrado realizado fora de Portugal. Os resultados revelam diferenças entre as mulheres e os homens candidatos. Dos quatro candidatos envolvidos num anúncio de emprego, os candidatos do sexo masculino e feminino recebem respostas semelhantes, mas as mulheres apresentam maiores probabilidades de serem chamadas para entrevista. Estes resultados mostram que as mulheres não estão em desvantagem no processo de recrutamento. As mulheres são mais propensas a receber convites para entrevistas, com maior probabilidade nas ocupações onde as mulheres estão em maioria, e para níveis executivos. Inversamente, as mulheres são mais discriminadas pelas pequenas empresas. Os resultados indicam que os empregadores dão preferência a candidatos do sexo feminino que tenham investido em capital humano. Neste período de crise, o desemprego é um dos piores atributos que atingem aforça de trabalho. Os resultados indicam que os empregadores não estão a esquecerse das mulheres, e que estas não estão a sofrer discriminação na primeira fase do processo de selecção e recrutamento. Fica claro que a discriminação entre géneros é uma realidade no mercado de trabalho, ao longo da carreira, mas não na fase de entrada.N/

Multiple sclerosis: oligoclonal IgG bands, prevalence, prognosis and effect of latitude

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A filosofia inclusiva : um estudo qualitativo sobre as perspectivas de alunos com e sem necessidades educativas especiais que frequentam escolas regulares

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização de Dificuldades de Aprendizagem Específicas)Uma peça fundamental da filosofia que é a inclusão são os alunos e, como tal, é essencial que estes possam perspectivar os seus sentimentos acerca deste tema e, fundamentalmente, sobre as decisões educativos às quais estão sujeitos. Assim, este estudo teve por finalidade contribuir para a sistematização e o aprofundamento do conhecimento das perspectivas dos alunos com e sem necessidades educativas especiais (NEE) sobre o tema da filosofia da inclusão. Pretendi compreender o tema em estudo através dos olhos dos próprios alunos. No contexto da paradigma naturalista e utilizando a entrevista semi-estruturada como instrumento de recolha dos dados, recolhi as perspectivas de 13 alunos com idades compreendidas entre os nove e treze anos, sete dos quais sem NEE e seis com NEE. Os dados obtidos foram analisados através da técnica de análise de conteúdo e são apresentados sob a forma de dois estudos de caso. Posteriormente, realizo o cruzamento dos dados, com o objectivo de analisar diferenças e similaridades entre os participantes, recorrendo, sempre que possível, à literatura estudada como forma de complementar a informação. Por fim, apresento o conhecimento adquirido com este estudo sob a forma de conclusões e recomendações. Analisando as perspectivas dos alunos com e sem NEE, conclui-se que: os alunos com e sem têm um percurso diário semelhante; os alunos contactam com meios inclusivos desde o início do seu percurso escolar; os alunos com NEE têm a noção das suas dificuldades académicas; os alunos percepcionam as diferentes funções do professor de educação especial e do professor de turma; os alunos sem NEE percepcionam o termo NEE como ligado a dificuldades de nível académico e de aprendizagem; os alunos com NEE não têm conhecimento do significado do termo NEE; os alunos do 1º Ciclo percepcionam o professor de educação especial como um apoio para todos; os alunos desenvolvem relações de entreajuda nas salas de aula; e os alunos com e sem NEE desenvolvem relações de amizade no recinto escolar. Devo sublinhar que é necessário que sejam feitas investigações que possibilitem explorar as perspectivas dos alunos no sentido de as incorporarmos nas decisões que são tomadas relativamente à sua educação de todos os alunos. A análise das suas perspectivas permitirá que os professores e os restantes profissionais que fazem parte das equipas multidisciplinares criem um ambiente verdadeiramente inclusivo para todos os alunos (Clark, 2008).A fundamental part of philosophy of inclusion which is the pupils themselves and it is essential that they can look to their feelings about this and, crucially, on the educational decisions which are subject to. This study aims to contribute to the systematization of knowledge and deepen the perspectives of students with and without special needs on the topic of the philosophy of inclusion. I pretended to understand the subject under study through the eyes of students. In the context of the naturalistic paradigm and using the semi-structured instrument for collecting data, gathered the perspectives of 13 students with aged between nine and thirteen, seven of them without SEN and six with SEN. The data were analyzed using the technique of content analysis are presented in the form of case studies. Later, I realize the crossing data, in order to analyze differences and similarities among participants, using, where possible, the literature as a complement to information. Finally, I present the knowledge gained from this study in the form of conclusions and recommendations. Analyzing the prospects of students with and without special needs, it is concluded that: students have a similar commute; contact with students means inclusive since the beginning of their schooling; pupils with SEN are aware of their academic difficulties; the students perceive the different functions of the special education teacher and the class teacher; pupils without SEN perceive the term SEN as linked to academic difficulties and learning; pupils with SEN do not know the meaning of the term SEN; students of the 1st Cycle perceive the special education teacher as a support for all; students develop mutual relations in the classroom; and students develop friendships in the school building. We can say that they must be made to enable investigations to explore the perspectives of students in order to incorporate the decisions that are made in their education, either in regard to regular students, or students eligible for special education. By analyzing their perceptions will allow teachers and technicians who are part of multidisciplinary teams to create a truly inclusive environment for all students (Clark, 2008)

Redução de crenças obsessivas. Estudo comparativo dos resultados do treino de modificação do viés cognitivo vs. exposição num impulso de agressão

Antecedentes: O treino de modificação do viés cognitivo (CBM-I) foi desenvolvido para ajudar a estabelecer o papel causal do processamento cognitivo na manutenção de perturbações psicopatológicas. Objetivo: No presente estudo propusemo-nos comparar um paradigma de treino de modificação de viés cognitivo, concebido para modificar o viés de interpretação associado às crenças de tipo obsessivo-compulsivo (OC), com a exposição, considerada a técnica mais eficaz para a redução dos sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos, na resposta dos indivíduos perante um impulso de agressão. Método: Foram selecionados a partir do Inventário de Intrusões Obsessivas (ROII), 60 indivíduos sem diagnóstico psicopatológico que informassem ter experienciado pelo menos uma intrusão de agressão na vida. Os participantes, maioritariamente licenciados, residentes no Algarve e com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 56 anos, foram aleatoriamente atribuídos a duas condições experimentais: treino de modificação do viés cognitivo (CBM-I) e exposição. Foi avaliado o efeito de ambas as técnicas em medidas de viés de interpretação, crenças obsessivas, sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos e na resposta perante intrusões de agressão. Resultados: Os participantes de ambas as condições evidenciaram uma redução nas crenças OC após a manipulação experimental; no entanto, o viés de interpretação diminuiu apenas nos participantes do treino CBM-I. Conclusões: ambas as estratégias parecem eficazes para modificar de forma seletiva as crenças OC, no entanto apenas o treino CBM-I parece modificar o viés de interpretação de crenças de importância e necessidade de controlar o pensamento.Background: Cognitive bias modification training (CBM-I) was developed to help establish the causal role of cognitive processing in the maintenance of psychopathological disorders. Objective: In the present study we proposed to compare a cognitive bias modification training paradigm, designed to modify the interpretation bias associated with obsessive-compulsive (OC) beliefs, with exposure, considered the most effective technique for reducing the obsessive-compulsive symptoms, in the response of the individuals before an impulse of aggression. Method: 60 individuals without psychopathological diagnosis were selected from the Inventory of Obsessive Intrusions (ROII) who reported experiencing at least one intrusion of aggression in life. The participants was mostly with a degree, residents in Algarve and were between 18 and 56 years old, were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: training of cognitive bias modification (CBM-I) and exposure. We evaluated the effect of both techniques on measures of interpretation bias, obsessive beliefs, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and response to aggression intrusions. Results: Participants of both conditions evidenced a reduction in OC beliefs after experimental manipulation; however, the interpretation bias decreased only in CBM-I training participants. Conclusions: Both strategies seem to be effective in selectively modifying OC beliefs. However, only CBM-I training seems to modify the belief interpretation bias of importance and need to control thought

Monitoring of Ultrafine Particles in the Surrounding Urban Area of In-Land Passenger Ferries

The authors would like to thank the TTSL (Transtejo e Soflusa) for giving us access to a private location for measurements in ferry terminal of Montijo.Maritime transportation, widely used both in international transport of goods and touristic purposes, has been identified as a significant source of ultrafine particles (UFP). In-land passenger ferry is a source of UFP far less addressed; however, in locations with relatively high frequency of this transportation mode, it is expected that they contribute to an increase of their concentration. Moreover, the negative effects of UFP on human health and environment are known and therefore, monitoring UFP produced by ferries is vital to assess the degree of exposure of who work or live close to ferries’ terminals or downwind to their cruising path. This work aims to study the influence of in-land ferries activities on UFP in the urban/suburban areas near ferries’ terminals and downwind across the cruising path. The UFP monitoring campaign was carried out from September to December 2018 for 19 non-consecutive periods. The sampling sites were chosen in order to maximize measurements under downwind conditions and allow the association between ferry operation and UFP concentration response. Based on data collected, correlation analysis was performed between ferry’s traffic and particle number counting (PNC) of UFP, and also with meteorological variables. Results show an increase in PNC ranging from 25 to 197% during the third minute around a ferry movement and are moderate to positive significant correlations between PNC values and the number of ferry operations (r = 0.79 to r = 0.94), showing that UFP emitted by in-land ferries contributes to PNC increase. Moreover, negative correlations (r = -0.85 to r = -0.93) between PNC and wind intensity were also found.publishersversionpublishe

Medicina de Precisão nos Cancros Genito-Urinários

Introdução: O cancro afeta uma proporção significativa da população e acarreta morbilidade e mortalidade elevadas. Os cancros genito-urinários (rins, urotélio, pro´stata, pénis e testículo) são uma área desafiante da Urologia, com impacto socioeconómico relevante. Em estádios avançados as opções terapêuticas são limitadas. Na última década tem havido um grande esforço na investigação nesta área. A medicina de precisão é uma abordagem inovadora que procura otimizar o plano terapêutico, adaptando-o ao doente e à sua patologia, e que poderá ser relevante nos cancros genitourinários. Objetivos: Apresentar as estratégias terapêuticas atuais nos cancros genito-urinários e descrever o estado da arte da medicina de precisão nesta área. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma pesquisa sistemática da literatura através de várias bases de dados, tendo-se pesquisado pelos termos “precision medicine”, “precision oncology”, “genitourinary”, “bladder”, “penile”, “prostate”, “renal”, “testicle” e “urothelial". Selecionaram-se apenas artigos publicados entre 01/01/2011 e 29/01/2021 e escritos em inglês, português ou espanhol. Consultaram-se os websites da Associação Portuguesa de Urologia, Acta Urológica Portuguesa, European Association of Urology e European Society for Medical Oncology para completar a pesquisa bibliográfica e para aceder às guidelines mais recentes nesta área. Resultados: Ainda há muito para compreender na patogénese dos cancros genitourinários, mas os avanços recentes na análise genética e molecular têm permitido diminuir esta limitação. A evidência existente relativamente à medicina de precisão nos cancros genito-urinários é, em geral, fraca, principalmente no que toca aos biomarcadores preditivos e prognósticos. Os tratamentos mais promissores são os inibidores da PARP, da tirosina-cinase, da mTOR, do PD-L1 e da CTLA-4, mas existem outros atualmente em investigação. Conclusões: As atuais aplicações da medicina de precisão são muito assimétricas entre os diversos cancros genito-urinários, com alguns onde a evidência é reduzida e outros onde já se utilizam terapêuticas de medicina de precisão. Há ainda um grande potencial de desenvolvimento desta área nestes cancros. É necessário continuar a investir na investigação de biomarcadores e intervenções terapêuticas. É também essencial desvendar a complexidade da heterogeneidade intratumoral e descobrir formas de a superar.Introduction: Cancer affects a significant proportion of the population and carries high morbidity and mortality. Genitourinary cancers (kidney, urothelium, prostate, penis and testicle) are a challenging field of Urology and have a high socio-economic impact. In advanced stages the therapeutic options are limited. In the past decade, there has been a huge effort in research in this field. Precision medicine is an innovative approach that attempts to optimize therapeutic interventions, adapting them to the patient and their disease. It may become a relevant approach in genitourinary cancers. Objectives: Presenting the current therapeutic strategies in genitourinary cancers and describing the state of the art of precision medicine in this field. Methodology: A systematic literature review was performed using various databases, by searching for the terms “precision medicine”, “precision oncology”, “genitourinary”, “bladder”, “penile”, “prostate”, “renal”, “testicle” and “urothelial". Only articles published between 01/01/2011 and 29/01/2021 and written in English, Portuguese or Spanish were selected. A search of the websites of Associação Portuguesa de Urologia, Acta Urológica Portuguesa, European Association of Urology and European Society for Medical Oncology was conducted to complete the literature review and access the latest guidelines in this field. Results: There is still a lot to be understood about the pathogenesis of genitourinary cancers. However, recent breakthroughs in genetic and molecular analysis allowed us to lessen this limitation. The existing evidence on precision medicine in genitourinary cancers is generally weak, particularly regarding predictive and prognostic biomarkers. The most promising treatments are PARP, tyrosine kinase, mTOR, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, but there are other treatments currently being researched. Conclusions: The current application of precision medicine in genitourinary cancers is quite asymmetrical between the different tumors, given that for some the evidence is small and for others there are already some precision medicine treatments being used. There is still great potential for the development of this field in genitourinary cancers. We must keep investing in the research of biomarkers and therapeutical options. It is also key that we unveil the complexity of intratumoral heterogeneity and discover ways to overcome it