On the use of the MOORA method in the selection of investment projects

As is well known, when faced with the problem of decision-making, involving several (eventually conflicting) objectives evaluated according to several criteria, multi-criteria analysis is one of the most appropriate methodologies to support the decision. The flexibility of multi-criteria decision analysis/making is one of its most recognized characteristics, which comes from the various methods that can be considered. Among them is the so-called MOORA (as the initials of Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis) method.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Viés de confirmação na tomada de decisões de inovação

Potential innovators need to overcome many challenges. One such challenge is confirmation bias in decision-making. Human evolution has programmed the brain to act quickly in the face of a threat in the environment. In this way, thinking and (instantaneously) acting rationally is almost impossible for most people. This causes several negative effects on decision-making, notably cognitive biases. For example, an entrepreneur who wants to launch a new product on the market tends to convince herself/himself that her/his product is innovative, ignoring evidence to the contrary, this being a confirmation bias. An innovative analysis of the causes and consequences of the confirmation bias in innovation decision-making is the main goal of this article.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neuroeconomics: decisions in extreme situations

The role of the electorate has been confirmed as fundamental to the development of democratic countries. However, governments and large corporations have increasingly intervened in the decision-making capacity of the voters who are now seen as “customers”. This is the starting point for this article that will discuss the power of external influence in the decision-making process of the act the polling day and the importance of the context effect in the decision-making process of individuals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Economic policy uncertainty and stock return momentum

This paper investigates the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU), an index capturing newspaper coverage of policy-related issues, and momentum profits. Momentum remains an unexplained anomaly. Our findings reveal a statistically negative association between EPU and hedge momentum portfolios. The short side portfolio dominates this effect as compared to the long side. EPU is statistically significant after controlling for macroeconomic variables. Further-more, the paper conducts a battery of time series analysis, which highlights that EPU has a causal relationship with the hedge portfolio in the short run. On the other hand, the hedge portfolio has along-term relationship with EPU, not the other way around.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Asymmetric Combination of Logics is Functorial: A Survey

Asymmetric combination of logics is a formal process that develops the characteristic features of a specific logic on top of another one. Typical examples include the development of temporal, hybrid, and probabilistic dimensions over a given base logic. These examples are surveyed in the paper under a particular perspective—that this sort of combination of logics possesses a functorial nature. Such a view gives rise to several interesting questions. They range from the problem of combining translations (between logics), to that of ensuring property preservation along the process, and the way different asymmetric combinations can be related through appropriate natural transformations

Regional Income Convergence in Portugal (1991-2002)

Our research aims to address the problem of inequality in income distribution from a different perspective than the usual. We intend to verify if geography influences the pattern of inequality, that is, if the standard of living varies from region to region and if, in the process of growth, spatial units in Portugal have been converging in terms of most relevant variables, such as income. We search the answers to these questions by introducing the treatment of convergence between smaller territorial units, the municipalities as individuals. We intend to evaluate convergence or divergence in income growth and test empirically the theoretical hypothesis that β-convergence, although necessary, is not a sufficient condition for σ-convergence. To study convergence, we use information about GDP and wages for NUTS III regions, and wages for municipalities. We observe spatial dependence between municipalities, so we estimate spatial econometric models to test convergence. With regard to conditional convergence between municipalities, the model most appropriate is the one which includes in the explanatory variables the weight of primary sector employment, leading us to conclude that this variable distinguishes the "steady state" of the small economies. Variables like the activity rate and percentage of active population with higher education also reveal highly significant on the growth of wages, reflecting the different contexts of the labor market at regional level

Completeness and decidability results for hybrid(ised) logics

Adding to the modal description of transition structures the ability to refer to specific states, hybrid(ised) logics provide an interesting framework for the specification of reconfigurable systems. The qualifier ‘hybrid(ised)’ refers to a generic method of developing, on top of whatever specification logic is used to model software configurations, the elements of an hybrid language, including nominals and modalities. In such a context, this paper shows how a calculus for a hybrid(ised) logic can be generated from a calculus of the base logic and that, moreover, it preserves soundness and completeness. A second contribution establishes that hybridising a decidable logic also gives rise to a decidable hybrid(ised) one. These results pave the way to the development of dedicated proof tools for such logics used in the design of reconfigurable systems

Immunogenicity of influenza H1N1 vaccination in mixed connective tissue disease: effect of disease and therapy

OBJECTIVE: To assess the potential acute effects regarding the immunogenicity and safety of non-adjuvanted influenza A H1N1/2009 vaccine in patients with mixed connective tissue disease and healthy controls. METHODS: Sixty-nine mixed connective tissue disease patients that were confirmed by Kasukawa's classification criteria and 69 age- and gender-matched controls participated in the study; the participants were vaccinated with the non-adjuvanted influenza A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) virus-like strain. The percentages of seroprotec-tion, seroconversion, geometric mean titer and factor increase in the geometric mean titer were calculated. The patients were clinically evaluated, and blood samples were collected pre- and 21 days post-vaccination to evaluate C-reactive protein, muscle enzymes and autoantibodies. Anti-H1N1 titers were determined using an influenza hemagglutination inhibition assay. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01151644. RESULTS: Before vaccination, no difference was observed regarding the seroprotection rates (p = 1.0) and geometric mean titer (p = 0.83) between the patients and controls. After vaccination, seroprotection (75.4% vs. 71%, (p = 0.7), seroconversion (68.1% vs. 65.2%, (p = 1.00) and factor increase in the geometric mean titer (10.0 vs. 8.0, p = 0.40) were similar in the two groups. Further evaluation of seroconversion in patients with and without current or previous history of muscle disease (p = 0.20), skin ulcers (p = 0.48), lupus-like cutaneous disease (p = 0.74), secondary Sjogren syndrome (p = 0.78), scleroderma-pattern in the nailfold capillaroscopy (p = 1.0), lymphopenia #1000/mm³ on two or more occasions (p = 1.0), hypergammaglobulinemia $1.6 g/d (p = 0.60), pulmonary hypertension (p = 1.0) and pulmonary fibrosis (p = 0.80) revealed comparable rates. Seroconversion rates were also similar in patients with and without immunosuppressants. Disease parameters, such as C-reactive protein (p = 0.94), aldolase (p = 0.73), creatine phosphokinase (p = 0.40) and ribonucleoprotein antibody levels (p = 0.98), remained largely unchanged pre and post-vaccination. No severe side effects were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The non-adjuvanted influenza A/H1N1 vaccination immune response in mixed connective tissue disease patients is adequate and does not depend on the disease manifestations and therapy

Epistemic logics with structured knowledge

Multi-agent Dynamic Epistemic Logic, as a suitable modal logic to reason about knowledge evolving systems, has emerged in a number of contexts and scenarios. The agents knowledge in this logic is simply characterised by valuations of propositions. This paper discusses the adoption of other richer structures to make these representations, as graphs, algebras or even epistemic models. This method of building epistemic logics over richer structures is called “Epistemisation”. On this view a parametric method to build such Epistemic Logics with Public Announcements is introduced. Moreover, a parametric notion of bisimulation is presented, and the modal invariance of the proposed logics, with respect to this relation, are proved. Some interesting application horizons opened with this construction are stated.publishe