University patenting, licensing and technology transfer: how organizational context and available resources determine performance.

The paper assesses the performance of the technology licensing offices (TLO) and technology transfer offices (TTO) which have been active in Portuguese higher education institutions. Data stemming from a survey of these entities was analyzed in successive steps through factor analysis, cluster analysis and estimation of a model using the Partial-Least Squares methodology. It is shown that the institutional nature of each of the surveyed organizations implies different behaviours and outcomes. Further it has also became clear that the type of resources and activities in the surveyed organizations determine both their “primary outcome” (patent applications and technology transfer processes) and their “final outcome” (technology licensing contracts and technology-based spin-offs). The results of this paper might be particularly relevant for other similar economies as Portugal where high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries have not been dominant.technology transfer; university-industry relationships; university patenting; university spin-offs

Testing for tail breaks in currency returns

In this work project we study the tail properties of currency returns and analyze whether changes in the tail indices of these series have occurred over time as a consequence of turbulent periods. Our analysis is based on the methods introduced by Quintos, Fan and Phillips (2001), Candelon and Straetmans (2006, 2013), and their extensions. Specifically, considering a sample of daily data from December 31, 1993 to February 13, 2015 we apply the recursive test in calendar time (forward test) and in reverse calendar time (backward test) and indeed detect falls and rises in the tail indices, signifying increases and decreases in the probability of extreme events

Tumor microenvironment models: ex vivo, in vitro and in silico approaches to address targeted therapies

"Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide, despite the extraordinary advances in the last two decades due to the development of targeted therapies. These target particular molecules required for cell growth and tumorigenesis; nonetheless, de novo or acquired resistance to therapy often lead to patient relapse and disease progression. There is cumulating evidence supporting the importance of tumor microenvironment (TME)-driven mechanisms in cancer progression and drug resistance. Therefore, there is a need for cancer models in which critical components of the TME, such as the non-malignant cell types and the extracellular matrix (ECM), are represented and tissue architecture is maintained. (...)"N/

how public law can face social-ecological uncertainty in cities

As alterações climáticas representam um dos maiores desafios atuais para o Direito do Ambiente. Concomitantemente a esta realidade, o rápido crescimento das cidades, que albergam a maioria da população mundial, tem vindo a resultar na criação de mais desigualdades entre as suas populações. A complexidade dos diferentes sistemas sociais e ecológicos, a crescente instabilidade ambiental e a incerteza climática concorrem para uma necessidade premente em encontrar soluções para um futuro mais resiliente. Perante esta realidade, o Direito Público tem a oportunidade de desempenhar um papel de catalisador para a melhoria da qualidade ambiental e da vida das comunidades urbanas. No entanto, os Direitos Ambientais consagrados na maioria das constituições não se afiguram como suficientes para uma efetiva proteção dos sistemas socio-ecológicos, bem como para a promoção da respetiva resiliência. Deste modo, partindo da complexa realidade das cidades e procurando combater as vulnerabilidades nelas existentes, este estudo pretende sugerir a implementação de novos quadros jurídicos que, através de mecanismos mais adaptáveis de direito, permitam a efetivação de uma justiça para a resiliência socio-ecológica.Climate change is one of the biggest challenges for today’s Environmental Law. With this reality, the rapid growth of cities, where most of the world’s population lives, has resulted in the creation of more inequalities among their populations. The complexity of different social and ecological systems, growing environmental instability, and climate uncertainty urge for a need to find solutions for a more resilient future. Facing this background, Public Law has the opportunity to play a catalyst role in improving the environmental quality and life of urban communities. Nevertheless, environmental rights enshrined in most constitutions do not demonstrate to be sufficient for an effective protection of socio-ecological systems and for the promotion of their resilience. Thus, departing from the complex reality of the cities and intending to address existing vulnerabilities, this study aims to suggest the implementation of new legal frameworks that, through more adaptive mechanisms of law, allow the realisation of justice for socio-ecological resilience

Nurses’ and midwives’ perceptions and experiences about the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona work environment: implications for the internal marketing approach

Màster en Lideratge i Gestió d'Infermeria, Universitat de Barcelona. Escola Universitària d'Infermeria. curs: 2022-2023, Tutor: Paola Galbany EstraguésEach healthcare organisation should continuously monitor their nursing work environment to pursuit better outcomes and to improve the organisational attractiveness, quality of care and clinical safety. The acknowledgment of the unique dimensions of the institutional work environment enables the identification and development of strategies that may be applied to the workforce, with the ambition to fortify the organisation’s strengths and mitigate its weaknesses: but specially to meet nurses’ and midwives’ needs. Objective: The present research aims to comprehend the nurses’ and midwives’ perceptions and experiences about the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona work environment. Scope of research: The Hospital Clínic de Barcelona – a leading tertiary Spanish public healthcare institution where 30% of the workforce are nurses and midwives. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative study design with a Heideggerian phenomenological-hermeneutic approach (based on a constructivist paradigm), using a theoretical sampling and semi-structured in-depth interviews to enhance a holistic and interpretative understanding about the institutional nursing work environment. Applicability: Promote the development of an adjusted internal marketing plan according to the nurses’ and midwives’ needs, which might increase the organisational attractiveness of the institution, decrease the turnover rate and promote a higher retention of healthcare professionals

The acquisition ff Bg group by Royal Dutch Shell: the largest liquefied natural Gas company In the world

The acquisition of the BG Group by Royal Dutch Shell has created the largest liquefied natural gas company in the world, and it will be the first mega-merge in the industry for more than ten years. The reason for Royal Dutch Shell in purchasing the BG Group was to acquire Brazil’s vast oil reserves, focusing on deep water fields and liquefied natural gas, but also to achieve consolidation of the oil market in an attempt to mitigate the downgrade of oil price. (Appendix 1

Effects of the transfer design on post-training performance in elearning

Training in organizations is considered as a key factor for organizational development, and a tool for improving individual and organizational performance. However, training is only effective if knowledge and skills acquired during training are applied to the job, i.e., if the learning outcomes are transferred to workplace. Past research on the transfer of training has focused on various individual, group and organizational factors that before, during, and after training affect the probability that the acquired skills and knowledge are actually implemented in the workplace. Given the extant literature on the design of transfer, practitioners and training managers are prone to focus mostly on the training design itself and on the post-training procedures to enhance transfer. In order to contribute for studying the whole transfer processes in training activities, the main goal of this paper is to contribute for clarifying the effects of the design of learning transfer before and during eLearning training sessions. Results from an experimental study (N=115) show that the presence (vs. absence) of metacognitive orientations for transfer (design) before and during an e-learning. Session maximizes the effective transfer of learning. Specifically, participants who were instructed to mentally simulate a task in which they applied the skills learned in the training session performed better than those of the control group. This effect is moderated by perception of utility of training, in the sense that individuals who anticipated and mentally simulated task, and simultaneously perceived a greater utility of training, showed the highest performance. These results seem to highlight the importance of metacognitive dimension in the design of the transfer of learning, and especially of mental rehearsal of the use of skills and knowledge acquired in training.The practical implications of these results for enhancing the level of training transfer to the workplace are also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Development of an IoT platform to monitor storage conditions and packaging optimization in industry environment

Food production and storage is of major importance in the modern world. Markets and industry must guarantee supply to millions of people. Storing these quantities of food require a lot of management skills and large spaces with good conditions to ensure food quality. One particular area is the olive oil industry which requires large spaces and large tanks prepared with dozens of thousands of liters of capacity. This storage can sometimes create problems in the management caused by misinfor mation provoked by human error in checking storage the status. One such Institution where this problem has appeared is Cooperativa Agrícola de Beja e Brinches (CABB), Portugal, which inspired us to study and develop the product of this thesis. In CABB it was verified that sometimes, due to its storage conditions, the registered quantities of olive oil stored in the tanks would not correspond to the real state, sometimes varying as much as 20 000 liters. In this work, to facilitate olive oil management in CABB, we suggest the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. This can rectify the verification of quantities of olive oil stored in tanks and indirectly improve the quality of information needed for better management of olive oil. Tests revealed that the technology developed during this project might improve the functioning of CABB, making it better to read values associated to olive oil levels inside tanks.A produção e armazenamento de comida é de maior importância no mundo moderno, os mercados e a indústria têm de garantir produtos a milhões de pessoas. Armazenar estas quantidades de comida requer muita qualidade de gestão e largos espaços com boas condições para garantir a qualidade da comida. Uma indústria onde se verifica esta necessidade é na produção de azeite que necessita de grandes depósitos com dezenas de milhares de litros de capacidade. Este armazenamento pode por vezes criar problemas de gestão causados pela má informação provocada por erro humano. Uma das instituições onde se verificou o aparecimento deste problema foi na Cooperativa Agrícola de Beja e Brinches (CABB), Portugal, que nos inspirou para desenvolver o produto estudado nesta tese. Na CABB foi verificado que por vezes, dadas as condições de armazenamento, o registo de quantidades de azeite dentro dos tanques não corresponde ao estado real, por vezes com variação de valores acima dos 20000 litros. Neste documento, para facilitar a gestão de azeite na CABB sugerimos o uso de serviços de Internet of Things (IoT). O uso desta tecnologia pode retificar verificação de quantidades de azeite armazenado em tanques e indiretamente melhorar a qualidade de informação necessária para a gestão de azeite. Os testes revelam que a tecnologia desenvolvida durante o projeto poderá melhorar o funcionamento da CABB corrigindo a leitura de valores associados ao nível de azeite armazenado nos tanques