Reward systems and career planning for executives: a comparative analysis with special reference to the post and telecommunication industries of Portugal and Britain

The subject matter of the thesis is, firstly, the comparison of career planning and pay policies for Postal and Telecommunications Industries of Portugal and Britain. Secondly, to offer some recommendations appropriate to the Portuguese case in the context of re-evaluating career planning and salary policies and practices for senior management staff. The objective and importance to Portugal of the study is described in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 attempts to characterize the importance of career planning and pay policies for organisations and describe its main elements. Problems related to data collection within organisations and methodology of the study concerning a management survey carried out at the Portuguese organisation about career planning and pay policy and practices are referred to in Chapter 3. The descriptive results of data collection at The British Post Office ( Chap. 4 ), at British Telecom (Chap. 5) and at CTT, the Portuguese organisation (Chap. 6), are compared in Chapter 7. The results of the management survey at CTT (Chap. 8) related with the literature reviewed contribute to the establishment of a conceptual framework for redesigning career planning and pay policies and identify relevant areas for further research (Chap. 9) before the Portuguese organisation decides in what direction they want to develop a model for career-development and pay systems for its Executives and Senior Managers. The principal research findings from this study must be seen in the context of Portuguese economic development and culture and the absence hitherto of systematic research into management topics including human resource management. Explanations have been developed for the understanding of the differences in' organisational practices using an integrated model relevant both to an international context and to a national one. The study using international comparisons highlights the importance of language and concepts as applied to management (starting with the difficulty of translating the term "management" in Portuguese). A comprehensive framework was developed in order to re-evaluate Portuguese practices concerning career development and pay systems, not only to the specific case of CTT but also as a general methodology that can be applied to Portuguese organisations of a similar nature. Finally, this study is useful in confirming the results of previous research studies conducted in other countries that effective career development and pay policies require an appropriate top management strategy and a strong commitment to Human Resource policy

Another off-label novel oral anticoagulant to HIT cardiac surgery patients

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Bank Governance and Performance: A Survey of the Literature

This paper seeks to review the theoretical and empirical literature on the relationship between bank governance and performance, providing a comprehensive understanding of the existing research and offering guidance for investors and regulators on the major points of consensus and disagreement among researchers on this issue. Although the question of what determines the levels of firms’ performance, with special emphasis on the role of the corporate governance, has long been the subject of substantial academic research, it gained increased attention in the banking industry in the last decade due to a series of financial scandals and, more recently, to the global financial crisis. In fact, in the wake of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, bank corporate governance mechanisms received heightened attention, accompanied by the renewed interest in the degree of effectiveness of such mechanisms, and their impact on performance. Given the vast number of influences on corporate performance, such as the numerous characteristics of the board of directors, there is an abundant literature on the determinants of performance. Thus, this paper tries to bring together this diverse body of knowledge into a coherent whole. Banks have unique attributes that interfere with the way in which the usual corporate governance mechanisms work. Thus, the main differences between banks and non-financial firms, which justify that some of the regularities found in the literature on the relationship between a set of corporate governance mechanisms and performance do not hold for banks, are also analysed. Then, we extensively review the literature on the board of directors and its impact on performance in the financial crisis and non-financial crisis periods. Finally, we also survey the (very) scarce research on the relationship between board characteristics and bank failures.This research has been financed by the European Regional Development Fund through COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by Portuguese public funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006890.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A novel de novo HDAC8 missense mutation causing Cornelia de Lange syndrome

Background: Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is a rare and clinically variable syndrome characterized by growth impairment, multi-organ anomalies, and a typical set of facial dysmorphisms. Here we describe a 2-year-old female child harboring a novel de novo missense variant in HDAC8, whose phenotypical score, according to the recent consensus on CdLS clinical diagnostic criteria, allowed the diagnosis of a non-classic CdLS. Methods: Clinical exome sequencing was performed on the trio, identifying a de novo heterozygous variant in HDAC8 (NM_018486; c. 356C>G p.Thr119Arg). Molecular modeling was performed to evaluate putative functional consequence of the HDAC8 protein. Results: The variant HDAC8 c.356C>G is classified as pathogenic following the ACMG (American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics)/AMP (Association for Molecular Pathology) guidelines. By molecular modeling, we confirmed the deleterious effect of this variant, since the amino acid change compromises the conformational flexibility of the HDAC8 loop required for optimal catalytic function. Conclusion: We described a novel Thr119Arg mutation in HDAC8 in a patient displaying the major phenotypic traits of the CdLS. Our results suggest that a modest change outside an active site is capable of triggering global structural changes that propagate through the protein scaffold to the catalytic site, creating de facto haploinsufficiency

Perpendicular momentum injection by lower hybrid wave in a tokamak

The injection of lower hybrid waves for current drive into a tokamak affects the profile of intrinsic rotation. In this article, the momentum deposition by the lower hybrid wave on the electrons is studied. Due to the increase in the poloidal momentum of the wave as it propagates into the tokamak, the parallel momentum of the wave increases considerably. The change of the perpendicular momentum of the wave is such that the toroidal angular momentum of the wave is conserved. If the perpendicular momentum transfer via electron Landau damping is ignored, the transfer of the toroidal angular momentum to the plasma will be larger than the injected toroidal angular momentum. A proper quasilinear treatment proves that both perpendicular and parallel momentum are transferred to the electrons. The toroidal angular momentum of the electrons is then transferred to the ions via different mechanisms for the parallel and perpendicular momentum. The perpendicular momentum is transferred to ions through an outward radial electron pinch, while the parallel momentum is transferred through collisions.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

A novel developmental encephalopathy with epilepsy and hyperkinetic movement disorders associated with a deletion of the sodium channel gene cluster on chromosome 2q24.3

We reported a 21 months-old boy with a complex epilepsy phenotype, developmental delay, and hyperkinetic movement disorders, associated with a deletion of the whole sodium channel gene cluster. Whether this unusual phenotype results from leading to haploinsufficiency of either SCN1A or SCN2A, or the combination of both, remains subject of speculation. However, nobody of the numerous reported patients with truncating mutations in SCN1A has ever manifested such a clinical phenotyp

Pulmonary Rehabilitation in lung cancer

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents a very severe disease, being its incidence increasingly reported and, nowadays, successfully treatable only when surgery is deemed to be feasible. Furthermore, the disease and the clinical effects related to the complementary therapies (radio and/or chemotherapy) may strongly affect, frequently with dramatic clinical side effects, the patient’s ability to endure physical exercise. In such context, the PR(PR), which has already been proved to be useful and effective in other diseases such as COPD, could play a pivotal role. The aim of this review article is, therefore, to analyze the pertinent data recently reported in English literature in order to highlight the role of rehabilitation as complementary therapy in the management of patients with NSCLC. The evidence currently available suggests that, when surgery is indicated, PR is a safe and feasible option, both during pre-operative and post-operative timing.The safety and feasibility of rehabilitation are proven even in inoperable patients, although to date, little evidence has been reported on its role in the overall management of such complex diseases

F-024TIME-TREND ANALYSIS OF THE PULMONARY FUNCTION AFTER SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR OESOPHAGEAL CANCER: POTENTIALITY AND ROLE OF PULMONARY REHABILITATION

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Genetic susceptibility to malignant pleural mesothelioma and other asbestos-associated diseases.

Exposure to asbestos fibers is a major risk factor for malignant pleuralmesothelioma (MPM), lung cancer, and other non-neoplastic conditions, such as asbestosis and pleural plaques. However, in the last decade many studies have shown that polymorphism in the genes involved in xenobiotic and oxidative metabolism or in DNA repair processes may play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of these diseases. To evaluate the association between diseases linked to asbestos and genetic variability we performed a review of studies on this topic included in the PubMed database. One hundred fifty-nine citations were retrieved; 24 of them met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated in the review. The most commonly studied GSTM1 polymorphism showed for all asbestos-linked diseases an increased risk in association with the null genotype, possibly linked to its role in the conjugation of reactive oxygen species. Studies focused on GSTT1 null and SOD2 Ala16Val polymorphisms gave conflicting results, while promising results came from studies on a1-antitrypsin in asbestosis and MPO in lung cancer. Among genetic polymorphisms associated to the risk of MPM, the GSTM1 null genotype and two variant alleles of XRCC1 and XRCC3 showed increased risks in a subset of studies. Results for the NAT2 acetylator status, SOD2 polymorphism and EPHX activity were conflicting. Major limitations in the study design, including the small size of study groups, affected the reliability of these studies. Technical improvements such as the use of high-throughput techniques will help to identify molecular pathways regulated by candidate genes