Bank Efficiency and Default in Brazil: Causality Tests

Periods of Financial Stability are associated to low bank efficiency and high non-performing loans in credit portfolios. Therefore, this paper studies the relationship between bank efficiency and non-performing loans. To evaluate the bank efficiency, we employ a Data Envelopment Analysis. We employ the Arelano-Bond dynamic panel approach and a panel-VAR to test whether non-performing loans Granger cause bank efficiency (bad luck hypothesis) or whether bank efficiency affects loan quality (management with risk aversion). Empirical results for the Brazilian case corroborate the second hypothesis.

Prevalence and Factors Related to Anaemia in Children Aged 6–59 Months Attending a Quaternary Health Facility in Maputo, Mozambique

Globally, anaemia prevails as a public health issue, being also a concern in Mozambique, where about two-thirds of children 6-59 months of age are affected by this condition. We carried out this study to estimate anaemia prevalence and evaluate structural determinants and haematological parameters association among children aged 6-59 months attending pediatric inpatient and outpatient services in a Quaternary Health Facility in Maputo City Province, Mozambique. We collected data from 637 inpatients or outpatients who attended pediatric consultations at the Maputo Central Hospital. The overall rate of anaemia in children aged 6-59 months was 62.2% (396/637), with 30.9% moderate anaemia (197/637), 23.9% mild anaemia (152/637), and 7.4% severe anaemia (47/637). Among our study participants, critical factors for anaemia were those concerning the age group, child´s caregiver schooling, malaria and size of the liver.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Supercritical fluid processing of natural based polymers doped with ionic liquids

Some approaches have been developed in our group to investigate the role of ionic liquids as process and property modifiers of natural-based polymers. In our previous work, we proposed the use of ionic liquids as plasticizing agents for the creation of porous structures from a semi-crystalline natural-based polymer. The current work intended to complement the previous studies, evaluating the ability of ionic liquid (IL) to plasticize blends of starch with poly (lactic) acid, with different ratios of starch and PLA of 50:50 and 30:70, and its effect on supercritical fluid foaming process (SCF) and providing more insights on the mechanisms involved. For this purpose, SPLA blends were modified and processed using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl). Supercritical fluid foaming was studied at different soaking times (1, 3 and 6 h) using carbon dioxide at 20.0 MPa and 40 oC. The blends were characterized by different techniques, such as infra-red spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and compression and tensile mechanical analysis. The morphology of the foamed structures was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography. The results suggest that after 3h of soaking time an equilibrium state of carbon dioxide into the bulk samples is attained, yielding structures with 6% and 15% of porosity, for SPLA70 and SPLA50 respectively. The solubility of carbon dioxide withinthe matrices was studied for the same conditions and the results demonstrate a higher sorption degree in the samples doped with ionic liquid. Sorption and desorption diffusion coefficients of supercritical CO2 in the SPLA matrix were determined for the raw polymer and for the SPLA doped with [bmim]Cl. It was found that the lower desorption diffusion coefficients are related with the higher porosity obtained by the foaming process.The research leading to these results has received funding from Fundacao da Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) through the project ENIG-MA - PTDC/EQU-EPR/121491/2010 and from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS. Marta Martins and Rita Craveiro are grateful for financial support from Fundacao da Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) through the Grants BIM/PTDC/EQUEPR/121491/2010/ENIGMA and PTDC/EQUEPR/12191/2010/ENIGMA

Participação da comunidade educativa na gestão escolar

This text discusses the modes of participation of the education community in school management, examining a dimension that has long been present in the Portuguese political agenda. It centers on the analysis of the organizational dimension of 297 Portuguese schools, based on information made available in the external assessment reports for the academic years of 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. The corpus analyzed made it possible to fulfill two of the central axes of the participation processes: the mode of integration of the community involved in school life, and the processes and limitations inherent to the participation of two groups of agents – those in charge of education and the pupils. Despite the fact that the various images of school organization present in the external assessment reports are similar, the differentiating aspects are significant. The participation processes are not equally consolidated across the different school organizations and their respective territories, and we witness the growing importance of the presence of the various agents in the tasks of school management. This involvement implies a knowledge that has to be increasingly deeper about the processes of construction of cultural learning that permeate the schools. It is possible to detect the presence of different agents in the schools investigated, which follows a change of conception of educative community encompassing pupils, teachers, those in charge of education, and the surrounding community in which schools are inserted

A avaliação externa das escolas como processo social

O artigo propõe uma análise crítica sobre os relatórios de avaliação externa como instrumentos com uma papel activo na (re)construção social das escolas. Tem como base empírica uma investigação sobre os contextos institucionais das escolas do ensino básico e secundário em Portugal que aborda a relação entre as políticas educativas, os modelos de organização, os perfis de liderança e o sucesso escolar e versa sobre dois grandes eixos analíticos: uma reflexão sobre uma das dimensões dos relatórios de avaliação externa das escolas – a participação dos vários agentes na vida das escolas; a percepção dos dirigentes das escolas sobre a avaliação externa. A investigação tem por base uma análise de conteúdo dos relatórios da avaliação externa das escolas realizada pela Inspecção-Geral da Educação nos anos de 2007, 2008 e 2009 das regiões de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Alentejo e Algarve e um conjunto de entrevistas semidirectivas aos directores e aos presidentes dos conselhos gerais de 20 escolas

Safety of Ocrelizumab in Patients With Relapsing and Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis; Patient safety; Medical careEsclerosis múltiple; Seguridad del paciente; Atención médicaEsclerosi múltiple; Seguretat del pacient; Atenció mèdicaBackground and Objectives To report safety of ocrelizumab (OCR) up to 7 years in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) enrolled in clinical trials or treated in real-world postmarketing settings. Methods Safety analyses are based on integrated clinical and laboratory data for all patients who received OCR in 11 clinical trials, including the controlled treatment and open-label extension (OLE) periods of the phase 2 and 3 trials, plus the phase 3b trials VELOCE, CHORDS, CASTING, OBOE, ENSEMBLE, CONSONANCE, and LIBERTO. For selected adverse events (AEs), additional postmarketing data were used. Incidence rates of serious infections (SIs) and malignancies were contextualized using multiple epidemiologic sources. Results At data cutoff (January 2020), 5,680 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) received OCR (18,218 patient-years [PY] of exposure) in clinical trials. Rates per 100 PY (95% confidence interval) of AEs (248; 246–251), serious AEs (7.3; 7.0–7.7), infusion-related reactions (25.9; 25.1–26.6), and infections (76.2; 74.9–77.4) were similar to those within the controlled treatment period of the phase 3 trials. Rates of the most common serious AEs, including SIs (2.01; 1.81–2.23) and malignancies (0.46; 0.37–0.57), were consistent with the ranges reported in epidemiologic data. Discussion Continuous administration of OCR for up to 7 years in clinical trials, as well as its broader use for more than 3 years in the real-world setting, are associated with a favorable and manageable safety profile, without emerging safety concerns, in a heterogeneous MS population. Classification of Evidence This analysis provides Class III evidence that long-term, continuous treatment with OCR has a consistent and favorable safety profile in patients with RMS and PPMS. This study is rated Class III because of the use of OLE data and historical controls.This work was supported by financial support from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland, for the study and publication of the manuscript

Fundamental studies on natural deep eutectic solvents: physico-chemical, thermal and rheological properties

When combined at particular molar fractions, sugars, aminoacids or organic acids a present a high melting point depression, becoming liquids at room temperature. These are called Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents – NADES and are envisaged to play a major role on the chemical engineering processes of the future. Nonetheless, there is a significant lack of knowledge of its fundamental and basic properties, which is hindering their industrial applications. For this reason it is important to extend the knowledge on these systems, boosting their application development [1]. In this work, we have developed and characterized NADES based on choline chloride, organic acids, amino acids and sugars. Their density, thermal behavior, conductivity and polarity were assessed for different compositions. The conductivity was measured from 0 to 40 °C and the temperature effect was well described by the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation. The morphological characterization of the crystallizable materials was done by polarized optical microscopy that provided also evidence of homogeneity/phase separation. Additionally, the rheological and thermodynamic properties of the NADES and the effect of water content were also studied. The results show these systems have Newtonian behavior and present significant viscosity decrease with temperature and water content, due to increase on the molecular mobility. The anhydrous systems present viscosities that range from higher than 1000Pa.s at 20°C to less than 1Pa.s at 70°C. DSC characterization confirms that for water content as high as 1:1:1 molar ratio, the mixture retains its single phase behavior. The results obtained demonstrate that the NADES properties can be finely tunned by careful selection of its constituents. NADES present the necessary properties for use as extraction solvents. They can be prepared from inexpensive raw materials and tailored for the selective extraction of target molecules. The data produced in this work is hereafter importance for the selection of the most promising candidates avoiding a time consuming and expensive trial and error phase providing also data for the development of models able to predict their properties and the mechanisms that allow the formation of the deep eutectic mixtures.Rita Craveiro and Alexandre Paiva are grateful for financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the grants PTDC/EQUEPR/12191/2010/ENIGMA and SFRH/BPD/44946/2008. The research leading to these results has received funding from through the projects ENIGMA - PTDC/EQU-EPR/121491/2010, PTDC/QUI-QUI/119210/2010, PTDC/EQUEQU/122106/2010, PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2013 from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS and from Project “Novel smart and biomimetic materials for innovative regenerative medicine approaches (Ref.: RL1 - ABMR - NORTE-01-0124-FEDER-000016)” co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Design of controlled release systems for THEDES - therapeutic deep eutectic solvents, using supercritical fluid technology

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) can be formed by bioactive compounds or pharmaceutical ingredients. A therapeutic DES (THEDES) based on ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and menthol was synthesized and its thermal behavior was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A controlled drug delivery system was developed by impregnating a starch:poly-ϵ-caprolactone polymeric blend (SPCL 30:70) with the menthol:ibuprofen THEDES in different ratios (10 and 20 wt%), after supercritical fluid sintering at 20 MPa and 50 °C. The morphological characterization of SPCL matrices impregnated with THEDES was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Drug release studies were carried out in a phosphate buffered saline. The results obtained provide important clues for the development of carriers for the sustainable delivery of bioactive compounds.Projects ENIGMA - PTDC/EQU-EPR/121491/2010, PTDC/QUI-QUI/119210/2010, PTDC/EQU-EQU/122106/2010, PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2013 from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° REGPOT - CT2012-316331-POLARIS and from Project “Novel smart and biomimetic materials for innovative regenerative medicine approaches (Ref.: RL1 - ABMR - NORTE-01-0124-FEDER-000016)” co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2–O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Influence of natural deep eutectic systems in water thermal behavior and their applications in cryopreservation

Natural deep eutectic systems (NADES), which have applications as solvents for both engineering and life sci-ences, are mainly composed of sugars, aminoacids or organic acids. In this work NADES composed by glucose,urea and proline (G:U:P in a molar ratio of 1:1:1) and proline and glucose (P:G 5:3) were prepared and addedin different mass fractions to water.By differential scanning calorimetry it was verified as the crystallization tendency of water is modified even forlow fraction of NADES added. This is also observed by polarized optical microscopy which allowed followingthe formation of crystals with different crystalline morphologies as bulk water. Calorimetric data also shown asthe crystallization temperature decreases for all P:G mixtures and this shift is more accentuated for weight frac-tion of NADES higher than 0.5. Crystallization is totally suppressed for NADES fraction higher than 0.7.NADES/water mixtures cytotoxicity was evaluated in vitro, revealing that they are less toxic as compared withthe commonly used cryoprotective additives as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Additionally, cell viability testswith cell lines cryopreserved using DMSO and both the prepared NADES showed comparable viability.This work combines thermophysical data on NADES and evaluates itâ s in vitro performance, providing cues fortheir use in cryopreservation applications.European Union Horizon 2020 Program under the agreement number ERC-2016-CoG 725034 (ERC Consolidator Grant Des.solve). This research was also funded by PTDC/EQU-EQU/29851/2017. A. Paiva acknowledges the financial support from project IF/01146/2015 attributed within the 2015 FCT researcher program. This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry - LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020

Chancen und Grenzen nichtfachlicher Beratung in stationären Pflegeeinrichtungen am Beispiel eines eigenen Coaching-Prozesses

nicht vorhande