The merger of Total Portugal and CEPSA

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThe main objective of the case is to understand the rationale of the merger between Total Portugal and CEPSA Portugal, with special focus in the motivations and integration process. The project is divided in two parts. In the first part the case is presented through an overview of the companies and the oil industry, description of the merger, motivations and integration process. The second part is related to the discussion of the topics employing the findings of the literature review related with M&A’s, and it addresses the following topics: synergies, integration, and performance and consequences

O Parque Natural Hidrogeológico de Moura : contributos para a sua definição

O aquífero carbonatado cársico de Moura-Ficalho é uma das mais importantes reservas de água na região do Alentejo. A área caracteriza-se por condições climatéricas, geográficas, geológicas, e um potencial hídrico que a tornam ideal para o estudo de metodologias aplicadas à gestão de sistemas cársicos em regiões secas, mas com importante procura de água. Por sua vez os aquíferos cársicos são sistemas complexos e extremamente vulneráveis à contaminação e a alterações originadas pelas acções do homem nos ecossistemas locais, sendo por este motivo crucial a análise entre outros das fontes de contaminação, das áreas preferenciais de recarga e das direcções locais e regionais de fluxo. Estas razões justificaram a criação da figura de Parque Natural Hidrogeológico, o qual à semelhança de outros parques para outros recursos naturais, permitirá a protecção de um recurso natural sensível. Nesse contexto reveste-se de grande importância o estudo dos fenómenos e a evolução natural, sem restrições à priori quanto ao uso do solo. Tudo se passa como se o Parque Natural Hidrogeológico funcionasse como um Laboratório natural, à escala real, onde as interacções entre as componentes do ciclo hidrológico, as actividades humanas e os ecossistemas são estudados como um todo. Esta abordagem requer a análise do ciclo hidrológico em corte vertical entre a baixa atmosfera e a base dos aquíferos. É portanto uma abordagem mais rica que as abordagens clássicas nas quais o ciclo hidrológico é interrompido no topo dos aquíferos. De forma a preservar a perspectiva global do ciclo é necessário conhecer os fenómenos nas zonas de transição: atmosfera - água (fundamentalmente entre a zona vadosa e a zona saturada); água superficial - água subterrânea. Nestas zonas de transição as alterações das condições físicoquímicas são acompanhadas por alterações bióticas importantes. Dadas as relações entre a componente biótica e abiótica, uma não deve ser estudada sem o conhecimento da outra. Os ecossistemas nas zonas de transição são designados de ecotopos. Uma vez que os ecotopos são ecossistemas contínuos, isto é, não há variações abruptas no número e diversidade de indivíduos, então também as variações físico-químicas devem ser contínuas. O estudo dos ecotopos ajuda a perceber as transições contínuas nas zonas de interface, sem que haja a necessidade de impor fronteiras discretas - é portanto uma abordagem mais perfeita para o carácter contínuo dos processos naturais. As metodologias usadas para o estudo do Parque permitirão desenvolver ferramentas integradas de gestão, tecnicamente mais evoluídas uma vez que consideram o ciclo hidrológico como contínuo. Estas ferramentas poderão então ser utilizadas como auxiliares de decisão. O cruzamento de informação entre os regimes de protecção especial já implementados ou a implementar e as novas áreas de protecção dos recursos hídricos será facilitada pela presença de variáveis repetidas em ambos. Deve referir-se que a metodologia proposta utiliza a caracterização dos ecossistemas como um meio e não como um fim. A caracterização hidrológica do sistema terá um carácter multidisciplinar pelo uso integrado de diversas técnicas e métodos: geofísica, detecção remota, análise de imagem, geoestatística, morfologia matemática, análise multivariada de dados, modelação matemática

Patient-physician discordance in assessment of adherence to inhaled controller medication: a cross-sectional analysis of two cohorts

We aimed to compare patient's and physician's ratings of inhaled medication adherence and to identify predictors of patient-physician discordance.(SFRH/BPD/115169/2016) funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT); ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) through the operations: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029130 ('mINSPIRERS—mHealth to measure and improve adherence to medication in chronic obstructive respiratory diseases—generalisation and evaluation of gamification, peer support and advanced image processing technologies') cofunded by the COMPETE2020 (Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização), Portugal 2020 and by Portuguese Funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identification of clusters of asthma control: A preliminary analysis of the inspirers studies

This work was funded by ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) through the operations: POCI- -01-0145-FEDER-029130 (“mINSPIRERS—mHealth to measure and improve adherence to medication in chronic obstructive respiratory diseases - generalisation and evaluation of gamification, peer support and advanced image processing technologies”) co-funded by the COMPETE2020 (Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização), Portugal 2020 and by Portuguese Funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia).© 2020, Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clinica. All rights reserved. Aims: To identify distinct asthma control clusters based on Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) and to compare patients’ characteristics among these clusters. Methods: Adults and adolescents (≥13 years) with persistent asthma were recruited at 29 Portuguese hospital outpatient clinics, in the context of two observational studies of the INSPIRERS project. Demographic and clinical characteristics, adherence to inhaled medication, beliefs about inhaled medication, anxiety and depression, quality of life, and asthma control (CARAT, >24 good control) were collected. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using CARAT total score (CARAT-T). Results: 410 patients (68% adults), with a median (percentile 25–percentile 75) age of 28 (16-46) years, were analysed. Three clusters were identified [mean CARAT-T (min-max)]: cluster 1 [27(24-30)], cluster 2 [19(14-23)] and cluster 3 [10(2-13)]. Patients in cluster 1 (34%) were characterised by better asthma control, better quality of life, higher inhaler adherence and use of a single inhaler. Patients in clusters 2 (50%) and 3 (16%) had uncontrolled asthma, lower inhaler adherence, more symptoms of anxiety and depression and more than half had at least one exacerbation in the previous year. Further-more, patients in cluster 3 were predominantly female, had more unscheduled medical visits and more anxiety symp-toms, perceived a higher necessity of their prescribed inhalers but also higher levels of concern about taking these inhalers. There were no differences in age, body mass index, lung function, smoking status, hospital admissions or specialist physician follow-up time among the three clusters. Conclusion: An unsupervised method based on CARAT--T, identified 3 clusters of patients with distinct, clinically meaningful characteristics. The cluster with better asthma control had a cut-off similar to the established in the validation study of CARAT and an additional cut-off seems to distinguish more severe disease. Further research is necessary to validate the asthma control clusters identified.publishersversionpublishe

António Rodrigues (1954-2008): In Memoriam

O presente número da revista Arte Teoria é um número atípico. Por várias razões: em primeiro lugar, porque é o primeiro que não tem o Prof. Doutor José Fernandes Pereira como director.Com efeito, no momento em que iniciamos uma nova etapa, não podemos deixar de lhe prestar a mais absoluta homenagem e expressar apenas um desejo: que a sua ausência institucional não seja demasiado notada, e que a qualidade e dinâmica que imprimiu à revista possam continuar, bem como o seu apoio prestigiado, tanto a nível pessoal como universitário. Em segundo lugar, porque se trata de uma homenagem in Memoriam ao colega e amigo Prof. Doutor António Rodrigues, professor da Faculdade de Belas Artes, historiador e crítico de arte, que desapareceu acerca de dois anos, vítima de doença, e que pelo seu inesperado, nos deixou a todos incrédulos e demasiado tristes. O resultado do nosso esforço de preservação de alguma da memória que o António representou, está à vista: a forma admirável e solícita como os seus amigos responderam, só os prestigia e diz muito acerca do homenageado.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interaction Design, user experience & Urban Creativity scientific journal : screens and beyond

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Efficacy and safety of sparsentan versus irbesartan in patients with IgA nephropathy (PROTECT): 2-year results from a randomised, active-controlled, phase 3 trial

BackgroundSparsentan, a novel, non-immunosuppressive, single-molecule, dual endothelin angiotensin receptor antagonist, significantly reduced proteinuria versus irbesartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker, at 36 weeks (primary endpoint) in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy in the phase 3 PROTECT trial's previously reported interim analysis. Here, we report kidney function and outcomes over 110 weeks from the double-blind final analysis.MethodsPROTECT, a double-blind, randomised, active-controlled, phase 3 study, was done across 134 clinical practice sites in 18 countries throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Patients aged 18 years or older with biopsy-proven primary IgA nephropathy and proteinuria of at least 1·0 g per day despite maximised renin–angiotensin system inhibition for at least 12 weeks were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive sparsentan (target dose 400 mg oral sparsentan once daily) or irbesartan (target dose 300 mg oral irbesartan once daily) based on a permuted-block randomisation method. The primary endpoint was proteinuria change between treatment groups at 36 weeks. Secondary endpoints included rate of change (slope) of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), changes in proteinuria, a composite of kidney failure (confirmed 40% eGFR reduction, end-stage kidney disease, or all-cause mortality), and safety and tolerability up to 110 weeks from randomisation. Secondary efficacy outcomes were assessed in the full analysis set and safety was assessed in the safety set, both of which were defined as all patients who were randomly assigned and received at least one dose of randomly assigned study drug. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03762850.FindingsBetween Dec 20, 2018, and May 26, 2021, 203 patients were randomly assigned to the sparsentan group and 203 to the irbesartan group. One patient from each group did not receive the study drug and was excluded from the efficacy and safety analyses (282 [70%] of 404 included patients were male and 272 [67%] were White) . Patients in the sparsentan group had a slower rate of eGFR decline than those in the irbesartan group. eGFR chronic 2-year slope (weeks 6–110) was −2·7 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year versus −3·8 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (difference 1·1 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year, 95% CI 0·1 to 2·1; p=0·037); total 2-year slope (day 1–week 110) was −2·9 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year versus −3·9 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (difference 1·0 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year, 95% CI −0·03 to 1·94; p=0·058). The significant reduction in proteinuria at 36 weeks with sparsentan was maintained throughout the study period; at 110 weeks, proteinuria, as determined by the change from baseline in urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, was 40% lower in the sparsentan group than in the irbesartan group (−42·8%, 95% CI −49·8 to −35·0, with sparsentan versus −4·4%, −15·8 to 8·7, with irbesartan; geometric least-squares mean ratio 0·60, 95% CI 0·50 to 0·72). The composite kidney failure endpoint was reached by 18 (9%) of 202 patients in the sparsentan group versus 26 (13%) of 202 patients in the irbesartan group (relative risk 0·7, 95% CI 0·4 to 1·2). Treatment-emergent adverse events were well balanced between sparsentan and irbesartan, with no new safety signals.InterpretationOver 110 weeks, treatment with sparsentan versus maximally titrated irbesartan in patients with IgA nephropathy resulted in significant reductions in proteinuria and preservation of kidney function

Sparsentan in patients with IgA nephropathy: a prespecified interim analysis from a randomised, double-blind, active-controlled clinical trial

Background: Sparsentan is a novel, non-immunosuppressive, single-molecule, dual endothelin and angiotensin receptor antagonist being examined in an ongoing phase 3 trial in adults with IgA nephropathy. We report the prespecified interim analysis of the primary proteinuria efficacy endpoint, and safety. Methods: PROTECT is an international, randomised, double-blind, active-controlled study, being conducted in 134 clinical practice sites in 18 countries. The study examines sparsentan versus irbesartan in adults (aged ≥18 years) with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy and proteinuria of 1·0 g/day or higher despite maximised renin-angiotensin system inhibitor treatment for at least 12 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive sparsentan 400 mg once daily or irbesartan 300 mg once daily, stratified by estimated glomerular filtration rate at screening (30 to 1·75 g/day). The primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline to week 36 in urine protein-creatinine ratio based on a 24-h urine sample, assessed using mixed model repeated measures. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were safety endpoints. All endpoints were examined in all participants who received at least one dose of randomised treatment. The study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03762850. Findings: Between Dec 20, 2018, and May 26, 2021, 404 participants were randomly assigned to sparsentan (n=202) or irbesartan (n=202) and received treatment. At week 36, the geometric least squares mean percent change from baseline in urine protein-creatinine ratio was statistically significantly greater in the sparsentan group (-49·8%) than the irbesartan group (-15·1%), resulting in a between-group relative reduction of 41% (least squares mean ratio=0·59; 95% CI 0·51-0·69; p<0·0001). TEAEs with sparsentan were similar to irbesartan. There were no cases of severe oedema, heart failure, hepatotoxicity, or oedema-related discontinuations. Bodyweight changes from baseline were not different between the sparsentan and irbesartan groups. Interpretation: Once-daily treatment with sparsentan produced meaningful reduction in proteinuria compared with irbesartan in adults with IgA nephropathy. Safety of sparsentan was similar to irbesartan. Future analyses after completion of the 2-year double-blind period will show whether these beneficial effects translate into a long-term nephroprotective potential of sparsentan. Funding: Travere Therapeutics