Communication plan of Sonae Sierra´s gift card surprise

JEL: M30, M31, M37, M39The purpose of this master's thesis was the development of a Communication Plan for the Surprise Gift Card, a product that will soon be launched by the Sonae Sierra Company. After a thorough evaluation of the financial trends of the Gift Vouchers sales (B2B and B2C), the company found that it was necessary to replace the current voucher for the card format and, at this moment, it is in development the future Surprise Gift Card (B2C model). With respect to the product Surprise, it is facing a problem of seasonality and its degree of notoriety in the market is very low compared with other competitors. Given this situation, this present communication plan will have two main objectives: to enhance brand awareness and increase purchase intention of the brand in the target audience. To support the plan it was necessary to conduct a profound analysis of the external and internal environment to the product Surprise, using primary and secondary data, which allowed reaching a set of insights and conclusions. Therefore, the Surprise Gift Card communication plan drawn up for one year, consisted of a large range of promotional activities and brand activations, as well as, in combining different communication tools in order to create an integrated and effective plan, taking into account the proposed goals.O propósito desta tese de mestrado consistiu no desenvolvimento de um Plano de Comunicação para o Cartão Presente Surprise, um produto que brevemente será lançado pela empresa Sonae Sierra. Na sequência de uma profunda análise das vendas do negócio dos Cheques-Prenda (B2B e B2C), a empresa considerou necessário proceder à substituição do atual cheque-prenda para o formato cartão e, neste momento encontra-se em desenvolvimento o futuro Cartão Presente Surprise (modelo B2C). No que diz respeito ao produto Surprise, o mesmo depara-se com um problema de sazonalidade, além de que o seu grau notoriedade no mercado é muito baixo, comparativamente com outros concorrentes. Perante esta situação, o presente plano de comunicação terá dois principais objetivos: aumentar o reconhecimento da marca e aumentar a intenção de compra da marca por parte da audiência alvo. Para suportar o plano foi necessário proceder a uma profunda análise do ambiente externo e interno ao produto Surprise, utilizando dados primários e secundários, que permitiram chegar a um conjunto de perceções (insights) e conclusões. Deste modo, o plano de comunicação elaborado para o Cartão Presente Surprise durante um ano, consistiu numa diversificação de ações promocionais e ativações de marca, bem como na combinação das diferentes ferramentas de comunicação de forma a criar um plano integrado e eficaz, tendo em conta os objetivos propostos

um estudo de caso aplicado à Cooperativa dos Pedreiros

Este estudo pretende aferir a relevância das reservas na estrutura financeira da cooperativa e compará-las com a relevância das reservas numa sociedade comercial, de idêntica estrutura financeira. Para o efeito, depois de uma reflexão sobre o tratamento jurídico e contabilístico das reservas nas cooperativas, procede-se a um estudo empírico, tendo por referência a Cooperativa dos Pedreiros. Tendo em conta um conjunto de vertentes construídas a partir do enquadramento jurídico e contabilístico – constituição e utilização das reservas, as suas finalidades (quer durante a vida das cooperativas quer no momento da dissolução e liquidação do seu património), as funções das reservas, e o seu enquadramento contabilístico, – realizou-se uma entrevista em profundidade e procedeu-se à análise dos Estatutos da Cooperativa dos Pedreiros, com vista a analisar tais vertentes na atividade desenvolvida pela mesma e refletida nos relatórios de contas dos anos 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 e 2014. Os resultados do estudo confirmam que as reservas nas cooperativas têm um regime jurídico diferente face ao das sociedades comerciais, nomeadamente quanto ao destino da reserva legal, que nas cooperativas se circunscreve à cobertura de perdas, bem como a sua irrepartibilidade entre os cooperadores. Tal diferença é, igualmente, visível quando se estabeleceu o paralelismo entre o regime das reservas na cooperativa e na sociedade comercial. Constata-se que as reservas apresentam maior importância na estrutura financeira da cooperativa do que na sociedade comercial. Por fim, refira-se que o caráter pioneiro deste estudo empírico poderá contribuir para uma futura alteração ao normativo jurídico português aplicável às cooperativas quanto a aspetos particulares do seu regime, destacando-se a importância da contínua dotação das reservas irrepartíveis, nomeadamente da reserva legal.The aim of the following study is to assess the relevance of the legal reserve in cooperatives financial structure and compare it to an identical situation in a commercial company. To this purpose, after reflecting on the legal, accounting and tax treatment of the cooperatives reserve, an empirical analysis was performed based on Cooperativa dos Pedreiros. Taking into account several aspects built on legal and accounting standards - creating and using the legal reserve, its purposes (both during the cooperatives existence and at its dissolution and liquidation), its core functions and accounting framework - a in-depth review was performed, analyzing the Cooperativa dos Pedreiros status to look into these aspects on their activity and compare them to the years from 2010 to 2014. The study's results show that the legal reserve in cooperatives is under a different legal framework than commercial companies, namely as both the allocation of the legal reserve, which in cooperatives is limited to loss coverage and that it can also not be divided. This is difference is also noted when comparing both sets of rules, showing a greater importance in the cooperatives financial structure. The pioneering aspect of this study is also to be noted, as its results can foster changes in the Portuguese legal framework regarding cooperatives, namely continuously financing indivisible legal reserves

Paralytic shellfish toxins and ocean warming: bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological responses in jujvenile Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)

Warmer seawater temperatures are expected to increase harmful algal blooms (HABs) occurrence, intensity, and distribution. Yet, the potential interactions between abiotic stressors and HABs are still poorly understood from ecological and seafood safety perspectives. The present study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the bioaccumulation/depuration mechanisms and ecotoxicological responses of juvenile gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) exposed to paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) under different temperatures (18, 21, 24 °C). PST were detected in fish at the peak of the exposure period (day five, 0.22 µg g-1 N-sulfocarbamoylGonyautoxin-1-2 (C1 and C2), 0.08 µg g-1 Decarbamoylsaxitoxin (dcSTX) and 0.18 µg g-1 Gonyautoxin-5 (B1)), being rapidly eliminated (within the first 24 h of depuration), regardless of exposure temperature. Increased temperatures led to significantly higher PST contamination (275 µg STX eq. kg-1). During the trial, fish antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; glutathione S-transferase, GST) in both muscle and viscera were affected by temperature, whereas a significant induction of heat shock proteins (HSP70), Ubiquitin (Ub) activity (viscera), and lipid peroxidation (LPO; muscle) was observed under the combination of warming and PST exposure. The differential bioaccumulation and biomarker responses observed highlight the need to further understand the interactive effects between PST and abiotic stressors, to better estimate climate change impacts on HABs events, and to develop mitigation strategies to overcome the potential risks associated with seafood consumption.Agência financiadora European Union (EU) 678193 Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) IF/00253/2014 CEECIND/01739/2017 UID/Multi/04326/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Saúde oral infantil: Uma abordagem preventiva

A Odontopediatria é a área da Medicina Dentária dedicada à Saúde Oral dos bebés, crianças e adolescentes. O seu objectivo é que estes atinjam a idade adulta com uma boca sã, estética e funcional e a possam conservar nestas condições durante toda a vida. Os cuidados de Saúde Oral infantil devem iniciar-se no período pré-natal, fornecendo informação adequada aos futuros pais e sensibilizando-os para a importância e o impacto de uma boa Saúde Oral. Estes cuidados devem ser vistos como a base para uma educação preventiva que proporcione as condições para um óptimo crescimento, desenvolvimento e funcionamento. Os primeiros «dentes de leite» erupcionam entre os 6-8 meses de vida e até aos 2,5-3 anos de idade surgem, em situações normais, 20 dentes temporários. A primeira visita ao dentista deve ocorrer durante o primeiro ano de vida. Nesta primeira consulta procede-se à avaliação do estado de Saúde Oral, à detecção de hábitos nocivos, informam-se os pais sobre atitudes preventivas e estabelece-se um programa adequado ao grau de risco de cada criança. De realçar que durante toda a vida do dente decíduo o gérmen do dente permanente encontra-se em íntimo contacto e, portanto, os processos que são um risco para os dentes decíduos, como cárie e traumatismos, também o são para o sucessor permanente. A mudança dos dentes dá-se normalmente em duas fases: entre os 6-8 anos e entre os 10-12 anos. É de salientar o aparecimento aos 6 anos do 1o molar permanente que erupciona atrás do 2o molar decíduo; ao não implicar a queda de nenhum dente temporário a sua presença pode passar despercebida e confundir os responsáveis que assumem que esse dente será substituído posteriormente

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis published in indexed Portuguese medical journals: time trends and critical appraisal

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativeco mmons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.Introduction: Over the last years, the number of systematic reviews published is steadily increasing due to the global interest in this type of evidence synthesis. However, little is known about the characteristics of this research published in Portuguese medical journals. This study aims to evaluate the publication trends and overall quality of these systematic reviews. Material and methods: This was a methodological study. We aimed the most visible Portuguese medical journals indexed in MEDLINE. Systematic reviews were identified through an electronic search (through PUBMED). We included systematic reviews published up to August 2020. Systematic reviews selection and data extraction were done independently by three authors. The overall quality critical appraisal using the A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR-2) was independently assessed by three authors. Disagreements were solved by consensus. Results: Sixty-six systematic reviews published in 5 Portuguese medical journals were included. Most (n = 53; 80.3%) were systematic reviews without meta-analysis. Up to 2010 there was a steady increase in the number of systematic reviews published, followed by a period of great variability of publication, ranging from 1 to 10 in a given year. According to the systematic reviews' typology, most have been predominantly conducted to assess the effectiveness/efficacy of health interventions (n = 27; 40.9%). General and Internal Medicine (n = 20; 30.3%) was the most addressed field. Most systematic reviews (n = 46; 69.7%) were rated as being of "critically low-quality". Conclusions: There were consistent flaws in the methodological quality report of the systematic reviews included, particularly in establishing a prior protocol and not assessing the potential impact of the risk of bias on the results. Through the years, the number of systematic reviews published increased, yet their quality is suboptimal. There is a need to improve the reporting of systematic reviews in Portuguese medical journals, which can be achieved by better adherence to quality checklists/tools.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Current advancements on maintenance for household appliances

This communication describes research and development directions that are being explored for the creation of a maintenance system for home appliances. The solution will enable a faster and more accurate automation of after-sale services for home appliances. It will be based on three tiers: data acquisition, data analysis and business tiers. The communication provides a context for the work, both regarding the application area in general and the three tiers, and then describes the objectives of the system being designed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of PDLA nanoparticles size on drug release and interaction with cells

Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are strong candidates for the development of systemic and targeted drug delivery applications. Their size is a determinant property since it defines the NP–cell interactions, drug loading capacity, and release kinetics. Herein, poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLA) NPs were produced by the nanoprecipitationmethod, in which the influence of type and concentration of surfactant as well as PDLA concentration were assessed. The adjustment of these parameters allowed the successful production of NPs with defined medium sizes, ranging from 80 to 460 nm. The surface charge of the different NPs populations was consistently negative. Prednisolone was effectively entrapped and released from NPs with statistically different medium sizes (i.e., 80 or 120 nm). Release profiles indicate that these systems were able to deliver appropriate amounts of drug with potential applicability in the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Both NPs populations were cytocompatible with human endothelial and fibroblastic cells, in the range of concentrations tested (0.187–0.784 mg/mL). However, confocal microscopy revealed that within the range of sizes tested in our experiments, NPs presenting amedium size of 120 nmwere able to be internalized in endothelial cells. In summary, this study demonstrates the optimization of the processing conditions to obtain PDLA NPs with narrow size ranges, and with promising performance for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collagen and microvascularization in placentas from young and older mares

Research Areas: Veterinary SciencesIn older mares, increasing collagen fibers (fibrosis) in the endometrium and oviduct predisposes to sub-fertility and infertility. In this study, (i) gene transcription of collagen (qPCR: COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, COL5A1); (ii) total collagen protein (hydroxyproline); (iii) collagen distribution (Picrosirius red staining; polarized light microscopy); and (iv) microvascular density (Periodic acid-Schiff staining), were evaluated in mares’ placenta, and related to mares age, and placenta and neonate weights. Samples were collected from the gravid horn, non-gravid horn, and body of the placenta from younger (n = 7), and older mares (n = 9) of different breeds. Transcripts of COL1A1, COL3A1 and COL5A1, total collagen protein, chorionic plate connective tissue thickness, and microvascularization increased in the gravid horn of older mares’ placentas, compared to the youngest (P < 0.05). Although in other species placenta fibrosis may indicate placental insufficiency and reduced neonate weight, this was not observed here. It appears that older fertile mares, with more parities, may develop a heavier, more vascularized functional placenta with more collagen, throughout a longer gestation, which enables the delivery of heavier foals. Thus, these features might represent morphological and physiological adaptations of older fertile mares’ placentas to provide the appropriate nutrition to the equine fetus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of sub-stoichiometric Fe(III) amounts on LCFA degradation by methanogenic communities

Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are common contaminants in municipal and industrial wastewater that can be converted anaerobically to methane. A low hydrogen partial pressure is required for LCFA degradation by anaerobic bacteria, requiring the establishment of syntrophic relationships with hydrogenotrophic methanogens. However, high LCFA loads can inhibit methanogens, hindering biodegradation. Because it has been suggested that anaerobic degradation of these compounds may be enhanced by the presence of alternative electron acceptors, such as iron, we investigated the effect of sub-stoichiometric amounts of Fe(III) on oleate (C18:1 LCFA) degradation by suspended and granular methanogenic sludge. Fe(III) accelerated oleate biodegradation and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis in the assays with suspended sludge, with H2-consuming methanogens coexisting with iron-reducing bacteria. On the other hand, acetoclastic methanogenesis was delayed by Fe(III). These effects were less evident with granular sludge, possibly due to its higher initial methanogenic activity relative to suspended sludge. Enrichments with close-to-stoichiometric amounts of Fe(III) resulted in a microbial community mainly composed of Geobacter, Syntrophomonas, and Methanobacterium genera, with relative abundances of 83–89%, 3–6%, and 0.2–10%, respectively. In these enrichments, oleate was biodegraded to acetate and coupled to iron-reduction and methane production, revealing novel microbial interactions between syntrophic LCFA-degrading bacteria, iron-reducing bacteria, and methanogens.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of project MORE (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016575), of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors also acknowledge the financial support of FCT and European Social Fund through the grants attributed to S.A. Silva (SFRH/BD/122623/2016), A.L. Arantes (PD/BD/128030/2016), and J.C. Sequeira (SFRH/BD/147271/2019)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collagen Type III as a Possible Blood Biomarker of Fibrosis in Equine Endometrium

Research Areas:Agriculture ; Veterinary Sciences ; ZoologyCollagen pathological deposition in equine endometrium (endometrosis) is responsible for infertility. Kenney and Doig’s endometrial biopsy histopathological classification is the gold standard method for endometrosis evaluation, whereby blood biomarkers identification would be less invasive and could provide additional information regarding endometrosis diagnosis and fertility prognosis. This study aimed to identify blood biomarkers for endometrosis diagnosis (42 mares were used in experiment 1), and fertility assessment (50 mares were used in experiment 2). Reproductive examination, endometrial biopsy histopathological classification (Kenney and Doig) and blood collection were performed. Endometrium and serum collagen type I (COL1) and type III (COL3), and hydroxyproline concentrations were measured (ELISA). Serum COL3 cut-off value of 60.9 ng/mL allowed healthy endometria (category I) differentiation from endometria with degenerative/fibrotic lesions (categories IIA, IIB or III) with 100% specificity and 75.9% sensitivity. This cut-off value enabled category I + IIA differentiation from IIB + III (76% specificity, 81% sensitivity), and category III differentiation from others (65% specificity, 92.3% sensitivity). COL1 and hydroxyproline were not valid as blood biomarkers. Serum COL3 cut-off value of 146 ng/mL differentiated fertile from infertile mares (82.4% specificity, 55.6% sensitivity), and was not correlated with mares’ age. Only COL3 may prove useful as a diagnostic aid in mares with endometrial fibrosis and as a fertility indicator.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio