Reorganization and improvement of the sales representatives work

This study was conducted with the purpose of implementing a project, within the company Imperial Tobacco, with the goal of optimizing the work of the Sales Representatives and ultimately improve the company’s results by assuring that their roles were well defined and met their expectations and skill sets. In order to do so, a new retail classification was performed, the previously theoretical role differentiation was now implemented and the activities performed per cycle were diminished in order to increase focus and efficiency. Due to its recent implementation, results are still unknown but are expected to affect in a positive way the Sales Reps morale, as well as the increasing sales in the higher turnover Points of Sale

Hiperparatiroidismo secundário no doente insuficiente renal crónico terminal em hemodiálise : Da patogenese ao tratamento : Uma Abordagem mais segura com um novo derivado da vitamina D

Dissertação de Doutoramento em Medicina apresentada à Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Port

Aplicação de mel de rosmaninho em produtos cosméticos

A história dos cosméticos é paralela á historia dos produtos apícolas. De todos estes produtos (mel, própolis, cera pólen geléia real e apitoxina) o mel foi sempre o mais usado ao longo da história da Humanidade. Os seus efeitos benéficos para a pele têm já uma longa reputação. Apesar do facto destes produtos terem sido usados desde civilizações antigas como os egípcios, a informação sobre este mel específico com origem em plantas endémicas da Península Ibérica, não existe, uma vez que a análise destes produtos pela comunidade científica só se desenvolveu recentemente Como componente cosmético o mel contribui para a hidratação e tem um efeito calmante na pele seca, ajuda a regeneração de feridas, devido ao seu efeito antimicrobiano, antioxidante e anti-inflamatório [1]. Com este trabalho pretendeu-se desenvolver uma formulação cosmética para aplicação tópica que combine o mel de Rosmaninho, do norte de Portugal e óleos essenciais de plantas medicinais com efeitos conservantes. Foram desenvolvidos dois cremes, produzidos com 5% de ácido salicílico e 10% de ureia e óleo essencial de Mentha pulegium. A diferença entre as formulações foi a proporção de mel em cada um, com 1 % e 3,5 % respectivamente no creme 1 e 2. Um creme controlo foi preparado sem adição de mel. Todas estas formulações cosméticas foram testadas quanto á sua estabilidade microbiológica e física. Da análise dos resultados dos diferentes cremes pudemos concluir que nenhuma das formulações apresentou propriedades antimicrobianas contra Pseudomonas sp. ou contra Bacillus subtilis mas foram resistentes ao Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia co/;, o que significa que o sistema de conservante natural utilizado não apresentou um controlo microbiológico completo. As formulações foram também testadas quanta á sua estabilidade quando expostas á luz. A cor de todas as formulações sujeitas a análise alterou-se (de amarelo claro para amarelo escuro). O pH do creme 2 variou de 4, 1 para 5 em comparação com a amostra referencia. Assim em ambas as formulações houve alterações ao longo do tempo. A viscosidade foi medida em todas a? amostras no tempo zero e após 24 dias. O valor deste parâmetro decresceu no creme 1 de 6920info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Management of RAASi-associated hyperkalemia in patients with cardiovascular disease

Renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) reduce morbidity and mortality in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction in a dose-dependent manner. They also have a positive impact in other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, RAASi may induce hyperkalemia, a potentially life-threatening disorder. This risk is further increased in those with concomitant chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and/or in patients with hypertension. Current treatment guidelines recommend maximal RAASi dosing to improve clinical outcomes; however, this is often limited by the development of hyperkalemia. When this occurs, current guidelines recommend RAASi down-titration/interruption, which, while improving short-term prognosis, is associated with a negative long-term prognostic impact. At present, the European Society of Cardiology suggests the consideration of novel potassium binders (patiromer and sodium zirconium cyclosilicate) for the management of RAASi-associated hyperkalemia. Both drugs can reduce serum potassium levels and prevent recurrent hyperkalemia. Additionally, patiromer showed enabling of RAASi optimization in high-risk patients. Nevertheless, precise recommendations on the use of these drugs are lacking. Building upon current HF guideline recommendations, a multidisciplinary expert panel convened to design an algorithm providing practical guidance on the use of novel potassium binders/patiromer in patients with HF and/or other CVD. As a result of that effort, we present an evidence-based treatment algorithm for the management of hyperkalemia with novel potassium binders/patiromer in patients with HF and/or other CVD receiving RAASi, including the necessary monitoring to avoid induction of hypokalemia. This algorithm aims to maintain or up-titrate RAASi to optimized doses, while maintaining normokalemia, improved clinical outcomes, and long-term prognosis.publishersversionpublishe

Definition of a maintenance plan and application of the DMAIC cycle for the performance improvement of equipment for the production of pallets

Relatório de Estágio do Mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial apresentado à Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaO trabalho que se apresenta neste documento tem como principais objetivos a aplicação do ciclo DMAIC para a redução de paragens e a definição de um plano de manutenção para os equipamentos de uma empresa de produção de paletes. Na implementação do ciclo DMAIC foi definido o problema através da criação de um charter, bem como de um diagrama SIPOC, estabelecendo como meta a redução das improdutividades em 25%. Após a recolha de dados da produção, procedeu-se à análise dos dados recolhidos através de diagramas de Pareto e diagramas de Ishikawa, tendo-se encontrado por essa via soluções para os problemas identificados.A elaboração do plano de manutenção teve por base a metodologia TPM, incidindo maioritariamente em três dos seus pilares: manutenção planeada, manutenção autónoma e melhoria contínua. A informação recolhida de manuais de instruções dos equipamentos e diálogo com os operadores e com equipa de manutenção resultou na elaboração desse plano. Para tal foram criadas três folhas: folha de atividades de manutenção, folha de registo da manutenção e folha de registo de anomalias. Os resultados da implementação do DMAIC e do plano de manutenção não puderam ainda ser quantificados devido às suas soluções não terem sido aplicadas na totalidade. No entanto, prevê-se que caso sejam implementadas, a fábrica venha a reduzir o número de paragens em 54% e o tempo de paragem em 31%. O plano de manutenção trará melhorias ao nível dos ínidices de produção visto que a limpeza, lubrificação e inspeção da máquina serão obrigatórias e registadas.The work presented in this document has as main objectives the application of DMAIC cycle for the reduction of stops and the definition of a maintenance plan for the equipment of a company of production of pallets.In the implementation of the DMAIC cycle the problem was defined through the creation of a charter, as well as a SIPOC diagram, establishing as goal the reduction of unproductivity by 25%. After the data collection of production, the collected data were analyzed through Pareto diagrams and Ishikawa diagrams, so that solutions were found for this problem.The preparation of the maintenance plan was base on the TPM methodology, focusing mainly on three of its pillars: planned maintenance, autonomous maintenance and continuous improvement. The information collected from the instruction manuals of the equipment and dialogue with the operators and maintenance team resulted in the elaboration of this plan. Three sheets were created: maintenance activity sheet, maintenance registration sheet and anomaly registration sheet.The results of the implementation of the DMAIC and maintenance plan cannot be quantified yet because their solution have not been fully implemented. However, it is expected that if implemented, the factory will reduce the number of stops by 54% and the stoppage time by 31%. The maintenance plan will bring improvements to the production levels since the cleaning, lubrification and inspection of the machine will be obligatory and registed.

Could Bone Biomarkers Predict Bone Turnover after Kidney Transplantation?—A Proof-of-Concept Study

Aim: Bone disease after kidney transplant (KT) results from multiple factors, including previous bone and mineral metabolism disturbances and effects of transplant-related medications. New biomolecules have been recently associated with the development and progression of the chronic kidney disease–associated bone and mineral disorder (CKD-MBD). These include sclerostin and the soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB ligand (sRANKL). Methods: To better understand the role of biomarkers in post-transplant bone disease, this study was designed to prospectively evaluate and correlate results from the histomorphometric analysis of bone biopsies after KT with emerging serum biomarkers of the CKD-MBD: sclerostin, Dickkopf-related protein 1 (Dkk-1), sRANKL and osteo-protegerin (OPG). Results: Our data shows a significant increase in plasma levels of bioactive sclerostin after KT accompanied by a significant reduction in plasma levels of Dkk-1, suggesting a promotion of the inhibition of bone formation by osteoblasts through the activation of these inhibitors of the Wnt signaling pathway. In addition, we found a significant increase in plasma levels of free sRANKL after KT accompanied by a significant reduction in plasma levels of its decoy receptor OPG, suggesting an enhanced bone resorption by osteoclasts mediated by this mechanism. Conclusions: Taken together, these results suggest that the loss of bone volume observed after KT could be explain mainly by the inhibition of bone formation mediated by sclerostin accompanied by an enhanced bone resorption mediated by sRANKL

Recognition of human activity based on sparse data collected from smartphone sensors *

This paper proposes a method of human activity monitoring based on the regular use of sparse acceleration data and GPS positioning collected during smartphone daily utilization. The application addresses, in particular, the elderly population with regular activity patterns associated with daily routines. The approach is based on the clustering of acceleration and GPS data to characterize the user's pattern activity and localization for a given period. The current activity pattern is compared to the one obtained by the learned data patterns, generating alarms of abnormal activity and unusual location. The obtained results allow to consider that the usage of the proposed method in real environments can be beneficial for activity monitoring without using complex sensor networks.This work has been financially supported by the IC&DT Project MOVIDA: SAICT-POL/23878/2016 | CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023878 and Project VITASENIOR-MT: SAICT-POL/23659/2016 | CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023659 with FEDER funding through programs CENTRO2020 and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio