Value relevance of financial assets

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThis study’s proposal is to examine for the Portuguese market, the value relevance of unrealized fair value gains and losses of financial assets, namely for financial instruments at fair value through profit and loss (which includes held-for-trading securities) and for available-for-sale financial assets. The objective is to obtain a perception of how well stock prices and returns reflect the fair value changes of these two financial assets. For a sample of Portuguese listed companies in a 2005-2007 period, no significant evidence is found regarding the value relevance of both cumulative and incremental unrealized fair value gains and losses associated to the two analyzed financial instruments. Several underlying factors for these results are presented, based on prior research

Desenvolvimento de novos metalofármacos anticancerígenos

The success of chemotherapy has been achieved with low molecular weight drugs that have been shown to destroy cancer cells or to control their proliferation. However, there are several side effects associated with the use of many of these drugs, mainly due to the fact that they do not have selectivity, acting on both tumor and non-tumor cells. The use of coordinating compounds (metallo-pharmaceuticals) for anticancer therapy began with the use of platinum compounds, which, despite their well-known severe limitations, are still widely used. These disadvantages led to the need to explore new metallo-pharmaceuticals with different transition metals. Diversified metal ions can lead to complexes with different characteristics, such as geometries or reduction potentials. This flexibility makes them attractive for the development of new therapeutic agents. The use of pre-active drugs as ligands is a good example of how metal compounds can alter/enhance the activity of parent drugs. The present work shows the results of the synthesis and characterization of new metallo-pharmaceuticals of different transition metals, the study of their ability to interact with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and bovine albumin (BSA), as well as their anticancer behaviour.This performance was evaluated by in vitro biological assays, in tumoral and normal breast cell lines, which allowed to measure their anti-tumor capacity and selectivity.O sucesso da quimioterapia tem sido conseguido à base de fármacos de baixo peso molecular que têm demonstrado capacidade para destruir as células cancerígenas ou para controlar a sua proliferação. No entanto, existem vários efeitos secundários associados ao uso de muitos destes fármacos, maioritariamente devido ao facto de não apresentarem seletividade, isto é, tanto atuarem nas células tumorais como nas não tumorais. O uso de compostos de coordenação (metalofármacos) para terapia anticancerígena começou com o uso de compostos de platina, os quais, apesar das suas bem conhecidas severas limitações, continuam ainda a ser muito utilizados. Estas desvantagens levaram à necessidade de explorar novos metalofármacos com diferentes metais de transição. Iões metálicos diversificados podem levar à obtenção de complexos com características diferentes, como por exemplo, no que diz respeito a geometrias ou potenciais de redução. Esta flexibilidade torna-os atraentes para o desenvolvimento de novos agentes terapêuticos. O uso de fármacos pré-ativos como ligandos é um bom exemplo de como os compostos metálicos podem alterar/melhorar a atividade dos fármacos parentais. O presente trabalho mostra os resultados da síntese e caracterização de novos metalofármacos de diferentes metais de transição, do estudo da sua capacidade de interação com o ácido desoxirribonucleico (ADN) e com a albumina de origem bovina (BSA), bem como do seu comportamento anticancerígeno. Este desempenho foi avaliado através de ensaios biológicos in vitro, em linhas celulares cancerígenas e normais da mama que permitiram aferir da sua capacidade anti-tumoral e seletividade.Mestrado em Biomedicina Molecula

U.dream goes to market: an analysis of the financial impacts of commercialising u.purpose & crescer com consciência and project wrap-up

U.Dream is a social enterprise targeted at developing social leadership skills. It recently launched U.Purpose (service) and Crescer com Consciência (product) aiming to ensure future financial sustainability. However, these were launched without conducting a thorough market research and clear guiding strategy. The focus of this project is to assess the attractiveness of the CSR and children’s book markets and U.Dream’s current strategy, providing a strategic revision. From a financial standpoint, U.Purpose has the highest potential, with evident future opportunities. Both projects showcase potential to financially sustain U.Dream, namely through diversification benefits and a strong alignment with the social value delivered

Hyatt hotels corporation equity research - implications of the new industry outlook

The present report contains an in-depth analysis of the implications of the new lodging industry outlook at Hyatt Hotels Corporation as the market continues moving toward recovery after being profoundly affected by a global health crisis. The analysis fundaments on reviewing potential factors and new trends in the industry that can derive the future strategy of Hyatt. The present report is part of a broader Equity Research on Hyatt that aims to establish a target price for the company. A HOLD recommendation is given for investors, estimating a 9,3% return for a target share price of $104,07 for December 2023

Relationship between Degree of Deformation in Quartz and Silica Dissolution for the Development of Alkali-Silica Reaction in Concrete.

This paper presents research on the influence of quartz deformation in aggregates for the development of the alkali-silica reaction in concrete and its relationship with silica dissolution. The study also compares these characteristics with the field behavior of such rocks in concrete. The paper proposes parameters to classify the different degrees of deformation of quartz. Transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of walls even in slightly deformed quartz, which indicate the presence of the internal paths available to react with the alkaline concrete pore solutions and point to the potential development of an alkali-silica reaction. The presence of the deformation bands in the quartz grains leads to the alkali aggregate reaction occurring more rapidly. The visible spectrophotometer test was performed to evaluate the dissolution potential of the different samples of deformed quartz, which confirmed that the reactivity of the quartz increases as the deformation of the crystalline structure increases. The parameters established in the present study could be verified by analyzing the behavior of reactive and innocuous aggregates from the buildings