a literature review synthesis in small and medium enterprises

Rodrigues, J., Ruivo, P., & Oliveira, T. (2014). Software as a Service Value and Firm Performance: a literature review synthesis in small and medium enterprises. In J. Varajão, M. Cunha, N. Bjørn-Andersen, R. Turner, D. Wijesekera, R. Martinho, & R. Rijo (Eds.), CENTERIS 2014 - Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN 2014 - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCIST 2014 - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies (Vol. 16, pp. 206-211). (Procedia Technology; Vol. 16). DOI: 10.1016/j.protcy.2014.10.085It is consensual that Software as a Service (SaaS) has significant effects on enterprise costs and return on investment (ROI) in information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS). However, as a distribution model which is still relatively recent and a fraction of all IT invested, even if growing at a faster pace than traditional distribution models, the impact in Firm Performance is still an area of research which is very much under covered especially in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment. Literature reviews to support research of SaaS applications impact in SMEs Firm Performance are unknown to the best of our knowledge and this review in selected publications is a starting point to fill this gap and looks at some of the cross-road subjects that might be combined to build on greater knowledge and research work on the subject, such as Firm Performance influenced by (not specified genre of) IT/IS adoption; Cloud Computing and Performance, and, Enterprise Systems Software and Firm Performance. It provides an updated bibliography of the most relevant publications about these subjects, published mainly during the period of 2001 to 2014, for the exception of a seminal article published in 1995. A total of 32 articles from 30 journals and 2 conferences are reviewed. The main focus of this paper is to shed the light on the areas that researchers should consider in the research of the impact of SaaS business applications adoption in SMEs Firm Performance, and which are the major variables that explain SaaS Value influence to these organizations. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.publishersversionpublishe

Endogamia em bovinos de raça Mirandesa

A pequena dimensão das populações bovinas autóctones introduz duas consequências: 1) 0 aumento da probabilidade de acasalamento de parentes com o consequente aparecimento de animais consanguíneos; 2) Os efeitos da deriva genética com os correspondentes reflexos na resposta à selecção

Prevenção de Lesões no Futebol: Bases Científicas e Aplicabilidade

O futebol tem elevadas taxas de participação não só em Portugal, mas em todo o Mundo. Apesar dos inúmeros benefícios associados à sua prática, a prevalência de lesões nos adultos e adolescentes está a aumentar. Deste modo, justifica-se a adoção de estratégias preventivas para que se consiga garantir a segurança e ótima saúde musculoesquelética de todos os jogadores. Apresentar-se-ão neste artigo, de forma estruturada, um conjunto de estratégias para prevenção de lesões no jogador de futebol. Será feita referência à importância do treino do core, do treino de equilíbrio, do treino pliométrico, de técnicas de libertação miofascial e do respeito pelos rácios de força funcionais ideaisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metais, ambiente e vida: Interferência dovanádio nos sistemas vivos e sua contextualização no ensino das ciências experimentais

A actividade aqui descrita teve como objectivo aproximar alunos do ensino secundário a uma abordagem fisiológica e molecular sobre os efeitos dos metais nos seres vivos. Os alunos ficaram familiarizados com abordagens teóricas e experimentais que permitiram avaliar o crescimento celular por observação qualitativa, determinação do conteúdo proteico e da actividade específica fosfatase alcalina (ALP), recorrendo a centrifugação diferencial, leituras de absorvência e tratamento informático dos resultados. Os estudantes concluíram que a presença de metavanadato de amónio inibiu o crescimento da levedura vínica Saccharomyces cerevisiae UE-ME3, causando um decréscimo significativo do conteúdo proteico e da actividade específica ALP, um marcador da proliferação celular. A avaliação de competências adquiridas, bem como, os inquéritos de opinião mostraram que a maior parte dos alunos do 10° e 12° ano da Escola Secundária Dom Manuel Martins de Setúbal, envolvidos nesta acção, atingiram com sucesso e satisfação os objectivos previamente traçados, revelando uma aprendizagem significativa. ABSTRACT: The work described here aimed to bring high school students to a physiological and molecular approach on the effects of metals in living organisms. The students were familiar with theoretical and experimental approaches that allowed them to evaluate cell growth by qualitative observation, protein contents and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) determination, using differential centrifugation, absorbance readings and computational analysis of data. The students concluded that the presence of ammonium metavanadate inhibited the wine-wild yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae UE-ME3 growth, and cause a significant decrease of protein content and ALP specific activity, a cell proliferation marker. The assessment of acquired skills, as well as opinion surveys showed that the vast majority of students of 10th and 12nd years of High School Dom Manuel Martins of Setúbal, involved in this project have reached with success and satisfaction the goals previously set for this action and reveals a significant learning

A Cross-Functional Approach for the Fuzzy Front End: Highlights from a Conceptual Project

Ideation is regarded as a critical element in the innovation process; besides, it is transversal to the different design models. Notwithstanding its fundamental characteristics for the innovation process, ideation is the least-studied phase and an ambiguous nature is sometimes assigned to it. Consequently, the Fuzzy Front End (FFE) designation was born to describe this early phase and the interest over its study has recently increased. By means of an extensive literature review, ideation is highlighted from the design process and diverging models for the FFE are comparatively analyzed. The importance of a cross-functional approach for the FFE is underpinned with an analysis of a multidisciplinary and mainly conceptual project over the transportation sector. The innovative character and the perceived value of this project is precisely grounded in its integrated and cross-functional approach, which combines the technological possibilities with the passenger focus

The use of miR-92a inhibitor to enhance endothelial progenitor cell-mediated regeneration of injured arteries

Restenosis, a pathological condition characterised by neointima formation and lumen narrowing, can occur in some patients submitted to percutaneous coronary intervention. Reducing its incidence remains an important medical issue. Circulating endothelial precursor cells (EPCs) home to the vascular injury site and contribute to re-endothelialisation and neointima attenuation. However, the engraftment and repair capacity of EPCs from patients with cardiovascular disease are typically impaired. Priming strategies to increase EPCs’ engraftment may improve post-injury outcomes. Antiangiogenic miR-92a is upregulated in EPCs of cardiovascular patients, contributing to their reduced regenerative capacity. It was hypothesized that miR-92a antagonism in EPCs could result in a more favourable angiogenesis profile, with the rationale of developing a future functional priming strategy before cell transplantation which could lead to increased engrafting/thriving and accelerated re-endothelialisation on injured segments, hence, contributing towards post-PCI restenosis prevention. The aims of the work were: 1) to differentiate and characterise CD34+ -derived late-outgrowth EPCs from an enriched progenitor human source; 2) to characterise target gene expression and demonstrate in vitro the functional priming following the treatment of EPCs with miR-92a inhibitor and relate it to the ensueing integrin α5 subunit (ITGA5) derepression. A human EPC culture was obtained following differentiation of cord blood CD34+ cells. miR-92a inhibitor treatment using oligofectamine in CD34+ -derived late-outgrowth EPCs revealed proangiogenic,-migratory,-proliferative, and -adhesive effects in vitro, which was accompanied by the derepression of integrin α5 (ITGA5). Remarkably, siRNA ITGA5 abrogated the enhanced matrix adhesion in primed EPCs, highlighting the role of the miR-92a downstream target in EPC engraftment. Preliminary intraluminal transplantation results suggested enhanced engraftment capacity of primed EPCs in the rat carotid balloon angioplasty model

Tradifional caffle feeding stuffs: fatty acid profile

Dietary pollunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are perceived to be healthier ïhan sat$ated fatfy acids. Therefore, in order ïo be able to manipulate the faÍty acid prolìle ofmeat and/or miik, to respond to the consumer demands. knorvledge of the fatty acid profile of feeding sfuffs for cattle is of major imponance (LeDoux et al., 20A2', Petit, 2002). In this *'ork a preliminary study viâs made of the fat4" acid profile of the corv's diet in a traditional farm production system

Genetic structure of the casein in Serrana Transmontana goats

Goat's milk is considered dietary and closer to the human’s1. The yield of its transformation into cheese is conditioned by protein and lipid composition of milk2-4 and in a thinner way, the proportions in which different proteins contribute to the formation of the whole protein fraction. The ability of coagulation is directly related to a structured clot on which will depend the renneting yield and final texture of the cheese5. The Serrana breed is considered the best for milk purpose and is the largest national herd. Currently has four ecotypes: Ribatejana, Transmontana, Jarmelista and Serra6. The genetic structure of a population, presenting higher frequency of favorable genes, is crucial in the definition of production purpose.PRODER–Medida 4.1–PA23881info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Association between Training Load and Well-Being Measures in Young Soccer Players during a Season

This study aimed to analyze the correlations among weekly (w) acute workload (wAW), chronic workload (wCW), acute/chronic workload ratio (wACWR), training monotony (wTM), training strain (wTS), sleep quality (wSleep), delayed onset muscle soreness (wDOMS), fatigue (wFatigue), stress (wStress), and Hooper index (wHI) in pre-, early, mid-, and end-of-season. Twentyone elite soccer players (age: 16.1 ± 0.2 years) were monitored weekly on training load and well-being for 36 weeks. Higher variability in wAW (39.2%), wFatigue (84.4%), wStress (174.3%), and wHI (76.3%) at the end-of-season were reported. At mid-season, higher variations in wSleep (59.8%), TM (57.6%), and TS (111.1%) were observed. Moderate to very large correlations wAW with wDOMS (r = 0.617, p = 0.007), wFatigue, wStress, and wHI were presented. Similarly, wCW reported a meaningful large association with wDOMS (r = 0.526, p < 0.001); moderate to very large associations with wFatigue (r = 0.649, p = 0.005), wStress, and wHI. Moreover, wTM presented a large correlation with wSleep (r = 0.515, p < 0.001); and a negatively small association with wStress (r = −0.426, p = 0.003). wTS showed a small to large correlation with wSleep (r = 0.400, p = 0.005) and wHI; also, a large correlation with wDOMS (r = 0.556, p = 0.028) and a moderate correlation with wFatigue (r = 0.343, p = 0.017). Wellness status may be considered a useful tool to provide determinant elite players’ information to coaches and to identify important variations in training responses

Hypokalemic Paralysis as First Manifestation of Sjögren Syndrome

Objectives: To highlight systemic involvement features in Sjögren Syndrome (SS). Materials and methods: A case of a 32-year-old woman presenting with flaccid tetraparesis, in the setting of severe hypokalaemia, is described. Results: Additional evaluation confirmed primary SS with type 1 renal tubular acidosis (RTA1) and gammaglobulin-mediated vasculitis. A significant clinical improvement was achieved following adequate treatment. Conclusion: Extra-glandular involvement in SS is usually due to autoimmune lymphocytic infiltration and severe complications can be avoided if there is a prompt diagnosis