About the relations between Management Accounting Systems, Intellectual Capital and Performance

The present study is focused on the contribution of management accounting systems (MAS) in the development of intellectual capital (IC). Based on empirical evidence that supports the proposition that the value creation process is strongly associated to the level of IC, the study also examines the mediating effect of MAS on performance through their positive direct effect on IC. These relationships were consolidated into a model and empirically tested with data from 281 Portuguese firms using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings show that six out of nine hypothesized relationships were supported by data with positive and significant causal links between MAS and the human and structural dimensions of IC. Results confirmed the conceptual validity of the circular model for the interactions among the three IC dimensions. Results also showed a positive and significant direct effect of structural capital on performance. Overall, the results confirmed the validity of the proposed model and contributed to the literature on the role of MAS in supporting the development of the I

Generalizing Hylo-shift

This note proposes a generalization of the Hylo-shift law for functional program calculation. The generalization allows to handle transformations involving recursive types generated by polynomials where other recursive types occur (for instance, lists of binary trees).Presidência do Conselho de Ministros - POSI/ICHS/44304/2002

Testing for linear and quadratic effects between price adaptation and export performance: The impact of values and perceptions

Managerial perceptions are essential in explaining strategic decisions. It is, therefore, surprising that despite the number of studies that have examined the impact of managerial characteristics in exporting, little research has been reported in the export literature that investigates the importance of managers' perceptions on strategic decisions and resultant performance outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, the authors examine the key determinants of managers' psychic distance as well as its influence on international pricing decisions, and this in turn, on the export performance of SMEs. We also examine the quadratic effects of price adaptation on export performance. This is particularly relevant since price adaptation and export performance have been assumed in the literature to have a linear relationship. The results show that managers' perceptions have a significant impact on pricing decisions and resultant performance outcomes. Our findings also indicate that price adaptation has an inverted U-shaped relationship with export performance

Delayed intramural duodenal hematoma after a simple diagnostic endoscopic ultrasonography fine-needle aspiration procedure

A 65-year-old man was evaluated for a difficult-to-characterize pancreatic head mass in the setting of idiopathic chronic pancreatitis. He had no other relevant medical history and was not taking any anticoagulant or antiplatelet treatment. Endoscopic ultrasonography fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) failed to reveal neoplasm cells. A linear array echoendoscope (Olympus GF-UCT140, Center Valley, PA) was advanced up to the duodenal bulb, from which the head of the pancreas was visualized. After ensuring a vessel-free access to the pancreatic parenchyma, the FNA was performed using a 22G needle (Slimline 22G Handle Needle; Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA) with a total of 3 passes (Figure 1). Three weeks after this procedure, the patient was admitted for hematemesis preceded by vomiting. On admission, his general physical examination was unremarkable except for jaundice. His blood tests showed no anemia; his platelet count, prothrombin time, amylase, and liver enzymes were within normal range, but his total bilirubin level was elevated (7.4 mg/dL). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed Mallory-Weiss tears, an evident extrinsic compression of the knee, and the second portion of the duodenum, which could not be passed by the endoscope. The investigation by computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography led to the diagnosis of an 11-cm intramural duodenal hematoma (IDH), leading to both gastric outlet and main biliary duct obstruction (Figure 2). The case was successfully managed with nasogastric decompression and exclusive parenteral feeding. Symptoms improved within 15 days, and cholestasis progressively disappeared.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

As Representações Cognitivas de Actividades Práticas em Geociências: Um estudo com Professores na Área Educativa do Alentejo (Portugal)

As Actividades Práticas (A.P.) ocupam, hodiernamente, um espaço proeminente nos actuais curricula de ciências, sejam portugueses ou estrangeiros. Assiste-se a uma preocupação elevada acerca do papel didáctico atribuído às A.P., quer seja por parte dos investigadores educacionais, quer seja pelos próprios docentes de ciências. Algumas destas preocupações advêm da falta de unanimidade acerca das vantagens que os resultados das várias investigações atribuem às A.P. No caso português, essa realidade começa a ser seriamente retratada, evidenciada por trabalhos nesta área, essencialmente iniciados no princípio da década de 90. Alguns estudos são reveladores que as representações de objectos, são submetidas à influência do meio social dos indivíduos que as produzem, vertendo-se em distintas formas de representar objectos. O comportamento desses sujeitos é condicionado e orientado para esses objectos em função das representações que desenvolvem. Embora ainda não se tenha descortinado a relação entre comportamento e representação, tudo leva a querer tratar-se de algo com uma dinâmica muito complexa. O nosso estudo enquadra-se na Dissertação do Curso de Mestrado em Geociências, área de especialização de Processo Geológicos – Ensino das Ciências da Terra, desenvolvida na Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal). De entre as hipóteses de partida, podemos destacar a seguinte: as representações dos professores acerca das A.P. são influenciadas por variáveis independentes e condicionam a forma como estes planificam as aulas