O discounted cash flow como o modelo de avaliação de empresas: estudo de caso da empresa GALP

Versão final (Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júri)The need to evaluate a company is, in general, an imperative since it is associated with significant changes and decision-making that may have a major impact on its success. Thus, the quality of the evaluation performed is decisive, and it must be based on solid methodologies and criteria. This study aims to analyze some of the most appropriate models that serve as a basis for business valuations, considering that there is no single and perfect model, but the most appropriate to the individual financial context of each company. It emerges as one of the themes that have proven to be quite significant in a business and social context, emotionally and financially affected by the crises of this millennium as well as, more recently, with the crisis originated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, these unprecedented challenges have caused successive methods of internal control and development of tools that have enabled more effective regulation of institutions. The main objective of this dissertation is the evaluation of the company GALP, positioned in the industrial and transformation activity sector, more specifically in the energy sector, which aims to reflect through dynamic guidelines, the development of profitable business and with sustainable practices that create value, to promote the welfare of its customers. Considering the company's financial history, based on publicly available information, between 2014 and 2020, the most appropriate valuation model was followed and applying the linear regression model, a conservative future projection of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flows expected for the years 2021 to 2025 was established, thus anticipating possible scenarios, without forgetting to consider the external contexts that influence the business trend.A necessidade de avaliar uma empresa é, de um modo geral, um imperativo, visto que surge associada a mudanças significativas e tomada de decisões que poderão causar um grande impacto no sucesso da mesma. Assim, a qualidade da avaliação realizada é decisiva, devendo assentar em metodologias e critérios sólidos. Este estudo tem como propósito analisar alguns dos modelos mais adequados que servem de base às avaliações de empresas, tendo em consideração que não existe um modelo único e perfeito, mas sim o mais apropriado a um contexto financeiro individual de cada empresa. Surge como sendo um dos temas que se revelaram bastante significativos num contexto empresarial e social, emocionalmente e financeiramente afetado pelas crises deste milénio bem como, mais recentemente, com a crise originada pela pandemia COVID-19. Para além disso, estes desafios sem precedentes causaram sucessivos métodos de controlo interno e desenvolvimento de ferramentas que possibilitaram uma regulamentação mais eficaz das instituições. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é a avaliação da empresa GALP, posicionada no setor de atividade industrial e de transformação, mais concretamente no setor energético, que tem como propósito refletir por meio de linhas orientadoras dinâmicas, o desenvolvimento de negócios rentáveis e com práticas sustentáveis que criem valor, de modo a promover o bem-estar dos seus clientes. Tendo em conta o histórico financeiro da empresa, com base em informação publicamente disponível, entre 2014 e 2020, seguiu-se o modelo de avaliação mais adequado e aplicando o modelo de regressão linear, estabeleceu-se uma projeção futura conservadora da Demonstração de Resultados, do Balanço e dos Cash Flows esperados para os anos 2021 a 2025, antecipando assim possíveis cenários, sem esquecer de considerar os contextos externos que influenciam a tendência do negócio

Ortogenesis, stress and psychoactive substances addiction

O estudo da dependência de substâncias psicoativas apresentou grandes avanços conceituais nas últimas décadas. A evolução dos conceitos foi paralela às evidências científicas que têm revelado os aspectos comportamentais e os mecanismos neurais envolvidos nesse fenômeno. Contudo, um grande desafio que permanece na pesquisa sobre a dependência de substâncias psicoativas é a identificação de quais fatores são responsáveis pela transição do uso controlado para o uso compulsivo. Está demonstrado que muitas variáveis interagem para influenciar a probabilidade de que qualquer indivíduo inicie o uso abusivo de substâncias psicoativas ou se torne dependente. Nos últimos anos, o estresse tem sido destacado como um fator importante na iniciação, manutenção e recaída da utilização de substâncias psicoativas. Neste trabalho analisamos os conceitos e teorias da farmacodependência e as principais evidências comportamentais pré-clínicas que demonstram a relação entre estresse e a vulnerabilidade ao abuso e dependência de psicoestimulantes.The investigation of the mechanisms of drug abuse and addiction showed great advances in the last decades. New concepts emerged from the scientific evidences on behavioral and neural aspects of this phenomenon. However, the biggest challenge for the future is the identification of which risk factors are implicated in the transition from controlled to compulsive drug use. Stress has been pointed as an important factor related to initiation, maintenance and relapse to drug use. In the present paper we discuss the concepts and theories of drug addiction, and the main behavioral pre-clinical evidences showing the relationship between stress and psychostimulant addiction

Sensibilização comportamental à cocaína e neuroadaptações na via mesocorticolímbica : interação com ontogênese, estresse e ambiente

We investigated the interaction between ontogeny, stress and environment where the drug is administered on the behavioral sensitization to cocaine and related neuroadaptations. This study was divided in two parts. In the first one we evaluated the behavioral sensitization to cocaine and alterations of glutamate receptors and tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme following repeated cocaine administrations or stress exposure on adolescent rats. These alterations were evaluated from adolescence to adulthood. The results showed that cocaine administration during adolescence produced long-term behavioral sensitization to cocaine until adulthood and increased of GluR1 glutamate receptor subunit in the medial prefrontal cortex. The stress-induced behavioral sensitization was evident during adolescence but did not reach adulthood. In the second part, we evaluated the environmental modulation of behavioral sensitization to cocaine and alterations of CREB and upstream kinases activation in adult rats. The results showed that the expression of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization was specific to the environment paired with previous cocaine administration. Moreover, the number of neurons with CREB activation in the nucleus accumbens was increased in sensitized animals and specific to the paired environment. Thus, our results add new findings on addiction related alterations in adolescent animals, its long-term effects and the environmental modulation of cocaine behavioral and neuronal sensitization.Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisInvestigamos a influência da ontogênese, do estresse e do ambiente onde a substância psicoativa é administrada sobre a sensibilização comportamental à cocaína e o desenvolvimento de neuroadaptações. Para tanto, esse trabalho de tese foi dividido em duas partes. Na primeira, avaliamos os efeitos da administração repetida à cocaína ou exposição ao estresse em ratos adolescentes na sensibilização comportamental à cocaína e neuroadaptações dos receptores de glutamato e da enzima tirosina hidroxilase. Essas alterações foram avaliadas durante a adolescência e também acompanhadas até a idade adulta. Demonstramos nesses experimentos que a administração repetida de cocaína durante a adolescência provoca sensibilização comportamental que perdura até a idade adulta e causa aumento da proteína GluR1 dos receptores glutamatérgicos no córtex pré-frontal medial. A exposição ao estresse provoca sensibilização comportamental em adolescentes, mas esse efeito não permanece até a idade adulta. Na segunda parte da tese, avaliamos a influência do pareamento do ambiente onde a cocaína é administrada sobre a expressão da sensibilização comportamental a essa substância e alterações de CREB e enzimas cinases que ativam CREB em ratos adultos. Demonstramos que o pareamento do ambiente com as administrações de cocaína facilita a expressão da sensibilização comportamental. A sensibilização comportamental dependente do ambiente está relacionada ao aumento do número de neurônios com ativação de CREB no núcleo acumbens dos animais. Portanto, nosso estudo pretende contribuir para o entendimento de alterações relacionadas à dependência em animais adolescentes, seus efeitos duradouros e a influência do ambiente onde a substância é administrada

Matemal separation affects cocaine-induced locomotion and response to novelty in adolescent, but not in adult rats

Maternal separation is known to exert long-term effects on both behavior and the neuroendocrine system. We investigated cocaine-induced locomotor activation as well as the locomotor and corticosterone response to forced novelty in maternally separated adolescent and adult rats. Maternal separation consisted of separating litters from their darns daily during 5 h from postnatal days 2 to 6. Control animals were subjected only to regular cage changes. Cocaine- (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and novelty-induced locomotion were recorded in an activity cage. After the animals were tested for behavioral response to novelty, trunk blood samples were collected and plasma corticosterone levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Adolescent rats exposed to maternal separation exhibited an increased locomotor response to novelty and cocaine; corticosterone levels were lower in these adolescent animals, after exposure to the novel environment. These effects of materrial separation were not observed in rats that were tested as adults. Thus the maternal separation protocol produced enduring but transient changes in the behavioral response to cocaine and in the stress response to novelty. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Chronic restraint or variable stresses differently affect the behavior, corticosterone secretion and body weight in rats

Organisms are constantly subjected to stressful stimuli that affect numerous physiological processes and activate the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing the release of glucocorticoids. Exposure to chronic stress is known to alter basic mechanisms of the stress response. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effect of two different stress paradigms (chronic restraint or variable stress) on behavioral and corticosterone release to a subsequent exposure to stressors. Considering that the HPA axis might respond differently when it is challenged with a novel or a familiar stressor we investigated the changes in the corticosterone levels following the exposure to two stressors: restraint (familiar stress) or forced novelty (novel stress). The changes in the behavioral response were evaluated by measuring the locomotor response to a novel environment. In addition, we examined changes in body, adrenals, and thymus weights in response to the chronic paradigms. Our results showed that exposure to chronic variable stress increased basal plasma corticosterone levels and that both, chronic restraint and variable stresses, promote higher corticosterone levels in response to a novel environment, but not to a challenge restraint stress, as compared to the control (non-stressed) group. Exposure to chronic restraint leads to increased novelty-induced locomotor activity. Furthermore, only the exposure to variable stress reduced body weights. In conclusion, the present results provide additional evidence on how chronic stress affects the organism physiology and point to the importance of the chronic paradigm and challenge stress on the behavioral and hormonal adaptations induced by chronic stress. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The reinstatement of amphetamine-induced place preference is long-lasting and related to decreased expression of AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens

A great deal of effort has been devoted to elucidating the psychopharmacology underlying addiction and relapse. Long-term neuroadaptations in glutamate transmission seem to be of great relevance for relapse to stimulant abuse. In this study, we investigated amphetamine-induced conditioned place preference during adolescence and the reinstatement of the conditioned behavior following a priming injection of the drug 1 day (adolescence), 30 days (early adulthood) and 60 days (adulthood) after the extinction test. The nucleus accumbens was dissected immediately after the reinstatement test to examine alterations in GluR1 and NR1 subunits of glutamatergic receptors. Our results showed that a priming injection of amphetamine was able to reinstate the CPP 1 and 30 days after extinction. However, it failed to reinstate the conditioned response after 60 days. GluR1 levels were decreased on days 1 and 30 but not on day 60 while NR1 levels were unaltered in the reinstatement test. Using a relapse model we found that reinstatement of amphetamine-induced conditioning place preference during adolescence is long lasting and persists through early adulthood. Decreased levels of GluR1 in the nucleus accumbens might be related to the reinstatement of amphetamine-induced conditioning place preference. (C) 2008 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Repeated administration of caffeine induces either sensitization or tolerance of locomotor stimulation depending on the environmental context

Caffeine is the psychostimulant substance consumed in greatest quantities in the world. The repeated administration of psychostimulants can either decrease or increase the drug effect, inducing tolerance or sensitization, respectively, depending on administration procedure. Not only the dose and regimen, but also the environment where drug is administered, seem to modulate the changes in locomotor activity following repeated psychostimulant administration. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of the environmental context on caffeine-induced psychomotor stimulation following repeated administration of this drug. Our results showed that repeated caffeine induced psychomotor sensitization when drug injections were paired with the environment in which the animals were subsequently tested, whereas tolerance occurred when the animals received repeated caffeine in an environment different from that where the tests were performed. In conclusion, the present results demonstrated that the environmental context where caffeine is administered is a key factor modulating the adaptations of the organism to drug effects.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Behavioral and neuroendocrine effects of the exposure to chronic restraint or variable stress in early adolescent rats

Stress events during adolescence may contribute to the expression or exacerbation of physical and behavioral disorders. However, little attention has been given to the physiological and behavioral changes promoted by stress during this period of ontogeny. In the present study we investigated, in adolescent male rats, the effects of repeated exposure to restraint or variable stress on: (a) locomotor activity and corticosterone levels after exposure to a novel environment; (b) corticosterone levels in response to the exposure to restraint stress; and (c) changes in body, thymus and adrenal weights. The results demonstrated that repeated exposure to restraint or variable stress reduced the locomotor response, but did not affect corticosterone secretion, in response to a novel environment. Moreover, both chronic stress procedures did not change corticosterone secretion in response to acute restraint stress. Furthermore, our results showed that repeated restraint, but not variable stress, produced a decrease in body weight along the stress exposure. Finally, we observed that the exposure to variable stress reduced the thymus relative weight. Taken together our results suggest that behavioral and physiological changes induced by exposure to chronic stress during adolescence depend on the stress regimen. (C) 2011 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Stress-induced cross-sensitization to amphetamine is related to changes in the dopaminergic system

Repeated stress engenders behavioral sensitization. The mesolimbic dopamine system is critically involved in drug-induced behavioral sensitization. In the present study we examined the differences between adolescent and adult rats in stress-induced behavioral sensitization to amphetamine and changes in dopamine (DA) and its metabolite levels in the mesolimbic system. Adolescent or adult rats were restrained for 2 h, once a day, for 7 days. Three days after the last exposure to stress, the animals were challenged with saline or amphetamine (1.0 mg/kg i.p.) and amphetamine-induced locomotion was recorded for 40 min. Immediately after the behavioral tests, rats were decapitated and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and amygdala (AM) were removed to measure tissue levels of da and its metabolites by HPLC. Exposure to repeated restraint stress promoted behavioral sensitization to amphetamine in both adult and adolescent rats. In adult rats, amphetamine administration increased da levels in both the stress and control groups in the NAcc and VTA. In adolescent rats, amphetamine increased da levels in the NAcc in rats exposed to stress. Furthermore, in the AM of adolescent rats in the control group, amphetamine increased the da levels; however, amphetamine reduced this neurotransmitter in the rats that were exposed to stress. No alteration was observed in the dopamine metabolite levels. Therefore, stress promoted behavioral sensitization to amphetamine and this may be related to changes in da levels in the mesolimbic system. These changes appear to be dependent on ontogeny.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Stress-induced reinstatement of amphetamine-conditioned place preference and changes in tyrosine hydroxylase in the nucleus accumbens in adolescent rats

Drug abuse among humans often begins during adolescence. Exposure to psychostimulants during this age period may have long-term consequences which can render the organism more susceptible to drug abuse and relapse later in life. It has been demonstrated that exposure to stress can promote relapse to drug use even after long periods of withdrawal. The reinstatement of conditioned place preference (CPP) is a useful animal model for studying relapse. In humans and animals, changes in tyrosine hydroxylase (TN) have been related to drug addiction. Our study examined whether amphetamine-induced CPP during adolescence could be reinstated by exposure to stress 1 (adolescence) and 30 (adulthood) days after the extinction test. We also investigated TH levels following the reinstatement of CPP. Our results showed that amphetamine-induced CPP during adolescence can be reinstated by stress exposure 1 day (P42, end of adolescence) but not 30 days after extinction (P71, adulthood). Moreover the reinstatement of AMPH-induced CPP by stress exposure occurred in the presence of decreased TH in the nucleus accumbens. In conclusion, our data add new evidence that neuroadaptations on TH may mediate relapse to drug-seeking behavior induced by stress within adolescence. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES