The spin-off of Volkswagen financial services

The Volkswagen Financial Services AG (VWFS) competitive positioning was negatively affected by the regulatory responsibilities imposed by European Central Bank (ECB). ECB Regulations did not fit business model and global footprint of VWFS AG. Thus, the purpose of this work project is to study the solution adopted by VWFS AG to overcome this problem – Spin-off of VWFS AG. This project takes the form of a case study, being divided between the case narrative and teaching notes. Initially, the history of VWFS AG and VWFS Portugal will be presented. Subsequently, the motivations, risks and benefits behind the restructuration will be analyzed

Perception of uncontrolled blood pressure and non-adhrenece to anti-hypertensive agents in diabetic hypertensive patients

We assessed the association between adherence to antihypertensive drug treatment and patient's perception of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) in diabetic hypertensive subjects. This was a cross-sectional study that evaluated adherence to antihypertensives (Morisky questionnaire), patients' perception of abnormal BP, office BP, and ambulatory BP monitoring in diabetic hypertensive subjects. We evaluated 323 patients, 65.2% women, aged 56.5 ± 7 years, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) 8.0% (range, 6.9%–9.6%), diabetes duration of 10 years (range, 5–17 years). Adherence to drug treatment was 51.4%. Patients who reported hypertension-related symptoms (60.4%) had a lower level of adherence (P < .001). Non-adherence occurred four times more frequently in patients who reported hypertension-related symptoms (P < .001, adjusted for use of three or more anti-hypertensives, age, and duration of diabetes). Non-adherents had higher office diastolic BP (83.6 ± 11.9 vs. 79.8 ± 9.9; P = .003), but no difference between groups was observed considering systolic, diastolic, and mean BP evaluated by ambulatory BP monitoring. Low rates of adherence to antihypertensive drug treatment were observed in outpatient hypertensive diabetic subjects. Perception of uncontrolled BP levels was strongly and independently associated with non-adherence. Non-adherence determined repercussion on office BP that may have clinical implications in cardiovascular risk

CANTANDO HIS´TÓRIA: O APRENDIZADO ATRAVÉS DA MÚSICA

No trabalho que se sucederá, temos como objetivo passar o conteúdo de História com aanálise e interpretação de músicas da época dos acontecimentos históricos e/ou músicas atuaisque falem sobre as mesmas. Assim, deixando outra opção de forma de estudo e de adição deconhecimento, transcendendo as formas mais comuns de ensino. Novas tecnologias comocomputadores, smartphones e serviços de streaming prevalecem no consumo da música,sendo presente na vida dos indivíduos. Com a música, podemos obter um conhecimento maisprofundo de todo um contexto cultural. O projeto proposto, “Cantando História: oaprendizado através da música”, espera como resultados: Investigar a historicidade presentenas músicas: E ampliar o conhecimento do aluno em relação ao conhecimento Histórico, coma criação de um site, utilizando as linguagens: HTML (Linguagem de Marcação deHipertexto), CSS (Folha de Estilo em Cascatas) e JS (JavaScript). Sua criação trará maiorvisibilidade ao conteúdo apresentado e acessibilidade a esse conhecimento para que outrosdocentes e discentes tenham acesso. Palavras-chave: Análise; Arte; Tecnologia

ESTÁGIOS DE MUDANÇA DE COMPORTAMENTO E BARREIRAS PERCEBIDAS PARA PRÁTICA DE ATIVIDADE FÍSICA DE IDOSOS

O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar os Estágios de Mudança de Comportamento (EMC) e as barreiras percebidas (BP) em relação à prática de atividade física (AF) em idosos de bairros de diferentes níveis socioeconômicos. Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico de corte transversal, descritivo, com abordagem domiciliar. Os EMC e as BP foram avaliados por questionários validados para a população do estudo. Foi utilizado o teste qui-quadrado para as comparações das variáveis categóricas e para as variáveis contínuas, ANOVA One Way para as variáveis simétricas e teste de Kruskal-Wallis para as assimétricas, seguido do teste post-hoc de Bonferroni. O bairro de menor nível socioeconômico apresentou maior prevalência de idosos nos EMC de contemplação e de pré-contemplação, quando comparado com bairros de nível socioeconômico médio e alto. Em relação às BP, o bairro de menor nível socioeconômico apresentou maior proporção de barreiras, sendo “possuir alguma lesão ou doença” (59,26%) e “preguiça e cansaço” (46,30%) as mais citadas. Conclui-se que é necessário desenvolver estratégias específicas para os EMC nos bairros de diferentes níveis socioeconômico focando em mudanças para EMC mais avançados, além de minimizar as barreiras para a prática de AF para incentivar a mudança de comportamento e um estilo de vida ativo

Effect of uncaria tomentosa extract on purinergic enzyme activities in lymphocytes of rats submitted to experimental adjuvant arthritis model

Background: Considering that adjuvant arthritis is an experimental model of arthritis widely used for preclinical testing of numerous anti-arthritic agents, which were taken by a large number of patients worldwide, it is of great interest to investigate the therapeutic action of compounds with anti-inflammatory properties, such as Uncaria tomentosa extract. Moreover, there are no studies demonstrating the effect of U. tomentosa on the metabolism of adenine nucleotides published so far. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of U. tomentosa extract on E-NTPDase and E-ADA activities in lymphocytes of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) arthritis induced rats. Methods: To evaluate the effect of U. tomentosa extract on the activity of E-NTPDase and ADA in lymphocytes, the rats were submitted to an experimental adjuvant arthritis model. Peripheral lymphocytes were isolated and E-NTPDase and E-ADA activities were determined. Data were analyzed by a one- or two-way ANOVA. Post hoc analyses were carried out by the Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) Multiple Comparison Test. Results: E-NTPDase activity was increased in arthritic untreated. Arthritic rats which received U. tomentosa extract, presented similar results to the control group. However, results obtained for adenosine hydrolysis by E-ADA were not altered in arthritic rats. U. tomentosa extract did not alter E-NTPDase and E-ADA activity in healthy animals. Conclusions: The present investigation supports the hypothesis that the increased E-NTPDase activity verified in arthritic rats might be an attempt to maintain basal levels of ATP and ADP in the extracellular medium, since the arthritis induction causes tissue damage and, consequently, large amounts of ATP are released into this milieu. Also, it highlights the possibility to use U. tomentosa extract as an adjuvant to treat arthritis

Effect of uncaria tomentosa extract on purinergic enzyme activities in lymphocytes of rats submitted to experimental adjuvant arthritis model

Background: Considering that adjuvant arthritis is an experimental model of arthritis widely used for preclinical testing of numerous anti-arthritic agents, which were taken by a large number of patients worldwide, it is of great interest to investigate the therapeutic action of compounds with anti-inflammatory properties, such as Uncaria tomentosa extract. Moreover, there are no studies demonstrating the effect of U. tomentosa on the metabolism of adenine nucleotides published so far. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of U. tomentosa extract on E-NTPDase and E-ADA activities in lymphocytes of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) arthritis induced rats. Methods: To evaluate the effect of U. tomentosa extract on the activity of E-NTPDase and ADA in lymphocytes, the rats were submitted to an experimental adjuvant arthritis model. Peripheral lymphocytes were isolated and E-NTPDase and E-ADA activities were determined. Data were analyzed by a one- or two-way ANOVA. Post hoc analyses were carried out by the Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) Multiple Comparison Test. Results: E-NTPDase activity was increased in arthritic untreated. Arthritic rats which received U. tomentosa extract, presented similar results to the control group. However, results obtained for adenosine hydrolysis by E-ADA were not altered in arthritic rats. U. tomentosa extract did not alter E-NTPDase and E-ADA activity in healthy animals. Conclusions: The present investigation supports the hypothesis that the increased E-NTPDase activity verified in arthritic rats might be an attempt to maintain basal levels of ATP and ADP in the extracellular medium, since the arthritis induction causes tissue damage and, consequently, large amounts of ATP are released into this milieu. Also, it highlights the possibility to use U. tomentosa extract as an adjuvant to treat arthritis

description of the methodological approach

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Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio