Pricing for Scarcity

In many areas where water is not abundant, water pricing schedules contain significant nonlinearities. Existing pricing literature establishes that efficient schedules will depend on demand and supply characteristics. However, most empirical studies show that actual pricing schemes have little to do with theoretical efficiency results. In particular, there are very few models recommending increasing blocks, whereas we present evidence that this type of tariff structure is abundantly used. Water managers often defend increasing blocks, both as a means to benefit smaller users and as a way to signal scarcity. Naturally, in the presence of water scarcity the true cost of water increases due to the emergence of a scarcity cost. In this paper, we incorporate the scarcity cost associated with insufficient water availability into the optimal tariff design in several different models. We show that when both demand and costs respond to climate factors, increasing marginal prices may come about as a combined result of scarcity and customer heterogeneity under specific conditions. We also investigate the effect that rising water scarcity in the long run can have on the steady-state amount of capital invested in water storage and supply infrastructures and obtain some results that are consistent with the static models.water pricing; nonlinear pricing; increasing block tariffs; water scarcity

Local sustainable mobility management. Are Portuguese municipalities aware?

Urban mobility has become an international problem and several countries have joined together in different consortia, signing international agreements and developing projects with a view to establishing new standards for current mobility levels and the development of the transport systems of the future. Although such worldwide increasing effort regarding sustainable mobility issue, namely by the most proactive European cities, it is not yet clear why measures towards sustainable mobility are not implemented by the generality of local authorities. The main goal of this paper is to identify the different sustainable mobility strategies and the corresponding perceptions by local public authorities. Such local governance aspects have yet to be dealt with appropriately and in a credible way. This shortcoming is particularly acute in Portugal where sustainable urban mobility management is still highly underdeveloped and very few studies have been dedicated to the matter. We provide new evidence on the perceptions and strategies of the Portuguese local public authorities regarding sustainable urban mobility management. Through a survey to all Portuguese municipalities we provide brand new evidence on their perceptions and strategies regarding sustainable urban mobility management. Estimates based on econometric regressions indicate that the most mobility-conscious municipalities are, on average, those that are richer, more cultural and educated, possess alternative transport parks and routes, have larger and more human capital intensive mobility departments. Results show that more than simply participating in urban regeneration programs it is necessary a more committed attitude, namely that municipalities’ urban plans explicitly mention mobility issues and indicators. All the models estimated clearly evidence a higher awareness of North municipalities towards sustainable mobility issues.Zona Euro; Sustainability; mobility management; regions; human capital

Entrepreneurial local governance modes for sustainable mobility management : the case of portuguese municipalities

Tese de mestrado. Inovação e Empreendedorismo Tecnológico. 2006. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Port

Corporate social responsibility: the relationship between CSR and employees in times of organizational distrust

There is general consensus nowadays that CSR is not just altruistic do-gooding but rather a way for both companies and society to prosper. Companies themselves increasingly recognize that their sustainability depends on their willingness to assume responsibility for social and environmental issues. Academic research has, in the past, tried to theorize exactly how CSR improves business, employee satisfaction and productivity. However, few studies have a) separated the different effects of internal CSR and external CSR and b) studied these effects in times of internal organizational distrust. Hence, this paper examines the relationship between each type of CSR with two outcome variables related to employee attitudes: affective organizational commitment (AOC) and turnover intentions (TI). Furthermore, it investigates whether organizational distrust works as a moderator in each of these relationships by testing the hypothesis using a sample of 212 employees from a company that is currently going through a moment of internal crisis. Findings suggest that although all variables are strongly correlated, distrust works as a moderator for external CSR but not for internal CSR. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings conclude the paper

Target Corporation, Inc. equity valuation

The main objective of this dissertation is to carry out the equity valuation of Target Corporation, a retail company based in the United States of America that belongs to the S&P index 500, in order to determine the price per share. Firstly, an industry analysis in which the company operates was carried out, thus, the North American market was characterized, the main competitors identified, as well as the opportunities and challenges of the sector.It was also analyzed the global economic context and its impact on the retail sector. On the other hand, the financial history of some company indicators was analyzed in order to deepen knowledge about it and choose the most suitable methods. The main method used was Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), having been determined an intrinsic value of $124.64. Comparing this value with the market value,$129.94 (16ℎ November 2023), a HOLD recommendation on the shares of Target Corporation share’s was issued. A relative assessment using multiples was performed, however it was discarded due to the difficulty in identifying a peer group that could be compare to Target Corporation.O objetivo principal desta dissertac¸ao˜ e realizar a avaliac¸ ´ ao da Target Corporation, uma ˜ empresa de retalho com sede nos Estados Unidos da America que pertence ao ´ ´ındice S&P 500, para a qual sera determinado o prec¸o por ac¸ ´ ao. Para iniciar este estudo, foi realizada ˜ uma analise ´ a ind´ustria onde a empresa se insere, deste modo, o mercado norte americano ` foi caracterizado, os principais concorrentes identificados, bem como as oportunidades e os desafios do sector, tendo em conta o contexto economico mundial e o seu impacto no sector do ´ retalho. Consequentemente, foi tambem analisado o hist ´ orico financeiro de alguns indicadores ´ da empresa de forma a aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a mesma e escolher os metodos de ´ avaliac¸ao mais adequados. O principal m ˜ etodo de an ´ alise utilizado foi o Discounted Cash Flow ´ (DCF), tendo sido apurado um valor intr´ınseco de $124.64. Comparando este valor com o valor de mercado,$129.94 (16 de Novembro de 2023), a recomendac¸ao emitida sobre as ac¸ ˜ oes da ˜ Target Corporation e de HOLD. Contudo, foi ainda realizada uma avaliac¸ ´ ao relativa recorrendo ˜ aos m´ultiplos, tendo a mesma sido descartada devido a dificuldade em identificar um grupo ` semelhante que pudesse ser comparavel ´ a Target Corporation

Delta Air Lines valuation

Delta Air Lines is a company within the airlines industry, mainly operating with the transportation of people and cargo. The purpose of my thesis is to achieve the Enterprise value of Delta Air Lines, by applying different Firm Valuation methodology. With this, it is expected to give a formal opinion on the company’s shares. The chosen methodologies to perform the valuation model was the Discounted Cash Flows valuation (DCF) and the Multiples model. The DCF valuation was based on four main assumption: number of seats available, number of miles travelled, number of passengers and number of planes. For the Multiples valuation, the information from similar companies within the same industry was used, with the purpose of serving as benchmarked to the DCF model. In the end, the models created were compared with two different investments reports (Raymond James’ e Cowen’). This comparison yield that all models analysed reached similar share price between $64 to$67. Since the company’s shares are currently valued as $56, there is a favourable opinion to buy Delta Air Lines market share.A Delta Air Lines é uma empresa que opera no sector dos transportes aéreos, principalmente de pessoas e carga, sendo conhecida como a empresa líder de mercado nos Estados Unidos. O objetivo desta tese é avaliar a companhia aérea Delta Air Lines, aplicando as metodologias de avaliação de empresas, e posteriormente emitir uma opinião formal e objetiva da mesma. Para a avaliação da empresa, foram utilizados os modelos de avaliação Fluxos de Caixa descontados e os modelos dos Múltiplos. No que diz respeito aos Fluxos de Caixa descontados, este teve por base quatro principais pressupostos: número de lugares disponíveis, número de milhas percorridas, número de passageiros e número de aviões. Quanto à construção do modelo dos Múltiplos, foram retiradas as informações de empresas similares do mesmo sector de atividade da Delta Air Lines, com objetivo de funcionar como referencia para os valores praticados no mercado. Para concluir, os modelos criados irão ser comparados com dois relatórios de investidores (Raymond James’ e Cowen’). Através da comparação entre estes relatórios de investimentos e os modelos desenvolvidos na tese, foi possível concluir que ambos chegavam a uma valorização aproximadamente igual. Encontrando-se as ações avaliadas entre os$64 e $67. Uma vez que, atualmente a empresa se encontra com um preço por ação de$56, existe um parecer favorável quanto à compra de ações da Delta Air Lines

Immune microenvironment dynamics of HER2 overexpressing breast cancer under dual anti-HER2 blockade

Funding Information: We thank the technical support of IGC’s Advanced Imaging Facility, which is supported by Portuguese funding (ref. PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122), co-financed by Lisboa Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal). We thank Dr. Gabriela Silva and Dr. Ana Barbas (iBET) for providing the human IgG control antibody and we thank Dr. Karine Serre and Dr. Inês P. da Silva for scientific discussion. Funding Information: The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT/MCTES, Portugal) through national funds to iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020 and UIDP/04462/2020), the Associate Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020), project Glyco-TAM (PTDC/BTM-TEC/0432/2021) and the individual fellowships to SB (PD/BD/135550/2018 and COVID/BD/152532/2022) and CMG (UI/BD/151253/2021). Acknowledgments Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Batalha, Gomes and Brito.Introduction: The clinical prognosis of the HER2-overexpressing (HER2-OE) subtype of breast cancer (BC) is influenced by the immune infiltrate of the tumor. Specifically, monocytic cells, which are promoters of pro-tumoral immunosuppression, and NK cells, whose basal cytotoxic function may be enhanced with therapeutic antibodies. One of the standards of care for HER2+ BC patients includes the combination of the anti-HER2 antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab. This dual combination was a breakthrough against trastuzumab resistance; however, this regimen does not yield complete clinical benefit for a large fraction of patients. Further therapy refinement is still hampered by the lack of knowledge on the immune mechanism of action of this antibody-based dual HER2 blockade. Methods: To explore how the dual antibody challenge influences the phenotype and function of immune cells infiltrating the HER2-OE BC microenvironment, we developed in vitro 3D heterotypic cell models of this subtype. The models comprised aggregates of HER2+ BC cell lines and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Cells were co-encapsulated in a chemically inert alginate hydrogel and maintained in agitation-based culture system for up to 7 days. Results: The 3D models of the HER2-OE immune microenvironment retained original BC molecular features; the preservation of the NK cell compartment was achieved upon optimization of culture time and cytokine supplementation. Challenging the models with the standard-of-care combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab resulted in enhanced immune cytotoxicity compared with trastuzumab alone. Features of the response to therapy within the immune tumor microenvironment were recapitulated, including induction of an immune effector state with NK cell activation, enhanced cell apoptosis and decline of immunosuppressive PD-L1+ immune cells. Conclusions: This work presents a unique human 3D model for the study of immune effects of anti-HER2 biologicals, which can be used to test novel therapy regimens and improve anti-tumor immune function.publishe

Efeito da terapia de espelho na reabilitação de pacientes com sequelas de acidente vascular encefálico: uma revisão bibliográfica

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em FisioterapiaIntrodução: A terapia de espelho (TE) tem sido referenciada como um método de tratamento novo e diferenciador para a recuperação motora funcional, que trabalha com estratégias de treino sensório-motor e feedback visual. Objetivo: Verificar o efeito da TE na reabilitação funcional de pacientes com sequelas neuromusculoesqueléticas, após um acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). Metodologia: Pesquisa computorizada nas bases de dados b-on e Pubmed com o intuito de identificar estudos randomizados controlados e/ou estudos piloto publicados nos últimos 5 anos em inglês, que abordem a aplicação da TE na reabilitação de pacientes após AVE no membro superior (MS). Resultados: Foram incluídos 9 artigos, num total de 230 participantes. Dos artigos avaliados 6 combinaram a TE mais Fisioterapia Convencional (FC), 1 combinou a TE com Estimulação Elétrica Funcional (FES) com e sem Biofeedback (BF), 1 combinou a TE com FC mais FES mais Terapia Ocupacional (TO) e 1 combinou a TE com e sem objetos. Em 1 dos artigos incluídos a TE foi aplicada na fase aguda do AVE, 4 na fase sub-aguda e 4 na fase crónica. Conclusão: A TE parece ter demonstrado efeitos significativos positivos: na recuperação funcional, nas atividades da vida diária (AVD´s) e na negligência visuo-espacial. Através da análise dos artigos incluídos, a TE parece ser um método de tratamento complementar na recuperação funcional do MS, apresentando melhorias tais como: “o alcançar”, velocidade de movimento e prono-supinação do antebraço. No entanto, são ainda necessários mais estudos para avaliar a evidência científica da TE como intervenção terapêutica complementar na reabilitação do MS pós-AVE.Introduction: Mirror therapy (MT) has been referred to as a new and differentiating treatment method for functional motor recovery, which works with sensory-motor training strategies and visual feedback. Objective: To verify the effect of MT in the functional rehabilitation of patients after a stroke. Methodology: Computerized research in b-on and Pubmed with keywords to identify randomized controlled trials, pilot studies published in the last 5 years in English, that address the application of MT in the rehabilitation of patients after stroke in Upper Limb (UL). Results: 9 articles were included, with a total of 230 participants. Of the evaluated articles, 6 combined MT plus Conventional Physiotherapy (CF), 1 combined MT with Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) with and without Biofeedback (BF), 1 combined MT with CF plus FES plus Occupational Therapy (OT), and 1 Combined MT with and without objects. In 1 of the articles included MT was applied in the acute phase of stroke, 4 in the subacute phase and 4 in the chronic phase. Conclusion: The MT seems to have demonstrated significant positive effects: functional recovery, daily activities, living (ADLs) and visual-spatial neglect. Through the analysis of the included articles, the MT seems to be a complementary treatment method in the functional recovery of UL, presenting improvements such as: "reaching", improved speed, pronation and supination of the forearm. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the scientific evidence of MT as a complementary therapeutic intervention in the rehabilitation of post-stroke UL.N/