Initial Coin Offering (ICO): a systematic review of the literature

Initial ICO coin offerings have emerged as a new business financing mechanism. ICOs have raised more than $ 31.14 billion by 2019, sparking interest in finance studies. Despite ongoing scientific research on the topic, academic knowledge remains limited and fragmented. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature with 30 contributions from journals published until January 2020. Based on an in-depth analysis of the publications identified, we describe the landscape of the field of ICOs focusing on two aspects. First, we conducted an analysis of the empirical articles that addressed the success determinants of ICOs. Second, we categorize relevant contributions in five different perspectives: human and social capital, technological characteristics, governance and legal aspects and financial details of the campaign. Thematic analysis was carried out to address dominant themes and subthemes in each perspective

Perfil sociodemográfico, epidemiológico e comportamental de mulheres infectadas pelo HTLV-1 em Salvador-Bahia, uma área endêmica para o HTLV

Submitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2014-07-30T18:17:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Moxoto I Perfil socfiodemográfico....pdf: 102366 bytes, checksum: 1dd9ed08c0a4733d4d8b648616355175 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-30T18:17:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Moxoto I Perfil socfiodemográfico....pdf: 102366 bytes, checksum: 1dd9ed08c0a4733d4d8b648616355175 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, BrasilEscola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Laboratório Avançado de Saúde Pública. Salvador, BA, BrasilEscola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, BrasilEscola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Laboratório Avançado de Saúde Pública. Salvador, BA, BrasilEscola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, BrasilUniversidade Federal da Bahia. Instituto de Saúde Coletiva. Salvador, BA, BrasilEscola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. Fundação Bahiana para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Laboratório Avançado de Saúde Pública. Salvador, BA, BrasilO objetivo foi descrever as características sociodemográficas, epidemiológicas e comportamentais de mulheres infectadas (64) e não infectadas (66) pelo HTLV-1 em Salvador, Bahia. O diagnóstico sorológico foi obtido por ELISA, WB e Imunofluorescência. Dados epidemiológicos e sociodemográficos foram coletados utilizando questionário padronizado. O Qui-quadrado ou teste de Fisher foi usado para dados categóricos e ANOVA ou Kruskall Wallis (3 grupos) e teste T ou Mann Whitney (2 grupos) para os dados contínuos. As variáveis associadas foram ajustadas por regressão logística. Mais da metade (57,8%) das mulheres soropositivas eram assintomáticas. As sintomáticas (com PET/MAH) tinham menor escolaridade. A comparação entre mulheres soropositivas e soronegativas mostrou que a hemotransfusão, a prática de sexo anal, coitarca antes dos 18 anos e ter mais de 3 parceiros sexuais na vida foram fatores de risco para infecção pelo HTLV-1. A prevenção da transmissão sexual e vertical (aleitamento materno) deve ser reforçada e triagem no pré-natal mandatória.The objective was to describe the sociodemographic, epidemiological and behavioral characteristics of women infected with HTLV-1 (64) and uninfected women (66) in Salvador, Bahia. The serological diagnosis was obtained via ELISA, Western Blot and Immunofluorescence. Epidemiological and sociodemographic data were collected using a standardized questionnaire. The chi-squared or Fisher test was used for categorical data and ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis (3 groups) and the T-test or Mann-Whitney (2 groups) were used for continuous data. Associated variables were adjusted using logistic regression. More than half (57.8%) of the seropositive women were asymptomatic. The symptomatic women (with HAM/TSP) had fewer years of education. Comparison between seronegative and seropositive women showed that blood transfusion, anal sex practices, first sexual intercourse before the age of 18 years and three or more sexual partners over women’s lifetime were risk factors for HTLV-1 infection. The prevention of both sexual transmission and vertical transmission (breastfeeding) should be reinforced. Prenatal screening is of paramount importance

In vitro basal T-cell proliferation among asymptomatic Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 patients co-infected with hepatitis C and/or Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1

Background: Infection with Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 can be associated with myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and other inflammatory diseases. Lymphocytes from about half of Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1-infected subjects spontaneously proliferate in vitro, and how this phenomenon relates to symptomatic disease and viral burden is poorly understood. Objective: To evaluate T-cell proliferation in vitro among patients co-infected with Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1/Hepatitis C Virus/Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1. Material and methods: From 610 Human T cell Leukemia Virus-infected patients of the Human T cell Leukemia Virus outpatient clinic from Institute of Infectious Diseases “Emilio Ribas” in São Paulo, 273 agreed to participate: 72 had HAM/TSP (excluded from this analysis) and 201 were asymptomatic, a classification performed during a regular neurological appointment. We selected the subgroup made up only by the 201 asymptomatic subjects to avoid bias by the clinical status as a confounder effect, who had laboratory results of Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 proviral load and T-cell proliferation assay in our database. They were further grouped according to their serological status in four categories: 121 Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 asymptomatic mono-infected carriers; 32 Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1/Hepatitis C Virus, 29 Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1/Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1, and 19 Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1/Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1/Hepatitis C Virus co-infected patients. Clinical data were obtained from medical records and interviews. DNA Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 proviral load (PVL) and T-cell proliferation (LPA) assay were performed for all samples. Results: From a total of 273 subjects with Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1, 80 presented co-infections: 29 had Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1, 32 had Hepatitis C Virus, and 19 had Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 and Hepatitis C Virus. Comparing the groups based on their serological status, independently of being asymptomatic carriers, we observed a significant increase of PVL (p < 0.001) and LPA (p = 0.001). However, when groups were stratified according to their clinical and serological status, there was no significant increase in Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 PVL and LPA. Conclusion: No significant increase of basal T-cell proliferation among Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 co-infected was observed. This interaction may be implicated in liver damage, worsening the prognosis of co-infected patients or, on the contrary, inducing a higher spontaneous clearance of Hepatitis C Virus infection in Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 co-infected patients. Keywords: HCV, HTLV-1, HIV-1, T-cell proliferatio