The effect of crises on firm exit and the moderating effect of firm size

The liability of smallness assumption suggests that smaller firms face higher exit risks. However, does it apply during crises? We show that during downturns size reduces firms‟ exit risk by less; the hazard rate increases more rapidly in size

Competition and performance in European Higher Education: the role of funding instruments. Competición y desempeño en los sistemas europeos de Educación Superior: el papel de los instrumentos de financiación.

Abstract. Higher education institutions face today a demanding and complex context in which they are asked to fulfill multiple roles. Many of these challenges have to be faced in a complex financial context in which traditional modes of funding have been transformed and public sources are not as generous as they often were in the past.Like in many other public services, in recent years it became a rather common statement that higher education institutions should be more efficient in the use of taxpayers’ resources, which had a clear impact in visible changes in the funding of public higher education in Europe. In this paper we will analyse the major trends in higher education funding in Europe and underline to what extent the current debates about higher education and its funding have been significantly influenced by economic considerations. We will identify some of the main issues that dominate the current debate around higher education’s funding, drawing some comparative insights from developments across Europe. Resumen. Las instituciones de Enseñanza Superior están involucradas en un contexto complejo y exigente en el que tienen que hacer frente a múltiples demandas. Muchas de estas demandas emergen en un entorno financiero difícil, las fuentes tradicionales de financiamiento se han trasformado y los fondos públicos no fluyen con la generosidad de antes. Como en muchas áreas del sector público, las instituciones de enseñanza superior están presionadas para tener un uso más eficiente de las subvenciones públicas. Ello se observa como preocupación en los modos de financiamiento de muchos sistemas públicos de Enseñanza Superior en Europa. En este artículo se analizan algunas de las principales tendencias en el financiamiento de Educación Superior pública en Europa subrayando la influencia creciente de los razonamientos económicos en estos sistemas. En el análisis, y a partir de la comparación de algunos casos, seidentificarán algunos de los temas clave en el debate actual sobre el financiamientode la Educación Superior en ese continente

A strategy for the customer brand engagement (CBE) –a data product by Axians user engagement and onboarding –the case of “stayaway Covid”

The present project proposes a strategy to be followed within the product development and management of Axians’s future Customer Brand Engagement (CBE) data product, supported by a market and legal context.It provides a review of the market trends in motion within the customer data and customer experience fields, as well as a data regulation benchmark that covers the international scene. Furthermore, it suggests a tailor-made three-step product framework to be adopted by the product teams in order to future-proof it. Then, it recommends actions to enhance the product by ensuring user engagement with an app that would add a new relevant data source to the model based on a user study. Finally, it presents an overview and state of art of the technology available to deliver and execute the remaining data sources the product will model and provide insights from

Unveiling Sympathetic Activation and Genetic Therapeutic Perspectives

Introduction: Hypertension, a leading cause of death, was investigated in this study to understand the role of specific brain regions in regulating blood pressure. The lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), Kolliker-fuse nucleus (KF), and periductal grey matter (PAG) were examined for their involvement in hypertension. Methods: Lentiviral vectors were used to alter the activity of these brain regions in hypertensive rats. Over a 75-day period, blood pressure, heart rate, reflex responses, and heart rate variability were measured. Results: Decreasing the activity in the LPBN resulted in a reduced sympathetic outflow, lowering the blood pressure and heart rate. In the KF, the sympathetic activity decreased and chemoreflex variation was attenuated, without affecting the blood pressure. Silencing the PAG had no significant impact on blood pressure or sympathetic tone, but decreased cardiac baroreflex gain. Discussion: These findings highlight the significant role of the LPBN in hypertension-related sympathetic activation. Additionally, LPBN and KF neurons appear to activate mechanisms that control respiration and sympathetic outflow during chemoreceptor activation. Conclusions: The study provided insights into the contribution of the midbrain and pontine regions to neurogenic hypertension and offers potential avenues for future genetic interventions and developing novel treatment approaches.publishersversionpublishe

Renal function in children with congenital neurogenic bladder

AIMS: Preservation of renal function in children with congenital neurogenic bladder is an important goal of treatment for the disease. This study analyzed the evolution of renal function in patients with congenital neurogenic bladder. METHODS: We reviewed the records of 58 pediatric patients with respect to the following attributes: gender, age, etiology of neurogenic bladder, reason for referral, medical/surgical management, episodes of treated urinary tract infections, urodynamics, DMSA scintigraphy, weight, height, blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, microalbuminuria and metabolic acidosis. Statistical analysis was performed, adopting the 5% significance level. RESULTS: The mean age at presentation was 4.2 ± 3.5 years. Myelomeningocele was the most frequent etiology (71.4%). Recurrent urinary tract infection was the reason for referral in 82.8% of the patients. Recurrent urinary tract infections were diagnosed in 84.5% of the patients initially; 83.7% of those patients experienced improvement during follow-up. The initial mean glomerular filtration rate was 146.7 ± 70.1 mL/1.73 m²/min, and the final mean was 193.6 ± 93.6 mL/1.73 m²/min, p = 0.0004. Microalbuminuria was diagnosed in 54.1% of the patients initially and in 69% in the final evaluation. Metabolic acidosis was present in 19% of the patients initially and in 32.8% in the final assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Patient referral to a pediatric nephrologist was late. A reduction in the number of urinary tract infections was observed with adequate treatment, but microalbuminuria and metabolic acidosis occurred frequently despite adequate management

Tetraspanins, Another Piece in the HIV-1 Replication Puzzle

Despite the great research effort placed during the last decades in HIV-1 study, still some aspects of its replication cycle remain unknown. All this powerful research has succeeded in developing different drugs for AIDS treatment, but none of them can completely remove the virus from infected patients, who require life-long medication. The classical approach was focused on the study of virus particles as the main target, but increasing evidence highlights the importance of host cell proteins in HIV-1 cycle. In this context, tetraspanins have emerged as critical players in different steps of the viral infection cycle. Through their association with other molecules, including membrane receptors, cytoskeletal proteins, and signaling molecules, tetraspanins organize specialized membrane microdomains called tetraspanin-enriched microdomains (TEMs). Within these microdomains, several tetraspanins have been described to regulate HIV-1 entry, assembly, and transfer between cells. Interestingly, the importance of tetraspanins CD81 and CD63 in the early steps of viral replication has been recently pointed out. Indeed, CD81 can control the turnover of the HIV-1 restriction factor SAMHD1. This deoxynucleoside triphosphate triphosphohydrolase counteracts HIV-1 reverse transcription (RT) in resting cells via its dual function as dNTPase, catalyzing deoxynucleotide triphosphates into deoxynucleosides and inorganic triphosphate, and as exonuclease able to degrade single-stranded RNAs. SAMHD1 has also been related with the detection of viral nucleic acids, regulating the innate immune response and would promote viral latency. New evidences demonstrating the ability of CD81 to control SAMHD1 expression, and as a consequence, HIV-1 RT activity, highlight the importance of TEMs for viral replication. Here, we will briefly review how tetraspanins modulate HIV-1 infection, focusing on the latest findings that link TEMs to viral replication.This work was supported by grants BFU2014-55478-R; BIO2017-86500-R; Fundacion Ramon Areces and RYC-2012-11025 to MY-M; and was co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). HS was supported by a FPI-UAM Fellowship.S

O outplacement em Portugal: vivências e experiências

O outplacement é abordado neste artigo enquanto prática recente de gestão de recursoshumanos alinhada com um contexto de mudança intensa e rápida que carateriza o mundoempresarial na atualidade. Procuramos refletir teórica e empiricamente sobre os modelos e aspráticas de outplacement, analisando as vivências de quem experienciou estes processos deapoio à transição de emprego e/ou carreira quando afastado involuntáriamente do emprego.A abordagem metodológica qualitativa e exploratória utilizada, permite destacar as vantagenspara os candidatos, sendo notórias as vantagens de acesso ao mercado de trabalho e doponto de vista sociopsicológico e relacional.In this article, outplacement is addressed as a recent human resource policy associatedto the context of intense and fast change that is characteristic of the business world today. Weoffer a theoretical and empirical reflection on outplacement models and practices and analyzethe lived experiences of people who underwent such processes of employment and/or careertransition when they found themselves unwillingly removed from their jobs. The qualitativeand exploratory methodological approach we used shows the advantages of outplacementmeasures promoted by the companies for the employees who were dismissed. Suchadvantages are notorious in the access to the labour market and from the social-psychologicaland relational points

Open innovation e crowdsourcing no setor público em Portugal: o orçamento participativo

Open innovation e crowdsourcing são dois conceitos muito atuais na nossa sociedade, com um enorme potencial em termos de criação de valor, para as organizações. A open innovation, é entendida como a utilização de redes de pessoas dotadas e disponíveis para colaborar com diversas entidades, de forma a obter novas ideias para inovar. O crowdsourcing, é um novo conceito utilizado para designar o facto de as organziações recorrerem ao contributo dos vários stakeholders para a resolução de problemas, definição de estratégias e recolha de recursos de vários tipos, onde se incluem recursos informacionais ou ideias. O orçamento participativo, mecanismo ainda recente, relaciona a open innovation e o crowdsourcing nas entidades públicas, apelando à participação da sociedade nos interesses governamentais. O estudo deste tema é relevante dada a conjuntura atual da sociedade, uma vez que se torna necessário encontrar novas formas de financiamento para projetos da sociedade e resolver dicotomias existentes nos municípios, fornecendo maior qualidade de vida aos munícipes. Esta dissertação pretende analisar a utilização de formas de open innovation e crowdsourcing no setor público em Portugal, na forma de orçamentos participativos, compreender as suas características e percecionar as motivações para a sua implementação e as dificuldades sentidas. Nesse seguimento, a metodologia escolhida para análise é uma metodologia quantitativa, com recursos a um inquérito por questionário (online) enviado aos municípios portugueses. Da pesquisa efetuada perceciona-se influências entre a dimensão dos municípios e algumas variáveis, como dotação orçamental, quantidade de elementos responsáveis pelo orçamento participativo, propostas aprovadas, frequência de realização e implementação de orçamentos participativos. De igual modo, obtém-se as principais motivações de implementação, as maiores dificuldades sentidas e as barreiras percecionadas para a não implementação.Open innovation and crowdsourcing are two very current concepts in our society, with a huge potential in terms of value creation for organizations. Open innovation is understood as the use of networks of people gifted and available to collaborate with various entities in order to obtain new ideas to innovate. Crowdsourcing is a new concept used to designate the fact that organizations resort to the contribution of various stakeholders to solve problems, define strategies and collect resources of various kinds, including information resources or ideas. Participatory budgeting, still a recent mechanism, relates open innovation and crowdsourcing in public entities. It arouses for the participation of society in governmental interests. The study of this topic is relevant given society's current situation, since it is necessary to find new ways of financing society's projects and solve existing dichotomies in the municipalities, providing a better quality of life for the citizens. This dissertation aims to analyze the use of open innovation and crowdsourcing measures/forms in the public sector in Portugal, in the form of participatory budgets, understand their characteristics and understand the motivations for their implementation and the difficulties experienced. In this sense, the methodology chosen for analysis is a quantitative one, using a questionnaire survey (online) sent to Portuguese municipalities. The research carried out reveals influences between the size of municipalities and some variables, such as budget allocation, the number of people responsible for the participatory budget, proposals approved, and the frequency with which participatory budgets are carried out and implemented. We also obtained the main motivations for implementation, the greatest difficulties experienced, and the perceived barriers to non-implementation