Bank CEO ownership, performance and risk

In this study, I investigate the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ownership and the bank’s performance and risk, analysing the interaction between ownership and three measures of performance (stock returns, Return on Equity - ROE and Return on Assets - ROA) and two measures of risk (stock volatility and the ratio of Risk Weighted Assets RWA to Total Assets). I use a sample of a maximum of 47 listed US banks in 2021. Corporate governance of banks gained an increased interest after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, as governments, regulators, companies and academics tried to find good governance practices that could avoid another financial crisis. The principal-agent issue in banks has its own particularities, as banks are special companies due to their systemic risk, the presence of heavy regulation, and other factors that interact together to influence the optimal governance mechanism that would need to be implemented. One of the classical recommendations of governance is aligning the incentives of managers with the ones of the shareholders through equity ownership, ensuring a positive impact on performance and a prudent risk level for the bank. In this research, however, I found mixed evidence of this relationship with performance and no evidence with risk. I obtained limited results of a linear interaction with stock returns or ROE. I discovered significant results for a positive quadratic relationship between ownership and stock returns, but not for ROE or ROA. Nevertheless, there is some evidence of a significant, positive and linear influence on ROA.No presente estudo, investigarei a relação entre a participação accionista do CEO de um banco e a sua performance e risco, analisando três variáveis de performance (retorno das acções, rentabilidade dos capitais próprios e dos activos – ROE e ROA) e duas medidas de risco (volatilidade mensal das acções, e o rácio de Activos Ponderados por Risco RWA sobre Activos Totais). Utilizarei uma amostra de um máximo de 47 bancos americanos cotados em bolsa, durante 2021. O governo societário dos bancos ganhou um interesse acrescido após a crise financeira de 2008- 2009, quando governos, reguladores, empresas e académicos debatiam quais as boas práticas para evitar outra crise financeira. O problema de agência nos bancos é bastante específico: estes são entidades especiais devido ao seu risco sistémico, sujeitos a uma forte regulação e a outros factores que influenciam o mecanismo de governo. Uma das recomendações clássicas de governo societário é a de alinhar os incentivos dos gestores com os dos accionistas através da participação dos gestores no capital do banco, assegurando um impacto positivo na performance e um prudente nível de risco da instituição financeira. Contudo, nesta pesquisa, encontrei evidências mistas da relação com a performance e nenhuma evidência da relação com o risco. Obtive resultados limitados de uma interacção linear com o retorno das acções ou ROE. Descobri resultados significativos para uma relação quadrática positiva com o retorno das acções, mas não com o ROE ou ROA. Não obstante, existe alguma evidência de uma relação significativa, positiva e linear com o ROA

Contactless resolution of inflammatory signals in tailored macrophage-based cell therapeutics

In recent years, nanotechnology-based microRNA (miR) therapeutic platforms have shown great promise for immunotherapy and tissue regeneration, despite the unmet challenge of achieving efficient and safe delivery of miRs. The transport of miRs offers precision and regulatory value for a myriad of biological processes and pathways, including the control of macrophage (MÏ ) functions and, consequently, the inflammatory cascades MÏ are involved in. Thus, enforcement of MÏ can boost the regenerative process and provide new solutions for diverse chronic pathologies. In this study, we sought to develop a magnetically guided transporter to deliver an miR-155 antagonist to M1-primed MÏ . Furthermore, we determined its modulatory effect in reprogramming MÏ from inflammatory to pro-regenerative phenotypes, with the aim of tissue healing and regenerative medicine approaches. This strategy combines contactless and high-precision control of MÏ , anticipating new functional miR carriers for targeted strategies controlled by extracorporeal action. The magnetoplexes SPION@PEI-miR were efficiently delivered into MÏ without compromising cell viability and successfully induced miR-mediated gene silencing by enhancing the expression of anti-inflammatory markers (IL4 and IL10) and the production of M2Ï -related markers (CD206 and IL4). Given its multimodal features, SPION@PEI-miR represents a simple, safe, and nonviral theranostic platform that enables imaging, tracking, and miR delivery with modulatory effects on immune cells.This research was funded by the European Research Council, Consolidator Grant MagTendon, grant number 772817 and by the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, scholarship number SFRD/BD/144816/2019

Remote triggering of TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling in human adipose stem cells laden on magnetic scaffolds synergistically promotes tenogenic commitment

Injuries affecting load bearing tendon tissues are a significant clinical burden and efficient treatments are still unmet. Tackling tendon regeneration, tissue engineering strategies aim to develop functional substitutes that recreate native tendon milieu. Tendon mimetic scaffolds capable of remote magnetic responsiveness and functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) targeting cellular mechanosensitive receptors are potential instructive tools to mediate mechanotransduction in guiding tenogenic responses. In this work, we combine magnetically responsive scaffolds and targeted Activin A type II receptor in human adipose stem cells (hASCs), under alternating magnetic field (AMF), to synergistically facilitate external control over signal transduction. The combination of remote triggering TGF-β/Smad2/3 using MNPs tagged hASCs, through magnetically actuated scaffolds, stimulates overall expression of tendon related genes and the deposition of tendon related proteins, in comparison to non-stimulated conditions. Moreover, the phosphorylation of Smad2/3 proteins and their nuclear co-localization was also more evident. Overall, biophysical stimuli resulting from magnetic scaffolds and magnetically triggered cells under AMF stimulation modulate the mechanosensing response of hASCs towards tenogenesis, holding therapeutic promise.Authors acknowledge the project “Accelerating tissue engineering and personalized medicine discoveries by the integration of key enabling nanotechnologies, marine-derived biomaterials and stem cells”, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the FCT Project MagTT PTDC/CTM-CTM/29930/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-29930). Authors acknowledge the HORIZON 2020 for the Achilles Twinning Project No. 810850. Authors also thank the European Research Council COG MagTendon No. 772817 and the ADG DYNACEUTICS No. 789119. Prof. Bernardo Almeida from Physics Department, University of Minho, is also acknowledged for assisting in the magnetic system assembling. Authors also acknowledge the INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (Braga, Portugal) for the magnetization analysis

Force degradation study in active pharmaceutical ingredient: evaluation of stability indicating methods

Tese de mestrado, Engenharia Farmacêutica, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico, 201

Custeio logístico e redução de desperdício associados à rede comercial

Estágio realizado na Pt Comunicações e orientado pelo Eng.º Pedro Miguel MarquesRelatório de estágio curricular da LGEI 2006/200

Controlling Macrophage Polarization to Modulate Inflammatory Cues Using Immune-Switch Nanoparticles

The persistence of inflammatory mediators in tissue niches significantly impacts regenerative outcomes and contributes to chronic diseases. Interleukin-4 (IL4) boosts pro-healing phenotypes in macrophages (Mφ) and triggers the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). Since the IL4/STAT6 pathway reduces Mφ responsiveness to inflammation in a targeted and precise manner, IL4 delivery offers personalized possibilities to overcome inflammatory events. Despite its therapeutic potential, the limited success of IL4-targeted delivery is hampered by inefficient vehicles. Magnetically assisted technologies offer precise and tunable nanodevices for the delivery of cytokines by combining contactless modulation, high tissue penetration, imaging features, and low interference with the biological environment. Although superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) have shown clinical applicability in imaging, SPION-based approaches have rarely been explored for targeted delivery and cell programming. Herein, we hypothesized that SPION-based carriers assist in efficient IL4 delivery to Mφ, favoring a pro-regenerative phenotype (M2φ). Our results confirmed the efficiency of SPION-IL4 and Mφ responsiveness to SPION-IL4 with evidence of STAT6-mediated polarization. SPION-IL4-treated Mφ showed increased expression of M2φ associated-mediators (IL10, ARG1, CCL2, IL1Ra) when compared to the well-established soluble IL4. The ability of SPION-IL4 to direct Mφ polarization using sophisticated magnetic nanotools is valuable for resolving inflammation and assisting innovative strategies for chronic inflammatory conditions

Rationale, design, and baseline characteristics in Evaluation of LIXisenatide in Acute Coronary Syndrome, a long-term cardiovascular end point trial of lixisenatide versus placebo

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Furthermore, patients with T2DM and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have a particularly high risk of CV events. The glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist, lixisenatide, improves glycemia, but its effects on CV events have not been thoroughly evaluated. METHODS: ELIXA (www.clinicaltrials.gov no. NCT01147250) is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter study of lixisenatide in patients with T2DM and a recent ACS event. The primary aim is to evaluate the effects of lixisenatide on CV morbidity and mortality in a population at high CV risk. The primary efficacy end point is a composite of time to CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Data are systematically collected for safety outcomes, including hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, and malignancy. RESULTS: Enrollment began in July 2010 and ended in August 2013; 6,068 patients from 49 countries were randomized. Of these, 69% are men and 75% are white; at baseline, the mean ± SD age was 60.3 ± 9.7 years, body mass index was 30.2 ± 5.7 kg/m(2), and duration of T2DM was 9.3 ± 8.2 years. The qualifying ACS was a myocardial infarction in 83% and unstable angina in 17%. The study will continue until the positive adjudication of the protocol-specified number of primary CV events. CONCLUSION: ELIXA will be the first trial to report the safety and efficacy of a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist in people with T2DM and high CV event risk