High speed rail transport valuation

The present paper investigates the optimal timing of investment for a high speed rail (HSR) project, in an uncertain environment, using a real options analysis (ROA) framework. It develops a continuous time framework with stochastic demand that allows for the determination of the optimal timing of investment and the value of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High speed rail transport valuation and policy decisions

The present paper investigates the process of decision making regarding the optimal timing to invest in the high speed rail (HSR) project, under uncertainty, using the real options analysis (ROA) framework. It’s developed a continuous time framework that allows a solution to the problem concerning the optimal timing to invest and to value the impact of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project, with multiple uncertainty factors. Besides considering a stochastic demand, the effect of uncertainty in the investment’s expenditure and over the benefit per user is incorporated in a model with three stochastic variables. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High speed rail transport valuation

The present paper investigates the optimal timing of investment for a high speed rail (HSR) project, in an uncertain environment, using a real options analysis (ROA) framework. It develops a continuous time framework with stochastic demand that allows for the determination of the optimal timing of investment and the value of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experience with a middleware infrastructure for service oriented financial applications

Financial institutions, acting as financial intermediaries, need to handle numerous information sources and feed them to multiple processing, storage, and display services. This requires filtering and routing, but these feeds are usually provided in custom formats and protocols that are not the best fit for further processing. Moreover, the sheer volume of information and stringent timeliness and reliability requirements make this a substantial task. In this paper, i) we characterize one of these information feeds (the Exchange Data Publisher feed from the NYSE Euronext European Cash Markets) and ii) we present and evaluate a dissemination system for this particular feeder based on commodity hardware and open-source message-oriented middleware (Apache Qpid). This allows us to assess the feasibility of this approach and to point out the main challenges to be overcome.(undefined

História do amianto no mundo e em Portugal

Este artigo faz uma descrição da história do amianto, da sua utilização ao longo dos tempos, do amianto enquanto substância, dos problemas que provoca, de quando foram sendo descobertos e do que se fez para diminuir esses problemas. Referem-se casos do amianto nos países industrializados, e de como o «duplo padrão» leva empresas a adotar critérios de saúde e ambientais diferentes consoante os países em que operam, deixando um legado tóxico às futuras gerações. É feita uma abordagem à história do amianto em Portugal e à sua legislação. Foram utilizadas fontes de informação escritas de diversos tipos, como artigos científicos, Diário da Assembleia da República, legislação e comunicados de imprensa.This article contains a description of the history of asbestos, its use throughout history, asbestos as substance, which problems it causes, when they were discovered and what has been done to reduce these problems. There are references to cases of asbestos in industrialized countries, and how the «double standard» induce companies to adopt different environmental and health criteria depending on the country in which they operate, leaving a toxic legacy to the future generations. Is made an approach to the asbestos history and legislation in Portugal. Several kinds of written sources were used, such scientific papers, official journal of the Republic Assembly, legislation and press releases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Valuation of Ford Motor Company and a study of its industry

The present thesis presents an analysis of the car manufacturing industry, with especial focus on one of its major players, Ford, followed by a valuation of the company with the goal to achieve a price target and to make a recommendation to potential investors. The Automobile industry possesses unique characteristics and has a significant impact on society, not only on people’s everyday lives, but also on the economic perspective. The characteristics, cost and revenue drivers of the industry are thoroughly covered in the early chapters of this thesis, in order to create a solid framework of understanding that can improve the quality of the valuation. The valuation includes an analysis of the company’s financial statements and bears in mind the specific characteristics of both the company and the sector. Financial information from the last five historical years is the starting point for assessing Ford’s financial health, operational performance and profitability. The estimation of the price target is performed under the DFC Enterprise Value method and comprehends a 4 year forecast period, between 2017 and 2020. Alongside with this valuation framework, a multiple analysis is performed, to make a relative comparison with competitors and industry benchmarks, so that, the subjectivity of the valuation process can be somehow mitigated. Subsequently to the valuation performed, we conclude that the attained price target of $13.11, results in a HOLD recommendation.A presente tese de Mestrado constitui uma análise da indústria automóvel, com especial ênfase num dos seus principais participantes, a Ford, seguida de uma avaliação da empresa em questão, com o objetivo de estimar um preço alvo e subsequentemente fazer uma recomendação a potenciais investidores. A indústria automóvel possui características únicas e um impacto considerável na sociedade, não apenas do dia-a-dia das populações mas através do seu impacto económico. As características, fontes de custos e rendimentos são cobertos nos primeiros capítulos da presente tese, com o objetivo de criar uma base de compreensão sustentada que beneficie a qualidade da avaliação. A avaliação inclui uma análise das demonstrações financeiras e acomoda as características tanto da empresa como do seu setor de atividade. A informação financeira dos últimos 5 períodos históricos é o ponto de partida para analisar a saúde financeira, performance operacional e rentabilidade da Ford. O preço alvo apresentado foi estimado por aplicação do método de Fluxos de Caixa Descontados e compreende um período previsional de 4 anos, entre 2017 e 2020. Paralelamente, foi realizada uma avaliação por Múltiplos de forma a mitigar a subjetividade inerente à aplicação do método de avaliação anteriormente referido. Como resultado de avaliação realizada, concluímos que o preço alvo de$13.11 sugere a recomendação de MANTER

Identification and validation of microsatellite markers in strawberry tree (Arbutusunedo L.)

Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.), an evergreen shrub/small tree of the family Ericaceae, is a main constituent of the Mediterranean basin flora; although it is also found in southwestern Prance, Macaronesia, and Ireland. The small fruits are edible but mostly used for preparation of preserves and jams, and for liquors such as the Portuguese traditional "aguardente de medronho". Traditionally cultivated by small farmers, often in consociation with Quercus sp., strawberry tree is presently emerging as a new important fruit crop cultivated in large orchards by modern export-oriented enterprises. This change of paradigm requires a growing role of plant breeding, upstream of the production process. Genomic tools for this species are mostly limited to the chloroplast genome sequence and to genomic data described in this work. In order to identify strawberry tree microsatellite (SSR) loci we performed partial genome next-generation sequencing using the Ion Torrent technology. The sequenced similar to 24.6M nucleotides resulted in the identification of 1185 microsatellite markers mostly constituted by dinucleotide motifs. The relative amount of microsatellite dinucleotide motifs (AG/CT - 71.7%, AC/GT - 20.5%, AT/AT - 2.9%, and CG/CG - 0.3%) is similar to the one observed in other Ericaceae species. Among a tested sample of 40 SSR primer pairs, 20 amplified well-defined PCR products, 12 (30%) were validated as polymorphic. Used in our collaborative project for molecular identification of selected and improved clones, the identified SSR loci constitute a strong tool for a large panoply of applied and fundamental studies of this emerging fruit crop.Pluriannual Funding Program of the Portuguese National Foundation for Science and Technologyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Column-based databases: estudo exploratório no âmbito das bases de dados NoSQL

O aumento da quantidade de dados gerados que se tem verificado nos últimos anos e a que se tem vindo a dar o nome de Big Data levou a que a tecnologia relacional começasse a demonstrar algumas fragilidades no seu armazenamento e manuseamento o que levou ao aparecimento das bases de dados NoSQL. Estas estão divididas por quatro tipos distintos nomeadamente chave/valor, documentos, grafos e famílias de colunas. Este artigo é focado nas bases de dados do tipo column-based e nele serão analisados os dois sistemas deste tipo considerados mais relevantes: Cassandra e HBase