Modelo operacional de uma instituição de crédito especializado : o caso do BNP Paribas Factor

As empresas recorrem frequentemente ao financiamento no curto prazo para fazerem face a necessidades de financiamento, nomeadamente para o financiamento do capital circulante. A presente pesquisa apresenta toda a panóplia de financiamentos que o sector bancário coloca à disposição das empresas, nomeadamente PMEs. É dado especial destaque ao financiamento via factoring, bem como a todo o processo que decorre até à obtenção do financiamento, tendo subjacente o modus operandi da instituição financeira objecto de análise na pesquisa, o BNP Paribas Factor. O factoring ou a cessação financeira passa pela aquisição de créditos (não financeiros) de curto prazo resultantes da venda de produtos ou da prestação de serviços nos mercados interno e externo. Todas as empresas, pequenas e médias empresas (PME´s) ou grandes empresas, podem usufruir deste tipo de financiamento. No processo de gestão de tesouraria, o factoring representa um instrumento de financiamento bastante relevante e importante. Apresenta várias vantagens para os aderentes na resolução de problemas de tesouraria, a saber: (i) redução dos riscos em operações de exportação e internacionalização; e (ii) melhoria dos rácios de autonomia financeira através do factoring sem recurso. Assim, este trabalho aborda as várias tipologias de factoring, descreve o processo de concessão de crédito via factoring, estuda a importância do factoring na economia portuguesa, nomeadamente no apoio à tesouraria das PMEs e aponta os factores críticos de sucesso deste tipo de operações.Companies often resort to financing in the short term to cope with financing needs, particularly for the financing of working capital. This research presents the full range of financing the banking sector makes available to businesses, particularly SMEs. Is given particular focus on financing through factoring, and the whole process running until obtaining funding, complying with the modus operandi the financial institution examined in the research, BNP Paribas Factor. The factoring or financial cessation passes through the acquisition of (non-financial) claims resulting short-term sale of goods or the provision of services in domestic and foreign markets. All companies, can enjoy this type of financing. In the cash management process, factoring is a financing instrument very relevant and important. Presents several advantages for acceding in solving cash flow problems, namely: (i) risk reduction in export and international operations; and (ii) improving financial ratios autonomy through non-recourse factoring. Thus, this paper discusses the various types of factoring, describes the process of lending via factoring, studies the importance of factoring in the Portuguese economy, in particular to support the SME cash and points out the critical success factors of such operations

Estados hiperprolactinêmicos: inter-relações com o psiquismo

Hyperprolactinemia is the most frequent endocrine disorder of the hypothalamus-hypophysis axis observed in women of reproductive age. It is characterized by elevated serum prolactin levels. Prolactin production is regulated by the inhibitory action of a neurotransmitter, dopamine. Clinical manifestations include irregular menstrual cycle, amenorrhea, galactorrhea, infertility and libido decrease, but psychological symptoms, especially anxiety and depression, have also been associated with hyperprolactinemia. Nonetheless, few studies about this condition are available. In the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders, prolactin may have either a direct action on the central nerve system or an indirect effect via gonadal hormones or function as independent factors as a result of dopamine depletion. Thus, since the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in patients with hyperprolactinemia was detected, it was concluded that further studies are necessary to investigate the basis of a potential relationship between both hyperprolactinemic and psychiatric conditions.A hiperprolactinemia é o distúrbio endócrino mais freqüente do eixo hipotálamo-hipofisário, observado em mulheres na idade reprodutiva. Caracteriza-se pela elevação consistente dos valores plasmáticos de prolactina. A regulação da produção da prolactina dá-se por meio da ação inibitória de um neurotransmissor, a dopamina. As manifestações clínicas são distúrbios do ciclo menstrual, amenorréia, galactorréia, infertilidade e diminuição da libido. Entretanto, sintomas psicológicos, especialmente ansiedade e depressão, têm sido associados à hiperprolactinemia. Contudo, há poucos estudos clínicos publicados sobre o tema. O papel da prolactina na patogênese dos distúrbios psiquiátricos pode refletir ação direta sobre o sistema nervoso central, efeito indireto por meio dos hormônios gonadais ou constituir fatores independentes, resultantes da depleção de dopamina. Assim, detectada a prevalência de distúrbios psiquiátricos em pacientes com hiperprolactinemia, conclui-se pela necessidade de maior número de pesquisas que investiguem as bases da possível inter-relação entre os estados hiperprolactinêmicos e o psiquismo

Portuguese Football Federation consensus statement 2020: nutrition and performance in football

Nutrition is an undeniable part of promoting health and performance among football (soccer) players. Nevertheless, nutritional strategies adopted in elite football can vary significantly depending on culture, habit and practical constraints and might not always be supported by scientific evidence. Therefore, a group of 28 Portuguese experts on sports nutrition, sports science and sports medicine sought to discuss current practices in the elite football landscape and review the existing evidence on nutritional strategies to be applied when supporting football players. Starting from understanding football's physical and physiological demands, five different moments were identified: preparing to play, match-day, recovery after matches, between matches and during injury or rehabilitation periods. When applicable, specificities of nutritional support to young athletes and female players were also addressed. The result is a set of practical recommendations that gathered consensus among involved experts, highlighting carbohydrates periodisation, hydration and conscious use of dietary supplements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Medical residency in gynecology and obstetrics in times of COVID-19 : recommendations of the National Specialized Commission on Medical Residency of FEBRASGO

* Text prepared by the members of the National Specialized Commission on Medical Residency and endorsed by the Scientific Board and Presidency of the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (FEBRASGO)

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost