Huawei case study : a reposition challenge to achieve leadership

Having as a focus the practical dilemma of Huawei’s repositioning strategy in Portugal, the present dissertation places under analysis the efficiency of the brand’s strategy evaluated through the changes in consumers’ perceptions, and therefore, market acquisition. Huawei is a Chinese IT solutions provider since 1987. Placing the client at the center of their activities, the brand aims to offer the best experience to its consumers through their smartphones. Through strategic partnerships with well-known partners, the brand aims to build a better-connected world, acquiring the number one spot as the most preferable and trustworthy brand of its target audience. Nevertheless, Huawei entered the Portuguese market with low-quality equipment, usually the operators private labels, associated to a low performance, trust, and durability. Therefore, the brand still suffers nowadays with the consequences of this association, not be-ing seen by consumers as a trustworthy brand of reference, even with its products being of high performance and quality, a result of the great investment made in R&D. As a response to this market’s perception, the brand went through a repositioning strategy. Thus, it is intended to study, through primary and secondary research, if the repositioning strategy of Huawei managed to change the it market’s perception, and if there was actually an added value to the consumer. The main results demonstrate that the brand’s market perception is under high evolution, hav-ing acquired a favorable opinion with its consumers, which if maintained in the long-term, it will lead to buying intentions.como foco o dilema do reposicionamento da Huawei em Portugal, a presente dissertação coloca sob análise a eficiência da estratégia da marca avaliada através da alteração da percepção dos consumidores e consequente conquista de mercado. A Huawei é uma marca Chinesa, que fornece soluções de Tecnologia integradas desde 1987. Colocando o cliente no centro da sua actividade, a marca procura oferecer a melhor experiência aos seus consumidores através dos seus smartphones. Através de parcerias estratégicas, com parceiros de renome, ambiciona construir um mundo mais conectado e conquistar o lugar de marca preferida e de confiança dos consumidores. No entanto, a Huawei entrou no mercado Português com telemóveis de baixa gama, sendo muitas vezes os equipamentos de marca branca dos operadores reflexo de baixo desempenho, confiança e durabilidade. Consequentemente, a marca sofre ainda hoje com as consequências desta associação, não sendo vista pelos consumidores como uma marca de referencia e confiança apesar dos seus produtos serem actualmente de enorme desempenho e qualidade graças à grande aposta da marca em investigação e desenvolvimento. Em resposta a esta percepção de mercado a marca reposicionou-se. Assim, pretende-se estudar, através de pesquisa primária e secundária, se o reposicionamento estratégico da marca alterou as percepções de mercado sobre a Huawei representando actualmente um valor acrescentado para o consumidor. Os principais resultados mostraram que a percepção da marca está em grande evolução, tendo conquistado uma opinião favorável junto dos consumidores, factor que a manter-se a longo prazo conduzirá a intenções de compra

Contribuição para a avaliação da segurança de nanofibras de celulose com aplicação em medicina dentária

Dissertação de mestrado em medicina dentária, apresentada ao Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz.A nanomedicina é a aplicação da nanotecnologia à prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento de patologias. A nanodentistry é a nanomedicina aplicada à área da medicina dentária. Apesar da recente expansão de ambas, o seu progresso tem de vir acompanhado da avaliação da segurança dos nanomateriais utilizados, em fases precoces do seu desenvolvimento ou aplicação num produto. A celulose é um material natural que se encaixa na tendência global de sustentabilidade: ecológico, abundante e de baixo custo. Particularmente, as nanofibras de celulose (CNF) apresentam ótimas propriedades físicoquímicas e têm sido usadas, entre outras aplicações, para o reforço de materiais restauradores ou como constituintes de matrizes e membranas para regeneração óssea e periodontal. Apesar da CNF bacteriana ser atualmente mais utilizada para fins biomédicos, a CNF proveniente de plantas (PC) tem surgido em forte competição, em termos económicos. Apesar disso, a PC apresenta maiores preocupações de biossegurança, devido à sua constituição e aos seus métodos de obtenção. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a biossegurança de duas CNF obtidas por diferentes métodos, através da análise do seu potencial cito- e genotóxico em osteoblastos humanos. As duas amostras foram obtidas a partir de pasta industrial branqueada de Eucalyptus globulus, através de dois métodos – oxidação mediada por TEMPO e hidrólise enzimática. A citotoxicidade foi aferida pelo ensaio do MTT e a genotoxicidade pelo ensaio do micronúcleo com bloqueio da citocinese. Nenhuma das CNF demonstrou ser citotóxica, independentemente da dose e do tempo de exposição. Nas concentrações mais baixas, observou-se um aumento da frequência de células micronucleadas e de pontes nucleoplasmáticas, induzidas por ambas as CNF, o que sugere que são genotóxicas. Com este trabalho contribuiu-se para a caracterização da toxicidade de duas novas CNF, permitindo a alteração de algumas características, de modo a obter CNF seguras para a saúde, antes da sua integração em produtos para a área da medicina.Nanomedicine is based on the application of nanotechnologies into the medical field to advance and improve diagnostics, prevention and treatment of human disease. Nanodentistry is nanomedicine applied to dentistry. While the recent expansion of both has been enormous, its progress must go hand in hand with nanosafety, i.e., with the safety evaluation of nanomaterials in an early phase of its development or application into a product. Cellulose appears as a natural and readily available material, which fits within the global tendency of sustainability: ecological, abundant and low cost. Particularly, cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) show great physicochemical properties and have been used to reinforce restorative materials and as constituents of scaffolds and membranes for bone and periodontal regeneration. Although bacterial nanocellulose is nowadays more used in biomedical applications, CNF produced from plants (PC) has been appearing as an economic competitor. However, PC may bring more toxicological concerns than the bacterial type, due to its composition and methods of production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the safety of two CNF obtained through different methods, through the analysis of their cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in human osteoblasts. The CNF were obtained from the same raw material – industrial bleached Eucalyptus globulus kraft pulp - by two different methods: TEMPO-mediated oxidation and enzymatic hydrolysis. The CNF cytotoxicity was assessed by the MTT assay and the genotoxicity by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. None of the CNF showed cytotoxicity towards the studied cells, regardless of doses or exposure time. An increase in micronucleated cells and nucleoplasmatic bridges frequency was noted for the two lowest concentrations, meaning there was some degree of genotoxicity. This work contributed to the characterization of the potential toxic effects of two new CNF, in order to modify their characteristics so a safer material can be obtained for application in the biomedical field.O trabalho experimental conducente a esta dissertação foi realizado no âmbito do projeto ToxApp4NanoCELFI (PTDC/SAU-PUB/32587/2017) financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.N/

The effect of lens wear on refractive index of conventional hydrogel and silicone-hydrogel contact lenses: a comparative study

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the ability of four silicone-hydrogel contact lenses (galyfilcon A, balafilcon A, lotrafilcon A and lotrafilcon B) to retain their equilibrium water content before and after wear, through measurements of refractive index and compare with that of a conventional disposable hydrogel contact lens (etafilcon A). Methods: The refractive indices of 115 contact lenses were measured using an automated refractometer (CLR 12-70, Index Instruments, Cambridge, U.K.) before and after a schedule of daily wear by 58 patients for 30 days in the case of silicone-hydrogel lenses and 15 days for the conventional contact lenses. Results: In the silicone-hydrogel contact lenses the changes on the refractive indices were not statistically significant, however after being worn the refractive index of the conventional etalfilcon A hydrogel contact lens increased significantly ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results presented here show that after being worn the silicone-hydrogel contact lens, show more capacity to retain or to reach their initial equilibrium water content than conventional hydrogel contact lenses. This suggests that the silicone-hydrogel contact lenses are less susceptible to spoilation over time maintaining its biocompatibility and contributing to the clinical success of lens performance.Vision and Johnson & Johnson.Bausch & Lom

Comparative study of silicone-hydrogel contact lenses surfaces before and after wear using atomic force microscopy

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze surface changes of three silicone-hydrogel contact lenses after daily wear. The lenses used in this study were balafilcon A, lotrafilcon B (both surface-treated), and galyfilcon A (non surface-treated). Methods: To understand how and where proteins, lipids, and other contaminants change contact lenses, surface roughness was assessed through Atomic Force Microscopy Tapping ModeTM. Roughness parameters were Mean Surface roughness (Ra), Mean-square-roughness (Rq), and Maximum roughness (Rmax). The surface topography of unworn and worn lenses was also mapped in great detail. Results: Contact lenses roughness parameters exhibited different values before and after wear and the surface appearance also changed. After wear, balafilcon A and galyfilcon A showed a significant increase on surface roughness parameters, being this increase more accentuated to galyfilcon A. In lotrafilcon B materials no significant changes were observed with wear. Conclusions: The present study suggests that surface treatment of silicone-hydrogel contact lenses can play a role in the prevention of a significant increase in roughness, and contribute to the better clinical tolerance of these lenses.University of PortoIBM

The effect of silicone-hydrogel and conventional hydrogel contact lenses wear on the tear film: a comparison between de lenses

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of one conventional hydrogel and four silicone-hydrogel contact lenses of 6-months daily wear on the quantity and stability of the tear film. The tests were performed with a group of patients with no previous contact lenses experience before and after wear on 96 eyes. Methods: The contact lenses tested were: 19 Galyfilcon A (Acuvue® Advance™), 15 Balafilcon A (PureVision™), 20 Lotrafilcon A (Focus® Night & Day™), 14 Lotrafilcon B (O2Optix™) and 28 Etalfilcon A (Acuvue®). Each silicone-hydrogel contact lens was used for 1 month and the conventional hydrogel for 15 days. Every patient used a different lens in each eye. Tear film stability was monitored by tear Break-up-time (BUT) and Non Invasive Break Up Time (NiBUT) and tear volume was measured by the Total Tear Meniscus Height and the Red Phenol Test. Results: The following tables summarize the difference between the measurements obtained in the first and in the last day of wear of each contact lens brand and the results were analyzed comparing the conventional hydrogel and the siliconehydrogel contact lenses (Table 1, 2, and 3), the lenses belonging to the first generation of silicone-hydrogel contact lenses (table 4) and the lenses belonging to the second generation of silicone-hydrogel (Table 5). The significance (p value) of 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Conclusions: Although there are some differences between the lenses, there are no statistically significant differences between the lenses and measurements obtained before and after contact lenses wear on the tear film tests.Objectivo: Avaliar o efeito de 6 meses de uso diário de uma lente de contacto de hidrogel convencional e quatro lentes de contacto de silicone-hidrogel na qualidade e estabilidade do filme lacrimal. Os testes foram realizados num grupo de pacientes (96 olhos) sem experiência prévia de uso de lentes de contacto, antes e depois do período de uso das lentes. Material e Métodos: As lentes de contacto estudadas foram: 19 Galyfilcon A (Acuvue® Advance™), 15 Balafilcon A (PureVision™), 20 Lotrafilcon A (Focus® Night & Day™), 14 Lotrafilcon B (O2Optix™) e 28 Etalfilcon A (Acuvue®). Cada lente de silicone-hidrogel foi usada durante 1 mês e a lente de hidrogel convencional durante 15 dias. Todos os pacientes usaram uma lente diferente em cada olho. A estabilidade do filme lacrimal foi avaliada pelo teste de ruptura lacrimal (BUT) e pelo teste de ruptura lacrimal não invasivo (NIBUT). O volume lacrimal foi medido pala altura total do menisco lacrimal e pelo teste vermelho fenol (Red Phenol Test) Resultados: Nas tabelas seguintes apresenta-se a diferença entre as medidas obtidas no 1º e último dia de uso para cada marca de lente de contacto e os resultados foram analisados comparando a lente de contacto hidrogel convencional com as lentes de silicone-hidrogel (Tabela 1, 2 e 3), as lentes pertencentes à 1ª geração de lentes de silicone-hidrogel (Tabela 4) e as lentes que pertencem à 2ª geração das lentes de silicone-hidrogel (Tabela 5). O valor da significância (p) é considerada estatisticamente significativa quando ≤0.05. Conclusões: Embora existam algumas diferenças entre as lentes de contacto estudadas, não há diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os valores obtidos nos testes de avaliação do filme lacrimal antes e depois do uso das lentes de contacto

Alterações na transmitância UV-Visível induzidas pelo uso de lentes de contacto de silicone-hidrogel

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through Centro de Física da U

Are cellulose nanofibrils safe for biomedical applications?

Nanomedicine is based on the application of nanotechnologies into the medical field to advance and improve diagnostics, prevention and treatment of human disease. While its expansion has been enormous in the last years, its progress must go hand in hand with nanosafety, i.e., with the safety evaluation of nanomaterials in an early phase of its development or application into a product. Cellulose appears as a natural and readily available material, which fits within the supply-demand chain: ecological, abundant and low cost. Particularly, cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) show great mechanical strength and high water-uptake capability and have the ability to form translucent structures with high elasticity and selective permeability, which make them attractive e.g., as constituents of surgical dressings and membranes for bone regeneration. Bacterial nanocellulose is already being used, but CNF produced from plants are also finding potential to be applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, CNF may bring more toxicological concerns than the bacterial type, due to impurities associated with the chemical and mechanical processes used to produce them or due to their different physicochemical properties that may underlie unforeseen biological effects. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the safety of two different CNFs, through the analysis of their cytotoxic, genotoxic and epigenetic effects in human osteoblasts. The CNFs were obtained from the same raw material – industrial bleached Eucalyptus globulus kraft pulp - by two different methods: TEMPO-mediated oxidation and enzymatic hydrolisis. The physicochemical properties of the CNF gels obtained, including fibrillation yield, degree of polymerization and size were evaluated. The CNF cytotoxicity was assessed by the MTT assay and the genotoxicity by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay; their epigenetic effects were evaluated through gene expression analysis of the DNA methytransferases genes, DNMT1 and DMNT3b, responsible for the cellular methylation pattern, using qRT-PCR. The results obtained for the several endpoints were integrated in order to contribute to the characterization of the potential toxic effects of these new CNF in an early phase of their lifecycle. This knowledge will be relevant to decide whether these CNF may be further developed for applications in the nanomedicine field, or shall be modified to give rise to safer CNF.ToxApp4NanoCELFI , 2018-2021 - PTDC/SAU-PUB/32587/2017; ToxOmics - Centro de Investigação em Toxicogenómica e Saúde Humana - UID/BIM/00009/2013N/

The influence of lens material and lens wear on the removal and viability of staphylococcus epidermidis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of lens material and lens wear on the removal capability of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Assessment of viability of remaining adhered bacteria was another goal of this work. Four silicone hydrogel materials (galyfilcon A, balafilcon A, lotrafilcon A, lotrafilcon B) and one conventional hydrogel material (etafilcon A) were assayed. Methods: Detachment studies on S. epidermidis were carried out in a parallel plate flow chamber. Contact lenses (CLs) were fitted to the bottom of the flow chamber and a bacterial suspension was perfused into the system, promoting bacterial adhesion. Afterwards, detachment was stimulated using a multipurpose solution (MPS, ReNu Multiplus®) and the percentage of removed bacteria estimated through microscopic observation and enumeration. Remaining adhered bacteria were stained with propidium iodide (PI) and enumerated in order to assess their viability. Additionally, the worn lenses were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to visualize bacterial distribution along the lens surfaces. Results: Bacterial removal was significant ( p < 0.05) for both unworn and worn galyfilcon A and etafilcon A. Galyfilcon A exhibited a detachment percentage of 59.1 and 63.5 while etafilcon A of 62.6 and 69.3, both for unworn and worn lenses, respectively. As far as bacterial viability is concerned, it was found that worn lenses exhibit a superior amount of non-viable bacteria than unworn CLs. Images obtained by CLSM revealed an irregular bacterial distribution for all lens materials. Conclusions: It appears that surface and/or bulk structure of the lens material affects removal of S. epidermidis while CL wear influences their viability.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Attachment of a clinical strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis to worn and unworn silicone hydrogel contact lenses

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses (CL) are the newest kind of disposable lens commercially available. The copolymerization of silicone elastomers with hydrogels improves the oxygen transmissibility of silicon hydrogel CL when comparing to the conventional hydrogel CL, contributing to a better oxygen supply to the corneal tissues. However, despite this great advantage, this type of CL is usually more hydrophobic and thus is expected to be more prone to microbial colonization. The aim of this work was to study the attachment of a clinical strain of S. epidermidis (9142) to worn and unworn silicone-hydrogel CL through dynamic adhesion assays. The silicone hydrogel CL used in this study were Balafilcon A (Purevision™, Baush&Lomb), Galyfilcon A (Acuvue®Advance™ with Hydraclear, Jonhson&Jonhson Vision Care), Lotrafilcon A (Focus® Night & Day™, Ciba Vision) and Lotrafilcon B (O2Optix™, CibaVision). A conventional hydrogel Etafilcon A (Acuvue®, Jonhson&Jonhson) was also assayed. The worn CL were obtained from a group of human volunteers that used the silicone hydrogels during 1 month and the conventional hydrogel for a period of 15 days, in a daily wear schedule. The attachment assays were performed in a parallel plate flow chamber at laminar flow. The attachment experiments revealed that unworn silicone hydrogels are more prone to bacterial colonization than worn CL. Contact angle measurements, performed with Millipore water, demonstrated that after wear silicone-hydrogel CL become less hydrophobic, which may explain the decrease in the extent of bacterial adhesion to worn CL. In addition the reduction on contact angles formed on this type of lenses may be due to the adsorption of amphiphilic molecules present in the lachrymal tear film such as proteins and lipids. The conventional hydrogel Etafilcon A showed a different behaviour compared with the silicone hydrogels, concerning both hydrophobicity and bacterial attachment. This CL becomes hydrophobic after wear and exhibit an increase in bacterial colonization. This result may be due to a greater loss of the free water content enhancing the interactions between the lens surface and the bacteria

The influence of surface treatment on hydrophobicity, protein adsorption and microbial colonisation of silicone hydrogel contact lenses

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of surface treatment of silicone-hydrogel CL on lens hydrophobicity, protein adsorption and microbial colonisation by studying several silicone hydrogel contact lenses (CL) with and without surface treatment. The lenses used in this study were Balafilcon A, Lotrafilcon A, Lotrafilcon B and Galyfilcon A. A conventional hydrogel CL (Etafilcon A) was also tested. Methods: Hydrophobicity was determined through contact angle measurement using the advancing type technique on air. The type and quantity of proteins adsorbed were assessed through SDS-PAGE and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. Microbial colonisation was studied by removing the microbes from the lenses through sonication, and counting the colony-forming units on agar plates. Results: Regarding hydrophobicity, both surface and non-surface-treated silicone hydrogel CL were found to be hydrophobic, and the conventional hydrogel CL was found to be hydrophilic. Concerning protein adsorption, different protein profiles were observed on the several lenses tested. Nevertheless, the presence of proteins with the same molecular weight as lysozyme and lactoferrin was common to all lenses, which is probably related to their abundance in tears. In terms of total protein adsorption, silicone hydrogel CL did not exhibit any differences between themselves. However, the conventional hydrogel Etafilcon A adsorbed a larger amount of proteins. Regarding microbial colonisation, Balafilcon A exhibited the greatest amount of colonising microbes, which can be due to its superior hydrophobicity and higher electron acceptor capacity. Conclusion: This study suggests that silicone hydrogel lenses adsorb a lower amount of proteins than the conventional hydrogel lenses and that this phenomenon is independent of the presence of surface treatment. Concerning microbial colonisation, the surface treated Balafilcon A, exhibited a greater propensity, a fact that may compromise the lens wearer’s ocular health.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT