Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-10-18"
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- Competition and banking stability in Europe : empirical evidencePublication . Bevilacqua, Gennaro; Bhimjee, Diptes Chandrakante PrabhudasAlthough the increasing concern about financial stability in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis has been a fundamental focus of academic research, the academic literature has not yet reached a conclusion on whether competition is truly beneficial for banking stability. Under the traditional "competition-fragility" view, concentrated banking systems are more stable since the possession of a valuable "charter" discourages banks in engaging in imprudent behaviors. In contrast, the alternative "competition-stability" view argues that concentrated systems are more fragile as higher loan rates attract riskier borrowers. Extending the empirical study by Uhde and Heimeshoff (2009), the present Dissertation empirically investigates the relationship between banking competition and stability in 27 European countries during the 1997-2017 period, using annual data extracted from the World Bank and the ECB databases. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index is used as a proxy for competition, while the Z-score is employed to capture banking sector stability. Using a GLS random effect model (coupled with 2SLS instrumental variable technique), the present Dissertation's main findings unveil a positive relationship between competition and banking stability in Europe while controlling for macroeconomic, banking, regulatory, and institutional variables. In addition, the present critical analysis indicates that the higher volatility of returns renders concentrated systems more prone to financial instability. All in all, the present Dissertation's results raise concerns about the banking consolidation trend in the recent years in Europe. Policymakers must encourage competition as market discipline is a necessary requisite for a safe banking system.
- CLA and CLNA ameliorate neuroinflammation and cellular oxidation related with western dietsPublication . Salsinha, Ana Sofia; Socodato, Renato; Rodrigues, Artur; Rodríguez-Alcalá, Luis Miguel; Relvas, João B.; Pintado, Manuela E.High-fat diet has been associated with a chronic-low grade inflammation in both adipose tissue and central nervous system. Fatty acids are known to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the central nervous system where they can accumulate. Microglia express a wide range of lipid-sensitive receptors, potentially triggering inflammatory responses. Since fatty acids can exert pro and anti-inflammatory effects in the hypothalamus, in this work, through live cell imaging and FRET technology, we assessed the potential role of omega-3 fatty acids and CFAs in modulating microglia inflammation triggered by obesogenic nutrients. First, the combined action of fructose and saturated fatty acid palmitic acid (to mimic western pattern diet), induced NFkB pathway activation and oxidative stress, by reactive oxygen species production, in HMC3 human microglia. Such results suggest that western pattern diet may induce microglia inflammatory processes in the central nervous system, ultimately resulting in neuroinflammation. On the other hand, exposure of HMC3 cells to polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 – EPA and DHA- and CLA and CLNA isomers) showed a preventive potential, since they were able to abolish the palmitic acid+fructose induced-NFkB pathway activation. Moreover, omega-3 and CLA also showed antioxidant potential by inhibition of reactive oxygen species production. Although the mechanisms of action have not been fully described yet, GPR120/FFA4 is known to bind some omega-3 fatty acids. By using chemical agonists and antagonists of GPR120/FFA4 it was demonstrated that while omega-3, CLA and CLNA effect on NFkB pathway inhibition is mediated by this receptor, the antioxidant ability of omega-3 and CLA occurs through different signaling mechanisms. It was suggested, for the first time, that CLA and CLNA have a similar action to omega-3 on microglia, probably via GPR120 activation and modulation of NFkB-associated inflammatory pathways.
- Healthy eating as a trend: consumers' perceptions towards products with nutrition and health claimsPublication . Duarte, Paulo; Teixeira, Mariana; Silva, Susana Costa ePurpose: The number of food products containing nutritional or health claims, such as added calcium for stronger bones, has been increasing. Accordingly, we aimed to understand consumers’ perceptions towards products that are considered to be healthier and to know how these perceptions affect their purchase intentions. Theoretical framework: Based on consumer perception theory and how consumers process and interpret information, we sought to better understand consumer behavior in relation to the use of nutrition claims in marketing communication. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted via an online questionnaire and responses were obtained from 477 Portuguese consumers. Findings: The results show that the most relevant characteristics when purchasing food are price and taste. However, the addition of a claim can increase purchase intentions. Practical & social implications of research: The reasons behind the new offerings by the food industry are related to the growing demand from individuals for products aimed at improving their health status, which has been deteriorating due to factors such as sedentary lifestyles, longer life expectancy, and a poor diet in terms of nutrition. It is important to know if these claims translate into effective changes in purchasing behavior. Originality/value: The results lead to the conclusion that claims are important in the food choices of the Portuguese respondents, who are less keen on “light” and “lean.” When it comes to using claims in communication, in Portugal, it is always better to use a direct, transparent, and rigorous approach; otherwise the consumer will not be induced to buy.
- Stability of a lyophilized milk enriched with microbial CLA/CLNAPublication . Fontes, A. L.; Pimentel, L. L.; Rodríguez-Alcalá, L. M.; Gomes, A. M.Conjugated linoleic (CLA) and conjugated linolenic (CLNA) acids have been described with potential bioactive properties. Due limited availability in their natural sources (e.g. ruminants’ milk and meat or vegetable oils), in situ microbial production in dairy products may potentially improve CLA/CLNA daily intake. Several probiotic strains have been reported to produce CLA/CLNA isomers using linoleic (LA) and alpha-linolenic (α-LNA) acids as precursor substrates, respectively. Previous work by this research team led to the formulation of a CLA/CLNA-enriched lyophilized milk, using Bifidobacterium breve DSM 20091 and hydrolysed flaxseed oil (FSO; rich in α-LNA). Since CLA, CLNA, LA and α-LNA are polyunsaturated and prone to oxidation, this research aimed to investigate if this new functional milk product is stable at conditions mimicking shelf-life. Pasteurized cow milk (100 mL) inoculated with B. breve DSM 20091 and hydrolysed FSO or not (control) was fermented for 22 h at 37 ºC under anaerobic conditions. Afterwards, samples were lyophilized and stored at room temperature in an exicator, being air- and light-protected. Samples were taken at the beginning (T0wk) and every 4 weeks until the end of the assay (T12wk) for further microbial counting and fatty acid (FA) analysis. Concerning to B. breve DSM 20091 viable cell counting, counts remained below the countable range during the entire study, so as total microbial counting. As for FA analysis, in the non-esterified fraction, the CLA and CLNA contents in the enriched milk product increased after 4 weeks (up to 1.80 and 11.12 mg/g, respectively) and, thereafter, no significant differences were detected. The same was observed for total polyunsaturated FA, but, in the esterified fraction, its level increased significantly after 8 weeks (up to 6.01 mg/g) and then reduced to 5.18 mg/g at the end of the study. In conclusion, a lyophilised milk enriched with microbial CLA/CLNA is not entirely stable, including its CLA/CLNA content, which was inclusively enhanced.
- Fake news : os desafios para o Direito Penal : a desinformação no contexto eleitoralPublication . Coelho, Tamára Cheles; Silva, Germano Marques da
- Is there a useful nudge that helps to change public opinion about ethics in the Bank industry?Publication . Baptista, Ana Luísa Domingos Ochôa; Neves, João Luís Alves César das; Costa, Patrícia LopesThe major financial crisis occurred in 2008 and scandals involving corruption or lack of ethics enhance supervisors, regulators and financial entities to reflect upon Bank’s ethics in their industry. Main contributions from Behavioural Economics with scientific breakthroughs by Nobel laureates’ Kahneman and Thaler, respectively, provide a better understanding of human behaviour and their biases or demonstrate the usefulness of practical approaches like nudges. The goal of this academic work is to understand if the use of nudges in the Bank industry achieves positive outcomes in people’s perception about Bank’s ethics and go beyond in what helps build a trustful and ethical relationship. Our study used the Corporate Ethical Virtues Model (abbreviated CEV Model) to measure the ethical culture of an organization and was enriched by a qualitative methodology based in a template analysis which analysed deeply all interviews made to a group of fifteen participants from the Banking industry. The results of our study revealed an identification of the main dimensions of the CEV Model and were able to bring new insights, identifying three different new dimensions: professionalism, reputation and closeness. These findings are interesting to enrich the CEV Model, specially, as they are strongly connected with human characteristics that people most value in measure the ethical culture of an organization, particularly, in the Banking industry. The perception of the participants indicates that Bank’s ethics must improve while the use of nudges and their degree of usefulness, are considered high or very high.
- Desenvolvimento de competências especializadas à pessoa em situação crítica : segurança no cuidarPublication . Gonçalves, Joana Gomes Rafael; Ferreira, Maria Amélia DiasEste relatório resulta de um percurso académico realizado no âmbito do 13.º Curso de Mestrado com Especialização em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica, inserido na unidade curricular “Estágio Final e Relatório” e após a realização do estágio em dois contextos de prática clínica distintos, inicialmente num Serviço de Medicina Intensiva Polivalente, e posteriormente, numa Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Cardíacos, como requisito para a obtenção do grau de mestre nesta área de especialidade. Com recurso a uma metodologia descritiva, analítica e reflexiva, sustentada em pesquisa bibliográfica, a elaboração deste documento pretendeu dar visibilidade às competências adquiridas e desenvolvidas ao longo deste percurso, centradas no cuidar a pessoa e família a vivenciar processos de doença crítica e/ou falência orgânica e, com particular enfoque, para a promoção de práticas de cuidados seguros com vista à excelência do cuidar em enfermagem. Este relatório inclui uma abordagem às competências desenvolvidas no estágio do 1.º ano deste curso, num Serviço de Urgência Polivalente; uma breve caracterização dos contextos de estágio da unidade curricular em questão e a descrição das principais atividades e reflexões experimentadas em contexto de prática clínica, com análise crítica às situações problema identificadas e à sugestão e implementação de estratégias de resolução, como contributo para a melhoria e qualidade dos cuidados prestados. Teve por base a concretização dos objetivos específicos previamente delineados no projeto de estágio e transversal aos dois contextos, estando organizado segundo os domínios das competências comuns do enfermeiro especialista. As atividades desenvolvidas foram de encontro às oportunidades de melhoria detetadas e consideradas pertinentes para os contextos em questão e destacam-se, no Serviço de Medicina Intensiva a realização de um questionário com o propósito de avaliar a perceção dos profissionais de enfermagem do serviço relativamente ao recurso a medidas de contenção mecânica no doente crítico. A sua aplicação permitiu efetuar uma caracterização local do tema em análise e culminou na elaboração de um trabalho intitulado “A contenção mecânica no doente crítico” relacionando a interpretação dos resultados à luz da evidência científica, o que propiciou a elaboração de uma formação sobre a temática em questão. Na Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Cardíacos, no sentido de sistematizar e uniformizar as práticas de cuidados na inserção e manutenção do cateter venoso central, foi elaborado uma lista de verificação do seu cumprimento com o intuito de introduzir este instrumento de vigilância das práticas nas atividades diárias desta unidade, tendo em vista a redução das taxas de infeção associada ao uso deste dispositivo e consequente garantia da segurança e melhoria da qualidade dos cuidados prestados. Todas estas intervenções foram sustentadas e fundamentadas na evidência científica atual resultante das revisões de literatura realizadas em bases de dados científicas, conducentes ao desenvolvimento individual e domínio do saber para o melhor fazer, contribuindo assim para uma prática de cuidados com vista à excelência e ganhos em saúde.
- Determining consumers’ purchase intention for food packaged goods with nutritional claims : the role of perceived nutritional knowledge and anticipated consumption guiltPublication . Ferreira, Bárbara Inês Vieira; Fernandes, Daniel Von Der HeydeOne of the key drivers of the growth of the global health and wellness food market is an emerging consumer segment that actively seeks healthier food alternatives and engages in a more nutritionally balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. As expected, new and reformulated products hit the market and food companies are profiting from marketing their products as healthier alternatives. Nonetheless the apparent simplicity in the relationship between products marked as ‘healthy’ and consumers’ purchase intention, this relationship has been pointed out as a non-linear one by past research. Indeed, if consumers anticipated consumption guilt may trigger the selection of food products endorsed with a nutrition claim, many other emotional factors may cause consumers to make unhealthy food choices. This research aims to increase knowledge on consumers' reaction to nutritional claims in food packaging goods, understanding which factors interact or lay behind consumption guilt variation. Accordingly, ten different food shopping scenarios were created, supported by a focus group and a pre-online survey. Subsequently, the hypotheses were tested in an online questionnaire. The conclusions suggest the presence of nutritional claims, on its own, has no influence on the anticipated consumption guilt of consumers. This relationship is, however, mediated by the consumer perception of the self-nutritional knowledge. Also, it is showed anticipated feelings can validate individuals’ behaviors not only in healthy food consumption contexts.
- Does the type of model in advertising have effects on the purchase intention of skincare products? : the possible mediating role of social comparison and facial appearance’s self-satisfactionPublication . Sassi, Fosca; Fernandes, Daniel Von Der HeydeObjectives - This work, focused on the skincare realm, aims at investigating the relationship between the model’s level of idealization in an advertising and the purchase intention for the sponsored product, through the mediators of social comparison and facial appearance’s self-satisfaction. Methodology – Firstly, in-depth interviews have been conducted to further investigate how the process of comparison with models happens in females. Secondly, a questionnaire has been created to quantitatively test all the hypotheses posed. Key results – Young females are confirmed to be engaging in social comparison processes with the models shown in advertising and it has been proven that the model’s level of idealization impacts the direction of the comparison. The direction of the comparison and the type of model chosen, in turn, negatively impact the facial appearance’s self-satisfaction of the young females. On the other side, nor the type of the model chosen by the brand, nor the comparison’s direction and neither the level of the facial appearance’s self-satisfaction resulted to have an impact on purchase intention. Conclusion – This work’s results show that a single choice of a model reflecting realistic (compared to idealized) standards of beauty is not enough to impact purchase intention. The good achievements obtained by inclusive brands should be probably looked in the good brand’s reputation, deriving from its inclusiveness, and not in the single act of the comparison with the model per se. Furthermore, brands should consider their ethical role, given the impact that ads are proved to have in building consumer’s self-esteem.
- Impacto de Covid-19 nas Companhias Aéreas ComerciaisPublication . Higuchi, Carolina Roque; Bonfim, Diana Carina Ribeiro GuimarâesO setor de companhias aéreas comerciais constantemente é afetado por fatores externos. Recentemente a pandemia de Covid-19 teve um impacto significativo no setor, para diminuir a transmissão do vírus foram impostas medidas restritivas à livre circulação. Dessa maneira muitos voos foram cancelados, a oferta de voos reduzida e algumas companhias cessaram operações temporariamente. A crise no setor aéreo foi instalada, companhias entraram em processo de falência e governos ofereceram milhões em auxílio financeiro. Diante deste panorama, este estudo propõe-se a investigar o efeito do Covid-19 na performance financeira através de uma análise de indicadores operacionais e financeiros. Trata-se de pesquisa exploratória e descritiva. Foram selecionadas vinte grandes companhias e foram escolhidas três métricas operacionais específicas do setor e dez rácios financeiros de modo a abordar a perspetiva operacional, de liquidez, de rendibilidade, de funcionamento e de financiamento. Dessa maneira foi feita uma análise entre empresas entre 2016 e 2020. As empresas reagiram de diferentes maneiras, algumas mais resilientes porque já possuíam forte mercado doméstico, outras mais frágeis como aquelas que dependiam de voos internacionais. Para se ter uma ideia, todas empresas apresentaram resultado líquido negativo e quase todas apresentaram fluxos de caixa negativos. De maneira geral, o covid-19 impactou negativamente os rácios de funcionamento e financiamento. A maior queda foi nos rácios de rendibilidade, enquanto o rácio de liquidez geral foi o único a melhorar devido a estratégias mais conservadoras e auxílio financeiro dos governos.