Corporate governance models in business performance: empirical evidence in portuguese companies listed on Euronext Lisbon

The last few years were marked by differences of interests in the relationships established in the organizational structure and with consequences in terms of its added value created. With this become necessary to introduce mechanisms to align interests and supervise the activities of agents, in general, and shareholders and managers, in particular. This issue intersects with the topic of models of Corporate Governance (CG) and gains relevance following the latest international financial scandals. In this regard, and based in a sample of 48 enterprises listed on the Lisbon Stock Exchange it was sought to verify the existence of a positive association between the characteristics of the most widely used CG model in Portugal and business performance having been established 8 research hypotheses. The results obtained allowed to validate five of these research hypotheses leading to the conclusion that there is a positive association and statistically significant among the variables model of CG, size of the Board of Directors (CA), the number of independent members on the Board of Directors, existence of different people in the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) role of president, independence of the CEO and business performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influência das características dos modelos de corporate governance no desempenho empresarial: um estudo de caso das empresas cotadas em Portugal

As divergências de interesses nas relações estabelecidas numa organização moldam a atuação dos acionistas e gestores e tem consequências no seu desempenho. Esta problemática entronca na questão dos modelos de Corporate Governance (CG) e assume particular relevância no momento que vivemos. Neste contexto, tomando por base uma amostra de 48 empresas cotadas na Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa (Portugal), procurou-se verificar a existência de uma associação positiva entre as caraterísticas do modelo de CG mais utilizado em Portugal e o desempenho empresarial a partir de oito hipóteses de investigação. Os resultados obtidos permitiram validar cinco dessas hipóteses, levando a concluir que existe uma associação positiva e estatisticamente significativa entre o desempenho empresarial e as variáveis modelo de CG, dimensão do Conselho de Administração (CA), número de membros independentes no CA, existência de pessoas diferentes na função de presidente do CA e de Chief Executive Officer (CEO) e independência do CEO.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo exploratório sobre o desenvolvimento da profissão de contabilista em São Tomé e Príncipe: o presente e que futuro

Este estudo tem como objetivo conhecer o estado de desenvolvimento da profissão de contabilista em São Tomé e Príncipe a partir da caraterização da situação atual, das perspetivas e da perceção atual e futura sobre a profissão e o profissional. Foi feita uma investigação de natureza exploratória e descritiva assente numa metodologia quantitativa com recurso a um inquérito por questionário. Concluiu-se que a profissão, por inexistência de regulamentação, não está organizada nem existe delimitação de funções e obrigações, mas que o seu atual estado de desenvolvimento é “tendencialmente razoável” e que os profissionais têm boas perspetivas de carreira. A perceção atual e futura é tendencialmente positiva relativamente à profissão e ao profissional.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Herramienta informatizada para el cálculo de los costes de utilización de la maquinaria agrícola

El objetivo de este trabajo es facilitar una herramienta para el cálculo de los costes de la utilización de la maquinaria agrícola en diferentes cultivos hortofrutícolas frecuentes en las explotaciones agrícolas asturianas y que por tanto facilite la toma de decisiones respecto a la conveniencia o no de la adquisición de la misma. El cálculo matemático no es más que un primer paso, aunque indispensable, de esta toma de decisiones. Es necesario interpretarlo y la decisión final estará en función de las condiciones particulares de cada explotación

Corporate governance e conflitos de agência em Portugal: revisão de literatura e evidência empírica

O Corporate Governance (CG) ganhou relevância com a recente crise financeira. Neste artigo discute-se, para procurar perceber, a influência dos modelos de CG no desempenho empresarial no âmbito dos conflitos de agência. Foram levantadas seis hipóteses de investigação para procurar identificar diferenças no desempenho empresarial e que tipo de associação se verifica entre as variáveis de performance, tendo em conta as variáveis modelo de CG e tipo de remuneração. Os resultados mostram que os modelos de CG e o tipo de remuneração não afetam a performance empresarial e que o modelo de CG adoptado não influência o tipo de remuneração.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel chromone and xanthone derivatives: synthesis and ROS/RNS scavenging activities

Chromones and xanthones are oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds acknowledged by their antioxidant properties. In an effort to develop novel agents with improved activity, a series of compounds belonging to these chemical classes were prepared. Their syntheses involve the condensation of appropriate 2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-ones, obtained via Baker-Venkataraman rearrangement, with (E)-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)acrylaldehyde to provide the corresponding 2-[(1E,3E)-4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)buta-1,3-dien-1-yl]-4H-chromen-4-ones. Subsequent electrocyclization and oxidation of these compounds led to the synthesis of 1-aryl-9H-xanthen-9-ones. After cleavage of the protecting groups, hydroxylated chromones and xanthones were assessed as scavenging agents against both reactive oxygen species (ROS) [superoxide radical (O2(•-)), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hypochlorous acid (HOCl), singlet oxygen ((1)O2), and peroxyl radical (ROO(•))] and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) [nitric oxide ((•)NO) and peroxynitrite anion (ONOO(-))]. Generally, all the tested new hydroxylated chromones and xanthones exhibited scavenger effects dependent on the concentration, with IC50 values found in the micromolar range. Some of them were shown to have improved scavenging activity when compared with previously reported analogues, allowing the inference of preliminary conclusions on the structure-activity relationship

Critical analysis of the main changes and expected impacts of transposition of directive 2013/34/UE for Portugal

This study aimed to develop a critical analysis of the changes introduced by Directive 2013/34/U.E. starting from the identification of the main differences and recommended it until now and anticipate the expected impacts of these changes at the level the preparation and dissemination of financial information in Portugal. It was intended to identify the main implications of the transposition of the Directive in the accounting profession and the surrounding (company), particularly with regard to the administrative costs incurred by companies with the preparation of the financial information and on a social level. To answer to the main objectives of the study it was applied a questionnaire to profession in Vila Real and Bragança districts. The results show that the transposition of the new Directive implies greater responsibility for the profession, neglect concepts from international standards and focuses on reducing the burdens on businesses in detriment of the information quality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

2,3-Diarylxanthones as strong scavengers of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species: a structure–activity relationship study

Xanthones are a class of oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds widely distributed in nature. The natural derivatives can present different substitutions in the xanthone core that include hydroxyl, methoxyl, prenyl and glycosyl groups. The inclusion of aryl groups has only been reported for a few synthetic derivatives, the 2,3-diaryl moiety being recently introduced by our group. Xanthones are endowed with a broad spectrum of biological activities, many of them related to their antioxidant ability, including the scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), as well as metal chelating effects. Considering the interesting and promising antioxidant activities present in compounds derived from the xanthone core, the main goal of this work was to evaluate the scavenging activity of the new 2,3-diarylxanthones for ROS, including superoxide radical (O2 ), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), singlet oxygen (1O2), peroxyl radical (ROO ) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl), and RNS, including nitric oxide ( NO) and peroxynitrite anion (ONOO ). The obtained results revealed that the tested 2,3-diarylxanthones are endowed with outstanding ROS and RNS scavenging properties, considering the nanomolar to micromolar range of the IC50 values found. The xanthones with two catechol rings were the most potent scavengers of all tested ROS and RNS. In conclusion, the new 2,3-diarylxanthones are promising molecules to be used for their potential antioxidant properties

Reactivation of wild-type and mutant p53 by tryptophanolderived oxazoloisoindolinone SLMP53-1:a novel anticancer small-molecule

Restoration of the p53 pathway, namely by reactivation of mutant (mut) p53, represents a valuable anticancer strategy. Herein, we report the identification of the enantiopure tryptophanol-derived oxazoloisoindolinone SLMP53-1 as a novel reactivator of wild-type (wt) and mut p53, using a yeast-based screening strategy. SLMP53-1 has a p53-dependent anti-proliferative activity in human wt and mut p53R280K-expressing tumor cells. Additionally, SLMP53-1 enhances p53 transcriptional activity and restores wt-like DNA binding ability to mut p53R280K. In wt/mut p53-expressing tumor cells, SLMP53-1 triggers p53 transcription-dependent and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways involving BAX, and wt/mut p53 mitochondrial translocation. SLMP53-1 inhibits the migration of wt/mut p53-expressing tumor cells, and it shows promising p53-dependent synergistic effects with conventional chemotherapeutics. In xenograft mice models, SLMP53-1 inhibits the growth of wt/mut p53-expressing tumors, but not of p53-null tumors, without apparent toxicity. Collectively, besides the potential use of SLMP53-1 as anticancer drug, the tryptophanol-derived oxazoloisoindolinone scaffold represents a promissing starting point for the development of effective p53-reactivating drugs

2-Styrylchromones as novel inhibitors of xanthine oxidase. A structure-activity study

The purpose of this study was the evaluation of the xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition produced by some synthetic 2-styrylchromones. Ten polyhydroxylated derivatives with several substitution patterns were synthesised, and these and a positive control, allopurinol, were tested for their effects on XO activity by measuring the formation of uric acid from xanthine. The synthesised 2-styrylchromones inhibited xanthine oxidase in a concentration-dependent and non-competitive manner. Some IC50 values found were as low as 0.55mM, which, by comparison with the IC50 found for allopurinol (5.43 mM), indicates promising new inhibitors. Those 2-styrylchromones found to be potent XO inhibitors should be further evaluated as potential agents for the treatment of pathologies related to the enzyme’s activity, as is the case of gout, ischaemia/ reperfusion damage, hypertension, hepatitis and cancer