Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are important modes through which firms carry out their domestic and international strategies and have been noted as the CEOs favorite strategy. As a significant field ...of study, M&A-research has accumulated substantial knowledge. This bibliometric study examines the extant strategy and international business literature on M&As. Methodologically, we examined a sample of 334 articles published in sixteen leading management/business journals, during a 31year period — from 1980 to 2010. The results provide a global perspective of the field, identifying the works that have had the greater impact, the intellectual interconnections among authors and works, the main research traditions, or themes, delved upon on M&A-related research. Structural and longitudinal analyses reveal the changes in the intellectual structure of the field over time. A discussion on the accumulated knowledge and future research avenues concludes this paper.
Portuguese forests have always played an essential role in the socioeconomic development of national rural areas, but also in several forest-based industrial sectors, such as the cork, pulp and ...paper, and wood panels industries. In addition to these dominant sectors, there are also several other uses for forest timber, such as being the major raw materials to the production of furniture or devoted to the growing biomass pellets production industry. This review article presents the evolution of the forest industrial sector throughout the recent past, and its impact on the development of the rural environment, from a socioeconomic perspective, namely concerning the jobs and value-added creation, as well as the importance of the forest in national industrial development. It shows the importance of sustainable forest management for the development of the rural environment, as an essential sector for the creation of wealth and for the establishment of populations in the interior regions of the country.
Brazil has experienced an unprecedented epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV), with ~30,000 cases reported to date. ZIKV was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and cases of microcephaly potentially ...associated with ZIKV infection were identified in November 2015. We performed next-generation sequencing to generate seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes sampled from four self-limited cases, one blood donor, one fatal adult case, and one newborn with microcephaly and congenital malformations. Results of phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses show a single introduction of ZIKV into the Americas, which we estimated to have occurred between May and December 2013, more than 12 months before the detection of ZIKV in Brazil. The estimated date of origin coincides with an increase in air passengers to Brazil from ZIKV-endemic areas, as well as with reported outbreaks in the Pacific Islands. ZIKV genomes from Brazil are phylogenetically interspersed with those from other South American and Caribbean countries. Mapping mutations onto existing structural models revealed the context of viral amino acid changes present in the outbreak lineage; however, no shared amino acid changes were found among the three currently available virus genomes from microcephaly cases. Municipality-level incidence data indicate that reports of suspected microcephaly in Brazil best correlate with ZIKV incidence around week 17 of pregnancy, although this correlation does not demonstrate causation. Our genetic description and analysis of ZIKV isolates in Brazil provide a baseline for future studies of the evolution and molecular epidemiology of this emerging virus in the Americas.
Com o objectivo de reagir à actual crise no acesso à habitação em Portugal, o governo lançou o Programa de Arrendamento Acessível (PAA), que visa dar resposta às populações de rendimentos intermédios ...com dificuldades para aceder a habitação em condições de mercado. O programa é acompanhado por um conjunto de dados estatísticos e critérios que permitem monitorizar o mercado de arrendamento e calcular taxas de esforço máximas. O presente artigo parte desses dados e critérios para: 1) quantificar e territorializar o desfasamento entre mercado de arrendamento e rendimento das famílias; e 2) avaliar o impacto que uma adopção generalizada do PAA teria na mitigação desse desfasamento. Para além de apontar limitações na adequação do programa à heterogeneidade dos territórios, as análises permitem perceber que, em grande parte do território, o PAA poderá dar resposta a uma camada relativamente delimitada, mas significativa, da população (cerca de 10%) com rendimentos medianos. Contudo, nas áreas sob maior pressão urbanística, esta camada reduz-se para metade, passando a corresponder às camadas de rendimentos mais elevados. De um modo geral, identifica-se um largo segmento da população que permanece sem resposta. Conclui-se que o PAA pode ser um instrumento útil, mas por si só não permite dar resposta a todo o segmento da população ao qual se destina. O artigo termina com uma reflexão sobre a necessidade e caminhos possíveis para uma política de habitação mais abrangente e capaz de responder aos actuais desafios.
Cork is the most valuable non-wood product of the cork oak (
Quercus suber
L.). However, the cork oak sector may be at risk due to climatic and economic pressures on cork oak forests, affecting both ...the quantity and technological quality of products. At some sites, irrigation may present a solution for stimulating cork growth and thereby increasing production. This study presents an initial approach to characterizing cork grown in a forest stand associated with a specific water regime, by comparing cork growth on two plots—irrigated and a traditional rainfed—over an initial five-year period. Samples of cork tissue were analysed and several parameters were set: cell area, diameter, cell-wall thickness, number of cells, porosity, growth, and density. Irrigation plot samples showed on average: 25.83 ± 3.74 mm thickness, 5.17 ± 1.49 mm cork-ring width, 0.149 ± 0.041 g.cm
−3
density, 13 ± 3.4% porosity coefficient in the tangential plane, 407.58 ± 268.22 µm
2
cell area in the tangential plane and 887.80 ± 449.14 µm
2
in the transverse plane, a total number of cells of 1232 ± 147 per mm
2
, and 1.03 ± 0.30 µm cell-wall thickness; whereas traditional rainfed plot samples presented: 21.33 ± 5.48 mm thickness, 3.08 ± 1.44 mm cork-ring width, 0.167 ± 0.068 g.cm
−3
density, 10 ± 3.5% porosity coefficient in the tangential plane, 304.31 ± 205.83 µm
2
cell area in the tangential plane and 752.45 ± 398.94 µm
2
in the transverse plane, a total number of cells of 1481 ± 153 per mm
2
, and 1.204 ± 0.327 µm cell-wall thickness. As regards irrigation, two parameters, ring width and porosity coefficient, proved to be statistically significant, in contrast to density.
Chronic decline and Sudden death are two syndromes of cork oak (
Quercus suber
) dieback. Mortality is associated with water stress, but underlying physiological mechanisms are poorly understood. ...Here, we investigated the physiological performance of declining trees during the summer drought. Leaf water potential, gas-exchange, fluorescence of photosystem II and leaf and root starch concentration were compared in healthy (asymptomatic) and declining trees. Low annual cork increment in declining trees indicated tree decline for several years. All trees showed similar water status in spring. In summer, declining trees showed lower predawn leaf water potential (−2.0 vs. −0.8 MPa), but unexpectedly higher midday leaf water potential than healthy trees (−2.8 vs. −3.3 MPa). The higher midday water potential was linked to by means of strongly reduced stomatal conductance and, consequently, transpiration. This study is pioneer showing that declining trees had high midday water potential. A tendency for lower sap flow driving force (the difference between predawn and midday water potential) in declining trees was also associated with reduced photosynthesis, suggesting that chronic dieback may be associated with low carbon uptake. However, starch in roots and leaves was very low and not correlated to the health status of trees. Declining trees showed lower water-use efficiency and non-photochemical quenching in summer, indicating less resistance to drought. Contrarily to chronic decline, one tree that underwent sudden death presented predawn leaf water potential below the cavitation threshold.
Mortality events in cork and holm oaks have occurred in the Mediterranean basin since the beginning of the XX century, but severity of decline increased during the 1980s. By that time, the exotic ...soil borne pathogen
Phytophthora cinnamomi
was often recovered from declining stands and since then it has been considered the main factor associated with decline. This work analyses data concerning
P. cinnamomi
surveys in cork and holm oaks trees, pathogenicity tests carried out in controlled experiments, studies about the influence of site characteristics in tree decline and approaches to control the disease. Results of field surveys showed that the pathogen is widespread and pathogenicity tests suggested that host susceptibility to the pathogen is moderate when seedlings are in appropriate watering conditions, particularly cork oaks. Occurrence of decline is also associated with soil characteristics that interfere with root expansion and water retention. We assessed the relative importance of each factor involved in decline and revised the role of
P. cinnamomi
in cork and holm oak decline.
In phenylketonuria (PKU), modified casein glycomacropeptide supplements (CGMP-AA) are used as an alternative to the traditional phenylalanine (Phe)-free L-amino acid supplements (L-AA). However, ...studies focusing on the long-term nutritional status of CGMP-AA are lacking. This retrospective study evaluated the long-term impact of CGMP-AA over a mean of 29 months in 11 patients with a mean age at CGMP-AA onset of 28 years (range 15-43) 8 females; 2 hyperphenylalaninaemia (HPA), 3 mild PKU, 3 classical PKU and 3 late-diagnosed. Outcome measures included metabolic control, anthropometry, body composition and biochemical parameters.
CGMP-AA, providing 66% of protein equivalent intake from protein substitute, was associated with no significant change in blood Phe with CGMP-AA compared with baseline (562 ± 289 µmol/L vs 628 ± 317 µmol/L; p = 0.065). In contrast, blood tyrosine significantly increased on CGMP-AA (52.0 ± 19.2 μmol/L vs 61.4 ± 23.8 μmol/L; p = 0.027).
Biochemical nutritional markers remained unchanged which is an encouraging finding in adults with PKU, many of whom are unable to maintain full adherence with nutritionally fortified protein substitutes. Longitudinal, prospective studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to fully understand the metabolic impact of using CGMP-AA in PKU.
Forest fires have been a major threat to forest ecosystems and its biodiversity, as well as the environment in general, particularly in the Mediterranean regions. To mitigate fire spreading, this ...study aims at finding a fire-break solution for territories prone to fire occurrence. To the effect, here follows a model to map and predict phase transitions in fire regimes (spanning fires vs. penetrating fires) based on terrain morphology. The structure consists of a 2-scale network using site percolation and SIR epidemiology rules in a cellular automata to model local fire Dynamics. The target area for the application is the region of Serra de Ossa in Portugal, due to its wildfire incidence. The study considers the cases for a Moore neighbourhood of warm cells of radius 1 and 2 and also considers a heterogeneous terrain with 3 classes of vegetation. Phase transitions are found for different combinations of fire risk for each of these classes and use these values to parametrize the resulting landscape network.
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