Browsing by Author "Ferreira, Alexandre"
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- Autoimmune hepatitis in 828 Brazilian children and adolescents: clinical and laboratory findings, histological profile, treatments, and outcomesPublication . Porta, Gilda; Carvalho, Elisa; Santos, Jorge Luiz Dos; Gama, Jorge; Borges, Cristian V.; Seixas, Renata; Ferreira, Alexandre; Miura, Irene; Silveira, Themis Reverbel; Silva, Luciana; Fagundes, Eleonora; Brandao, MA Bellomo; Sawamura, Regina; Vieira, Sandra; Melere, Melina; Marques, Cibele D F; Pugliese, Renata P.; Danesi, Vera; Porta, Adriana; Marsillac, Marise; Valladares, Marcia Angélica; Menezes, Daniela G.; Kieling, Carlos; Paula, Mariana N. de; Vasconcelos, Juliana R.; Ferreira, Cristina T.; Perin, Nilza; Resende, Leonardo R.; Maia, Jussara; Tommaso, Adriana M.A. De; Hessel, Gabrielsentation, laboratory findings, histological profile, treatments, and outcomes of children andadolescents with autoimmune hepatitis.Methods: The medical records of 828 children and adolescents with autoimmune hepatitiswere reviewed. A questionnaire was used to collect anonymous data on clinical presentation,biochemical and histological findings, and treatments.Results: Of all patients, 89.6% had autoimmune hepatitis-1 and 10.4% had autoimmunehepatitis-2. The female sex was predominant in both groups. The median age at symptomonset was 111.5 (6; 210) and 53.5 (8; 165) months in the patients with autoimmune hepatitis1 and autoimmune hepatitis-2, respectively. Acute clinical onset was observed in 56.1% and58.8% and insidious symptoms in 43.9% and 41.2% of the patients with autoimmune hepatitis-1and autoimmune hepatitis-2, respectively. The risk of hepatic failure was 1.6-fold higher forautoimmune hepatitis-2. Fulminant hepatic failure occurred in 3.6% and 10.6% of the patientswith autoimmune hepatitis-1 and autoimmune hepatitis-2, respectively; the risk was 3.1-foldhigher for autoimmune hepatitis-2. The gamma globulin and immunoglobulin G levels were sig-nificantly higher in autoimmune hepatitis-1, while the immunoglobulin A and C3 levels werelower in autoimmune hepatitis-2. Cirrhosis was observed in 22.4% of the patients; biochem-ical remission was achieved in 76.2%. The actuarial survival rate was 93.0%. A total of 4.6%underwent liver transplantation, and 6.9% died (autoimmune hepatitis-1: 7.5%; autoimmunehepatitis-2: 2.4%).Conclusions: In this large clinical series of Brazilian children and adolescents, autoimmunehepatitis-1 was more frequent, and patients with autoimmune hepatitis-2 exhibited higherdisease remission rates with earlier response to treatment. Patients with autoimmune hepatitis-1 had a higher risk of death.
- Commercial Websites: A Focus on the EssentialPublication . Ferreira, Alexandre; Antunes, FranciscoThis study identified “essential” functionalities (grouped in four distinct sets) that should be implemented in commercial internet presences. This finding seems extremely relevant, as it can serve as a benchmark for companies that want to go into the online business or for those who already have a commercial internet presence. Although many online companies try to provide all available functionalities on their websites to attract customers, the obtained results provide evidence that such situation would mean to invest money in features that are not primarily valued by the users. The determination of valued functionalities within a buying process allows managers to be more cost-effective when managing financial resources to acquire or develop solutions for their commercial websites, helping companies to understand better how to build and keep online businesses. In this way, this research demonstrated that existing literature does offer the basis to actually support decision-making in practice settings.
- Essential Functionalities for Commercial Internet PresencePublication . Ferreira, Alexandre; Antunes, FranciscoA balanced implementation of functionalities within a commercial internet presence is important, because of not only the involved complexity and cognitive load required in their use, but also for financial reasons. Investing money on features (e.g., software modules, programming time, maintenance and update, etc.) that are not valued by online consumers, hinders an efficient allocation of resources, especially when financial resources are scarce, a situation that corresponds too many small businesses operating on the internet. However, literature provides little help for managers to decide which functionalities should be implemented, according to a rational basis. Within this context, this research sought to fill in the gap between literature review and the need for helping companies to understand better how to build and keep online businesses. The authors work identified 16 essential functionalities grouped into four sets: order processing, advertising and prominence, product analysis, and payment.