An evolutionary model of firms' institutional behavior focusing on labor decisions

The understanding of the economy's aggregate growth patterns is a fundamental objective of economic growth theorizing. However, the micro constructions are strongly linked to economic growth and so cannot be neglected in such process. This paper is concerned with this problem, proposing a formal mechanism to establish the bridge between macro regularities and micro evolutionary behavior. Within a micro to macro or bottom-up perspective, the adopted approach is focused in the influence of firms’ ‘institutional settings’ on economic growth and in the industry dynamics that lies behind more aggregate behaviors. The analysis associates such settings to firms’ labor choices in terms of hiring/firing policies and to their screening capabilities. Building a computer simulation model which deals with the nature and evolution of the knowledge that guides firms’ efforts to improve their institutional settings, we were able to draw some important implications. The results show that firm’s ability to change its ‘institutional setting’ is crucial for its survival. In a model without a learning mechanism the results show significant turbulence in terms of exit and entry of firms and no significant connection with the firm’s ‘institutional set’. In the LearnModel, the outcome is much more stable, with initial firms surviving for long period of time. Results also suggest that the presence of a learning mechanism is particularly striking in what concerns firms’ behavior and industry’s dynamics. The survival probability depends on firms’ hiring efficiency and on their ability to react to environmental changes. Since firms’ hiring efficiency and their learning rates depend on their accumulated non-routine workers, the results seem to imply some ‘lock-in’ paths. Firms with initial low values of relative non-routine workers have lower chances of survival. However, firms with initial high values of relative non-routine workers will survive if and only if they rapidly improve their hiring efficiency.evolutionary, industrial dynamics, learning, labor decisions

TUBERCULOSE: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

A Tuberculose (TB) doença é causada pelo Mycobacterium tuberculosis, tendo as vias aéreas como principal via de transmissão, apresentando-se sob as formas clínicas pulmonar e extrapulmonar. A via de infecção tuberculosa é quase sempre inalatória. A doença acomete principalmente pessoas na faixa etária entre 20 e 49 anos. A incidência no gênero masculino normalmente é superior à do gênero feminino e, a forma pulmonar é a forma clínica da doença que mais acomete a população. O padrão para o diagnóstico da TB é a baciloscopia e cultura com a identificação da espécie. Segundo o Ministério da Saúde, o esquema básico de quimioprofilaxia para adultos e adolescentes é realizado por um período de seis meses, composto pelos seguintes medicamentos: Rifampicina (R), Isoniazida (H), Pirazinamida (Z) e Etambutol (E). De acordo com Ministério de Saúde, existem duas medidas preventivas eficazes contra a tuberculose: a vacinação e a quimioprofilaxia. A vacinação com a BCG é a medida mais comum para prevenção da TB é indicada para crianças de 0 a 4 anos de idade e a proteção imunitária pode manter-se por 10 a 15 anos. O Programa Nacional de Controle da Tuberculose é responsável pela redução das fontes de infecção, diagnóstico, tratamento e pela distribuição dos medicamentos que são fornecidos gratuitamente a todos os doentes registrados e acompanhados nas Unidades de Saúde, levando à consequente redução da incidência, prevalência e mortalidade causada pela TB.Palavras-chave: Tuberculose. M. tuberculosis. Diagnóstico. Tratamento

Kinin B2 receptor regulates chemokines CCL2 and CCL5 expression and modulates leukocyte recruitment and pathology in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice

BACKGROUND: Kinins are important mediators of inflammation and act through stimulation of two receptor subtypes, B1 and B2. Leukocyte infiltration contributes to the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), occurring not only in multiple sclerosis (MS) but also in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We have previously shown that the chemokines CCL2 and CCL5 play an important role in the adhesion of leukocytes to the brain microcirculation in EAE. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relevance of B2 receptors to leukocyte-endothelium interactions in the cerebral microcirculation, and its participation in CNS inflammation in the experimental model of myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein (MOG)35-55-induced EAE in mice. METHODS: In order to evaluate the role of B2 receptor in the cerebral microvasculature we used wild-type (WT) and kinin B2 receptor knockout (B2-/-) mice subjected to MOG35-55-induced EAE. Intravital microscopy was used to investigate leukocyte recruitment on pial matter vessels in B2-/- and WT EAE mice. Histological documentation of inflammatory infiltrates in brain and spinal cords was correlated with intravital findings. The expression of CCL5 and CCL2 in cerebral tissue was assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: Clinical parameters of disease were reduced in B2-/- mice in comparison to wild type EAE mice. At day 14 after EAE induction, there was a significant decrease in the number of adherent leukocytes, a reduction of cerebral CCL5 and CCL2 expressions, and smaller inflammatory and degenerative changes in B2-/- mice when compared to WT. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that B2 receptors have two major effects in the control of EAE severity: (i) B2 regulates the expression of chemokines, including CCL2 and CCL5, and (ii) B2 modulates leukocyte recruitment and inflammatory lesions in the CNS

Effective Lagrangian description of the lepton flavor violating decays Z-->li lj

A comprehensive analysis of the lepton flavor violating (LFV) decays Z-->li lj is presented within the effective Lagrangian approach. Both the decoupling and nondecoupling scenarios are explored. The experimental constraints from li --> lj lk \bar{lk} and li -->lj gamma as well as some relationships arising from the gauge invariance of the effective Lagrangian are used to put constraints on Z-->li lj. It is found that while current experimental data impose very strong constraints on Z-->mu e, the channel Z --> tau mu (e)still may be at the reach of the planned TESLA collider.Comment: References added, final version to appear in Physical Review

Nutritional Evaluation Of Children With Chronic Cholestatic Disease

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)To evaluate the nutritional status of children with persistent cholestasis and to compare the anthropometric indices between children with and without liver cirrhosis and children with and without jaundice. Methods Children with persistent cholestasis, i.e. increased direct bilirrubin or changes in the canalicular enzyme gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), were included. The anthropometric measures were weight (W), height or length (H), arm circumference (AC), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), arm muscle circumference (AMC), and body mass index (BMI). Results Ninety-one children with cholestasis, with current median age of 12 months, were evaluated. W/age (A) and H/A indices below -2 Z-scores were observed in 33% and 30.8% of patients, respectively. Concerning the W/H index and BMI, only 12% and 16% of patients, respectively, were below -2 Z-scores. Regarding AC, 43.8% of 89 evaluated patients had some depletion. Observing the TST, 64% of patients had depletion, and 71.1% of the 45 evaluated patients had some degree of depletion regarding the ACM index. Conclusion Evaluation using weight in patients with chronic liver diseases may overestimate the nutritional status due to visceromegaly, subclinical edema, or ascites. Indices that correlate weight and height, such as W/H and BMI, may also not show depletion because of the chronic condition in which there are depletion of both weight and height. TST, AC, and ACM are parameters that better estimate nutritional status and should be part of the management of patients with liver diseases and cholestasis. © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.922197205CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

FtsZ-dependent elongation of a coccoid bacterium

A mechanistic understanding of the determination and maintenance of the simplest bacterial cell shape, a sphere, remains elusive compared with that of more complex shapes. Cocci seem to lack a dedicated elongation machinery, and a spherical shape has been considered an evolutionary dead-end morphology, as a transition from a spherical to a rod-like shape has never been observed in bacteria. Here we show that a Staphylococcus aureus mutant (M5) expressing the ftsZG193D allele exhibits elongated cells. Molecular dynamics simulations and in vitro studies indicate that FtsZG193D filaments are more twisted and shorter than wild-type filaments. In vivo, M5 cell wall deposition is initiated asymmetrically, only on one side of the cell, and progresses into a helical pattern rather than into a constricting ring as in wild-type cells. This helical pattern of wall insertion leads to elongation, as in rod-shaped cells. Thus, structural flexibility of FtsZ filaments can result in an FtsZ-dependent mechanism for generating elongated cells from cocci

Chronic wasting disease risk assessment in Portugal - setting up a project

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessing chronic wasting disease risk in Portugal

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chronic wasting disease risk assessment in Portugal: results and future work.

Número da Revista Portuguesa de Ciências Veterinárias, dedicado à publicação dos "Proceedings of the 10th Iberian Congress on Prions" que decorreu em Vila Real, Portugal de 19 1 20 de maio de 2022.Chronic wasting disease risk assessment in Portugal: results and future work.This work was supported by the project WastingPrionRisk [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029947 / PTDC/ CVT-CVT/29947/2017] funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). FCT PhD grant [SFRH/BD/146961/2019] financed by FCT through FSE (Fundo Social Europeu). This work was also supported by national funds [UIDB/CVT/00772/2020], [LA/P/0059/2020] and [UIDB/04033/2020] by FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio