Information processing among high-performance managers

O propósito deste estudo foi avaliar o processamento da informação de 43 gestores empresariais de desempenho superior. No seu enquadramento teórico recorremos a três modelos: a Teoria dos Papéis Gerenciais de Henry Mintzberg, a Teoria do Processamento da Informação e o Modelo de Processo de Resposta ao Rorschach de John Exner. A ava-liação dos sujeitos recorreu ao método do Rorschach. Os resultados deste estudo mos-traram que esses gerentes são capazes de recolher dados, avaliá-los e estabelecer ran-kings de maneira adequada. Ao mesmo tempo, verifica-se que são capazes de ser objeti-vos e precisos na avaliação dos problemas. Este estilo de processamento de informação possibilita uma interpretação do mundo a partir de um modo de processamento ou de um estilo cognitivo, próprio e característico.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the information processing of 43 business managers with a professional superior performance. The theoretical framework consid-ers three models: the Theory of Managerial Roles of Henry Mintzberg, the Theory of In-formation Processing, and Process Model Response to Rorschach by John Exner. The participants have been evaluated by Rorschach method. The results show that these managers are able to collect data, evaluate them and establish rankings properly. At same time they are capable of being objective and accurate in the problems assessment. This information processing style permits an interpretation of the world around on basis of a very personal and characteristic processing way or cognitive style.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), no âmbito do Fundo de Apoio à Comunidade Científica - Edição de Publicações Periódicas de Natureza Científica

Fusarium Mycotoxins and Metabolites that Modulate Their Production

The genus Fusarium is a group of fungi producing several types of toxins with toxicological effect in both humans and animals. Such fungi are commonly found in soils so it can contaminate various types of crops, preferably cereals, leading to significant economic losses. Relative humidity, storage temperature and various handling in cereales increase the possibility of contamination by Fusarium toxins. Cereals naturally have secondary metabolites that may help attenuate contamination by these toxins, but it is necessary to know strategies and mechanisms that generate inactivation mycotoxins. This chapter reviews relevant information about cereal mycotoxin contamination, as well as the production of cereal secondary metabolites as a strategy to reduce the possibility of mycotoxin contamination

Climate change and the kidney

The worldwide increase in temperature has resulted in a marked increase in heat waves (heat extremes) that carries a markedly increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The kidney has a unique role not only in protecting the host from heat and dehydration but also is an important site of heat-associated disease. Here we review the potential impact of global warming and heat extremes on kidney diseases. High temperatures can result in increased core temperatures, dehydration, and blood hyperosmolality. Heatstroke (both clinical and subclinical whole-body hyperthermia) may have a major role in causing both acute kidney disease, leading to increased risk of acute kidney injury from rhabdomyolysis, or heat-induced inflammatory injury to the kidney. Recurrent heat and dehydration can result in chronic kidney disease (CKD) in animals and theoretically plays a role in epidemics of CKD developing in hot regions of the world where workers are exposed to extreme heat. Heat stress and dehydration also has a role in kidney stone formation, and poor hydration habits may increase the risk for recurrent urinary tract infections. The resultant social and economic consequences include disability and loss of productivity and employment. Given the rise in world temperatures, there is a major need to better understand how heat stress can induce kidney disease, how best to provide adequate hydration, and ways to reduce the negative effects of chronic heat exposure.Published versio

Why Large Seeds with Physical Dormancy Become Nondormant Earlier Than Small Ones

Under natural conditions, large seeds with physical dormancy (PY) may become water permeable earlier than small ones. However, the mechanism for this difference has not been elucidated. Thus, our aim was to evaluate the traits associated with PY in seeds of Senna multijuga (Fabaceae) and to propose a mechanism for earlier dormancy-break in large than in small seeds. Two seedlots were collected and each separated into large and small seeds. Seed dry mass, water content, thickness of palisade layer in the hilar and distal regions and the ratio between palisade layer thickness (P) in the lens fissure and seed mass (M) were evaluated. Further, the correlation between seed mass and seed dimensions was investigated. Large seeds had higher dry mass and water content than small seeds. The absolute thickness of the palisade layer in the different regions did not show any trend with seed size; however, large seeds had a lower P:M ratio than small seeds. Seed mass correlated positively with all seed dimensions, providing evidence for a substantially higher volume in large seeds. Since wet, but not dry, high temperatures break PY in sensitive seeds of S. multijuga, the data support our prediction that internal pressure potential in the seed and palisade layer thickness in the water gap (lens), which is related to seed mass (i.e. P:M ratio), act together to modulate the second step (dormancy break) of the two-stage sensitivity cycling model for PY break. In which case, large seeds are predetermined to become water-permeable earlier than small ones

Spectrophotometric investigations of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Markarian 35

We present results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 35 (Haro 3), based on deep optical (B,V,R,I) and near-IR (J,H,K) imaging, Halpha narrow-band observations and long-slit spectroscopy. The optical emission of the galaxy is dominated by a central young starburst, with a bar-like shape, while an underlying component of stars, with elliptical isophotes and red colors, extends more than 4 kpc from the galaxy center. High resolution Halpha and color maps allow us to identify the star-forming regions, to spatially discriminate them from the older stars, and to recognize several dust patches. We derive colors and Halpha parameters for all the identified star-forming knots. Observables derived for each knot are corrected for the contribution of the underlying older stellar population, the contribution by emission lines, and from interstellar extinction, and compared with evolutionary synthesis models. We find that the contributions of these three factors are by no means negligible and that they significantly vary across the galaxy. Therefore, careful quantification and subtraction of emission lines, galaxy host contribution, and interstellar reddening at every galaxy position, are essential to derive the properties of the young stars in BCDs. We find that we can reproduce the colors of all the knots with an instantaneous burst of star formation and the Salpeter initial mass function with an upper mass limit of 100 M_solar. In all cases the knots are just a few Myr old. The underlying population of stars has colors consistent with being several Gyr old.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ, tentatively scheduled for the ApJ November 1, 2007 v669n1 issu

BFF: A tool for eliciting tie strength and user communities in social networking services

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s10796-013-9453-6The use of social networking services (SNSs) such as Facebook has explosively grown in the last few years. Users see these SNSs as useful tools to find friends and interact with them. Moreover, SNSs allow their users to share photos, videos, and express their thoughts and feelings. However, users are usually concerned about their privacy when using SNSs. This is because the public image of a subject can be affected by photos or comments posted on a social network. In this way, recent studies demonstrate that users are demanding better mechanisms to protect their privacy. An appropriate approximation to solve this could be a privacy assistant software agent that automatically suggests a privacy policy for any item to be shared on a SNS. The first step for developing such an agent is to be able to elicit meaningful information that can lead to accurate privacy policy predictions. In particular, the information needed is user communities and the strength of users' relationships, which, as suggested by recent empirical evidence, are the most important factors that drive disclosure in SNSs. Given the number of friends that users can have and the number of communities they may be involved on, it is infeasible that users are able to provide this information without the whole eliciting process becoming confusing and time consuming. In this work, we present a tool called Best Friend Forever (BFF) that automatically classifies the friends of a user in communities and assigns a value to the strength of the relationship ties to each one. We also present an experimental evaluation involving 38 subjects that showed that BFF can significantly alleviate the burden of eliciting communities and relationship strength.This work has been partially supported by CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 under grant CSD2007-00022, and TIN 2008-04446 and PROMETEO II/2013/019 projects. This article has been developed as a result of a mobility stay funded by the Erasmus Mundus Programme of the European Comission under the Transatlantic Partnership for Excellence in Engineering - TEE Project.López Fogués, R.; Such Aparicio, JM.; Espinosa Minguet, AR.; García-Fornes, A. (2014). BFF: A tool for eliciting tie strength and user communities in social networking services. Information Systems Frontiers. 16:225-237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-013-9453-6S22523716Blondel, V.D., Guillaume, J.L., Lambiotte, R., Lefebvre, E. (2008). Fast unfolding of communities in large networks. Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2008(10), P10008.Boyd, D., & Hargittai, E. (2010). Facebook privacy settings: who cares? First Monday, 15(8).Burt, R. (1995). Structural holes: the social structure of competition. Harvard University Pr.Culotta, A., Bekkerman, R., McCallum, A. (2004). 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The personality of popular facebook users. In Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on computer supported cooperative work (CSCW’12).Rosvall, M., & Bergstrom, C. (2008). Maps of random walks on complex networks reveal community structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(4), 1118–1123.Sharma, G., Qiang, Y., Wenjun, S., Qi, L. (2013). Communication in virtual world: Second life and business opportunities. Information Systems Frontiers, 15(4), 677–694.Shen, K., Song, L., Yang, X., Zhang, W. (2010). A hierarchical diffusion algorithm for community detection in social networks. In 2010 international conference on cyber-enabled distributed computing and knowledge discovery (CyberC) (pp. 276–283). IEEE.Sierra, C., & Debenham, J. (2007). The LOGIC negotiation model. In AAMAS ’07: proceedings of the 6th international joint conference on autonomous agents and multiagent systems (pp. 1–8). ACM.Staddon, J., Huffaker, D., Brown, L., Sedley, A. (2012). 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C-S-H seeding activation of Portland and Belite cements: An enlightening in situ synchrotron powder diffraction study

C-S-H seeding in Portland cements is well known from basic scientific works and field applications. Moreover, this activation approach could be beneficial for low-CO2 cements under development where a general drawback is poor mechanical strengths during the first week of hydration. However, a mechanistic understanding of the different processes taking place when seeding is still not developed. Here, we contribute to this knowledge gap by studying one commercial Portland cement and two industrial-trial belite cements. Three different admixtures are employed, viz. two types of commercial C-S-H seeding and triisopropanolamine as a typical alkanolamine. A multitechnique approach is employed including calorimetry, ultrasonic pulse velocity, thermal analysis and Rietveld analysis of laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data. Chiefly, an in situ X-ray synchrotron diffraction study has allowed mapping out the evolution of every crystalline phase. Furthermore, the use of an internal standard permitted to measure the changes in the overall amorphous content. In a nutshell, alite and belite (phases) hydrations are not significantly accelerated by C-S-H seeding for the three studied cements. Conversely, sulphate and aluminate phase dissolutions are enhanced. Faster ettringite crystallisation contributes to the observed improved mechanical properties at early ages. Moreover, a synergistic effect between C-S-H seeding and alkanolamine addition is proved. The importance of these findings for the possible acceleration of low-CO2 cement hydration is discussed.This research has been partly supported by two research grants PID2020-114650RB-I00 (from Spanish Government) and P18-RT-720 (from Junta de Andalucía, Spain), which are co-funded by ERDF. ALBA synchrotron is thanked for granting beamtime at BL04-MSPD beamline. We also thank the assistance of Dr. Oriol Vallcorba during the synchrotron experiment and thorough discussion of this work with Peter Schwesig (Master Builders Solutions). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Malaga/CBUA

Complementary neuropsychological assessment with computer in congenital hemiparesis

We present the neuropsychological assessment with computer aid of six cerebral palsy children. Three children had right hemiparesis and three, left hemiparesis. The tomographic examination showed parietal cavities (porencephalic cyst in 4 children, ischemic injury in 1 case and subarachnoid cyst in 1 case). We have proposed to assess the visuo-spatial function since we suspected the children could have disturbance of this function. We did not detect this disturbance. On the other hand, the children had astereognosia and the right hemiparetic children preferred to execute signs on the right part of the computer visor. We discuss and propose explanations for both findings.Apresentamos o estudo neuropsicológico de seis crianças portadoras de paralisia cerebral forma hemiplégica, com a ajuda de computador (três crianças com hemiparesia direita e três com hemiparesia esquerda). Os exames tomograficos revelaram cavidades parietais (cisto porencefálico em 4 casos, infarto isquêmico em 1 e cisto subaracnóideo em 1). O objetivo do estudo foi verificar se havia distúrbio na organização espacial, pois os pacientes apresentavam lesão estrutural em áreas parietais e não fora detectado esse distúrbio previamente. Encontramos astereognosia e preferência para o uso da hemi-tela direita do computador nas crianças com hemiparesia direita. Discutimos e propomos explicações para estes achados. Ressaltamos ainda o papel da linguagem computacional Logo, como instrumento adequado para investigação neuropsicológica.50250

The Halogen Effect on the Magnetic Behaviour of Dimethylformamide Solvates in [Fe(halide-salEen)2]BPh4

Funding Research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT): projects UIDB/00100/2020, UIDP/00100/2020, LA/P/0056/2020, UIDB/04046/2020, UIDP/04046/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 and LA/P/0008/2020, UIDB/04378/2020, UIDP/04378/2020, and LA/P/0140/2020, PTDC/QUI-QFI/29236/2017, PTDCQUI-QIN0252_2021, CEECIND/00509/2017; Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS): PDR T.0095.21); Portugal2020: CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000018; Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC): R21-7511142525. Acknowledgments Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE) and Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS) acknowledge the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT): Projects UIDB/00100/2020, UIDP/00100/2020, and LA/P/0056/2020, respectively. BioISI acknowledges FCT for financial support (UIDB/04046/2020, UIDP/04046/2020). This work was supported by the FNRS (PDR T.0095.21). Clara S. B. Gomes acknowledges the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV, the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit—UCIBIO and Associated Laboratory i4HB, which are financed by national funds from FCT (UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 and LA/P/0008/2020, UIDB/04378/2020 and UIDP/04378/2020, and LA/P/0140/2020, respectively). Sónia Barroso thanks project SmartBioR for financial support (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000018)and Centro de Química Estrutural for the access to crystallography facilities. Nuno A. G. Bandeira gratefully acknowledges the NanoBioSolutions FCT grant PTDC/QUI-QFI/29236/2017 for the computational infrastructure. Paulo N. Martinho thanks FCT and RSC for financial support (grants PTDCQUI-QIN0252_2021 and R21-7511142525). Paulo N. Martinho also thanks FCT for the contract CEECIND/00509/2017.Complexes [Fe(X-salEen)2]BPh4·DMF, with X = Br (1), Cl (2), and F (3), were crystallised from N,N′-dimethylformamide with the aim of understanding the role of a high boiling point N,N′-dimethylformamide solvate in the spin crossover phenomenon. The counter ion was chosen for only being able to participate in weak intermolecular interactions. The compounds were structurally characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 crystallised in the orthorhombic space group P212121, and complexes 2 and 3 in the monoclinic space group P21/n. Even at room temperature, low spin was the predominant form, although complex 2 exhibited the largest proportion of the high-spin species according to both the magnetisation measurements and the Mössbauer spectra. Density Functional Theory calculations were performed both on the periodic solids and on molecular models for complexes 1–3 and the iodide analogue 4. While all approaches reproduced the experimental structures very well, the energy balance between the high-spin and low-spin forms was harder to reproduce, though some calculations pointed to the easier spin crossover of complex 2, as observed. Periodic calculations with the functional PBE led to very similar ΔEHS-LS values for all complexes but showed a preference for the low-spin form. However, the single-point calculations with B3LYP* showed, for the model without solvate, that the Cl complex should undergo spin crossover more easily. The molecular calculations also reflected this fact, which was more clearly defined when the cation–anion–solvate model was used. In the other models there was not much difference between the Cl, Br, and I complexes.publishersversionpublishe

Different protocols of physical exercise produce different effects on synaptic and structural proteins in motor areas of the rat brain

The plastic brain responses generated by the training with acrobatic exercise (AE) and with treadmill exercise (TE) may be different. We evaluated the protein expression of synapsin I (SYS), synaptophysin (SYP), microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and neurofilaments (NF) by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting in the motor cortex, striatum and cerebellum of rats subjected to TE and AE. Young adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups: sedentary (Sed) (n=15), TE (n=20) and AE (n=20). The rats were trained 3 days/week for 4 weeks on a treadmill at 0.6 km/h, 40 min/day (TE), or moved through a circuit of obstacles 5 times/day (AE). The rats from the TE group exhibited a significant increase of SYS and SYP in the motor cortex, of NF68, SYS and SYP in the striatum, and of MAP2, NF and SYS in the cerebellum, whereas NF was decreased in the motor cortex and the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex. On the other hand, the rats from the AE group showed a significant increase of MAP2 and SYP in the motor cortex, of all four proteins in the striatum, and of SYS in the cerebellum. In conclusion, AE induced changes in the expression of synaptic and structural proteins mainly in the motor cortex and striatum, which may underlie part of the learning of complex motor tasks. TE, on the other hand, promoted more robust changes of structural proteins in all three regions, especially in the cerebellum, which is involved in learned and automatic tasks. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.FAPESPFAPESPCNPqCNP