Socioeconomic status and learning from financial information

The majority of lower socioeconomic status (SES) households in the U.S. and Europe do not have stock investments, which is detrimental to wealth accumulation. Here, we examine one explanation for this puzzling fact, namely, that economic adversity may influence how people learn from financial information. Using experimental and survey data from the U.S. and Romania, we find that lower SES individuals form more pessimistic beliefs about the distribution of stock returns and are less likely to invest in stocks when these investments are likely to have good outcomes. SES-related differences in pessimism may help explain variation in investments across households

Carotenoides Pro-vitamina A em frutos de bananeira.

Os tipos de carotenóides variam muito nas frutas, sendo que aproximadamente 50 carotenóides possuem atividade pró-vitamina A. Dentre esses o β-caroteno é o mais importante e abundante em alimentos, seguido do α-caroteno e β-criptoxantina, os quais possuem a metade da atividade de vitamina A, comparativamente ao primeiro caroteno. Outros carotenóides não pró-vitamina A, porém com efeitos relevantes à saúde humana (e.g., antioxidante, antitumoral e inibidores da degeneração macular), também ocorrem em alimentos (luteína, zeaxantina e licopeno, por exemplo - RODRIGUEZ-AMAYA, 2001) e sua identificação em frutos de bananeira é considerado relevante. A banana destaca-se pelo seu alto potencial como alimento funcional, devido a seu alto consumo, principalmente em países subdesenvolvidos

Compostos fenólicos em frutos de bananeira.

Os compostos fenólicos são encontrados em muitas frutas e a quantificação desses metabólicos revela informações importantes a respeito da qualidade dos alimentos e dos potenciais benefícios à saúde (atividade antioxidante e atitumoral, e.g. - TALCOTT et al., 2003). A banana é amplamente consumida por todas as classes sociais e seu consumo é elevado, alcançando 162 Kg/pessoa/ano em algumas regiões da África (FAO, 2012)

Socioeconomic Status and Learning from Financial Information *

Abstract The majority of lower socioeconomic status (SES) households do not have any stock investments, which is detrimental to wealth accumulation. Here, we examine one potential driver of this puzzling fact, namely, that SES may influence the process by which people learn from information in financial markets. We find that low SES individuals, relative to medium or high SES ones, form more pessimistic beliefs about the distribution of stock investment outcomes and are less likely to invest in stocks. The pessimism bias in assessing risky assets induced by low SES is robust to several ways of measuring one's socioeconomic standing. These results, documented in controlled experimental settings in Romania and the U.S., as well as in a large non-laboratory sample of adults across all 50 states in the U.S., suggest that SES shapes in predictable ways people's beliefs about financial assets, which in turn may induce large differences across households in their propensity to participate in financial markets

Espectroscopia de infravermelho médio e quimiometria aplicadas a discriminação de acessos de bananeira.

O Brasil é o quinto produtor mundial de banana, tendo produzido aproximadamente 6,9 milhões de toneladas em 2010, em uma área aproximada de 487 mil hectares (FAO, 2012). Entretanto, há poucos cultivares para exploração comercial com potencial agronômico, tolerantes às pragas e doenças e que apresentem frutos com boas características pós-colheita e organolépticas. Uma das estratégias à solução desse problema é a seleção de novos genótipos, por meio do melhoramento genético, visando o aumento do valor nutricional e funcional (biofortificação), associado às boas características agronômicas

Self-Learning Compensation of Hysteretic and Creep Nonlinearities in Piezoelectric Actuators

Abstract: Solid-state actuators based on active materials allow high operating frequencies with nearly unlimited displacement resolution. This predestines them, for example, for application in highly precise positioning systems. However, the nonlinear behaviour in such systems is mainly attributed to actuator transfer characteristics as a result of driving with high amplitudes. In this paper a novel self-learning compensation method based on the socalled modified Prandtl-Ishlinskii approach is presented, which allows extensive compensation of the complex solid-state actuator hysteretic and creep nonlinearities during operation. Finally, it is shown in an example involving a two-axis piezoelectric parallel-kinematic positioning system that this compensation substantially decreases the deviations of the actual output displacements from the desired displacements of the controlled system

Standards of practice in forensic age estimation with CT of the medial clavicular epiphysis-a systematic review.

The AGFAD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Forensische Alterdiagnostik, Study Group on Forensic Age Diagnostics) has published several recommendations regarding both technical aspects of computed tomography (CT) of the medial clavicular epiphysis (MCE) and the process of reading and interpreting the CT images for forensic age estimations (FAE). There are, however, no published recommendations regarding CT scan protocols and no dose reference values for CT of the MCE. The objective of this analysis was to assess adherence to AGFAD recommendations among practitioners of FAE and analyse reported dose-relevant CT scan parameters with the objective of helping to establish evidence-based dose reference values for FAE. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and in Google Scholar with specific MeSH terms to identify original research articles on FAE with CT of the MCE from 1997 to 2022. A total of 48 studies were included. Adherence to AGFAD recommendations among practitioners of FAE is high regarding the use of Schmeling main stages (93%), bone window (79%), ≤ 1 mm CT slices (67%), axial/coronal CT images (65%), and Kellinghaus sub-stages (59%). The reporting of CT technique and CT dose-relevant scan parameters is heterogeneous and often incomplete in the current literature. Considering the success achieved by the AGFAD in creating standards of practice of FAE in living subjects, there is potential for the AGFAD to establish standards for radiation protection in FAE as well

A machine learning and chemometrics assisted interpretation of spectroscopic data: a NMR-based metabolomics platform for the assessment of Brazilian propolis

In this work, a metabolomics dataset from 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of Brazilian propolis was analyzed using machine learning algorithms, including feature selection and classification methods. Partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), random forest (RF), and wrapper methods combining decision trees and rules with evolutionary algorithms (EA) showed to be complementary approaches, allowing to obtain relevant information as to the importance of a given set of features, mostly related to the structural fingerprint of aliphatic and aromatic compounds typically found in propolis, e.g., fatty acids and phenolic compounds. The feature selection and decision tree-based algorithms used appear to be suitable tools for building classification models for the Brazilian propolis metabolomics regarding its geographic origin, with consistency, high accuracy, and avoiding redundant information as to the metabolic signature of relevant compounds.The work is partially funded by ERDF -European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within projects ref. COMPETE FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-015079 and PEstOE/ EEI/UI0752/2011. RC's work is funded by a PhD grant from the Portuguese FCT ( ref. SFRH/BD/66201/2009)

New anti-perovskite-type Superconductor ZnNyNi3

We have synthesized a new superconductor ZnNyNi3 with Tc ~3 K. The crystal structure has the same anti-perovskite-type such as MgCNi3 and CdCNi3. As far as we know, this is the third superconducting material in Ni-based anti-perovskite series. For this material, superconducting parameters, lower-critical field Hc1(0), upper-critical field Hc2(0), coherence length x(0), penetration depth l(0), and Gintzburg -Landau parameter k(0) have been experimentally determined.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl