Two-ballot versus plurality rule: an empirical investigation on the number of candidates

Duverger claimed more than 50 years ago that the number of candidates in elections should be a function of electoral rules. Both his “law” and “hypothesis” suggest the number of candidates vying for seats in elections to be tightly linked to characteristics of the electoral process such as its degree of proportionality and the presence of runoffs. Here we test the validity of Duverger’s claim using data from municipal elections in Brazil. Our study differs from others in the field in two important dimensions. First, by using municipal data we avoid the usual problems that plague statistical analysis using cross-country data. Secondly, we have a truly exogenous source of variation due to a change in electoral legislation introduced by the constitutional reform of 1988: simple plurality remained the rule only in municipalities with less than 200,000 voters, and a second-ballot became mandatory for the others above that threshold. This allows for a neat identification strategy using panel data. Our main finding is that elections with runoffs lure greater numbers of candidates in municipalities with sufficiently high levels of heterogeneity.Duverger's law, runoff, heterogeneity

Statistical Mesoscopic Hydro-Thermodynamics: The Description of Kinetics and Hydrodynamics of Nonequilibrium Processes in Single Liquids

Hydrodynamics, a term apparently introduced by Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1783) to comprise hydrostatic and hydraulics, has a long history with several theoretical approaches. Here, after a descriptive introduction, we present so-called mesoscopic hydro-thermodynamics, which is also referred to as higher-order generalized hydrodynamics, built within the framework of a mechanical-statistical formalism. It consists of a description of the material and heat motion of fluids in terms of the corresponding densities and their associated fluxes of all orders. In this way, movements are characterized in terms of intermediate to short wavelengths and intermediate to high frequencies. The fluxes have associated Maxwell-like times, which play an important role in determining the appropriate contraction of the description (of the enormous set of fluxes of all orders) necessary to address the characterization of the motion in each experimental setup. This study is an extension of a preliminary article: Physical Review E \textbf{91}, 063011 (2015)

Shoot density, leaf removal and cluster thinning effects on microclimate, yield and fruit composition of the portuguese vine variety Touriga Nacional

The evaluation of shoot density, basal leaf removal, and cluster thinning effects on canopy microclimate characteristics and their influence on yield and fruit composition, was carried out during 2 years (2005 to 2006) on one of the most important and noble Portuguese vine varieties – ‘Touriga Nacional’. The experimental field belongs to the private company Dão Sul, Soc. Vitivinícola, SA, located at Dão region, in centre of Portugal. The vineyard was grafted in 1991 onto 1103 P rootstock. The training system is bilateral Royat with vertical shoot positioning. Three different shoot densities were assayed (at G stage of Baggiolini scale): 23 shoots.m-1 row (D23), 17 shoots.m-1 row (D17) and 11 shoots.m-1 row (D11). At veraison, two other factors were introduced: leaf removal at fruit zone – LR1 (no leaf removal - LR0) and cluster thinning (30%) – CT1 (no cluster thinning – CT0). During the growing season several parameters were measured: leaf area, leaf water potential, leaf gas-exchanges, leaf layer number (LLN), canopy size, intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), fruit composition, yield and vigour. The reduction of shoot density and clusters thinning slightly improved the canopy microclimate, while basal leaf removal affected these parameters in a stronger way. Basal leaf removal didn’t affect any of the yield parameters. The yield was, however, significantly (p<0.05) reduced by cluster thinning and, in 2005, by the decreasing of shoot density. Concerning the grape composition, the studied factors didn’t significantly affect any of its parameters. These results may lead us to presume that no intervention on vineyard would be desirable. However, we verified that D23 treatment substantially increased pruning time (D23 – 88 hours/ha, D17 – 36 hours/ha, D11 – 29 hours/ha). This study indicates that the best option was the removal of water shoots on trunk and cordon - shoot density D17 without basal leaf removal or cluster thinnin

Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of vanillic acid as a lignin model compound towards the renewable production of dicarboxylic acids

tLignin can be depolymerised and used as a feedstock to obtain renewable raw-materials,providing a green alternative to fossil counterparts. Among others, C4dicarboxylic acids(DCA), like succinic, malic, maleic and fumaric acids, which can find applications in phar-maceuticals, food industry, and act as solvents, can be obtained from lignin oxidation. Toinvestigate their formation, the oxidation of vanillic acid (VA), a lignin model compound, wasstudied under catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) conditions, using titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) as the catalyst. The effect of temperature, pH, and reaction time were studied. Ina second phase, catalyst modification with transition metal oxides (Fe, Co, Cu) was tested.Results showed that oxidation under pH = 10.5 gives rise to complete VA conversion withhydroxylated DCA, namely malic (15 mol%) and tartaric (5 mol%) acids, as the main products.At pH = 4.0, the production of succinic acid was improved (7.4 mol%), with VA conversionachieving 78% after 2.0 h of reaction. At alkaline pH, H2O2reactivity is higher, leading to C4-DCA degradation to low-molecular weight compounds. Catalyst desilication was observed,pointed out for the convenience of using neutral and acidic pH. In acidic pH, Fe and Cu cat-alysts enhanced VA conversion, and Fe catalyst was more selective towards succinic acidproduction.The authors gratefully acknowledge support from Fundac¸ãopara a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, Grant num-bers: UID/EQU/50020/2019, UID/AGR/00690/2019; European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Grant numbers: Lig-noCOST (CA17128) and Costa Rican Science, Technology andTelecommunications Ministry, Costa Rica. Scholarship num-ber: MICITT-PINN-CON-2-1-4-17-1-002.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lignin conversion into C4 dicarboxylic acids by catalytic wet peroxide oxidation using titanium silicalite-1

Lignin valorisation towards added-value products has become a relevant topic to consolidate a future circular bioeconomy. In this context lignin oxidation to C4 dicarboxylic acids (C4-DCA) by catalytic wet peroxide oxidation is emerging as a value-added strategy, supported by the extensive use of these building blocks in several industrial fields. In this work, lignins from different sources and processes (Indulin AT, Lignol, alkali and E. globulus kraft lignins) were oxidised using H2O2 and titanium silicalite-1 catalyst (TS-1) under different operating conditions (temperature, pH, time, H2O2, and TS-1 load). Indulin AT was the lignin leading to the highest succinic acid yield (11.3 wt%), and TS-1 catalyst enhanced its production four times over the noncatalysed reaction. Malic acid was also produced at high yields, especially for Lignol lignin. The other lignins (E. globulus kraft, and alkali lignins) also produced these C4 acids but at lower yields. The catalyst remained stable at the used experimental conditions, and showed potential to be reused for several cycles without being deactivated. Overall, the catalytic conversion of lignin to C4-DCA can help to guide the pathway to renewable chemicals production.This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/50020/2020 of the Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM - funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); Base Funding - UIDB/00690/2020 of CIMO - Centro de Investigação de Montanha—funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). COST Action LignoCOST (CA17128). Carlos Vega-Aguilar thanks the Costa Rica Science, Technology and Telecommunications Ministry for the PhD. Scholarship MICITT-PINN-CON-2-1-4-17-1-002. The authors thank Dr. Maria José Sampaio and Prof. Dr. Joaquim Faria (LA LSRE-LCM) for the help with the ATR measurements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of methoxy substituents on wet peroxide oxidation of lignin and lignin model compounds: understanding the pathway to c4 dicarboxylic acids

Lignin depolymerization through peroxide oxidation produces dicarboxylic acids (DCA), especially C4-DCA, like succinic acid. In this work, the effect of methoxy substituents on C4-DCA production using peroxide oxidation of lignin model compounds (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, and syringic acid) and hardwood and softwood lignin samples was studied. It was concluded that methoxy substituents increased the reactivity toward peroxide oxidation. The succinic acid yield was higher for the model compounds with fewer methoxy groups, achieving 5.8 wt % of succinic acid for p-hydroxybenzoic acid. For Eucalyptus globulus kraft lignin (hardwood lignin with guaiacyl and syringyl units), an increased reactivity was verified, and more succinic acid (3.5 wt %) was produced in a shorter time, comparatively with Indulin AT lignin (softwood lignin, with only guaiacyl units), which produced 2.7 wt %. This evidence suggests that E. globulus kraft lignin might be a better raw material than Indulin AT for succinic acid production by peroxide oxidation.This work was financially supported by Base Funding − UIDB/50020/2020 of the Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM − funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); Base Funding−UIDB/00690/2020 of CIMO, Centro de Investigação de Montanha−funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); COST Action LignoCOST (CA17128). C.A.V.-A. thanks the Costa Rican Science, Technology and Telecommunications Ministry for the Ph.D. Scholarship MICITT-PINN-CON-2-1-4-17-1-002.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of consumption of galactooligosaccharides obtained through whey enzymatically modified on the faecal flora and nutritional parameters of hamsters

The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of wheyenzymatically modified rich in galactooligosaccharides in thenutritional characteristics and effects in the microflora of cecumcontents by the study with Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetusauratus) for 28 days (controlled conditions). Three isoproteic dietswere prepared (20% w/w): C (casein), W (whey) and G (wheymodified). The groups studied differed positively from the C regardingfeed and protein efficiency ratio. The relationships (w/w) oforgan/body were found proportional in all diets. The counts ofprobiotics from the cecum contents the groups showed no difference.The pHs of studied groups were lower than C, this acidity can atimpairs the ability of pathogens to grow in the intestine. Resultssuggest that using whey enzymatically modified rich ingalactooligosaccharides could replace the standard diet withnutritional efficiency and possible inhibit the microorganismspathogenic without induce damage in health.Fil: Dos Santos Da Fonseca, Renata Aline. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Rodrigues Machado, Adriana. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Muniz Moreira, Lidiane. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Rodrigues, Rosane S.. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Machado, Mirian. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Souza Soares, Leonor A.. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Burkert, Carlos André V.. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Burkert, Janaína Fernandes de Medeiros. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande; Brasi

Ligand-induced conformational selection predicts the selectivity of cysteine protease inhibitors

Cruzain, a cysteine protease of Trypanosoma cruzi, is a validated target for the treatment of Chagas disease. Due to its high similarity in three-dimensional structure with human cathepsins and their sequence identity above 70% in the active site regions, identifying potent but selective cruzain inhibitors with low side effects on the host organism represents a significant challenge. Here a panel of nitrile ligands with varying potencies against cathepsin K, cathepsin L and cruzain, are studied by molecular dynamics simulations as both non-covalent and covalent complexes. Principal component analysis (PCA), identifies and quantifies patterns of ligand-induced conformational selection that enable the construction of a decision tree which can predict with high confidence a low-nanomolar inhibitor of each of three proteins, and determine the selectivity for one against others

Photon-number-resolving segmented avalanche-photodiode detectors

We investigate the feasibility and performance of photon-number-resolved photodetection employing avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with low dark counts. The main idea is to split n photons over m modes such that every mode has no more than one photon, which is detected alongside propagation by an APD. We characterize performance by evaluating the purities of positive-operator-valued measurements (POVMs), in terms of APD number and photon loss.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, submitted for publicatio