Consumer preferences for table cassava characteristics in Pernambuco, Brazil

Cassava is a major source of carbohydrate for populations in the tropics; however, there is little information about the preferences of consumers toward the quality characteristics of this crop. This paper analyzes the demand for different cassava attributes, and applies the hedonic price method to estimate the values that consumers give to implicit attributes of cassava. The results show that ease of peeling, time of cooking and texture of cassava are the most important characteristics consumers consider when purchasing and consuming cassava. Cassava varieties, root size, ease of peeling and location of the market are relevant attributes in price determination.Cassava, Consumer preferences, Hedonic price, Northeast of Brazil, Consumer/Household Economics,

Probabilistic finite element analysis of the uncemented total hip replacement

There are many interacting factors affecting the performance of a total hip replacement(THR), such as prosthesis design and material properties, applied loads, surgical approach, femur size and quality, interface conditions etc. All these factors are subject to variation and therefore uncertainties have to be taken into account when designing and analysing the performance of these systems. To address this problem, probabilistic design methods have been developed.A computational probabilistic tool to analyse the performance of an uncemented THR has been developed. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) was applied to various models with increasing complexity. In the pilot models, MCS was applied to a simplified finite element model (FE) of an uncemented total hip replacement (UTHR). The implant and bone stiffness, load magnitude and geometry, and implant version angle were included as random variables and a reliable strain-based performance indicator was adopted. The sensitivity results highlighted the bone stiffness, implant version and load magnitude as the most sensitive parameters.The FE model was developed further to include the main muscle forces, and to consider fully bonded and frictional interface conditions. Three proximal femurs and two implants (one with a short and another with a long stem) were analysed. Different boundary conditions were compared, and convergence was improved when the distal portion of the implant was constrained and a frictional interface was employed. This was particularly true when looking at the maximum nodal micromotion. The micromotion results compared well with previous studies, confirming the reliability and accuracy of the probabilistic finite element model (PFEM). Results were often influenced by the bone, suggesting that variability in bone features should be included in any probabilistic analysis of the implanted construct.This study achieved the aim of developing a probabilistic finite element tool for the analysis of finite element models of uncemented hip replacements and forms a good basis for probabilistic models of constructs subject to implant position-related variability

The Self-Perceived College Persistence Factors Of Successful Latino Males

The experiences of Latino male students are oftentimes consolidated with those of other student populations from similar backgrounds. While the research on Latino males has been slowly expanding to include their varied experiences, it has been mostly characterized by a deficit-oriented narrative focusing on their challenges rather than their successes. Concentrating on the difficulties experienced by Latinos socializes administrators and researchers to focus on students from underserved backgrounds as problems, instead of resilient beings (Harper, 2015). This qualitative study focused on the experiences of 20 successful Latino male students at a four-year public institution. Through semi-structured interviews, participants discussed how they understood and explained their persistence in college. The analysis of the data focused on how participants’ perceptions and explanations of persistence differed by ethnicity, being first generation college student, household income or immigrant generation. Findings from this study revealed that successful Latino male students’ validating and invalidating experiences contribute to their success, self-efficacy beliefs and academic optimism. Additionally, findings revealed distinctions in how first and second generation students explain their educational experience and contextualize their persistence in relation to their ethnic and gender identity

Diplomado De profundización Cisco prueba De habilidades Prácticas CCNP

El siguiente trabajo desarrolla un escenario relacionado con diferentes aspectos de las redes de datos de la plataforma Cisco, y describe en detalle las distintas etapas de ejecución. Las capturas de pantalla apoyan este escenario. Esto se logra mediante la implementación del protocolo de mapeo de VLAN a través de la red específica. Interfaz el uso de equipos electrónicos. El intercambio de señales de red desde la fuente hasta el destino deseado es una parte esencial de la interconexión de computadoras y dispositivos periféricos. Como parte básica de la interconexión entre computadoras y dispositivos periféricos, los dispositivos electrónicos se utilizan para intercambiar señales de red desde la fuente hasta el destino deseado. Aplicando comandos de configuración a diferentes tipos de dispositivos activos, se pueden recuperar los conocimientos previos.The following paper develops a scenario related to different aspects of Cisco platform data networks and describes in detail the different stages of execution. The screenshots support this scenario. This is achieved by implementing the VLAN mapping protocol across the specific network. Interface the use of electronic equipment. The exchange of network signals from the source to the desired destination is an essential part of the interconnection of computers and peripheral devices. As a basic part of the interconnection between computers and peripheral devices, electronic devices are used to exchange network signals from the source to the desired destination. By applying configuration commands to different types of active devices, previous knowledge can be retrieved

Crop diversification across scales : implications for resource use and cropping systems sustainability

The industrialization of agriculture and efforts to maximize yields of commodity crops are major drivers of biodiversity loss and disruption of ecosystems balance. To become more sustainable, agriculture needs to be aligned with the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, and reduce its dependency on external inputs and its negative environmental impacts. Increasing crop diversity may be a key strategy to promote multiple benefits and enhance the sustainable development of agroecosystems. More specifically, introducing crop diversification practices such as intercropping, cover crops, or diversified crop rotations may allow for efficient use of resources and enable the synergies of ecosystems processes and functions. In this thesis, I combined theoretical approaches and scientific methods along several scales to assess the sustainability of diversified cropping systems and increase the knowledge of complex cropping systems. The studies include a systematic review, field experiments, farmer interviews, sustainability assessments, and landscape analysis. I found that increasing crop diversity at field, farm, and landscape scales may enable synergies in these agroecosystems without causing yield reductions. Further, crop diversification showed promising effects on nutrient-use efficiency, reduced risk of nutrient losses and promoting associated biodiversity, thereby ensuring environmental sustainability and increasing the resilience of these diversified cropping systems. However, there are still several socio-economic factors that cause disadvantages in these diversified systems, demonstrating the need for increasing policy support or higher market demand for food produced in diversified cropping systems. The findings of this thesis support that increased crop diversity across spatial and temporal scales can contribute to resource-efficient production and enhance the delivery of ecosystem services, thus contributing to more sustainable cropping systems

The Self-Perceived College Persistence Factors Of Successful Latino Males

The experiences of Latino male students are oftentimes consolidated with those of other student populations from similar backgrounds. While the research on Latino males has been slowly expanding to include their varied experiences, it has been mostly characterized by a deficit-oriented narrative focusing on their challenges rather than their successes. Concentrating on the difficulties experienced by Latinos socializes administrators and researchers to focus on students from underserved backgrounds as problems, instead of resilient beings (Harper, 2015). This qualitative study focused on the experiences of 20 successful Latino male students at a four-year public institution. Through semi-structured interviews, participants discussed how they understood and explained their persistence in college. The analysis of the data focused on how participants’ perceptions and explanations of persistence differed by ethnicity, being first generation college student, household income or immigrant generation. Findings from this study revealed that successful Latino male students’ validating and invalidating experiences contribute to their success, self-efficacy beliefs and academic optimism. Additionally, findings revealed distinctions in how first and second generation students explain their educational experience and contextualize their persistence in relation to their ethnic and gender identity

Essays on Migration and Agricultural Development

The economic consequences of international migration have spurred vigorous debates among policy makers. There also are discussions within the economics literature, with labor economists disagreeing on whether immigration is beneficial for host economies and development economists having dissenting views about the impact of emigration and remittances on source countries. In this dissertation I make a contribution to both academic debates. The two empirical studies in the dissertation are motivated by a core result of the Hecksher-Olin theory which states that open economies can absorb factor supply shocks by adapting their technology and output mix, thereby attenuating the effects of the shocks on factor prices. I investigate if local agricultural economies adapted their crop and technology mix in response to migration-induced changes in the availability of factors. In order to identify the causal effects of migration-induced shocks on agriculture, an empirical strategy that combines regional-level fixed effects with instrumental variables is used. The instruments are constructed exploiting within-country variation in the historic location choices of migrants as well as arguably exogenous national shocks to migration. In the second chapter I investigate the question in the context of a migrant sending economy, the Philippines, and derive causal province-level estimates of the effects of emigration and remittance flows on measures of the size of agriculture and the use of capital-intensive farming practices. I also estimate the effects on the adoption of risk-coping mechanisms since remittances may play an insurance role. I provide evidence that remittances have transformed farming practices, increasing the degree of specialization, the production of high value commercial crops and the adoption of mechanized farming. These effects seem to be driven by an increase in the availability of working capital and the provision of insurance. In contrast, I find no evidence that emigration has an impact on farming practices, something that can be explained by the absence of hiring constraints and the existence of a highly elastic labor supply. Overall, the findings suggest that, to the extent that agricultural production in most developing countries is limited by insurance and capital constraints and not by labor shortages, remittances can be a source of insurance and investment finance that fosters agricultural development. The third chapter is a study of adjustments to immigration-induced changes in labor supply in a host economy, written in collaboration with Jeanne Lafortune and Jose Tessada. In contrast to the Philippines' study, we find an impact of early 20th century labor supply shocks on agricultural practices in the United States, something that can be explained by the fact that the US, as opposed to the Philippines, is a land-abundant country. We find that an immigration-induced increase in farm labor led to changes in crop choice and in several measures of production organization such as farm size, tenancy and use of tractors and animal traction. We also study effects on input mix and land and capital productivity which, according to a simple theoretical framework, will provide insights about the wage effects of immigration. Overall, our results suggest that even though the US agricultural sector adapted to an increase in labor supply through output and technological adjustments, such adjustments were insufficient to mitigate the wage effects of immigration

Strategies to enhance extracellular electron transfer rates in wild-type cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 for photo-bioelectricity generation

The aim of this thesis is to enhance the extracellular electron transfer rates (exoelectrogenesis) in cyanobacteria, to be utilised for photo-bioelectricity generation in biophotovoltaics (electrochemical cell). An initial cross comparison of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 against other exoelectrogenic cultures showed a hindered exoelectrogenic capacity. Nonetheless, in mediatorless biophotovoltaics, it outperformed the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Furthermore, the performance of S. elongatus PCC7942 was improved by constructing a more efficient design (lower internal resistance), which was fabricated with carbon fibres and nitrocellulose membrane, both inexpensive materials. To strategically obtain higher exoelectrogenic rates, S. elongatus PCC7942 was conditioned by iron limitation and CO2 enrichment. Both strategies are novel in improving cyanobacteria exoelectrogenesis. Iron limitation induced unprecedented rates of extracellular ferricyanide reduction (24-fold), with the reaction occurring favourably around neutral pH, different to the cultural alkaline pH. Iron limited cultures grown in 5% and 20% CO2 showed increased exoelectrogenic rates in an earlier stage of growth in comparison to air grown cultures. Conveniently, the cultural pH under enriched CO2 was around neutral pH. Enhanced photo-bioelectricity generation in ferricyanide mediated biophotovoltaics was demonstrated. Power generation was six times higher with iron limited cultures at neutral pH than with iron sufficient cultures at alkaline pH. The enhanced performance was also observed in mediatorless biophotovoltaics, especially in the dark phase. Exoelectrogenesis was mainly driven by photosynthetic activity. However, rates in the dark were also improved and in the long term it appeared that the exoelectrogenic activity under illumination tended to that seen in the dark. Proteins participating in iron uptake by an alleged reductive mechanism were overexpressed (2-fold). However, oxidoreductases in the outer membrane remain to be identified. Furthermore, electroactive regions in biofilms of S. elongatus PCC7942 were established using cyclic voltammetry. Double step potential chronoamperometry was also successfully tested in the biofilms. Thus, the electrochemical characterisation of S. elongatus PCC7942 was demonstrated, implying that the strategies presented in this thesis could be used to screen for cyanobacteria and/or electrode materials to further develop systems for photo-bioelectricity generation.Becas Chile Conicyt - Cambridge Trus

Developing strategies to re-activate epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes in acute myeloid leukemia

Epigenetic mechanisms are essential for normal cell development. Alteration in those normal processes leads to malignant cell transformation and with this to cancer development. Use of inhibitors that alter the epigenetics of DNA methylation and histone post translational modifications has lead to the exploration of the epigenetic mechanism involved in silencing of tumor suppressor genes in cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Moreover, combinations of inhibitors that target various epigenetic enzymes have being recognized to be more effective in the re-activation of tumor suppressor genes than individual drug treatments. Here, we reported that p15, p21 and E-cadherin genes are more effectively re-expressed using a combination of DNA methyltransferase and histone methyltransferase inhibitors in AML cell lines. Re-expression of hypermethylated p15 and E-cadherin genes required reduced levels of promoter histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methylation rather than inhibition of DNA methylation itself. Moreover, induction of p21 expression was associated with changes in promoter histone 3 lysine 9 methylation (H3K9Me) by achieving inhibition of the histone methyltransferase, SUV39H1, activity. Altogether, our results highlight the potential of combining epigenetic drugs in the re-activation of epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes and the need for evaluating histone methyltransferases as therapeutic targets for treatment of acute myeloid malignancies

Bridging Training Gaps: Assessing Knowledge and Confidence of Mental Health Interns in Opioid Misuse Intervention for School-Aged Children and Adolescents

The rising threat of opioid misuse among children and adolescents demands urgent attention. Despite documented increases in opioid misuse among school-aged children and adolescents, internship placements in conjunction with academic institutions neglect training of mental health interns in school-based settings, specifically in the areas of opioid education and intervention. To meet the multifaceted needs of children and adolescents who misuse opioids, it is imperative to conduct research and provide thorough training for mental health interns. The purpose of this study is to assess the levels of knowledge and confidence of mental health interns concerning opioid misuse and the perceived benefit of training. It seeks to identify the training gaps mental health interns encounter when providing support services to school-aged children and adolescents in educational settings. Utilizing a cross-sectional quantitative survey, the research will explore the variation of the interns\u27 understanding and capabilities in addressing opioid-related issues. The implications extend beyond academia, as the study will recommend areas for future research and offer insights into practice and policy. By bridging the training gaps, this research will contribute to a more informed, capable, and proactive approach to addressing opioid misuse among children and adolescents in educational settings