2021-6 The Inner Workings of a Hub-and-Spoke Cartel in the Automotive Fuel Industry

We analyze a hub-and-spoke cartel in the Brazilian automotivefuel industry. Using the court documents and detailed data on the supply chain we uncover three mechanisms beyond information sharing used by wholesalers (hub) to help retailers (spokes) solve the obstacles of price coordination: vertical transfers across asymmetric spokes; subsidies during punishment; and cost stabilization. We argue that wholesalers benefited from the cartel by being the exclusive supplier during the scheme. We use the synthetic control approach to quantify how successful the cartel was in increasing markups. We find that not only retailers, but wholesalers benefited from the cartel

A iconografia da Senhora de Fátima: da criação ex nihilo às composições plásticas dos artistas

O mais divulgado modelo iconográfico mariano da época contemporânea, presente em quase todos os templos católicos do mundo, nasceu em Portugal na sequência das Aparições de Fátima de 1917. Não teria o conhecido desenvolvimento sem que no processo cultual interviesse a disciplina escultórica que logo em 1920 faria cristalizar, através do escopro de um santeiro, a imagem de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima. O estudo do tipo, do arquétipo e dos subtipos da Virgem de Fátima, primeiramente produzidos em oficinais trabalhos de santeiros e, em fase posterior, interpretados por artistas, permite entender os contornos do nascimento de uma realidade imagética, isto é, de uma iconografia ex nihilo e o seu, necessariamente, tardio desenvolvimento estético.The most widespread iconographic Marian model in modern times, present in almost every Catholic church around the world, was created in Portugal in the wake of the Apparitions at Fátima in 1917. This development would not have taken place without sculptural intervention in the process of worship that would soon crystallize in 1920, through the chiselling of the image-maker, into the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima. The study of the type, the archetype and the subtypes of the Virgin of Fátima, first produced in the workshops of the image-makers and, at a later stage, interpreted by artists, enables us to understand the contours of the birth of an imagetic reality, i.e., an iconography ‘ex nihilo’ and its necessarily slow aesthetic development

Projeto Alternativo ao Nó de Ligação do Pópulo

O presente trabalho visa, o estudo e a elaboração de um projeto de execução de um Nó de Ligação em trevo completo. O projeto requer um estudo cuidado da geometria das estradas principais existentes, das características do terreno e de todas as restantes condicionantes que se impõe à realização do mesmo. Esta fase do projeto é decisiva para o desenvolvimento e o sucesso do projeto, nos diversos aspetos técnicos, económicos e ambientais relacionados. Após o enquadramento do nó de ligação em trevo no terreno, procedeu-se à localização dos quatro ramos de ligação direta, ao seu traçado geométrico e as ligações às estradas principais. Seguidamente, realizou-se o traçado de todos os restabelecimentos necessários para a circulação nas vias pré-existentes e o seu acesso ao nó. Este trabalho foi realizado aplicando todos os conhecimentos adquiridos na Licenciatura em Engenharia Civil e no Mestrado em Engenharia Civil no Ramo das Infraestruturas e Ambiente no ISEP, com especial importância em Vias de Comunicação e Infraestruturas de Transportes. Todos os procedimentos de definição geométrica e analítica do nó de ligação em trevo foram realizados recorrendo ao programa para computador “AutoCAD Civil 2013”.The present work aims to study and elaborate the execution project of a connection node in full clover leaf. Such project requires careful study of the geometry of the existing main roads, the land characteristics and all the other conditions that require the accomplishment of the same. This is a critical stage for the development and success of the project in various technical, economic and environmental aspects related. After framing on the ground the connection node in full clover leaf, proceeded to the location of the four branches that make a direct connection to their geometrical layout and the links to major roads. Then, there was the stroke of all restatements needed for running on pre-existing roads and their access to the node. This work was accomplished by applying all the knowledge acquired in the Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Master of Engineering in Civil Branch of Infrastructure and Environment in ISEP, with special importance on Roads and Transport Infrastructure. All geometric and analytical procedures of the full clover leaf node, were performed applying the "AutoCAD Civil 2013" computer software

Acessos e interdições: os arquivos da Igreja como lugares de tensão

This essay aims to be a valid contribution to the discussion on the access to information in the archives of religious communities and the limits imposed on it to protect the privacy of natural and legal persons. It assumes as axes of analysis the practice of managing sensitive data kept in the archives of religious communities, the legitimacy of access to privacy of third parties and the expectations of the collective in relation to private archives.O presente ensaio propõe-se contribuir para a discussão acerca do acesso à informação nos arquivos de comunidades religiosas e dos necessários limites que lhe são impostos com o objetivo de proteger a intimidade de pessoas singulares e coletivas. Toma por eixos de análise a práxis da gestão de documentação de dados sensíveis conservados nos arquivos das comunidades religiosas, a legitimidade de aceder ao que pode ser considerado a intimidade de terceiros e as expectativas do coletivo face aos arquivos privados

Altura e produtividade do capim Urochloa brizantha em função das estações do ano e frequências de corte

A produção de carne bovina depende basicamente da produção de pastagens, assim, o objetivo dessa pesquisa foi avaliar a altura do dossel e as produções de matéria seca de lâminas foliares e colmo do capim Urochloa brizantha cv. Piatã em função das frequências de cortes, estações do ano com e sem irrigação. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 4x2x3, sendo quatro idades de corte (21, 28, 35 e 42 dias entre cortes), irrigado e não irrigado, e três estações do ano (outono, inverno e primavera) com seis repetições por tratamento (canteiros experimentais). Os parâmetros avaliados foram: altura de dossel e as produções de massa seca total de lâminas foliares e colmo. Os resultados indicaram que na primavera, as maiores alturas do dossel foram registradas em pastos cortados aos 28 dias com 39,6 cm de altura. As produções de massa seca de lâminas foliares foram maiores no intervalo de corte de 42dias, sendo as maiores produções durante o Outono com 1,364 kg ha-1 com irrigação. A primavera foi à estação que apresentou as melhores produções de massa seca de colmos com 0,141 kg ha-1 de MS aos 42 dias sem irrigação. A irrigação aumenta a altura do dossel durante o inverno. Estas informações podem ser recomendadas na alimentação de animais ruminantes

Age-specific vaccination coverage estimates for influenza, human papillomavirus and measles containing vaccines from seven population-based healthcare databases from four EU countries – The ADVANCE project

Background: The Accelerated Development of VAccine beNefit-risk Collaboration in Europe (ADVANCE) is a public–private collaboration aiming to develop and test a system for rapid benefit-risk monitoring of vaccines using existing healthcare databases in Europe. We estimated vaccine coverage from electronic healthcare databases as part of a fit-for-purpose assessment for vaccine benefit-risk studies. Methods: A retrospective dynamic cohort study was conducted through a distributed network approach. Coverage with measles-vaccine for birth year 2006, human papillomavirus (HPV)-vaccine for birth years 1990–2000 and influenza-vaccine for birth years 1920–1950 was estimated using period-prevalence and inverse probability weighting methods. Seven databases from four countries participated: Italy (Pedianet, Val Padana), Spain (BIFAP, SIDIAP), UK (RCGP-RSC, THIN), Denmark (SSI/AUH). Database access providers extracted the data, transformed it into a common structure and ran an R-script locally. The created output tables were shared and pooled at a central server. Results: The total study population comprised 274,616 persons for measles-vaccine, 2,011,666 persons for HPV-vaccine and 14,904,033 persons for influenza-vaccine. Measles-vaccine coverage varied from 84.3% (Denmark) to 96.5% (Italy, Val Padana) for the first dose and from 82.8% (Italy, Val Padana) to 90.9% (UK) for the second dose at the age of 7 years. The HPV-vaccine coverage, aggregated over birth years 1997–2000, ranged from 60% (UK) to 88.3% (Denmark) at the age of 15 years. The influenza-vaccine coverage for the influenza seasons from 2009 to 2015 for persons aged 65 years and more was roughly stable around 43% in Denmark and around 68% in the UK while a decrease from 58 to 50% was observed in Catalonia (Spain). Conclusions: We obtained detailed, age-specific coverage estimates though a common procedure. We discussed between database comparability and comparability to published national estimates

ADVANCE database characterisation and fit for purpose assessment for multi-country studies on the coverage, benefits and risks of pertussis vaccinations

Introduction: The public-private ADVANCE consortium (Accelerated development of vaccine benefit-risk collaboration in Europe) aimed to assess if electronic healthcare databases can provide fit-for purpose data for collaborative, distributed studies and monitoring of vaccine coverage, benefits and risks of vaccines. Objective: To evaluate if European healthcare databases can be used to estimate vaccine coverage, benefit and/or risk using pertussis-containing vaccines as an example. Methods: Characterisation was conducted using open-source Java-based (Jerboa) software and R scripts. We obtained: (i) The general characteristics of the database and data source (meta-data) and (ii) a detailed description of the database population (size, representatively of age/sex of national population, rounding of birth dates, delay between birth and database entry), vaccinations (number of vaccine doses, recording of doses, pattern of doses by age and coverage) and events of interest (diagnosis codes, incidence rates). A total of nine databases (primary care, regional/national record linkage) provided data on events (pertussis, pneumonia, death, fever, convulsions, injection site reactions, hypotonic hypo-responsive episode, persistent crying) and vaccines (acellular pertussis and whole cell pertussis) related to the pertussis proof of concept studies. Results: The databases contained data for a total population of 44 million individuals. Seven databases had recorded doses of vaccines. The pertussis coverage estimates were similar to those reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Incidence rates of ev