Interdependence Among the Brazilian States: An Input-Output Approach

The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the interregional linkages based on the many-region input-output table for Brazilian regions, for the year 1996, elaborated by FIPE. This work utilizes the extraction method by Strassert, 1968 and Schultz, 1977 and modified by Dietzenbacher et al (1993). Instead of extracting one sector from a sector-based model, we will examine the effects of hypothetically extracting a region from a many-region model. The method calculates the “backward linkagesâ€; the “forward linkages†are obtained analogously from the matrix of allocation coefficients. The application of the methodology to the Brazilian inter-regional input-output tables shows that the states with high share in the Brazilian GDP presents a high degree of intra-regional interdependence both in terms of backward and forward linkages.

Discovery of bioactive nitrated lipids and nitro-lipid-protein adducts using mass spectrometry-based approaches

Nitro-fatty acids (NO2-FA) undergo reversible Michael adduction reactions with cysteine and histidine residues leading to the post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins. This electrophilic character of NO2-FA is strictly related to their biological roles. The NO2-FA-induced PTM of signaling proteins can lead to modifications in protein structure, function, and subcellular localization. The nitro lipid-protein adducts trigger a series of downstream signaling events that culminates with anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, and cytoprotective effects mediated by NO2-FA. These lipoxidation adducts have been detected and characterized both in model systems and in biological samples by using mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches. These MS approaches allow to unequivocally identify the adduct together with the targeted residue of modification. The identification of the modified proteins allows inferring on the possible impact of the NO2-FA-induced modification. This review will focus on MS-based approaches as valuable tools to identify NO2-FA-protein adducts and to unveil the biological effect of this lipoxidation adducts.publishe

Perceptions of farm animal sentience and suffering: evidence from the BRIC countries and the United States

In this study, we examined how beliefs about farm animal sentience and their suffering vary across culture and demographic characteristics. A total of N = 5027) questionnaires were administered in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the USA. Brazilians showed higher and Chinese lower levels of perceived animal sentience. In Russia and India, the perception of suffering and sentience increases with age, with similar levels to those observed in the USA. In all the countries, more people agreed than disagreed that animals are sentient. Men in India show higher levels of agreement with the relation between eating meat and animal suffering, followed by women in Brazil and China. Lower levels of agreement are observed in Americans and Chinese. Women show higher levels of compassion than men. In Russia, there is a slightly higher level of agreement between men and in the USA younger men agree more. Young American men show higher levels of agreement, while in India and China age has the opposite effect. For fair trading competition, it is important to standardize procedures and respect the demand for both animal protein and its ethical production. Overall, our results showed that perceptions of farm animal sentience and suffering vary substantially across countries and demographic groups. These differences could have important consequences for the perceived ethicality of meat production and consumption, and for global trade in animal products

Perceptions of farm animal sentience and suffering:Evidence from the BRIC countries and the United States

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The relations between farm animals and humans vary across countries and cultures. It was the aim of this study to understand the position of the population in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and the USA. It was found that perceptions of farm animal sentience and suffering vary a lot with culture, country, gender, and age. This could have important consequences for the globalized trade of animal products does not find common grounds for standardization, and the risk of countries with more advanced animal welfare legislation imposing trade barriers increases. These trade barriers may be precepted as protectionism by exporting countries. ABSTRACT: In this study, we examined how beliefs about farm animal sentience and their suffering vary across culture and demographic characteristics. A total of N = 5027) questionnaires were administered in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the USA. Brazilians showed higher and Chinese lower levels of perceived animal sentience. In Russia and India, the perception of suffering and sentience increases with age, with similar levels to those observed in the USA. In all the countries, more people agreed than disagreed that animals are sentient. Men in India show higher levels of agreement with the relation between eating meat and animal suffering, followed by women in Brazil and China. Lower levels of agreement are observed in Americans and Chinese. Women show higher levels of compassion than men. In Russia, there is a slightly higher level of agreement between men and in the USA younger men agree more. Young American men show higher levels of agreement, while in India and China age has the opposite effect. For fair trading competition, it is important to standardize procedures and respect the demand for both animal protein and its ethical production. Overall, our results showed that perceptions of farm animal sentience and suffering vary substantially across countries and demographic groups. These differences could have important consequences for the perceived ethicality of meat production and consumption, and for global trade in animal products

Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry characterization of nitroso, nitrated and nitroxidized cardiolipin products

Cardiolipins (CL) are anionic dimeric phospholipids bearing four fatty acids, found in inner mitochondrial membrane as structural components and are involved in several processes as oxidative phosphorylation or apoptotic signalling. As other phospholipids, CL can be modified by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), which can modulate various cellular functions. Modifications of CL by RNS remain largely unstudied although other nitrated lipids are emerging as bioactive molecules. In this work, we developed a C30-LC-HRMS/MS methodology to identify the nitrated and nitroxidized tetralinoleoyl-cardiolipin (TLCL), using a biomimetic model of nitration, and to disclose specific fragmentation pathways under HCD MS/MS. Using this lipidomics approach, we were able to separate and identify nitro, nitroso, nitronitroso, and nitroxidized TLCL derivatives, comprising 11 different nitrated compounds. These products were identified using accurate mass measurements and the fragmentation pattern acquired in higher-energy collision dissociation (HCD)-tandem MS/MS experiments. These spectra showed classifying fragmentation pathways, yielding phosphatidic acid (PA-), lysophosphatidic acid (LPA-), and carboxylate fragment ions with the modifying moiety. Remarkably, the typical neutral losses associated with the added moieties were not observed. In conclusion, this work has developed a new method for the identification of nitroso, nitrated and nitroxidized cardiolipin products by using a C30LC-MS platform method, potentially allowing their detection in biological samples.publishe

Desenho de experiências - estratégicas

O desenvolvimento de produtos e processos pressupõe a realização de experiências que conduzam à sua optimização ao menor custo possível. As estratégias a utilizar na condução das experiências, bem como o tratamento estatístico dos resultados alcançados, deverão conduzir às melhores condições de realização dos ensaios necessários à prossecução deste objectivo. O método de Taguchi permite obter informação relevante, com um número reduzido de experiências, conforme se demonstra nos casos de estudo apresentados

Evoluçao linear de dano em materiais elásticos e frágiles: modelagem e simulaçao numérica

Nós últimos anos, foram propostas várias teorias de dano contínuo para descrever o comportamento de materiais elásticos. Entre essas teorias algunas introduzem gradientes da variável associa ao dano, de modo a evitar problemas de perda de unicidade após o início do amolecimento. Embora estas teorias permitam uma modelagem matemáticamente correcta do fenómeno de localizaçao, do ponto de vista numérico elas sao generalment consideradas muito complexas. O trábalo aquí apresentado trata da implementaçao numérica de uma teoria dependente do gradiente para o esetudo do dano em materiais elásticos. É utilizada para aproximaçao da soluçao do problema matemáticonao-lineal resultante uma técnica numérica simples, baseada no método de elementos finitos. O acoplamento entre as variáveis dano e deformaçao nas equaçoes resultantes é contornado através da técnica de partiçao dos operadores, que permitem transformar o problema nao-linear acoplado em uma seqüenciase se problema slineares mais simple

As ideias de paisagem nos planos diretores municipais do Estado do Paraná

Orientador : Prof. Dr. Alessandro Filla RosaneliDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências da Terra, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia. Defesa: Curitiba, 28/04/2017Inclui referências : fls. 93-97Resumo: A paisagem está na pauta das preocupações contemporâneas em relação ao ordenamento do uso e ocupação do solo urbano e rural, e com isso tem se caracterizado como uma temática recorrente, ainda que em muitos casos de forma incipiente, na legislação que trata do planejamento urbano como, por exemplo, no Plano Diretor Municipal - PDM. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar como a paisagem foi tratada como questão do planejamento urbano na legislação urbanística dos PDMs do Paraná (Lei de PDM e Lei de Uso e Ocupação do Solo - LUOS), bem como identificar, por meio do método de análise de conteúdo, quais ideias de paisagem aparecem nestas leis, dentre as 5 problemáticas da paisagem definidas por Jean Marc Besse. Os resultados desta pesquisa mostraram que predominou numericamente a ideia de paisagem associada ao "território fabricado e habitado", tanto no conjunto das Leis de PDM quanto nas LUOS. Reputam-se como determinantes para a predominância deste resultado, em relação às demais problemáticas propostas por Besse, a combinação de dois fatores: i) a reprodução das disposições gerais dos instrumentos da política de desenvolvimento urbano previstos no Estatuto da Cidade - EC nas Leis de PDM e LUOS do Paraná; e ii) a reprodução de modelos-padrão de Leis de PDM e LUOS em municípios distintos. Palavras-chave: Paisagem. Plano Diretor Municipal. Paraná.Abstarct: The landscape matter is part of the contemporary concern with land use. This has been characterized as a recurrent theme, although in an incipient way, at Brazilian laws about urban planning like in Master Plan. The aim of this research is to identify how the landscape is treated as a question of Master Plan law's (Master Plan Law and Land Use Law) in State of Parana, as well as to identify, using the content analysis method, which landscape ideas appear in these laws, among the five possibilities of reading the landscape defined by Jean Marc Besse. The results of this research showed that the idea of landscape associated with the "manufactured and inhabited territory", both in the Master Plan Law as in the Land Use Law, predominated numerically. The combination of two factors are considered determinants for the predominance of this result in State of Parana: (i) the reproduction in Master Plan and Land Use Laws the general provisions of the urban development policy instruments established in the Brazilian Law called "Estatuto da Cidade"; and (ii) the reproduction of standard models of Master Plan Law and Land Use Law in different municipalities. Key-words: Landscape. Master Plan. State of Parana

A comparative study of recombinant and native frutalin binding to human prostate tissues

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Numerous studies indicate that cancer cells present an aberrant glycosylation pattern that can be detected by lectin histochemistry. Lectins have shown the ability to recognise these modifications in several carcinomas, namely in the prostate carcinoma, one of the most lethal diseases in man. Thus, the aim of this work was to investigate if the α-<smcaps>D</smcaps>-galactose-binding plant lectin frutalin is able to detect such changes in the referred carcinoma. Frutalin was obtained from different sources namely, its natural source (plant origin) and a recombinant source (<it>Pichia </it>expression system). Finally, the results obtained with the two lectins were compared and their potential use as prostate tumour biomarkers was discussed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The binding of recombinant and native frutalin to specific glycoconjugates expressed in human prostate tissues was assessed by using an immuhistochemical technique. A total of 20 cases of prostate carcinoma and 25 cases of benign prostate hyperplasia were studied. Lectins bound directly to the tissues and anti-frutalin polyclonal antibody was used as the bridge to react with the complex biotinilated anti-rabbit IgG plus streptavidin-conjugated peroxidase. DAB was used as visual indicator to specifically localise the binding of the lectins to the tissues. Both lectins bound to the cells cytoplasm of the prostate carcinoma glands. The binding intensity of native frutalin was stronger in the neoplasic cells than in hyperplasic cells; however no significant statistical correlation could be found (<it>P </it>= 0.051). On the other hand, recombinant frutalin bound exclusively to the neoplasic cells and a significant positive statistical correlation was obtained (<it>P </it>< 0.00001). However, recombinant frutalin did not recognise all malignant prostate cases and, when positive, the binding to those tissues was heterogeneous.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Native and recombinant frutalin yielded different binding responses in the prostate tissues due to their differences in carbohydrate-binding affinities. Also, this study shows that both lectins may be used as histochemical biomarkers for the prostate cancer. Moreover, the successful use of a recombinant lectin in immunohistochemical studies of prostate cancer was for the first time demonstrated, highlighting the advantages of using recombinant systems in the preparation of pure lectin samples for diagnostic purpose.</p