Porous Membranes on a Basis of Phase-separated Alkali Borosilicate Glasses That Contain PbO and F Additives

The influence of PbO or F presence in the phase-separated alkali borosilicate glasses on a kinetic of their acid leaching as well on a structure of the porous glasses received have been investigated. The structure parameters of the two-phase glasses and of the porous glasses were studied by electron microscopy and by adsorption methods. The electrochemical characteristics of the porous glass membranes have been done

Neighbourhood characteristics and social isolation of people with psychosis: a multi-site cross-sectional study

Purpose: People with psychosis are vulnerable to social isolation, which is associated with worse clinical outcomes. In general populations, people living in areas with higher population density have more social contacts, while those living in more socially deprived and fragmented areas are less satisfied with their relationships. We assessed whether and how neighbourhood factors are associated with social contacts and satisfaction with friendships for people with psychosis. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study including people with psychosis aged 18–65 years in urban and rural sites in England. Population density and social deprivation and fragmentation indexes were described within Lower Level Super Output Areas (LSOA). Their associations with participants’ social contacts and satisfaction with friendships were tested with negative binomial and ordinal regression models, respectively. Results: We surveyed 511 participants with psychotic disorders. They had a median of two social contacts in the previous week (interquartile range [IQR] = 1–4), and rated satisfaction with friendships as 5 out of 7 (Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life; IQR = 4–6). Higher population density was associated with fewer social contacts (Z-standardised relative risk [RR] = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.79–0.99, p = 0.03), but not with satisfaction with friendships (RR = 1.08; 95% CI = 0.93–1.26, p = 0.31). No associations were found for social contacts or satisfaction with friendships with social deprivation or fragmentation indexes. Conclusions: Clinicians in urban areas should be aware that their patients with psychosis are more socially isolated when more people live around them, and this could impact their clinical outcomes. These findings may inform housing programmes

From cytogenetic to molecular approach and backwards: investigations of grain quality in bread wheat

Tese de doutoramento em Economia, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de CoimbraChapter 2 summary As the devices that used software became more available to the masses the problem of software piracy increases. Recent theoretical works have attempted to model the phenomenon of software piracy; others tried to describe empirically the determinants that may explain this phenomenon. The empirical literature in the latter case is still in its infancy. This chapter reviews the theoretical literature focusing on three major models: those dealing with diffusion models, with network externalities and with game theory. It also presents the empirical literature where we identify eight stylized results that reflect the main macroeconomic variables in five dimensions that explain software piracy: the Economic, Cultural, Educational, Technological and Legal and dimensions. Chapter 3 summary This chapter studies the determinants of software piracy losses along five major macroeconomic dimensions: Technological, Educational, Institutional, Access to Information and Labor force. The study was conducted based on a large dataset available from 1994 to 2010 and comprising 81 countries. As for the Technological dimension, more patents by residents increases piracy losses while the effect of R&D is opposite (decreases piracy losses). In terms of the Educational dimension the results obtained show that more spending on education increase the piracy losses but, at the same time, more schooling years have the opposite effect. In the Institutional dimension, more corrupt free nations have low piracy levels. Regarding the Access to Information, it seems that access to Internet diminishes the losses while the share of Internet broadband subscriptions has no effect. The results show that, regarding the Labor dimension, employment in services has a deterrent effect while labor force with higher education and youth unemployment increases piracy losses. Chapter 4 summary This chapter explores the relation between the levels of taxation among different types of households and the levels of software piracy from 1996 to 2010, in the European Union (EU). It extends previous work by introducing large sets of panel data for the EU and its various regions. We estimate our model using the fixed effect, comparing results from the Euro Area and the Countries that joined EU in 2004 and 2007. Results show that levels of taxation increase the levels of software piracy losses; moreover these results depend on marital status and number of children. The weight of taxation on GDP (e.g. the taxes on consumption) increases piracy losses while the impact of inflation is negative and marginal. Additional to this we also found that the relative importance of these taxes in relation to total taxation can affect this phenomenon. An increase in the weight of capital taxation would decrease software piracy while this effect was opposite when considering the relative importance of consumption taxes. Chapter 5 summary In this chapter we construct a panel data set from 2000 to 2011 for the EU 28, studying the impact of education on the levels of software piracy in a country. When an aggregated analysis is made, e.g. considering all ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) levels, expenditure on public educational institutions as well as public spending on education have a deterrent effect on piracy, being significant. However, the effect of financial aid to students is positive. When the analysis is made taking into account the ISCED 1997 disaggregation, expenditure on ISCED 5-6 has a negative and significant effect. Taking into account the type of educational institutions, more expenditure on ISCED 1 to 4 will lower piracy. We also found that more financial help to students on higher levels of education, e.g. ISCED 5-6, have a positive and significant effect. Finally, more years of schooling of both primary and secondary education will have a deterrent effect on software piracy. Chapter 6 summary This chapter analyses the interactions between software piracy and economic growth using a simultaneous equation approach to a panel of countries for which information on software piracy is available for 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. This allows us to establish the interactions between these variables, but also to measure the direct and indirect effects of other variables that have shown relevancy for both economic growth and software piracy. Results indicate that there exist a concave nonlinear relationship between software piracy and economic growth.Resumo do Capítulo 2 Há medida que os computadores que usam software se disseminaram, o problema da pirataria informática surgiu. Estudos teóricos recentes modelaram o fenómeno da pirataria; outros tentaram explicar empiricamente os determinantes que podem explicar este fenómeno. A literatura empírica ainda está em sua infância. Este capítulo analisa a literatura teórica com foco em três grandes modelos: aqueles que lidam com modelos de difusão, as externalidades de rede e com a teoria dos jogos. Apresenta, também, a literatura empírica em que identificamos oito resultados estilizados que refletem as principais variáveis em cinco dimensões macroeconómicas que explicam a pirataria de software: económicas, culturais, educacionais, tecnológicas e dimensões legais. Resumo do Capítulo 3 Este capítulo estuda os determinantes das perdas resultantes da pirataria de software ao longo de cinco dimensões macroeconômicas principais: tecnológica, dimensões educacionais, aspectos institucionais, força de trabalho e acesso à informação utilizando um conjunto grande de dados disponíveis de 1994-2010, composto por 81 países. Quanto à dimensão tecnológica, mais patentes por residentes aumenta as perdas de pirataria enquanto o efeito do I&D é oposta (diminui as perdas de pirataria). Em termos da dimensão educacional, os resultados obtidos mostram que mais gastos em educação aumentam as perdas de pirataria, mas, ao mesmo tempo, mais anos de escolaridade têm o efeito oposto. Na dimensão institucional, as nações livres de corrupção, têm baixos níveis de pirataria. Em relação ao acesso à informação, parece que o acesso à Internet diminui as perdas, enquanto a quota de assinaturas de banda larga à Internet não tem efeito. Os resultados mostram que, em relação à Força de Trabalho, o emprego nos serviços tem um efeito dissuasor, enquanto força de trabalho com o ensino superior e o desemprego dos jovens aumenta as perdas de pirataria. Resumo do Capítulo 4 Este capítulo explora a relação entre níveis de tributação entre os diferentes tipos de famílias na União Europeia e os níveis de pirataria de software entre 1996-2010. Melhora estudos anteriores na medida em que introduz dados em painel, estudando a União Europeia e as diferentes regiões. Nós estimamos o nosso modelo utilizando o efeito fixo (FE), comparando os resultados a partir da zona do euro e os países que aderiram à UE em 2004 e 2007. Os resultados mostram que os níveis de tributação aumentam os níveis de pirataria de software. Além disso, estes resultados dependem do estado civil das famílias e do número de filhos. O peso da tributação sobre um PIB na Economia (Produto Interno Bruto), ou seja, os impostos sobre o consumo têm um efeito positivo sobre os prejuízos da pirataria, enquanto o impacto da inflação é negativa e marginal sobre a pirataria de software. Alem disto, a importância relativa desses impostos em relação ao peso total de impostos pode afetar este fenômeno. Um aumento no peso da tributação do capital diminuiria a pirataria de software, enquanto este efeito foi oposto ao considerar a importância relativa dos impostos sobre o consumo. Resumo do Capítulo 5 Neste capítulo vamos construir um painel de dados entre 2000-2011 para a UE 28, estudando o impacto da educação sobre os níveis de pirataria de software. Quando uma análise de agregados é feita, e.g. considerando todos os níveis de ISCED (Classificação Internacional Tipo da Educação), gastos com instituições educacionais públicas, bem como os gastos públicos com a educação tem um efeito dissuasor sobre a pirataria, sendo significativo. No entanto, o efeito de ajuda financeira aos estudantes é positivo. Quando a análise é feita tendo em conta a desagregação ISCED 1997, as despesas com ISCED 5-6 tem um efeito negativo e significativo. Tendo em conta o tipo de instituições de ensino, mais despesas com ISCED 1-4 irá reduzir a pirataria. Também encontramos que mais ajuda financeira aos estudantes nos níveis mais elevados do ensino, por exemplo, ISCED 5-6, tem um efeito positivo e significativo. Por fim, mais anos de escolaridade do ensino primário e secundário terá um efeito dissuasor sobre a pirataria de software. Resumo do Capítulo 6 Este capítulo analisa as interações entre a pirataria de software e o crescimento económico através de uma abordagem de equações simultâneas, utilizando um painel de países para os quais informações sobre a pirataria está disponível para 1995, 2000, 2005 e 2010. O que nos permite estabelecer as interações entre essas variáveis, mas também para medir os efeitos diretos e indiretos de outras variáveis que mostraram relevância para o crescimento económico e a pirataria de software. Os resultados indicam que existe uma relação não linear côncava entre a pirataria de software e crescimento económico

Bilingualism and biculturalism and teaching of modern languages: point of view of a teacher of french from Russia

More than 50% of the world's inhabitants are bilingual, and this percentage is expected to be increasing due to the increasing global mobility. Some people are bilingual because of the characteristics of their families, others because of migration, or because they live in a border area or a country that has several languages. Bilingualism is extremely widespread in Russia and in France. In this article, the actual and complex phenomenon of bilingualism in the contemporary cultural situation, in particular in the teaching of foreign languages, is considere

Formation of Student Periods. To the History of Student Press in the 1910S of the XX Century

В статье автор рассматривает историю формирования российской студенческой печати. Автор считает, что государственная политика, направленная на ужесточение цензурных условий, привела к резкому всплеску нелегальной периодики и появлению «самиздатовской» печати при учебных заведениях. Особый акцент в исследовании сделан на развитии студенческой прессы в 1910-е годы. Автор, анализируя сборник «Путь студенчества», выпускаемый в 1916 году, приходит к выводу о разнородности студенческой среды и зрелости студенческой печати как отдельного типа журналистики.In the article, the author examines the history of the formation of the Russian student press. The author believes that the state policy aimed at tightening censorship conditions has led to a sharp surge in illegal periodicals and the emergence of "samizdat" press at educational institutions. Particular emphasis in the study is placed on the development of the student press in the 1910s. The author, analyzing the collection "The Way of Students", published in 1916, comes to the conclusion about the heterogeneity of the student environment and the maturity of the student press as a separate type of journalism

Ethnical and cultural particularity of gluttonic discourse

The article is devoted to ethnic perculiarity and originality of the Russian and British lingvocultures in line with gustative preference

Nanodiamond Theranostic for Light-Controlled Intracellular Heating and Nanoscale Temperature Sensing

[Image: see text] Temperature is an essential parameter in all biological systems, but information about the actual temperature in living cells is limited. Especially, in photothermal therapy, local intracellular temperature changes induce cell death but the local temperature gradients are not known. Highly sensitive nanothermometers would be required to measure and report local temperature changes independent of the intracellular environment, including pH or ions. Fluorescent nanodiamonds (ND) enable temperature sensing at the nanoscale independent of external conditions. Herein, we prepare ND nanothermometers coated with a nanogel shell and the photothermal agent indocyanine green serves as a heat generator and sensor. Upon irradiation, programmed cell death was induced in cancer cells with high spatial control. In parallel, the increase in local temperature was recorded by the ND nanothermometers. This approach represents a great step forward to record local temperature changes in different cellular environments inside cells and correlate these with thermal biology

Morphological variation of Astyanax species, subgenus Zygogaster (Teleostei, Characidae)

Astyanax es un género diverso de peces neotropicales, cuyas especies habitan gran variedad de ambientes acuáticos. La situación taxonómica de los subgéneros y de sus especies, no difiere de la problemática que presenta el género Astyanax. Basándonos en 354 individuos, se analizó la variación morfológica de cuatro especies del subgénero Zygogaster (A. atratoensis, A. caucanus, A. filiferus y A. magdalenae) mediante un análisis morfogeométrico comparado con dos especies del grupo hermano Poecilurichthys (A. orthodus y A. superbus). El ACP (Análisis de Componentes Principales) y AVC (Análisis de Variables Canónicas) evidenciaron afinidad morfológica entre los subgéneros e indicaron varianza en la profundidad del cuerpo, tendencia anterior del origen de la aleta dorsal y mancha humeral, depresión sobre la superficie dorsal del cráneo, y desplazamiento ventral de la orbita y el hocico. La variación entre las especies indicó aislamiento del tercer infraorbital del preopérculo y protrusión del extremo ventral del maxilar. La variación en estas estructuras evidencia especiación adaptativa como posible alternativa a la especiación por aislamiento geográfico. Palabras clave: Astyanax, Characido, Morfogeometría, Disparidad, Colombia.Astyanax es un género diverso de peces neotropicales, cuyas especies habitan gran variedad de ambientes acuáticos. La situación taxonómica de los subgéneros y de sus especies, no difiere de la problemática que presenta el género Astyanax. Basándonos en 354 individuos, se analizó la variación morfológica de cuatro especies del subgénero Zygogaster (A. atratoensis, A. caucanus, A. filiferus y A. magdalenae) mediante un análisis morfogeométrico comparado con dos especies del grupo hermano Poecilurichthys (A. orthodus y A. superbus). El ACP (Análisis de Componentes Principales) y AVC (Análisis de Variables Canónicas) evidenciaron afinidad morfológica entre los subgéneros e indicaron varianza en la profundidad del cuerpo, tendencia anterior del origen de la aleta dorsal y mancha humeral, depresión sobre la superficie dorsal del cráneo, y desplazamiento ventral de la orbita y el hocico. La variación entre las especies indicó aislamiento del tercer infraorbital del preopérculo y protrusión del extremo ventral del maxilar. La variación en estas estructuras evidencia especiación adaptativa como posible alternativa a la especiación por aislamiento geográfico. Palabras clave: Astyanax, Characido, Morfogeometría, Disparidad, Colombia.The diverse Neotropical fish genus Astyanax inhabits a variety of aquatic environments. As with other species in this genus, the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of species of this subgenus remain largely undetermined. Based on 354 individuals, we analyzed the morphological variation of four species of the subgenus Zygogaster (A. atratoensis, A. caucanus, A. filiferus, and A. magdalenae) using procrustes analysis and compared findings with two species of the sister group: subgenus Poecilurichthys (A. orthodus y A. superbus). The PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and CVA (Canonical Variates Analysis) showed morphological affinity between the subgenera and indicated variance in body depth, anterior trend of dorsal fin origin and humeral spot, depression on the dorsal surface of the skull, and ventral displacement of the orbit and snout. The variation in these structures may provide evidence supporting adaptive speciation as an alternative to speciation driven by geographical isolation. Key words: Astyanax, Characid fish, Morphogeometry, Disparity, Colombia