Trends in income inequality: comparing the United States and Portugal

This article presents a comparative analysis of the United States and Portugal in terms of economic inequality from the early twentieth century to the present decade. We use different measures of inequality from several statistical sources. The article revolves around three complementary points. The first is a synchronic and diachronic analysis of economic inequalities in Portugal and the United States, the second is the issue of redistribution of income and the final analysis addresses the evolution of top incomes in both countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Seca do frutos do açaizeiro no estado do Pará.

Objetivou-se relatar a seca dos frutos do açaizeiro, em três diferentes municípios do estado do Pará, safra 2014. Amostras de frutos secos dos municípios de Abaetetuba e Belém foram analisadas no Laboratório de Fitopatologia da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental e do município de Igarapé Mirim no Laboratório de Microbiologia de Alimentos do IFPA - Campus Castanhal, respectivamente. Os frutos foram incubados em caixas do tipo 'gerbox' à temperatura de 25±2 ºC e fotoperíodo de 12h, durante até 72h. Procederam-se isolamentos diretos em placas de Petri com meio de cultura ágar-água a 20%. Frutos com esporulação do patógeno foram utilizados para o isolamento direto, sem incubação prévia, e analisados em microscópios estereoscópio e de luz. Após três dias de incubação, discos de micélios foram repicados para o meio de cultura batata dextrose ágar (BDA). Observaram-se crescimento micelial branco e, após 10 dias de incubação, verificou-se a formação de colônias de coloração acinzentada nas placas de Petri. Foram confeccionadas lâminas para microscopia de luz. Verificaram-se a presença de hifas septadas e ramificadas e intensa produção de conídios unicelulares hialinos, em ambas as amostras. A doença seca dos frutos foi confirmada em amostras oriundas dos municípios de Abaetetuba, Belém e Igarapé Mirim, com associação do fungo Colletotrichum spp

National trends in the use of oral chemotherapy over 13 years

Funding Information: To the expert panel who validated the CDDs for the three indications and INFARMED I.P. for making data available. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Moreira, Bernardo, Ramos, Aguiar and Alves da Costa.Background: Systemic cancer therapy has traditionally been administered using an intravenous (IV) route, implying patients’ frequent visits to hospitals to access to their therapy. If we consider the actual pipeline in oncology, oral chemotherapy will be the main component of cancer treatment in the next few years. This shift in the administration route requires different care models in order to guarantee treatment efficacy and safety. Objective: To analyze time trends in oral chemotherapy consumption in Portugal. Method: Oral chemotherapy consumption over a 13-year period (2008–2020) was analyzed, considering dispensed units by the administration route with respective costs, resorting to the drug regulatory agency (INFARMED I.P.) database. Oral consumption patterns were further explored using common daily doses (CDD) for three conditions, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and breast cancer (BC), to adjust for the effect of varying doses. Data were analyzed descriptively resorting to Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results: Overall chemotherapy consumption increased +Δ54.7%, with the highest contribution in units observed in oral forms (+Δ58.8%). The total expenditure increased +Δ96.5%, and despite the increase in oral forms (+Δ221.6%), intravenous forms continued to be the major cost driver, with an important contribution from immunotherapy. Much of the increase was led by the approval of 40 new IV and 48 new oral cancer medications with higher costs introduced in the market. Using CDD as an alternative metric to units had varying impacts by indication. The observed increases seemed to focus on specific cancer sites with varying effect; in CML, there was a 2.39-fold increase, compared to 4.41 for NSCLC and 1.86 for BC. However, for BC, two distinct sub-patterns were observed for hormone therapy (increasing 1.83) and for the novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors (increasing 40.8). Conclusion: The growing use of oral chemotherapy is obvious and calls for investments in supporting patients in managing medication adherence and adverse events. The shifts in the healthcare system are complex and need to be prioritized. Our data suggest that priority could be attributed to cancer sites driving innovation, namely, advanced breast cancer.publishersversionpublishe

Influencia del Estado Metabólico Preoperatorio sobre los Cambios en el Gasto Energético en Reposo después del Transplante Hepático en Adultos

Introduction: The resting energy expenditure (REE) evolution after liver transplantation is not fully understood. Objective: To assess longitudinally the REE evolution in adults undergoing liver transplantation, in association with other nutritional measurements that characterize the metabolic profile. Methods: A single-center cohort of consecutive end-stage liver disease patients with indication for liver transplantation was recruited. REE, subjective global assessment (SGA), handgrip strength and body composition measurements were assessed before transplantation (T0) and at median nine (T1) and 36 (T2) days after transplantation. Mixed effects regression models were used for analysis. Results: Fifty-six patients with a mean age of 53.7 (8.5) years were included; 87.5% were males. In T0, 41% of patients were normometabolic, 37.5% were hypometabolic and 21.4% were hypermetabolic. After transplantation, the mean REE decreased progressively in patients initially hypermetabolic and the opposite occurred in those initially hypometabolic. The REE evolution was positively associated with body weight (β = 9.6, p < 0.001) and energy intake (β= 13.6, p = 0.005) in the whole sample; it was positively associated with body weight (β= 7.1, p = 0.018) and percentage of energy intake from lipids (β= 18.9, p = 0.003) in initially hypometabolic patients, and positively associated with body weight (β= 14.1, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with SGA-undernourishment (β = -171, p = 0.007) in initially normometabolic patients. Conclusion: Different REE evolutions after liver transplantation are associated with the preoperative metabolic status. In patients initially hypometabolic, the REE evolution is positively associated with body weight and percentage of energy intake from lipids, and in those initially normometabolic, it is positively associated with body weight and negatively associated with SGA-undernourishment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Emissions and carbon sequestration in silvipastoral cattle systems.

Editores: Alexandre Bernd, Luiz Gustavo Pereira Ribeiro, Adibe Luis Abdalla