Can the distributional impacts of macroeconomic shocks be predicted? A comparison of the performance of macro-micro models with historical data for Brazil

What was the impact of Brazil's 1998-99 currency crisis-which resulted in a change of exchange rate regime and a large real devaluation-on the occupational structure of the labor force and the distribution of incomes? Would it have been possible to predict such effects ahead of the crisis? The authors present an integrated macro-micro model of the Brazilian economy in 1998. The model consists of an applied general equilibrium macroeconometric component, connected through a set of linkage aggregate variables to a microeconomic model of household incomes. The authors use this framework to predict the employment and distributional consequences of the 1999 Brazilian currency crisis, based on 1998 household survey data. They then test the predictive performance of the model by comparing its simulated results with the actual household survey data observed in 1999. In addition to the fully integrated macro-micro model, the authors also test the performances of the microeconometric model on its own, and of a"representative household groups"approach. They find that the integrated macro-micro econometric model, while still inaccurate on many dimensions, can actually predict the broad pattern of the incidence of changes in household incomes across the distribution reasonably well, and much better than the alternative approaches. The authors conclude that further experimentation with these tools might be of considerable potential usefulness to policymakers.Labor Policies,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Macroeconomic Management,Inequality,Economic Stabilization

Introdução da térmita da madeira seca Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) nos Açores

A secção Biologia é coordenada pelo Professor Universitário Armindo Rodrigues.A térmita de madeira seca Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) é uma praga urbana que causa danos graves a estruturas de madeira, afectando todos os tipos de equipamentos desde os rodapés, portas, mobiliário e partes estruturais da habitação. Existente principalmente nas zonas tropicais e subtropicais do globo, esta espécie é originaria do Chile e do Peru e poderá ter-se dispersado pelo mundo, numa fase inicial, através do tráfego elevado de navios de madeira espanhóis provenientes dessa zona no século XVI. Esta térmita passa a maior parte do seu ciclo de vida dentro da madeira, factor que facilita o seu transporte e dispersão, uma vez que a sua detecção é difícil por não especialistas. A sua presença nos Açores é conhecida desde o ano de 2000, altura em que foi identificada a sua presença na Ilha Terceira. Desde então a sua presença já foi confirmada para seis das nove ilhas do arquipélago dos Açores, nomeadamente Terceira, São Miguel, Santa Maria, Faial, São Jorge e Pico. […].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multistable behavior above synchronization in a locally coupled Kuramoto model

A system of nearest neighbors Kuramoto-like coupled oscillators placed in a ring is studied above the critical synchronization transition. We find a richness of solutions when the coupling increases, which exists only within a solvability region (SR). We also find that they posses different characteristics, depending on the section of the boundary of the SR where the solutions appear. We study the birth of these solutions and how they evolve when {K} increases, and determine the diagram of solutions in phase space.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Robot at factory 4.0: an auto-referee proposal based on artificial vision

The robotization and automation of tasks are relevant processes and of great relevance to be considered nowadays. This work aims to turn the manual action of assigning the score for the robotic competition Robot at Factory 4.0 by an automatic referee. Specifically, the aim is to represent the real space in a set of computational information using computer vision, localization and mapping techniques. One of the crucial processes to achieve this goal involved the adaptive calibration of the parameters of a digital camera through visual references and tracking of objects, which resulted in a fully functional, robust and dynamic system that is capable of mapping the competition’s objects accurately and correctly performing the referee’s tasks.This work is financed by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Funda¸c˜ao para a Ciˆencia e a Tecnologia, within projects LA/P/0063/2020 and POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072638, co-funded by FEDER through COMPETE 2020. Authors acknowledge 5DPO RobotAtFactory team for making their time and robot available to conduct tests. The project that gave rise to these results received the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI20/11780028info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fluorescence and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for early cancer detection using a new strategy towards the development of a miniaturized system

This paper describes the design of a miniature, cost-effective spectroscopy system for assessing tissue biochemical and morphological information using a few wavelengths. This instrument will integrate thin-film optical filters and silicon photodiodes, avoiding the use of a spectrograph and optical fibers. The components in the set-up design are described. The feasibility of using only 16 wavelengths to accurately extract tissue properties is confirmed on physical tissue models. Also, the suitable spectral performance of several optical filters for the selection of these wavelengths is demonstrated. The small size of this device will enable implementation in an endoscopic capsule.This research was supported by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology and the MIT|Portugal Program (SFRH/BD/38978/2007

Drugs for relief of pain in patients with sciatica: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of analgesic and adjuvant pain drugs typically administered in primary care for the management of patients with sciatica