Profile of customers of a provider of cellular services company : application of Ward's clustering method.

Em 2008, eclodiu nos Estados Unidos da Am?rica a primeira grande crise deste s?culo e a maior desde 1929, uma crise sist?mica e end?mica que rapidamente contaminou economias mundo a fora. No Brasil, um dos setores que mais sofreram com essa conjuntura adversa foi ? siderurgia, o que gerou demiss?es em massa, altos n?veis de estoques e adiamento de vultosos investimentos, sendo Minas Gerais, o maior produtor de a?o bruto do pa?s, cen?rio para esses resultados desastrosos. Esta pesquisa analisou o impacto dessa Crise Econ?mica Internacional nas sider?rgicas que possuem atividades operacionais em Minas Gerais e capital aberto na BM&FBovespa (CSN S.A., Gerdau S.A. e Usiminas S.A.), utilizando uma s?rie temporal que compreende o per?odo entre (2006-2013) e o Modelo Din?mico de Fleuriet para detectar se ocorreram varia??es na gest?o de capital de giro das empresas do ramo, levando em considera??o os indicadores financeiros de curto prazo e as altera??es na condu??o da pol?tica que envolve necessidade de capital de giro e capital circulante l?quido. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que as firmas sider?rgicas que comp?em a amostra apresentaram alguma influ?ncia significativa em seu capital de giro no per?odo compreendido pela crise financeira de 2008 com altern?ncias entre os saldos da Necessidade de Capital de Giro e Capital Circulante L?quido. Os resultados sugerem tamb?m que as firmas analisadas adotaram posturas mais conservadoras no que concerne a situa??o financeira de curo prazo, passando a um modelo de gest?o de recursos mais eficiente no per?odo p?s-crise, sendo a Usiminas a empresa com gest?o de capital de giro mais s?lida e homog?nea, em compara??o com a CSN e a Gerdau.In 2008, erupted in the United States the first major crisis of this century and the largest since 1929, a systemic and endemic crisis that hit quickly economies around the world. In Brazil, one of the sectors hardest hit by this adverse situation was the steel industry, which led to massive layoffs, high inventory levels and postponement of major investments, and Minas Gerais, the largest crude steel producer in the country, setting for these disastrous results. This research analyzes the impact of the international economic crisis in steel mills that have operational activities in Minas Gerais and publicly traded on the BM&FBovespa (CSN SA, Gerdau SA and Usiminas SA) using a time series comprising the period (2006-2013) and the Fleuriet Dynamic Model to detect whether there were changes in the working of the branch companies capital management, taking into account the short-term financial indicators and changes in the conduct of policy involving the need for working capital and net working capital. The survey results indicate that steel firms in the sample had significant influence on its working capital in the period by the financial crisis of 2008 with alternations between the balances of the Working Capital Needs and Working Capital Net. The results also suggest that the analyzed firms have adopted more conservative positions concerning the financial situation of heal term, becoming more efficient resource management model in the post-crisis period, Usiminas is the company with working capital management more solid and homogeneous, compared with CSN and Gerdau

Anthocyanin immobilization in carboxymethylcellulose/starch films : a sustainable sensor for the detection of Al(III) ions in aqueous matrices.

A robust and sustainable sensor for the detection of Al(III) ions in water was developed by immobilization of anthocyanin (AN) from black rice in a film formed by carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and starch. Characterization of the films was performed using solubility, thickness, FTIR, and mechanical analysis. The film exhibited an irreversible color change from red to purple in response to the presence of Al(III). The best colorimetric response of the sensor was observed at pH 4.5 and a time of 60?min, achieving the detection of 3?mg?L?1 of Al(III). For concentrations higher than 5?mg?L?1, the sensor response time decreased to 20?min. The minimum Al(III) concentration detected with the naked eye was lower than the maximum permissible concentrations in aqueous effluents according to different legislations, indicating the potential of this study to develop sensors for the detection of Al(III)

Liquid?liquid equilibrium of aqueous two-phase systems composed of nonionic surfactant (Triton X?100, Triton X?165, or Triton X?305) and choline chloride.

The study of aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) formed by ionic liquids based on the choline cation and nonionic surfactants has received attention in recent years because of the biodegradability and nontoxicity of their components. In this work, liquid?liquid equilibrium data were obtained for ATPSs composed of Triton X (Triton X-100, Triton X-165, and Triton X-305), choline chloride, and water, at 298.15, 313.15, and 328.15 K. In general, these systems presented a top phase rich in choline chloride and a bottom phase rich in surfactant, although the phenomenon of phase inversion was observed for a specific thermodynamic condition of the system formed by Triton X-165. It was observed that increase of the temperature led to an increase of the biphasic region, indicating an endothermic phase separation process. In addition, higher hydrophobicity of the surfactant increased its ability to promote phase segregation (the biphasic region increased in the following order: Triton X-100 > Triton X-165 > Triton X-305). The reliability of the equilibrium data was confirmed using the Othmer?Tobias and Bancroft correlations

EFFECTS OF KETAMINE IN METHICILLIN RESISTANT S. aureus AND IN SILICO INTERACTION WITH SORTASE A.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the main human pathogens and is responsible for many diseases ranging from skin infections to more invasive infections. These infections are dangerous and expensive to treat because these strains are resistant to a large number of conventional antibiotics. Having said that, Antibacterial effect of ketamine against MRSA strains, its mechanism of action and in silico interaction with sortase A was evaluated. The antibacterial effect of ketamine was assessed by the broth microdilution method. Subsequently, the mechanism of action was assessed using flow cytometry and molecular docking assays with sortase A. Our results showed that Ketamine has a significant antibacterial activity against MRSA strains in the range of 2.49 to 3.73 mM. Their mechanism of action involves alterations in the membrane integrity and DNA damage, reducing cell viability that provoke death by apoptosis. In addition, Ketamine compound had affinity for S. aureus sortase A. These results indicate that this compound can be an alternative to develop new strategies to combat of infections caused by MRSA.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Respiratory support in patients with severe COVID-19 in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection (ISARIC) COVID-19 study: a prospective, multinational, observational study

Background: Up to 30% of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 require advanced respiratory support, including high-flow nasal cannulas (HFNC), non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV), or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, outcomes and risk factors for failing non-invasive respiratory support in patients treated with severe COVID-19 during the first two years of the pandemic in high-income countries (HICs) and low middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: This is a multinational, multicentre, prospective cohort study embedded in the ISARIC-WHO COVID-19 Clinical Characterisation Protocol. Patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who required hospital admission were recruited prospectively. Patients treated with HFNC, NIV, or IMV within the first 24 h of hospital admission were included in this study. Descriptive statistics, random forest, and logistic regression analyses were used to describe clinical characteristics and compare clinical outcomes among patients treated with the different types of advanced respiratory support. Results: A total of 66,565 patients were included in this study. Overall, 82.6% of patients were treated in HIC, and 40.6% were admitted to the hospital during the first pandemic wave. During the first 24 h after hospital admission, patients in HICs were more frequently treated with HFNC (48.0%), followed by NIV (38.6%) and IMV (13.4%). In contrast, patients admitted in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were less frequently treated with HFNC (16.1%) and the majority received IMV (59.1%). The failure rate of non-invasive respiratory support (i.e. HFNC or NIV) was 15.5%, of which 71.2% were from HIC and 28.8% from LMIC. The variables most strongly associated with non-invasive ventilation failure, defined as progression to IMV, were high leukocyte counts at hospital admission (OR [95%CI]; 5.86 [4.83–7.10]), treatment in an LMIC (OR [95%CI]; 2.04 [1.97–2.11]), and tachypnoea at hospital admission (OR [95%CI]; 1.16 [1.14–1.18]). Patients who failed HFNC/NIV had a higher 28-day fatality ratio (OR [95%CI]; 1.27 [1.25–1.30]). Conclusions: In the present international cohort, the most frequently used advanced respiratory support was the HFNC. However, IMV was used more often in LMIC. Higher leucocyte count, tachypnoea, and treatment in LMIC were risk factors for HFNC/NIV failure. HFNC/NIV failure was related to worse clinical outcomes, such as 28-day mortality. Trial registration This is a prospective observational study; therefore, no health care interventions were applied to participants, and trial registration is not applicable

The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC

International audienc