Trade credit linkages along the supply chain: evidence for the Italian textile sector

We examine the trade credit linkages among firms within a supply chain to reckon the effect of such linkages on the propagation of liquidity shocks from downstream to upstream firms. We choose a sample appropriate for this task, consisting of a large data set of Italian firms from the textile industry, a well known example of a comprehensive manufacturing cluster featuring a large number of small and specialized firms at each level of the supply chain. The results of the analysis indicate that the level of trade credit that firms provide to their suppliers is positively related to the level of trade credit granted to their clients: when the level of trade credit granted to clients divided by sales goes up by 1, the level of trade credit provided to suppliers divided by cost-of goods-sold goes up by an amount that varies between 0,22 and 0,52. Since all firms along the chain are linked by trade credit relationships, an increase in the level of trade credit granted by wholesalers generates a liquidity cascade throughout the chain. We designate the overall increase in the level of trade credit among all firms in the chain as a result of a unitary impulse in the level of trade credit granted by wholesalers as the multiplier effect of trade credit for the industry chain. We estimate such multiplier to vary between 1.28 and 2.04. We also investigate the effect of final demand on the level of trade credit sourced by firms at various levels of the chain and, in particular, whether such effect is amplified for firms further up in the chain as a result of liquidity propagation via trade credit linkages. We uncover evidence of such amplification when the links of liquidity transmission along the chain are individually modeled and estimated. An unitary increase in wholesalers’ sales is found to produce an effect on trade payables among firms at the top of the chain (i.e., Preparers and Spinners) that is more than twice as big as the corresponding effect among firms at the bottom of the chain (i.e., Wholesalers)

Thermogravimetric study of the oxidation kinetics of copper

The oxidation kinetics of copper in air has been studied at various temperatures in the range 500 oC to 924 oC by thermogravimetry. In that range of temperatures the oxidation leads to copper I oxide and the system shows diffusion controlled kinetics according to Wagner's parabolic law. Plots of the square of the variation of the sample weight as a function o f time show a good linear correlation and allow the rate constant to be deternlined Experiments at various temperatures confirm that the system exhibits an Arrhenius behaviour and the frequency factor as well as the activation energy have been calculate

Pengembangan APPEL SARADA Dengan Memanfaatkan Haversine Formula

SKPD merupakan satuan kerja di tingkat provinsi/kabupaten/kota/desa yang memiliki fungsi, peran serta tanggungjawab masing-masing. Seiring dengan fungsi dan tanggung jawab masing-masing SKPD maka animo masyarakat untuk mengetahui lokasi SKPD pun cukup tinggi apalagi SKPD seperti dinas, badan, kecamatan, maupun sekretariat daerah. Namun sangat disayangkan sekali, dikarenakan lokasi setiap SKPD memiliki jarak tempuh yang jauh, ditambah lagi informasi tentang lokasi SKPD itu sendiri tidak semua masyarakat, khususnya masyarakat kota Kupang, mengetahuinya dikarenakan informasi seperti plang nama SKPD kota Kupang masih sangat minim. Terlebih bagi masyarakat yang baru pindah (pendatang baru) dari kecamatan yang berbeda dalam kota Kupang dalam melakukan segala urusan kepentingannya. Untuk menangani hal itu maka dibutuhkan teknologi yang mampu memberikan informasi tentang Persebaran SKPD kota Kupang dengan memanfaatkan metode Haversine Formula sebagai navigasi dalam mengarahkan pengguna untuk mendapatkan lokasi suatu SKPD. Aplikasi yang akan peneliti berikan sebagai solusi pencarian SKPD adalah APPEL SARADA (Aplikasi Pencarian Persebaran Lokasi Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah) yang dapat memberikan informasi detail kantor serta memberikan rekomendasi rute terdekat dan jarak tempuh lokasi SKPD serta menampilkan titik-titik lokasi pesebaran SKPD

High-Voltage Resonant Converter with Extreme Load Variation: Design Criteria and Applications

The power converter that feeds high-frequency, high-voltage transformers must be carefully designed due to parasitic components, mainly the secondary winding capacitance and the leakage inductance, that introduces resonances in relatively low-frequency range, next to the switching frequency. This paper considers applications in which the load (resistive) has an unpredictable behavior, changing from open to short-circuit condition faster than the output voltage control loop could react. In this context, to avoid over voltage and over current situations, that could damage the converter, the transformer or the load, it is necessary to find an operation point that assure the desired output voltage in spite of the load condition. This can done adjusting the frequency response of the transformer adding an external inductance, together with selecting the switching frequency to get stable output voltage independently of the load

Evaluation of the T cell response during the Trypanosoma cruzi infection and its relation with the infection control

El parásito protozoo intracelular Trypanosoma cruzi, causante de la enfermedad de Chagas, establece un estado crónico de infección, que en aproximadamente el 60% de los individuos cursa con ausencia de síntomas durante toda la vida; sin embargo, el resto de los individuos desarrollan alteraciones cardiacas o digestivas que los pueden llevar a la muerte (Perez-Molina et al., 2018). Aunque a ¬la fecha no se conoce con certeza el papel que juega el sistema inmune en el desenlace de la infección por T. cruzi, en modelos múridos de la enfermedad de Chagas se ha descrito que los Linfocitos T (LT) y su respuesta efectora son necesarias para el control de la parasitemia y la sobrevida de los ratones (Tarleton et al., 1994; Tzelepis et al., 2006). Además, a la fecha, si bien el mecanismo relacio¬¬nado con la patología de la enfermedad de Chagas no es claro, estudios han sugerido que la falla en el control de la infección por el parásito estaría relacionada con el desenlace de la misma. En humanos con infección crónica por T. cruzi se ha mostrado que individuos asintomáticos presentan aumento en la frecuencia de LT con menor grado de diferenciación celular, mayor capacidad multifuncional y menor expresión de receptores inhibitorios en comparación con pacientes con las formas severas de la enfermedad de Chagas (Lasso et al., 2015; Mateus et al., 2015), sin embargo, se desconoce si estos hallazgos están relacionados con el control de la infección crónica por T. cruzi. En estudios realizados en humanos y ratones en modelos de enfermedades infecciosas se ha encontrado que un aspecto que puede contribuir a la eliminación o al control eficiente de agentes infecciosos está relacionado con la calidad de la respuesta funcional de los LT (Appay et al., 2002; Bengsch et al., 2010; Betts et al., 2006; Bhadra et al., 2011; Esch et al., 2013; Riou et al., 2012; Wherry, Teichgraber, et al., 2003). Teniendo en cuenta la historia natural de la enfermedad de Chagas, la dificultad para seguir y documentar los individuos infectados hasta por 40 años y para establecer la relación entre el control de la infección por T. cruzi con la respuesta funcional de los LT, en el presente estudio se usaron dos enfoques metodológicos para dar respuesta al siguiente interrogante: ¿cuál es la relación de la repuesta funcional de los LT con el control de la infección por T. cruzi? En vista que reportes han mostrado que el tratamiento antiparasitario reduce la carga parasitaria en individuos y ratones con infección crónica por T. cruzi (Bustamante et al., 2008; Morillo et al., 2015) y que este podría ser útil para entender si el control de la infección por el parásito en individuos crónicamente infectados y tratados estaría relacionada con cambios en la respuesta funcional de los LT, en el primer enfoque se evaluó el efecto del tratamiento antiparasitario sobre la capacidad funcional de la respuesta de los LT de pacientes con enfermedad de Chagas en fase crónica (PCC). Por otro lado, el segundo enfoque incluyó el uso del modelo múrido experimental de infección por T. cruzi, una herramienta que ha mostrado ser útil para el estudio de la enfermedad de Chagas. Con este enfoque se determinó la respuesta funcional de los LT en el modelo experimental de infección por T. cruzi y su relación con el control de la infección evaluado por la carga parasitaria y el daño en el tejido. Para desarrollar este enfoque, primero se estableció un modelo de infección aguda y crónica con el propósito de determinar si durante la infección crónica, al igual que en los humanos, se observaba el deterioro de los LT. Posteriormente, teniendo en cuenta que una limitación para el estudio de la infección crónica por T. cruzi en humanos y modelos múridos es la cuantificación de la carga parasitaria y del daño en tejido y que se ha documentado que la variabilidad genética del parásito o las reinfecciones pueden tener un impacto en el curso y desenlace de la infección por T. cruzi (Andrade et al., 2006; Bustamante et al., 2007; Bustamante et al., 2002; Perez et al., 2018; Santi-Rocca et al., 2017), se evaluó si la respuesta de los LT se relaciona con el control de la infección en un modelo múrido de infección con cepas de dos grupos genéticos del parásito y durante la reinfección o infección mixta por cepas de T. cruzi. Con el desarrollo de este trabajo, usando los enfoques mencionados anteriormente, se encontró que posterior al tratamiento antiparasitario de PCC se evidencia una mejor calidad de la respuesta de LT al comparar con PCC sin tratamiento antiparasitario. Esto fue revelado por mayor frecuencia de LT con un menor grado de diferenciación celular (TCM), aumento de la capacidad funcional y multifuncional de los LT y disminución de la expresión de receptores inhibitorios en LT. Por otro lado, en el modelo experimental de infección se encontró que la infección aguda con la cepa Y de T. cruzi conduce al aumento de la carga parasitaria y del infiltrado inflamatorio en tejido, aumento de células efectoras, la generación de LT multifuncionales específicos de antígeno y su regulación mediante la alta expresión de receptores inhibitorios; en contraste, ratones con infección crónica con la cepa Y del parásito presentaron bajos niveles de carga parasitaria y del infiltrado inflamatorio en tejido y deterioro de la respuesta de los LT caracterizada por aumento de células con mayor grado de diferenciación (TEM), disminuida capacidad funcional y aumento en la expresión de receptores inhibitorios. Al comparar estos resultados con los hallazgos de los ratones infectados con la cepa DA de T. cruzi, se encontró menor carga parasitaria e infiltrado inflamatorio en tejido y una respuesta de LT caracterizada por células con menor grado de diferenciación celular, mayor capacidad funcional y disminuida expresión de receptores inhibitorios durante la infección aguda y crónica por T. cruzi. Posteriormente, en vista de que las reinfecciones detectadas en individuos naturalmente infectados pueden estar relacionadas con la progresión de la enfermedad de Chagas (Perez et al., 2014; Zicker et al., 1990) y que en modelos animales experimentales se ha mostrado que las reinfecciones conducen a la falla en el control de la infección (evidenciada por alta carga parasitaria y alto infiltrado inflamatorio en tejido) (Andrade et al., 2006; Bustamante et al., 2007; Bustamante et al., 2002; Perez et al., 2018), se evaluó si la respuesta funcional de los LT se relaciona con el control de la infección crónica por el parásito en un modelo múrido de reinfección por cepas de T. cruzi. Se encontró menor carga parasitaria en ratones infectados y reinfectados con la cepa Y (Y/Y) en comparación con ratones infectados con la cepa DA y reinfectados con la cepa Y (DA/Y). De manera interesante, los ratones infectados con Y/Y presentaron una mejor respuesta de los LT, caracterizada por aumento de LT con un menor grado de diferenciación celular (TCM) y disminución de la expresión de receptores inhibitorios en LT en comparación con los ratones DA/Y. Finalmente, un análisis de correlación mostró que hay una relación entre la calidad de la repuesta de los LT con el control de la infección en ratones sometidos a infecciones mixtas por cepas del parásito. Por lo tanto, tomando en consideración los hallazgos mencionados anteriormente, tanto en PCC sin y con tratamiento antiparasitario como en el modelo experimental de infección y reinfección por T. cruzi, los resultados nos permiten concluir que la calidad de la respuesta de los LT se relaciona con el control de la infección por el parásito. Estos hallazgos son un precedente para entender los mecanismos relacionados con la progresión de la enfermedad de Chagas en humanos crónicamente infectados y diseñar estrategias de control y seguimiento de los individuos infectados.COLCIENCIASPontificia Universidad JaverianaChagas disease (ChD) is a chronic infection caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan that causes potentially life-threatening illnesses. This intracellular parasite is highly diverse and has been classified, based on the genetic markers, into seven genotypes or discrete typing units (DTUs, TcI-TcVI and TcBat); however, the parasite genotypes overlap in geographic range, vectors, and clinical characteristics. Although studies have suggested that the progression of ChD is due to a deterioration in the quality of the immune response, a direct relationship between the T cell responses and the outcome of the disease has not been established. Here, different approaches were used to determine the T cell responses in chronic chagasic patients (CCPs) and mice experimentally infected with T. cruzi to investigate the relationship between the parasite control and the T cell response. Since there is a lack of biological markers to evaluate the effectiveness of antiparasitic treatment, and little is known about the effect of the treatment on T cells from CCPs. The first approach aimed to analyze the early effects of antiparasitic treatment on CD8+ T cells from CCPs with asymptomatic clinical forms. To evaluate the CD8+ T cell subsets, expression of inhibitory receptors, and functionality of T cells in CCPs, PBMCs were isolated. The results showed that the treatment of CCPs with the asymptomatic form of the disease induces an increase in the frequency of CD8+ central memory T cells and terminal effector T cells and a decrease in the coexpression of inhibitory receptors. Also, an improved Ag-specific CD8+ T cell response exhibited by the individual production of IFNg or IL-2, and a multifunctional CD8+ T cell profile of up to four functions were detected. These findings showed that the antiparasitic treatment improved the quality of Ag-specific CD8+ T cell responses associated with a decrease in the expression of inhibitory receptors, which could serve as biomarkers for monitoring the effectiveness of antiparasitic treatment. Given that the long natural history of ChD makes the monitoring of patients and the sequential study of the immune mechanisms underlying protection or disease pathogenesis intricate and the experimental models of T. cruzi infection have been successfully used to propose or develop new strategies to combat ChD, the second approach included the development of an experimental murine model of T. cruzi infection to investigate the T cell response and the infection control. First, it was investigated the T cell response in a murine model of acute (10 and 30 days) and chronic (100 and 260 days) ChD, characterized by parasite persistence for up to 260 days post-infection and moderate inflammation of the colon and liver of T. cruzi-infected mice. Acute ChD induced a high Ag-specific multifunctional T cell response by producing IFNg, TNFa, IL-2, granzyme B, and perforin, and a high frequency of T cells coexpressed 2B4, CD160, CTLA-4, and PD-1. In contrast, chronically infected mice with moderate inflammatory infiltrate in liver tissue exhibited monofunctional Ag-specific cells, high cytotoxic activity (granzyme B and perforin), and elevated levels of inhibitory receptors (predominantly CTLA-4 and PD-1) coexpressed on T cells. Thus, these data support our previous results showing that similar to humans, the T. cruzi persistence in mice promotes the dysfunctionality of T cells, and these changes might correlate with ChD progression. Then, to analyzed the relationship between the parasite control and the immune response in a murine model of T. cruzi infection, it was determined the histological and parasitological outcomes and dissected the T cell responses in mice infected by two genetically different T. cruzi strains (Y or DA) or in mice with homologous (Y/Y) or heterologous (DA/Y) infection by T. cruzi strains. Chronically infected mice with low inflammatory infiltrate (for DA infected mice) or low parasitemia and parasitism (for Y/Y infected mice), showed an increase in early-differentiated T cells and a multifunctional T cell response along with a lower expression of inhibitory receptors on T cells. In contrast, chronically infected mice with high inflammatory infiltrate (for Y infected mice), or high parasitemia and parasitism (for DA/Y infected mice) showed a T cell response distinguished by an increase in late-differentiated cells, monofunctional response, and increment in the expression of inhibitory receptors on T cells. Therefore, considering the findings mentioned above, in CCPs and the experimental model of infection and reinfection by T. cruzi, the results allow us to conclude that the quality of the T cell response is related to parasite control during the chronic T. cruzi infection. These findings are a precedent for understanding the mechanisms related to the progression of Chagas disease in chronically infected humans and design strategies for the control and follow-up of infected individuals.Doctor en Ciencias BiológicasDoctorad

Responsabilidade civil do Estado e as recentes aplicações da teoria do risco social

O objetivo desse trabalho de conclusão de curso é trazer uma reflexão acerca da responsabilidade civil do Estado e a aplicação da teoria do risco social. A responsabilidade civil do Estado se encontra em constante modificação no decorrer do tempo, sempre no intuito de acompanhar e atender às demandas sociais. Toda essa modificação implica na criação de normas e teorias, tanto no direito brasileiro como no direito comparado, com o objetivo de responder aos anseios da sociedade. A mais recente dessas teorias a ganhar visibilidade no mundo jurídico brasileiro trata-se da teoria do risco social, que obteve grande destaque ao ser aplicada pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal, na defesa do art. 23 da Lei da Copa, na Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade impetrada pelo Ministério Público. Toda essa temática é relativamente recente na doutrina e jurisprudência, suscitando dúvidas e questionamentos que precisam ser amadurecidos e aprimorados

Therapeutic implications of transesophageal echocardiography after transthoracic echocardiography on acute stroke patients

Tiago Tribolet de Abreu, Sonia Mateus, Cecilia Carreteiro, Jose CorreiaLaboratorio de Ultrasonografia Cardiaca e Neurovascular, Hospital do Espirito Santo-Evora, E. P. E., PortugalBackground: The role of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of acute stroke patients is still ill-defined. We conducted a prospective observational study to find the prevalence of TEE findings that indicate anticoagulation as beneficial, in acute ischemic stroke patients without indication for anticoagulation based on clinical, electrocardiographic and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) findings.Methods: We prospectively studied all patients referred to our laboratory for TTE and TEE. Patients were excluded if the diagnosis was not acute ischemic stroke or if they had an indication for anticoagulation based on clinical, electrocardiographic, or TTE data. Patients with TEE findings that might indicate anticoagulation as beneficial were identified.Results: A total of 84 patients with acute ischemic stroke and without indication for anticoagulation based on clinical and electrocardiographic or TTE data were included in the study. Findings indicating anticoagulation as beneficial were found in 32.1%: spontaneous echo contrast (1.2%), complex aortic atheroma (27.4%), thrombus (8.3%), and simultaneous patent foramen ovale and atrial septal aneurysm (2.4%).Conclusions: The results of our study show that TEE can have therapy implications in 32.1% of ischemic stroke patients in sinus rhythm and with TTE with no indication for anticoagulation.Keywords: acute ischemic stroke, transesophageal echocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography, therap

Orbitozygomatic Craniotomy In Three Pieces: Tips And Tricks

Objective: Didactically describe the orbitozygomatic craniotomy made in three pieces. Method: This approach was performed, from 2002 to 2011, in 49 patients admitted at Beneficencia Portuguesa of Sao Paulo Hospital. Results: Twenty-seven patients had vascular lesions and twenty-two suffered for intracranial skull base tumors. The vascular lesions varied from cavernous angiomas inside the mesencephalum, high bifurcation basilar tip aneurysms, superior cerebellar arteries aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations in the interpeduncular cistern. Skull base tumors as meningiomas, interpeduncular hamartomas and third ventricle floor gliomas were among the neoplastic lesions approached. We had no permanent injuries and minimal transient complications had occurred. Conclusion: It is a descriptive text, organized in the sequence of the main stages in which such a craniotomy is performed, describing in details the technique in which this group of evolutionarily authors came to accomplish the task.74322823

A distinção legalidade-moralidade na crítica de Hegel a Kant

This article has the objective to treat the critical of Hegel to Kant from the distinction between legality and morality. While Kant remains stuck to the formalism, Hegel points the relative principles to the content, because only from them can be established particular duties. Kant defines the right, good and fair from a procedure that aims at the universality. The distinction between legality and morality is made from their mobiles. The reason, in Kant, is not legislator because it is not worried about with "what should be done" but "how it should be done." The categorical imperative is the regulator and supervisor. Hegel criticizes the formalism of Kantian theory. The ethicity has as its major objective the liberation of indeterminacy, the immediacy and the natural. This occurs by introducing mediation and producing and producing, thereby,  the determination (social institutions).Este artigo tem como objetivo tratar da crítica de Hegel a Kant a partir da distinção entre legalidade e moralidade. Enquanto Kant permanece preso ao formalismo, Hegel aponta princípios conteudísticos, pois considera que somente a partir deles é possível estabelecer deveres particulares. Kant define o certo, o bem e o justo a partir de um procedimento que visa à universalidade. A distinção entre legalidade e moralidade é realizada a partir de seus móbeis. A razão, em Kant, não é legisladora, pois não está preocupada com “o que deve ser feito”, mas “como deve ser feito”. O imperativo categórico é regulador e orientador. Já Hegel critica o formalismo da teoria kantiana. A eticidade tem como grande objetivo a libertação da indeterminação, da imediatez e do natural. Isso ocorre instaurando-se a mediação e produzindo, consequentemente, a determinação (nas instituições sociais)