Spherical Collapse and the Halo Model in Braneworld Gravity

We present a detailed study of the collapse of a spherical perturbation in DGP braneworld gravity for the purpose of modeling simulation results for the halo mass function, bias and matter power spectrum. The presence of evolving modifications to the gravitational force in form of the scalar brane-bending mode lead to qualitative differences to the collapse in ordinary gravity. In particular, differences in the energetics of the collapse necessitate a new, generalized method for defining the virial radius which does not rely on strict energy conservation. These differences and techniques apply to smooth dark energy models with w unequal -1 as well. We also discuss the impact of the exterior of the perturbation on collapse quantities due to the lack of a Birkhoff theorem in DGP. The resulting predictions for the mass function, halo bias and power spectrum are in good overall agreement with DGP N-body simulations on both the self-accelerating and normal branch. In particular, the impact of the Vainshtein mechanism as measured in the full simulations is matched well. The model and techniques introduced here can serve as practical tools for placing consistent constraints on braneworld models using observations of large scale structure.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures; v2: minor addition to appendix; matches published version; v3: typos in Eqs. (20), (23) correcte

Simultaneously Optimizing Dose and Schedule of a New Cytotoxic Agent

Traditionally, phase I clinical trial designs determine a maximum tolerated dose of an experimental cytotoxic agent based on a fixed schedule, usually one course consisting of multiple administrations, while varying the dose per administration between patients. However, in actual medical practice patients often receive several courses of treatment, and some patients may receive one or more dose reductions due to low-grade (non-dose limiting) toxicity in previous courses. As a result, the overall risk of toxicity for each patient is a function of both the schedule and the dose used at each adminstration. We propose a new paradigm for Phase I clinical trials that allows both the dose per administration and the schedule to vary, making treatment two-dimensional. We provide an outcome-adaptive Bayesian design that simultaneously optimizes both dose and schedule in terms of the overall risk of toxicity, based on time-to-toxicity outcomes. The method is illustrated with a trial of an agent hypothesized to prolong cancer remission after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, and a simulation study in the context of this trial is presented

Avaliação da cultura de segurança do paciente na Amazônia Ocidental

Introdução: A cultura de segurança do paciente é fator contribuinte para a manutenção do bem-estar do usuário no sistema de saúde, pois por meio dela obtém-se uma sistematização organizada e de qualidade do cuidado ao paciente, prevenindo possíveis intercorrências que possam trazer danos. Objetivo: Analisar a Cultura de Segurança do Paciente (CSP) na perspectiva dos profissionais de saúde no Hospital de Referência do Alto Rio Juruá, na Amazônia Ocidental Brasileira. Método: Trata-se de um estudo transversal desenvolvido em um hospital público de médio porte em um município da Amazônia Ocidental. O questionário Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, da Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality foi aplicado em 280 profissionais, no período dezembro de 2016 a fevereiro de 2017. Foi realizada a análise descritiva dos dados e a consistência interna do instrumento. Resultados: Os resultados apontam as melhores avaliações nas dimensões de Trabalho em equipe nos âmbitos das unidades (60%) e Aprendizado organizacional (60%). Os aspectos com os piores resultados foram as dimensões de Respostas não punitivas aos erros (18%) e Frequência de eventos relatados (32%). A análise de confiabilidade interna (Alpha de Cronbach) das dimensões variou entre 0,35 a 0,90. Conclusão: A cultura do medo parece predominar nesse hospital, contudo o estudo demonstrou que há possibilidades de melhoria em todas as dimensões da CSP. Os valores do Alpha de Cronbach apresentaram semelhança com os resultados obtidos pelo processo de validação.Introduction: The safety culture of the patient is a contributing factor for the maintenance of the user’s well-being in the health system because, through it, an organized systematization and quality of patient care are obtained, preventing possible intercurrences that can cause damages. Objective: To analyze the Patient Safety Culture (PSC) from the perspective of health professionals at the Reference Hospital of the Upper Juruá River, in the Brazilian Western Amazon. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study developed in a medium-sized public hospital in a municipality in Western Amazonia. The Survey for Patient Safety Culture survey of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was applied to 280 professionals from December 2016 to February 2017. Descriptive analysis of the data and the internal consistency of the instrument were performed. Results: The results indicate the best evaluations in the dimensions of Teamwork in the scopes of the units (60%) and Organizational learning (60%). The aspects with the worst results were the dimensions of non-punitive responses to errors (18%) and frequency of events reported (32%). The internal reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha) analysis of the dimensions ranged from 0.35 to 0.90. Conclusion: The "culture of fear" seems to predominate in this hospital, however, the study showed that there is scope for improvement in all dimensions of CSP. The values of Cronbach’s Alpha presented similarity to the results obtained by the validation process

Testes de racionalidade para loterias no Brasil

The paper investigates the prevalence of rational expectations in the case of two Brazilian lotteries (Quina and Mega-Sena). The testing strategy relates to an orthogonality condition between the conditional forecast error and the information set. Specifically, the residual of a equation for net price of a lottery ticket should be uncorrelated with sales The results favoured the rational expectations hypothesis only in the case of the Mega-Sena that is subject to broad media coverage. Clearly the Quina lottery is associated with a diferent profile of betters.O artigo investiga a prevalência de expectativas racionais no caso de duas loterias brasileiras (Quina e Mega-Sena). A estratégia de teste se relaciona com uma condição de ortogonalidade entre o erro condicional de previsão e o conjunto de informação. Especificamente, o resíduo de uma equação para o preço líquido de um bilhete de loteria deveria ser não correlacionado com as vendas. Os resultados favoreceram a hipótese de expectativas racionais somente no caso da Mega-Sena que é sujeita a ampla cobertura da mídia. Claramente a Quina está associada a um perfil distinto de apostadores

A experiência de aprendizagem baseada em projetos interdisciplinares em um novo campus de engenharia sob a perspectiva dos discentes

This work aims to describe the experience of Project Based Learning (PBL) in the course of Mechanical Engineering (Engineering Campus - UACSA) of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Brazil. To this end, it were considered both the perceptions of the students and also the data analysis, collected from 20 students, about the experience. The questionnaire answered by the students was organized around six topics: theme of the project, developed competences and learning skills, teamwork, role of teachers, the project assessment and project as a teaching-learning methodology. Also they wrote on the positive and less positive aspects and pointed suggestions for the implementation of PBL. Concisely, the survey results revealed that teamwork, the need for interpersonal relationships and the development of soft skills (autonomy, initiative and creativity in creating the prototype, research capacity, decision, organization, problem solving, time management) are prominent positive aspects, added to the fact that PBL brings the chance for the students to put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course. Problems for the project's implementation were identified as: lack of instruments and conditions given to students for the development of the prototype, the dense load of disciplines of the semester, the non-suitability of some disciplines involved in the project, plus the bad interaction between them. Besides the fact that there was the need for greater dialogue between the disciplines of the semester and/or a more substantial adjustment of the Pedagogical Course Project (PPC), the PBL as a teaching-learning methodology in the course of Mechanical Engineering met the main expectations, and also collaborated for integration, socialization and learning of students. Therefore it is defended its permanence and expansion (over all semesters of the course) at UACSA/ UFRPE.O presente artigo aborda a primeira experiência da Unidade Acadêmica do Cabo de Santo Agostinho campus das engenharias da UFRPE com o trabalho interdisciplinar através da metodologia de Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos Interdisciplinares -PBL. Para tal, foi utilizado ao final do semestre letivo um questionário voltado aos discentes, com o objetivo de avaliar a experiência em suas várias dimensões. Os resultados da pesquisa presente neste artigo baseiam-se, sobretudo, nas percepções dos estudantes sobre o processo de implementação e avaliação desta experiência. O questionário respondido pelos estudantes foi organizado em torno de seis tópicos: tema do projeto, aprendizagens e competências desenvolvidas, trabalho em equipe, papel dos docentes, avaliação no projeto e projeto como metodologia de ensino-aprendizagem. Também responderam de forma dissertativa sobre os aspetos positivos e negativos e apontaram sugestões para a implementação do PBL. A investigação realizada através do questionário revela que o trabalho em equipe, o exercício do relacionamento interpessoal e o desenvolvimento de competências transversais são aspectos positivos de destaque, somados ao fato do PBL trazer possibilidade para que os discentes coloquem em prática os conhecimentos teóricos adquiridos durante o curso, promovendo o interesse dos discentes pelo próprio aprendizado ao terem contato com a aplicabilidade dos conceitos aprendidos no curso, além de desenvolver nos mesmos um senso crítico. Somando-se a isto, também foram apontadas algumas dificuldades, principalmente no que diz respeito à articulação entre as disciplinas e a carência de instrumentos para o desenvolvimento dos protótipos. No entanto, embora esses aspectos tenham sido verificados, percebe-se que o uso do PBL como metodologia de ensino cumpre o seu papel de atender aos objetivos propostos para uma aprendizagem ativa e o desenvolvimento de sujeitos críticos e reflexivos(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Temporal and spatial trends of adult mortality in small areas of Brazil, 1980–2010

To determine the variations and spatial patterns of adult mortality across regions, over time, and by sex for 137 small areas in Brazil, we first apply TOPALS to estimate and smooth mortality rates and then use death distribution methods to evaluate the quality of the mortality data. Lastly, we employ spatial autocorrelation statistics and cluster analysis to identify the adult mortality trends and variations in these areas between 1980 and 2010. We find not only that regions in Brazil’s South and Southeast already had complete death registration systems prior to the study period, but that the completeness of death count coverage improved over time across the entire nation—most especially in lesser developed regions—probably because of public investment in health data collection. By also comparing adult mortality by sex and by region, we document a mortality sex differential in favor of women that remains high over the entire study period, most probably as a result of increased morbidity from external causes, especially among males. This increase also explains the concentration of high male mortality levels in some areas76CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPES470866/2014-4; 454223/2014-5não te

Photometric Redshift Error Estimators

Photometric redshift (photo-z) estimates are playing an increasingly important role in extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. Crucial to many photo-z applications is the accurate quantification of photometric redshift errors and their distributions, including identification of likely catastrophic failures in photo-z estimates. We consider several methods of estimating photo-z errors and propose new training-set based error estimators based on spectroscopic training set data. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and simulations of the Dark Energy Survey as examples, we show that this method provides a robust, relatively unbiased estimate of photo-z errors. We show that culling objects with large, accurately estimated photo-z errors from a sample can reduce the incidence of catastrophic photo-z failures.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Ap

Underwater energy harvesting to extend operation time of submersible sensors

A linear electromagnetic energy harvesting device for underwater applications, fabricated with a simple manufacturing process, was developed to operate with movement frequencies from 0.1 to 0.4 Hz. The generator has two coils, and the effect of the combination of the two coils was investigated. The experimental study has shown that the energy capture system was able to supply energy to several ocean sensors, producing 7.77 mJ per second with wave movements at 0.4 Hz. This study shows that this energy is enough to restore the energy used by the battery or the capacitor and continue supplying energy to the sensors used in the experimental work. For an ocean wave frequency of 0.4 Hz, the generator can supply power to 8 sensors or 48 sensors, depending on the energy consumed and its optimization.This work is co-funded by the project K2D-Knowledge and Data from the Deep to Space with reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-045941, co-financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE2020) and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology-FCT under MIT-Portugal Program. This work is also co-financed by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000032–NextSea, and by national funds through FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. under project SONDA (PTDC/EME-SIS/1960/2020)

A perda do peso morto e a elasticidade-preço da demanda do setor siderúrgico no Brasil

This article has two objectives. The first one is to calculate the deadweight loss of Brazil's steel sector. It was necessary, for this purpose, to estimate the steel demand's equation for, therefore, derivate its price-elasticity. This is, consequently, the article's second objective. The study proposed here is the first one, concerning the two objectives and regarding to quantitative measures, to Brazil. The results suggests that: first, the price-elasticity is -0,14 and, second, the deadweight loss for the steel sector (2000 and 2001) is, in average, approximately, of 24% of total sector's revenue or 0,30% of the GDP.Dois objetivos orientam este artigo. O primeiro foi calcular o valor da perda do bem-estar do setor siderúrgico no Brasil. Para alcançar este propósito foi preciso estimar a equação de demanda por aço para, então, encontrar a sua elasticidade-preço. Conseqüentemente, este passou a ser o segundo objetivo do presente ensaio. O estudo aqui apresentado é o primeiro, do ponto de vista quantitativo, para o Brasil, no que concerne aos dois fins, e seus resultados sugerem que: primeiro, a elasticidade é de -0,14 e, segundo, a perda de bem-estar social no setor siderúrgico em 2000 e 2001, devido ao poder de monopólio das firmas, é de aproximadamente 24%, em média, com relação ao faturamento da indústria ou 0,30% com relação ao produto interno bruto (PIB)

Methods for evaluation of the antimicrobial activity and determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of plant extracts

Várias pesquisas vêm sendo desenvolvidas e direcionadas no descobrimento de novos agentes antimicrobianos provenientes de extratos de plantas e outros produtos naturais, para serem aplicados em produtos farmacêuticos e cosméticos. Atualmente, existem vários métodos para avaliar a atividade antibacteriana e antifúngica dos extratos vegetais. Os mais conhecidos incluem método de difusão em ágar, método de macrodiluição e microdiluição. A proposta dessa revisão é apresentar diferentes métodos comumente utilizados na pesquisa de novos agentes antimicrobianos, provenientes de extratos vegetais, e elucidar os principais fatores interferentes. Dessa maneira, contribuir como fonte de pesquisa para o desenvolvimento de futuros trabalhos relacionado ao estudo de atividade antimicrobiana de produtos naturais.Several researches have been developed to search for new antimicrobial agents from extracts of plants and other natural products to be used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Nowadays there are many methods to evaluate the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the plant extracts. The most known assays have been based on diffusion in agar; and micro and macrodilution methods. The purpose of this review is to describe the different methods commonly used for the determination of new antimicrobial agents from the plants extracts and elucidate the main interference factors. Moreover, this contributes as research source for future development of investigations related to the study of antimicrobial activity from natural products.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)CNP