Is debt replacing equity in regulated privatized infrastructure in developing countries?

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution of the financing structure of regulated privatized utilities and transport companies. To do so, the authors rely on a sample of 121 utilities distributed over 16 countries, and 23 transport infrastructure operators and 23 transport services operators distributed over 23 countries. They show that leverage rates vary significantly across sectors, with the highest rates observed in transport and the lowest in water. Moreover, the authors also show that the 1997 Asia crisis led operators to adjust their financial structure differently in different regions. Overall, the evidence they present shows that debt is replacing equity in financing the investment needs of utilities and transport services in developing countries. These results raise some questions as to whether the regulator's mandate should be expanded to monitor the financial structure of companies and as to whether the international community should make a stronger commitment to more transparent regulatory accounting systems.International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Rural Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies

Energy-Based Acoustic Localization by Improved Elephant Herding Optimization

UIDB/EEA/50008/2020The present work proposes a new approach to address the energy-based acoustic localization problem. The proposed approach represents an improved version of evolutionary optimization based on Elephant Herding Optimization (EHO), where two major contributions are introduced. Firstly, instead of random initialization of elephant population, we exploit particularities of the problem at hand to develop an intelligent initialization scheme. More precisely, distance estimates obtained at each reference point are used to determine the regions in which a source is most likely to be located. Secondly, rather than letting elephants to simply wander around in their search for an update of the source location, we base their motion on a local search scheme which is found on a discrete gradient method. Such a methodology significantly accelerates the convergence of the proposed algorithm, and comes at a very low computational cost, since discretization allows us to avoid the actual gradient computations. Our simulation results show that, in terms of localization accuracy, the proposed approach significantly outperforms the standard EHO one for low noise settings and matches the performance of an existing enhanced version of EHO (EEHO). Nonetheless, the proposed scheme achieves this accuracy with significantly less number of function evaluations, which translates to greatly accelerated convergence in comparison with EHO and EEHO. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that the proposed methodology can be extended to any population-based metaheuristic method (it is not only restricted to EHO), which tackles the localization problem indirectly through distance measurements.publishersversionpublishe

Evaluation of Technological Trends and Demands of the Manufacturing Industry to a Center of R&D&I

The manufacturing industry is fairly representative in the Brazilian economy. The research activities in technology, development and innovation promoted by technology centers are of great importance to boost the competitiveness of this segment. In this context, this work aims presenting the development of the strategic planning for a Center of R&D&I (Research & Development & Innovation), looking 20 years ahead, on a macro level, creating a master plan which summarizes the future focus areas of competence for technology research, development and innovation, coping with manufacturing trends, using a participative workshop approach. Thus, it is expected that this center offer integrated technological solutions with high added value that promote the development and competitiveness of the manufacturing industry, in the prospects for medium and long term. In order to achieve the project objectives taking the principle of strategic planning was followed. On the one hand, focus was placed on the internal perspective analyzing the current status of the Center. On the other hand, the environment of the Center (external perspective) was analyzed. Matching the analysis results regarding both perspectives future competence areas were derived, according to global technological trends as well as national and local industrial demand. Thus, the competencies required to be developed by a technology center to meet the manufacturing industry over the next twenty years would be derived

El modelo de Alexander Romanovich Luria (revisitado) y su aplicación a la evaluación neuropsicológica

[Resumen] Alexander Romanovich Luria (19021977) está quizás entre los que más habrán contribuido para el desarrollo de 10 que se considera hoy como la Neuropsicología clínica. En este artículo escribimos acerca de su vida y obra bien como el desarrollo de los métodos de valoración neuropsicológica clínica. Evaluamos también los modelos de valoración posteriores a. Luria, y de forma muy particular los modelos que permitieron el desarrollo de métodos de evaluación como la Luria Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. Su aplicabilidad bien como un conjunto de estudios con esta batería son revisitados. Su aplicación en Portugal es también referida

Análise da Variabilidade Sazonal do Vento no Aeroporto de Maceió, AL. Parte i: Direção do Vento

This study aimed to examine the seasonal variability of the winddirection based on hourly records of 1999 of the automatic station operatedat the Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport, Maceió-AL (09°31' S,35°47' W, 117m), located in an area of sugar cane cultivation. The softwareWASP (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program) showed that thepredominant direction (PD) was in the southeastern sector (135º), exceptin the 3rd quarter (JAS) when the southern sector (180º) was predominant.The results show the trade winds to be dominant, helping in the transportof pollution from burning towards the airport area.Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a variabilidade sazonalda direção do vento com base nos registros horários do ano de 1999da estação automática do Aeroporto Internacional Zumbi dos Palmares,Maceió-AL (09° 31’S, 35° 47’W, 117m), localizada numa área de cultivoda cana-de-açúcar. O Programa WAsP (Wind Atlas Analysis andApplication Program), mostrou que a Direção Predominante (DP) foido setor sudeste (135º), exceto no 3º trimestre (JAS) em que predominouo setor sul (180º). Os resultados mostram o domínio dos ventosalísios que contribuem para o transporte dos poluentes das queimadaspara a área do aeroporto

e-CoVig: a novel mHealth system for remote monitoring of symptoms in COVID-19

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).In 2019, a new virus, SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 disease, was discovered. Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients were forced to quarantine and closely monitor their symptoms and vital signs, most of the time at home. This paper describes e-CoVig, a novel mHealth application, developed as an alternative to the current monitoring paradigm, where the patients are followed up by direct phone contact. The e-CoVig provides a set of functionalities for remote reporting of symptoms, vital signs, and other clinical information to the health services taking care of these patients. The application is designed to register and transmit the heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), body temperature, respiration, and cough. The system features a mobile application, a web/cloud platform, and a low-cost specific device to acquire the temperature and SpO2. The architecture of the system is flexible and can be configured for different operation conditions. Current commercial devices, such as oximeters and thermometers, can also be used and read using the optical character recognition (OCR) functionality of the system. The data acquired at the mobile application are sent automatically to the web/cloud application and made available in real-time to the medical staff, enabling the follow-up of several users simultaneously without the need for time consuming phone call interactions. The system was already tested for its feasibility and a preliminary deployment was performed on a nursing home showing promising results.This work was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the grants e-CoVig—Project 255_596880547, and LARSyS—Project UIDB/50009/2020, by FCT/MCTES through national funds and, when applicable, co-funded EU funds under the grant NICE-HOME—Project UIDB/50008/2020, and by the IT—Instituto de Telecomunicações under grant BI/No. 13—19 May 2020 “AIMHealth”, which is gratefully acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Principais desafios no suprimento para unidades hospitalares – uma abordagem com mapeamento de processos para análise de critérios de compra de materiais cirúrgicos / Main challenges in supply for hospital units - an approach with mapping of processes for the analysis of criteria for the purchase of surgical materials

A logística tem um papel fundamental em qualquer organização, pois auxilia na organização a aplicação e medição dos processos. Nos hospitais a logística é considerada com maior complexidade pelo impacto que sua eficácia na qualidade do serviço e inclusive no quadro clinico dos pacientes. Em hospitais públicos é perceptível o quanto a necessidade de reger as normas vigentes a órgãos públicos requer um bom planejamento, para que não haja a necessidade de retrabalhos ou gargalos, por exemplo. Aplicação de mapeamento de processos é essencial para um bom planejamento estratégico e para apontar aonde não está sendo atendido. Com a aplicação do diagrama de Ishikawa, também conhecido como espinha de peixe, se pode analisar os efeitos da falta e excesso de materiais. É proposta a utilização da lógica fuzzy como mecanismo para pertinência de critérios no pedido de compra de materiais, uma vez que é utilizado apenas um critério, a média de consumo histórico

Ruptura idiopática de bexiga urinária em duas éguas

Urinary bladder rupture is rarely reported in adult horses and is usually associated with parturition, history of traumaor urethral obstruction. This paper reports two cases in mares free of these predisposing factors, diagnosed throughclinical manifestations, abdominal ultrasound and abdominocentesis, corrected by cystorrhaphy through laparotomy.While recovery was satisfactory in one case, the other case had complications in celiorraphy such as development ofincisional hernia, small colon eventration and intestinal adherences, opting by the euthanasia of the animal. These reportsare important because of the rarity with which they occur in adult mares. The different prognoses may be related to theseverity of each case, according to the location and extension of the wound, which directly or indirectly influence thetechnique and recovery of the animals.A ruptura de bexiga urinária é raramente relatada em equinos adultos, sendo normalmente associada ao parto, antecedentesde trauma ou obstrução de uretra. Este trabalho relata dois casos em éguas livres destes fatores predisponentes,diagnosticados através de manifestações clínicas, ultrassonografia abdominal e abdominocentese, corrigidos por cistorrafiaatravés de laparotomia. Em um dos casos a recuperação ocorreu satisfatoriamente, porém no outro houve complicaçõesna celiorrafia como desenvolvimento de hérnia incisional, eventração de cólon menor e posterior desenvolvimento deaderências intestinais, optando-se pela eutanásia do animal. Estes relatos são importantes pela raridade com que ocorremem éguas adultas. Os diferentes prognósticos podem estar relacionados à gravidade de cada caso, de acordo com o locale extensão da ferida, que direta ou indiretamente influenciam na técnica empregada e recuperação dos animais

Ventilação controlada mecânica em cavalos com o emprego de vecurônio

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar os efeitos metabólicos e respiratórios da administração de vecurônio em cavalos submetidos a ventilação controlada e compará-los àqueles que permaneceram em respiração espontânea. Foram empregados vinte animais hígidos alotados em dois grupos experimentais. Todos os animais foram pré-medicados com romifidina (100 mi g/kg IV) sendo a anestesia induzida com a associação de tiletamina-zolazepam (2 mg/kg IV) e a manutenção realizada com halotano. Os animais do grupo I permaneceram em respiração espontânea enquanto os animais do grupo II receberam vecurônio na dose de 0,1 mg/kg IV sendo submetidos a ventilação controlada mecânica. A administração do vecurônio não promoveu qualquer alteração significativa da freqüência ou ritmo cardíaco, pressão venosa central ou pressão arterial. No atinente aos animais que permaneceram em respiração espontânea, não houve qualquer diferença em relação a estes parâmetros quando comparados aos dos animais que permaneceram em respiração espontânea. Os animais que receberam o vecurônio apresentaram valores inferiores de PaCO2 e valores normais de pH em relação aos animais do grupo I. A duração de ação do vecurônio foi de 12,83 ± 1,72 minutos. Após o término da administração do halotano, os animais do grupo II retornaram à ventilação espontânea em 6,09 minutos demonstrando valores de PaCO2 da ordem de 50,78 mmHg. Não houve necessidade de reversão farmacológica do bloqueador e a qualidade da recuperação foi semelhante nos dois grupos. Frente aos resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que o emprego de ventilação controlada mecânica e vecurônio em eqüinos é factível e isenta de efeitos adversos, sendo portanto indicada nesta espécie.The purpose of this study was to investigate the metabolic and cardiorespiratory effects of the administration of vecuronium under controlled mechanical ventilation versus spontaneous ventilation in horses. Twenty healthy horses scheduled to elective surgery were randomized and assigned in two groups. All animals were pre-medicated with romifidine (100 mu g/kg iv), anesthesia was induced with an association of tiletamine-zolazepam (2 mg/kg iv) and was maintained with halothane. Animals of group I remained in spontaneous ventilation without muscle relaxation while group II received vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg IV) and was submitted to controlled mechanical ventilation. Vecuronium administration did not cause any significant change of heart rate or rhythm, central venous pressure and arterial pressure. With the animals that remained under spontaneous ventilation, no differences were observed in these parameters. The animals that received vecuronium showed lower values of PaCO2 and normal values of pH in relation to the spontaneous ventilation group. Vecuronium duration was 12.83 ± 1.72 minutes. After halothane discontinuation the weaning time in group I I was 6.09 minutes with mean final PaCO2 values of 50.78 mmHg. There was no need of pharmacological reversion of vecuronium effect and recovery from anesthesia was similar in the two groups. In conclusion, the use of mechanical controlled ventilation and vecuronium in horses is easily performed, does not induce further cardiovascular depression and should be employed in equines undergoing major operations