Market Forecasts in Brazil: performance and determinants

This paper assesses a wide set of aspects of market forecasts in Brazil: rationality, predictive power, joint performance, epidemiology and determinants. Using the survey conducted by the Central Bank of Brazil (CBB) among professional forecasters during the inflation targeting period, the main results are as follows: i) credibility in Brazilian monetary policy has increased over time, since inflation targets are important to explain inflation expectations, and private agents perceive the CBB as following a Taylor-type rule that is consistent with the inflation targeting framework; ii) market inflation forecasts had similar or better forecast performance than ARMA-, VAR- and BVAR-based forecasts with standard information sets; iii) the joint performance of market forecasts has improved over the past years; iv) in the decomposition of forecast errors for inflation, interest rate and exchange rate, the common forecast error component prevails over the idiosyncratic component across survey respondents; v) top-five forecasters published by the CBB are influential in other respondents’ forecasts; vi) inflation forecasts are unbiased but not fully efficient; and vii) inflation forecast uncertainty is positively related to increasing inflation and to country-risk premium.

Formation of Halogenated Byproducts upon Water Treatment with Peracetic Acid

Peracetic acid has quickly gained ground in water treatment over the last decade. Specifically, its disinfection efficacy toward a wide spectrum of microorganisms in wastewater is accompanied by the simplicity of its handling and use. Moreover, peracetic acid represents a promising option to achieve disinfection while reducing the concentration of typical chlorination byproducts in the final effluent. However, its chemical behavior is still amply debated. In this study, the reactivity of peracetic acid in the presence of halides, namely, chloride and bromide, was investigated in both synthetic waters and in a real contaminated water. While previous studies focused on the ability of this disinfectant to form halogenated byproducts in the presence of dissolved organic matter and halides, this work indicates that peracetic acid also contributes itself as a primary source in the formation of these potentially carcinogenic compounds. Specifically, this study suggests that 1.5 mM peracetic acid may form around 1-10 μg/L of bromoform when bromide is present. Bromoform formation reaches a maximum at near neutral pH, which is highly relevant for wastewater management

Effects of omeprazole on mechanisms of gastroesophageal reflux in childhood

Prolonged recordings of esophageal motility have shown that dynamic changes of lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure such as transient LES relaxation and LES pressure drifts are the most common mechanisms underlying gastroesophageal reflux (GER). The coexistence of a delayed gastric emptying has also been reported in a high proportion of patients with reflux disease. However, not much information is available on the effects of antireflux therapy on the pathogenetic mechanisms of GER. The purpose of this study was to determine in a group of children with severe reflux disease the effect of omeprazole therapy on motor changes of LES underlying GER as well as on gastric emptying time. Twenty-two children (median age: 6.6 years) with GER disease, refractory to combined ranitidine and cisapride administration, entered into an eight-week omeprazole course. Ten subjects with moderate GER disease served as controls (median age: 6.0 years). Before and after omeprazole administration, the following variables were assessed: esophagitis grading, fasting and fed simultaneous prolonged recording of distal esophageal sphincter pressure (with a sleeve catheter) and intraesophageal pH, LES and esophageal peristalsis amplitude, and gastric emptying time of a mixed solid-liquid meal (measured with gastric ultrasound). As compared to controls, patients showed a higher rate of transient LES relaxation and LES pressure drift (P < 0.01), a reduced amplitude of basal sphincter pressure (P < 0.01) and peristalsis (P < 0.05), and a more prolonged gastric emptying time (P < 0.05). After ending omeprazole, there was no significant change in any of the motor abnormalities of the esophagus and in gastric emptying time despite a marked improvement of symptoms and esophagitis in all patients. Sixteen patients were symptomatic when reevaluated on a clinical basis two months after ending therapy. We conclude that in children with severe GER disease, an abnormally high rate of both transient LES relaxation and LES pressure drift and slow gastric emptying are not affected by omperazole treatment, even though esophageal mucosal damage is markedly improved or cured. These abnormalities represent a primary motor disorder and can be implicated in the refractoriness of reflux disease

Malting quality and genetic diversity in brazilian elite barley germplasm.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-26T09:34:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ID441552017v9n6IntJCurrRes.pdf: 323885 bytes, checksum: 9ddcd49315f2e9d2cccc059bb09a4b16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-25bitstream/item/165546/1/ID44155-2017v9n6IntJCurrRes.pd