Trade liberalization and labor market in Brazil: impacts on employment and wages in tradeables and nontradeables sectors

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impacts of openness on employment and wages, taking into consideration two crucial aspects. The first, related to labor demand, refers to an increase in the relative employment of less-skilled workers. With Brazil being a developing country with abundant less-skilled labor, it can be expected – based on H-O-S – that income redistribution in favor of unskilled labor may occur after the trade liberalization. The second aspect is the impact on tradeables and non-tradeables. The H-O-S model implicitly admits tradeables goods only. However, the effect on the labor market is also felt on the non-tradeables sector. This aspect has been neglected in the analyses concerning this subject in the Brazilian economy. The conclusion raises the point that it is difficult to define any prevalence of labor demand shifts in the tradeables or nontradeables sectors. However, when the analysis is carried out after breaking down data based on levels of education, it is possible to conclude that the demand for unskilled workers increased after trade liberalization in Brazil. Nevertheless, demand shifts among sectors suggest that H-O-S framework does not explain the impacts of trade liberalization in Brazil, since the demand for skilled workers increased among the same sectors. This data, however, needs to be looked at with caution since the stabilization in Brazil (1994) changed income distribution by means and through the effects of an inflation tax and forced saving.Trade Liberalization; Employment; Wages; Labor Market

Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics Analysis Of Bioactive Proteins In EMD That Modulate Adhesion Of Gingival Fibroblast To Improve Bio-Integration Of Dental Implants

Titanium implants are used in dental practice to replace damaged or lost teeth. The implant needs to integrate with the surrounding gingiva to protect it against bacterial invasion that leads to implant loss. The biointegration is dependent on the implant surface that interacts with proteins from biological fluids to modulate tissues response. Tailoring the surface with specific proteins from the enamel matrix derivative (EMD) would be beneficial to improve the implant-gingiva interface since EMD can affect various cells including gingival fibroblasts. A surface-affinity approach using three different titanium surfaces and saliva was utilized as a model in combination with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to investigate protein binding specificity and the possibility of creating a surface-specific coating with identified bioactive proteins in EMD. Using this approach, we showed a low specificity for protein binding despite differences in surface characteristics. Due to the lack of specificity, EMD composition was investigated through the MudPIT methodology, which resulted in the analysis of 32 fraction. The proteome characterization through MS/MS identified 2000 proteins including novel proteins that are associated with biomineralization, wound healing, and biological adhesion. The further exposure of HGF to EMD fractions revealed two fractions (F23 and F24) that promoted significantly higher HGF adhesion than native EMD and other fractions. Overall, our results provide an in-depth insight into EMD composition showing its high complexity in protein content, including novel proteins that are related to EMD biological activity such as on adhesion of HGF

Complex Network Tools to Understand the Behavior of Criminality in Urban Areas

Complex networks are nowadays employed in several applications. Modeling urban street networks is one of them, and in particular to analyze criminal aspects of a city. Several research groups have focused on such application, but until now, there is a lack of a well-defined methodology for employing complex networks in a whole crime analysis process, i.e. from data preparation to a deep analysis of criminal communities. Furthermore, the "toolset" available for those works is not complete enough, also lacking techniques to maintain up-to-date, complete crime datasets and proper assessment measures. In this sense, we propose a threefold methodology for employing complex networks in the detection of highly criminal areas within a city. Our methodology comprises three tasks: (i) Mapping of Urban Crimes; (ii) Criminal Community Identification; and (iii) Crime Analysis. Moreover, it provides a proper set of assessment measures for analyzing intrinsic criminality of communities, especially when considering different crime types. We show our methodology by applying it to a real crime dataset from the city of San Francisco - CA, USA. The results confirm its effectiveness to identify and analyze high criminality areas within a city. Hence, our contributions provide a basis for further developments on complex networks applied to crime analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 14th International Conference on Information Technology : New Generation

Análise crítica da política de alocação de órgãos para transplante de fígado no Brasil

Liver transplantation is now the standard treatment for end-stage liver disease. Given the shortage of liver donors and the progressively higher number of patients waiting for transplantation, improvements in patient selection and optimization of timing for transplantation are needed. Several solutions have been suggested, including increasing the donor pool; a fair policy for allocation, not permitting variables such as age, gender, and race, or third-party payer status to play any role; and knowledge of the natural history of each liver disease for which transplantation is offered. To observe ethical rules and distributive justice (guarantee to every citizen the same opportunity to get an organ), the "sickest first" policy must be used. Studies have demonstrated that death has no relationship with waiting time, but rather with the severity of liver disease at the time of inclusion. Thus, waiting time is no longer part of the United Network for Organ Sharing distribution criteria. Waiting time only differentiates between equally severely diseased patients. The authors have analyzed the waiting list mortality and 1-year survival for patients of the State of São Paulo, from July 1997 through January 2001. Only the chronological criterion was used. According to "Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo" data, among all waiting list deaths, 82.2% occurred within the first year, and 37.6% within the first 3 months following inclusion. The allocation of livers based on waiting time is neither fair nor ethical, impairs distributive justice and human rights, and does not occur in any other part of the world.Transplante hepático é tratamento de escolha para pacientes portadores de doença hepática em fase terminal. Pela escassez de órgãos e número crescente de receptores, seleção dos candidatos e otimização do momento do procedimento são necessários. Estratégias foram apontadas: aumento do número de doadores; política justa impossibilitando que idade, sexo, raça, condição financeira façam diferença; conhecimento da história natural de cada doença hepática para a qual o trans plante hepático é indicado. Para obedecer aos princípios da ética médica e de justiça distributiva (garantia a todo cidadão a mesma oportunidade de obter um enxerto), é necessário estabelecer critérios de gravidade. Estudos (Institute of Medicine e Freeman e col.) demonstraram que tempo de lista não tem relação direta com o número de óbitos e sim com a gravidade dos pacientes no momento da inscrição. Assim, nos EUA, o tempo de lista foi retirado no cálculo para alocação, servindo apenas para diferenciar pacientes igualmente graves. Mortalidade em lista de espera bem como sobrevida de um ano no Estado de São Paulo, onde a alocação obedece critério cronológico rígido desde 1997, foram analisados. Dados da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo, no período de julho de 1997 a janeiro de 2001, dentre os óbitos em lista, 82.2% ocorreram dentro do 1º ano de lista, sendo 37,6% nos primeiros 3 meses após a inclusão

A combined wavelet-element free Galerkin method for numerical calculations of electromagnetic fields

Author name used in this publication: S. L. HoAuthor name used in this publication: J. M. Machado2002-2003 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe