A segmentation proposal to the consumers’ brazilian beer sector / Proposta de segmentação do mercado brasileiro de cerveja

The objective of this research was to identify the different segments of beer consumers based on the behavior presented during the purchase decision process. A field survey was carried out with a convenience sample of 422 respondents, using questionnaires, available in the authors' relationship networks. In the data analysis, the statistical technique cluster analysis was applied, which allowed the identification of four consumer segments: high involvement consumers, medium consumption consumers, occasion buyers, and low consumption consumers. Results obtained from the investigation show that consumers with high levels of involvement (Group 1) seek a lot of information before consumption. For consumers of average consumption (Group 2), the search for knowledge and references on beers is limited to previous experiences they had and to friends, and they choose beers mainly by the taste and by the country of origin. Occasional consumers (Group 3) usually buy the same brands of beer, but use flavor and brand as a selection criterion. Finally, low-consumption consumers (Group 4) had a consumption of beer for special occasions. They often do not seek information about the product, and they do not do any kind of word-of-mouth marketing. The Main theoretical contribution is the new segmentation proposal method originated from the research. The relevance of this study is related to the new segmentation framework proposed segments that could be used to future studies in other competitive markets

Differential attraction of drosophilids to banana baits inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hanseniaspora uvarum within a Neotropical forest remnant

Background. Yeasts are a necessary requisite in the diet of most Drosophila species that, in turn, may vector their dispersal in natural environments. Differential attractiveness experiments and the isolation of yeasts consumed by Drosophila may be informative for characterizing this association. Hanseniaspora uvarum is among the most common yeast species isolated from Drosophila crops, with high attractiveness to drosophilids. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been widely used to collect flies, and it allows broad sampling of almost all local Drosophila species. Pronounced differences in the field concerning Drosophila attractivity to baits seeded with these yeast species have been previously reported. However, few explicit generalizations have been set. Since late fifties, no field experiments of Drosophila attractivity were carried out in the Neotropical region, which is facing shifts in abiotic and biotic factors. Our objective is to characterize preference behavior that mediates the interaction in the wild among Neotropical Drosophila species and yeasts associated with them. We want to set a broad generalization about drosophilids attracted to these yeasts. Here we present the results of a differential attractiveness experiment we carried out in a natural Atlantic Rainforest fragment to assess the preferences of Drosophila species groups to baits inoculated with H. uvarum and S. cerevisiae. Methods. Both yeast species were cultured in GYMP broth and separately poured in autoclaved mashed banana that was left fermenting. In the field, we collected drosophilids over five arrays of three different baits: non-inoculated autoclaved banana and banana inoculated with each yeast. In the laboratory the drosophilids were sorted to five sets according to their external morphology and/or genitalia: tripunctata; guarani; willistoni; exotic; and the remaining flies pooled in others. Results and Conclusions. Uninoculated banana baits attracted virtually no flies. We found significant departures from random distribution over the other two baits (1:1 proportion) for all sets, except the pooled others. Flies of the sets willistoni and exotic preferred H. uvarum over S. cerevisiae, while the remaining sets were more attracted to S. cerevisiae. Previously, various authors reported similar patterns in attraction experiments with S. cerevisiae and H. uvarum. It is also noteworthy that both yeast species have been isolated from natural substrates and crops of Drosophila species. Taken together, these results suggest that the preferences among Drosophila species groups may be reflecting deep and stable relations with yeast species in natural environments. They can be summarized as: forest dwelling species from subgenus Drosophila (such as tripunctata and guarani groups) are attracted to banana baits seeded with S. cerevisiae; while exotic (as D. melanogaster) and subgenus Sophophora species are preferentially attracted to baits seeded with H. uvarum

Multicenter survey on the use of device-assisted enteroscopy in Portugal

Background: Device-assisted enteroscopies (DAEs) are recent endoscopic techniques that enable direct endoscopic smallbowel evaluation. Objective: The objective of this article is to evaluate the implementation of DAEs in Portugal and assess the main indications, diagnoses, diagnostic yield, therapeutic yield and complication rate. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective series using a national Web-based survey on behalf of the Portuguese Small-Bowel Study Group. Participants were asked to fill out two online databases regarding procedural data, indications, diagnoses, endoscopic therapy and complications using prospectively collected institutional data records. Results: A total of eight centers were enrolled in the survey, corresponding to 1411 DAEs. The most frequent indications were obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB), inflammatory bowel disease and small-bowel tumors. The pooled diagnostic yield was 63%. A relation between the diagnostic yield and the indications was clear, with a diagnostic yield for OGIB of 69% (p ¼ 0.02) with a 52% therapeutic yield. Complications occurred in 1.2%, with a major complication rate of 0.57%. Perforations occurred in four patients (0.28%). Conclusion: DAEs are safe and effective procedures, with complication rates of 1.2%, the most serious of which is perforation. Most procedures are performed in the setting of OGIB. Diagnostic and therapeutic yields are dependent on the indication, hence appropriate patient selection is crucial.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Helicobacter pylori chronic infection and mucosal inflammation switches the human gastric glycosylation pathways

Helicobacter pylori exploits host glycoconjugates to colonize the gastric niche. Infection can persist for decades promoting chronic inflammation, and in a subset of individuals lesions can silently progress to cancer. This study shows that H. pylori chronic infection and gastric tissue inflammation result in a remodeling of the gastric glycophenotype with increased expression of sialyl-Lewis a/x antigens due to transcriptional up-regulation of the B3GNT5, B3GALT5, and FUT3 genes. We observed that H. pylori infected individuals present a marked gastric local pro-inflammatory signature with significantly higher TNF-a levels and demonstrated that TNF-induced activation of the NF-kappaB pathway results in B3GNT5 transcriptional up-regulation. Furthermore, we show that this gastric glycosylation shift, characterized by increased sialylation patterns, favors SabA-mediated H. pylori attachment to human inflamed gastric mucosa. This study provides novel clinically relevant insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying H. pylori modulation of host glycosylation machinery, and phenotypic alterations crucial for life-long infection. Moreover, the biosynthetic pathways here identified as responsible for gastric mucosa increased sialylation, in response to H. pylori infection, can be exploited as drug targets for hindering bacteria adhesion and counteract the infection chronicity.IPATIMUP integrates the i3S Research Unit, which is partially supported by FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PEst C/SAU/LA0003/2013). This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE (NORTE 07 0124 FEDER 000024; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER028188; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER 041276) and National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology (EXPL/CTM-BIO/0762/2013, PTDC/BBB-EBI/0786/2012) and acknowledges support by the EuropeanUnion (Seventh Framework Programme GastricGlycoExplorer project, grant number 316929). Grants were received from FCT, POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) and FSE (Fundo Social Europeu) (SFRH/BPD/75871/2011 to AM;SFRH/SINTD/60034/2009 to RMP; SFRH/BPD/84084/2012 to RMF; SFRH/BPD/89764/2012 to PO). AM acknowledges EMBO for a Short-Term Fellowship (EMBO ASTF 330-212). Transcript analysis was funded by NIH (grant P41GM103490) to KWM

El papel de las emociones en el patrón de secuenciación de actividades: un estudio experimental

People with chronic pain often change the way they carry out their daily activities according to different patterns, among which are pacing strategies. Cross-sectional studies on the association between pacing and affect show contradictory results. The study aim was to experimentally test whether the induction of positive affect vs negative affect would influence the choice of the type of pacing (pacing to increase productivity or pacing to reduce pain) when the participants were exposed to pain, while controlling for the variables optimism and catastrophism. The study participants comprised a sample of 145 undergraduates. The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that there was no association between the variables. Pacing is an intervention strategy in all chronic pain intervention models, and thus it is relevant to continue investigating the role of affect in relation to pacing.Las personas con dolor crónico cambian la forma de realizar las actividades cotidianas, diferenciándose diversos patrones, entre ellos, la secuenciación de actividades (pacing). La bibliografía acerca de la relación entre pacing y afecto muestran resultados contradictorios. El objetivo de este estudio fue contrastar experimentalmente, en una muestra de 145 estudiantes, si la inducción de afecto positivo vs negativo influía en la elección del tipo de “pacing” (“pacing para aumentar la productividad” y “pacing para reducir el dolor”) cuando los participantes eran expuestos a dolor, controlando las variables optimismo y catastrofismo. Los resultados de la regresión logística multinomial no mostraron relación entre las variables. El pacing es una estrategia de intervención presente en todos los modelos de intervención en dolor crónico y, por tanto, es relevante seguir profundizando acerca del rol del afecto en relación al mismo

Spinnability and characteristics of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based bicomponent fibers with a carbon nanotube (CNT) modified polypropylene core for piezoelectric applications

Biodiesel production has received considerable attention in the recent past as a nonpolluting fuel. However, this assertion has been based on its biodegradability and reduction in exhaust emissions. Assessments of water and soil biodiesel pollution are still limited. Spill simulation with biodiesel and their diesel blends in soils were carried out, aiming at analyzing their cytotoxic and genotoxic potentials. While the cytotoxicity observed may be related to diesel contaminants, the genotoxic and mutagenic effects can be ascribed to biodiesel pollutants. Thus, taking into account that our data stressed harmful effects on organisms exposed to biodiesel-polluted soils, the designation of this biofuel as an environmental-friendly fuel should be carefully reviewed to assure environmental quality. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

LITTER PRODUCTION AND DECOMPOSITION IN AREAS OF SECONDARY FOREST, PLANTATION OF SABI\uc1 ( Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth. ) AND PLANTATION OF ANDIROBA ( Carapa guianensis Aubl. ) IN FLONA M\uc1RIO XAVIER, RJ

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o aporte e a decomposi\ue7\ue3o da serapilheira em \ue1reas de floresta secund\ue1ria espont\ue2nea, plantio de sabi\ue1 (Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth.) e plantio de andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.). Para avalia\ue7\ue3o do aporte de serapilheira, foram instalados dez coletores c\uf4nicos sendo o aporte avaliado durante o per\uedodo de outubro de 2003 a setembro de 2004. Posteirormente, foi feita a quantifica\ue7\ue3o dos macronutrientes (N, P e K). A avalia\ue7\ue3o da taxa de decomposi\ue7\ue3o foi realizada utilizando-se o m\ue9todo dos litter bags . A \ue1rea de plantio de andiroba aportou a maior quantidade de serrapilheira 9,20 Mg ha-1,sendo seguida pelo plantio de sabi\ue1 com 9,06 Mg ha-1 e pela floresta secund\ue1ria espont\ue2nea 7,63 Mg ha-1 por ano. A serapilheira das \ue1reas de plantio de sabi\ue1 e do plantio de andiroba apresentou maiores valores de nitrog\ueanio e f\uf3sforo que a \ue1rea de floresta secund\ue1ria. A velocidade de decomposi\ue7\ue3o da serapilheira foi maior nas \ue1reas de plantio de sabi\ue1 e andiroba, podendo tal comportamento ter sido influenciado pelo maior conte\ufado de nitrog\ueanio na serapilheira. O f\uf3sforo foi o nutriente que apresentou maior velocidade de libera\ue7\ue3o.This study evaluated litter production and decomposition in areas of spontaneous secondary forest, sabi\ue1 (Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth.) and andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.) plantation. For litter contribution evaluation, 10 conical collectors were installed, and the contribution was evaluated from October, 2003 to September, 2004. N, P and K contents were quantified in litter. To evaluate decomposition, rate litter bags method was used. In the andiroba plantation area, it was observed the higher litter amount 9,20 Mg ha-1, followed by the sabia plantation with 9,06 Mg ha-1 and spontaneous secondary forest 7,63 Mg ha-1. Sabi\ue1 and andiroba litter presented larger nitrogen and phosphorus values in relation to the secondary forest area. Litter decomposition rate was faster in sabi\ue1 and andiroba areas. This behavior might be influenced by larger nitrogen content in the litter. Phosphorus was the nutrient that presented the higher liberation rate