Valuing nested names in the Portuguese olive oil market: An exploratory study

The Portuguese olive oil market had a remarkable development in recent years. Production is rising steadily is response to a EU program supporting a renewal of olive groves. Moreover there is a proliferation of national brands and private labels. These are often associated to regional collective labels or to organic production. The aim of our research is to determine how consumers value these nested names or co-brands. We conducted a pilot survey on a convenience sample of 103 consumers in the Oporto and Lisbon metropolitan areas as well in a rural area. Our results reveal some contradictions, for instance while origin is an important purchasing criteria, few PDO olive oils are recognized. Moreover, only 25% of respondents identify organic olive oils sold in the market and this attribute is one of the last purchasing criteria, but organic olive oils have the highest willingness to pay. Finally we find that associating a PDO to private labels increases willingness to pay by 33.3%, but doesn’t affect valuation of national brands. While we can’t take definite conclusions our findings give us interesting cues for future research. Therefore we aim to investigate whether regional identity, alternative usage and health or environmental conscience determine of affect valuation and choices of different olive oils brands and labels.olive oil, nested names, valuation., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital,

Risk Factors Related to Low Ankle-Brachial Index Measured by Traditional and Modified Definition in Hypertensive Elderly Patients

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) increases with age and ankle-brachial index (ABI) ≤ 0.9 is a noninvasive marker of PAD. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors related to a low ABI in the elderly using two different methods of ABI calculation (traditional and modified definition using lower instead of higher ankle pressure). A cross-sectional study was carried out with 65 hypertensive patients aged 65 years or older. PAD was present in 18% of individuals by current ABI definition and in 32% by modified method. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, higher levels of systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure, elevated risk by Framingham Risk Score (FRS), and a higher number of total and antihypertensive drugs in use were associated with low ABI by both definitions. Smoking and LDL-cholesterol were associated with low ABI only by the modified definition. Low ABI by the modified definition detected 9 new cases of PAD but cardiovascular risk had not been considered high in 3 patients when calculated by FRS. In conclusion, given that a simple modification of ABI calculation would be able to identify more patients at high risk, it should be considered for cardiovascular risk prediction in all elderly hypertensive outpatients

Efeitos da associação de um estimulante central com analgesicos no pos operatorio cirurgico

Orientador: Antonio Carlos NederTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de PiracicabaResumo: Foram administradas a 222 pacientes, divididos em grupos de 111 cada um, associações medicamentosas contendo Acido Acetil Salicilico mais Catovit e Novalgina mais Catovit, respectivamente. Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram uma nítida vantagem da associação Novalgina - Catovit sobre a associação Acido Acetil Salicilico - Catovit, devido a interferencia do Acido Acetil Salicilico sobre a cadeia respiratoria celular, diminuindo sua energia¿Observação: O resumo, na íntegra poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digitalAbstract: Medicamental associations containing Acetil Salicilic Acid plus Catovit and Novalgine plus Catovit were administered to 222 patients divided in 111 groups each one, respectively. The results of this research showed a neat advantage of the Novalgine - Catovit Association over the Acetil-Salicilic Acid plus Catovit Association, due to the interference of the Acetil Salicilic Acid upon the celular respiratory chain, decreasing its energy ...Note: The complete abstract is available with the full electronic digital thesis or dissertationsDoutoradoFarmacologiaDoutor em Odontologi

Caracterização fisico-mecanica de misturas de solo, cal e residuo "agua-de-cola"

Orientador: Wesley Jorge FreireTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia AgricolaDoutorad

Perfil do geólogo júnior para o mercado de O&G - uma abordagem direta às empresas operadoras do mercado brasileiro

Este trabalho analisa o perfil do profissional de geologia com experiência de até três anos na indústria de petróleo e gás, tendo as empresas classificadas como Operadoras A (que segundo classificação da Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombústíveis – ANP estão habilitadas a operar em qualquer bloco oferecido nas rodadas de licitações) como foco da pesquisa. As empresas foram abordadas através de entrevistas e aplicação de um questionário com as atribuições do geólogo de petróleo. Através de análise estatísticas sobre os resultados obtidos com o questionário foram identificados quatro perfis profissionais requisitados pelas empresas e listadas as sete principais atribuições do geólogo de petróleo: Mapeamento geológico de subsuperfície; Idioma estrangeiro fluente ou técnico; Qualificações pessoais; Geofísica aplicada à E&P; Interpretação de perfis de poço; Utilização de softwares de geologia; Suporte em operações de poço. O estudo também contou com a participação de instituições do setor de O&G que indicaram um perfil profissional semelhante às empresas operadoras, o que revela uma sinergia entre empresas e instituições do setor. Os crescentes recursos direcionados à pesquisa e desenvolvimento necessitam ser coordenados entre empresas e universidades no sentido de suprir a crescente demanda de recursos humanos especializados necessária ao segmento de exploração e produção de petróleo e gás. A caracterização dos perfis profissionais demandados é de suma importância no direcionamento e otimização dos recursos aplicados em P&D

Socio-technical imaginaries of a circular economy in governmental discourse and among science, technology, and innovation actors: A Norwegian case study

A growing body of research is investigating the connections between the discursive construction of circular economy (CE) and its influences on public policies that promote the socio-technological transition towards circular production and consumption systems. However, surprisingly little attention has focused on how CE discourses interact with science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) actors. To address this gap, this research adopts the prism of socio-technical imaginaries to understand specific visions of circularity in science and innovation, exploring how competing imaginaries mobilize specific actors, institutions, and visions of a greener future. Our empirical material included archival documentation from the Norwegian government and funded research projects on CE. Our analysis identified two key tension points within these imaginaries: “International drivers versus regional and local transition arenas” and “Ecological modernization versus sectoral transformation.” We suggest that tensions are inherent in CE socio-technical imaginaries but are often silenced or minimized by institutional discourses on circularity. Our findings suggest that official CE policy programs tend to minimize or overtly ignore criticisms and contestation that are increasingly raised in academic circles. Our findings indicate the need for increased involvement of ST&I actors and other societal actors (such as NGOs and the private sector) in the CE policymaking process to avoid endless growth as an unexpected CE policy outcome

Retinal nerve fiber evaluation in neuro-ophthalmic diseases of the anterior visual pathway

Retinal nerve fiber evaluation is important in the diagnosis and management of several diseases of the anterior visual pathway. In this report we review the clinical findings and the current techonologies avalilable to analyse the retinal nerve fiber layer. We furthermore review the main findings in several disease of the anterior visual pathways including inflammatory, ischemic, toxics, hereditary, compressive and traumatic optic neuropathies as well as lesion of the optic chiasm, optic tract and lateral geniculate body

The assembly system for the lipopolysaccharide R2 core-type of Escherichia coli is a hybrid of those found in Escherichia coli K-12 and Salmonella enterica. Structure and function of the R2 WaaK and WaaL homologs.

In Escherichia coli F632, the 14-kilobase pair chromosomal region located between waaC (formerly rfaC) and waaA (kdtA) contains genes encoding enzymes required for the synthesis of the type R2 core oligosaccharide portion of lipopolysaccharide. Ten of the 13 open reading frames encode predicted products sharing greater than 90% total similarity with homologs in E. coli K-12. However, the products of waaK (rfaK) and waaL (rfaL) each resemble homologs in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium but share little similarity with E. coli K-12. The F632 WaaK and WaaL proteins therefore define differences between the type R2 and K-12 outer core oligosaccharides of E. coli lipopolysaccharides. Based on the chemical structure of the core oligosaccharide of an E. coli F632 waaK::aacC1 mutant and in vitro glycosyltransferase analyses, waaK encodes UDP-N-acetylglucosamine:(glucose) lipopolysaccharide alpha1, 2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. The WaaK enzyme adds a terminal GlcNAc side branch substituent that is crucial for the recognition of core oligosaccharide acceptor by the O-polysaccharide ligase, WaaL. Results of complementation analyses of E. coli K-12 and F632 waaL mutants suggest that structural differences between the WaaL proteins play a role in recognition of, and interaction with, terminal lipopolysaccharide core moieties

Chromosomal and plasmid-encoded enzymes are required for assembly of the R3-type core oligosaccharide in the lipopolysaccharide of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

The type R3 core oligosaccharide predominates in the lipopolysaccharides from enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli isolates including O157:H7. The R3 core biosynthesis (waa) genetic locus contains two genes, waaD and waaJ, that are predicted to encode glycosyltransferases involved in completion of the outer core. Through determination of the structures of the lipopolysaccharide core in precise mutants and biochemical analyses of enzyme activities, WaaJ was shown to be a UDP-glucose:(galactosyl) lipopolysaccharide alpha-1,2-glucosyltransferase, and WaaD was shown to be a UDP-glucose:(glucosyl)lipopolysaccharide alpha-1,2-glucosyltransferase. The residue added by WaaJ was identified as the ligation site for O polysaccharide, and this was confirmed by determination of the structure of the linkage region in serotype O157 lipopolysaccharide. The initial O157 repeat unit begins with an N-acetylgalactosamine residue in a beta-anomeric configuration, whereas the biological repeat unit for O157 contains alpha-linked N-acetylgalactosamine residues. With the characterization of WaaJ and WaaD, the activities of all of the enzymes encoded by the R3 waa locus are either known or predicted from homology data with a high level of confidence. However, when core oligosaccharide structure is considered, the origin of an additional alpha-1,3-linked N-acetylglucosamine residue in the outer core is unknown. The gene responsible for a nonstoichiometric alpha-1,7-linked N-acetylglucosamine substituent in the heptose (inner core) region was identified on the large virulence plasmids of E. coli O157 and Shigella flexneri serotype 2a. This is the first plasmid-encoded core oligosaccharide biosynthesis enzyme reported in E. coli