Substantive rationality of impression management:an analysis of corporate reports of JBS

Objective: To investigate the substantive rationality inherent to the practice of impression management (IM). Originality/value:Based on the taxonomy created by Merkl-Davies and Brennan (2011), it is analyzed: 1. the discussion under the sociological perspective; and 2. the actions of substantive rationality in the management of impressions that can manifest through actions of symbolic management. This study responds to the call of Merkl-Davies et al. (2011) by putting into practice an unconventional analytical model based on the use of the corporate reports (annual and sustainability) of the company JBS with special attention to the “Carne Fraca” [Weak Meat] Operation. Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis of the accounting narratives of JBS’ corporate reports between 2015 and 2018 was carried out.Findings: Accounting narratives suggest evidence of IM and substantive rationality. The preparers of the corporate reports used substantive rationality to legitimize the company’s actions, with the most significant manifestations of this practice in the 2017 report, the year of the “Carne Fraca” operation. The implications of this research lie in demonstrating evidence that guides companies regarding the use of accounting narratives to convince society of their actions as consistent with the structure of social rules and norms. Furthermore, we emphasize that the accounting narratives must be analyzed with caution since they can be elaborated under the influence of the manager’s opportunistic behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a novel micro-assay for evaluation of peroxyl radical scavenger capacity: Application to carotenoids and structure–activity relationship

AbstractA micro-assay was developed and validated, using a microplate reader in 96-well format, C11–BODIPY581/591 as fluorescent probe and AIBN as ROO generator. The structure–activity relationship was established for 15 carotenoid standards, indicating that the opening of the β-ionone ring and the increase of chromophore extension in the carotenoid structure were the major factors leading to the increase of ROO scavenging capacity. The values for ROO scavenging capacity were calculated using α-tocopherol as reference compound. Among the studied carotenoids, all-trans-lycopene was the most efficient ROO scavenger (8.67±0.74) followed by all-trans-astaxanthin (6.50±0.62). All the carotenoids showed to be more effective ROO scavengers than α-tocopherol and some hydrophilic compounds. Finally, the method was successfully applied to assay the ROO scavenging capacity of carotenoid extracts from two Amazonian fruits, peach palm (7.83±0.21) and mamey (6.90±0.44)

Photon-number-resolving segmented avalanche-photodiode detectors

We investigate the feasibility and performance of photon-number-resolved photodetection employing avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with low dark counts. The main idea is to split n photons over m modes such that every mode has no more than one photon, which is detected alongside propagation by an APD. We characterize performance by evaluating the purities of positive-operator-valued measurements (POVMs), in terms of APD number and photon loss.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, submitted for publicatio

Intranasal fosphenytoin: the promise of phosphate esters in nose-to-brain delivery of poorly soluble drugs

Intranasal administration could increase both safety and efficacy of drugs acting on the central nervous system, but low solubility severely limits administration through this route. Phenytoin’s prodrug, fosphenytoin, is hydrophilic and freely soluble in water, but less permeable since it is dianionic. We aimed to assess whether this phosphoester prodrug could be a suitable alternative to phenytoin in intranasal delivery. Secondly, we aimed to compare simple formulation strategies in fosphenytoin delivery. Fosphenytoin formulations containing thermosensitive and/or mucoadhesive (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, HPMC) polymers were developed, guided by viscosity, gelling temperatures, osmolality, and in vitro drug release tests. Then, a pharmacokinetic study was performed, comparing an intravenous fosphenytoin solution, an intranasal fosphenytoin solution, and intranasal fosphenytoin mucoadhesive formulations with or without albumin. Formulations containing HPMC allowed high drug strengths, and had a relatively fast release profile, which was not changed by albumin. Intranasal administration of a formulation with HPMC and albumin prolonged drug concentration over time and led to complete or even increased absolute bioavailability. Moreover, phenytoin’s blood levels did not reach the high peak obtained with intravenous administration. In conclusion, the use of phosphate ester prodrugs could be an efficient and safe strategy to increase the intranasal bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs.European Regional Development funds through the Operational Programme “Centro 2020”, through the ICON project (Interdisciplinary Challenges On Neurodegeneration, reference CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000013).info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Nanoemulsions and thermosensitive nanoemulgels of phenytoin and fosphenytoin for intranasal administration: Formulation development and in vitro characterization

Phenytoin is a low solubility anticonvulsant drug. It has, nonetheless, other possible therapeutic indications, such as neuropathic pain, including trigeminal neuralgia, or wound healing. Its use has decreased due to side effects, but nasal/intranasal administration could significantly increase drug safety and efficacy. The aim of this work was to develop and study nanoemulsions and thermosensitive nanoemulgels of phenytoin and fosphenytoin, in combination, for intranasal administration, with immediate and sustained release profiles. Nanoemulsions were prepared by adding the aqueous phase, containing gelling polymers in the case of nanoemulgels, to emulsion preconcentrates, followed, in the optimized procedure, by premix membrane emulsification. Formulation design and optimization was guided by drug strength, rheological behavior, osmolality, mean droplet size and polydispersity. Fosphenytoin interfered significantly with Carbopol but not with Pluronic's gelation, and allowed to achieve drug strengths equivalent to 22 or 27 mg/g of phenytoin in lead nanoemulsions, and 16.7 mg/g of phenytoin in the lead nanoemulgel. The final selected low viscosity nanoemulsions had an immediate or prolonged fosphenytoin release profile, depending of anhydrous phase proportion (10% or 40%, respectively). The thermosensitive nanoemulgel, with 10% anhydrous phase, showed prolonged drug release. Future studies will establish whether they are more suited for topical effects or therapeutic brain delivery.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Expanding our knowledge on African trypanosomes of the subgenus <i>Pycnomonas</i>:A novel Trypanosoma suis-like in tsetse flies, livestock and wild ruminants sympatric with Trypanosoma suis in Mozambique

Among the subgenera of African tsetse-transmitted trypanosomes pathogenic to livestock, the least known is the subgenus Pycnomonas, which contains a single species, Trypanosoma suis (TSU), a pathogen of domestic pigs first reported in 1905 and recently rediscovered in Tanzania and Mozambique. Analysis by Fluorescent Fragment Length Barcoding (FFLB) revealed an infection rate of 20.3% (108 out of 530 tsetse flies) in a recent study in the Gorongosa and Niassa wildlife reserves in Mozambique, and demonstrated two groups of Pycnomonas trypanosomes: one (14.1%, 75 flies) showing an FFLB profile identical to the reference TSU from Tanzania, and the other (6.2%, 33 flies) differing slightly from reference TSU and designated Trypanosoma suis-like (TSU-L). Phylogenetic analyses tightly clustered TSU and TSU-L from Mozambique with TSU from Tanzania forming the clade Pycnomonas positioned between the subgenera Trypanozoon and Nannomonas. Our preliminarily exploration of host ranges of Pycnomonas trypanosomes revealed TSU exclusively in warthogs while TSU-L was identified, for the first time for a member of the subgenus Pycnomonas, in ruminants (antelopes, Cape buffalo, and in domestic cattle and goats). The preferential blood meal sources of tsetse flies harbouring TSU and TSU-L were wild suids, and most of these flies concomitantly harboured the porcine trypanosomes T. simiae, T. simiae Tsavo, and T. godfreyi. Therefore, our findings support the link of TSU with suids while TSU-L remains to be comprehensively investigated in these hosts. Our results greatly expand our knowledge of the diversity, hosts, vectors, and epidemiology of Pycnomonas trypanosomes. Due to shortcomings of available molecular diagnostic methods, a relevant cohort of trypanosomes transmitted by tsetse flies to ungulates, especially suids, has been neglected or most likely misidentified. The method employed in the present study enables an accurate discrimination of trypanosome species and genotypes and, hence, a re-evaluation of the “lost” subgenus Pycnomonas and of porcine trypanosomes in general, the most neglected group of African trypanosomes pathogenic to ungulates.Brazilian grants from the PROAFRICA program (CNPq) and FAPESP (Process no 2016/07487-0). CMFR and HAG are postdoctoral fellows of CNPq (INCT-EpiAmo) and FAPESP (Process no 2016./03028-1)http://www.elsevier.com/locate/meegidhj2020Veterinary Tropical Disease

Potentialities of the extraction technologies and use of bioactive compounds from winery by-products: a review from a circular bioeconomy perspective

Agro-industrial by-products and by-products from the wine industry (pomace, peels, leaves, stems, and seeds) represent a potential economic interest because they are usually relevant natural sources of bioactive compounds, which may present significant biological activities related to human health and well-being. This article aims to review wine and winery industry by-products as potential natural sources of antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiaging, and anticancer compounds, as well as briefly highlighting the extraction methods used to obtain these bioactive compounds and explore their potential applications in the food, cosmetic, and packaging industries. Although there are some studies of wine industry by-products with different origins, this revision will be mainly focused on the Portuguese vineyard industry since it represents an import industrial sector as proof of the diversity of the bioactive compounds identified. Therefore, the recovery of these bioactive molecules that act as antioxidants and health-promoting agents may promote a variety of industries at the same time as the circular economy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

No visit, no interest: How COVID-19 has affected public interest in world's national parks

The use of digital content has become a powerful tool to evaluate and track macro-scale trends in human-nature relations. This is an emerging field of study known as conservation culturomics, that seeks to understand human culture through quantitative analysis in large bodies of digital content. Here, we used relative search volume on Google Search as a culturomic metric of public interest to investigate the global impact of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on national parks (NPs). Specifically, we focus on the impacts of limiting people?s mobility (through social isolation and lock-down measures) on public interest in NPs, since this is likely to have a strong causal relationship with park visitation. We generated public interest data for 2411 NPs from around the world for the period January 2016 to July 2020, to explore the relationship between relative search volume and periods of greater and lesser mobility restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed a global trend of declining public interest in national parks during the initial phase of the coronavirus pandemic, although there was considerable variation between both parks and countries. For example, contrary to the global trend public interest in NPs increased in Finland during the first lock-down. Significantly, countries whose national parks are highly dependent on international visitors (e.g., South Africa and India) had very severe declines in public interest. Our study reinforces the key role that visitation plays in driving public interest in national parks and illustrates the utility of culturomic methods for monitoring human-park interactions at scale.Peer reviewe

Characteristics of Dysphagia in Infants with Microcephaly Caused by Congenital Zika Virus Infection, Brazil, 2015.

We summarize the characteristics of dysphagia in 9 infants in Brazil with microcephaly caused by congenital Zika virus infection. The Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, and the videofluoroscopic swallowing study were used as noninstrumental and instrumental assessments. All infants had a degree of neurologic damage and showed abnormalities in the oral phase. Of the 9 infants, 8 lacked oral and upper respiratory tract sensitivity, leading to delays in initiation of the pharyngeal phase of swallowing. Those delays, combined with marked oral dysfunction, increased the risk for aspiration of food, particularly liquid foods. Dysphagia resulting from congenital Zika virus syndrome microcephaly can develop in infants >3 months of age and is severe