Growth, Inequality and Poverty: Some Empirical Evidence from Minas Gerais State, Brazil

This chapter is motivated by the fact that the Brazilian economy has one of the highest income inequality index in the world. According to Paes de Barros et al(2000), average income of the 10% richest people in Brazil is 28 times higher than the average income of the 40% poorest people. In Argentina, it is 10 times, 13 times in Costa Rica and 5 times in France. Brazilian growth did not benefit all classes and inequality is increasing since the 60´s. While the 10% richest people get 48% of total income, the 10% poorest people get 0,8% of total income. The inequality problem also arises in the Brazilian regional income analysis. Minas Gerais is a rich and dynamic state with 300.000 km2 divided into 10 different regions, 66 microregions and 853 towns. It is located in the Southeast developed part of the country and is responsible for 10% of Brazilian GDP. As the rest of Brazil, it has a dual economy with prosperity and poverty and social and economic heterogeneity. This chapter empirically analyses the economic growth and income inequality behavior in Minas Gerais towns and microregions from 1970 to 2000, using the income convergence hypothesis. Convergence tests such as Barro and Sala-i-Martin(1992), σ- convergence, Drennan & Lobo(1999) and Quah(1993) are performed. The role of human capital in growth is analysed for Minas Gerais 66 microregions. A comparison is also made between very rich regions and very poor regions of this state to see the relationship between regional inequality and poverty.

New entomological and virological data on the vectors of sylvatic yellow fever in Brazil

Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération. Belém, PA, Brasil / Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.O presente trabalho enfatiza resultados recentes sobre eco-epidemiologia da febre amarela, obtidos em duas localidades ecologicamente muito diferentes: Barcarena (PA), situada na floresta amazônica densa, e a região de Campo Grande (MS), coberta de cerrado atravessado por florestas de galeria na região Centro-oeste. No primeiro local foi isolada uma amostra a partir de um lote de 6 Haemagogus janthinomys. Na região de Campo Grande, 2. 480 mosquitos antropófilos foram coletados, dos quais cerca de 40% eram vetores potenciais da FA. Essas espécies, classificadas por ordem decrescente de abundãncia, eram: Ae. scapularis, Sa. chloropterus, Hg. janthinomys, Hg. leucocelaenus, Hg. spegazinii e Sa. soperi. Quatro amostras de FA foram isolados a partir de Hg. janthinomys, uma de Sa. chloropterus (primeiro registro na América do Sul), e uma de Sa. soperi (primeiro registro). As taxas mínimas de infecção variaram segundo os locais coleta, mas foram sempre alta comparação com dados anteriores. A taxa média de sobrevivência diária do Hg. janthinomys é igual a 0,9635, permitindo estimar o seu valor na ocasião em que os caso humanos mais recentes foram provavelmente contaminados. deduziu-se que as epizootias foram muito intensas e mais ou menos simultâneas nos dois locais considerados. O maior problema a ser resolvido é o modo de re-introdução do vírus, ou sua sobreviv~encia, em cada região sob estudo

Дискусійні питання історії ЗУНР

У статті аналізуються питання, які все ще залишаються в історіографії Західноукраїнської Народної Республіки. Автор звертає увагу на контроверсійні точки зору щодо революційних подій, які відбулися 1 листопада 1918 р. у Львові, стосовно часу існування ЗУНР, Акту злуки УНР та ЗУНР, причин поразки Української Галицької армії тощо.The author of the article analyses the questions that are still disputable in modern Ukrainian historiography. The author attracts our attention to the controversial points of view concerning the type of revolutionary events which took place on the 1 st of November 1918 in Lviv, concerning the time of WUPR existence, concerning the Act of Unification of Western Ukrainian People’s Republic end Ukrainian People’s Republic , concerning the reasons of the defeat of Ukrainian army, etc

Social Work Student Interests in Rural Practice

This study of BSW and MSW students (N = 122) in the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University reports student attitudes, concerns and interest in rural social work practice and rural social work practice curriculum. Strong support for rural social work practice and concomitant rural curriculum was evidenced by 93% who believed that social workers should practice in rural areas and 22% who ideally want to practice only in a rural community. Originally conceptualized and conducted to gather background data in support of a rural social work practice curriculum minor, its broader implications for rural social work practice curriculum are reported and discussed. Special attention is paid to implications for social work educational programs in rural states

Plasticità delle cellule endocrine dell’isola del Langerhans di pazienti con diabete di tipo 2

L\u2019isola pancreatica mantiene, anche nell\u2019adulto, una incredibile plasticit\ue0 e capacit\ue0 di modificarsi in risposta ad una crescente richiesta metabolica o dopo un severo danneggiamento delle popolazioni endocrine, come avviene nel diabete di tipo 1 e di tipo 2 (DT2). Particolarmente interessante \ue8 il processo di transdifferenziamento che si osserva tra cellule endocrine pancreatiche. Consiste nella conversione da un tipo cellulare endocrino non-beta verso quello beta, attraverso un processo di riprogrammazione. E\u2019 stato chiaramente identificato in modelli animali di diabete ma la sua presenza nell\u2019uomo e i meccanismi alla base di questo processo devono ancora essere dimostratati. Obiettivo dello studio \ue8 stato quello di valutare modificazione nella composizione e nell\u2019architettura dell\u2019isola in pazienti con diabete di DT2 e di verificare l\u2019esistenza di un possibile processo di transdifferenziamento tra cellule endocrine pancreatiche umane. Lo studio \ue8 stato condotto su sezioni di pancreas di 12 soggetti controllo (7M/5F, et\ue0 69\ub17 anni) e 14 soggetti con DT2 (8M/ 6F; et\ue0 66.4\ub110.34 anni). Le sezioni sono state colorate con anticorpi diretti contro i diversi ormoni e analizzate mediante microscopia confocale e analisi morfometrica. I nostri dati mostrano che l\u2019isola del Langerhans, in pazienti con DT2, va incontro a un rimodellamento caratterizzato da un progressiva riduzione dell\u2019area e della densit\ue0 cellulare dell\u2019isola (riduzione del 27\ub15% e del 15\ub17.9%, rispettivamente. P<0.05) per aumentata apoptosi di cellule beta e delta e amiloidosi. Per quanto riguarda le diverse popolazioni dell\u2019isola abbiamo evidenziato una diminuzione significativa delle cellule beta e delta e un aumento delle cellule co-esprimenti insulina e glucagone (valutata mediante indice di colocalizzazione) suggerendo l\u2019esistenza di un processo di transdifferenziamento tra cellule endocrine dell\u2019isola. L\u2019indice di colocalizzazione correla in modo negativo con l\u2019area delle cellule beta e risulta essere particolarmente elevato in pazienti sotto terapia insulinica, suggerendo una severa disfunzione dell\u2019isola. La comprensione dei meccanismi molecolari alla base di questo processo di transdifferenziamento potrebbe essere di estrema importanza per lo sviluppo di terapie mirate al controllo della progressione del DT2

Neurolysin knockout mice generation and initial phenotype characterization

The oligopeptidase neurolysin (EC 3.4.24.16; Nln) was first identified in rat brain synaptic membranes and shown to ubiquitously participate in the catabolism of bioactive peptides such as neurotensin and bradykinin. Recently, it was suggested that Nln reduction could improve insulin sensitivity. Here, we have shown that Nln knockout mice (KO) have increased glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and gluconeogenesis. KO mice have increased liver mRNA for several genes related to gluconeogenesis. Isotopic label semi-quantitative peptidomic analysis suggests increase in specific intracellular peptides in gastrocnemius and epididymal adipose tissue, which likely is involved with the increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in the KO mice. These results suggest the exciting new possibility that Nln is a key enzyme for energy metabolism and could be a novel therapeutic target to improve glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity

Exenatide regulates pancreatic islet integrity and insulin sensitivity in the nonhuman primate baboon Papio hamadryas.

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist exenatide improves glycemic control by several and not completely understood mechanisms. Herein, we examined the effects of chronic intravenous exenatide infusion on insulin sensitivity, β cell and α cell function and relative volumes, and islet cell apoptosis and replication in nondiabetic nonhuman primates (baboons). At baseline, baboons received a 2-step hyperglycemic clamp followed by an l-arginine bolus (HC/A). After HC/A, baboons underwent a partial pancreatectomy (tail removal) and received a continuous exenatide (n = 12) or saline (n = 12) infusion for 13 weeks. At the end of treatment, HC/A was repeated, and the remnant pancreas (head-body) was harvested. Insulin sensitivity increased dramatically after exenatide treatment and was accompanied by a decrease in insulin and C-peptide secretion, while the insulin secretion/insulin resistance (disposition) index increased by about 2-fold. β, α, and δ cell relative volumes in exenatide-treated baboons were significantly increased compared with saline-treated controls, primarily as the result of increased islet cell replication. Features of cellular stress and secretory dysfunction were present in islets of saline-treated baboons and absent in islets of exenatide-treated baboons. In conclusion, chronic administration of exenatide exerts proliferative and cytoprotective effects on β, α, and δ cells and produces a robust increase in insulin sensitivity in nonhuman primates