Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses: Massachusetts and New England

This report examines the role and impact of immigrant entrepreneurs and workers on Leisure and Hospitality businesses in New England, particularly Massachusetts. A significant portion of state economies in New England, especially in Massachusetts, relies heavily on the employment of the foreign-born. As the native workforce ages and population growth declines, businesses are becoming increasingly dependent upon the availability of the foreign-born. This development has facilitated an increasingly significant presence and role of immigrant entrepreneurs in Leisure and Hospitality businesses that is documented for the first time in this report

Transfer?ncia de tecnologia como agente desenvolvedor da cultura de inova??o na UFMG.

O presente trabalho tem por objeto as pol?ticas de fomento ? transfer?ncia de tecnologias a partir da ?tica da gest?o de patentes, tipo de inova??o das tecnologias desenvolvidas e grau de participa??o empreendedora de docentes. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso em que foi realizada uma an?lise descritiva do N?cleo de Inova??o da UFMG, visando identificar e analisar a pertin?ncia das tecnologias produzidas pela UFMG entre 2012 a 2017. A escolha da UFMG como fonte de dados se deu por esta institui??o apresentar a maior quantidade de patentes registradas no Brasil e tamb?m por se tratar da institui??o a que dois dos pesquisadores est?o afiliados. Os resultados apontam que, investindo em transfer?ncias de tecnologias, a institui??o fomenta a cultura da inova??o, fortalecendo tamb?m a cultura empreendedora e a preocupa??o com a prote??o de tecnologias.This study's purpose is promotion of policies for technology transfer from the perspective of patent management, kind of innovation of technologies developed and degree of entrepreneurial participation of teachers. A case study was carried out in which a descriptive analysis of the Innovation Center of UFMG was carried out to identify and analyze the relevance of the technologies produced by UFMG between 2012 and 2017. The choice of UFMG as data source was given by this institution presents the largest number of patents registered in Brazil and also because it is the institution to which two of the researchers are affiliated. The results show that by investing in technology transfer, the institution fosters a culture of innovation, also strengthening the entrepreneurial culture and concern for the protection technologies

Neural-Based Ensembles and Unorganized Machines to Predict Streamflow Series from Hydroelectric Plants

Estimating future streamflows is a key step in producing electricity for countries with hydroelectric plants. Accurate predictions are particularly important due to environmental and economic impact they lead. In order to analyze the forecasting capability of models regarding monthly seasonal streamflow series, we realized an extensive investigation considering: six versions of unorganized machines—extreme learning machines (ELM) with and without regularization coefficient (RC), and echo state network (ESN) using the reservoirs from Jaeger’s and Ozturk et al., with and without RC. Additionally, we addressed the ELM as the combiner of a neural-based ensemble, an investigation not yet accomplished in such context. A comparative analysis was performed utilizing two linear approaches (autoregressive model (AR) and autoregressive and moving average model (ARMA)), four artificial neural networks (multilayer perceptron, radial basis function, Elman network, and Jordan network), and four ensembles. The tests were conducted at five hydroelectric plants, using horizons of 1, 3, 6, and 12 steps ahead. The results indicated that the unorganized machines and the ELM ensembles performed better than the linear models in all simulations. Moreover, the errors showed that the unorganized machines and the ELM-based ensembles reached the best general performances

Solar Irradiance Forecasting Using Dynamic Ensemble Selection

Solar irradiance forecasting has been an essential topic in renewable energy generation. Forecasting is an important task because it can improve the planning and operation of photovoltaic systems, resulting in economic advantages. Traditionally, single models are employed in this task. However, issues regarding the selection of an inappropriate model, misspecification, or the presence of random fluctuations in the solar irradiance series can result in this approach underperforming. This paper proposes a heterogeneous ensemble dynamic selection model, named HetDS, to forecast solar irradiance. For each unseen test pattern, HetDS chooses the most suitable forecasting model based on a pool of seven well-known literature methods: ARIMA, support vector regression (SVR), multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP), extreme learning machine (ELM), deep belief network (DBN), random forest (RF), and gradient boosting (GB). The experimental evaluation was performed with four data sets of hourly solar irradiance measurements in Brazil. The proposed model attained an overall accuracy that is superior to the single models in terms of five well-known error metrics

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

The development of endomycorrhizal root systems VIII. Effects of soil phosphorus and fungal colonization on the concentration of soluble carbohydrates in roots

Concentrations of phosphorus in shoot and soluble carbohydrates (fructose, glucose, sucrose and fructans) in root were measured in non-mycorrhizal and vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal (Glomus mosseae) leek plants (Allium porrum) raised at six concentrations of soil phosphate. In conditions when an increased concentration of soil phosphate reduced VA mycorrhizal infection, the concentrations of soluble carbohydrates in the root were at a maximum. Therefore the hypothesis that greater concentrations of soluble carbohydrates in roots favour VA mycorrhizal infection is discounted. There was a specific effect of VA mycorrhizas, in that infected roots contained a larger concentration of sucrose than did uninfected roots, in plants with similar phosphorus concentrations in dry matter of shoots. We conclude, first, that increased phosphorus supply from either phosphate addition to soil or VA mycorrhizal infection increases concentration of soluble carbohydrates in leek roots and, secondly, that the VA mycorrhizal root behaves as a particularly strong physiological sink when there is an excess concentration of sucrose in the host

Dissemination and teaching of astronomy and physics through informal approaches.

A Astronomia ? uma das mais antigas ci?ncias naturais, tendo sido desenvolvida por diferentes civiliza??es e com distintos prop?sitos nos ?ltimos mil?nios. No Brasil, v?rios t?picos astron?micos permeiam a educa??o b?sica, tanto em n?vel fundamental quanto m?dio. Somado a isso, nas ?ltimas d?cadas vem crescendo o n?mero de pesquisas e o interesse pela divulga??o cient?fica e pelo ensino em espa?os n?o-formais de educa??o. As atividades educacionais e a divulga??o cient?fica nesse contexto, se bem exploradas, podem contribuir para a socializa??o e a populariza??o de conhecimentos sobre Astronomia. Al?m disso, podem servir de suporte ? forma??o de professores e alunos. Dessa forma, o debate sobre o tema ? importante e deve ser instigado tanto no ?mbito n?o acad?mico quanto no ?mbito da forma??o docente e discente. Frente a isso, um projeto de extens?o da Coordenadoria de F?sica (CODAFIS) do Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais - Campus Ouro Preto (IFMG-OP) foi iniciado em 2011, oferecendo observa??es e atividades sobre Astronomia para a popula??o local e das cidades vizinhas. Desde ent?o, mais de 7.000 pessoas j? participaram das a??es, demonstrando o imenso potencial do tema. As discuss?es sobre Astronomia levam normalmente a discuss?es sobre F?sica, quando conceitos e v?rios outros assuntos podem ser tratados de forma aplicada, fomentando o interesse por esses temas. No entanto, atividades mal elaboradas ou mal desenvolvidas podem gerar rea??es adversas no p?blico, causando resist?ncia com rela??o ao assunto. Assim, esse artigo tem como objetivo principal identificar elementos que podem culminar com a n?o efetividade das atividades de observa??o. Al?m disso, busca-se identificar par?metros que sejam determinantes para o ?xito das a??es, al?m de compartilhar conhecimentos emp?ricos obtidos com o desenvolvimento do projeto e encorajar grupos, acad?micos ou n?o, a desenvolverem atividades astron?micas similares em ambientes formais e n?o-formais de ensino e tamb?m em diferentes regi?es do pa?s.Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences and have been developed by different civilizations and with different purposes in the last millennia. In Brazil, several astronomical topics are teached in basic education, both at the fundamental and medium levels. In addition, the number of researches and activities about scientific dissemination and teaching in non-formal places is increasing. Educational activities and scientific dissemination in this context, if well done, can contribute to the socialization and popularization of astronomy knowledge. Besides that, they can help to improve the knowledge of teachers and students. In this way, the debate on the subject is important and should be instigated both in the non-academic context and in the scope of teacher and student training. In this way, a practical project of the Physics Department (CODAFIS) of the Federal Institute of Minas Gerais - Campus Ouro Preto (IFMG-OP) was started in 2011, offering observations and activities on Astronomy for the local population and neighboring cities. Since then, more than 7,000 people have attended the actions, which shows the large potential of the theme. Astronomy discussions naturally lead to Physics, when concepts and many other subjects can be treated in an applied way. In general, people are more interested in activities in this context than in traditional teaching environments. However, poorly designed or poorly developed activities can generate adverse reactions in the public, leading to dislike on the subject. Thus, this article?s main objective is to identify elements that can culminate with the non-effectiveness of the observation activities. In addition, it seeks to identify parameters that are determinant for the success of the actions, in addition to sharing empirical knowledge obtained with the development of the project and to encourage groups, academic or otherwise, to develop similar astronomical activities in formal and non-formal educational environments and also in different regions of the country

Spatial Evaluation and Modeling of Dengue Seroprevalence and Vector Density in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dengue is a major public health problem in many tropical regions of the world, including Brazil, where Aedes aegypti is the main vector. We present a household study that combines data on dengue fever seroprevalence, recent dengue infection, and vector density, in three neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during its most devastating dengue epidemic to date. This integrated entomological–serological survey showed evidence of silent transmission even during a severe epidemic. Also, past exposure to dengue virus was highly associated with age and living in areas of high movement of individuals and social/commercial activity. No association was observed between household infestation index and risk of dengue infection in these areas. Our findings are discussed in the light of current theories regarding transmission thresholds and relative role of mosquitoes and humans as vectors of dengue viruses