The Rise and Halt of Economic Development in Brazil, 1945-2004: Industrial Catching-up, Institutional Innovation and Financial Fragility

development, catch-up, institutions

Energy of bond defects in quantum spin chains obtained from local approximations and from exact diagonalization

We study the influence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic bond defects on the ground-state energy of antiferromagnetic spin chains. In the absence of translational invariance, the energy spectrum of the full Hamiltonian is obtained numerically, by an iterative modification of the power algorithm. In parallel, approximate analytical energies are obtained from a local-bond approximation, proposed here. This approximation results in significant improvement upon the mean-field approximation, at negligible extra computational effort.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Manuscript accepted by Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, special issue for LAWMMM 2007 conferenc

Interleukin-21 expanded NKDC in vitro reduces the B16F10 tumor growth in vivo

AbstractInnate immunity to tumors is mediated mainly by natural killer cells (NKs) and dendritic cells (DCs). The function of these cells is coordinated by cytokines produced during the inflammatory process. NK cells are highly active against tumors, being an important source of IFN-γ. Natural killer dendritic cells (NKDCs) were recently identified as a group of hybrid cells; some studies claim that they have lytic activity, produce IFN-γ and can also stimulate antigen-specific T cells. Interleukin 21 (IL-21) regulates the proliferation capacity and cytotoxicity of NK and T cells. The main objective of this study was to investigate if IL-21 influences the frequency of NKDCs in vitro as well as IFN-γ production and also to verify if these cells could enhance the antitumor activity against B16F10 tumor model in vivo. Splenocytes from C57BL/6 mice were isolated and the DC were enriched by immunomagnetic beads and cultured for four days with recombinant IL-21 (10, 20, 40 or 100ng/ml). NKDC population was characterized as CD11clow/medB220+NK1.1+. Expanded cells were used to treat B16F10 tumor bearing mice and tumor growth was compared between the doses of IL-21 10ng/ml and 20ng/ml. The results indicate that IL-21 increases the expansion of splenic NKDCs in vitro in doses of 10ng/ml and 20ng/ml and these cells produce IFN-γ. In vivo, cells expanded with IL-21 and injected directly into the growing tumor efficiently reduced the tumor size. Together, these results showed for the first time that IL-21 influences the biology and the effector activity of NKDCs

Development of a first-contact protocol to guide assessment of adult patients in rehabilitation services networks

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the development of the Protocol for Identification of Problems for Rehabilitation (PLPR), a tool to standardize collection of functional information based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROTOCOL: The PLPR was developed for use during the initial contact with adult patients within a public network of rehabilitation services. Steps to develop the protocol included: survey of the ICF codes most used by clinical professionals; compilation of data from functional instruments; development and pilot testing of a preliminary version in the service settings; discussion with professionals and development of the final version. The final version includes: user identification; social and health information; brief functional description (BFD); summary of the BFD; and PLPR results. Further testing of the final version will be conducted. CONCLUSIONS: The protocol standardizes the first contact between the user and the rehabilitation service. Systematic use of the protocol could also help to create a functional database that would allow comparisons between rehabilitation services and countries over time

Factors associated with walking, moderate and vigorous physical activities in adolescents

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between a set of variables (adolescents' gender, age, economic level, nutritional status, and fathers' educational level) and physical activity practices. The sample consisted of 578 students from a public school, aged between 11 and 16 years. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, version 8, short form) was applied in order to measure their physical activity practices. Chi-square, independent t test and one-way ANOVA were implemented. Thirteen percent of adolescents were physically inactive and no significant difference was found between gender (p > .05). Compared to boys, girls spent more time in walking (p = .019) and vigorous activities (p = .017). Adolescents aged 14-16 years spent more time in walking compared with those aged 11-12 years (p = .026) and 13-year-olds (p = .006). There was a positive association between economic level and time spent in moderate physical activity (p = .034)

Ruminal Degradability Of Agro-industrial Fruit Residues

The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and ruminal degradability of the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of fruit residues. Three fistulated sheep were held collectively in a pen, and fed daily with the studied residues in a diet consisting of canarana grass (Echinochloa pyramidalis) and a concentrate of corn and soybeans. The animals were allowed an adjustment period of seven days. The residues were dried in the sun, crushed in a forage machine, sorted using a 4.0-mm sieve, and incubated for 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h using nonwoven bags (weight 60g/m2, 14 ×12 cm2). Chemical analyses of the residues were performed using a randomized block experimental design with split plots. The cherimoya and tamarind residues showed the highest concentrations of CP (12.66% and 11.79%) the ether extract of cherimoya residue was the highest at 22.30%stands out the sour soup residue. The cashew and guava residues showed the highest levels of lignin (22.13 and 18.34%). The effective degradability of DM for the pineapple and tamarind residues to a passage rate of 5%/h were 53.04% and 42.61%, respectively. The guava, cherimoya, and cashew residues showed lower values at 19.16%, 26.86%, and 29.21%, respectively. The cherimoya, guava and pineapple residues showed the highest values of potential degradability for CP at 87%, 81%, 86.02% and 90.94%, respectively, with an average effective degradability of 50.0% at the rate of 5%/h. The pineapple (35.38%) and tamarind residues (34.49%) showed higher values of the effective degradability of NDF at a passage rate of 5%/h. Among the studied residues, the pineapple residue showed the greatest potential for use in animal feed based on chemical composition and rates of degradability.37127929

Levantamento Epidemiológico dos Usuários de Antidepressivos Tricíclicos em Quatro Drogarias na Cidade de Rubiataba – Go no Período de 2009 A 2011

A depressão é um processo patológico que acomete a população em geral, ela consiste em vários sintomas como: melancolia, sono, angústia, desejo suicídio, medo, desesperança, baixa estima entre outros sintomas. Devido a importância desta patologia este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a dispensação dos antidepressivos tricíclicos em quatro drogarias na cidade de RUBIATABA-GO, através do estudo quantitativo de aspecto descritivo. No presente estudo observou-se que Amitriptilina 25mg corresponde a 55% das vendas e o Cloridrato de Nortriptilina a 1%, notou-se também que dos usuários 67% são do gênero feminino e 33% para o gênero masculino, percebe-se que houve um aumento significativo na dispensação destes medicamentos no período de 2009 a 2011.O estudo demostra que a depressão tem aumentado anualmente por diversos fatores..   Palavras chaves: Depressão, Antidepressivos tricíclicos, sintomas e dispensação.Abstract Depression is a disease process that affects the general population, it consists of various symptoms such as: melancholy, sleep, anxiety, suicidal desire, fear, hopelessness, low self-esteem among other symptoms. Given the importance of this disease this study is to evaluate the dispensation of tricyclic antidepressants in four drugstores in the city of  Rubiataba-GO, through quantitative study of descriptive aspect. In the present study it was observed that Amitriptyline 25mg corresponds to 55% of sales and Nortriptyline Hydrochloride 1% was noted also that 67% of users are female and 33% for males, it is perceived that there was a significant increase in the dispensing of these drugs in the period from 2009 to 2011. The study shows that depression has increased annually by several factors. Keywords: Depression, Tricyclic antidepressants, symptoms and dispensatio