Towards the Assessment of an Ecological Index for Quantifying Sustainability of Day Life. A Case Study of the Environmental Consequences of Dietary and Transport in a Standard Workday

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Zinc Deficiency in Fetal Development: A Systematic Review

Visão geral e objetivos: O zinco é um micronutriente essencial para muitos processos no organismo. A deficiência de zinco (DZn) é uma condição prevalente e a DZn materna, antes e durante a gravidez, interfere com o crescimento e desenvolvimento fetal, estando intimamente relacionada com malformações congénitas. O nosso objetivo é avaliar o efeito da DZn materna durante a gravidez no desenvolvimento fetal. Desenho de estudo, População e Métodos: Realizámos uma revisão sistemática dos dados que associam a DZn materna e malformações fetais com pesquisas nas bases de dados PubMed, Web of Science e Scopus. Um total de 10 estudos foi incluído nesta análise, sendo oito estudos animais e dois estudos realizados em humanos. Resultados: Todos os estudos reportaram uma associação entre a DnZ materna, embriões deformados e atraso no crescimento embrionário, mas apenas um forneceu o valor dos níveis séricos normais de zinco. Em condições deficitárias, quatro estudos encontraram fetos de reduzidas dimensões, sacos vitelinos com circulações pobres, anomalias placentárias e problemas na rotação dos embriões. Cinco estudos reportaram malformações esqueléticas, cardíacas e defeitos do tubo neural. Um estudo demonstrou relação entre ciclos de alimentação dos animais sob dietas pobres em zinco e a incidência de anomalias congénitas. Além disso, um outro estudo revelou um aumento de microvilosidades na superfície de células de embriões deficientes em zinco, bem como a presença de protuberâncias nas membranas plasmáticas. Conclusões: A prevalência da DZn varia muito na literatura devido à ausência de um valor padronizado e às diferenças existentes entre países. A DZn materna influencia gravemente o desenvolvimento embrionário. No entanto, uma investigação mais aprofundada sobre o impacto da DZn em humanos seria benéfica para confirmar e compreender melhor estes resultados.Overview and Aims: Zinc is an essential micronutrient for many processes in human body. Zinc Deficiency (ZnD) is a prevalent condition and maternal ZnD before and during pregnancy interferes with fetal growth and development. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of maternal ZnD during pregnancy on the development of the fetus. Study Design, Population and Methods: A systematic review of the published data on the association of maternal ZnD and fetal malformations was carried out by searching on PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases. A total of 10 studies were included in this review, eight been animal studies and two human studies. Results: All the studies reported the association between maternal ZnD and deformed embryos and embryonic growth retardation, but only one provided the cut-off value of normal serum zinc levels. Under ZnD conditions, four studies found smaller fetuses, poor yolk sac circulations, placental abnormalities, and problems in the rotation of the embryos. Five studies reported skeletal, heart and neural tube defects. One study shows the relation between feeding cycles of animals under ZnD diets and the incidence of congenital anomalies. Also, one study reported an increased surface microvilli in ZnD embryos cells, as well as the presence of blebbing. Conclusions: Prevalence of ZnD varies greatly in the literature due to the absence of standardized ZnD value and to differences existing between countries around the world. Maternal ZnD severely influences the embryofetal development. Nonetheless, further investigation regarding the impact of ZnD in humans would be beneficial to confirm and better comprehend these results

Putting Retirement at Risk: Has Financial Risk Exposure Grown More Quickly for Older Households than Younger Ones?

Financial markets have been characterized by boom and bust cycles since the 1980s, while the responsibility for managing retirement wealth has increasingly shifted onto individual households at the same time. Policymakers and experts have expressed concern over rising risk exposure among older households, who appear to be increasingly exposed to the growing financial risks just as they near retirement. We consider household data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances from 1989 to 2010 to analyze the correlation between age and risk exposure. We test if older households’ risk exposure has indeed grown over time, if it has increased more than that of younger households, if changes in the demographic composition of older households have contributed to older households’ rising risk exposure and the degree to which increases in risk exposure can be traced to a growing concentration of household assets held in stocks and housing and to rising household indebtedness. Our results indicate that risk exposure has grown more for older household than for younger ones, that demographic changes among older households have contributed to additional increases in older households’ risk exposure and that the growth of older households’ risk exposure is driven more by rising risky asset concentration and less by greater indebtedness

Growth of the Spanish Multinational in Latin America during the 1990s

During the 1990s, Spain changed from a net recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) to one of the most important investors in Latin America. Fieldwork in this article identifies trends and directions of Spanish acquisitions, with an emphasis on the 1990 to 2001 period. An overview of the emergence of the Spanish MNC is followed by statistical analysis of their competitive (i.e. ownership) advantage as measured by the relative strength of market size, wage differentials and cultural affinity. This analysis helped in explaining the link between strategic decisions of the Spanish MNCs and their choice of geography and industrial sector. Empirical analysis finds Spanish MNCs responded to privatisation opportunities and to gain access to specific foreign markets rather than to an attempt to create global export platforms.Latin America; FDI; Spanish MNC; Dunning

Organic Waste Management and Circular Bioeconomy: A Literature Review Comparison between Latin America and the European Union

The authors appreciate the support of the research group RNM-197 (Environmental Management and Technology) of the University of Granada. We are grateful to four anonymous referees for their comments and useful discussions.Worldwide, organic waste represents one of the most significant shares in the waste management system. Within the framework of circular bioeconomy, new and cutting-edge infrastructure has been developed at the European level to turn organic waste into valuable resources. The present paper aims to provide an exhaustive comparison between the European Union and Latin America regarding organic waste valorization. To this end, an introductive analysis about the state of the art circular bioeconomy in Latin America and Caribbean countries was developed. Subsequently, a systematic literature review in the context of South and Central America was conducted to detect differences and similarities in technologies and best practices for treating biowaste. The results show that the Latin American region is home to numerous bio-based infrastructures: biogas recovery, composting facilities and bioremediation strategies. Nevertheless, a conclusive remark underlines that some social, economic and political barriers are still encountered in the region, and therefore, new and locally-based studies are of paramount importance.Environmental Management and Technology) of University of Granada RNM-19

Neural network pricing of american put options

In this paper we use neural networks (NN), a machine learning method, to price American put options. We propose two distinct NN models – a simple one and a more complex one. The performance of two NN models is compared to the popular Least-Square Monte Carlo Method (LSM). This study relies on market American put option prices, with four large US companies as underlying – Bank of America Corp (BAC), General Motors (GM), Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Procter and Gamble Company (PG). Our dataset includes all options traded from December 2018 to March 2019. All methods show a good accuracy, however, once calibrated, NNs do better in terms of execution time and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). Although on average both NN models perform better than LSM, the simpler model (NN model 1) performs quite close to LSM. On the other hand our NN model 2 substantially outperforms the other models, having a RMSE ca. 40% lower than that of the LSM. The lower RMSE is consistent across all companies, strike levels and maturities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Media and the (im)permeability of public sphere to gender

We cannot continue to look at public sphere as a space of privileged, following an Habermasian logic. In this sense, an idealized definition of public sphere is created drawings upon equality opportunities and upon its intervenient rationalism, where the author clearly tries to retrieve Kantian sense of freedom. However, he focuses on male power holders and citizens’ participation. Moreover, public sphere is nowadays marked by multiple positions and actors that magnify its interactions. We are particularly interested on the uses of public sphere on media by its transformative capacity and the swell of a democratic space for every individuals. The breach of this sphere and its consequent fragmentation has functioned almost paradoxically: on one hand it allows subjects to position themselves and to take a stand but, on the other hand, it reinforces status quo, depriving other subjects from public sphere agency. This discursive (im)permeability carried out by the media against certain groups and individuals has raised debate in many areas. Feminist critique’s legacy has been extremely relevant to this public sphere conceptual evolution and reformulation, contributing to a more plural and equality conceptualization; one that is truly close to citizens and its idiosyncrasies. Feminist critique to Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere comes, first of all, from the recognition of women’s exclusion, as well as of other specific social groups, from figuring in society and from having an active part, therefore excluding them from democratic citizenship. The role of media, however, does not seem easy, as it is one of the privileged vehicles for information dissemination playing an important contribution to citizenship. Yet, in this junction there are diverse social actors that intend to enroll public decision-making. We know that public opinion is shaped mainly by parameters that prioritize some discourses over others, giving them more prominence and power. By highlighting these discourses, assigning greater emphasis to certain themes and people, media equally contribute to the formation and delimitation of public sphere boundaries. In this complex relationship established, and based on a critical feminist outlook, we intend with this paper to question the existence of a single public sphere or of several ones, and to question how far are mainstream media (im)permeable to emancipatory and resistance discourses. Finally, we will question, as well, how does public sphere and democracy notions articulate themselves with the increasing individualism promotion taking place in Western societies.This paper was developed under the scope of the research project “Gender in focus: social representations in Portuguese generalist newsmagazines [Género em foco: representações sociais nas revistas portuguesas de informação generalista]” (PTDC/CCI-COM/114182/2009) funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation). Project website: http://www.lasics.uminho.pt/genfo

Design de mobiliário em contexto de estágio na Brasão De La Espada: reinterpretação da cadeira portuguesa em madeira maciça

O Design e engenharia são áreas fundamentais do processo de desenvolvimento de produto, que tem vindo a evoluir cada vez mais para uma área multidisciplinar e de equipa. A presente dissertação resume as atividades desenvolvidas ao longo do estágio curricular na Brasão De La Espada. O estágio permitiu a integração na equipa de desenvolvimento de produto da empresa, proporcionando o desenvolvimento de projetos e tarefas aplicados a um contexto real de indústria, contemplando essencialmente a fase de projeto de detalhe. Paralelamente a estas atividades, foi desenvolvido um projeto autoproposto que surgiu de uma oportunidade de intervenção encontrada no decorrer do estágio. O objetivo do projeto visa promover a cultura local portuguesa, através de um produto que corresponda aos valores e padrões de qualidade da empresa. Neste contexto surge a reinterpretação da cadeira portuguesa, uma referência icónica do design português do século XX. O desafio do projeto passou pela adaptação do processo construtivo a novos materiais: madeira maciça e vime. Pretende-se assim que esta reinterpretação da cadeira possa valorizar o nosso território pela promoção do simbolismo do mobiliário português, assim como posicionar o produto num novo segmento de mercado.Design and engineering are fundamental areas of the product development process, which has been evolving more and more into a multidisciplinary and team area. This dissertation summarizes the activities developed during the curricular internship at Brasão De La Espada. The internship allowed integration in the company’s product development team, providing the development of projects and tasks applied to a real industry context, essentially contemplating the detailed design phase. Alongside these activities, a self-proposed project was developed that emerged from an intervention opportunity found during the internship. The aim of the project is to promote local Portuguese culture, through a product that matches the company’s values and quality standards. In this context, the reinterpretation of the Portuguese chair emerges, an iconic reference in 20th-century Portuguese design. The project’s challenge involved adapting the construction process to new materials: solid wood and wicker. It is intended that this reinterpretation of the chair can enhance our territory by promoting the symbolism of Portuguese furniture, as well as positioning the product in a new market segment.Mestrado em Engenharia e Design de Produt