Very high interest rates and the cousin risks: Brazil during the Real Plan

We review the arguments in the finance and open macroeconomics literature relevant for the Central Bank to set the level of the interest rate in an open economy. The two relevant risks are the currency and country risks. The country risk (Brazil Risk) is measured with different financials instruments and the (unobservable) currency risk is estimated via the Kalman Filter. We show that besides the currency risk, which is also relevant in developed economies the country risk is of utmost importance to determine the domestic interest rates. Both risks share a few common causes, which is why we call them the cousin risks. Thus, when and if those common causes are confronted, the fall of domestic interest rates may be substantial, because both currency and Brazil risks will fall simultaneously. Preliminary results identify some components of the Brazil risk, e.g., the fiscal deficits, and the domestic and international financial markets conditions. The convertibility risk, defined as risk associated with possibility of not being able to convert BRLs into foreign currency, showed up as an important cause of the Brazil risk during the international financial crises periods, but is no longer relevant. Nowadays, Brazil risk decreased significantly, but the same did not happen with the currency risk. Therefore, it seems that the main factor precluding the fall in domestic interest rates may be associated with the uncertainty of the future behavior of the balance payments, especially the trade account. In view of this hypothesis, we might speculate that assuring vigorous export growth, without resorting to devaluation, is fundamental to achieve lower real interest rates, compatible with sustained economic growth.

Serratia marcescens ShlA Pore-Forming Toxin Is Responsible for Early Induction of Autophagy in Host Cells and Is Transcriptionally Regulated by RcsB

Serratia marcescens is a Gram-negative bacterium that thrives in a wide variety of ambient niches and interacts with an ample range of hosts. As an opportunistic human pathogen, it has increased its clinical incidence in recent years, being responsible for life-threatening nosocomial infections. S. marcescens produces numerous exoproteins with toxic effects, including the ShlA pore-forming toxin, which has been catalogued as its most potent cytotoxin. However, the regulatory mechanisms that govern ShlA expression, as well as its action toward the host, have remained unclear. We have shown that S. marcescens elicits an autophagic response in host nonphagocytic cells. In this work, we determine that the expression of ShlA is responsible for the autophagic response that is promoted prior to bacterial internalization in epithelial cells. We show that a strain unable to express ShlA is no longer able to induce this autophagic mechanism, while heterologous expression of ShlA/ShlB suffices to confer on noninvasive Escherichia coli the capacity to trigger autophagy. We also demonstrate that shlBA harbors a binding motif for the RcsB regulator in its promoter region. RcsB-dependent control of shlBA constitutes a feed-forward regulatory mechanism that allows interplay with flagellar-biogenesis regulation. At the top of the circuit, activated RcsB downregulates expression of flagella by binding to the flhDC promoter region, preventing FliA-activated transcription of shlBA. Simultaneously, RcsB interaction within the shlBA promoter represses ShlA expression. This circuit offers multiple access points to fine-tune ShlA production. These findings also strengthen the case for an RcsB role in orchestrating the expression of Serratia virulence factorsFil: Di Venanzio, Gisela Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Stepanenko, Tatiana Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Garcia Vescovi, Eleonora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; Argentin

Adatoms and Anderson localization in graphene

We address the nature of the disordered state that results from the adsorption of adatoms in graphene. For adatoms that sit at the center of the honeycomb plaquette, as in the case of most transition metals, we show that the ones that form a zero-energy resonant state lead to Anderson localization in the vicinity of the Dirac point. Among those, we show that there is a symmetry class of adatoms where Anderson localization is suppressed, leading to an exotic metallic state with large and rare charge droplets, that localizes only at the Dirac point. We identify the experimental conditions for the observation of the Anderson transition for adatoms in graphene.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 appendixes, Final versio

Enhancing oral fluency through task-fluency discussions in second life

107 Páginas.This qualitative exploratory action research was conducted with A2 university students at Universidad de la Sabana. They are immersed in blended learning practices where autonomy has become the key to succeed in learning processes. The needs analysis carried out in the target A2 population showed that there was a need to improve oral fluency and gain more motivation in virtual learning spaces. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to enhance oral fluency, which is understood as the ability to communicate by dealing with meaning rather than accuracy of language use. Thus, the approach that best responds to this aim is the implementation of Task-Fluency Discussions (Ur, 2012) which are effective tools to practice talking freely while learning from content and putting communicative strategies into action. Additionally, the present study proposes Second Life as a visual friendly virtual environment to foster communicative learning experiences. A process of participants´ self-reflection was followed by using a self-reflective-portfolio to review their progress in their oral performance, the further challenges and a potential action plan to achieve more fluent speaking. Those perceptions were also explored during in-depth group interviews. The teacher-researcher also compiled her own perceptions as individual, researcher and teacher in a reflective journal to supplement qualitative analysis. Findings indicate that Second Life is a tool that may empower oral participation and fluency, enhance autonomy and provide a more appealing virtual learning space. Oral fluency can be increased in several ways. Firstly, by accomplishing task-fluency discussions; secondly by making use of a self-access bank of words and expressions; by self-reflection upon achievements and future goals, all of which, in turn, may lead to new understanding of that being fluent means

Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene with Interface-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling

We consider an effective model for graphene with interface-induced spin-orbit coupling and calculate the quantum Hall effect in the low-energy limit. We perform a systematic analysis of the contribution of the different terms of the effective Hamiltonian to the quantum Hall effect (QHE). By analysing the spin-splitting of the quantum Hall states as a function of magnetic field and gate-voltage, we obtain different scaling laws that can be used to characterise the spin-orbit coupling in experiments. Furthermore, we employ a real-space quantum transport approach to calculate the quantum Hall conductivity and investigate the robustness of the QHE to disorder introduced by hydrogen impurities. For that purpose, we combine first-principles calculations and a genetic algorithm strategy to obtain a graphene-only Hamiltonian that models the impurity

David Buckingham: a Educação Midiática não deve apenas lidar com o mundo digital, mas sim exigir algo diferente

British researcher David Buckingham gave an interview to Revista Comunicação & Educação, via a virtual conference, recently in Brazil. Buckingham analyzes issues of the communication and education interface, the theoretical references shared with cultural studies, and primarily, the understanding that it is necessary to overcome the instrumental bias of the media in favor of a comprehensive understanding of digital capitalism. In the interview, Buckingham answers questions related to teacher training in the field of digital technologies, the development of pedagogical strategies to deal with digital capitalism at school and, above all, the concept of media education.David Buckingham concedeu entrevista exclusiva à Revista Comunicação & Educação. Realizado remotamente, o diálogo tem o intuito de elucidar aspectos práticos e teóricos que marcam a obra do autor. Buckingham analisa questões da interface comunicação e educação, as referências teóricas compartilhadas com os estudos culturais e, sobretudo, o entendimento de que é necessário superar o viés instrumental da mídia em favor de uma compreensão abrangente sobre o capitalismo digital. Na entrevista, o pesquisador responde questões relacionadas à formação docente no campo das tecnologias digitais, ao desenvolvimento de estratégias pedagógicas para lidar com o capitalismo digital no âmbito escolar e, especialmente, ao conceito de educação midiática

Real-space calculation of the conductivity tensor for disordered topological matter

We describe an efficient numerical approach to calculate the longitudinal and transverse Kubo conductivities of large systems using Bastin's formulation. We expand the Green's functions in terms of Chebyshev polynomials and compute the conductivity tensor for any temperature and chemical potential in a single step. To illustrate the power and generality of the approach, we calculate the conductivity tensor for the quantum Hall effect in disordered graphene and analyze the effect of the disorder in a Chern insulator in Haldane's model on a honeycomb lattice.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures and a supplementary material (3 pages

Modelo de descripción documental basado en el paradigma de objetos

The objective of this paper is to show the current state of an investigation which aim is the construction of a documentary description model based on the object paradigm. The choice of this paradigm responds to the fact that its use allows the uncoupling between the logic model and its physical implementations; it autonomizes the model (the coherent and robust component of the system) of the computer supports, always varying and heterogeneus. In addition, this paradigm allows the invertion of the traditional methodology that makes the decision on what tools to use (support, software, operative system, databases) and then allows to compose an ad hoc model based on these tools. The language used is Smalltalk. Traditional methodology has derived in a proliferation of bibliographical formats adapted to different database models and the consequent applications that each one supports, and made necessary the creation of countless tools that allow the migration from ones to others. To start from the logic model, on the other hand, secures the coherence and consistence of information, for it frees it from instrumental conditionings. Although the proposed model is basically descriptive in this phase, this modellization configures a framework that will allow to use the objects in other contexts and environments to satisfy ends that go beyond the sole description. Despite the fact that this proposal surpasses the traditional approaches, it contemplates and takes advantages of the guidelines, precisions and possibilities studied and perfected over the years by different specialists, materialized today in different norms (AACR2, MARC, Vaticanas, Dublin Core, ISBD, TEI)

The disenchanted mountain's Heritage. Protection and reuse of sanatoriums in the Alps

Imaging studies are expected to produce reliable information regarding the size and fat content of the pancreas. However, the available studies have produced inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of imaging studies assessing pancreas size and fat content in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Medline and Embase databases were performed. Studies evaluating pancreatic size (diameter, area or volume) and/or fat content by ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging in patients with T1DM and/or T2DM as compared to healthy controls were selected. Seventeen studies including 3,403 subjects (284 T1DM patients, 1,139 T2DM patients, and 1,980 control subjects) were selected for meta-analyses. Pancreas diameter, area, volume, density, and fat percentage were evaluated.Pancreatic volume was reduced in T1DM and T2DM vs. controls (T1DM vs. controls: -38.72 cm3, 95%CI: -52.25 to -25.19, I2 = 70.2%, p for heterogeneity = 0.018; and T2DM vs. controls: -12.18 cm3, 95%CI: -19.1 to -5.25, I2 = 79.3%, p for heterogeneity = 0.001). Fat content was higher in T2DM vs. controls (+2.73%, 95%CI 0.55 to 4.91, I2 = 82.0%, p for heterogeneity<0.001).Individuals with T1DM and T2DM have reduced pancreas size in comparison with control subjects. Patients with T2DM have increased pancreatic fat content