Financial literacy of university students

The current financial crisis highlights real problems profoundly related to the level of financial knowledge. Some studies suggest that many individuals, including small business owners, do not have adequate financial skills to be able to handle their finances. The term "financial literacy" summarizes the set of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable recognition and understanding of the foundations of personal finance. Informed and literate individuals are able to make responsible decisions. Our paper presents the preliminary results obtained with the Portuguese StudentFinance2012 survey. A total of 612 university students from seven different institutions agreed to participate and complete the survey. The sample has an average age of 23.67 years and is gender balanced. Students were classified in three course areas such as engineering, business and management, or design and tourism. Most respondents frequent a degree course, being the university mostly a public institution. A majority of our students has solely funded by their parents or family. By analyzing the total amount of financial products, we obtained an average of 2.57 financial products by student. To analyze financial literacy, our study developed measures such students’ financial involvement, financial knowledge and parents influence and explore it as a function to issues such as age, gender, course area, course type, type of university and parental funding. The results suggest that the financial involvement of students evolves over time (as age increases, the financial involvement also increases) and confirm significant dependence with demographic variables such as gender, age, or course, among others. For the financial knowledge the results are encouraging, with students to show interesting levels of knowledge. We also identified relations of dependence with age, gender and course, among many others. Parental influence was analyzed by the level of agreement with statements related to the perceptions of the influence and behavior of parents about money, budgeting, saving and paying bills. The main results indicate that parents are a positive influence and that students are experiencing a financial behaviour that integrates the family.FEDER Funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE, and National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the Projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022674 and Pest-OE/EME/UI0252/201

Caracterização físico-química dos efluentes gerados pelos laboratórios da Embrapa Semiárido-Petrolina.

Esse trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar os efluentes gerados por 8 laboratórios da Embrapa Semiárido

Effect of the pH of growth on the survival of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus to stress conditions during spray-drying

Aims: The aim of this study was to optimize survival of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus during spraydrying and subsequent storage through optimizing the pH of growth conditions. Methods and Results: Cell concentrates previously grown without or with pH controlled were spray-dried and stored at 20ºC and heat treated at 57ºC. Cells grown under noncontrolled pH were more resistant to both drying and heating than cells grown under controlled pH but no significant differences were observed during storage. The intracellular proteins profile of cells grown under both conditions was studied by two-dimensional SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Eight proteins were identified using automated mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data acquisition. Of the identified proteins, only cochaperonin GroES corresponded to a known heat shock protein (HSP). The other proteins identified are proteins involved in glycolysis. For cells grown under noncontrolled pH the expression of the Hsp70, GroES and GroEL, measured by Western blotting, was enhanced. Conclusions: The higher resistance of cells grown under noncontrolled pH correlates with the enhanced production of heat shock proteins. Significance and Impact of the Study: Growth of L. bulgaricus under controlled pH (commonly used by the starter cultures production industry) results in cells more sensitive to stresses frequently encountered by the cells during starter cultures preparation/storage/utilization

Células C em bócio colóide

PURPOSE: The aim of this investigation was to quantitatively evaluate C-cells in colloid goiters, analyzing 36 thyroids that were obtained through thyroidectomy from 24 patients with goiter and 12 normal glands from adult patients without thyroid disease, which were used as the control group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: On average, 6 different thyroid areas were sampled and labeled by immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal anticalcitonin antibody, utilizing the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex. C-cells were counted in fields measuring 1 square centimeter, and the mean number of cells per field was then calculated. Data were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: In the colloid goiter group, the number of C-cells ranged from 0 to 23 per field, while in normal controls they ranged from 20 to 148 per field. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate a significant decrease of C-cell number in the colloid goiter group compared with control group, indicating that the hyperplastic process is restricted to follicular cells, to the detriment of C-cells, which probably cease to receive trophic stimuli.OBJETIVO: Pesquisar, quantitativamente, as células C em bócio colóide com o propósito de investigar a relação destas células na patogênese do bócio. MÉTODO: Foram analisadas 35 tiróides obtidas de tiroidectomia, sendo 24 de pacientes com bócio colóide e 11 tiróides normais de adulto usadas como controle. Seis diferentes áreas foram amostradas em média e coradas com o anticorpo monoclonal anticalcitonina. As células C foram contadas em campos de 1 cm² e o número médio de células/campo foi calculado. Os dados foram estudados estatisticamente pelo teste de Kruskal-Wallis. RESULTADOS: O número de células C variou de 0 a 23/cm² em bócio colóide e em tiróides normais de 20 a 148/cm². CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados demonstraram redução significativa no número de células C em bócio colóide comparando com tiróides normais, indicando que o processo hiperplásico é restrito às células foliculares em detrimento das células C, as quais, provavelmente, deixam de receber estímulos tróficos e se degeneram

Resveratrol Reverses Endothelial Colony-Forming Cell Dysfunction in Adulthood in a Rat Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

Individuals born after intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Endothelial dysfunction plays a role in the pathogenesis of CVDs; and endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) have been identified as key factors in endothelial repair. In a rat model of IUGR induced by a maternal low-protein diet, we observed an altered functionality of ECFCs in 6-month-old males, which was associated with arterial hypertension related to oxidative stress and stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS). Resveratrol (R), a polyphenol compound, was found to improve cardiovascular function. In this study, we investigated whether resveratrol could reverse ECFC dysfunctions in the IUGR group. ECFCs were isolated from IUGR and control (CTRL) males and were treated with R (1 μM) or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) for 48 h. In the IUGR-ECFCs, R increased proliferation (5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, p < 0.001) and improved capillary-like outgrowth sprout formation (in Matrigel), nitric oxide (NO) production (fluorescent dye, p < 0.01), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression (immunofluorescence, p < 0.001). In addition, R decreased oxidative stress with reduced superoxide anion production (fluorescent dye, p < 0.001); increased Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase expression (Western blot, p < 0.05); and reversed SIPS with decreased beta-galactosidase activity (p < 0.001), and decreased p16 <sup>ink4a</sup> (p < 0.05) and increased Sirtuin-1 (p < 0.05) expressions (Western blot). No effects of R were observed in the CTRL-ECFCs. These results suggest that R reverses long-term ECFC dysfunctions related to IUGR

Addition of nitrogen and potassium via fertigation on the quality of Syrah wines produced on the São Francisco Valley, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different nitrogen and potassium doses by fertigation on the quality of Syrah red wines

Addition of nitrogen and potassium via fertigation on the quality of Syrah wines produced on the São Francisco Valley, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different nitrogen and potassium doses by fertigation on the quality of Syrah red wines

Cork stoppers industry: defining appropriate mould colonization

Aims: The main aims of this work were the study of cork slabs moulds colonization and the evaluation of the moulds diversity during cork processing steps, in different cork stoppers factories. Simultaneously, it was envisaged to perform an evaluation of the air quality. Methods and Results: Moulds were isolated and identified from cork slabs and cork samples in four cork stoppers factories. The identification was based on morphological characters and microscopic observation of the reproductive structures. Airborne spore dispersion was assessed using a two stage Andersen sampler. It was observed that Chrysonilia sitophila was always present on cork slabs during the maturing period, but mould diversity appeared to be associated to the different factory configurations and processing steps. Conclusions: Spatial separation of the different steps of the process, including physical separation of the maturation step, is essential to guarantee high air quality and appropriate cork slabs colonization, i.e. C. sitophila dominance. The sorting and cutting of the edges of cork slabs after boiling and before the maturing step is also recommended. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study is very important for the cork stopper industry as it gives clear indications on how to keep high quality manufacturing standards and how to avoid occupational health problems.Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica/Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica-Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Apt. 12, 2781-901 OEIRAS. Portugal 2 Estação Agronómica Nacional, 2784-505 OEIRAS. Portugal 3 Estação Vitivinícola Nacional, 2565-191 DOIS PORTOS. Portugal. Program PEDIP II, M 4.8, IAPMEI, Ministério da Economia, Portugal

"Sustainable Cellulose Nanofibers-Mediated Synthesis of Uniform Spinel Zn-Ferrites Nanocorals for High Performances in Supercapacitors"

Spinel ferrites are versatile, low-cost, and abundant metal oxides with remarkable electronic and magnetic properties, which find several applications. Among them, they have been considered part of the next generation of electrochemical energy storage materials due to their variable oxidation states, low environmental toxicity, and possible synthesis through simple green chemical processing. However, most traditional procedures lead to the formation of poorly controlled materials (in terms of size, shape, composition, and/or crystalline structure). Thus, we report herein a cellulose nanofibers-mediated green procedure to prepare controlled highly porous nanocorals comprised of spinel Zn-ferrites. Then, they presented remarkable applications as electrodes in supercapacitors, which were thoroughly and critically discussed. The spinel Zn-ferrites nanocorals supercapacitor showed a much higher maximum specific capacitance (2031.81 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1) than Fe2O3 and ZnO counterparts prepared by a similar approach (189.74 and 24.39 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1). Its cyclic stability was also scrutinized via galvanostatic charging/discharging and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, indicating excellent long-term stability. In addition, we manufactured an asymmetric supercapacitor device, which offered a high energy density value of 18.1 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 2609.2 W kg−1 (at 1 A g−1 in 2.0 mol L−1 KOH electrolyte). Based on our findings, we believe that higher performances observed for spinel Zn-ferrites nanocorals could be explained by their unique crystal structure and electronic configuration based on crystal field stabilization energy, which provides an electrostatic repulsion between the d electrons and the p orbitals of the surrounding oxygen anions, creating a level of energy that determines their final supercapacitance then evidenced, which is a very interesting property that could be explored for the production of clean energy storage devices