605 research outputs found
Anålise do comportamento in vitro de explantes foliares de pequizeiro (Caryocar brasiliense camb.) através de RAPD.
xEdição de resumos do 7Âș Congresso Brasileiro de Fisiologia Vegetal, BrasĂlia, 1999
Vaccinating Italian infants with a new multicomponent vaccine (BexseroÂź) against meningococcal B disease: A cost-effectiveness analysis
This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.The European Medicines Agency has approved a multicomponent serogroup B meningococcal vaccine (BexseroÂź) for use in individuals of 2 months of age and older. A cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) from the societal and Italian National Health Service perspectives was performed in order to evaluate the impact of vaccinating Italian infants less than 1 y of age with BexseroÂź, as opposed to non-vaccination. The analysis was carried out by means of Excel Version 2011 and the TreeAge ProÂź software Version 2012. Two basal scenarios that differed in terms of disease incidence (official and estimated data to correct for underreporting) were considered. In the basal scenarios, we considered a primary vaccination cycle with 4 doses (at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months of age) and 1 booster dose at the age of 11 y, the societal perspective and no cost for death. Sensitivity analyses were carried out in which crucial variables were changed over probable ranges. In Italy, on the basis of official data on disease incidence, vaccination with BexseroÂź could prevent 82.97 cases and 5.61 deaths in each birth cohort, while these figures proved to be three times higher on considering the estimated incidence. The results of the CEA showed that the Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) per QALY was âŹ109,762 in the basal scenario if official data on disease incidence are considered and âŹ26,599 if estimated data are considered. The tornado diagram indicated that the most influential factor on ICER was the incidence of disease. The probability of sequelae, the cost of the vaccine and vaccine effectiveness also had an impact. Our results suggest that vaccinating infants in Italy with BexseroÂź has the ability to significantly reduce meningococcal disease and, if the probable underestimation of disease incidence is considered, routine vaccination is advisable.The study was financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR, project PRIN 2009; Grant number: 2009ZPM4Ă4)
Molecular dynamics simulations of lead clusters
Molecular dynamics simulations of nanometer-sized lead clusters have been
performed using the Lim, Ong and Ercolessi glue potential (Surf. Sci. {\bf
269/270}, 1109 (1992)). The binding energies of clusters forming crystalline
(fcc), decahedron and icosahedron structures are compared, showing that fcc
cuboctahedra are the most energetically favoured of these polyhedral model
structures. However, simulations of the freezing of liquid droplets produced a
characteristic form of ``shaved'' icosahedron, in which atoms are absent at the
edges and apexes of the polyhedron. This arrangement is energetically favoured
for 600-4000 atom clusters. Larger clusters favour crystalline structures.
Indeed, simulated freezing of a 6525-atom liquid droplet produced an imperfect
fcc Wulff particle, containing a number of parallel stacking faults. The
effects of temperature on the preferred structure of crystalline clusters below
the melting point have been considered. The implications of these results for
the interpretation of experimental data is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 18 figues, new section added and one figure added, other
minor changes for publicatio
Towards a synthesized critique of neoliberal biodiversity conservation
During the last three decades, the arena of biodiversity conservation has largely aligned itself with the globally dominant political ideology of neoliberalism and associated governmentalities. Schemes such as payments for ecological services are promoted to reach the multiple âwinsâ so desired: improved biodiversity conservation, economic development, (international) cooperation and poverty alleviation, amongst others. While critical scholarship with respect to understanding the linkages between neoliberalism, capitalism and the environment has a long tradition, a synthesized critique of neoliberal conservation - the ideology (and related practices) that the salvation of nature requires capitalist expansion - remains lacking. This paper aims to provide such a critique. We commence with the assertion that there has been a conflation between âeconomicsâ and neoliberal ideology in conservation thinking and implementation. As a result, we argue, it becomes easier to distinguish the main problems that neoliberal win-win models pose for biodiversity conservation. These are framed around three points: the stimulation of contradictions; appropriation and misrepresentation and the disciplining of dissent. Inspired by Bruno Latourâs recent âcompositionist manifestoâ, the conclusion outlines some ideas for moving beyond critique
Discontinuous transitions in double exchange materials
It is shown that the double exchange Hamiltonian, with weak antiferromagnetic
interactions, has a rich variety of first order transitions between phases with
different electronic densities and/or magnetizations. For band fillings in the
range , and at finite temperatures, a discontinuous
transition between phases with similar electronic densities but different
magnetizations takes place. This sharp transition, which is not suppressed by
electrostatic effects, and survives in the presence of an applied field, is
consistent with the phenomenology of the doped manganites near the transition
temperature.Comment: three more variational ansatzs considere
Non-L\'evy mobility patterns of Mexican Me'Phaa peasants searching for fuelwood
We measured mobility patterns that describe walking trajectories of
individual Me'Phaa peasants searching and collecting fuelwood in the forests of
"La Monta\~na de Guerrero" in Mexico. These one-day excursions typically follow
a mixed pattern of nearly-constant steps when individuals displace from their
homes towards potential collecting sites and a mixed pattern of steps of
different lengths when actually searching for fallen wood in the forest.
Displacements in the searching phase seem not to be compatible with L\'evy
flights described by power-laws with optimal scaling exponents. These findings
however can be interpreted in the light of deterministic searching on heavily
degraded landscapes where the interaction of the individuals with their scarce
environment produces alternative searching strategies than the expected L\'evy
flights. These results have important implications for future management and
restoration of degraded forests and the improvement of the ecological services
they may provide to their inhabitants.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. First version submitted to Human Ecology. The
final publication will be available at http://www.springerlink.co
Inequality, Fiscal Capacity and the Political Regime: Lessons from the Post-Communist Transition
Using panel data for twenty-seven post-communist economies between 1987-2003, we examine the nexus of relationships between inequality, fiscal capacity (defined as the ability to raise taxes efficiently) and the political regime. Investigating the impact of political reform we find that full political freedom is associated with lower levels of income inequality. Under more oligarchic (authoritarian) regimes, the level of inequality is conditioned by the stateâs fiscal capacity. Specifically, oligarchic regimes with more developed fiscal systems are able to defend the prevailing vested interests at a lower cost in terms of social injustice. This empirical finding is consistent with the model developed by Acemoglu (2006). We also find that transition countries undertaking early macroeconomic stabilisation now enjoy lower levels of inequality; we confirm that education fosters equality and the suggestion of Commander et al (1999) that larger countries are prone to higher levels of inequality.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57211/1/wp831 .pd
System size resonance in coupled noisy systems and in the Ising model
We consider an ensemble of coupled nonlinear noisy oscillators demonstrating
in the thermodynamic limit an Ising-type transition. In the ordered phase and
for finite ensembles stochastic flips of the mean field are observed with the
rate depending on the ensemble size. When a small periodic force acts on the
ensemble, the linear response of the system has a maximum at a certain system
size, similar to the stochastic resonance phenomenon. We demonstrate this
effect of system size resonance for different types of noisy oscillators and
for different ensembles -- lattices with nearest neighbors coupling and
globally coupled populations. The Ising model is also shown to demonstrate the
system size resonance.Comment: 4 page
âHow can I be post-Soviet if I was never Soviet?â Rethinking categories of time and social change â a perspective from Kulob, southern Tajikistan
Based on anthropological fieldwork conducted in the Kulob region of southern Tajikistan, this paper examines the extent to which the existing periodization âSoviet/post-Sovietâ is still valid to frame scholarly works concerning Central Asia. It does so through an analysis of âalternative temporalitiesâ conveyed by Kulob residents to the author. These alternative temporalities are fashioned in especially clear ways in a relationship to the physical transformations occurring to two types of housing, namely flats in building blocks and detached houses. Without arguing that the categories âSovietâ and âpost-Sovietâ have become futile, the author advocates that the uncritically use of Soviet/post-Soviet has the unwanted effect of shaping the Central Asian region as a temporalized and specialized âotherâ
Futures in the making: Practices to anticipate 'ubiquitous computing'
This paper addresses the discourse for a proactive thinking of futurity, intimately concerned with technology, which comes to an influential fruition in the discussion and representation of 'ubiquitous computing'. The imagination, proposal, or playing out of ubiquitous computing environments are bound up with particular ways of constructing futurity. This paper charts the techniques used in ubiquitous computing development to negotiate that futurity. In so doing, it engages with recent geographical debates around anticipation and futurity. The discussion accordingly proceeds in four parts. First, the spatial imagination engendered by the development of ubiquitous computing is explored. Second, particular techniques in ubiquitous computing research and development for anticipating future technology use, and their limits, are discussed through empirical findings. Third, anticipatory knowledge is explored as the basis for stable means of future orientation, which both generates and derives from the techniques for anticipating futures. Fourth, the importance of studying future orientation is situated in relation to the somewhat contradictory nature of anticipatory knowledges of ubicomp and related forms of spatial imagination. © 2012 Pion and its Licensors
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