A Linked Data representation of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics

The recent publication of public sector information (PSI) data sets has brought to the attention of the scientific community the redundant presence of location based context. At the same time it stresses the inadequacy of current Linked Data services for exploiting the semantics of such contextual dimensions for easing entity retrieval and browsing. In this paper describes our approach for supporting the publication of geographical subdivisions in Linked Data format for supporting the e-government and public sector in publishing their data sets. The topological knowledge published can be reused in order to enrich the geographical context of other data sets, in particular we propose an exploitation scenario using statistical data sets described with the SCOVO ontology. The topological knowledge is then exploited within a service that supports the navigation and retrieval of statistical geographical entities for the EU territory. Geographical entities, in the extent of this paper, are linked data resources that describe objects that have a geographical extension. The data and services presented in this paper allows the discovery of resources that contain or are contained by a given entity URI and their representation within map widgets. We present an approach for a geography based service that helps in querying qualitative spatial relations for the EU statistical geography (proper containment so far). We also provide a rationale for publishing geographical information in Linked Data format based on our experience, within the EnAKTing project, in publishing UK PSI data

Are pension funds good monitors?

Os fundos de pensão, ao adquirirem ações ordinárias de empresas no mercado de capitais, começam a participar mais ativamente nas tomadas de decisão dos conselhos de administração e no monitoramento dos gestores através de seus representantes. Devido a essa questão, o presente estudo buscou verificar se os fundos de pensão são bons monitores através da identificação da influência da estrutura de controle destes no desempenho financeiro e no valor de mercado das empresas de capital aberto brasileiras. Utilizando modelos dinâmicos de regressões lineares e não lineares múltiplas, estimadas pelo GMM-Sys, em um painel não balanceado de 1995 a 2015, foi evidenciado que os fundos de pensão não desempenham um bom papel de monitoramento, já que a estrutura de controle destes fundos possui uma relação inversa com o resultado financeiro tanto interno quanto de mercado, ou seja, quanto maior a participação acionária, menor é o desempenho das empresas. Esse resultado foi encontrado, possivelmente, pois os fundos de pensão investem no mercado de capitais para diversificação de portfólio, não estando preocupados com tomadas de decisão específicas nas empresas, gerando, assim, falta de habilidades de monitoramento adequadas, provocando conflitos que vão contra o objetivo de maximização de valor das empresas. Também, foi identificado que os investidores valorizam as ações de firmas investidas por fundos públicos domésticos, mesmo sem comprovação que tais fundos melhoram a rentabilidade das empresas.Pension funds, when they acquire common shares of companies in the capital markets, start to participate more actively in the decision-making of boards of directors and, through their representatives, in the monitoring of managers. The aim of this study is to determine whether pension funds are good monitors. This is done by identifying the influence of the control structure of pension funds over the financial performance and the market value of Brazilian public companies. Using dynamical models of linear and non-linear regressions estimated by GMM-Sys in an unbalanced panel from 1995 to 2015, it is shown that pension funds do not play a good monitoring role, as the control structure of these funds is negatively related to the financial performance of a company or, in other words, the higher the stake, the worse the performance of the company. A possible reason for this is that pension funds invest in the capital markets for portfolio diversification, are not concerned with specific decision-making in companies and have few monitoring skills, thus generating conflicts that go against the objective of maximizing the value of the company. Also, the study identifies the fact that investors give a higher value to the shares of firms in which domestic public funds have investments, even without proof that such funds improve the profitability of companies

Role of metal ions dyshomeostasis in neurodegeneration

In the present study metal ions role in neurodegenerative processes has been investigated. Two major pathways have been developed: 1) metal ions role in β-amyloid (Aβ folding and deposition from in vitro to in vivo; 2) calcium dyshomeostasis in an in vitro model of neurodegeneration. Firstly, metal ions role (aluminum, copper, iron, zinc) in Aβ folding and deposition was assessed. Aβ misfolding is, in fact, believed to play a critical role in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. Our data confirm that Aβ folding is closely related to the conjugated metal ion, thereby following peculiar metal ion-dependent conformational changes. Strikingly, we report that aluminum, a non physiological metal ion, is the most efficient in “freezing” Aβ in its oligomeric and most toxic state. Within this framework we investigated the mechanisms underlying Aβ and Aβ-metal conjugates toxicity. To that aim we employed two natural compounds (resveratrol and cholesterol) acting on two different Aβ mechanisms of toxicity: oxidative stress and membrane damage, respectively. In both cases, in vitro analysis revealed that resveratrol and cholesterol do not influence Aβ and Aβ-metal conjugates folding processes, but are still effective in protecting a neuronal-like cell line against Aβ toxicity. We reported that resveratrol was able to significantly reduce the Aβ-triggered generation of reactive oxygen species, meanwhile physiological concentrations of cholesterol were effective in protecting cellular membrane structure against Aβ (especially Aβ-Al) lipid disrupting activity. To further assess that differently shaped Aβ-metal conjugates result in different biological responses, we investigated Aβ-Cu and Aβ-Zn role in influencing/altering gene expression profile in a neuronal-like cell line. We found that these two conjugates are effective in modulating expression of transcripts involved in inflammatory processes, oxidative stress, and in apoptotic cell death. Following these in vitro studies we decided to investigate whether expression of transcripts involved in metal ions homeostasis resulted affected in an in vivo model of the disease, represented by the 3xTg-AD mice. Our data highlight a significant overlapping between the expression profiles of young 3xTg-AD mice compared with aged wild type mice; this finding support the notion that Alzheimer’s disease can be interpreted as a boosted variant of otherwise naturally occurring age-driven changes. In our dataset we found several differentially expressed transcripts involved in calcium homeostasis, a key metal ion for the physiology of the cell. Secondly, calcium dyshomeostasis in striatal neurons following excitotoxic challenge was assessed. Striatal neurons degeneration is involved in several pathologies showing motor and behavioral sequelae, such as Huntington’s disease (HD). We tried to determine why a subpopulation of striatal neurons results spared in HD striata, showing a peculiar resistance towards excitotoxic challenges. Our data demonstrate that the striking resistance of these cells may be due to boosted scavenging capabilities embedded in such neuronal subpopulation, resulting in lack of ROS generation upon excitotoxic insults. Collectively, these findings highlight the pivotal role played by metal ions in the development of neurodegenerative disorders. Noteworthy, not only endogenous and biologically relevant metal ions (iron, copper, zinc and calcium) seem involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, but also exogenous metals (i.e.: aluminum) could have a key and subtle, although less investigated, role in neuronal degeneratio

A GESTÃO DE CUSTOS NAS MICRO E PEQUENAS EMPRESAS SILVEIRENSES

O presente estudo buscou identificar alguns fatores determinantes para que hajasucesso nas micro e pequenas empresas, relacionando as necessidades e dificuldadesna gestão de custos de suas empresas para um grupo de empreendedoresno município de Silveira Martins, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Para tanto foielaborado um questionário com o objetivo de traçar o perfil do empreendedor esuas necessidades no que se refere ao processo de tomada de decisões relacionadasa gestão de custos. Os dados coletados apontam para a necessidade de ummaior conhecimento sobre os custos envolvidos na gestão das pequenas empresas.O resultado disso é que 55% das empresas desconhecem a composição deseus custos e que 25%, formam seus preços unitários seguindo a concorrência.Corroborando com isso somente 5% das empresas da pesquisa utilizam algumsistema informatizado, o restante ainda utiliza anotações manuais para controlede seus custos

A influência do fenômeno de expropriação sobre o desempenho de mercado das empresas brasileiras negociadas na B3

O presente trabalho visa compor um fator constituído por variáveis que caracterizam a expropriação de minoritários e utilizá-lo para identificar a influência da expropriação destes sobre o desempenho de mercado das empresas brasileiras de capital aberto negociadas na Brasil, Bolsa e Balcão (B3). Para isso foi construído um fator representativo da expropriação de acionistas minoritários por meio da Análise Fatorial estimado por meio de Componentes Principais. Posteriormente, foram aplicados modelos de painéis dinâmicos, estimados pelo Método dos Momentos Generalizados para verificar a referida influência. De uma maneira geral, identificou que as variáveis de propriedade e controle bem como o desvio acionário são as melhores proxies representar o fenômeno de expropriação. Por fim, identificou-se que o fator expropriação é negativamente relacionada com o desempenho de mercado, isto é, há uma relação inversa entre o fenômeno de expropriação de acionistas minoritários e o desempenho da empresa

Inhibition of de novo ceramide biosynthesis affects aging phenotype in an in vitro model of neuronal senescence.

Although aging is considered to be an unavoidable event, recent experimental evidence suggests that the process can be counteracted. Intracellular calcium (Ca2+i) dyshomeostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and lipid dysregulation are critical factors that contribute to senescence-related processes. Ceramides, a pleiotropic class of sphingolipids, are important mediators of cellular senescence, but their role in neuronal aging is still largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the effects of L-cycloserine (L-CS), an inhibitor of thede novoceramide biosynthesis, on the aging phenotype of cortical neurons cultured for 22 days, a setting employed as anin vitromodel of senescence. Our findings indicate that, compared to control cultures, 'aged' neurons display dysregulation of [Ca2+]ilevels, mitochondrial dysfunction, increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), altered synaptic activity as well as the activation of neuronal death-related molecules. Treatment with L-CS positively affected the senescent phenotype, a result associated with recovery of neuronal [Ca2+]isignaling and reduction of mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS generation. The results suggest that thede novoceramide biosynthesis represents a critical intermediate in the molecular and functional cascade leading to neuronal senescence and identify ceramide biosynthesis inhibitors as promising pharmacological tools to decrease age-related neuronal dysfunctions

The pharmacological perturbation of brain zinc impairs BDNF-related signaling and the cognitive performances of young mice.

Zinc (Zn2+) is a pleiotropic modulator of the neuronal and brain activity. The disruption of intraneuronal Zn2+ levels triggers neurotoxic processes and affects neuronal functioning. In this study, we investigated how the pharmacological modulation of brain Zn2+ affects synaptic plasticity and cognition in wild-type mice. To manipulate brain Zn2+ levels, we employed the Zn2+ (and copper) chelator 5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline (clioquinol, CQ). CQ was administered for two weeks to 2.5-month-old (m.o.) mice, and effects studied on BDNF-related signaling, metalloproteinase activity as well as learning and memory performances. CQ treatment was found to negatively affect short- and long-term memory performances. The CQ-driven perturbation of brain Zn2+ was found to reduce levels of BDNF, synaptic plasticity-related proteins and dendritic spine density in vivo. Our study highlights the importance of choosing "when", "where", and "how much" in the modulation of brain Zn2+ levels. Our findings confirm the importance of targeting Zn2+ as a therapeutic approach against neurodegenerative conditions but, at the same time, underscore the potential drawbacks of reducing brain Zn2+ availability upon the early stages of development

Influence of APOE and RNF219 on Behavioral and Cognitive Features of Female Patients Affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease.

The risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with the presence of the ?4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and, recently, with a novel genetic variant of the RNF219 gene. This study aimed at evaluating interactions between APOE-?4 and RNF219/G variants in the modulation of behavioral and cognitive features of two cohorts of patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. We enrolled a total of 173 female MCI or AD patients (83 MCI; 90 AD). Subjects were screened with a comprehensive set of neuropsychological evaluations and genotyped for the APOE and RNF219 polymorphic variants. Analysis of covariance was performed to assess the main and interaction effects of APOE and RNF219 genotypes on the cognitive and behavioral scores. The analysis revealed that the simultaneous presence of APOE-?4 and RNF219/G variants results in significant effects on specific neuropsychiatric scores in MCI and AD patients. In MCI patients, RNF219 and APOE variants worked together to impact the levels of anxiety negatively. Similarly, in AD patients, the RNF219 variants were found to be associated with increased anxiety levels. Our data indicate a novel synergistic activity APOE and RNF219 in the modulation of behavioral traits of female MCI and AD patients