Luxo: análise de um mercado brasileiro em ascensão

Este trabalho apresenta uma visão geral do mercado de luxo no Brasil. A partir da análise dos dados da pesquisa realizada pela GfK e MCF Consultoria, foi possível identificar características acerca do perfil do mercado de luxo brasileiro bem como dos clientes. A partir dos resultados pode-se apresentar uma visão objetiva das principais tendências e rumos que este mercado pode tomar futuramente. O crescimento econômico do país se mostra positivo, refletindo em uma mudança no comportamento e no poder de compra das camadas sociais brasileiras. Este quadro permite o crescimento do mercado de luxo no país, assim como uma posição de destaque no cenário do mercado de luxo internacional. A ascensão e crescimento do mercado de luxo no Brasil são pontos que devem ser observados com base nos dados e resultados apresentados pela pesquisa

Cytokine Profiles of Stimulated Blood Lymphocytes in Asthmatic and Healthy Adolescents Cross the School Year

T cell cytokines play an important role in mediating airway inflammation in asthma. The predominance of a Th2 cytokine profile, particularly interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is associated with the pathogenesis and course of asthma. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a stressful life event alters the pattern of cytokine release in asthmatic individuals. Thirteen healthy controls and 21 asthmatic adolescents gave blood samples three times over a semester: midsemester, during the week of final examinations, and 2-3 weeks after examinations. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were measured from supernatants of cells stimulated with PHA/PMA for 24 h. Cells from asthmatic subjects released significantly more IL-5 during the examination and postexamination periods, whereas cells from healthy controls released significantly more IL-2 during the midsemester and examination periods, thereby indicating a bias for a Th2-like pattern in asthmatics and a Th 1-like pattern in healthy controls. IL-4 and IL-5 production showed a marked decrease during and after examinations in healthy controls, whereas this decline was absent in asthmatics. The ratios of IFN-γ:IL-4 and IFN-γ:IL-5 also revealed significant changes in the profile of cytokine release across the semester. These results indicate differential cytokine responses in asthmatics that may become pronounced during periods of cellular activation

Can Beauty be a Catalyst for an Encounter with God?

This thesis leverages the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar and others to explore beauty’s essential role in one’s spiritual life and how it can come to be viewed as central to one’s relationship with God. According to Balthasar, beauty, glory, and love are inseparably linked, and when beauty is restored to the rank of a transcendental, on par with truth and goodness, God's love can be experienced in a new and empowering way. The thesis explores the possibility that beauty is accessible to all and is not reserved for the few. The perception and experience of beauty is a skill that can be learned by training our physical and spiritual senses. The thesis explores how beauty can be found everywhere, in the microcosm and the macrocosm, in sadness and joy, in art and in nature. It also explores the possibility that, from a Christian perspective, the pinnacle of beauty, where it is most visible and most transformative, is in the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ and culminates in Christ’s kenotic self-giving on the cross

Local Sources and the Limits of Music Scholarship:: the case of Syriac Chant

Através de uma leitura crítica de duas fontes do século XX sobre uma tradição musical viva que tem origens cristãs antigas, este artigo oferece uma leitura de como a musicologia local modela um enquadramento extra-musical da religiosidade étnica por meio de detalhes teórico-musicais. Com base em sentimentos sutilmente ocultos de nacionalidade, o artigo mostra como essa modelagem foi alcançada no caso da música siríaca. Ela o faz envolvendo-se com as complexidades que derrubam rótulos como local/europeu e sagrado/secular, e que, em última instância, perturbaram a base da distinção nós/eles em relação à criação de conhecimento e fontes. O artigo também sublinha as formas pelas quais as inconsistências dentro do conhecimento acadêmico podem ”“ e fazem ”“ constituir o meio pelo qual esse conhecimento, quando profundamente comprometido com assuntos locais, força os limites de suas próprias premissas, e redefine suas categorias e as bases conceituais sobre as quais deveria ser entendido

The Transcription Factor Bhlhe40 Regulates Tissue-Resident Macrophages and Type 2 Immunity

Transcriptional control of gene expression is essential for life, tailoring protein production to development and environment to maintain organismal homeostasis. A limited set of proteins termed transcription factors are critical to this process. As our understanding of these central regulators has improved, new aspects of cell and organismal biology have been revealed. Herein, we demonstrate the importance of the transcription factor Bhlhe40 to tissue-resident macrophages, T helper type 2 cells, and type 2 immune responses, revealing novel transcriptional control of macrophages and unexpected cytokine regulation of helminth infection. We find that Bhlhe40 is cell-intrinsically required for normal proliferation of large serous cavity macrophages, but not other tissue-resident macrophage populations, revealing tissue-specific control of macrophage cycling active in homeostasis and type 2 immunity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Bhlhe40 is critical for a normal transcription response of T helper cells to secondary infection with the helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri (H. polygyrus). T cell-intrinsic loss of Bhlhe40 impairs protective memory to H. polygyrus and reveals novel redundancy between the common beta chain-dependent cytokines GM-CSF and IL-5 in anti-helminth immunity