Impact assessment of interregional government transfers in Brazil: an input-output approach

Redistributive policies carried out by the central government through interregional government transfers is a relevant feature of the Brazilian federal fiscal system. Regional shares of the central government revenues in the poorer regions have been recurrently smaller than the shares of central government expenditures in those regions. Appeal to core-periphery outcomes could be made, as São Paulo, the wealthiest state in the country, concentrated, in 2005, over 40% of total Federal tax revenue, receiving less than 35% of Federal expenditures. These figures suggest a redistribution of public funds from the spatial economic core of the economy to the peripheral areas. This paper investigates the role interregional transfers play in the redistribution of activities in the country, using an interregional input-output approach. Counterfactual simulations allow us to estimate some costs and benefits, for the core and periphery respectively, from such fiscal mechanisms.Interregional government transfers, input-output analysis, impact analysis, Brazilian economy

Evaluation Of Osteoporosis Using Ultrasound

We have developed an equipment using ultrasound transducers to help in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. The equipment consists of an X-Y axes displacement system controlled by a microcomputer and uses two ultrasound transducers in opposite sides to inspect the calcaneus region of the patient. We have used two pairs of transducers with 500 kHz and 1 MHz central frequencies. Each pair of transducers was fixed in the X-Y displacement system submerged in a small water tank with a support for the foot of the patient. The transmitter was excited with pulses of 400-600 kHz or 800-1200 kHz and the ultrasound waves propagating through the bone in the calcaneus region are received by the opposite transducer, amplified and acquired in a digital oscilloscope. The data are transferred to the microcomputer and the ultrasound attenuation and the ultrasound transmission velocity are determined. The system was tested in patients, selected from a group that had already been diagnosed using a DEXA equipment. The results showed that there is a decrease in the ultrasound transmission velocity and the ultrasound attenuation in osteoporotic patients when compared to healthy patients of the same sex and age group. The conclusion is that ultrasound attenuation and the transmission velocity in the calcaneus region may be used as parameters in the evaluation of osteoporosis using our new system.398227828

Ultrasonic Doppler Blood Flowmeter For Extracorporeal Circulation

In cardiac surgeries it is frequently necessary to carry out interventions in internal heart structures, and where the blood circulation and oxygenation are made by artificial ways, out of the patient's body, in a procedure known as extracorporeal circulation (EC). During this procedure, one of the most important parameters, and that demands constant monitoring, is the blood flow. In this work, an ultrasonic pulsed Doppler blood flowmeter, to be used in an extracorporeal circulation system, was developed. It was used a 2 MHz ultrasonic transducer, measuring flows from 0 to 5 liters/min, coupled externally to the EC arterial line destined to adults perfusion (diameter of 9.53 mm). The experimental results using the developed flowmeter indicated a maximum deviation of 3.5% of full scale, whilst the blood flow estimator based in the rotation speed of the peristaltic pump presented deviations greater than 20% of full scale. This ultrasonic flowmeter supplies the results in a continuous and trustworthy way, and it does not present the limitations found in those flowmeters based in other transduction methods. Moreover, due to the fact of not being in contact with the blood, it is not disposable and it does not need sterilization, reducing operational costs and facilitating its use.397844845

Influence of Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-I) on the survival and the in vitro development of caprine preantral follicles

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the insulin-like growth factor -I (IGF-I) on survival, activation (transition from primordial to primary follicles) and growth of caprine preantral follicles cultured in vitro. Fragments of ovarian cortex were cultured for one and seven days in the absence or presence of IGF-I (0, 50 and 100ng/ml). The non-cultured and cultured tissues were processed and analyzed by histology and transmission electron microscopy. The culture for one day in a medium with 100ng/ml of IGF-I showed 86.7% of morphologically normal follicles. These results were similar (P>0.05) to the percentage of normal follicles found in the control (96.7%). It was also found that this medium increased the percentage of follicular activation (developing follicles) with one day of culture. The oocyte and follicular diameters remained similar to the control by culturing for one day in a medium containing 100ng/ml of IGF-I. The ultrastructural analysis did not confirm the integrity of the follicular fragments in a medium containing IGF-I (100ng/ml) after one and seven days of culture. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the addition of 100 ng/ml of IGF-I in the culture medium enables the development of preantral follicles of goats with one day of culture. However, it is not sufficient to maintain the follicular integrity and the follicular survival rate after seven days of culture.O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar os efeitos do fator de crescimento semelhante a insulina-I (IGF-I) na sobrevivência, ativação (transição de folículos primordiais para primários) e crescimento de folículos pré-antrais caprinos cultivados in vitro. Fragmentos de córtex ovariano foram cultivados por um e sete dias na ausência ou presença de IGF-I (0, 50 e 100ng/mL). Os tecidos não cultivados e cultivados foram processados e analisados por histologia e microscopia eletrônica de transmissão. O cultivo por um dia em meio com 100ng/mL de IGF-I apresentou 86,7% de folículos morfologicamente normais. Estes resultados foram semelhantes (P>0,05) ao percentual de folículos normais encontrados no controle (96,7%). Verificou-se ainda que este meio aumentou o percentual de ativação folicular (folículos em desenvolvimento) com um dia de cultivo. Os diâmetros ovocitário e folicular mantiveram-se semelhantes ao controle ao cultivar por um dia em meio contendo 100ng/mL de IGF-I. As análises ultraestruturais não confirmaram a integridade folicular dos fragmentos em meio contendo IGF-I (100 ng/mL) após um e sete dias de cultivo. Em conclusão, esse estudo demonstrou que a adição de 100 ng/mL de IGF-I no meio de cultivo ativa o desenvolvimento de folículos pré-antrais de caprinos com um dia de cultivo. Entretanto, não é suficiente para manter a integridade folicular e a taxa de sobrevivência folicular após sete dias de cultivo

Monitoring The Integrity Of Massive Aluminum Structures Using Pzt Transducers And The Technique Of Impedance

Safety, performance, economy and durability are essential items to qualify materials for the manufacturing of structures used in different areas. Generally, the materials used for this purpose are formed by composites and sometimes they can present failure during the manufacturing process. Such failures can also occur during use due to fatigue and wear, causing damage often difficult to be visually detected. In these cases, the use of non destructive testing (NDT) has proven to be a good choice for assessing the materials quality. The objective of this work was the electromechanical impedance evaluation of massive aluminum structures using ultrasonic transducers to detect discontinuities in the material. The tests have been done using an impedance analyzer (Agilent 4294A), an ultrasound transducer (1.6 MHz of central frequency), two types of PZT ceramics (0.267 mm and 1 mm thickness) and four aluminum samples (250 x 50 x 50 mm) with the transducer placed at three different regions. One sample was kept intact (reference) and the others were drilled in three positions with different sizes of holes (5 mm. 8 mm and 11 mm). The electromechanical impedance was recorded for each sample. The root mean square deviation index (RMSD) between the impedance magnitude of the reference and damaged samples was calculated and it was observed an increase in the RMSD due to the increase of the diameter of the holes (failures) in the samples completely drilled. The results show that the proposed methodology is suitable for monitoring the integrity of aluminum samples. The technique may be evaluated in characterizing other materials to be used in the construction of prostheses and orthoses.943

Development of an automatic identification algorithm for antibiogram analysis

Routinely, diagnostic and microbiology laboratories perform antibiogram analysis which can present some difficulties leading to misreadings and intra and inter-reader deviations. An Automatic Identification Algorithm (AIA) has been proposed as a solution to overcome some issues associated with the disc diffusion method, which is the main goal of this work. AIA allows automatic scanning of inhibition zones obtained by antibiograms. More than 60 environmental isolates were tested using susceptibility tests which were performed for 12 different antibiotics for a total of 756 readings. Plate images were acquired and classified as standard or oddity. The inhibition zones were measured using the AIA and results were compared with reference method (human reading), using weighted kappa index and statistical analysis to evaluate, respectively, inter-reader agreement and correlation between AIA-based and human-based reading. Agreements were observed in 88% cases and 89% of the tests showed no difference or a o4 mm difference between AIA and human analysis, exhibiting a correlation index of 0.85 for all images, 0.90 for standards and 0.80 for oddities with no significant difference between automatic and manual method. AIA resolved some reading problems such as overlapping inhibition zones, imperfect microorganism seeding, non-homogeneity of the circumference, partial action of the antimicrobial, and formation of a second halo of inhibition. Furthermore, AIA proved to overcome some of the limitations observed in other automatic methods. Therefore, AIA may be a practical tool for automated reading of antibiograms in diagnostic and microbiology laboratoriesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Hepatic proteome changes in solea senegalensis exposed to contaminated estuarine sediments: a laboratory and in situ survey

Assessing toxicity of contaminated estuarine sediments poses a challenge to ecotoxicologists due to the complex geochemical nature of sediments and to the combination of multiple classes of toxicants. Juvenile Senegalese soles were exposed for 14 days in the laboratory and in situ (field) to sediments from three sites (a reference plus two contaminated) of a Portuguese estuary. Sediment characterization confirmed the combination of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorines in the two contaminated sediments. Changes in liver cytosolic protein regulation patterns were determined by a combination of two-dimensional electrophoresis with de novo sequencing by tandem mass spectrometry. From the forty-one cytosolic proteins found to be deregulated, nineteen were able to be identified, taking part in multiple cellular processes such as anti-oxidative defence, energy production, proteolysis and contaminant catabolism (especially oxidoreductase enzymes). Besides a clear distinction between animals exposed to the reference and contaminated sediments, differences were also observed between laboratory- and in situ-tested fish. Soles exposed in the laboratory to the contaminated sediments failed to induce, or even markedly down-regulated, many proteins, with the exception of a peroxiredoxin (an anti-oxidant enzyme) and a few others, when compared to reference fish. In situ exposure to the contaminated sediments revealed significant up-regulation of basal metabolism-related enzymes, comparatively to the reference condition. Down-regulation of basal metabolism enzymes, related to energy production and gene transcription, in fish exposed in the laboratory to the contaminated sediments, may be linked to sedimentbound contaminants and likely compromised the organisms’ ability to deploy adequate responses against insult.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Theoretical Investigations of the Herbicide Glyphosate Adsorption on the B12N12 Nanocluster

Nowadays is emergent the development of new materials which can be used in the adsorption process to remove herbicide glyphosate from the aquatic environment. Therefore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to study the adsorption process of the glyphosate on the B12N12 nanocage in aqueous media. The optimized structures of adsorbed glyphosate do not affect the nanocage structure indicating its structural stability. The chemisorption of this herbicide is an exothermic process with −43.89 kcal.mol-1. The most stable complex displayed an adsorption energy and ∆G values of −53.97 and −40.79 kcal.mol-1, respectively. The HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) and LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) energies are located in the glyphosate implying that this herbicide can be removed by chemical reaction. Our results show that the B12N12 nanocluster can be a suitable new nanomaterial to remove the glyphosate from wastewater. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v9i3.99