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We examined the association between indicators of the school environment with sedentary behavior and different intensities of physical activity in children. The study that included 515 children (265 boys) aged 9–11 years old from public and private schools in the city of São Caetano do Sul. Sedentary behavior and different intensities of physical activity were evaluated with an accelerometer. Inside school environment (policies, supervision committee, extracurricular activities, breaks, and access to school facilities) was evaluated using a questionnaire. Policies and practice (β: 8.49; 95% CI: 3.62–13.36), supervision committee (5.42; 0.64–10.19), inter-school competitions (2.40, 2.25–2.55), breaks of 15–29 min/day (6.87; 2.20–10.75), and outdoor sports field (5.40; 0.37–10.44), were positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity. Furthermore, crossing guards (7.65; 3.00–12.30) were positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity. We concluded that an association was found between school environment indicators with higher levels of physical activity and greater odds of meeting physical activity guidelines.

Background Brain iron accumulation neurodegeneration (NBIA) comprises a group of rare diseases characterized by deposits of this metal in brain structures. It presents a great variability of progression, which can be fast enough to lead the patient to death in the first years of life, or slow enough to be confused with non-progressive diseases. Case presentation Female, 19-year-old patient, cesarean delivery at 38 weeks of gestation. History of multiple sclerosis in a second-degree paternal aunt. Normal neuropsychomotor growth and development up to 11 months, when changes in gait began. After that, it got worse, with decreased muscle strength and falls, but it progressed so slowly that she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a non-progressive condition. At the age of 16, she underwent molecular analysis by exome sequencing, being diagnosed with the NBIA Phospholipase A2 (PLAN) variant. Currently doing physical therapy, hydrotherapy, occupational therapy and sertraline. Conclusions The report draws attention to the variability of the disease and the possibility of confusion with other diagnoses, which may delay proper management.

We compared short-term physical performance adaptations to traditional strength training (TST) or complex strength training (CST) in a youth football (soccer) team during the preparatory period. A professional U19 male football team (n = 26; age = 17.3 ± 1.5 yrs) were divided in a TST (4 sets × 4 reps at 60–85% of one-repetition maximum [1RM] resistance training twice/week; n = 9), a CST (TST + plyometrics; n = 11) and a control (CON, only regular team’ practice; n = 6) group. The 1RM bench press, 1RM back squat, squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), Illinois agility test, 10-, 20- and 30-m sprint and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 [Yo-Yo IR1] performance were tested before and after a 4-week preparatory period. Training load was quantified using the session rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE; RPE × duration) method. Both TST and CST groups improved 1RM-BP and 1RM-BS (d = 0.67–0.91). The CST group improved SJ, CMJ, 10-, 20- and 30-m sprint and Yo-Yo IR1 performance (d = 0.43–0.74). The CON group experienced moderate improvements in CMJ (d = 0.73). After adjustment for s-RPE, the TST improved Yo-Yo IR1 performance (d = 0.53), whereas all functional adaptations disappeared in the CST and CON group. No between-group differences were observed in s-RPE neither after gym nor field training. Adding TST or CST twice/week to regular pre-season U19 football training induced similar effects on maximal strength, albeit that CST seems more effective to improve functional capacity without being perceived as more demanding. Strength and conditioning coaches could implement CST to simultaneously enhance strength, power and intermittent exercise capacity in U19 football players.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-29T08:31:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-01 Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária Phenotyping is the major bottleneck in the effort to develop varieties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) suitable for growing under a water-saving irrigation management, such as alternate wetting and drying irrigation techniques (AWD). To analyze if the genotypic variability for carbon isotope discrimination (CID) in rice leaves could be used as a relatively high-throughput tracer to early select superior genotypes highlighting improved root architecture traits when submitted to AWD, a set of twenty varieties grown under semi-natural conditions were submitted to two water irrigation regimes, continuous flooding (CF) and AWD cycles. Coefficients of genetic variance (π2g) obtained for root architecture, micro-morphological and physiological traits were significant for all of them regardless of the adopted irrigation system, except to mean root diameter. The three significant principal components (PCs) with eigenvalue > 1, explain most of the total variation across cycles and water regimes. For most of analyzed traits, the values of heritability coefficients were higher regardless of adopted irrigation management and trait category; for CID, the magnitudes of broad heritability at an individual level (greater than 0.80) were similar in the two irrigation techniques, evidencing that the success of the selection is independent of irrigation management. The higher CID values after three AWD cycles are associated with varieties with higher total root length and volume. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the potential application of CID as a tracer to select root architecture traits in rice when water-saving irrigation management is of concern. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária Embrapa Algodão Núcleo Do Cerrado, Rodovia GO-462, km 12 Zona Rural, GO Centro de Isótopos Estáveis Prof. Dr. Carlos Ducatti” CIE Instituto de Biociências IBB UNESP Campus de Botucatu, SP Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária Embrapa Clima Temperado, Rodovia BR 392, km 78, RS Universidade Federal de Pelotas Faculdade de Agronomia Eliseu Maciel, RS Centro de Isótopos Estáveis Prof. Dr. Carlos Ducatti” CIE Instituto de Biociências IBB UNESP Campus de Botucatu, SP Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária: 01

Background Joint pain in the absence or with little synovitis is observed in a large percentage of HTLV-1 infected subjects. As the virus infect CD4 + and CD8 + positive, macrophages and B cells an exaggerated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is detected in these patients. However, the possible association of HTLV-1 infection with autoimmune diseases has not been documented definitively and the clinical characteristics of HTLV-1 associated arthropathy has not been defined. The objective this study is to describe clinic and radiographic features in HTLV-1-infected individuals with complaints of joint pain. Methods Cross-sectional study enrolling HTLV-1-infected individuals with chronic joint pain, aged up to 75 years, both genders and seronegative controls with osteoarthritis. All participants underwent conventional radiography of the hips, knees and ankles. Results Eighty-one HTLV-1 infected patients and 30 subjects with osteoarthritis participated in the study. Polyarticular and symmetrical arthritis prevailed in the HTLV-1 positive group (54%), while oligoarticular and asymmetrical (44%) were more common in controls (p p p Conclusion HTLV-1-associated arthropathy is clinically characterized by symmetrical polyarthralgia and the main radiological finding is the presence of enthesophytes in the absence of osteophytes and joint space narrowing.

Non-coding RNAs are involved with maintenance and regulation of physiological mechanisms and are involved in pathological processes, such as cancer. Among the small ncRNAs, miRNAs are the most explored in tumorigenesis, metastasis development, and resistance to chemotherapy. These small molecules of ~ 22 nucleotides are modulated during early renal development, involved in the regulation of gene expression and Wilms' tumor progression. Wilms' tumors are embryonic tumors with few mutations and complex epigenetic dysregulation. In recent years, the small ncRNAs have been explored as potentially related both in physiological development and in the tumorigenesis of several types of cancer. Besides, genes regulated by miRNAs are related to biological pathways as PI3K, Wnt, TGF-β, and Hippo signaling pathways, among others, which may be involved with the underlying mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy, and in this way, it has emerged as potential targets for cancer therapies, including for Wilms' tumors.

Non-aggressive basal cell carcinoma (BCC) growth is slow and might be mediated by the immune system. This study analysed the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G expression and cytokine profile in non-aggressive BCC subtypes from distinct locations. HLA-G was evaluated via immunohistochemistry and cytokine expression was analysed by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in 26 primary BCC samples, including nodular BCC (nBCC, n = 16) and superficial BCC (n = 10) from cephalic (ceBCC, n = 12) and non-cephalic (n = 14) locations, and by bioinformatics analysis of public GEO databases. Inflammatory infiltrate was concentrated around the tumour nests. HLA-G-positive inflammatory cells (53.85%) were more abundant than HLA-G-positive tumour cells (21.54%, p

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:53:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-01 Aims: Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) survival was evaluated in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of 20 crop species, as well as in the rhizosphere of cabbage cultivated in six soil types. Methods: The crops aerial parts were inoculated, and the rhizosphere soil was infested with bacterial suspension (107 CFU.mL−1) of 3098C Xcc strain, which is rifampicin-resistant and pathogenic to brassica plants. Xcc recovery from the samples was performed in a semi-selective culture medium. Results: The highest average survival periods of Xcc in the phyllosphere were obtained from cabbage (70 days), tomato (67 days), wheat and pumpkin (63 days), black oat and radish (56 days) and sweet pepper (49 days). Low Xcc survival occurred in the rhizosphere of most crops evaluated when compared to the soil in the absence of plants. The highest average period of survival in the rhizosphere was observed for cabbage (53 days). Survival periods in lettuce, pumpkin, wheat and mustard ranged from 21 to 28 days. In the rhizosphere of cabbage cultivated in six soils, survival periods ranged from 8 to 17 days. Conclusions: Sunflower, carrot, zucchini, spinach, sunn hemp, sorghum, maize and chive are recommended for rotating systems with brassicas because Xcc showed low survival in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of these crops. Departamento de Proteção Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780 Departamento de Produção e Melhoramento Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780 Departamento de Proteção Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780 Departamento de Produção e Melhoramento Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:49:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) A crop rotation system can reduce phytopathogen inoculum, and consequently reduce the incidence and severity of disease. Bean bacterial wilt is an important disease and several crops can act as inoculum sources for Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff). The aim was to evaluate the influence of crop rotation systems on 10 common bean cultivars against bacterial wilt. Experiments were located in two different areas in Brazil (2012), cultivated under a no-tillage system and with a history of the disease. The evaluated rotation systems were black oat, wheat and fallow followed by common bean. After harvest, 10 dry bean cultivars were sown, together with a fallow area. Disease incidence and severity were assessed at 45, 60 and 80 days after sowing. Also evaluated were four agronomical parameters: pod numbers, grain numbers, total weight of grains per plant and weight of 100 grains. Epiphytic and endophytic colonization by Cff was evaluated in black oat and wheat, and in crop debris. The rotation systems significantly influenced the incidence and severity of bacterial wilt in common bean cultivars in both areas and negatively affected the four agronomic parameters. The cultivars BRS Campeiro, BRS Estilo, IPR Tuiuiú, IPR Tangará and IPR Campos Gerais presented low severity and incidence of the disease and higher productivity. Cff strains were recovered from black oat, wheat and crop debris. Our results reinforce the importance of planting non-Cff host crops in rotation systems with common bean, as well as planting cultivars with a level of resistance to bacterial wilt. Departamento de Proteção Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780 Departamento de Proteção Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA) Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida Universitária, 3780

We introduce heterogeneous preferences for location in 2-region core-periphery models, thereby generating an additional dispersive force: the home-sweet-home effect. Different forms of heterogeneity in preferences for location induce different long-run spatial distributions of economic activity, depending on the short-run equilibrium model and the distribution of preferences for location that are considered. Our analysis highlights the importance of the convexity/concavity properties of utility from consumption and utility from location, as functions of the spatial distribution of economic activity.

The proposed paper investigates commercial antiviruses. About 17% of the antiviruses did not recognize the existence of the malicious samples analyzed. In order to overcome the limitations of commercial antiviruses, this project creates an antivirus able to identify the modus operandi of a malware application before it is even executed by the user. In the proposed methodology, the features extracted from the executables are the input attributes of artificial neural networks. The classification of neural networks aims to group executables of 32-bit architectures into two classes: benign and malware. In total, 6272 executables are used in order to validate the proposed methodology. The proposed antivirus achieves an average performance of 98.32% in the distinction between benign and malware executables, accompanied by an average response time of only 0.07 s. Our antivirus is statistically superior and more effective when compared to the best state-of-the-art antivirus. The limitations of commercial antiviruses can be catering for artificial intelligence techniques based on machine learning. Instead of empirical and heuristic models, the proposed work identifies, in a statistical way, behaviors previously classified as suspects in real time.

The Crato Formation palaeoentomofauna from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) of northeast Brazil is extremely well preserved. Crato insects are often complete with abdomen, thorax, head, legs, wings articulated and fragile cuticle details observed at the macro and micro scale. The Crato Formation stands out for the high diversity of fossil insects with at least 386 described species, so far. We investigate the preservation pathways through SEM–EDS and Raman spectroscopy, which give fundamental insights regarding the understanding of this complex theme. Our study compared cuticle soft-tissue preservation of Ensifera in different layers of the Crato limestone. The results of our analyses confirmed that the anaerobic bacterial respiration processes influenced the labile-tissues preservation. Ensifera fossils display preservational stages ranging from kerogenization to pyritization. Kerogenization represents the partial or complete chemical transformation of organic material into aliphatic and cyclic hydrocarbons in situ during mesodiagenesis, while pyritization occurs during the decaying of carcass in the early diagenesis. Here, we followed the previous hypothesis of fish tissue preservation that these processes are governed principally by variations in the positioning and residence time of the carcasses in different microbial zones within the sediment column. Besides early/mesodiagenetic modifications, oxidation processes during recent weathering led to some mineral transformations that played a key role in the preservation of Ensifera. La paleoentomofauna de La Formación Crato, Cretáceo Inferior (Aptiano) del Nordeste de Brasil, está extremadamente bien preservada. En general, los insectos de Crato se completan con abdomen, tórax, cabeza, piernas, alas articuladas y detalles frágiles de la cutícula observados en escalas macro y micro. La Formación Crato se destaca por la alta diversidad de fósiles de insectos con al menos 386 especies descritas, hasta ahora. En este trabajo se investigó las vías de preservación a través de MEV-EDX y Espectroscopia Raman, que proporcionan informaciones fundamentales sobre la comprensión de este tema complejo. Este estudio comparó la preservación de tejidos blandos de las cutículas de Ensifera, en diferentes capas de rocas carbonáticas de La Formación Crato. Los resultados confirman que los procesos anaeróbicos de respiración bacteriana influenciaron la preservación de los tejidos lábiles. Los fósiles de Ensifera exhiben modos de preservación que van desde la querogenización a la piritización. La querogenización representa la transformación química parcial o completa del material orgánico en hidrocarburos alifáticos y cíclicos in situ durante la mesodiagénesis, mientras que la piritización ocurre durante la descomposición de la carcasa en la eodiagénesis. Aquí, se sigue la hipótesis sobre la preservación del tejido de los peces de que estos procesos de son influenciados por variaciones en la ubicación y tiempo de residencia de las carcasas en diferentes zonas microbianas, dentro de la columna de sedimentos. Además de las modificaciones eodiagenéticas y mesogenéticas, los procesos de oxidación durante el intemperismo reciente llevaron a algunas transformaciones minerales que desempeñaron un papel fundamental en la preservación de los Ensifera.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T12:20:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-11-14 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Federal Technological University of Parana FundacAo para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal Research Fund of ISEG This work proposes a binary nonlinear bi-objective optimization model for the problem of planning the sustainable cultivation of crops. The solution to the problem is a planting schedule for crops to be cultivated in predefined plots, in order to minimize the possibility of pest proliferation and maximize the profit of this process. Biological constraints were also considered. Exact methods, based on the nonlinear model and on a linearization of that model were proposed to generate Pareto optimal solutions for the problem of sustainable cultivation, along with a metaheuristic approach for the problem based on a genetic algorithm and on constructive heuristics. The methods were tested using semi-randomly generated instances to simulate real situations. According to the experimental results, the exact methodologies performed favorably for small and medium size instances. The heuristic method was able to potentially determine Pareto optimal solutions of good quality, in a reduced computational time, even for high dimension instances. Therefore, the mathematical models and the methods proposed may support a powerful methodology for this complex decision-making problem. Univ Tecnol Fed Parana, Dept Acad Matemat, Apucarana, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Lisbon, ISEG, Lisbon, Portugal Univ Lisbon, CMAFcIO, Lisbon, Portugal Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Matemat, Bauru, SP, Brazil Univ Tecnol Fed Parana, Apucarana, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Matemat, Bauru, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2014/01604-0 FAPESP: 2014/04353-8 FAPESP: 2013/07375-0 CNPq: 302454/2016-0 FundacAo para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal: UID/MAT/04561/2013 FundacAo para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal: UID/Multi/00491/2013 CNPq: 303267/2011-9

In recent years, due to the increase of nanotechnology and the demand for innovations in cementitious materials, there has been a significant interest in research in the application of nanosilica (NS) as supplementary nano cementitious material (SNCM). The incorporation of NS in cementitious materials aims to improve its performance in specific applications, such as for high strength and durability in the concretes. Recent developments in the synthesis of the monodisperse and small size distribution of nanoparticles by functionalization methods provide a significant boost to the development of nanosilica composites with functional group grafts, called functionalized nanosilica (FNS). This review article intends to standardize the bibliographic review of FNS synthesis methods and the ways to characterize them.

We establish sharp $$C_{\text {loc}}^{1, \beta }$$ geometric regularity estimates for bounded solutions of a class of fully nonlinear elliptic equations with non-homogeneous degeneracy, whose model equation is given by $$\begin{aligned} \left[ |Du|^p+\mathfrak {a}(x)|Du|^q\right] {\mathcal {M}}_{\lambda , \Lambda }^{+}(D^2 u)= f(x, u) \quad \text {in} \quad \Omega , \end{aligned}$$ for a bounded and open set $$\Omega \subset {\mathbb {R}}^N$$ , and appropriate data $$p, q \in (0, \infty )$$ , $$\mathfrak {a}$$ and f. Such regularity estimates simplify and generalize, to some extent, earlier ones via totally different modus operandi. Our approach is based on geometric tangential methods and makes use of a refined oscillation mechanism combined with compactness and scaling techniques. In the end, we present some connections of our findings with a variety of nonlinear geometric free boundary problems and relevant nonlinear models in the theory of elliptic PDEs, which may have their own interest. We also deliver explicit examples where our results are sharp.

In recent years, due to the rapid development of nanotechnology and the desire for breakthroughs in cementitious materials, there has been a strong research focus on the application of nanoparticles as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) such as nanosilica (NS). This paper investigates the effect of functionalized nanosilica (NSF) with amino groups on Portland cement pastes. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) assays were performed to characterize the NSF and confirm the grafting of the amine organic groups on the nanosilica surface (NS). Samples of cement masses were prepared containing NSF or NS with varying content of 0.3, 0.9 and 2.7% by weight, a reference sample of cement mass was also prepared without any addition. For the characterization of cement pastes, induction calorimetry, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and compressive strength tests were performed. The results showed that NSF samples led to reduced superplasticizer use and decreased hydration rate and that the 0.9% NSF sample achieved compressive strength at 28 days greater than 50 MPa.

Chitin-binding proteins behave as storage and antifungal proteins in the seeds of Moringa oleifera. Moringa oleifera is a tropical multipurpose tree. Its seed constituents possess coagulant, bactericidal, fungicidal, and insecticidal properties. Some of these properties are attributed to a group of polypeptides denominated M. oleifera chitin-binding proteins (in short, Mo-CBPs). Within this group, Mo-CBP2, Mo-CBP3, and Mo-CBP4 were previously purified to homogeneity. They showed high amino acid similarity with the 2S albumin storage proteins. These proteins also presented antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic yeast and phytopathogenic fungi. In the present study, the localization and expression of genes that encode Mo-CBPs and the biosynthesis and degradation of the corresponding proteins during morphogenesis and maturation of M. oleifera seeds at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days after anthesis (DAA) and germination, respectively, were assessed. The Mo-CBP transcripts and corresponding proteins were not detected at 15 and 30 days after anthesis (DAA). However, they accumulated at the latter stages of seed maturation (60 and 90 DAA), reaching the maximum level at 60 DAA. The degradation kinetics of Mo-CBPs during seed germination by in situ immunolocalization revealed a reduction in the protein content 48 h after sowing (HAS). Moreover, Mo-CBPs isolated from seeds at 60 and 90 DAA prevented the spore germination of Fusarium spp. Taken together, these results suggest that Mo-CBPs play a dual role as storage and defense proteins in the seeds of M. oleifera.

Dublin Core descriptors capture metadata in most repositories, and this includes recent repositories dedicated to datasets. DC descriptors are generic and are being adapted to the requirements of different communities with the so-called Dublin Core Application Profiles that rely on the agreement within user communities, taking into account their evolving needs. In this paper, we propose an automated process to help curators and users discover the descriptors that best suit the needs of a specific research group in the task of describing and depositing datasets. Our approach is supported on Dendro, a prototype research data management platform, where an experimental method is used to rank and present DC Terms descriptors to the users based on their usage patterns. User interaction is recorded and used to score descriptors. In a controlled experiment, we gathered the interactions of two groups as they used Dendro to describe datasets from selected sources. One of the groups viewed descriptors according to the ranking, while the other had the same list of descriptors throughout the experiment. Preliminary results show that (1) some DC Terms are filled in more often than others, with different distribution in the two groups, (2) descriptors in higher ranks were increasingly accepted by users in detriment of manual selection, (3) users were satisfied with the performance of the platform, and (4) the quality of description was not hindered by descriptor ranking.

In this manuscript we establish Schauder type estimates for viscosity solutions with small enough oscillation to non-convex fully nonlinear second order parabolic equations of the following form Eq $$ \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} - F(x, t, D^{2} u) = f(x, t) \quad \text{in} \quad Q_{1} = B_{1} \times (-1, 0], $$ provided that the source f and the coefficients of F are Dini continuous functions. Furthermore, for problems with merely continuous data, we prove that such solutions are parabolically C1,Log-Lip smooth. Finally, we put forward a number of applications consequential of our estimates, which include a partial regularity result and a theorem of Schauder type for classical solutions.

In one-dimensional regression models, we establish a rate for the rth moment convergence (r⩾1) of the ordinary least-squares estimator involving explicitly the regressors, answering to an open question raised lately by Afendras and Markatou (Test 25:775–784, 2016). An extension of the classic Theorem 2.6.1 of Anderson (The statistical analysis of time series, Wiley, New York, 1971) is also presented.

We study the sustainability of collusion in mixed oligopolies where private and public firms only differ in their objective: private firms maximize profits, while public firms maximize total surplus. If marginal costs are increasing, public firms do not supply the entire market, leaving room for private firms to produce and possibly cooperate by restricting output. The presence of public firms makes collusion among private firms harder to sustain, and maybe even unprofitable. As the number of private firms increases, collusion may become easier or harder to sustain. Privatization makes collusion easier to sustain, and is socially detrimental whenever firms are able to collude after privatization (which is always the case if they are sufficiently patient). Coordinated effects thus reverse the traditional result according to which privatization is socially desirable if there are many firms in the industry.

In this manuscript we study an inhomogeneous obstacle type problem involving a fractional p-Laplacian type operator. First, we focus our attention in establishing existence and uniform estimates for any family of solutions $$\{u_p\}_{p \ge 2}$$ which depend on the data of the problem and universal parameters. Next, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of such a family as $$p \rightarrow \infty $$ . At this point, we prove that $$\displaystyle \lim \nolimits _{p\rightarrow \infty } u_p(x) = u_{\infty }(x)$$ there exists (up to a subsequence), verifies a limiting obstacle type problem in the viscosity sense, and it is an s-Holder continuous function. We also present several explicit examples, as well as further features of the limit solutions and their free boundaries. In order to establish our results we overcome several technical difficulties and develop new strategies, which were not present in the literature for this type of problems. Finally, we remark that our results are new even for problems governed by fractional p-Laplacian operator, as well as they extend the previous ones by dealing with more general non-local operators, source terms and boundary data.

Research data management is rapidly becoming a regular concern for researchers, and institutions need to provide them with platforms to support data organization and preparation for publication. Some institutions have adopted institutional repositories as the basis for data deposit, whereas others are experimenting with richer environments for data description, in spite of the diversity of existing workflows. This paper is a synthetic overview of current platforms that can be used for data management purposes. Adopting a pragmatic view on data management, the paper focuses on solutions that can be adopted in the long tail of science, where investments in tools and manpower are modest. First, a broad set of data management platforms is presented-some designed for institutional repositories and digital libraries-to select a short list of the more promising ones for data management. These platforms are compared considering their architecture, support for metadata, existing programming interfaces, as well as their search mechanisms and community acceptance. In this process, the stakeholders' requirements are also taken into account. The results show that there is still plenty of room for improvement, mainly regarding the specificity of data description in different domains, as well as the potential for integration of the data management platforms with existing research management tools. Nevertheless, depending on the context, some platforms can meet all or part of the stakeholders' requirements.

Paraconsistent logic (PL) is a type of non-classical logic that accepts contradiction as a fundamental concept and has produced valuable results in the analysis of uncertainties. In this work, algorithms based on a type of PL-paraconsistent annotated logic of two values (PAL2v)-are interconnected into a network of paraconsistent analysis (PANnet). PANnet was applied to a dataset comprising 146 Raman spectra of skin tissue biopsy fragments of which 30 spectra were determined to represent normal skin tissue (N), 96 were determined to represent tissue with basal cell carcinoma, and 19 were determined to be tissue with melanoma (MEL). In this database, paraconsistent analysis was able to correctly discriminate 136 out of a total of 145 fragments, obtaining a 93.793 % correct diagnostic accuracy. The application of PAL2v in the analysis of Raman spectroscopy signals produces better discrimination of cells than conventional statistical processes and presents a good graphical overview through its associated lattice structure. The technique of PAL2v-based data processing can be fundamental in the development of a computational tool dedicated to support the diagnosis of skin cancer using Raman spectroscopy.

In this paper, conditions are given to ensure the convergence in mean of order $$p\ (1 \leqslant p < 2)$$ for arrays of random variables. Recent results about convergence in p-mean for arrays of row-wise pairwise negative quadrant dependent random variables will be improved.

In this manuscript we study geometric regularity estimates for quasi-linear elliptic equations of p-Laplace type ( $$1< p< \infty $$ ) with strong absorption condition: $$\begin{aligned} -\mathrm {div}(\Phi (x, u, \nabla u)) + \lambda _0(x) u_{+}^q(x) = 0 \quad \hbox {in} \quad \Omega \subset \mathbb {R}^N, \end{aligned}$$ where $$\Phi : \Omega \times \mathbb {R}_{+} \times \mathbb {R}^N \rightarrow \mathbb {R}^N$$ is a vector field with an appropriate p-structure, $$\lambda _0$$ is a non-negative and bounded function and $$0\le q0\} \cap \Omega $$ , where the regularity exponent is given explicitly by $$\gamma = \frac{p}{p-1-q} \gg 1$$ . Some weak geometric and measure theoretical properties as non-degeneracy, uniform positive density and porosity of free boundary are proved. As an application, a Liouville-type result for entire solutions is established provided that their growth at infinity can be controlled in an appropriate manner. Finally, we obtain finiteness of $$(N-1)$$ -Hausdorff measure of free boundary for a particular class of dead core problems. The approach employed in this article is novel even to dead core problems governed by the p-Laplace operator $$-\Delta _p u + \lambda _0 u^q\chi _{\{u>0\}} = 0$$ for any $$\lambda _0>0$$ .

Chagas disease is caused by infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) and is an important cause of severe inflammatory heart disease. However, the mechanisms driving Chagas disease cardiomyopathy have not been completely elucidated. Here, we show that the canonical PI3Kγ pathway is upregulated in both human chagasic hearts and hearts of acutely infected mice. PI3Kγ-deficient mice and mutant mice carrying catalytically inactive PI3Kγ are more susceptible to T. cruzi infection. The canonical PI3Kγ signaling in myeloid cells is essential to restrict T. cruzi heart parasitism and ultimately to avoid myocarditis, heart damage, and death of mice. Furthermore, high PIK3CG expression correlates with low parasitism in human Chagas’ hearts. In conclusion, these results indicate an essential role of the canonical PI3Kγ signaling pathway in the control of T. cruzi infection, providing further insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of chagasic heart disease., Trypanosoma cruzi infection causes Chagas disease, but mechanisms underlying pathogenesis are unclear. Here, Silva et al. show that canonical PI3Kγ signaling in myeloid cells restricts T. cruzi infection in mice and that high PIK3CG expression correlates with low parasite levels in human Chagas’ hearts.

Biomarkers for the prognosis of breast cancer have been routinely used in clinical practice, including the expression of hormone receptors, Ki-67 and HER-2. More recently, Bcl-2 has been recognized as an important prognostic factor in breast cancer, although controversies persist with respect to the significance of its expression. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer. Sixty women with invasive ductal carcinoma were included in the study and divided into two groups: Group A (luminal A) and Group B (triple-negative), with 30 cases in each group. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the proportions of cases with cells expressing Bcl-2 between the two subtype cancer groups, with statistical significance being established at p

Background It has recently been demonstrated that saliva from Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks contains adenosine (ADO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), two non-protein molecules that have significant immunomodulatory properties. These molecules can inhibit cytokine production by dendritic cells (DCs), while also reducing the expression of CD40 in these cells. However, more studies are needed for a better understanding of their participation in the feeding of ticks in vivo. This work, therefore, evaluated the importance of ADO during tick infestations. Mice were infested with adult ticks (3 couples/mouse), and their skin was collected at the tick-infested site (3rd and 7th day), and mRNA for receptors of ADO was quantified by real-time PCR. Results Tick infestation increased by four and two times the expression of the A2b and A3v1 receptors on day 3, respectively, while expression of other ADO receptors was unaltered. In addition, we treated mice (n = 10/group) daily with 8-(p-Sulfophenyl)theophylline, 8-pSPT, 20 mg/kg, i.p.), a non-selective antagonist of ADO receptors, and evaluated the performance of ticks during infestations. Female ticks fed on 8-pSPT-treated mice presented a reduction in their engorgement, weight and hatching rates of egg masses, and survival times of larvae compared to the same parameters presented by ticks in the control group. To investigate if these 8-pSPT-treated mice presented altered immune responses, we performed three tick infestations and collected their lymph node cells to determine the percentages and activation state of DCs and cytokine production by lymphocytes by flow cytometry (Cytometric Bead Array technique, CBA). Our data showed that 8-pSPT-treated mice presented an increase in the percentage of DCs as well as of their stimulatory and co-stimulatory molecules (CD40, CD80 and MHCII). Regarding production of T cell cytokines, we observed a significant increase in the levels of IL-2 and a significant decrease in IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α and IFN-γ cytokines. Conclusions These results suggest that ADO produced by ticks helps them feed and reproduce and that this effect may be due to modulation of host DCs and T cells.

An economy with ex ante markets for future delivery contingent on ex post spot market prices is considered. Since spot prices are publicly observed ex post, this framework bypasses the enforcement problems that may arise as a result of differential information about states of nature. Generically, the equilibria of an economy with price-contingent deliveries coincide with the equilibria of the corresponding economy with state-contingent deliveries. However, replacing state-contingent deliveries with price-contingent deliveries may generate additional equilibria and/or remove some equilibria. The perfect foresight hypothesis is crucial to avoid a severe problem of nonexistence of equilibrium.

We derive a closed-form solution for the price of a European call option in the presence of ambiguity about the stochastic process that determines the variance of the underlying asset’s return. The option pricing formula of Heston (Rev Financ Stud 6(2):327–343, 1993) is a particular case of ours, corresponding to the case in which there is no ambiguity (uncertainty is exclusively risk). In the presence of ambiguity, the variance uncertainty price becomes either a convex or a concave function of the instantaneous variance, depending on whether the variance ambiguity price is negative or positive. We find that if the variance ambiguity price is positive, the option price is decreasing in the level of ambiguity (across all moneyness levels). The opposite happens if the variance ambiguity price is negative. This option pricing model can be used to address various empirical research topics in the future.

In this paper, we develop uniform bounds for the sequence of distribution functions of g ( V n + μ n ) , where g is some smooth function, { V n , n ≥ 1 } is a sequence of identically distributed random variables with common distribution having a bounded derivative and { μ n } are constants such that μ n → ∞ . These bounds allow us to identify a suitable sequence of random variables which is asymptotically of the same type of g ( V n + μ n ) showing that the rate of convergence for these uniform approximations depends on the ratio of the second derivative to the first derivative of g . The corresponding generalization to the multivariate case is also analyzed. An application of our results to the STATIS-ACT method is provided in the final section.

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. T helper 1 (Th1)-mediated immunity is primarily responsible for acquired resistance during P. brasiliensis infection. On the contrary, the susceptibility is associated with occurrence of type-2 immunity (Th2), which is characterized by IL-4 release, B cell activation, and production of antibodies. Although antibodies are frequently associated with severe PCM, it is not clear whether they contribute to susceptibility or merely constitute a marker of infection stage. Here, we assessed the function of B cells during experimental P. brasiliensis infection in mice, and our results showed that B cell-knockout (BKO) mice are more susceptible than their wild-type littermate controls (C57BL/6, WT). The BKO mice showed higher mortality rate, increased number of colony-forming units in the lungs, and larger granulomas than WT mice. In the absence of B cells, we observed high levels of IL-10, whereas IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-4 levels were similar between both groups. Finally, we showed that transference of WT immune serum to BKO mice resulted in diminished infiltration of inflammatory cells and better organization of the pulmonary granulomas. Taken together, these data suggest that B cells are effectively involved in the control of P. brasiliensis growth and organization of the granulomatous lesions observed during the experimental PCM.

The strong consistency of the least squares estimator in multiple regression models is established assuming the randomness of the regressors and errors with infinite variance. Only moderately restrictive conditions are imposed on the stochastic model matrix and the errors will be random variables having moment of order \(r,\,1 \leqslant r \leqslant 2\). In our treatment, we use Etemadi’s strong law of large numbers and a sharp almost sure convergence for randomly weighted sums of random elements. Both techniques permit us to extend the results of some previous papers.

A free daily newspaper distributes news to readers and sells ad-space to advertisers, having private information about its audience. For a given number of distributed copies, depending on the type of audience (favorable or unfavorable), the newspaper may either have a large readership or a small readership. A large readership provides a greater return to advertisers, because ads are visualized by more people. A favorable audience has also the advantage of requiring a lower distribution cost (for a given number of distributed copies), because readers are willing to exert more effort to obtain a copy of the free newspaper and are less likely to reject a copy that is handed to them. We find that when the audience is unfavorable, the number of distributed copies and the price of ad-space coincide with those of the perfect information scenario. In contrast, if the audience is favorable, the newspaper prints extra copies to send a credible signal to the advertisers that the audience is favorable. Overprinting is not necessarily welfare-detrimental since readers benefit from the existence of additional copies. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

We consider a version of the intertemporal general equilibrium model of Cox et al. (Econometrica 53:363-384, 1985) with a single production process and two correlated state variables. It is assumed that only one of them, Y 2, has shocks correlated with those of the economy's output rate and, simultaneously, that the representative agent is ambiguous about its stochastic process. This implies that changes in Y 2 should be hedged and its uncertainty priced, with this price containing risk and ambiguity components. Ambiguity impacts asset pricing through two channels: the price of uncertainty associated with the ambiguous state variable, Y 2, and the interest rate. With ambiguity, the equilibrium price of uncertainty associated with Y 2 and the equilibrium interest rate can increase or decrease, depending on: (i) the correlations between the shocks in Y 2 and those in the output rate and in the other state variable; (ii) the diffusion functions of the stochastic processes for Y 2 and for the output rate; and (iii) the gradient of the value function with respect to Y 2. As applications of our generic setting, we deduct the model of Longstaff and Schwartz (J Financ 47:1259-1282, 1992) for interest-rate-sensitive contingent claim pricing and the variance-risk price specification in the option pricing model of Heston (Rev Financ Stud 6:327-343, 1993). Additionally, it is obtained a variance-uncertainty price specification that can be used to obtain a closed-form solution for option pricing with ambiguity about stochastic variance. Â(c) 2012 Springer-Verlag.