Conformal inflation from the Higgs

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of Abiotic Factors and Floral Resource Availability on Daily Foraging Activity of Bees

In this study, the daily and seasonal influences of abiotic factors and the amount of floral resources on the foraging frequency of bees were determined. The experiments were performed, during 12 consecutive months, in the main floral sources used by bees in a secondary forest fragment. The foraging frequency of each bee species on flowers of each plant was recorded for 20-min periods, every hour. To verify whether the foraging activity is influenced by abiotic factors, Pearson's correlation analysis and linear regression tests were performed for the dominant bee species. Temperature and luminosity were the two main abiotic factors regulating foraging activities of bees. A positive correlation was found between the foraging frequency of most bees and these two variables. Conversely, the foraging activity was influenced neither by the relative humidity nor by the wind speed. The activity of each species depends on a combination of factors that include not only abiotic variables, but also the amount of floral resources available during the day, body size, and behavior of each visitor. After a certain period of the day, the scarcity of floral resources produced by most plants can stimulate the bees to forage in the flowers early in subsequent days, which may occur before the period in which the abiotic conditions are really favorable.

Dialysis complications in AKI patients treated with extended daily dialysis: is the duration of therapy important?

This trial aimed to compare the dialysis complications occurring during different durations of extended daily dialysis (EDD) sessions in critically ill AKI patients. We included patients older than 18 years with AKI associated with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit and using noradrenaline dose ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 mu g/kg/min. Patients were divided into two groups randomly: in G1, 6 h sessions were performed and, in G2, 10 h sessions were performed. Seventy-five patients were treated with 195 EDD sessions for 18 consecutive months. The prevalence of hypotension, filter clotting, hypokalaemia, and hypophosphataemia was 82.6, 25.3, 20, and 10.6%, respectively. G1 and G2 were similar in male predominance and SOFA. There was no significant difference between the two groups in hypotension, filter clotting, hypokalaemia, and hypophosphataemia. However, the group treated with sessions of 10 hours showed higher refractory to clinical measures for hypotension and dialysis sessions were interrupted more often. Metabolic control and fluid balance were similar between G1 and G2. In conclusion, intradialysis hypotension was common in AKI patients treated with EDD. There was no difference in the prevalence of dialysis complications in patients undergoing different durations of EDD.

Daily photosynthesis, water relations, and ion concentrations of uuonymus irrigated with treated wastewater

Euonymus japonica Thunb. (euonymus) plants were submitted for 9 months to two irrigation treatments using water from different sources: a control (C) water with electrical conductivity (EC) less than 1.2 dS.m(-1) and reclaimed wastewater (RW) with EC approximate to 4 dS.m(-1). At the end of the experiment, no differences in the total dry weight were observed between treatments, whereas the leaf dry mass increased (to the detriment of the root part in RW plants). Throughout the day, the stem water potential (Psi(stem)) of the RW plants was lower than in C, whereas stomatal conductance (g(S)) was slightly reduced in RW from 0800 HR to 1200 HR, but no significant variation in photosynthesis (P-n) or energy conversion efficiency (F'(v)/F'(m)) in photosystem II was detected through the effect of salinity. Gas exchange and fluorescence showed a tendency to increase after midday in plants treated with RW. The photosynthetic behavior and fluorescence of RW plants may have been related to the nitrogen and chlorophyll content of the leaves, confirming the resistance of the photosynthetic mechanism to salinity in this species in these conditions. The toxic effects produced by high concentrations of boron (B), sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) were offset by the effect of other ions like magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), and phosphorus (P) in plants irrigated with RW, thus improving their physiological status without decreasing their ornamental value.

Implementing inflation targeting in Brazil: an institutional analysis

The paper shows the advantages and handicaps of implementing an inflation target (IT) regime, from a Post-Keynesian and, thus, an institutional stance. It is Post-Keynesian as long as it does not perceive any benefit in the mainstream split between monetary and fiscal policies. And it is institutional insofar as it assumes that there are several ways of implementing a policy, such that the chosen one is determined by historical factors, as it is illustrated by the Brazilian case. One could even support IT policies if their targets were seen just as “focusing devices” guiding economic policy, notwithstanding other targets, as, in the short run, output growth and employment and, in the long run, technology and human development. Nevertheless, an IT is not necessary, although it can be admitted, mainly if the target is hidden from the public, in order to increase the flexibility of the Central Bank.

Oral impacts on the daily performance of Brazilians assessed using a sociodental approach: analyses of national data

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between oral diseases and their impact on the daily performance of adult and elderly Brazilians, verify the association of oral diseases with socioeconomic and demographic features, and compare the standard estimate of need with the sociodental assessment of these same needs. The authors evaluated data from 17,398 Brazilians aged between 35-44 years and 65-74 years, taken from the cross-sectional Brazilian Oral Health Survey (Saúde Bucal Brasil - SBBrasil). Regression models were applied to assess associations among impacts on daily performance and income, schooling, gender, region, use of dental services, health perception and dental disease status. McNemar’s test was applied to compare standard versus impact-related estimates of need. The prevalence ratio of these impacts was associated with the sociodemographic versus health perceptions (p < 0.001) of adults and the elderly. Adults also had impacts associated with loss of periodontal attachment (p < 0.001). The prevalence of normative needs was 95.39% for adults and 99.76% for the elderly, whereas the impact-related estimate of need was 50.92% and 43.71%, respectively. The impacted-related approach had a statistically significant association with the normative estimate of need (p < 0.001). This study showed a relationship between oral impact on daily performance of adults and educational level. Sociodemographic features were also related to the impacts on both adults and the elderly, and to health perception. The impacts among the adults were related to the loss of periodontal attachment. In addition, the authors found a sizable difference between the standard versus the sociodental approach, in that the sociodental assessment needs were lower than the needs identified by the standard estimate of need.

Antidepressant treatment decreases daily salt intake and prevents heart dysfunction following subchronic aortic regurgitation in rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Spatial distribution of the daily precipitation concentration index in Algeria

In this paper, the spatial and temporal distribution of the daily precipitation concentration index (CI) in Algeria (south Mediterranean Sea) has been assessed. CI is an index related to the rainfall intensity and erosive capacity; therefore, this index is of great interest for studies on torrential rainfall and floods. Forty-two daily rainfall series based on high-quality and fairly regular rainfall records for the period from 1970 to 2008 were used. The daily precipitation CI results allowed the identification of three climate zones: the northern country, characterized by coastal regions with CI values between 0.59 and 0.63; the highlands, with values between 0.57 and 0.62, except for the region of Biskra (CI = 0.70); and the southern region of the country, with high rainfall concentrations with values between 0.62 and 0.69.

Influence of daily consumption of synbiotic soy-based product supplemented with okara soybean by-product on risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Bone mineral density evaluation in rats submitted to daily diet of coffee and soft drinks

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estimation of hourly, daily and monthly mean diffuse radiation based on MEO shadowring correction

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Inflation in supergravity and the volume modulus

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Tractor perfomance as a function of speed and seeder s tire inflation pressure

O desempenho de tratores agrícolas em condições de campo resulta da interação entre pneu e rodado, influenciado pela velocidade de deslocamento. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de um trator agrícola sob diferentes pressões de inflação dos pneus da semeadora (518, 483, and 414kPa) e em duas marchas que proporcionaram velocidades de 3,0 e 6,0km h-1. O experimento foi realizado no campus de Jaboticabal da Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi fatorial inteiramente casualizado (3x2), com quatro repetições. A força de tração foi influenciada pela marcha e pela potência exigida; no entanto, a pressão de inflação do pneu da semeadora não alterou esses parâmetros. Além disso, o consumo de combustível foi influenciado apenas pela marcha do trator. O consumo de energia foi maior com o aumento da velocidade, ocasionada pela mudança de marcha. A velocidade de deslocamento foi maior para a pressão de 518kPa, em razão da menor patinagem da semeadora promovida por essa pressão. A patinagem do trator não foi alterada pelos fatores testados.

Daily intake of pasteurized orange juice decreases serum cholesterol, fasting glucose and diastolic blood pressure in adults

Previous studies have shown that fresh squeezed orange juice or juice from reconstituted concentrate can help prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Pasteurized orange juice presently represents the major orange juice available in the market, and because of this, it becomes necessary to determine the healthy benefits associated with this product. In this study we investigated the effect of regular consumption of pasteurized orange juice on the nutritional status, biochemical profile, and arterial blood pressure in healthy men and women. Men and women volunteered to consume pasteurized orange juice (500 mL·d–1 and 750 mL·d–1, respectively), for 8 weeks. Anthropometric, biochemical, hemodynamic, and dietary assessments were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the experimental period. Total cholesterol and LDL-C significantly decreased in both men and women after the consumption of orange juice, and an increase in HDL-C level was detected exclusively in women. Fasting glucose, diastolic blood pressure, and triglyceride levels dropped in men after the consumption of orange juice. Anthropometric variables did not change with orange juice consumption, only waist circumference decreased significantly in women. Consumption of orange juice increased the energy and carbohydrate intake for women; however, vitamin C and folate increased after the orange juice period for both men and women. Regular consumption of pasteurized orange juice by men (750 mL·d–1) and women (500 mL·d–1) reduced the risk of developing atherosclerosis, and increased the nutritional quality of their diets.

Statistical detection of spurious variations in daily raingauge data caused by changes in observation practices, as applied to records from various parts of the world

In the instrumental records of daily precipitation, we often encounter one or more periods in which values below some threshold were not registered. Such periods, besides lacking small values, also have a large number of dry days. Their cumulative distribution function is shifted to the right in relation to that for other portions of the record having more reliable observations. Such problems are examined in this work, based mostly on the two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test, where the portion of the series with more number of dry days is compared with the portion with less number of dry days. Another relatively common problem in daily rainfall data is the prevalence of integers either throughout the period of record or in some part of it, likely resulting from truncation during data compilation prior to archiving or by coarse rounding of daily readings by observers. This problem is identified by simple calculation of the proportion of integers in the series, taking the expected proportion as 10%. The above two procedures were applied to the daily rainfall data sets from the European Climate Assessment (ECA), Southeast Asian Climate Assessment (SACA), and Brazilian Water Resources Agency (BRA). Taking the statistic D of the KS test >0.15 and the corresponding p-value <0.001 as the condition to classify a given series as suspicious, the proportions of the ECA, SACA, and BRA series falling into this category are, respectively, 34.5%, 54.3%, and 62.5%. With relation to coarse rounding problem, the proportions of series exceeding twice the 10% reference level are 3%, 60%, and 43% for the ECA, SACA, and BRA data sets, respectively. A simple way to visualize the two problems addressed here is by plotting the time series of daily rainfall for a limited range, for instance, 0–10 mm day−1.