Exhaustive exercise causes an anti-inflammatory effect in skeletal muscle and a pro-inflammatory effect in adipose tissue in rats

It is well known that exhaustive exercise increases serum and skeletal muscle IL-6 concentrations. However, the effect of exhaustive exercise on the concentrations of other cytokines in the muscle and in the adipose tissue is controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of exhaustive exercise on mRNA and protein expression of IL-10, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in different types of skeletal muscle (EDL, soleus) and in two different depots of white adipose tissue (mesenteric-MEAT and retroperitoneal-RPAT). Rats were killed by decapitation immediately (E0 group, n = 6), 2 (E2 group, n = 6) and 6 (E6 group, n = 6) hours after the exhaustion protocol, which consisted of running on a treadmill (approximately 70% VO(2max) for 50 min and then subsequently at an elevated rate that increased at 1 m/min every minute, until exhaustion). The control group (C group, n = 6) was not subjected to exercise. Cytokine protein expression increased in EDL, soleus, MEAT and RPAT from all exercised groups, as detected by ELISA. EDL IL-10 and TNF-alpha expression was higher than that of the soleus. The IL-10/TNF-alpha ratio was increased in the skeletal muscle, especially in EDL, but it was found to be decreased in the adipose tissue. These results show that exhaustive exercise presents a different effect depending on the tissue which is analysed: in the muscle, it induces an anti-inflammatory effect, especially in type 2 fibres, while the pro-inflammatory effect prevails in adipose tissue, possibly contributing to increased lipolysis to provide energy for the exercising muscle.

Elementary Petri net inside RFID distributed database (PNRD)

Usually, a Petri net is applied as an RFID model tool. This paper, otherwise, presents another approach to the Petri net concerning RFID systems. This approach, called elementary Petri net inside an RFID distributed database, or PNRD, is the first step to improve RFID and control systems integration, based on a formal data structure to identify and update the product state in real-time process execution, allowing automatic discovery of unexpected events during tag data capture. There are two main features in this approach: to use RFID tags as the object process expected database and last product state identification; and to apply Petri net analysis to automatically update the last product state registry during reader data capture. RFID reader data capture can be viewed, in Petri nets, as a direct analysis of locality for a specific transition that holds in a specific workflow. Following this direction, RFID readers storage Petri net control vector list related to each tag id is expected to be perceived. This paper presents PNRD cornerstones and a PNRD implementation example in software called DEMIS Distributed Environment in Manufacturing Information Systems.

Fluorimetric study of the pro-oxidant activity of EUK8 in the presence of hydrogen peroxide

The catalase mimetic complex Mn(III)-salen chloride (EUK8) was found to be pro-oxidant under low hydrogen peroxide concentrations. The increase in the fluorescence rate of the probe 1,2,3-dihydrorhodamine (DHR) in solution, as well as the carbonyl content of human serum albumin were found to be maximum at H(2)O(2):EUK8 molar ratios ranging from 0 to 2, supporting previous findings regarding the mechanism of EUK8 catalase activity and the formation of highly oxidative Mn(V)-O(2-) species. This pro-oxidant effect is precluded by the presence of glutathione. Cytotoxicity to HeLa cells, as probed by increased rate of oxidation of intracellular DHR, was not observed. Our findings suggest that the combination of H(2)O(2) and EUK8 at specific molar ratios, in the absence of reductants/antioxidants, induces the oxidation of organic molecules. It is shown that the fluorimetric determination of pro-oxidant activity of metal complexes is more sensitive than the colorimetric quantification of protein carbonyl content. The implications of our findings with respect to the somewhat confusing results arising from in vivo studies of EUK8 and other Mn(III) anti-oxidant metal complexes are discussed.

Teknik kontra anv��ndbarhet - vad p��verkar utvecklingen? : En j��mf��relse av programmen Avid Media Composer 5.5 och Final Cut Pro X

Denna uppsats ��r en unders��kning och en j��mf��relse av redigeringsprogrammen Avid Media Composer och Final Cut Pro X. Utg��ngspunkten i analysen ��r anv��ndbarhet och anv��ndaren. Saker som tas upp och diskuteras ��r teknikutvecklingen och konkurrensen mellan redigeringsprogrammen. Den historiska aspekten presenteras och f��rklaras f��r att l��gga en grund till hur det ser ut i dagsl��get. N��gra av de sakerna som jag kommer fram till ��r att teknikutvecklingen ofta sker p�� anv��ndbarhetens bekostnad och att anv��ndaren ofta m��ste anpassa sig efter tekniken. Konkurrensen mellan programmen p��verkas av den v��xande marknaden f��r hobbyredigering och det leder till annorlunda utveckling.

Education and Earnings for Poverty Reduction : Short-Term Evidence of Pro-Poor Growth from the Mexican Oportunidades Program

Education, as an indispensable component of human capital, has been acknowledged to play a critical role in economic growth, which is theoretically elaborated by human capital theory and empirically confirmed by evidence from different parts of the world. The educational impact on growth is especially valuable and meaningful when it is for the sake of poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth. The paper re-explores the precious link between human capital development and poverty reduction by investigating the causal effect of education accumulation on earnings enhancement for anti-poverty and pro-poor growth. The analysis takes the evidence from a well-known conditional cash transfer (CCT) program ��� Oportunidades in Mexico. Aiming at alleviating poverty and promoting a better future by investing in human capital for children and youth in poverty, this CCT program has been recognized producing significant outcomes. The study investigates a short-term impact of education on earnings of the economically disadvantaged youth, taking the data of both the program���s treated and untreated youth from urban areas in Mexico from 2002 to 2004. Two econometric techniques, i.e. difference-in-differences and difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach are applied for estimation. The empirical analysis first identifies that youth who under the program���s schooling intervention possess an advantage in educational attainment over their non-intervention peers; with this identification of education discrepancy as a prerequisite, further results then present that earnings of the education advantaged youth increase at a higher rate about 20 percent than earnings of their education disadvantaged peers over the two years. This result indicates a confirmation that education accumulation for the economically disadvantaged young has a positive impact on their earnings enhancement and thus inferring a contribution to poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth.

Pro-premi��r eller pro-president? : Om distinktionen mellan parlamentarism, presidentialism och semi-presidentialism

Propremiar or pro-president? On the distinction between parliamentarism, presitentialism and semi-presidentialism. From comparative research on the constitutional development in Central and Eastern Europe and also from the longstanding debate on whether parliamentarism or presidentialism best facilitates democracy, it is apparent that there has been and continues to be, a certain degree of confusion concerning the concepts of semi-presidentialism and presidentialism. Different scholars mean different things by the terms and therefore classify countries differently. In this article I argue that the conceptual dichotomy between pro-premiär (premier-presidentialism) and pro-president systems (presidentparliamentary systems) provide the best solution to several of the problems related to categorising constitutional types, most importantly perhaps to the presidential power dilemma. I, furthermore, employ these concepts on the post-communist constitutional systems and try to reveal patterns with regard to presidential power, geographical region and democratisation.

Pro-poor growth and social programmes in Brazil

From a methodological point of view, this paper makes two contributions to the literature. One contribution is the proposal of a new measure of pro-poor growth. This new measure provides the linkage between growth rates in mean income and in income inequality. In this context, growth is defined as propoor (or anti-poor) if there is a gain (or loss) in the growth rate due to a decrease (or increase) in inequality. The other contribution is a decomposition methodology that explores linkages between growth patterns and social policies. Through the decomposition analysis, we assess the contribution of different income sources to growth patterns. The proposed methodologies are then applied to the Brazilian National Household Survey (PNAD) covering the period 1995-2004. The paper analyzes the evolution of Brazilian social indicators based on per capita income exploring links with adverse labour market performance and social policy change, with particular emphasis on the expansion of targeted cash transfers and devising more pro-poor social security benefits.

A gest��o em vara judicial sob a vis��o do juiz pro ativo

O modelo de gest��o inovador mostrou que �� poss��vel fazer um ambiente de excel��ncia onde o Poder Judici��rio seja reconhecido, respeitado e confi��vel aos jurisdicionados, na medida em que se assegura uma presta����o jurisdicional efetiva num espa��o de tempo razo��vel, garantindo legitimidade e credibilidade ��s suas decis��es, sob a vis��o de um juiz proativo, com objetivos estrat��gicos pr��-definidos, sob um olhar idealizador, uma equipe integrada, motivada e comprometida. O modelo de gest��o inovador foi experimentado na Vara do Juizado Especial C��vel da Comarca de Jaru, no Estado de Rond��nia, onde se procurou conferir uma rotina l��gico-jur��dica ao fluxo processual, sem preju��zo da qualidade, e em com total harmonia aos postulados normativos do Juizado Especial C��vel e as regras constitucionais prescritas.

Obten����o e avalia����o da prote��na BYC (Boophilus Yolk pro-Cathepsin) recombinante em uma vacina contra o carrapato Boophilus microplus

O carrapato Boophilus microplus �� um ectoparasita hemat��fago que infesta os rebanhos bovinos de regi��es tropicais e subtropicais, causando grande preju��zo �� pecu��ria. O principal m��todo de controle deste parasita baseia-se no uso de acaricidas, entretanto, o uso de vacinas tem sido estudado como um m��todo de controle promissor. A Boophilus Yolk pro-Cathepsin (BYC) �� uma asp��rtico proteinase presente no ovo do carrapato e envolvida na embriog��nese que foi anteriormente testada como imun��geno vacinal. Neste estudo, o cDNA da BYC foi amplificado por PCR e clonado em dois vetores de express��o para produ����o de duas formas da prote��na recombinante com cauda de histidina, rBYC e rBYC-Trx (fusionada com tioredoxina). As duas formas foram expressas em Escherichia coli na forma de corp��sculos de inclus��o (CI) e comparadas quanto ao n��vel de express��o, solubilidade e rendimento na purificac��o. Tr��s agentes desnaturantes (N-lauroil sarcosina, hidrocloreto de guanidina e ur��ia) foram testados para solubiliza����o dos CIs. Sarcosina foi o agente mais eficiente, solubilizando mais de 90 % de rBYC-Trx e rBYC. As duas prote��nas recombinantes foram purificadas em cromatografia de afinidade por metal (Ni2+), sob condi����es desnaturantes. O rendimento na purifica����o da prote��na sol��vel foi de 84 % para r-BYC-Trx e 6 % para rBYC. As duas formas foram reconhecidas por soro de coelhos, camundongos e bovinos previamente imunizados com BYC nativa, demonstrando a exist��ncia de ep��topos comuns entre a BYC nativa e as formas recombinantes expressas em E. coli. Para verificar o potencial vacinal da prote��na recombinante, um grupo de bovinos Hereford foi imunizado com rBYC e desafiado com 20.000 larvas de B. microplus por animal. Os soros dos bovinos imunizados reconheceram a BYC nativa em ELISA e ���Western blot���, com t��tulos entre 500 e 4.000. Os resultados do desafio mostraram uma prote����o parcial contra a infesta����o, com 25 % de prote����o global. O perfil de express��o de citocinas (IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, IFN-��) foi verificado por RT-PCR, por��m os resultados n��o permitiram identificar a polariza����o da resposta imune em Th1 ou Th2. Os resultados de imunoprote����o obtidos com a BYC recombinante foram similares aos obtidos na imuniza����o de bovinos com BYC nativa, indicando a possibilidade de uso da forma recombinante como imun��geno vacinal.

Pro- and anti-market reforms in democratic Brazil

Instituto Brasileiro de Economia

Use of the lean model at Pro Sky

O modelo lean startup representa uma forma recente de desenvolver novos produtos e servi��o. No entanto, existe pouca informa����o sobre a implementa����o em empresas. O autor desta tese aborda esta lacuna na literatura, fornecendo um exemplo pr��tico de uma organiza����o adaptando o modelo lean startup. O estudo de caso ��nico envolve o intermedi��rio de servi��os a��reos Pro Sky que tenta desenvolver um novo servi��o de concierge em aeroporto. Um entendimento profundo �� obtido por meio de entrevistas, participant-observation e a simula����o do novo servi��o. Em compara����o com desenvolvimentos passados de novos servi��os na Pro Sky, o modelo lean startup ajuda a acelerar o processo de desenvolvimento, reduzir o desperd��cio de recursos e reduzir os efeitos negativos dos vieses cognitivos. O modelo refor��a o objetivo da Pro Sky se desenvolver numa empresa voltada para o cliente. Obst��culos incluem oferecer aos clientes um produto inacabado e o medo resultante da perda de reputa����o.

Linkages between pro-poor growth, social programmes and labour market : the recent Brazilian experience

From a methodological point of view, this paper makes two contlibutions to the literature. One contribution is the proposal of a new measure of pro-poor growth. This new measure provides the linkage between growth rates in mean income and in income inequality. In this context, growth is defined as pro-poor (or anti-poor) if there is a gain (or loss) in the growth rate due to a decrease (or increase) in inequality. The other contribution is a decomposition methodology that explores linkages between three dimensions: growth pattems, labour market performances. and social policies. Through the decomposition analysis, growth in per capita income is explained in terms of four labour market components: the employment rate. hours of work, the labour force participation rate. and productivity. We also assess the contribution of different nonlabour income sources to growth patterns. The proposed methodologies are then applied to the Brazilian National Household Survey (PNAD) covering the period 1995-2004. The paper analyzes the evolution of Brazilian social indicators based on per capita income exploring links with adverse labour market performance and social policy change, with particular emphasis on the expansion of targeted cash transfers and devising more propoor social security benefits.