Incidence of subclinical endometritis and its effects on reproductive performance of crossbred dairy cows

In dairy cattle, uterine infections are not life threatening and often unavoidable; however, they reduce fertility and increase the production costs of properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of subclinical endometritis from 32 to 70 days in milk (DIM) and its effects on the reproductive performance of crossbred dairy cows. Lactating cows (Holstein/Gir; n = 172), with no history of retained placenta, without clinical signs of uterine infection were used. The body condition score (BCS) was evaluated on a scale from 1 to 5. Ultrasound examination was performed to evaluate uterine lining and ovarian activity, while vaginal mucus was analyzed by gloved hand. The diagnosis of subclinical endometritis was performed by endometrial cytobrush technique. The samples were collected, stained, and examined microscopically; positive cases for subclinical endometritis were considered with the presence of a parts per thousand yen5 % of neutrophils. Later, the cows were submitted to conventional artificial insemination or timed artificial insemination. The incidence of subclinical endometritis in the herd was 26 %, and this was not affected by the season of calving, presence of corpus luteum, DIM, and parity. Cows with a BCS a parts per thousand currency sign2.50 had a higher incidence of subclinical endometritis. The conception rate to first insemination and pregnancy rate at 150 days postpartum were not influenced by the presence of subclinical endometritis in crossbred dairy cows.

O regime de metas de inflação no Brasil: um exame teórico e empírico de seu funcionamento

The Inflation targeting regime is a concept of monetary policy which was adopted by several countries in the 90’s; Brazil being among these countries, having adopted it in 1999 after a currency crisis. With it theoretical structure regulated by the New – Classical theory and having as its main characteristic the prior announcement of a numerical target for the inflation, this regime was adopted by countries attempting to achieve a prices stability. The present project is going to explain the theoretical basis of the regime, as well as its implementation process in Brazil and the criticism it received. However, the main focus will be on the discussion of the employment of the IPCA (Consumer Price Index) as a measuring index for Brazil’s inflation

Plano real e a nova realidade brasileira

This paper analyzes the Real Plan and its effects on two administrations of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC), a period which extends from 1995 to 2002. To this end, the study includes a brief review of the problems faced by previous plans, especially the Cruzado Plan and the reasons for the belief that it has been successfull in relation to inflation control. Additionally, seeking to describe the process of moving to the new currency towards stabilization, the paper describes the theoretical foundations of the Plan. In sequence, it defines the backround of both international and domestic monetary reform which was one important part of the Plan and therefore the reasons for the implementation of the monetary reform. Subsequently the paper deals with the effects of the Plan on the economy as a whole, covering also the way the economic measures were taken concerning the Mexican and Asian crisis, the policies used fot the exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal accounts, balance of payments, among other factors and the relationship between them. Hence, it describes the immediate and the long-term consequences of stabilization program in terms of output, employment, public deficit and debt. Therefore, it is important to note the various junctures to which the economy was exposed, and also to point out the challenges and obstacles arising from these changes for growth, which was sometimes fast, sometimes slowing down - the so-called stop and go. Of course, facts as the moving to floating exchange rate regime, the adoption of inflation targeting regime and the adoption of fiscal responsibility law along with the primary surplus policy were able to create a new economic environment and to contribute to later success of the Cardoso years

O regime de metas de inflação: fundamentação teórica e abordagem empírica para o Brasil

Pós-graduação em Economia - FCLAR

A taxa de câmbio do Brasil é válida no longo prazo?

The objective of this study was to test the validity of the real exchange rate in the long run. For that five tests were performed based on equation, which relates to real exchange rate, international trade, domestic income. The main difference is that the tests when we are working with quarterly data, the parameters are significantly different from zero – i.e., the variables real exchange rate, international trade, domestic income and net exports on long term relationship – and, moreover, the signs are as expected. This implies that it is possible to increase exports with currency devaluation. Thus, based on data and tests that work we conclude that the exchange rate is an important instrument of trade policy, given that devaluations are valid even in the long term.

O regime de metas de inflação no Brasil: uma análise empírica do IPCA

Inflation targeting regime is a monetary policy adopted by several countries in the 1990s, Brazil being among them, which adopted it in 1999 after a currency crisis. With a theoretical framework inspired by the new-classical theory, this regime is adopted by countries attempting to achieve price stability and it brings the prior announcement of a numerical target for inflation as a key feature. The present work aims at discussing the use of IPCA (Consumer Price Index) as a measuring index for Brazil's inflation after briefly explain the theoretical basis of the IT regime.

Preoperative somatostatin analogues versus direct transsphenoidal surgery for newly-diagnosed acromegaly patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis using the GRADE system

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

A critical comparison of different approaches to sediment-quality assessments in the Santos estuarine system in Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A inserção social do banco dos cocais no município de São João do Arraial - PI

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

EMERSON AS A ROMANTICIST

It was the romanticists who tended to write poetry of “autobiography,” who inquired of themselves concerning themselves, and assumed that the world was interested in what they found. Nor was the habit of self-consciousness regarding the poetic office let drop by their successors. That the words poet and poetry were so often on Emerson’s lips would be evidence enough to students of literature, in its changing temper and shifting modes, of his probable localization in time. It is also evidence of his relation to certain European movements of thought to which he gave—comparatively late in their currency and much tempered —American expression. In his doctrine of the superiority and the aloofness of the poet, of the latter’s severance from others to whom he yet bears messages of light, in his self-sufficiency and his sovereignty, his belief in the intrinsic goodness of nature and of man, and his concern with poetic thought rather than poetic form, Emerson may be termed the American representative of ideas which already had had wide circulation in Europe. In great part they emanated from Rousseau, and some of them, especially the gospel of the rights and the supremacy of the individual, had metamorphosed the politics and the map of Europe as well as its literature.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of universal childhood hepatitis A vaccination in Brazil: Regional analyses according to the endemic context

Objective: To To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of a universal childhood hepatitis A vaccination program in Brazil. Methods: An age and time-dependent dynamic model was developed to estimate the incidence of hepatitis A for 24 years. The analysis was run separately according to the pattern of regional endemicity, one for South + Southeast (low endemicity) and one for the North + Northeast + Midwest (intermediate endemicity). The decision analysis model compared universal childhood vaccination with current program of vaccinating high risk individuals. Epidemiologic and cost estimates were based on data from a nationwide seroprevalence survey of viral hepatitis, primary data collection, National Health Information Systems and literature. The analysis was conducted from both the health system and societal perspectives. Costs are expressed in 2008 Brazilian currency (Real). Results: A universal immunization program would have a significant impact on disease epidemiology in all regions, resulting in 64% reduction in the number of cases of icteric hepatitis, 59% reduction in deaths for the disease and a 62% decrease of life years lost, in a national perspective. With a vaccine price of R$16.89 (US$7.23) per dose, vaccination against hepatitis A was a cost-saving strategy in the low and intermediate endemicity regions and in Brazil as a whole from both health system and society perspective. Results were most sensitive to the frequency of icteric hepatitis, ambulatory care and vaccine costs. Conclusions: Universal childhood vaccination program against hepatitis A could be a cost-saving strategy in all regions of Brazil. These results are useful for the Brazilian government for vaccine related decisions and for monitoring population impact if the vaccine is included in the National Immunization Program. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hospital costs related to streptococcal meningitis among children in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Knowledge of hospital costs is highly important for public health decision-making. This study aimed to estimate direct hospital costs related to pneumococcal meningitis in children 13 years or younger in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, from January 1999 to December 2008. Data were obtained from medical records. Hospital costs were calculated according to the mixed method for measurement of quantities of items with identified costs and value attribution to items consumed (micro-costing and gross-costing). All costs were calculated according to monetary values for November 2009 and in Brazilian currency (Real). Epi Info 3.5.1 was used for frequencies and means analysis. Forty-one cases were reported. Direct hospital costs varied from R$ 1,277.90 to R$ 19,887.56 (mean = R$ 5,666.43), or 10 to 20 times the mean cost of hospitalization for other diseases. Hospital staff labor was the highest cost, followed by medication, procedures, supplies, and lab tests.

Temperature rise during Er:YAG cavity preparation of primary enamel

This study aimed to assess in vitro thermal alterations taking place during the Er:YAG laser cavity preparation of primary tooth enamel at different energies and pulse repetition rates. Forty healthy human primary molars were bisected in a mesio-distal direction, thus providing 80 fragments. Two small orifices were made on the dentin surface to which type K thermocouples were attached. The fragments were individually fixed with wax in a cylindrical PlexiglassA (R) abutment and randomly assigned to eight groups, according to the laser parameters (n = 10): G1 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 3 Hz, G2 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 4 Hz, G3 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 6 Hz, G4 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/10 Hz, G5 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 15 Hz, G6 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 3 Hz, G7 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 4 Hz and G8 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 6 Hz. An area of 4 mm(2) was delimited. Cavities were done (2 mm long x 2 mm wide x 1 mm thick) using non-contact (12 mm) and focused mode. Temperature values were registered from the start of laser irradiation until the end of cavity preparation. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey test (p a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 0.05). Groups G1, G2, G6, and G7 were statistically similar and furnished the lowest mean values of temperature rise. The set 250 mJ/10 and 15 Hz yielded the highest temperature values. The sets 250 and 300 mJ and 6 Hz provided temperatures with mean values below the acceptable critical value, suggesting that these parameters ablate the primary tooth enamel. Moreover, the temperature elevation was directly related to the increase in the employed pulse repetition rates. In addition, there was no direct correlation between temperature rise and energy density. Therefore, it is important to use a lower pulse frequency, such as 300 mJ and 6 Hz, during cavity preparation in pediatric patients.

High precision astrometry mission for the detection and characterization of nearby habitable planetary systems with the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope (NEAT)

A complete census of planetary systems around a volume-limited sample of solar-type stars (FGK dwarfs) in the Solar neighborhood (d a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 15 pc) with uniform sensitivity down to Earth-mass planets within their Habitable Zones out to several AUs would be a major milestone in extrasolar planets astrophysics. This fundamental goal can be achieved with a mission concept such as NEAT-the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope. NEAT is designed to carry out space-borne extremely-high-precision astrometric measurements at the 0.05 mu as (1 sigma) accuracy level, sufficient to detect dynamical effects due to orbiting planets of mass even lower than Earth's around the nearest stars. Such a survey mission would provide the actual planetary masses and the full orbital geometry for all the components of the detected planetary systems down to the Earth-mass limit. The NEAT performance limits can be achieved by carrying out differential astrometry between the targets and a set of suitable reference stars in the field. The NEAT instrument design consists of an off-axis parabola single-mirror telescope (D = 1 m), a detector with a large field of view located 40 m away from the telescope and made of 8 small movable CCDs located around a fixed central CCD, and an interferometric calibration system monitoring dynamical Young's fringes originating from metrology fibers located at the primary mirror. The mission profile is driven by the fact that the two main modules of the payload, the telescope and the focal plane, must be located 40 m away leading to the choice of a formation flying option as the reference mission, and of a deployable boom option as an alternative choice. The proposed mission architecture relies on the use of two satellites, of about 700 kg each, operating at L2 for 5 years, flying in formation and offering a capability of more than 20,000 reconfigurations. The two satellites will be launched in a stacked configuration using a Soyuz ST launch vehicle. The NEAT primary science program will encompass an astrometric survey of our 200 closest F-, G- and K-type stellar neighbors, with an average of 50 visits each distributed over the nominal mission duration. The main survey operation will use approximately 70% of the mission lifetime. The remaining 30% of NEAT observing time might be allocated, for example, to improve the characterization of the architecture of selected planetary systems around nearby targets of specific interest (low-mass stars, young stars, etc.) discovered by Gaia, ground-based high-precision radial-velocity surveys, and other programs. With its exquisite, surgical astrometric precision, NEAT holds the promise to provide the first thorough census for Earth-mass planets around stars in the immediate vicinity of our Sun.

Microtensile bond strength of composite resin to glass-infiltrated alumina composite conditioned with Er,Cr:YSGG laser

Tribochemical silica-coating is the recommended conditioning method for improving glass-infiltrated alumina composite adhesion to resin cement. High-intensity lasers have been considered as an alternative for this purpose. This study evaluated the morphological effects of Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation on aluminous ceramic, and verified the microtensile bond strength of composite resin to ceramic following silica coating or laser irradiation. In-Ceram Alumina ceramic blocks were polished, submitted to airborne particle abrasion (110 mu m Al(2)O(3)), and conditioned with: (CG) tribochemical silica coating (110 mu m SiO(2)) + silanization (control group); (L1-L10) Er,Cr:YSGG laser (2.78 mu m, 20 Hz, 0.5 to 5.0 W) + silanization. Composite resin blocks were cemented to the ceramic blocks with resin cement. These sets were stored in 37A degrees C distilled water (24 h), embedded in acrylic resin, and sectioned to produce bar specimens that were submitted to microtensile testing. Bond strength values (MPa) were statistically analyzed (alpha a parts per thousand currency sign0.05), and failure modes were determined. Additional ceramic blocks were conditioned for qualitative analysis of the topography under SEM. There were no significant differences among silicatization and laser treatments (p > 0.05). Microtensile bond strength ranged from 19.2 to 27.9 MPa, and coefficients of variation ranged from 30 to 55%. Mixed failure of adhesive interface was predominant in all groups (75-96%). No chromatic alteration, cracks or melting were observed after laser irradiation with all parameters tested. Surface conditioning of glass-infiltrated alumina composite with Er,Cr:YSGG laser should be considered an innovative alternative for promoting adhesion of ceramics to resin cement, since it resulted in similar bond strength values compared to the tribochemical treatment.