An objective, niche-based approach to indicator species selection

1. Species-based indices are frequently employed as surrogates for wider biodiversity health and measures of environmental condition. Species selection is crucial in determining an indicators metric value and hence the validity of the interpretation of ecosystem condition and function it provides, yet an objective process to identify appropriate indicator species is frequently lacking. 2. An effective indicator needs to (i) be representative, reflecting the status of wider biodiversity; (ii) be reactive, acting as early-warning systems for detrimental changes in environmental conditions; (iii) respond to change in a predictable way. We present an objective, niche-based approach for species' selection, founded on a coarse categorisation of species' niche space and key resource requirements, which ensures the resultant indicator has these key attributes. 3. We use UK farmland birds as a case study to demonstrate this approach, identifying an optimal indicator set containing 12 species. In contrast to the 19 species included in the farmland bird index (FBI), a key UK biodiversity indicator that contributes to one of the UK Government's headline indicators of sustainability, the niche space occupied by these species fully encompasses that occupied by the wider community of 62 species. 4. We demonstrate that the response of these 12 species to land-use change is a strong correlate to that of the wider farmland bird community. Furthermore, the temporal dynamics of the index based on their population trends closely matches the population dynamics of the wider community. However, in both analyses, the magnitude of the change in our indicator was significantly greater, allowing this indicator to act as an early-warning system. 5. Ecological indicators are embedded in environmental management, sustainable development and biodiversity conservation policy and practice where they act as metrics against which progress towards national, regional and global targets can be measured. Adopting this niche-based approach for objective selection of indicator species will facilitate the development of sensitive and representative indices for a range of taxonomic groups, habitats and spatial scales.

Sharing power? Prospects for a U.S. concert-balance strategy

The Pax Americana and the grand strategy of hegemony (or “Primacy”) that underpins it may be becoming unsustainable. Particularly in the wake of exhausting wars, the Global Financial Crisis, and the shift of wealth from West to East, it may no longer be possible or prudent for the United States to act as the unipolar sheriff or guardian of a world order. But how viable are the alternatives, and what difficulties will these alternatives entail in their design and execution? This analysis offers a sympathetic but critical analysis of alternative U.S. National Security Strategies of “retrenchment” that critics of American diplomacy offer. In these strategies, the United States would anticipate the coming of a more multipolar world and organize its behavior around the dual principles of “concert” and “balance,” seeking a collaborative relationship with other great powers, while being prepared to counterbalance any hostile aggressor that threatens world order. The proponents of such strategies argue that by scaling back its global military presence and its commitments, the United States can trade prestige for security, shift burdens, and attain a more free hand. To support this theory, they often look to the 19th-century concert of Europe as a model of a successful security regime and to general theories about the natural balancing behavior of states. This monograph examines this precedent and measures its usefulness for contemporary statecraft to identify how great power concerts are sustained and how they break down. The project also applies competing theories to how states might behave if world politics are in transition: Will they balance, bandwagon, or hedge? This demonstrates the multiple possible futures that could shape and be shaped by a new strategy. viii A new strategy based on an acceptance of multipolarity and the limits of power is prudent. There is scope for such a shift. The convergence of several trends—including transnational problems needing collaborative efforts, the military advantages of defenders, the reluctance of states to engage in unbridled competition, and hegemony fatigue among the American people—means that an opportunity exists internationally and at home for a shift to a new strategy. But a Concert-Balance strategy will still need to deal with several potential dilemmas. These include the difficulty of reconciling competitive balancing with cooperative concerts, the limits of balancing without a forward-reaching onshore military capability, possible unanticipated consequences such as a rise in regional power competition or the emergence of blocs (such as a Chinese East Asia or an Iranian Gulf), and the challenge of sustaining domestic political support for a strategy that voluntarily abdicates world leadership. These difficulties can be mitigated, but they must be met with pragmatic and gradual implementation as well as elegant theorizing and the need to avoid swapping one ironclad, doctrinaire grand strategy for another.

Propeptide-mediated inhibition of myostatin increases muscle mass through inhibiting proteolytic pathways in aged mice

Mammalian aging is accompanied by a progressive loss of skeletal muscle, a process called sarcopenia. Myostatin, a secreted member of the transforming growth factor-β family of signaling molecules, has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of muscle growth. Here, we examined whether muscle growth could be promoted in aged animals by antagonizing the activity of myostatin through the neutralizing activity of the myostatin propeptide. We show that a single injection of an AAV8 virus expressing the myostatin propeptide induced an increase in whole body weights and all muscles examined within 7 weeks of treatment. Our cellular studies demonstrate that muscle enlargement was due to selective fiber type hypertrophy, which was accompanied by a shift toward a glycolytic phenotype. Our molecular investigations elucidate the mechanism underpinning muscle hypertrophy by showing a decrease in the expression of key genes that control ubiquitin-mediated protein breakdown. Most importantly, we show that the hypertrophic muscle that develops as a consequence of myostatin propeptide in aged mice has normal contractile properties. We suggest that attenuating myostatin signaling could be a very attractive strategy to halt and possibly reverse age-related muscle loss.

Potential of novel dextran oligosaccharides as prebiotics for obesity management through in vitro experimentation.

The energy-salvaging capacity of the gut microbiota from dietary ingredients has been proposed as a contributing factor for the development of obesity. This knowledge generated interest in the use of non-digestible dietary ingredients such as prebiotics to manipulate host energy homeostasis. In the present study, the in vitro response of obese human faecal microbiota to novel oligosaccharides was investigated. Dextrans of various molecular weights and degrees of branching were fermented with the faecal microbiota of healthy obese adults in pH-controlled batch cultures. Changes in bacterial populations were monitored using fluorescent in situ hybridisation and SCFA concentrations were analysed by HPLC. The rate of gas production and total volume of gas produced were also determined. In general, the novel dextrans and inulin increased the counts of bifidobacteria. Some of the dextrans were able to alter the composition of the obese human microbiota by increasing the counts of Bacteroides–Prevotella and decreasing those of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Ruminococcus bromii/R. flavefaciens. Considerable increases in SCFA concentrations were observed in response to all substrates. Gas production rates were similar during the fermentation of all dextrans, but significantly lower than those during the fermentation of inulin. Lower total gas production and shorter time to attain maximal gas production were observed during the fermentation of the linear 1 kDa dextran than during the fermentation of the other dextrans. The efficacy of bifidobacteria to ferment dextrans relied on the molecular weight and not on the degree of branching. In conclusion, there are no differences in the profiles between the obese and lean human faecal fermentations of dextrans.

Omvårdnadsåtgärder till patienter med diagnosen KOL : En litteraturstudie

Bakgrund: Kronisk obstruktiv lungsjukdom(KOL) är en långsiktig sjukdom som tar tid innan den visar symtom. När patienten kommer och vill ha information och åtgärder för sina symtom har sjukdomsförloppet redan pågått ett tag. Eftersom den är långdragen är omvårdnadsåtgärderna olika beroende på vart i tiden man ligger i sjukdomen. År 2020 kommer denna patientgrupp vara den tredje största i världen, finns det omvårdnadsåtgärder som ökar livskvalitén för denna patientgrupp? Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att sammanställa resultat avseende forskning om omvårdnad vid kronisk obstruktiv lungsjukdom som leder till förbättrad livskvalité. Metod: Litteratur studie. Resultat: Kunskapsutbytet mellan patient och sjuksköterska: Hur viktigt det är med en klar och tydlig information vid möte mellan sjuksköterska och patient. Att ge stöd och trygghet: Viktigt att sjuksköterskan finns tillgänglig för patienten, underlätta för patienten: Sjuksköterskan har en viktig roll hos patienter med KOL för att förbättra deras förutsättningar för god livskvalité. Slutsats: Viktigt att skapa en tillit mellan sjuksköterskan och patienten, detta skapar trygghet och resulterar till en god fysisk omvårdnad. När trygghet och tillit har byggts upp mellan sjuksköterskan och patienten blir kommunikationen god och man kan tillsammans komma fram till den bästa lösningen för varje enskild patient.

Do higher moments really matter in portfolio choice?

We present explicit formulas for evaluating the difference between Markowitz weights and those from optimal portfolios, with the same given return, considering either asymmetry or kurtosis. We prove that, whenever the higher moment constraint is not binding, the weights are never the same. If, due to special features of the first and second moments, the difference might be negligible, in quite many cases it will be very significant. An appealing illustration, when the designer wants to incorporate an asset with quite heavy tails, but wants to moderate this effect, further supports the argument.

A logística militar e o serviço de intendência: uma análise do programa excelência gerencial do Exército Brasileiro

This study has the purpose to analyze some of the programs and measures adopted by the Brazilian Army, as well as eventual contributions, for the modernization of its Logistics. Thus, focus one of the main devices of logistic support of the Forces, the Quartermaster, approaching some roles performed by this Service that comprises the current conception of the Army Logistics. This modernization process is mainly developed through a excellence program implemented for the whole Army aiming, amongst other factors, the adoption of managerial practices leading to a better operational performance and to the improvement of the Institution' services and products quality: the Managerial Excellence Program of the Brazilian Army (PEG-EB). Here, the Logistics is deemed as key part for the organizational success and one of the main factors of competitive differential of companies, directly related to costs reduction and increase in the level of services provided for the customers. For the Army, the improvement and update of logistic doctrine emerge as priority for achieving the goals, especially focusing the need to integrated the logistics activities, in order to optimize the resources available, reduce costs and prioritize its actions. While searching for an integrated approach for its logistics, the Army created a central body with the responsibility to coordinate all the supply chain of its Units: the Logistic Department (D Log). This body centrally coordinates a major segment of logistics functions in the Forces. The conclusion states that the development of this mentality about the internal integration of activities will allow a rationalization of the management process, increasing the indexes of availability of material from military organizations, and consequently a serviceability gain for the Brazilian Army.

Essays on economic growth

A fundamental question in development economics is why some economies are rich and others poor. To illustrate the income per capita gap across economies consider that the average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the richest 10 percent of economies in the year 2010 was a factor of 40-fold that of the poorest 10 percent of economies. In other words, the average person in a rich economy produces in just over 9 days what the average person in a poor economy produces in an entire year. What are the factors that can explain this difference in standard of living across the world today? With this in view, this dissertation is a conjunction of three essays on the economic growth field which we seek a possible responses to this question. The first essay investigates the existence of resource misallocation in the Brazilian manufacturing sector and measures possible distortions in it. Using a similar method of measurement to the one developed by Hsieh and Klenow (2009) and firm-level data for 1996-2011 we find evidence of misallocation in the manufacturing sector during the observed period. Moreover, our results show that misallocation has been growing since 2005, and it presents a non-smooth dynamic. Significantly, we find that the Brazilian manufacturing sector operates at about 50% of its efficient product. With this, if capital and labor were optimally reallocated between firms and sectors we would obtain an aggregate output growth of approximately 110-180% depending on the mode in which the capital share is measured. We also find that the economic crisis did not have a substantial effect on the total productivity factor or on the sector's misallocation. However, small firms in particular seem to be strongly affected in a global crisis. Furthermore, the effects described would be attenuated if we consider linkages and complementarity effects among sectors. Despite Brazil's well-known high tax burden, there is not evidence that this is the main source of resource misallocation. Moreover, there is a distinct pattern of structural change between the manufacturing sectors in industrialized countries and those in developing countries. Therefore, the second essay demonstrate that this pattern differs because there are some factors that distort the relative prices and also affect the output productivity. For this, we present a multi-sector model of economic growth, where distortions affect the relative prices and the allocation of inputs. This phenomenon imply that change of the production structure or perpetuation of the harmful structures to the growth rate of aggregate output. We also demonstrate that in an environment with majority decision, this distortion can be enhanced and depends on the initial distribution of firms. Furthermore, distortions in relative prices would lead to increases in the degree of misallocation of resources, and that imply that there are distinct patterns of structural changes between economies. Finally, the calibrated results of the framework developed here converge with the structural change observed in the firm-level data of the Brazilian manufacturing sector. Thereafter, using a cross-industry cross-country approach, the third essay investigates the existence of an optimal level of competition to enhance economic growth. With that in mind, we try to show that this optimal level is different from industrialized and under development economies due to the technology frontier distance, the terms of trade, and each economy's idiosyncratic characteristics. Therefore, the difference in competition industry-country level is a channel to explain the output for worker gap between countries. The theoretical and empirical results imply the existence of an inverted-U relationship between competition and growth: starting for an initially low level of competition, higher competition stimulates innovation and output growth; starting from a high initial level of competition, higher competition has a negative effect on innovation and output growth. Given on average industries in industrialized economies present higher competition level. With that if we control for the terms of trade and the industry-country fixed effect, if the industries of the developing economy operated under the same competition levels as of the industrialized ones, there is a potential increase of output of 0.2-1.0% per year. This effect on the output growth rate depends on the competition measurement used.

Os impactos de barreiras não tarifárias no comércio internacional de produtos brasileiros

O avanço da tecnologia e o acesso fácil e rápido das pessoas à informação e a produtos estão contribuindo para o aumento da competição comercial entre empresas e até mesmo entre países. Contudo, é necessário criar controles e medidas para garantir a qualidade de produtos e serviços domésticos e importados para a população, sem que se comprometa o equilíbrio de mercado competitivo. Assim, o presente trabalho avalia os impactos de Barreiras Não Tarifárias utilizadas pelos importadores de produtos brasileiros sobre as exportações brasileiras no ano de 2013, em particular o uso dos tipos de barreiras técnicas e sanitárias. O uso desse tipo de instrumento tem aumentado desde que foi criado e assim, com a diminuição global de tarifas alfandegárias, tem recebido mais atenção por parte de Instituições e formuladores de políticas econômicas e comerciais. Encontrou-se que é significativo o impacto desse tipo de medida sobre os produtos brasileiros exportados de um modo geral, bem como por tipo de medida. Controlado por outros fatores, o impacto da medida é positivo, que sugere um aumento nas exportações. Esse mesmo impacto foi observado na medida do tipo técnica; todavia, foi observado o oposto na medida do tipo sanitária, o que sugere que esse tipo de medida contribui para a redução das exportações brasileiras.

Essays in applied econometrics

Using a unique dataset on Brazilian nominal and real yield curves combined with daily survey forecasts of macroeconomic variables such as GDP growth, inflation, and exchange rate movements, we identify the effect of surprises to the Brazilian interbank target rate on expected future nominal and real short rates, term premia, and inflation expectations. We find that positive surprises to target rates lead to higher expected nominal and real interest rates and reduced nominal and inflation term premia. We also find a strongly positive relation between both real and nominal term premia and measures of dispersion in survey forecasts. Uncertainty about future exchange rates is a particularly important driver of variations in Brazilian term premia.

High performance green buildings

This work aims to study and analyze strategies and measures to improve energy performance in residential and service buildings, in order to minimize energy losses and energy consumption. Due to the high energy dependence of European Union (EU), including Portugal and Slovenia, and high percentage of energy consumption in the building sector, there was a need to adopt strategies at European level with ambitious goals. This came to force EU - Member States to take measures to achieve the proposed targets for energy consumption reduction. To this end, EU - Member States have adapted the laws to their needs and formed specialized agencies and qualified experts on energy certification, which somehow evaluate buildings according to their performance. In this study, the external characteristics of the building in order to meet its thermal needs and from there to survey the existing and possible constructive solutions to be used at the envelope will be examined, in order to increase comfort and reduce the need of use technical means of air conditioning. The possibility of passive heating and ventilation systems also will be discussed. These techniques are developed in parallel with the deployment and design of the building. In this manner, to reduce the energy consumption, various techniques and technologies exploit natural resources. Thus, appear the more sustainable and efficient buildings, so-called Green Buildings have been appeared. The study ends with the identification of measures used in several buildings, proving the economic return in the medium to long term, as well as the satisfaction of their users.

Desenvolvimento de cerâmica vermelha utilizando rejeitos da construção civil

The Industry of the Civil Construction has been one of the sectors that most contribute to the pollution of the environment, due to the great amount of residues generated by the construction, demolition and the extraction of raw material. As a way of minimizing the environmental impacts generated by this industry, some governmental organizations have elaborated laws and measures about the disposal of residues from the building construction (CONAMA - resolution 307). This work has as objective the reutilization of residues compound of sand, concrete, cement, red bricks and blocks of cement and mortar for the production of red ceramic, with the objective of minimizing costs and environmental impacts. The investigated samples contained 0% to 50% of residues in weight, and they were sintered at temperatures of 950°C, 1000°C, 1050°C, 1100°C and 1150°C. After the sinterization, the samples were submitted to tests of absorption of water, linear retraction, resistance to bending, apparent porosity, specific density, XRD and SEM. Satisfactory results were obtained in all studied compositions, with the possible incorporation of up to 50% of residues in ceramic mass without great losses in the mechanical strength, giving better results to the incorporation of 30% of residues in the fabrication of ceramic parts, such as roofing tiles, bricks masonry and pierced bricks

Associação da frequência alélica dos polimorfismos dos genes do sistema renina angiotensina com a força muscular e pressão arterial de idosas

Physiological changes induced by the aging process is dynamic and progressive, reducing the adaptability and independence of older people and may be influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Thus the aim of this thesis was to investigate the association between polymorphism of the ACE gene ID and the phenotypes of muscular strength and blood pressure of 62 elderly Brazilian (67.35 ± 5.66 years) during a 16-week program of supervised training. The elderly women were stratified by age, with the group 1 (G1, n = 34) <70 years and group 2 (G2 n = 28) ≥ 70 years, and in three groups by ACE, ACE-II (n = 8) ACE- DD (n = 35) and ACE-ID (n = 19). The level of muscle strength was evaluated by the method of maximum repetitions and measures of blood pressure (BP) were measured before and after training (PAPré1 and PAPós1) and before and after each training session (PAPre2 and PAPós2), in place of training. DNA samples were isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes polymorphism and insertion / deletion (ID) of the ACE gene (rs1800795) was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) plus PCR-confirmatory. The genotype distribution of the polymorphism ID attended the prerogatives of Hardy-Weitíherg. There was variation in power levels before and after training and the age between groups (t-test) and the ACE polymorphism (ANOVA) (p <0.05). Depending on the results it was concluded that resistance training helps to reduce SBP and increased muscle strength of upper and lower limbs when considering the age and ACE polymorphism. In this study the Elderly carriers of the D allele were more reactive to changes in BP resistance training. This study was multidisciplinary project involving researchers in the areas Medical, Physical Education, Pharmacy, Nutrition, Gerontology and Statistics. This fulfilled the requirements of the multidisciplinary Graduate Program in Health Sciences

Eugenol como anestésico para jundiá (Rhamdia voulezi) em diferentes pesos

The study aimed to find the better concentration of eugenol for anesthesia of silver catfish (Rhamdia voulezi) with different weights. Were used 240 catfish distributed in randomized blocks in factorial scheme (5x4) total 20 treatments, in others words, five different weights: 32,5; 75; 150; 300 e 450g and four eugenol concentrations: 50, 75, 100 e 125 mg.l(-1). For each treatment were used 12 fish randomly chosen and exposed individually for each concentration. After of anesthesia the fish were transferred for net-cage with 0,7m(3), being fed and observed by 96 hours for monitoring of mortality. The eugenol was efficient for anesthesia in silver catfish all concentrations and weights and after of 96 hours no mortality have been verified. At these experimental conditions the best concentration of eugenol for anesthetic inducing and recuperation of silver catfish with weight varying from 32,5 and 450 g is 50 mg.l(-1).

Períodos de interferência de trapoeraba (Commelina benghalensis Hort.) no crescimento inicial de eucalipto (Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)