Technological change, accident prevention and civil liability

The improvement of accident prevention technology in many fields of social life has spurred new challenges to the doctrinal tools of fault and strict based civil liability in the law of torts. Amid these challenges lies the identification of the proper scope of the respective criteria of liability in a changing factual environment, their suitability as doctrinal tools, as well as their actual application to concrete cases given the amount of information which would be needed to render adequate judgments. Precedents and old laws should be assessed with caution, taking into account the tacit cost-benefit analysis embedded in them, for they may or may not serve the interests of welfare maximization in an environment with constantly renewed accident prevention technology

Ensuring successful introduction of Wolbachia in natural populations of Aedes aegypti by means of feedback control

The control of the spread of dengue fever by introduction of the intracellular parasitic bacterium Wolbachia in populations of the vector Aedes aegypti, is presently one of the most promising tools for eliminating dengue, in the absence of an efficient vaccine. The success of this operation requires locally careful planning to determine the adequate number of individuals carrying the Wolbachia parasite that need to be introduced into the natural population. The introduced mosquitoes are expected to eventually replace the Wolbachia-free population and guarantee permanent protection against the transmission of dengue to human. In this study, we propose and analyze a model describing the fundamental aspects of the competition between mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia and mosquitoes free of the parasite. We then use feedback control techniques to devise an introduction protocol which is proved to guarantee that the population converges to a stable equilibrium where the totality of mosquitoes carry Wolbachia.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure

Resistance of Rice Varieties to \u3ci\u3eSitophilus oryzae\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract Rice, Oryza sativa L. (Poaceae), is one of the world’s most important food crops. Among the insects that damage rice grains, the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is the most important species. The objective of this study was to identify rice varieties with resistance to S. oryzae as measured by grain feeding damage and S. oryzae reproduction. The rice varieties evaluated were obtained from the germplasm bank of the National Center of Research Rice and Beans, Embrapa, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized with 3 replications and 22 treatments (varieties). The varieties Bonança, Esmeralda, and Rio Verde had the antibiosis and/or antixenosis type of resistance, providing high rates of mortality, low rates of adult emergence, and low rates of grain consumption by S. oryzae. The varieties Pepita and Progresso were susceptible, with a high rate of S. oryzae adult emergence and grain consumption. The presence or absence of a fissure in the grain was a major morphological characteristic determining susceptibility or resistance to S. oryzae in rice varieties. Resumo O arroz (Oryza sativa L.; Poaceae) é uma das culturas alimentares mais importantes do mundo. Entre os insetos que danificam os grãos de arroz, o gorgulho do arroz Sitophylus oryzae L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) é a espécia mais importante. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar variedades de arroz com resistência a S. oryzae. As variedades de arroz avaliadas foram obtidas do banco de germoplasma do Centro Nacional de Pesquisas em Arroz e Feijão, EMBRAPA, Brasil. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado com 3 repetições e 22 tratamentos (variedades). As variedades Bonança, Esmeralda e Rio Verde apresentaram resistência do tipo antibiose e/ou antixenose, tendo altas taxas de mortalidade, baixas taxas de emergência de adultos e baixo consumo de grãos por S. oryzae. As variedades Pepita e Progresso são suscetíveis com alta emergência de adultos e consumo de grãos por S. oryzae. A presença ou ausência de fissuras no grão é uma importante característica morfológica para determinar a susceptibilidade ou resistência a S. oryzae em variedades de arroz

Concepts of healthy diet as expressed by primary health care workers in the national capital of Brazil

As mudanças alimentares na sociedade ocidental apontam para a importância de uma ação específica no campo da saúde individual e coletiva e colocam os profissionais sanitaristas como indivíduos estratégicos na promoção da alimentação saudável. O presente estudo tem o propósito de conhecer as concepções desses profissionais sobre a alimentação saudável, com base na técnica metodológica da pesquisa-ação aplicada em centros de saúde do Distrito Federal. Os resultados mostram que existe um aparente dualismo entre os conceitos envolvidos nesse tema, um que versa sobre a idealização alimentar e outro que situa o espaço da realidade concreta dos indivíduos. Ou seja, há um conceito sobre a alimentação para a saúde fundamentado na literatura científica e outro que se apóia neste, mas distingue-se no espaço interno do cotidiano. Neste último, os atores sociais fazem correspondências entre um saber e outro e trazem à tona os hábitos alimentares conjugados ao estilo de vida, mas, em ambas as concepções, a tendência é transcender o caráter biológico implícito na construção do conceito e apoiar-se nas condições sócio-culturais que as moldam e são moldadas no plano concreto da realidade.Dietary changes in Western society highlight the need for individual and collective health providers to use their strategic positions to actively promote healthy eating habits. Using the research-action methodology in various clinics in the Federal District of Brazil, the present study aimed to identify what these professionals consider a healthy diet. The results indicate an apparent conceptual dichotomy: on the one hand, an idealized version of eating for good health based on the scientific literature; on the other, a concept derived from the ideal, but based on people’s day-to-day reality. In their pursuit of the latter concept, people in social situations make connections between various pieces of information, and what emerges are the eating habits most closely associated with a particular lifestyle. However, both concepts tend to transcend the implicit biological character of the conceptual constructs and to find support in the sociocultural conditions that shape them and which in turn are shaped at the concrete level of reality

Growth and exchange rate volatility: a panel data analysis

The aim of this article is to assess the role of real effective exchange rate volatility on long-run economic growth for a set of 82 advanced and emerging economies using a panel data set ranging from 1970 to 2009. With an accurate measure for exchange rate volatility, the results for the two-step system GMM panel growth models show that a more (less) volatile RER has significant negative (positive) impact on economic growth and the results are robust for different model specifications. In addition to that, exchange rate stability seems to be more important to foster long-run economic growth than exchange rate misalignment

A phylogenetic analysis of Brycon and Henochilus (Characiformes, Characidae, Bryconinae) based on the mitochondrial gene 16S rRNA

The genus Brycon, the largest subunit of the Bryconinae, has 42 valid species distributed from southern Mexico to the La Plata River in Argentina. Henochilus is a monotypic genus, comprising a single species (H. wheatlandii) found in the upper Rio Doce basin. In the present study, partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene 16S were obtained for fifteen species of Brycon and for Henochilus wheatlandii. The results showed that the genus Brycon is paraphyletic, since Henochilus is the sister-group of B. ferox and B. insignis. The most basal species analyzed were the trans-Andean species B. henni, B. petrosus, and B. chagrensis.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Estadual Paulista and the International Foundation for Science (IFS, Sweden

Baroreflex function in conscious rats submitted to iron overload

Our hypothesis is that iron accumulated in tissue, rather than in serum, may compromise cardiovascular control. Male Fischer 344 rats weighing 180 to 220 g were divided into 2 groups. In the serum iron overload group (SIO, N = 12), 20 mg elemental iron was injected ip daily for 7 days. In the tissue iron overload group (TIO, N = 19), a smaller amount of elemental iron was injected (10 mg, daily) for 5 days followed by a resting period of 7 days. Reflex heart rate responses were elicited by iv injections of either phenylephrine (0.5 to 5.0 µg/kg) or sodium nitroprusside (1.0 to 10.0 µg/kg). Baroreflex curves were determined and fitted to sigmoidal equations and the baroreflex gain coefficient was evaluated. To evaluate the role of other than a direct effect of iron on tissue, acute treatment with the iron chelator deferoxamine (20 mg/kg, iv) was performed on the TIO group and the baroreflex was re-evaluated. At the end of the experiments, evaluation of iron levels in serum confirmed a pronounced overload for the SIO group (30-fold), in contrast to the TIO group (2-fold). Tissue levels of iron, however, were higher in the TIO group. The SIO protocol did not produce significant alterations in the baroreflex curve response, while the TIO protocol produced a nearly 2-fold increase in baroreflex gain (-4.34 ± 0.74 and -7.93 ± 1.08 bpm/mmHg, respectively). The TIO protocol animals treated with deferoxamine returned to sham levels of baroreflex gain (-3.7 ± 0.3 sham vs -3.6 ± 0.2 bpm/mmHg) 30 min after the injection. Our results indicate an effect of tissue iron overload on the enhancement of baroreflex sensitivity.Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto NUPEB Departamento de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal de Ouro Preto Escola de Nutrição Departamento de AlimentosUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Departamento de Fisiologia e BiofísicaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de FisiologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de FisiologiaSciEL

Economic efficiency of EMBRAPA’S research centers and the influence of contextual variables

Neste artigo é medida a eficiência econômica dos centros de pesquisa da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa). É usado o modelo DEA BCC, cuja medida de eficiência é modelada como função linear das variáveis contextuais capacidade de geração de receita, intensidade de parcerias, melhoria de processos administrativos, racionalização de custos, tamanho e tipo de centro. O modelo é do tipo painel dinâmico, assume correlação intra-temporal estruturada entre os centros de pesquisa e inter-temporal não estruturada. Para desempatar as unidades eficientes é usado um índice heurístico de eficiência que agrega os resultados de eficiência em relação às fronteiras DEA clássica e invertida. O efeito positivo das parcerias na medida de eficiência, invalida as críticas de que o processo de avaliação prejudica a integração e cooperação entre os centros de pesquisa. A melhoria de processos administrativos é a variável mais importante do ponto de vista da significância estatística das variáveis contextuais. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTIn this paper we measure, with a DEA BCC model, the economic efficiency of Embrapa’s (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) research centers. We model the DEA economic efficiency as a linear function of the contextual variables revenue generation capacity, partnership intensity, improvement of administrative processes, cost rationalization, size and type of research centers. The model used is of the type dynamic panel and assumes a structured correlation matrix intra times and unstructured inter times. In order to better discriminate the efficient units we used a heuristic efficiency score that aggregates the efficiencies in relation to the original and inverted DEA frontiers. Partnerships positive effect in the efficiency scores does not confirm the thoughts that Embrapa’s performance evaluation process discourages the integration and cooperation of its research centers. From the point of view of statistical significance, the improvement of administrative processes is the most important indicator among the contextual variables