Gender, Subjective well-being and capabilities: an application to the Moroccan Youth

Our paper investigates how gender shapes youth's aspirations, subjective well-being and capabilities in Morocco. We compare two different informational basis in analysing gender inequalities: the subjective well-being framework, and the capability approach. To do so we propose to operationalize capabilities through mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) based on: 1. Qualitative data that we collected in Morocco and 2. An innovative dataset collected by the Office of Economic Cooperation for Mediterranean and Middle East (OCEMO), among 1333 young Moroccan individuals aged 15-35 living in rural and urban areas of the Marrakesh region. Our results suggest that subjective well-being poorly reflects gender inequalities among Moroccan youths, as it does not consider adaptive preferences. Capabilities indicators perform much better as they account for both the capability to choose a lifestyle, and the ability to fulfill one's choice; i.e. spaces of freedom. The paper also reveals the striking significance of adaptive preferences among rural young women; as well as the frustrations among young educated men resulting from an inability to fulfill a chosen lifestyle. Gender justice and capabilities-as the freedom to choose and to turn opportunities into valuable outcome-indeed appear significant in understanding the structural transformations of the Moroccan society

Sistema setorias de inovação: o caso do Café Conilon no Espírito Santo

XX Encontro Nacional de Economia Política: desenvolvimento Latino-Americano, Integração e Inserção Internacional - UNILA, Foz do Iguaçu, 26 a 29 de maio de 2015A cafeicultura do tipo conilon no Espírito Santo vem apresentando, nos últimos anos, um crescimento expressivo em termos de produtividade. O avanço no melhoramento genético e em melhorias de processo, associado à mudanças institucionais, são apontados como fatores que permitiram o desenvolvimento da atividade no Estado. Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as inovações tecnológicas e institucionais da produção do conilon no Espírito Santo a partir do referencial teórico de Sistema Setorial de Inovação, para o qual conhecimento, aprendizado e interações entre agentes são elementos fundamentais para o desenvolvimento de inovações. O trabalho utilizou como metodologia pesquisa bibliográfi ca e documental e, em especial, entrevistas com representantes de algumas das principais instituições envolvidas. Através da caracterização dos principais atores que compõem esse sistema, da análise do processo de geração e difusão das tecnologias para o setor e da caracterização do arranjo institucional que dá suporte à produção do conilon, mostra-se como uma cultura agrícola que não existia em escala comercial no Espírito Santo até a década de 1970 se tornou tão importante para o estado e passou a ser considerada uma referência em termos de pesquisa e desenvolvimento de tecnologiasBanco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES); Usina Hidrelétrica de Itaipu (ITAIPU); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA

Results of treatment of proximal humerus fractures using locking plates

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical results after proximal humerus fracture fixation using blocked plates and screws. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the period from November 2003 to January 2008, the authors treated 33 patients with 34 fractures of the proximal humerus. The mean age was 57 years old (33 to 86 years), 14 males and 19 females. All patients were operated in the acute phase, within the first week after the trauma. The patients were treated with open reduction and internal fixation using locking plates. The surgical technique, implants, period of immobilization and rehabilitation protocol were the same for all the patients. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 24 months (8 to 60 months). The functional evaluation was based in the UCLA score. Good and excellent results were present in 31 (91.2%) of the patients and 3 (8.8%) of them presented poor results. CONCLUSIONS: As a conclusion, the locking plate system of fixation was considered efficient for the treatment of proximal humerus fractures.OBJETIVO: Avaliação dos resultados do tratamento das fraturas do terço proximal do úmero com placa de bloqueio proximal. MÉTODOS: No período de novembro de 2003 a janeiro de 2008, os autores realizaram 34 osteossínteses em 33 pacientes com fratura do úmero proximal, sendo 17 fraturas tipo II de Neer, 13 do tipo III e quatro do tipo IV. A média de idade foi de 57 anos (33 a 86), sendo 14 pacientes do sexo masculino e 19 do sexo feminino. Todos os pacientes foram operados na fase aguda da fratura, até uma semana após o trauma. Os pacientes foram tratados com redução aberta e fixação interna utilizando placas de bloqueio. A técnica utilizada, o implante, o tempo de imobilização e protocolo de reabilitação foram os mesmos para todos os pacientes. O seguimento médio foi de 24 meses (8 a 60 meses). RESULTADOS: A avaliação funcional foi realizada através do escore da Universidade da Califórnia em Los Angeles (UCLA). Foram obtidos 31 (91,2%) excelentes e bons resultados, e 3(8,8%) maus resultados. CONCLUSÃO: Observamos ser eficaz este método de fixação interna para fraturas do terço proximal do úmero.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Neurotoxicity and aggressiveness triggered by low-level lead in children: a review

Lead-induced neurotoxicity acquired by low-level long-term exposure has special relevance for children. A plethora of recent reports has demonstrated a direct link between low-level lead exposure and deficits in the neurobehavioral-cognitive performance manifested from childhood through adolescence. In many studies, aggressiveness and delinquency have also been suggested as symptoms of lead poisoning. Several environmental, occupational and domestic sources of contaminant lead and consequent health risks are largely identified and understood, but the occurrences of lead poisoning remain numerous. There is an urgent need for public health policies to prevent lead poisoning so as to reduce individual and societal damages and losses. In this paper we describe unsuspected sources of contaminant lead, discuss the economic losses and urban violence possibly associated with lead contamination and review the molecular basis of lead-induced neurotoxicity, emphasizing its effects on the social behavior, delinquency and IQ of children and adolescent

Euler Characteristic Tools For Topological Data Analysis

In this article, we study Euler characteristic techniques in topological data analysis. Pointwise computing the Euler characteristic of a family of simplicial complexes built from data gives rise to the so-called Euler characteristic profile. We show that this simple descriptor achieve state-of-the-art performance in supervised tasks at a very low computational cost. Inspired by signal analysis, we compute hybrid transforms of Euler characteristic profiles. These integral transforms mix Euler characteristic techniques with Lebesgue integration to provide highly efficient compressors of topological signals. As a consequence, they show remarkable performances in unsupervised settings. On the qualitative side, we provide numerous heuristics on the topological and geometric information captured by Euler profiles and their hybrid transforms. Finally, we prove stability results for these descriptors as well as asymptotic guarantees in random settings.Comment: 39 page

Effects of shoreline erosion on infrastructure development along the coastal belt of Ghana: Case of Nkontompo community

The coastal areas of Ghana are the locus of rapid urban and industrial growth, oil and gas development, industrial-scale fisheries, recreation and tourism destinations. However, lateral changes in the coastline position has seriously threatened the equilibrium of the coastal environment and affected the socio-economic life of local populations, threatened cultural heritage and hindered coastal tourism development. This paper assessed the extent of shoreline recession and its effects on buildings and  infrastructure along Ghana's coastline through a study of the NkontompoCommunity, a suburb of Sekondi in the Western Region of the country as a case. The study employed data spanning a period of 23 years, including Topographic sheets that were interpolated to establish the rate of recession of the shoreline. The extent of land lost in conjunction with the building density was used to establish the number of buildings lost. The study  revealed that environmental conditions at Nkontompo have changed over the past three to four decades as a result of shoreline erosion. The coastline of the community has been receding at a rate of approximately 2 metres per annum. From the topographical sheet interpolations and analysis made by the authors, it was realized that approximately nine acres of the land, forming a third of the total built up area has been eroded leading to damage and subsequent loss of about 117 buildings to the sea. Recommendations have been made identifying adaptation  techniques and strategies to manage the effects of this phenomenon along the coastal belt of Ghana.Keywords: Coastal erosion, infrastructure development, Nkontompo, Ghan

Water Sorption Isotherm Characteristics of Seeds of Six Indigenous Forest Tree Species in Ghana

The relationship between storage temperature, relative humidity and seed water content was investigated for six indigenous forest tree seed species, namely Garcinia kola, Terminalia superba, Terminalia ivorensis, Mansonia altissima, Entandrophragma angolense and Khaya anthotheca in Ghana. Seeds were equilibrated over a series of lithium chloride solutions with relative humidities ranging from 12 to 93% and silica gel with relative humidity of 3% at 20 ºC. Seeds reached equilibrium with different days depending on seed size and structure, ranging from 13 days for E. angolense to 91 days for G. kola. When seeds equilibrated, moisture contents were determined gravimetrically, and values of moisture contents were then plotted against relative humidity to construct moisture sorption isotherms for the species. Seeds of T. superba, T. ivorensis, M. altissima, E. angolense and K. anthotheca, exhibited a sigmoidal relationship between seed water content and relative humidity indicative of three regions of water binding. Contrarily to other reports, the shape of the isotherm curve for G. kola – a desiccation sensitive species – also showed the reversed sigmoid pattern similar to isotherm curves of orthodox species rather than the monotonic shape. The isotherms showed that seed moisture content increased with increasing relative humidity. Seed samples of G. kola, placed at all relative humidities chambers, lost water(desorption) as the initial water content of 58% was very high and, therefore, possessed a higher water potential than the environments. Seeds of the other species either lost water (desorption) to the relative humidity chambers, or absorbed water from the chambers depending on the relative humidity of the environment they were placed

Efeito do padrão racial na aceitabilidade de carnes das raças Angus, Hereford e Zebu

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a aceitabilidade da carne de diferentes padrões genéticos por um grupo de consumidores não treinados. O experimento foi realizado na Universidade de Caxias do Sul, no laboratório de produção animal localizado no bloco 74. Foram testados três tratamentos, codificados em: Carne A: carnes oriundas de animas de padrão genético Hereford; Carne B: carnes oriundas de animais de padrão genético Zebu; Carne C: carnes oriundas de animais de padrão genético Angus. As avaliações foram realizadas no decorrer de 1 dia entre o turno da tarde e o turno da noite totalizando 8h de avaliação, com objetivo de atender a demanda de um n amostral de 100 julgadores. Para cada grupo de julgadores compostos por 8 membros no mesmo, foi oferecida aos provadores amostras das três carnes, os quais, após a degustação preencheram três escalas sobre o julgamento quanto a pontuação para aceitação global, maciez e suculência, além de um questionário sobre comportamento quanto consumidor de carne bovina. O delineamento experimental foi completamente casualizado, em esquema fatorial 2 (sexo do avaliador): 3 (tipos de carne). Os dados foram convertidos em médias percentuais e submetidos a análise da variância (ANOVA) e as médias comparadas pelo teste T (5%), utilizando o programa estatístico AgroStat. A maciez, a suculência e a aceitação global das amostras de carne foram influenciada significativamente pelo tipo de carne e pelo sexo do avaliador, sendo a carne proveniente dos animais da raça Angus a mais aceita pelos julgadores do sexo masculino, e a da raça Hereford, pelas julgadoras do sexo feminino. Os consumidores gerais, tendem a não identificar os padrões positivos na qualidade da carne, mesmo quando consomem carnes com diferentes aspectos de marmoreio (sic).The purpose of this work was to evaluate the acceptability of beef from different genetic patterns through a group of ordinary consumers. The experiment was conducted at the University of Caxias do Sul, in the laboratory of animal production in Building 74. Three treatments have been tested. They were categorized in: Beef A ? beef originated from Hereford genetic pattern animals; Beef B ? beef originated from Zebu genetic pattern animals; Beef C ? beef originated from Angus genetic pattern animals. The assessments were performed during the period of one day, between the afternoon and the evening, adding up to eight hours of evaluation with the aim to cater to the demand of a sampling number n of 100 evaluators. Samples of the 3 kinds of beef were offered to groups of 8 evaluators each. After the beef tasting, each group had to fill out three scales, one being about the score for global acceptance, tenderness, and juiciness, in addition to a questionnaire on consumer behavior of beef. The experimental outline was completely randomized, in factorial scheme 2 (evaluator?s gender): 3 (kinds of beef). The data was converted in averages of percentages and was processed through the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the averages were compared through the T test (5%) using the statistical software AgroStat. The tenderness, the juiciness, and the global acceptance of the samples were influenced, significantly, by the type of beef and by the evaluator?s gender, being the beef originated from the Angus breed the most accepted by male evaluators, and beef from the Hereford breed being the most accepted by female evaluators. General consumers tend not to identify the positive patterns in beef quality, even when they eat beef with different marbling aspects (sic)

O EMPREENDEDOR MORAL NAS REDES SOCIAS: AÇÃO PERSUCUTÓRIA E LINCHAMENTOS VIRTUAIS

O trabalho apresenta características da comunicação nas redes sociais e identifica o modo de atuação de alguns de seus comunicadores, os “comentaristas da redes”, relacionando-os ao conceito de empreendedor moral desenvolvido por Howard Becker. A partir disso, analisa de que modo essa ação pode culminar nos chamados linchamentos virtuais. Subsidiariamente, com base os textos de José de Souza Martins, verifica em que medida os ataques nas redes sociais estão relacionados ao fenômeno dos linchamentos. O problema que conduz a pesquisa é: existe uma relação possível entre a atuação dos chamados empreendedores morais e o fenômenos dos linchamentos virtuais nas redes sociais da internet? Nos primeiros dois tópicos é procedida revisão bibliográfica analítica, com método indutivo e enfoque qualitativo, e no terceiro tópico os conceitos são testados e investigados em um caso prático. Os resultados vão no seguinte sentido: a forma de comunicação nas redes sociais facilita a atuação dos chamados empreendedores morais, que agem combinando interesses morais, econômicos e pessoais, com o afã de impor seus valores de mundo. O sucesso da empreitada moral pode resultar nos chamados linchamentos virtuais