Social Preferences and the Efficiency of Bilateral Exchange

Under what conditions do social preferences, such as altruism or a concern for fair outcomes, generate efficient trade? I analyze theoretically a simple bilateral exchange game: Each player sequentially takes an action that reduces his own material payoff but increases the other player’s. Each player’s preferences may depend on both his/her own material payoff and the other player’s. I identify necessary conditions and sufficient conditions on the players’ preferences for the outcome of their interaction to be Pareto efficient. The results have implications for interpreting the rotten kid theorem, gift exchange in the laboratory, and gift exchange in the field

Exploring drivers to engage in fashion luxury consumption

The main purpose of the current study is to analyze how desire, perceived-self, social values and involvement are related to consumer engagement into the fashion luxury industry. A sample of 295 luxury fashion consumers participate in the study. Findings suggest that perceived-self is not one of the most significant driver to consumer engagement. Subjective well-being may also act as an outcome of consumer engagement. The article also provides managerial implications, limitations and further research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Exploring drivers to engage in fashion luxury consumption

The main purpose of the current study is to analyze how desire, perceived-self, social values and involvement are related to consumer engagement into the fashion luxury industry. A sample of 295 luxury fashion consumers participate in the study. Findings suggest that perceived-self is not one of the most significant driver to consumer engagement. Subjective well-being may also act as an outcome of consumer engagement. The article also provides managerial implications, limitations and further research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Exploring drivers to engage in fashion luxury consumption

The main purpose of the current study is to analyze how desire, perceived-self, social values and involvement are related to consumer engagement into the fashion luxury industry. A sample of 295 luxury fashion consumers participate in the study. Findings suggest that perceived-self is not one of the most significant driver to consumer engagement. Subjective well-being may also act as an outcome of consumer engagement. The article also provides managerial implications, limitations and further research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

A photobioreactor for production of algae biomass from gaseous emissions of an animal house

Sustainable approaches to circular economy in animal agriculture are still poorly developed. Here, we report an approach to reduce gaseous emissions of CO$_2$ and NH$_3$ from animal housing while simultaneously using them to produce value-added biomass. To this end, a cone-shaped, helical photobioreactor was developed that can be integrated into animal housing by being freely suspended, thereby combining a small footprint with a physically robust design. The photobioreactor was coupled with the exhaust air of a chicken house to allow continuous cultivation of a mixed culture of Arthrospira spec. (Spirulina). Continuous quantification of CO$_2$ and NH$_3$ concentration showed that the coupled algae reactor effectively purifies the exhaust air from the chicken house while producing algal biomass. Typical production rates of greater than 0.3 g/l*day dry mass were obtained, and continuous operation was possible for several weeks. Morphological, biochemical, and genomic characterization of Spirulina cultures yielded insights into the dynamics and metabolic processes of the microbial community. We anticipate that further optimization of this approach will provide new opportunities for the generation of value-added products from gaseous CO$_2$ and NH$_3$ waste emissions, linking resource-efficient production of microalgae with simultaneous sequestration of animal emissions

Cachexia-associated adipose tissue morphological rearrangement in gastrointestinal cancer patients

Background and aims: Cachexia is a syndrome characterized by marked involuntary loss of body weight. Recently, adipose tissue (AT) wasting has been shown to occur before the appearance of other classical cachexia markers. We investigated the composition and rearrangement of the extracellular matrix, adipocyte morphology and inflammation in the subcutaneous AT (scAT) pad of gastrointestinal cancer patients. Methods: surgical biopsies for scAT were obtained from gastrointestinal cancer patients, who were signed up into the following groups: cancer cachexia (CC, n = 11), weight‐stable cancer (WSC, n = 9) and weight‐stable control (non‐cancer) (control, n = 7). The stable weight groups were considered as those with no important weight change during the last year and body mass index <25 kg/m2. Subcutaneous AT fibrosis was quantified and characterized by quantitative PCR, histological analysis and immunohistochemistry. Results: the degree of fibrosis and the distribution and collagen types (I and III) were different in WSC and CC patients. CC patients showed more pronounced fibrosis in comparison with WSC. Infiltrating macrophages surrounding adipocytes and CD3 Ly were found in the fibrotic areas of scAT. Subcutaneous AT fibrotic areas demonstrated increased monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP‐1) and Cluster of Differentiation (CD)68 gene expression in cancer patients. Conclusions: our data indicate architectural modification consisting of fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in scAT as induced by cachexia in gastrointestinal cancer patients. The latter was characterized by the presence of macrophages and lymphocytes, more evident in the fibrotic areas. In addition, increased MCP‐1 and CD68 gene expression in scAT from cancer patients may indicate an important role of these markers in the early phases of cancer

Qualidade fisiológica e sanitária de sementes de milho pré-condicionadas em água ozonizada

A técnica de hidratação controlada das sementes vem sendo utilizada como método de condicionamento fisiológico, objetivando melhorar o seu desempenho no campo. A aeração da solução com gás ozônio constitui opção promissora no controle de fitopatógenos. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi estudar a qualidade fisiológica e sanitária de sementes de milho pré-condicionada em água ozonizada. Na avaliação da qualidade fisiológica e sanitária, as sementes de milho foram submetidas a quatro concentrações de gás ozônio (0, 10, 20 e 30 mg L-1) em cinco períodos de embebição (0, 30, 60, 90 e 120 min), com quatro repetições. A técnica de pré-condicionamento das sementes de milho em água ozonizada, seguida de secagem natural, acarretou desenvolvimento inicial mais acentuado das plântulas de milho, avaliado por meio do índice de velocidade de emergência, matéria seca de plântulas, comprimento de plântula e radícula, quando comparadas com as sementes não tratadas. O desenvolvimento inicial das plântulas de milho foi intensificado mediante exposição das sementes à água, especialmente nas concentrações de 0 e 30 mg L-1 de ozônio, durante o período de 60 a 90 min. O pré-condicionamento das sementes de milho em água ozonizada não afetou o controle de Fusarium sp. O fungicida carbendazim+thiram resultou em 100% de controle de Fusarium sp. nas sementes.The technique of controlled hydration of seeds has been used as a method of physiological conditioning to improve their performance in the field. Solution aeration with ozone gas is a promising option in controlling phytopathogens. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the physiological and sanitary quality of maize seeds preconditioned in ozonated water. In the evaluation of the physiological and sanitary quality, maize seeds were submitted to four concentrations of ozone gas (0, 10, 20 and 30 mg L-1) for five soaking periods (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min), with four replicates. Preconditioning maize seeds in ozonated water, followed by natural drying, resulted in a more pronounced initial development of seedlings, measured by means of the emergence speed index, seedling dry matter, seedling length and radicle length, compared with untreated seeds. The initial development of maize seedlings was intensified by the exposure of seeds to water, especially at 0 and 30 mg L-1 ozone concentrations during the period from 60 to 90 min. Preconditioning maize seeds in ozonated water did not affect the control of Fusarium sp. The fungicide Carbendazim + Thiram resulted in 100% control of Fusarium sp. in the seeds

A magnanimidade da teoria: interpretar a ética em teoria da literatura

Tese de doutoramento, Teoria da Literatura, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2003Um dos pressupostos desta tese consiste na ideia segundo a qual o pensamento ético só adquire propriedade conceptual se preliminarmente pudermos definir ‘acção’. Como se procura demonstrar no capítulo I, saber o que é uma acção não se constitui, no entanto, como tarefa que descobre e estabelece propriedades intrínsecas e estáveis, mas como descrição de certas ocorrências, nos termos das pessoas que procuram explicar e descrever acções. Assim, o pensamento ético é algo que se constitui a partir da coerência e racionalidade de certas descrições de acções particulares e não um sistema de regras ou prescrições. Defende-se que a coerência estrutural destas descrições determina não apenas a consideração moral das acções, mas também a possibilidade do conhecimento entre as pessoas e a certeza, mais poética do que epistemológica, da sua existência. Se uma certa estabilidade do texto ético e uma certeza suficiente acerca do conhecimento humano dependem da configuração mais ou menos padronizada das acções humanas e do funcionamento mental, assumem especial relevância cognitiva e ética os casos e fenómenos de irracionalidade na realização de acções e formação de crenças. De facto, como se sugere no capítulo II, estes casos suscitam perplexidades éticas e cognitivas e assinalam o carácter provisório e conceptualmente circunscrito das nossas descrições sobre acções e pessoas, no contexto restrito do pensamento filosófico e ético. Importa por isso considerar outros textos em que a acção se constitui como motivo de estrutura argumentativa e objecto de análise. A consideração da tragédia e, sobretudo, a análise da teorização poética de Aristóteles acerca do texto trágico formam o capítulo III desta tese. A determinação ética da argumentação técnica da Poética é tão relevante para o entendimento da tragédia quanto, para a ética, conduta moral e compreensão da irracionalidade, é de absoluta pertinência uma particular descrição da acção trágica e da peculiaridade de certas actividades interpretativas exigidas não só por esse entendimento trágico de acção, mas por qualquer texto.ABSTRACT - One of the central ideas of this thesis is that ethical thinking acquires conceptual accuracy only when we can define ‘action’. As it is suggested in chapter I, to know what an action is is not, nevertheless, an activity which finds and establishes intrinsic and stable properties, but a description of some phenomena, in the vocabulary of those who seek to explain and to describe actions. Thus, ethical thinking is derived from the coherence and rationality of descriptions of particular actions and is not, therefore, a system of rules and prescriptions. It is argued that the structural coherence of these descriptions determines not only the moral apprehension of actions, but also the possibility of knowledge of persons and the assurance, more poetical than epistemological, of their existence. If a certain stability of the ethical text and a sufficient certainty about human knowledge depend on a more or less standard configuration of human actions and of mental functioning, then irrational episodes and phenomena in action and belief assume a particular cognitive and ethical relevance. As proposed in chapter II, these cases excite some ethical and cognitive perplexities and show the provisional and conceptually circumscribed character of our descriptions of actions and persons, in the strict realm of philosophy and ethics. It is necessary, therefore, to consider other texts in which action is constituted as the cause for the argumentative structure and object of analysis. The consideration of tragedy and, mostly, of the treatment of the tragic text in Aristotle’s Poetics constitutes an important part of this task and is sketched in chapter III. The ethical influence of the technical arguments of the Poetics is therefore relevant to the understanding of tragedy. A particular description of tragic action and of the specificity of interpretative activities is required not only by the understanding of action in tragedy as by the description of ethical patterns of moral behaviour and the comprehension of irrationality in any text.Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian: Bolsa de Curta Duraçã