Portugal's Nonprofit Sector in Comparative Context

This is a report comparing the scope, composition, and revenue of the nonprofit sector in Portugal to its counterparts in other countries. The report draws on the important new source of data on nonprofit institutions (NPIs) that has resulted from the implementation of the United Nations Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions in the System of National Accounts, including particularly the recently issued results generated by Portugal's Instituto Nacional de Estatistica - INE (National Institute for Statistics) in its Nonprofit Institutions Satellite Account

Tectonic synthesis of the Olympic Mountains segment of the Cascadia wedge, using two-dimensional thermal and kinematic modeling of thermochronological ages

A fully coupled two-dimensional kinematic and thermal model of a steady state accretionary wedge, constrained by an extensive data set of fission track and (U-Th)/He ages for apatite and zircon, is here used to investigate the development of the Olympic Mountains segment of the Cascadia accretionary wedge. The model has two main free parameters: ε_(max), the maximum rate of erosion for a generic erosion function operating at the top of the wedge, and α, the distribution of sedimentary accretion into the wedge. The best fit values for ε_(max) and α and their confidence limits are determined through an iterative search of parameter space. This study represents the first time that such inversion methods have been used to quantify the thermal-kinematic evolution of an accretionary wedge. Our results suggest that horizontal transport plays an important role in the exhumation trajectories experienced by material passing through the Cascadia wedge. At a 95% confidence interval, 80 to 100% of the sedimentary sequence from the subducting Juan de Fuca Plate has been accreted at the front of the wedge offshore of the Olympics over the past 14 m.y. This frontally accreted material must then traverse the entire width of the wedge prior to its eventual exposure in the Olympic forearc high. Assessed in this two-dimensional framework, the fission track and (U-Th)/He age data sets from the Olympic Mountains are all best fit by ε_(max) of 0.9–1.0 mm yr^(−1), despite variation in the timescales relevant to the three chronometers. This result supports the hypothesis that the Olympic Mountains segment of the Cascadia accretionary wedge has been in a flux steady-state since ∼14 Ma. The demonstration of a flux balance across the Cascadia margin also suggests that margin-parallel transport has not had a significant role in driving uplift of the Olympic Mountains

Electroanalytical determination of codeine in pharmaceutical preparations

A square wave voltammetric (SWV) method and a flow injection analysis systemwi th electrochemical detection (FIA-EC) using a glassy carbon electrode were evaluated for the determination of codeine in pharmaceutical preparations. The interference of several compounds, such as acetaminophen,guaiacol, parabens, ephedrine, acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine, that usually appear associated with codeine pharmaceutical preparations was studied. It was verified that these electroanalytical methods could not be used with acetaminophen present in the formulations and that with guaiacol, parabens or ephedrine present the use of the FIA-EC system was impracticable. A detection limit of 5 µmol L- 1 and a linear calibration range from 40 to 140 µmol L- 1 was obtained with the SWV method. For the flow injection analysis procedure a linear calibration range was obtained from 7 to 50 µmol L- 1 with a detection limit of 3 µmol L- 1 and the FIA-EC systemallowed a sampling rate of 115 samples per hour. The results obtained by the two methods, SWV and FIA-EC, were compared with those obtained using reference methods and demonstrated good agreement, with relative deviations lower than 4%

Estrogens and genomic instability in human cancer cells-involvement of Src/Raf/Erk signaling in micronucleus formation by estrogenic chemicals

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2008 The Authors.Reports of the ability of estrogenic agents such as 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3) and bisphenol A (BPA) to induce micronuclei (MN) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells have prompted us to investigate whether these effects are linked to activation of the estrogen receptor (ER) α. Coadministration of tamoxifen and the pure ER antagonist ICI 182 780 to cells treated with E2 and E3 did not lead to significant reductions in micronucleus frequencies. Since these antiestrogens interfere with the transcriptional activity of the ER and block promotion of ER-dependent gene expression, it appears that this process is not involved in micronucleus formation. However, ER activation also triggers rapid signaling via the Src/Raf/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) pathway. When MCF-7 cells were exposed to E2 and BPA in combination with the specific kinase inhibitors pyrazolopyrimidine and 2′-amino-3′-methoxyflavone, reductions in micronucleus frequencies occurred. These findings suggest that the Src/Raf/Erk pathway plays a role in micronucleus formation by estrogenic agents. Enhanced activation of the Src/Raf/Erk cascade disturbs the localization of Aurora B kinase to kinetochores, leading to a defective spindle checkpoint with chromosome malsegregation. Using antikinetochore CREST antibody staining, a high proportion of micronucleus containing kinetochores was observed, indicating that such processes are relevant to the induction of MN by estrogens. Our results suggest that estrogens induce MN by causing improper chromosome segregation, possibly by interfering with kinase signaling that controls the spindle checkpoint, or by inducing centrosome amplification. Our findings may have some relevance in explaining the effects of estrogens in the later stages of breast carcinogenesis.European Commissio

Dust from Mars-Analog Plains (Iceland): Physico-Compositional Properties as a Function of Grain-Size Fraction

Dust is a key component of the geological and climatic systems of Earth and Mars. On Mars, dust is ubiquitous. It coats rocks and soils, and, in the atmosphere, it interacts strongly with solar and thermal radiation. Yet, key questions remain about the genesis and fate of martian dust, as well as its sources, composition, and properties. We collected wind-blown dust from basaltic plains in SW Iceland at Skjaldbreiauhraun that represent a geologic Mars-analog environment. Icelandic dust differs from the typical continental sources (e.g. Sahara, Asia) because of its basaltic volcanogenic origin, which is similar to Mars. Dust collection took place in July of 2019 as a complementary project to the SAND-E: Semi-Autonomous Navigation for Detrital Environments project. Here we report preliminary analyses of this Mars-analog dust material, with the goal of understanding the processes that control the physico-chemical proper-ties of the different grain-size fractions

The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering: Latest Findings from the Implementation of the UN Nonprofit Handbook

A "global associational revolution," a major upsurge of organized, private, voluntary and nonprofit activity, has been under way around the world for the past thirty years or more. Despite the scale and scope of this development, however, official data to portray it have long been lacking. This report takes an important step toward remedying this situation by presenting a summary of new findings from the implementation b statistical offices in sixteen countries of the United Nations "Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions in the System of National Accounts".Developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies in cooperation with the UN Statistics Division and an International Technical Experts Group, and issued by the U.N. in 2003, this Handbook calls on national statistical offices to produce regular "satellite accounts" on nonprofit institutions and volunteering for the first time, and provides detailed guidance on how to do so. The result is a far more complete official picture of the scope and structure of the nonprofit or civil societ sector than has ever been available in these countries. This report presents the findings from the implementation of this UN NPI Handbook in 16 countries aound the world, including data on the comparative workforce, contribution to GDP, expenditures, revenues, and distribution of activities, and an in-depth look at the advantages off the Handbook approach over the traditional SNA methods of measurement.It is our hope that this report will help to encourage civil society and foundation leaders, volunteer promotion organizations, and statistical offices in other countries to promote the implementation of the UN NPI Handbook in their countries. The result will be to make the nonprofit and volunteer sector more visible, enhance its credibility, enable more effective partnerships between NPIs and public and private institutions, open new research opportunities for scholars, improve the clarity with which national accounts statistics portray national economies, and ultimately to improve citizen well-being

Ginzburg-Landau vortex dynamics with pinning and strong applied currents

We study a mixed heat and Schr\"odinger Ginzburg-Landau evolution equation on a bounded two-dimensional domain with an electric current applied on the boundary and a pinning potential term. This is meant to model a superconductor subjected to an applied electric current and electromagnetic field and containing impurities. Such a current is expected to set the vortices in motion, while the pinning term drives them toward minima of the pinning potential and "pins" them there. We derive the limiting dynamics of a finite number of vortices in the limit of a large Ginzburg-Landau parameter, or \ep \to 0, when the intensity of the electric current and applied magnetic field on the boundary scale like \lep. We show that the limiting velocity of the vortices is the sum of a Lorentz force, due to the current, and a pinning force. We state an analogous result for a model Ginzburg-Landau equation without magnetic field but with forcing terms. Our proof provides a unified approach to various proofs of dynamics of Ginzburg-Landau vortices.Comment: 48 pages; v2: minor errors and typos correcte