Explore the vast range of titles available.

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

Electricity is sensitive to extreme price events and spot price volatility is an inherent characteristic of competitive electricity markets. The purpose of this article it to model the realized volatility of electricity spot price in Brazil. The Brazilian electricity industry presents unique characteristics and because of this price varies a lot in a short period. So, we developed a GARCH model using 862 weekly observations  to understand the realized volatility in the four different market. We conclude that the spot price in Brazil presents high volatility that presents risk to agents. This high volatility is associated with institutional factors and the increase in the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix.

Sociologists coined the term \"anomie\" to describe societies that are characterized by disintegration and deregulation. Extending beyond conceptualizations of anomie that conflate the measurements of anomie as 'a state of society' and as a 'state of mind', we disentangle these conceptualizations and develop an analysis and measure of this phenomenon focusing on anomie as a perception of the 'state of society'. We propose that anomie encompasses two dimensions: a perceived breakdown in social fabric (i.e., disintegration as lack of trust and erosion of moral standards) and a perceived breakdown in leadership (i.e., deregulation as lack of legitimacy and effectiveness of leadership). Across six studies we present evidence for the validity of the new measure, the Perception of Anomie Scale (PAS). Studies 1a and 1b provide evidence for the proposed factor structure and internal consistency of PAS. Studies 2a-c provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, assessing PAS in 28 countries, we show that PAS correlates with national indicators of societal functioning and that PAS predicts national identification and well-being (Studies 3a & 3b). The broader implications of the anomie construct for the study of group processes are discussed.

The acai palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is a fruit from the Amazon that is originally found in flooded areas. Over recent years, its marketability has gained significant interest in Brazil and abroad because of its agronomic, nutritional and economic potential. However, there is a lack of technical-scientific information about crop water requirements for irrigation management during the reproductive phase of acai palm. Therefore, the aim of this research was to estimate the water requirements (crop evapotranspiration (ETc), single (Kc) and dual (Kcb + Ke) crop coefficients) of acai palm in the Eastern Amazon (Brazil) using the Bowen ratio system. A micrometeorological tower was installed in the center of an experimental area to monitor ETc and meteorological variables. Phenological development was monitored during two growing seasons. Soil water evaporation was determined on a daily scale using weighing microlysimeters. Ke and Kcb values were calculated by the ratio of soil surface evaporation and transpiration to reference evapotranspiration (ETo), respectively. Total water requirements of the acai palms were 1165 mm, with a daily average of 3.49 mm day−1 for the growing season. The average values of Kc, Ke and Kcb for the acai palm were 1.08; 0.21 and 0.84, respectively. The findings will assist the design of irrigation management protocols for acai trees that are better tailored to satisfy crop water requirements. This will allow improved water use efficiency, ensuring tree crop sustainability.

Photo-selective shading screens are emerging practices that aim to combine crop physical protection with different solar radiation filtration to achieve desired physiological responses. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of photo-selective shading screens on the growth and physiology of purple lettuce for two transplanting seasons in tropical climate in Brazil. A 2 × 4 factorial arrangement was used, being considered the first factor, the transplanting season (spring and fall), and the second factor is the three 35% shading photo-selective shading screens (red, black and silver) and full sun control. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. The variables studied were: total fresh matter, total dry matter, leaf number, stem diameter, stem length, leaf area, SPAD chlorophyll index, nitrogen balance indexes, chlorophyll, flavonoids and anthocyanins. The photo-selective shading screens influenced the microclimate and the growth variables of purple lettuce, mainly when these plants were sown in the fall. Planting lettuce during spring may result in lower yields due to the higher investment of plants in secondary metabolites to defend against abiotic stress. According to the results, photo-selective shading screens are an appropriate agronomic technique to reduce phenolic compounds and improve lettuce cultivation conditions and can be implemented within protected cultivation practices to improve crop performance.

Background Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) improve endothelial dysfunction and reduce cardiovascular events in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9i) inhibitors reduce cardiovascular events in high-risk patients. Whether the addition of PCSK9i to SGLT2i treatment adds benefits is not known. Objectives To assess the PCSK9-i effect on the endothelial function of T2D individuals under treatment with SGLT2-i. Methods Individuals with T2D were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to a 16-week treatment with either empagliflozin (E) or empagliflozin plus evolocumab (EE). The primary endpoint was post-treatment change from baseline in flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at 1-min. Secondary outcomes included changes in plasma levels of nitric oxide metabolites and isoprostane. Results A total of 110 patients were enrolled, the mean age was 58 years, and 71% were men. The median post-treatment change in FMD at 1-min was 2.7% (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.9%) and 0.4% (IQR: 0.9%) in the EE and E groups, respectively (p < 0.001). There was a greater increase in plasma levels of nitrate [5.9 (16.5) vs. 2.6 (11.8); p = 0.001] and nitrite [0.14 (0.72) vs. 0.02 (0.74); p = 0.025] in the EE group than in the E group, respectively. Isoprostane reduction was more pronounced in the EE group when compared to the E group [−1.7 (5.9) vs. −1.1 (5.3); p < 0.001). Conclusions In individuals with T2D, the addition of evolocumab on top of empagliflozin improves endothelial function.

Biomedical signal acquisition systems are software-intensive medical systems composed of processors, transducers, amplifiers, filters, and converters. We present in this article a formal modeling methodology of biomedical signal acquisition systems using Colored Petri Nets (CPN) and based on a frequency-domain approach. In the methodology, a reference model represents the main features of these medium risk systems. We argue that this kind of model is useful to assist manufacturers to reduce the number of defects in systems and to generate safety and effectiveness evidence throughout certification. Therefore, we describe two main contributions in this article. We provide a reference model of biomedical signal acquisition systems and show how manufacturers can generate evidence by means of an electrocardiography (ECG) case study. We carried out the case study by extending the reference model to represent the behavior of an ECG system using a basic cardiac monitor configuration based on the single-lead, heart rate monitor front end (AD8232) and the low power precision analog microcontroller, ARM cortex M3 with dual sigma-delta converters (ADUCM360). We verified the model against safety requirements with the model checking technique (safety evidence) and validated it by comparing output signals with a filtered ECG record available on the PHYSIONET ECG-ID database in the frequency and time domains (effectiveness evidence). This methodology enables manufacturers to identify defects in systems earlier in the development process aiming to decrease costs and development time.

This trial aimed to analyze the effects of including three byproducts from the biodiesel industry on the intake, digestibility, milk yield and composition, and feeding behavior of lactating cows. Eight crossbred Holstein-Zebu lactating cows with average body weight 525 ± 18.5 kg and average milk yield of 8 ± 1.45 kg day–1 were assigned to four treatments (diets) in a double-Latin square design, as follows: a diet based on corn- and soybean meal-based concentrate and three diets with 20% inclusion of byproducts from the biodiesel industry (cottonseed cake, sunflower meal, and castor bean cake) on a total dry matter basis. The cows were housed in individual covered stalls with concrete floor equipped with individual concrete troughs for feeding and automatic drinkers, and fed diets containing 60% sugarcane and 40% concentrate. The inclusion of the byproducts in the diet changed the intake, digestibility of some nutritional components, milk yield and composition, and feeding behavior of lactating cows. The use of cottonseed cake and sunflower meal in the diet increased milk yield, and fat-corrected milk yield; while the use of castor bean cake reduced the intake, digestibility of dry matter and total digestible nutrients, milk yield, and fat-corrected milk yield. The inclusion of byproducts from the biodiesel industry in the diets did not change the fat, lactose, total solids, and solids-not-fat of milk. Therefore, the cottonseed cake and sunflower meal can be included at up to 20% of the total diet.

Originality/value--Individuals generally take little rational decisions when considering the expenses incurred in the past to make decisions in the present. However, making decisions individually or in groups may not be able to change this behavior.

Reports of Amnesty International (2015) indicate that Brazilian police are among the most violent in the world, and that such violence victimizes, above all, black citizens. Using the “First Person Shooter Task” (FPST), developed by Correll et al. (2002), we analyzed in three studies the impacts of suspect skin color on the Brazilian civilian and military police decision to shoot. The first study involved 97 white college students. The results indicated the presence of racist shooter bias: participants shot a black armed suspect faster than a white one and took longer to shoot an unarmed black suspect than a white one, and also made more mistakes not shooting the armed white man than the armed black man. In the second study, 60 male military police officers (MP) participated, 10 of them were white, 41 brown and 9 black. All police officers had 3 months of police service. The results indicated again the presence of racist shooter bias, but only in the response times. There was no effect of the participant’s skin color. The third study was conducted with 58 male MPs, 11 of them were white, 37 brown and 10 black, all with more than 10 years of police service. The same pattern of study 2 was found. The general results demonstrate that levels of racist shooter bias of police officers are not higher than that of civilians. The data are discussed considering the risk of racism in making extreme life and death decisions.