30 research outputs found
Reflections on credit policy in developing countries: its effect on private investment
No full textPrevious approaches to credit policy in the stabilization and adjustment of developing countries have emphasized either the role of the availability of credit or the role of its price - that is, the interest rate. The authors argue that effective credit policy in developing countries must take into account both interest rate and credit channels. The authors develop their argument in the context of the link between credit policy and private investment, using a model of firms'investment behavior in an economy with exogenous, time-varying borrowing constraints. The model incorporates a credit ceiling linked to the firms'net worth and the state of the credit market. The state of the credit market depends on factors such as credit and interest rate policy, regulatory and supervisory practices, and market sentiments that banks consider in making lending decisions. These factors affect banks'decisions independent of a borrower's creditworthiness. Thus, in times of tight money, firms that would otherwise have received loans may be denied them and have to postpone or cut back investment plans. The authors use their model to specify an equation relating aggregate private investment to aggregate output and to two credit market variables. Their findings show that interest rates and credit volume exert a joint influence on the behavior of private investment in the countries examined.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism
China and the Latin America Commodities Boom: A Critical Assessment
No full textThis Working Paper analyzes the extent to which Chinese demand enhanced the performance of Latin American economies in economic boom that took place from the turn of the century until the run up to the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. It has been argued that China’s rise was been a blessing for the region, because Chinese demand boosted exports and in part caused a hike in commodities prices worldwide. The author finds that the direct impact on the Latin American exports was much smaller than what was touted. He goes on to address concerns over a Chinese-demand-led 'resource curse' and deindustrialization in Latin America.
Revenue and the fiscal impact of liberalization : the case of Niger
No full textUsing data collected during several missions, the author finds that the principal reasons for low revenue mobilization are (1) the adverse fiscal impact of trade liberalization, (2) the defiscalization of agriculture in the 1970s, (3) the collapse of the uranium boom in the 1980s, and (4) the poor record of the VAT in mobilizing revenue. The large reduction in tariffs during the 1980s and 1990s in the context of structural adjustment programs and West African regional integration initiatives had adverse effects on trade tax revenue during the period 1980–2003. But higher import levels after 1994 succeeded in partially mitigating the revenue losses. The experience of Niger shows that without accompanying macroeconomic policies, parallel improvements in tax and customs administration, and success in mobilizing domestic taxes, most notably the VAT, trade reform can have adverse fiscal consequences. Using a SMART model partial equilibrium analysis developed by UNCTAD for researchers and negotiators at multilateral trade rounds, the author simulated three different tariff shocks to test the fiscal and trade implications of additional trade liberalization in Niger. First, the preferred tariff regime in terms of overall fiscal and job creation impact was the harmonized Swiss formula in contrast to a 10 and 15 percent uniform tariff. Second, a possible Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (REPA) between the European Union and l'Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA) by 2015 that would abolish duties on EU imports to the UEMOA countries would have negative fiscal effects on Niger of more than 1 percent of GDP, positive effects on trade creation of about 1.5 percent of GDP, and ambiguous effects on local industry. While there will be some welfare gains for consumers and importers from lower import tariffs and the possibility of trade creation, the fiscal losses and adjustment costs would be significant, particularly in the machinery and transport sectors. Third, there are asymmetric gains and losses from regional integration and tariff changes, and a 10 percent uniform tariff would have the greatest impact on Benin and Senegal and some impact on Niger and Togo. In sum, further trade liberalization in Niger will have significant fiscal costs, partially offset by trade creation through increased imports.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies,Export Competitiveness,Trade and Regional Integration
Modelo de implantação de informática na educação segundo uma visão sistêmica apoiada na gestão de mudanças
No full textTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.O CGI (Comitê Gestor da Internet no Brasil) (2006), PNAD (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostras de Domicílios) (2005) e Censo Escolar (2005) apontam para uma realidade onde, apesar dos recentes esforços de vários governos, aproximadamente, 54% da população brasileira nunca usou um computador e 67% nunca navegou na Internet. Apenas 19% dos domicílios possuem computador e somente 25% das escolas básicas possuem computadores ligados à Internet. A situação é ainda mais grave quando se identifica que, mesmo nas escolas com conexão e computadores, muitas das salas de informática ficam trancadas e tornam-se alvo de sucateamento e furto de equipamentos, em geral, pela falta de formação dos professores ou pela ausência de uma política educacional que pressuponha as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC ) como instrumento pedagógico. A democratização do acesso aos produtos tecnológicos e a inclusão digital é um desafio para a sociedade atual e requer esforços e mudanças na área educacional. Este trabalho visa o desenvolvimento e experimentação de um modelo sistêmico de informatização educacional de escolas, que enfatize a implantação da informática educacional em uma abordagem de gestão de mudança, através de ações voltadas ao contexto especifico do ambiente de atuação, de maneira a gerir e integrar aspectos sociais, gerenciais e tecnológicos que contribuam, direta e indiretamente, para a mudança desejada. Nesse processo de integração, a estratégia de incorporação tecnológica leva em conta a visão social da organização, evidenciando o entendimento da escola como um sistema sócio-técnico. Nesta visão, é através da integração dos elementos da comunidade escolar que se viabiliza que as TIC consigam adquirir um estatuto de instrumento educacional, sendo internalizadas pelos atores do processo ensino-aprendizagem. Neste modelo, o enfoque sistêmico, pressupõe uma constante validação e atualização (auto-regulação), onde é possível recuperar defasagens oriundas de momentos anteriores do processo através de um constante feedback. O modelo e as nuances permitem balizar decisões no momento de definição, implantação, acompanhamento e repetição do processo. The CGI (Brazil Internet Management Committee) (2006), PNAD (National Research for Sample Home) (2005) e School Census (2005) point to a reality where, although the recent efforts of some governments, 54% of Brazilian people never used a computer and 67% never accessed the Internet. Only 19% of the homes have a computer and only 25% of the basic schools have computer with access to the Internet. The situation is even more serious when is identified that even in the schools with connection and computers, many of the computer rooms are locked and become target of trashing and equipment robery, usually, because the lack of formation of the teachers or the absence of educational politics that understand the technologies of computer science and communication as a pedagogical instrument. The democratization of the access to the technological products and the digital inclusion are a challenge to the current society and require efforts and changes in the educational area. This work aims at the development and experimentation of a systemic model of educational computerization of schools, that emphasizes the implantation of educational computer science in focus of change management, through actions faced to the specific context of the working environment, in way to manage and integrate social aspects, managemental and technological, that contribute direct and indirect ways, to the desired change. In this process of integration, the strategy of technological incorporation care about the social vision of the organization, evidencing the understanding of the school as a system partner-technician. In this vision, it is through the integration of the elements of the school community that makes possible that the technologies of computer science and communication achieve a statute of educational instrument, being internalized for the actors of the process teach-learning. In this model, the systemic approach, estimates a constant validation and update (self-regulation), where is possible to recover from imbalance derived from previous moments of the process through a constant feedback. The model and its variables allow to demarcate decisions in the definition moment, implantation, accompaniment and repetition of the process
Relative returns to policy reform - evidence from controlled cross-country regressions
No full textThe authors aim at contributing to understand the dispersion of returns from policy reforms using cross-country regressions. The authors compare the"before reform"with"after reform"GDP growth outcome of countries that undertook import-liberalization and fiscal policy reforms. They survey a large sample (about 54) of developing countries over the period 1980-99. The benefits of openness to trade and fiscal prudence have been extensively identified in the growth literature, but the evidence from simple cross-section analysis can sometimes be inconclusive and remains vulnerable to criticism on estimation techniques, such as identification, endogeneity, multi-colinearity, and the quality of the data. The authors use a different analytical framework that establishes additional controls. First, they construct a counterfactual control group. These are countries that-under specific thresholds-did not introduce policy reforms under scrutiny. Second, the authors also try to use the most appropriate variable of policy reform, for example, exogenous changes in import-tariffs instead of the endogenous sum of all trade flows. Third, the authors try to base the before-after reform comparison on the most accurate date for the beginning of a policy reform period (instead of comparing averages over fixed intervals of time). Once these controls are set, they explain the difference between average GDP growth rates during the country-specific post and the pre-reform periods, relative to the average GDP growth of the relevant control group. The explanatory variables in the regressions include the standard growth-regression controls. The results are the following: 1) With a better measurement and timing of the policy reforms, the growth effect (the"returns on reform") is generally smaller than in previous papers. 2) There is evidence of contingent relationships between policy and growth, corresponding to the country's size, its export profile, and its governance. 2) Within the group of policy reformers, some countries have exhibited a relatively weaker growth response. Overall, the findings suggest that more accurate measurement and definition of the timing of reforms does not strengthen the significance of the effects of reforms on GDP growth. In fact, the effects are weaker than indicated in most cross-section studies. This suggests that the policy implications to be derived from these relationships should be treated with even more caution than previously thought.Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Public Health Promotion,Economic Theory&Research,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Achieving Shared Growth,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade and Regional Integration
Relative deprivation and migration : theory, evidence, and policy implications
No full textThe authors examine the importance of absolute income and relative deprivation incentives for internal and international migration in developing country households. Empirical results, based on Mexican village data, support the hypothesis that households'relative deprivation in the village reference group is significant in explaining migration by household members to destinations where a reference group substitution is unlikely and the returns to migrations are high. Independent of relative deprivation, village households wisely pair their members with the labor markets in which the returns to their human capital are likely to be greatest. The results suggest that a specific type of migration constitutes a response to a specific configuration of variables, and the role of relative deprivation appears to differ for internal and international migration. Taking relative deprivation into account when studying migration is shown to have important implications for development policy. For example, economic development that does not redress intravillage income inequalities may become associated with more migration.Drylands&Desertification,Inequality,Anthropology,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies
Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in men are risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 vulnerability in the elderly
No full text* SCOURGE Cohort Group
Javier Abellan15,16; René Acosta-Isaac17; Jose María Aguado18,19,20,21; Carlos Aguilar22; Sergio
Aguilera-Albesa23,24; Abdolah Ahmadi Sabbagh25; Jorge Alba26; Sergiu Albu27,28,29; Karla A.M.
Alcalá-Gallardo30; Julia Alcoba-Florez31; Sergio Alcolea Batres32; Holmes Rafael AlgarinLara33,34; Virginia Almadana35; Kelliane A. Medeiros36,37; Julia Almeida38,39; Berta Almoguera40,3;
María R. Alonso41; Nuria Alvarez41; Rodolfo Alvarez-Sala Walther32; Yady Álvarez-Benítez33,34;
Felipe Álvarez-Navia42,43; Katiusse A. dos Santos44; Álvaro Andreu-Bernabeu45,20; Maria Rosa
Antonijoan46; Eleno Martínez-Aquino47; Eunate Arana-Arri48,49; Carlos Aranda50,51; Celso
Arango45,52,20; Carolina Araque53,54; Nathalia K. Araujo55; Ana C. Arcanjo56,57,58; Ana Arnaiz59,60;
Francisco Arnalich Fernández61; María J. Arranz62; José Ramon Arribas Lopez61; Maria-Jesus
Artiga63; Yubelly Avello-Malaver64; Carmen Ayuso40,3; Belén Ballina Martín25; Raúl C. BaptistaRosas65,66,67; Ana María Baldion64; Andrea Barranco-Díaz34; María Barreda- Sánchez68,69;
Viviana Barrera-Penagos64; Moncef Belhassen-Garcia70,43; David Bernal-Bello71; Enrique
Bernal68; Joao F. Bezerra72; Marcos A.C. Bezerra73; Natalia Blanca-López74; Rafael Blancas75;
Lucía Boix-Palop76; Alberto Borobia77; Elsa Bravo78; María Brion79,80; Óscar Brochado-Kith81;
Ramón Brugada82,83,80,84; Matilde Bustos85; Alfonso Cabello86; Alejandro Cáceres4,5; Juan J.
Caceres-Agra87; Esther Calbo76; Enrique J. Calderón88,6,89; Shirley Camacho90; Francisco C.
Ceballos81; Yolanda Cañadas51; Cristina Carbonell42,43; Servando Cardona-Huerta91; Maria
Sanchez Carpintero50,51; Carlos Carpio Segura32; José Antonio Carrillo-Avila92; Marcela C.
Campos56; Carlos Casasnovas93,94,3; Luis Castano48,95,3,96,97; Carlos F. Castaño50,51; Jose E.
Castelao98; Aranzazu Castellano Candalija99; María A. Castillo90; Walter G. ChavesSantiago100,54; Sylena Chiquillo-Gómez33,34; Marco A. Cid-Lopez30; Oscar CienfuegosJimenez91; Rosa Conde-Vicente101; Gabriela C.R. Cunha102; M. Lourdes Cordero-Lorenzana103;
Dolores Corella104,105; Almudena Corrales106,107; Jose L. Cortes-Sanchez91,108; Marta Corton40,3;
Karla S.C. Souza109; Fabiola T.C. Silva56; Raquel Cruz8,3,9,10; Luisa Cuesta110; Nathali A.C.
Tavares111; Maria C.C. Carvalho112; David Dalmau62,76; Raquel C.S. Dantas-Komatsu113; M.
Teresa Darnaude114; Raimundo de Andrés115; Carmen de Juan116; Juan De la Cruz
Troca117,118,6; Carmen de la Horra89; Ana B. de la Hoz48; Alba De Martino-Rodríguez119,120;
Marina S. Cruz121; Julianna Lys de Sousa Alves Neri122; Victor del Campo-Pérez123; Juan
Delgado-Cuesta124; Aranzazu Diaz de Bustamante114; Anderson Díaz-Pérez34; Beatriz Dietl76;
Silvia Diz-de Almeida3,10; Manoella do Monte Alves125,126; Elena Domínguez-Garrido127; Lidia S.
Rosa128; Andre D. Luchessi129; Jose Echave-Sustaeta130; Rocío Eiros131; César O. EncisoOlivera53,54; Gabriela Escudero132; Pedro Pablo España133; Gladys Mercedes Estigarribia
Sanabria134; María Carmen Fariñas59,60,135; Ramón Fernández59,136; Lidia FernandezCaballero40,3; Ana Fernández-Cruz137; Silvia Fernández Ferrero25; Yolanda Fernández
Martínez25; María J. Fernandez-Nestosa138; Uxía Fernández-Robelo139; Amanda FernándezRodríguez81; Marta Fernández-Sampedro59,135,60; Ruth Fernández40,3; Tania Fernández-Villa140;
Carmen Fernéndez Capitán99; Antonio Augusto F. Carioca141; Patricia Flores-Pérez142; Lácides
Fuenmayor-Hernández34; Marta Fuertes Núñez25; Victoria Fumadó143; Ignacio Gadea144; Lidia
Gagliardi50,51; Manuela Gago-Domínguez13,9; Natalia Gallego11; Cristina Galoppo145; Ana
García-Soidán146; Carlos Garcia Cerrada15,16; Aitor García-de-Vicuña48,95; Josefina GarciaGarcía68; Irene García-García77; Carmen García-Ibarbia59,135,60; Andrés C. García-Montero147;
Leticia García50,51; Mercedes García50,51; María Carmen García Torrejón148,16; Inés García40,3;
Elisa García-Vázquez68; Emiliano Garza-Frias91; Angela Gentile145; Belén Gil-Fournier149;
Jéssica N.G. de Araújo150; Mario Gómez-Duque100,54; Javier Gómez-Arrue119,120; Luis Gómez
Carrera32; María Gómez García151; Ángela Gómez Sacristán152; Juan R. González4,5,6,14; Anna
González-Neira41; Beatriz González Álvarez119,120; Fernan Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quirós153;
Rafaela González-Montelongo154; Javier González-Peñas45,20,52; Manuel Gonzalez-Sagrado101;
Hugo Gonzalo Benito155; Oscar Gorgojo-Galindo156; Miguel Górgolas86; Florencia Guaragna145;
Jessica G. Chaux54; Encarna Guillen-Navarro68,157,158,159; Beatriz Guillen-Guio106; Pablo
Guisado-Vasco130; Luz D. Gutierrez-Castañeda160,54; Juan F. Gutiérrez-Bautista161; Sara HeiliFrades162; Rafael H. Jacomo163; Estefania Hernandez164; Cristina Hernández Moro25; Luis D.
Hernandez-Ortega165,166; Guillermo Hernández-Pérez42; Rebeca Hernández-Vaquero167; Belen
Herraez41; M. Teresa Herranz68; María Herrera50,51; María José Herrero168,169; Antonio HerreroGonzalez170; Juan P. Horcajada171,172,28,173; Natale Imaz-Ayo48; Maider IntxaustiUrrutibeaskoa174; Antonio Íñigo-Campos154; María Íñiguez175; Rubén Jara68; Ángel Jiménez50,51;
Ignacio Jiménez-Alfaro176; Pilar Jiménez161; María A. Jimenez-Sousa81; Iolanda Jordan177,178,6;
Rocío Laguna-Goya179,180; Daniel Laorden32; María Lasa-Lazaro179,180; María Claudia Lattig90,181;
Ailen Lauriente145; Anabel Liger Borja182; Lucía Llanos183; Amparo López-Bernús42,43; Miguel
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(which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.19.20071357; this version posted February 18, 2022. The copyright holder for this preprint
López de Heredia3
; Esther Lopez-Garcia117,118,6,184; Eduardo López Granados185,186,3; Rosario
Lopez-Rodriguez40,3; Miguel A. López-Ruz187,188,189; Leonardo Lorente190; José M. LorenzoSalazar154; José E. Lozano191; María Lozano-Espinosa182; Ignacio Mahillo192,193,107; Esther
Mancebo179,180; Carmen Mar133; Cristina Marcelo Calvo99; Alba Marcos-Delgado194; Miguel
Marcos42,43; Alicia Marín Candon77; Pablo Mariscal Aguilar32; Laura Martin-Pedraza74; Marta
Martin-Fernandez195; Caridad Martín-López182; José-Ángel Martín-Oterino42,43; María Dolores
Martín196; Vicente Martín194,6; María M. Martín197; María Martín-Vicente81; Amalia Martinez198;
Óscar Martínez-González75; Ricardo Martínez164; Pedro Martinez-Paz155; Covadonga M. DiazCaneja45,52,20; Oscar Martinez-Nieto64,181; Iciar Martinez-Lopez199,200; Michel F. MartinezResendez91; Silvia Martínez59,135; Juan José Martinez94,3; Angel Martinez-Perez201; Andrea
Martínez-Ramas40,3; Violeta Martínez Robles25; Laura Marzal40,3; Juliana F. Mazzeu202,203,204;
Francisco J. Medrano88,6,89; Xose M. Meijome205,206; Natalia Mejuto-Montero207; Ingrid Mendes3
;
Alice L. Duarte109; Ana Méndez-Echevarria208; Humberto Mendoza Charris78,34; Eleuterio
Merayo Macías209; Fátima Mercadillo210; Arieh R. Mercado-Sesma165,166; Pablo Minguez40,3;
Elena Molina-Roldán211; Antonio J J. Molina194; Juan José Montoya164; Susana M.T.
Pinho36,212,213; Patricia Moreira-Escriche116; Xenia Morelos-Arnedo78,34; Rocío Moreno3
; Victor
Moreno Cuerda15,16; Antonio Moreno-Docón68; Junior Moreno-Escalante34; Alberto Moreno
Fernández99; Patricia Muñoz García214,107,20; Pablo Neira145; Julian Nevado3,11,12; Israel NietoGañán146; Vivian N. Silbiger129; Rocio Nuñez- Torres41; Antònia Obrador-Hevia215,216; J. Gonzalo
Ocejo-Vinyals59,135; Virginia Olivar145; Silviene F. Oliveira56,217,204,218; Lorena Ondo40,3; Alberto
Orfao38,39; Eva Ortega-Paino63; Luis Ortega219; Rocio Ortiz-Lopez91; Fernando Ortiz-Flores59,135;
José A. Oteo26,175; Manuel Pacheco164; Fredy Javier Pacheco-Miranda34; Irene Padilla Conejo25;
Sonia Panadero-Fajardo92; Mara Parellada45,52,20; Roberto Pariente-Rodríguez146; Vicente
Friaza6,89; Estela Paz-Artal179,180,220; Germán Peces-Barba221,107; Miguel S. Pedromingo Kus222;
Celia Perales144; Ney P.C. Santos223; Genilson P. Guegel224; Perez Maria Jazmin145; Alexandra
Perez82,80; Patricia Pérez-Matute175; César Pérez225; Gustavo Perez-de-Nanclares48,95; Felipe
Pérez-García226,227; Patricia Perez228; Luis A. Pérez-Jurado1,2,3; M. Elena Pérez-Tomás68;
Teresa Perucho229; Lisbeth A. Pichardo25; Adriana P. Ribeiro36,37,213; Mel·lina Pinsach-Abuin82,80;
Luz Adriana Pinzón100,54; Jeane F.P. Medeiros230; Guillermo Pita41; Francesc Pla-Junca231,3;
Laura Planas-Serra94,3; Ericka N. Pompa-Mera232; Gloria L. Porras-Hurtado164; Aurora
Pujol94,3,233; María Eugenia Quevedo Chávez33,34; Maria Angeles Quijada46,234; Inés Quintela8
;
Soraya Ramiro León149; Pedro Rascado Sedes235; Joana F.R. Nunes56; Delia Recalde119,120;
Emma Recio-Fernández175; Salvador Resino81; Renata R. Sousa213,236; Carlos S. RivadeneiraChamorro54; Diana Roa-Agudelo64; Montserrat Robelo Pardo235; Marianne R. Fernandes223,237;
María A. Rodriguez-Hernandez85; Agustí Rodriguez-Palmero238,94; Emilio Rodríguez-Ruiz235,9;
Marilyn Johanna Rodriguez54; Fernando Rodriguez-Artalejo117,118,6,184; Marena RodríguezFerrer34; Carlos Rodriguez-Gallego239,240; José A. Rodriguez-Garcia25; Belén Rodríguez Maya15;
Antonio Rodriguez-Nicolas161; German Ezequiel Rodriguez Novoa145; Paula A. RodriguezUrrego64; Federico Rojo241,242; Andrea Romero-Coronado34; Rubén Morilla89,243; Filomeno
Rondón García25; Antonio Rosales-Castillo244; Cladelis Rubio245; María Rubio Olivera50,51;
Francisco Ruiz-Cabello161,188,246; Eva Ruiz-Casares229; Juan J. Ruiz-Cubillan59,135; Javier RuizHornillos247,51,248; Montserrat Ruiz94,3; Pablo Ryan249,250,251; Hector D. Salamanca53,54; Lorena
Salazar-García90; Giorgina Gabriela Salgueiro Origlia 99; Anna Sangil76; Olga SánchezPernaute252; Pedro-Luis Sánchez131,43; Antonio J. Sánchez López253; Clara Sánchez-Pablo131;
María Concepción Sánchez Prados32; Javier Sánchez Real25; Jorge Sánchez Redondo15,254;
Cristina Sancho- Sainz174; Esther Sande255; Arnoldo Santos225; Agatha Schlüter94,3; Sonia
Segovia231,256,257; Alex Serra-Llovich62; Fernando Sevil Puras22; Marta Sevilla Porras3,11; Miguel
A. Sicolo258,259; Cristina Silván Fuentes3
; Vitor M.S. Moraes260; Vanessa S. Souza102; Jordi SoléViolán261,107; José Manuel Soria201; Jose V. Sorlí104,105; Nayara S. Silva262; Juan Carlos Souto17;
John J. Sprockel100,54; José Javier Suárez-Rama8
; David A. Suarez-Zamora64; Xiana TaboadaFraga207; Eduardo Tamayo263,156; Alvaro Tamayo-Velasco264; Juan Carlos TaracidoFernandez170; Romero H.T. Vasconcelos111; Carlos Tellería119,120; Thássia M.T. Carratto260; Jair
Antonio Tenorio Castaño3,11,12; Alejandro Teper145; Izabel M.T. Araujo109; Juan Torres-Macho265;
Lilian Torres-Tobar266; Ronald P. Torres Gutiérrez222; Jesús Troya249; Miguel Urioste210; Juan
Valencia-Ramos267; Agustín Valido35,268; Juan Pablo Vargas Gallo269,270; Belén Varón271; Tomas
Vega272; Santiago Velasco-Quirce273; Valentina Vélez-Santamaría93,94; Virginia Víctor50,51; Julia
Vidán Estévez25; Gabriela V. Silva109; Miriam Vieitez-Santiago59,135; Carlos Vilches274; Lavinia
Villalobos25; Felipe Villar221; Judit Villar-Garcia275,276,277; Cristina Villaverde3,40; Pablo VillosladaBlanco175; Ana Virseda-Berdices81; Tatiana X. Costa278; Zuleima Yáñez34; Antonio Zapatero Gaviria279; Ruth Zarate280; Sandra Zazo241; Carlos Flores106,107,154; José A. Riancho59,60,135;
Augusto Rojas-Martinez281; Pablo Lapunzina3,11,12; Ángel Carracedo3,8,9,10,13The ongoing pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) has an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome events (CME) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (CME and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, CME and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people.The authors acknowledge support from the Catalan Department of Economy and Knowledge (SGR2017/1974, SGR2017/801) and the Spanish Ministry of Science “Programa de Excelencia María de Maeztu” (MDM-2014-0370) and “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa” (CEX2018-000806-S), the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, UE (RTI2018-100789-B-I00) and the Estonian Research Council (PUT1660). Authors also receive support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program.N
Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact
No full textRecognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species’ viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species’ recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.
Inclusive author list: Molly K. Grace • H. Resit Akçakaya • Elizabeth L. Bennett • Thomas M. Brooks • Anna Heath • Simon Hedges • Craig Hilton-Taylor • Michael Hoffmann • Axel Hochkirch • Richard Jenkins • David A. Keith • Barney Long • David P. Mallon • Erik Meijaard • E.J. Milner-Gulland • Jon Paul Rodriguez • P.J. Stephenson • Simon N. Stuart • Richard P. Young • Pablo Acebes • Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto • Silvia Alvarez-Clare • Raphali Rodlis Andriantsimanarilafy • Marina Arbetman • Claudio Azat • Gianluigi Bacchetta • Ruchi Badola • Luís M.D. Barcelos • Joao Pedro Barreiros • Sayanti Basak • Danielle J. Berger • Sabuj Bhattacharyya • Gilad Bino • Paulo A.V. Borges • Raoul K. Boughton • H. Jane Brockmann • Hannah L. Buckley • Ian J. Burfield • James Burton • Teresa Camacho-Badani • Luis Santiago Cano-Alonso • Ruth H. Carmichael • Christina Carrero • John P. Carroll • Giorgos Catsadorakis • David G. Chapple • Guillaume Chapron • Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury • Louw Claassens • Donatella Cogoni • Rochelle Constantine • Christie Anne Craig • Andrew A. Cunningham • Nishma Dahal • Jennifer C. Daltry • Goura Chandra Das • Niladri Dasgupta • Alexandra Davey • Katharine Davies • Pedro Develey • Vanitha Elangovan • David Fairclough • Mirko Di Febbraro • Giuseppe Fenu • Fernando Moreira Fernandes • Eduardo Pinheiro Fernandez • Brittany Finucci • Rita Földesi • Catherine M. Foley • Matthew Ford • Michael R.J. Forstner • Néstor García • Ricardo Garcia-Sandoval • Penny C. Gardner • Roberto Garibay-Orijel • Marites Gatan-Balbas • Irene Gauto • Mirza Ghazanfar Ullah Ghazi • Stephanie S. Godfrey • Matthew Gollock • Benito A. González • Tandora D. Grant • Thomas Gray • Andrew J. Gregory • Roy H.A. van Grunsven • Marieka Gryzenhout • Noelle C. Guernsey • Garima Gupta • Christina Hagen • Christian A. Hagen • Madison B. Hall • Eric Hallerman • Kelly Hare • Tom Hart • Ruston Hartdegen • Yvette Harvey-Brown • Richard Hatfield • Tahneal Hawke • Claudia Hermes • Rod Hitchmough • Pablo Melo Hoffmann • Charlie Howarth • Michael A. Hudson • Syed Ainul Hussain • Charlie Huveneers • Hélène Jacques • Dennis Jorgensen • Suyash Katdare • Lydia K.D. Katsis • Rahul Kaul • Boaz Kaunda-Arara • Lucy Keith-Diagne • Daniel T. Kraus • Thales Moreira de Lima • Ken Lindeman • Jean Linsky • Edward Louis Jr. • Anna Loy • Eimear Nic Lughadha • Jeffrey C. Mangel • Paul E. Marinari • Gabriel M. Martin • Gustavo Martinelli • Philip J.K. McGowan • Alistair McInnes • Eduardo Teles Barbosa Mendes • Michael J. Millard • Claire Mirande • Daniel Money • Joanne M. Monks • Carolina Laura Morales • Nazia Naoreen Mumu • Raquel Negrao • Anh Ha Nguyen • Md. Nazmul Hasan Niloy • Grant Leslie Norbury • Cale Nordmeyer • Darren Norris • Mark O’Brien • Gabriela Akemi Oda • Simone Orsenigo • Mark Evan Outerbridge • Stesha Pasachnik • Juan Carlos Pérez-Jiménez • Charlotte Pike • Fred Pilkington • Glenn Plumb • Rita de Cassia Quitete Portela • Ana Prohaska • Manuel G. Quintana • Eddie Fanantenana Rakotondrasoa • Dustin H. Ranglack • Hassan Rankou • Ajay Prakash Rawat • James Thomas Reardon • Marcelo Lopes Rheingantz • Stephen C. Richter • Malin C. Rivers • Luke Rollie Rogers • Patrícia da Rosa • Paul Rose • Emily Royer • Catherine Ryan • Yvonne J. Sadovy de Mitcheson • Lily Salmon • Carlos Henrique Salvador • Michael J. Samways • Tatiana Sanjuan • Amanda Souza • dos Santos • Hiroshi Sasaki • Emmanuel Schutz • Heather Ann Scott • Robert Michael Scott • Fabrizio Serena • Surya P. Sharma • John A. Shuey • Carlos Julio Polo Silva • John P. Simaika • David R. Smith • Julia L.Y. Spaet • Shanjida Sultana • Bibhab Kumar Talukdar • Vikash Tatayah • Philip Thomas • Angela Tringali • Hoang Trinh-Dinh • Chongpi Tuboi • Aftab Alam Usmani • Aída M. Vasco-Palacios • Jean-Christophe Vié • Jo Virens • Alan Walker • Bryan Wallace • Lauren J. Waller • Hongfeng Wang • Oliver R. Wearn • Merlijn van Weerd • Simon Weigmann • Daniel Willcox • John Woinarski • Jean W.H. Yong • Stuart Young
Avaliação do potencial efeito protetor do probucol em modelos experimentais da doença de Huntington
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas. Programa de Pós-Graduação em BioquímicaA doença de Huntington (DH) é uma patologia neurodegenerativa, autossômica dominante caracterizada por sintomas atribuídos à morte de neurônios estriatais e corticais no cérebro. O mecanismo de neurodegeneração na DH parece estar relacionado com excitotoxicidade, disfunção mitocondrial e estresse oxidativo. O probucol (PB) é um composto fenólico antilipêmico, que apresenta propriedades anti-inflamatória e antioxidante em diferentes modelos experimentais de toxicidade/patologia. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar o possível efeito protetor do PB sobre a neurotoxicidade e estresse oxidativo em modelos experimentais de DH in vitro e in vivo. Inicialmente, foi avaliada a relação entre prejuízo no metabolismo energético, excitotoxicidade e estresse oxidativo em fatias de estriado de ratos expostas ao ácido quinolínico (AQ), ácido 3-nitropropiônico (3-NP) e ao modelo combinado (AQ + 3-NP). Os dados sugerem que os modelos utilizados podem gerar um padrão complexo de dano, que envolve comprometimento metabólico, formação de espécies reativas de oxigênio (ERO) e estresse oxidativo. O PB preveniu o estresse oxidativo nas três condições experimentais e foi capaz de proteger contra disfunção mitocondrial induzida pelo AQ e AQ + 3-NP. Além disso, o potencial efeito protetor do probucol foi avaliado sobre a neurotoxicidade do 3-NP em ratos. O pré-tratamento com probucol (por 60 dias) aumentou a atividade da glutationa peroxidase (GPx) no estriado e no córtex e preveniu o prejuízo motor e o estresse oxidativo induzido pelo 3-NP em ratos. O efeito do PB sobre a GPx e suas propriedades antioxidantes estão provavelmente associados ao seu efeito benéfico neste modelo. Também foi verificado o possível efeito protetor do succinobucol, um análogo do PB, sobre a toxicidade induzida pelo 3-NP em preparações mitocondriais de cérebro de ratos in vitro. O probucol e o succinobucol preveniram o estresse oxidativo induzido pelo 3-NP, mas apenas o succinobucol foi capaz de prevenir a disfunção mitocondrial induzida pela toxina. Juntos este resultados sugerem um novo papel para o probucol e seu análogo succinobucol como potenciais agentes neuroprotetores em modelos de DH
Macroeconomics of public sector deficits : the case of Zimbabwe
No full textZimbabwe has the uncommon combination of a high public deficit, a balanced current account, low inflation, and low levels of investment and growth. Despite a surplus in the current account, the nonfinancial public sector has run deficits exceeding 10 percent of GDP since 1981. Inflation is low but interest rates are rising because of partial financial liberalization and rising domestic public debt stocks. Heavy public spending crowded out private consumption and investment in the 1980s. The private saving rate is a staggering 20 percent of GDP, which finances all of Zimbabwe's investment. The fiscal adjustment begun in 1987 helped stabilize the public debt and improved recovery of investment. But more fiscal adjustment is needed to improve macroeconomic and financial stability and growth prospects. Public deficits must be reduced to ensure a sustainable path for public debt. High deficits are crowding out both private consumption and private investment. The public sector must be adjusted and foreign trade must be reformed to improve capital formation - a prerequisite for improving growth prospects in Zimbabwe.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Economic Stabilization
