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We investigated how the contingent delivery of a cultural consequence on target culturants in an asymmetric iterated prisoner's dilemma game (IPDG) affected players' choices to cooperate. The asymmetric IPDG creates an analogue to environmental conditions in which behaviors and cultural practices create and sustain income disparities among different members of the population more generally. The asymmetric IPDG allows researchers to explore how these inequalities affect cooperation between players experiencing unequal payoffs. Six undergraduate students divided into three dyads participated in an ABABCDCD reversal design. An asymmetric IPDG in conditions A and C ensured that one player received a greater number of points regardless of the second participant's choices, analogous to contingencies that produce income inequalities. In conditions B and D, a metacontingency was arranged such that delivery of a cultural consequence (CC; bonus points equally distributed among the dyad) was contingent on the oscillating production of target aggregate products (APs) across two consecutive cycles. When participants coordinated responding and contacted the target AP → CC relation, the point disparity was reduced. However, individual contingencies in direct competition for the favored player were arranged to reduce the probability of cooperative responding. Results showed that the CC selected certain oscillations between target APs across dyads resulting in a decrease in the point disparity between the players. This study illustrates how laboratory scientists can arrange experiments that capture some of the complexity of social behavior as it occurs with respect to cultural, political, and economic systems and the associated networks of contingencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Simple hepatic cyst is a rare disease in childhood. They occur in the general population with a prevalence of up to 5%. The incidence and size of cysts increase dramatically in adults older than 50 years. We performed a systematic literature review of all cases of simple hepatic cysts in the pediatric population undergoing surgical treatment. We found 52 cases reported in literature with a mean age of 2.54 years, 15% were pedicled cysts and only one case reported intracystic bleeding, detected only in the anatomopathological examination. We report a case of a 13-year-old girl who was presented with a symptomatic giant solitary bile cyst, the second biggest simple hepatic cyst reported in pediatric population, the biggest pedicled cyst and the only case of intracystic bleeding detected in pre-operative image examination in this group. This case brings important considerations about this complication and its pre-operative diagnosis. Case presentation: We report a case of a 13-year-old girl with a giant solitary biliary cyst in the left hepatic lobe, symptomatic and with intracystic bleeding noted on magnetic resonance imaging. Diagnosis was difficult due to nonspecific symptoms and the non-typical images of simple hepatic cyst due to intracystic bleeding. The patient underwent a laparotomy, showing a large pedicled cyst, linked to segments II and III without adherence to other organs. Complete excision of the lesion was performed because the risk of torsion. The postoperative period passed without complications. Conclusions: Although intracystic bleeding is the most common complication in adults, this is not reported in the pediatric population according to our review. Knowing how to recognize intracystic bleeding is important, because this complication predisposes the cyst to rupture and changes the appearance of the lesion on imaging tests, which can be more easily confused with cystadenoma or a cystadenocarcinoma. The magnetic resonance imaging is essential in the intracystic bleeding investigation. Comparisons between ultrasound and computed tomography findings associated with anemia history can prove the probability of this complication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising demand for energy and an still increasing world population are prompting the need to further improve power supply services upon a "zero interruption" target. This, combined with the process of shifting fossil fuel usage toward electrification, may escalate the economic and social impacts caused from interruptions. In this context, scheduled inspection plays a major role to manage risks. The challenge, however, is the trade-off of low O&M costs and high reliability. To solve that, this paper proposes a reliability-centered maintenance approach that combines heuristic and genetic algorithm (GA). The heuristic, based on benchmark practices, determines the cumulative total line length to be inspected to reach a targeted reliability level. The GA, on the other hand, yields a priority order list to portions of the grid to be inspected. The methodology relies on corporate systems historic data from outage management system, supervisory control and data acquisition, geographic information system and enterprise resource planning, typically available on power utilities. Tests are performed to a real 13.8 kV network in the South West of Brazil. Results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can significantly improve the decision-making by prioritizing feeder segments with higher load density, number of interruptions and voltage/current problems, up to a preset target, thus, improving reliability while limiting O&M costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of exhaled breath was examined for volatile organic compound (VOC) indicators of sexual arousal in human beings. Participants (12-male, 12-female) were shown a randomized series of three emotion-inducing 10-min film clips interspersed with 3-min neutral film clips. The films caused different arousals: sports film (positive-nonsexual); horror film (negative-nonsexual); and erotic (sexual) that were monitored with physiological measurements including genital response and temperature. Simultaneously the breath was monitored for VOC and CO2. While some breath compounds (methanol and acetone) changed uniformly irrespective of the film order, several compounds did show significant arousal associated changes. For both genders CO2 and isoprene decreased in the sex clip. Some male individuals showed particularly strong increases of indole, phenol and cresol coincident with sexual arousal that decreased rapidly afterwards. These VOCs are degradation products of tyrosine and tryptophan, precursors for dopamine, noradrenalin, and serotonin, and therefore represent potential breath markers of sexual arousal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we introduce a novel methodology to classify the dynamical stages of an epidemic, based on the different acceleration regimes of the corresponding growth curve. Our classification scheme is implemented by fitting the empirical data with a general class of mathematical growth models, from which we compute not only the growth acceleration but also its jerk and jounce (i.e., the first and second derivatives of the acceleration, respectively), thus allowing for a finer distinction of the epidemic stages. Using this methodology, we analyze the cumulative curves of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the 26 Brazilian States and the Federal District, up until August 21, 2020. The online application ModIntervCOVID-19, which automatically implements the classification scheme and which can be accessed via an internet browser or a mobile app, was used to investigate the epidemic stages in each of the Brazilian federal units. The analysis revealed that almost all states in the Northern and Northeastern regions were already in the saturation phase, meaning that the epidemic was relatively under control, whereas in all Southern states and in most states in the Midwest the epidemic was still accelerating or showed only a slight deceleration. The Southeastern region presented a great diversity of epidemic stages, with each state being found at a different stage, ranging from acceleration to saturation. It is argued that understanding this heterogeneous geographical distribution of the epidemic is relevant for public health authorities, as it may help in devising more effective strategies against the COVID-19 pandemic in a continental country like Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slow recovery of many developed economies to the recent financial crisis, and the largest fall in aggregate demand since WWII caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic with its foreseeable negative and persistent effects on the aggregate supply, has generated renewed interest in the subject of hysteresis. The presence of significant hysteresis effects has important theoretical and policy implications. First, there is no unique and predetermined long-run equilibrium level of aggregate employment, as the equilibrium is permanently changed by temporary shocks. Second, as the economic system is not self-adjusting, substantial, timely, and sustained expansionary monetary and fiscal policy should be applied to mitigate the impact of shocks, including the temporary ones. Although it is not possible to quantify hysteresis effects in real time, we can use historical data to shed some light on the possible long-term economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. For that purpose, we use the linear play-hysteresis model in the context of two equation system to analyses the join hysterical dynamics of aggregate employment and investment. We implement the model empirically by means of a new algorithm for the simultaneous equations system applied to Portuguese data that separates the effects of large and small changes in aggregate demand on aggregate employment and investment using an endogenous determined switching parameter as reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents implementation details of an extension of the algebraic formulation for the spectral Tau method for the numerical solution of time-space partial differential problems, together with illustrative numerical examples. This extension implementation highlights (i) the orthogonal basis choice, (ii) the construction of the problem’s algebraic representation and (iii) the mechanisms to tackle certain partial differential problems with ease. This effort will be delivered to the scientific community as a crucial building block of the Tau Toolbox (a numerical library for the solution of integro-differential problems). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for distribution systems planning considering operational performance and power quality indices. This methodology uses real data from the power distribution company's legacy systems, such as GIS, SCADA and OMS, and reunites a range of tools used in the planning process, including planning studies' automatic cost calculation, based on real modular costs used by the company. At the last stage of the planning process, investment optimization is addressed by a genetic algorithm considering multiple regions of study. The proposed methodology is applied to a case study, where all stages of the planning process are covered for five real distribution systems planning projects divided in three different regions of study, composed by eight substations and their respective 74 power distribution feeders, with 299,982 consumers and 3,689.35 kilometers of primary distribution networks. The proposed approach provides significant improvements to the current planning process adopted by the company and assists planning engineers in the decision-making of investment in distribution systems planning studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new way of testing the effect of labor market reforms in the employment adjustment at the macro level. Following the approach to hysteresis based on the presence of non-convex costs of adjustment, a switching aggregate employment equation is estimated, with an unknown splitting factor, from a computational implementation of the linear play hysteresis operator. The play hysteresis operator describes a dynamics where non-convex adjustment costs create intervals of weak reaction of employment to small variations in forcing variables, while spurts in employment adjustment may occur as a consequence of a large, or cumulative small shocks. The main contribution of this paper is to extend an existing approach for the case where there are disruptive breaks, by accommodating changes in the value of the switching parameter of the employment equation whenever labor market reforms are present. Numerical experiments on the Portuguese economy are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavior analysis has a long and strong tradition in Brazil. Following the introduction of the concepts of metacontingencies and macrocontingencies, Brazilian researchers and universities developed prominent areas of research and training in the behavior analysis of culture. This article aims to review and characterize the Brazilian literature (in the form of articles, dissertations, and theses) related to the behavior analysis of sociocultural phenomena in general and the experimental studies with meta- and macrocontingencies as units of analysis (between 2015 and 2020) in particular. The choice of different descriptors and the inclusion of dissertations and theses extend previous reviews and help demonstrate the contribution of the country's graduate programs in training young scientists in the field. The results showed an increasing number of studies since 2002; the predominance of basic studies, mainly experimental; and a greater number of studies based on the concept of metacontingency. This analysis demonstrates the need for international and interinstitutional collaborations. We conclude that Brazilian graduate programs in psychology had a pivotal role in the development of interpretative and experimental research on metacontingencies. Furthermore, the growing impact of conceptual and experimental studies by these academic groups suggests their strong commitment to expanding the behavior analysis of culture by training a new generation of researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Assessing the influence of socio-economic characteristics, acid drinking patterns and gastric alterations considering erosive tooth experience in children. Methods: Cross-sectional study to assess 08–10-year-old children enrolled in the primary education in public schools in Florianopolis, Brazil (n = 1085). Caregivers have answered questionnaires comprising independent variables (head of the household education frequency consumption of sports drinks, acid juice/soda, chewing gum, recurrent vomiting, gastric disorders and vomiting after overeating). Four trained dental surgeons have examined the children for the erosive tooth wear-dependent variable (O'Sullivan index), as well as collected dental caries (DMFT) and dental crowding (DAI index) information. A two-stage cluster-sampling plan was conducted. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were applied (Odds ratio, OR; 95% Confidence interval, CI and 5% significance level). Results: The prevalence of erosive tooth wear was 15.67%. Erosive tooth wear was positively associated with high consumption of sports drinks (OR 3.42; 95% CI: 1.18–9.23). Children whose caregivers' educational level was equal or less than four years of study were less likely to have erosive tooth wear (OR 0.39; 95% CI: 0.17–0.88). Conclusion: High consumption of sports drinks is positively associated with erosive tooth wear. Children whose caregivers' educational level is low are less likely to present erosive tooth wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2006 through 2014, we conducted seroepidemiological surveys on non-human primates and sloths to investigate the possible circulation of arboviruses in Bahia Atlantic Forest, Brazil. We collected a total of 196 samples from 103 Leontopithecus chrysomelas, 7 Sapajus xanthosternos, 22 Bradypus torquatus and 7 Bradypus variegatus. Serum samples were tested using neutralization test and hemagglutination inhibition test to detect total antibodies against 26 different arboviruses. The overall prevalence of arboviruses was 36.6% (51/139), with the genus Flavivirus having the highest prevalence (33.1%; 46/139), followed by Phlebovirus (5.0%; 7/139), Orthobunyavirus (4.3%; 6/139) and Alphavirus (0.7%; 1/139). Monotypic reactions suggest that the wild animals were exposed naturally to at least twelve arboviruses. Added results from the neutralization test, animals were exposed to thirteen arboviruses. Most of these viruses are maintained in transmission cycles independent of human hosts, although antibodies against dengue virus serotypes 1, 2 and 3 were found in this study. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting exposure to arboviruses in L. chrysomelas, S. xanthosternos and B. torquatus. Our results also highlight that the Southern Bahia Atlantic Forest has a variety of vertebrate hosts and potential vectors, which may support the emergence or re-emergence of arboviruses, including those pathogenic to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PageRank is a numerical method that Google uses to compute a page’s importance, by assigning a score to every web page. PageRank is thus at the basis of Google’s search engine success and can be mathematically explored either as an eigenvalue problem or as the solution of a homogeneous linear system. In both cases the Google matrix involved is large and sparse, so tuned algorithms must be developed to tackle it with the lowest computational cost and minimum memory requirements. One of such tunings is the Lumping method approach. Furthermore, the accuracy of the ranking vector needs not to be very precise, so inexpensive iterative methods are preferred. In this work the recent Matrix Analogue of the Accelerated Overrelaxation (MAAOR) iterative method is explored for the PageRank computation. Additionally Lumping methods have been applied to the eigenproblem formulation and we propose a novel approach combining the Lumping and MAAOR methods for the solution of the linear system. Numerical experiments illustrating the MAAOR method and the MAAOR method combined with Lumping techniques applied to PageRank computations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectral tau method was originally proposed by Lanczos for the solution of linear differential problems with polynomial coefficients. In this contribution we present three approaches to tackle integro-differential equations with non-polynomial coefficients: (i) making use of functions of matrices, (ii) applying orthogonal interpolation and (iii) solving auxiliary differential problems by the tau method itself. These approaches are part of the Tau Toolbox efforts for deploying a numerical library for the solution of integro-differential problems. Numerical experiments illustrate the use of all these polynomial approximations in the context of the tau method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides Section 2 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that professional medical writers need in order to perform effectively within the life sciences industry. What a medical writer should know, what they should be able to do, and how they should use this knowledge and these skills to facilitate their primary work function is a focus. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The full Model also includes Section 1, which covers the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry; Section 1 is included in a companion article. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides Section 1 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry. The functions in the Model are scientific communication strategy; document preparation, development, and finalization; document project management; document template, standard, format, and style development and maintenance; outsourcing, alliance partner, and client management; knowledge, skill, ability, and behavior development and sharing; and process improvement. The full Model also includes Section 2, which covers the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed for medical writers to be effective in their roles; Section 2 is presented in a companion article. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a behavior analysis perspective, this paper identifies the metacontingencies established by the Programa Bolsa Família legislation that focus on the fulfillment of education and health requirements by its beneficiaries, called conditionalities. The Programa Bolsa Familia is a conditional cash transfer program, analyzed here as an intervention for an inefficient cultural practice. This cultural practice constitutes interlocked contingencies that hinder school attendance and nutrition of poor and extremely poor children, who turn into adults unprepared for the labor market, perpetuating a cycle of poverty throughout generations. Analysis of the Programa Bolsa Família legislation enabled us to find two main types of metacontingencies: 1) one for behavioral change of members of the beneficiary families; and 2) another for managing the education and health conditionalities, from a chain of behaviors emitted by public servants of three government levels-municipal, state, and federal. This analysis described the variables that may have been maintaining the interlocking behavioral contingencies involving the beneficiaries and their behaviors of accessing health and education services, and the interlocking behavioral contingencies involving the public agents that manage the conditionalities. The study concludes that it's important to consider the influence of other variables, regarding health and education services and labor market, to guarantee selection of a new and more efficient cultural practice and to verify if the theoretical model presented in this study is consistent with reality, by conducting field research or studies with secondary data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to build a numerical software library based on the $$\tau $$ -method to solve differential problems using MATLAB. The $$\tau $$ -method can be very effective in the solution of certain type of these problems, and therefore, the existence of a numerical library for its dissemination is of major importance. Furthermore, the method has been used for the solution of particular problems but has not yet been explored as a general technique. Focus will be on stability issues, namely those issued from the solution of algebraic linear systems required for the process. Additionally, preconditioners for the solution with the $$\tau $$ -method will be tackled, with emphasizes on incomplete LU factorizations and (block) Jacobi preconditioners. We also propose an iterative approach, build upon an LU factorization over a moderate initial size, generating better approximations and providing a priori error estimate at each iteration. Numerical results enlightening the efficiency of the proposed methods will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes pole sharing based on an economic market model proposal. There is a history of conflicts between electricity and telecommunications companies about the infrastructure sharing over which energy and information are conveyed and supplied to consumers. The current pricing models that define the pole rental value per point to be paid by telecom have attracted many criticisms. This paper aimed to propose a study model of the pole attachment economics in order to establish the pole point rental on an objective basis, perhaps eliminating some of the criticism, which involves that matter from its inception. To support the model, it was devised the sharing representation regarding both their physical and financial assets, including the regulation mechanisms and the social welfare optimization principle on which public policies are based. A simulation of 1-year contract between an electric and a telecommunication company will be performed in order to determine the rental fair price to telecom ensuring the economic and financial balance of the electric company and the reasonable tariff to energy end consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological studies lasting more than 1 or 2 years are not particularly common anywhere and in any taxonomic group. Ecological studies in orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) are not an exception and have focused on short-term scale. Long-term studies have been mostly neglected up to date. Orchid-bee males were attracted to five different scent baits in the same site every other year during a seven-year span, from 1997 to 2004, in an urban forest remnant, totaling four full years of samplings in between. In total, we captured 2188 bees from 14 species. Species diversity, evenness, and richness remained remarkably stable among years. The stability index, sensu Wolda, for the composite community revealed to be one of the highest ever recorded for insect communities. Our results suggest that orchid-bee populations may remain remarkably stable over the years even in a small (≈200 ha) area immersed in a metropolitan (≈3,000,000 inhabitants) matrix and that these urban areas should not be neglected in conservation efforts, since they seem to maintain viable populations of these important pollinators over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental procedure was designed to analyze group behavior. This procedure was compatible with the basic definition of metacontingency: two persons behaving in a coordinated manner to produce an aggregate product. Positive consequences are produced based on the prescribed characteristics of the aggregate product. A chessboard-like table comprising 64 squares was projected on a computer screen, and knights (white and black) were positioned at opposite corners of the board. The players moved the knights one at a time. The goal was to end the trial with the knights positioned on adjacent cells of the table (aggregate product). In experiment 1 an ABCB design was used. In the A (baseline) conditions, no consequence followed the trials (extinction). In the B conditions, the words "Congratulations. You win" appeared when the knights met within the boundaries established as the aggregate product for that trial. In the C conditions, the words "End of trial. Try again" appeared in all trials. In experiment 2 an ABAB design was applied. The variability of the sites selected by the participant in successive trials was used to measure the effect of the selecting consequences. "Congratulations. You win" predicted narrow adherence to the criterion for the aggregate product, while signalized extinction ("End of trial, try again") resulted in variability in the selected sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]