Optical properties of ZnO-CdTe electrochemically prepared on a core-shell nanostructure (NS) were studied. Numerical simulations based on effective medium approximation give higher absorption than ZnO-CdS samples and a sensitive dependence on CdTe content. The absorption edges for deep black samples found by transmittance (T(λ)) and diffuse reflectance (Rdiff(λ)) measurements were at 1.33eV and 1.55eV, respectively. A split-off band edge was also found by Rdiff(λ) at ∼2.5eV. The red shift observed in T(λ), previously observed in ZnO-CdS, and may confirm the enhancement of sub-bandgap absorption due to the NS nature of samples.

ABSTRACTThe Optical Properties of ZnO Nanorods (NR) sensitized with different semiconductors in Core-Shell nanostructures were studied, comparing them with those of bare ZnO NR. Experimental measurements of Transmittance and Diffuse Reflectance show an increased light absorption at the solar spectrum and the appearances of new absorption edges (AE). The measurements are compared with numerical simulations based on Bruggeman Effective Medium Approximation. An increased absorption with the sensitizer content is observed. For similar changes in filling fractions, CdTe presents higher changes in absorption than CdS. Shifts in the AE are observed experimentally (e.g. between 2.34 eV and 2.66 eV for CdS). These shifts cannot be assigned to sensitizer content or confinement effects. A similar behaviour is observed for CdTe in which the AE measured by transmittance is between 1.31 eV and 1.36 eV, while the one obtained from Kubelka-Munk analysis of reflectance is, for the same samples, 1.57 eV and 1.49 eV, respectively. Moreover, the split-off AE is also observed at 2.55 eV and 2.28 eV. The observed large red-shifts could be associated with an enhancement of the subbandgap absorption due to an increase in the light free path at the core-shell nanostructure.

In this paper, we present the Efficient and Transparent Municipalities (MuNet) project, developed by the Organization of American States (OAS), with the sponsorship of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The aim of this project was to help Latin-American municipalities to use ICT tools to improve efficiency and transparency in its activities. The project was developed between 2005 and 2006 in 22 municipalities distributed in 11 countries, with the support of 5 experts of 5 different nationalities. The first phase followed a diagnostic of the general situation of the municipality, including technological aspects, and also transparency perceptions. Then a proposal of strategy to apply electronic government was developed with the collaboration of a Consultancy Team and the Task Force defined by the Major in each municipality. Furthermore, all the participants in the project received a virtual course about fundamentals in electronic government strategies. With the document approved by the society and the political ambit the Consultancy Team accompanied the Task Force in the implementation process, using in some cases the technological support of the project, specifically with software applications to develop the Web page of the municipality -- MuniPortal, another software -- MuniCompra; to improve the buying process and a last one to support the creation of a one stop window for the municipality services -- MuniServi. Additionally, this paper also presents evidence of the implementation process and the general data about the diagnostics developed.

Em economias emergentes, programas públicos têm sido criados para estimular as empresas locais a investir em inovações, com o objetivo de alavancar o desenvolvimento econômico. Este artigo procura identificar, preliminarmente, fatores associados às influências institucionais na difusão de inovações em economias emergentes, assim como propor algumas relações básicas entre as variáveis envolvidas, tais como: as intervenções governamentais e os estágios do processo de difusão de inovações; as ações de governo e as forças que impulsionam o processo; e as políticas públicas e as características do quadro institucional geralmente encontrado nestas áreas. Buscando integrar conceitos de diversas áreas das ciências sociais, o trabalho oferece proposições, em diferentes níveis de análise, que descrevem vários aspectos da potencialmente forte influência que os governos nacionais detêm sobre o processo de difusão das inovações nos ambientes institucionais, de características particulares, existentes nas economias emergentes.

This work describes the development of a novel protein expression system based on Rachiplusia nu larvae for the production of the recombinant E2 protein to be used as a vaccine candidate against bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). A recombinant baculovirus (Ac-E2pol+) bearing the E2 glycoprotein coding sequence of BVDV was obtained. Fourth-instar R. nu larvae were infected orally with recombinant polyhedra and the expression of E2 protein was confirmed by immunoblot. In order to test the recombinant product as a vaccine candidate, an immunization assay was performed and the neutralizing humoral immune response against BVDV NADL strain was evaluated. Mice vaccinated with Ac-E2pol+ extracts of per os infected larvae developed a neutralizing antibody titer of 3.16 after the administration of three doses of the immunogen. This report demonstrates the efficacy of per os infected larval extracts as a BVDV recombinant immunogen, which constitutes an easier and economic approach for producing recombinant antigens.

Este texto analisa as mudancas administrativas necessarias para a implementacao do Governo Eletronico no Brasil de forma a possibilitar a racionalizacao, economia e gerenciamento de processos pretendidos. Sao apresentadas e analisadas duas experiencias em instituicoes publicas brasileiras a partir de pesquisa de campo realizada. Sugere-se a criacao de indicadores que permitam medir a economia que o setor publico tem realizado ou pode realizar mediante a utilizacao de meios eletronicos nas diferentes frentes em que atua, assim como gerenciar a melhoria da propria eficiencia da estrutura administrativa

: We report the results of the PAM program for the early detection of breast cancer, carried out in Barcelona in females aged 50-70 years who were invited to participate by two personal letters. Out of 5435 invited females in the three years of the program, 37.2% responded to the first cycle and 70.8% to the second. The rate of detection of cancer was 6.9/1000 participating women in the first cycle. The validity of mammography was high, comparable to that from other countries. Sensitivity was 87.5%, specificity 99.1%, positive predictive value 45.2% and negative predictive value 99.9%. Letter would be insufficient as the only means of invitation to achieve a high participation rate in the first circle.