Contemporary Transformations in the Brazilian Popular Catholic Festivals: the Case of the Holy Divine Spirit Festival (Festa do Divino)

The Azorean families, wherever they migrated, brought their cultural background in which there clearly stood out celebrations of the annual festival of the Divine Holy Spirit. The Festa do Divino, as it is called in Brazil, has turned, in places where they originally settled down, into one of the most famous religious festivals of the Brazilian Popular Catholicism. However, due to some contemporary sociocultural factors, mostly linked to the more and more frequent application of the laws of market economy to the sphere of religion and also to the visible liberalization of the religious festivals’ “rules of conduct,” it has been recently suffering from some important modifications. In this article, we present and analyze such changes, basing on the study of celebrations of this popular religious tradition in four different municipalities of four different states of Brazil.

Evaluating the Green Credentials of Flow Chemistry towards Industrial Applications

Continuous flow chemistry is becoming an established technology platform that finds frequent application in industrial chemical manufacture with support and endorsements by the FDA for pharmaceuticals. Amongst the various advantages that are commonly cited for flow chemistry over batch processing, sustainability continues to require further advances and joint efforts by chemists and chemical engineers in both academia and industry. This short review highlights developments within the last 5 years that positively impact on the green credentials associated with flow chemistry, specifically when applied to the preparation of pharmaceuticals. An industrial perspective on current challenges is provided to whet discussion and stimulate further investment towards achieving greener modern synthetic technologies.

Seasonal diversity of entomofauna, their impact and management practices in tomato fields in Meru district, Tanzania

Tomato is a highly cultivated vegetable in Tanzania. The intensive tomato cultivation and production in Tanzania has resulted in high pests and diseases build-up. A survey to identify and quantify entomofauna diversity in different seasons and pest management practices in Meru District was conducted. In addition, a laboratory experiment was done to assess the effectiveness of commonly used pesticides SnowBecco (Thiamethoxam)and Belt (Flubendiamide) against two dominating insect pests, white flies (Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889)) and leaf miner (Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917)), respectively. The results obtained revealed that, tomato fields in Meru District had significantly higher entomofauna build up during dry season than the rainy season (U0.05 (df, 24)= 45, p = 0.0441). More than 70% of all collected entomofauna were dominated by the whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) and tomato leaf miners (Tuta absoluta) belonging to orders Hemiptera and Lepidoptera, respectively. It was also observed that, the common pesticides management practices were the use of pesticidal cocktail, broad spectrum insecticides, use of botanical pesticides, frequent application of pesticide and insecticides over dosage. Moreover, yield reduction due to whiteflies and tomato leaf miners infestation were observed in terms of reduced fruits number per plant (38 and 18.4%), fruit size (22.4 and 14.2%), and fruits weight per plant by 43.6 and 26.2%, for Bemisia tabaci and Tuta absoluta, respectively. The study showed that the recommended doses in both tested insecticides caused significant pest mortality (F0.05 (df, 19) = 4.367, p = 0.0199) and (F0.05(df, 19) = 4.761, p = 0.0147) for B. tabaci and T. absoluta, respectively, within a specified period of time. The results suggest that high insect pest infestations could be caused by factors other than development of insecticidal tolerance including inappropriate identification of insect pests due to lack of training, and inappropriate selection and application of insecticides. Consequently, frequent application of broad spectra insecticides not only increases production expenses but also disrupts agroecosystem by killing beneficial entomofauna and disrupting soil organisms that are susceptible to insecticide toxicity.

RESEARCH OF LETTERLESS SIGNATURES TO SOLVE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEMS

Based on the analysis of the literature and expert practice on the study of letterless signatures, theoretical knowledge was systematized in relation to the study of this type of objects in order to solve identification problems, certain patterns and ways of forming letterless signatures were established, and the structure of the process of solving the identification problem was determined. The authors have proposed certain criteria by which one could testify about the stability of features in letterless signatures. Unlike handwritten notes, any signature is made not in order to convey certain thoughts to the reader, but in order to verify the identity of the writer, since the signature is a verification mark. When making handwritten notes, the writer tries to make letters and numbers in a form that would not cause the reader to doubt what words and numbers they represent. When executing the signature, the performer does not strive for such a goal and only wants to convince the reader that the signature was made by a specific person. These circumstances explain the wide distribution of signatures, which entirely or for the most part consist of letterless strokes. To clarify the nature of the graphic material contained in letterless signatures, it is essential to know the ways of its formation. First, most often letterless signatures are applied by simplifying letter signatures. The signature, first produced in letterform, is gradually simplified in the process of its frequent application, and the strokes lose its original appearance. The combinations of strokes, although they are random on the outside, however, according to the artist’s intention, correspond to certain letters and its combinations and can be interpreted by it. The second way to form letterless signatures is to deliberately complicate or simplify letters in the process of developing signatures, which leads to the impossibility of reading what is written. Additional ornate strokes are added to the letters, the letters are applied upside down, sometimes elements of different letters merge, forming monograms. This is usually done to make it more difficult to forge a signature. Thirdly, a letterless signature can be made by drawing strokes, which, according to the artist’s intention, do not correspond to any strokes of the letters. A peculiar kind of this way of forming a signature is imitation of the signature of another person bearing a different surname. In the process of analyzing the literature and expert practice, the authors of this article established that the study of letterless signatures can and should be based on the same basic principles as the study of handwritten records and letter signatures. It should be noted that the study of letterless signatures has a number of features, in particular, one should take into account not the transcription of signatures, but the composition, shape and mutual arrangement of strokes, that is, the general construction of signatures. When examining such objects, an expert encounters a difficulty, expressed in the absence of that unit, those elements of the signature, in relation to which it is possible to study particular features. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account a number of points that the authors mentioned in this work. In addition, the authors of the article drew attention to the peculiarities of the preparation by the investigator and the court of materials for the examination by letterless signatures.

O. Morisani. Sulla applicazione del forcipe dopo la sinfisiotomia. (Annai di ostetr. e ginecol., 1893, № 1). About the imposition of forceps after symphysis

The author was reproached with the need for the ingot of frequent application of forceps after the operation he preached. In fact, the forceps, according to M.'s opinion, are far from the necessary addition to the symphysisotomy.

Stealth Consolidation: Evidence from an Amendment to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act

Prospective merger review is the most frequent application of antitrust law. It exempts transactions on the basis of size, though small deals can have large anticompetitive effects in segmented industries. I examine its impact on antitrust enforcement and merger activity in the context of an abrupt increase in the US exemption threshold. I find that among newly-exempt deals, antitrust investigations fall to almost zero while mergers between competitors rise sharply. Effectively all of the rise reflects an endogenous response of firms to reduced premerger scrutiny, consistent with large deterrent effects of antitrust enforcement. (JEL G34, G38, K21, L41)

THE HEMOFILTRATION AT INFUSION THERAPY OF SEVERE ACUTE PANCREATITIS

The 64 patients with severe acute pancreatitis at admission in hospital arterial hypertension, low venous saturation of oxygen (ScvO2), hyperlactemia, oligoanuria and hypercreatininemia were observed. This occurrence became an indication for infusion therapy to recover and optimize hemodynamics. After 6 hours of therapy, 30 patients were lacked increasing of diuresis related to infusion load and hypercreatininemia increased and also significantly increased positive fluid balance s compared to other patients. These 30 patients were additionally applied hemofiltration during 66 hours. The infusion therapy was characterized by difficulty of restoration and optimization of hemodynamic, large volumes of infusion mediums та frequent application of sympathomimetics. In patients without hemofiltration a significant increasing of cumulative fluid balance was added. The hemofiltration permitted to normalize diuresis, to prevent surplus cumulation of fluid and to support blood circulation at the optimal level.

Artykuł 145a § 1 ustawy — Prawo o postępowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi jako podstawa do wydania wyroku przesądzającego merytorycznie o sposobie rozstrzygnięcia lub załatwienia sprawy administracyjnej

Article 145a § 1 of the Law on ProceedingsBefore Administrative Courts as a basis for a judgmenton merits as to the disposal or settlementof an administrative caseThe publication deals with Art. 145a § 1 of the Law on Proceedings Before Administrative Courts, introduced with the amendment of 9 April 2015. Article 145a § 1 of the Law on Proceedings Before Administrative Courts gives the administrative courts a power to impose on public administration bodies an obligation to issue a decision or a resolution of a specific content in a set time. Hence, a judgment of an administrative court based on the new regulation has an indirect character of a decision on merits. Although the judgment does not substitute an administrative act, it offers binding requirements for the contents of the administrative act and a set date for its issuance.The aim of this publication is to analyse the prerequisites of applying the new regulation and the manner in which the new regulation has been applied by the administrative courts up to date. The analysis then turns to de lege lata conclusions. The considerations also touch upon the problem of compliance of the new regulation with Polish Constitution.In spite of some critical voices, the new regulation should be positively assessed in terms of its realisation of the rule of procedural economy and for safeguarding the individuals’ legitimate interests through speeding up the possibility of obtaining a substantive administrative decision. There is, however, a need for a more frequent application of the new regulation by administrative courts.