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Institution

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

EducationBelo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
About: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais is a education organization based out in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Immune system. The organization has 41631 authors who have published 75688 publications receiving 1249905 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a model that integrates the main predictors of consumers' attitude and behavioral intentions toward counterfeits to help companies understand the main factors influencing consumer behavior towards counterfeits and create effective anti-piracy strategies.
Abstract: – The purpose of this research is to propose and test a model that integrates the main predictors of consumers' attitude and behavioral intentions toward counterfeits; to help companies understand the main factors influencing consumer behavior toward counterfeits and create effective anti‐piracy strategies., – An integrated model is proposed following the studies by Ang et al. and Huang et al. A survey with 400 consumers was conducted in the Brazilian market and the Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to test the hypothesized relationships., – The main contribution of the paper is to show that consumer intentions to buy counterfeited products are dependent on the attitudes they have toward counterfeits, which in turn are more influenced by perceived risk, whether consumers have bought a counterfeit before, subjective norm, integrity, price‐quality inference and personal gratification. The paper reinforces the mediator role of attitude in the relationship between these antecedents and behavioral intentions. Moreover, previous experience with counterfeits consumption does not have a direct effect on behavioral intentions, but only an indirect effect through attitude., – The paper contributes to inform policy makers and managers of brands about the main predictors of consumer's attitudes toward counterfeits. In this way, ads intended to discourage consumption of counterfeits could use the perceived risk as the main message appeal., – This paper investigates the key antecedents and consequences of consumer attitudes toward counterfeits by integrating and testing two recent models dealing with this subject in the marketing literature.

307 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
16 Mar 2015-ACS Nano
TL;DR: It is shown that the angular dependence of polarized Raman spectra of BP is rather unusual and can be explained only by considering complex values for the Raman tensor elements.
Abstract: Anisotropic materials are characterized by a unique optical response, which is highly polarization-dependent. Of particular interest are layered materials formed by the stacking of two-dimensional (2D) crystals that are naturally anisotropic in the direction perpendicular to the 2D planes. Black phosphorus (BP) is a stack of 2D phosphorene crystals and a highly anisotropic semiconductor with a direct band gap. We show that the angular dependence of polarized Raman spectra of BP is rather unusual and can be explained only by considering complex values for the Raman tensor elements. This result can be traced back to the electron–photon and electron–phonon interactions in this material.

306 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a land-cover change simulation model that is responsive to road paving and policy intervention scenarios for the BR-163 highway in central Amazonia, which connects important soybean production regions and burgeoning population centers in Mato Grosso State with the international port of Santarem.
Abstract: The spatial distribution of human activities in forest frontier regions is strongly influenced by transportation infrastructure. With the planned paving of 6000 km of highway in the Amazon Basin, agricultural frontier expansion will follow, triggering potentially large changes in the location and rate of deforestation. We developed a land-cover change simulation model that is responsive to road paving and policy intervention scenarios for the BR-163 highway in central Amazonia. This corridor links the cities of Cuiaba, in central Brazil, and Santarem, on the southern margin of the Amazon River. It connects important soybean production regions and burgeoning population centers in Mato Grosso State with the international port of Santarem, but 1000 km of this road are still not paved. It is within this context that the Brazilian government has prioritized the paving of this road to turn it into a major soybean exportation facility. The model assesses the impacts of this road paving within four scenarios: two population scenarios (high and moderate growth) and two policy intervention scenarios. In the ‘business-as-usual’ policy scenario, the responses of deforestation and land abandonment to road paving are estimated based on historical rates of Amazon regions that had a major road paved. In the ‘governance’ scenario, several plausible improvements in the enforcement of environmental regulations, support for sustainable land-use systems, and local institutional capacity are invoked to modify the historical rates. Model inputs include data collected during expeditions and through participatory mapping exercises conducted with agents from four major frontier types along the road. The model has two components. A scenario-generating submodel is coupled to a landscape dynamics simulator, ‘DINAMICA’, which spatially allocates the land-cover transitions using a GIS database. The model was run for 30 years, divided into annual time steps. It predicted more than twice as much deforestation along the corridor in business-as-usual vs. governance scenarios. The model demonstrates how field data gathered along a 1000 km corridor can be used to develop plausible scenarios of future land-cover change trajectories that are relevant to both global change science and the decision-making process of governments and civil society in an important rainforest region.

306 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identified eight such areas in the Brazilian Amazon: TapajXing´ u, and Bel´ (all in Brazil), Rondˆ (mostly in Brazil); and portions of Napo, Imeri, Guiana, and Inambari.
Abstract: Amazonia is the largest and most diverse of the tropical forest wilderness areas. Recent compilations indicate at least 40,000 plant species, 427 mammals, 1294 birds, 378 reptiles, 427 amphibians, and around 3,000 fishes. Not homogeneous in its plant and animal communities, it is an archipelago of distinct areas of endemism separated by the major rivers. Biogeographic studies of terrestrial vertebrates have identified eight such areas in the Brazilian Amazon: TapajXing´ u, and Bel´ (all in Brazil); Rondˆ (mostly in Brazil); and portions of Napo, Imeri, Guiana, and Inambari. They range in size from more than 1.7 million km 2 (Guiana) to 199,211 km 2 (BelForest loss in each ranges from 2% to 13% of their area, except for Xingu (nearly 27% lost) and Bel´ (now only about one-third of its forest remains). Napo, Imeri, and Guiana have >40% of their lands in protected areas, Inambari, RondTapaj´ os, and Xingu between 20% and 40%, and Bel´ <20%. Strictly protected areas in each, however, are limited—from 0.28% to 11.7%. Areas of endemism should be the basic geographic unit for the creation of conservation corridors of contiguous protected areas, providing broad connectivity on both margins and within the interior of areas of endemism. The aim is to build a conservation system that is large and resilient enough to circumvent global changes, accommodate improved living standards for local populations, conserve biodiversity, and safeguard the ecological services forests and rivers provide. Elected leaders are now realizing that the traditional economy based on cattle ranching and logging is unsustainable. Deforestation proceeds apace, but the federal government is implementing the Protected Areas Programme for Amazonia, which seeks to protect 50 million ha, and a number of state governments are now active in creating protected areas and incorporating appropriate conservation measures in their development plans.

306 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Alamandine produces several physiological actions that resemble those produced by angiotensin-(1–7), including vasodilation, antifibrosis, antihypertensive, and central effects and may help to develop new therapeutic strategies for treating human cardiovascular diseases and other related disorders.
Abstract: Rationale: The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is a key regulator of the cardiovascular system, electrolyte, and water balance. Here, we report identification and characterization of alamandine, a new heptapeptide generated by catalytic action of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 angiotensin A or directly from angiotensin-(1–7). Objective: To characterize a novel component of the RAS, alamandine. Methods and Results: Using mass spectrometry we observed that alamandine circulates in human blood and can be formed from angiotensin-(1–7) in the heart. Alamandine produces several physiological actions that resemble those produced by angiotensin-(1–7), including vasodilation, antifibrosis, antihypertensive, and central effects. Interestingly, our data reveal that its actions are independent of the known vasodilator receptors of the RAS, Mas, and angiotensin II type 2 receptor. Rather, we demonstrate that alamandine acts through the Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D. Binding of alamandine to Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D is blocked by D-Pro 7 -angiotensin-(1–7), the Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D ligand β-alanine and PD123319, but not by the Mas antagonist A-779. In addition, oral administration of an inclusion compound of alamandine/β-hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin produced a long-term antihypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats and antifibrotic effects in isoproterenol-treated rats. Alamandine had no noticeable proliferative or antiproliferative effect in human tumoral cell lines. Conclusions: The identification of these 2 novel components of the RAS, alamandine and its receptor, provides new insights for the understanding of the physiological and pathophysiological role of the RAS and may help to develop new therapeutic strategies for treating human cardiovascular diseases and other related disorders.

306 citations


Authors

Showing all 42077 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Michael Marmot1931147170338
Pulickel M. Ajayan1761223136241
Alan D. Lopez172863259291
Jens Nielsen1491752104005
Mildred S. Dresselhaus136762112525
Jing Kong12655372354
Mauricio Terrones11876061202
Michael Brammer11842446763
Terence G. Langdon117115861603
Caroline A. Sabin10869044233
Michael Brauer10648073664
Michael Bader10373537525
Michael S. Strano9848060141
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero9124539171
Riichiro Saito9150248869
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
2023111
2022624
20215,708
20205,955
20195,269
20185,020