João Carlos Lopes

Complexity as interdependence in input – output systems

In this paper we propose a new index of connectedness for an input–output system which is considered useful for quantifying economic complexity as the level of interdependence between the component parts (sectors) of a national (or regional) economy. This index is empirically applied in a tentative answer to the following questions: Should we expect to find a natural shift towards greater complexity as an economy grows and develops? Is a larger economy necessarily more complex than a smaller one? The interindustry tables of several OECD countries provide the material support for making international and historical comparisons of economic complexity as a level of interrelatedness.

Unsuitability of MALDI-TOF MS to discriminate Acinetobacter baumannii clones under routine experimental conditions.

MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) is now in the forefront for routine bacterial species identification methodologies, being its value for clonality assessment controversial. In this work we evaluated the potential of MALDI-TOF MS for assisting infection control by depicting Acinetobacter baumannii clones. Mass spectra of 58 A. baumannii clinical isolates belonging to the worldwide spread lineages (ST98, ST103, ST208, and ST218) isolated in our country, were obtained and analyzed with several chemometric tools (pseudo gel views, peakfind function, and partial least squares discriminant analysis). The clonal lineages were obtained using the “Oxford” scheme, belonging ST98, ST208, and ST218 to the international clone II and ST103 to an epidemic clonal lineage (SG5). Additionally, mass spectra of a highly diverse international collection of 38 isolates belonging to 22 sequence types (STs) were obtained for further comparisons. Pseudo gel views and direct peak pattern analysis did not allow the discrimination of A. baumannii isolates belonging to ST98, ST103, ST208, or ST218. Moreover, a partial least square discriminant analysis of the mass spectra considering two spectral ranges (2–20 kDa and 4–10 kDa) revealed a poor degree of discrimination with only 64.6 and 65.8% of correct ST assignments, respectively. Also, mass spectra of the international isolates (n = 38, 22STs) revealed a very congruent peak pattern among them as well as among the four lineages included in this work. Despite the increasing interest of MALDI-TOF MS for bacterial typing at different taxonomical levels, we demonstrated, using routine experimental conditions, the unsuitability of this methodology for A. baumannii clonal discrimination.

Development of a FTIR-ATR based model for typing clinically relevant Acinetobacter baumannii clones belonging to ST98, ST103, ST208 and ST218

In this work we developed and validated a FTIR-ATR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance) based model for typing Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates belonging to ST98, ST208 and ST218 included into the worldwide spread clonal complex (CC) 92 and ST103. FTIR-ATR spectra of seventy-seven previously characterized isolates (Multi Locus Sequence Type-MLST, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis-PFGE and carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D β-lactamase-CHDL) were acquired and modeled by partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). The model was tested and successfully validated with a diverse collection of isolates (n=148) recovered from different countries and periods of time belonging to modeled and non-modeled STs.

External dependency, value added generation and structural change: an inter-industry approach

The external dependency of many industries and the corresponding low value added generated in production, combined with a relatively weak export potential, create high external deficits and growing debt to GDP ratios in several open economies. In this paper we propose an empirical method to assess the evolution of these vulnerabilities, based on a new treatment of interindustry production multipliers. The (gross)output growth potential given by the column sums of the Leontief inverse matrix (backward linkage indicators) results from three terms: interindustry consumptions, value added and imported inputs. After a convenient arrangement of these terms, the evolution of backward linkage indicators can be used to detect structural changes, particularly quantifying a (net) growth effect (more value-added generation) and an external dependency effect (more imported inputs), and to classify the productive sectors accordingly. An application to the Portuguese Economy is made, using input-output tables for the years 1980, 1995 and 2005. This method can also be useful as a simple, but suggestive, device to compare the evolution of two or more economies, along their development processes in time.

Economic impacts of ageing: an inter‐industry approach

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the evolution of consumption patterns associated with ageing on the relative importance of industries in Portugal, quantifying the changes in production, value added, imported intermediate inputs and employment. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses data from the Family Spending Survey to disaggregate the household column of the Portuguese input-output table in different age groups, projecting their consumption, using the latest demographic projections made by Statistics Portugal (INE). Findings - The study identifies the industries that are likely to be stimulated by the ageing of the Portuguese populations, as well as the industries that will most likely become disadvantaged by the process. Social implications - The task of identification of growing and declining industries due to ageing is important to help the design of employment, environmental and social policies. Originality/value - The contemporary demographic trends in Western societies have added to the importance of studying the economic and social consequences of ageing. The main issues have been the labour market effects, the sustainability of social security systems and long-term care. In this paper, we address a different research topic, quantifying the sectoral impact of the evolution of consumption patterns associated with ageing. This can be useful in addressing the structural challenges of the rapid ageing of the population, common to most of the developed economies.

Bacillus invictae sp. nov., isolated from a health product

A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming Bacillus isolate, Bi.(FFUP1) (T), recovered in Portugal from a health product was subjected to a polyphasic study and compared with the type strains of Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus safensis, Bacillus altitudinis and Bacillus xiamenensis, the phenotypically and genotypically most closely related species. Acid production from cellobiose, D-glucose and D-mannose and absence of acid production from D-arabinose, erythritol, inositol, maltose, mannitol, raffinose, rhamnose, sorbitol, starch and L-tryptophan discriminated this new isolate from the type strains of the most closely related species. Additionally, a significant different protein and carbohydrate signature was evidenced by spectroscopic techniques, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance. Using a chemometric approach, the score plot generated by principal component analysis clearly delineated the isolate as a separate cluster. The quinone system for strain Bi.(FFUP1) (T) comprised predominantly menaquinone MK-7 and major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified phospholipid and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain Bi.(FFUP1) (T) showed ≥ 99% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to B. safensis FO-036b(T), B. pumilus (7061(T) and SAFR-032), B. altitudinis 41KF2b(T) and B. xiamenensis HYC-10(T). Differences in strain Bi.FFUP1 (T) gyrB and rpoB sequences in comparison with the most closely related species and DNA-DNA hybridization experiments with Bi.FFUP1 (T) and B. pumilus ATCC 7061(T), B. safensis FO-036b(T), B. altitudinis 41KF2b(T) and B. xiamenensis HYC-10(T) gave relatedness values of 39.6% (reciprocal 38.0%), 49.9% (reciprocal 42.9%), 61.9% (reciprocal 52.2%) and 61.7% (reciprocal 49.2%), respectively, supported the delineation of strain Bi.(FFUP1) (T) as a representative of a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus invictae sp. nov. is proposed, with strain Bi.(FFUP1) (T) ( =DSM 26896(T) =CCUG 64113(T)) as the type strain.

Chemometrics in analytical chemistry—part I: history, experimental design and data analysis tools

Chemometrics has achieved major recognition and progress in the analytical chemistry field. In the first part of this tutorial, major achievements and contributions of chemometrics to some of the more important stages of the analytical process, like experimental design, sampling, and data analysis (including data pretreatment and fusion), are summarised. The tutorial is intended to give a general updated overview of the chemometrics field to further contribute to its dissemination and promotion in analytical chemistry.

Assessing economic complexity as interindustry connectedness in nine OECD countries

Economic complexity can be defined as the level of interdependence between the component parts of an economy. In input–output systems interindustry connectedness is a crucial feature of analysis, and there are many different methods of measuring it. Most of the measures however, have important drawbacks to be used as a good indicator of economic complexity, because they were not explicitly made with this purpose in mind. In this paper, we present, discuss and compare empirically different indexes of economic complexity as intersectoral connectedness, using the inter-industry tables of nine OECD countries. According to most of the measures of connectedness large economies (USA, Japan) tend to be more complex than small economies (for example, Denmark). But if another type of measures is considered, the opposite conclusion is drawn, signalling a hidden characteristic of interdependence that so far has not been detected by conventional measures. This result should qualify the widespread idea that more interconnected productive structures propagate more intensely exogenous shocks and/or economic policy measures.

Performance Analysis of UMTS/HSPA at the Cellular Level

This paper analyses and compares HSDPA and HSUPA capacity and coverage. For this purpose, a single user model is developed for the estimation of the maximum cell radius, which is then adapted to a multiple users and services scenario. The results from the single user model show that, in an indoor scenario, HSUPA can serve 1.22 Mbps up to 0.19 km, while HSDPA with 10 HS-PDSCH codes can serve 6.0 Mbps up to 0.17 km. In a pedestrian environment, HSUPA can offer 1 Mbps up to 0.7 km, while at the same distance HSDPA can offer almost 3.0 Mbps. The results from the multiple users simulator show an average cell radius of 0.28 km and 0.25 km for HSDPA and HSUPA, respectively. The HSDPA BS throughput is 2.39 Mbps, with an average throughput per user of 0.55 Mbps, while for HSUPA, the BS throughput is 0.62 Mbps with an average user throughput of 0.21 Mbps.

Rapid detection of high-risk Enterococcus faecium clones by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

We aimed to explore the potential of matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for early identification of dominant Enterococcus faecium (Efm) clones involved in human infections. Well-characterized Efm isolates (n=77), analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing(eBURST and BAPS [Bayesian analysis of population structure] algorithms), and belonging to different hospital (n=53) and community (n=24) phylogenomic groups, were tested. Mass spectra (Bruker) were analyzed by visual inspection and different chemometric tools. Discrimination between groups comprising isolates commonly found in hospitals (BAPS 2.1a, 3.3a1, 3.3a2) and community (BAPS 2.1b and 3.2) was achieved with >99% accuracy, while identification of sequence types belonging to different BAPS subgroups was associated with >95% correct predictions. Our work is a proof of concept with regard to the suitability of MALDI-TOF MS in the identification of high-risk Efm clones. Further studies including strains from a wider variety of clones and sources will strengthen the potential of the workflow here described.