Evaluation of soil management and use in an Ultisol in a guava orchard in comparison with a sugarcane field and native forest area

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Environmental management and operational performance in automotive companies in Brazil: The role of human resource management and lean manufacturing

The main objective of this study is to verify the influence of Environmental Management (EM) on Operational Performance (OP) in Brazilian automotive companies, analyzing whether Lean Manufacturing (LM) and Human Resources (HR) interfere in the greening of these companies. Therefore, a conceptual framework listing these concepts was proposed, and three research hypotheses were presented. A questionnaire was elaborated based on this theoretical background and sent to respondents occupying the highest positions in the production/operations areas of Brazilian automotive companies. The data, collected from 75 companies, were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The main results are as follows: (a) the model tested revealed an adequate goodness of fit, showing that overall, the relations proposed between EM and OP and between HR, LM and EM tend to be statistically valid; (b) EM tends to influence OP in a positive and statistically weak manner; (c) LM has a greater influence on EM when compared to the influence HR has over EM; (d) HR has a positive relationship over EM, but the statistical significance of this relationship is less than that of the other evaluated relationships. The originality of this paper lies in its gathering the concepts of EM, LM, HR and OP in a single study, as they generally tend not to be treated jointly. This paper also provided valid empirical evidence for a littlestudied context: the Brazilian automotive sector. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dairy goat health management and milk production on organic and conventional system in Brazil

The aimed of this article is to measure risk factors on health and milk production on organic and conventional dairy goats in Brazil. Two experimental groups (organic and conventional) were evaluated simultaneously. The study design was completely randomized. The organic herd consisted of 25 goats and 15 kids. In the conventional production system, a dairy herd comprising 40 goats and 20 kids participated in the study. Data on milk production and health management were available from January 2007 to December 2009. The abortion rate in the conventional system was 5% (2/40) whereas in organic system no abortion was diagnosed (0/25). The mortality rate at weaning in the conventional system was 5% (2/40) and in the organic system was 8% (2/25). Milk production was lower (2.20 kg/day) in organic than conventional system (2.66 kg/day). Goats and kids in organic farm had a higher FEC (386±104 and 900±204, respectively) (p<0.05) than those in conventional farm (245±132 and 634±212, respectively). In addition, Saanen kids had higher FEC (p<0.001) than goats. Treatment with antiparasitic drugs was higher in conventional system (50%) than organic system (1.3%).

Composition and quantification of the anthropogenic and natural fractions of wastes collected from the stormwater drainage system for discussions about the waste management and people behavior

A study was made of the composition of wastes collected from the pipes of the stormwater drainage system of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil (600 thousand inhabitants). A total of 10 samples weighing at least 100 kg each were sorted into 19 items to determine the fraction that can be considered natural (earth/sand, stones, organic matter, and water, the latter determined after oven-drying the samples) and the anthropogenic fraction (the remaining 15 items, especially construction and demolition wastes and packaging). Soil/sand was found to be the main item collected (52.5 % dry weight), followed by the water soaked into the waste (24.3 %), which meant that all the other wastes were saturated in mud, whose contents varied from 6.4 % (glass) to 87.2 % (metalized plastics packaging). In general, 83 % of the collected wastes can be classified as natural, but the remaining 17 % represent 2,000 kg of the most varied types of wastes discarded improperly every day on the streets of the city. This is an alarming amount of wastes that may clog parts of the drainage systems, causing troubles for all the population (like flooding) and must be strongly considered in municipal solid wastes management and in environmental education programs. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Cultura organizacional e avaliação em larga escala: faces e interfaces a partir da análise de escolas públicas municipais

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Concepção de gestão escolar: a perspectiva dos documentos oficiais e dos programas de formação continuada de diretores de escola no Estado de São Paulo - 1990/2009

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

The Buffalo Genome and the Application of Genomics in Animal Management and Improvement

The publication of the human genome sequence in 2001 was a major step forward in knowledge necessary to understand the variations between individuals. For farmed species, genomic sequence information will facilitate the selection of animals optimised to live, and be productive, in particular environments. The availability of cattle genome sequence has allowed the breeding industry to take the first steps towards predicting phenotypes from genotypes by estimating a genomic breeding value (gEBV) for bulls using genome-wide DNA markers. The sequencing of the buffalo genome and creation of a panel of DNA markers has created the opportunity to apply molecular selection approaches for this species.The genomes of several buffalo of different breeds were sequenced and aligned with the bovine genome, which facilitated the identification of millions of sequence variants in the buffalo genomes. Based on frequencies of variants within and among buffalo breeds, and their distribution across the genome compared with the bovine genome, 90,000 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were selected to create an Axiom (R) Buffalo Genotyping Array 90K. This SNP Chip was tested in buffalo populations from Italy and Brazil and found to have at least 75% high quality and polymorphic markers in these populations. The 90K SNP chip was then used to investigate the structure of buffalo populations, and to localise the variations having a major effect on milk production.

Energy Management and Control for Islanded Microgrid Using Multi-Agents

This paper presents a multi-agent system for real-time operation of simulated microgrid using the Smart-Grid Test Bed at Washington State University. The multi-agent system (MAS) was developed in JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework) which is a Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) compliant open source multi-agent platform. The proposed operational strategy is mainly focused on using an appropriate energy management and control strategies to improve the operation of an islanded microgrid, formed by photovoltaic (PV) solar energy, batteries and resistive and rotating machines loads. The focus is on resource management and to avoid impact on loads from abrupt variations or interruption that changes the operating conditions. The management and control of the PV system is performed in JADE, while the microgrid model is simulated in RSCAD/RTDS (Real-Time Digital Simulator). Finally, the outcome of simulation studies demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed multi-agent approach for real-time operation of a microgrid.

Distribution, management and diversity of yam local varieties in Brazil: a study on Dioscorea alata L.

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mixed methodology to analyze the relationship between maturity of environmental management and the adoption of green supply chain management in Brazil

The aim of this research is to verify the relationship between the maturity levels of environmental management and the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices by electro-electronic companies in Brazil. In this work a two-phase research was conducted, with one quantitative and the other qualitative. The quantitative phase aimed to test whether a relationship between the maturity levels of environmental management and GSCM exists, while the qualitative phase tried to detail the characteristics of this relationship. The quantitative phase was conducted through a survey with 100 Brazilian electro-electronic companies and the collected data were processed using Structural Equation Modeling. For the qualitative phase, a multiple case study was conducted with three companies located in Brazil. The results indicate that: (1) The main hypothesis was confirmed and considered statistically valid, indicating that, indeed, the maturity level of environmental management influences the adoption of GSCM practices; (2) a coevolution tends to occur between the environmental maturity and the GSCM practices; that is, the more developed is the company's environmental management, more complex GSCM practices are adopted; and (3) the GSCM internal practices tend to present a greater relative adoption than the external practices; these external practices of GSCM tend to be adopted when the company is inserted in a higher environmental stage and/or operates under a scenario of stronger normative environmental pressure. By the way, this is the first research mixing survey and case studies on GSCM in Brazil. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Marandu grass management and supplementation on performance and methane mitigation of Nellore bulls

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Violência no futebol brasileiro: os discursos de torcedores organizados

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Distribution, management and diversity of the endangered Amerindian yam (Dioscorea trifida L.)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Green supply chain management and environmental performance of firms in the bioenergy sector in Brazil: an exploratory survey

To achieve sustainable development, supply chains must become greener. In this context, the importance of green supply chain management (GSCM) increases because it can contribute to improving firms'environmental performance (EP). However, little is known about these subjects in the context of firms in the bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production in Brazil). Thus, the objective of this work is to present the results of a survey conducted on 80 micro-, small-, and medium-sized firms that are suppliers in the Brazilian bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). These results indicate that GSCM practices strengthen the EP of firms in the sector. Therefore, this article contributes to the existing literature because it addresses the relationship between GSCM and EP in an understudied sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.