Transformation of wealth produced into quality of life: analysis of the social efficiency of nation-states with the DEA's triple index approach

Although an essential condition for the occurrence of human development, economic growth is not always efficiently converted into quality of life by nation-states. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to measure the social efficiency-the ability of a nation-state to convert its produced wealth into quality of life-of a set of 101 countries. To achieve this goal, the Data Envelopment Analysis method was used in its standard, cross-multiplicative and inverted form, by means of a new approach called 'triple index'. The main results indicated that the former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries stood out in terms of social efficiency. The developed countries, notwithstanding their high social indicators, did not excel in efficiency; however, the countries of south of Africa, despite having the worst social conditions, were also the most inefficient.

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES AND ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY OF JAMBU CULTIVARS INFLUENCED BY THE ORGANIC AND MINERAL FERTILIZERS

The jambu belongs to the family Asteraceae, tropical crop, nowadays, this plant has been considered as a promising vegetable crop, because to its pharmacological properties. Despite this novelty, the vegetable remains invisible in the statistics of production and market in the state of Para, Brazil. This research was carried out with the aim of comparing the economic productivity and phenological development by the morpho-physiological growth indexes of two cultivars of jambu organic manure and mineral fertilizers. The experiment was carried out at the Sao Manuel Experimental Farm (Sao Manuel-SP), which belongs to the Faculdade de Ciencias Agronomicas - UNESP, campus Botucatu. The experimental design was a factorial randomized blocks (2 x 2) with two fertilization (organic and mineral) and two cultivars (Jambuarana and Nazareth), with six replications, two fertilization (organic and mineral) and two cultivars (Jambuarana and Nazareth). The following characteristics were evaluated: Plant height (cm), Leaf area (cm(2)), Fresh mass (g), Dry mass (g), Leaf area index (LAI), Leaf area ratio (LAR), Specific leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Weight Ratio (LWR), Amount of water in the plant (QAPA) (g per plant set), Leaf specific weight (LSW) (g cm(-2) per plant set) and Economic productivity. All data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and the Tukey test (1%) for mean comparison, with the software SISVAR. In the conditions of this experiment was carried out, it was possible to verify that the cultivar Jamburana had not only a good agronomic development and economic productivity under organic fertilization but also the best morpho-physiological indexes, showing that this kind of fertilization increases the agronomic effectiveness of this cultivar.

Black liquor gasification combined cycle with CO2 capture-Technical and economic analysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Joint economic design of X̄ and R control charts for processes subject to two independent assignable causes

A model for the joint economic design of X̄ and R control charts is developed. This model assumes that the process is subject to two assignable causes. One assignable cause shifts the process mean; the other shifts the process variance. The occurrence of the assignable cause of one kind does not block the occurrence of the assignable cause of another kind. Consequently, a second process parameter can go out-of-control after the first process parameter has gone out-of-control. A numerical study of the cost surface to the model considered has revealed that it is convex, at least in the interest region.

An analysis of embeddedness in the value creation in interorganisational networks: an illustrative example in Brazil

The purpose of this article is to propose a methodological approach to analyse how the positioning of actors in an interorganisational network can influence the elements of value creation. This study fills a gap in the existing literature by exploring the relationship between the positioning of actors and the value creation in a context of interorganisational networks. The case study method was employed and the data was obtained from four companies of an interorganisational network, located in Brazil, which produces earthmoving equipments. The central actor in this network is benefited through access to resources, power and information of the other network actors. The centrality position seems to help this company in the absorption and diffusion of knowledge among the other network actors. The research indicates, that a dense core (through strong ties) and redundancy (for triangulation and knowledge absorption), benefited the following value creation elements: tangible; intangible; services and economic.

Production, characterization and structural analysis of proteins from Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and snake venoms

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)