The joint R&D project: The case of the first Brazilian microcontroller chip

ABSTRACT The interorganizational cooperation, through joint efforts with various actors, allows the high-tech companies to complement resources, especially in R&D projects. Collaborative projects have been identified in many studies as an important strategy to produce complex products and services in uncertain and competitive environments. Thus, this research aims at deepening the understanding of how the development dynamics of a collaborative R&D project in an industry of high technology occur. In order to achieve the proposed objective, the R&D project of the first microcontroller in the Brazilian semiconductor industry was defined as the object of analysis. The empirical choice is justified by the uniqueness of the case, besides bringing a diversity of actors and a level of complementarity of resources that were significant to the success of the project. Given the motivation to know who the actors were and what the main forms of interorganizational coordination were used in this project, interviews were carried out and a questionnaire was also made, besides other documents related to the project. The results presented show a network of nine actors and their roles in the interorganizational collaboration process, as well as the forms of social and temporal overlapping, used in the coordination of collective efforts. Focusing on the mechanisms of temporal and social integration highlighted throughout the study, the inclusion of R&D projects in the typology for interorganizational projects is proposed in this paper, which was also proposed by Jones and Lichtenstein (2008).

State-space approach to evaluate the relation between soil physical and chemical properties

The state-space approach is used to evaluate the relation between soil physical and chemical properties in an area cultivated with sugarcane. The experiment was carried out on a Rhodic Kandiudalf in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Sugarcane was planted on an area of 0.21 ha i.e., in 15 rows 100 m long, spaced 1.4 m. Soil water content, soil organic matter, clay content and aggregate stability were sampled along a transect of 84 points, meter by meter. The state-space approach is used to evaluate how the soil water content is affected by itself and by soil organic matter, clay content, and aggregate stability of neighboring locations, in different combinations, aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the relation among these variables in the soil. Results show that soil water contents were successfully estimated by this approach. Best performances were found when the estimate of soil water content at locations i was related to soil water content, clay content and aggregate stability at locations i-1. Results also indicate that this state-space model using all series describes the soil water content better than any equivalent multiple regression equation.

Diagnosis of the nutrient compositional space of fruit crops

Tissue analysis is a useful tool for the nutrient management of fruit orchards. The mineral composition of diagnostic tissues expressed as nutrient concentration on a dry weight basis has long been used to assess the status of 'pure' nutrients. When nutrients are mixed and interact in plant tissues, their proportions or concentrations change relatively to each other as a result of synergism, antagonism, or neutrality, hence producing resonance within the closed space of tissue composition. Ternary diagrams and nutrient ratios are early representations of interacting nutrients in the compositional space. Dual and multiple interactions were integrated by the Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) into nutrient indexes and by Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis into centered log ratios (CND-clr). DRIS has some computational flaws such as using a dry matter index that is not a part as well as nutrient products (e.g. NxCa) instead of ratios. DRIS and CND-clr integrate all possible nutrient interactions without defining an ad hoc interactive model. They diagnose D components while D-1 could be diagnosed in the D-compositional Hilbert space. The isometric log ratio (ilr) coordinates overcome these problems using orthonormal binary nutrient partitions instead of dual ratios. In this study, it is presented a nutrient interactive model as well as computation methods for DRIS and CND-clr and CND-ilr coordinates (CND-ilr) using leaf analytical data from an experimental apple orchard in Southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was computed the Aitchison and Mahalanobis distances across ilr coordinates as measures of nutrient imbalance. The effect of changing nutrient concentrations on ilr coordinates are simulated to identify the ones contributing the most to nutrient imbalance.

Soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization under different tillage systems and Permanent Groundcover cultivation between Orange trees

The objective of this work was to evaluate the alterations in carbon and nitrogen mineralization due to different soil tillage systems and groundcover species for intercropped orange trees. The experiment was established in an Ultisol soil (Typic Paleudults) originated from Caiuá sandstone in northwestern of the state of Paraná, Brazil, in an area previously cultivated with pasture (Brachiaria humidicola). Two soil tillage systems were evaluated: conventional tillage (CT) in the entire area and strip tillage (ST) with a 2-m width, each with different groundcover vegetation management systems. The citrus cultivar utilized was the 'Pera' orange (Citrus sinensis) grafted onto a 'Rangpur' lime rootstock. The soil samples were collected at a 0-15-cm depth after five years of experiment development. Samples were collected from under the tree canopy and from the inter-row space after the following treatments: (1) CT and annual cover crop with the leguminous Calopogonium mucunoides; (2) CT and perennial cover crop with the leguminous peanut Arachis pintoi; (3) CT and evergreen cover crop with Bahiagrass Paspalum notatum; (4) CT and cover crop with spontaneous B. humidicola grass vegetation; and (5) ST and maintenance of the remaining grass (pasture) of B. humidicola. The soil tillage systems and different groundcover vegetation influenced the C and N mineralization, both under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space. The cultivation of B. humidicola under strip tillage provided higher potential mineralization than the other treatments in the inter-row space. Strip tillage increased the C and N mineralization compared to conventional tillage. The grass cultivation increased the C and N mineralization when compared to the others treatments cultivated in the inter-row space.

Evaluation of alternative containers to determining the working width of fertilizer spreaders

Farmers have difficult of determining the evenness of transverse distribution and the working width, due the tests with this aim require equipments and complex methodologies. So, this study evaluates some alternative containers with the aim to allow a more accessible adjustment of the full width of the solid fertilizer spreaders. Four different containers were tested: i) standard container constructed in accordance with ISO 5690/1; ii) container of polyethylene (plastic trays) with screen shading to prevent the ricochet of material; iii) containers composed by boxes of long-life milk, and iv) containers composed by flowerpots (number 3.5). Also, three different spreaders were used for the tests. Alternative containers showed greater retention of particles than the standardized containers. The full width of work obtained for the coefficients of variation of 12.5; 15; 17.5 and 20%, ranged due the containers in the different pathways. The flowerpots of polyethylene showed similar results to the standardized containers. The heights of the containers were more important for its efficiency than its area of collection.

Degenerative joint disease in cattle and buffaloes in the Amazon region: a retrospective study

A retrospective study of the epidemiological and clinic-pathological aspects of cattle and buffaloes with degenerative joint disease (DJD) was conducted in the state of Pará, Brazil. From 1999 to 2014, eleven cattle and 24 buffaloes were evaluated. All the treated animals with suspected DJD underwent a clinical examination of the musculoskeletal system. In seven cattle and eight buffaloes with clinical signs of the disease postmortem examination was performed. The common clinical signs observed in both species were chronic lameness, stiff gait, postural changes, audible crackles in the affected limb, prolonged recumbency, difficulty in getting up and progressive weight loss. The lesions observed at necropsy were: irregular articular surfaces, erosion of the articular cartilage and the underlying bone tissue, and proliferation of the periarticular bone tissue with formation of osteophytes. The most affected joints in cattle and buffaloes wereof the hind limb. In buffaloes, the main predisposing factor to the onset of DJD was phosphorus deficiency. In cattle, defects of the anatomical conformation of the hind limbs, chronic trauma due to the activities performed, such as semen collection, and advanced age possibly contributed to the emergence of the disease.

Lagrangian multipliers for coast-arcs of optimum space trajectories

Some properties of generalized canonical systems - special dynamical systems described by a Hamiltonian function linear in the adjoint variables - are applied in determining the solution of the two-dimensional coast-arc problem in an inverse-square gravity field. A complete closed-form solution for Lagrangian multipliers - adjoint variables - is obtained by means of such properties for elliptic, circular, parabolic and hyperbolic motions. Classic orbital elements are taken as constants of integration of this solution in the case of elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic motions. For circular motion, a set of nonsingular orbital elements is introduced as constants of integration in order to eliminate the singularity of the solution.

Numerical and experimental investigation of thermal louvers for space applications

Thermal louvers, using movable or rotating shutters over a radiating surface, have gained a wide acceptance as highly efficient devices for controlling the temperature of a spacecraft. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the performance of a rectangular thermal louver with movable blades. The radiative capacity of the louver, determined by its effective emittance, is calculated for different values of the blades opening angle. Experimental results obtained with a prototype of a spacecraft thermal louver show good agreement with the theoretical values.

Optimizing the width of strip weeding in arabica coffee in relation to crop age

The aim of this study was to determine the weed strip control (WSC) required for adequate coffee growth after transplanting. A non-irrigated, field-planted (spaced 3.80 x 0.70 m) crop was used. The experimental design was a randomized block, with four replicates. The treatments were arranged in a 9 x 18 split-plot design to test the WSC of 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 190 cm, which involved continuously hand-weeding at each side of the coffee row, and 18 coffee growth measurements. Multiple regression analyses were carried out relating to growth-variables as a function of both WSC and growth-evaluation times. Brachiaria decumbens was the main weed accomplishing 88.5% of the total weed dry mass. The minimum width of the WSC increases as the crop ages after transplanting. Assuming reductions of 2% and 5% in the maximum coffee growth, the recommended WSC was 75 and 52 cm at 4 months after transplanting (MAT), 104 and 85 cm at 6 MAT, 123 and 105 cm at 9 MAT, 134 and 116 cm at 12 MAT, 142 and 124 cm at 15 MAT, and 148 and 131 cm at 18 MAT, respectively. It was concluded that integrated weed management in young coffee crops must focus on the weed control only in a minimum range along coffee rows, which increases with coffee plant age, keeping natural vegetation in the inter-rows.

Patterns of spatial distribution in macroalgal communities from tropical lotic ecosystems

Three sampling sites were analysed in each of the following tropical regions: 1) northwestern São Paulo State, representing a disturbed region; 2) Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul State, representing a hard water region; and 3) Ubatuba, northern costal region of São Paulo State, a well preserved tropical rainforest region. The hard water region had the highest mean values for macroalgal species richness (6.3) and diversity index (H' = 0.62). Northwest and rainforest regions had the highest percent cover values (22.5% and 17.0%, respectively). All sites in the northwest region had one or two dominant species (percent cover significantly higher than the remaining species), characterizing the niche pre-emption distribution pattern. The same pattern was found in two sites of the Atlantic rainforest. The hard water region had dominance of one species in two out of the three sites, but differently from the northwest region, niche overlap values were lower, evidencing a patch distribution. Competition for space was one of the main factors to explain spatial distribution. Overall, sites characterized by niche pre-emption had lower species richness, higher values for niche width and overlap, dominance index and percent cover of dominant species. In contrast, sites characterized by patch distribution had higher species richness and lower values for niche overlap and width, dominance index and percent cover.

Amino acid composition of parturient plasma, the intervillous space of the placenta and the umbilical vein of term newborn infants

The objective of the present study was to determine the levels of amino acids in maternal plasma, placental intervillous space and fetal umbilical vein in order to identify the similarities and differences in amino acid levels in these compartments of 15 term newborns from normal pregnancies and deliveries. All amino acids, except tryptophan, were present in at least 186% higher concentrations in the intervillous space than in maternal venous blood, with the difference being statistically significant. This result contradicted the initial hypothesis of the study that the plasma amino acid levels in the placental intervillous space should be similar to those of maternal plasma. When the maternal venous compartment was compared with the umbilical vein, we observed values 103% higher on the fetal side which is compatible with currently accepted mechanisms of active amino acid transport. Amino acid levels of the placental intervillous space were similar to the values of the umbilical vein except for proline, glycine and aspartic acid, whose levels were significantly higher than fetal umbilical vein levels (average 107% higher). The elevated levels of the intervillous space are compatible with syncytiotrophoblast activity, which maintain high concentrations of free amino acids inside syncytiotrophoblast cells, permitting asymmetric efflux or active transport from the trophoblast cells to the blood in the intervillous space. The plasma amino acid levels in the umbilical vein of term newborns probably may be used as a standard of local normality for clinical studies of amino acid profiles.

Rat hindlimb joint immobilization with acrylic resin orthoses

The objective of the present study was to propose an orthosis of light material that would be functional for the animal and that would maintain only the ankle joint immobilized. Male Wistar rats (3 to 4 months old, 250-300 g) were divided into 2 groups (N = 6): control and immobilized for 7 days. Rats were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (40 mg/kg weight) and the left hindlimb was immobilized with the orthoses composed of acrylic resin model, abdominal belt and lateral supports. The following analyses were performed: glycogen content of the soleus, extensor digitorum longus, white gastrocnemius, red gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior muscles by the phenol sulfuric method, and the weight, fiber area and intramuscular connective tissue of the soleus by the planimetric system. Data were analyzed statistically by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Student t and Wilcoxon tests. Immobilization decreased glycogen in all muscles (P < 0.05; soleus: 31.6%, white gastrocnemius: 56.6%, red gastrocnemius: 39%, extensor digitorum longus: 41.7%, tibialis anterior: 45.2%) in addition to reducing soleus weight by 34% (P < 0.05). Furthermore, immobilization promoted reduction of the fiber area (43%, P < 0.05) and increased the connective tissue (200%, P < 0.05). The orthosis model was efficient comparing with another alternative immobilization model, like plaster casts, in promoting skeletal muscle alterations, indicating that it could be used as a new model in other studies related to muscle disuse.

Plasma amino acids in pregnancy, placental intervillous space and preterm newborn infants

Plasma amino acid levels have never been studied in the placental intervillous space of preterm gestations. Our objective was to determine the possible relationship between plasma amino acids of maternal venous blood (M), of the placental intervillous space (PIVS) and of the umbilical vein (UV) of preterm newborn infants. Plasma amino acid levels were analyzed by ion-exchange chromatography in M from 14 parturients and in the PIVS and UV of their preterm newborn infants. Mean gestational age was 34 ± 2 weeks, weight = 1827 ± 510 g, and all newborns were considered adequate for gestational age. The mean Apgar score was 8 and 9 at the first and fifth minutes. Plasma amino acid values were significantly lower in M than in PIVS (166%), except for aminobutyric acid. On average, plasma amino acid levels were significantly higher in UV than in M (107%) and were closer to PIVS than to M values, except for cystine and aminobutyric acid (P < 0.05). Comparison of the mean plasma amino acid concentrations in the UV of preterm to those of term newborn infants previously studied by our group showed no significant difference, except for proline (P < 0.05), preterm > term. These data suggest that the mechanisms of active amino acid transport are centralized in the syncytiotrophoblast, with their passage to the fetus being an active bidirectional process with asymmetric efflux. PIVS could be a reserve amino acid space for the protection of the fetal compartment from inadequate maternal amino acid variations.

Antibodies to citrullinated peptides are not associated with the rate of joint destruction in patients with a well-established diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

Antibodies to citrullinated peptides are highly specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and represent a significant risk factor for undifferentiated polyarthritis. This prognostic ability may be related to the very diagnostic performance of these autoantibodies, since RA is a more erosive disease than other forms of arthritis. The present study evaluated an association of antibodies to citrullinated peptides and the rate of joint destruction in patients with a well-established diagnosis of RA. Seventy-one patients with RA were evaluated in 1994 and again in 2002 (functional class, joint count, Health Assessment Questionnaire score, hands X-ray). Autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-perinuclear factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies) and Sharp's index were analyzed blindly. Delta Sharp was calculated as the difference in Sharp's index obtained in 1994 and 2002. During the follow-up the Health Assessment Questionnaire score increased from 0.91 ± 0.74 to 1.39 ± 0.72 (P < 0.001). Similarly, the number of swollen joints increased from 4.6 ± 5.71 to 6.4 ± 4.1 (P = 0.002). The frequency of autoantibodies and anti-CCP titer remained stable; however, serum RF concentration increased from 202.8 ± 357.6 to 416.6 ± 636.5 IU/mL (P = 0.003). Sharp's index increased from 56.7 ± 62.1 to 92.4 ± 80.9 (P < 0.001). No correlation was observed between Delta Sharp and the presence of RF, anti-perinuclear factor, and anti-CCP antibodies at baseline. Antibodies to citrullinated epitopes are specific and early markers for the diagnosis of RA but do not seem to be associated with the rate of joint destruction in patients with a well-established diagnosis of RA.

The effect of a low dose of clenbuterol on rat soleus muscle submitted to joint immobilization

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of joint immobilization on morphometric parameters and glycogen content of soleus muscle treated with clenbuterol. Male Wistar (3-4 months old) rats were divided into 4 groups (N = 6 for each group): control, clenbuterol, immobilized, and immobilized treated with clenbuterol. Immobilization was performed with acrylic resin orthoses and 10 µg/kg body weight clenbuterol was administered subcutaneously for 7 days. The following parameters were measured the next day on soleus muscle: weight, glycogen content, cross-sectional area, and connective tissue content. The clenbuterol group showed an increase in glycogen (81.6%, 0.38 ± 0.09 vs 0.69 ± 0.06 mg/100 g; P < 0.05) without alteration in weight, cross-sectional area or connective tissue compared with the control group. The immobilized group showed a reduction in muscle weight (34.2%, 123.5 ± 5.3 vs 81.3 ± 4.6 mg; P < 0.05), glycogen content (31.6%, 0.38 ± 0.09 vs 0.26 ± 0.05 mg/100 mg; P < 0.05) and cross-sectional area (44.1%, 2574.9 ± 560.2 vs 1438.1 ± 352.2 µm²; P < 0.05) and an increase in connective tissue (216.5%, 8.82 ± 3.55 vs 27.92 ± 5.36%; P < 0.05). However, the immobilized + clenbuterol group showed an increase in weight (15.9%; 81.3 ± 4.6 vs 94.2 ± 4.3 mg; P < 0.05), glycogen content (92.3%, 0.26 ± 0.05 vs 0.50 ± 0.17 mg/100 mg; P < 0.05), and cross-sectional area (19.9%, 1438.1 ± 352.2 vs 1724.8 ± 365.5 µm²; P < 0.05) and a reduction in connective tissue (52.2%, 27.92 ± 5.36 vs 13.34 ± 6.86%; P < 0.05). Statistical analysis was performed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and homoscedasticity tests. For the muscle weight and muscle glycogen content, two-way ANOVA and the Tukey test were used. For the cross-sectional area and connective tissue content, Kruskal-Wallis and Tukey tests were used. This study emphasizes the importance of anabolic pharmacological protection during immobilization to minimize skeletal muscle alterations resulting from disuse.