Dilemma of choice: China's response to climate change

In recent years, erratic global climate conditions have generated an incessant series of natural disasters in China. This article seeks to explore China's climate change policies. This article addresses the impacts of climate change on China's environment and China's perception, principle, objective and policy actions in response to climate change.

Budgeting and resource allocation in universities: a public choice approach

The calls for colleges and universities to improve their productivity are coming thick and fast in Brazil. Many studies are suggesting evaluation systems and external criteria to control the quality of teaching and research in universities. Since universities and colleges are not profit-oriented organizations (considering only the legitimate and serious research and teaching organizations, of course), the traditional microeconomics and administrative variables used to measure efficiency do not have any direct function. An alternative would be to create an "as if" market control system to evaluate performance in universities and colleges. Internal budget and resources allocation mechanism can be used as incentive instruments to improve quality and productivity. It will be the main issue of this article.

Portfolio valuation in banks

Frequent references are made to the use of portfolio spread rates in managing financial risks in banks, but indications as to the procedures for determining such rates are very scant.The purpose of this article is to present some initial ideas on the subject: a Standard Funding system indicates what each portfolio should have earned, while an Actual Funding system points out what each portfolio did, in fact, earn; additionally, by comparing the outcomes of the two funding systems for each portfolio, it is possible to determine what each portfolio earned (or lost) in the way of arbitrage.

Percutaneous handling of coronary lesions >20mm through stents. Is there a first choice strategy?

OBJECTIVE - This study compared the early and late results of the use of one single stent with those of the use of multiple stents in patients with lesions longer than 20mm. METHODS - Prospective assessment of patients electively treated with stents, with optimal stent deployment and followed-up for more than 3 months. From February '94 to January '98, 215 patients with lesions >20mm were treated. These patients were divided into 2 groups as follows: Group A - 105 patients (49%) with one stent implanted; Group B - 110 patients (51%) with multiple stents implanted. RESULTS - The mean length of the lesions was 26mm in group A (21-48mm) versus 29mm in group B (21-52mm) (p=0.01). Major complications occurred in one patient (0.9%) in group A (subacute thrombosis, myocardial infarctionand death) and in 2 patients (1.8%) in group B (one emergency surgery and one myocardial infarction) (p=NS). The results of the late follow-up period (>6 months) were similar for both groups (group A = 82% vs group B = 76%; p=NS), and we observed an event-free survical in 89% of the patients in group A and in 91% of the patients in group B (p=NS). Angina (group A = 11% vs group B = 7%) and lesion revascularization (group A = 5% vs group B = 6%; p=NS) also occurred in a similar percentage. No infarction or death was observed in the late follow-up period; restenosis was identified in 33% and 29% of the patients in groups A and B, respectively (p=NS). CONCLUSION - The results obtained using one stent and using multiple stents were similar; the greater cost-effectiveness of one stent implantation, however, seems to make this strategy the first choice.

Anesthesia of Biomphalaria spp. (Mollusca, Gastropoda): sodium pentobarbital is the drug of choice

The anesthetic effect of some water-soluble anesthesic or narcotic drugs currently used in mice was tested in molluscs of the Biomphalaria genus. Sodium thiopental was very toxic to the snails resulting in high rates of mortality in all the treatment schedules tested. Cetamine base, at concentration of 0.25 mg/ml of water, resulted in partial snail anesthesia (40% of snails were anesthetized) only after 20 h of exposition. The association of Cetamine base with Tiazine chloridrate did not improve the anesthesic effect, and higher concentrations of these drugs were toxic to the snails. Sodium pentobarbital at 0.4 mg/ml in water for 8 h was the best treatment schedule to anesthetize Biomphalaria snails. In this schedule, the snails were anesthetized without any toxic effect. The procedure provides a powerful tool for in vivo studies that demande a complete state of snail anesthesia.

Prey choice by facultative predator larvae of Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

In this study we investigated predation rates on third instar larvae of Chrysomya putoria and C. megacephala by third instar larvae of C. albiceps in a two-choice situation. The highest predation rate occurred on C. putoria larvae and this result is compared to previous experiments, in which C. macellaria larvae were present. Our results suggest that, when C. macellaria is absent C. albiceps larvae attack more C. putoria than C. megacephala larvae. Prey choice decisions and its implications for introduced and native blowflies are discussed.

Portfolio de produção agropecuária e gestão de riscos de mercado nas cooperativas do agronegócio paranaense

Neste artigo, apresentam-se uma avaliação da prática da gestão dos riscos de mercado pelas cooperativas do Paraná (Brasil) e um estudo do portfolio de produção agropecuária desse estado considerando a relação retorno-risco. Usando a análise E-V do modelo de Markowitz, foi definida uma fronteira de eficiência em que foi possível verificar quais seriam as mudanças necessárias no portfolio visando à eficiência econômica (definida aqui como o trade-off entre retorno e risco). Por meio de questionários e entrevistas, foi avaliada a disposição das cooperativas em incentivar tais mudanças em seus portfolios e na produção de seus cooperados. Também foi possível avaliar qual o grau de importância atribuído a fontes de risco de mercado e qual o grau de relevância de um conjunto de estratégias passíveis de serem adotadas para lidar com esses riscos. O objetivo geral foi avaliar quais seriam as possíveis influências que as cooperativas poderiam exercer nas alterações das preferências de produção visando à melhoria da relação retorno-risco. Verificou-se que os principais motivos que influenciam as decisões sobre produção estão relacionados a aspectos econômicos e racionais, como foco estratégico da cooperativa e resistências dos cooperados. Os motivos relacionados a aspectos políticos ou sociais, inerentes às características organizacionais das cooperativas, não exercem influência significativa nas decisões sobre diversificação como instrumento para a gestão dos riscos de mercado no contexto paranaense.

Understanding the hierarchy governance choice of some wineries in Brazil - case study of 3 Brazilian wineries

ABSTRACT This study aims to contribute towards understanding the multiple factors, which influence firm's governance decisions. To identify some of these factors, three cases in the Brazilian wine industry were analyzed: Miolo located in Vale dos Vinhedos (South of Brazil) and in Vale do Rio São Francisco (Northeast of Brazil); Don Laurindo located in Vale dos Vinhedos; and ViniBrasil located in Vale do Rio São Francisco. For the most part, all three firms procure the grapes they use for their wine production in-house. Only Miolo purchases an insignificant amount of grapes outside of its production. By Brazilian standards, these regions have a long tradition of grape production and it is not difficult to purchase sufficient quantity of grapes to produce wine. However, the wineries are concerned also about the quality of the grapes they use and purchasing high-quality grapes might be critical issue. On the other hand, the quality of grapes is easily measured and the cost to buy in the market is cheaper than producing in-house. Furthermore, also the level of asset specificity present in the grape-grower-wine-producer transaction seems, by itself, insufficient to justify the use of hierarchical governance forms. Then, the aim of the article is to analyze the reasons why these wineries largely rely on hierarchy governance forms to procure their grape-inputs. What explains their use of hierarchy governance, given that both asset specificity and measurement problems appear to be relatively low?

Information overload, choice deferral, and moderating role of need for cognition: Empirical evidence

ABSTRACT Choice deferral due to information overload is an undesirable result of competitive environments. The neoclassical maximization models predict that choice avoidance will not increase as more information is offered to consumers. The theories developed in the consumer behavior field predict that some properties of the environment may lead to behavioral effects and an increase in choice avoidance due to information overload. Based on stimuli generated experimentally and tested among 1,000 consumers, this empirical research provides evidence for the presence of behavioral effects due to information overload and reveals the different effects of increasing the number of options or the number of attributes. This study also finds that the need for cognition moderates these behavioral effects, and it proposes psychological processes that may trigger the effects observed.

Pedagogical reflective practice of nursing undergraduates: the portfolio as an instrument

Objective Analyzing the narratives related to the pedagogical practice experienced during the Supervised Curricular Internship reported in the portfolios of Nursing undergraduate students, regarding the levels of reflection. Method This is a documentary descriptive exploratory study that examined two of the activities proposed for the portfolio preparation. Results Among the 28 analyzed portfolios, all showed the three levels of reflection (technical, critical and metacritical). Conclusion The students had the opportunity to experience the pedagogical practice and presented reflections at metacritical level, reflecting on their performance, the construction of their teaching identity, and about the importance of reflecting on the practice with the objective of transforming it and transforming themselves.

Do engenho à biorrefinaria: a usina de açúcar como empreendimento industrial para a geração de produtos bioquímicos e biocombustíveis

A sugar cane mill is at the present moment a modest biorefinery producing few products such as sugar, ethanol and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). In the near future, this mill can expand its production using several renewable feedstock's to produce biofuels and high value biobased chemicals. However, the choice of appropriate products for addition to the portfolio is challenged by a lack of broad-based conversion technology coupled with a plethora of potential targets. The intent of this revision was to catalyze research efforts to expand the list of products and to present an updated evaluation of potential target structures for chemical production.

Alternative procedures for parent choice in a breeding program for the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Six common bean cultivars were crossed in diallel and the segregant populations were assessed in the F2 and F3 generations to compare methodologies for parental selection in a breeding program based on hybridization. The cultivars involved in the diallel were A 114, A 77, ESAL 686, Milionário, Carioca, and Flor de Mayo. The segregant F2 and F3 generations were assessed on the experimental campus of the Universidade Federal de Larvas, in July 1994. It was found that the cultivars differed in their general combining ability (GCA). Flor de Mayo, which belongs to the Durango race, had the largest positive GCA estimate for grain field, and the cultivars from the Mesoamerican race, Milionário and A 114, the smallest GCA estimates. For flowering, the cultivar that most contributed to reduced plant cycle was ESAL 686. There was agreement among the results obtained from the diallel and the estimates of the parameter m + a of the populations. However, it was evident that the estimate of genetic variance of the populations should be considered as a condition to identify the hybrid population that will produce a line with high performance.

Gap effect and reaction time distribution: simple vs choice manual responses

It is well known that saccadic reaction times (SRT) are reduced when the target is preceded by the offset of the fixation point (FP) - the gap effect. Some authors have proposed that the FP offset also allows the saccadic system to generate a separate population of SRT, the express saccades. Nevertheless, there is no agreement as to whether the gap effect and express responses are also present for manual reaction times (MRT). We tested the gap effect and the MRT distribution in two different conditions, i.e., simple and choice MRT. In the choice MRT condition, subjects need to identify the side of the stimulus and to select the appropriate response, while in the simple MRT these stages are not necessary. We report that the gap effect was present in both conditions (22 ms for choice MRT condition; 15 ms for simple MRT condition), but, when analyzing the MRT distributions, we did not find any clear evidence for express manual responses. The main difference in MRT distribution between simple and choice conditions was a shift towards shorter values for simple MRT.