Natural fibers based composites - Technical and social issues

Brazil is the only country in South America to have an automotive supplier sector based on natural fibers. New opportunities are arising due to an increase demand by the car makers in applying natural fibers in their parts. Several crop fibers have been developed in Brazil. Among them can be listed caroa, piacava, pupunha, mutum and others of regional application. For the automotive industry, which requires large quantities with uniform quality, the alternatives are sisal (170,000 ton/yr), curaua (150 ton/yr in 2003), malva, 200 ton/yr; Brazil is the single largest producer country of sisal, and commercially, the only one in curaua. For South America, the alternatives are fique in Colombia, abaca in equator, flax in Argentina and curaua in Venezuela. It must be understood by the target countries of drugs, is that crop fiber can be an economic alternative to coca in the Andes region, therefore an instrument of land reform and drug reduction plantations. Several companies have a strong program of apply natural fibers based components in their products: Volkswagen do Brazil, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors do Brazil. Among their suppliers can be listed companies such Pematec (curaua), Toro (sisal, coir and jute), Incomer (sisal and jute), Ober (jute, curaua), Indaru (jute and sisal), Antolin (imported kenaf,) Tapetes Sao Carlos (sisal), Poematec (coir) and Art-Gore, with Woodstock'' wood and natural fibers). Figures about production and demand are discussed in the paper.

Lira dissonante: considerações sobre aspectos do grotesco na poesia de Bernardo Guimarães e Cruz e Sousa

Pós-graduação em Estudos Literários - FCLAR

Aspectos do poema em prosa de Cruz e Sousa e Rubén Darío

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Imagem e epifania nos poemas em prosa de Cruz e Sousa

Partindo da conceituação de termos caros à teoria e à crítica da poesia lírica, perfaço um breve estudo da poesia em prosa do simbolista brasileiro Cruz e Sousa (1861-1898), consubstanciada nos livros Missal (1893) e Evocações (1898). Procurei evidenciar o processo de composição das duas obras e as diferenças entre ambas, frisando inclusive o modo pelo qual o poeta configura suas imagens poéticas. Assim, articulando os conceitos de Imagem e Epifania – utilizados pelo poeta de maneira moderna e original –, busquei ressaltar sua importância no processo construtivo de Cruz e Sousa, salientando, por fim, o lugar de destaque que o poeta ocupa nos quadros da poesia brasileira.

Êxtase enfermiço: neurose e a poética da transcendência em Cruz e Sousa

This article is a discussion on the vision of transcendence peculiar to the poetic of Decadentism and considers the reference offered for the Cruz e Sousa��s poetry. We call poetic transcendence the search for Ideal and for broke the barrier of usual perception by the poetic work. Among the romantics, the transcendence was search for many ways; one of them was the sublime ravishing. In the Symbolism/Decadentism, the transcendent ravishing finds its opposite – the fall. The Cruz e Sousa��s poetry illustrates this new leitmotiv which have rise in the center of Modernity.

The Care and Shelter of Children and Adolescents in Brazil: Expressions of Social Issues

The future of Brazilian children who have the protection offered by familial bonds is threatened by social inequities that force them to seek shelter and grow up in shelters. According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research, an estimated 20,000 children and adolescents are served by institutions. The majority of these children are afro-descendent males between the ages of seven and fifteen years old. Of those researched, 87.6% have families (58.2% receive visits from their families, 22.7% are rarely visited by their families and 5.8 are legally prohibited from contacting or being by their families). The percentage of children and adolescents “without families” or with “missing families” is 11.3%. There is no information available for 2% of the children and adolescents residing in shelters. The principle factors that necessitate the placement of Brazilian children in institutions that provide care and shelter include poverty (including children forced to work, sell drugs or beg, for example); domestic violence; chemical dependence of parents or guardians; homelessness; death or parents or guardian; imprisonment of their parents; and sexual abuse committed by their parents or guardians. The issue of abandoned children and adolescents and their care and shelter in the Brazilian context expresses a perverse violation of Child and Adolescent Rights.

Social issues in sustainable supply chain networks: state of the art and further research directions

The study of supply networks sustainability is a field with a long path behind. Nonetheless, most studies to date are focused on the environmental sub dimension of sustainability, while the social perspective in supply chain networks research still shows a potential for pioneering contri butions. Moreover, from the development standpoint we have observed a paradigm shift advancing from a narrow concept of development, centered on purely economic dimensions, towards more refined issues such as inclusive business, shared value or poverty footprint, all of which are highly related to supply chain activities. In this paper we present a review of the current state of the art on social sustainability of supply chains and we identify the main existing trends in this field. After conducting this study, we can state that a new sphere of knowledge is emerging at the interface between sustainable supply chain networks and development research. The academic community is called to play an important dovetailing role in this scenario by advancing both conceptual and methodological contributions.