Recent brazilian experience on farmer reaction and crop response to fertilizer use

(1) In the period 1965/77 fertilizer consumption in Brazil increased nearly fifteen foild from circa 200,000 tons of N + P2O5 + K2O to 3 million tons. During the fifteen years extending from 1950 to 1964 usage of the primary macronutrients was raised by a factor of 2 only. (2) Several explanations are given for the remarkable increase, namely: an experimental background which supplied data for recommendations of rates, time and type of application; a convenient governmental policy for minimum prices and rural credit; capacity of the industry to meet the demand of the fertilizer market; an adequate mechanism for the diffusion of the practice of fertilizer use to the farmer. (3) The extension work, which has caused a permanent change in the aptitude towards fertilization, was carried out in the traditional way by salesmen supported by a technical staff, as well as by agronomists of the official services. (4) Two new programs were started and conducted in a rather short time, both putting emphasis on the relatively new technology of fertilizer use. (5) The first program, conducted in the Southern part of the country, extended lab and green house work supplemented by a few field trials to small land owners - the so called "operação tatú" (operation armadillo). (6) The seconde program, covering a larger problem area in the Northeast and in Central Brazil, began directly in field as thousands of demonstrations and simple experiments with the participation of local people whose involvement was essential for the success of the initiative; in this case the official extension services, both foreign and national sources of funds, and universities did participate under the leadership of the Brazilian Association for the Diffusion of Fertilizers (ANDA). (7) It is felt that the Brazilian experience gained thereof could be useful to other countries under similar conditions.

In vitro susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum Welch field isolates to infusions prepared from Artemisia annua L. cultivated in the Brazilian Amazon

Artemisinin is the active antimalarial compound obtained from the leaves of Artemisia annua L. Artemisinin, and its semi-synthetic derivatives, are the main drugs used to treat multi-drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum (one of the human malaria parasite species). The in vitro susceptibility of P. falciparum K1 and 3d7 strains and field isolates from the state of Amazonas, Brazil, to A. annua infusions (5 g dry leaves in 1 L of boiling water) and the drug standards chloroquine, quinine and artemisinin were evaluated. The A. annua used was cultivated in three Amazon ecosystems (várzea, terra preta de índio and terra firme) and in the city of Paulínia, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Artemisinin levels in the A. annua leaves used were 0.90-1.13% (m/m). The concentration of artemisinin in the infusions was 40-46 mg/L. Field P. falciparum isolates were resistant to chloroquine and sensitive to quinine and artemisinin. The average 50% inhibition concentration values for A. annua infusions against field isolates were 0.11-0.14 μL/mL (these infusions exhibited artemisinin concentrations of 4.7-5.6 ng/mL) and were active in vitro against P. falciparum due to their artemisinin concentration. No synergistic effect was observed for artemisinin in the infusions.

A three-pronged approach to social business: a Brazilian multi-case analysis

Social businesses present a new paradigm to capitalism, in which private companies, non-profit organizations and civil society create a new type of business with the main objective of solving social problems with financial sustainability and efficiency through market mechanisms. As any new phenomenon, different authors conceptualize social businesses with distinct views. This article aims to present and characterize three different perspectives of social business definitions: the European, the American and that of the emerging countries. Each one of these views was illustrated by a different Brazilian case. We conclude with the idea that all the cases have similar characteristics, but also relevant differences that are more than merely geographical. The perspectives analyzed in this paper provide an analytical framework for understanding the field of social businesses. Moreover, the cases demonstrate that in the Brazilian context the field of social business is under construction and that as such it draws on different conceptual influences to deal with a complex and challenging reality.

Inclusive business and poverty: prospects in the Brazilian context

Inclusive business is a term currently used to explain the organizations that aim to solve social problems with efficiency and financial sustainability by means of market mechanisms. It can be said that inclusive businesses are those targeted at generating employment and income for groups with little or no market mobility, in keeping with the standards of so-called "decent jobs" and in a self-sustaining manner, i.e., generating profit for the enterprises, and establishing relationships with typical business organizations as suppliers of products and services or in the distribution of this type of production. This article discusses the different concepts found in the scientific literature on inclusive businesses. It also analyses data from a survey conducted with the audiences of Social Corporate Responsibility seminars held by FIEMG. This analysis reveals that prospects, risks and idealizations similar to those found in inclusive business theories can also be found among individuals that run social corporate responsibility projects, even if this designation is new for them. The connection between companies and poverty, especially in relation to inclusive businesses, seems full of stumbling blocks and traps in the Brazilian context.

International analysis of the countries where Brazilian franchise chains operate

This paper aims to demonstrate which external environment factors are involved in the international commitment of Brazilian franchise chains. Our objectives herein are to understand which external country characteristics lead to international franchising operations and to ascertain the influence of such characteristics in the commitment of franchise chains in each country they operate in. The database has 54 Brazilian franchise chains with international operations in 26 countries, which implies in 157 franchises operating abroad. Regarding external environment factors, the independent variables form a group divided into market opportunity and business efficiency – trust and ease to doing business. The result of the three distinct clusters show how the market opportunity and the business efficiency (trust and ease in doing business) work as drivers to the international operation of Brazilian franchises. The paper shows that the franchise chains operating in the USA (cluster 3) have an inferior international commitment in comparison with the franchises which operate in developed countries and in small Latin American countries (cluster 2). It is also possible to notice a large number of franchises that operate in underdeveloped countries from Latin America and Africa (cluster 1) with worse business efficiency due to the advantage of learning how to operate in a country that could have some similarities with Brazil

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?

Credit derivatives in emerging markets

Credit Derivatives are securities that offer protection against credit or default risk ofbonds or loans. The credit derivatives emerging market has grown rapidly and creditderivatives are widely used. This paper describes the emerging credit derivativesmarket structure. The current market activity is analyzed through elementary pricingdynamics and the study of the term structure of default risk. Focusing on theperformance of credit derivatives in stress situation, including legal and market risks,we discuss the potential consequences of a debt restructuring in a large emergingmarket borrower. The contribution of credit derivatives to the risk sharing in emergingmarkets is also examined.

Building the future: the Brazilian university library in 2010

Information technology will affect academic activities as well as the nature of the high education sector. This sector besides the need to assimilate these technologies will need to attend the requisites of market globalization and, as consequence, all theses changes will be reflected in the university library. Prospectives impacts will affect the structure (emphasis in user services, outsourcing of several services), in the financing aspect (growing of consortia in order to reduce costs), in services (electronic reference, support to long distance education programs, intelligent agents) and in the clientele (attending the great demand por high education which implies a diversity of people).

Genetic variability of Brazilian rice landraces determined by SSR markers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability of rice (Oryza sativa) landraces collected in Brazilian small farms. Twelve simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers characterized 417 landraces collected in 1986, 1987 and 2003, in the state of Goiás, Brazil. The number of landraces with long and thin grain type increased in the evaluated period, probably due to market demand. Based on the molecular data, the genetic variability increased during this period and, as per to the factorial correspondence analysis, most of the accessions were grouped according to the year of collection. The incorporation of modern rice cultivars in landrace cultivation areas and the selection carried out by small farmers are the most probable factors responsible for increasing landrace genetic variability, during the evaluated period. Genotype exchange between farmers, selection practice and local environmental adaptation are able to generate novel adapted allele combinations, which can be used by breeding programs, to reinitiate the process.

Natural aphrodisiacs: studies of commercially-available herbal recipes, and phytochemical investigation of "Erythroxylum vacciniifolium" Mart. (Erythroxylaceae) from Brazil

De tout temps, hommes et femmes ont cherché par tous les moyens à développer, préserver ou recouvrer leurs propres capacités sexuelles mais également à stimuler le désir du partenaire. L?utilisation d?aphrodisiaques naturels a été l?un des recours les plus répandus. De nos jours, la commercialisation de nouvelles "love drugs" de synthèse, e.g. Viagra®, Cialis®, Levitra®, a remis au goût du jour les aphrodisiaques classiques et à relancer la recherche sur des molécules nouvelles. La pratique croissante de l?automédication, le matraquage publicitaire sur les aphrodisiaques naturels, la prolifération sur le marché de compléments alimentaires non contrôlés et l?absence de véritable législation accroissent les risques qui pèsent sur la santé publique. Dans le but d?évaluer les risques potentiels sur le consommateur de produits aphrodisiaques commercialisés, le développement et la validation d?une méthode rapide d?analyse qualitative et quantitative de la yohimbine dans ces préparations du marché sont exposés dans la première partie de ce travail. La yohimbine est un antagoniste ?2-adrénocepteur du système nerveux central et périphérique, elle est employée depuis plus d?un siècle dans le traitement des dysfonctionnements érectiles. Cette méthode analytique utilise la chromatographie liquide couplée à l?ultraviolet et à la spectrométrie de masse (LC-UV-MS) et au total, vingt préparations aphrodisiaques ont été étudiées. La dose journalière de yohimbine mesurée s?est révélée très variable selon les produits puisqu?elle varie de 1.32 à 23.16 mg. La seconde partie de ce travail concerne l?étude phytochimique et pharmacologique d?Erythroxylum vacciniifolium Mart. (Erythroxylaceae), une plante, appelée localement catuaba, utilisée dans la médecine traditionnelle brésilienne comme tonique et aphrodisiaque. Dans un premier temps, l?extrait alcaloïdique a été analysé par chromatographie liquide haute performance (HPLC) couplée soit à un détecteur UV à barrette d?iode (LC-UV-DAD), soit à un spectromètre de masse (LC-MS), ou soit à un spectromètre de résonance magnétique nucléaire (LC-RMN). L?interprétation de ces données spectrales enregistrées en ligne a permis d?obtenir des informations structurales et d?identifier partiellement près de 24 alcaloïdes appartenant à la classe des tropanes et potentiellement originaux. Par des méthodes classiques de chromatographie liquide sur l?extrait alcaloïdique de la plante, dix sept tropanes nouveaux ont ensuite été isolés dont les catuabines et leurs dérivés, et les vaccinines. Tous ces composés sont des tropane-diols ou triols estérifiés par au moins un groupe acide 1-méthyl-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylique. Un de ces composés a été identifié comme un tropane N-oxyde. Toutes les structures ont été déterminées par spectrométrie de masse haute résolution et spectroscopie RMN multi-dimensionnelle. Parmi les nombreux tests biologiques réalisés sur ces tropanes, seuls les tests de cytotoxicité se sont révélés faiblement positifs pour certains de ces composés.<br/><br/>Throughout the ages, men and women have incessantly pursued every means to increase, preserve or recapture their sexual capacity, or to stimulate the sexual desire of selected individuals. One of the most recurrent methods has been the use of natural aphrodisiacs. Nowadays, the commercialization of new synthetic "love drugs", e.g. Viagra®, Cialis® and Levitra®, has fascinated the public interest and has led to a reassessment of classical aphrodisiacs and to the search for new ones. The practice of self-medication by an increasing number of patients, the incessant aggressive advertising of these herbal aphrodisiacs, the invasion of the medicinal market with uncontrolled dietary supplements and the absence of real directives amplifies the potential health hazards to the community. In order to evaluate the possible risks of commercialized aphrodisiac products on consumer health, the development and validation of a rapid qualitative and quantitative method for the analysis of yohimbine in these products, is reported in the first part of the present work. Yohimbine, a pharmacologically well-characterized ?2-adrenoceptor antagonist with activity in the central and peripheral nervous system, has been used for over a century in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The analytical method is based on liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet and mass spectrometry (LC-UV-MS) and in total, 20 commercially-available aphrodisiac preparations were analyzed. The amount of yohimbine measured and expressed as the maximal dose per day suggested on product labels ranged from 1.32 to 23.16 mg. The second part of this work involved the phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of Erythroxylum vacciniifolium Mart. (Erythroxylaceae), a plant used in Brazilian traditional medicine as an aphrodisiac and tonic, and locally known as catuaba. With the aim of obtaining preliminary structure information on-line, the alkaloid extract was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to diode array UV detection (LC-UVDAD), to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (LCNMR). Interpretation of on-line spectroscopic data led to structure elucidation and partial identification of 24 potentially original alkaloids bearing the same tropane skeleton. Seventeen new tropane alkaloids were then isolated from the alkaloid extract of the plant, including catuabines D to I, their derivatives and vaccinines A and B. All compounds were elucidated as tropane-diol or -triol alkaloids esterified by at least one 1-methyl-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid. One of the isolated compounds was identified as a tropane alkaloid N-oxide. Their structures were determined by high resolution mass spectrometry and multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. Among the numerous bioassays undertaken, only the cytotoxicity tests exhibited a weak positive activity of certain compounds.

Utilisation of Short Term Electricity Derivatives in Industrial Energy Management

Työn päätavoite on selvittää kuinka erityisesti sähkön markkinahinnan ennustamiseen ja johdannaismarkkinoiden tietämykseen perustuva lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten hyödyntäminen tapahtuu teollisessa energianhallinnassa. Tätä aihetta lähestytään luomalla prosessi lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten hyödyntämiselle. Prosessi esitellään ja selvitetään aina lähtökohdista todelliseen kaupankäyntiin asti erillisen esimerkkitehtaan avulla.Lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten hyödyntäminen teollisessa energianhallinnassa perustuu pääosin tulevaisuuden odotuksiin sähkön markkinahinnan kehittymisestä sekä tehtaiden operatiiviseen tilanteeseen. Operatiiviseen tilanteeseen perustuva lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten kaupankäynti on pääasiassa pitkän tähtäimen suojausten sopeuttamista lyhyelle tähtäimelle sopivaksi.Hinnan ennustamisella on suuri rooli lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten hyödyntämisprosessissa. Työssä esitelty hinnan ennustamismalli on sopiva päivä- ja viikkotason Nord Poolin Elspot -systeemihinnan ennustamiseen. Elspot -systeemihinnan ennustamismalli on suunniteltu käytännönläheiseksi ja sen perustana ovat todelliset fysikaaliset ja mitattavat suureet. Futuurimarkkinatietämys on tarpeen lyhyen tähtäimen johdannaisia käytettäessä. Työssä tutkitaan yleisiä markkinoiden odotuksia ja futuurimarkkinoiden tietoisuuden kehittymistä koskien tulevaa vallitsevaa tilannetta. Työssä luodaan myös työkalu, mikä auttaa kaupan laatijaa muodostamaan suuntaa-antavat todennäköisyydet eri hintanäkemyksille ja paikallistamaan mahdolliset markkinoiden epätodennäköiset hintaodotukset.Kokemukset Elspot -systeemihinnan ennustamismallin soveltamisesta ovat lupaavia. Lisäksi havainnot futuurimarkkinoiden käyttäytymisestä Nord Poolissa ja muodostettu työkalu suuntaa-antavien todennäköisyyksien selvittämiseksi auttavat kaupan laatijaa päätöksenteossa. Lyhyen tähtäimen sähköjohdannaisten hyödyntäminen teollisessa energianhallinnassa on periaatteessa mahdollista esitellyn prosessin avulla, vaikka täydellinen käyttöönotto vaatisi vielä joitakin järjestelyjä. Keskittymällä tilanteisiin jotka työssä kuvatulla prosessilla ovat hoidettavissa, työssä määritellyllä menettelyllä on mahdollisuudet saavuttaa epäedullisen hintakehityksen riskin väheneminen ja parempi taloudellinen tulos teollisen energianhallinnan sähkökaupankäynnissä.

An overview on the Brazilian orange juice production chain

Brazil is the world's largest producer of oranges and uses more than 70% of the harvested fruits in the production of juices. The amount of processed orange is growing about 10% per year, confirming the trend of the Brazilian citrus for juice production. This research aimed to investigate the Brazilian orange juice production chain from 2005 to 2009. Data from the amount of frozen juice produced and exported, international price of orange juice, and intermediate transactions were assessed in order to make possible selection of all interveners involved in the chain. The study using the Social Network Analysis (SNA) showed that the densest relationships in the network are from exporters to importers and from orange growers to the orange processing industry. No difference was found in the values of the network geodesic distance or the clustering coefficients from 2005 to 2009. The degree of centrality increased steadily throughout the years indicating that the processing industry attempts to minimize the risks by centralizing the actions. A decrease in export of orange juice from 2007 (2.07 10(6) t) to 2008 (2.05 10(6) t) was found, probably due to the world's financial crisis with recovery in 2009. Since 2004, there has been an increase of nearly 10% per year in the market preference of concentrate juice (OFCJ) when compared to the "not from concentrated" juice (NFC). Nowadays the NFC market represents nearly 50% of all Brazilian export which impacted in the logistic distribution and transportation issues.

Exchange rate volatility and the use of foreign currency derivatives: Impact of 2008 global financial crisis

This thesis examines the impact of foreign exchange rate volatility to the extent of use of foreign currency derivatives. Especially the focus is on the impacts of 2008 global financial crisis. The crisis increased risk level in the capital markets greatly. The change in the currency derivatives use is analyzed by comparing means between different periods and in addition, by linear regression that enables to analyze the explanatory power of the model. The research data consists of financial statements figures from fiscal years 2006-2011 published by firms operating in traditional Finnish industrial sectors. Volatilities of the chosen three currency pairs is calculated from the daily fixing rates of ECB. Based on the volatility the sample period is divided into three sub-periods. The results suggest that increased FX market volatility did not increase the use foreign currency derivatives. Furthermore, the increased foreign exchange rate volatility did not increase the power of linear regression model to estimate the use foreign currency derivatives compared to previous studies.

Estimation of aircraft aerodynamic derivatives using Extended Kalman Filter

Design of flight control laws, verification of performance predictions, and the implementation of flight simulations are tasks that require a mathematical model of the aircraft dynamics. The dynamical models are characterized by coefficients (aerodynamic derivatives) whose values must be determined from flight tests. This work outlines the use of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) in obtaining the aerodynamic derivatives of an aircraft. The EKF shows several advantages over the more traditional least-square method (LS). Among these the most important are: there are no restrictions on linearity or in the form which the parameters appears in the mathematical model describing the system, and it is not required that these parameters be time invariant. The EKF uses the statistical properties of the process and the observation noise, to produce estimates based on the mean square error of the estimates themselves. Differently, the LS minimizes a cost function based on the plant output behavior. Results for the estimation of some longitudinal aerodynamic derivatives from simulated data are presented.