The 'muscle-bone unit' during the pubertal growth spurt

Mechanostat theory postulates that developmental changes in bone strength are secondary to the increasing loads imposed by larger muscle forces. Therefore, the increase in muscle strength should precede the increase in bone strength. We tested this prediction using densitometric surrogate measures of muscle force (lean body mass, LBM) and bone strength (bone mineral content, BMC) in a study on 70 boys and 68 girls who were longitudinally examined during pubertal development. On the level of the total body, the peak in LBM accrual preceded the peak in BMC accretion by an average of 0.51 years in girls and by 0.36 years in boys. In the arms, the maximal increase in LBM was followed by arm peak BMC accrual after an interval of 0.71 years in girls and 0.63 years in boys. In the lower extremities, the maximal increase in LBM was followed by peak BMC accrual after an interval of 0.22 years in girls and 0.48 years in boys. A multiple regression model revealed that total body peak LBM velocity, but not peak height velocity and sex, was independently associated with total body peak BMC velocity (r(2) = 0.50; P < 0.001). Similarly, arm and leg peak LBM velocity, but not peak height velocity and sex, were independently associated with arm and leg peak BMC velocity, respectively (r(2) = 0.61 for arms, r(2) = 0.41 for legs; P < 0.001 in both cases). These results are compatible with the view that bone development is driven by muscle development, although the data do not exclude the hypothesis that the two processes are independently determined by genetic mechanisms. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-70% of cases in subjects over 65 years of age. Several postulates have been put forward that relate AD neuropathology to intellectual and functional impairment. These range from free-radical-induced damage, through cholinergic dysfunction, to beta-amyloid-induced toxicity. However, therapeutic strategies aimed at improving the cognitive symptoms of patients via choline supplementation, cholinergic stimulation or beta-amyloid vaccination, have largely failed. A growing body of evidence suggests that perturbations in systems using the excitatory amino acid L-glutamate (L-Glu) may underlie the pathogenic mechanisms of (e.g.) hypoxia-ischemia, epilepsy, and chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease and AD. Almost all neurons in the CNS carry the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of ionotropic L-glutamate receptors, which can mediate post-synaptic Ca2+ influx. Excitotoxicity resulting from excessive activation of NMDA receptors may enhance the localized vulnerability of neurons in a manner consistent with AD neuropathology, as a consequence of an altered regional distribution of NMDA receptor subtypes. This review discusses mechanisms for the involvement of the NMDA receptor complex and its interaction with polyamines in the pathogenesis of AD. NMDA receptor antagonists have potential for the therapeutic amelioration of AD. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rhizoctonia crown and root rot of the pasture legume, sulla (Hedysarum coronarium)

Rhizoctonia solani AG-2-2 was isolated from wilting and dying plants of sulla ( Hedysarum coronarium), which is currently being assessed in eastern and southern Australia for its potential as a pasture and forage legume. Infected plants in the field had extensive rotting of the taproot, lateral roots and crown. Koch's postulates were fulfilled using three inoculation methods. The disease may pose a considerable threat to the potential use of H. coronarium in the dryland, grazing farming systems of Australia, with resistance offering the most viable option for minimising its impact.

Inconclusiveness of chytridiomycosis as the agent in widespread frog declines

Although there is considerable evidence to support the hypothesis that the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the primary agent responsible for widespread declines in amphibian populations, particularly rainforest frog populations in Australia and Central America, I argue the case has not yet been made conclusively. Few specimens were collected at the time of population declines, so it may never be possible to conclusively determine their cause. It remains unclear whether the pathogen is novel where declines have occurred. Although it is not necessary that the infection be novel for it to be implicated in declines, if a preexisting pathogen has only recently caused extinctions, cofactors must be important. Whether the pattern of outbreaks represents a wave of extinctions is unclear, but if it does, the rate of spread in Australia is implausibly high for a waterborne pathogen, given the most likely estimates of epidemiological parameters. Although B. dendrobatidis is an amphibian pathogen according to Koch's postulates, the postulates are neither necessary nor sufficient criteria to identify a pathogen. The following key pieces of information are necessary to better understand the impact of this fungus on frog communities: better knowledge of the means and rate of transmission under field conditions, prevalence of infection among frog populations, as distinct from morbid individuals, and the effect of the fungus on frogs in the wild. It is crucial to determine whether there are strains of the fungus with differing pathogenicity to particular frog species and whether host-pathogen coevolution has occurred or is occurring. Recently developed diagnostic tools bring into reach the possibility of addressing these questions and thus developing appropriate strategies to manage frog communities that may be affected by this fungus.

Identification of the causal agent of pistachio dieback in Australia

Symptoms associated with pistachio dieback in Australia include decline (little or no current season growth), xylem staining in shoots two or more years old, trunk mu and limb lesions (often covered by black, superficial fungal growth), excessive exudation of resin, dieback and death of the tree. Bacteria belonging to the genus Xanthomonas have been suggested as the causal agent. To confirm the constant association between these bacteria and the disease syndrome, the absence of other pathogens and the identity of the pathogen, we performed a series of isolations and pathogenicity tests. The only microorganism consistently isolated from diseased tissue was a bacterium that produced yellow, mucoid colonies and displayed morphological and cultural characteristics typical of the genus Xanthomonas. Database comparisons of the fatty acid and whole-cell protein profiles of five representative pistachio isolates indicated that they all belonged to X. translucens, but it was not possible to allocate the isolates to pathovar. Pathogenicity tests on cereals and grasses supported this identification. However, Koch's postulates have been only partially fulfilled because not all symptoms associated with pistachio dieback were reproduced on inoculated two-year-old pistachio trees. While discolouration was observed, dieback, excessive resinous exudate and trunk and limb lesions were not produced; expression of these symptoms may be delayed, and long-term monitoring of a small number of inoculated trees is in progress.

Study of the integrated cognitive model of depression among Latin-Americans

Objective: The objective of the present study is to test the validity of the integrated cognitive model (ICM) of depression proposed by Kwon and Oei with a Latin-American sample. The ICM of depression postulates that the interaction between negative life events with dysfunctional attitudes increases the frequency of negative automatic thoughts, which in turns affects the depressive symptomatology of a person. This model was developed for Western Europeans such as Americans and Australians and the validity of this model has not been tested on Latin-Americans. Method: Participants were 101 Latin-American migrants living permanently in Brisbane, including people from Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina and Guatemala. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire and the Life Events Inventory. Alternative or competing models of depression were examined, including the alternative aetiologies model, the linear mediational model and the symptom model. Results: Six models were tested and the results of the structural equation modelling analysis indicated that the symptom model only fits the Latin-American data. Conclusions: Results show that in the Latin-American sample depression symptoms can have an impact on negative cognitions. This finding adds to growing evidence in the literature that the relationship between cognitions and depression is bidirectional, rather than unidirectional from cognitions to symptoms.

O Trânsito Religioso e a Recomposição das Formas Religiosas na Igreja Evangélica Assembleia de Deus, Ministério São Bernardo do Campo

O campo religioso brasileiro apresenta, em sua configuração atual, uma formatação identitária extremamente diversa daquela observada em décadas anteriores. A partir dessa consideração, emerge uma problemática significativa - como compreender essas mudanças? Por que um cenário, antes extremamente resistente a transformações, agora se abre aos ventos modernizantes permitindo a recomposição de suas formas religiosas? Ora, a construção de novas identidades e a reordenação dos padrões religiosos podem ser compreendidas a partir do fenômeno do trânsito religioso, considerando ser possível iden-tificar na movimentação dos sujeitos uma dinâmica que estabelece alterações, tanto no caráter institucional e litúrgico dos grupos, bem como na vivência prática dos / das fiéis, promovendo inéditos e provisórios sistemas simbólicos. Diante da multiplicidade de oferta, os sujeitos apresentam uma mobilidade incessante num processo de ressignificação permanente, formando efêmeros mosaicos nos quais se distinguem múltiplas cores, formas, espaços, demandas, motivações, comportamentos, interesses, habitus, tradições, símbolos, disposições, estratégias, gostos e combinações. A partir dos postulados das Ciências da Religião, essa pesquisa propõe-se a analisar esse evento tendo como universo de observação a Igreja Evangélica Assembleia de Deus, Ministério São Bernardo do Campo. Objetiva demonstrar, mediante a interpretação do con-junto de dados obtidos em pesquisa de campo correlacionado com os fundamentos teóricos, a recomposição das formas religiosas institucionais e as novas identidades desenvolvidas pelos sujeitos a partir da mobilidade; estabelecer uma conexão entre os elementos indicadores da pesquisa e o fenômeno caracterizado para identificar quais são as motivações de gênero, classe, geracional e de etnia para o trânsito de homens e mulheres que circulam das mais diversas alternativas para esse grupo religioso e, considerando esse referencial, compreender como a instituição religiosa absorve esse fluxo de pessoas.

MARKETING E CRÍTICA PROFÉTICA NA AÇÃO EVANGELIZADORA DA IGREJA CATÓLICA

A proposta de utilização do marketing na ação evangelizadora da Igreja Católica provoca debates entre os diversos segmentos da instituição. Por um lado, setores favoráveis defendem que a utilização do marketing religioso é uma alternativa disponível para Igreja Católica buscar a eficácia na realização de seus objetivos. Por outro lado, setores contrários ao marketing religioso afirmam que há incompatibilidade entre a lógica do marketing e a lógica profética da tradição judaico-cristã. Estes setores assumem a visão de que a lógica do marketing está articulada à lógica da sociedade do consumo, e, portanto, à lógica do capitalismo. Como são críticos ao capitalismo, passam a ser, também, contrários ao uso do marketing na ação eclesial. Diante desta controvérsia, esta dissertação tem o objetivo de mostrar que não há contradição na utilização de algumas técnicas de marketing na ação evangelizadora dos setores católicos comprometidos com a crítica profética à cultura do consumo, a fim de que sua ação profética seja mais eficaz. Nesse sentido, pretendemos mostrar que, de fato, há contradição entre a lógica do marketing e a lógica profética, mas que não existe, necessariamente, contradição entre o uso de algumas técnicas de marketing e a missão profética do cristianismo. Como procedimentos metodológicos, optamos por uma pesquisa bibliográfica a partir dos seguintes referenciais teóricos: Peter Drucker e Philip Kotler foram importantes para fundamentar o significado do marketing nas áreas de Marketing e de Administração. No campo das Ciências da Religião os referenciais teóricos foram Jung Mo Sung, que contribuiu com o estudo das relações entre lógica do mercado, lógica profética e evangelização, e Afonso Murad, que foi importante para articular os conceitos de gestão e de estratégia na ação evangelizadora.(AU)

PENSAR A CIBERCULTURA AMBIENTALISTA: Comunicação, mobilização e as estratégias discursivas do Greenpeace Brasil

Nossa Tese postula a existência de uma cibercultura ambientalista, própria do movimento ambiental, que conta com uma dinâmica comunicativa caracterizada por estratégias de discurso e mobilização específicas. O movimento ambiental, aqui representado pela organização de espectro internacional Greenpeace, soube se apropriar das ferramentas digitais, difundir a problemática em um cenário de redes sociais digitais, ciberativismo, interatividade e composição de uma esfera pública em rede, que colocamos em debate. Para entender esse panorama realizamos uma ampla discussão teórica, em permanente diálogo com nosso objeto de estudo, abrangendo a trajetória do ambientalismo e seu lugar enquanto movimento social; as tecnologias da sociabilidade, a Internet e suas mídias como espaço de resistência e controle, assinalando a cibercultura como a própria cultura contemporânea, pautada pelas influências tecnológicas. Realizamos entrevistas com voluntários, seguidores, além de responsáveis pela comunicação do Greenpeace que nos permitiram traçar as motivações da participação e confirmar que o engajamento na causa ambiental foi fortemente impulsionado pelas facilidades do ciberespaço. As estratégias discursivas foram desvendadas com as coordenadas metodológicas da Análise do Discurso, focada na identificação do ethos e das cenas de enunciação, com base em um protocolo de análise que formulamos para compreender a maneira de dizer que leva os sujeitos aderirem maciçamente ao discurso ambiental. Na primeira etapa da análise realizamos diagnóstico de perspectiva quantitativa e caráter exploratório para levantar as campanhas/temáticas principais e avaliar a repercussão dos assuntos nas redes sociais digitais e na mídia convencional. Posteriormente, selecionamos os textos das principais campanhas que passaram pela fase qualitativa, que abarcou os itens lexicais, as técnicas argumentativas e os elementos de destacabilidade, além de aspectos externos ao texto linguístico, como fotos, vídeos, cores e cenas predominantes. O discurso na cibercultura ambiental desvela o ethos do amigo, do parceiro, que oscila entre o drama e a agressividade para chamar atenção à causa. Problemas graves como denúncias ambientais são tratados com um ethos lúdico, até mesmo infantil, usando de linguagem coloquial e de códigos da cultura contemporânea desenhos animados, jogos virtuais, belos animais que cantam e dançam que para os nossos olhos revelam uma cenografia esquizofrênica, mas é justamente o que garante o êxito das campanhas.

TÁTICAS DE PROFESSORES: UMA REFLEXÃO SOBRE O CENÁRIO AVALIATIVO NO REGIME DE PROGRESSÃO CONTINUADA.

Este estudo qualitativo foi elaborado por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica de estudiosos do tema da avaliação do rendimento de alunos, como Luckesi (2005), Hoffmann (2003), Paro (2003), Hadji (1994) e Figari (1996), e de pesquisa de campo, com o objetivo de investigar como está ocorrendo a avaliação do ensino fundamental da rede pública paulista, na vigência do regime de progressão continuada. Considerando que os fundamentos da prática avaliativa distam quase sempre dos apregoados pela política educacional instituída e com o propósito de verificar se isto está ocorrendo com a política de progressão continuada, participei, durante um ano letivo, das atividades educacionais de uma escola pública da periferia da Grande São Paulo, observando, colhendo depoimentos e anotando cuidadosamente tudo o que vivenciei nesse período. Para empreender uma leitura dos dados coletados, busquei também o apoio no construto teórico de Michel de Certeau, para quem aos "produtos impostos" códigos, leis, políticas culturais, etc. rigorosamente organizados de forma a atribuir um lugar, um papel ao homem ordinário, contrapõem-se práticas construídas no processo de apropriação desses produtos. Por meio de suas "artes de fazer", os usuários reinventam o cotidiano. Utilizando-se de "táticas astuciosas", o usuário da cultura reapropria-se dos espaços, altera-lhes os códigos e deles faz uso "a seu jeito". Nesta pesquisa, que enfoca as relações dos protagonistas de processos avaliativos escolares, confirmam-se os postulados de Certeau, que não conferem ao consumidor da política um lugar passivo. Como já foi caracterizado por este instigante pensador, o usuário da política (o instituinte), enquanto portador de astúcias, move-se no campo espacial do outro (o instituído) e, taticamente, fazendo uso de práticas não previstas, escreve uma "outra história". O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi contribuir com reflexões que mostrem a importância de se analisar as tensões geradas por políticas educacionais impostas, desprovidas de sentido para aqueles que não participam de sua elaboração, o que tem provocado movimentos táticos de seus usuários, neste caso, os docentes, os quais, sem as condições objetivas necessárias para promover a política instituída, enunciada no discurso, utilizam-se do seu potencial instituinte de transformação, escrevendo uma "outra história".

Capabilities for strategic flexibility:a cognitive content framework

Different forms of strategic flexibility allow for reactive adaptation to different changing environments and the proactive driving of change. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for decision makers to not only possess marketing capabilities, but also the capabilities for strategic flexibility in its various forms. However, our knowledge of the relationships between decision makers’ different ways of thinking and their capabilities for strategic flexibility is limited. This limitation is constraining research and understanding. In this article we develop a theoretical cognitive content framework that postulates relationships between different ways of thinking about strategy and different information-processing demands. We then outline how the contrasting beliefs of decision makers may influence their capabilities to generate different hybrid forms of strategic flexibility at the cognitive level. Theoretically, the framework is embedded in resource-based theory, personal construct theory and schema theory. The implications for research and theory are discussed.

Le prix de l'individualité. Maine de Brian, Samuel Taylor Coleridge et la volonté: Deux postétités distinctes

This thesis is concerned with Maine de Biran’s and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s conceptions of will, and the way in which both thinkers’ posterities have been affected by the central role of these very conceptions in their respective bodies of thought. The research question that animates this work can therefore be divided into two main parts, one of which deals with will, while the other deals with its effects on posterity. In the first pages of the Introduction, I make the case for a comparison between two philosophers, and show how this comparison can bring one closer to truth, understood not in objective, but in subjective terms. I then justify my choice by underlining that, in spite of their many differences, Maine de Biran and Samuel Taylor Coleridge followed comparable paths, intellectually and spiritually, and came to similar conclusions concerning the essential activity of the human mind. Finally, I ask whether it is possible that this very focus on the human will may have contributed to the state of both thinkers’ works and of the reception of those works. This prologue is followed by five parts. In the first part, the similarities and differences between the two thinkers are explored further. In the second part, the connections between philosophy and singularity are examined, in order to show the ambivalence of the will as a foundation for truth. The third part is dedicated to the traditional division between subject and object in psychology, and its relevance in history and in moral philosophy. The fourth part tackles the complexity of the question of influence, with respect to both Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s cases, both thinkers being indebted to many philosophers of all times and places, and having to rely heavily on others for the publication, or the interpretation of their own works. The fifth part is concerned with the different aspects of the faculty of will, and primarily its relationship with interiority, as incommensurability, and actual, conditioned existence in a certain historical and spatial context. It ends with a return to the question of will and posterity and an announcement of what will be covered in the main body of the thesis. The main body is divided into three parts:‘L’émancipation’, ‘L’affirmation, and ‘La projection’. The first part is devoted to the way Maine de Biran and Samuel Taylor Coleridge extricated themselves from one epistemological paradigm to contribute to the foundation of another. It is divided in four chapters. The first chapter deals with the aforementioned change of paradigm, as corresponding to the emergence of two separate but associated movements, Romanticism and what the French philosopher refers to as ‘The Age of History’. The second chapter concerns the movement that preceded them, i.e. the Enlightenment, its main features according to both of our thinkers, and the two epistemological models that prevailed under it and influenced them heavily in their early years: Sensationism (Maine de Biran) and Associationism (Coleridge). The third chapter is about the probable influence of Immanuel Kant and his followers on Maine de Biran and Coleridge, and the various facts that allow us to claim originality for both thinkers’ works. In the fourth chapter, I contrast Maine de Biran and Coleridge with other movements and thinkers of their time, showing that, contrary to their respective thoughts, Maine de Biran and Coleridge could not but break free from the then prevailing systematic approach to truth. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the first part of its research question, namely, Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s conceptions of the will. It is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is a reflection on the will as a paradox: on the one hand, the will cannot be caused by any other phenomenon, or it is no longer a will; but it cannot be left purely undetermined, as if it is, it is then not different from chance. It thus needs, in order to be, to be contradictorily already moral. The second chapter is a comparison between Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s accounts of the origin of the will, where it is found that the French philosopher only observes that he has a will, whereas the English philosopher postulates the existence of this will. The comparison between Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s conceptions of the will is pursued in the third chapter, which tackles the question of the coincidence between the will and the self, in both thinkers’ works. It ends with the fourth chapter, which deals with the question of the relationship between the will and what is other to it, i.e. bodily sensations, passions and desires. The third part of the thesis focuses on the second part of its research question, namely the posterity of Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s works. It is divided into four chapters. The first chapter constitutes a continuation of the last chapter of the preceding part, in that that it deals with Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s relations to the ‘other’, and particularly their potential and actual audience, and with the way these relations may have affected their writing and publishing practices. The second chapter is a survey of both thinkers’ general reception, where it is found that, while Maine de Biran has been claimed by two important movements of thoughts as their initiator, Coleridge has been neglected by the only real movement he could have, or may indeed have pioneered. The third chapter is more directly concerned with the posterities of Maine de Biran’s and Coleridge’s conceptions of will, and attempts to show that the approach to, and the meaning of the will have evolved throughout the nineteenth century, and in the French Spiritualist and the British Idealist movements, from an essentially personal one to a more impersonal one. The fourth chapter is a partial conclusion, whose aim is to give a precise idea of where Maine de Biran and Coleridge stand, in relation to their century and to the philosophical movements and matters we are concerned with. The conclusion is a recapitulation of what has been found, with a particular emphasis on the dialogue initiated between Maine de Biran and Coleridge on the will, and the relation between will and posterity. It suggests that both thinkers have to pay the price of a problematic reception for the individuality that pervades their respective works, and goes further in suggesting that s/he who chooses to found his individuality on the will is bound to feel this incompleteness in his/her own personal life more acutely than s/he who does not. It ends with a reflection on fixedness and movement, as the two antagonistic states that the theoretician of the will paradoxically aspires to.

Exits, entrances and entrepreneurship : an exploration of economic theories of entrepreneurship through new independent entry and infant exit

The thesis began as a study of new firm formation. Preliminary research suggested that infant death rate was considered to be a closely related problem and the search was for a theory of new firm formation which would explain both. The thesis finds theories of exit and entry inadequate in this respect and focusses instead on theories of entrepreneurship, particularly those which concentrate on entrepreneurship as an agent of change. The role of information is found to be fundamental to economic change and an understanding of information generation and dissemination and the nature and direction of information flows is postulated to lead coterminously to an understanding of entrepreneurhsip and economic change. The economics of information is applied to theories of entrepreneurhsip and some testable hypotheses are derived. The testing relies on etablishing and measuring the information bases of the founders of new firms and then testing for certain hypothesised differences between the information bases of survivors and non-survivors. No theory of entrepreneurship is likely to be straightforwardly testable and many postulates have to be established to bring the theory to a testable stage. A questionnaire is used to gather information from a sample of firms taken from a new micro-data set established as part of the work of the thesis. Discriminant Analysis establishes the variables which best distinguish between survivors and non-survivors. The variables which emerge as important discriminators are consistent with the theory which the analysis is testing. While there are alternative interpretations of the important variables, collective consistency with the theory under test is established. The thesis concludes with an examination of the implications of the theory for policy towards stimulating new firm formation.

Varieties of acquired phonological dyslexia

The existence of different varieties of the acquired reading disorder termed "phonological dyslexia" is demonstrated in this thesis. The data are interpreted in terms of an information-processing model of normal reading which postulates autonomous routes for pronouncing lexical and non-lexical items and identifies a number of separable sub-processes within both lexical and non-lexical routes. A case study approach is used and case reports on ten patients who have particular difficulty in processing non-lexical stimuli following cerebral insult are presented, Chapters 1 and 2 describe the theoretical background to the investigation. Cognitive models of reading are examined in Chapter 1 and the theoretical status of the current taxonomy of the acquired dyslexias discussed in relation to the models. In Chapter 2 the symptoms associated with phonological dyslexia are discussed both in terms of the theoretical models and in terms of the cosistency with which they are reported to occur in clinical studies. Published cases of phonological dyslexia are reviewed. Chapter 3 describes the tests administered and the analysis of error responses. The majority of tests require reading aloud of single lexical or non-lexical items and investigate the effect of different variables on reading performance. Chapter 4 contains the case reports. The final chapter summarises the different patterns of reading behaviour observed. The theoretical model predicts the selective impairment of subsystems within the phonological route. The data provide evidence of such selective impairment. It is concluded that there are different varieties of phonological dyslexia corresponding to the different loci of impairment within the phonological route. It is also concluded that the data support the hypothesis that there are two lexical routes. A further subdivision of phonological dyslexia is made on the basis of selective impairment of the direct or lexical-semantic routes.

Műszaki és gazdasági hatékonyság Koopmans termeléselméletében (Technical and economic efficiency in Koopmans' theory of production)

Koopmans gyakorlati problémák megoldása során szerzett tapasztalatait általánosítva fogott hozzá a lineáris tevékenységelemzési modell kidolgozásához. Meglepődve tapasztalta, hogy a korabeli közgazdaságtan nem rendelkezett egységes, kellően egzakt termeléselmélettel és fogalomrendszerrel. Úttörő dolgozatában ezért - mintegy a lineáris tevékenységelemzési modell elméleti kereteként - lerakta a technológiai halmazok fogalmán nyugvó axiomatikus termeléselmélet alapjait is. Nevéhez fűződik a termelési hatékonyság és a hatékonysági árak fogalmának egzakt definíciója, s az egymást kölcsönösen feltételező viszonyuk igazolása a lineáris tevékenységelemzési modell keretében. A hatékonyság manapság használatos, pusztán műszaki szempontból értelmezett definícióját Koopmans csak sajátos esetként tárgyalta, célja a gazdasági hatékonyság fogalmának a bevezetése és elemzése volt. Dolgozatunkban a lineáris programozás dualitási tételei segítségével rekonstruáljuk ez utóbbira vonatkozó eredményeit. Megmutatjuk, hogy egyrészt bizonyításai egyenértékűek a lineáris programozás dualitási tételeinek igazolásával, másrészt a gazdasági hatékonysági árak voltaképpen a mai értelemben vett árnyékárak. Rámutatunk arra is, hogy a gazdasági hatékonyság értelmezéséhez megfogalmazott modellje az Arrow-Debreu-McKenzie-féle általános egyensúlyelméleti modellek közvetlen előzményének tekinthető, tartalmazta azok szinte minden lényeges elemét és fogalmát - az egyensúlyi árak nem mások, mint a Koopmans-féle hatékonysági árak. Végezetül újraértelmezzük Koopmans modelljét a vállalati technológiai mikroökonómiai leírásának lehetséges eszközeként. Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) kód: B23, B41, C61, D20, D50. /===/ Generalizing from his experience in solving practical problems, Koopmans set about devising a linear model for analysing activity. Surprisingly, he found that economics at that time possessed no uniform, sufficiently exact theory of production or system of concepts for it. He set out in a pioneering study to provide a theoretical framework for a linear model for analysing activity by expressing first the axiomatic bases of production theory, which rest on the concept of technological sets. He is associated with exact definition of the concept of production efficiency and efficiency prices, and confirmation of their relation as mutual postulates within the linear model of activity analysis. Koopmans saw the present, purely technical definition of efficiency as a special case; he aimed to introduce and analyse the concept of economic efficiency. The study uses the duality precepts of linear programming to reconstruct the results for the latter. It is shown first that evidence confirming the duality precepts of linear programming is equal in value, and secondly that efficiency prices are really shadow prices in today's sense. Furthermore, the model for the interpretation of economic efficiency can be seen as a direct predecessor of the Arrow–Debreu–McKenzie models of general equilibrium theory, as it contained almost every essential element and concept of them—equilibrium prices are nothing other than Koopmans' efficiency prices. Finally Koopmans' model is reinterpreted as a necessary tool for microeconomic description of enterprise technology.