Constitutive model for long term municipal solid waste mechanical behavior

This paper presents some improvements in the model proposed by Machado et al. [Machado SL, Carvalho MF, Vilar OM. Constitutive model for municipal solid waste. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 2002; 128(11):940-51] now considering the influence of biodegradation of organic matter in the mechanical behavior of municipal solid waste. The original framework considers waste as composed of two component groups; fibers and organic paste. The particular laws of behavior are assessed for each component group and then coupled to represent waste behavior. The improvements introduced in this paper take into account the changes in the properties of fibers and mass loss due to organic matter depletion over time. Mass loss is indirectly calculated considering the MSW gas generation potential through a first order decay model. It is shown that as the biodegradation process occurs the proportion of fibers increases, however, they also undergo a degradation process which tends to reduce their ultimate tensile stress and Young modulus. The way these changes influence the behavior of MSW is incorporated in the final framework which captures the main features of the MSW stress-strain behavior under different loading conditions. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental assessment of residential buildings with an emphasis on water conservation

The construction, operation and demolition of buildings represent one of the most damaging human activities in the global environment nowadays and water use and conservation is one of the most representative environmental loads to be considered. Brazil, unlike some other countries, has not yet implemented its own body building environmental assessment. The development of an environmental assessment system requires the identification of the most important topics to be considered in each theme for each country or region, due to local environmental agenda. This article presents a summary of the main topics concerning water conservation considered in some international environmental building assessment systems and presents a proposal of topics to take into account in a Brazilian assessment system. Practical application: The civil construction industry is not only one of the biggest sectors in the economy but is also one of the greatest polluters. Along with standardisation, it is also necessary to establish measures to attract significantly higher levels in different topics related to sustainable construction. New mechanisms that allow users to recognise the difference between buildings with different sustainable performance levels need to be developed. This article will be used as a base for the development of a Brazilian system of assessment and rating for building environmental performance and sustainability in terms of water use and conservation.

Residential high-rise buildings in São Paulo: aspects related to the adequacy to the occupant`s needs

This paper analyzes the production of apartment buildings for the middle-income segment in the city of So Paulo, Brazil, from a historical perspective. Tracing the response to the occupants` needs, the focus is on family profiles and their demands, the relationship between architectural design and marketing, and satisfaction levels of current users. The paper begins with a brief historical overview of how apartment buildings have evolved over the past eight decades, highlighting the consolidation of the tripartite model. Next, it analyzes family profiles and their current needs, which would call for a redesign of domestic space. From a different angle, it shows how the real-estate market reacts to this situation, namely by introducing minor changes in the domestic space that are closely linked to major investments in marketing. This leads to a discussion on the quality of recent architectural designs in light of Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) case studies, which corroborate the tendencies previously outlined. The conclusions drawn from the POEs suggest that the market should establish a closer and deeper relationship between the assessment of the human behavior in the domestic space and the architectural quality of homes as a means of increasing satisfaction levels and improving design performance.

The new research centre of the Brazilian Petroleum Company in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: The achievements in the thermal performance of air-conditioned buildings in the tropics

The study on the thermal performance of the air-conditioned buildings of the new research centre of the Brazilian Petroleum Company, in the tropical climate of Rio de Janeiro, was part of a bigger research and consultancy, project involving environmental issues. The architectural design was the subject of a national competition in 2004, encompassing over 100,000 m(2). According to the design brief, out of the 10 buildings of the new research centre, 7 have to be either completely or partially air-conditioned, due to specific occupation requirements. The challenge for better thermal performance was related to systems` energy efficiency, to the introduction of natural ventilation and to the notion of adaptive comfort, which were verified with the support of thermal dynamic simulations. At the early stages of the assessments, the potential for natural ventilation in the working spaces considering the mixed-mode strategy achieved 30% of occupation hours. However, the development of the design project led to fully air-conditioned working spaces, due to users` references regarding the conventional culture of the office environment. Nevertheless, the overall architectural approach in accordance to the climatic conditions still showed a contribution to the buildings` energy efficiency. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The determination of the design strength of granite used as external cladding for buildings

This chapter is concerned with acquisition and analysis of test data for determining whether or not the flexural strength of granite cladding under extreme conditions is adequate to assure that reliability requirements are satisfied.

Onlookers on buildings during the Youth Campaign against Conscription, Brisbane, Australia

Onlookers on buildings during the Youth Campaign against Conscription, Brisbane, Australia on March 24 1966. Paddy wagons, police and a tram can be seen on the corner of Queen and Albert Streets Brisbane. Facade of T & G corner with Spiers Chemists, Mimi building and NM centre can be seen in the background.

Opportunistic and partisan election cycles in Brazil: new evidence at the municipal level

This article tests the hypothesis of opportunistic and partisan cycle models using a new large data set of Brazilian municipalities over the 1989-2005 period. The results show an increase in total and current expenditures and a decrease in municipal investments, local tax revenues, and budget surplus in election years. They also show that partisan ideology exerts a relative influence on the performance of the local public accounts. These results confirm that both opportunistic and partisan cycles have occurred in the management of the budgets of Brazilian municipalities after the end of the military government.

Impacts of Animal Traffic on the Brazilian Amazon Parrots (Amazona species) Collection of the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park, Brazil, 1986-2007

Eleven species of Amazon parrots (genus Amazona) are known to occur in Brazil, and nest poaching and illegal traffic pose serious conservation threats to these species. When the illegal owners realize these animals are incompatible with their expectations and lifestyle, or when the police arrests traders and owners, these trafficked animals are often considered unfit for release and sent to local zoos and captive breeders. A retrospective survey of animal and necropsy records from 1986 to 2007 was used to evaluate the impacts of animal traffic on the population composition and mortality patterns of Amazon parrots at the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park, Sorocaba, Brazil. Data were obtained for 374 Amazon parrots of ten Brazilian species, and there was evidence that the studied population could be split into two major groups: a majority belonging to the Amazona aestiva species and a minority belonging to the remaining species. In comparison, the animals of the first group were more frequently admitted from traffic-related origins (98 vs. 75%), had a shorter lifespan (median 301 days vs. 848 days) and a higher mortality within the first year postadmission (54 vs. 37%), were less likely to receive expensive treatments, and were more frequently housed off-exhibit. On an average, parrots were found to have a short postadmission lifespan (median 356 days), with 92.5% of the birds dying within their first five years in captivity. The paper discusses the difficult dilemmas these incoming traffic-related animals pose to zoo management and official anti-traffic policies. Zoo Biol 29:600-614, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Presta????o de contas: conv??nio entre MDS e prefeitura municipal

O estudo de caso trata da presta????o de contas, por uma prefeitura municipal, da aplica????o de recursos provenientes de um conv??nio com o Minist??rio de Desenvolvimento Social e Combate ?? Fome (MDS). A presta????o de contas foi aprovada e o texto apresenta a rela????o das atividades e gastos efetuados e observa????es feitas durante a avalia????o realizada pelo MDS. Este ?? um caso fict??cio usado em um curso de gest??o de conv??nios e de contratos de repasse de recursos

A integra????o do Programa Bolsa Fam??lia e da Assist??ncia Social: um olhar sobre a gest??o municipal do Programa

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo entender como se deu a integra????o do Programa Bolsa Fam??lia com a assist??ncia social, tendo em vista que na maior parte dos munic??pios a gest??o do PBF est?? sob a responsabilidade das Secretarias Municipais de Assist??ncia Social. Ao analisar o PBF, foi poss??vel notar duas principais caracter??sticas: 1) descentraliza????o e 2) intersetorialidade. No caso da primeira, as responsabilidades s??o descentralizadas para estados e munic??pios. A implementa????o do PBF dependeu de processos de negocia????o e coordena????o federativa, constru??das a partir de mecanismos volunt??rios de ades??o e pactua????o. J?? com rela????o ?? segunda caracter??stica, o PBF ?? um programa de transfer??ncia de renda com condicionalidades, assim, ele se articula com as ??reas de sa??de e educa????o, que fazem o acompanhamento das condicionalidades das fam??lias benefici??rias. A assist??ncia social tem participa????o nas duas caracter??sticas. Na descentraliza????o, a assist??ncia foi aos poucos incorporando a gest??o municipal do PBF. Quanto ?? integra????o na intersetorialidade do Programa, a assist??ncia social tem o papel de ofertar o acompanhamento familiar ??s fam??lias que n??o cumprem os compromissos da agenda de sa??de ou a frequ??ncia escolar, no acompanhamento das condicionalidades. Para analisar as formas como a assist??ncia social participa da gest??o do PBF foram elaboradas tipologias de estrutura de gest??o do programa. O trabalho tamb??m contou com a an??lise de quatro fontes de dados diferentes: duas quantitativas (Censo SUAS 2011 e Relat??rio de Ades??o dos Munic??pios ao PBF) e duas qualitativas (relat??rios de visitas municipais e question??rios aplicados aos gestores municipais ou t??cnicos do PBF). Com base nas tipologias e nos dados analisados, dentro da assist??ncia foram encontrados tr??s modelos diferentes: gest??o do PBF como uma unidade central no ??rg??o gestor, gest??o do PBF com equipe exclusiva no CRAS e gest??o do PBF sob responsabilidade do PAIF. A partir das pesquisas e das observa????es, foi poss??vel identificar que em 93% dos munic??pios a gest??o do PBF est?? como responsabilidade do ??rg??o gestor da assist??ncia, nos demais a gest??o ?? responsabilidade do gabinete do prefeito ou de outras ??reas, como sa??de, educa????o, finan??as, administra????o ou outras. O trabalho localizou ainda quatro espa??os onde a assist??ncia social participa da gest??o do PBF de forma integrada: 1) Cadastro ??nico, 2) transfer??ncia fundo a fundo para o IGD, 3) Protocolo de Gest??o Integrada de Servi??os Benef??cios e Transfer??ncia de Renda no ??mbito do SUAS, e seus desdobramentos, e 4) presen??a do PBF nas Comiss??es, F??runs e Conselhos de Assist??ncia Social. Ao final, constatou-se que as fontes utilizadas na pesquisa n??o detalham como ?? a participa????o da assist??ncia na gest??o do PBF. Tendo em vista que na maior parte dos munic??pios a assist??ncia ?? a respons??vel pela gest??o do Programa, as considera????es finais trazem a recomenda????o de o Censo SUAS ser o instrumento que pode fornecer insumos para avalia????o de gest??o do PBF, facilitando o planejamento de a????es e di??logos com as equipes municipais

Texto para discuss??o 37: planejamento estrat??gico municipal no Brasil: uma nova abordagem

A concep????o do Planejamento Estrat??gico Municipal visa substituir o pensamento est??tico da administra????o pela ideia din??mica do gerenciamento. No centro desse m??todo encontra-se o Planejamento Estrat??gico, o qual foi adaptado ??s condi????es espec??ficas da administra????o p??blica no Brasil e que deve ser complementado por uma vis??o de gerenciamento de projetos e por t??cnicas de trabalho participativas, transparentes e din??micas

O plano plurianual municipal no sistema de planejamento e or??amento brasileiro

A partir da perspectiva do New Public Financial Management, o artigo traz os aspectos t??cnicos e pol??ticos que permearam o desenvolvimento do sistema de planejamento e or??amento brasileiro. Considerando os condicionantes dos momentos hist??ricos que interferiram em seu desenvolvimento, s??o identificadas caracter??sticas pol??ticas, t??cnicas e metodol??gicas incidentes no controle financeiro, nas melhorias administrativas, no planejamento e, finalmente, na tend??ncia participativa decorrente da amplia????o de espa??os democr??ticos. Em seguida, s??o apresentados o tratamento constitucional dado ao Plano Plurianual e o aperfei??oamento do sistema de planejamento e or??amento trazido pela Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal. S??o destacadas, para o caso municipal, as inova????es contidas no Estatuto da Cidade, com reflexos no Plano Plurianual Municipal. Ressalta-se a import??ncia do processo de planejamento e or??amento na execu????o das pol??ticas p??blicas, enfatizando as dificuldades ainda existentes quanto ?? regula????o do sistema de planejamento e or??amento para permitir o imbricamento dessas pol??ticas entre as tr??s esferas federativas.