The People’s Republic of China and Latin America: the impact of Chinese economic growth on Latin American exports

The role of the People’s Republic of China in the world economy has grown substantially in recent decades, turning it into a strategic foreign trading partner for much of Latin America. Bilateral trade between the region and China totalled US$ 120 billion in 2009. This study analyses the income elasticity of the region’s exports to the country. The findings show that, assuming real gross domestic product (gdp) growth in China of about 7% a year, the value of Latin American exports to China (at 2005 prices) can be expected to increase by an average of about 10% a year between 2014 and 2019. In a more conservative scenario of 4.5% average annual growth in the Chinese economy over the period, exports would rise by about 7% a year.

Seleção de fornecedores e gestão logística nas importações da China: uma abordagem de processos e custos para pequenas e médias empresas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise da dinâmica de preços entre os mercados futuros de grão, farelo e óleo de soja na China e Estados Unidos

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Metabolite profiles of essential oils in citrus peels and their taxonomic implications

China is an important center of origin for the genus Citrus L. of the family Rutaceae and is rich in wild Citrus species. The taxonomy of Citrus has been a subject of controversy for more than a half century. We propose that the metabolite profiles of Chinese native Citrus species can be used for classification and understanding of the taxonomic relationships within the Citrus germplasm. In this study, triplicate gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolite profiles of 20 Citrus species/varieties were acquired, including 10 native varieties originating in China. R-(+)-limonene, alpha-pinene, sabinene and alpha-terpinene were found to be major characteristic components of the essential oils analyzed in this study, and these compounds contributed greatly to the metabolic classification. The three basic species of the subgenus Eucitrus (Swingle's system), i.e., C. reticulata Blanco, C. medica L. and C. grandis Osb., were clearly differentiated based upon their metabolite profiles using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). All the presumed hybrid genotypes, including sweet orange (C. sinensis Osb.), sour orange (C. aurantium L.), lemon (C. limon Burm.f.), rough lemon (C. jambhiri Lush.), rangpur lime (C. limonia Osb.) and grapefruit (C. paradisi Macf.), were grouped closely together with one of their suggested parent species in the HCA-dendrogram and the PLS-DA score plot. These results clearly demonstrated that the metabolite profiles of Citrus species could be utilized for the taxonomic classification of the genus and are complementary to the existing taxonomic evidence, especially for the identification and differentiation of hybrid species.

O comércio internacional de tecnologias ambientais: a inserção do Brasil e da China

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Indagine delle proprietà statistiche di serie temporali di posizione applicata al caso della stazione permanente GPS della base Mario Zucchelli in Terra Vittoria (Antartide)

Da ormai sette anni la stazione permanente GPS di Baia Terranova acquisisce dati giornalieri che opportunamente elaborati consentono di contribuire alla comprensione della dinamica antartica e a verificare se modelli globali di natura geofisica siano aderenti all’area di interesse della stazione GPS permanente. Da ricerche bibliografiche condotte si è dedotto che una serie GPS presenta molteplici possibili perturbazioni principalmente dovute a errori nella modellizzazione di alcuni dati ancillari necessari al processamento. Non solo, da alcune analisi svolte, è emerso come tali serie temporali ricavate da rilievi geodetici, siano afflitte da differenti tipologie di rumore che possono alterare, se non opportunamente considerate, i parametri di interesse per le interpretazioni geofisiche del dato. Il lavoro di tesi consiste nel comprendere in che misura tali errori, possano incidere sui parametri dinamici che caratterizzano il moto della stazione permanente, facendo particolare riferimento alla velocità del punto sul quale la stazione è installata e sugli eventuali segnali periodici che possono essere individuati.

La registrazione immobiliare nell'ordinamento cinese e nelle esperienze giuridiche europee: modelli per una nuova riforma in Cina

L’ordinamento giuridico cinese contemporaneo si è, recentemente, impegnato in una riforma che ha interessato le norme vigenti in materia di registrazione immobiliare con l’intento di realizzare un sistema unitario dell’istituto. Dal momento che la modernizzazione del diritto civile cinese è iniziata - a partire dalla fine del XIX secolo – tramite il recepimento del diritto civile occidentale, la disamina delle esperienze europee in materia di pubblicità immobiliare assume una notevole importanza, al fine di esaminare le norme vigenti in Cina e i cambiamenti scaturenti dalla riforma. Pertanto, l’obiettivo della mia ricerca è stato quello di avanzare una tesi che possa rivelarsi quale strumento utile per la riforma in Cina, attraverso uno studio comparato dei modelli europei in materia di registrazione immobiliare. A tal fine, il lavoro è stato suddiviso in due parti: nella prima si è presentata un’analisi dettagliata del diritto di proprietà, del dualismo delle proprietà fondiarie e relative problematiche, del sistema dei diritti reali costituito dalla Legge sui diritti reali del 2007, da cui è partita la riforma dell’istituto della registrazione immobiliare. Un approfondimento particolare è dedicato al pluralismo dei regimi di registrazione immobiliare vigenti nel diritto cinese contemporaneo e all’introduzione dei cambiamenti apportati dal nuovo regolamento del 2015. Nella seconda parte dell’elaborato, attraverso lo studio comparato dei diversi modelli Europei (Francese, Tedesco e Inglese), si è tentato di illustrare le esperienze europee in materia di pubblicità immobiliare maturate nei tre temi maggiormente rappresentativi e concreti, quali la tutela degli interessi privatistici, l’autenticità dei titoli e il ruolo del notaio, la procedura della pubblicità immobiliare, al fine di individuare una via percorribile per il perfezionamento del sistema unitario della registrazione nell’ordinamento cinese. Nelle conclusioni, infine, sono state inserite anche alcune riflessioni circa l’importanza dello studio del diritto comparato per l’esperienza Cinese.

European and Chinese legislation regulating the portrayal of women in television advertising: A comparison

This dissertation has two main purposes. On the one hand, it aims at comparing the gender stereotypes presented in the television commercials in China and in Europe. Considering the cultural, historical and socio-economical differences between these two contexts, it is interesting to examine the gender role models offered and used by the advertising industry in European Union and China in order to see if the gender stereotypes are similar and to evaluate to which extent they reflect, challenge or reinforce the gender roles of the society where they are broadcasted. On the other hand, the objective of this dissertation is to establish the degree of adequateness and effectiveness of the existing regulatory framework through an analysis of the positive and negative aspects of the regulatory acts issued to safeguard a fair representation of genders in the EU Member States and in China.

Mainstreaming a Decade's Experiences in Watershed Management to Meet the Challenges of Environmental Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas

Like other mountain areas in the world, the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Ongoing climate change processes are projected to have a high impact on the HKH region, and accelerated warming has been reported in the Himalayas. These climate change impacts will be superimposed on a variety of other environmental and social stresses, adding to the complexity of the issues. The sustainable use of natural resources is crucial to the long-term stability of the fragile mountain ecosystems in the HKH and to sustain the socio-ecological resilience that forms the basis of sustainable livelihoods in the region. In order to be prepared for these challenges, it is important to take stock of previous research. The ‘People and Resource Dynamics Project’ (PARDYP), implemented by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), provides a variety of participatory options for sustainable land management in the HKH region. The PARDYD project was a research for development project that operated in five middle mountain watersheds across the HKH – two in Nepal and one each in China, India, and Pakistan. The project ran from 1996 to 2006 and focused on addressing the marginalisation of mountain farmers, the use and availability of water, issues relating to land and forest degradation and declining soil fertility, the speed of regeneration of degraded land, and the ability of the natural environment to support the growing needs of the region’s increasing population. A key learning from the project was that the opinion of land users is crucial to the acceptance (and, therefore, successful application) of new technologies and approaches. A major challenge at the end of every project is to promote knowledge sharing and encourage the cross-fertilization of ideas (e.g., in the case of PARDYP, with other middle mountain inhabitants and practitioners in the region) and to share lessons learned with a wider audience. This paper will highlight how the PARDYP findings, including ways of addressing soil fertility and water scarcity, have been mainstreamed in the HKH region through capacity building (international, regional, and national training courses), networking, and the provision of backstopping services. In addition, in view of the challenges in watershed management in the HKH connected to environmental change, the lessons learned from the PARDYP are now being used by ICMOD to define and package climate change proof technology options to address climate change adaptation.

Seasonal variation and sources of low molecular weight organic acids in precipitation in the rural area of Anshun

Low mol. wt. (LMW) org. acids are important and ubiquitous chem. constituents in the atm. A comprehensive study of the chem. compn. of pptn. was carried out from June 2007 to June 2008 at a rural site in Anshun, in the west of Guizhou Province, China. During this period, 118 rainwater samples were collected and the main LMW carboxylic acids were detd. using ion chromatog. The av. pH of rainwater was 4.89 which is a typical acidic value. The most abundant carboxylic acids were formic acid (vol. wt. mean concn.: 8.77 μmol L-1) and acetic acid (6.90 μmol L-1), followed by oxalic acid (2.05 μmol L-1). The seasonal variation of concns. and wet deposition fluxes of org. acids indicated that direct vegetation emissions were the main sources of the org. acids. Highest concns. were obsd. in winter and were ascribed to the low winter rainfall and the contribution of other air pollution sources northeast of the study area. The ratio of formic and acetic acids in the pptn. ([F/A]T) was proposed as an indicator of pollution source. This suggested that the pollution resulted from direct emissions from natural or anthropogenic sources. Comparison with acid pptn. in other urban and rural areas in Guizhou showed that there was a decreasing contribution of LMW org. acids to free acidity and all anions in rainwater from urban to remote rural areas. Consequently, it is necessary to control emissions of org. acids to reduce the frequency of acid rain, esp. in rural and remote areas. [on SciFinder(R)]

Chinese Whiteness: The Discourse Of Race In Modern And Contemporary Chinese Culture

This thesis chronicles the development of western forms of race and racism in China. It then studies contemporary China using theories derived from whiteness studies in order to explain the unique position that whites (Caucasians) have in China today. In Chapter I, I break down the definition of race and introduce a foundation for a whiteness studies approach to research. In Chapter II, I analyze how Chinese classified themselves and other humans prior to the western system of race. In Chapter III, I chronicle the introduction of western forms of race and racism to China, and the appropriation of these concepts to suit Chinese goals. In Chapter IV, I approach cultural phenomenon in contemporary China by situating them in their historical traditions as well as by approaching them as displaying an internalized racism and white privilege. Finally in the Conclusion, I postulate on what China¿s contemporary racial system means for China.

Novel mutation in the ceruloplasmin gene causing a cognitive and movement disorder with diabetes mellitus

In a Chinese woman who had diabetes mellitus, undetectable ceruloplasmin, hand tremor, neck dystonia, and cognitive disturbances, genetic analyses revealed a novel homozygous mutation (848G > C or W283S) in exon 5 in the ceruloplasmin gene. Another member with a milder phenotype was also affected by this mutation. The healthy sister was heterozygous at the same position. Aceruloplasminemia has not yet been reported in China. This case suggests that increased awareness should be paid to this disorder in the presence of the typical symptoms.

Car ownership modeling and forecasts for China

A great increase of private car ownership took place in China from 1980 to 2009 with the development of the economy. To explain the relationship between car ownership and economic and social changes, an ordinary least squares linear regression model is developed using car ownership per capita as the dependent variable with GDP, savings deposits and highway mileages per capita as the independent variables. The model is tested and corrected for econometric problems such as spurious correlation and cointegration. Finally, the regression model is used to project oil consumption by the Chinese transportation sector through 2015. The result shows that about 2.0 million barrels of oil will be consumed by private cars in conservative scenario, and about 2.6 million barrels of oil per day in high case scenario in 2015. Both of them are much higher than the consumption level of 2009, which is 1.9 million barrels per day. It also shows that the annual growth rate of oil demand by transportation is 2.7% - 3.1% per year in the conservative scenario, and 6.9% - 7.3% per year in the high case forecast scenario from 2010 to 2015. As a result, actions like increasing oil efficiency need to be taken to deal with challenges of the increasing demand for oil.