Urban sprawl and energy use for transportation in the largest Brazilian cities

A study of the relationships between the amount of energy consumed for transportation purposes and a few selected variables related to urban form and socioeconomic characteristics of some of the largest Brazilian cities is conducted in this work. The studied cities include all 27 state capitals regardless of their size and population and 184 urban areas each with more than 20,000 inhabitants located in the state of São Paulo. Two different techniques were applied for data analyses: a more traditional regression analysis approach and artificial neural networks. In general, the results found in the analyses conducted here support the assumption that urban sprawl increases the energy use for transportation. In the case of the 27 state capitals, the analysis indicated that two spatial variables have a strong impact on the energy consumed for urban transportation: urban density and the ratio between the longest distances in the east-west and north-south directions. In the case of the 184 urbanized areas we also reached a similar conclusion. In that case, however, income and employment level apparently have a stronger influence on the amount of energy consumed. The results of the present study stress the importance of physical planning in developing country cities in order to reduce energy use for transportation. © 2007 International Energy Initiative, Inc.

Brazilian foreign policy in the Cardoso era: The search for autonomy through integration

The Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration attempted to replace a reactive foreign policy agenda dominated by a logic of autonomy through distance with a proactive international agenda guided by a logic of autonomy through integration. In adopting this agenda, the administration maintained that Brazil would be able to confront its problems and secure more control over its future if it actively contributed to elaborating the norms and guidelines of the administration of the global order. Because of structural weaknesses, however, this policy of integration, adherence, and participation was not adequately accompanied by positions entailing practical responsibilities - responsibilities that would have prepared both government and civil society for a higher profile in the post - cold-war era. In the end, the gains achieved during Cardoso's tenure failed to alter Brazil's international standing in any significant way. © 2007 Latin American Perspectives.

Measuring the efficiency of outsourcing: An illustrative case study from the aerospace industry

Outsourcing is related to the action which an organization deals with its suppliers through a kind of business contract where a specific activity or service has been hired to be made. The outsourcing of some activities has become a common practice in the industry, nowadays. It reduces costs, significantly, in the production process and, at the same time, adds some values to the business organization. However it is necessary to measure the performance of these activities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric method useful to measure comparative performance. It has a wide range of applications measuring comparative efficiency. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multiple criteria decision-making method that uses hierarchic structures to represent a decision problem and then develops priorities for the alternatives based on the decision-maker's judgments. This paper presents an integrated application based on DEA and AHP to evaluate the efficiency of subcontracted companies in a Brazilian aerospace factory. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited.

Length-weight relationships, condition and population structure of the genus Atlantoraja (Elasmobranchii, Rajidae, Arhynchobatinae) in Southeastern Brazilian waters, SW Atlantic Ocean

During the present study, 107 specimens of Atlantoraja castelnaui, 188 of A. platana, and 770 of A. cyclophora, were obtained by commercial vessels operating in Southeastern Brazil from March 2005 to April 2006. Males of A. castelnaui ranged from 17.9-111.0 cm and females from 17.4-116.0 cm total length. Males of A. platana ranged from 13.1-70.0 cm and females from 12.5-76.0 cm total length. Males of A. cyclophora ranged from 13.3-58.5 cm and females from 11.5-68.0 cm total length. Length-weight curves were sexually dimorphic in the three species. The analysis of the angular coefficient (b) demonstrated that growth (in weight) in relation to length was allometric (b>3) in males of A. castelnaui and A. platana, while isometric (b = 3) in females of these species. Conversely, growth of A. cyclphora was isometric in males, while in females it was allometric (b>3). The condition factor varied significantly throughout the year only in females of A. castelnaui.

Frequency of the HFE C282Y and H63D polymorphisms in Brazilian malaria patients and blood donors from the Amazon region

Malaria is an endemic parasitosis and its causitive agent, Plasmodium, has a metabolism linked to iron supply. HFE is a gene with the polymorphisms C282Y and H63D, which are associated with a progressive iron accumulation in the organism leading to a disease called hereditary hemochromatosis. The aim of the present study was to determine the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the HFE gene polymorphisms in malaria patients and blood donors from the Brazilian Amazon region. We screened 400 blood donors and 400 malaria patients for the HFE C282Y and H63D polymorphisms from four states of the Brazilian Amazon region by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. We did not find any C282Y homozygous individuals, and the only five heterozygous individuals detected were from Pará State. The most frequent genotype in the North region of Brazil was the H63D heterozygote, in both study groups. Our results contribute to the concept that the Brazilian Amazon region should not be regarded as a single entity in South America. These polymorphisms did not influence the symptoms of malaria in the population studied, as neither severe signs nor high parasitemia were observed. Therefore, different hereditary hemochromatosis diagnostic and control measures must be developed and applied within its diverse locations. Investigations are currently being carried out in our laboratory in order to determine the importance of the coexistence of hereditary hemochromatosis in patients affected by parasitic diseases, such as malaria. ©FUNPEC-RP.

Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2003

Includes bibliography

Computational linguistic systematization of a lexicon from the ibitinga embroidery industry conceptual domain

This work discusses a proposition for organizing the lexical items from the conceptual domain labeled THE EMBROIDERY INDUSTRY OF IBITINGA in terms of a natural ontology. It also aims to establish the alignment between this ontology and the bases WordNet.Pr and WordNet.Br. © 2009 IEEE.

The transformation of the North American apparel industry: is NAFTA a curse or a blessing?

Includes bibliography

Assessment of business incubators green performance: A framework and its application to Brazilian cases

The lack of proposals to evaluate the greening of business incubators or even of elementary discussions about the relations between incubators and the environment becomes apparent when researching this topic in the most prestigious scientific sources. To address this gap, this article reviews the literature on green management and smaller enterprises, business incubator performance and the greening of business incubators. This conceptual big-picture was used to identify variables relevant to the construction of a framework for assessing business incubators green performance. This framework was applied to six business incubators in Brazil. The results show the appropriated applicability of this framework. Furthermore, the empirical research led to the formulation of environmental maturity levels in order to classify business incubators performance. This paper seeks to offer a starting point for discussion and a proposal regarding the role of business incubators in a more sustainable society. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The nematode community in the Atlantic rainforest lizard Enyalius perditus Jackson, from south-eastern Brazil

Studies focusing on communities of helminths from Brazilian lizards are increasing, but there are many blanks in the knowledge of parasitic fauna of wild fauna. This lack of knowledge hampers understanding of ecological and parasitological aspects of involved species. Moreover, the majority of research has focused on parasitic fauna of lizards from families Tropiduridae and Scincidae. Only a few studies have looked at lizards from the family Leiosauridae, including some species of Enyalius. This study presents data on the gastrointestinal parasite fauna of Enyalius perditus and their relationships with ecological aspects of hosts in a disturbed Atlantic rainforest area in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. Two nematode species, Oswaldocruzia burseyi [(Molineidae) and Strongyluris oscari (Heterakidae) were found. Nematode species showed an aggregated distribution in this host population, with O. burseyi being more aggregated than S. oscari. The present study extends the range of occurrence of O. burseyi to the Brazilian continental area. © 2011 Cambridge University Press.

The restructuring of the Brazilian industrial groups between 1980 and 1993

Includes bibliography

The North-South dimension of the environmental and cleaner technology industries

Includes bibliography

Productivity differences in Brazilian manufacturing firms, by industrial sector: school bullying and academic achievement

Includes bibliography