The relationship between macroalgal morphological complexity and hydraulic conditions in stream habitats

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Quality management, environmental management maturity, green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects (Reprint from vol 67C, pg 39-51)

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.

Green product development and performance of Brazilian firms: measuring the role of human and technical aspects

The goal of this study is to present and test a conceptual framework that describes the technical aspects (TA), human/organizational aspects (HOA) of the adoption of green product development (GPD) practices and the effect of these practices on firms'environmental (EP), operational (OP) and market performance (MP). To this end, after reviewing the literature on these themes, a conceptual framework with 5 hypotheses is proposed. These hypotheses were tested on 62 Brazilian companies through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0M3. The main results of this study are as follows: (a) in general, the proposed framework obtained adequate goodness of fit statistics (GoF); (b) technological factors are shown to have an influence on the adoption of GPD practices, and those practices are related to company EP, OP and MP, thus confirming 4 hypotheses of the study; and (c) one of the study's hypotheses is not validated, indicating that the relationship of human/organizational aspects to GPD must be further analyzed. This work extends the literature because: (a) the conceptual framework tested in this study establishes several concepts that have been only partially tested in the previous literature; (b) this work presents evidence about Brazil, where the themes addressed herein have not been yet been thoroughly investigated; and (c) the non-validation of the hypothesis regarding the relationship between human/ organizational aspects with respect to the adoption of product-related environmental practices requires attention. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic parameter estimates and principal component analysis on performance and carcass traits of a terminal pig sire line

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Systemic blood flow relations in conscious South American rattlesnakes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Validation of high-performance liquid chromatographic method for analysis of fluconazole in microemulsions and liquid crystals

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Green supply chain management and environmental performance of firms in the bioenergy sector in Brazil: an exploratory survey

To achieve sustainable development, supply chains must become greener. In this context, the importance of green supply chain management (GSCM) increases because it can contribute to improving firms'environmental performance (EP). However, little is known about these subjects in the context of firms in the bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production in Brazil). Thus, the objective of this work is to present the results of a survey conducted on 80 micro-, small-, and medium-sized firms that are suppliers in the Brazilian bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). These results indicate that GSCM practices strengthen the EP of firms in the sector. Therefore, this article contributes to the existing literature because it addresses the relationship between GSCM and EP in an understudied sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary optimization applied for fine-tuning parameter estimation in optical flow-based environments

Optical flow methods are accurate algorithms for estimating the displacement and velocity fields of objects in a wide variety of applications, being their performance dependent on the configuration of a set of parameters. Since there is a lack of research that aims to automatically tune such parameters, in this work we have proposed an evolutionary-based framework for such task, thus introducing three techniques for such purpose: Particle Swarm Optimization, Harmony Search and Social-Spider Optimization. The proposed framework has been compared against with the well-known Large Displacement Optical Flow approach, obtaining the best results in three out eight image sequences provided by a public dataset. Additionally, the proposed framework can be used with any other optimization technique.

Geoffroy's side-necked turtle [Phrynops geoffroanus (Schweigger, 1812), Testudines: Chelidae] as a model for evolutionary ecotoxicology: relationship between environmental contamination, conditions and genetic variability

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gold electrodes from recordable CDs for mercury quantification by flow injection analysis

The development of a new methodology for the construction of very efficient flow cells for mercury detection by potentiometric stripping analysis, employing the thin gold layer of recordable CDs as working electrode is reported. This new source of electrodes (CDtrodes) show very attractive performance, similar to that obtained with commercial gold electrodes, with superior versatility. The low cost of this new source of gold electrodes allows a frequent replacement of the electrode, avoiding cumbersome clean-up treatments. Various experimental parameters have been optimized to yield low detection limits (0.25 ng/mL of mercury for 5 min deposition at 0.3 V) and good precision (standard deviation of 1.9% was obtained for 15 repetitive measurements using 10 ng/mL of mercury). Standard curves were found to be linear over the range of 0.5-100 μg L-1 of mercury. The flow cells developed were used for the quantification of mercury in oceanic and tap water. © Springer-Verlag 2000.

Maximal power output during incremental cycling test is dependent on the curvature constant of the power-time relationship

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the maximal power output (Pmax) during an incremental test was dependent on the curvature constant (W') of the power-time relationship. Thirty healthy male subjects (maximal oxygen uptake = 3.58 ± 0.40 L·min(-1)) performed a ramp incremental cycling test to determine the maximal oxygen uptake and Pmax, and 4 constant work rate tests to exhaustion to estimate 2 parameters from the modeling of the power-time relationship (i.e., critical power (CP) and W'). Afterwards, the participants were ranked according to their magnitude of W'. The median third was excluded to form a high W' group (HIGH, n = 10), and a low W' group (LOW, n = 10). Maximal oxygen uptake (3.84 ± 0.50 vs. 3.49 ± 0.37 L·min(-1)) and CP (213 ± 22 vs. 200 ± 29 W) were not significantly different between HIGH and LOW, respectively. However, Pmax was significantly greater for the HIGH (337 ± 23 W) than for the LOW (299 ± 40 W). Thus, in physically active individuals with similar aerobic parameters, W' influences the Pmax during incremental testing.

Determination of furanic aldehydes in sugarcane bagasse by high-performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection using a modified electrode with nickel nanoparticles

A glassy carbon electrode chemically modified with nickel nanoparticles coupled with reversed-phase chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection was used for the quantitative analysis of furanic aldehydes in a real sample of sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate. Chromatographic separation was carried out in isocratic conditions (acetonitrile/water, 1:9) with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, a detection potential of -50 mV vs. Pd, and the process was completed within 4 min. The analytical curves presented limits of detection of 4.0 × 10(-7) mol/L and 4.3 × 10(-7) mol/L, limits of quantification of 1.3 × 10(-6) and 1.4 × 10(-6) mol/L, amperometric sensitivities of 2.2 × 10(6) nA mol/L and 2.7 × 10(6) nA mol/L for furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, respectively. The values obtained in this sample by the standard addition method were 1.54 ± 0.02 g/kg for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 11.5 ± 0.2 g/kg for furfural. The results demonstrate that this new proposed method can be used for the quick detection of furanic aldehydes without the interference of other electroactive species, besides having other remarkable merits that include excellent peak resolution, analytical repeatability, sensitivity, and accuracy.

Development and validation of a simple, rapid and stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography method for quantification of norfloxacin in a pharmaceutical product

A stability-indication high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of norfloxacin in tablet dosage forms. Optimum separation was achieved in less than 7 minutes using Eclipse Plus Zorbax C18 Agilent, 150 mm×4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size column. The analyte was resolved by using a mobile phase 5% acetic acid aqueous solution and methanol (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate 1.0 ml/min on an isocratic high performance liquid chromatographic system at a wavelength of 277 nm. Linearity, system suitability, precision, sensitivity, selectivity, specific, and robustness were established by International Conference Harmonization guidelines. For stress studies the drug was subjected to photolysis, oxidation, acid, alkaline and neutral conditions. The analytical conditions and the solvent developed provided good resolution within a short analysis time and economic advantages. The proposed method not required sophisticated and expensive instrumentation.

Intensity and interval of recovery in strength exercise influences performance: salivary lactate and alpha amylase as biochemical markers: a pilot study

Purpose The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of intensity and interval of recovery on performance in the bench press exercise, and the response of salivary lactate and alpha amylase levels. Methods Ten sportsman (aged 29 ± 4 years; body mass index 26 ± 2 kg/cm2 ) were divided in two groups: G70 (performing a bench press exercise at 70 % one repetition maximum—1RM), and G90 (performing a bench press exercise at 90 %—1RM). All groups were engaged in three intervals of recovery (30, 60 and 90 s). The maximum number of repetitions (MNR) and total weight lifted were computed, and saliva samples were collected 15 min before and after different intervals of recovery. For the comparison of the performance and biochemistry parameters, ANOVA tests for repeated measurements were conducted, with a significance level set at 5 %. Results In G70, the 30 s MNR was lower than the 60 and 90 s intervals of recovery (p\0.05) and the MNR with the 60 s interval of recovery was lower than the 90 s interval of recovery (p\0.041). Similarly, in G90 with the 30 s of interval of recovery, the sets were lower than observed with the 60 and 90 s (p\0.05), and MNR with the 60 s interval of recovery was lower than the 90 s interval of recovery (p\0.05). The salivary lactate showed an increase after exercise (p\0.05) when compared with the rest period for all groups, and no effects were observed for salivary alpha amylase. Conclusions Based on this result, the sets and reps can be modified to change the recovery time. This effect is very useful to improve the performance in relationship to different fitness levels.

Análise da performance ambiental e a capacitação profissional rural na produção de soja e milho no estado de Mato Grosso

Pós-graduação em Engenharia de Produção - FEB