Share bidding auctions, sliding scale royalty rates and the new brazilian regulatory framework for the pre-salt areas

O governo brasileiro recentemente aprovou uma legislação instituindo um novo marco regulatório para as reservas petrolíferas do pré-sal. Segundo as novas regras, estas áreas deverão ser licitadas mediante um leilão de partilha de lucro. Motivado por esta mudança, apresentamos um modelo de leilão de partilha sob afiliação, demonstrando a existência de um equilíbrio monótono em estratégias puras e caracterizando a solução. Alem disso, provamos que este mecanismo gera receita esperada maior ou igual a um leilão de primeiro preço usual. Em seguida, introduzimos no modelo uma função representando taxas de royalties que dependem do valor do objeto. Este instrumento permite uma elevação na receita esperada de ambos os modelos, fazendo com que a diferença entre eles encolha. Finalmente, analisando o novo marco regulatório sob o ponto de vista dos resultados obtidos, concluímos que o antigo modelo de concessão utilizado pelo governo brasileiro é mais adequado e lucrativo.

Fidelidade ao cartão de crédito em troca de milhas aéreas: um estudo empírico desta relação no mercado brasileiro

No competitivo mercado brasileiro de cartão de crédito, a presença de um programa de fidelidade pode ser uma atividade de marketing relevante para os bancos reterem os seus clientes. No entanto, em um cenário com vários programas de fidelidade similares, é necessário que os bancos encontrem formas eficazes de estimular as intenções do cliente em direção ao uso continuado do seu cartão. Estes programas são comumente requisitados por clientes que procuram trocar pontos (milhas) por passagens aéreas. As milhas aéreas são recompensas ofertadas pelo banco, porém, envolvem elevados custos e são controladas por empresas intermediárias que também buscam a fidelidade deste cliente para si. Em um mercado ainda em desenvolvimento no tema, existe a barreira dos clientes não conhecerem as dinâmicas dos programas e não entenderem o resgate (troca) como um esforço do banco para premiá-lo. Neste contexto, torna-se importante que os bancos compreendam os fatores que mais influenciam a associação de marca do cliente e a fidelidade ao seu cartão. O presente trabalho propõe identificar estes fatores através da aplicação de uma survey com uma amostra de usuários de cartão de crédito participantes de programas de fidelidade. O estudo identificou que, na visão do portador do cartão, a atratividade do programa, o conhecimento sobre programa, os custos de troca percebidos e a preferência por milhas como recompensa são fatores que o banco deve considerar se quiser obter melhores associações à sua marca no âmbito do processo de resgate de milhas. Verificou-se que a associação de marca não é um elemento necessário para se atingir a fidelidade do cliente, contudo, sugere-se que a marca possa, além de ajudar no processo de fidelização, aproximar o cliente do banco e possivelmente apresentá-lo a outros produtos, alavancando assim os resultados do banco.

Ligações aéreas com a Madeira: constrangimentos e perspetivas de crescimento: o efeito do binómio tempo/distância e o mercado low cost

O transporte, neste caso o transporte aéreo para a Madeira, assume particular importância na atividade turística, para mais sendo esta uma região insular e ultraperiférica da Europa, em que a realidade socioeconómica tem como pedra basilar o Turismo que, por si só, representa 25% do PIB. Frequentemente são apontados como “culpados” pelas cíclicas crises no sector, a promoção (ou a falta dela) e as opções tomadas, a concorrência de destinos mais baratos, o peso das taxas aeroportuárias, os fenómenos climáticos, os incentivos às companhias aéreas e aos operadores, o estímulo à operação low cost, as unidades hoteleiras e as camas disponíveis, a distância (tempo de voo) deste destino em relação ao norte da Europa e ao outro lado do Atlântico, a existência ou não de ligações aéreas diretas, um sem número de “razões” em que, provavelmente, todas elas, em maior ou menor percentagem, darão o seu contributo. As infraestruturas aeroportuárias, outrora também “culpadas” por não permitirem operações de longo curso, estão hoje habilitadas para receber voos intercontinentais. A Madeira, não deixou de ser a “Pérola do Atlântico”, com um clima ameno e profilático, com as levadas e a floresta Laurissilva, com o Vinho Madeira; com a Festa do Fim do Ano, o Carnaval e a Festa da Flor, com as Paisagens únicas, o Mar e a Montanha, o Golf, o Rali da Madeira, atrativos que deveriam ser suficientes para ultrapassar os fatores “negativos” citados. Sê-lo-ão? Sem a presunção de encontrar soluções milagrosas para algo que vem sendo estudado por profissionais e consultores, pretende-se possibilitar um olhar sob uma outra perspetiva, deixando pistas para uma abordagem diversa, em que se investigam os efeitos dos voos não diretos, o peso das operações low cost e se desenha um benchmarking com o destino concorrencial das Canárias.

Análise bioclimática do bairro do Renascença II São Luis-MA: realidade e perspectiva do conforto térmico em espaços externos

The present research concerns about outdoor s thermal comfort conditions in hot-humid climate cities, understanding that life quality is a result of the urban object s type built for the human being in an environment with specific climate and morphological characteristics. It is presented as object of study the correlation between the neighborhood Renascença II s microclimate in São Luis /MA-Brazil, hot-humid climate city, and its urban morphological changes. As well as the thermal comfort s satisfaction level of its outdoor users. The research has as general goal to diagnosis the way these transformations caused by the urbanization influence the Renascença II s microclimate, identifying critical spots of the studied area, in order to contribute with land use recommendations based on bioclimatic architecture concepts and supply bases to urban design decisions adequate to the São Luis climate. It is presented as theoretical bases the urban climate, its concepts and elements. After that, the thermal comfort conditioners and its prediction models of thermal comfort sensation in outdoor are presented. The predictive models are presented along with bioclimatic assessment methods. Finally the use of bioclimatic assessment as an effective tool to identify places that need changes or preservation in order to seek environment quality. The applied methodology was based on the studies of Katzschner (1997), complemented by Oliveira s (1988) and Bustos Romero s (2001) studies that suggest an analysis and evaluation of maps of topography, buildings floors, land use, green areas and land covering, in order to overlap their characteristics and identify climate variable s measurements points; then a quantitative analysis of the climate variables (air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction) of the chosen points takes place. It was perceived that Renaissance II has no permanence areas as squares or parks, its outdoor has little vegetation and presets high land impermeability and built density levels. The majority of the people interviewed said that was comfortable in a range of air temperature between 27,28ºC and 30,71ºC. The elaboration of a neighborhood master plan is important, which defines strategies for improvement of the life quality of its inhabitants

Clima urbano e vegetação: estudo analítico e prospectivo do Parque das Dunas em Natal

The present study deals with the relationship between urban vegetation and climate. The process whereby the Parque das Dunas a 1,172 ha green area in the city of Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte exerts influence on the climate of the city is analyzed. The hypothesis on which the present work rests is that the green area referred to acts upon the climate of the city. The study is based on the analysis of climatic factors and elements of this green area and of the city of Natal. In order to give rise to final recommendations, a methodology grounded on a quantitative and qualitative standpoint has been used. The data were collected both within and without the limits of the Parque das Dunas area. Secondary and primary data resulting from the measurements taken by the researcher and her work group have been used. The aim was to contribute to the understanding of the influence of vegetation on the climate of a city having a warm and humid climate. A historical and environmental characterization of the Parque das Dunas was then sought. The local climatic factors and the elements of the climate have been studied within the scope of the city of Natal. A comparative study between the climatic elements within and without the limits of the Parque das Dunas area from the survey of technical data and the systematization of the information collected has been made, aiming at proposing a set of bioclimatic recommendations for the urban design in Natal. The results of such work allowed for the validation of the important role that the Parque das Dunas plays in the climate of Natal. This has led to the acknowledgement of the relevance of the green areas on the climate of cities. They bring about important benefits to the process of rendering agreeable the climate in the urban environment by providing pleasant microclimates that give a valuable contribution to the environmental comfort of urban nuclei having the same size of Natal

Adição de poliuretana em pastas de cimento para poços de petróleo como agente de correção do filtrado

Chemical admixtures, when properly selected and quantified, play an important role in obtaining adequate slurry systems for quality primary cementing operations. They assure the proper operation of a well and reduce costs attributed to corrective cementing jobs. Controlling the amount lost by filtering through the slurry to permeable areas is one of the most important requirements in an operation, commonly controlled by chemical admixtures, such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). However, problems related to temperature, salttolerance and the secundary retarding effect are commonly reported in the literature. According to the scenario described above, the use of an aqueous dispersion of non-ionic poliurethane was proposed to control the filter loss, given its low ionic interaction with the free ions present in the slurries in humid state. Therefore, this study aims at assessing the efficiency of poliurethane to reduce filter loss in different temperature and pressure conditions as well as the synergistic effect with other admixtures. The temperatures and pressures used in laboratory tests simulate the same conditions of oil wells with depths of 500 to 1200 m. The poliurethane showed resistance to thermal degradation and stability in the presence of salts. With the increase in the concentration of the polymer there was a considerable decrease in the volume lost by filtration, and this has been effective even with the increase in temperature

Diversity of decapod crustaceans at the interface of unconsolidated seabed areas and rocky shores in tropical/subtropical Brazil

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

Mercury contamination in fanned fish setup on former garimpo mining areas in the Northern Mato Grosso State, Amazonian region, Brazil

The garimpo gold mining activity has released about 2.500 tons of mercury in the Brazilian Amazonian environment in the 1980-1995 period. The northern region of Mato Grosso State, an important gold mining and trading area during the Arnazonian gold rush is now at a turning point regarding its economic future. Nowadays, the activities related to gold mining have only a low relevance on its economy. Thus, the local communities are looking for economic alternatives for the development of the region. Cooperative fish farming is one of such alternatives. However, some projects are directly implemented on areas degraded by the former garimpo activity and the mercury left behind still poses risks, especially by its potential accumulation in fish. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the levels of mercury contamination in two fish farming areas, Paranaita and Alta Floresta, with and without records of past gold-washing activity, respectively. Data such as mercury concentration in fish of different trophic level, size, and weight as well as the water physical and chemical parameters were measured and considered. These preliminary data have shown no significant difference between these two fish fanning areas, relatively to mercury levels in fish. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An investigation of Leishmania spp. in Didelphis spp. from urban and peri-urban areas in Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil)

Blood and bone marrow samples were taken from 112 Didelphis spp., collected between March 2005 and February 2006, from urban and peri-urban areas of Bauru, São Paulo State, Brazil, to evaluate the hypothesis that these animals might constitute a reservoir of Leishmania spp. Anti-Leishman ia ssp. antibodies were screened in the serum samples using an enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR was performed on fragments of DNA samples from Leishmania spp. using primers 13A and 13B, and showed a positive outcome in 91.6% of the 112 samples tested. of the 107 samples analyzed by ELISA, 71 % were positive. Evidence of epidemiological risk factors such as a circulating parasite and freely moving vectors suggests that Didelphis spp. may participate in the transmission cycle of Leishmania spp. in Bauru. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Soil CO2 emission and its relation to soil properties in sugarcane areas under Slash-and-burn and Green harvest

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Mortalidade de Blattella germanica (L. 1767) (Blattodea: blattellidae) sob diferentes áreas e períodos de exposição a diferentes inseticidas

The great importance of cockroaches as household pest have been on their ability to spread microorganisms harmful to humans and animals. Rest during the day in dark, humid and hot as sewerage. At night go into stores and kitchens or places to deposit and manipulation of food as bakeries, restaurants, hospitals and homes wich requires clinig operations. This work aimed to evaluate mortality of B. germanica ( L., 1767) ( Blattodea: Blattellidae) under different periods and exposure area treated by insecticides in laboratory. The tests were carried out at Department of Fitossanidade at UNESP, Campus of Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil. The insecticides were applied by Potter's tower sprayer on Petri dishes. Three times of exposure (2, 8 and 32 min) and four exposure areas ( 25, 50, 75 and 100%) and volume of 0,5 ml for the second experiment were tested. It was used the insecticides Pyrethroids gammacyalothrine, deltamethrine, lambdacialothrine, alfacipermethrine, cipermethrine and carbamates bendiocarb, in the dosages recommended by the manufacturers, and I was used control without application. Five adult cockroaches was confined in the dishes for both experiments. The mortality evaluation was done 0, 1, 2, 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours after of the confinement on the treated surface. It was concluded that for exposure duration experiment all the insecticides have a good efficiency. The exposure area experiment the insecticide cipermethrine was what the one which had the higher mortality. Regarding to the effect of exposure duration on the accumulated mortality every duration times had a high mortality. In relation to the exposure area the highest mortality reached to 100% of treated area.

Temporal analysis of the reduction in gas emission in areas of mechanically-harvested sugarcane using satellite imagery

The primary objective of this study was to estimate the amount of gas not emitted into the air in areas cultivated with sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) that were mechanically harvested. Satellite images CBERS-2/CCD, from 08-13-2004, 08-14-2005, 08-15-2006 and 08-16-2007, of northwestern São Paulo State were processed using the Geographic Information System (GIS)-IDRISI 15.0. Areas of interest (the mechanically-harvested sugarcane fields) were identified and quantified based on the spectral response of the bands studied. Based on these data, the amount of gas that was not emitted was evaluated, according to the estimate equation proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results of 396.65 km(2) (5.91% for 2004); 447.56 km(2) (6.67% for 2005); 511.54 km(2) (7.62% in 2006); and 474.60 km(2) (7.07% for 2007), calculated from a total area of 6,710.89 km(2) with sugarcane, showed a significant increase of mechanical harvesting in the study area and a reduction of gas emissions of more than 300,000 t yr(-1).

Structural characteristics and forage mass of Tifton 85 pastures managed under three post-grazing residual leaf areas

The experiment was carried out on Cynodon spp cv. Tifton 85 pastures grazed by sheep under rotational stocking, with the objective of evaluating the structural characteristics as well as the forage mass of the pastures subjected to three grazing intensities in successive cycles. Treatments were composed of three residual leaf area indices (rLAI; 2.4; 1.6 and 0.8), allocated in completely randomized blocks with seven replications, totaling 21 experimental units. Tiller population density, pasture height, leaf area index, forage morphological composition and pasture forage mass were evaluated. The rLAI modified the tiller population density, which increased linearly with decrease in the rLAI of the pastures. Dry masses of leaf blade, stem and dead material were inferior when the rLAI imposed were lower, which resulted in differentiated forage production among the treatments. Tifton 85 pastures grazed by sheep in rotational stocking under tropical conditions with different rLAI show a modified sward structure over successive grazing cycles, mainly by alteration in the height and LAI of the plants at pre-grazing and by light interception post-grazing, which change the tiller population density. The residual leaf area index of 1.6 is the most suitable for pasture management for being equivalent to the heights of entrance and exit of animals on and from paddocks of 33 and 19 cm, respectively, which avoid great accumulation of dead material and excessive stem elongation, in addition to ensuring tillering in the sward.