Investment and economic reform in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase production by the Bacillus sp., subgroup alcalophilus using a central composite design

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) activity was produced by the Bacillus sp., subgroup alcalophilus in a culture medium containing cassava starch. A central composite design and response surface methodology were used to study the influence of carbon source (cassava starch), nitrogen sources (yeast extract and tryptone) and sodium carbonate in the production medium. Assays were performed in 300 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 mL of production medium maintained in a shaker at 150 rpm at 35±1°C for 72 h of fermentation. The independent variables [0.75% cassava starch, nitrogen sources (0.375% yeast extract and 0.375% tryptone) and 1% Na2CO3] produced an enzyme activity of 96.07 U mL-1.© Academic Journals Inc.

Mango flower induction in the brazilian northeast Semi-arid with gibberellin synthesis inhibitors

Mangoes in the Brazilian semi-arid stands out in the national scenario due to high yields and fruit quality, and also to the possibility of all-year production taking advantage of the climatic conditions as well as management technique (irrigation, pruning and growth regulators application) for plant growth and blossom control. Paclobutrazol soil drench applied is normally used for production management of mangoes. This research deals with the evaluation of the effect of foliar applied growth regulators to mango, cultivar 'Kent', as regard to their efficiency for blossom management, in order to allow off season mango production. Three growth regulators (prohexadione-Ca, trinexapac-ethyl and chlormequat chloride) were foliar applied, at two dosages and compared to paclobutrazol applied as soil-drench. In order to compare the effects of the treatment, data were recorded related to panicle emission (percentage and length), period of time until blossom and production, yield (number and plant weight) and post-harvest quality of the fruit (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, firmness, flesh and skin color and appearance). The results showed that prohexadione-Ca and chlormequat chloride induced a 15-day early harvest, while paclobutrazol, alone or combined with prohexadione-Ca, allow to harvest 25 days in advance, when compared to trinexapac-ethyl and control trees. Growth regulators foliar applied and paclobutrazol applied as soil-drench delayed mangoes fruit ripening in post-harvest.

Anti-inflammatory activity of Lychnophora passerina, Asteraceae (Brazilian arnica)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Lychnophora passerina (Asteraceae), popularly known as arnica, is used to treat inflammation, pain, rheumatism, contusions, bruises and insect bites in Brazilian traditional medicine. Materials and methods: The anti-inflammatory activity of crude ethanolic extract of aerial parts of L. passerina and its ethyl acetate and methanolic fractions had their abilities to modulate the production of NO, TNF-α and IL-10 inflammatory mediators in LPS/IFN-γ-stimulated J774.A1 macrophages evaluated. Moreover, the crude ethanolic extract and derived fractions were also in vivo assayed by carrageenan-induced paw oedema in mice. Results: In vitro assays showed remarkable anti-inflammatory activity of L. passerina crude ethanolic extract (EE) and its ethyl acetate (A) and methanolic (M) fractions, through the inhibition of production of NO and TNF-α inflammatory mediators and induction of production of IL-10 anti-inflammatory cytokine. In vivo assays showed anti-inflammatory activity for EE 10% ointment, similar to the standard drug diclofenac gel. The A and M fraction ointments 20% presented anti-inflammatory activity. Conclusion: The results obtained showed that possible anti-inflammatory effects of EE and its A and M fractions may be attributed to inhibition pro-inflammatory cytokines production, TNF-α and NO and to increased IL-10 production. EE, A and M ointments showed topical in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of EE of L. passerina may be related to synergistic effects of different substances in the crude extract. Therefore, traditional use of aerial parts of L. passerina in the inflammatory conditions could be beneficial to treat topical inflammatory conditions, as evidenced by the present study. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diversity management: Challenges, benefits, and the role of human resource management in Brazilian organizations

Purpose The objective of this study was to analyze the major challenges and benefits of diversity management in Brazilian companies by assessing the role of human resources. Design/methodology/approach A total of 15 case studies were carried out on companies that operate in Brazil. Brazil is a country with considerable diversity and multiracial backgrounds. Findings It was found that diversity management in Brazilian companies is still an emerging issue, and the major challenges are related to discriminatory actions taken by coworkers. Among the 15 companies studied, only four had adopted a consistent set of diversity management and human resources practices. These four companies were the only companies to affirm that diversity management requires the strong support of top management and continuous organization to sustain efforts toward incorporating diversity. Originality/value Research studies on diversity management in Brazil are scarce. The findings of this study, however, can be useful to academic professionals and company directors in countries that exhibit similar characteristics to those of Brazil, or to those who are interested in learning more about Brazil. © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.

How FTAI and FTET impact reproductive efficiency of Brazilian dairy herds

Background: Throughout dairy cows evolution, milk production was always the key point to select the superior animal. Currently, several evidences has shown that high milk production have intensively contributed to the decline of dairy cattle fertility. Beyond milk production, dairy cows have their reproductive performance impaired by another factors, heat stress and repeat-breeding. Methods like fixed time artificial insemination and embryo transfer were developed to minimize the effects of these factors, and improve dairy herds profitability. This review aims to show some key-point experiments conducted to improve the efficiency of the self-appointed protocols for artificial insemination and embryo transfer in Brazil, overcoming several reproductive problems. Our goal is to develop cheap and easy self-appointed programs that facilitate animal handling and maximize their reproductive outcomes all over the year. Review: Failure in estrus detection is the mainly limiting factor for the use of artificial insemination in high-production dairy herd. An excellent alternative to overcome the need of estrus detection is fixed time artificial insemination. Many protocols with and without the use of estradiol have been developed to that end. Among the protocols for fixed time artificial insemination without estradiol, DoubleOvsynch has been extensively used recently in American dairy herds. In Brazil, similar pregnancy rate was obtained compared to progesterone-estradiol based protocols for fixed time artificial insemination. Particularities of progesterone-estradiol based protocols as (1) new progesterone device or devices previously used for eight days; (2) different doses of eCG; and (3) the use of estradiol cypionate for fixed time artificial insemination have been studied in Brazil. The use of self-appointed artificial insemination also enabled the reduction of the interval calving-conception compared to cows inseminated following the standing estrus. Regarding the low fertility of repeat breeders and the effect of heat stress at early pregnancy, other methods like embryo transfer became important tools to enhance reproductive efficiency of Brazilian dairy herds. Protocols were also developed to allow fixed time embryo transfer, eliminating the need of estrus detection and improving the reproductive efficiency of lactating recipients. As well as described for fixed time artificial insemination treatments, there is a large variety of hormone combination for fixed time embryo transfer (with and without estradiol). An experiment conducted in Brazil demonstrated that protocols for fixed time embryo transfer without estradiol can be as good as with estradiol to synchronize high-producing Holstein recipients, essentially during summer. Particularities related to embryos cryopreservation, synchronization of the estrus cycle of donors and recipients and the site of embryo release into the uterine horn were also investigated. Greater conception rates were achieved when fresh embryos were transferred compared to frozen-thawed ones. Also, the tight synchronization between donor and recipient (same day of estrus) resulted more pregnancies than when recipients were one day later or in advantage in relation to donors. Moreover, the site of embryo release into the uterine horn (ipsilateral to the corpus luteum) had no effect on pregnancy rates after in vivo produced embryo transfer. Conclusion: Both fixed time artificial insemination and fixed time embryo transfer are important tools to improve reproductive efficiency of high-producing dairy cows. These biotechnologies help bypassing some of the greatest challenges of dairy cattle reproduction: the difficulties of estrus detection, and the low fertility associated to heat stress and repeat breeding.

Operations strategy and supply chain management: A Brazilian case study

The objective of this study is to understand how an assembly company, that is considered a focal company in the chain of Brazilian white goods sector, can influence the supply chain management established with its first tier suppliers. This is an exploratory qualitative study in which the information was gathered through direct observations, documents' retention, and data from interviews held with management-level employees of the sales and product development areas of the focal company and of the production area of the suppliers' companies. This study indicates that the operations strategy of the focal company influences the supply chain management and that the common business processes shared by its suppliers are a way to verify the truth of such statement. The suppliers cooperate closely with the focal company when complementing their business processes and consequently supporting the company to pursue its operations strategy. A set of mechanisms to aid the comprehension of how the operations strategy can affect the business processes and therefore to achieve the result of this research were adopted. © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2012.

Model of a game for improving integrated decisions in production management

This paper presents the results obtained with a business game whose model represents the decision making process related to two moments at an industrial company. The first refers to the project of the industrial plant, and the second to its management. The game model was conceived so the player's first decision would establish capacity and other parameters such as quantities of each product to produce, marketing expenses, research and development, quality, advertising, salaries, if purchases will be made in installments or in cash, if there will be credit sales and how many installments will be allowed and the number of workers in the assembly area. An experiment was conducted with employees of a Brazilian company. Data obtained indicate that the players have lack of contents, especially in finances. Although these results cannot be generalized, they confirm prior results with undergraduate and graduate students and they indicate the need for reinforcement in this undergraduate area. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

The competitive challenge for Brazilian industry

Includes bibliography

Trade openness and structural change in the Brazilian motor industry

Includes bibliography

First record of chilodonella hexasticha (ciliophora: Chilodonellidae) in brazilian cultured fish: A morphological and pathological assessment

Chilodonelids are small ciliated protozoans found worldwide and can be dangerous in culture conditions. This study presents morphometric data on the ciliate Chilodonella that is found in cultured Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), native bait fish tuvira (Gymnotus aff. inaequilabiatus) and native pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) and includes a histopathological assessment of the changes that occur in the pacu. For parasitic diagnosis, skin and gill samples were scraped onto slides, dried at room temperature, stained with Giemsa or impregnated with silver nitrate, and the measurements were obtained from photomicrographs. In the diseased pacu, the first gill arch was collected and fixed in a 10% buffered formalin solution for histopathological analysis. Parasite specimens from the different collection sites were identified morphologically as C. hexasticha Kiernik (1909). Diseased fish exhibited depigmentation, skin ulceration, scale loss, excessive mucus production and gill lesions. Histopathological analysis of pacu gills displayed epithelial proliferation with mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate, hemorrhages, and scattering necrosis. In Brazilian-farmed fish this is the first record of C. hexasticha, which has great pathogenic potential in cultured freshwater species. In addition, two new hosts are presented. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Comparison of random regression models to estimate genetic parameters for milk production in Guzerat (Bos indicus) cows

Random regression models have been widely used to estimate genetic parameters that influence milk production in Bos taurus breeds, and more recently in B. indicus breeds. With the aim of finding appropriate random regression model to analyze milk yield, different parametric functions were compared, applied to 20,524 test-day milk yield records of 2816 first-lactation Guzerat (B. indicus) cows in Brazilian herds. The records were analyzed by random regression models whose random effects were additive genetic, permanent environmental and residual, and whose fixed effects were contemporary group, the covariable cow age at calving (linear and quadratic effects), and the herd lactation curve. The additive genetic and permanent environmental effects were modeled by the Wilmink function, a modified Wilmink function (with the second term divided by 100), a function that combined third-order Legendre polynomials with the last term of the Wilmink function, and the Ali and Schaeffer function. The residual variances were modeled by means of 1, 4, 6, or 10 heterogeneous classes, with the exception of the last term of the Wilmink function, for which there were 1, from 0.20 to 0.33. Genetic correlations between adjacent records were high values (0.83-0.99), but they declined when the interval between the test-day records increased, and were negative between the first and last records. The model employing the Ali and Schaeffer function with six residual variance classes was the most suitable for fitting the data. © FUNPEC-RP.

The structure and competitiveness of the Brazilian capital goods industry

Includes bibliography

Haemonchus contortus: A multiple-resistant Brazilian isolate and the costs for its characterization and maintenance for research use

The aim of this work was to determine the resistance level of Haemonchus contortus isolated from the Santa Inês flock of the Embrapa (Brazilian government's Agricultural Research Company), Southeast Livestock Unit (CPPSE), as well as to determine costs of characterizing and maintaining this isolate in host donors. Forty-two male Santa Inês lambs were experimentally infected with 4000 H. contortus infective larvae of the field isolate of CPPSE, called Embrapa2010, and divided into six treatment groups, which received triclorfon, albendazol plus cobalt sulfate, ivermectin, moxidectin, closantel and levamisole phosphate, as well as a negative control group (water). Egg per gram (EPG) counts were performed at 0, 3, 7, 10 and 14. days post treatment when the animals were slaughtered for parasite count. The data were analyzed using the RESO statistical program, considering anthelmintic resistance under 95% of efficacy. EPG and worm count presented a linear and significant relation with 94% determination coefficient. The susceptibility results obtained by RESO through both criteria (EPG and worm count) were equal, except for closantel, showing that the isolate Embrapa2010 is resistant to benzimidazoles, macrocyclic lactones and imidazothiazoles. The need of a control group did not appear to be essential since the result for susceptibility in the analyses with or without this group was the same. Suppression in egg production after treatment did not occur in the ivermectin and moxidectin groups. In the control group, the establishment percentage was just 12.5 because of the low number of third-stage larvae, resistance (innate and infection immunity) of the animals studied plus good nutrition. Drug classes presented similar efficacy between adults and immature stages. The costs for isolate characterization were calculated for 42 animals during 60. days. The total cost based on local market rates was approximately US$ 8000. The precise identification of Brazilian isolates and their establishment in host donors would be useful for laboratorial anthelmintic resistance diagnoses through in vitro tests, which has an annual cost of approximately US$ 2500 for maintenance in host donors. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.