Differences in the perception of interest representation: a comparision of Brasília and Brussels lobbying activity

The research topic of this paper is focused on the analysis of how trade associations perceive lobbying in Brussels and in Brasília. The analysis will be centered on business associations located in Brasília and Brussels as the two core centers of decision-making and as an attraction for the lobbying practice. The underlying principles behind the comparison between Brussels and Brasilia are two. Firstof all because the European Union and Brazil have maintained diplomatic relations since 1960. Through these relations they have built up close historical, cultural, economic and political ties. Their bilateral political relations culminated in 2007 with the establishment of a Strategic Partnership (EEAS website,n.d.). Over the years, Brazil has become a key interlocutor for the EU and it is the most important market for the EU in Latin America (European Commission, 2007). Taking into account the relations between EU and Brazil, this research could contribute to the reciprocal knowledge about the perception of lobby in the respective systems and the importance of the non-market strategy when conducting business. Second both EU and Brazilian systems have a multi-level governance structure: 28 Member States in the EU and 26 Member States in Brazil; in both systems there are three main institutions targeted by lobbying practice. The objective is to compare how differences in the institutional environments affect the perception and practice of lobbying, where institutions are defined as ‘‘regulative, normative, and cognitive structures and activities that provide stability and meaning to social behavior’’ (Peng et al., 2009). Brussels, the self-proclaimed "Capital of Europe”, is the headquarters of the European Union and has one of the highest concentrations of political power in the world. Four of the seven Institutions of the European Union are based in Brussels: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council and the European Commission (EU website, n.d.). As the power of the EU institutions has grown, Brussels has become a magnet for lobbyists, with the latest estimates ranging from between 15,000 and 30,000 professionals representing companies, industry sectors, farmers, civil society groups, unions etc. (Burson Marsteller, 2013). Brasília is the capital of Brazil and the seat of government of the Federal District and the three branches of the federal government of Brazilian legislative, executive and judiciary. The 4 city also hosts 124 foreign embassies. The presence of the formal representations of companies and trade associations in Brasília is very limited, but the governmental interests remain there and the professionals dealing with government affairs commute there. In the European Union, Brussels has established a Transparency Register that allows the interactions between the European institutions and citizen’s associations, NGOs, businesses, trade and professional organizations, trade unions and think tanks. The register provides citizens with a direct and single access to information about who is engaged in This process is important for the quality of democracy, and for its capacity to deliver adequate policies, matching activities aimed at influencing the EU decision-making process, which interests are being pursued and what level of resources are invested in these activities (Celgene, n.d). It offers a single code of conduct, binding all organizations and self-employed individuals who accept to “play by the rules” in full respect of ethical principles (EC website, n.d). A complaints and sanctions mechanism ensures the enforcement of the rules and addresses suspected breaches of the code. In Brazil, there is no specific legislation regulating lobbying. The National Congress is currently discussing dozens of bills that address regulation of lobbying and the action of interest groups (De Aragão, 2012), but none of them has been enacted for the moment. This work will focus on class lobbying (Oliveira, 2004), which refers to the performance of the federation of national labour or industrial unions, like CNI (National Industry Confederation) in Brazil and the European Banking Federation (EBF) in Brussels. Their performance aims to influence the Executive and Legislative branches in order to defend the interests of their affiliates. When representing unions and federations, class entities cover a wide range of different and, more often than not, conflicting interests. That is why they are limited to defending the consensual and majority interest of their affiliates (Oliveira, 2004). The basic assumption of this work is that institutions matter (Peng et al, 2009) and that the trade associations and their affiliates, when doing business, have to take into account the institutional and regulatory framework where they do business.

A utilização dos fundos de investimento imobiliários como veículos na gestão de ativos das empresas

No Brasil, historicamente, as companhias sempre detiveram ativos imobiliários (sede social, plantas fabris, galpões, etc.), influenciadas pela instabilidade macroeconômica, o que acarretava a dificuldade em estimar o preço do dinheiro. Com o controle inflacionário, foi possível expandir formas de financiamento de longo prazo, permitindo que as empresas passassem a realizar a alocação de recursos financeiros com mais eficiência, direcionando-os para as suas atividades principais. Assim, a discussão sobre a propriedade imobiliária pelas empresas é recente. E, há menos tempo ainda é que foram elaboradas novas alternativas, como os fundos de investimento imobiliário que tornaram-se mais representativos nos últimos três anos. Este trabalho visa analisar sobre as razões que permitem aos fundos de investimento imobiliário serem propostos como uma opção para as empresas realizarem a gestão de seus ativos imobiliários, quando estas buscarem não imobilizar recursos, mas sim, a locação do imóvel. Para alcançar este objetivo, o trabalho fará uma abordagem qualitativa, apresentando as características operacionais e tributárias dos fundos imobiliários e dois estudos de casos de empresas que promoveram a desmobilização de ativos por meio de fundos imobiliários. O primeiro caso é a venda de um centro de distribuição do Magazine Luiza, uma das maiores redes varejistas no Brasil, para o fundo Kinea Renda Imobiliária. O segundo exemplo é o processo de desmobilização do Banco do Brasil e o desenvolvimento do fundo BB Progressivo II. Será verificado que os objetivos das empresas foram alcançados nos dois casos e que, de fato, os fundos imobiliários podem ser considerados como uma alternativa. Entretanto, não é possível a conclusão de que ele produza os melhores resultados e que exista alguma atividade empresarial que tenha maior propensão a sua utilização. A pesquisa aborda os fundos de investimento imobiliário com o foco no locatário e possibilita que sejam aprimorados estudos quantitativos, identificando reações do mercado brasileiro ao aumento na quantidade de operações, e outras pesquisas qualitativas que envolvam novas estruturas de financiamento.

Controles sobre o Judiciário geram governança e eficiência? Estudo sobre o CNJ e a Justiça Estadual

O objetivo desta tese é investigar a atuação do órgão de controle judicial no Poder Judiciário, focando na dimensão “Desempenho Administrativo Judicial”. Esta tese visa complementar o modelo de Taylor (2008) adicionando o CNJ como um elemento da melhoria do desempenho dos tribunais, por meio da implantação de ferramentas gerenciais e ocasionando impactos políticos e institucionais. O estudo se apoia no contexto político e organizacional do Judiciário para apresentar um complemento ao entendimento vigente sobre os mecanismos de mensuração de desempenho. Os impactos do CNJ foram analisados a partir de sete aspectos do processo de Reforma do Judiciário: 1. Padronização das estruturas; 2. Sistemas de gerenciamento centralizados; 3. Padronização de procedimentos internos; 4. Centralização orçamentária; 5. Financiamento de unidades judiciais; 6. Procedimentos disciplinar contra irregularidades e más condutas de magistrados; 7. Critérios meritocráticos e promoção de magistrados. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas estruturadas com ex-conselheiros e conselheiros atuais do CNJ e considerou os dez anos de existência do CNJ (2004-2013), fornecendo uma perspectiva longitudinal. A análise temática ou categorial foi escolhida como a principal da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Os dados foram segmentados por questões, por categorias prévias e por categorias estabelecidas posteriormente. Foi evidenciado que o CNJ apresenta um efeito direto de atuação no “Desempenho Administrativo Judicial”: i) usando ferramentas de gestão que permitem os tribunais aprimorar a organização interna e elevar o nível de maturidade de governança; ii) moralizando e fiscalizando os Tribunais por meio de inspeções frequentes realizadas pela Corregedoria Nacional de Justiça que objetiva a resolução das irregularidades e o afastamento dos magistrados com más condutas no exercício do cargo. As evidências identificaram também impactos indiretos: i) o CNJ como um coordenador de ações do Judiciário, articulando melhor as relações com os representantes do Executivo e do Legislativo na obtenção de mais recursos orçamentários e financeiros para os tribunais; ii) o CNJ aumenta a autonomia do Judiciário reconhecendo os esforços de gestão dos tribunais e compartilhando as melhores práticas com os outros tribunais, com impactos na melhoria de infraestrutura e no desempenho. O aumento de controle promovido pelo CNJ reforçou a governança e a eficiência dos tribunais, mas com perca de autonomia num primeiro momento. Por outro lado, num segundo momento, possibilitou uma mudança de perfil nas indicações de seus conselheiros numa tentativa de enfraquecer o controle e aumentar autonomia dos tribunais.

Supremo interesse: protagonismo político-regulatório e a evolução institucional do processo de seleção dos ministros do STF

Partindo da constatação de que o Brasil acompanha hoje um fenômeno global de protagonismo das cortes supremas nas sociedades complexas contemporâneas, notadamente na criação de políticas-públicas e regulação, o estudo procura mapear a evolução – e progressiva democratização – de uma estrutura de freios e contrapesos prevista na Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988 (“Constituição”), qual seja, o processo de seleção dos ministros do Supremo Tribunal Federal. Ao longo do texto é analisada a arquitetura institucional e constitucional do processo de indicação e aprovação de novos ministros, bem como exemplificadas mudanças no perfil dos atores políticos, no plexo de competências das instituições envolvidas e no contexto social, político, econômico e cultural que forçaram a transformação prática do modelo de seleção institucional, sem alteração, no entanto, da formatação originalmente prevista desde o Século XIX. Mapeando a origem e evolução da fórmula constitucional de colaboração entre o Poder Executivo e o Poder Legislativo para a escolha dos membros da cúpula do Poder Judiciário, o estudo identifica a origem do modelo brasileiro na inspiração da experiência norte-americana, descrevendo esta e os paralelos possíveis com aquele. A partir do marco central da Constituição, o trabalho procura demonstrar uma progressiva mobilização de atores políticos e sociais em relação ao processo de escolha, notadamente em relação ao momento em que os indicados para o Supremo Tribunal Federal são sabatinados pela Comissão de Constituição, Justiça e Cidadania do Senado Federal. Finalmente, são analisadas concretamente as sabatinas e algumas das suas principais discussões, buscando extrair lições que sirvam de norte colaborativo para a evolução da forma de seleção dos ministros do Supremo Tribunal Federal, inclusive como instrumento de controle prévio de seus membros, futuros elaboradores de políticas-públicas.

Applying supply chain management models in the banking industry: a brazilian case analysis

The study presents the results and recommendations deriving from the application of two supply chain management analysis models as proposed by the Supply Chain Council (SCOR, version 10.0) and by Lambert (1997, Framework for Supply Chain Management) on the logistics of cash transfers in Brazil. Cash transfers consist of the transportation of notes to and from each node of the complex network formed by the bank branches, ATMs, armored transportation providers, the government custodian, Brazilian Central Bank and financial institutions. Although the logistic to sustain these operations is so wide-ranged (country-size), complex and subject to a lot of financial regulations and security procedures, it has been detected that it was probably not fully integrated. Through the use of a primary and a secondary data research and analysis, using the above mentioned models, the study ends up with propositions to strongly improve the operations efficiency

Crenças e quebranças de um corpo que dança: poéticas do benzimento na criação cênica

This work is a discussion of the artistic process of an artist-researcher made from field research with benzedeiras and benzedores the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This is an investigation on the cultural universe of the popular benzeção as poetic element to the artistic dance. To discuss the different stages of the research and the relationships between the artist-researcher, the benzedeiras/benzedores and the creation/composition scenic, the work takes as reference the triangular relationship created by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, in his discussion on the effectiveness of symbols of healing, adapted to the context of benzeção . For dialogue between tradition, popular knowledge, scientific and artistic knowledge this work approaches as analytical reference the epistemological model of the type rhizome proposed by Deleuze and Guattari, understanding it as a model that seeks to form a network of relations in different paths of research, to establish connections between elements without target them or subordinating them. In the universe of benzeção , benzedeiras and benzedores carry a symbolic power that issued in whispered prayers, in peculiar gestures that form crosses in space, heal those who seek your prayers and blessing. In this research, the mixture of popular knowledge, artistic and academic knowledge, born an artistic work in the context of Performing Arts, more specifically dance, and between branches, saints, candles and conversations the work allowed other looks poetic for our popular culture, (re)asserting their cultural and human values through the art

Caracterização funcional de dois cDNAs de cana-de- açúcar : PKCI e SHAGGY

Flowering is controlled by several environmental and endogenous factors, usually associated with a complex network of metabolic mechanisms. The gene characterization in Arabidopsis model has provided much information about the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control flowering process. Some of these genes had been found in rice and maize. However, in sugarcane this processe is not well known. It is known that early flowering may reduce its production up to 60% at northeast conditions. Considering the impact of early flowering in sugarcane production, the aim of this work was to make the gene characterization of two cDNAs previously identified in subtractive cDNA libraries: scPKCI and scSHAGGY. The in silico analysis showed that these two cDNAs presented both their sequence and functional catalytic domains conserved. The results of transgenic plants containing the overexpression of the gene cassette scPKCI in sense orientation showed that this construction had a negative influence on the plant development as it was observed a decrease in plant height and leaf size. For the scPKCI overexpression in antisense orientation it was observed change in the number of branches from T1 transgenic plants, whereas transgenic T2 plants showed slow development during germination and initial stages of development. The other cDNA analyzed had homology to SHAGGY protein. The overexpression construct in sense orientation did not shown any effect on development. The only difference observed it was an increase in stigma structure. These results allowed us to propose a model how these two genes may be interact and affect floweringdevelopment.

Segmentos anátomo-cirúrgicos arteriais do rim de cutia (Dasyprocta prymnolopha)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Testicular arteries systematization based on different levels of scrotal configuration in caprines

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Efeito antitrombótico de uma fucana não anticoagulante extraída da alga Spatoglossum Schröederi

Fucan is a term used to denominate a family of sulfated L-fucose-rich polysaccharides. The brown alga Spatoglossum schröederi (Dictyotaceae) has three heterofucans namely fucan A, B and C. The 21 kDa fucan A is composed of a core of β (1-3) glucuronic acid-containing oligosaccharide of 4.5 kDa with branches at C4 of fucose chains α (1-3) linked. The fucose is mostly substituted at C4 with a sulfate group and at C2 with chains of β (1-4) xylose. This fucan has neither anticoagulant (from from 0.1 to 100µg) nor hemorrhagic activities (from 50 to 800 µg/mL). The antithrombotic test in vivo showed the fucan A has no activity in any of the concentrations (from 0.2 to 20µg/g/day) tested 1h after polysaccharide administration. However, when fucan A was injected endovenously 24h before the ligature of the venae cavae, we observed a dose-dependent effect, reaching saturation at around 20g/g of rat weight. In addition, this effect is also time-dependent, reaching saturation around 16h after fucan administration. In addition, regardless of administration pathway, fucan A displayed antithrombotic action. The exception was the oral pathway. Of particular importance was the finding that fucan A stimulates the synthesis of an antithrombotic heparan sulfate from endothelial cells like heparin. The hypothesis has been raised that in vivo antithrombotic activity of fucan A is related to the increased production this heparan. Taken together with the fact that the compound is practically devoid of anticoagulant and hemorrhagic activity suggests that it may be an ideal antithrombotic agent in vivo

Structural and ultrastructural characteristics of interrenal gland and chromaffin cell of matrinxa, Brycon cephalus Gunther 1869 (Teleostei-Characidae)

This work presents the structure and ultrastructure of the interrenal gland and chromaffin cells, as well as the morphology of the head kidney of Brycon cephalus, the head kidney is composed of fused bilateral lobes located anterior to the swim bladder and ventrolateral to the spinal column, the parenchyma revealed lympho-haematopoietic tissue, melano-macrophage centres, interrenal gland and chromaffin cells. The interrenal gland consisted of cords or strands of cells grouped around the posterior cardinal vein and their branches. Chromaffin cells are found in small groups, closely associated with the interrenal gland and/or under the endothelium of the posterior cardinal vein. So far, the ultrastructural analysis has revealed only one interrenal cell type which contained abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum and numerous mitochondria with tubulo-vesicular cristae, characteristic of steroid-producing cells. Two types of chromaffin cells were observed. The first type was characterized by the presence of vesicles with round, strongly electron-dense granules, which were eccentrically located, Such cells were interpreted as noradrenaline cells, Meanwhile, cells which contained smaller vesicles and electron-lucent granules, with a small halo separating the granule from the vesicular limiting membrane, were identified as adrenaline cells.

Scientific knowledge and digital democracy in Brazil: how to assess public health policy debate with applied Scientometrics

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Caracterização morfológica de três genótipos de umezeiro selecionados como porta-enxertos para pessegueiro

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

Weed control strip influences the initial growth of Eucalyptus grandis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Morfologia floral e biologia reprodutiva de genótipos de aceroleira

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