Environmental management in ethanol and sugarcane plants in Brazil

There has been much discussion on the importance of Brazilian ethanol in promoting a more sustainable society. However, there is a lack of analysis of whether sugarcane plants/factories that produce this ethanol are environmentally suitable. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyse stages of environmental management at four Brazilian ethanol-producing plants, examining the management practices adopted and the factors behind this adoption. The results indicate that (1) only one of the four plants is in the environmentally proactive stage; (2) all plants are adopting operational and organisational environmental management practices; (3) all plants have problems in communicating environmental management practices; and (4) the plant with the most advanced environmental management makes intense use of communication practices and is strongly oriented towards a more environmentally aware international market. This paper is an attempt to explain the complex relationship between the evolution of environmental management, environmental practices and motivation using a framework. The implications for society, plant directors and scholars are described, as well as the study's limitations.

No evidence of selenosis from a selenium-rich diet in the Brazilian Amazon

Selenium (Se) is an essential element and a well-known anti-oxidant. In the Lower Tapajos River region of the Brazilian Amazon, biomarkers of Se range from normal to very high. The local traditional diet includes important Se sources such as Brazil nuts, chicken, game meat and certain fish species. Some studies have reported alterations in keratin structure, gastrointestinal problems and paresthesia in populations with high Se intake. The objective of the present study was to evaluate cutaneous and garlic odor of the breath signs and sentinel symptoms of Se toxicity (selenosis) in relation to Se status in communities along the Tapajos River. Participants (N = 448), aged 15-87 years, were recruited from 12 communities. Se concentrations were measured in blood (B-Se) and plasma (P-Se) by ICP-MS. A nurse performed an examination of the hair, nails, skin and breath for signs of Se toxicity. Interview-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on socio-demographics, medical history and possible symptoms of Se toxicity. In this population, the median levels of B-Se and P-Se were 228.4 mu g/L (range 103.3-1500.2 mu g/L) and 134.8 mu g/L (range 53.6-913.2 mu g/L) respectively. Although B-Se and P-Se surpassed concentrations considered toxic (B-Se: 1000 mu g/L (U.S. EPA, 2002)), no dermal or breath signs or symptoms of Se toxicity were associated with the biomarkers of Se status. In the present study population, where Se intake is mostly from traditional diet, there is no evidence of selenosis. These findings support the need to re-assess Se toxicity considering factors such as the chemical form of Se exposure, route of exposure (inhaled versus ingested), co-exposures to toxic elements such as mercury. Considering the current food transition towards a western diet in the Amazon, further studies should address the possible association between high Se status and cardiometabolic health in this study population. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crowding: risk factor or protective factor for lower respiratory disease in young children?

Abstract Background To study the effects of household crowding upon the respiratory health of young children living in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods Case-control study with children aged from 2 to 59 months living within the boundaries of the city of São Paulo. Cases were children recruited from 5 public hospitals in central São Paulo with an acute episode of lower respiratory disease. Children were classified into the following diagnostic categories: acute bronchitis, acute bronchiolitis, pneumonia, asthma, post-bronchiolitis wheezing and wheezing of uncertain aetiology. One control, crudely matched to each case with regard to age (<2, 2 years old or more), was selected among healthy children living in the neighborhood of the case. All buildings were surveyed for the presence of environmental contaminants, type of construction and building material. Plans of all homes, including measurements of floor area, height of walls, windows and solar orientation, was performed. Data were analysed using conditional logistic regression. Results A total of 313 pairs of children were studied. Over 70% of the cases had a primary or an associated diagnosis of a wheezing illness. Compared with controls, cases tended to live in smaller houses with less adequate sewage disposal. Cases and controls were similar with respect to the number of people and the number of children under five living in the household, as well the number of people sharing the child's bedroom. After controlling for potential confounders, no evidence of an association between number of persons sharing the child's bedroom and lower respiratory disease was identified when all cases were compared with their controls. However, when two categories of cases were distinguished (infections, asthma) and each category compared separately with their controls, crowding appeared to be associated with a 60% reduction in the incidence of asthma but with 2 1/2-fold increase in the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections (p = 0.001). Conclusion Our findings suggest that household crowding places young children at risk of acute lower respiratory infection but may protect against asthma. This result is consistent with the hygiene hypothesis.

O mercado brasileiro do século XIX: uma visão por meio do comércio de cabotagem

The Brazilian market in the XIX century: an approach through the cabotage commerce. The maritime commerce consisted of the main way of circulation of the goods between the Brazilian provinces until the second half of century XIX. Although the relatively big importance of the flows of commerce with the exterior, we note significant exchange of goods by sea between the Brazilian regions since the colonial period. A part of these exchanges derived from products destined in last instance to the foreigner or imported of the exterior. However, another part elapsed of national goods that had not arrived at be exported to the international market. Many goods for the colonial and imperial consumption had circulated by the Brazilian coasts in expressive sums. From the information raised for the imperial period, especially the decades of 1860 and 1870, we verify that most of the goods commercialized between the provinces consisted of national products destined to the internal consumption.

Análise de concorrência no mercado mundial de café verde

A literatura argumenta que o Brasil, embora ainda seja o maior exportador mundial de café verde, tem perdido poder neste mercado, pois a concorrência (rivalidade e probabilidade de entrada) imposta por países como a Colômbia e o Vietnã é forte o suficiente para tornar este mercado bastante competitivo. Assim, este artigo avalia o padrão recente de concorrência do mercado mundial de café verde utilizando uma metodologia econométrica mais usualmente empregada em análise antitruste. Para avaliar o comportamento dos consumidores, foram estimadas as elasticidades-preço da demanda mundial de café verde, por tipo de café, usando o modelo de demanda Logit Multinomial Antitruste. Para avaliar o comportamento de equilíbrio de mercado foram realizados testes de instabilidade de share de quantidade por meio de análise de cointegração em painel. Os resultados apontam para aumento da concorrência à variedade de café brasileiro por parte da demanda e manutenção de sharede quantidades como configuração de equilíbrio de mercado.

A comparative analysis of outpatient costs in HIV treatment programs

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the costs of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outpatient treatment for individuals with different CD4 cell counts in the Brazilian public health system, and to compare to costs in other national health systems. METHODS: A retrospective survey was conducted in five public outpatient clinics of the Brazilian national HIV program in the city of São Paulo. Data on healthcare services provided for a period of one year of HIV outpatient treatment were gathered from randomly selected medical records. Prices of inputs used were obtained through market research and public sector databases. Information on costs of HIV outpatient treatment in other national health systems were gathered from the literature. Annual costs of HIV outpatient treatment from each country were converted into 2010 U.S. dollars. RESULTS: Annual cost of HIV outpatient treatment for the Brazilian national public program was US$ 2,572.92 in 2006 in São Paulo, ranging from US$ 1,726.19 for patients with CD4 cell count > 500 to US$ 3,693.28 for patients with 51 < CD4 cell count < 200. Antiretrovirals (ARVs) represented approximately 62.0% of annual HIV outpatient costs. Comparing among different health systems during the same period, HIV outpatient treatment presented higher costs in countries where HIV treatment is provided by the private sector. CONCLUSION: The main cost drivers of HIV outpatient treatment in different health systems were: ARVs, other medications, health professional services, and diagnostic exams. Nevertheless, the magnitude of cost drivers varied among HIV outpatient treatment programs due to health system efficiency. The data presented may be a valuable tool for public policy evaluation of HIV treatment programs worldwide.

Oral leucine supplementation is sensed by the brain but neither reduces food intake nor induces an anorectic pattern of gene expression in the hypothalamus

Leucine activates the intracellular mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, and hypothalamic mTOR signaling regulates food intake. Although central infusion of leucine reduces food intake, it is still uncertain whether oral leucine supplementation is able to affect the hypothalamic circuits that control energy balance. We observed increased phosphorylation of p70s6k in the mouse hypothalamus after an acute oral gavage of leucine. We then assessed whether acute oral gavage of leucine induces the activation of neurons in several hypothalamic nuclei and in the brainstem. Leucine did not induce the expression of Fos in hypothalamic nuclei, but it increased the number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons in the area postrema. In addition, oral gavage of leucine acutely increased the 24 h food intake of mice. Nonetheless, chronic leucine supplementation in the drinking water did not change the food intake and the weight gain of ob/ob mice and of wild-type mice consuming a low- or a high-fat diet. We assessed the hypothalamic gene expression and observed that leucine supplementation increased the expression of enzymes (BCAT1, BCAT2 and BCKDK) that metabolize branched-chain amino acids. Despite these effects, leucine supplementation did not induce an anorectic pattern of gene expression in the hypothalamus. In conclusion, our data show that the brain is able to sense oral leucine intake. However, the food intake is not modified by chronic oral leucine supplementation. These results question the possible efficacy of leucine supplementation as an appetite suppressant to treat obesity

Sulla progettazione in zona sismica di strutture dotate di dissipatori fluido-viscosi: proposta di una metodologia

CHAPTER 1:FLUID-VISCOUS DAMPERS In this chapter the fluid-viscous dampers are introduced. The first section is focused on the technical characteristics of these devices, their mechanical behavior and the latest evolution of the technology whose they are equipped. In the second section we report the definitions and the guide lines about the design of these devices included in some international codes. In the third section the results of some experimental tests carried out by some authors on the response of these devices to external forces are discussed. On this purpose we report some technical schedules that are usually enclosed to the devices now available on the international market. In the third section we show also some analytic models proposed by various authors, which are able to describe efficiently the physical behavior of the fluid-viscous dampers. In the last section we propose some cases of application of these devices on existing structures and on new-construction structures. We show also some cases in which these devices have been revealed good for aims that lies outside the reduction of seismic actions on the structures. CHAPTER 2:DESIGN METHODS PROPOSED IN LITERATURE In this chapter the more widespread design methods proposed in literature for structures equipped by fluid-viscous dampers are introduced. In the first part the response of sdf systems in the case of harmonic external force is studied, in the last part the response in the case of random external force is discussed. In the first section the equations of motion in the case of an elastic-linear sdf system equipped with a non-linear fluid-viscous damper undergoing a harmonic force are introduced. This differential problem is analytically quite complex and it’s not possible to be solved in a closed form. Therefore some authors have proposed approximate solution methods. The more widespread methods are based on equivalence principles between a non-linear device and an equivalent linear one. Operating in this way it is possible to define an equivalent damping ratio and the problem becomes linear; the solution of the equivalent problem is well-known. In the following section two techniques of linearization, proposed by some authors in literature, are described: the first technique is based on the equivalence of the energy dissipated by the two devices and the second one is based on the equivalence of power consumption. After that we compare these two techniques by studying the response of a sdf system undergoing a harmonic force. By introducing the equivalent damping ratio we can write the equation of motion of the non-linear differential problem in an implicit form, by dividing, as usual, for the mass of the system. In this way, we get a reduction of the number of variables, by introducing the natural frequency of the system. The equation of motion written in this form has two important properties: the response is linear dependent on the amplitude of the external force and the response is dependent on the ratio of the frequency of the external harmonic force and the natural frequency of the system only, and not on their single values. All these considerations, in the last section, are extended to the case of a random external force. CHAPTER 3: DESIGN METHOD PROPOSED In this chapter the theoretical basis of the design method proposed are introduced. The need to propose a new design method for structures equipped with fluid-viscous dampers arises from the observation that the methods reported in literature are always iterative, because the response affects some parameters included in the equation of motion (such as the equivalent damping ratio). In the first section the dimensionless parameterε is introduced. This parameter has been obtained from the definition of equivalent damping ratio. The implicit form of the equation of motion is written by introducing the parameter ε, instead of the equivalent damping ratio. This new implicit equation of motions has not any terms affected by the response, so that once ε is known the response can be evaluated directly. In the second section it is discussed how the parameter ε affects some characteristics of the response: drift, velocity and base shear. All the results described till this point have been obtained by keeping the non-linearity of the behavior of the dampers. In order to get a linear formulation of the problem, that is possible to solve by using the well-known methods of the dynamics of structures, as we did before for the iterative methods by introducing the equivalent damping ratio, it is shown how the equivalent damping ratio can be evaluated from knowing the value of ε. Operating in this way, once the parameter ε is known, it is quite easy to estimate the equivalent damping ratio and to proceed with a classic linear analysis. In the last section it is shown how the parameter ε could be taken as reference for the evaluation of the convenience of using non-linear dampers instead of linear ones on the basis of the type of external force and the characteristics of the system. CHAPTER 4: MULTI-DEGREE OF FREEDOM SYSTEMS In this chapter the design methods of a elastic-linear mdf system equipped with non-linear fluidviscous dampers are introduced. It has already been shown that, in the sdf systems, the response of the structure can be evaluated through the estimation of the equivalent damping ratio (ξsd) assuming the behavior of the structure elastic-linear. We would to mention that some adjusting coefficients, to be applied to the equivalent damping ratio in order to consider the actual behavior of the structure (that is non-linear), have already been proposed in literature; such coefficients are usually expressed in terms of ductility, but their treatment is over the aims of this thesis and we does not go into further. The method usually proposed in literature is based on energy equivalence: even though this procedure has solid theoretical basis, it must necessary include some iterative process, because the expression of the equivalent damping ratio contains a term of the response. This procedure has been introduced primarily by Ramirez, Constantinou et al. in 2000. This procedure is reported in the first section and it is defined “Iterative Method”. Following the guide lines about sdf systems reported in the previous chapters, it is introduced a procedure for the assessment of the parameter ε in the case of mdf systems. Operating in this way the evaluation of the equivalent damping ratio (ξsd) can be done directly without implementing iterative processes. This procedure is defined “Direct Method” and it is reported in the second section. In the third section the two methods are analyzed by studying 4 cases of two moment-resisting steel frames undergoing real accelerogramms: the response of the system calculated by using the two methods is compared with the numerical response obtained from the software called SAP2000-NL, CSI product. In the last section a procedure to create spectra of the equivalent damping ratio, affected by the parameter ε and the natural period of the system for a fixed value of exponent α, starting from the elasticresponse spectra provided by any international code, is introduced.

Der rechtliche Status eines universellen Handelsrechts in den Rechtsordnungen Englands, Frankreichs und Deutschlands

Die Arbeit behandelt die Frage nach der Reichweite der Parteiautonomie und der Kompetenz des Schiedsgerichts zur Bestimmung des anwendbaren materiellen Rechts in einem internationalen Schiedsverfahren. Im Wege eines rechtsvergleichenden Ansatz wurden die Rechtsordnungen Englands (arbitration act 1996), Frankreichs (Art. 1492 ff. Nouveau Code de Procédure Civile)und Deutschlands (10. Buch der ZPO)untersucht, im Hinblick auf die Frage, wie nichtstaatliche Regeln (lex mercatoria) behandelt werden und unter welchen Voraussetzungen sie Anwendung finden können, sei es von Seiten der Parteien oder des Schiedsgerichts. Des Weiteren wollte die Arbeit zeigen, welche der genannten Rechtsordnungen die "wettbewerbsfähigste" ist, anders gesagt, welcher es gelingt, mit der Entwicklung eines sich wahrhaft globalisierenden, internationalen Markts mitzuhalten, indem der Weg für eine Anwendung solcher Regeln so weit wie möglich geebnet wird. Starre, nationale Vorschriften werden in diesem Zusammenhang als eine Minderung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit eines nationalen Rechts angesehen, welches sich den vorgenannten Herausforderungen stellen möchte. Das französische Recht erwies sich hierbei als das "wettbewerbsfähigste" der drei größten europäischen Wirtschaftsnationen, indem es ein geeignetes rechtliches Regelwerk für internationale Wirtschaftsangelegenheiten verwickelte Parteien aufstellt.

Percieved Organizational Efficacy in Internationalized Companies: Application of Competing Values Approach and Collective Efficacy

This dissertation focuses on “organizational efficacy”, in particular on employees’ beliefs of organizational capacity to be efficacious. Organizational efficacy is considered from two perspectives – competing values approach and collective efficacy, and evaluated in internationalized companies. The dissertation is composed of three studies. The data were collected in thirteen Italian companies on different stages of internationalization for a total number of respondents is 358. In the first study the factorial validity of the competing values instrument (Rohrbaugh, 1981) was investigated and confirmed. Two scales were used to measure collective efficacy: a general collective efficacy scale (Bohn, 2010), and a specific collective efficacy scale, developed following suggestions of Borgogni et al. (2001), it evaluates employees’ beliefs of efficacy of organizations in the international market. The findings suggest that competing values and collective organizational efficacy instruments may provide a multi-faceted measurement of employees’ beliefs of organizational efficacy. The second study examined the relationship between organizational efficacy and collective work engagement. To measure collective work engagement the UWES-9 (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003) was adapted at the group level; its factor structure and reliability were similar to the standard UWES-9. The findings suggest that organizational efficacy fully predicts collective work engagement. Also we investigated whether leadership moderates the relationship between organizational efficacy and collective work engagement. We operationalized leadership style with MLQ (Bass & Avolio, 1995); the results suggest that intellectual stimulation and idealized influence (transformational leadership) and contingent reward (transactional leadership) enhance the impact of organizational efficacy on collective work engagement. In the third study we investigated organizational efficacy and collective work engagement in internationalized companies. The findings show that beliefs of organizational efficacy vary across companies in different stages of internationalization, while no significant difference was found for collective work engagement. Limitations, practical implications and future studies are discussed in the conclusion.

Biomechanical model of tumor growth: application to the European ContraCancrum project

This abstract presents the biomechanical model that is used in the European ContraCancrum project, aiming at simulating tumor evolution in the brain and lung. The construction of the finite element model as well as a simulation of tumor growth are shown. The construction of the mesh is fully automatic and is therefore compatible with a clinical application. This biomechanical model will be later combined to a cellular level simulator also developed in the project.

Virus infections and winter losses of honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera)

Apiculturists have recently been confronted with drastic and inexplicable winter losses of colonies, and virus infections may be involved. Here, we surveyed 337 Swiss honey bee colonies in the winter of 2005 and 2006 and categorized their health status as: 1. dead (= no or few live bees left); 2. weak (= dwindling, high mortality of adult bees); or 3. healthy (= normal overwintering colony). From each colony, pooled adult workers were analyzed for deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and Kashmir bee virus (KBV). Neither KBV nor CBPV were found, but significantly higher ABPV and DWV infections were found in dead vs. weak vs. healthy colonies (except DWV in 2006 between weak and healthy). Moreover, ABPV and DWV loads were positively correlated with each other. This is the first report demonstrating statistically significant correlations between viruses associated with Varroa destructor and winter mortality.