A comparative study of production performance and animal health practices in organic and conventional dairy systems

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Economic aspects of production of Caiman crocodilus yacare

The breeding of crocodilians is still a recent activity in Brazil. Its peak was in the 1990's, but it has gaps in its production, as there are no norms for the commercial breeding of these animals in captivity. However, its economic potential is great, and the search for ecological balance and viability of commercial production has become a challenge among farmers of this activity. Therefor, the objective of the study was to economically analyze the production of Caiman crocodilus yacare on a farm located in Caceres, state of Mato Grosso, identifying relevant items of costs in the activity, as well as the parameters related to the profitability and viability of the activity. The economic results for the breeding of this animal were positive, with profitability ratios higher than 70%.

Nasalance during use of pharyngeal and glottal place of production

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Relationships between company size, types of production system and supply chain management: evidence from electro-electronics sector in Brazil

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how company size and the type of production system affect the adoption of supply chain management (SCM) practices in companies in the electro‐electronics sector in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – An e‐mail survey of 107 companies associated with the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association (ABINEE) was conducted. Statistical techniques were employed to verify the adoption of SCM practices according to the size of the company and its production system. Findings – The major results indicate that the larger the size of the company, the higher the level of adoption of SCM practices, and that the choice of SCM practices depends upon the type of production system implemented. Practical implications – The implications of this study are useful to top management leaders of small and medium‐sized enterprises since the findings enable them to identify the most common practices adopted by either large‐, medium‐ or small‐sized companies in order to benchmark the level of adoption of SCM practices. Production managers can also benefit from this study by identifying the SCM practices that may support certain production systems.

Greening of the essential activities of an Engineering School: a case study in the Area/Department of Production Engineering

This article analyzes the inclusion of the issue of “environmental management” in the department of Production Engineering of the “Alfa” School of Engineering. For this, a case study was conducted at the School of "Alpha" Engineering, with a focus on the area of Production Engineering. Professors were interviewed; documents were reviewed as well as information collected from direct observations by of one of the authors of this article. It was observed that the department of Production Engineering at the Alpha School of Engineering has been developing activities covering all those aspects proposed by Jabbour [8]. "Environmental management" has been included in the curriculums of: (a) Teaching: in the creation of undergraduate courses (obligatory) and graduate Master's degree (optional), (b) Research: formalization of research groups in environmental management for the creation of master’s post graduation research, formalization of environmental management as one of the subjects that should be chosen by candidates for a Professorship in the area of production engineering; (c) Extension: Course in Environmental Management, Symposium (which in recent years has been focusing on environmental issues), creation of sustainability indicators for universities, (d) University Management: initiatives to raise awareness, distribution of reusable mugs and installation of special bins for selective collection in the Campus.

Discrimination of production environments of specialty coffees by means of stable isotopes and discriminant model

The south of Minas Gerais, Brazil stands out among various regions through its capacity for production of specialty coffees. Its potential, manifested through being one of the most award-winning Brazilian regions in recent years, has been recognized by the Cup of Excellence (COE). With the evident relationship between product quality and the environment in mind, the need arises for scientific studies to provide a foundation for discrimination of product origin, creating new methods for combating possible fraud. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in discrimination of production environments of specialty coffees from the Serra da Mantiqueira of Minas Gerais by means of the discriminant model. Coffee samples were composed of ripe yellow and red fruits collected manually at altitudes below 1,000 m, from 1,000 to 1,200 m and above 1,200 m. The yellow and red fruits were subjected to dry processing and wet processing, with five replications. A total of 119 samples were used for discrimination of specialty coffee production environments by means of stable isotopes and statistical modeling. The model generated had an accuracy rate of 89% in discrimination of environments and was composed of the isotope variables of δ15N, δ13C, %C, %N, δD, δ18O (meteoric water) and sensory analysis scores. In addition, for the first time, discrimination of environments on a local geographic scale, within a single municipality, was proposed and successfully concluded. This shows that isotope analysis is an effective method in verifying geographic origin for specialty coffees.

Food safety in wine: optimization of analytical controls and evaluation of production technologies

This PhD thesis has been proposed to validate and then apply innovative analytical methodologies for the determination of compounds with harmful impact on human health, such as biogenic amines and ochratoxin A in wines. Therefore, the influence of production technology (pH, amino acids precursor and use of different malolactic starters) on biogenic amines content in wines was evaluated. An HPLC method for simultaneous determination of amino acids and amines with precolumnderivatization with 9-Fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl chloride (FMOC-Cl) and UV detection was developed. Initially, the influence of pH, time of derivatization, gradient profile were studied. In order to improve the separation of amino acids and amines and reduce the time of analysis, it was decided to study the influence of different flows and the use of different columns in the chromatographic method. Firstly, a C18 Luna column was used and later two monolithic columns Chromolith in series. It appeared to be suitable for an easy, precise and accurate determination of a relatively large number of amino acids and amines in wines. This method was then applied on different wines produced in the Emilia Romagna region. The investigation permitted to discriminate between red and white wines. Amino acids content is related to the winemaking process. Biogenic amines content in these wines does not represent a possible toxicological problem for human health. The results of the study of influence of technologies and wine composition demonstrated that pH of wines and amino acids content are the most important factors. Particularly wines with pH > 3,5 show higher concentration of biogenic amines than wines with lower pH. The enrichment of wines by nutrients also influences the content of some biogenic amines that are higher in wines added with amino acids precursors. In this study, amino acids and biogenic amines are not statistically affected by strain of lactic acid bacteria inoculated as a starter for malolactic fermentation. An evaluation of different clean-up (SPE-MycoSep; IACs and LLE) and determination methods (HPLC and ELISA) of ochratoxin A was carried out. The results obtained proved that the SPE clean-up are reliable at the same level while the LLE procedures shows lowest recovery. The ELISA method gave a lower determination and a low reproducibility than HPLC method.

Radiochemical aspects of production and processing of radiometals for preparation of metalloradiopharmaceuticals

Radiometals play an important role in nuclear medicine as involved in diagnostic or therapeutic agents. In the present work the radiochemical aspects of production and processing of very promising radiometals of the third group of the periodic table, namely radiogallium and radiolanthanides are investigated. The 68Ge/68Ga generator (68Ge, T½ = 270.8 d) provides a cyclotron-independent source of positron-emitting 68Ga (T½ = 68 min), which can be used for coordinative labelling. However, for labelling of biomolecules via bifunctional chelators, particularly if legal aspects of production of radiopharmaceuticals are considered, 68Ga(III) as eluted initially needs to be pre-concentrated and purified. The first experimental chapter describes a system for simple and efficient handling of the 68Ge/68Ga generator eluates with a cation-exchange micro-chromatography column as the main component. Chemical purification and volume concentration of 68Ga(III) are carried out in hydrochloric acid – acetone media. Finally, generator produced 68Ga(III) is obtained with an excellent radiochemical and chemical purity in a minimised volume in a form applicable directly for the synthesis of 68Ga-labelled radiopharmaceuticals. For labelling with 68Ga(III), somatostatin analogue DOTA-octreotides (DOTATOC, DOTANOC) are used. 68Ga-DOTATOC and 68Ga-DOTANOC were successfully used to diagnose human somatostatin receptor-expressing tumours with PET/CT. Additionally, the proposed method was adapted for purification and medical utilisation of the cyclotron produced SPECT gallium radionuclide 67Ga(III). Second experimental chapter discusses a diagnostic radiolanthanide 140Nd, produced by irradiation of macro amounts of natural CeO2 and Pr2O3 in natCe(3He,xn)140Nd and 141Pr(p,2n)140Nd nuclear reactions, respectively. With this produced and processed 140Nd an efficient 140Nd/140Pr radionuclide generator system has been developed and evaluated. The principle of radiochemical separation of the mother and daughter radiolanthanides is based on physical-chemical transitions (hot-atom effects) of 140Pr following the electron capture process of 140Nd. The mother radionuclide 140Nd(III) is quantitatively absorbed on a solid phase matrix in the chemical form of 140Nd-DOTA-conjugated complexes, while daughter nuclide 140Pr is generated in an ionic species. With a very high elution yield and satisfactory chemical and radiolytical stability the system could able to provide the short-lived positron-emitting radiolanthanide 140Pr for PET investigations. In the third experimental chapter, analogously to physical-chemical transitions after the radioactive decay of 140Nd in 140Pr-DOTA, the rapture of the chemical bond between a radiolanthanide and the DOTA ligand, after the thermal neutron capture reaction (Szilard-Chalmers effect) was evaluated for production of the relevant radiolanthanides with high specific activity at TRIGA II Mainz nuclear reactor. The physical-chemical model was developed and first quantitative data are presented. As an example, 166Ho could be produced with a specific activity higher than its limiting value for TRIGA II Mainz, namely about 2 GBq/mg versus 0.9 GBq/mg. While free 166Ho(III) is produced in situ, it is not forming a 166Ho-DOTA complex and therefore can be separated from the inactive 165Ho-DOTA material. The analysis of the experimental data shows that radionuclides with half-life T½ < 64 h can be produced on TRIGA II Mainz nuclear reactor, with specific activity higher than any available at irradiation of simple targets e.g. oxides.

Uncovering poiesis : the role of production in technical communication, work, and public life

This dissertation is a report on a collaborative project between the Computer Science and the Humanities Departments to develop case studies that focus on issues of communication in the workplace, and the results of their use in the classroom. My argument is that case study teaching simulates real-world experience in a meaningful way, essentially developing a teachable way of developing phronesis, the reasoned capacity to act for the good in public. In addition, it can be read as a "how-to" guide for educators who may wish to construct their own case studies. To that end, I have included a discussion of the ethnographic methodologies employed, and how it was adapted to our more pragmatic ends. Finally, I present my overarching argument for a new appraisal of the concept of techné. This reappraisal emphasizes its productive activity, poiesis, rather than focusing on its knowledge as has been the case in the past. I propose that focusing on the telos, the end outside the production, contributes to the diminishment, if not complete foreclosure, of a rich concept of techné.

Measurements of Production Properties of K0S mesons and Lambda hyperons in Proton-Carbon Interactions at 31 GeV/c

Spectra of K0S mesons and Λ hyperons were measured in p+C interactions at 31 GeV/c with the large acceptance NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. The data were collected with an isotropic graphite target with a thickness of 4% of a nuclear interaction length. Interaction cross sections, charged pion spectra, and charged kaon spectra were previously measured using the same data set. Results on K0S and Λ production in p+C interactions serve as reference for the understanding of the enhancement of strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Moreover, they provide important input for the improvement of neutrino flux predictions for the T2K long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan. Inclusive production cross sections for K0S and Λ are presented as a function of laboratory momentum in intervals of the laboratory polar angle covering the range from 0 up to 240 mrad. The results are compared with predictions of several hadron production models. The K0S mean multiplicity in production processes and the inclusive cross section for K0S production were measured and amount to 0.127 ± 0.005 (stat) ± 0.022 (sys) and 29.0 ± 1.6 (stat) ± 5.0 (sys) mb, respectively.

Measurement of ℤℤ production in pp collisions at sqrts=7 TeV and limits on anomalous ℤℤℤ ℤℤgamma couplings with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the ZZ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV using data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb(-1) collected in 2011, events are selected that are consistent either with two Z bosons decaying to electrons or muons or with one Z boson decaying to electrons or muons and a second Z boson decaying to neutrinos. The ZZ((*)) -> l(+)l(-)l'(+)l'(-) and ZZ -> l(+)l(-) nu(nu) over bar cross sections are measured in restricted phase-space regions. These results are then used to derive the total cross section for ZZ events produced with both Z bosons in the mass range 66 to 116 GeV, sigma(tot)(ZZ) = 6.7 +/- 0.7 (stat.) (+0.4)(-0.3) (syst.) +/- 0.3 (lumi.) pb, which is consistent with the Standard Model prediction of 5.89(-0.18)(+0.22) pb calculated at next-to-leading order in QCD. The normalized differential cross sections in bins of various kinematic variables are presented. Finally, the differential event yield as a function of the transverse momentum of the leading Z boson is used to set limits on anomalous neutral triple gauge boson couplings in ZZ production.