Tastets d'economia número 3: la fàbula de les ratetes

Tercer tastet, dels articles d'economia, adreçat al target de les ciències socials.

Treatments to optimize the use of artificial insemination and reproductive efficiency in beef cattle under tropical environments

Bos indicus cattle, the preferred genetic group in tropical climates, are characterized by having a lower reproductive efficiency than Bos taurus. The reasons for the poorer reproductive efficiency of the Bos indicus cows include longer lengths of gestation and postpartum anestrus, a short length of estrous behavior with a high incidence of estrus occurring during the dark hours, and puberty at older age and at a higher percentage of body weight relative to mature body weight. Moreover, geography, environment, economics, and social traditions are factors contributing for a lower use of reproductive biotechnologies in tropical environments. Hormonal protocols have been developed to resolve some of the reproductive challenges of the Bos indicus cattle and allow artificial insemination, which is the main strategy to hasten genetic improvement in commercial beef ranches. Most of these treatments use exogenous sources of progesterone associated with strategies to improve the final maturation of the dominant follicle, such as temporary weaning and exogenous gonadotropins. These treatments have caused large impacts on reproductive performance of beef cattle reared under tropical areas. Copyright © 2011 O. G. Sá Filho and J. L. M. Vasconcelos.

Desafios ambientais na indústria automobiliística: uma análise do processo de reciclagem e reutilização de materiais

This research has as main objective the analysis of the auto industry has done to reduce disposal of solid waste in its production process as much as to facilitate the recycling of cars after they complete their life cycle. Despite the auto industry is not one of the most polluting in terms of its production process, it produces a good that is causing major pollution. In despite of the great current concern in seeking to reduce the emissions of pollutants by vehicles, as important as the quest for cleaner fuels is the study of how to dispose of old cars. Even if the car production does not increase significantly each year in relative terms, we must consider the fleet of used cars that still circulates in the world. Ending the mammoth “cemeteries” of automobiles, however, it is not so easy, even because the car is composed of various materials, which in many cases are not easily separable. In addition to an overview, the research seeks to examine the possible advances in Brazil related to the process of auto recycling

Políticas públicas.

2009

Spatial economics and ecosystems: the interaction between economics and the natural environment

This collection of original research and review articles and has been designed with the joint aims of inspiring future work and of reminding environmental economists and researchers from other disciplines that looking for similarities and common features in their studies is more important than magnifying their differences. It is also suitable for use as a postgraduate text. The volume reflects the endeavour of mainstream economic thought to include, amongst its chief concerns, the study of all complex interactions between economies and natural space. It also documents efforts made by economists and other scientists to study the complex phenomenon of individual and collective decision making when faced with problems linking economic activity with the environment. Presenting a pluralistic view of approaches and methodologies, rather than an exhaustive list of topics of interest to environmental scientists, the editors have brought together innovative contributions that can be read as self-contained pieces of work.

A hybrid planning method for transmission networks in a deregulated environment

The reconstruction of power industries has brought fundamental changes to both power system operation and planning. This paper presents a new planning method using multi-objective optimization (MOOP) technique, as well as human knowledge, to expand the transmission network in open access schemes. The method starts with a candidate pool of feasible expansion plans. Consequent selection of the best candidates is carried out through a MOOP approach, of which multiple objectives are tackled simultaneously, aiming at integrating the market operation and planning as one unified process in context of deregulated system. Human knowledge has been applied in both stages to ensure the selection with practical engineering and management concerns. The expansion plan from MOOP is assessed by reliability criteria before it is finalized. The proposed method has been tested with the IEEE 14-bus system and relevant analyses and discussions have been presented.