Adriana Bin

Drying of pear d'Anjou with and without osmotic dehydration

Abstract This work compares the drying behavior exhibited by in natura and by osmotic dehydrated pears. The dryer was a convective vertical tray dryer. The drying was analyzed in terms of effective diffusivity and drying rates. The effective diffusivity varied from 1.59×10 −10 to 7.64×10 −10 m 2 /s for in natura pear and from 1.87×10 −10 to 8.12×10 −10 m 2 /s for the pears after osmotic dehydration. In the case of moisture content below 1.0 kg w /kg dm , the drying rates only depends on temperature, as internal resistance to moisture transfer prevails.

Obtenção das isotermas de sorção e modelagem matemática para a pêra bartlett (Pyrus sp.) Com e sem desidratação osmótica

Este trabalho aborda o estudo teorico-experimental da atividade de agua de peras in natura e desidratadas osmoticamente a 55oBrix e 40oC. As isotermas foram construidas para tres niveis de temperatura (40oC, 60oC e 80oC) e ajustadas pelos modelos mais usuais: Langmuir, BET, BET linear, GAB, Halsey, Oswin, Peleg, Chung e Henderson. O desvio relativo entre os valores experimentais e os valores estimados foi calculado para cada curva, a fim de se avaliar qual equacao melhor se ajustou aos dados experimentais. O modelo que melhor tratou os resultados das isotermas de dessorcao da pera foi o de Henderson entre os modelos que englobam a temperatura. Em relacao aos modelos que tratam as isotermas isoladamente, os modelos de Peleg, GAB e Oswin apresentaram o melhor ajuste para a pera desidratada e in natura.

Science, Technology and Innovation Management: Contributions to a Methodological Framework

The article discusses the specificities of science and technology development and innovation processes in organizational arena and their implications for planning and management. It proposes that STI (2) the profile of the professionals involved and the organizational culture; (3) the collective logic associated with the complexity of non-linear, dynamic and adaptive systems; and (4) the logic of the scope economies associated with knowledge production. The methodology is applied in a case study of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa.

Organization of Research and Innovation: a Comparative Study of Public Agricultural Research Institutions

Abstract This paper discusses the institutional reorganization that has culminated in new designs for the management models of Public Research Institutes (PRIs), comparing the experiences of four PRIs in the agricultural sector to identify common elements and differences in processes, flows and policies. The focus is to improve research and innovation management, developing new approaches and tools.The four PRIs analyzed are the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Research Branch of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), and Uruguay’s National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA). The study shows that management processes have become more sophisticated and above all oriented to the creation of products, processes and services that are more likely to be used. This movement indicates a new positioning by PRIs in the agricultural innovation systems of their countries, reorienting their relationships with other actors of particular importance to knowledge production.

Innovation in the Brazilian Bioethanol Sector: Questioning Leadership

Abstract Renewable energy based on the use of biofuels, although far from occupying an important share in the global energy matrix, is a reality in several countries. Among biofuels, ethanol is the one that has advanced most in the world, currently being an economical and technological feasible option. Brazil and the United States are both large producers and users of this fuel. As a renewable and sustainable energy, with low carbon emission, it is a global guideline, albeit not a global reality. It is however, an opportunity for less developed countries, particularly those with strong agriculture production. Within this context of biofuel expansion, countries, such as Brazil, have become the focus of attention and investments. Particularly in Brazil, ethanol has been produced to be used as a fuel for almost a century and there is an accumulation of scientific and technological competencies, in both agricultural technologies and industrial applications. In the past 15 years, when biofuels advanced globally and when the flex-fuel engine technology was developed (using a mixture of ethanol and gasoline or alternating just gasoline or ethanol as fuel), the automobile market in Brazil has seen the local leadership expectations of using biofuels, especially ethanol, show their potentialities to become global. The Brazilian biofuel leadership is, nowadays, disputable, whether for technological or economic reasons. The current moment is one of transition and two central questions must be asked: Is ethanol going to become a global commodity? What are the market and technological leadership conditions for less developed countries with technological tradition in certain domains? This chapter paper addresses these two questions simultaneously. Therefore, it presents the results of a survey applied to 35 ethanol-producing mills in Brazil. These mills in turn represent 58 economic groups and isolated companies responsible for one third of the entire ethanol production in the country. The survey was carried out in close interaction with company representatives and supervised by specialized tutors.

What difference does it make? Impact of peer-reviewed scholarships on scientific production

We investigated the extent to which different selection mechanisms for awarding scholarships varied in their short- and longer-term consequences in the performance of awardees in terms of scientific production. We conducted an impact evaluation study on undergraduate, master’s, and PhD research scholarships and compared two different financial sources in Brazil: in one, the selection mechanism was based on a peer review system; the other was based on an institutional system other than peer review. Over 8,500 questionnaires were successfully completed, covering the period 1995–2009. The two groups were compared in terms of their scientific performance using a propensity score approach. We found that the peer-reviewed scholarship awardees showed better performance: they published more often and in journals with higher impact factors than scholarship awardees from the other group. However, two other results indicate a different situation. First, over the long-term, awardees under the peer review system continued to increase their publication rate and published in higher-quality journals; however, the differences with the control group tended to diminish after PhD graduation. Second, the better performance of peer-reviewed scholarships was not observed in all subject areas. The main policy implications of this study relate to a better understanding of selection mechanisms and the heterogeneity regarding the relation between selection processes and scientific and academic output.

R&D and Innovation Management in the Brazilian Electricity Sector: The Regulatory Constraint

In 2000 it became mandatory to the Brazilian electricity companies to invest in research, development and innovation (RDI). These investments are performed by firms and regulated by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL). Since then companies have sought ways to cope with this obligation creating internal structures and managerial processes. This article presents the evolution of RDI management routines and organizational models based on a multiple-case study conducted between 2011 and 2012 with seven companies that represent about 27% of the total RDI investment performed in the period of 2008 to 2013. The research showed that firms created minimalist management and organizational structures to handle with the RDI enforcement. Companies have been much more concerned with the regulatory risk (the risk of non-accomplishment with the obligations) than to any strategic use of RDI effort since the legal framework is based on punishment rather than in stimulus.

Evaluation of the results and impacts of a social-oriented technology program in Brazil: the case of Prosab (a sanitation research program)

This paper presents and discuss the main results and impacts of Prosab (a sanitation research program) sponsored by Finep (Brazilian Federal Agency of Innovation). Prosab was mainly carried out by universities and its purpose was to fulfill technological demands related to the Brazilian sanitation services. This paper deals with two important factors: evaluating a technological program with a social purpose and creating a methodology that could capture the overwhelming aspects of the programs outcomes. The evaluation methodology is separated into two fronts: results evaluation, which tries to seize all the intermediate outputs of the program; and impact evaluation, which concerns the general outcomes of the program for Brazilian society. Results evaluation focused on those who carried out the research project, using them as reference units for analyses, while the focus of impact evaluation was on the whole set of actors related to the sanitation industry, including the research community, sanitation companies, public actors at local and federal level. The unit of analysis was the program itself. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Da P&D à inovação: desafios para o setor elétrico brasileiro

In Brazil, companies operating in the electricity sector must invest at least 1% of their net operating revenues in R&D and energy efficiency programs. This obligation challenges their capacity to manage their research and innovation efforts. As these companies belong to a supplier-dominated sector, they face constraints related to the generation of innovations: often the results of R&D projects are not implemented. This situation reveals not only problems in the sector innovation policy, but also the absence of robust mechanisms to support companies in decisions that can help them generate benefits from research. This work presents a tool developed for the Brazilian electricity companies aiming to characterize and propose solutions to overcome and/or prevent scientific and technology, market and management gaps likely to occur in R&D projects in order to enlarge the appropriation, adoption and diffusion of their results, and the generation of positive impacts.

Impactos ambientais na agricultura: um método de avaliação de programas tecnológicos

Este artigo busca aprofundar a discussao sobre a importância da construcao da Lei de Inovacao Tecnologica Brasileira (Projeto de Lei no 7.282/02) submetida pelo Poder Executivo ao Legislativo, atraves da analise das principais medidas explicitadas no seu texto. Tem-se como objetivo principal demonstrar, a partir das experiencias de alguns paises bem sucedidos na implementacao de politicas industrial e tecnologica, que o Brasil necessita de uma moderna Lei de Inovacao, como instrumento essencial de apoio ao desenvolvimento cientifico e tecnologico do pais. Ficou evidenciado que, apesar de o projeto de lei representar um avanco na estruturacao de um arcabouco institucional para apoiar a modernizacao do modelo cientifico e tecnologico do pais, o mesmo ainda apresenta algumas deficiencias. Conclui-se, finalmente, que o debate sobre Projeto de Lei de Inovacao Tecnologica deve ser aprofundado para evitar que se aprove um diploma legal deficiente que venha dificultar, no futuro, a construcao de um modelo de desenvolvimento tecnologico autonomo no Brasil.proceso de cambio de paradigma. Desde los anos setenta se ha estado viviendo la irrupcion y propagacion de la revolucion informatica, la creciente bicuidad de la microelectronica, la difusion de la computacion a todos los espacios de la vida personal y de trabajo, el aumento espectacular del uso de las redes de telecomunicaciones como vehiculo de transmision de datos e imagenes, la eneralizacion de Internet y el bautizo de nuestra epoca como la “Sociedad del Conocimiento.” El proceso ha sido rapido y profundo. Su impacto ha estremecido a quienes incorporaron los habitos de la epoca anterior, en especial a quellos que alcanzaron el exito logrando llegar hasta posiciones rigentes.Este trabajo examina las regularidades en el proceso de cambio de paradigma dentro de la empresa, la secuencia y las formas que toma, teniendo como marco la recurrencia historica de tales transformaciones y entendiendolo como una odificacion que va mas alla de lo tecnologico y organizativo para adentrarse en el terreno cultural.La siguiente ponencia tiene como objetivo documentar los casos de DuPont y Festo en la creacion de conocimiento e innovacion y su vinculacion con las estrategias comerciales con sus clientes en la construccion de relaciones de largo plazo con base en el desarrollo de tecnologias que garanticen la competitividad de estos ultimos. Dichos casos se sustentan en el modelo de creacion de conocimiento de Nonaka, en la creacion de ventajas competitivas de Porter y en las redes de conocimiento ropuestas por Pavitt, en combinacion con las propuestas del Cuadro de Mando Integral de Kaplan en cuanto a la medicion de intangibles para conocer el desempeno de la organizacion en el esfuerzo de construir conductas innovadoras y en la metodologia de Capon sobre Cuentas Clave -reconocida como una de las mejores practicas comerciales en el desarrollo de relaciones perdurables entre clientes y proveedores en la que se materializan las diversas formas de conocimiento y en la obtencion concreta de tecnologias- dentro del contexto de una economia basada en el conocimiento y la innovacion.Estudos passados realizaram pesquisas em TI em especificas areas, padroes de uso da informatica, e fatores de exito para o uso da TI, percepcao de uso da TI. O objetivo deste artigo e descrever o impacto organizacional derivado da mplantacao de Tecnologia da Informacao em pequenas empresas. Consideram-se fatores como: a) aumentar a continuidade, b) melhorar controles; c) proporcionar maior compreensao das funcoes produtivas. As empresas pesquisadas integram varios setores, os dois maiores beneficios apontados pelas empresas foram a percepcao da necessidade pelos usuarios e o apoio da cupula administrativa.O principal objetivo desse artigo e compreender o processo historico que levou a humanidade a crise ambiental que vem se acentuando desde as ultimas decadas do seculo passado, mostrando as novas perspectivas que a humanidade pode ter para reverter esse cenario de degradacao ambiental, social e moral. Mostra, brevemente, como o homem forjou os pressupostos da crise, que hoje enfrenta, e apresenta algumas solucoes propostas, dentre as quais, as dos ambientalistas, das politicas ambientais e do ecossocialismo. Conclui-se que, so havera possibilidade de mudanca real, a partir de uma transformacao profunda no pensar e no agir da humanidade, substituindo o ter pelo ser em sua ordem de prioridade.Este trabalho e resultado de pesquisa sobre gestao de recursos hidricos no Estado do Ceara. O objetivo da pesquisa foi verificar a sustentabilidade das politicas de recursos hidricos no Estado Brasileiro mais carente de agua. Sem o controle do problema da agua, nao ha possiblidade de desenvolvimento no semi-arido. Parte-se da hipotese de que a Administracao Publica adota praticas prejudiciais a convivencia do homem na regiao. A pesquisa consistiu na aplicacao de questionarios com a utilizacao da escala Likert e questoes abertas. Foi selecionado o universo das Instituicoes que lidam com a questao dos recursos hidricos no Estado do Ceara. Alem das Instituicoes publicas, foram selecionadas as organizacoes da sociedade civil, universidades, ONGs e profissionais que militam no ramo, no Estado e no Governo Federal. A pesquisa foi feita durante os anos de 2001 a 2003. Os dados obtidos apontam para a confirmacao da hipotese, o que exige novos parâmetros na gestao do recurso mais importante para o desenvolvimento da regiao. Como resultado desta pesquisa, merece destaque a obtencao de um modelo de acoes que indicam praticas voltadas para o desenvolvimento sustentavel no Estado do Ceara, mas muito pulverizadas sem uma orientacao que aponte para uma coordenacao. Tambem como conclusao desta pesquisa, o registro de solucoes que vem sendo adotadas em algumas regioes do nordeste do Brasil, que demonstram que existem solucoes sustentaveis para o semi-arido brasileiro que podem ser adotadas no Estado do Ceara