Impactos da política americana de estímulo aos biocombustíveis sobre a produção agropecuária e o uso da terra

O presente estudo estima os impactos do crescimento da demanda de etanol no Brasil e nos EUA sobre a produção agrícola e o uso da terra. Utiliza-se um modelo econômico global capaz de representar os mercados agropecuários e de energia, as relações comerciais entre os países, a produção e demanda de etanol no Brasil e nos EUA e mudanças no uso da terra. Aumentos na demanda de etanol no Brasil e nos EUA são simulados de forma a refletir a política norte-americana e projeções da demanda brasileira para a próxima década. Os resultados sugerem que o Brasil deve ter uma especialização na produção de cana-de-açúcar e etanol em detrimento de outros produtos agropecuários. A área cultivada com cana-de-açúcar aumentaria de 5 milhões para 15 a 20 milhões de hectares em 2020, substitutindo áreas de pastagens, de outras culturas e de silvicultura. Cerca de 2,5 milhões de hectares de Cerrado seriam convertidos para agricultura, enquanto a floresta tropical teria impactos consideráveis apenas se as barreiras comerciais às importações de etanol nos EUA fossem reduzidas.This paper assesses the impacts of the increase in the ethanol demand in Brazil and in the United States on the agricultural production and land use. A global economic model representing agricultural and energy markets, trade among countries, ethanol supply and the demand in Brazil and in the US and changes in the land use is used. We simulate increases in the ethanol demand in Brazil and in the US to reflect the US policy and forecasts about the Brazilian demand for the upcoming decade. Results suggest a specialization in sugarcane and ethanol production in Brazil and decreases in other agricultural commodities. The area cultivated with sugarcane would move up from 5 million to 15 to 20 million hectares in 2020, replacing areas of pasture, other crops and forest. The Cerrado region in Brazil would lose 2.5 million hectares to agriculture, while tropical forests would only be considerably affected if the US trade barriers on ethanol imports were reduced

Economic Loss to the Brazilian Regions Due to the Doha Round Failure

We build a database and model to develop general equilibrium analysis of the Brazilian economy at the level of the five macro regions. The model is multiregional at global level as also at the Brazilian level. The project is coupled to the GTAP model through disaggregation of the original Brazilian input-output matrix and trade flows and follows the GTAPinGAMS structure and syntax to generate the General Equilibrium Analysis Project for the Brazilian Economy (PAEG). The regional database is that of the GTAP version 6 and represent the 2001 world economy. We aggregate the data in seven regions plus the five Brazilian sub-regions and nineteen commodities/sectors to apply the scenario Doha Round to determine the probable losses to the Brazilian regions from the failure of the Doha round of negotiations. It is analyzed cuts in the agricultural and manufactures (NAMA proposal) import tariffs via the application of the Swiss formula, reduction in the agricultural production subsidies and elimination of agricultural export subsidies. The results show that although the regions are affected in different ways, the Doha Round failure generates losses for all Brazilian regions. The losses are greater for the Midwest and South regions, the most important for the Brazilian agricultural production.Brazilian regions, General equilibrium, Agribusiness, Trade liberalization, International Development, International Relations/Trade, F13, F15, Q17,

A task recommendation system for children and youth with autism spectrum disorder

Current studies indicate that 1 in 68 children have Autism Spectrum Disease. It is known that early diagnosis and intervention can alter the course of development and significantly improve the prognosis of the disease. It is our intention to develop a task Recommendation System, which will use a Case-based Reasoning machine learning technique, in order to supplement the child’s regular therapy. Besides the tasks’ recommendation, this application will allow a closer monitoring by parents and a better coordination with the therapists, contributing to improve the results on child’s development.(UID/CEC/00319/2013)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Brazilian trade policies: some observed and estimated effects of the 1990s liberalization

This paper seeks to examine economic effects of Brazil's trade policy liberalization in the early-1990s. The effects in Brazil, along with those of many other countries pursuing similar reforms, have been contentious. The period in question was one of macroeconomic turmoil followed by successful stabilization, and various policies were pursued sometimes simultaneously, rendering it analytically difficult to separate out various policy effects. The paper examines the existing evidence on the country's productivity growth and employs a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate the effects of trade policy changes. The analysis suggests that the trade policy reforms resulted in significant welfare gains for Brazil.Este trabalho intenciona examinar efeitos econômicos da liberalização brasileira de políticas comerciais introduzidas durante os anos iniciais da década de 1990. Os efeitos no Brasil, como em muitos outros países seguindo reformas parecidas, tem sido contenciosos. O período em questão foi de tumulto ma-croeconômico seguido por estabilização bem-sucedida, e diversas políticas foram implementadas às vezes simultaneamente, tornando-se analiticamente difícil separar e isolar os vários efeitos. O trabalho examina a evidência existente sobre o crescimento da produtividade do País e utiliza também um modelo computável de equilíbrio geral (CGE) em simular os efeitos de mudanças em política comercial. A análise sugere que as reformas nas políticas comerciais resultaram em ganhos significativos de bem-estar para o País.(FAPERJ) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeir

Assistive Technology for Elderly Care: An Overview

Global demographic changes have resulted in a growing technological demand to meet the arisen social needs. In particular, the increasingly ageing population requires assistive technologies to stay at home for longer independently while receiving continuous healthcare. In this sense, a wide academic and industrial research is taking place, introducing these technologies in hospitals and rehabilitation centres. This paper aims at providing an overview of research projects for elderly care and assistance, focusing on cognitive and robot assistants due to their popularity in the area. More precisely, physical and/or cognitive rehabilitation are presented. This paper also discusses their limitations and the open challenges to be tackled in order to be successfully integrated in our society