The costs and benefits of packaging waste management systems in Europe: the perspective of local authorities

Local authorities are generally in charge of household packaging waste management operations, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the packaging industry and the local authorities (regarding the costs involved in selective collection and sorting). In the present study, the costs and benefits of recycling from the perspective of local authorities are compared for Portugal, Belgium and Italy (in Lombardia region), adopting the same economic-financial methodology. The results show that the industry is not paying the net cost of packaging waste management. If the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment operations are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities. However, if the avoided costs with other treatment are considered as a benefit for local authorities, the costs are generally outweighed by the benefits and the financial support could, therefore, be reduced

Submandibular glands and the regulation of gastric proliferation and TGFα distribution during rat postnatal development

Rodent gastric mucosa grows and differentiates during suckling-weaning transition. Among the molecules in rat milk, EGF and TGFβ are important peptides in the control of cell proliferation, and together with TGFα, they are also produced by submandibular glands. We aimed to determine the effect of saliva and milk on epithelial cell proliferation in the stomach of rat pups. We also examined the distribution of TGFα in the gastric mucosa after sialoadenectomy (SIALO) and fasting in order to determine whether this growth factor is affected by the deprivation of molecules derived from saliva and milk. SIALO was performed at 14 days and fasting was induced 3 days later. Cell proliferation was evaluated through metaphasic index and TGFα was detected by immunohistochemistry. We observed that whereas SIALO did not alter cell division, since the metaphasic index (MI) was unchanged, fasting stimulated cell proliferation (P < 0.05). After SIALO and fasting, MI was reduced when compared to the fasted group (P < 0.05). We found that TGFα is distributed along gastric gland and SIALO did not interfere in the localization and number of immunolabeled cells, but fasting increased their density when compared to the control (P < 0.05). The association of SIALO and fasting reduced TGFα immunostaining (P < 0.05). Therefore, during fasting, high MI was parallel to increased TGFα in gastric epithelium, but interestingly, this effect was found only in the presence of submandibular glands. We suggest that during suckling, peptides derived from saliva and milk are important to regulate gastric growth.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Life cycle assessment and valuation of the packaging waste recycling system in Belgium

This study analyses the packaging waste management system in Belgium. Waste management operations involve a significant number of processes associated with energy consumption and emission of pollutants in air and water. To assess the impact on the environment of the several waste management operations, a life cycle assessment was developed. The operations of selective and refuse collection, sorting, recycling and incineration of packaging waste were considered. A comparison between two scenarios was developed. The first scenario comprised the packaging waste management system in operation in 2010. This system comprises the waste management operations envisaging the recycling of the packaging materials. The second scenario was developed based on the hypothesis that there was no recycling system and all packaging waste would be collected in the refuse collection system. An environmental valuation was performed to convert the environmental results into a common unit (EUR). To accomplish this valuation, three methods were used: Ecocost, Ecovalue and Stepwise. These methods were developed in Europe and follow different methodologies. The environmental results were compared using the three methods and they were consistent with the conclusion that the recycling scenario (i.e. the actual situation in 2010) is more environmentally sound

Effects of molybdenum, nickel, and nitrogen sources on the mineral nutrition and growth of rice plants.

The aims of the current work were to measure the effect of Mo and Ni on dry-matter yield of rice plants supplied with two N sources (ammonium nitrate and urea) and to evaluate the influence of Mo and Ni on variables related to dry-matter yield, such as activity of both urease and nitrate reductase, chlorophyll, net photosynthesis rate, total N, nitrate content, and Mo and Ni concentrations in roots and shoots

Coeficientes técnicos e custos para exploração da pimenta longa.

A descoberta de populações nativas de pimenta longa (Piper hispidinervum) no Estado do Acre, apresentando teores de safrol acima de 90% em seu óleo essencial, criou uma grande perspectiva de sua exploração, principalmente, considerando os aspectos da geração de emprego e renda. Assim, torna-se necessário conhecer e discutir aspectos relacionados aos custos, como também seus coeficientes técnicos de produção.bitstream/item/145919/1/4487.pd

Banco ativo de germoplasma de abacaxi da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura.

O Brasil é um dos principais centros de diversidade genética do abacaxi, sendo que, além de Ananas comosus (L.) Merril, todas as espécies de Ananas consideradas válidas são encontradas na forma silvestre ou cultivada. No Brasil e em outros países da América Latina diversas cultivares de abacaxi são plantadas comercialmente e em escala reduzida para consumo e comercialização locais. Apesar disso, estima-se que cerca de 70% da produção mundial de abacaxi provem da cultivar Smooth Cayenne. O predomínio do plantio desta cultivar nos principais países produtores do mundo vem provocando o desaparecimento de cultivares de interesse local ou regional, tornando-se necessário a coleta, preservação, caracterização e avaliação do germoplasma de abacaxi ainda existente. Atentando para esse problema a EMBRAPA, por intermédio da Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia e Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura, vem desenvolvendo um projeto de coleta de germoplasma de abacaxi em várias regiões do Pais.bitstream/item/81434/1/Banco-Ativo-Germoplasma-Jose-Cabral-Documentos-80-1998.pdfMemória

Características estruturais pré e pós-pastejo do capim Tifton 85 pastejado por ovinos recebendo doses crescentes de suplementação com concentrado.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar as características estruturais em pré e pós-pastejo de pastagens de capim Tifton 85 pastejada por ovinos suplementados com doses crescentes de concentrado. Foi utilizada uma área de 0,58 ha, dividida em 24 piquetes, manejada em lotação rotacionada com 20 dias de descanso e quatro dias de ocupação e 24 ovinos, com peso corporal médio inicial de 20,5 kg como animais testadores

Cenários futuros para cana-de-açúcar no Estado de São Paulo baseados em projeções regionalizadas de mudanças climáticas.

Após a divulgação das projeções de mudanças climáticas globais pelo IPCC, a avaliação de impacto das mudanças climáticas sobre a agricultura para tornouse uma necessidade para a quantificação da vulnerabilidade dos sistemas agrícolas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo simular cenários futuros para a cana-de-açúcar no Estado de São Paulo em função de cenários regionalizados de projeções climáticas, utilizando um banco de dados de 78 estações meteorológicas com séries de, pelo menos, nove anos. Para cada estação meteorológica foi associado um determinado perfil do solo e todas as séries foram expandidas para 30 anos utilizando geradores de dados. As simulações foram feitas para a variedade RB72454, considerando dois cenários futuros de mudanças climáticas para 2040. Os resultados mostraram elevação na produtividade média do Estado, com ganho de até 6% de produção total no cenário pessimista para 2040. Para o cenário otimista, o efeito sobre a produção de cana-de-açúcar seria pequeno, com perspectivas de ganhos no rendimento áreas cultivadas com solos argilosos, além de uma tendência de migração para a região Sul do Estado.CBA 2009