The last border for servitization

AbstractThe search for flexibility in the new product development (NPD) entails an increasing need for integration of services and products (servitization). Hence, companies aim at maximizing the customer perceived value, which may demand new capabilities development, besides marketing, engineering and manufacturing. This paper suggests that the ‘customer service’ functional area has a central role in this context, since it deals with customers’ problems in a front-end position, and its knowledge can help other functional areas to develop required capabilities for servitization. Moreover, the level of knowledge transfer (KT) among different functional areas is also proposed as an essential activity to improve the servitization process. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate the moderator role of both the customer service area and the KT activities in the impact of the NPD related functional areas on servitization performance. For this purpose, the paper presents a cross-industry survey with 83 Brazilian companies, analyzed by means of an Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression. Results show that the last border to transcend the servitization barriers in NPD is the integration of the customer service area to the other main functional areas of NPD. Moreover, our findings indicate which areas are the most critical ones in order to address an intensive KT activity to enhance the servitization performance

Avaliação quali-quantitativa da arborização no Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina – CAV/Udesc

Este estudo objetivou caracterizar a arborização do campus do Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (CAV/Udesc), em Lages (SC). Realizou-se inventário quali-quantitativo das árvores e arbustos, em que se avaliaram estágio de desenvolvimento, fenologia, fitossanidade e poda e se calcularam os parâmetros de frequência absoluta e relativa para cada espécie. Foram encontrados 578 indivíduos, de 91 espécies e 37 famílias botânicas. A família Fabaceae foi a mais representativa. Em relação à origem, 63,7% das espécies são nativas do Brasil (73% dos indivíduos). Entre as espécies exóticas, destaca-se Ligustrum lucidum, com elevada frequência relativa. Quanto ao estágio de desenvolvimento, a maioria dos indivíduos está em estágio regular (60%) e jovem (38%), com poucos indivíduos cortados e mortos. A maioria dos indivíduos possui boa quantidade de folhas (81%), ausência de flores (93%) e ausência de frutos (83%). Observouse baixa incidência de cupins, fungos e epífitas, contudo salienta-se a presença expressiva de erva-de-passarinho em algumas espécies. A maioria dos indivíduos avaliados não sofreu podas (60%), estando a maior parte deles em condição boa ou satisfatória. Concluiu-se que a arborização do campus apresentou considerável riqueza de espécies, com poucos problemas graves, podendo ser caracterizada como heterogênea, em virtude da distribuição uniforme dos indivíduos entre as espécies.

Growth and genetic parameters of progenies of Cordia trichotoma in the juvenile phase

Increasing the productive potential of native species is a challenge for forest genetic improvement. Progeny tests are efficient tools to determine the reproductive capacity of individuals and to assist with the selection of superior genotypes. Cordia trichotoma (Vell.) Arrab. ex Steud, is a native species of commercial interest due to its high potential for sawn wood. The performance of seedling production from different progenies was the objective of this work. Seeds were collected from 34 matrices selected phenotypically and georeferenced in the region of Lavras - MG. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 4 replications of 12 plants. Germination after 70 days of sowing, survival and height at 170 days after germination were evaluated. Height and genetic parameters were estimated according to mixed REML / BLUP models using the Selegen software model 82. Progeny 104 (70.8%) was superior in germination and progenies 86 (35.42%), 92 (35.42%) and 111 (43.75%) had the highest survival rates. Height shows high values for the individual additive genetic variation coefficient (49.18%) and genotypic variation coefficient between progenies (24.59%) and moderate values of heritability in the restricted individual sense (0.45) and heritability within progenies (0.38). Due to high values for the coefficient of genotypic variation and moderate values of heritability, there is a potential for height improvements. Progenies 104 stand out in the germination and the progenies 86, 92 and 111 in the seedlings survival). Regarding height, progeny 95 is the only one that stands out negatively

A population-based surveillance study on severe acute maternal morbidity (near-miss) and adverse perinatal outcomes in Campinas, Brazil: The Vigimoma Project

BACKGROUND: Auditing of sentinel health events based on best-practice protocols has been recommended. This study describes a population-based investigation on adverse perinatal events including severe acute maternal morbidity (near-miss), maternal and perinatal mortality, as a health intervention to help improve the surveillance system. METHODS: From October to December 2005, all cases of maternal death (MD), near-miss (NM), fetal deaths (FD), and early neonatal deaths (END), occurring in Campinas, Brazil, were audited by maternal mortality committees. RESULTS: A total of 4,491 liveborn infants (LB) and 159 adverse perinatal events (35.4/1000 LB) were revised, consisting of 4 MD (89/100.000 LB) and 95 NM (21.1/1000 LB), 23.7 NM for each MD. In addition, 32 FD (7.1/1000 LB) and 28 END (6.2/1000 LB) occurred. The maternal death/near miss rate was 23.7:1. Some delay in care was recognized for 34%, and hypertensive complications comprised 57.8% of the NM events, followed by postpartum hemorrhage. CONCLUSION: Auditing near miss cases expanded the understanding of the spectrum from maternal morbidity to mortality and the importance of promoting adhesion to clinical protocols among maternal mortality committee members. Hypertensive disorders and postpartum hemorrhage were identified as priority topics for health providers training, and organization of care

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016