Il ruolo delle ‘università’ nella strategia missionaria di Francesco Saverio per il Giappone

In his first descriptions of Japan, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier highlighted the existence of some institutions that he had identified as “universities,” which he had not been able to find in India. With this word, he actually meant different kinds of organizations, such as the Zen temples of the capital city, Miyako; or the great monastic complexes of mounts Hiei and Kōya; or the famous Confucian academy of Ashikaga, in the north of the country. From Xavier’s point of view, the most important and unifying characteristic of these universities was their ability to grant authority to Christian teachings. In a country politically fragmented by civil war, the Jesuit missionaries could gain status by debating with these institutions’ students, and converting them. In Xavier’s plans, therefore, Japan should have been evangelized by a team of selected missionaries, who had studied the local language and doctrines, and could prove the existence of God to the Japanese scholars

Proposta de melhoria para o processo de planejamento e logística de peças de reposição de estoque de uma empresa de embalamento

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Pablo Deivid ValleMonografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Tecnologia, Curso de Especialização em Engenharia da Qualidade 4.0.Inclui referênciasResumo: Os processos de planejamento e logística de peças de reposição de estoque podem, muitas vezes, se mostrarem complexos. Cabe à gestão de operações e à engenharia da qualidade buscarem a otimização de tais processos e a sustentabilidade dos negócios. O objetivo deste trabalho é melhorar o processo de planejamento e logística de peças de reposição de estoque de uma empresa que fornece soluções de embalamento. Para isso, foi escolhido o programa de melhoria contínua Seis Sigma para guiar o projeto, fundamentado em suas cinco etapas (DMAIC). Como proposta para solucionar este problema foram utilizados uma sequência de métodos e ferramentas da qualidade alinhados às etapas do programa seis sigma. Dentre tais métodos citam-se a definição de indicadores, metas (SMART) e o mapeamento de processos (SIPOC); a medição por análise de redes sociais e controle estatístico de processos; análise por diagrama de causa e efeito (Ishikawa) e pelo método dos "cinco porquês"; a melhoria por plano de ação e medidas corretivas; e o controle pelo acompanhamento de indicadores e do nível sigma. Como principais resultados citamse o atingimento da meta global proposta; a melhoria do nível sigma do indicador de pontualidade (de 0,79 para 2,55); e um retorno financeiro de R$ 582.725,53. Neste sentido, a aplicação do programa de melhoria contínua seis sigma se mostrou eficaz e eficiente para a realização do projeto proposto e para a gestão da qualidade da empresa

The Cape of the Devil: Salvation in the Japanese Jesuit Mission Under Francisco Cabral (1570-1579)

This dissertation sheds new light on the missionary policies implemented by the Portuguese Jesuit Francisco Cabral (1533-1609) during his time as Superior of the Japanese mission (1570-79), by contextualising his actions and decisions within the framework of early-modern Catholicism and its extra-European missions. In this way, it refutes the image, produced by previous literature, of Cabral as the villain in the story of the Japanese mission, and as a deviation from the norm of the missionary spirit of the Society of Jesus. At the same time, this research disrupts the uniformity of the narrative that surrounds the Jesuit missions to Asia, which depicts them in a continuous evolution towards accommodation and repudiates the elements that do not easily fit into that narrative. Just as soteriology has been identified as one of the central preoccupations of early-modern Catholicism, behind Cabral’s policies for the Japanese mission it is possible to identify his own beliefs and apprehensions regarding salvation. He refused any justification, whether based on the Jesuit Constitutions or on Japanese customs, that supported the missionaries’ use of silk garments, and had the black cassock reinstated. In Cabral’s interpretation, these colourful garments were a “cape” used by the devil to hide his infiltration into the enterprise. By banning them, he gave precedence to the upholding of the vow of poverty, and faith in God. Facing the missionaries’ refusal to obey, Cabral then attempted to implement some solutions that would allow the restoration of what he identified as the correct Jesuit way of proceeding. In his intentions, the respect of the vows of poverty and obedience would attract God’s favour and therefore cause plenty of conversions among the Japanese. However, the lack of funds and the isolation of the mission aggravated this unsatisfactory situation. Cut off from the Jesuit chain of obedience, and reading negative signs in the progress of the conversions, Cabral assumed that God had abandoned the mission because of the sins of its members. If this were the case, no amount of good works would help the missionaries to save their souls. Overworked, demoralised, and burnt-out, by 1576 Cabral was beseeching the General to let him return to Europe, to illustrate to the Curia the situation of Japan in a more efficient manner than lettered governance. Cabral identified a source of personal disedification in the post of Superior of Japan itself. The impossibility of exercising holy obedience prevented him from using one of the most powerful tools of self-denial available to early-modern Jesuits. Fearing for his soul, and foreseeing a disastrous future for the mission, in 1580 Cabral was finally allowed to leave the enterprise and its corrupting influence behind. By refusing to follow the way of proceeding and its vows, the missionaries had irremediably compromised their salvation; for Cabral, missionary work, instead of being a way to work towards salvation, had become a veritable disguise for losing one’s way to temptation

Influence of substrate concentration and temperature on hydrogen production from vinasse cane sugar

O presente estudo teve como principal objetivo avaliar a produção de hidrogênio a partir de diferentes concentrações de vinhaça de cana-de-açúcar a 370°C e 55°C. Além disso, os consórcios microbianos mesófilo e termófilo utilizados nos ensaios em reatores em batelada foram caracterizados por meio da técnica de clonagem e sequenciamento do gene RNAr 16S visando conhecer a diversidade de bactérias. Os ensaios de produção de hidrogênio foram realizados após o enriquecimento dos consócios microbianos a partir de lodo de reator UASB em condição mesófila e termófila utilizando vinhaça como fonte de carbono. Todos os ensaios foram realizados em triplicata de reatores em batelada com aproximadamente 2, 5, 7 e 12 g DQO/L de vinhaça, sendo monitorada a produção de hidrogênio, ácidos orgânicos e solventes, além de carboidratos totais solúveis. O potencial de produção de hidrogênio foi maior para concentrações crescentes de vinhaça; ou seja, de 4,3 para 28,4 mmol \'H IND.2\' nos ensaios a 37°C. Para os ensaios termófilos esses valores foram bastante similares entre si, variando de 5 a 6,7 mmol \'H IND.2\'. Em relação ao rendimento de produção de \'H IND.2\', observou-se que não ocorreu variação com aumento da concentração de substrato para os ensaios mesófilos (10 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g carboidratos totais), todavia, para os ensaios termófilos o rendimento diminuiu com o aumento da concentração de vinhaça, ou seja, de 21,7 (2 g DQO/L) para 3,2 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g carboidratos totais (12 g DQO/L). Nos ensaios mesófilos, obteve-se degradação acima de 79% do substrato orgânico, enquanto para os ensaios termófilos esse valor variou de 36 a 6 %. Os metabólitos gerados foram ácido acético e butírico nos ensaios mesófilos e, somente ácido butírico nos ensaios termófilos. Clones provenientes do consórcio mesófilo foram similares a microrganismos das famílias Clostridiaceae (75%) e Ruminococcaceae (22%). Em contrapartida, no consórcio termófilo, 96% dos clones foram filogeneticamente relacionados a Thermoanaerobacterium. As cepas microbianas isoladas (CA e C1) apresentaram rendimento de produção de hidrogênio de 10 e 1,1 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g glicose, respectivamente. CA e C1 foram similares (100%) a Clostridium acetobutylicum e Clostridium carboxidivorans.The present study aimed to evaluate the production of hydrogen from different concentrations of sugar cane vinasse at 37°C and 55°C. Moreover, the mesophilic and thermophilic microbial consortia used in the hydrogen production tests were characterized by cloning and sequencing techniques to know its microbial diversity. Hydrogen production tests were carried out after the microbial enrichment from a UASB granular sludge at a temperature of 37°C and 55°C using vinasse as sole carbon source. All assays were performed in triplicate of batch reactors with about 2, 5, 7 and 12 g COD/L of vinasse. During the assays \'H IND.2\', solvents and organic acids production as well as the soluble carbohydrates were measured. Potentials of hydrogen production increased with the increasing concentration of substrate in the mesophilic tests (4.3 to 28.4 mmol \'H IND.2\'). However, for the thermophilic tests, the hydrogen production potentials were very similar among them, ranging from 5 to 6.7 mmol \'H IND.2\'. For the mesophilic tests, the hydrogen yields did not change with increasing the vinasse concentration for the (values around 10 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g carbohydrates), however, for the thermophilic tests the hydrogen yields decreased with the increase of vinasse concentration, the yield ranged from 21.7 (2 g COD/L) to 3.2 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g carbohydrate (12 g COD/L). The efficiency of substrate degradation was higher for mesophilic tests, and its minor value was 79%. For the thermophilic tests, the substrate consumption was lower, and the values ranged from 36 to 61%. The metabolites generated were acetic and butyric acids for tests at 37°C and butyric acids for the tests at 55°C. The mesophilic clones were similar to the family Clostridiaceae (75%) and Ruminococcaceae (22%). In contrast, the thermophilic consortium presented 96% of clones related to Thermoanaerobacterium. Isolated bacterial strains (CA and C1) showed hydrogen yields of 10 and 1.1 mmol \'H IND.2\'/g glucose, respectively. CA and C1 were similar to Clostridium acetobutylicum (100%) and Clostridium carboxidivorans (100%)

The Cape of the Devil: Salvation in the Japanese Jesuit Mission Under Francisco Cabral (1570-1579)

This dissertation sheds new light on the missionary policies implemented by the Portuguese Jesuit Francisco Cabral (1533-1609) during his time as Superior of the Japanese mission (1570-79), by contextualising his actions and decisions within the framework of early-modern Catholicism and its extra-European missions. In this way, it refutes the image, produced by previous literature, of Cabral as the villain in the story of the Japanese mission, and as a deviation from the norm of the missionary spirit of the Society of Jesus. At the same time, this research disrupts the uniformity of the narrative that surrounds the Jesuit missions to Asia, which depicts them in a continuous evolution towards accommodation and repudiates the elements that do not easily fit into that narrative. Just as soteriology has been identified as one of the central preoccupations of early-modern Catholicism, behind Cabral’s policies for the Japanese mission it is possible to identify his own beliefs and apprehensions regarding salvation. He refused any justification, whether based on the Jesuit Constitutions or on Japanese customs, that supported the missionaries’ use of silk garments, and had the black cassock reinstated. In Cabral’s interpretation, these colourful garments were a “cape” used by the devil to hide his infiltration into the enterprise. By banning them, he gave precedence to the upholding of the vow of poverty, and faith in God. Facing the missionaries’ refusal to obey, Cabral then attempted to implement some solutions that would allow the restoration of what he identified as the correct Jesuit way of proceeding. In his intentions, the respect of the vows of poverty and obedience would attract God’s favour and therefore cause plenty of conversions among the Japanese. However, the lack of funds and the isolation of the mission aggravated this unsatisfactory situation. Cut off from the Jesuit chain of obedience, and reading negative signs in the progress of the conversions, Cabral assumed that God had abandoned the mission because of the sins of its members. If this were the case, no amount of good works would help the missionaries to save their souls. Overworked, demoralised, and burnt-out, by 1576 Cabral was beseeching the General to let him return to Europe, to illustrate to the Curia the situation of Japan in a more efficient manner than lettered governance. Cabral identified a source of personal disedification in the post of Superior of Japan itself. The impossibility of exercising holy obedience prevented him from using one of the most powerful tools of self-denial available to early-modern Jesuits. Fearing for his soul, and foreseeing a disastrous future for the mission, in 1580 Cabral was finally allowed to leave the enterprise and its corrupting influence behind. By refusing to follow the way of proceeding and its vows, the missionaries had irremediably compromised their salvation; for Cabral, missionary work, instead of being a way to work towards salvation, had become a veritable disguise for losing one’s way to temptation

The Dress of Evangelization: Jesuit Garments, Liturgical Textiles, and the Senses in Early Modern Japan

The present article analyses the use of clothing in the Jesuit sixteenth-century mission in Japan by applying dress theory. It investigates Jesuit garments and other perceptible elements of dress by understanding them as nonverbal communication. Texts by missionaries such as Francis Xavier (1506–52), Francisco Cabral (1533–1609), Luís Fróis (1532–1597), and Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606) are scrutinised to establish the content of the messages they meant to convey through Jesuit dress. The range of modifications that dress imposed on the bodies of the missionaries is examined to determine the limits within which the missionaries operated and how these boundaries came to be. Through an historical overview, the missionaries’ strategies are examined to show how such messages were fine-tuned through the manipulation of dress, and to what extent they represented responses to the specific context of Japan. Anti-Christian polemical texts supply information on the Japanese’s reception of these messages. The article explores Jesuit assumptions about the dress policies’ impact on their souls through the senses and on their work of evangelization as well

Il ruolo delle “università” nella strategia missionaria di Francesco Saverio per il Giappone

Abstract: In his first descriptions of Japan, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier highlighted the existence of some institutions that he had identified as “universities,” which he had not been able to find in India. With this word, he actually meant different kinds of organizations, such as the Zen temples of the capital city, Miyako; or the great monastic complexes of mounts Hiei and Kōya; or the famous Confucian academy of Ashikaga, in the north of the country. From Xavier’s point of view, the most important and unifying characteristic of these universities was their ability to grant authority to Christian teachings. In a country politically fragmented by civil war, the Jesuit missionaries could gain status by debating with these institutions’ students, and converting them. In Xavier’s plans, therefore, Japan should have been evangelized by a team of selected missionaries, who had studied the local language and doctrines, and could prove the existence of God to the Japanese scholars.Riassunto: Già nelle sue prime descrizioni del Giappone, il missionario gesuita Francesco Saverio pose l’attenzione su certe istituzioni che egli identificava come “università,” e che gli era stato impossibile trovare in India. Con questo termine egli voleva indicare in realtà strutture di vario genere, che andavano dai templi Zen della capital Miyako, ai grandi complessi monastici dei monti Hiei o Kōya, fino alla famosa accademia confuciana di Ashikaga, nel nord del paese. Dal punto di vista di Saverio, la caratteristica saliente ed unificante di queste università era che avrebbero potuto garantire status ed autorità alla religione cristiana, nel paese politicamente frammentato dalle guerre civili, se i gesuiti avessero potuto sostenere delle dispute e convertire i loro studenti. Nelle sue intenzioni dunque, il Giappone avrebbe dovuto essere evangelizzato da un gruppo di gesuiti scelti, istruiti nella lingua e nelle dottrine locali allo scopo di dimostrarsi l’esistenza di Dio ai letterati nipponici

Obtaintion and phylogenetic characterization of consortium of phototrophic purple non-sulfur bacteria for hydrogen production from organic acids in the anaerobic batch reactor

O objetivo deste trabalho foi enriquecer consórcio microbiano a partir de mistura de lodo granular de digestor anaeróbio de fluxo ascendente sob condições fototróficas anoxigênicas. Por meio de técnica de biologia molecular foi possível identificar 17 unidades taxonômicas operacionais (UTO) no consórcio microbiano, dentre as quais seqüências similares a Rhodobacter, gênero amplamente citado nos estudos de produção de gás hidrogênio por bactérias fototróficas. Exames microscópicos do consórcio fototrófico indicaram predomínio de bacilos Gram-negativos. Ensaios sob condições fototróficas foram realizados com dois meios de cultivo (RCVB e FANG) e os seguintes substratos orgânicos: ácido acético, butírico, cítrico, lático e málico, empregados como fonte de carbono, tanto para o crescimento celular, como para a produção do gás hidrogênio. A relação C/N inicial foi 30/4 e posteriormente 15/2, com o objetivo de favorecer o crescimento celular e a produção do \'H IND.2\'. A concentração dos substratos foi determinada de forma com que essa relação se mantivesse a mesma. O crescimento celular e consumo dos ácidos orgânicos foram similares para os dois meios de cultivo empregados. Entretanto, a produção do gás hidrogênio foi maior nos ensaios com o meio FANG. Dentre os substratos utilizados o consumo dos ácidos cítrico e málico foram os maiores (~100%), para concentrações iniciais de 3,3 g/L e 2,6 g/L, respectivamente. O menor consumo 25% foi observado em meio RCVB e ácido acético (2,5 g/L). O crescimento da biomassa variou de 0,06 g/L a 1,1 g/L, enquanto que a velocidade máxima específica de crescimento variou de 0,4 a 0,2 g SSV/L.d entre os substratos utilizados. A menor e maior concentração de hidrogênio foram de 8,5 e 22 mmol \'H IND.2\'/L, para os reatores alimentados com ácido lático e málico em meio FANG, respectivamente. Pôde-se concluir que o consórcio fototrófico enriquecido foi capaz de utilizar os ácidos orgânicos para produção do gás hidrogênio.The aim of this work was enrich a mixture of granular sludge of an up flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) under anoxygenic phototrophic conditions. The techniques of molecular biology identified 17 operational taxonomic units (UTO) in the microbial consortium among the sequences analised, which were similar to Rhodobacter, genus widely cited in studies of hydrogen gas production by phototrophic bacteria. Microscopic examinations of the phototrophic consortium showed predominance of Gram-negative bacilli. Tests were conducted under phototrophic conditions with two culture media (RCVB and FANG) and the following organic substrates: acetic, butyric, citric, lactic and malic acids that were used as carbon source for both cell growth and for the hydrogen gas production. The carbon nitrogen ratio (C/N) in the preliminaries tests was 30/4 and then it was changed to15/2 in order to improve the cell growth and hydrogen production. The concentration of substrates was determined for remain the same carbon/nitrogen ratio among the substrates. The cell growth and consumption of organic acids were similar for the two culture media used. However, the production of hydrogen gas was higher in trials with the medium FANG. Among the substrates used, the consumption of malic and citric acids were the highest (~100%) for initial concentrations of 3.3 g/L and 2.6 g/L, respectively. The shortest consumption (25%) was observed for the cells that grew on acetic acid, 2.5 g/L in RCVB culture medium. The growth of the biomass varied from 0.06 g/L to 1.1 g/L, whereas the maximum specific growth rate ranged from 0.4 to 0.2 g VSS/L.d between the substrates used. The lowest and highest concentrations of hydrogen were 8.5 and 22 mmol \'H IND.2\'/L for the reactor fed with lactic acid and malic acid in FANG\'s medium, respectively. It was concluded that the phototrophic consortium was able to use those organic acids for the production of hydrogen gas