Metric indicators for the evaluation of graduate programs in Brazil: from Qualis to multi-criteria.

Brazilian scientific production has been mostly developed (90%) by Brazilian universities, mainly graduate programs, which must be assessed and ranked by the Brazilian government for their maintenance. The Qualis system is used for this classification by valuing the scientific production of graduate programs, stratifying journals and assigning grades. Several Brazilian researchers affirm that the Qualis system is inaccurate and subjective because it is carried out by a group of researchers. This work aimed to propose methods to evaluate Brazilian scientific production in order to improve the assessment of graduate programs through multi-criteria methods in addition to Qualis. The application of different metrics presented results significantly different from Qualis, including the over valuation of journals with a low international impact factor. The proposed metrics considered: (i) web of science impact factor of the journals; (ii) Citations from articles; (iii) Citations of citations, i.e., a new metric; and (iv) H-Index for researchers. It was proposed the multi-criteria method, composed of the mentioned criteria, in addition to Qualis. For the sample of researchers, it was demonstrated that multi-criteria methods can assess scientific production more accurately. Therefore, they are more adequate to assess the Brazilian graduate programs, considering several internationally accepted criteria.

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of Jatropha curcas shells: utilization of co-products from the biodiesel production process.

Jatropha curcas has great potential as an oil crop for use in biodiesel applications, and the outer shell is rich in lignocellulose that may be converted to ethanol, giving rise to the concept of a biorefinery. In this study, two dilute pretreatments of 0.5% H(2)SO(4) and 1.0% NaOH were performed on Jatropha shells with subsequent simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the pretreated water-insoluble solids (WIS) to evaluate the effect of inhibitors in the pretreatment slurry. A cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g WIS, complimented with an excess of cellobiase (19.25 U/g), was used for SSF of either the washed WIS or the original slurry to determine the effect of inhibitors. Ethanol and glucose were monitored during SSF of 20 g of pretreated biomass. The unwashed slurry showed to have a positive effect on SSF efficiency for the NaOH-pretreated biomass. Maximum efficiencies of glucan conversion to ethanol in the WIS were 40.43% and 41.03% for the H(2)SO(4)- and NaOH-pretreated biomasses, respectively.

Políticas públicas de incentivo à eficiência energética / Public policies to encourage energy efficiency

Políticas públicas de incentivo à conservação de energia têm sido empregadas em vários países, a fim de reduzir o consumo de energia e as emissões de gases de efeito estufa. Objetivou-se com este trabalho analisar as políticas públicas brasileiras de promoção à eficiência energética, bem como desafios e oportunidades relacionados. Experiências têm demonstrado que é imprescindível que o governo formule um planejamento energético estratégico, que contemple medidas de incentivo ao uso racional de energia, tanto na gestão do lado da oferta quanto na do lado da demanda, para reduzir o risco de uma crise energética no país, como já ocorrido no passado recente.(AU)

Public policies for energy efficiency have been deployed in several countries to reduce energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases. This work aims to analyze Brazilian public policies promoting energy efficiency, as well as related challenges and opportunities. It has been shown that governments must develop strategic energy planning, with measures to promote energy management and generate awareness both to the demand and supply sides of the economy and to reduce the risk of another energy crisis in Brazil, as happened in recent past.(AU)