Search

The measurement of efficiency in public universities has been a topic of interest for researchers and state officials in Colombia; this article presents a model that transcends the view of productive efficiency, and expands it by including aspects of equity with distributive efficiency, of acceptance by society in the allocative efficiency, and finally with the dynamic efficiency includes the time variable, with which the state can measure the stability of the indicators of interest. For the design of the model, multivariate statistical techniques and non-parametric techniques were used, such as Structural Equation Models, Principal Component Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis, and the Balanced Scorecard. Different ranks are obtained with which university improvement plans were identified, emphasizing public institutions with high quality accreditation. A Balanced Scorecard is proposed with the indicators extracted from the sector databases that met the conditions of the techniques used. This technique suggests a causal relationship between the indicators of distributive, productive, and allocative efficiencies, where the perspective of inclusion forms the basis of the scorecard, affecting the perspective of education and research and the latter influencing the perspective of impact. Finally, it is concluded that the public university sector has great challenges in terms of inclusion and measurement of the satisfaction of society, as well as showing improvement trends in the measured aspects as reflected in the DEA Malmquist index. As a result, a model is obtained for university administrators to identify the aspects in which they must invest the public budget that guarantees the greater multidimensional efficiency of Colombian public universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide remains contained in agrochemical packaging waste are a source of uncontrolled risk for human health; they are also a quality feedstock for the plastic recycling industry. Many governments have recently started to establish laws and regulations to develop systems for recovering and recycling the polymeric packages used for pesticides. There is also a demand in having a procedure to control the suitability of the pesticide packages to be reused. We have developed a two-step operation process to assess the pesticide residues in agricultural containers made of a variety of polymeric matrices. The procedure is based on an extraction with a solvent mixture followed by UPLC-MS/MS determination. Solvents for neutral pesticides were selected considering the Hildebrand solubility (δ) of solvents and polymers together with those estimated for the pesticides. The proposed technique is effective in recovering imbibed pesticides in polymeric matrices. Also, a simplified extraction procedure has been tested to become a routine method for these wastes. We have found that in many cases a significant amount of pesticides remain into the polymeric matrix, even after a standardized cleaning; the impact of releasing these hazardous compounds into the environment is to be of further consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acid pentyl esters (FAPEs) from eight solid and pasted samples of various substances—olives, sunflower seeds, semiroasted hazelnuts, infant milk powder, mayonnaise sauce, sausage, muesli and cheese—were directly prepared using chlorotrimethylsilane (CTMS) and pentanol. The pentyl esters were analysed by GLC and the relative percentages were compared with those obtained applying the CTMS method to the oil extracted from the samples. Although significant differences in individual fatty acid compositions were observed in some cases, those differences were randomly distributed. Moreover, applying the minimum least square regression method the two sets of results might be considered statistically equivalent. Thus, calculated slope and intercept did not differ significantly from 1 and 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable plastics (BDP) are an alternative to environmental and economical drawbacks of PE agricultural mulches. They are intended to biodegrade into the soil or in compost. BDP materials certified as biodegradable in soil or in compost have passed ecotoxicity biotests after biodegradation, but most BDP ecotoxicity studies do not provide insights on the components these materials may release. The present work aims to characterize the compounds released from BDP to water solutions before biodegradation. New unused BDP, one paper mulch for agricultural use, a control without any material, and one non-degradable PE mulch, were incubated in a water solution for identification of the released compounds through GC-MS, NMR and UPLC-MS/MS. All BDP released compounds and modified the pH of the solution, with differences depending on the composition of the material. A diversity of compounds used in the formulation of the materials, and their derivatives, were identified in most solutions; mostly, but not exclusively, adipic acid, 1,4-butanediol, lactic acid, glycerol, terephthalic acid, mono and disaccharides, or fatty acids; some were also quantified. Results prove BDP to interact with the environment and to release compounds well before biodegradation may be acknowledged. They are also a step forward towards identifying the links between reported changes in plant development and specific compounds or compound mixtures, and towards a more sustainable and targeted selection and use of BDP for mulching specific plant species in agriculture. • Biodegradable plastic mulches release compounds in water before biodegradation in soil. • PBAT, PLA and PHB in blends of biodegradable mulches undergo partial hydrolysis and release soluble compounds into water. • Concentration of released compounds from PBAT, PLA and PHB are low. • Released compounds concentrations do not suggest ecotoxicity of single compounds; regardless effects of extracts on plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]