The transfer of technology to developing countries constitutes one of the major debates in the literature on development economics. The present empirical investigation is intended to contribute to the large existing literature on technological transfer. Its major contribution lies in demonstrating rigorously that the integration of foreign technologies is greatly affected by the socio-economic conditions of the recipient countries. The present study attempts to identify the main socioeconomic characteristics involved in assimilating transferred technlogy. It first provides a quantifiable measure of the rate of technological absorption. Then, in presenting the selection of indicators, the general procedures followed in choosing the sample of countries are summarized and the principles guiding the choice of variables are examined. The model is based on multiple regression analysis, which is discussed in some detail. Another statistical method is used to explore the interdependence of the economic and social indicators, which provides more exact knowledge about their various interactions and lays the groundwork for the problem at hand. Three main indicators are identified that explain a significant-. sixty one percent of the total variance of the dependent variable. These main indicators are the rate of education, trade policies and the availability of certain consumer products. It is found that these variables express different and important dimensions of the third world economy. In general, the results reveal that the rate of technology integration varies greatly with the level of socio economic development. The findings of the investigation are analysed using new and efficient methods of diagnostic techniques, and are also seen within their theoretical perspectives. The analysis of results is concluded with a discussion of intangible factors that cannot as yet be quantified; factors such as political and managerial quality and yet can be expected to have significant effects on the rate of technological integration.

Gatumiljön som ett offentligt rum har möjligheter att utvecklas till utrymmen med flera samverkande funktioner. En av funktionerna är att gaturummet ska fungera som en social plats, eftersom den offentliga miljön tillhör alla invånare och ska utformas efter allas behov. Denna studie tar sin utgångspunkt i en tidigare studie som är utförd i USA, som tillämpar en forskningsmetod som kvantifierar socialt beteende genom observationer i gatumiljö. Utgångspunktens metod söker sambandet mellan gatumiljöns platsegenskaper och social aktivitet via en multipel regressionsanalys. Syftet är att besvara vilka fysiska funktioner och attribut som påverkar gatumiljöns livlighet, det vill sägaden sociala aktiviteten. Målet med denna studie är att anpassa den befintliga forskningsmetoden till en svensk kontext och applicera den på ett studieområde. Utgångspunktens tillvägagångssätt av observationer och inventering har därför anpassats och tillämpats genom empirin av pilotstudier. Resultatet visar att ett statistiskt samband mellan platsegenskaper och gatumiljöns livlighet inte kan säkerställas i en multipel regressionsanalys. Det går däremot att visa på statiskt samband mellan gatumiljöns livlighet och tiden på dygnet. I sin helhet visar studien att metodanpassning är komplext att genomföra avseende tid och erfarenhet, men även valideringen av den. Denna studie kan därför betraktas som en pilotstudie, och lämnar alternativa tillvägagångsätt för framtida forskning. / Streets as a public space have opportunities to become spaces with several interacting functions. One of these functions includes streets as a social place since the public environment belongs to all residents and should be designed for all needs. This study is based on a former study conducted in the U.S.A.that quantifies social behavior through observations in the street environment. The applied method seeks the association between the physical characteristics of the street environment and social activity by using multiple regression analysis. The purpose was to answer which physical functions and attributes affect the liveliness of the street environment, i.e., the social activity in the U.S.A. This study aims to adapt the existing research method into a Swedish context and apply it within a study area in Gävle. The results show that a statistical association between physical characteristics and the liveliness of the street cannot be ensured by a multiple regression analysis. On the other hand, it is possible to show a static association between the liveliness of the street and a time period of the day. This study shows that method adaption is complex in terms of time and experience, but also in terms of validation. Thisstudy can therefore be considered a pilot study and provides alternative approaches for future research.

Small and medium-sized companies constitute a large part of the Swedish economy and are to a great extent exposed to the developments in the macroeconomy. There is a general consensus that it exists a relationship between these two components, but to what dimension is it true? The aim of this thesis is to evaluate if the number of bankruptcies among small and medium-sized companies can be explained by the situation in the macroeconomy. In order to do so, data have been collected and a multiple linear regression analysis has been accomplished. The result of the analysis suggests that a model of the six macroeconomic factors months, CPI, retail sales, OMX30, total enterprises and liquidated enterprises, can explain the number of bankruptcies to an extent of 64.49%. When comparing the adequacy of other models used to estimate risks of bankruptcy, it is stated that other models are more accurate. Furthermore, we have concluded that the model is useful to bring insight but only when considered in combinations with other models and tools. / Små- och medelstora bolag utgör en stor del av den svenska ekonomin och är i mycket stor utsträckning exponerad mot utvecklingen i makroekonomin. Den generella bilden är att det existerar en relation mellan dessa två komponenter, men till vilken utsträckning är det sant? Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att utvärdera om antalet konkurser bland små- och medelstora bolag kan förklaras av vilket stadium makroekonomin befinner sig i. För att kunna genomföra undersökningen har en multipel linjär regressionsanalys genomförts. Resultatet av analysen visar att en modell bestående av sex oberoende variabler, månader, KPI, detaljhandeln, OMX30, totalt antal bolag och antal likviderade bolag, kan till 64.49% förklara utfallet av antalet konkurser bland små- och medelstora bolag. Jämfört med andra modeller och teorier som används för att beräkna risken av konkurs hos ett bolag uppfyller modellen inte lika hög tillförlitliget. Slutgiltigen föreslås att modellen kan användas i kombination med andra modeller och verktyg för att bidra med insikt och slutsatser.

The transfer of technology to developing countries constitutes one of the major debates in the literature on development economics. The present empirical investigation is intended to " contribute to the large existing literature on technological transfer. Its major contribution lies in demonstrating rigorously that the integration of foreign technologies is greatly affected by the socio-economic conditions of the recipient countries. The present study attempts to identify the main socioeconomic characteristics involved in assimilating transferred technlogy. It first provides a quantifiable measure of the rate of technological absorption. Then, in presenting the selection of indicators, the general procedures followed in choosing the sample of countries are summarized and the principles guiding the choice of variables are examined. The model is based on multiple regression analysis, which is discussed in some detail. Another statistical method is used to explore the interdependence of the economic and social indicators, which provides more exact knowledge about their various interactions and lays the groundwork for the problem at hand. Three main indicators are identified that explain a significant-. sixty one percent of the total variance of the dependent variable. These main indicators are the rate of education, trade policies and the availability of certain consumer products. It is found that these variables express different and important dimensions of the third world economy. In general, the results reveal that the rate of technology integration varies greatly with the level of socio economic development. The findings of the investigation are analysed using new and efficient methods of diagnostic techniques, and are also seen within their theoretical perspectives'. The analysis of results is concluded with a discussion of intangible factors that cannot as yet be quantified; factors such as political and managerial quality and yet can be expected to have significant effects on the rate of technological integration. / Ministry of Hydraulics in Algeria

The research question addressed by this thesis is: To what degree the results of the statistical analysis will corroborate the main theoretical assumptions of the proposed theoretical model of new authentic transformatory cultural tourism experience as transmodern phenomenon of equality of two Cartesian levels of reality, material (objective authenticity) and experiential (constructive authenticity) in informing the intrapersonal existential authenticity as outcome transformatory tourist experience. The main reason for undertaking this study is to resolve the evident crisis of postmodern authenticity discourse arising from a failure of postmodern theoretical framework to integrate three social authenticity theories into a coherent authenticity discourse. The research design adopted in the study is theory-testing theory-building paradigm which incorporates both deductive and inductive logic and was applied in three successive phases. In the first phase the new theoretical model of transformatory cultural tourism experience was proposed, underpinned by transmodern flat ontology and philosophy of the Speculative Realism. In the second phase the main theoretical assumptions of equal contribution of objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables in informing the transformatory experience as dependent variable were empirically tested by standard multiple regression analysis. In the last deductive phase the results of all empirical tests were inferred onto initial theoretical assumptions of the original model and new modified model of transformatory cultural tourism experience has been proposed with an addition of two newly identified transmodern experiential constructs, epistemological and ontological authenticity. For a primary data collection the instrument was a self-administered questionnaire and the sampling strategy was a non-probability sampling. The data was collected during the period 01st and 18 April 2011 at two sites, Constitution Hill and Hector Peterson Memorial in Johannesburg. The sample size from two sites was N=406. The scales of measurements were already developed in the earlier questionnaire and the confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the variables contained in each factor, namely objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables and transformatory experience as the dependent variable. The results of a standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the importance of the model as independent variables explained 30.7% of the variances (R2=.307) in the model. An unexpected result was that objective authenticity explained 34.5% of the variance in the model (β = .345) which is significantly higher than 30.5% of variance explained by constructive authenticity (β = .305). The results of standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the main theoretical assumption of the model of equality of material and experiential levels of Cartesian duality in informing the new transformatory experience regarded as a transmodern phenomenon. The standard, stepwise and hierarchical multiple regression tests were further conducted to establish if any moderating variables should be added into the original model containing two independent variables. The tests included five demographic variables (gender, place of residence, connection with culture, and two items of education (pre-tertiary education and Bachelors degree) and none of the variables explained a level of variability which warranted their inclusion into the model. Consequently, the results of the retests of the model did not change its initial conceptualisation. Finally, the t-test and Mann-Whitney U tests identified a significant difference between the two groups in the level of authenticity of their experience derived from two sites. A group having stronger inclination for authenticity is identified as Cultural Creatives, who are known as the forerunners of transmodernism. Based on the results of all statistical tests the final model was modified to reflect the important theoretical findings pertaining to two new types of transmodern authenticity. Epistemological authenticity denotes combined effects of objective and constructive authenticity in feeding the ontological authenticity of transformatory experience. The ontological authenticity is further identified as a confirmation of authentic-self which is required by Cultural Creatives. With proposition of new modified model the theory-testing theory-building research design came to its conclusion. The importance of research findings presented in this study lies not only in resolving the current crises of authenticity discourse in tourism but in the proposed New theoretical and conceptual model of transformatory cultural tourism experience underpinned by objective ·and constructive authenticity which will open a whole new field in tourism research arising from new transmodern experiential paradigm. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The research question addressed by this thesis is: To what degree the results of the statistical analysis will corroborate the main theoretical assumptions of the proposed theoretical model of new authentic transformatory cultural tourism experience as transmodern phenomenon of equality of two Cartesian levels of reality, material (objective authenticity) and experiential (constructive authenticity) in informing the intrapersonal existential authenticity as outcome transformatory tourist experience. The main reason for undertaking this study is to resolve the evident crisis of postmodern authenticity discourse arising from a failure of postmodern theoretical framework to integrate three social authenticity theories into a coherent authenticity discourse. The research design adopted in the study is theory-testing theory-building paradigm which incorporates both deductive and inductive logic and was applied in three successive phases. In the first phase the new theoretical model of transformatory cultural tourism experience was proposed, underpinned by transmodern flat ontology and philosophy of the Speculative Realism. In the second phase the main theoretical assumptions of equal contribution of objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables in informing the transformatory experience as dependent variable were empirically tested by standard multiple regression analysis. In the last deductive phase the results of all empirical tests were inferred onto initial theoretical assumptions of the original model and new modified model of transformatory cultural tourism experience has been proposed with an addition of two newly identified transmodern experiential constructs, epistemological and ontological authenticity. For a primary data collection the instrument was a self-administered questionnaire and the sampling strategy was a non-probability sampling. The data was collected during the period 01st and 18 April 2011 at two sites, Constitution Hill and Hector Peterson Memorial in Johannesburg. The sample size from two sites was N=406. The scales of measurements were already developed in the earlier questionnaire and the confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the variables contained in each factor, namely objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables and transformatory experience as the dependent variable. The results of a standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the importance of the model as independent variables explained 30.7% of the variances (R2=.307) in the model. An unexpected result was that objective authenticity explained 34.5% of the variance in the model (β = .345) which is significantly higher than 30.5% of variance explained by constructive authenticity (β = .305). The results of standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the main theoretical assumption of the model of equality of material and experiential levels of Cartesian duality in informing the new transformatory experience regarded as a transmodern phenomenon. The standard, stepwise and hierarchical multiple regression tests were further conducted to establish if any moderating variables should be added into the original model containing two independent variables. The tests included five demographic variables (gender, place of residence, connection with culture, and two items of education (pre-tertiary education and Bachelors degree) and none of the variables explained a level of variability which warranted their inclusion into the model. Consequently, the results of the retests of the model did not change its initial conceptualisation. Finally, the t-test and Mann-Whitney U tests identified a significant difference between the two groups in the level of authenticity of their experience derived from two sites. A group having stronger inclination for authenticity is identified as Cultural Creatives, who are known as the forerunners of transmodernism. Based on the results of all statistical tests the final model was modified to reflect the important theoretical findings pertaining to two new types of transmodern authenticity. Epistemological authenticity denotes combined effects of objective and constructive authenticity in feeding the ontological authenticity of transformatory experience. The ontological authenticity is further identified as a confirmation of authentic-self which is required by Cultural Creatives. With proposition of new modified model the theory-testing theory-building research design came to its conclusion. The importance of research findings presented in this study lies not only in resolving the current crises of authenticity discourse in tourism but in the proposed New theoretical and conceptual model of transformatory cultural tourism experience underpinned by objective ·and constructive authenticity which will open a whole new field in tourism research arising from new transmodern experiential paradigm. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This research investigates political risk in the context of service offshoring and the corresponding impact on risk management decisions. The first stage of the study uses the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), to explore key post-contract political risks experiences within offshore outsourcing activities. Twelve key political risks affecting offshore outsourcing decisions are identified, and the moderating effect of offshoring activity types (BPO, ITO or KPO) on political risk exposure and impact perceptions is highlighted. The research also explores the conditioning effect of industry specific exposure to political risk and enhances the explanatory ability of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) constructs, offering a re-operationalization of the political risk component of external uncertainty. The second stage of the research introduces a series of hypotheses between offshoring flows and political risk profiles, and applies multiple regression to analyse political risk affecting offshore activities in low cost countries across contract-based offshoring engagements and FDI. The findings highlight that political risk is a genuine business concern for offshore contract-based outsourcing modalities, and identify concerns with Intellectual Property protection, Quality of Bureaucracy and Corruption as key considerations affecting location decisions in low-cost countries. The research further suggests a positive relationship between strong country level institutional and regulatory systems and high knowledge content in offshoring engagements. From a practical perspective, the research highlights the need for managerial tools to determine diversified firm and industry specific political risk impact on global service outsourcing engagements. The key practical contribution is the development of differentiated political risk typologies that can capture the nuances of external risks in offshoring, allowing for more accurate risk assessment of offshoring decisions.

Flooding is a global challenge that has plagued mankind throughout history, affecting over 164 million people worldwide in 2007 alone. As the frequency of flooding increases in England and Wales coupled with an increase in the number of properties at risk of flooding and the attendant huge (insured) economic costs of flooding, the services received by homeowners during flood damage repair works, have not been spared criticism, Both the Welsh Consumer Council report and the Warwickshire Trading Standards report raised serious questions about the level of service in insurance claims for the repair of flood-damaged domestic property. This research project was therefore aimed at investigating the level of service quality and determinants of homeowners’ satisfaction in England and Wales with respect to flood damage repair works during insurance claims. A comprehensive literature review was conducted on customers’ needs, satisfaction and service quality, flooding and related issues, and the repair of flood damaged domestic property, in order to set the framework for the research and shape the development of the research questions/hypotheses. The study employed a two-phased sequential mixed methods approach, commencing with 20 in-depth interviews with homeowners, repairers, insurers and loss adjusters. Findings from the initial exploratory study (and from the literature review) informed the development of a questionnaire instrument, which incorporated elements of SERVQUAL, the generic service quality measurement instrument. Survey data were collected for the quantitative phase of the study from a sample of 126 homeowners, which was then analysed to test the hypotheses put forward in the study. The data did not yield a set of reliable and interpretable factors of service quality from the three service quality scales used to measure homeowners’ perceptions of the performance of insurers, loss adjusters and contractors. However, of the three key service providers, the contractor’s performance was the best predictor of homeowners’ overall satisfaction during flood damage reinstatement claims, accounting for seven times the combined unique contribution of insurance and loss adjusting firms. In addition, satisfaction levels were significantly different for homeowners whose claims for repair works were completed within six months compared to those repairs exceeded twelve months. The thesis concludes with implications of the findings for practice as well as recommendations for further research. It is argued that knowledge of the determinants of homeowners’ satisfaction with services during the repair of flood damaged property, is beneficial not only to insurers, loss adjusters and repairers but to homeowners as well.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common non-skin malignancy of men in developed countries. In spite of treatment with curative intent up to 30-40% of patients have disease recurrence after treatment, resulting from any combination of lymphatic, hematogenous, or contiguous local spread. The concept of early detection of PCa offer benefits in terms of reduced mortality, but at the cost of over-diagnosis and overtreatment of indolent disease. This is largely due to the random nature of conventional biopsies, with a risk of missing significant cancer and randomly hitting indolent disease. In the present thesis, diagnostic performance of MRI DWI and 11C Acetate PET/CT lymph node staging of intermediate and high risk PCa, was investigated, and additionally, predictive factors of regional lymph node metastases were evaluated. Further, additional value of targeted biopsies to conventional biopsies, for detection of clinically significant PCa, was investigated. In paper one and two, 53 and 40 patients with predominantly high risk PCa underwent 11C Acetate PET/CT and 3T MRI DWI, respectively, for lymph node staging, before extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND). The sensitivity and specificity for PET/CT was 38% and 96% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for MRI DWI was 55% and 90% respectively. In paper three, 53 patients with newly diagnosed PCa were included. All patients underwent multi-parametric MRI, followed by two cognitive targeted biopsies. Five more clinically significant cancers were detected by adding targeted biopsies to conventional biopsies. In paper four the value of quantitative and qualitative MRI DWI and 11C Acetate PET/CT parameters, alone and in combination, in predicting regional lymph node metastases were examined. ADCmean in lymph nodes and T-stage on MRI were independent predictors of lymph node metastases in multiple logistic regression analysis. In conclusion the specificity of diffusion weighted MRI and 11C Acetate PET/CT for lymph node staging was high, although the sensitivity was low. Predictive factors of regional lymph node metastases could be retrieved from diffusion weighted MRI and 11C Acetate PET/CT. By combining targeted biopsies with conventional biopsies the detection rate of clinically significant PCa could be increased.

Submitted by Fabricia Fialho Reginato (fabriciar) on 2015-08-03T23:08:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JoiceCagliari.pdf: 1412838 bytes, checksum: 244299757ce9e71c1219d2018888f982 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-03T23:08:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JoiceCagliari.pdf: 1412838 bytes, checksum: 244299757ce9e71c1219d2018888f982 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O fósforo remanescente consiste na concentração de fósforo que permanece em solução após a agitação por 1 hora de uma amostra de solo com solução de CaCl2 0,01 mol L-1 contendo 60 mg L-1 P. O valor de fósforo remanescente pode ser utilizado como um bom indicador da capacidade de sorção aniônica de um solo haja vista ser mais sensível a sua composição mineralógica do que ao teor de sua fração argila. No Brasil, a utilização agronômica do fósforo remanescente é contemplada no sistema oficial de recomendação de fertilizantes e corretivos do Estado de Minas Gerais. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi o de desenvolver uma função de pedotransferência que permitisse estimar com razoável exatidão o valor de fósforo remanescente de solos representativos do Estado de São Paulo, a partir de outros atributos químicos de mais simples e/ou rotineira determinação laboratorial. Nesse contexto, duas funções de pedotransferência foram desenvolvidas com base em redes neurais artificiais (RNA) e análises de regressão linear múltipla (RLM), utilizando um banco de dados constituído por propriedades físicas e químicas de solos amostrados em diferentes localidades do Estado de São Paulo. As redes alimentadas adiante com múltiplas camadas foram utilizadas para desenvolver a função de pedotransferência baseada em RNA e a topologia foi determinada a partir de experimentos sucessivos. Os critérios de escolha da melhor rede neural foram, simultaneamente, o desempenho na etapa de treinamento, medido por meio do erro quadrático médio, e a capacidade de generalização, avaliada por meio de análises estatísticas entre os valores de Prem estimados e determinados analiticamente. A topologia da rede que melhor estimou o fósforo remanescente foi [3 14 1], ou seja, três neurônios na camada de entrada, quatorze em uma única camada intermediária e um na camada de saída; a função de ativação utilizada foi a sigmoidal logística, os valores de entrada foram normalizados entre [0;1] e o algoritmo de aprendizagem utilizado foi o resilient backpropagation. As três variáveis da camada de entrada foram o valor de pH medido em solução de NaF 1 mol L-1 (pH NaF), a soma de bases trocáveis (SB) e o teor de alumínio trocável (Al3+), sendo as duas últimas determinadas rotineiramente em análises de solo e a primeira de mais fácil e rápida obtenção que o fósforo remanescente. A função de pedotransferência baseada em RLM foi desenvolvida considerando as mesmas variáveis de entrada utilizadas na função de pedotransferência baseada em RNA. A comparação entre os desempenhos obtidos, para um mesmo conjunto de validação, mostrou que as funções de pedotransferência baseadas em redes neurais apresentam estimativas mais exatas do fósforo remanescente. Apesar do conjunto de dados utilizado não ser suficientemente abrangente para o estabelecimento de uma função de pedotransferência definitiva para a estimativa do fósforo remanescente, os resultados do presente trabalho indicam como promissor o desenvolvimento de um massivo banco de dados por meio do aproveitamento dos resultados analíticos continuamente gerados pelos vários laboratórios brasileiros dedicados à avaliação da fertilidade do solo e que contemple os valores de fósforo remanescente e pH NaF. Tal banco de dados permitirá o desenvolvimento de uma função de pedotransferência baseada em redes neurais artificiais cuja utilização possibilitará o cálculo imediato de valores suficientemente exatos de fósforo remanescente com razoável economia de recursos financeiros que seriam empregados na análise de um grande número de amostras. / The remaining phosphorus consists of the P concentration that remains in solution after shaking for 1 hour a soil sample with 0.01 mol L-1 CaCl2 containing 60 mg L-1 P. The remaining phosphorus values can be used as suitable indicators of the soil capacity of anion sorption due to be more dependable on the soil mineralogy than on the soil clay content. In Brazil, the remaining phosphorus is used as an ancillary variable in the official guidelines for determining fertilizer and amender requirements of agricultural soils of the Minas Gerais state. The main goal of this research was to develop a pedotransfer function (PTF) capable of providing fairly accurate estimates of remaining phosphorus values of representative soils of the São Paulo state from often-determined soil chemical properties and/or from other ones of easier determination. In this context, two pedotransfer functions were developed by using artificial neural networks (ANN) and multiple regression analysis (MRA) applied to a database formed by values of soil chemical and physical properties derived from soil surveys previously carried out in different locations of the São Paulo state. The multi-layer feedforward neural networks approach was used for the development of the ANN-based PTF being its topology determined from successive experiments. The simultaneous criteria adopted for choosing the best neural network were the performance during the training stage, measured by the mean squared error, and its capacity of providing accurate Prem values, which was evaluated by using a validation database in which statistical comparisons were done between the measured and estimated Prem values. The topology of the network that provided the most accurate estimates of the remaining phosphorus was [3 14 1], i.e., three neurons at the input layer, fourteen at a unique hidden layer and one neuron at the output layer; further development features included the use of the sigmoid logistic model as activation function, the input of data normalized in the [0;1] interval and the use of the resilient backpropagation learning algorithm. The three variables at the input layer were the soil pH value measured in 1 mol L-1 NaF (pH NaF), the sum of exchangeable bases (SB) and the soil content of exchangeable aluminum (Al3+), being the two last ones usually determined in soil test laboratories whereas the pH NaF determination is easier than the remaining phosphorus one. The MRA-based PTF was developed considering the same input variables of the ANN-based one, i.e., pH NaF, SB and Al3+. The comparisons performed with a same validation database showed that the pedotransfer function developed from artificial neural networks provided more accurate estimates of remaining phosphorus values. Despite the database used for the PTF development not be so comprehensive for the establishment of a definitive pedotransfer function for estimating remaining phosphorus values, the results of the present research indicate as promising the development of a massive database from chemical results often obtained by the Brazilian laboratories dedicated to soil fertility evaluation and that includes Prem and pH NaF values. This database will allow the development of a comprehensive ANN-based pedotransfer function capable of not only calculating suitable Prem values for practical applications but also reducing the expenses related to the analyses of a great number of soil samples.