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This paper addresses the need for accurate and objective safety assessments of bridges in Brazil taking into account the increase in traffic load and limited funding for infrastructure. In Brazil, the usual method of ensuring bridge safety involves strengthening based on design codes using deterministic analysis and partial safety factors. This method leads to an increase in the maintenance cost of the bridges. Structural reliability assessment, a higher-tier assessment method, is recommended globally for assessing the safety of existing bridges beyond current deterministic methods. This paper presents a study that evaluates the structural safety of existing road bridges in Brazil using the semi-probabilistic method defined in Brazilian standards and the full probabilistic method. The study selected six case studies of existing reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges to evaluate their structural safety concerning current normative loads. The results suggest that the partial safety factors defined in the Brazilian standards are consistent with international standards. The reliability analysis can guarantee the bridges' safety, even with increased traffic loads, without additional costs for structural strengthening. Therefore, the paper highlights the importance of promoting reliability analysis in Brazil to ensure the safety of existing bridges and promote cost-effective and objective safety assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for jointly optimizing the sizing and operation of AC microgrids. The methodology is applied to the CAMPUSGRID microgrid, which is currently being developed at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. The distributed energy resources (DERs) considered in the study include a battery energy storage system (BESS), a dispatchable gas generator, and photovoltaic (PV) generation. The proposed energy management system (EMS) minimizes the costs associated with day-ahead operation of the DERs in an unbalanced three-phase AC microgrid. To develop the EMS as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model, the MATLAB Link module of HOMER Pro and the AMPL API are used. Heuristic rules are also developed for contingency and post-contingency operations in case of unintentional disconnection from the main grid. The sizing simulations combine tariff regimes, contingencies, and dispatch strategies. The results demonstrate the influence of the tariff on the net present cost (NPC) and the importance of resilience in sizing DERs. Additionally, the proposed model is capable of assessing the impact of DERs on the electrical grid. Finally, the joint strategy proposed in this paper leads to a reduction in microgrid investment cost, improvement in voltage magnitude profile, and reduction in active power losses when compared to the default dispatch strategies of HOMER Pro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biomédica: Revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud is the property of Instituto Nacional de Salud of Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article offers a chronological review of Jornal Nacional, Brazil's popular TV news programme, covering eight presidential elections post-redemocratization. With 108 texts analysed, including journal articles, conference papers, theses, and dissertations, the study focused on 'Jornal Nacional' and 'presidential election' keywords. It reconstructs a detailed historical account of pivotal electoral moments in Brazilian politics as portrayed on TV. The most significant discovery is the enduring scrutiny of the 1989 Lula vs. Collor debate's shortened version aired by the newscast. Notably, there's a lack of English-language publications on this topic. Brazil's economic fluctuations from 1989 to 2018, ranking between 6th and 12th globally, emphasize the need for international research attention to its political mass communication coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, most photovoltaic generation systems are owned by small consumers connected to the distribution network. These consumers are, in fact, prosumers, since they have the right to be financially compensated for providing power to the grid. This paper describes a stochastic bilevel optimal power flow model that can be used to analyze the impact of independent actions of such prosumers on power system steady-state performance. Simulations are conducted using real feeders of a Brazilian distribution company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, aka Ocean decade (OD), was established with the slogan "The ocean we need for the future we want''. This great effort aims to strengthen the knowledge, health and management of the ocean, as well as to articulate various organizations, public and private entities involved in this matter. Established in the Ocean Decade Implementation Plan, the Ocean Decade Challenges (ODCs) represent the immediate priorities for the OD. Although OD national strategies already integrate different agencies and organizations, it is often done without a full consideration of existing knowledge from different national management programs and tools. This paper reviews the existing opportunities from Brazil's governance system that can contribute to ODCs. To carry out this investigation we applied the Decalogue for Coastal Management (DCM), which is recognized as a framework for describing key aspects of a public management system. Our analysis indicates that the country is taking actions linked to all of the ODCs, in which the ODC 2, 9 and 10 are the ones with better scores, and ODC 3 and 7 with lower scores. In the DCM analysis, Brazil showed strong policy and management tools that contribute to the ODCs, with relevant capacity building initiatives. In contrast, citizen participation and economic resources were key limiting aspects. While Brazil has many initiatives that deal with ODCs issues, the lack of integration and coordination can be a great challenge to overcome in the OD actions. Our paper highlights the need to integrate data and knowledge, advance transparency, and the importance of implementing policy into the management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the disappointing outreach of Brazilian urban reform by analyzing the underlying tensions and contradictions of its key principle, that is, the social, function of property (SFP), from a perspective of contemporary theoretical debates on the double nature of rent (i.e., related to monopoly positions and emerging from market, circulation). The SFP principle is grounded in anti-rentier, agrarian reform thinking, which stressed that individual monopoly landowners should not be allowed to retain their property for speculative purposes and use it productively to increase food supplies. In contemporary dense cities, however, using property "productively" implies redevelopment, that is, transformation of existing structures of the built environment, into alternative ones. This has two implications, one related to the essence of the SFP, (its being), the other regarding what it means having a SFP in an urban setting. In relation to the former, despite its anti-rentier stance, in cities the SFP triggers a redevelopment-rent nexus due to the circulation of rents in non-competitive markets. Regarding the latter implication, having a SFP in cities requires complex, open-ended and utilitarian negotiations between state and non-state actors aimed at the appropriation of rents to articulate the conflicting interests of individual property owners with the collective good. The theoretical argument of the paper is illustrated with a short, heuristic case on redevelopment in the city of São Paulo, while its conclusion provides elements for a research agenda on the limits of market-based, reformist versus right- based planning beyond this specific context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterized by strong coordination between farmers, food processors or traders, and between processors and retailers, agri-food global value chains (GVCs) need to govern their inter-organizational ties with the aim of strengthening their competitiveness and global presence. In this sense, this paper presents an integrative conceptual framework based on global value chain governance (GVC) models and resource orchestration from the Triple-A approach perspective. A multiple case study based on three Brazilian-born global companies was used as empirical evidence to test the proposed framework. The results indicated that, regardless of the adopted governance model, the companies are embedded in a fragmented beef sector and technological diversity. The five governance models (market, modular, captive, hierarchical and relational) were reflected diversely in the companies' inter-organizational strategies. Additionally, the companies responded to threats and salient challenges in the domestic market from the global perspective with agility, adaptability and alignment in different levels and tactical actions. The study contributes to GVC prior literature proposing an integrative framework that proved insightful in analyzing the companies' strategies and their chosen path to pursue competitiveness and differentiation in the global value chain. • The beef sector aims for optimal resource orchestration to gain competitive advantage. • Company's bargain power is based mostly on its financial and technological resources and performance. • Brazil's domestic production fragmentation and global market specificities requires precise alignment of orchestration and governance for optimal performance. • Firms must adapt Triple-A orchestration for continued competitive advantage amid environmental pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in environmental systems is gradually more studied worldwide. However, in Latin America, the presence of contaminants of emerging concern, together with their environmental and toxicological impacts, has recently been gaining wide interest in the scientific community. This paper presents a critical review about the source, fate, and occurrence of distinct emerging contaminants reported during the last two decades in various countries of Latin America. In recent years, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia are the main countries that have conducted research on the presence of these pollutants in biological and aquatic compartments. Data gathered indicated that pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and personal care products are the most assessed CECs in Latin America, being the most common compounds the followings: atrazine, acenaphthene, caffeine, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, diuron, estrone, losartan, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim. Most common analytical methodologies for identifying these compounds were HPLC and GC coupled with mass spectrometry with the potential to characterize and quantify complex substances in the environment at low concentrations. Most CECs' monitoring and detection were observed near to urban areas which confirm the out-of-date wastewater treatment plants and sanitization infrastructures limiting the removal of these pollutants. Therefore, the implementation of tertiary treatment should be required. In this tenor, this review also summarizes some studies of CECs removal using electrochemical advanced oxidation processes that showed satisfactory performance. Finally, challenges, recommendations, and future perspectives are discussed. [Display omitted] • Occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in Latin America. • Pharmaceuticals, pesticides and personal care products are the most assessed CECs. • The presence of CECs were predominantly observed in close proximity to urban areas. • Electrochemical technologies are an important alternative for CECs elimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]