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E-commerce is growing rapidly in Brazil, led by information-intensive and transaction-intensive sectors such as finance, manufacturing, and retail/wholesale. However, Brazil's highly uneven income distribution is a major barrier for B2C diffusion. Government policies have emphasized promotional or enabling initiatives such as e-procurement, tax filings, and providing Internet access to social institutions. E-commerce legislation is just now being developed, and decisions on taxation are being negotiated in the context of international agreements. E-commerce raises issues for Brazil in terms of its relationship to the global economy. Although most online purchases involve imported goods, e-commerce also offers opportunities to participate in international value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, Brazilian IT policy has changed substantially from greenhouse protectionism in selected segments of the market to a more liberal regime. This article analyses the impact of liberalization on IT equipment production, diffusion, employment, and foreign trade. There were both benefits and setbacks, depending on the aspect analyzed. Users benefited from greater access to imported equipment, which could eventually contribute to productivity growth in the overall economy.On the negative side, there was a loss of local linkages with internal sources of components, technology, and employment. The article concludes that the future of the Brazilian IT industry does not seem to be in commodity hardware production. Rather, it lies in design- and engineering-intensive applications. Such "production close to use" can spur domestic use as well as create business opportunities for domestically owned companies in markets not dominated by foreign multinationals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, a poor telecommunication infrastructure was considered an important barrier for e-business diffusion. However, from 1998, when the telecom system was privatized, to 2000, telecom investments boosted to an average of 1.36% of GNP a year, a percentage well above both Brazilian and Latin American historical levels. There is now idle capacity and telecommunication infrastructure is no longer considered a major barrier for e-commerce. Brazil's financial sector is the clear leader in adopting information technologies, and is widely considered the leading user of the Internet for marketing, online sales, and service and support. The sum of the survey results suggests that the financial sector has capitalized on its experience with IT in order to adopt e-commerce technologies and to integrate them with existing information systems. E-commerce in Brazil is strongly anchored in information intensive sectors little affected by foreign transactions. Local forces seem to play a more influential role due to Brazil's unique economic history and government policies. For e-commerce diffusion, a factor more important than the sector itself is the scale of information flow among various agents within the economy. Information-intensity is, in part, related to the size of the business. The larger the firm, the easier it obtains scale benefits of digital services. However, some activities demand more information exchange than others. Distribution and finance face similar driving forces for e-commerce diffusion, but are different from manufacturing. The manufacturing industry is driven to achieve, by cost reduction, through inventory reduction and improved logistics. But while productivity growth is the most important driving force for manufacturing, the finance and distribution sectors focus on opportunities to expand and improve their relationships with clients. The Internet is increasing the intensity of competition rather than the number of competitors. Whereas in the recent past e-commerce was dominated by new companies, nowadays-existing market leaders seem to be rapidly gaining business through the new channel. Strong links between users and producers of IT solutions facilitate technological leadership. The case study on the banking industry showed that internal technological capabilities were key for e-commerce leadership, since they enhanced the user-producer links providing capabilities that are flexible and tailored to specific needs. Legal protection is a more important barrier than expected. This includes lack of business laws for e-commerce and inadequate legal protection for Internet purchases, barriers affecting more than 40% of the surveyed Brazilian firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did foreign assistance influence Brazil's path to attaining nuclear autonomy? To answer this question, a technopolitics hypothesis centred on the role played by national scientific and technological strategies will be discussed, focusing on two case studies: the history of the Thorium Group (1965-71) and the 1975 Brazil-West Germany nuclear agreement. In both instances, Brazilian policy-makers relied on imported technologies as shortcuts to implement nuclear projects without designing a coordinated plan that involved national scientific programmes and research centres. The Brazilian case highlights the limits of initiatives aimed at attaining nuclear autonomy that revolve only around foreign assistance without complementary investment in national scientific initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, which can infect diverse hosts, including dogs. Although T. gondii infection in dogs is usually subclinical, they are susceptible to infection and develop a specific immune response to the parasite. In 2018, the largest outbreak of human toxoplasmosis in the world occurred in Santa Maria, in southern Brazil; however, the impact of this outbreak on other hosts was not investigated at the time. Considering that dogs often share the same environmental sources of infection as humans, mainly water sources, and that in Brazil, the detection rates of anti-T. gondii immunoglobulin G (IgG) in dogs is very high, this study investigated the frequency of anti-T. gondii IgG in dogs in Santa Maria before and after the outbreak. A total of 2.245 serum samples were analyzed, 1159 collected before the outbreak and 1086 collected after the outbreak. Serum samples were tested for anti-T. gondii antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). The infection detection of T. gondii was 16% (185/1159) before the outbreak and 43% (466/1086) after the outbreak. These results showed the infection of dogs with T. gondii and the high frequency of anti-T. gondii antibodies in dogs after the outbreak in humans in 2018, reinforcing water as a possible source of infection and the importance of including toxoplasmosis in the differential diagnosis of dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Journal of Politics in Latin America is the property of Sage Publications Inc. 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 explores the implications of transitions to democracy for the economic policymaking process in developing countries. Democracy is supposed to give citizens oversight of their political leaders, while providing leaders with electoral incentives to respect citizens' preferences. Consequently, a shift from authoritarian to democratic rule ought to alter policymaking. Using the case of Brazilian trade policy, this article examines changed versus consistent patterns of post-transition interest aggregation, political participation, and economic goal-setting. Contrary to expectations of a notably enlarged role for the legislative houses, the study finds that Brazil's executive still dominates trade policymaking. However, significant and increasingly transparent interest aggregation occurs within the federal executive. Moreover, policy capture by sectoral special interests has decreased, while non-traditional civil society participants have gained some influence, and trade policy outcomes now are arguably more public-regarding. We find that Brazil's trade policy process has been incrementally democratized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the breeding biology in a population of the hylid Scinax trapicheiroi and evaluated how some environmental and structural factors affect the temporal and spatial distribution of the clutches. Fieldwork was carried out at a small stream running inside the Atlantic Rainforest at Ilha Grande, an island in Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil, from October 2000 to September 2001. Breeding occurred all year round, but the presence of females and clutches was affected by rain from the previous days. Clutches had an aggregate distribution, because they were mainly laid on lentic waters (with slow water flow). Rain affected the availability, stability and size of ponds. The high numbers of eggs per clutch, and the fast development of eggs and larvae are influenced by an unpredictable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies have reported characteristics of innovative firms; however, these studies have typically been conducted in freely competitive markets. Angela da Rocha, Carl Christensen and Newton Paim have studied firms within the Brazilian computer industry. The Brazilian government regulates the entrance of foreign competitors to this market. Thus, the authors are able to ask whether the characteristics of innovative firms in a protected market differ from characteristics previously reported in competitive markets. With only a few minor exceptions, the reported profiles of innovative firms are quite similar. These results suggest that characteristics of innovative firms are generalizable across certain industry and environmental conditions, including protected markets. INSET: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]