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This article advocates the transgression of incumbent theoretical divisions between rural and urban abodes of production and draws on new analyses of contemporary spaces of capital and labour antagonisms in Brazil. It does so to articulate a broadening of the definition of class and class struggle towards an emancipatory praxis that does not necessarily prioritise industrialised workers. The study has a particular focus on the reconfiguration of socio-spatial arrangements linked to 21st century commodity cultivation, extraction and trade and subsequent class tensions on the material and epistemological frontier between (hydro, agro and mineral) mega projects and the autonomous territories of rural subjects. The renewed degradation of conditions for a labour force that has always been precarious, the dissolving dichotomy between proletarianised and peasant labour, and the ongoing resistance to corporate capture by communities is evoked to contrast distinct metabolic relations within rural territories with the objectification of labour and nature under capitalism. The analysis reveals new configurations of class domination, tension and counter movements. Many critical scholars, particularly those in the Global South, have been attentive to alternate readings of the world by indigenous, African descendent, peasant and agro-extractivist communities that may be unfamiliar yet underpin vociferous, and often fatal, resistance to capital accumulation. The task to effectively situate these struggles within a theory of broader, heterogeneous class struggle and integrate this 'wealth' of collective struggle and knowledge towards societal transformation remains important work in progress. In this spirit, the paper offers some possibilities for making new conceptual and material connections between rural and urban productive spaces and across currently fragmented class formations and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peacekeepers are seen as a UN tool for promoting domestic changes in host countries, but little is known about the political consequences when officers return home. During the last 10 years, Brazilian presidents appointed a significant number of former peacekeepers to key political functions. How and why do former peacekeepers end up so involved in government affairs? To answer this question, this paper focuses on the array of skills acquired by peacekeepers in domestic missions and reinforced abroad. Drawing on a set of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to military, former political decision-makers, and researchers, as well as other primary and secondary sources, this paper details how political articulation, experience in conflict management, and prestige empowered Brazilian military officers to resume their tradition of intervention in politics. This paper also shows that peace operations can produce deleterious outcomes for troop-contributing countries in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent pandemic negatively affected the career development of women scientists drawing attention to the need for urgent actions to ensure that gains in gender equality in science are retained. In Brazil, women scientists contributed much to the fight against COVID-19 by supplying valuable information to the media, combating misinformation and looking for ways to reduce the impacts of the pandemic in homes and workplaces. This paper diagnoses inequalities of opportunities in science and emphasizes science communication as an important tool for increasing the visibility and empowerment of women scientists in Brazil. Science communication can strengthen the visibility, presence and voice of women in society and promote equitable practices in terms of gender and race. It can also enable women scientists to work as role models for the younger generations. This paper goes beyond a brief discussion on the impacts of science communication on increasing diversity and makes recommendations to accelerate gender and ethnic–racial equity within science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to present a comprehensive knowledge mapping of plastic pollution on coastal/marine tourism research. To achieve this objective, the present study employed a two-tier analysis, including a systematic review of literature and bibliometric analysis of 164 scholarly articles spanning 1999 to 2022. The results underline the multidisciplinary nature of this research domain, characterized by a significant upswing in publications. The dominant countries in this field are identified as Brazil, Australia, and the USA. A noteworthy collaboration dynamic between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, East China Normal University, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences has emerged, signaling opportunities for enhanced cross-border cooperation. Jambeck, who provided data support for this research field, is found as the most cited author. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Environmental Pollution, and Science of the Total Environment are the most prolific journals discussing such topics. The primary research clusters in this field include seasonal comparison, Qinghai Lake, and small plastic debris. Additionally, scholars have recently focused on new topics such as seasonal comparison, case study, spatial pattern, and the Southern Baltic Sea in the last 3 years. This research also reports 10 articles with the highest citations and 10 highly cited papers. Not only this, the present study presents the inaugural bibliometric analysis on plastic pollution in coastal and marine tourism. To the authors' knowledge, it stands as a pioneering investigation of its nature, offering a comprehensive view on the research domain by evaluating a time span exceeding two decades, with a specific emphasis on the literature pertaining to marine tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how to generate development while preserving the environment is central to the history of the Brazilian Amazon. Many decades of top-down state interventions conceived and executed under a developmentalist framework have resulted in a socioenvironmental crisis. In response, the Sustainable Oil Palm Production Program (SPOPP) was launched in 2010. It promised to break with developmentalist visions and articulate environmental and sustainability concerns. This paper uses assemblage thinking to examine how these contrasting, often impossible-to-balance, views manifest within SPOPP implementation. We describe how non-human actors (trees, diseases, previous policies and agroecological zoning technologies) interact with human actors. However, powerful actors, in the state and beyond, continue to garner support for their developmentalist interests and thwart or depoliticize environmental and social concerns, thus limiting change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do welfare programs affect beneficiaries' perceptions of social mobility? This paper uses the case of Brazil's Bolsa Família Program to assess whether, how, and to what degree the welfare program affects beneficiaries' views of their potential social mobility. It makes a key contribution to the understanding of social mobility by incorporating the role that race and gender play in beneficiary respondent's evaluation of social mobility. Use of an original field survey undergirds the finding that, in contrast to conventional understandings of Brazilian racial and social dynamics, beneficiary status operates differently for Afro-Brazilian and White beneficiaries, as well as for male and female beneficiaries. Specifically, that the program has significant empowerment effects for White women beneficiaries, but that it does not affect the evaluations of Afro-Brazilian women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In this paper, we report the long-term outcomes of the endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal occlusive disease, focusing on the importance of calcification and runoff outflow on limb salvage and patency, and the factors associated with these outcomes at a single center. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients with femoropopliteal occlusive who underwent femoropopliteal angioplasty at the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo, Brazil, between January 2015 and July 2017. Results: In total, 86 femoropopliteal occlusive angioplasties were performed in 86 patients, with an initial technical success rate of 95.34%. The mean ± standard deviation follow-up time was 880 ± 68.84 days. The analysis was performed at 720 days. Technical failure occurred in four patients, who were excluded from the analysis, leaving 82 patients and 82 femoropopliteal occlusive angioplasties. The estimated primary patency, secondary patency, limb salvage, and overall survival rates at 720 days were 60%, 96%, 90%, and 82.5%, respectively. In univariate and multivariate analyses, Cox regression showed worse primary patency rates in patients with one tibial vessel or isolated popliteal artery runoff (p = 0.005), calcification grade 4 (p = 0.019), calcification grade > 2 (p = 0.017), small vessel diameter < 4 mm (p = 0.03) or primary angioplasty without stenting (p = 0.021). A univariate analysis showed worse limb salvage in patients with one tibial vessel or isolated popliteal artery runoff (p = 0.039). Conclusions: In this study, the main factors associated with worse outcomes in the endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal occlusive in terms of loss of primary patency were one tibial vessel or isolated popliteal artery runoff, calcification grade 4, or calcification grade > 2, small vessel diameter < 4 mm, and no stents use. One tibial vessel or isolated popliteal artery runoff was also associated with limb loss in a univariate Cox regression analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, urban violence is a problem in the world, and traditional development models are sometimes inappropriate to rapidly changing urban contexts where the sense of ownership and appropriation of common space is key to effective programming. Faced with the relevance of the traditional North–South model, the growing importance of South–South Cooperation (SSC) as a form of development cooperation generates positive ways forward in overcoming the limitations of the existing model. This paper outlines the experience of Viva Rio, a Brazilian NGO that works through a community participatory framework that is unique in style and Brazilian in origin. Viva Rio has addressed urban conflict in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, by drawing on principles and techniques developed in Rio de Janeiro and strategically applying them to the Haitian context. The paper describes this experience and develops it into a framework of knowledge transfer. It describes Viva Rio’s modalities and how it has been productive because of its ability to adapt to on-the-ground realities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the return to democracy in the late 1980s, Brazil developed a new system of water governance with a decentralization of responsibilities and the formation of participatory, deliberative institutions that characterized the governance reforms in general. Tripartite “water basin committees”, with an equal representation of state, municipal and civil society actors, are now responsible for water resource management in each basin and for decisions that affect urban water governance. However, state representatives come from entities established long before the reforms, raising the question of whether the new participatory bodies can change water management practices. This paper suggests that despite the process of transition in water governance, the underlying power inequalities have not been addressed and major decisions are still being taken outside the new deliberative bodies. Technocratic government actors maintain a claim on authority through their economic superiority and their use of expert knowledge, ultimately inhibiting the influence of other actors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rise in extreme weather events, coupled with the acknowledgement by policymakers that vulnerable populations are disproportionately at risk, has led to an increase in demand for vulnerability assessments, and particularly composite vulnerability indices. This paper presents a flood hazard vulnerability index that incorporates socioeconomic, built environment and natural environment data, and that was used to measure the vulnerability of 1,276 municipalities in Brazil. Findings show that 83 of these municipalities (with 22 per cent of the Brazilian population) are at risk. Vulnerability stemming from lower levels of socioeconomic status is concentrated in the Northern regions; that related to poor governance is widespread across all regions. This analysis highlights the dangers of assessing vulnerability using aggregate measures of socioeconomic status in middle-income countries with high levels of inequality, where the presence of vulnerable populations in informal settlements within highly developed municipalities may be obscured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

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.)

Studies of institutional change have focused on several themes. Yet, examinations of small innovations still require attention. This question is important because a new logic is usually only recognized after several modifications have taken place; thus, noticing it early becomes relevant. The emergence of a new logic presupposes new prescriptions about what is appropriate for both businesses and society. This article examines Brazilian health regulations that have undergone several alterations and suggests that this occurrence can be identified only when actors begin to react to the impact of such an event by changing their daily practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we apply the concept of entrepreneurial powers to analyze Brazil's participation and influence in international crises. Following Ravenhill (this journal issue), we consider three dimensions of entrepreneurship: (a) the intention to convince others according to an actor's interests; (b) the use of skilful politicians and bureaucracies to persuade partners; and (c) a proactive foreign policy that "sells" its position regarding the issues at stake. We argue that two other factors should be considered for a more encompassing view of entrepreneurial powers. First, the position of the involved great power on the crisis or in its negotiation. Second, that regional politics matter to entrepreneurial powers. We develop our argument using two case studies of success and failure respectively: the 1995 Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador mediated by Brazil, and the 2010 Iranian nuclear deal sponsored by Brazil and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Purpose: Brazil experiences a late participation in total ankle arthroplasty, which could have positive and negative aspects. The positive view argues about the modern implants that Brazil has received in the past years, skipping the early TAR generation who present more complications and low survival rate in the literature. The negative aspects are related to gap of experience, Brazilian surgeon could not participate in the development of the technique and implants designs during all these years. This paper present the aspects of the Brazilian experience with total ankle replacement since the earliest procedures performed. Methods: Data since the first series of TARs in Brazil were colect from university institution, personal data base from surgeons and previous publication, survivalship, complications, number of each implant and implant availability were recorded. Results: In Brazil, indications for TAR are not so different from around the world, the data we had access demonstrate 65% of post-traumatic arthritis, 26 % of inflammatory arthritis, 2% post-infectious arthritis and 7 % of primary arthritis. In fortheen years 263 surgeries were performed, in different parts of the country, but only one surgeon performed 43 cases (27,3% of the total). Table 1 demonstrate the number of procedures performed per year. Survivor rate of each implant available in the country in the first year were 94%, 86,19% in the second year, 82,84% in the third year, 81,62% in the fourth year and 71,47% in the fifth year. Conclusion: In Brazil there are limited and different ankle arthroplasty systems available for use. The procedure itself continues to be technically demanding and require surgical sophistication and expertise. A national registry to justify the procedure indication; report the outcomes and survivorship has not been developed. This procedure is growing around the county, as well as the surgeon experience, but we should remember that TAR is not for every patient and that the appropriate indication, based on the evidence available, is fundamental to obtaining durable and predictable outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we assess the effects of and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Brazilian peripheries by relying on resilience theory and the experiences of peripheral actors during the first year of the pandemic. We consider these experiences to examine whether the initial responses to the crisis had the potential to bring about long-term positive change. We rely on thematic analysis of 80 interviews with leaders of grassroots organizations of different nature all over the country between October 2020 and January 2021. We argue that we cannot speak of resilience and system change unless we engage with the voices of those most affected by adversity. While in its first year the pandemic brought important traces of structural violence to the surface, providing an opportunity for structural change, peripheral views at that moment cast doubts about the extent to which those changes could lead to long-term structural changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using policy cycle model as a heuristic, this article studies Indian, Brazilian, and South African engagement with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) by (a) comparing NAMA policy process and (b) identifying factors driving or limiting the framework’s domestic application. India largely remained uninterested in NAMAs, Brazil aligned its domestic climate policy and NAMAs, while South Africa had a more nuanced engagement when formulating NAMAs. Four factors influenced these countries’ NAMA engagements: the level and necessity of international support, the availability of domestic policy provisions to tackle climate change, the domestic institutional capacity to coordinate interministerial functioning, and the role of individuals in the institutional apparatus. As an international climate policy framework, studying NAMA engagement provides learnings for nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for designing the instrument, ensuring clarity on support provisions for ratcheting up ambitions, and enhancing institutional capacity, to expedite transition from policy formulation to implementation and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world experienced social distancing that resulted in changes in habits and lifestyle. Such changes can compromise healthy eating habits and the practice of physical activities, known risk factors for developing weight gain and obesity. Objective: The main objective of this study was to describe the change in eating habits, lifestyle, and cognition of the population of Rio Grande do Sul, a state in Southern Brazil, during social distancing due to COVID-19. Methods: The study was conducted from July 21 to August 10, 2020, through a structured online questionnaire that asked for sociodemographic information (age, gender, and education), anthropometric (reported weight and height), change in eating habits, lifestyle (sleep quality and physical activity), and cognition. Chi-square, McNemar tests, and univariate and multivariate analysis were used to evaluate the variables. Confidence intervals were calculated with a significance level of 5%. Results: Of a total of 1072 participants, 57.3% of respondents reported weight gain, and an increased percentage of people were classified as obese. Nearly half of the participants (46%) reported changes in their eating habits for the worse. Body mass index (BMI) was significantly associated with increased consumption of unhealthy foods. Our results identified high physical inactivity (46.9%) and obesity (19%) during social distancing. The changes in eating habits and lifestyle also increased the risk for decreased cognition. Conclusions: These findings highlighted that social distancing impacted eating habits and lifestyle, which increased obesity rates and might predispose to decreased cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study advocates a novel spatio-temporal method for accurate prediction of COVID-19 epidemic occurrence probability at any time in any Brazil state of interest, and raw clinical observational data have been used. This article describes a novel bio-system reliability approach, particularly suitable for multi-regional environmental and health systems, observed over a sufficient time period, resulting in robust long-term forecast of the virus outbreak probability. COVID-19 daily numbers of recorded patients in all affected Brazil states were taken into account. This work aimed to benchmark novel state-of-the-art methods, making it possible to analyse dynamically observed patient numbers while taking into account relevant regional mapping. Advocated approach may help to monitor and predict possible future epidemic outbreaks within a large variety of multi-regional biological systems. Suggested methodology may be used in various modern public health applications, efficiently using their clinical survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups of people addressing the creation and reproduction of inequality, rights and access issues, seeking to transform sectoral policies. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, social movements have been acting in articulation with government and private companies and through other actions formulated within their networks, as service deliverers to the poor and vulnerable populations most heavily affected, often filling a gap created by unfulfilled policies. Our research with waste picker organizations in Brazil illustrates how their struggle for recognition has taken action in this context. Academic and government documents, social media and online material (blogs, posts, websites, etc.) and virtual meetings inform this research. We found that multiple actors have contributed to mitigate the urgent needs of waste pickers during the pandemic, but that at the same time, pre-existing challenges in waste management and the lack of wide-ranging social and economic inclusion have been further intensified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article theorizes and analyzes the relationship between populist leaders and government transparency. Employing a paired comparison of leaders in Brazil and the United States before and during the pandemic, it illuminates three interlocking tactics: (a) the weakening of transparency institutions, (b) erasure and suppression of transparency, and (c) corruption of transparency via misuse and misinformation. Populist efforts to subvert pandemic transparency elicited a striking response in both countries: the emergence of "compensatory transparency initiatives" (CTIs). By collating and disclosing subnational pandemic data to fill transparency gaps at the federal level, CTIs drew attention to populist failings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arapaima gigas, known as Pirarucu in Brazil, is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. Some individuals could reach 3 m in length and weight up to 200 kg. Due to extinction risks and its economic value, the species has been a focus for preservation and reproduction studies. Thyrotropin (TSH) is a glycoprotein hormone formed by 2 subunits α and β whose main activity is related to the synthesis of thyroid hormones (THs)—T3 and T4. In this work, we present a combination of bioinformatics tools to identify Arapaima gigas βTSH (ag-βTSH), modeling its molecular structure and express the recombinant heterodimer form in mammalian cells. Using the combination of computational biology, based on genome-related information, in silico molecular cloning and modeling led to confirm results of the ag-βTSH sequence by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and transient expression in human embryonic kidney (HEK293F) cells. Molecular cloning of ag-βTSH retrieved 146 amino acids with a signal peptide of 21 amino acid residues and 6 disulfide bonds. The sequence has a similarity to 39 fish species, ranging between 43.1% and 81.6%, whose domains are extremely conserved, such as cystine knot motif and N-glycosylation site. The Arapaima gigas thyrotropin (ag-TSH) model, solved by AlphaFold, was used in molecular dynamics simulations with Scleropages formosus receptor, providing similar values of free energy ΔGbind and ΔGPMF in comparison with Homo sapiens model. The recombinant expression in HEK293F cells reached a yield of 25 mg/L, characterized via chromatographic and physical-chemical techniques. This work shows that other Arapaima gigas proteins could be studied in a similar way, using the combination of these techniques, recovering more information from its genome and improving the reproduction and preservation of this prehistoric fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study to assess the effects of different protocols of physical exercise on the domains of the quality of life (QoL), sexual function, anxiety, and depression scores in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Data of 112 women with PCOS were extracted from 2 trials with different protocols of physical exercise: continuous aerobic training (ContinuousAT, n = 23), intermittent aerobic training (IntermittentAT, n = 22), and progressive resistance training (ResistanceT, n = 43) alongside a control group (CG, n = 24). Volunteers who completed self-report questionnaires—Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) for QoL—preprotocol and postprotocol of physical exercise were included. Within groups, from baseline to week 16, all ContinuousAT, IntermittentAT, and ResistanceT protocols promoted improvements in multiple FSFI domains and HADS scores. However, ResistanceT did not improve the QoL aspects. Between groups, from other physical training protocols, the IntermittentAT was most effective for QoL and FSFI domains as well as HADS scores. It is concluded that all interventions were effective and improved indicators of sexual function, anxiety, and depression. When comparing protocols, interval training with high-intensity stimuli and active recovery was more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

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.)

Party elites may hinder racial and ethnic minorities from winning public office by withholding resources. Prior studies have explored the distribution of money, media access, and party-list positions. In Brazil, party elites provide each candidate with a unique identification number. Voters must enter their preferred candidate's identification number into an electronic voting machine to register their support. In this article, we replicate and extend Bueno and Dunning's (2017) analysis of candidate identification numbers. They conclude that party elites do not provide white candidates with superior identification numbers than non-whites. We contend that assessing intraparty variation is theoretically and methodologically warranted. Using party fixed effects, we find that party elites provide non-white candidates with worse identification numbers than whites. We demonstrate that our findings are generalisable using data from other elections. Moreover, we show that party elites also withhold advantageous numbers from women and political novices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medication errors are frequent and have a high economic and social impact and is critical to know their severity. A variety of tools exist to measure and classify the harms associated with medication errors, but few are internationally validated. Design and methods: It was decided to validate a method proposed by Dean and Barber for assessment of the potential severity of medication administration errors. A number of thirty health care professionals (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) from Brazil will receive an invitation to take part by scoring 50 cases of medication errors gathered from an original UK study regarding their potential harm to the patient on scale 0 to 10. Sixteen cases with known actual harm outcomes will be used to assess the validity of their scoring. By looking at 10 errors (out of the 50 cases) scored twice, reliability shall be assessed; and potential sources of variability in scoring will be evaluated depending on the severity of each of error case, the occasion when the scores were given, the scorer, their profession, and interactions among these variables. Generalizability theory will be used for analysing data. Expected impact of the study for public health: This study was submitted to the evaluation of the Research Ethics Committee of the Complexo Hospitalar Universitário Professor Edgard Santos and approved under no. 3.102.570/2019. This is the first validation of this method for use in Brazil, and will allow researchers to conduct more standardised evaluations of interventions to reduce the impact of medication errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although considerable progress has been made over the last decades, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) mortality rates have remarkably increased in the Brazilian Amazon region. Here, we employed temporal analysis to determine the impact of public policies on the HIV epidemic in the state of Pará, Brazil, which has the second highest HIV incidence rate in the Amazon region. Design and methods: This is an ecological study conducted in the state of Pará, employing secondary data of HIV/AIDS cases notified to the Information System for Notifiable Diseases, 2007-2018. The following epidemiological variables were collected: year of notification, municipality of residence, age, sex, education, exposure category, and HIV/AIDS diagnostic criteria. The study population was composed of 21,504 HIV/AIDS cases. The HIV/AIDS incidence rates were analyzed employing the temporal trend analysis (TTA) followed by the chi-square test and residue analysis to determine the association between the epidemiological variables and time series periods. Results: A total of 50% of the notifications were composed of AIDS cases. TTA identified two periods in HIV/AIDS incidence, with stabilization of cases in the first period (G1, 2007-2012) and an upward trend in the second period (G2, 2012-2018). The most prevalent epidemiological characteristics in G2 (versus G1) were as follows: young people, brown skin color, higher schooling, and homosexuals. Conclusion:s Public policy to control HIV infection in the Brazilian Amazon region has been partially effective. HIV screening tests and treatment should be made widely available to eradicate HIV infection in the Amazon region by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China began to accelerate the energy transition in the last decade as a strategy for rebalancing its economy and becoming a more influential actor in the global renewable energy market. This article explores to what extent Chinese investment and financing in renewable energy projects in Argentina and Brazil promote these countries' energy transition strategies and sustainable development more broadly. To approach this question, the article provides a reading of Ostrom's postulates of the energy transition as an increasingly relevant driver of certain states' relationships with other countries. General trajectories of Chinese investment and lending in Latin America provide a background to Chinese investment in solar and wind power projects in Argentina and Brazil. The article concludes that China's overseas finance merges with Argentina and Brazil's own goals regarding renewable energy deployment and discusses future challenges in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

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 paradoxical behaviour of Brazil in relation to its national and international approaches to the regulations of access to genetic resources and benefits sharing with indigenous and other traditional communities. Brazil was one of the leaders in the international negotiations that led to the UN Nagoya Protocol but only ratified it 11 years later, after remarkable transformations of its internal biodiversity laws. We suggest that the seemingly contradictory behaviour has been shaped by the country's internal political and ideological changes. This transformation goes hand in hand with substantial changes in state–society relations, particularly with regard to the balance of coalitions' power between indigenous groups and industrial and agrarian elites. The article builds on the literature on state transformations and relies on the Advocacy Coalition Framework to show the importance of considering the impact of national-level politics on the fate of international agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses how societal inequalities shape market arrangements. While business scholars developed important work about the interplay of organizations and societal economic inequalities, less has been said about the embeddedness of markets in unequal social structures. We argue that this issue may be addressed by cross-fertilizing the sociological approach of Bourdieu and the Strategic Action Fields perspective. To demonstrate our view, we assessed the extreme case of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling markets in Brazil, conducting a qualitative study based on the precepts of abductive analysis and using data from different secondary sources, interviews, and participant observation. We verified the existence of correspondences between the power of strategic action fields and the positions the individuals controlling them occupy in what Bourdieu calls the social space and show how these differences enable inter field connections that tend to reproduce social hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor reproductive performance in beef cattle caused by infectious agents results in major financial losses as a result of reduced pregnancy rates and extended calving intervals. Bulls can be subclinical chronic carriers of bacterial and protozoal agents involved in cow infertility, such as Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis, Ureaplasma diversum, Mycoplasma bovigenitalium, Mycoplasma bovis, and Tritrichomonas foetus. Bulls harbor these microorganisms in their preputial crypts and transmit the agents to cows during natural mating. To obtain an overview of the etiologic agents in the preputial mucus of bulls, we aimed to identify, by PCR assay, C. fetus subsp. venerealis, M. bovis, U. diversum, M. bovigenitalium, and T. foetus in Brazilian bulls from farms with high infertility rates. We collected preputial mucus from 210 bulls on 18 beef cattle farms in Brazil between 2019 and 2020. We found at least one of the infectious agents that we were studying in bulls on 16 of the 18 beef cattle farms tested. We detected at least one infectious agent from 159 of 210 (76%) bulls tested, namely C. fetus subsp. venerealis, M. bovis, U. diversum, M. bovigenitalium, and T. foetus in 87 (55%), 84 (53%), 45 (28%), 28 (18%), and 1 (0.6%) animal, respectively. We found 95 bulls (60%) positive for only 1 etiologic agent (single infection) and 64 bulls (40%) carried multiple agents. Our results demonstrate the occurrence of bacterial and protozoal infectious agents that may be related to infertility in Brazilian beef cattle herds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last years, Brazil and China's oil-related finance activities have expanded substantially. Between 2007 and 2019, Brazilian companies received approximately one-fourth of Chinese policy banks overseas oil-related loans, and Chinese financial institutions became Brazil's biggest oil company Petrobras' main creditor. A deep analysis of these loans highlights their usage as economic statecraft tools, with impacts on the bilateral crude trade and investments. Loan-for-oil mechanisms, content purchase requirements, and a countercyclical lending pattern have helped to influence Brazilian players to behave in a manner conducive to the Chinese state's energy security objectives and strategic goals, namely increase of imports, diversification of sources, and internationalisation of firms. With these loans, China has satisfactorily guaranteed a stable oil supply over time and has helped Chinese equipment makers and service providers to expand their footage in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopts an institutional approach in the case analysis of China's economic statecraft towards Brazil. In light of institutionalisation theory, it examines the institutional arrangements between Beijing and Brasilia for the purpose of facilitating bilateral economic cooperation and advancing strategic partnership. As a descriptive effort, it yields some preliminary findings: first, the institutionalisation of China's economic statecraft towards Brazil is incremental, driven largely by the desire for and belief in long-term planning; second, a set of norms, values, and principles is instituted alongside designated agencies, point persons, operational protocols, and exchange mechanisms, creating a form of institutional governance based on a multi-actor, multilevel, and network-based steering mode; third, governance remains so centralised that it falls short in empowering strategic participation; and, fourth and finally, Beijing's institution-building proves useful in the management of relations with Brazil, suggesting that economic statecraft may benefit from institutionalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to identify and comprehend the challenges and strengths behind public policies on integrating waste pickers (WPs) within waste management systems in Colombia and Brazil. In both, WPs started to come together and found organisations and external agents such as NGOs began to support organised groups of WPs. After 10 years of judicial court actions in Colombia, WPs organisations were finally recognised in legislation, while in Brazil, they were recognised in 2007 in one of the national policies through lobby. Today, there are almost 700 WPs organisations formalised in Colombia and 1700 in Brazil. Their public policies' main achievements and challenges are exposed to supply knowledge to other countries interested in this theme. A Roadmap for the organisation and formalisation of WPs within waste management systems was created. This constitutes a source of information for policymakers in other emerging economies to address this in their territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

What happens when a traditional source of political capital becomes a health hazard? Stigmatized electoral practices, such as vote buying, are a double-edged sword: While these strategies may signal candidates' electoral strength, they may also entail reputational costs. In normal times, street campaigns are a non-stigmatized electoral practice. During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, they imposed health risks. Employing data from a national survey experiment conducted in Brazil prior to the 2020 municipal elections (N = 2025), we extend research on the employment of stigmatized campaigns and the gendered dynamics of electoral viability. We find that voters evaluate candidates who engage in face-to-face activities as less electorally viable and report lower intent to support them. These dynamics do not impact all candidates equally: Voters more harshly punish women candidates who conduct street campaigns than men, leading women to lose the advantage they have over men when both employ non-stigmatized campaign practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ziziphus joazeiro Mart., popularly known as “juazeiro”, is a tree widely found in the northeast of Brazil. It is commonly used as an antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and analgesic agent. The stem extract exhibited, beside cytotoxic properties, substantial activity against the Gram-negative bacterium Allivibrio fischeri. UHPLC-ESI-Orbitrap-HR-MS analysis of the alkaloidal fraction of the crude methanolic stem extract of this species enabled the detection and putative identification of sixteen cyclopeptide alkaloids (CPAs), including four possibly new structures. According to the MS² fragmentation analysis, from the sixteen identified CPAs, three possess a type-Ia1, one a type-Ia2, and twelve a type-Ib cyclopeptide alkaloid core. The structures of paliurine-C and -D were supported by NMR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite considerable literature exploring Brazil's participatory management, less academic attention focuses on Brazil's public policy councils (conselhos gestores de políticas públicas), which are permanent political-institutional structures on a range of policy issues mediating between society and the state. This article analyses urban policy councils in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, and Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, considering whether this participatory planning tool advances democratic inclusion. We approach participatory planning through the lens of policy communities. Through these cases, we demonstrate that these two councils do not, in fact, enable all those affected and interested to influence and define policies. Yet even if the views of the most disenfranchised do not ultimately prevail, these urban policy councils contribute to publicizing urban policy issues and democratizing the range of stakeholders that gain access to the policy community. We conclude by highlighting suggestions for improving public policy councils as mechanisms for participatory planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

Background: Cryptorchidism is a congenital disorder that causes an irregularity in the permanent or temporary descent of one or both testicles. In Brazil, there are no comprehensive studies describing the association of demographic, social, and clinical characteristics in relation to cryptorchidism. Objectives: This study aims to verify possible associations of clinical and sociodemographic characteristics in patients with cryptorchidism. Design and Methods: An analytical, descriptive and retrospective study was carried out based on secondary data of 5,168 live births with cryptorchidism recorded in the Live Birth Information System (SINASC), Brazil from 1999 to 2018. The socio-demographic factors analyzed were the geographic region, age, education and marital status of the mothers. The clinical factors analyzed were the duration and type of pregnancy. The place of birth was also analyzed as a secondary outcome. Results: This research analyzed all live births during the study period, in Brazil. The chance of cryptorchidism in the neonate is more common in women who become pregnant later (≥30 years of age) and with a higher level of education (≥8 years). The risk of cryptorchidism in relation to the federation units is higher in Paraíba, Pernambuco, Sergipe, São Paulo, and Santa Catarina. Regarding the clinical characteristics, the shorter pregnancies, which characterize premature births, are a risk for the appearance of cryptorchidism in the country. Conclusion: Thus, in this study, we found that sociodemographic and clinical factors have specific characteristics that predict cryptorchidism in newborns in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telemedicine has recently garnered more attention from healthcare professionals because it provides access to health services to patients in rural areas while making patient healthcare information more vulnerable to security breaches. The objective of this research is to identify factors that play a critical role in possible adoption of telemedicine in the United States and Brazil. A model with eight hypotheses was used to establish a research framework. A survey was conducted involving healthcare professionals in the aforementioned countries. The results show that telemedicine adoption is influenced by policies and culture in both countries and influenced by security and privacy in the United States. It can be inferred from the research that perceptions of the American and Brazilian healthcare professionals are similar in telemedicine issues covered in this research. These healthcare professionals, however, disagree on how patients' privacy should be preserved in the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV; Paramyxoviridae) is the most significant pathogen of cetaceans worldwide. The novel "multi-host" Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis ; GD)-CeMV strain is reported in South American waters and infects Guiana dolphins and southern right whales (Eubalaena australis). This study aimed to describe the pathologic findings, GD-CeMV viral antigen distribution and detection by RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction), and infectious comorbidities in 29 Guiana dolphins that succumbed during an unusual mass-mortality event in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, between November 2017 and March 2018. The main gross findings were lack of ingesta, pulmonary edema, ascites, icterus, hepatic lipidosis, multicentric lymphadenomegaly, as well as pneumonia, polyserositis, and multiorgan vasculitis caused by Halocercus brasiliensis. Microscopically, the primary lesions were bronchointerstitial pneumonia and multicentric lymphoid depletion. The severity and extent of the lesions paralleled the distribution and intensity of morbilliviral antigen. For the first time in cetaceans, morbilliviral antigen was detected in salivary gland, optic nerve, heart, diaphragm, parietal and visceral epithelium of glomeruli, vulva, and thyroid gland. Viral antigen within circulating leukocytes suggested this as a mechanism of dissemination within the host. Comorbidities included disseminated toxoplasmosis, mycosis, ciliated protozoosis, and bacterial disease including brucellosis. These results provide strong evidence for GD-CeMV as the main cause of this unusual mass-mortality event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimorbidity is rising in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the evidence on its epidemiology from LMICs settings is limited and the available literature has not been synthesized as yet. Objectives: To review the available evidence on the epidemiology of multimorbidity in LMICs. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Grey literature databases were searched. We followed the PRISMA-ScR reporting guideline. Results: Of 33, 110 articles retrieved, 76 studies were eligible for the epidemiology of multimorbidity. Of these 76 studies, 66 (86.8%) were individual country studies. Fifty-two (78.8%) of which were confined to only six middle-income countries: Brazil, China, South Africa, India, Mexico and Iran. The majority (n = 68, 89.5%) of the studies were crosssectional in nature. The sample size varied from 103 to 242, 952. The largest proportion (n = 33, 43.4%) of the studies enrolled adults. Marked variations existed in defining and measuring multimorbidity. The prevalence of multimorbidity in LMICs ranged from 3.2% to 90.5%. Conclusion and Recommendations: Studies on the epidemiology of multimorbidity in LMICs are limited and the available ones are concentrated in few countries. Despite variations in measurement and definition, studies consistently reported high prevalence of multimorbidity. Further research is urgently required to better understand the epidemiology of multimorbidity and define the best possible interventions to improve outcomes of patients with multimorbidity in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we have investigated how researchers use the data provided by the Brazilian Information System of Primary Care. We also searched, for the first time, studies that evaluated the quality and reliability of the information provided by the Primary Care Information System. An integrative review of the literature was performed using the keywords 'information systems, primary care and SIAB' on search databases, and 53 of 174 articles were selected. These publications were classified into two large subgroups: those using the Primary Care Information System as 'data source' and those that took it as the 'object of study'. The first group included 35 studies, 18 of which used demographic and social health data records, and nine described data about diseases, specifically hypertension and diabetes. These data were used by researchers for association with health indicators (20%) or comparison with other information systems (17%), sample or population calculus (9%), estimation of prevalence and characterization of the epidemiological profile of a population (26%) or, more generally, to carry out the assessment of health status (29%). The Primary Care Information System as the 'object of study' group included 18 works, describing the knowledge and practices of professionals in relation to the information system. These researchers pointed out issues in the process of production and information consolidation, mainly due to the lack of training and supervision of community health workers and bureaucratization of their work process. Although some issues in the quality of data provided by the Primary Care Information System were reported by researchers, these findings were not corroborated by two studies that assessed the reliability of information disclosed by this system. Despite changes in the Brazilian health policies, the issue of data quality in health information systems continues to be a challenge preventing data from being used for decision-making and knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The prevalence of biotinidase deficiency and the frequency of biotinidase gene variants in Brazil are not documented. We aimed to determine the incidence of partial and profound biotinidase deficiency in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to calculate the frequency of biotinidase gene variants in the newborn screening program of Minas Gerais. Methods: Neonates (1,168,385) were screened from May 2013 to June 2018. Those detected with abnormal biotinidase activity based on semi-quantitative assays underwent confirmatory serum tests. The biotinidase gene was sequenced in all confirmed cases. Results: The combined incidence of partial and profound biotinidase deficiency was estimated at 1:13,909 live births (95% confidence limit 1:11,235–1:17,217), much higher than the incidence rates reported in other populations worldwide. The most frequent biotinidase gene variants were p.D444H (allele frequency, 0.016), haplotype c.1330G>C;c.511G>A (p.D444H;A171T), p.D543E, c.310-15delT (intronic), p.V199M, and p.H485Q. Together these accounted for 74.6% of the alleles analysed. Conclusion: Newborn screening for biotinidase deficiency, which revealed a higher incidence in Minas Gerais, is feasible and plays a critical role in the early identification of affected neonates and prevention of symptoms and irreversible sequelae. Biotinidase gene sequencing is a useful tool to confirm the diagnosis, and also provides valuable information about genetic variability among different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do presidents delegate policy-making authority to their foreign ministries? And is foreign policy unique in this respect? We posit that six international, national, and personal factors determine the opportunity and motivation of presidents to delegate, and then analyse the cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico in 1946–2015. By applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we find that four combinations of factors are sufficient paths to delegation: (1) international stability and elite consensus on foreign policy; (2) international stability, right-wing president, and low diplomatic professionalisation; (3) international stability, right-wing president, and low presidential expertise on foreign policy; or (4) absence of authoritarianism combined with elite consensus on foreign policy and right-wing president. Our study of foreign ministries reinforces some of the main findings of the scholarly literature on other ministries, thus challenging the view of foreign policy-making as different from domestic policy areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]