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For five hundred eighty days, between 2018 and 2019, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remained imprisoned in the city of Curitiba, about two hundred miles South of São Paulo. During that period, more than twenty thousand letters were sent to him from all regions of the country—the result of a campaign initiated by the Workers' Party and rapidly disseminated through social media—correspondence now archived at the Lula Institute, in the city of São Paulo, as part of the Lula Presidential Archives. This article surveys the status of private presidential archives in Brazil, probing the nature of "prison letters" and their uses in campaign actions for Lula's release, with special attention to the circulation of documents in digital format on websites and social media. The authors had access to the documentation cited in this piece during the mobilization for the Lula Livre movements. Finally, the article contributes to the study of political correspondence and analyzes the challenges posed to historical research by the digital circulation of documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is an essential stage of life for developing actions related to health promotion, especially in health education (HE). Public policies advocate for the expansion of participative technologies in this field, as well as different theoretical and methodological perspectives subsidize these. Among these, Paulo Freire's reference guide is practiced in Brazil and around the world. From the Freirean perspective, Thematic Investigation (TI) defines the content of the educational practice. This paper describes a methodological proposal of the Freirean Thematic Investigation for developing health educational practices and promoting health among adolescents. Initially, we describe the conception of the Freirean rationale that sets the grounds for the proposed method: human being, dialogical education and reality and their connections with HE with adolescents in a critical perspective. The methodological proposal is systematized into five stages: (i) Approaching adolescents and the field of educational practices; (ii) Reading reality; (iii) Seminars for analyzing reality reading and preparing the codifications; (iv) Critical analysis of reality; and (v) Planning educational practices. The TI confronts the adult-centric perspectives that characterize adolescent health care. Moreover, as a praxis, TI is a process of reflection and action with adolescents, allowing for not only the discovery of the themes that build educational practices but also for solutions (untested feasibility) for the individual and collective problems experienced by adolescents concerning their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, many D/deaf persons use the country's official sign language, Libras, to communicate and develop a sociocultural identity. For most Libras users, learning how to read and write in Portuguese, the country's official written language, is a challenge. To address the problem, we present a framework for codesigning accessible technologies for and with D/deaf persons. In this paper, we describe and analyze the case study of an environment to support the teaching–learning process of written Portuguese as a second language. Our main contribution is the documented experiences of codesigning with D/deaf and hearing participants, through individual and collaborative work, which increased confidence and creativity and enhanced empathy through sharing own experiences. Various types of participants were included through the entire framework process, and important values were reinforced, such as ownership and self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are biopharmaceuticals prescribed in oncology, rheumatology, and for other chronic and autoimmune diseases. Over the last decade, the demand for MAbs grew significantly in developing countries like Brazil, concomitant to the restructuring of the global biopharmaceutical industry, opening windows of opportunities for catching-up economies. This paper aims to analyze the capacity of a public policy, the so-called Production Development Partnership Program (PDPP), to encourage the generation of national capabilities to the local biopharmaceutical industry and technological upgrading in the biopharmaceutical sector in Brazil. It is a case study supported by qualitative data from twenty-three interviews. By focusing on technology transfer processes rather than on more complex strategies of technological learning and upgrading in domestic agents, the impact of PDPP has been marginal. We draw insights from this empirical appraisal to outline some lessons and challenges involved in the implementation of technology-upgrading policies in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving from contemporary ethnography to Brazilian poetry from the turn of the twentieth century, this paper extends recent calls to attend more to relationships in religious studies. Scholars have argued that focusing on intimate relations allows us to stay critical while overcoming the impasses produced by opposed approaches, especially those that either privilege materiality or interiority. This paper explores how a focus on relations inspired by the work of Marilyn Strathern, which acknowledges the broad reach of relations—from the interpersonal to the conceptual, nonhuman, and evil—offers more than just a way to unite approaches. I read relations through cordel poetry from northeast Brazil, including verses found in the rubble of Brazil's most notorious war, Canudos (1897). Engaging critically with studies of popular media that naturalize mediation, materiality, and politics as analytical starting points, I show how focusing on relations can help transform both the terms of our analyses and the politics of our descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sexual dysfunctions remain inadequately addressed in medical education, despite their prevalence and adverse impact on quality of life. In Brazil, there are scarce university-affiliated healthcare centers that focus on sexual health. These services play a critical role in diagnosing and managing sexual disorders and can be pivotal in the training of healthcare professionals, as well as in the advancement of research and outreach in sexual medicine. Objective: To describe the experience of establishing two sexual health centers in university-affiliated hospitals in Northeastern Brazil. Method: This is an experiential report detailing the establishment of two distinct sexual health services. Results: Both sexual health services started in different general hospitals in 2021, founded by a male and a female psychiatrists, authors of this paper. The initiative was prompted by the lack of dedicated sexual health services and the awareness of substantial patient distress stemming from sexual issues. Activities include patient consultations, case discussions, sexology seminars, and research project development, involving medical students and resident physicians, integrated into the psychiatry residency curriculum Referrals come mainly from other hospital specialties, but external referrals are also accepted. Collaboration with other healthcare professionals occurs through the analysis of clinical cases. Conclusion: The establishment of sexual health services within university-affiliated hospitals has a positive impact on patient care and contributes to the study of sexual medicine, an area often overlooked in medical education. Improvements are needed in patient recruitment, counter-referral procedures, and the systematic incorporation of medical student rotations. While these services hold promise, they require greater integration with other healthcare services and a closer collaboration with undergraduate medical education. Financing: No conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is a crucial behavior to reduce the global burden of disease. The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between LTPA, employment status, and physical workload (PWL). This study analyzed data from 38 449 individuals interviewed in the National Health Survey (NHS), representative of the Brazilian population. This paper examines LTPA in the last 30 days and whether participants achieved the recommended physical activity (≥150 min week−1) according to employment status and PWL utilizing Poisson regression models. One third and ¼ of the participants reported LTPA in the last 30 days and achieved the recommended LTPA, respectively. Intense PWL was reported by 28.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 27.8–29.6%] of participants; 32.2% among men (95% CI: 31.0–33.5%); 24.3% among women (95% CI: 23.1–25.5%). Precarious employment was associated with a lower prevalence of physical activity among men [adjusted prevalence ratio (PRa) = 0.92; P = 0.016], but not among women (PRa = 1.11; P = 0.039). Employment policies and protection of the work environment are relevant aspects to stimulate physical activity, and may vary by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean grabbing occurs when traditional users, such as small-scale fishers, are pushed aside by new development activities. This grabbing must be prevented to avoid sea uses that maintain or increase social inequity. In this paper, we show that in tropical Atlantic countries, such as Brazil and Senegal, examples of ocean grabbing already occur. In this context, we analyse if Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) may be an opportunity to limit ocean grabbing or, to the contrary, poses a risk to increase it. MSP calls for an ecosystem approach that requires integrated coastal and marine management and involves stakeholders in developing a shared vision of the future, where society and environment are preserved. However, recent studies have shown that MSP is a process to be used cautiously to ensure equitable decisions. Meanwhile, the concept is spreading worldwide including in tropical Atlantic countries. We highlight that context matters and the specificities of the tropical Atlantic must be taken into account when deploying MSP processes. In the tropical Atlantic context, there is increased imbalances of stakeholder power, traps from decision support tools, and a need for adaptive management. These specific features must be addressed when deploying MSP in a way to avoid ocean grabbing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present considerations about the use of music as a critical and radical pedagogy in an International Relations class in the Global South. How can music help students understand the processes of marginalization, resistance, and struggle? Can it be understood as a tool to be used in the classroom to transcend traditional and marginalizing pedagogies? The contribution of our proposal derives from the possibility of a symbiosis between the teaching of critical, decolonial, and postcolonial perspectives and the language used to communicate these concepts and ideas to a young audience with different backgrounds. In this sense, we bring perceptions of the engagement with music as a pedagogical tool in an undergraduate course entitled " Decolonizing International Relations: epistemic violence and emancipation in Global South." By playing songs, not only the learning process became deeper and more meaningful to students, but it also opened margins to a dialogical interaction. We share our experience hoping to contribute to a meaningful debate among scholars, inspiring teachers to engage with decolonial/critical pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically review the literature on the psychometric properties of the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale among Hispanic-Latinx communities. Data Selection: We searched multiple cross-disciplinary databases from January 1970 until April 2023 for relevant papers written in English and Spanish. We used the following terms: (1) Clinical Dementia Rating, (2) validity, (3) reliability, (4) psychometric, (5) Hispanic, (6) Latinos or Latinx, (7) outcome measures, (8) Spanish language, and (9) Alzheimer's disease. Data Synthesis: We found 609 studies with 56 eligible studies. Only 5 studies examined psychometric properties of the CDR in Hispanic-Latinx communities. Each study implemented divergent study designs. Of the 5 selected studies, one study evaluated the validity of the CDR Sum of Boxes among 1073 Mexican Americans. A second study evaluated the CDR's test–retest reliability and internal consistency among 94 Spanish speaking participants from the United States. The third study examined the validity of the CDR Sum of Boxes among 343 Brazilians living in Brazil. A fourth study assessed the CDR Sum of Boxes sensitivity and specificity among 407 Brazilians living in Brazil, whereas a fifth study evaluated the validity of a Portuguese CDR version on 424 Brazilians living in Brazil. Conclusions: Our systematic review revealed limited studies examining the validation of the CDR in the Hispanic-Latinx communities. The limited number of studies raises concerns about versions of the CDR scale implemented in ad clinical trials, and its implications to study results, interpretation, and generalizability of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]