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The competition between enterprises has become more fiercely as they have the possibility to easily move across national boundaries to exploit opportunities in other countries or markets. The turbulent market environment imposes enterprises, irrespective of their size, industry and geographical region, to permanently adapt to its everchanging conditions. This is why they have tried to identify and implement various techniques and methods in their activities and processes in order to attain high levels of competitiveness. One of them is branding, a powerful marketing tool and an important aspect of any business. The paper aims to briefly define the brand concept and present the evolution of ten world's most valuable brands in the period 2018-2023. In this respect, the author used a qualitative research method. The results of the paper concludes that the American brands have dominated the hierarchy. Amazon and Apple were the two main competitors for the global supremacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores illegal coca crop expansion in indigenous Amazonian communities in Peru. The ethnographic study sheds light on the historical development of these areas as frontier spaces, where the growth of illicit crops intertwines with socio-ecological transformations and gives rise to conflicts over new forms of land control, opportunities for capital accumulation, and political power dynamics. The paper argues that this expansion is shaped by dual processes: from 'below,' involving small-scale migrant farmers from the Andes, and from 'above,' primarily driven by state-led agrarian interventions. Consequently, communities experience significant tensions, as they adapt to the forces of market expansion to secure their livelihoods, while simultaneously facing risks of violence and insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to elucidate the interrelationship between global meat consumption and deforestation in the Amazon region. To this end, empirical research is conducted to investigate land use changes in Rondônia and the expansion of pasture areas and beef production. Brazil is one of the largest beef producers in the world, with products destined for local and global markets. Based on bibliographical research, the paper analyzes maps of land use change between 1985 and 2021, using Landsat satellite imagery and the MapBiomas methodology for Landsat mosaic and classification. The research shows that beef from Rondônia is primarily purchased and consumed in Brazil, but it is also bought and sold on the international market. Landsat imagery analysis shows the predominance of forest conversion to pasture in Rondônia. The results show that deforestation in the Amazon is directly linked to the growth of cattle ranching. Land use change from native forest to pasture for beef cattle production is a reality in the Brazilian Amazon, especially in Rondônia. It suggests the urgent need for more conscious consumption and production practices as well as ethical and sustainable eating habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elsewhere in this issue I state 'Chiropractic is the diagnosis and management of the neuromusculoskeletal system of the human body' and discuss the emergent problem of an increasing shrinkage of the constitutional framework of the discipline where current arguments continue to remove reference to subluxation from the profession's lexicon, even flagitiously mandating against teaching the idea within its natural context. In this editorial I give some examples of the good work being done to carry our profession to greatness, and balance that with some examples of wackiness from Canada and the United States of America, and once again from the usual dismal suspects in Europe. I am starting to think that Australia is one of the better places in the world to practice Conventional Chiropractic, yet offer caution that this may be about to change. Above all I hold that a Chiropractor carries spontaneous unspoken trust in what they see and feel, and conclude with a marvellous video of a Philosophy discussion about how strongly we can 'know things' from our patient's testimony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube are the most popular and fastest-growing streaming services globally. It is a matter of great interest for the streaming service providers to preview their service infrastructure and streaming strategy in order to provide new streaming services. Hence, the first part of the paper presents a detailed survey of the Content Distribution Network (CDN) and cloud infrastructure of these service providers. To understand the streaming strategy of these service providers, the second part of the paper deduces a common quality-of-service (QoS) model based on rebuffering time, bitrate, progressive download ratio, and standard deviation of the On-Off cycle. This model is then used to analyze and compare the streaming behaviors of these services. This study concluded that the streaming behaviors of all these services are similar as they all use Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) on top of TCP. However, the amount of data that they download in the buffering state and steady-state vary, resulting in different progressive download ratios, rebuffering levels, and bitrates. The characteristics of their On-Off cycle are also different resulting in different QoS. Hence a thorough adaptive bit rate (ABR) analysis is presented in this paper. The streaming behaviors of these services are tested on different access network bandwidths, ranging from 75 kbps to 30 Mbps. The survey results indicate that Netflix QoS and streaming behavior are significantly consistent followed by Amazon Prime and YouTube. Our approach can be used to compare and contrast the streaming services' strategies and finetune their ABR and flow control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars often approach the Amazon to explain the materiality of resource extraction in mining, oil, and agribusinesses. This region has been less used for theorizing the different scales and dimensions of extractivism, and its relationship with mega-infrastructures. This paper contributes to this endeavor by reflecting on the IIRSA, an ambitious portfolio of mega-infrastructure projects aimed at facilitating international trade with little concern for biodiversity and indigenous rights. Based on the analysis of policy documents and interviews, this study explores how infrastructure development in the Amazon relates to extractive activities and contributes to a deeper understanding of extractivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anthropologia Integra is the property of Masaryk University, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science 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.)

Energy sustainability indicators are essential for evaluating and measuring energy systems' environmental, social, and economic impact. These indicators can be used to assess the sustainability of different energy sources, such as renewable or fossil fuels, as well as the performance of energy systems in various regions or countries. The goal of this paper is to propose a new energy sustainability index based on fuzzy logic for the Amazon region. The fuzzy inference system enabled the operationalization of subjective sustainability concepts, resulting in a final index that can evaluate the performance of the states in the Legal Amazon and compare them to each other. The results indicated that Mato Grosso had the highest ranking, followed by Tocantins, Amapá, Roraima, Rondônia, Pará, Acre, Maranhão, and Amazonas in the last position. These findings demonstrate that the selected indicators and the final index are effective tools for evaluating the energy sustainability of the Amazon region and can aid public managers in making decisions and proposing sustainable regional development policies for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the (un)making of borders as a form of labour governmentality in one of Amazon's warehouses in Poland. Guided by a critical theory of borders as a form of labour governmentality under global capitalism, we identify organizational practices through which socio-demographic categories traditionally deployed as principles of organizing work (e.g., gender, age, ability) are un made: the management of deskilled labour through an algorithmic system, the non-selective hiring of workers, the enforcement of social norms of interpersonal respect and a universal system of casualized employment. Together, these practices constitute workers as undifferentiated, interchangeable and equal labour, let them compete with each other under harshly exploitative conditions, and continuously dispose of the least productive among them, keeping all in structural uncertainty. The study contributes to the critical diversity literature by showing a 'post-diversity' governmentality that rests on equality, competition and precarization of labour as a whole, rather than segregation and marginalization through an 'ideal worker' norm. This labour governmentality operates by eliciting consent from historically subordinated workers and eliminating the advantage of historically relatively privileged ones. Unmaking borders within labour inside the organization, this governmentality at the same time crucially rests on borders outside it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In digital markets, antitrust law and special regulations aim to ensure that markets remain competitive despite the dominating role that digital platforms play today in everyone's life. Unlike traditional markets, market participant behavior is easily observable in these markets. We present a series of empirical investigations into the extent to which Amazon engages in practices that are typically described as self-preferencing. We discuss how the computer science tools used in this paper can be used in a regulatory environment that is based on algorithmic auditing and requires regulating digital markets at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the implications of climate crisis governance for rural communities in the Amazon of Peru. It draws the attention to the shared political economy behind the resistance of diverse rural populations particularly, Indigenous and Colono communities. Based on an analysis of two local conservation interventions in the region of San Martín—one involving indigenous communities and the other peasant settlers—this study argues that narrow authorized knowledge obscures the wider historical and agrarian macro context of uneven institutional and ecological arrangements that lead to the reproduction of injustices related to the land, the underlying causes of deforestation, and the authoritarian relationships of these local communities with the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fires are one of the main sources of disturbance in fire-sensitive ecosystems such as the Amazon. Any attempt to characterize their impacts and establish actions aimed at combating these events presupposes the correct identification of the affected areas. However, accurate mapping of burned areas in humid tropical forest regions remains a challenging task. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of four operational BA products (MCD64A1, Fire_cci, GABAM and MapBiomas Fogo) on a regional scale in the southwestern Amazon and propose a new approach to BA mapping using fraction images extracted from data cubes of the Brazilian orbital sensors CBERS-4/WFI and CBERS-4A/WFI. The methodology for detecting burned areas consisted of applying the Linear Spectral Mixture Model to the images from the CBERS-4/WFI and CBERS-4A/WFI data cubes to generate shadow fraction images, which were then segmented and classified using the ISOSEG non-supervised algorithm. Regression and similarity analyses based on regular grid cells were carried out to compare the BA mappings. The results showed large discrepancies between the mappings in terms of total area burned, land use and land cover affected (forest and non-forest) and spatial location of the burned area. The global products MCD64A1, GABAM and Fire_cci tended to underestimate the area burned in the region, with Fire_cci underestimating BA by 88%, while the regional product MapBiomas Fogo was the closest to the reference, underestimating by only 7%. The burned area estimated by the method proposed in this work (337.5 km2) was 12% higher than the reference and showed a small difference in relation to the MapBiomas Fogo product (18% more BA). These differences can be explained by the different datasets and methods used to detect burned areas. The adoption of global products in regional studies can be critical in underestimating the total area burned in sensitive regions. Our study highlights the need to develop approaches aimed at improving the accuracy of current global products, and the development of regional burned area products may be more suitable for this purpose. Our proposed approach based on WFI data cubes has shown high potential for generating more accurate regional burned area maps, which can refine BA estimates in the Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most used statistical techniques that include machine learning and data mining for predicting future outcomes with help of data that already exist is known as predictive algorithm. Predictive models are not stable, and they build assumption based on past and present actions. In the paper we are going to introduce Amazon online store and how algorithms know what we like, so they can recommend products to us by their own. One of the biggest innovations in online shopping - first introduced by Amazon - was automatic recommendation generation. The more accurate prediction algorithms are, the more online stores will sell their products. For that reason, prediction algorithms are of great significance for online stores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sustainability in Debate / Sustentabilidade em Debate is the property of University of Brasilia, Center for Sustainable Development 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 Revista Maracanan is the property of Revista Maracanan 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 Revista Interdisciplinar Científica Aplicada is the property of Sociedade Educacional de Santa Catarina 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.)

Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce corporations in the world and has built a reputation for fast, low-cost service. To rapidly and efficiently move goods from production to consumption, however, Amazon relies on a logistics network that entails significant investments in infrastructure (physical and human) and these investments present a challenge for capital accumulation. In this paper, I examine the labour practices that Amazon employs within its distribution work spaces to address this challenge. The analysis is based on a case study of Amazon's distribution facilities (fulfilment centres and delivery stations) in Montreal, Quebec. It draws on ethnographic research as a community organizer and semi-structured interviews with workers (present and former), trade union representatives and public policy experts to identify Amazon's key strategies. Building on past studies on the platform economy, I illustrate how Amazon relies on 'digital Taylorism' (Staab & Nachtwey, 2016), involving the use of digital technologies to structure and control the labour process and surveil workers, as a key strategy. However, I further illustrate how Amazon seeks to balance the harmful effects of digital Taylorism with what I term 'corporate keynesianism' (i.e., social welfare benefits) to attain a 'labour fix', i.e., the steady supply of precarious, compliant labour needed to sustain the logistics machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyse how the COVID-19 crisis crystalised and fuelled the vigorous role of Amazonian indigenous artists as, what I call, "agents of interface", enabling connectivity, translation, networking and bridging information, ontologies, claims, and aesthetics. With the pandemic's spatial restrictions and the reduction of global activity in the arts with a return to focusing on the local, I argue that it is important to look at interfaces as arenas from which to understand further reconfigurations, actions, and values in the arts. Based on the project and exhibition Ite!/Neno!/Here!: Responses to COVID-19 co-curated by the indigenous artist Rember Yahuarcani and me, and on other various initiatives, this paper explores how Amazonian indigenous artists became crucial agents of the interface in four main arenas providing first-hand, real-time information of the impact of COVID-19 at Amazonian urban and rural settings, channelling networks of aid and curation, connecting different agents and worlds, and engaging in curatorial collaborations. I argue that by acting at the interface, artists have reinforced their voices, while pushing for redefinitions of and positions in the art system and suggest that the COVID-19 crisis has introduced a new moment in the configuration of Peru's art scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature is an essential public resource that provides food, clean water, energy resources, minerals and shelter for human life. To face environmental changes and the exploitation of natural resources, it is crucial to understand and manage the ecosystem services (ES) that benefit humanity and preserve the natural processes that create them. In the Amazon region, the research area chosen for this study, rural communities have a way of life and social organization recognized as traditionally linked to nature; however, they do not benefit from ES due to several factors discussed in this paper. The contributions of ecosystems to human well-being are well accepted, but the services provided by geodiversity (abiotic) are often neglected in the classification systems of ES. This study identifies the importance of the relationship between geodiversity and ES, elucidating its role in the well-being of local populations. Three geological-environmental domains were identified and subdivided into five geoenvironmental units covering the geosystem services described in "Nature's Contributions to People (NCP)". The domains contained the following groups: regulatory, material and non-material. This research concludes that the ES provided by geodiversity plays a crucial role in supporting natural resources essential for local communities and that their conservation is vital for environmental sustainability and the quality of life of riparians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of MATRIZes is the property of Universidade de Sao Paulo, Programa de Pos Graduacao em Ciencias da Comunicacao 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 Brazilian Amazon faces three dominant governance challenges that have become increasingly interconnected over time and now affect each other: managing agricultural expansion, reducing deforestation, and mitigating urban floods. This region exemplifies that the governance of one social-ecological system (SES) in the Anthropocene can no longer be thought of in isolation of others because, together, they form a complex network of flows and spillovers to manage. Studying the interconnection of different decision-making areas, however, calls for an intertemporal examination of governance that integrates different methodological approaches. We use the Network of Adjacent Action Situations (NAS), Combined IAD-SES (CIS) framework, and the telecoupling framework to study these three interrelated processes in the Amazon. Employing mixed-methods research, including fieldwork covering each of these processes, we demonstrate how the governance of multiple SESs represents an intertemporal governance challenge. Our paper contributes to the SES governance and NAS literature by linking governance issues generally looked at separately and offering an understanding of the governance connections between telecoupled processes. Beyond its contribution to Brazilian Amazon governance, this paper offers an integrated framework that may be useful to study the interconnection of governance of NAS in other places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the media industry in the US by analyzing Big Tech's entrance into film and television production and the rise of streaming distribution technology. Through a case study of Prime Video, Amazon's prize streaming platform, this study explores how streaming technology has disrupted film and television from multiple perspectives, subjecting the industry to new logics of internet distribution, rooted in platforms, artificial intelligence, digital delivery systems, and big data. In the Big Tech worldview, disruption is an inherently progressive development. However, an analysis of Prime Video reveals how disruption is only the latest manifestation of conglomeration and convergence in the film and television industries. By uncovering the industry logics that govern the era of streaming, this paper analyzes the streaming industry of the present while taking into consideration the cable period in the past to account for the rapid technological development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation has been at the heart of the transformation of the Amazon. Global concerns over deforestation and its impact on climate change have resulted in the adoption of a number of initiatives in the framework of zero deforestation. However, undifferentiated application of the concepts of zero net, gross, and illegal deforestation has revealed a lack of understanding of their scope and of challenges to their implementation. Zero legal and illegal deforestation is, in particular, a controversial subject from the point of view of regulation and sovereignty but an essential aspect from the perspective of public policy design. In Colombia, zero deforestation commitments make no mention of legal deforestation. Papers that analyze deforestation and official data sources fail to incorporate the legal dimension in their analysis. This article addresses this gap by identifying areas where deforestation is legal and where it is illegal in one deforestation hotspot of the Colombian Amazon, the administrative department of Guaviare. Our results show that deforestation has increased since 2013, mainly occurs in illegal zones, and that Guaviare department, 85% of which is covered by forest, has very little legal deforestation potential. Our findings reveal that assessing the legality and illegality of deforestation is more complex than often assumed and must become a priority, especially in forested countries where regulation on forest and land management is shared between different level of governments and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algorithms in information technology influence changes in contemporary organizations. They monitor business processes, support decision-making, and help to increase efficiency. The literature has described extensively the applications of algorithmic technology in new models of organizations but few studies have addressed the relationship between algorithms and organizational culture. This paper fills that niche by concentrating on black boxing to address the technological transparency in the algorithmic workplace. This paper uses the case study of the Amazon POZ 1 warehouse near Poznań, Poland. The findings show that algorithmic culture has a profound effect on how employees interact, how they see themselves at work, and how they perform their job responsibilities. As we show, algorithmic transparency influences not only employees' worklife but also the general positionality of the workforce in the wider political economy. We conclude by arguing in favor of greater algorithmic regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People in the department of Madre de Dios/Peru, the state of Acre/Brazil, and the department of Pando/Bolivia experience similar conflicts over land, land use, and access to resources. At the same time, each conflict reveals distinct characteristics and dynamics, arising from its history, legal regulation, institutional (in-)capacities, and culturally diverse local populations. The aim of this paper is to better understand the main drivers of social-ecological conflicts over land in and around three protected areas in this transboundary region, known as MAP, and to analyze how (environmental) institutions influence these drivers. The paper is based on a literature review and expert interviews; it focuses on conflicts around (1) gold mining in Madre de Dios, (2) extensive cattle ranching in Acre, and (3) access to communal land in Pando. Using theories of conflict research, expanded by a political ecology perspective and insights from stakeholder and expert interviews, we find that the major conflict drivers are (1) land tenure and access to land and natural resources, (2) identity and lifestyle driven transformations, (3) state and market driven agendas, and (4) networked illegal and criminal activities. Through a comparative conflict analysis, we develop four recommendations to strengthen the creation of reflexive institutions that may be able to foster social-ecological resilience in the region: (1) The clarification of responsibilities between governance institutions and their financing; (2) the awareness raising for existing power structures and opening spaces for enhanced local participation; (3) the breaking of corruptive cycles while developing economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable livelihood opportunities; and (4) taking the continuous reproduction of illegal activities into account while clarifying responsibilities, raising awareness, and breaking corruptive cycles. The results of our research therefore not only contribute to a better understanding of conflicts in the MAP region and the wider scientific literature on social-ecological conflicts and governance, but it is also the first paper that identifies entry points and prerequisites for the transformation from reactive to reflexive institutions in Amazonian societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to answer the question of how to structure a circular ecosystem for extractive fishing in the Amazon region. It explores possibilities for implementing a circular ecosystem management model in an imperfect market with low technological availability, high informality and limited public assistance. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative approach was adopted for this paper, with a case study on extractive fishing in the state of Amazonas. Data was collected through 35 interviews and direct observation of the processes of collecting, storing and transporting fish on two routes: Tapauá-Manaus and Manacapuru-Manaus. Findings – Through the data collected, it was possible to observe the importance of an orchestrating agent – such as an association or even a public authority – for the establishment and development of a circular ecosystem for extractive fishing in the region. Research limitations/implications – The paper makes theoretical contributions by presenting how a circular ecosystem management model could be implemented for an imperfect market in the Global South, as well as contributing to the literature on how the circular economy contributes to mitigate the threat to biodiversity posed by the linear economy. Practical implications – It contributes to the management practice of structuring circular ecosystems. Social implications – The role of public authorities and the collective organization of fishermen as orchestrators connecting the network of actors that develop the extractive fishing ecosystem is fundamental, guaranteeing effective social participation in solving local problems. Originality/value – The idea of circular ecosystems was applied to imperfect contexts, with high informality, weak institutions and bioeconomy, topics still little explored in the literature.

Copyright of Journal of Analytical Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 Revista Brasileira de Historia is the property of Associacao Nacional dos Professores Universitarios de Historia 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 Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente is the property of Universidade Federal do Parana 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 Territórios e Fronteiras is the property of Revista Territorios & Fronteiras 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.)

Identifying urban patterns in the cities in the Brazilian Amazon can help to understand the impact of human actions on the environment, to protect local cultures, and secure the cultural heritage of the region. The objective of this study is to produce a classification of intra-urban patterns in Amazonian cities. Concretely, we produce a set of Urban and Socio-Environmental Patterns (USEPs) in the cities of Santarém and Cametá in Pará, Brazilian Amazon. The contributions of this study are as follows: (1) we use a reproducible research framework based on remote sensing data and machine learning techniques; (2) we integrate spatial data from various sources into a cellular grid, separating the variables into environmental, urban morphological, and socioeconomic dimensions; (3) we generate variables specific to the Amazonian context; and (4) we validate these variables by means of a field visit to Cametá and comparison with patterns described in other works. Machine learning-based clustering is useful to identify seven urban patterns in Santarém and eight urban patterns in Cametá. The urban patterns are semantically explainable and are consistent with the existing scientific literature. The paper provides reproducible and open research that uses only open software and publicly available data sources, making the data product and code available for modification and further contributions to spatial data science analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, tech-companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple have grown exponentially, and it can be tempting for cities to try to attract these powerful corporations. This paper explores a particular aspect of this development, namely, how cities brand themselves to win the favor of a single big business. We draw on institutional isomorphism and a case study of North American cities' branding efforts to attract Amazon's second headquarters (dubbed HQ2). Our qualitative analysis shows that branding for a big business can lead cities into what we call sycomorphism, that is, acting obsequiously toward an important other in ways similar to other organizations. We identified three key expressions of sycomorphism: pandering, identification, and blank-checking. Our study contributes with knowledge that cities are not only subject to generalized pressure to compete for businesses, but they are also enticed by single powerful actors outside their organizational field, that can "jolt" cities to communicate obsequiously to win favor. Through the concept of sycomorphism, we advance the theoretical understanding of the relationship between isomorphism and city branding and thereby expand the usefulness of institutional theory in marketing scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability of livelihoods and food security by small-scale colonists in the Amazon have been associated with the dynamics of land use and land cover as well as the ability of combining distinct sources of income and welfare. However, few studies have discussed theoretically how these changes co-evolve, over distinct stages of frontier development and for the same colonist cohort, with the composition and size of farm households. This paper, based on the revision of the extant literature, proposes a Demo-livelihoods theoretical framework that combines and synthetizes three theoretical approaches — the household and land use life cycle approach, the livelihoods and capabilities approach, and the revisited theory of multiphasic responses. The objective is to provide theoretical groundings for empirical studies that unveil how microdemographics (individual and farm household) cohort dynamics in frontier settings such as the Amazon mediate livelihoods (including land use) strategies over distinct development stages. It shows how demographic factors may be significant to define livelihoods at earlier frontier stages and release explanatory power at later stages, when market integration increases and households increasingly adopt diversified livelihoods. Furthermore, demographic dynamics at each frontier stage may be associated with distinct livelihood strategies, including mobility, land use, and deforestation, and thus define the extent and nature of settler´s welfare and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests serve a crucial role in our fight against climate change. Secondary forests provide important potential for conservation of biodiversity and climate change mitigation. In this paper, we explore whether collective property rights in the form of indigenous territories (ITs) lead to higher rates of secondary forest growth in previously deforested areas. We exploit the timing of granting of property rights, the geographic boundaries of ITs and two different methods, regression discontinuity design and differencein-difference, to recover causal estimates. We find strong evidence that indigenous territories with secure tenure not only reduce deforestation inside their lands but also lead to higher secondary forest growth on previously deforested areas. After receiving full property rights, land inside ITs displayed higher secondary forest growth than land outside ITs, with an estimated effect of 5% using our main RDD specification, and 2.21% using our difference-in-difference research design. Furthermore, we estimate that the average age of secondary forests was 2.2 y older inside ITs with secure tenure using our main RDD specification, and 2.8 y older when using our difference-indifference research design. Together, these findings provide evidence for the role that collective property rights can play in the push to restore forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Geosul is the property of Geosul 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 Question (1669-6581) is the property of Universidad Nacional de La Plata 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.)

BR-174 in Brazil, also known as Manaus–Boa Vista, is a longitudinal highway that connects the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Amazonas and Roraima to Venezuela, being the only terrestrial connection between Roraima and the rest of Brazil. Its construction took place in 1968 and its inauguration in 1977, aiming to promote the interconnection of the State of Roraima, as a geopolitical strategy, with the rest of the country and, later, with South America. The construction of the BR-174 crossed the Waimiri Atroaris indigenous land, resulting in serious socio-environmental conflicts in the 1970s. Furthermore, recent research indicates that the deforestation process in the Amazon is associated with the opening of roads, as it favours the migratory flow, the occupation of land and logging. In this context, the arrival of migrants and, consequently, the pressing need to settle newly arrived people in search of land, favoured the damming of watercourses, the reduction of wild fauna and deforestation as a result of the construction of the road and neighbouring areas. However, and currently, BR-174 translates into a strategy of progress and communication, uniting adjacent communities, on the one hand, and, on the other, allowing the use of biophysical resources in favour of the development of geotourism. Considering this reality and from the perspective of the social and environmental transformations that have occurred, the objective of this paper is to analyse the potential of the BR-174 for the development of geotourism, as a way of mitigating its socio-environmental impacts and connecting geographically remote regions. The qualitative nature approach is based on the treatment and analysis of available bibliographic and documental sources. As the only land connection in the State of Roraima, and in addition to the negative impacts on the socio-environmental profile of the region, it can be concluded that the BR-174 highway has the potential to be an element facilitating the promotion of geotourism in the remote region of Amazon, contributing to the socio-environmental safeguard of this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the implications of the rapidly growing smart home market for "consumer-initiated surveillance" are explored. The author employs the term "consumer-initiated surveillance" to denote the acquisition of new surveillance technologies, applications, and systems by individuals for use in private settings. Through an analysis of mass marketing campaigns for the Ring Video Doorbell from 2013 to 2021, the author raises critical questions about whether this technology can deliver on the promise that private citizens will be empowered when they purchase and install it in their homes. While there are signs that consumers do have the ability to use this technology in ways that increase agency, serious questions remain about the negative implications of incorporating increasing numbers of smart home devices under current conditions of surveillance capitalism. The implications of this analysis reinforce the importance of preserving and enhancing consumer agency through anti-trust actions and the development of regulations designed to disrupt exploitative practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Command-and-control (CAC) is the dominant approach for regulating agricultural fires in developing countries, despite its negative impact on low-income smallholders. Agri-environmental schemes are emerging as an alternative and this paper presents a scheme for hiring the reduction of inputs liable to be accidentally spilled. This is applied to burned area reduction by smallholders, with the governmental principal exposed to great risk due to the coupling of the need to advance subsidy and unobservability of both intended burned area and heterogeneous reduction cost. Optimal contract menus were derived for three situations differing in the number of contracts in which non-compliance could be detected irrespective of accidents' size. A rate of 99% of the perfect information efficiency was achieved, as revealed by a numerical simulation based on a range of Brazilian Amazon datasources, including a discrete choice experiment, satellite fire data and mechanization cost. Results were robust to parametric sensitivity analysis, which also pointed to a small contribution by high cost smallholders of up to 10% of total reduction. CAC proved inefficient by pooling together smallholders differing substantially on cost, revealing that contracts are recommendable as a better policy option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America is plagued by extreme wealth inequality, much of which results from sharp disparities in land ownership. In addition to limiting access of basic goods to millions of Latin Americans, concentrations in land ownership harm the common good. Extreme disparities correlate to sluggish economic growth, inefficient agricultural practices, weakened public institutions, income disparities, and sharp increases in environmental degradation. A related concern is the destruction of indigenous peoples' land in the Amazon and denial of access to land that is rightfully theirs. This paper examines how resources from Catholic Social Teaching help us reflect critically upon and respond to these injustices. It analyzes in particular how Pope Francis and the Amazonian bishops apply the tradition in markedly new ways, ways that are shaped by and directed to this diverse, abundant and unique socio-geographical region. Attention is paid not only to what Catholic Social Teaching can bring to local justice issues, but also lessons indigenous peoples can teach the broader Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the traditional knowledge on the management of stingless bee colonies and the use of honey by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities of the department of Loreto, in the Peruvian Amazon. Semi-structured interviews and collection of voucher bees were carried out from June to August 2016 and from November to December 2017. The informants were selected through intentional non-probabilistic sampling (snowball sampling). During the study, 21 communities were visited, of which some of the community members in thirteen communities kept stingless bees. A total of 17 species of stingless bees are reported as used in the communities for either rearing or harvesting of honey from the forest with Melipona eburnea being the most common species. The way communities classify, manage, and use bees depends on how they perceive these insects, informed by knowledge processed and incorporated from other communities. In these communities, they use honey and pollen, with honey being the main product. Fourteen health conditions are treated with honey, with the most treated conditions being related to respiratory ailments, fertility, and reproduction. The study provides a basis for incorporating stingless bees into conservation and sustainable production policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the health care system, limiting health care resources such as the availability of health care professionals, patient monitoring, contact tracing, and continuous surveillance. As a result of this significant burden, digital tools have become an important asset in increasing the efficiency of patient care delivery. Digital tools can help support health care institutions by tracking transmission of the virus, aiding in the screening process, and providing telemedicine support. However, digital health tools face challenges associated with barriers to accessibility, efficiency, and privacy-related ethical issues. Objective: This paper describes the study design of an open-label, noninterventional, crossover, randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing whether interactive voice response systems can screen for SARS-CoV-2 in patients as accurately as standard screening done by people. The study aims to assess the concordance and interrater reliability of symptom screening done by Amazon Alexa compared to manual screening done by research coordinators. The perceived level of comfort of patients when interacting with voice response systems and their personal experience will also be evaluated. Methods: A total of 52 patients visiting the heart failure clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital of the McGill University Health Center, in Montreal, Quebec, will be recruited. Patients will be randomly assigned to first be screened for symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 either digitally, by Amazon Alexa, or manually, by the research coordinator. Participants will subsequently be crossed over and screened either digitally or manually. The clinical setup includes an Amazon Echo Show, a tablet, and an uninterrupted power supply mounted on a mobile cart. The primary end point will be the interrater reliability on the accuracy of randomized screening data performed by Amazon Alexa versus research coordinators. The secondary end point will be the perceived level of comfort and app engagement of patients as assessed using 5-point Likert scales and binary mode responses. Results: Data collection started in May 2021 and is expected to be completed in fall 2022. Data analysis is expected to be completed in early 2023. Conclusions: The use of voice-based assistants could improve the provision of health services and reduce the burden on health care personnel. Demonstrating a high interrater reliability between Amazon Alexa and health care coordinators may serve future digital tools to streamline the screening and delivery of care in the context of other conditions and clinical settings. The COVID-19 pandemic occurs during the first digital era using digital tools such as Amazon Alexa for disease screening, and it represents an opportunity to implement such technology in health care institutions in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]