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The world today is an urban world. While rural to urban migration has contributed significantly to the increased urbanization of the globe, that process has not always been as clear and permanent as it appears. In this paper we report on the migration of smallholders to peri-urban interface ( PUI) zones in western Pará state, Brazil. We found that rural-urban migrants were constrained by their lack of marketable skills and as a consequence had few job prospects and experienced a low quality of life in the cities to which they had migrated. This led them to resettle in places at the PUI where they have the ability to supplement limited wages with more familiar subsistence activities, which reflected cultural identity and rural antecedents while enjoying a higher quality of life. The recent implementation in Brazil of a variety of conditional cash-transfer programs has added to the attractiveness of peri-urban places and contributes to a regional shift to livelihoods based on a combination of agriculture and extractivism supplemented by support from federal assistance programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research dedicated to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is mostly grounded on SEA systems guided by legal requirements, clearly stated procedures and systematic use of SEA to policy- and plan-making. Nevertheless, a considerable parcel of SEA practice is currently occurring in countries with no specific legislation or guidance to be followed, i.e. non-regulated SEA systems. Therefore, it is important to understand how SEA is performing in these countries and to establish whether related SEA systems are subject to the same premises and perspectives of effectiveness that have been reported in literature so far. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the state-of-practice in Brazil, based on best practice analysis of SEA reports and interviews, reporting empirical evidence regarding the use of SEA and its related timing, procedural performance and key players involved. Main findings reveal an isolated instrument, embroidered in a disperse and unclear framework, poorly coordinated and highly sensitive to circumstances. Provision of a structured system, indicating clear purposes of SEA, systematic procedures and stakeholder's responsibilities are suggested as potentially relevant measures to balance current system's flexibility, thus fostering SEA effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the ample body of literature devoted to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) outcomes and the assessment of its effectiveness, it is accepted that the performance of SEA systems is influenced by contextual aspects. Procedural aspects, objectives, guidance, approach, timing, amongst others, are reported as key components of the different dimensions of SEA effectiveness but their linkage to SEA outcomes is yet to be adequately investigated. In this paper, contextual aspects and related outcomes of a non-mandatory SEA system were identified through systematic literature review and personal interviews with key actors of SEA, aiming at the identification of the influence of contextual factors on SEA effectiveness. The findings indicate three main aspects that may explain the lengthy process of introduction of SEA in plan- and policy-making in the country: (i) lack of proper SEA legislation, (ii) the influence of Environmental Impact Assessment practice and (iii) the influence of the environmental licensing culture. Nevertheless, SEA contributes to improving communication between stakeholders along the planning process and to providing a better level of information for lower tiers of decision-making. In spite of the minor influences on the nature of the strategic action, valuable lessons credited to SEA have been learnt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrological Sciences Journal/Journal des Sciences Hydrologiques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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 paper aims to present the conceptual and theoretical framework of the employer of last resort (ELR) program and to verify the possibility of its application to the Brazilian economy. The initial hypothesis, based on the theory of Minsky (1986) and Wray (2003), is that if the government acts as an ELR, structural unemployment could be mitigated without generating an inflationary process or incurring the possible curses caused by labor market reform policies. In the present study, we identify main obstacles for the application of ELR to Brazil once it has been adequately adapted to national specificities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet usage and commerce are expected to grow significantly across the world. However, as each part of the world is unique in its social norms, culture, and infrastructure, these differences may cause the profiles of Internet shoppers and nonshoppers to be different worldwide. Hence, the importance of understanding the similarities and dissimilarities among consumers in different regions is crucial for both marketing theory and practice. In this paper, the authors report the characteristics relating to attitudes, motivations, and demographics of Internet shoppers in six countries (United States, England, New Zealand, China, Brazil, and Bulgaria), thereby contributing to understanding differences between Internet users and online shoppers in different regions of the world. Findings show that online shoppers share many similar traits around the world. Internet shoppers in all countries examined are similar in regard to their desire for convenience, are more impulsive, have more favorable attitudes toward direct marketing and advertising, and wealthier, and are heavier users of both e-mail and the Internet. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the advantages and limits of the territorial focus as a strategy of reducing inequalities in rural areas by way of analysis of recent decentralization experiences in the state of Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil. Examined in particular are the implementation process of the Federal Ministry of Agrarian Development and its interface with the process of political-administrative decentralization implemented by the government of Santa Catarina. We seek further comprehension of the impact of such dynamics in the reduction of regional inequality, seeking to identify the mechanisms moving this process and the institutional blockages encountered in their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central piece of regulatory policies governing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been the creation of expert bodies aiming at evaluating the risks of releasing these organisms into the environment. Taking into account an institutionalist approach based on the legal-economic nexus, the aim of this paper is to present the Brazilian experience in the regulation of CMOs. This experience is revealed as a biased process by which democratic principles, such as transparency and public participation, are obliterated by a technocratic model of regulation aiming at guaranteeing legitimacy for a decision-making process aligned with interests of technology providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the impacts of silent social abuse suffered by children who live in developing countries with socio-economic inequalities. Privation of basic social benefits leads them to school evasion, early pregnancy, and the consumption or dealing of drugs. A single case study introduces the life story of a Brazilian teenager who was supposedly psychosocially rehabilitated but returned to the practice of illegal acts, resulting in his imprisonment. The analysis explores the later consequences of childhood abuse over his teenager life and demonstrates how multiple types of abuse are interlinked to hinder a longer psychosocial rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to focus on the institutional process by which the Brazilian government spends, borrows, and collects taxes. I am going to evaluate the conventional view that taxes finance government spending, that bond sales are financing operations, and that the Brazilian federal government is operationally constrained. This view arises from a misunderstanding of both treasury and central bank operations. Balance sheets are used to show the reserve effects of the treasury and central bank operations and to explain the cooperation between the central bank and the treasury. It concludes that logically taxes and bonds can not finance government spending and that a sovereign government that issues its own non convertible currency can not become insolvent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experience of market-led agrarian reform (mlar) implementation in Brazil. In doing so, it will also analyse the complexity of the Brazilian agrarian situation, the political struggles around the fight for land and the complexity of political forces involved in the contestation. The article examines the origins, implementation process and outcomes of mlar. The paper also examines the current impasse in resolving the agrarian question in the country especially those related to the strengthening of land property rights at the same time that there are increasing demands for land by social movements, putting into broader context the current political and operational difficulties being encountered by mlar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will set out the two very different regional leadership strategies being pursued by Brazil and Venezuela, concluding that it is the Brazilian neo-structuralist vision that will have more success than the Venezuelan overseas development aid approach. The two different approaches to Latin American leadership point to a substantive difference in how the regional system should operate in geopolitical and geo-economic terms, with the Brazilians favouring a market-oriented system in opposition to Venezuela's statist option. Contestation for regional leadership as set out in the article emerges as an early indicator of a chilling of relations between Brazil and Venezuela and points to a future scenario where other regional states may be able to play off contending would-be leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge 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 base of the pyramid (BoP) market has become of increasing importance in recent years. The objective of this paper is not only to identify and describe the distinctive characteristics of Brazilian low-income shopping and consumer behaviour, but also to explain the determinants of such behaviour, combining Brazilian low-income values with widely known marketing concepts, such as the 'halo effect', 'relationship marketing', 'brand loyalty' and 'value proposition'. This study is based on empirical, qualitative research, comprising in-depth interviews and focus groups with lowincome consumers. Our findings indicated the following consumer behaviour characteristics among the Brazilian BoP which seem to be different from their betteroff countrymen: a different configuration of the perception of value not solely determined by lower prices, a stronger need to compensate for a dignity deficit and low self-esteem, a stronger preference for personalised relationships, a high aspiration to feel socially included in society, and a preference for stores with a crowded and overstocked atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the use of risk assessment (RA) for analyzing the environmental suitability of natural gas pipelines and highlights RA's linkages with environmental impact assessment. The paper contends that RA is an essential tool when assessing the suitability of gas pipelines, and that risks associated with such proposed activities should be used as fundamental criteria to determine route selection. By doing so, fatality risks related to pipeline failures can be reduced. The paper also contends that the risk acceptance criteria adopted by the State of São Paulo are overly permissive when compared to other criteria used around the world. Therefore, the State should consider revising and strengthening its risk acceptance criteria to be up-to-date with international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analyzing the role of several monetary variables in the development of different regions based on the concepts of central place and on the Post Keynesian approach to regional economy. The concept of liquidity preference is used to analyze the effect of money behavior on the regional economic performance of regions inside Brazil. The analysis of data is accomplished by using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of cartography in Brazil in the 1940s. The significance of Jaime Cortesão's study of early Portuguese maps is well established. Especially notable among his collected papers are the records of a course he taught in Rio de Janeiro from 1944 to 1950 on the history of cartography and the related geopolitical formation of Brazil's national boundaries. One historical theme of great interest to Cortesão was the notion that Brazil had been an integral and insular region from the start. Both in his course and, later, in his publications he stressed that this idea was fundamental to a developing sense of national sovereignty in Brazil.

By the turn of the twenty-first century, UNDP had embraced a new form of funding based on 'cost sharing', with this source accounting for 51 per cent of the organisation's total expenditure worldwide in 2000. Unlike the traditional donor-recipient relationship so common with development projects, the new cost-sharing modality has created a situation whereby UNDP local offices become 'subcontractors' and agencies of the recipient countries become 'clients'. This paper explores this transition in the context of Brazil, focusing on how the new modality may have compromised UNDP's ability to promote Sustainable Human Development, as established in its mandate. The great enthusiasm for this modality within the UN system and its potential application to other developing countries increase the importance of a systematic assessment of its impact and developmental consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-designed guaranteed income as a citizen's right is one of the instruments of economic policy that may contribute to a developing nation in building a just and civilized society. It is compatible with the objectives of making the economy more competitive as well as eradicating poverty and promoting a more equitable distribution of income. The paper shows how the debate has evolved and describes the experiences of minimum income programs related to education, also called Bolsa Escola programs, which may be seen as steps toward the unconditional basic income. Economists all over the world are beginning to favor that concept: regardless of origin, age, sex, race, civil, or socioeconomic condition, everyone will have the right to be a partner of the common property of the nation, receiving a modest income that will guarantee more freedom and dignity for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the arrival and later development of avant-gardist architectural movements in Brazil, illuminated by a unique attitude towards the past. From the first experiences with an avant-garde curriculum in 1930 until the construction of the Pampulha buildings in 1942, modernists (identified with the avant-garde) and academics (identified with classical styles) battled for an architecture that represented the ideas of "brazilianess." As a result of this struggle, Brazilian avant-gardists triggered a unique attitude towards past traditions that stitched modernism and baroque together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article comparatively analyzes the participation of two industrial associations in the politics of signification of the recent Brazilian recession (2014–2016), highlighting the frames they use to define the relevant problem and advance necessary remedies, and the artifacts they deploy to make such frames plausible and elicit support for their claims. In this sense, it contributes to recent debates about the social construction of futures, offering a processual framework to analyze future making by organized business interests in times of a crisis. It emphasizes the peculiarity of (1) crises, as moments in which the present is uncertain and subject to a politics of signification, dependent on the ability of actors to develop framing narratives and deploy artifacts of persuasion to create resonance and public support (2) and of remedies, prescribed futures based on the definition of a problematic situation that may rely on simple takeaway objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By systemizing a typology from John R. Commons and John B. Andrews' discussion about collective bargaining and the attitudes of governments towards labor unions, we present in this article the use of this categorization to investigate the vicissitudes of unionism in Brazil. We do so by analyzing the interaction between the government and labor unions in two different inflection points in Brazil's labor law history: (i) the Vargas Era (1930--1945) and (ii) the Labor Reform of 2017. Our conclusions relate these periods to the attitudes of "intervention" and "tolerance," respectively, pointing now to aspects of increasing opposition towards collective action as the economic crisis and unemployment deepen, and new reforms take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a new approach for building robust portfolios based on stochastic efficiency analysis, by using the Chance Constrained Data Envelopment Analysis (CCDEA) model and periods of market downturn, i.e. worst-state market. The model is able to accommodate investors who exhibit different risk behaviors and the empirical analysis is done on assets traded on the Brazil Stock Exchange, B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão). The results confirm that the proposed model achieved portfolios that at the same time reduced systematic risk and maximized portfolio returns when working with worse market state data and higher levels of risk aversion. A higher level of risk aversion also led to better risk-return ratios, which can be seen in higher Sharpe ratio values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being adopted worldwide, environmental impact assessment (EIA) is under pressure in many countries, while perceived (rightly or wrongly) as an ineffective and inefficient process. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is thought to help address some of EIA’s shortcomings, but it is absent in many jurisdictions and sectors. In this paper, we argue that multi-project EIA can, in some contexts, simultaneously deliver greater effectiveness and process streamlining. To illustrate our claim, we present a case study from offshore petroleum production in Brazil, where the development of the pre-salt giant reserves is being licensed through a multi-project EIA approach, in a non-SEA planning environment. The analysis provides interesting insights on the strengths and challenges of that strategy, focusing on five aspects of practice: cumulative impacts, efficiency, approach to authorizations, follow-up and political issues. Proper scoping was found to be essential to consistent EIA processes and shorter review times. Finally, we suggest that multi-project EIA approach should be revisited by practitioners and regulators to identify opportunities for deployment, especially in jurisdictions where strategic assessments are not in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of breast-feeding on infant health have been a topic of considerable discussion in recent years. In this paper multivariate techniques are used to examine the relationship between the failure to breast-feed and mortality among infants in four states of north east Brazil. It was found that breast-fed children were significantly more likely to survive infancy than children who were never breast-fed, even when other socio-economic, demographic and health variables were taken into account. This relationship was much more marked in rural than in urban settings. Other variables significantly associated with mortality were parity, mother's age at child's birth, mother's employment status and use of maternal/child health services. These findings are important for the particular population studied as well as for much of Latin America where incidence and duration of breast-feeding tend to be low but infant mortality is quite high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable population theory has recently been used to analyse the effects of changes in fertility and mortality on economic variables such as income per head. In this paper more general results are derived to describe the effects of changing vital rates on the variance and higher moments of the distribution of some age-dependent variable. Simple analytical expressions are derived which decompose the effects of changes in age structure into the effects on inter-cohort and intra-cohort variance. The results are easily applied to standard measures of the distribution of income. By combining the analytical results with actual age profiles of income and income variance from the United States and Brazil it is observed that both the magnitude and direction of the effects of population growth on measured inequality are sensitive to the specific age profiles used. The most surprising result is that the Brazilian age profiles suggest that higher growth rates may actually reduce measured inequality, although the effect is relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to elucidate the ways in which the distribution of school knowledge contributes to processes of cultural and social reproduction. Three schools in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre were studied for this purpose a private institution serving an upper class clientele, a public school serving children of the middle class, and a public school attended by working-class children. Two classrooms at each of the tree schools were intensively observed during one semester. Teachers and staff were interviewed concerning their pedagogical views. Patterns of instruction and control observed at the tree schools suggest that children from different social classes receive substantially different kinds of schooling. The most obvious distinction in ideological discourse observed among staff members at the three schools concerns the existence of an explicit pedagogy endorsed at the private school and the concomitant absence of any such similar rationale at the other two schools. The final sections of the paper discuss the implications of these findings for processes of cultural and social reproduction and their relation to relevant literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses issues related to the cultural and political history in Brazil. It is mentioned that the Indians are deeply worried about the threats that hang over them, their lands, and their whole way of life, despite the paper principles of the new Constitution. The meeting at Altamira brought together Indian representatives from all small Amazon town. The assembling represent successful adaptation to, and use of, a culture which is unimaginably remote from the normal life of an Indian aldeia.

Land use is a driver for hydrological and soil erosion responses at the watershed scale. This study aimed to assess the hydrological and soil erosion processes in small watersheds under three different land uses, at three time scales. We investigated four small watersheds in southern Brazil: Agricultural North watershed (ANW), Agricultural South watershed (ASW), Eucalyptus watershed (EW), and Grassland watershed (GW). The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was used to simulate streamflow (SF) and sediment yield (SY) at monthly, daily and hourly time scales. EW had the lowest SF and SY, whereas ANW showed the highest SY with an increase of 90% and ASW had the highest SF with an increase of 70%. The SWAT model had a satisfactory performance in all time scales and watersheds for SF and SY (NSE and R2 ≥ 0.3 and Pbias ≤ ± 39%). Overall, land use has a major impact on hydrological and soil erosion responses, and the magnitude of these processes depends on the time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world financial crisis of the late 2000s was for some the dawn of a new era in which state currency monopolies would be replaced by privately-issued digital currencies following strict rules of supply growth. Rather than trust big government and big banks with our money, cryptocurrencies would allow us to "trust the code" and the "mathematical structure" of blockchain technologies. In Brazil, as elsewhere, this neoliberal techno-utopia has not arisen. Though their use as speculative assets has increased, cryptocurrencies have not become a popular means of payment. The use of electronic money, on the other hand, issued by novel corporate entities called payment institutions, is now commonplace. Unlike cryptocurrencies, digital banking and electronic money in Brazil rest on a solid legal and institutional framework designed to incorporate them into the payments system. Digital banks enjoy most of the privileges bestowed upon traditional banks, making it possible for customers to use digital accounts in the same manner as a traditional checking account. In short, digital banks have become privileged members of Brazil's state-led "pay community" and this is why they have flourished. Even in the digital era, money is a creature of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Have Brazil's capital flows management measures (CFMs) changed after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)? This article explains Brazil's CFMs after the GFC as part of a (failed) attempt to gradually move away from embedded neoliberalism. It proposes a Polanyian approach that captures both the change (emphasized by the policy space approach) and the continuity (underscored by the scalar-relational and financialization approaches) underlying Brazil's CFMs after the GFC. It argues that the change stems from the conflict between different political economy coalitions, while the continuity is rooted in the shared acceptance of major objectives of neoliberalism—capital mobility and financial integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work performs an analysis of the spatial pattern of the coffee harvested area in the Rio de Janeiro state between 1988 and 2018. To relate changes in land cover and land use with the coffee land abandonment, geographically weighted regressions (GWR) were adopted with the rates of change in forest and pasture cover, and also with changes in the size of the cattle herd. The coffee-crop area evolution identifies three behaviors: the concentration of planted area in the northwest, with constant growth after the 1990s; a remaining area in the mountainous region; and the abandonment of coffee farms in the south. Although bivariate models can't explain the changes in land cover and land use, geographically weighted regressions point to a trend of replacing coffee cover with pasturelands in the south region of the state, while eventual changes for forest cover are more likely in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the sensitivity and uncertainty of evaporation assessment in a tropical reservoir in northeastern Brazil. For this purpose, four approaches were used: Penman, a Dalton-modified equation, a pressure meter and a novel acoustic sensor. The main objective is to evaluate whether sensors can be employed to adequately assess lake evaporation. The sensors were installed in floating pans and the equations are based on variables collected from a raft. The wind-inducted waves in the reservoir often disturbed the measurements using both pressure (uncertainty of ± 0.6 mm) and acoustic (uncertainty of ± 0.1 mm) sensors, causing flaws and affecting continuous monitoring. The modified Dalton model, based on data collected with a floating station, estimated values over three-hour courses of evaporation similar to those measured by the pressure meter. These findings are important contributions to an accurate monitoring of water losses through evaporation and reservoir operation, particularly in dry regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, this longitudinal study analyzes the contribution of organizational affective commitment during the preparation phase of a peacekeeping mission (T1) to explain the well-being of soldiers during that mission (T2). A sample of 409 Brazilian army participants in the MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) was used in two waves -- preparation of the troops in Brazil, and their deployment in Haitian territory. The data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The results supported organizational affective commitment during the preparation phase (T1) positively predicting the general well-being (perception of health and general satisfaction with life) of these soldiers during the deployment phase (T2). The workplace well-being (i.e. work engagement) of these peacekeepers was also found to mediate this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and limitations and suggestions for future research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyphosate herbicide treatment is essential to sustainable Eucalyptus plantation management in Brazil. Eucalyptus is highly sensitive to glyphosate, and Suzano/FuturaGene has genetically modified eucalyptus to tolerate glyphosate, with the aim of both protecting eucalyptus trees from glyphosate application damage and improving weed management. This study presents the biosafety results of the glyphosate-tolerant eucalyptus event 751K032, which expresses the selection marker neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPTII) enzyme and CP4-EPSPS, a glyphosate-tolerant variant of plant 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate−3-phosphate synthase enzyme. The transgenic genetically modified (GM) event 751K032 behaved in the plantations like conventional non-transgenic eucalyptus clone, FGN-K, and had no effects on arthropods and soil microorganisms. The engineered NPTII and CP4 EPSPS proteins were heat-labile, readily digestible, and according to the bioinformatics analyses, unlikely to cause an allergenic or toxic reaction in humans or animals. This assessment of the biosafety of the glyphosate-tolerant eucalyptus event 751K032 concludes that it is safe to be used for wood production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has a historical gap regarding information on violence against women. Herein we aimed to evaluate the association of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics with physical violence against women in Brazil, as well as the possible escalation of violence to severe patterns of violence. We analysed data from the 3rd Brazilian Household Survey on Substance Use, in 2015. The main outcomes were reporting any physical violence and being stabbed/shot in the last 12-months. Logistic regressions were fitted to assess the association between socioeconomic and demographic variables with the outcomes. We estimated 3.8 million women reported any physical violence (5.52%): 3.79% reported threats to beat/ push/kick, 1.87% threats with knife/gun, 2.49% were beaten/pushed/kicked, 0.63% were spanked/ choked, and 0.21% were stabbed/shot. The higher the severity of violence, the higher the number of types of violence experienced. The likelihood of reporting any violence was higher among women 18–24 years, without a stable partner, who were at an informal job or unemployed, and who live in urban areas. The sociodemographic characteristics associated with reporting any violence reinforce the importance of addressing gender inequalities. Evidence of escalation violence reinforces the need to protect and care for women who report any type of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the efforts of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation (IHDRF) in its project initiative that resulted in the extermination of the African mosquito Anopheles gambiae from Brazil in 1940. This species, which originated in Dakar, Senegal, was identified in the Brazilian city of Natal in 1930, where insufficient local emergency sanitation actions enabled it to spread into the interior of the Brazilian northeast, causing an unprecedented malaria epidemic in the Americas in 1938, after years of silent spread. We will analyse the formation of Brazil's Malaria Service of the Northeast (MSNE), discussing its political and scientific controversies and how the transition from the idea of extermination to the idea of eradication was consolidated in the political process of creating this successful sanitation campaign. In addition, we will discuss how the integration and transnational development of medical entomology at the time was a fundamental factor in the cooperation and challenges among scientists involved in this campaign. The international cooperation of scientists, albeit oriented towards the project of eradication of this mosquito, organised different research agendas and gained new insights into the global dissemination of mosquito-borne diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores stakeholders' perceptions of the challenges for developing a One Health agenda to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Brazil, including the development and implementation of the Brazilian National Action Plan (BR-NAP). The data originate from 27 interviews conducted with human, environmental, and animal health stakeholders, including academics, managers, and policymakers involved in developing the BR-NAP. Through thematic analysis, we identified three interconnected themes: governance, the health system, and technical and scientific challenges. The findings draw particular attention to failures in the agenda-setting process, revealed by interviewees strongly emphasising that AMR is not considered a policy priority in Brazil. The lack of political will and awareness of the clinical, social, and economic impacts of AMR are considered the main impediments to the agenda's progress. The joint work across disciplines and ministries must be reinforced through policymaker engagement and better environmental sector integration. The agenda must include sustainable governance structures less affected by political winds. Policies should be designed jointly with state and local governments to create strategies to engage communities and improve their translation into effective implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how community health workers (CHWs), while working as links between doctors, nurses and vulnerable groups, participate in the social construction of citizens in the implementation of Brazil's primary healthcare policy. Drawing on interviews and a vignette experiment with CHWs in the city of São Paulo, we show that perceptions of CHWs about the vulnerability and agency of health system users impact upon their referrals to other levels of service. Judgments about the socioeconomic, cultural and moral conditions of families determine different referrals – on the one hand, to practices based on persuasion and respect for individual choices; on the other, to 'top-down' or forcible interventions. While implementing the same healthcare policy, CHWs construct users as (responsible) agents or (helpless) targets, thus determining different pathways in the health system and shaping the relationship between citizens and the state. Brazil's primary health policy, while seeking to tackle vulnerability, is also a site where social representations are reproduced that contribute to the denial of the agency of citizens deemed more vulnerable and to the definition of their bodies as sites for state intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of countries have set ambitious climate targets and recognized the potential of CO2 geological storage. Brazil’s goal is to neutralize carbon emissions by 2050. The Paraná Basin is one of the most favorable onshore sedimentary basins for geological storage of CO2 in Brazil. This extensive sedimentary basin presents a privileged location in the south and southeast regions, where the largest stationary CO2 emitters are concentrated. Our results showed Rio Bonito Formation siliciclastic deposits present pairs of reservoir-seal rocks with adequate thicknesses and depths for stratigraphic CO2 trapping. The screening allowed us to define a favorability map area, which will be the basis for subsequent detailing and characterization studies on the Rio Bonito Formation rocks and the location of CO2 injection sites, thus contributing to the mitigation of the impacts of this gas in climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying existing care pathways is the first step for understanding how services can be improved to enable early diagnosis and effective follow-up care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs); however, evidence on how care pathways can and should be identified in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is lacking. To describe generalisability and lessons learned from recruitment and data collection for the quantitative component of a mixed methods study designed to determine the care pathway for atrial fibrillation (AF) in Brazil, China and Sri Lanka. Adults (≥18 years) that spoke the local language and with an AF diagnosis were eligible. We excluded anyone with a hearing or cognitive impairment or ineligible address. Eligible participants were identified using electronic records in Brazil and China; in Sri Lanka, researchers attended the outpatient clinics to identify eligible participants. Data were collected using two quantitative questionnaires administered at least 2-months apart. A minimum sample size of 238 was required for each country. The required sample size was met in Brazil (n = 267) and China (n = 298), but a large proportion of AF patients could not be contacted (47% and 27%, respectively) or refused to participate (36% and 38%, respectively). In Sri Lanka, recruitment was challenging, resulting in a reduced sample (n = 151). Mean age of participants from Brazil, China and Sri Lanka was 69 (SD = 11.3), 65 (SD = 12.8) and 58 (SD = 11.7), respectively. Females accounted for 49% of the Brazil sample, 62% in China and 70% in Sri Lanka. Generalisability was an issue in Brazil and China, as was selection bias. Recruitment bias was highlighted in Sri Lanka. Additional or alternative recruitment methods may be required to ensure generalisability and reduce bias in future studies aimed at identifying NCD care pathways in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of universities in health promotion has been strengthened by institutional policies and the Health Promoting Universities movement. Together they seek to identify behaviours that are harmful to the health of university students and implement programs or interventions to promote the health of students within the physical environment of universities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly increased the number of students learning by distance. Under these circumstances, there is an increased need to assess the knowledge, attitudes and health practices of students in distance learning. To develop a KAP (knowledge, attitude and practice) questionnaire on the health of distance learning students. Development was carried out in four stages: 1) literature review to identify existing health programs in universities; 2) formulation of questions based on WHO theoretical frameworks, National Health Promotion Policy and the literature review; 3) selection of interdisciplinary expert judges and submission of the KAP-Health questionnaire for analysis of appearance, efficiency/consistency, clarity/understanding, pertinence of content and sequence of items; and 4) content validation by applying the content validity coefficient (CVC). The mean CVCs obtained were all equal to or greater than 0.96, 0.95 and 0.93 for the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices domains, respectively; all comfortably above the cut-off score of 80% (CVCt = 0.80). At this stage of the study, the judges consider the content of the KAP-Health questionnaire adequate to identify issues related to the health of students in distance learning. However, it is important to note that the next step is to test the usefulness of this questionnaire. We believe that our KAP-Health instrument is both original and useful for planning institutional policies in order to implement assertive strategies to promote the health of remote-learning students in Brazil and in other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We surveyed dragonflies (Odonata) at 87 sites in the anthropologically modified Pampa biome of southern Brazil to evaluate how regionally rare and common species form species assemblages in habitats with different water physiochemistry, habitat structures, and other environmental variables. We classified 9 out of the 90 species encountered as regionally common and 59 as regionally rare. A discriminant analysis confirmed that localities with only a few common species were characteristic in the set of rare species present, while localities housing more common species showed no clear pattern. A PCA revealed that a subset of the common species were strongly positively associated with water temperature, turbidity, dissolved O2 and pH but negatively associated with desertification. In contrast, rare species were positively associated with grassland habitat, but negatively with agriculture, salinity, and conductivity. In general, the associations of the rare species were weaker than those of common species. Finally, a correlation suggested that sites with six or more common species present had a reduced number of rare species compared to sites with fewer common species. It is possible that common species reduce the available niche space for weaker competitors among the rare species. We conclude that the original species assemblages in the biome may have been species poor with few regionally common species. Current anthropogenic change has increased the number of common species, which in turn has negative effects on the survival possibilities of rare species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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To examine the relationships between sociodemographic characteristics, student academic information, social support, sense of coherence, anxiety, lifestyle, and quality of life among dental students. A cross-sectional study among 233 dental students in Brazil. We captured data on sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, social support through Social Support Appraisal, psychosocial factors (sense of coherence and anxiety based on SOC-13 and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 – anxiety subscale, respectively), lifestyle as per individual Lifestyle Profile and quality of life based on VERAS-Q. Data was analysed through Structural Equation Modelling. Greater social support, higher sense of coherence, lower anxiety, better lifestyle directly predicted better quality of life. Male gender, city of origin did not differ from the city of the campus, higher social support and greater sense of coherence were indirectly linked with better quality of life via better lifestyle. Lower academic semester and higher social support indirectly predicted better quality of life via lower anxiety. Conclusion: Social support, sense of coherence, anxiety, and lifestyle were relevant factors directly associated with dental student's quality of life. Indirect pathways were observed between gender, moved home to attend dental course, academic semester, social support, sense of coherence, and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although droughts can inflict extreme damage on populations, few studies have characterized drought events in arid and semiarid regions around the globe due to the lack of reliable data. Therefore, precipitation estimates from remote sensing satellites have been increasingly used. In this study, the performance of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite rainfall estimates in monitoring the spatiotemporal patterns of drought at multiple time scales over Paraíba state is evaluated. The drought events are characterized by their quantity, duration, severity, intensity, frequency, and percentage of the area affected, and analyses are performed both for individual points and for four mesoregions at eight different time scales. The results indicate that short-term drought events occur more frequently but are less long-lasting and severe than long-term drought events. On the other hand, relevant changes in the average intensity of events cannot be identified among the time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of Paraná is one of the largest corn producers in Brazil, cultivating in two growing seasons. This study evaluated bivariate correlations between precipitation and the second-crop corn yield between the first 10 days of April and the first 10 days of October using spatial statistics. The spatial analysis of yield was evaluated using geostatistical models and validated by cross-validation. Spatial analysis was performed using the local indicator of spatial association and a cross-semivariogram, and the co-dispersion coefficient was used to validate the correlation between variables. Cross-validation identified the exponential model as the best fit, indicating a spatial dependence of 317.26 km. Spatial associations between municipalities were significant throughout the state of Paraná, Brazil. The cross-semivariogram allowed fitting the wave, spherical, Gaussian, and exponential models, with a spatial correlation of 37.04 to 570.38 km between the precipitations and yield. Moreover, the co-dispersion coefficient validated the correlation between the two variables for all 10-day periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses teacher autonomy in different models of educational governance using quantitative data from the OECD TALIS 2018 and qualitative data from a study on teacher autonomy conducted in Norway and Brazil. In this article, teacher autonomy is seen as a multidimensional concept referring to decision-making and control in relation to state governance. Further, the different degrees of implementation of accountability measures across countries determine the models of educational governance. The quantitative data reveals no clear pattern between teacher autonomy and models of educational governance. In general, teachers perceive that they have good control over teaching and planning at the classroom level. However, teachers report that they participate to a lesser degree in professional collaboration in schools, which could allow for collegial teacher autonomy. Teachers also report low perceived social value and policy influence, which may provide insight into professional teacher autonomy at the policy level. This article also shows the relevance of a detailed description of the country cases to gain a better understanding of the multiple dimensions of teacher autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A heteroscedastic regression based on the odd log-logistic Marshall–Olkin normal (OLLMON) distribution is defined by extending previous models. Some structural properties of this distribution are presented. The estimation of the parameters is addressed by maximum likelihood. For different parameter settings, sample sizes and some scenarios, various simulations investigate the performance of the heteroscedastic OLLMON regression. We use residual analysis to detect influential observations and to check the model assumptions. The new regression explains the mass loss of different wood species in civil construction in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin America, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, have been using Inflation Targeting for at least two decades, and although there were significant improvements in social indicators, macroeconomic results have been mixed. In particular, the real exchange rate has been much more volatile and growth was significantly slower in Brazil and Mexico. In accordance with these facts, we sketch a simple New Consensus open economy model with hysteresis and we show that a policy that targets inflation disregarding the effects on the real exchange rate may have negative long-run effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]