Search

Coffee is a crop of significant importance for Brazilian agrobusiness. There is evidence that both the geographic distribution of coffee production, and the varieties of coffee produced, have changed throughout Brazil over the course of time. Furthermore, it appears that these developments are associated with structural changes resulting from reductions in government intervention and its effects on prices in the coffee market, which has established a new dynamic of coffee production in the country. In this context, this study’s objective is to analyze the dynamics of coffee production in Brazil, to identify the Brazilian micro-regions specializing in coffee activities, and to track how the spatial distribution of these micro-regions has varied over time. In so doing, the study aims to identify defining economic characteristics of primary coffee-producing regions. Drawing primarily on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the study proceeds by applying Pearson correlation, Granger causality test, location quotient, principal components, and clustering analyses to explore how, during the 1984–2015 period, significant changes occurred in the distribution of regions specializing in coffee production. States such as Paraná and São Paulo, historically important coffee producers, declined in importance, leaving only a few micro-regions in these states specialized in coffee production. During the 2014/15 biennium, 80% of the coffee-specialized micro-regions were concentrated in the states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rondônia, and Espírito Santo. Minas Gerais and Bahia primarily produced arabica coffee, while Rondônia specialized in conilon (robusta) coffee. Overall, coffee produced in Brazil improved in quality and value-added over this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the sociodemographic factors associated with the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among Brazilian adolescents. Methods: This was a descriptive study based on data from 59,637 and 10,770 students who participated in the National Adolescent School-Based Health Survey (PeNSE), 2009 and 2015 editions, respectively. Weight and height measurements were obtained to evaluate nutritional status. DBM was classified as follows: adolescents with high BMI-for-age and low height-for-age (BMI/A: Z-score > +1 and H/A: Z-score < -2). Sociodemographic data on the participants were also collected. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to detect associations of interest. Results: The prevalence of DBM in the 2009 and 2015 editions of the PeNSE was 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. In the 2009 edition, the chance of DBM was lower among boys (OR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.45–0.81) and higher among those over 14 years old (OR = 2.40; 95% CI = 1.80–3.20), living in the country’s north and northeast regions (OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.49–2.84), and from families with a low maternal education level (OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.07–2.04). In the 2015 edition, no significant associations were found regarding the DBM outcome. Conclusion: The results indicate the presence of socioeconomic inequalities in the occurrence of DBM in the 2009 edition of the PeNSE. Simultaneous interventions in the area of equity are necessary to prevent the advancement of nutrition-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annually, more than 1.2 million scorpion stings and more than 3,000 deaths occur worldwide. Tityus serrulatus Lutz and Mello, 1922 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) is the most medically relevant species in Brazil where it is spreading rapidly and causing over 90,000 cases of envenomation yearly. We monitored T. serrulatus longevity and ability to reproduce under conditions of food and/or water deprivation. We found that T. serrulatus is highly tolerant to food deprivation, with individuals enduring up to 400 days without food. On the other hand, access to water played a pivotal role in T. serrulatus survival. Food and water deprived scorpions showed weight reduction. Reproduction occurred throughout the year for food-deprived scorpions and controls, but not in the water-deprived groups. Remarkably, food-deprived animals were able to give birth after 209 days of starvation. Tityus serrulatus resistance to food and water deprivation is likely to be an additional factor underlying this species' geographic expansion and the difficulties encountered in controlling it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Bleeding is a common complication in patients taking warfarin. We sought to compare the performance of nine prediction models for bleeding risk in warfarin-treated Brazilian outpatients. Methods: The dataset was derived from a clinical trial conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an anticoagulation clinic at a public hospital in Brazil. Overall, 280 heart disease outpatients taking warfarin were enrolled. The prediction models OBRI, Kuijer et al., Kearon et al., HEMORR2HAGES, Shireman et al., RIETE, HAS-BLED, ATRIA and ORBIT were compared to evaluate the overall model performance by Nagelkerke’s R2 estimation, discriminative ability based on the concordance (c) statistic and calibration based on the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic. The primary outcomes were the first episodes of major bleeding, clinically relevant non-major bleeding and non-major bleeding events within 12 months of follow-up. Results: Major bleeding occurred in 14 participants (5.0%), clinically relevant non-major bleeding in 29 (10.4%), non-major bleeding in 154 (55.0%) and no bleeding at all in 115 (41.1%). Most participants with major bleeding had their risk misclassified. All the models showed low overall performance (R2 0.6–9.3%) and poor discriminative ability for predicting major bleeding (c <0.7), except Shireman et al. and ORBIT models (c 0.725 and 0.719, respectively). Results were not better for predicting other bleedings. All models showed good calibration for major bleeding. Conclusions: Only two models (Shireman et al. and ORBIT) showed at least acceptable performance in the prediction of major bleeding in warfarin-treated Brazilian patients. Accurate models warrant further investigation to be used in similar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to estimate prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) and associated factors among dental students. In this cross-sectional study, 230 students answered a questionnaire and instruments to assess CMD (Self Reporting Questionnaire-20), hazardous alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test), social support (Social Support Scale), perceptions of academic life (Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure), coping (Ways of Coping Inventory) and resilience (Resilience Scale). Bivariate analysis was conducted using the Chi-Square and Mann-Whitney tests. Logistic regression included all explanatory variableswith p<0.20 in the bivariate analysis, besides sex and academic year. The explanatory variables were analyzed in five successive blocks (backward-stepwise), until all variables presented statistical significance in the final model (p<0.05). The prevalence of CMD was 45.2% (95%CI: 38.7–51.6), with no significant differences between sexes. Students with no extracurricular activities, who had negatively self- assessed their health status and their academic performance, were about four times more likely to present CMD, followed by receiving psychological or psychiatric treatment during university (AOR: 2.65; 95%CI: 1.1–6.1) and those with high scores for confrontive coping (AOR: 1.20; 95%CI: 1.0–1.4). Resilience was a protective factor for CMD among dental students (AOR: 0.93; 95%CI: 0.9–1.0). Aspects related to academic performance, health status and confrontive coping strategies were risk factors to students’ mental health. Individuals with high levels of resilience showed lower prevalence of CMD. Further prospective studies could contribute to understanding the role of resilience among this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Only 20% of patients with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) have blood pressure within recommended parameters. SAH has been the main risk factor for morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases, which affects the burden of the Public Health System (PHS). Some studies have shown the effectiveness of Pharmaceutical Care (PC) in the care of hypertensive patients. Objective: To perform a cost-effectiveness analysis to compare SAH treatment with PC management and conventional treatment for hypertensive patients offered by the PHS. Methods: A cost-effectiveness study nested to a quasi-experimental study was conducted, in which 104 hypertensive patients were followed up in a PC program. Blood pressure control was considered as the outcome for the economic analysis and the costs were direct and non-direct medical costs. Results: PC was dominant for two years in the post-PC period compared with the pre-PC year. The mean cost effectiveness ratio (CER) for the CERPre-PC, CERPC, and CERPost-PC periods were: US$ 364.65, US$ 415.39, and US$ 231.14 respectively. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) analysis presented ICER of US$ 478.41 in the PC period and US$ 42.95 in the post PC period. Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis presented mean ICERPC and ICERPost-PC equal to US$ 605.09 and US$ 128.03, reaching US$ 1,725.00 and US$ 740.00 respectively. Conclusion: Even for the highest ICER, the values were below the cost effectiveness threshold, which means that PC was a cost effective strategy for the care of hypertensive patients in the PHS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carambola fruit fly, Bactrocera carambolae, is a tephritid native to Asia that has invaded South America through small-scale trade of fruits from Indonesia. The economic losses associated with biological invasions of other fruit flies around the world and the polyphagous behaviour of B. carambolae have prompted much concern among government agencies and farmers with the potential spread of this pest. Here, ecological niche models were employed to identify suitable environments available to B. carambolae in a global scale and assess the extent of the fruit acreage that may be at risk of attack in Brazil. Overall, 30 MaxEnt models built with different combinations of environmental predictors and settings were evaluated for predicting the potential distribution of the carambola fruit fly. The best model was selected based on threshold-independent and threshold-dependent metrics. Climatically suitable areas were identified in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, west and east coast of India and northern Australia. The suitability map of B. carambola was intersected against maps of fruit acreage in Brazil. The acreage under potential risk of attack varied widely among fruit species, which is expected because the production areas are concentrated in different regions of the country. The production of cashew is the one that is at higher risk, with almost 90% of its acreage within the suitable range of B. carambolae, followed by papaya (78%), tangerine (51%), guava (38%), lemon (30%), orange (29%), mango (24%) and avocado (20%). This study provides an important contribution to the knowledge of the ecology of B. carambolae, and the information generated here can be used by government agencies as a decision-making tool to prevent the carambola fruit fly spread across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) inventory investigates the different ways in which people respond to stressful situations. Knowledge is lacking regarding the coping strategies and styles of people in developing countries, including Brazil. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Brief COPE to Brazilian Portuguese (named COPE Breve) by focusing on dispositional coping. For the cross-cultural adaptation, the original Brief COPE in English (28 items grouped into 14 subscales) was adapted according to a universalistic approach, following these steps: translation, synthesis, back-translation, analysis by an expert panel, and pretest with 30 participants. Then, 237 adults from the community health service responded to the COPE Breve. Psychometric analyses included reliability and exploratory factor analysis. Most of the 14 subscales from the original Brief COPE exhibited problems related to internal consistency. A Velicer's minimum average partial test (MAP) was performed and pointed out 3 factors. Exploratory factor analysis produced a revised 20-item version with a 3-factor solution: religion and positive reframing, distraction and external support. The psychometric properties of the COPE Breve with three factors were appropriate. Limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future studies are presented. The COPE Breve should be used in Brazilian clinics and investigations, but divergences in its psychometrics should be further explored in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing demand for biofuel has intensified land-use change (LUC) for sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) expansion in Brazil. Assessments of soil quality (SQ) response to this LUC are essential for quantifying and monitoring sustainability of sugarcane production over time. Since there is not a universal methodology for assessing SQ, we conducted a field-study at three sites within the largest sugarcane-producing region of Brazil to develop a SQ index (SQI). The most common LUC scenario (i.e., native vegetation to pasture to sugarcane) was evaluated using six SQI strategies with varying complexities. Thirty eight soil indicators were included in the total dataset. Two minimum datasets were selected: one using principal component analysis (7 indicators) and the other based on expert opinion (5 indicators). Non-linear scoring curves were used to interpret the indicator values. Weighted and non-weighted additive methods were used to combine individual indicator scores into an overall SQI. Long-term conversion from native vegetation to extensive pasture significantly decreased overall SQ. In contrast, conversion from pasture to sugarcane had no significant impact on overall SQ at the regional scale, but site-specific responses were found. In general, sugarcane production improved chemical attributes (i.e., higher macronutrient levels and lower soil acidity); however it has negative effects on physical and biological attributes (i.e., higher soil compaction and structural degradation as well as lower soil organic carbon (SOC), abundance and diversity of macrofauna and microbial activity). Overall, we found that simple, user-friendly strategies were as effective as more complex ones for identifying SQ changes. Therefore, as a protocol for SQ assessments in Brazilian sugarcane areas, we recommend using a small number of indicators (e.g., pH, P, K, Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure -VESS scores and SOC concentration) and proportional weighting to reflect chemical, physical and biological processes within the soil. Our SQ evaluations also suggest that current approaches for expanding Brazilian sugarcane production by converting degraded pasture land to cropland can be a sustainable strategy for meeting increasing biofuel demand. However, management practices that alleviate negative impacts on soil physical and biological indicators must be prioritized within sugarcane producing areas to prevent unintentional SQ degradation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]