Brazilian Congress Research Articles

On being a medical geneticist

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part AVolume 138A, Issue 3 p. 197-198 Genetic Drift On being a medical geneticist†‡ Eduardo E. Castilla, Corresponding Author Eduardo E. Castilla [email protected] ECLAMC, Genetica, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro RJ, BrazilECLAMC, Genetica, Fiocruz, CP 926, Rio de Janeiro RJ, 20001-970 Brazil.Search for more papers by this author Eduardo E. Castilla, Corresponding Author Eduardo E. Castilla [email protected] ECLAMC, Genetica, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro RJ, BrazilECLAMC, Genetica, Fiocruz, CP 926, Rio de Janeiro RJ, 20001-970 Brazil.Search for more papers by this author First published: 20 September 2005 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.a.30956Citations: 2 † From ECLAMC: Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations, at Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and at CEMIC (Centro de Estudios Médicos e Investigaciones Clínicas), Conicet, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ‡ This article was delivered as the opening lecture of the XV Brazilian Congress of Clinical Genetics, Porto Alegre, Brazil, on June 19, 2003. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume138A, Issue315 October 2005Pages 197-198 RelatedInformation

Trends in Parliamentary Oversight

This report presents the Roundtable entitled Legislative Oversight: Theories and Practices, organized by the editors as part of the Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, January 7-10, 2004. The papers presented herein reflect the papers presented at that Roundtable. The paper by Pelizzo and Stapenhurst presents the data collected from a survey of 83 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in collaboration with the World Bank Institute. The data analysis reveals that legislatures in parliamentary systems are generally better equipped to oversee government activities than legislatures in presidential and semipresidential systems. The paper also investigates the role of legislatures in preparing and approving the budget. The analysis reveals that legislatures in presidential systems are generally the most active legislatures in the preparation of the budget, while parliaments are the most active legislatures in approving the budget. Thomas F. Reminton's paper examines the use of de facto oversight mechanisms by the Russian Federal Assembly and relates them to institutional performance in the postcommunist Russian state. The paper finds that by contrast with the early 1990s, policy making has become much more efficient. David M. Olson's paper argues that the Polish Sejm is currently the most active post-communist parliament in oversight and administrative review. In the light of the Polish experience, the paper suggests that post-communist parliaments will have increasing capacity to be active in oversight as a result of both the budgeting process and growing international influences upon policy choices. Edward Schneier's paper investigates why the post-reforms Indonesian parliament has not put mechanisms of legislative oversight to effective use. The problem is partially by three sets of factors, namely the legislature's own failure to institutionalize, endemic problems of corruption and a lingering tendency to defer to entrenched elites. Scott W. Desposato's paper investigates how legislatures' ability to engage in effective oversight activities is significantly related to both the formal institutional framework and informal institutional incentives. The paper investigates the impact of the informal institutional incentives on state assemblies'ability to oversee executive activities in Brazil. Mark Shepard argues that in spite of the House of Commons' awareness of its limitations in administrative review and oversight, change has been slow and hampered by the constitutional frame-work, executive hegemony and strong partisanship in the British Parliament. The author further argues that although there have been some important concessions recently, many of the successful reforms have focused on improving efficiency of oversight rather than effectiveness of oversight per se. Timothy J. Power's paper addresses one of the most important issues that constitutional engineers and practitioners are confronted with, that is: is executive dominance irreversible? After discussing some of the historical factors that have created the conditions for executive dominance, Power illustrates how the Brazilian congress managed to do the unthinkable: to reduce the President's authority to issue emergency decrees and, by doing so, to reduce substantially the power of the executive. Keith Schulz's paper raises an interesting issue. He notes that while international agencies' involvement in legislative capacity building represents one of the most critical aspects of their activities, it is not at all clear how the impact of internationally funded programs should be measured. The author also discusses how USAID has attempted in the past couple of years to re-spond to this dearth of knowledge and information.

EDITORIAL

This special issue of Engenharia Térmica presents selected papers from the XV Brazilian Congress of Chemical Engineering (COBEQ) and II Brazilian Congress of Phase Equilibrium that took place in Curitiba, Paraná State between 26 and 29 September 2004.The XVth edition of COBEQ almost completes three decades of the Congress existence. Since 1975 it is the most important event in the area, not only because of its extensive coverage, but also because it is a great opportunity to the Chemical Engineering community to exchange ideas and update the scientific information in different areas.The Congress main theme was the relationship between Chemical Engineering and sustainable development. There were 798 papers presented in the Congress. They were distributed in eight areas, which included: Environment and Clean Technology; Biotechnology and Food; New Materials Products and Technologies; Chemical Reactor and Catalysis; Transport Phenomena and Particulated Systems; Separation Engineering and Thermodynamics.The implementation of the event was under the responsibility of the Brazilian Association of Chemical Engineering (ABEQ) and the organization of the current edition was under the responsibility of the Chemical Engineering Departments of Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and State University of Maringá (UEM).The organizing committee would like to thank the scientific committee composed by researchers from several institutions for their contributions, and to the funding agencies and the industries for the support provided by them.We hope that this Engenharia Térmica special issue, together with the Conference Proceedings will be a valuable reference document to the scientific and industrial community and that will contribute to the engineering progress.

The World Ophthalmology Congress will be held in conjunction with the XXVI Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology and the XVII Brazilian Congress on Blindness Prevention in São Paulo, Brazil, February 19–24, 2006

The World Ophthalmology Congress will be held in conjunction with the XXVI Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology and the XVII Brazilian Congress on Blindness Prevention in São Paulo, Brazil, February 19–24, 2006

Novos tempos, antigos desafios

At the XXXII Congresso Brasileiro de Pneumologiae Tisiologia (XXXII Brazilian Congress on Pulmonologyand Phthisiology), held in the city of Salvador, theGeneral Assembly of the Sociedade Brasileira dePneumologia e Tisiologia (SBPT, Brazilian Society ofPulmonology and Phthisiology) approved changes tothe statutes of the society. These changes have a directimpact on the workings of the Jornal Brasileiro dePneumologia (JBP, Brazilian Journal of Pulmonology).From now on, the responsibility of publishing thejournal will no longer lie with the CommunicationsDirector. Instead, the holder of newly-created positionof JBP Editor will now be charged with this duty. Inaddition, the journal will now be run in accordancewith the JBP regulations, which were created, afterarduous debate, by the current and formeradministrations of the SBPT. Although these changesmay seem merely bureaucratic in nature, they represent,in fact, an important step in modernizing andperfecting not only the journal but the SBPT itself.The SBPT directors, as well as those involved inthe production of the JBP, have, over the last fewyears, become increasingly convinced that, in orderto have a journal with scientific impact and rapidgrowth, it is necessary to establish a structure thatis more complex, more professional and less subjectto external factors generated in the daily routine ofSBPT members. The great enthusiast and defenderof this work ethic was my predecessor, Dr. GeraldoLorenzi-Filho, to whom the JBP owes a great debt.In keeping with this new dynamic, the JBP Editorwill, from now on, dedicate himself exclusively tothe journal, being assured a term in office of atleast four years. Although still answerable to theSBPT directorship, the JBP Editor is guaranteed theindependence required to defend the interests ofthe journal. In defining and developing his role, hewill be aided by the Associate Editors, who will soonbecome familiar with the workings of the entireprocess. The process of selecting a new JBP Editorwill follow the example of the major internationaljournals. After wide distribution of an announcement,a commission composed of the SBPT directors andformer editors of the journal will, after reviewingthe resumes and proposals of the applicants, choosethe new Editor from among the qualified candidates.The JBP, previously known simply as the Jornalde Pneumologia (Journal of Pulmonology), hasalways been an important link between the SBPTand its associates. Since 1975, together with theCongressos Brasileiros de Pneumologia e Tisiologia(Brazilian Congresses on Pulmonology andPhthisiology) the journal constitutes one of theprincipal means of communication between thesociety and its members. The journal, through itsreview articles, case reports, original articles,supplements and release of Consensus statements,provides a constant source of information forkeeping its readers current. Recognition of the levelof quality achieved by the journal led to its beingindexed in the Literatura Latinoamericana y delCaribe en Ciencias de la Salud (LILACS, LatinAmerican and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature)database and in SciELO Brazil, where it is classifiedas Qualis A Nacional (National Quality A) by theinstitution Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento dePessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES, Coordination ofthe Advancement of Upper-Level Personnel).In recent years, the volume of Brazilianscientific production has increased considerably(1).From 1997 to 2000, Brazilian scientists published34,274 articles in Institute for Scientific Information(ISI)-indexed journals. The number of studentsreceiving their Masters or Doctorate in 1990 was5579 and 1410, respectively. By 2000, thesenumbers had risen to 18,374 and 5344(1).The growing Brazilian scientific productioncreates the need for adequate vehicles throughwhich to publish. Within this context, the JBP takeson added importance. From this perspective, theJBP can therefore be seen as an asset, belongingnot only to the members of the SBPT but also toall Brazilian researchers working in the field ofrespiratory medicine.The intense competition of these modern timesdemands that professionals and institutions remainin a state of constant evolution. In order to carry outits mission, the JBP will soon be forced to undergo

Main characteristics of three Portuguese PICU: Comparative evaluation

s Translations: Abstracts from the IX Brazilian and VI Latin American Congresses on Pediatric Intensive Care: Oral Abstract Presentations

Continuing medical education in Brazil: what about obstetricians and gynecologists?

In Brazil, obstetricians and gynecologists are not required to submit to periodical evaluations to ascertain their professional competence in dealing with new concepts and therapies. To evaluate the performance of a group of obstetricians and gynecologists on a written evidence-based obstetrics test and determine their opinions and use of systematic reviews. Prospective cohort. Brazilian Obstetrics and Gynecology Congress 2001. 230 doctors agreed to participate in the study during a national obstetrics and gynecology congress. Participants took an individual anonymous written multiple-choice test with seven questions on clinical obstetrics, one question on the interpretation of a meta-analysis graph and two questions on their opinions and actual use of systematic reviews. Scores were analyzed and compared after grouping the participants according to year of graduation, residence training, doctoral program and faculty status. The general average score was 49.2 +/- 17.4. The scores tended to decline as the years since graduation advanced. Doctors who graduated in the last five years had higher scores than those who graduated over 25 years ago (52.2 versus 42.9). The performance did not vary according to medical residence, postgraduate program or teaching status. While 98.2% considered systematic reviews relevant, only 54.9% said that they routinely used this source of information. The participants' average score was low, even though they were highly qualified and trained. Despite the limitations of the study, the results are worrisome. If motivated physicians participating in a national congress obtained such low scores, we can speculate that the results might be even worse among other doctors that do not attend these events. These findings suggest that Brazilian obstetricians and gynecologists could benefit from continuing medical education and raise questions about the recycling methods currently available.

Serum level of cardiac troponin I in pediatric patients with sepsis/septic shock

s Translations: Abstracts from the IX Brazilian and VI Latin American Congresses on Pediatric Intensive Care: Oral Abstract Presentations

EDITORIAL

The present issue of Engenharia Térmica debuts a new numeration system that includes year, volume and number. It is one step forward for improving registry efficiency and knowledge dissemination, fostering interaction between faculty and industry, one of the original editorial objectives of Engenharia Térmica, established in 2001.A considerable amount of resources has been directed to research, aiming at the scientific and technological development of nations. When accounting for the granted funds, the researcher should go beyond the simple technical reporting, ensuring that the produced knowledge should be available to society in its most broad and disseminated way. This is only possible with the publication of the results of his/her work on a periodical of archival value, made available to the public in libraries or in the internet. Engenharia Térmica contributes to this effort by allowing for publication of scientific and technological work in the area of Thermal Sciences, which will find application in key areas to the world, such as Energy and Environment.Also, submission of work derived from the cooperation between university and industry, or originated directly from the industry’s own research and development department, is strongly encouraged.The present issue further contains expanded and revised papers that have originally been presented at ENCIT 2002 (9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences). This has been a successful policy of Engenharia Térmica, which should be extended to other ABCM (Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences) national conferences, COBEM and CONEM,and to thematic events, such as, for example, Mercofrio and Conbrava, from Refrigeration.As in the past issues of Engenharia Térmica, two main sections classify the papers. Science contains papers related to the advancements of Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics and Heat and Mass Transfer, and to novel theories or advanced numerical and experimental methods. Technology is directed to technological contributions in Thermal Engineering, including the presentation of papers featuring technological innovations.

Uma estimativa do custo de subordinação da dívida financeira estabelecida pela atual lei de falência

Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar o impacto no custo de endividamento das empresas devido à ordem de prioridade de pagamento das dívidas corporativas em caso de falência. A nova Lei de Falência em tramitação no Congresso Nacional, Projeto de Lei 4.376, define a ordem de classificação dos créditos na falência pelo artigo 83. A atual Lei de Falência estabelece que as dívidas trabalhistas, previdenciárias e tributárias possuem prioridade de pagamento às demais dívidas. Entende-se, portanto, que existe uma subordinação das dívidas contratadas junto aos bancos e investidores com relação aos passivos prioritários. Este estudo estima o custo de subordinação do passivo financeiro - empréstimos e financiamentos - aos passivos com preferência de pagamento. Primeiro, obteve-se evidência a favor do modelo de precificação, através da comparação do valor do passivo obtido pela aplicação do modelo com o valor de mercado, e finalmente, calculou-se uma média de 0,30%a.a. de custo de subordinação dos passivos financeiros.

O uso de bloqueadores neuromusculares no Brasil

There are no statistical data on the use of neuromuscular blockers in Brazil. This study aimed at statistically analyzing this topic. Our study has compiled 831 answers to a questionnaire filled by anesthesiologists attending the 48th Brazilian Congress of Anesthesiology in Recife, 2001, and via Internet by anesthesiologists whose e-mail addresses are in the Brazilian Society of Anesthesiology web page (<A HREF='http://www.sba.com.br/'>www.sba.com.br</A>). The following data were evaluated: years of experience with the specialty, region where anesthesiologists practice, neuromuscular blockers (NMB) usage in order of preference, indications for succinylcholine, neuromuscular transmission monitor usage, blockade recovery criteria, neostigmine usage, NMB administration routes and description of observed complications. Most anesthesiologists practice for more than 11 years and the highest number of answers have come from the Southeastern region of Brazil. Most common NMB is atracurium, followed by pancuronium and succinylcholine. Succinylcholine is more frequently used for rapid sequence induction and in children (80% and 25%, respectively). Neuromuscular transmission monitors are never used by 53% of anesthesiologists, and 92% of them use clinical signs as blockade recovery criteria. Neostigmine is routinely used by 45% of professionals and 94% of them administer NMB in bolus. Approximately 30% have referred NMB-related complications. Most frequent complications were prolonged blockade, severe bronchospasm and residual curarization. Atracurium is the most popular neuromuscular blocker in Brazil; there is a high percentage of succinylcholine usage in non-emergency situations; neuromuscular transmission monitors are seldom used and, as a corollary, there is a significant percentage of clinical criteria to consider patients recovered. We have observed that approximately 30% of anesthesiologists had some type of NMB-related complication.

Ser editor da REBEn: lugar especial

With this issue I close a six-year journey during which I participated in organizing the most-respected periodical of Brazilian Nursing. I consider being a scientific editor as a fascinating, challenging, and responsibilityrequiring task. To be the editor of the Brazilian Nursing Magazine (REBEn) is a privilege involving all the fascination of being in a place that makes it possible to interact with the knowledge produced in the area and to contribute towards its publication. That is how I have lived the editorship of REBEn: as a place that publishes a certain kind of knowledge and a place that, while involved with this publication, also influences what can be the object of knowledge and how it can (or must) be communicated. Precisely for understanding this work in this way, it has also demanded tremendous learning from me. I started my activity as an editor in November 1998, timidly participating in the editing of the last installment of volume 51 of REBEn, an issue that closed the work of the previous editorship. One of our first decisions, as soon as we took office, was to exempt REBEn from the commitment to publish the scientific production presented in the Brazilian Congress of Nursing, because every year there was an accumulation of texts that would compete against the spontaneous demand of researchers, which would make their evaluation and publication unfeasible. This measure, which at first caused much dissatisfaction among ABEn’s partners and congress members, was, at last, accepted, because one understood that we were in other times, in times of evaluation and that the previous format would put us in an unfavorable position in the general ranking of periodicals. At the same time, the large number of received originals, the high articles rejection rate by evaluators, and the limitations in publishing all the qualified demand in a short period of time without causing the themes/objects of discussion to get out-of-date led us to propose the reduction in the magazine periodicity from a quarterly to a bimonthly basis, thereby increasing publication from 4 to 6 issues a year. That made possible an increase in space and a higher speed to publish the scientific production of the area. Another work front we gave priority to was the increase in the number of subscribers to the magazine. When we took over the organization of REBEn we had less than 200 subscribers, largely because, just like almost all periodicals of our area, one has to be a subscriber in order to publish in REBEn. Today, when we transfer the magazine to the new Board of Directors of ABEn, we transfer it with 800 subscribers, still without changing that policy, and that is a rather significant number if we consider that

Paving Paradise

The recent adoption of affirmative action policies in Brazil has generated a public debate starkly in contrast to the traditionally hegemonic discourse of “racial democracy.” Many a student of race relations in Brazil would have predicted that such developments could never occur. But historical forerunners of the concept are to be found in proposals made by the Afro-Brazilian social movement in the 1940s and 1950s, advanced particularly by the Black Experimental Theater, and bills introduced by Abdias do Nascimento in both houses of the Brazilian Congress. The development of the black movement’s demands and political articulation, leading to the country’s active participation in the 3rd World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001, gave a major impulse to the evolution of affirmative action programs and their implementation in Brazil. International support and participation in this process is fundamentally important to the continued success of black social movement initiatives.

EDITORIAL

The global economy lives a period of great apprehension regarding energy issues for the near future. The developed countries continue to have a steady growth and the emerging countries increase their rates of economic growth, which causes a continuing increase in global energy demand. In that context, RETERM calls the attention of the readers to the growing need for the search of alternative energy sources to the current oil based global economy. This effort certainly involves focus and work of the energy related scientific community, field in which Thermal Engineering is part of. There are several alternatives currently under consideration. The Department of Energy of the United States of America is currently seriously focused on research and development of alternative energy sources, mainly aiming the independence of external suppliers, such as nuclear energy and the hydrogen economy. Therefore, it is vital to any nation the allocation of financial resources to the development and technological control of new processes that lead to self-sufficiency in energy generation for internal consumption and economic growth. The fuel cell systems will be of critical importance in the possible hydrogen economy scenery for the near future, and they are at the forefront of the emerging technologies for electric power generation for stationary, mobile and portable applications. The high energy conversion efficiencies, extremely low onsite environmental pollution and noise are among their major advantages in comparison to other systems. However, there are major technological and economic hurdles to be overcome prior to their large scale practical implementation. Similarly to nuclear technology, in fuel cell technology it is observed that each research group develops its own know-how independently and with little exchange of information.In this fifth number, we continue to publish the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, that were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. Additional articles that have been submitted and reviewed in the regular RETERM publication process are also included in the current issue.

EDITORIAL

RETERM – Thermal Engineering is an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM). In this fourth issue, the journal continues to be divided in two main sections: science and technology. The former is directed to publish complete articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community, and the latter is designed to comprise informative articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry.In this issue, we continue to publish the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, that were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. Additional articles that have been submitted and reviewed in the regular RETERM publication process are also included in the current issue.The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), continues to strengthen our belief in the success of this enterprise. To open a perspective to the maintainance and continuity of RETERM, we invite the readers from the industrial community to contact our staff for subscriptions and publicity in RETERM. For the next issues we continue to welcome technical articles from both the scientific and the industrial communities to either section of RETERM, contributions to the other sections of the journal, and suggestions for new sections as well. We also welcome response and comments from our readers that will certainly help the success of RETERM.

Instructions Leaflets On Antiepileptic Drugs Prescribed For Migraine Prophylaxis May Compromise Compliance

Objective: Prophylactic treatment of migraine may be done with a variety of drugs, including antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). However, the leaflets inserted in the medication seemed to discourage patients to use these AEDs. Methods: Individual interviews with forty individuals suffering from migraine who claimed to follow prescriptions given by doctors they trusted, independently of instructions inserted in medication packages. Results: After reading these leaflets about AEDs used for migraine, two-thirds of these individuals said they would not take the drug, which was too strong, specific for epilepsy or had serious side effects. Conclusion: The instruction leaflets accompanying AEDs apparently discourage patients to comply with prescriptions based on good results from clinical trials. This result seems to add to the high burden of migraine to the public and private health systems. Work performed at the Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade Metropolitana de Santos, SP, Brazil. Work performed with financial support, no conflicts of interest to declare. This work was presented in a poster format at the XVII Brazilian Congress of Headache, Recife, Brazil, August 2003.

Índice de publicação dos trabalhos apresentados no XXIV Congresso Brasileiro de Cirurgia

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o índice de publicação a nível internacional (Index Medicus-Medline-PubMed) dos trabalhos apresentados no XXIV Congresso Brasileiro de Cirurgia. MÉTODO: A publicação dos trabalhos foi pesquisada por consulta à base de dados de publicações biomédicas a nível mundial (Index Medicus-Medline-PubMed), a partir da lista de autores e co-autores e palavras-chave dos títulos dos trabalhos. RESULTADOS: Do total de 1133 trabalhos apresentados, 29 (2,6%) foram publicados-nove temas livres (2,0%), um vídeo livre (1,6%), dois fórum de pesquisa (12,5%) e 17 pôsteres (2,8%). Dos 2638 autores identificados, 71 (2,7%) publicaram seus trabalhos. CONCLUSÕES: O índice de publicações dos trabalhos apresentados ainda é baixo.

EDITORIAL

The third issue of RETERM – Thermal Engineering consolidates the journal as an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM). The journal continues to be divided in two main sections: science and technology. The former is directed to publish complete articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community, and the latter is designed to comprise informative articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry. Particularly, in this issue, the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), continues to strengthen our belief in the success of this enterprise. To open a perspective to the maintainance and continuity of RETERM, we invite the readers from the industrial community to contact our staff for subscriptions and publicity in RETERM. For the next issues we continue to welcome technical articles from both the scientific and the industrial communities to either section of RETERM, and contributions to the other sections of the journal, and suggestions for new sections as well. We also welcome response and comments from our readers that will certainlly help the success of RETERM.

Turismo de Eventos: promoções e parcerias no Brasil

This paper presents an analysis of the evolution of Events Tourism in Brazil. It shows the importance of events tourism as a new segment, which has been responsible for the valuation and implementation of tourist areas and as a way of correcting the seasonality of flows. It places Brazil amongst the ranks of world events. It shows the role of a Convention Visitors Bureau and International Meeting Association in the promotion of tourist events, the rise of the events market in Brazil, in 1950, with the National Textile Industry Fair (Fenit), and how events became more frequent in the Brazilian capitaIs. It also presents incentives for events held by the Convention Bureau and Brazilian Tourism Agencies, Congress and Events Operators.

O conteúdo da produção legislativa brasileira: leis nacionais ou políticas paroquiais?

This article analyzes whether the pork barrel political approach really exists in the context of legislative output by the Brazilian Congress. According to the author's argument, in the case of medium-large districts, multi-member districts (MMDs) increase the costs of investment in pork barrel bills of law. In addition, members of the Brazilian Congress face high legislative output costs that increase the incentives to avoid pork barrel strategies. The author investigates hypotheses on bills that were either approved or rejected by Congress, as well as those vetoed by the Executive, from 1991 to 2002. The results provide significant evidence for the author's theoretical argument. The study concludes that: (1) pork barrel bills are quantitatively insignificant in Brazil; (2) members of the Brazilian Congress invest much of their time and effort in pursuit of broader interests; and (3) seniority and internal law-making procedures can explain approved versus rejected distributive bills.