Brazilian Cultures Research Articles

O REGISTRO DE MOLUSCOS NOS VESTÍGIOS ARQUEOLÓGICOS PRÉ-HISTÓRICOS DO BRASIL

Os moluscos foram de grande importância na pré-história brasileira, onde seu papel alimentar foi importante no litoral. Sobretudo, aproveitaram-se suas conchas como material construtivo nos sambaquis costeiros, e para firmar a base dos aterros do Pantanal matogrossense. Elas forneceram instrumentos para cortar, raspar, serrar, perfurar e aplainar, e serviram como recipientes. Também foram utilizadas como adornos (colares, pulseiras, adornos labiais) e proporcionaram elementos para indumentária. A concha moída foi usada como antiplastico nas mais antigas cerâmicas amazônicas. Discutimos o significado das conchas de gastropodo encontradas em sítios interioranos - alguns moluscos foram trazidos pelos pré-históricos, enquanto outros são intrusivos e podem levar a interpretações equivocadas por parte dos arqueólogos.

Ideas para un sueño. Cien bagatelas de Manoel Carlos Karam

En esta oportunidad, Manuel Barrós presenta y traduce una importante selección de bagatelas del escritor brasileño Manoel Carlos Karam que, originalmente, fueron publicadas en el libro Godot é uma árvore (2015). Estas han sido seleccionadas porque representan parte fundamental de la poética de Karam, uno de los autores más originales y desconocidos de la literatura de lo absurdo en Brasil. Algunos de sus rasgos a resaltar son lo insólito, lo lúdico y la intertextualidad; todos ellos matizados con un sentido del humor muy crítico en su lectura de las literaturas y culturas brasileña, latinoamericana y universal. Cabe añadir que esta es la primera vez que Karam es traducido a otro idioma. Por ello, al publicar una versión bilingüe, el traductor difunde el estilo original de la obra de Karam y amplía el panorama que de la literatura brasileña se tiene en el Perú y en Latinoamérica.

Dream reflecting cultural contexts: comparing Brazilian and German diary dreams and most recent dreams

The continuity hypothesis states that waking life experiences, e.g., personal concerns and cultural environment, are reflected in dreams. The present study’s goal was to compare written dream reports from Brazilian and German samples. Overall, 97 Brazilian participants were included; two German samples from previous studies (N=89 and N=4197) were selected for comparison. The Brazilian participants reported 328 and the German participants 348 diary dreams. In addition, 86 Brazilian to 2893 German most recent dreams were compared. For both types of collected dreams, we found more bizarreness in German reports, and more depression-related topics in Brazilian reports. Germans reported more aggression in diary dreams and both more problems and more extreme emotions in most recent dreams. Brazilians reported more work- and leisure-related topics in diary dreams. Several similarities in dream content, e.g., no differences in verbal and physical interaction, number of male and female characters, and death-related themes, hint at universal characteristics of dreaming across cultures. We consider the clear group differences in dream content to reflect basic patterns of Brazilian and German cultures, which is exemplified through some core topics of the respective cultural sets. Concerning Brazil, the themes of miscegenation, emotional culture, and “saudade” (“longing”) are discussed. For German culture, the area of conflict between long-standing high-performance in science and arts and the contrasting twentieth century history is addressed. Future research should study the relation between dream content and culture in representative samples; to this purpose dream diaries, sampling daily average dreams, seem preferable to most recent dreams.

Can visual familiarity influence attitudes towards brands? An exploratory study of advergame design and cross-cultural consumer behaviour

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between advergame design, advergame experience and consumer behaviour across cultures. For this purpose, a study was designed to compare and contrast behaviour patterns across Brazilian and British cultures. An advergame (Colheita de Café (CC)), featuring the Fairtrade mark was developed through a semiotics approach. Participants from both Brazil (N = 30) and the UK (N = 34) were invited to play the advergame and answer a questionnaire before and after gameplay. The results indicate that Brazilians felt more familiar with the visual elements incorporated by the advergame when compared to British consumers. Brazilians also had more favourable attitudes towards the brand, suggesting that visual familiarity could influence consumer behaviour. Contrary to our expectations, both Brazilian and British respondents had the same attitudes towards the advergame, showing that visual familiarity did not particularly influence the advergame experience. The main contribution of this paper is the suggestion that visual familiarity could influence consumer behaviour across cultures. We expect that our findings can be used in future research that examines cultural nuances in advergame design.

Tradução e adaptação transcultural do Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting 17+ para o português brasileiro: equivalência conceitual, de itens e semântica

Perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting 17+ (DASH 17+) for Brazilians. Evaluation of (1) conceptual, item and (2) semantic equivalence, with assistance of four translators and application of a pilot study to 36 students. (1) The concepts and items are equivalent in the British and Brazilian cultures. (2) Adaptations were made concerning the English language pangram used in copying tasks and selection of the lower-case, cursive handwriting in the alphabet-writing task. Application of the pilot study verified acceptability and understanding of the proposed tasks by the students. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the DASH 17+ was presented after finalization of the conceptual, item and semantic equivalence of the instrument. Further studies on psychometric properties should be conducted with the purpose of measuring the speed of handwriting in youngsters and adults with greater reliability and validity to the procedure.

Abstract A29: Omics profile of two immortalized Brazilian glioblastoma cell cultures

Abstract Background: Glioblastomas are the most frequent and deadly brain tumors. Genomic alterations, as well as its high heterogeneity, are important features of these tumors. Despite the advances in the biology of these tumors, it is essential to develop models, such as primary tumor cell lines, that better mimic their genomic diversity and therapeutic behavior. We aimed to characterize the molecular profile of two (HCB2 and HCB151) established immortalized glioblastoma cell lines. Methods: Immortalized glioblastoma cell lines, HCB2 and HCB151, were established from Barretos Cancer Hospital patients diagnosed with glioblastoma. The cells were cultured with DMEM+10%BFS+1%PS and molecularly characterized, using arrayCGH, next-generation sequencing (Ion Torrent) and validated by Sanger sequencing, miRNA expression and CNV using the NanoString platform, and BD Lyoplate™ Human Cell Surface Marker Screening Panel using Accuri™ C6 flow cytometer. The tumorigenic capacity was further determined in vivo by the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, and its response to temozolomide-based chemotherapy was done by MTS. Results: The aCGH analysis showed that the most frequent events was the gain of chromosome 7 and loss of chromosomes 10, 13, and 17p. HCB2 exhibited mutations in the TERT gene, while HCB151 showed mutations in the TP53, PTEN, LZTR1, and TERT genes. The immortalized cultures present an unique miRNA profile. The CAM assay showed that HCB2 and HCB151 were able to form vascularized tumors, with HCB151 more aggressive than HCB2. In addition, both HCB2 (IC50>1000 µM) and HCB151 (IC50=783 µM) showed resistance to TMZ when compared to commercial glioblastomas cell lines (23-441 µM). Conclusion: The present findings showed that the immortalized glioblastoma cell lines showed classic genomic features of glioblastomas and exhibited a similar biologic behavior, suggesting that these cell lines are a good model for glioblastoma preclinical studies. Citation Format: Adriana Cruvinel-Carloni, Renato José da Silva-Oliveira, Viviane Aline Oliveira-Silva, Marcela Nunes Rosa, Lucas Tadeu Bidinotto, Gustavo Noriz Berdinarelli, Raul Torrieri, Adriane Feijó Evangelista, Olga Catarina Martinho, Vera Mónica Gonçalves, Carlos Clara, Gisele Caravina de Almeida, Rui Manuel Reis. Omics profile of two immortalized Brazilian glioblastoma cell cultures [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR International Conference held in cooperation with the Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group (LACOG) on Translational Cancer Medicine; May 4-6, 2017; São Paulo, Brazil. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2018;24(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A29.

Individualization versus Polarization: Organizational Cultures and Subcultures in Brazilian and North American Hospitals

The present study seeks to generate systematic, comparable knowledge about the content and dynamics, of organizational cultures and subcultures of hospitals operating in the USA and Brazil. As a methodological approach, survey data on perceptions of organizational culture were collected from managerial staff of 4 US and 5 Brazilian hospitals. Analyses of Variance and Cluster Analyses were employed to assess the locus of variation in perceptions of organizational culture. The results shows that while perceptions of organizational culture varied significantly by country and industry, variation in the cultures of individual institutions was much greater than variation in national means. While US hospitals studied exhibited considerable individualism in their cultures and subcultures, the Brazilian hospital cultures and subcultures were polarized such that the cultural profile on one institution was often an inverse image of the profile of another.

Football, fan violence, and identity fusion

Football violence has been a global problem for decades. A new way to approach the phenomenon comes from the theory of identity fusion, an extreme form of social bonding implicated in personally costly pro-group behaviours. Using British and Brazilian fan cultures to illustrate, this article discusses the ways in which identity fusion can help understandings of football violence. While hooliganism in the UK and the phenomenon of torcidas organizadas in Brazil operate under culturally distinct loci, the fundamental cognition underlying the extreme behaviours exhibited by both may be remarkably similar. Through this discussion, the football landscape is shown to offer researchers unique opportunities for understanding culture and the human psyche more broadly.

Microbiology of Tracheal Secretions: What to Expect with Children and Adolescents with Tracheostomies.

Introduction People with tracheostomies exhibit a higher risk of colonization of the lower respiratory tract, acute tracheitis and pneumonia. Despite this, the culture of tracheal secretions is not a routine in most hospitals, and sometimes empiric therapy is based on personal experience, which is not an ideal situation. Objective To recognize the pathogens present in the tracheal secretions collected from people up to 18 years old with tracheostomies. Methods Prospective evaluation of patients under the age of 18 of a tertiary care hospital. A standardized questionnaire was completed, and tracheal secretion aspirates were sent for microbiological cultures and antibiograms. Results Twenty patients under 18 years of age were evaluated, 65% of whom were male. The microbiological culture was positive in 90% of the patients, and the most common microorganisms found were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (55.5%) and Staphylococcus aureus (27.7%). Discussion Tracheostomized children and adolescents have respiratory tracts colonized by pathogens, the most common of which is Pseudomonas aeruginosa . These patients must undergo tracheal secretion cultures, whether they present symptoms or not, to determine if there is a correlation between the colonization and the infections. This finding could guide the adequate treatment, avoiding the inappropriate use of antibiotics and indicating the better therapy in cases of laryngeal reconstruction. Conclusion In this sample, the culture of tracheal secretions was mainly positive, and the most common agent was P. aeruginosa . We suggest the routine access to Brazilian children and adolescents tracheal secretion cultures, which could help to make a profile of these children and guide the use of antibiotics.

Machado de Assis on Popular Music: A Case for Cultural Studies in Nineteenth-Century Latin America

Abstract: Dialoguing with a recent essay by composer and critic José Miguel Wisnik, this article discusses Machado de Assis’ “Um Homem Célebre” and “O Machete” against the background of the music of nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro, particularly the evolution of polka into the first Brazilian urban genre, the maxixe. The premise is that Machado’s fiction can help us rethink a number of questions pertaining to the then emerging realm of mass culture, the professionalization of musicians and writers, and the complex interaction between Brazilian and European cultures in the nineteenth century.

The language of football: a cultural analysis of selected world cup nations

This essay aims to describe how actions in the football field relate to the different national teams’ and countries’ cultural understanding of football and how these actions become spoken dialects within a language of football. Inspired by Edgar Schein’s framework of culture, the Brazilian and Italian national team football cultures were examined. The basis of the analysis was both document and video analysis. The documents were mostly research studies and popular books on the national football cultures, while the video analysis included all matches including Italy and Brazil from the World Cup in 2010 and 2014. The cultural analysis showed some coherence between the national football cultures and the national teams, which suggested a national dialect with the language of the game. Each national dialect seemed to be based on different basic assumptions and to some extent specific symbolic actions on the field. The actions were found to be quite dynamic, which questions the cultural stability at the national team level. Furthermore, the analysis also revealed some incoherence between the national teams and the Brazilian and Italian football culture in general. The results question the idea of the national team as a symbol of a particular national football culture.

English

The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of trace constituents of Brazilian and Portuguese cultures on the establishment of relationships of trust. For this purpose the head office of a Portuguese multinational company and its subsidiary in Brazil were investigated, by means of research of a qualitative nature, utilizing the case study method. Regarding data collection, twelve interviews were carried out with managers drawn from both countries, based on an interview script developed from a wide-ranging review of the literature on the theme, especially that written from the anthropological perspective, as proposed by Schein (1992). The reports of the interviews gave evidence of the relevance of a more effective management of cultural artefacts, in particular greater attention to the sharing of values, in order to foster the building of stronger bonds of trust and to stimulate cultural contexts more in tune with contemporary organizational discourse.

Ultra-low temperature conservation of Brazilian Pine embryogenic cultures

This study aimed to establish a cryopreservation protocol for embryogenic cultures of A. angustifolia, enabling the ex situ conservation of the species. Embryogenic cultures were established from immature seeds and treated with variations of the cryoprotectant solutions SuDG, SoD and PVS2 prior to immersion in liquid nitrogen. Cell viability was evaluated after 30, 60 and 90 days of re-growth. The highest re-growth without morphological alterations and with normal biochemical composition was obtained with the PVS2 solution with 40 min immersion in ethanol (-20 °C). This procedure opens new horizons for the ex situ conservation of the species genetic.

The cross-cultural process of adapting observational tools for pediatric pain assessment: the case of the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire.

BackgroundA rigorous cross-cultural adaptation process of an existing instrument could be the best option for measuring health in different cultures, instead of developing a new tool, and prior to psychometric and validation testing. The Dental Discomfort Questionnaire (DDQ), a validated instrument for assessing toothache in young children, has not been cross-culturally adapted so far. This study aimed to explore the detailed phases of the cross-cultural adaptation process of a pain assessment tool, presenting the example of the DDQ Brazilian-Portuguese adapted version.MethodsThe study design was based on the universalist approach, which consists of a sequential analysis to assess the relevant phases of a cross-cultural process before testing the measures of the instrument: conceptual, item, semantic, and operational equivalences. Systematic information was gathered from the literature, expert discussions, translations, and pre-testing through cognitive interviews with Brazilian population.ResultsDetailed description of the three major phases for a cross-cultural adaptation process was given. Notes of the changes done in the structure of the presented instrument (DDQ) were specifically pointed out at each phase. Conceptual and item analyses showed that there are similarities in the DDQ construct between the original and Brazilian cultures that require minor modifications. Translations and back-translations allowed the development of the preliminary Brazilian-Portuguese version of the DDQ, which was tested and underwent other minor changes to improve its comprehensibility.ConclusionsDescribing the phases was important to show how changes are made in a cross-cultural adaptation process of an instrument. This also could help researchers in adapting similar pediatric pain assessment tools to different cultures. A Brazilian-Portuguese version of the DDQ was presented.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-897) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transnational Pentecostal Connections

The paper analyses transnational flows of Pentecostalism between Australia and Brazil. It analyses the establishment of CNA, a Brazilian church that caters for the increasing number of Brazilian students in Sydney. It also investigates the ways in which Hillsong, an Australian Pentecostal megachurch, has influenced CNA and has been alluring young Pentecostal Brazilians to Australia. Scholars have paid little attention to how religious institutions in the host country may influence rituals and facilitate the establishment of the new church. I argue that churches created by migrants are not established in a deterritorialized diasporic vacuum. Reterritorialization engenders hybridity. Following an admiration for Australian churches due to Australia being part of the English-speaking developed world, CNA is a hybrid of a conservative Brazilian Baptist church and the very informal Hillsong church. I contend that it is precisely this hybridity that makes young Brazilians adhere to it since the church works as an effective bridge between Brazilian and Australian cultures. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates the polycentric nature of Pentecostalism, as Australia is becoming a centre for the dissemination of Hillsong-style Pentecostalism in Brazil.

On the Move and in the Making: Brazilian Culinary Cultures in London

AbstractThis article examines how the sale and marketing of Brazilian food in London is implicated in the making of a “diasporic” national cuisine. One of the main findings is that the emotional geographies of longing are the principal drivers of Brazilian food commerce in London, the aptly named economia da saudade (homesickness/nostalgia economy). This article is based on qualitative research gathered through observation in Brazilian food commerce in London and semi-structured interviews with chefs, owners, and staff as well as Brazilian migrants. The article argues that Brazilian food as a cultural product has a paradoxical role: it reinforces and plays an active part in the construction of the idea of being Brazilian away from home, but it also can be an arena where meanings of “Brazilianness” and its representations are disputed.

Museu Histórico Nacional

Situated in the historical area of Rio de Janeiro, in one of the city’s most important architectural complexes, the National Historical Museum, an integrant of the Brazilian Institute of Museums, is the guardian of the largest collection of culturalheritage of the Brazilian Ministry of Culture. With more than 277. 500 items, among which the largest numismatics’ collection of Latin America, sculptures, iconographic and manuscripts documents, paintings, rare masterworks , civilian and military garments, gunnery, ancient historical vehicles, toysand other significant objects from native Brazilian and African cultures. Host to the first Museology school in Brazil – nowadayslocated at UNIRIO – the museum develops intense research and editorial activities, offers international seminars, courses,training programs for teachers and guided tours to the long duration and temporary exhibitions for elementary and secondgrade students. It also has special projects aiming to enhance the democratic access of all of the various strata of Brazilian society.

The -195C→G Substitution In Brazilian Hereditary Persistence of Fetal Hemoglobin Decreases NF-E1/YY1 Binding and Increases PAX1 Binding to the A Gamma Globin Promoter Region

AbstractAbstract 2066Hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) is a condition that prevents hemoglobin switching and the consequent silencing of the gamma globin genes, resulting in continued hemoglobin (Hb) F synthesis in adults. Two types of HPFH are responsible for this phenotype: deletional HPFH – deletions in the end of the beta globin locus – and non-deletional HPFH (ndHPFH) – single point mutations in the proximal promoter of both gamma globin genes. Sickle cell anemia patients or beta-thalassemia patients that present HPFH show high levels of HbF that are associated with less severe clinical course in these diseases. The development of new therapies based on the reactivation of gamma globin expression may be important for the treatment of these patients. The Brazilian ndHPFH type is characterized as a C→G substitution in the A gamma globin promoter at position –195 and the molecular mechanism responsible for the reactivation of this gene in the Brazilian ndHPFH type remains unclear. In contrast to the British ndHPFH type (-198), where the mechanism responsible for the increase of HbF levels is mediated by the raising in the affinity for the Sp1 transcription factor (TF), the Brazilian ndHPFH mutation does not affect Sp1 binding. Thus, other TF may be involved in the reactivation of the A gamma globin gene in the Brazilian ndHPFH type. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism involved in the reactivation or repression of the A gamma globin gene in the Brazilian ndHPFH type and identify possible TF responsible for this phenotype. In vitro primary human erythroblast cultures, derived from human CD34+ hematopoietic cells from 4 Brazilian ndHPFH type subjects and 4 control subjects, were proliferated and differentiated into late stage erythroblasts. The nuclear extracts from predominantly basophilic and polychromatic erythroblasts were used to profile TF activity using Protein-DNA Array method. The analysis of the array densitometry identified a number of TF whose DNA binding activities were either enhanced or repressed in the Brazilian ndHPFH cultures. Among the TF analyzed, the NF-E1/YY1 and the PAX-1 were selected for this study. Since this assay requires a secondary method to confirm these results, nuclear extracts were used to conduct chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). ChIP was carried out using antibodies against NF-E1/YY1 and PAX-1 to quantify the binding to these TF to the –195 A gamma globin promoter region. EMSA was performed using probes with the same sequence spotted on the array membrane to analyze the activity of NF-E1/YY1 and PAX-1. Both methods confirmed and validated the previous array results. NF-E1/YY1 is a transcription factor that represses embryonic (epsilon) and fetal (gamma) globin genes. Protein-DNA array and EMSA showed a decreased binding of NF-E1/YY1 in Brazilian ndHPFH nuclear extracts and ChIP analysis revealed diminished NF-E1/YY1 occupancy at the –195 A gamma globin promoter region of Brazilian ndHPFH. The consensus binding site for NF-E1/YY1 is a CCAN motif that is observed between the –195 and –192 position in the A gamma globin promoter region. The C→G substitution at –195 position may disrupt this DNA binding site, cause decreased NF-E1/YY1 interaction and probably allows the binding of PAX-1, a transcriptional activator with a paired box DNA-binding domain that has as a DNA binding core motif, the sequence TTCCGC. This sequence, located between the –199 and –194 position in the A gamma globin promoter, is only presente in the Brazilian type of ndHPFH. Our protein-DNA array and EMSA results showed an increased binding of PAX-1 in the Brazilian ndHPFH nuclear extracts and quantitative ChIP analysis with anti-PAX-1 antibody showed that PAX-1 binds to the –195 A gamma globin promoter region only in the presence of this C→G substitution. These results suggest that the –195 site (C→G) in the A gamma globin promoter region may decrease NF-E1/YY1 binding and increase PAX-1 binding in this DNA region, probably resulting in the reactivation of the A gamma globin gene. The increase in the HbF levels in the Brazilian ndHPFH occurs differently from the British ndHPFH type and represents a novel mechanism of A gamma globin reactivation. Such findings may lead to the development of future therapeutic strategies for HbF induction in the treatment of other hemoglobinopathies.Support by FAPESP and CNPq. Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Qualidade de leites fermentados funcionais elaborados a partir de bactérias ácido-lácticas isoladas de queijo de coalho

Leites fermentados foram elaborados a partir de bactérias ácido-lácticas com propriedades funcionais, isoladas de queijo de coalho com e sem a adição de concentrado proteico de soro (CPS). Características físico-químicas, microbiológicas e sensoriais dos produtos elaborados foram analisadas durante 40 dias de estocagem sob refrigeração a 8-10ºC. Todos os leites fermentados elaborados, independentemente da adição de CPS e da cultura utilizada, apresentaram contagens adequadas de bactérias (>10(8)UFC/mL) durante todo o período de avaliação, o que garantiria seu possível potencial funcional. Leites fermentados por Lactobacillus acidophilus apresentaram melhor aceitação (P<0,05) pelos provadores aos 10 dias de estocagem; enquanto, aos 40 dias, o leite fermentado por Weissella confusa sem CPS resultou em pior aceitação (P<0,05). A associação de Lactobacillus acidophilus e Weissella confusa ou somente Lactobacillus acidophilus, independentemente da adição de CPS, seriam recomendados para elaboração industrial de novos leites fermentados potencialmente funcionais a partir de culturas lácticas brasileiras.

Representing National Culture, Values and Identity in the Brazilian Television Mini-series

The telenovela is a significant indicator of social and cultural representation on Brazilian nightly television. In this context, however, representations of Brazil are not entirely limited to the telenovela, but incorporate other devices that represent a broader spectrum of Brazil’s diverse societies and cultures. In this article, I discuss how the Brazilian television mini-series provides such a unique and unacknowledged ambit, reflecting discernible continuities and changes in Brazilian national cultures, values and identities. The concept of hybridity forms a theoretical framework for the following discussions. Methodologically, I relate data from textual, press and interview analyses to the research question and discuss how this reveals additional discourses of representation. As a result, the mini-series, rather than implicitly mirroring the production and viewing characteristics of the telenovela, explicitly engages with pedagogical devices such as imagination, perception and (un)familiarity, greatly expanding Brazilian television’s social-cultural representations of Brazil.