Brazilian Research Groups Research Articles

Pesquisa em representações sociais no Brasil: cartografia dos grupos registrados no CNPq

Abstract: In this work, we identify and characterize the Brazilian research groups that develop the social representation theory (SRT). We collected data from the CNPq’s Research Groups Directory submitting terms like “social representation” and “social representations”, without time period. Then, we analyzed of the page groups, organized and analyzed of results. We identified 172 research groups studding SRT, the most part of them from the Southeastern region of Brazil. We concluded that SRT is a theoretical and methodological framework, active and in constant production in Brazil. SRT is an interdisciplinary theory, being present in different knowledge areas and fields, and it helps the comprehension of phenomena in distinct contexts. Keywords: social representation theory; research groups; bibliographical research; social psychology; social cognition.

From remediation to premediation: or how the affective immediacy of late 90’s digital society evolves to an continuous affectivity anticipation of future in the 21th century

Richard Grusin one of the most well known on media studies researchers and a pioneer on this area. His work concerns historical, theoretical, and aesthetic aspects of media technologies. With Jay David Bolter he is the author of Remediation: Understanding New Meda (MIT, 1999), which sketches out a genealogy of new media, beginning with the contradictory visual logics underlying contemporary digital media; Remediation has a remarkable connection with his fourth book, Premediation: Affect and Mediality After 9/11 (Palgrave, 2010), which argues that in an era of heightened securitization, socially networked US and global media work to pre-mediate collective affects of anticipation and connectivity, while also perpetuating low levels of apprehension or fear. The richness of his analysis is the connection between our daily and real life to the digital ambiances that underlies our society. Richard Grusin had recently visited many Brazilian Universities and research groups for a series of conferences and master classes focusing on the dark side of the digital humanities, and also the discussion on premediation social state-of-life.

New features on Pso2 protein family in DNA interstrand cross-link repair and in the maintenance of genomic integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Pso2 protein, a member of the highly conserved metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) super family of nucleases, plays a central role in interstrand crosslink repair (ICL) in yeast. Pso2 protein is the founder member of a distinct group within the MBL superfamily, called β-CASP family. Three mammalian orthologs of this protein that act on DNA were identified: SNM1A, SNM1B/Apollo and SNM1C/Artemis. Yeast Pso2 and all three mammalian orthologs proteins have been shown to possess nuclease activity. Besides Pso2, ICL repair involves proteins of several DNA repair pathways. Over the last years, new homologs for human proteins have been identified in yeast. In this review, we will focus on studies clarifying the function of Pso2 protein during ICL repair in yeast, emphasizing the contribution of Brazilian research groups in this topic. New sub-pathways in the mechanisms of ICL repair, such as recently identified conserved Fanconi Anemia pathway in yeast as well as a contribution of non-homologous end joining are discussed.

The Brazilian research contribution to knowledge of the plant communities from Antarctic ice free areas

This work aims to summarize the results of research carried out by Brazilian researchers on the plant communities of Antarctic ice free areas during the last twenty five years. Since 1988 field work has been carried out in Elephant Island, King George Island, Nelson Island and Deception Island. During this period six papers were published on the chemistry of lichens, seven papers on plant taxonomy, five papers on plant biology, two studies on UVB photoprotection, three studies about the relationships between plant communities and bird colonies and eleven papers on plant communities from ice free areas. At the present, Brazilian botanists are researching the plant communities of Antarctic ice free areas in order to understand their relationships to soil microbial communities, the biodiversity, the distribution of the plants populations and their relationship with birds colonies. In addition to these activities, a group of Brazilian researchers are undertaking studies related to Antarctic plant genetic diversity, plant chemistry and their biotechnological applications.

Green chemistry in Brazil

The philosophy of green chemistry has been very well received in Latin America’s research and development programs. In this review we describe the green chemistry contributions of Brazilian research groups over the last three years.

A success in Toxinology translational research in Brazil: Bridging the gap

Basic research is fundamental for discovering potential diagnostic and therapeutic tools, including drugs, vaccines and new diagnostic techniques. On this basis, diagnosis and treatment methods for many diseases have been developed. Presently, discovering new candidate molecules and testing them in animals are relatively easy tasks that require modest resources and responsibility. However, crossing the animal-to-human barrier is still a great challenge that most researchers tend to avoid. Thus, bridging this current gap between clinical and basic research must be encouraged and elucidated in training programmes for health professionals. This project clearly shows the challenges faced by a group of Brazilian researchers who, after discovering a new fibrin sealant through 20 years of painstaking basic work, insisted on having the product applied clinically. The Brazilian government has recently become aware of this challenge and has accordingly defined the product as strategic to the public health of the country. Thus, in addition to financing research and development laboratories, resources were invested in clinical trials and in the development of a virtual platform termed the Virtual System to Support Clinical Research (SAVPC); this platform imparts speed, reliability and visibility to advances in product development, fostering interactions among sponsors, physicians, students and, ultimately, the research subjects themselves. This pioneering project may become a future model for other public institutions in Brazil, principally in overcoming neglected diseases, which unfortunately continue to afflict this tropical country.

Stem cells and cell therapy: From basic sciences to clinical perspectives

Stem cells are seen as a possible solution for organ and tissue regeneration and for the treatment or even cure of various diseases. There are basically two types of stem cells: embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos and exhibit an extensive multiplication and differentiation potential. On the other hand, adult stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and other tissues, have a lower multiplication and differentiation capacity but are more easily isolated and applied. In adult stem cell therapies using bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplantation, the differentiation of a certain cell type is induced and its multiplication is stimulated, followed by the implantation of these cells into damaged tissues. Examples of the application of stem cells include the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes mellitus and heart diseases. Stem cells open up new prospects for the treatment of a series of diseases. In this respect, basic knowledge of the mechanisms of growth and differentiation of these cells is of the utmost importance to optimize therapeutic results. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of stem cell differentiation and describe the clinical results reported in the literature, mainly by Brazilian research groups.

Academic Research in Technology Innovation Management and Related Thematic Areas in Brazil

This paper presents a profile of a Brazilian academic research group in areas related to the management of technology innovation. Keywords searches have been chosen to generate a database composed of information about research groups, projects that are funded by Brazilian Federal Government and scientific journals. Data analysis allowed the following conclusions: 1. Most research groups have been established in the 2000s, when innovation Policies have been settled in Brazil; 2. Most of the research is located in regions which have better science and technology infrastructure; 3. There is low interaction between researchers and public/private companies; 4. Federal Agencies tend to support projects related to innovation policy instruments (technology parks, local production systems, technology transfer centers in universities and research institutes).

Astrobiology in Brazil: early history and perspectives

AbstractThis review reports the Brazilian history in astrobiology, as well as the first delineation of a vision of the future development of the field in the country, exploring its abundant biodiversity, highly capable human resources and state-of-the-art facilities, reflecting the last few years of stable governmental investments in science, technology and education, all conditions providing good perspectives on continued and steadily growing funding for astrobiology-related research. Brazil is growing steadily and fast in terms of its worldwide economic power, an effect being reflected in different areas of the Brazilian society, including industry, technology, education, social care and scientific production. In the field of astrobiology, the country has had some important landmarks, more intensely after the First Brazilian Workshop on Astrobiology in 2006. The history of astrobiology in Brazil, however, is not so recent and had its first occurrence in 1958. Since then, researchers carried out many individual initiatives across the country in astrobiology-related fields, resulting in an ever growing and expressive scientific production. The number of publications, including articles and theses, has particularly increased in the last decade, but still counting with the effort of researchers working individually. That scenario started to change in 2009, when a formal group of Brazilian researchers working with astrobiology was organized, aiming at congregating the scientific community interested in the subject and to promote the necessary interactions to achieve a multidisciplinary work, receiving facilities and funding from the University de Sao Paulo and other funding agencies.

A criação da área "nutrição" na Capes

Este texto foi elaborado com base no documento formulado pelo Fórum Nacional de Coordenadores de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Alimentação e Nutrição, que apresentou a proposta de criação da área de Alimentação e Nutrição junto à Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior do Ministério da Educação. Partindo da constituição da Alimentação e Nutrição como campo de conhecimentos e práticas no Brasil, destaca-se o papel aí desempenhado pelo Fórum Nacional de Coordenadores de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Alimentação e Nutrição, no sentido de seu fortalecimento acadêmico. Descreve-se o perfil desses programas desde os anos 1970, com ênfase em seu crescimento numérico e qualitativo. Consideram-se as linhas de pesquisa que os compõem e seus núcleos de saberes como indicativos de sua conformação epistêmica e os grupos de pesquisa brasileiros nesse campo, como potencial de incorporação e de criação de novos cursos de mestrado e doutorado. A nova área denominada de "Nutrição" foi criada em 2011, com programas distri-buídos pelo País, exceto na Região Norte. A partir desse momento, o Fórum Nacional de Coordenadores de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Alimentação e Nutrição, representando os 18 programas que inicialmente compõem a área, juntamente com a coordenação e a comissão designadas pela Coordenação de Aper-feiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, têm o desafio de fortalecer a formação brasileira pós-graduada stricto sensu no campo científico da Alimentação e Nutrição.

THE COOPERATIVE CURRICULUM IN ENGINEERING: CURRICULAR INNOVATION AND PROFESSORS DEVELOPMENT¹

This study offers the opportunity of discussing studies that a Brazilian research group, made up of researchers from different universities and students, has been carrying out concerning cooperative courses in Engineering in Brazil. Investigation is concentrated in the observation of its innovative curricular characteristics and the professional development of the professor which is required for carrying out this new curriculum. It is based on bibliographical and case studies, documental analysis, individual and collective research, participation of the group members in seminars and specific events connected to the theme.

Stimulating the Formation of the Physician-Scientist; Scientific Exposure during the Medical Course in Brazil

Despite major advances in medical research, there is a decline in the number of physician-scientists. It is necessary to stimulate the involvement of MDs in the scientific endeavor. Brazil has a national program which stimulates the participation of undergraduate students, including medical students, in research projects as a regular academic activity. Herewith we analyze the introductory scientific program and the involvement of MDs in research in Brazil. The program to promote early scientific exposure during the undergraduate or medical course has the objective of recognizing students with aptitude for scientific research. Brazilian research groups in the area of medicine show a continuous increase, and the health sciences represent a sizable part of graduate students who receive scientific initiation fellowships. An important part of students who participated in introductory scientific programs continued in scientific activities in graduate programs. This finding supports the importance of basic scientific research in stimulating students to follow a scientific career.

Practices for caring in nursing: Brazilian research groups

The present study considers the production of knowledge and the interactions in the environment of research and their relationships in the system of caring in nursing and health. To elaborate a theoretical model of the organization of the practices used for caring, based on the experiences made by the research groups of administration and management in nursing, in Brazil. The study is based on grounded theory. Twelve leaders of research groups, working as professors in public universities in the south and the south-east of Brazil, distributed in sample groups, were interviewed. The core phenomenon 'research groups of administration and management in nursing: arrangements and interactions in the system of caring in nursing' was derived from the categories: conceptual bases and contexts of the research groups; experiencing interactions in the research groups; functionality of the research groups; and outputs of the research groups. The research groups are integrated in the system of caring in nursing. The activities of the Brazilian administration and management in nursing research groups are process oriented and in a process of constant renovation, socially relevant, operate in a complex scenario and contribute to the advancement of the organizations of the system of caring in nursing through strengthening the connection among academia, service and community.

Realidade Virtual para saúde no Brasil: conceitos, desafios e oportunidades

Virtual Reality (VR) is a typically multidisciplinary field which involves concepts from Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Arts as well as concepts from the specific application field. Because VR allows a more natural human-computer interaction in three-dimensional environments and enables the reproduction of real situations, it becomes a resource of wide potential for healthcare field. This paper discusses concepts, challenges and opportunities of Virtual Reality applications for healthcare in Brazil, by presenting a study about researches in the area and developed applications. The analysis of the current situation shows that there are various Brazilian research groups developing applications considering great diversity of subjects, covering mainly training and education area. This analysis shows that there are still many challenges to be overcome so that applications using Virtual Reality can be included in the routine of healthcare professionals. On one hand these challenges hinder the effective use of technology in practice, on the other they open new opportunities for research and development, as is highlighted in the conclusion of this paper.

Bioinformatics-Coupled Molecular Approaches for Unravelling Potential Antimicrobial Peptides Coding Genes in Brazilian Native and Crop Plant Species

As eukaryotes, plants include in innate defense antimicrobial peptides (AMP), usually small cysteine or glycine-rich peptides effective against a wide range of pathogens. The main classes of AMPs are represented by alpha/beta-defensins, lipid-transfer proteins, thionins, cyclotides, snakins and hevein-like, according to amino acid sequence homology. In spite of increasing number of described AMPs from plants, last decade advances in methodologies for gene expression and the huge amounts of genomic, proteomic and other "-omics" data lead to new prospection strategies of novel potential candidates. Organised user-friendly databases are available to be searched and enlarged with newly discovered plant-derived AMPs. Bioinformatics has allowed the application of in silico-associated molecular tools aiming to screen and identify genes coding for these peptides, starting from genome, transcriptomes, proteome or metabolome from various cultivated or wild plants. As expected, crop plants have been the main target for AMP research and application, also because the higher availability of molecular data. However, wild plant species biodiversity and results for AMP search have increased the importance of characterization in native plants. Enormous plant diversity in Brazilian ecosystems summed to croplands provides potential targets to identify novel candidates for plant AMP. Despite these opportunities, bioinformatics tools are restricted to species whose "-omics" are available, otherwise only heterology-based analyses are feasible, as it has been the case of most Brazilian plant AMP prospection research groups. Still rare, but promising results indicate that this research field on Brazilian crop/native species presents a growing trend of application in agriculture, medicine and industry.

Desafios da Pós-Graduação em Psicologia no Brasil

Com menos de cinco décadas de regulamentação, o sistema de pós-graduação no Brasil pode ser considerado bem sucedido do ponto de vista de suas realizações, embora inacabado quanto a algumas de suas feições fundamentais. Na área de Psicologia, o sistema compreende 64 Programas, 42 deles com o nível de Doutorado. Para responder de modo eficiente às demandas dirigidas à pós-graduação no Brasil, a área de Psicologia precisará enfrentar um conjunto de desafios, dentre os quais destacamos: a expansão da abrangência geográfica e temática, de modo a vencer assimetrias regionais e desequilíbrios na cobertura das subáreas e temas de pesquisa em Psicologia; o aperfeiçoamento do sistema de avaliação, a fim de contemplar a diversidade das estratégias de formação e da produção de conhecimento nas subáreas da Psicologia; a articulação dos diferentes resultados possíveis da pós-graduação em Psicologia, a partir do reconhecimento de que as bases para a produção de conhecimento na área variam quanto à imposição de demandas adicionais e à possibilidade de associar produção de conhecimento ao desenvolvimento de tecnologias de intervenção; e a formulação de políticas voltadas à qualificação do sistema, por exemplo, por meio do incremento das redes de pesquisa, da internacionalização dos grupos, da divulgação da produção científica e da formação metodológica mais sólida e ampla. Um diagnóstico mais cuidadoso desses e de outros desafios, em suas múltiplas dimensões, poderá conduzir a um aproveitamento mais eficiente das potencialidades dos grupos brasileiros de pesquisa em Psicologia, na formação de novos pesquisadores e na produção de conhecimento.

A pesquisa sobre segurança alimentar e nutricional no Brasil de 2000 a 2005: tendências e desafios

Discussion of Research on Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) in Brazil started with the Directory of Brazilian Research Groups from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Searches using the expression 'food security' allowed the identification of 72 groups in 2005. Proportions between researchers and students suggest little dynamism and consolidation of such research. Groups in the area of Food Science and Technology, and those concerned with food quality are predominant; then there is the Nutrition area, mainly discussing the nutritional state of population groups; in the field of Humanities there is a small number of groups discussing political, economic and social aspects within FNS's national and regional scopes. It seems that investments in the integration between food and nutrition components of research on FNS are necessary, in order to attenuate differences between the economic (food security) and the social focus (human rights to a healthy nutrition).

Bioethanol from lignocelluloses: Status and perspectives in Brazil

The National Alcohol Program – PróAlcool, created by the government of Brazil in 1975 resulted less dependency on fossil fuels. The addition of 25% ethanol to gasoline reduced the import of 550 million barrels oil and also reduced the emission CO2 by 110 million tons. Today, 44% of the Brazilian energy matrix is renewable and 13.5% is derived from sugarcane. Brazil has a land area of 851 million hectares, of which 54% are preserved, including the Amazon forest (350 million hectares). From the land available for agriculture (340 million hectares), only 0.9% is occupied by sugarcane as energy crop, showing a great expansion potential. Studies have shown that in the coming years, ethanol yield per hectare of sugarcane, which presently is 6000L/ha, could reach 10,000L/ha, if 50% of the produced bagasse would be converted to ethanol. This article describes the efforts of different Brazilian institutions and research groups on second generation bioethanol production, especially from sugarcane bagasse.

PREFACE: Oecologia Brasiliensis - Ecophysiological strategies of xerophytic and amphibious plants in the neotropics

Due to a growing interest in biodiversity issues, plant ecology research in Brazil in the past decades has predominantly aimed to produce descriptive accounts of vegetation structure, floristics and phytosociology. However, following the tradition of the notable Brazilian ecologists of the 40’s and 50’s, several studies conducted by a distinctive group of young Brazilian researchers were characteristically concerned with the relationship between plants and theirs physical and chemical environment. Thus, the main purpose of this volume is to review the bulk of achievements of this group of functional ecologists in order to call the attention of our expressive new generation of plant ecologists to functional and adaptive mechanisms related to plant survival and growth in environments subjected to seasonal drought or flooding. Therefore, the reviews were grouped under two sections, namely Xerophytic Plants and Amphibious Plants . The reviews altogether quote over 700 references gathering tropical examples of plant life strategies, contemporary theoretical issues related to stress ecophysiology, and modern techniques for measuring and assessing plant fitness, survival and productivity. Despite all this effort there are many gaps still to be filled. We hope this volume will contribute to point out directions for future research. We are indebted to the Brazilian Botanical Society (SBB) who let us organize the Ecophysiology Symposium in the XLVII Congresso Nacional de Botânica (22, 23/vi/1996), where these reviews were presented. CNPq, RHAE/Meio Ambiente ans SBBB financed the trip of the invited researchers. The Post-Graduate Program in Ecology of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro allocated funds for the edition of this volume. We are particularly thankful to the reviewers, whose comments improved the quality of the present reviews; and to Prof. Dorothy Sue Dunn de Araujo who patiently improved the English language used in all chapters. Considering that one of the main goals of the series Oecologia Brasiliensis is to attend the demand for literature of the vast number of Brazilian students of Ecology and that the three previous volumes were issued in Portuguese, it is worth to mention that the present volume was written in English for two reasons. The main reason is that the reduced number of Brazilian specialist on the theme dealt with here required the review of the articles were done by foreign researchers; secondly, we believe that in such manner we contribute to launch the series beyond our geographical borders. The Editors of the Volume.

Sociology of science: are knowledge production and the quest for scientific status two divergent courses?

With the publication of a cover article in Nature by a group of Brazilian researchers, it has been suggested that science in Brazil has "progressed" to a level comparable to that of more developed countries. We argue that Brazil's contribution to the world scientific circuit is otherwise not very significant, even if more biological journals are published there than in other countries of continental dimensions, such as Australia, Canada and Russia.