Relationship In Brazil Research Articles

Optimistic perspectives in communicating difficult news on fetal development

Communicating diagnostic news in health contexts is a potentially difficult event for all parties involved. However, despite this task's presence in the physician-patient context, it is rarely addressed during clinical training. The current study thus aimed to describe and evaluate how difficult news can be toned down during genetic counseling sessions involving cases of fetal syndromes and/or malformations. The study analyzed 33 naturalistic interactions (i.e. real situations), taped and transcribed, according to the theoretical and methodological perspective of Conversation Analysis, with an ethnomethodological basis. These interactions consisted of sessions in clinical genetics with pregnant women seen at the fetal medicine service of a reference hospital for maternal and child health in the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS). The analysis showed that communicating difficult news can be accompanied by optimistic perspectives that are scaled-up according to each situation's severity. In the absence of a positive diagnosis, the appointments can conclude with positive aspects such as recommendations for palliative care, so that the patient always leaves the appointment with some kind of recommendation. This study proposes to innovate and expand the scope of studies on communicating difficult news in the physician-patient relationship in Brazil, precisely by developing an analysis of real interactions in genetic counseling and thus providing interactional backing for training health professionals that deal with this challenge in their routine work.

Brazilian Legislators at Work: Constitutional Amendments as Electoral Strategy

Abstract Brazil's relationship with its constitution is significantly different from that of the United States. Brazilians have had eight different constitutions in less than 200 years, and each of these constitutional orders represented a rupture with existing state organization laws. Moreover, the promulgation of each of these, in their fundamental decisions, also contributed to the transformation of the electoral system by determining the extension of the electoral body, delineating eligibility criteria, changing existing party systems, and recomposing the elective powers. Aside from the obvious disruption resulting from developing, on average, a new constitution every 24 years, there were also several amendments and reforms to each of these constitutions while they were still in effect. Clearly, all these changes profoundly influenced the political system.

First report of Botrytis cinerea on Miconia cinnamomifolia

Miconia cinnamomifolia is a forest species with occurrence in Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Seedlings from a nursery located in Vicosa (State of Minas Gerais, Brazil) presented symptoms of damping-off. Based on morphology and the ITS sequence, the fungus was identified as belonging to the species Botrytis cinerea. This is the first record of this host-pathogen relationship in Brazil.

Geomorphometric tool associated with soil types and properties spatial variability at watersheds under tropical conditions

The application of quantitative methods to digital soil and geomorphological mapping is becoming an increasing trend. One of these methods, Geomorphons, was developed to identify the ten most common landforms based on digital elevation models. This study aimed to make a quantitative assessment of the relationships between Geomorphons units, determined at three spatial resolutions and nine radii, and soil types and properties of two watersheds with different soil-landscape relationships in Brazil to help soil surveying and mapping under tropical conditions. The study was conducted at Lavrinha Creek (LCW) and Marcela Creek (MCW) watersheds, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Spatial resolutions of 10, 20 and 30 m were the basis for generating Geomorphons at 9 radii of calculation for the watersheds. They were overlapped to detailed soil maps of the watersheds and a chi-square test was carried out to assess their relationship with soil types. Observation points were compared with the most highly correlated Geomorphons to also assess relationships with soil properties. Geomorphons with resolution of 30-m and radii of 20 and 50 cells, respectively for LCW and MCW, were more highly correlated with the variability of soil types, in accordance with the terrain features of these watersheds. The majority of observation points for each soil type was located in the same Geomorphon unit that was dominant when analyzing soil maps. There was less variability in soil properties between Geomorphon units, which was probably due to the highly weathered-leached stage of soils. Geomorphons can help to improve soil maps in tropical conditions when assessing soil variability due to its high correlation with tropical soil types variability.

Correlates of self-reported weekday sleep duration in adolescents: the 18-year follow-up of the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study

ObjectiveTo investigate factors associated with sleep duration in adolescence. MethodsData are from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study of 5249 live births. Of these individuals, 4563 were located for follow-up at 18 years of age, and 4106 agreed to be interviewed (follow-up rate 81.3%). Sleep duration was continuously assessed by survey as hours per weekday. Additional covariates were collected during the perinatal period and at the 11- and 18-year follow-ups. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between sleep duration and its hypothesized influences. All analyses were sex-stratified. ResultsThe average sleep duration among participants was 8.4 hours (standard deviation 1.9). Longer sleep duration at 18 years of age was associated with the following perinatal factors: low maternal schooling, low family income, maternal black skin color, and low birth weight; and with the following factors measured at 18 years of age: being out of school, low achieved schooling, low family income, absence of depressive symptoms, and high screen time. ConclusionSocial and demographic variables may play an important role in determining adolescents' sleep duration, but the nature of these relationships in Brazil may differ from those observed in higher-income contexts.

Forging Collaborative Relationships in Brazil: From AIDS to ZIKV

The Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak has stimulated collaborations between Brazilians, researchers from other South American countries, and scientists from around the world. The Brazilian response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic demonstrates capabilities that can be applied to the study of ZIKV and provides lessons for developing effective international infectious disease research collaborations.

Prices lead earnings no Brasil?

O presente artigo tem por objetivo identificar o nível temporal da relação retorno-lucro no cenário brasileiro. Por nível temporal entenda-se grau de defasagem temporal entre os momentos das variáveis. A investigação foi desenvolvida sob o pressuposto da hipótese prices lead earnings, cuja premissa fundamental é que o preço da ação é informacionalmente mais rico do que os lucros contábeis corrente e passados, acerca dos lucros futuros, o que invalida o estabelecimento de uma relação contemporânea (nível temporal zero) entre essas variáveis. A investigação foi realizada por meio de regressões combinadas (pooled regression) e dados em painel (efeitos fixos e efeitos aleatórios), ao total foram empregados 4 modelos. Foram analisadas 205 firmas ao longo de 53 trimestres (1999 a 2012), o que resultou em 8.440 firmas-trimestres. Os resultados indicaram que, isoladamente, o lucro contábil não é informacionalmente contemporâneo ao preço das ações, entretanto, com a eliminação dos efeitos dos lucros futuros sobre essa relação, constatou-se que há sinais de contemporaneidade. Além disso, verificou-se que os retornos antecipam informações sobre os lucros futuros. As associações identificadas sugerem que essa antecipação ocorreria há, pelo menos, 8 trimestres. Contudo, não foi possível precisar o nível temporal da relação retorno-lucro trimestral no Brasil, pois, se de um lado, os retornos passados associam-se aos lucros correntes, de outro, a significância dos lucros futuros na explicação dos retornos correntes depende do arranjo das variáveis independentes no modelo. Apesar disso, percebe-se que os resultados convergem com um nível temporal igual a 1, em que o retorno antecipa o lucro do período seguinte, indicação esta que se mostrou independente da adição das demais variáveis no modelo.

Is Jorge Amado the Gateway to Brazil, or Not?

In the national and international search for a Brazilian identity, we often say and hear that we are the country of soccer, samba, and Carnaval. This has given us a reputation as a party country, lacking commitment, a reputation reinforced by the economic interests of the entertainment industry. For a long time, particularly within the collective consciousness of the Brazilian people, the predominant perception has been that Brazil is not a "serious country" (many have said Charles De Gaulle was the first to use this phrase in reference to Brazil; however, Carlos Alves de Souza, Brazilian ambas- sador to France during the "Lobster War," cemented its use, and Annick T. Melsan demystified the idea), even though the Brazilian economy and the country's politics have begun to undermine this pejorative reputation. For most Brazilian intellectuals, especially those socially engaged in find- ing a solution to the country's disparities, this view of Brazil is tinged with a profound sadness that arises from the absence of an auspicious present and the distance from a redemptive future. This idea can be found in Paulo Prado's book Retrato do Brasil: Um ensaio sobre a tristeza brasileira (1928) (Portrait of Brazil: An Essay on Brazilian Sadness) and in Gilberto Freyre's classic essays marked by autobiographical witness in Casa-grande e senzala (1933) (The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization (1946)) and Sobrados e mucambos (1936) (The Mansions and the Shanties: The Making of Modern Brazil (1987)). Additionally, Sergio Buarque de Hollanda in Raizes do Brasil (1936) (Brazilian Roots) and Visao do paraiso (1959) (Vision of Paradise) and Caio Prado Junior in Formacao do Brasil c ontemporâneo (1942) (The Formation of Contemporary Brazil (1967)) highlight "the cordial man,"

Utilisation of discards from small-scale fisheries by seabirds in coastal waters of Paraná State, Brazil

Fishery discards support scavenging seabird populations in many parts of the world, but little is known of this relationship in Brazil. The present study of the coast of Paraná, southern Brazil conducted monthly surveys over twelve months. We observed nine species of scavenging seabirds taking discards, Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens and Brown Booby Sula leucogaster being the most abundant and frequent. The highest numbers of scavenging seabirds were observed during trawling activities, which provided far more discards at sea than driftnet fishing. During a fishing moratorium, when no use of trawl nets was permitted, numbers of scavenging seabirds at boats were lower. It seems likely that scavenging seabird populations of the Paraná coast benefit from this supplementary food supply, but the extent to which their numbers are affected is unknown.

Jerry Dávila . Hotel Trópico: Brazil and the Challenge of African Decolonization, 1950–1980 . Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. 2010. Pp. xi, 312. Cloth $84.95, paper $23.95.

Jerry Dávila's book offers a gripping historical account of Brazilian diplomatic and economic overtures toward Africa between the 1950s and 1980s. This was a period of political transformation in Brazil, ranging from a brief succession of center-left democratically elected governments to a lengthy military regime comprised of moderate to extreme right-wing autocratic presidencies. It was also a time of rapid modernization and massive economic growth that propelled Brazil's emergence as a major geopolitical power in the south Atlantic. Dávila's study is based on the memoirs and oral histories of diplomats who were protagonists in the expansion of Brazil's ties to the African continent. He also conducted extensive research in newspaper archives, the Portuguese foreign ministry archive in Lisbon, and the Itamaraty (Brazilian foreign ministry) archive in Brasilia. Dávila argues that in order to understand Brazil's relationship with Africa it is imperative to consider both the complexity of race relations in Brazil and its long history of slavery. Brazil's contradictory racial history along with the emotional attachment to Brazil's African roots by the country's intellectual, artistic, and diplomatic elites shaped the attitudes and expectations of the overwhelmingly white diplomatic corps. Brazil's relationship with Africa was also complicated by its colonial history. While British and French African colonies declared independence in the 1960s, the Portuguese African colonies (specifically Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique) were in the throes of a multi-front war against the Portuguese dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar. Many among the Brazilian elites, supported by large Portuguese ethnic communities in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, maintained a sentimental attachment to Portugal and lobbied for Portugal's national/colonial interests. These factors attenuated Brazil's ability to position itself as a “non-hegemonic postcolonial” power in Africa.

Where they Walk: What Aging Black Women’s Geographies Tell of Race, Gender, Space, and Social Transformation in Brazil

This article proposes aging black women’s geographies as a critical forum to rethink human-spatial relationships in Brazil. It ethnographically explores aging black women’s life narratives recounted while walking through their neighborhood in the city of Belo Horizonte. Their accounts of their lives in the neighborhood speak to racial, gender, and class positioning in Brazil and how these positions manifest in spatial configurations. However, their stories also reimagine the relationship between individuals, communities, and space offer counter-narratives to traditional concepts of geographic hierarchy, domination, and separation, suggested in ideas such as the ‘favela’. The analysis shows how aging black women’s geographies model possibilities for re-envisioning liberatory practices and environments.

Brazil and ‘Latin America’

AbstractThis essay, part history of ideas and part history of international relations, examines Brazil's relationship with Latin America in historical perspective. For more than a century after independence, neither Spanish American intellectuals nor Spanish American governments considered Brazil part of ‘América Latina’. For their part, Brazilian intellectuals and Brazilian governments only had eyes for Europe and increasingly, after 1889, the United States, except for a strong interest in the Río de la Plata. When, especially during the Cold War, the United States, and by extension the rest of the world, began to regard and treat Brazil as part of ‘Latin America’, Brazilian governments and Brazilian intellectuals, apart from some on the Left, still did not think of Brazil as an integral part of the region. Since the end of the Cold War, however, Brazil has for the first time pursued a policy of engagement with its neighbours – in South America.

Income and oral health relationship in Brazil: is there a threshold?

We explored the relationship between income and two oral health outcomes in Brazil, in order to assess the shape of this relationship. Individual-level data from a national oral health survey were obtained for 22 634 15- to 19-year-old subjects from 330 municipalities. Relationships between income (equivalized household income) and oral health were smoothed using the locally weighted ordinary least squares regression (LOWESS) technique in order to assess the relationship between material circumstances and oral health. We also ranked individuals based on equivalized household income, supplemented by information from total household income, interviewees' earnings, number of cars in the household and years of education, in order to assess the relationship between social position and oral health. The relationship between oral health and equivalized household income showed a threshold and, assuming causality, income levels higher than R$850 per month did not improve oral health further. The relationship between oral health and social position was linear. Correlations of oral health with the ranking variable (social position) were stronger than with equivalized household income, regardless of the income level, and did not decrease after controlling for income. The relation of oral health in teenagers with equivalized household income (material circumstances) showed a threshold, but the relation with a ranking variable (social position) was linear. Maybe differences in oral health between individuals are influenced by both their material circumstances (up to a certain level of income) and their social position in relation to others, i.e. social status (at any income level).

Marketing relationships in Brazil: trends in value strategies and capabilities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the use of value strategies among international and national firms in Brazil by exploring the trends in value strategies for use in future marketing relationships and the capabilities necessary to implement those value strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a Delphi technique to elicit the opinions and perceptions from a group of B2B marketing experts. An iterative data collection with 30 senior executives of national and foreign, mid‐ and large size firms in Brazil was used to explore the strategies firms use, the types of key capabilities, and the capabilities that drive performance.FindingsThe findings show that both national and international firms in Brazil expect to continue to use commodity strategies as their primary relational form, but move toward the higher value added strategies. Higher value added strategies are expected to account for 42 per cent of the respondent firms' relationships in the coming years. Firms rated “methods to identify and monitor” and “marketing intelligence” as the two most important capabilities for driving performance. An additional finding is the distinction between firms' self‐evaluations of capability competence and the capabilities that drive performance.Practical implicationsThe study provides insight into the links between value strategies practiced and the marketing capabilities required to support those strategies.Originality/valueThe study provides practitioner insights into the practices and trends in the use of value‐driving and value‐creating strategies among firms in a big emerging market, Brazil.

The relationship between seed mass and mean time to germination for 1037 tree species across five tropical forests

Summary 1. Theoretical models predict that large-seeded species should germinate more rapidly than smallseeded species, since large seeds are more likely to have higher post-dispersal seed predation than small seeds. A prompt germination strategy would therefore enable large seeds to reduce risks of mortality. 2. To assess this predicted relationship between seed mass and mean time to germination (MTG), we used a meta-analysis of published data sources. Our data base contained information for these two traits for 1037 tree species from five tropical areas worldwide (Brazil, India, Ivory Coast, Malaysia and Panama). Both cross-species analyses and phylogenetically independent contrasts (PIC) were conducted on the log-transformed values of seed mass and MTG. 3. Log-seed mass was a significantly phylogenetically conserved trait in all five data sets. Log-MTG was significantly phylogenetically conserved in all sites except for Malaysia and India. 4. Log-MTG and log-seed mass were significantly positively correlated in all sites except for Malaysia. PIC analyses showed a significantly positive relationship in Brazil, India and Ivory Coast but not in Malaysia and Panama. When all sites were combined, PIC analyses indicated a significant positive relationship between these two traits. 5. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that large seeds germinate faster than small seeds, but rather that small seeds germinate faster. We interpret our results in light of phylogenetic and biophysical constraints. We propose four alternative mechanisms that could account for the observed pattern, including developmental constraints, water absorption and investment to physical defences.

Segmentação logística: um estudo na relação entre fornecedores e varejistas no Brasil

Atualmente, na relação entre indústria e varejo no Brasil, há pressão para que os fornecedores melhorem o serviço ao cliente e reduzam seus custos logísticos. A segmentação logística pode apoiá-los em seus esforços de posicionamento, uma das competências-chave em logística. A segmentação logística por benefícios ajuda os fornecedores a diferenciarem sua oferta, focando os atributos de serviço desejados pelos clientes e reduzindo custos, ao eliminar elementos que estes não valorizam. Este estudo teve por objetivo identificar segmentos de varejistas segundo suas expectativas em relação ao nível de serviço logístico prestado por seus fornecedores e caracterizar os segmentos assim obtidos através de variáveis de fácil acesso, tais como variáveis demográficas e organizacionais. Com base em dados de ampla pesquisa de survey, conduzida junto a varejistas brasileiros, foram identificadas soluções de dois e três segmentos de clientes com base em suas expectativas quanto ao serviço logístico prestado pelos fornecedores. No entanto, não se encontrou suporte suficiente para caracterizá-los segundo variáveis de fácil acesso, o que dificulta na prática sua identificação pelos fornecedores e a adequação de sua oferta de serviços logísticos às necessidades de cada segmento de clientes, bem como uma melhor gestão de seus custos logísticos.

The university–industry relationship in Brazil: trends and implications for university management

Over the past few years, new demands have been made on universities in Brazil to review, inter alia, the roles they play in scientific and technological production systems, in teaching, and in qualifying people for professional work. In this new environment, there has been a growing recognition of the need for a greater connection of the university system with the productive sector. This article, based on a survey of the relevant literature and analyses of interviews made with educators from three well-known Brazilian teaching and research institutions, seeks to identify the characteristics of interactions between universities and the productive sector and the tendencies underlying the university–industry relationship in Brazil. The results obtained show that Brazilian universities and research centres are strongly involved in the processes of seeking partners in the productive sector. They also suggest the need for a policy to reduce conflicts that emerge from interactions between universities and firms in the productive sector.

Productivity, growth and industrial exports in Brazil

Because productivity is a determinant of comparative advantages over the medium and long terms, the relationship between productivity, industrial growth and exports of manufactures is coming under increasing scrutiny in studies on development and trade policy. This article analyses that relationship in Brazil, where the rise in industrial productivity has been slowing since the mid-1970s.

The demand for money in Brazil: Some further results

A recent paper by Cardoso, using the simple Koyck-adjustment mechanism, has estimated a money demand equation for Brazil. The results are said to show, among other things, that the inflation rate does not play a significant role in the Brazilian money demand function. This paper re-examines and expands on the money demand relationship in Brazil, finding that Cardoso's estimated equations are inherently unstable. Using a less restrictive dynamic adjustment mechanism, an alternative money demand relationship has been estimated for Brazil which proves well-fitting and structurally stable over time. The inflation rates variable, furthermore, is found to exert a significant influence on real money demand in Brazil. In fact, without such a variable, our estimated money demand relationship appears toe misspecified and structurally unstable.

Birth order and sibling relations of schizophrenic patients

Foram examinados 150 pacientes (69 homens e 81 mulheres), internados em seis clínicas psiquiátricas de Brasília e arredores e diagnosticados como esquizofrênicos. Foi utilizado um questionário de dados pessoais (com 45 questões sobre identidade, variáveis sócio-culturais e estrutura familiar), preenchido após entrevista com os pacientes e estudos dos prontuários. Como grupo de controle, foram escolhidos pacientes psiquiátricos não esquizofrênicos, a saber 70 homens alcóolatras e 29 mulheres neuróticas, todos internados. Quanto à posição de nascimento, nenhuma diferença significativa foi encontrada sobre uma incidência maior de primogênitos. Diferenças altamente significativas se manifestaram, porém, no que tange ao sexo do irmão que precede, em grande maioria do sexo oposto. Este fato é interpretado no sentido de dificuldades de identificação e de identidade sexual, devidas a um relacionamento conflitivo com a figura do irmão que precede.