Impact Of Brazil Research Articles

Advancing justice: The impact of Brazil’s convict genetic profile identification project after 5 years

This comprehensive study analyzed the implementation and impacts of the Convict Genetic Profile Identification Project in Brazil. By examining semiannual reports from the Integrated Network of DNA Databases (RIBPG) alongside a literature review covering the period from January 2018 to February 2024, the study evaluated the project’s relevance. The project’s primary aim was to enhance DNA databases, thereby fortifying crime prevention and resolution efforts. Notably, the results revealed a substantial increase in genetic profiles of convicted offenders included into the Brazilian National DNA Database (from 2,008 in 2017 to 54,657 in 2019) − a development that aligns with legislative goals. Despite legal and ethical debates, the project demonstrated a positive impact on criminal investigations, with a notable rise in database matches (from 376 in 2017 to 1,418 in 2019). Scientific literature had highlighted the project’s effectiveness in resolving crimes. The project has matured into a well-established process, characterized by continuous insertions and advancements, emphasizing a comprehensive operational framework. Beyond quantitative milestones, it has made qualitative contributions to justice. This collaborative model serves as an example for impactful public policies under Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Sweet Fuel: A Political and Environmental History of Brazilian Ethanol

Sweet Fuel: A Political and Environmental History of Brazilian Ethanol

Early response to COVID-19 in Brazil: The impact of a targeted approach to suspected cases and on epidemiological surveillance efforts

BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) entered Brazil before travel restrictions and border closures were imposed. This study reports the characteristics of suspected and confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases among symptomatic international travelers in Brazil and their contacts. MethodsThe REDCap platform developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health was analyzed to identify and investigate suspected cases of COVID-19 recorded during the period January 1 to March 20, 2020. The impact of Brazil's targeted approach to suspected cases from specific countries on epidemiological surveillance efforts during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed. ResultsBased on molecular RT-PCR tests, there were 217 (4.2%) confirmed, 1030 (20.1%) unconfirmed, 722 (14.1%) suspected, and 3157 (61.6%) non-investigated cases among travelers returning from countries included on the alert list for surveillance, as defined by the Ministry of Health. Among the 3372 travelers who went to countries not included on the alert list, there were 66 (2.0%) confirmed, 845 (25.3%) unconfirmed, 521 (15.6%) suspected, and 1914 (57.2%) non-investigated cases. A comparison of the characteristics of confirmed cases returning from alert and non-alert countries did not reveal a statistically significant difference in symptoms. Almost half of the hospitalized travelers with known travel dates and hospitalization status (53.6%) were inbound from countries not included on the alert list, and RT-PCR tests were reported for only 30.5%. ConclusionsPolicies adopted at entry points to contain the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil were not ideal. An analysis of the early response shows that surveillance of travelers, including testing strategies, data standards, and reporting systems, was insufficient.

The impact of Brazil’s transport network on the spread of COVID-19

The transport network between cities is key in understanding epidemic outbreaks, especially in a vast country like Brazil with 5569 cities spread out over 8.5 million square kilometers. In order to study the COVID-19 spread in Brazil, we built a transport network where each city is a node and the edges are connections by land and air. Our findings have shown that by adding air connections, the average path length substantially decreases (70%) while the clustering coefficient remains almost unchanged, very typical of small-world networks. The airways are shortcuts connecting previously distant cities and hubs, therefore shrinking the distances in the network. Also, the cities with airports are central nodes, which makes them dissemination hotspots and key targets for interventions.

Impact of Brazil's Bolsa Família Programme on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality: a natural experiment study using the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has a disproportionate effect on mortality among the poorest people. We assessed the impact on CVD and all-cause mortality of the world's largest conditional cash transfer, Brazil's Bolsa Família Programme (BFP). We linked administrative data from the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort with BFP receipt and national mortality data. We followed individuals who applied for BFP between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2015, until 31 December 2015. We used marginal structural models to estimate the effect of BFP on all-age and premature (30-69 years) CVD and all-cause mortality. We conducted stratified analyses by levels of material deprivation and access to healthcare. We checked the robustness of our findings by restricting the analysis to municipalities with better mortality data and by using alternative statistical methods. We studied 17 981 582 individuals, of whom 4 855 324 were aged 30-69 years. Three-quarters (76.2%) received BFP, with a mean follow-up post-award of 2.6 years. We detected 106 807 deaths by all causes, of which 60 893 were premature; and 23 389 CVD deaths, of which 15 292 were premature. BFP was associated with reductions in premature all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94-0.98], premature CVD (HR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.92-1.00) and all-age CVD (HR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.93-1.00) but not all-age all-cause mortality (HR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.98-1.02). In stratified and robustness analyses, BFP was consistently associated with mortality reductions for individuals living in the two most deprived quintiles. BFP appears to have a small to null effect on premature CVD and all-cause mortality in the short term; the long-term impact remains unknown.

The impact of Brazil on global grain dynamics: A study on cross‐market volatility spillovers

AbstractBrazil's rise as a global powerhouse producer of soybeans and corn over the past 15 years has fundamentally changed global markets in these commodities. Brazil's rise is arguably due to the development of varieties of soybean and corn adapted to climates within Brazil, allowing farmers to double‐crop corn after soybeans in the same year. Corn and soybean market participants increasingly look to Brazil for fundamental price information, and studies have shown that the two markets have become cointegrated. However little is known about how much volatility from each market spills over to the other. In this article, we measure volatility spillover ratios between U.S. and Brazilian first crop corn, second‐crop corn, and soybeans. We find that linkages between the two countries increased after double‐cropping corn after soybeans expanded, volatility spillover magnitudes expanded, and the direction of volatility spillovers flipped from U.S. volatility spilling over to Brazil before double cropping, to Brazil spilling over to U.S. after double cropping.

On the Impact of Brazil's Largest Recent Oil Spill on Regional Oceans

In 2019, an oil spill in Brazil, of unknown origin, severely impacted coastal environs with the worst environmental disaster ever recorded in any tropical coastal region globally severely damaging South Pirangi Reef area in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Here we discuss acute and chronic impacts including chemical contamination and economic consequences all over the world and show some evidence of the oil spill in this biodiverse area. Moreover, the lapse between the moment of the disaster, and the action to manage it, was hampered by a political agenda coinciding with local and global tragedies that redirected public attention. Meanwhile almost 2 years have passed still without the offending party identification or culpability; and poor communities may continue to absorb its deleterious impacts for decades without consideration or compensation. This disaster occurred during the Brazilian government’s current issues involving extensive environmental mismanagement, resulting in a slow response from an inept system. It is with urgent necessity to spotlight this tragedy in this unique and sensitive reef habitat experiencing the ongoing damaging effects that include socio-economic losses not yet addressed.

The sketch of Brazil’s grand strategy under the Workers’ Party (2003–2016): Domestic and international constraints

ABSTRACTAfter passage of the 1988 Constitution of Brazil, successive democratic governments worked to build bridges between the nation’s foreign policy and its defence strategy, thus fostering a dialogue among administrations and constituencies under the aegis of the rule of law. It was under the Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff administrations that Brazil laid out a grand strategy, implementation of which was interrupted by the controversial impeachment proceedings of 2016. The argument unfolds from a consideration of Brazil’s development model and domestic politics as key structural variables in analysing the challenges faced in the conception and implementation of its grand strategy. The article is organised into two sections: (1) The sketch of a grand strategy: when Brazil’s foreign and defence policies converged; (2) An ambition frustrated? Or, the impact of Brazil’s development model and domestic politics on the conception and implementation of its grand strategy.

The second Brazilian migration wave: The impact of Brazil’s economic and social changes on current migration to the UK.

This article explores the effects of Brazil’s recent economic growth and the narrowing of the inequality gap on the second Brazilian migration wave to the UK over the last two decades. Migration-related research has emphatically argued that this ongoing international mobility results from transnational networks developed by pioneers who encouraged fellow citizens to travel. Although this paper considers social networks as an important factor shaping the movement of Brazilians abroad, we propose to debate contemporary Brazilian migration by shedding light on the national socio-economic policies implemented since the late 1990s. Thus, through a rigorous literature review of Brazilian transnational migration studies and multi-sited ethnography in Brazil and London, we focus particularly on how the opening up of the Brazilian economy to international capital flow, and the implementation of social programmes followed by the enlargement of its domestic consumer market, helps to explain the current increase and diversification of Brazilians abroad.

Deforestation and Carbon Loss in Southwest Amazonia: Impact of Brazil\u2019s Revised Forest Code

In 2012 Brazil’s National Congress altered the country’s Forest Code, decreasing various environmental protections in the set of regulations governing forests. This suggests consequences in increased deforestation and emissions of greenhouse gases and in decreased protection of fragile ecosystems. To ascertain the effects, a simulation was run to the year 2025 for the municipality (county) of Boca do Acre, Amazonas state, Brazil. A baseline scenario considered historical behavior (which did not respect the Forest Code), while two scenarios considered full compliance with the old Forest Code (Law 4771/1965) and the current Code (Law 12,651/2012) regarding the protection of “areas of permanent preservation” (APPs) along the edges of watercourses. The models were parameterized from satellite imagery and simulated using Dinamica-EGO software. Deforestation actors and processes in the municipality were observed in loco in 2012. Carbon emissions and loss of forest by 2025 were computed in the three simulation scenarios. There was a 10% difference in the loss of carbon stock and of forest between the scenarios with the two versions of the Forest Code. The baseline scenario showed the highest loss of carbon stocks and the highest increase in annual emissions. The greatest damage was caused by not protecting wetlands and riparian zones.Graphical

The international human rights discourse as a strategic focus in socio-environmental conflicts: the case of hydro-electric dams in Brazil

This article examines the mobilisation of human rights in campaigns against hydro-electric dams in Brazil. The symbolic and legal power of human rights has allowed activists to challenge official accounts of the impact of dams while deploying domestic and international legal frameworks. Although the politicisation of natural resources in Brazil has limited the effectiveness of anti-dam mobilisations, an appeal to the human rights agenda has translated into a powerful critique of the social impact of Brazil’s development agenda, thereby making a moral and legal claim for justice.

The impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program on children’s health care utilization and health outcomes

BackgroundConditional cash transfer (CCT) programs provide poor families with cash conditional on investments in health and education. Brazil’s Bolsa Família program began in 2003 and is currently the largest CCT program in the world. This community-based study examines the impact of Bolsa Família on child health in a slum community in a large urban center.MethodsIn 2010, detailed household surveys were conducted with randomly selected Bolsa Família beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in a Brazilian slum community of approximately 14,000 inhabitants in a large urban center. 567 families (with 1,266 children) were interviewed. Propensity score methods were used to control for differences between beneficiary and non-beneficiary children to estimate program impacts on health care utilization and health outcomes.ResultsBolsa Família has increased the odds of children’s visits to the health post for preventive services. In children under age seven, Bolsa Família was associated with increased odds for growth monitoring (OR = 3.1; 95% CI 1.9-5.1), vaccinations (OR = 2.8; 95% CI 1.4-5.4), and checkups (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 0.98-2.5), and with the number of growth monitoring visits (β = 0.6; p = 0.049) and checkups (β = 0.2; p = 0.068). There were positive spillover effects on older siblings (ages 7-17) no longer required to meet the health conditionalities. Bolsa Família increased their odds for growth monitoring (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.3-4.9) and checkups (OR = 1.7; 95% CI 0.9-3.2) and improved psychosocial health (β = 2.6; p = 0.007).ConclusionsBolsa Família has improved health care utilization, especially for services related to the health conditionalites, and there were positive spillover effects on older siblings. The findings of this study are promising, but they also suggest that further improvements in health may depend on the quality of health care services provided, the scope of services linked to the health conditionalities, and coordination with other social safety net programs.

Reducing Poverty Intensity: What Alternative Poverty Measures Reveal about the Impact of Brazil's Bolsa Família

AbstractBrazil's conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Família (Family Allowance) has gained a worldwide reputation as an effective antipoverty program. However, studies applying the dominant headcount poverty measure, which counts the percentage of households falling below a given poverty line, only credit the program with a first-order reduction in poverty (and extreme poverty) of 0.15 to 1.88 percentage points. This raises the puzzle of how such a modest impact could lead to Bolsa Família's political popularity. This article argues that Bolsa Família does dramatically reduce poverty, but measuring this impact requires thinking of poverty as how far a household is from meeting its basic human needs; choosing a continuous variable; and using income gap, intensity, and ordinal measures that reflect this conceptualization. The more substantial reduction of poverty intensity helps explain the program's reputation.

Brazil as ‘Southern donor’: beyond hierarchy and national interests in development cooperation?

This article analyses Brazil's growing role in external development assistance. During Lula da Silva's presidency, cooperation with developing countries grew dramatically. While the official position is that Brazilian development assistance is moved not by national economic or political interests, but by international ‘solidarity’, and does not reproduce the North–South traditional aid relations, we suggest that it is not completely divorced from national, sub-national or sectoral interests and cannot be viewed apart from Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives. Brazil does pursue political, economic and commercial interests and, concomitantly, has made a positive difference in the recipient countries. However, more empirical research and field investigation are needed to better gauge the impact of Brazil's assistance initiatives and their contributions to South–South cooperation more broadly. During Lula's terms (2003–2010), Brazil could be classified as a ‘Southern donor’, which expresses the country's own novelties, and tensions, of simultaneously being a donor and a developing country.

The country of origin effect for Brazilian fresh fruits: a study using Partial Least Squares Procedures

The image of a product or brand refers to the set of associations related to this product or brand, which is stored in the consumer’s memory, and it directly affects the evaluation of products made in this country, leading to what is called “country of origin effect”. In spite of this subject’s importance, Brazilian studies on the effects related to COO information are still in their first steps. This study intended to investigate the COO effect in the consumer’s evaluation process of buying alternatives, considering Brazilian fresh fruits. The problem investigated was: What is the impact of Brazil’s image in the evaluation of this country’s fresh fruits? A quantitative, descriptive study was carried. The empirical research has used an indirect approach to measure the COO effect, which has not been seen before in past researches: a structural equation modelling approach. The resulting dimensions of Brazil’s image herein found were Product Evaluation, Brazil’s Respect and Importance, Art Evaluation, Affection toward Brazil and Communication and Distribution Evaluation. In conclusion, it was seen that the COO effect exists for Brazilian fresh fruits and it is positive, meaning that the image respondents have about Brazil positively affects their attitudes toward such product.

The Impact of Brazil's Tax-Benefit System on Inequality and Poverty

The Brazilian government raises taxes amounting to 35% of GDP and spends more than two thirds of this on social programmes. These shares are in pair with the OECD averages and well in excess of Latin America averages. However, while tax-benefit systems in most OECD countries reduce income disparities very significantly, the Brazilian government has been much less successful in alleviating inequality and poverty. Focussing on taxes and cash transfers, this paper investigates the impact of the government budget on the income distribution in Brazil, and evaluates its efficiency and effectiveness in reducing inequality and poverty. We present BRAHMS, a new tax-benefit microsimulation model for Brazil and illustrate its use by evaluating the impact of policy on economic inequality. It is argued that microsimulation provides a valuable analytical tool for policy makers in emerging and developing countries in particular.

Brazil's Distinct Subcultures: Do They Matter to Business Performance?

The article discusses a study which focuses on the impact of Brazil's distinct subcultures on business performance. This study demonstrates the difficulty of companies in evaluating the impact of a country's culture when distinct subcultures exist. Research conducted by Tomasz Lenartowicz of the University of Texas at Austin and Kendall Roth of the University of South Carolina examined the connection between subcultures and organizational performance by looking at the population of small, independently owned retail businesses in Brazil. Kiosk owners comprised the majority of the survey respondents, with questions designed to gauge the cultural value dimensions of enjoyment, achievement, security, autonomy, and conformity. Business turnover was also a focus of the study.

Atoms in the developing nations

The history of political and technological developments of nuclear energy in Brazil is traced and arguments presented for pursuing nuclear energy only in those nations with a democratic form of government. Nuclear physics research in Brazil dates back to the 1940s. Its significance was acknowledged with the creation of the National Research Council in 1951. Cooperation with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which would have included the export of thorium-rich minerals to the U.S. in exchange for information and assistance with nuclear power plants in Brazil, was precluded by the McMahon Act. This led to liaisons with West Germany and France in the 1950s. Events since then are outlined in terms of the impact of Brazil's political and economic crises. A nuclear sales agreement with Germany in 1975 has prompted concern over matters of independence and the threat of proliferation.