Resistance In Brazil Research Articles

Comparative genomic analysis of Brazilian Mesomycoplasma ovipneumoniae strains revealed genomic differences associated with the geographic origin and health status and mutations in the gyrA

Sheep respiratory disease (SRD) is a multifactorial illness commonly affecting sheep. Mesomycoplasma (Mycoplasma) ovipneumoniae is one of the most important etiological agents of SRD and should be better understood, especially in countries where it was recently detected, such as Brazil. Also, the intensive use of quinolones in mycoplasmal infections increases the selective pressure for resistance to this drug class, and no data about antimicrobial resistance in Brazil is available. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a comparative genomic analysis of newly isolated Brazilian M. ovipneumoniae strains, identify point mutations in target genes that may be associated with antibiotic resistance, and perform a phylogenomic analysis of these strains with available genome representatives of M. ovipneumoniae. Glucose-fermenting fried egg-like colonies identified as M. ovipneumoniae were obtained after a culture of tracheobronchial lavage from infected sheep. The genomes were sequenced, de novo assembled and comparatively evaluated. Important putative virulence factors were detected in all isolates: the analysis of the average nucleotide homology of all these genes with the M. ovipneumoniae ATCC 29419 revealed associations between clpB, lgt, tuf, and dnaJ genes and geographic location. In addition, nucleotide substitutions in a few positions of the Quinolone-Resistant Determinant Region of the gyrA gene, including the Ser83Ala, were detected. The phylogenomic analysis showed that the Brazilian isolates belonged to two different clades corresponding to geographic location, and the isolates from São Paulo showed high similarity, which differs from isolates from Rio de Janeiro. This first genomic analysis of the Brazilian M. ovipneumoniae genomes demonstrates strain segregation according to location and health status, reinforcing the importance of continuous surveillance and diagnostics of this bacteria causing sheep respiratory disease in the Brazilian flocks.

Safeguarding democracy from the outside in: transnational democratic networks against autocratisation in contemporary Brazil

Over the last decade, democracy in Brazil has been under attack. Efforts to protect Brazilian democracy from autocratisation date back to the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and have come to a (temporary) conclusion after Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in the October 2022 elections. One of the most striking elements of democratic resistance in Brazil has been the establishment of multiple and overlapping transnational networks. Would democracy in Brazil have resisted without international pressure? We resort to a process-tracing analysis to argue that transnational networking strategies were a necessary condition to protect Brazilian democracy, in tandem with the domestic role played by Brazil’s organised civil society and political institutions. These networks have operated (1) to maintain the Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) as the main partisan alternative to the far right, represented by Jair Bolsonaro; (2) to preserve the civic spaces necessary to criticise and counter Bolsonaro’s moves to undermine fundamental rights, critical policy areas and democratic institutions; and (3) to increase the costs of attempts to overturn the election results in 2022.

Strategies for managing fungicide resistance in the Brazilian tropical agroecosystem: Safeguarding food safety, health, and the environmental quality

AbstractFungicide resistance is an alarming challenge for the Brazilian tropical agricultural systems, with major implications for food safety, human and animal health, as well as for the environment. This review explores strategies to address fungicide resistance within the Brazilian agroecosystem context. We examined historical and current scenarios of fungicide resistance in the Brazilian agroecosystems and the approaches to delay the emergence and mitigate the selection of resistant variants. Our review indicates that the prevalence of resistance in field populations of key plant pathogens in Brazil was due to failures in the implementation of preventive measures. To address this issue, alternative evolutionary-smart strategies against fungicide resistance are proposed, emphasizing institutional actions and public policies. Crucial steps involve strengthening national networks for large-scale foliar and seed fungicide efficacy testing and resistance monitoring, as well as imposing tighter restrictions on the labeling of high-risk single-active formulations. Additionally, the integration of non-chemical disease management strategies and the establishment of a centralized database and information system on fungicide resistance in Brazil are identified as essential for effective resistance monitoring and informed decision-making. To enhance fungicide resistance management, the adoption of a warning system (e.g., based on aerobiology- or on weather-monitoring) for predicting disease epidemics and minimizing fungicide applications is recommended. Increased funding, collaboration, mandatory reporting, and capacity building are required to overcome these challenges. In addition, promoting integrated disease management approaches is vital. By implementing these tailored strategies, Brazil can actively contribute to safeguarding its food safety, protecting human and animal health, and preserving the delicate balance of its unique agroecosystem. The adoption of evolutionary-smart strategies against fungicide resistance will prolong fungicide efficacy, reduce economic costs, and minimize environmental impacts, ensuring sustainable and resilient agriculture in Brazil.

Indigenous literature and resistance in Brazil

We know that the writer Eliane Potiguara is a voice of resistance in the midst of the erasure of the culture and literature of indigenous peoples, so this paper aims to highlight the role and contribution of this indigenous writer to Indigenous Literature by women in Brazil. Our study is a bibliographical survey of the writer's career, based on other indigenous voices that highlight her importance, as well as an analysis of some fragments of poems from her book Metade Cara, Metade Máscara (2018). As a theoretical contribution, we drew on Castro (2022), Graúna (2012), Mendonça (2012) and Mignolo (2017). We conclude our study by emphasizing that Eliane Potiguara, through her struggles and her writing, consolidates herself as the first indigenous woman writer in Brazil, inaugurating the indigenous women's writing movement in the country.

The Geography of LGBTQIA+ resistance in Brazil

O presente artigo buscou discutir a trajetória do Movimento LGBTQIA+ brasileiro a partir de uma perspectiva histórico-geográfica, dando ênfase para a abordagem socioespacial e socioterritorial desse movimento tão diverso e relevante para a história de luta que se vincula a temática dos direitos humanos e cidadania no Brasil. Buscou-se a construção de um diálogo em torno das ações já consolidadas dos movimentos socioespaciais que se vinculam a diversidade sexual e de gênero, como a Parada LGBTQIA+, até as novas tipologias de ação pensadas em diferentes movimentos tradicionais que, na atualidade, tem incorporado a temática da diversidade como um elemento necessário e fundamental para a urgente ampliação do escopo e das discussões presentes nos sujeitos que constituem essas organizações. As questões e diálogos surgem como uma centelha em busca de uma compreensão geográfica do Movimento LGBTQIA+, possibilitando uma real intelecção entre as ações e pautas construídas e o contexto sociopolítico brasileiro. Para a sua construção, adotou-se a abordagem socioespacial e socioterritorial trazendo luz para a dimensão geográfica dos conflitos que produzem a mediação e apropriação do espaço geográfico, desde o corpo até a construção de efetivas políticas públicas direcionadas para a cidadanização dessa população. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico que buscou evidenciar os aspectos históricos, políticos e geográficos das primeiras organizações voltadas para temática LGBTQIA+ no Brasil. Posteriormente, foi construído um banco de dados e mapeamento das ações dos movimentos socioespaciais e socioterritoriais urbanos que se vinculam à temática da diversidade sexual e de gênero e que não são movimentos exclusivamente LGBTQIA+. Observa-se que nas últimas décadas os diferentes movimentos e coletivos que foram fundados com objetivos distintos, incorporaram essa discussão e produziram um conjunto de novos significados e dimensões para a disputa urbana em consonância com as interseccionalidades presentes em sua nova formação e configuração.

Cultivating space for contemporary resistance in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado

AbstractThis paper investigates how contemporary labour-capital conflicts in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes of Brazil are centred on the expansion of value from land via dispossession and land titling, and the extraction of value through financial mechanisms that enhance the current and future rent from landholdings. Understanding the consequent territorial struggles between traditional collective ownership on the one hand, and private individual and corporate value capture on the other requires a departure from incumbent capital-(salaried) labour analyses in value chain studies. Resistance to further land capture for speculation reveals inter-and intra-class class tensions, and the facilitative role of the state in validating illicitly grabbed resources. Despite the adverse political conditions in Brazil, there are modest, but significant gains by autonomous land occupations and demarcations in confronting capital expansion. In the face of intensified land grabbing, violent threats, and the laundering of illicit resource extraction, the two cases presented open up new dimensions of, and possibilities for, capital-labour struggles linked to commodity expansion and extraction on resource-rich frontiers.

Paternalism, Transgression and Slave Resistance in Brazil by Robson Pedrosa Costa (review)

Paternalism, Transgression and Slave Resistance in Brazil by Robson Pedrosa Costa (review)

Modernity and Counternarrative in Marcelo D’Salete’s Angola Janga and Gayl Jones’s Palmares: Prelude to an Interview with Marcelo D’Salete

ABSTRACT This short article offers some remarks to contextualize the interview that follows with Marcelo D’Salete, a Brazilian graphic novelist known for his works on the history of slavery and Black resistance in Brazil. The article focuses on D’Salete’s great work Angola Janga (2017), about the famous maroon community in seventeenth-century Brazil known to the Portuguese as Palmares, and discusses this work in relation to the six-volume Palmares (2020) by the U.S. writer Gayl Jones.

Digitaria insularis: cross-resistance between ACCase inhibitors and multiple resistance to glyphosate

Sourgrass (Digitaria insularis [L.] Mez ex Ekman) is a problematic weed with special attention to its damage and herbicide resistance in Brazil and Paraguay. Considering the complexity of management and failure in control approaches, the goal of the present study was to monitor and investigate herbicide resistance in D. insularis. Furthermore, we specifically analyze a case with multiple resistance in Paraguay. In this sense, studies were carried out for the development of dose-response curves. The results showed resistance of D. insularis to ACCase- and EPSPs-inhibiting herbicides in Paraguay, in which the resistance to ACCase inhibitors involves the chemical groups aryloxyphenoxypropionates and cyclohexanediones. This is probably the first case of resistance observed in the world. It is necessary to apply good practices in the set of integrated weed management. These practices should be accessed as quickly and effectively as possible, serving as a lesson for more proactive and less reactive actions in production systems.

The governance of antimicrobial resistance in Brazil: Challenges for developing and implementing a one health agenda

ABSTRACT This article explores stakeholders’ perceptions of the challenges for developing a One Health agenda to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Brazil, including the development and implementation of the Brazilian National Action Plan (BR-NAP). The data originate from 27 interviews conducted with human, environmental, and animal health stakeholders, including academics, managers, and policymakers involved in developing the BR-NAP. Through thematic analysis, we identified three interconnected themes: governance, the health system, and technical and scientific challenges. The findings draw particular attention to failures in the agenda-setting process, revealed by interviewees strongly emphasising that AMR is not considered a policy priority in Brazil. The lack of political will and awareness of the clinical, social, and economic impacts of AMR are considered the main impediments to the agenda’s progress. The joint work across disciplines and ministries must be reinforced through policymaker engagement and better environmental sector integration. The agenda must include sustainable governance structures less affected by political winds. Policies should be designed jointly with state and local governments to create strategies to engage communities and improve their translation into effective implementation.

Precarious Democracy: Ethnographies of Hope, Despair, and Resistance in Brazil, Edited by Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Michell, Alvaro Jarrín, and Lucia Cantero, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2021)

Precarious Democracy: Ethnographies of Hope, Despair, and Resistance in Brazil, Edited by Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Michell, Alvaro Jarrín, and Lucia Cantero, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2021)

Precarious Democracy

This book review examines Precarious Democracy: Ethnographies of Hope, Despair, and Resistance in Brazil (2021), edited by Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Mitchell, Alvaro Jarrín, and Lucia Cantero. The edited volume contains ethnographies addressing the Brazilian social landscape after Workers Party administrations. These chapters discuss the mechanisms of Bolsonarismo and the contradictory ways through which people show support to President Jair Bolsonaro. The book has sixteen chapters, authored by scholars hailing from different parts of the globe, who examine this topic in different parts of Brazil. As a rigorous yet accessible anthropological work, I argue that the book is an important addition to current discussions on Brazil’s sociopolitical and economic situation.

National surveillance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial susceptibility and epidemiological data of gonorrhoea patients across Brazil, 2018-20.

ObjectivesTo (i) describe the nationwide antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) isolates cultured across Brazil in 2018–20 and compare it with NG antimicrobial resistance data from 2015–16, and (ii) present epidemiological data of the corresponding gonorrhoea patients in 2018–20.MethodsTwelve representative sentinel sites cultured NG isolates from men with urethral discharge. Susceptibility to eight antimicrobials was examined using agar dilution method, according to WHO standards. The consenting participants were invited to provide epidemiological data.ResultsIn total, 633 NG isolates (one isolate per participant) were analysed, and 449 (70.9%) questionnaires were answered. Heterosexual (68.2%) and homosexual (23.1%) sexual orientations were common, and most prevalent types of unprotected sexual intercourse were vaginal insertive (69.9%), oral giving (56.6%) and anal insertive (47.4%). The levels of in vitro NG resistance to ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, benzylpenicillin, azithromycin, cefixime, gentamicin, spectinomycin and ceftriaxone were 67.3%, 40.0%, 25.7%, 10.6%, 0.3%, 0%, 0% and 0%, respectively. Compliance with the recommended first-line ceftriaxone 500 mg plus azithromycin 1 g therapy was high (90.9%).ConclusionsCompared with 2015–16, ciprofloxacin resistance has remained high and azithromycin and cefixime resistance rates have increased in Brazil. Resistance remained lacking to ceftriaxone, gentamicin and spectinomycin, which all are gonorrhoea treatment options. The increasing azithromycin resistance in Brazil and internationally may threaten the future use of azithromycin in dual regimens for treatment of gonorrhoea. Consequently, continued and enhanced quality-assured surveillance of gonococcal AMR, and ideally also treatment failures and including WGS, is imperative in Brazil and worldwide.

Neglect and Resistance in Brazil’s Pandemic

This article uses the lens of neglect to analyze Brazil’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that the neglect of COVID-19 was the result of a mixture of omissions, obstructions and actions on the part of the federal government and President Jair Bolsonaro. It also suggests that addressing Brazil’s handling of the pandemic as simply a matter of governmental failure risks overlooking the multiple forms of resistance and struggle that emerged as social forces mobilized and sought to push back against the state’s neglect.

Screening coffee genotypes for brown eye spot resistance in Brazil.

Several researchers have attempted to develop coffee plants that are resistant to brown eye spot (BES); however, no coffee cultivars are resistant to the disease. In the present study, a blend of strains from Cercospora coffeicola was inoculated into 19 Brazilian commercial cultivars and 41 accessions from the Germplasm Collection of Minas Gerais to evaluate the genetic resistance ability within the population and select superior genotypes for the breeding program. After predicting the genotypic values of the estudied material, the evaluations number necessary for selecting genotypes with accuracy and efficiency was determined based on the data of severity to BES. The action of defense mechanisms plant was also investigated by assessing the levels of total soluble phenolic compounds and soluble lignin in contrasting genotypes for disease susceptibility. Based on the results, the accession MG 1207 Sumatra, had an intrinsic genetic capacity to maintain low levels of severity to BES. The genotype MG 1207 Sumatra can substantially contribute to the development of new cultivars, which may lead to the reduced use of pesticides. According to the accuracy and efficiency results obtained, four evaluations BES severity are sufficient to achieve accuracy, providing expressive genetic gains. Finally, the levels of lignin and phenolic compounds were not found to be associated with the resistance of coffee genotypes to BES.

Policy and strategies addressing prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in Brazil: A scoping review protocol.

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the biggest health challenges of the 21st century. It has both social and economic consequences; therefore, timely review of public health policies that have been designed to manage AMR is essential. Brazil too has developed and implemented various polices for the prevention and control of AMR. However, till date, no study provides insights regarding the various public health policies or other programs implemented by Brazilian institutes.ObjectiveThe objective is to define a scoping review protocol of policies that were developed to address prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in Brazil, from a human health perspective.MethodThis protocol has been registered in the Open Science Framework (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/EC9ZJ). Indexed literature in English, Spanish and Portuguese published till December 2020 in Lilacs, PubMed, Embase, and official websites of the Brazilian government will be reviewed. This review considers all studies identified through a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature databases that have a reference for policies made for managing AMR in Brazil. The criteria for the scoping review will be set by two evaluators. A third evaluator will be consulted, if there is any disagreement between the two primary evaluators. A standardized form will be used for data extraction from the selected studies. The results will be presented in a tabular form with narrative abstracts related to the topics identified through the scoping review protocol. The PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews tool will be used.

Opposing acceleration: the tragedy of resistance in Brazil

PurposeThe study aims to highlight and reflect on resistance to Brazil's illiberal accelerationist politics highlighting alternative possibilities based on affects and forms of relatedness.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the case of public universities and the arts in today's Brazil, the authors point out a tragedy of resistance (when opposing change fuels its acceleration) and explore a strategy of lines of flight and becomings in the light of Deleuze and Guattari's perspective on acceleration.FindingsAlongside an oppositional and reactive resistance, that is caught in a tragedy of resistance, the authors explore an alternative strategy that protects a plurality of life forms and forces and their becoming. This strategy differs from most critiques of accelerationism.Originality/valueThis strategy of resistance seems more faithful to Deleuze than the accelerationist strategies that claim to be inspired by him. The authors suggest another reading of the often quoted passage by Deleuze and Guattari. While Deleuze and Guattari favor continuous deterritorializations of the flows of desire, accelerationism reterritorializes these flows towards a (often) undesirable future.

Monitoring virulence and sexual compatibility in Brazilian Bremia lactucae populations

AbstractDuring the winter, there is a high occurrence of downy mildew on lettuce caused by Bremia lactucae. This oomycete shows variability in virulence, so understanding the genetic structure of the pathogen population becomes essential for obtaining resistant cultivars. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine sexual compatibility in Brazilian populations of B. lactucae and investigate the occurrence of sexual reproduction of the pathogen on lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola). Leaf samples were collected in 33 municipalities in seven Brazilian states. The virulence structure of the populations was monitored using the EU‐C sextet code. B. lactucae populations from the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul shared six of the 15 virulence factors evaluated. Twenty‐five virulence phenotypes (v‐phenotypes) were found, with the sextet codes 31‐00‐02, 31‐16‐02, 31‐24‐02, and 31‐01‐02 being more frequent. The predominance of some v‐ phenotypes indicates that clonal reproduction is still the main form of B. lactucae propagation. The genes and resistance factors of the cultivars Argelès (Dm38), Balesta, and Bartoli are recommended as suitable sources of lettuce resistance in Brazil. Natural occurrence of oospores was detected in most sampled locations, in lettuce and prickly lettuce plants. Virulence variability of Brazilian isolates is the result of the pathogen's ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually, with a prevalence of homothallic isolates; although the majority were of the predominant B2 mating type, there was a high incidence of predominant B1 in addition to B1 = B2.

Current Status of Quantum Hall System Implantation at the Inmetro

This paper presents the activities currently being performed at the Inmetro with a view to obtaining the international recognition of its quantum Hall system as the primary standard of electrical resistance in Brazil. To enable it, the Inmetro is making arrangements to take part in the ongoing key comparison BIPM.EM-K12, which is an on-site comparison of quantum Hall effect resistance standards. Besides, as a prerequisite for joining in this key comparison, Inmetro is participating in the ongoing key comparison BIPM.EM-K13.a&b.

Looking in the mirror: the global '68 through the Brazilian daily press

PurposeThis article explains the process of construction and configuration of the Brazilian social imaginary on the global '68 using the daily press as source material.Design/methodology/approachIt looks at the narratives conveyed by the press about the condition, situation, motivations, aspirations and capacity for action of young university students. The analysis is focused mainly on the usage of totalitarian language and permits an in-depth view of the reality of life in Brazil at the time and the role played by the students in the resistance to the dictatorship. It also includes an analysis of how other students' protests of 1968 – in Poland and Mexico – were portrayed through the media, and how they helped to shape the collective imaginary about Brazilian university students, situating it in a conjuncture of broader dimensions and connections.FindingsThe youth of Brazil, Poland and Mexico were represented as active political and social subjects, capable of defying, and sometimes profoundly upsetting, the established order. Violence and the discourse of violence were constant unifying elements in the narratives created by the daily press. This helped generate an image of university students which portrayed them as a rebellious, revolutionary and/or subversive sector of the population, responsible for one of the most extensive and profound social and political crises which those countries had experienced in decades.Originality/valueThis is the first study of the Brazilian reception of the '68 Polish and Mexican students' protest and its implications for the social narrative of students' resistance in Brazil.