Suicide rates and trends in São Paulo, Brazil, according to gender, age and demographic aspects: a joinpoint regression analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate suicide rates and trends in São Paulo by sex, age-strata, and methods. METHODS: Data was collected from State registry from 1996 to 2009. Population was estimated using the National Census. We utilized joinpoint regression analysis to explore temporal trends. We also evaluated marital status, ethnicity, birthplace and methods for suicide. RESULTS: In the period analyzed, 6,002 suicides were accrued with a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 (7.5 in men and 2.0 in women); the male-to-female ratio was around 3.7. Trends for men presented a significant decline of 5.3% per year from 1996 to 2002, and a significant increase of 2.5% from 2002 onwards. Women did not present significant changes. For men, the elderly (> 65 years) had a significant reduction of 2.3% per year, while younger men (25-44 years) presented a significant increase of 8.6% from 2004 onwards. Women did not present significant trend changes according to age. Leading suicide methods were hanging and poisoning for men and women, respectively. Other analyses showed an increased suicide risk ratio for singles and foreigners. CONCLUSIONS: Specific epidemiological trends for suicide in the city of São Paulo that warrant further investigation were identified. High-risk groups - such as immigrants - could benefit from targeted strategies of suicide prevention.

A presença de agentes intermediadores na formação de redes interorganizacionais: uma análise sob a perspectiva temporal

Nos estudos sobre redes interorganizacionais, existem esforços focados em entender a formação de redes, assunto esse que gera interesse dos formuladores de políticas públicas já que se busca no associativismo promovido pelo Estado e pelas iniciativas privadas, substância para impulsionar o desenvolvimento local. Diante disso, o objetivo do estudo foi verificar, por meio da formalização do Arranjo Produtivo Local (APL) de calçados de Birigüi (SP), se a presença desses agentes é essencial para a formação da rede interorganizacional. Como sustentações teóricas foram abordadas: a evolução temporal das redes; a Teoria Institucional aplicada às redes interorganizacionais; o capital social presente nos laços de relacionamento; a presença de agentes intermediários como coordenadores na governança das redes. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada baseou-se em entrevistas com 32% dos gestores das empresas que participavam formalmente do APL e com uma gestora do agente intermediador, além de observação e análises de pesquisas prévias sobre a industrialização de Birigüi. Como resultados verificou-se haver um legado regional que sustenta uma base de know-how para a industrialização de calçados. No entanto, percebeu-se que os interesses dos participantes do APL eram predominantemente comerciais, sem haver um nível de capital social e de institucionalização desenvolvidos a ponto de se criarem, de forma legítima, associações provenientes de vontades das próprias organizações. Sem esse ambiente institucional fortemente construído na região, não se verificou um racional claro para o associativismo, havendo a percepção de que os ganhos oriundos da participação na rede são futuros. Concluiu-se que a coordenação realizada por um agente intermediador tem poder de articulação limitado na formação de redes interorganizacionais se não existir uma institucionalização prévia que envolva, principalmente, valores e normas de capital social. Sem esses pré-requisitos, o agente intermediador pode acabar por ter funções de governança para ações assessórias da rede.

Spatio-temporal and functional structure of the amphipod communities off Santos, Southwestern Atlantic

The amphipod fauna was employed to investigate a bottom environmental gradient in the continental shelf adjacent to Santos Bay. The constant flow of less saline water from the estuarine complex of the Santos and São Vicente rivers besides the seasonal intrusion of the cold saline South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) bring a highly dynamic water regime to the area. Density, distribution, diversity and functional structure of the communities were studied on a depth gradient from 10 to 100 m on two cruises in contrasting seasons, winter 2005 and summer 2006. Twenty-one sediment samples were taken with a 0.09m² box corer. Temperature and salinity were measured at each station and an additional surface sediment sample was obtained with the box corer for granulometric and chemical analyses. Sixty species were collected on each survey and higher density values were found in summer. A priori one-way Analysis of Similarities (ANOSIM) indicated the existence of three different groups of amphipods related to the depth gradient: the Coastal group, the Mixed Zone group and the Deep Zone group. The Coastal Zone in both cruises was inhabited by a community presenting low diversity and density, besides high dominance of the infaunal tube-dweller Ampelisca paria; the area around 30 m presented the highest values of all the ecological indicators and the species showed several life styles; the outer area, situated between 50 and 100 m depth in the SACW domain, presented a community characterized by lower diversity and high biomass and density values. A season-depth ANOSIM showed the influence of depth and season for the Coastal and Mixed Zone groups whereas no seasonal difference was obtained for the Deep Zone group. The synergistic effect of the SACW and depth in the first place, followed by physical changes in substrate, seem to be the main factors controlling the fauna's distribution. In addition, the estuarine waters from Santos Bay apparently had no effect on the establishment of the environmental gradient observed on the adjacent shelf. Diversity, distribution, functional groups and trophic conditions of superficial sediments are discussed in the light of the main oceanographic processes present on the southern Brazilian shelf.

Space-temporal dynamics of limnological variables in a floodplain wetland located at Ribeira do Iguape Valley (São Paulo, Brazil) at different hydrological periods

AIM: The main goal of this research was to investigate the influence of the hydrological pulses on the space-temporal dynamics of physical and chemical variables in a wetland adjacent to Jacupiranguinha River (São Paulo, Brazil); METHODS: Eleven sampling points were distributed among the wetland, a tributary by its left side and the adjacent river. Four samplings were carried out, covering the rainy and the dry periods. Measures of pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and redox potential were taken in regular intervals of the water column using a multiparametric probe. Water samples were collected for the nitrogen and total phosphorus analysis, as well as their dissolved fractions (dissolved inorganic phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate). Total alkalinity and suspended solids were also quantified; RESULTS: The Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed the influence of the seasonality on the variability of the investigated variables, while the Principal Component Analysis gave rise in two statistical significant axes, which delimited two groups representative of the rainy and dry periods. Hydrological pulses from Jacupiranguinha River, besides contributing to the inputs of nutrients and sediments during the period of connectivity, accounted for the decrease in spatial gradients in the wetland. This "homogenization effect" was evidenced by the Cluster Analysis. The research also showed an industrial raw effluent as the main point source of phosphorus to the Jacupiranguinha River and, indirectly, to the wetland; CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, considering the scarcity of information about the wetlands in the study area, this research, besides contributing to the understanding of the influence of hydrological pulses on the investigated environmental variables, showed the need for adoption of conservation policies of these ecosystems face the increase anthropic pressures that they have been submitted, which may result in lack of their ecological, social and economic functions.