Brazil in Africa: Another Emerging Power in the Continent?

This paper develops three basic arguments. First, it presents the basic underpinnings of Brazilian diplomacy in the past half century, concentrating on the changes adopted in the 1980s and the 1990s up to the foreign policy put forward by Lula`s government (2003-2009). It recognises that Lula`s foreign policy represents a step forward, especially where Africa is concerned. However, it does not seem to be clear whether the Brazilian economy has enough strength to sustain such a foreign policy, as is shown in the second part of the paper. This is indeed the case if comparisons are made with India, China and even South Africa, when the latter`s regional role is considered. Finally, an effort is made to summarise the recent political cooperation established between Brazil and African countries as well as to present an overview of Brazil`s trade and investment relations both with the region as a whole and with some important individual partners. Once this picture is established, we investigate whether these realmsdiplomatic/political and economictake independent tracks, or if they do interact in a coherent manner. Africa remained deep inside Brazil and Brazilians, not as something external to ourselves. But as a mythic space; neither geographical, nor historical.

Physical-chemical and microbiological changes in Cerrado Soil under differing sugarcane harvest management systems

Background: Sugarcane cultivation plays an important role in Brazilian economy, and it is expanding fast, mainly due to the increasing demand for ethanol production. In order to understand the impact of sugarcane cultivation and management, we studied sugarcane under different management regimes (pre-harvest burn and mechanical, unburnt harvest, or green cane), next to a control treatment with native vegetation. The soil bacterial community structure (including an evaluation of the diversity of the ammonia oxidizing (amoA) and denitrifying (nirK) genes), greenhouse gas flow and several soil physicochemical properties were evaluated. Results: Our results indicate that sugarcane cultivation in this region resulted in changes in several soil properties. Moreover, such changes are reflected in the soil microbiota. No significant influence of soil management on greenhouse gas fluxes was found. However, we did find a relationship between the biological changes and the dynamics of soil nutrients. In particular, the burnt cane and green cane treatments had distinct modifications. There were significant differences in the structure of the total bacterial, the ammonia oxidizing and the denitrifying bacterial communities, being that these groups responded differently to the changes in the soil. A combination of physical and chemical factors was correlated to the changes in the structures of the total bacterial communities of the soil. The changes in the structures of the functional groups follow a different pattern than the physicochemical variables. The latter might indicate a strong influence of interactions among different bacterial groups in the N cycle, emphasizing the importance of biological factors in the structuring of these communities. Conclusion: Sugarcane land use significantly impacted the structure of total selected soil bacterial communities and ammonia oxidizing and denitrifier gene diversities in a Cerrado field site in Central Brazil. A high impact of land use was observed in soil under the common burnt cane management. The green cane soil also presented different profiles compared to the control soil, but to at a lesser degree.

Mudança estrutural e mercado de trabalho no Brasil

Structural changes and labor market in Brazil. In the present article, we attempt to identify the sources of the changes in the labor schooling level in the three main sectors of the Brazilian economy: manufacturing, services and agriculture. It was verified that, despite the changes in the product and employment among sectors, mainly in the 1990s, the relative demands for qualified workers has not experimented significant changes. Moreover, in the periods in which schooling has increased more, the workers' wage has decreased more. This fact suggests that the increase in labor qualification was mainly due to the increase of this factor supply. The structural changes had contributed, in general, in a marginal and negative way to labor force level of qualification demand in all the three sectors.

Estratégias de sinalização da qualidade da carne suína ao consumidor final

A suinocultura destaca-se na economia brasileira. Contudo, avaliando-se o consumo interno da carne suína in natura, observa-se uma estagnação em patamares baixos. O artigo tem como objetivo analisar as principais iniciativas adotadas pelo Sistema Agroindustrial (SAG) da carne suína no Brasil visando sinalizar qualidade aos consumidores. Devido à marcante assimetria de informações, ressalta-se a importância da organização da cadeia produtiva, melhor direcionando esforços para a expansão do mercado interno. Este trabalho sugere ações visando aprimorar a coordenação deste SAG com vistas à melhoria na qualidade da carne ao consumidor e à redução da informalidade.

Epidemiological aspects of American cutaneous leishmaniasis and phlebotomine sandfly population, in the municipality of Monte Negro, State of Rondônia, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: This work was carried out on the purpose of identifying the species of phlebotomine sandflies in the municipality of Monte Negro, state of Rondonia, Brazil, that may have been transmitting the American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL), and concisely describe epidemiological aspects of disease. METHODS: The epidemiologic and socioeconomical indicators were obtained from government institutions and the local Municipal Secretary of Health. Phlebotomine sandflies were captured using CDC light traps between July 2006 to July 2008. The total of 1,240 of female sandflies were examined by PCR method directed to k-DNA. RESULTS: There has been a significant decrease in the incidence of ACL of about 50% over the last ten years in the municipality. A total of 1,935 specimens of 53 sandfly species were captured, three of the genus Brumptomyia genus and 50 of the genus Lutzomyia. The predominant species was Lutzomyia acanthopharynx, Lutzomyia whitmani, Lutzomyia geniculata and Lutzomyia davisi. None were positive for Leishmania sp. CONCLUSIONS: Four sandflies species were found in the State of Rondonia for the first time: Brumptomyia brumpti, Lutzomyia tarapacaensis, Lutzomyia melloi and Lutzomyia lenti. The presence of Lutzomyia longipalpis, was also captured. Socioeconomical improvement of Brazilian economy and the increase of environmental surveillance in the last 15 years collaborated in the decrease of people exposed to vectors, reducing the incidence of ACL.