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.

The Benefits of Sugarcane Chain Development in Africa

As consumers continue to be concerned about the future of sustainable agriculture and the scarcity of natural resources, biofuels can be an important component of the "people" solution through job creation, development and interiorizing economic activities of a country through moving money from cities into rural areas. The Brazilian sugarcane industry is well developed in terms of corporate social responsibility and can serve as an example for other countries such as Africa. The objective of this article is to show how sugar cane can contribute to the development of Africa by producing renewable fuel for use in booming African cities. A supply of sugar can be developed for use in local markets and exports. Other opportunities exist to produce bioelectricity from the process of burning the bagasse and other new products such as plastic and diesel. In the case of Ethanol, this fuel has proven to be the most efficient in competing with gasoline in the last 40 years, and Africa may gain with a strategic plan on ethanol.

Phylogeography of Rift Valley Fever Virus in Africa Reveals Multiple Introductions in Senegal and Mauritania

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) virus (Family Bunyaviridae) is an arthropod-borne RNA virus that infects primarily domestic ruminants and occasionally humans. RVF epizootics are characterized by numerous abortions and mortality among young animals. In humans, the illness is usually characterized by a mild self-limited febrile illness, which could progress to more serious complications. RVF virus is widespread and endemic in many regions of Africa. In Western Africa, several outbreaks have been reported since 1987 when the first major one occurred at the frontier of Senegal and Mauritania. Aiming to evaluate the spreading and molecular epidemiology in these countries, RVFV isolates from 1944 to 2008 obtained from 18 localities in Senegal and Mauritania and 15 other countries were investigated. Our results suggest that a more intense viral activity possibly took place during the last century compared to the recent past and that at least 5 introductions of RVFV took place in Senegal and Mauritania from distant African regions. Moreover, Barkedji in Senegal was possibly a hub associated with the three distinct entries of RVFV in West Africa.

Fear for Manufacturing? China and the Future of Industry in Brazil and Latin America

There has been considerable concern in Latin America over the implications of increased competition from China for local industry. These concerns include the possibility of "deindustrialization," the increased "primarization" of the region's exports and the difficulties of upgrading manufactured exports into higher technology products. This article examines the impact of Chinese competition both in the domestic market and in export markets on Brazilian industry. It documents the increased penetration of Chinese manufactures in the Brazilian market and the way in which Brazilian exports have lost market share to China in the US, European Union and four Latin American countries. Brazil, because of its more developed and locally integrated industrial sector, is not typical of other Latin American countries and the article also discusses the relevance of the Brazilian experience for the region as a whole.

The characteristics of VIM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae from South Africa

A study was designed to characterize a carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPSA01) isolated from a patient in Gauteng, South Africa without recent travel outside South Africa. Molecular characterization was done using isoelectric focusing, polymerase chain reaction and sequencing for bla(VIM), bla(IMP), bla(NDM), bla(CTX-Ms), bla(OXAs), bla(TEMs), and bla(SHV), plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants, multilocus sequencing typing, plasmid replicon typing, and addiction factors. KPSA01 produced VIM-1 and belonged to the newly described sequence type ST569. The plasmid that harboured bla(VIM) typed within the narrow host range IncF replicon group, contained the aadA1 gene cassette, and tested positive for the vagCD and ccdAB addiction systems. This is the first report of VIM-1-producing K. pneumoniae outside Europe. It is important that surveillance studies be undertaken in Africa to determine if VIM-1-producing K. pneumoniae are present in significant numbers.

Geographic differentiation of polymorphism in the Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccine candidate gene SERA5

SERA5 is regarded as a promising malaria vaccine candidate of the most virulent human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. SERA5 is a 120 kDa abundantly expressed blood-stage protein containing a papain-like protease. Since substantial polymorphism in blood-stage vaccine candidates may potentially limit their efficacy, it is imperative to fully investigate polymorphism of the SERA5 gene (sera5). In this study, we performed evolutionary and population genetic analysis of sera5. The level of inter-species divergence (kS = 0.076) between P. falciparum and Plasmodium reichenowi, a closely related chimpanzee malaria parasite is comparable to that of housekeeping protein genes. A signature of purifying selection was detected in the proenzyme and enzyme domains. Analysis of 445 near full-length P. falciparum sera5 sequences from nine countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania and South America revealed extensive variations in the number of octamer repeat (OR) and serine repeat (SR) regions as well as substantial level of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in non-repeat regions (2562 bp). Remarkably, a 14 amino acid sequence of SERA5 (amino acids 59-72) that is known to be the in vitro target of parasite growth inhibitory antibodies was found to be perfectly conserved in all 445 worldwide isolates of P. falciparum evaluated. Unlike other major vaccine target antigen genes such as merozoite surface protein-1, apical membrane antigen-1 or circumsporozoite protein, no strong evidence for positive selection was detected for SNPs in the non-repeat regions of sera5. A biased geographical distribution was observed in SNPs as well as in the haplotypes of the sera5 OR and SR regions. In Africa, OR- and SR-haplotypes with low frequency (<5%) and SNPs with minor allele frequency (<5%) were abundant and were mostly continent-specific. Consistently, significant genetic differentiation, assessed by the Wright's fixation index (FST) of inter-population variance in allele frequencies, was detected for SNPs and both OR- and SR-haplotypes among almost all parasite populations. The exception was parasite populations between Tanzania and Ghana, suggesting frequent gene flow in Africa. The present study points to the importance of investigating whether biased geographical distribution for SNPs and repeat variants in the OR and SR regions affect the reactivity of human serum antibodies to variants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

U-Pb zircon ages of orthogneisses and supracrustal rocks of the Cariris Velhos belt: Onset of Neoproterozoic rifting in the Borborema Province, NE Brazil

New geochronological and geochemical constraints on Precambrian sedimentary and volcanic successions exposed in the western part of the Central Domain of the Borborema Province, NE Brazil, indicate the presence of two distinct tectono-stratigraphic complexes: Riacho Gravata and Sao Caetano. Both complexes and associated orthogneisses are referred in the literature as the Cariris Velhos belt, having depositional, extrusive, or intrusive ages within the interval 985-913 Ma. The Riacho Gravata complex consists of bimodal (but mostly felsic) volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks, muscovite+/-graphite schists, quartzites, and marble with local occurrences of banded-iron-formation. The Sao Caetano complex mainly consists of metagreywackes, marbles, calc-silicate rocks, and rare meta-mafic rocks. Meta-mafic rocks from both complexes have geochemical signatures similar to those of continental flood basalts, with epsilon Nd (1.0 Ga) values ranging from -1.0 to -2.8. Felsic volcanic rocks from the Riacho Gravata complex show epsilon Nd (1.0 Ga) values ranging from -1.0 to -7.4 and geochemical signatures similar to A(2)-type granitoids. New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon data from felsic volcanic rocks within the Riacho Gravata complex yielded ages of 1091 +/- 13 Ma and 996 +/- 13 Ma. In contrast, meta-graywackes from the Sao Caetano complex show a maximum deposition age of ca. 806 Ma in the northern part and ca. 862 Ma in the southern part of the outcrop area. The orthogneisses show epsilon Nd (1.0 Ga) values ranging from 1.0 to -4.2 with U/Pb TIMS and SHRIMP ages ranging from 960 to 926 Ma and geochemical signatures of A(2)-type granitoids. The data reported in this paper suggest at least two periods of extension within the Central Domain of the Borborema Province, the first starts ca. 1091 Ma with magmatism and deposition, creating the Riacho Gravata basin and continued intrusion of A-type granites to 920 Ma. A second rift event, which reactivated old faults, generated a basin with a maximum deposition age of ca. 806 Ma. Furthermore, the oldest granitoids cutting these metasedimentary rocks have crystallization ages of ca. 600 Ma. This suggests that the second rift event could be early Brasiliano in age. The resulting Sao Caetano basin received detritus from a variety of sources, although detritus from the Riacho Gravata complex dominated. Deposition ages of the Riacho Gravata and the Sao Caetano complexes are coeval with deposits in other basins of the Borborema Province (Riacho do Tigre in the Central Domain; Macurure and Maranco in the Sergipano Belt of the Southern domain). The Macaubas Group from SE Brazil and its counterparts in Africa, the Zadanian and Mayumbian Groups, in the western edge of the Congo Craton are also coeval. Closure of the Riacho Gravata and Sao Caetano basins occurred during the Brasiliano convergence (705-600 Ma). During the last stage of convergence, ca. 612 Ma, pull-apart basins were created and filled; final basin closure took place 605-592 Ma, after deposition ceased. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CD80 and CD86 polymorphisms in populations of various ancestries: 5 new CD80 promoter alleles

CD80 and CD86 are closely linked genes on chromosome 3 that code for glycoproteins of the immunoglobulin superfamily, expressed on the surface of antigen-presenting cells. These costimulatory molecules play essential roles for stimulation and inhibition of T cells through binding to CD28 and CTLA-4 receptors. In this study, CD80 promoter and CD86 exon 8 polymorphisms were analyzed to investigate the genetic diversity and microevolution of the 2 genes. We genotyped 1,124 individuals, including Brazilians of predominantly European, mixed African and European, and Japanese ancestry, 5 Amerindian populations, and an African sample. All variants were observed in Africans, which suggests their origin in Africa before the human migrations out of that continent. Five new CD80 promoter alleles were identified and confirmed by cloning and sequencing, and promoter 2 is most likely the ancestral allele. Nucleotide -79 is monomorphic in 4 Amerindian populations, where the presence of the -79 G allele is probably the result of gene flow from non-Amerindians. (C) 2012 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.