Towards modular regionalism: the proliferation of Latin American cooperation

This article addresses three questions: why there was a surge in regional cooperation projects in Latin America in the last decade; how to characterize the current multi-faceted scenario; and how to make this complexity work. After a review of six theoretical perspectives, an original conceptual approach is proposed: "modular regionalism." This credibly answers the three questions and offers policy recommendations.

Heterodox Autonomy Doctrine: realism and purposes, and its relevance

The Autonomy Doctrine, elaborated by Juan Carlos Puig, is a realist point of view of International Relations. It is an analysis, from the periphery, about the structure of world power, and a roadmap (from a theoretical point of view) for the longing process of autonomization-regarding hegemonic power-for a country whose ruling class would decide to overcome dependency. The elements its author took into account when analyzing its own context are explained in this text and, afterwards, are reflected over its relevance nowadays. For that purpose, it is necessary to answer certain questions, such as which are the concepts and categories that may explain its relevance, its applicability to regional integration and cooperation models and projects, and what would be the analytical method to compare reality versus ideas, among others. The methodological proposal to analyze the relevance of Puig's doctrine is to compare it to different visions of regionalism that are currently in effect in Latin America.

The influence of nationalism in Mercosur and in South America: can the regional integration project survive?

The article discusses if nationalism is getting in the way of regional integration through a Brazilian prism due to Brazil’s pivotal role in regional integration in Mercosur and South America.

Brazilian foreign policy towards South America during the Lula administration: caught between South America and Mercosur

The aim of this article is to analyze Brazil's foreign policy towards the South American region during President Lula's administration. As such, the article intends to highlight two specific dimensions: the extent to which foreign policy during this period has differed from previous periods and the relative importance granted by Brazilian diplomacy to recent cooperation and integration efforts, more specifically the Unasur and Mercosur. The article argues that the Lula administration has behaved differently from its predecessors by prioritizing the building up of Brazilian leadership in South America on several different fronts, especially by strengthening multilateral institutions in the region

International thought in the Lula era

In the last fifty years, Brazil began a rapid process of structural transformation, following the first stage of industrial development in the 1930s. Currently the country integrates the small group of countries which evolved from an initial peripheral and subordinate insertion dating back to the nineteenth century, part of the most dynamic segment of the semiperiphery. But this category, intermediate between the "maturity" and "backwardness", according Modernization theorists, or between the "center" and "periphery", as theorists of the Dependence defend, has undergone a process of overcoming considerable positive progress in the direction of the group of states that dominate the current world system. In this way, during the years 2003-2010, foreign policy, along with the formulation of a new regionalism as a strategy of global integration and a new ideal model of State, has been a key factor

Exploring the interplay between Framing and Securitization theory: the case of the Arab Spring protests in Bahrain

This article advances the theoretical integration between securitization theory and the framing approach, resulting in a set of criteria hereby called security framing. It seeks to make a twofold contribution: to sharpen the study of the ideational elements that underlie the construction of threats, and to advance towards a greater assessment of the audience's preferences. The case study under examination is the 2011 military intervention of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Bahrain. The security framing of this case will help illuminate the dynamics at play in one of the most important recent events in Gulf politics.

An outline of military technological dynamics as restraints for acquisition, international cooperation and domestic technological development

The expectation that technological returns from defense expenditure through acquisition, international cooperation and domestic research would further national development underappreciates the different technological dynamic of the armed services. This paper outlines the technological dynamic the stems from fighting in the air, at sea and on land, exemplifying consequences for the case of acquisition.

International drivers of Brazilian agricultural cooperation in Africa in the post-2008 economic crisis

This text focuses on the major drivers of Brazilian agricultural cooperation in Africa as conceived and pursued from 2004 to 2014, with emphasis on the impacts of political and economic international changes that took place in that period, and particularly the impacts of the 2008 economic crisis, in framing Brazil's foreign policy and development assistance initiatives. It addresses current international forces and developments at the systemic level, but also analyses recent economic domestic developments, in particular those directly related to Brazilian agriculture and those related to the policy framework of its evolving internationalization. Special attention is paid to the dual dimensions of Brazilian agricultural policy and to its projection in agricultural cooperation as pursed in Africa.

Assessment of integration of the leprosy program into primary health care in Aracaju, state of Sergipe, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological and operational characteristics of the Leprosy Program before and after its integration into the Primary healthcare Services of the municipality of Aracaju-Sergipe, Brazil. METHODS: Data were drawn from the national database. The study periods were divided into preintegration (1996-2000) and postintegration (2001-2007). Annual rates of epidemiological detection were calculated. Frequency data on clinico-epidemiological variables of cases detected and treated for the two periods were compared using the Chi-squared (χ2) test adopting a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: Rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, were greater for the postintegration period and were higher than rates recorded for Brazil as a whole during the same periods. A total of 780 and 1,469 cases were registered during the preintegration and postintegration periods, respectively. Observations for the postintegration period were as follows: I) a higher proportion of cases with disability grade assessed at diagnosis, with increase of 60.9% to 78.8% (p < 0.001), and at end of treatment, from 41.4% to 44.4% (p < 0.023); II) an increase in proportion of cases detected by contact examination, from 2.1% to 4.1% (p < 0.001); and III) a lower level of treatment default with a decrease from 5.64 to 3.35 (p < 0.008). Only 34% of cases registered from 2001 to 2007 were examined. CONCLUSIONS: The shift observed in rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, during the postintegration period indicate an increased level of health care access. The fall in number of patients abandoning treatment indicates greater adherence to treatment. However, previous shortcomings in key actions, pivotal to attaining the outcomes and impact envisaged for the program, persisted in the postintegration period.

Analysis of the detection coefficient for the association between leprosy and pregnancy in the integration region of Carajas, State of Para, Brazil

Introduction The association between leprosy and pregnancy is currently poorly understood and has been linked to serious clinical consequences. Methods A retrospective study between 2007 and 2009 was performed in the integration region of Carajás, Brazil on a population of pregnant lepers, with non-lepers of ages 12-49 years serving as the reference population. Results Twenty-nine pregnant lepers were studied during the study period. The detection rates (DRs) for the studied association were 4.7 in 2007, 9.4 in 2008, and 4.3 in 2009. Conclusions The Carajás region presented a medium pattern of endemicity during most of the study period, with a high DR found in 2008.

Traditional Chinese materia medica: a retrospect and prospect

For thousands of years, traditional medicine and remedies have been practed and used in the fight against disease in China. They have proved to be valuable and the distillate of vast historical experience based on field-tested human experiments, long-term observations and clinical trials. The Chinese people belive that traditional medicine is consistent with theirown culture. Endowed with a unique theoretical system and provided outstanding clinical results, traditional Chinese medicine continues to play an important role in helping the Chinese nation flourish. The recent study of traditional medicinal plants in Chine has given us confidence that what was recorded in ancient medical literature through empirical observations is indeed still coindicent with the concepts of modern chemistry, pharmacology and medicine. The task of revealing what is valid and efficacious should be retained, and what is mythic and invalid should be discarded in traditional Chinese medicine may require scientific research lasting for several generations. Therfore, multidisciplinary cooperation and international collaboration in this field would be essential. Systematic coordination of work in traditional medicine by word organizations, national governments, private foundations and individual scientists is a requisite as well.

Integration of Trypanosoma cruzi kDNA minicircle sequence in the host genome may be associated with autoimmune serum factors in Chagas disease patients

Integration of kDNA sequences within the genome of the host cell shown by PCR amplification with primers to the conserved Trypanosoma cruzi kDNA minicircle sequence was confirmed by Southern hybridization with specific probes. The cells containing the integrated kDNA sequences were then perpetuated as transfected macrophage subclonal lines. The kDNA transfected macrophages expressed membrane antigens that were recognized by antibodies in a panel of sera from ten patients with chronic Chagas disease. These antigens barely expressed in the membrane of uninfected, control macrophage clonal lines were recognized neither by factors in the control, non-chagasic subjects nor in the chagasic sera. This finding suggests the presence of an autoimmune antibody in the chagasic sera that recognizes auto-antigens in the membrane of T. cruzi kDNA transfected macrophage subclonal lines.

The joint R&D project: The case of the first Brazilian microcontroller chip

ABSTRACT The interorganizational cooperation, through joint efforts with various actors, allows the high-tech companies to complement resources, especially in R&D projects. Collaborative projects have been identified in many studies as an important strategy to produce complex products and services in uncertain and competitive environments. Thus, this research aims at deepening the understanding of how the development dynamics of a collaborative R&D project in an industry of high technology occur. In order to achieve the proposed objective, the R&D project of the first microcontroller in the Brazilian semiconductor industry was defined as the object of analysis. The empirical choice is justified by the uniqueness of the case, besides bringing a diversity of actors and a level of complementarity of resources that were significant to the success of the project. Given the motivation to know who the actors were and what the main forms of interorganizational coordination were used in this project, interviews were carried out and a questionnaire was also made, besides other documents related to the project. The results presented show a network of nine actors and their roles in the interorganizational collaboration process, as well as the forms of social and temporal overlapping, used in the coordination of collective efforts. Focusing on the mechanisms of temporal and social integration highlighted throughout the study, the inclusion of R&D projects in the typology for interorganizational projects is proposed in this paper, which was also proposed by Jones and Lichtenstein (2008).

Teaching-service integration: implications and roles in experiences of Undergraduate Courses in Nursing

The study aimed at understanding the implications of the teaching-service integration to nursing education from the perspective of teachers, students and professionals in Primary Healthcare as well as identifying the roles of teachers and professionals who follow practical experiences in education. This is a case study of qualitative approach carried out in five undergraduate courses in Nursing in the state of Santa Catarina. A total of 22 teachers and 14 professionals were interviewed and five focus groups were conducted with students. Results are presented in two categories: Implications of the teaching-service integration to education in Nursing: contributing factors and intervening factors and Relationships established in the experiences: a unison speech and a dissonant practice. The contributions of the teaching-service integration are undeniable. Despite this belief, there are intervening factors that need to be on the agenda for discussion. The role of facilitator in education emerged strongly despite conflicting perceptions remain.