The BRICS: some historical experiences, growth challenges and opportunities

The acronym BRICS was a fad among the media and global investors. Now, the acronym sounds passé. However, the group of countries remains important, from both political and economic reasons. They have a large aggregate size, 28% of the global GDP and 42% of the world’s population, high growth potential due to the current significant misallocation of resources and relatively low stock of human capital, structural transformation is in progress and one of them, China, is taking steps to become a global power and a challenger to the US dominance. This paper provides a brief overview of the five economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. We focus on some aspects of their history, the Chinese initiatives in international finance and geopolitical strategic moves, their growth experience and structural transformation over the last 35 years, trade and investment integration into the global economy and among themselves, the growth challenges faced by their economies and the potential gains to the Brazilian economy from a stronger integration with the other BRICS. In association with its efforts to be a global power, China aims to become a major player in global finance and to achieve the status of global currency for the renminbi, which would be the first currency of an emerging economy to attain such position. Despite the similarities, the BRICS encompass very diverse economies. In the recent decades, China and India showed stellar growth rates. On the other hand, Brazil, Russia and South Africa have expanded just in line with global output growth with the Russian economy exhibiting high volatility. China is by far the largest economy, and South Africa the smallest, the only BRICS economy with a GDP lower than US$ 1 trillion. Russia abandoned communism almost 25 years ago, but reversed many of the privatizations of 90’s. China is still ruled by communism, but has a vibrant private sector and recently has officially declared market forces to play a dominant role in its economy. Brazil, Russia and South Africa are global natural resources powerhouses and commodity exporters while China and India are large commodity importers. Brazil is relatively closed to international trade of goods and services, in marked contrast to the other four economies. Brazil, India and South Africa are dependent on external capital flows whereas China and Russia are capital exporters. India and South Africa have younger populations and a large portion living below the poverty line. Despite its extraordinary growth experience that lifted many millions from poverty, China still has 28% of its population classified as poor. Russia and China have much older populations and one of their challenges is to deal with the effects of a declining labor force in the near future. India, China and South Africa face a long way to urbanization, while Brazil and Russia are already urbanized countries. China is an industrial economy but its primary sector still absorbs a large pool of workers. India is not, but the primary sector employs also a large share of the labor force. China’s aggregate demand structure is biased towards investment that has been driving its expansion. Brazil and South Africa have an aggregate demand structure similar to the developed economies, with private consumption accounting for approximately 70%. The same similarity applies to the supply side, as in both economies the share of services nears 70%. The development problem is a productivity problem, so microeconomic reforms are badly needed to foster long-term growth of the BRICS economies since they have lost steam due a variety of factors, but fundamentally due to slower total factor productivity growth. China and India are implementing ambitious reform programs, while Brazil is dealing with macroeconomic disequilibria. Russia and South Africa remain mute about structural reforms. There are some potential benefits to Brazil to be extracted from a greater economic integration with the BRICS, particularly in natural resources intensive industries and services. Necessary conditions to the materialization of those gains are the removal of the several sources of resource misallocation and strong investment in human capital.

Impacto na periferia de Altamira

Explicação sobre o contexto da periferia de Altamira, que deverá ser inundada pelo lago de Belo Monte. Parte do levantamento feito durante a viagem dos alunos do FIS (Formação Integrada para a Sustentabilidade) para contextualização do projeto-referência da disciplina

Murmúrios [im]possíveis: o desafio dialogante entre poesia e artes plásticas em Vasco Graça Moura

Nesta dissertação tento comprovar que a escrita poética de Vasco Graça Moura está repleta de “murmúrios [im]possíveis” com as artes plásticas; ou seja, que a sua poesia estabelece um diálogo fluido e permanente com a pintura, a fotografia e o desenho, do qual resulta a transfiguração do real e, por conseguinte, a reinterpretação do mundo. Com este intuito, analiso os suportes da escrita (Babo, 2006) assim como os conceitos de ecfrase (Ceia, 2005), rizoma (Deleuze e Guatarri, 2006) e desconstrução (Ceia, 2005), que fundamentam esta “arte combinatória” (Moura, 1983) e solidificam “os múltiplos casamentos do Vasco Graça Moura com as artes de encantamento e sedução” (Veiga, 2000). Esta investigação empreende, portanto, num diálogo com a escrita poética de Vasco Graça Moura, a pintura referida, as fotografias de Gérard Castello-Lopes (Em demanda de Moura – Giraldomachias, 1999) e de Ana Gaiaz (Variações metálicas, 2004), e os desenhos de Jorge Pinheiro (sombras com aquiles e pentesileia, 1999), tentando corroborar a presença da relação cúmplice entre poesia e artes plásticas e acompanhar as suas sucessivas “operações de desmontagem” (Moura, 2007).

Parâmetros urbanísticos na regulação do uso e ocupação do solo: estudo da densidade e do coeficiente de aproveitamento nos planos diretores de Natal de 1994 e 2007

A Constituição Federal de 1988 e o Estatuto da Cidade estabelecem o Plano Diretor como instrumento básico da política de ordenamento territorial, tendo como princípio fundamental o cumprimento da função social da propriedade e do direito à cidade. Na perspectiva de adequação às diretrizes e objetivos da política urbana estabelecidos em 1988, o município de Natal elaborou os Planos Diretores de 1994 e 2007, definindo instrumentos e parâmetros de regulação do uso e ocupação do solo possíveis de assegurar o cumprimento da função social da propriedade urbana e de gerar subsídios ao planejamento e à gestão da cidade. Apesar de Natal ter sido um dos municípios brasileiros pioneiros na adoção desses princ pios, antecipando e incorporando os instrumentos que em 2001 viriam a ser definidos no Estatuto da Cidade, identifica-se que alguns desses instrumentos e parâmetros direcionados à regulação do uso e ocupação do solo não tiveram sua aplicação plena, a exemplo do mecanismo de acompanhamento e controle dado pelo Estoque de Área Edificável e da Densidade, que foi substituída pelo Coeficiente de Aproveitamento no Plano Diretor de 2007. Questionando esse procedimento, busca-se na presente pesquisa investigar de que maneira essa substituição do parâmetro densidade pelo coeficiente de aproveitamento influenciou na capacidade da gestão pública de regular os processos de uso e ocupação do solo, de forma a adequar a sua intensificação ao suporte da infraestrutura instalada. Foram tomadas como referência teórico-conceitual as contribuições sobre a prática de planejamento urbano no Brasil, nos marcos do ideário da reforma urbana, com destaque para as reflexõe s de Flávio Villaça, Orlando Alves Santos Junior e Daniel Todtmann Montandon, Luiz César de Q. Ribeiro, Raquel Rolnik, Ermínia Maricato, Laura Machado de Bueno e Renato Cymbalista, José Roberto Bassul e Carlos F. Lago Burnett, e, com relação aos parâmetros de controle urbanístico, o estudo identifica as diferentes abordagens sobre a densidade urbana e o coeficiente de aproveitamento com base nas reflexões de Claudio Acioly Jr., Forbes Davidson, Juan Luis Mascaró, Ricardo Ojima, Marcelo de Souza, José Rámon Navarro Vera e Armando Ortuño Padilla, Nestor Goulart Reis, Marta Dora Grostein e Susana Ricardo Alves. Como conclusão, discute-se a hipótese formulada, inicialmente, de que a mudança de parâmetros verificada colocou limites para o município realizar uma gestão adequada do solo urbano e, portanto, de fazer cumprir a função social da propriedade, considerando a necessidade de adequação entre a intensificação do uso e ocupação do solo e a infraestrutura instalada

Caracterização ecológica dos peixes recifais do Atol das Rocas

The present work was carried out at the Atol das Rocas (3º 51 S; 33º 49 W), the only atoll of the South Atlantic and the first Brazilian marine protected area. It was guided by the following hypothesis: the composition of the fish communities varies in agreement with the position of the pools; in other words, with or without permanent ocean connection. To test the validity of this hypothesis, the fish abundance was estimated in the connected pools (Barretinha/Barreta Falsa) and unconnected ones (Cemiteriozinho/Âncoras), carrying an ecological characterization of the fishes that inhabit these pools. Additionally, the structural complexity of the sampled places was also evaluated intending to verify the variations of the abundance and diversity of fishes in function to this factor. By the fact of this research was being carried out through the limits of a conservation unit, the samples was realized using visual census techniques. The results generated through uni and multivariate analytic techniques allowed the evidence that decisive factor in the density, richness and diversity variations of fishes are linked to the substratum type (Hard / Soft bottom) and not by the fact that the pool are or are not connected permanently to the ocean. In relation to the structural complexity; 58% of the variations in the diversity of fishes were attributed to changes in the structural complexity, while 12% of the variations in the abundance were attributed to the structural complexity

Anti-leishmanial effects of purified compounds from aerial parts of Baccharis uncinella C. DC. (Asteraceae)

Species of Baccharis exhibit antibiotic, antiseptic, wound-healing, and anti-protozoal properties, and have been used in the traditional medicine of South America for the treatment of several diseases. In the present work, the fractionation of EtOH extract from aerial parts of Baccharis uncinella indicated that the isolated compounds caffeic acid and pectolinaringenin showed inhibitory activity against Leishmania (L.) amazonensis and Leishmania (V.) braziliensis promastigotes, respectively. Moreover, amastigote forms of both species were highly sensible to the fraction composed by oleanolic + ursolic acids and pectolinaringenin. Caffeic acid also inhibited amastigote forms of L. (L.) amazonensis, but this effect was weak in L. (V.) braziliensis amastigotes. The treatment of infected macrophages with these compounds did not alter the levels of nitrates, indicating a direct effect of the compounds on amastigote stages. The results presented herein suggest that the active components from B. uncinella can be important to the design of new drugs against American tegumentar leishmaniases.

Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of derivatives from aerial parts of Baccharis uncinella

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Avaliação das indicações de ceratoplastia penetrante no interior paulista

Objective: To determinate the corneal diagnoses of patients underwent Penetrating Keratoplasty (PK) in the university hospital of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, and their relation to age group, gender and socioeconomic factors. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 1085 registration forms of patients underwent Penetrating Keratoplasty in the university hospital of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, from 2000 to 2009. The surgical indications were then correlated to age group, gender and socioeconomic factors, by chi-square test. Results: Fifty-seven percent of all Penetrating Keratoplasties were performed in male patients, and the mean age was 52.3 years. Most surgeries (90.8%) occurred by means of public health care (SUS). The main diagnosis was leukoma (23%), representing 14% of the indications for PK in males and 9% in females. Leukoma was also the diagnosis in 40% of PK performed in patients older than 60 years and in 94.4% of these surgeries in public health care users. Conclusion: The main indication for Penetrating Keratoplasty was leukoma, predominating in males, ages above 60 years and in public health care users.

Efeitos da tilápia do Nilo, Oreochromis niloticus, sobre a biomassa planctônica e a transparência da água ao longo de um gradiente de enriquecimento por nutrientes

The omnivorous filter-feeding fish, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), can have negative effects on water quality enhancing the eutrophication process. These effects depend on the nutrient enrichment level in the water. We carried out a mesocosm experiment for five weeks in a tropical man-made lake in Brazil to test ifthe effects of tilapias depend on of the level of nutrient enrichment. The experiment lasted for 5 weeks and a factorial 2x5 experimental design was used where the presence and absence of tilapias were manipulated in combination to 5 different levels of nutrient load in a total of 10 treatments. A two way repeated measure ANOVA was performed to evaluate the effects of time (t), tilapia (F), nutrients (NP) and the interactions among these factors on: chlorophyll a, water transparency, total phosphorous, total nitrogen, N:P ratio, zooplankton biomass and phytoplankton biovolume. The tilapia effect was evident, but nutrient enrichment didn t have any effect on the variables analyzed. Tilapia decreased the water transparency, total zooplankton biomass, calanoid copepod biomass, nauplii copepod biomass and cladocerans biomass. On the other hand, tilapia had no effect on phytoplankton biovolume. This lack of effect on phytoplankton is probably due to tilapia grazing that may counteract the positive effect of tilapia on phytoplankton via trophic cascades and nutrient recycling. Hence, a reduction in tilapia stock would not be an effective way to reduce phytoplankton biomass and improve water quality

Ocorrência de Bacillus cereus em leite integral e capacidade enterotoxigênica das cepas isoladas

Pesquisaram-se a presença de Bacillus cereus e a produção de enterotoxinas produzidas por esses microrganismos em 120 amostras de diversos tipos de leite. Bacillus cereus foi isolado e identificado em 22 (73,3%), 15 (50,0%), 29 (96,7%) e quatro (13,3%) amostras de leite em pó, cru, pasteurizado e UAT (longa vida), respectivamente. Para a detecção de enterotoxinas pela técnica da alça ligada de coelho, foram positivos, respectivamente, três (13,6%), um (7,1%) e 10 (35,7%) microrganismos isolados das amostras de leite em pó, leite cru e leite pasteurizado. Pelo teste de aumento de permeabilidade vascular, dois (9,1%), um (7,1%), um (3,6%) e um (4,0%) microrganismos isolados de leite em pó, cru, pasteurizado e UAT apresentaram-se enterotoxigênicos, respectivamente. O uso da técnica de aglutinação passiva em látex demonstrou a produção da toxina diarréica por três (33,3%), sete (63,6%), quatro (30,8%) e oito (80,0%) microrganismos isolados, respectivamente, de leite em pó, cru, pasteurizado e UAT. Os resultados indicam um risco potencial, podendo colocar em risco a saúde dos consumidores desses produtos.

Chemical composition and fermentation characteristics of elephant grass silage with biodiesel industry co-products

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of three concentrations (3, 6, and 9%) of forage turnip (Raphanus sativus) and physic nut (Jatropha curcas) cakes on dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, acid detergent insoluble nitrogen neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen contents, in vitro dry matter digestibility, pH values and concentrations of N-NH3 in elephant grass silages. It was used an entirely randomized design in factorial arrangement [(2x3)+1]. Experimental PVC silos were used and ensiled material was kept for 62 days. The addition of cakes increased the dry matter contents (P<0.05). The fibrous fractions were reduced (P<0.05) with the inclusion of cakes during the grass ensilage and the CP contents increased (P<0.05). The forage turnip cake provided the same pH and N-NH3 values in ideal levels and the physic nut, added to 9%, increased those values (P<0.05). IVDMD was reduced (P<0.05) when the cakes were added. These co-products can be used in small amounts for elephant grass ensilage in order to provide improvement in chemical and fermentation characteristics of the silages. Nevertheless, physic nut cake shows limitations for its use in animal feeding due to the presence of toxic compounds, making necessary studies for their identification and elimination.

Levantamento de plantas daninhas aquáticas no reservatório de Alagados, Ponta Grossa-PR

O monitoramento de macrófitas da represa Alagados um reservatório artificial de água que abastece parcialmente a população do município de Ponta Grossa-PR se faz necessário, uma vez que resíduos urbanos, bem como dejetos de áreas rurais, são descartados direta ou indiretamente nesse ambiente. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram realizar o inventário de plantas aquáticas coletadas entre agosto de 2007 e julho de 2008 no entorno do lago, como medida de monitoramento da área; indicar a frequência das espécies e apresentar um diagnóstico sobre o crescimento populacional destas; e identificar áreas onde a colonização por macrófitas é intensa, podendo tornar-se problema ambiental. Para realizar esse inventário, foram efetuadas 10 coletas em 48 pontos de amostragem ao longo das margens do lago da represa. Exsicatas foram depositadas no Herbário da Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (HUPG). Foram amostradas 54 espécies, distribuídas em 16 famílias de angiospermas, 8 monocotiledôneas e 8 dicotiledôneas, e outras duas famílias de pteridófitas.

Atributos polarimétricos de imagem radar na inferência de parâmetros morfológicos de macrófitas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)