Efficiency in Brazil's industrial sectors in terms of energy and sustainable development

This article evaluates the efficiency of Brazil's industrial sectors from 1996 to 2009, taking into account energy consumption and respective contributions to the country's economic and social aspects. This analysis used a mathematical programming method called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which enabled, from the SBM model and the window analysis, to evaluate the ability of industries to reduce energy consumption and fossil-fuel CO2 emissions (inputs), as well as to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by sectors, the persons employed and personnel expenses (outputs). The results of this study indicated that the Textile sector is the most efficient industrial sector in Brazil, according to the variables used, followed by these sectors: Foods and Beverages, Chemical, Mining, Paper and Pulp, Nonmetallic and Metallurgical.

Regional and socioeconomic distribution of household food availability in Brazil, in 2008-2009

OBJECTIVE: To describe the regional and socioeconomic distribution of household food availability in Brazil. METHODS: Data from the 2008-2009 Household Budget Survey on food and beverage acquisition for household consumption, conducted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), were analyzed. The amounts of foods, recorded during seven consecutive days in the 55,970 sample households, were converted into calories and nutrients. Food quality indicators were constructed and analyzed according to the regional and socioeconomic strata of the Brazilian population. RESULTS: The amount of energy from protein was adequate in all regional and socioeconomic strata. On the other hand, an excess of free sugars and fats was observed in all regions of the country, especially in the Southern and Southeastern regions. The proportion of saturated fats was high in urban areas and consistent with the greater contribution of animal-derived products. Limited availability of fruits and vegetables was found in all regions. An increase in the fat content and reduction in carbohydrate content of the diet were observed with the increase in income. CONCLUSIONS: The negative characteristics of the Brazilian diet observed at the end of the first decade of the 21(st) century indicate the need to prioritize public policies for the promotion of healthy eating.

Cost and energy density of diet in Brazil, 2008-2009

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the cost and energy density of diet consumed in Brazilian households. Data from the Brazilian Household Budget Survey (POF 200812009) were used to identify the main foods and their prices. Similar items were grouped, resulting in a basket of 67 products. Linear programming was applied for the composition of isoenergetic baskets, minimizing the deviation from the average household diet. Restrictions were imposed on the inclusion of items and the energy contribution of the various food groups. A reduction in average cost of diet was applied at intervals of R$0.15 to the lowest possible cost. We identified an inverse association between energy density and cost of diet (p < 0.05), and at the lowest possible cost we obtained the maximum value of energy density Restrictions on the diet's cost resulted in the selection of diets with higher energy density, indicating that cost of diet may lead to the adoption of inadequate diets in Brazil.

Potential dietary sources of ellagic acid and other antioxidants among fruits consumed in Brazil: Jabuticaba (Myrciaria jaboticaba (Vell.) Berg)

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the content of ellagic acid in fruits consumed by the Brazilian population, including native ones; (2) to further characterize rich sources in relation to ascorbic acid, phenolics contents and in vitro antioxidant capacity; and (3) to study the distribution and effect of ripening stage on ellagitannins content of jabuticaba (Myrciaria jaboticaba). The content of free ellagic acid and ellagic acid derivatives such as ellagitannins was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: Ellagic acid was detected in 10 out of a total of 35 fruits analyzed. The content of free ellagic acid in fruits varied from 0.0028 to 0.085 g kg(-1) (FW) and total ellagic acid varied from 0.215 to 3.11 g kg(-1) (FW). All the seven fruits belonging to the Myrtaceae family evaluated in this study presented high contents of ellagitannins in their composition, with jabuticaba, grumixama and cambuci (all native from Brazil) showing the highest total ellagic acid contents. Jabuticaba, the most consumed in Brazilamongthose and already adapted to commercial plantations, contained concentrated phenolics compounds, including ellagitannins, in the peel. Anthocyanins (cyanidin derivatives) increased significantly through ripening of jabuticaba and were not present in the pulp or seeds. Samples collected from three different locations during summer, winter and spring had total ellagic contents varying from 1.88 to 3.31 g kg(-1) (FW). The decrease in ellagic acid content with ripening was more accentuated for pulp (eight times) compared to seeds (2.3 times) and peel (2.0 times). CONCLUSION: These results showed the potential of jabuticaba as dietary source of ellagic acid and reinforced consumption of the whole fruit by the population. (C) 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes in Brazil

Objectives. We investigated whether taxing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) would improve the diets of households in Brazil. Methods. We used household food consumption data that the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics collected in 2002-2003 from a nationally representative sample of 48470 Brazilian households. The consumption of SSBs is expressed as the total SSB calories consumed and as the SSB percentage of the total calories purchased. We investigated price elasticity with regression models, controlling for demographic variables, income, and prices of all other foods and drinks. Results. Increases in the price of SSBs led to reductions in consumption. A 1.00% increase in the price of SSBs led to a 0.85% reduction of SSB calories consumed (1.03% reduction for the poor and 0.63% for the nonpoor). Increased income had a positive effect on SSB consumption, but the effect was less than half the size of the price elasticity (0.41% increase in SSB calories consumed for every 1.00% increase in income). Conclusions. High SSB price elasticity in Brazil indicates that a tax on purchased weight or volume would lead to reductions in SSB consumption. (Am J Public Health. 2012;102:178-183. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300313)

Evaluation of the Concentration of Nonessential and Essential Elements in Chicken, Pork, and Beef Samples Produced in Brazil

Food safety is a global concern. Meat represents the most important protein source for humans. Thus, contamination of meat products by nonessential elements is a ready source of human exposure. In addition, knowledge of the concentration of essential elements is also relevant with respect to human nutrition. The aim of the present study was to determine the concentration of 17 elements in pork, beef, and chicken produced in Brazil. Meat samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The estimated daily intake for nonessential elements including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and antimony (Sb) through meat consumption is below the toxicological reference values. However, high levels were detected for the nonessential element cesium (Cs), mainly in beef samples, an observation that deserves future studies to identify the source of contamination and potential adverse consequences.

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in elite long-distance runners in Brazil

Objective: To determine the prevalence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction among elite long-distance runners in Brazil and whether there is a difference in the training loads among athletes with and without exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving elite long-distance runners with neither current asthma symptoms nor a diagnosis of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. All of the participants underwent eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea challenge and maximal cardiopulmonary exercise tests, as well as completing questionnaires regarding asthma symptoms and physical activity, in order to monitor their weekly training load. Results: Among the 86 male athletes recruited, participation in the study was agreed to by 20, of whom 5 (25%) were subsequently diagnosed with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. There were no differences between the athletes with and without exercise-induced bronchoconstriction regarding anthropometric characteristics, peak oxygen consumption, baseline pulmonary function values, or reported asthma symptoms. The weekly training load was significantly lower among those with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction than among those without. Conclusions: In this sample of long-distance runners in Brazil, the prevalence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction was high.

Hydrogen consumption in vent files of the equatorial Atlantic

The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977 revolutionized our understanding of the energy sources that fuel primary productivity on Earth. Hydrothermal vent ecosystems are dominated by animals that live in symbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria. So far, only two energy sources have been shown to power chemosynthetic symbioses: reduced sulphur compounds and methane. Using metagenome sequencing, single-gene fluorescence in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, shipboard incubations and in situ mass spectrometry, we show here that the symbionts of the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge use hydrogen to power primary production. In addition, we show that the symbionts of Bathymodiolus mussels from Pacific vents have hupL, the key gene for hydrogen oxidation. Furthermore, the symbionts of other vent animals such as the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila and the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata also have hupL. We propose that the ability to use hydrogen as an energy source is widespread in hydrothermal vent symbioses, particularly at sites where hydrogen is abundant.

Urbanization, socio-economic changes and population growth in Brazil: dietary shifts and environmental implications.

Population growth, economic globalization, improving living standards and urbanization are causing important changes in the global food system and modifying the dietary habits in many parts of the world (Molden, 2007; Godfray et al., 2010). The nutritional transition (linked to the development of countries and the increasing wealth of its population) implies a shift away from traditional staple food such as roots and tuber vegetables and a rise in consumption of meat and milk products, refined and processed foods, as well as sugars, oils and fats (Ambler-Edwards et al., 2009). The contemporary food system puts significant pressure on natural resources, especially on land and water, because the growing food demand pushes the agricultural frontier beyond, causing large impacts on ecosystems (Ambler-Edwards et al. 2009: 11-18). Also, the trend towards richer diets in animal proteins and processed food adds further pressure on the environment, since it requires larger amount of water and land to be produced (Allan, 2011; Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2012).

Different approaches to municipal solid waste management in Brazil : case study Rio de Janeiro

Inadequate final disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is associated with significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, environmental, health and safety issues, space consumption, public health and developmental issues in general. The environmental impact of waste is mostly felt in developing countries, inadequate waste management and treatment solution, inadequate policies and outdated practices are some of the factors leading to the significantly high final disposal of waste in dumps in developing countries. Brazil and other developing countries are changing the status quo by adopting polices that will adequately address this problem of inadequate waste management and disposal. Life cycle analysis (LCA) identifies the potential environmental impact of a product though environmental impact assessment, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 to serve as principle guidelines for conducting LCA. Various waste treatment solution was applied to identify the waste management solution with the least Global warming potential (GWP) for treating the MSW generated from the city of Rio de Janerio, while reducing significantly final waste disposed in landfill.

Development Begins at Home: Women and the Domestic Economy in Brazil, 1945-1975

A number of historians of twentieth-century Latin America have identified ways that national labor laws, civil codes, social welfare programs, and business practices contributed to a gendered division of society that subordinated women to men in national economic development, household management, and familial relations. Few scholars, however, have critically explored women's roles as consumers and housewives in these intertwined realms. This work examines the Brazilian case after the Second World War, arguing that economic policies and business practices associated with “developmentalism” [Portuguese: desenvolvimentismo] created openings for women to engage in debates about national progress and transnational standards of modernity. While acknowledging that an asymmetry of gender relations persisted, the study demonstrates that urban women expanded their agency in this period, especially over areas of economic and family life deemed "domestic." This dissertation examines periodicals, consumer research statistics, public opinion surveys, personal interviews, corporate archives, the archives of key women’s organizations, and government officials’ records to identify the role that women and household economies played in Brazilian developmentalism between 1945 and 1975. Its principal argument is that business and political elites attempted to define gender roles for adult urban women as housewives and mothers, linking their management of the household to familial well-being and national modernization. In turn, Brazilian women deployed these idealized roles in public to advance their own economic interests, especially in the management of household finances and consumption, as well as to expand legal rights for married women, and increase women’s participation in the workforce. As the market for women's labor expanded with continued industrialization, these efforts defined a more active role for women in the economy and in debates about the trajectory of national development policies.

Biotechnology and crop protection in Brazil.

The process of modernization of Brazilian agriculture aimed at increasing the productivity in response to the high demand for agricultural products in the world market and it was based on the intensive use of inputs such as agrochemicals, intense mechanisation and breeding of new varieties. Among these, pesticides were incorporated in almost all production systems. Over reliance on pesticide use has produced many negative effects on both biotic and abiotic components of the environment, generating chemical contamination of soil and water, decrease in biological diversity of agroecosystems, disruption of natural cycles, pest resistance, intoxication of growers, among others. The consumption of pesticides in Brazil was 151.8 thousand tonnes in 1989, and today the country is the fifth world market of these products. The use of pesticides increased from 16 thousand tonnes (a.i.) in 1964 to 60.2 thousand tonnes in 1991, while the area planted to crops grew from 28.4 to 50.0 million ha in the same period. This means an increase of 276.2% in consumption of pesticides compared to an increase of 76% in planted area. Even with this large increase in the use of pesticides, the losses caused by pests have not been significantly reduced, and the net gain in crop productivity has been low. On the other hand, problems with food contamination, environmental degradation of growers have considerably mounted. It is possible to define two classes of crops regarding intense use of pesticides. One is represented by those crops that occupy large areas, and therefore contribute to a large amont of pesticides used for pest control in a country basis. The other class comprises crops that require large amounts of pesticides per unit of area, but not necessarily represent large amounts of pesticides used coutry-wide. Based on the classes proposed, citrus, soybean and sugarcane stand as crops with a nationally great consumption of pesticides, while tomato, potato and citrus are important as intensive users of pesticides. In this paper the biotechnologies in use, the biotechnologies in advanced stages of development, the main constraints to the development and use of biotechnlology and the impact of pesticed on the environment are discussed.

[the Sociology Of Health In Brazil - The Creation Of An Identity].

This article analyzes the historical, social and cognitive dimensions of the sociology of medicine in the construction of its identity, from Wolf Lepenies' perspective. It is understood that the construction of an identity does not end with the first historical manifestations, but is consolidated when it is institutionalized and structured as a field of knowledge by creating its own forms of cognitive expression. The text is divided into three parts: in the first the precursors are presented, highlighting the role played by some travelers, naturalists and folklore scholars, followed by social physicians-scientists and the first social scientists (1940-1969). In the second part, aspects of the consolidation of the social sciences in health are presented at two significant moments, namely the 1970s and 1980s. In the third part, the issues raised by the field are addressed in general terms. It is considered that once the main structural stages are in place there is still a need for the formation of new generations of social scientists in health. It is also essential to disseminate scientific production and to ensure that the relations are studied in depth and institutionalized with the sociological matrices on the one hand and with the field of health on the other.

The Burden Of Eclampsia: Results From A Multicenter Study On Surveillance Of Severe Maternal Morbidity In Brazil.

Maternal mortality (MM) is a core indicator of disparities in women's rights. The study of Near Miss cases is strategic to identifying the breakdowns in obstetrical care. In absolute numbers, both MM and occurrence of eclampsia are rare events. We aim to assess the obstetric care indicators and main predictors for severe maternal outcome from eclampsia (SMO: maternal death plus maternal near miss). Secondary analysis of a multicenter, cross-sectional study, including 27 centers from all geographic regions of Brazil, from 2009 to 2010. 426 cases of eclampsia were identified and classified according to the outcomes: SMO and non-SMO. We classified facilities as coming from low- and high-income regions and calculated the WHO's obstetric health indicators. SPSS and Stata softwares were used to calculate the prevalence ratios (PR) and respective 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess maternal characteristics, clinical and obstetrical history, and access to health services as predictors for SMO, subsequently correlating them with the corresponding perinatal outcomes, also applying multiple regression analysis (adjusted for cluster effect). Prevalence of and mortality indexes for eclampsia in higher and lower income regions were 0.2%/0.8% and 8.1%/22%, respectively. Difficulties in access to health care showed that ICU admission (adjPR 3.61; 95% CI 1.77-7.35) and inadequate monitoring (adjPR 2.31; 95% CI 1.48-3.59) were associated with SMO. Morbidity and mortality associated with eclampsia were high in Brazil, especially in lower income regions. Promoting quality maternal health care and improving the availability of obstetric emergency care are essential actions to relieve the burden of eclampsia.

Five Years Of Implementation Of Guidelines In Hematology And Transfusion Medicine In Brazil.

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