Substantive rationality of impression management:an analysis of corporate reports of JBS

Objective: To investigate the substantive rationality inherent to the practice of impression management (IM). Originality/value:Based on the taxonomy created by Merkl-Davies and Brennan (2011), it is analyzed: 1. the discussion under the sociological perspective; and 2. the actions of substantive rationality in the management of impressions that can manifest through actions of symbolic management. This study responds to the call of Merkl-Davies et al. (2011) by putting into practice an unconventional analytical model based on the use of the corporate reports (annual and sustainability) of the company JBS with special attention to the “Carne Fraca” [Weak Meat] Operation. Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis of the accounting narratives of JBS’ corporate reports between 2015 and 2018 was carried out.Findings: Accounting narratives suggest evidence of IM and substantive rationality. The preparers of the corporate reports used substantive rationality to legitimize the company’s actions, with the most significant manifestations of this practice in the 2017 report, the year of the “Carne Fraca” operation. The implications of this research lie in demonstrating evidence that guides companies regarding the use of accounting narratives to convince society of their actions as consistent with the structure of social rules and norms. Furthermore, we emphasize that the accounting narratives must be analyzed with caution since they can be elaborated under the influence of the manager’s opportunistic behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Productivity of three sugarcane cultivars under dry and drip irrigated management

O objetivo neste trabalho foi estudar o efeito da tecnologia de irrigação por gotejamento, em cultivares de cana-de-açúcar, em dois ciclos de produção (cana-planta e cana-soca). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, constituídos pela combinação de três cultivares de cana-de-açúcar: RB867515; RB855536 e SP80-3280, e dois manejos da cultura: sistema de irrigação por gotejamento subterrâneo e sistema de sequeiro, totalizando seis tratamentos. O primeiro ciclo teve duração de 336 dias, ocorrendo precipitação de 1.480 mm. O volume de água disponibilizado pelo sistema de irrigação por gotejamento foi de 400 mm, totalizando 1.880 mm. O segundo ciclo teve duração de 365 dias, cujo volume de água por meio de precipitação foi de 1.394 mm; somados aos 320 mm fornecidos pelo sistema de irrigação, totalizaram 1.714 mm. Ocorreu interação entre manejo e cultivar para as variáveis: produtividade de colmos (TCH) e produtividade de açúcar (TPH) em que a maior diferença foi observada para a cultivar SP80-3280. As cultivares apresentaram respostas diferenciadas na eficiência de utilização da água. No manejo irrigado por gotejamento houve elevação de 24% na produtividade de colmos e de 23% na produtividade de açúcar, em relação ao manejo de sequeiro.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of drip irrigation technology in different sugarcane varieties in two crop cycles (plant cane and ratoon). The experimental design was in completly randomized blocks, in split-plot with four replications, constituted by three sugarcane genotypes: RB867515; RB855536 and SP80-3280 and two crop management: drip irrigation system and rainfed system, totalizing six treatments. The first cycle lasted for 336 days, with rainfall of 1,480 mm. The volume of water provided by the system of drip irrigation was 400 mm, totaling 1,880 mm. The second cycle lasted for 365 days, the volume of water through rainfall was 1,394 mm, added to 320 mm provided by the system of irrigation, totaled 1,714 mm. Interaction between management and cultivars was found significant for the variables: productivity of stalks (TCH) and sugar yield (TPH), in which the largest difference was observed for cultivar SP80-3280. There was significant response to drip irrigation, on average the increase of production of stalks and sugar was 24 and 23%, respectively

Crack-cocaine users have less family cohesion than alcohol users

Objective: Many studies correlate characteristics of family functioning and the development of drug addiction. This study sought to evaluate and compare the family environment styles of two groups of psychoactive substance users: 1) alcohol-only users and 2) crack-cocaine users. Methods: Three hundred and sixty-four users of alcohol, crack-cocaine, and other drugs, recruited from research centers in four Brazilian capitals participated in this study. Subjects were evaluated through the Family Environment Scale and the Addiction Severity Index, 6th version (ASI-6). ASI-6 t-scores were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests. A final model was obtained using a logistic regression analysis. All analyses were adjusted for partner, age, and psychiatric t-score. Results: We found a significant difference between groups in the cohesion subscale (p = 0.044). The post-hoc test revealed a difference of 1.06 points (95% CI 0.11-2.01) between groups 1 (6.45 +/- 0.28) and 2 (5.38 +/- 0.20). No significant between-group differences were observed in the other subscales. However, categorical analyses of variables regarding family dynamic showed that crack users more often reported that sometimes people in their family hit each other (30.4% vs. 13.2%, p = 0.007) and that people in their family frequently compared each other regarding work and/or school achievement (57.2% vs. 42.6%, p = 0.041). Conclusion: These results suggest that families of crack-cocaine users are less cohesive than families of alcohol users. This type of family environment may affect treatment outcome, and should thus be adequately approached.SENADNational Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug AbuseUniv Fed Rio do Grande UFRGS, HCPA, CPAD, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilHCPA, Unidade Bioestat, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Lab Biossinais Fenomenol & Cognicao, Inst Psicol, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Psicobiol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro UFRJ, Inst Psiquiatria, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Psicobiol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilSENAD: TC 005/2005Web of Scienc

Retrospective analysis of risk factors and gaps in prevention strategies for mother-to-child HIV transmission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background Despite great progress made in methods to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT), delivery and uptake of these measures remains a challenge in many countries. Although the Brazilian Ministry of Health aimed to eliminate MTCT by 2015, infection still occured in 15–24% of infants born to HIV-infected mothers. We sought to identify remaining factors that constrain MTCT elimination. Methods We conducted a retrospective, matched case-control study by reviewing hospital charts of infants born to HIV-infected mothers between 1997 and 2014 at three MTCT reference hospitals in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. Cases were defined as HIV-exposed children with two positive HIV tests before 18 months of age; controls were defined as HIV-exposed children with two negative HIV tests before 18 months of age. We performed bivariate and MTCT cascade analyses to identify risk factors for MTCT and gaps in prevention services. Results We included 435 infants and their mothers (145 cases, 290 controls). Bivariate analyses of MTCT preventative care (PMTCT) indicated that cases were less likely to complete all individual measures in the antenatal, delivery, and postnatal period (p < 0.05). Assessing completion of the PMTCT cascade, the sequential steps of PMTCT interventions, we found inadequate retention in care among both cases and controls, and cases were significantly less likely than controls to continue receiving care throughout the cascade (p < 0.05). Motives for incompletion of PMTCT measures included infrastructural issues, such as HIV test results not being returned, but were most often due to lack of care-seeking. Over the course of the study period, PMTCT completion improved, although it remained below the 95% target for antenatal care, HIV testing, and antenatal ART set by the WHO. Adding concern, evaluation of co-infections indicated that case infants were also more likely to have congenital syphilis (OR: 4.29; 95% CI: 1.66 to 11.11). Conclusions While PMTCT coverage has improved over the years, completion of services remains insufficient. Along with interventions to promote care-seeking behaviour, increased infrastructural support for PMTCT services is needed to meet the HIV MTCT elimination goal in Brazil as well as address rising national rates of congenital syphilis

Macro-scale (biomes) differences in neotropical stream processes and community structure

The definition of conservation strategies and ecological assessment schemes requires understanding ecosystem patterns over multiple spatial scales. This study aimed to determine if macro-scale structural and functional (processes) patterns associated with stream ecosystems differed among three neotropical biomes (Cerrado, Amazon, Atlantic Forest). We compared the aquatic communities (benthic invertebrates and hyphomycetes) and processes (decomposition rates, primary production and biofilms growth and aquatic hyphomycetes reproduction rates-sporulation) of Cerrado stream sites (neotropical savannah) against those of stream sites in the connecting biomes of the Atlantic Forest and Amazon (rainforests). We expected that, contrary to the biome dependency hypothesis the community structure and processes rates of streams at the biome-scale would not differ significantly, because those ecosystems are strongly influenced by their dense riparian forests, which have a transitional character among the three biomes. Fifty-three stream sites were selected covering a wide range of geographic locations (Table 1), from near the Equator (2° S) in the Amazon, to intermediate latitudes in the Cerrado (12-19° S), and latitudes closer to the tropic of Capricorn in the Atlantic Forest (19º-25° S). We found that: 1) at the abiotic level, the aquatic ecosystems of the three biomes differed, which was mostly explained by large-scale factors such as temperature, precipitation and altitude; 2) functional and structural variables did not behave similarly among biomes: decomposition and sporulation rates showed larger differences among biomes than invertebrate and aquatic hyphomycete assemblages structure; 3) invertebrate assemblages structure differed between the rainforests and Cerrado but not between rainforests (Amazon and Atlantic Forest) whereas aquatic hyphomycetes were similar among all biomes; 4) biofilm growth and algae concentration in biofilms of artificial substrates were highly variable within biomes and not significantly different between biomes. Overall, aquatic ecosystem processes and community structure differed across biomes, being influenced by climatic variables, but the variation is not as pronounced as that described for terrestrial systems. Considering the potential use of these functional and structural indicators in national-wide ecological assessments, our results indicate the need to define different reference values for different biomes, depending on the variable used. The approach followed in this study allowed an integrative analysis and comparison of the stream ecosystems across three tropical biomes, being the first study of this kind. Future studies should try to confirm the patterns evidenced here with more sites from other areas of the three biomes, and especially from the Amazon, which was the least represented biome in our investigation. © 201

Nanostructured Systems Containing Rutin: In Vitro Antioxidant Activity and Photostability Studies

The improvement of the rutin photostability and its prolonged in vitro antioxidant activity were studied by means of its association with nanostructured aqueous dispersions. Rutin-loaded nanocapsules and rutin-loaded nanoemulsion showed mean particle size of 124.30 ± 2.06 and 124.17 ± 1.79, respectively, polydispersity index below 0.20, negative zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency close to 100%. The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by the formation of free radical ·OH after the exposure of hydrogen peroxide to a UV irradiation system. Rutin-loaded nanostructures showed lower rutin decay rates [(6.1 ± 0.6) 10−3 and (5.1 ± 0.4) 10−3 for nanocapsules and nanoemulsion, respectively] compared to the ethanolic solution [(35.0 ± 3.7) 10−3 min−1] and exposed solution [(40.1 ± 1.7) 10−3 min−1] as well as compared to exposed nanostructured dispersions [(19.5 ± 0.5) 10−3 and (26.6 ± 2.6) 10−3, for nanocapsules and nanoemulsion, respectively]. The presence of the polymeric layer in nanocapsules was fundamental to obtain a prolonged antioxidant activity, even if the mathematical modeling of the in vitro release profiles showed high adsorption of rutin to the particle/droplet surface for both formulations. Rutin-loaded nanostructures represent alternatives to the development of innovative nanomedicines