Rural non-agricultural activities and poverty in the Brazilian northeast

This paper combines two complementary data sets to present a disaggregated spatial profile of poverty in the Brazilian Northeast, and to investigate the importance of non-agricultural activities for its rural dwellers. We present both univariate and multivariate profiles of non-agricultural employment and discuss its determinants. While the main occupational difference between the rural poor and the rural non-poor in Brazil seems to be the greater reliance of the former on paid agricultural employment (vis-à-vis own cultivation), rather than access to non-agricultural activities, the evidence nevertheless suggests that diversification into this growing sector provides both an important complement to the budgets of the poor, and possibly a self-insurance mechanism against negative shocks. Despite the substantial heterogeneity of the sector, two general findings are robust: returns to education are comparatively high; and location in relation to urban areas is an important determinant of both employment and earnings in rural non-agricultural activities.

The poverty reduction strategy of the government of Brazil: a rapid appraisal

This paper provides an overview of both the current structure of poverty in Brazil through a detailed poverty profile and of the aggregate dynamics of poverty in the last two decades. We then assess a number of government policies and programs which are either specifically designed to reduce poverty or have a direct bearing on current or future social welfare. A brief discussion of the Comunidade Solidária Programme is followed by an analysis of the coverage and targeting performance of mainstream programs in the areas of education, health, social security and other transfers. Our main findings are that a fifth of the Brazilian population live in indigence, and that this does not represent a substantial improvement over the situation two decades ago. A share of the blame for this must be borne by the highly regressive pattern of incidence of ‘social expenditures’ which are, on the whole, disproportionately appropriated by the middle-classes and the rich.

Representações da nação na narrativa latinoamericana contemporânea

IX Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas realizado nos dias 22 a 25 agosto 2016Esta comunicação tem como tema as representações da nação em três romances latinoamericanos contemporâneos: El testigo (2004), do mexicano Juan Villoro, El material humano (2009), do guatemalteco Rodrigo Rey Rosa, e La forma de las ruinas (2015), do colombiano Juan Gabriel Vásquez. Considerando as transformações que, nas últimas décadas, impactaram as noções de cultura nacional, literatura nacional e identidade nacional – vistas não mais como entidades coesas e atreladas às ideias de território e Estadonação –, meu interesse é verificar de que maneira as novas concepções aparecem nas três obras, que têm a memória histórica nacional como elementochave da trama. Para além de suas singularidades, os três romances compartilham uma mesma atitude de desconstrução do imaginário nacional e de recusa a concepções monolíticas de comunidade. Ao mesmo tempo, mostram a memória nacional como uma construção permanente, um constante embate de memórias, refutando as visões monolíticas cristalizadas pela história hegemônica e os meios de comunicação de massa.UNILA­-UNIOEST

A new poverty profile for Brazil using PPV, PNAD and census data

This paper contains a poverty profile for Brazil, based on 1996 data. Poverty measures and shares are presented for a wide range of population subgroups, based on household level data from the PNAD 1996, adjusted for imputed rents and spatial differences in cost of living. Robustness of the profile is verified with respect to different poverty lines, different spatial price deflators, and different equivalence scales. Overall poverty incidence ranges from 23% with respect to an indigence line (15% for urban areas) to 45% with respect to a more generous poverty line (37% for urban areas). More importantly however, poverty is found to vary significantly across regions and city sizes, with rural areas, small and medium towns and the metropolitan peripheries of the North and Northeast regions being poorest. In addition, education, race and the labor status of the household head are important correlates of vulnerability. The marginal impact of each of these attributes, controlling for all others, is investigated through probit regressions run on PPV data. These confirm the importance of spatial variables, but suggest that education remains the central personal attribute determining the likelihood that a household experiences poverty. Some tentative recommendations to improve the quality of the available data sets are also made.

Impact de l'hyper-débit et des maladies cardiaques sur l'incidence d'événements cardiovasculaires aigus chez les dialysés

Introduction : La prévalence de l'insuffisance rénale terminale est en pleine expansion, cela implique un grand nombre de patients en dialyse et donc bénéficiant d'un accès vasculaire. Les maladies cardiovasculaires participent grandement à la morbidité et mortalité des patients en insuffisance rénale terminale et en dialyse. Des changements hémodynamiques importants accompagnent la création d'une fistule artério-veineuse. L'hyper-débit, à savoir un débit fistulaire > 2'000 ml/min, pourrait, pour certains auteurs, représenter un risque supplémentaire pour le développement de complications cardiaques aiguës. Objectif : Investiguer l'influence de l'hyper-débit et des maladies cardiaques existant avant la confection de la fistule artério-veineuse sur la survenue d'événements cardiovasculaires aigus. Méthode : Étude rétrospective sur les dossiers de 23 patients des services de chirurgie vasculaire du CHUV et de l'hôpital de Sion qui ont bénéficié de la création d'une fistule artério-veineuse pour la dialyse entre 2006 et 2013. Les patients ayant un débit fistulaire > 1'800 ml/min ont été inclus dans l'étude. Les informations concernant la maladie rénale et la fistule ont été recueillies dans les dossiers informatiques des patients. Les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaires classiques et les maladies cardiaques présentes avant la confection de la fistule, les mesures échocardiographiques avant et après la confection de l'accès vasculaire ainsi qu'après la dernière révision de celui-ci et enfin, les événements cardiovasculaires aigus survenant entre la confection et la révision de la fistule ont été analysés. Les prévalences et incidences de ces caractéristiques et événements ont pu être extraites pour ce collectif de patients. Résultats : Les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaires et les maladies cardiaques les plus prévalentes dans cette population avant la confection de la fistule artério-veineuse sont l'hypertension artérielle (91.3%), l'hypercholestérolémie (34.8%), le diabète (17.4%), la cardiopathie hypertrophie (34.8%), la cardiopathie ischémique (21.7%). La moyenne globale des mesures de la masse ventriculaire gauche de tous les individus était de 119,4 g/m2 avant la confection de la fistule, 141,9 g/m2 après la confection et à 131.9 g/m2 après la dernière révision de la fistule. La proportion des individus présentant une hypertrophie ventriculaire gauche a varié de 62.5% avant la confection de la fistule à 66.7% après la confection de celle-ci, puis a diminuée à 50% après la dernière révision. Les événements cardiovasculaires aigus ont touché 39% des patients avec une plus grande incidence pour l'insuffisance cardiaque aiguë (21.7%) suivie du syndrome coronarien aigu (13%). Une corrélation entre la présence de maladies cardiaques préexistantes et la survenue d'un événement cardiaque aigu a été observée avec un odds ration de 4.66 (23 observations, intervalle de confiance de 95% compris entre 0.702 et 31.036). Conclusion : Une relation importante entre les maladies cardiovasculaires préexistantes et les événements cardiovasculaires aigus a été mise en évidence dans ce groupe porteur d'une fistule à haut débit. L'hyper-débit pourrait contribuer à une amplification des phénomènes d'agression cardiovasculaire bien connus des états urémiques chroniques et de la dialyse. Un débit élevé, > 2'000 ml/min, devrait donc être considéré comme un facteur de risque cardiovasculaire (FRCV) très important. Des dépistages de maladies cardiovasculaires à l'aide de l'imagerie et de l'examen clinique avant la confection de la fistule devraient être effectués de manière systématique ainsi qu'un suivi régulier du débit fistulaire afin de catégoriser les patients selon le risque d'événements cardiovasculaires. Cette procédure permettrait d'adapter le suivi et la prise en charge des patients

Critical Comments on the Sensorimotor Approach to Consciousness

Cognitive neuroscience and contemporary physicalist philosophies of mind typically hold the view that minds somehow reduce to brain activity. This is achieved through representations that evolved to map reality and are subjected to computational activity. The received view has been criticized mostly through thought experiments that rely on the notion of qualia, but philosopher Alva NoEB; follows a different approach, called the 201C;sensorimotor theory201D;. Unlike the orthodoxy, NoEB; argues that our minds are not inside our bodies; they are better seen as a dynamic process of embodied cognition. This means mental activity emerges from our engagement with the world around us. NoEB;2019;s thesis is grounded on original arguments that are both empirical and philosophical in nature

In the land of “football-art”: football books, national identity and the building of imagined communities in modern Brazil

This article aims to show how the social history of football in Brazil can be used to reflect on nationhood. The text is based in an analysis of essay gender, both from foreign and Brazilian authors, as well as several books on Brazilian history and identity through the study of football. Although the essay genre has been privileged by many intellectuals who sought a totalizing understanding of the country, this very type of writing has been mobilized for interpreting social representations around the professional practice of football. This text argues that the identity synthesis franchised by the idea -of artistic and/or culturalist order- of a unitary “country of football” ends up eliding social and economic differences in the construction of modern Brazil as an “imagined community”.; El presente artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar la manera en que la historia social del fútbol en Brasil puede servir para reflexionar sobre la “brasilidad”. El texto plantea un análisis con base en el género ensayístico, tanto de autores extranjeros como brasileños, así como de una lectura de una serie de libros en Brasil dedicados a la historia y identidad acerca de los estudios del fútbol. Si el género ensayístico ha sido privilegiado por muchos intelectuales, con vistas a una comprensión totalizante del país, este mismo tipo de escritura ha sido movilizado para una interpretación de las representaciones sociales respecto a la práctica profesional del fútbol. El argumento del texto sostiene que la síntesis de identidad favorecida por la idea -de orden artística o culturalista- de un unitario “país del fútbol” termina por eludir diferencias sociales y económicas en la construcción del Brasil moderno como una “comunidad imaginada”

A formação das torcidas organizadas de futebol do Rio de Janeiro: Uma leitura de sua dinâmica histórica a partir das fontes impressas do Jornal dos Sports (1940-1980)

O artigo aborda as fontes do jornalismo esportivo brasileiro e demonstra o papel dos grupos organizados de fãs de futebol no Rio de Janeiro entre os anos de 1940 e 1980. Desde o início, há notas biográficas feitas sobre os mais conhecidos fãs do Rio, como Jaime de Carvalho (1942). O surgimento de dissidência entre os fãs, no final dos anos 1960, é então coberto, que se estabelece dentro dos fãs organizados no Rio com esses indivíduos começando a questionar a autoridade dos líderes do grupo de fãs de idade. Isso é contra o princípio de dar apoio incondicional ao clube e postula-se que os fãs têm o direito de criticar e protestar contra a gestão do clube, mesmo que isso signifique usar táticas vigorosas. Juntamente com a narrativa jornalística, há um rompimento dos "Jovens Fãs" e um processo de emancipação que ocorre durante a década de 1970, isto acontece através do uso de treinadores de fãs e da invenção de um estilo de vida que está associado com Futebol Finalmente, a década de 1980 é marcada pelo potencial construtivo e destrutivo que está ligado aos grupos de fãs