Agroecologia: experiência em construção no contexto do Desenvolvimento Regional

Neste artigo analisa-se a base teórica da agroecologia e o conhecimento empírico, com ênfase na agricultura familiar. Buscou-se estabelecer uma relação dessa base teórica com o conhecimento empírico em unidade familiar agrícola do município de Santa Cruz do Sul, RS/Brasil. As tendências mundiais mostram que a agricultura convencional ainda tem preferência, embora o desenvolvimento da agricultura de base ecológica, nos últimos anos, tenha crescido consideravelmente. A continuidade do desenvolvimento da agricultura de base ecológica depende do aumento pela procura por produtos orgânicos, por um lado, e por outro, de uma nova reestruturação da comercialização, bem como da organização dos agricultores familiares e da criação de políticas públicas para esse fim. Resultados positivos para o desenvolvimento sustentável dependem muito do desenvolvimento adequado e combinado da produção, industrialização e comercialização da produção, bem como das formas de organização e engajamento dos "atores sociais", mas, sobretudo do planejamento da sociedade regional sobre o seu futuro

Using satellite data to develop environmental indicators

Environmental indicators are increasingly being used in policy and management contexts, yet serious data deficiencies exist for many parameters of interest to environmental decision making. With its global synoptic coverage and the wide range of instruments available, satellite remote sensing has the potential to fill a number of these gaps, yet their potential contribution to indicator development has largely remained untested. In this paper we present results of a pilot effort to develop satellite-derived indicators in three major issue areas: ambient air pollution, coastal eutrophication, and biomass burning. A primary focus is on the vetting of indicators by an advisory group composed of remote sensing scientists and policy makers

Tobacco smoking changes during the first pre-vaccination phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Globally, tobacco smoking remains the largest preventable cause of premature death. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nations to take unprecedented measures, including ‘lockdowns’ that might impact tobacco smoking behaviour. We performed a systematic review and meta-analyses to assess smoking behaviour changes during the early pre-vaccination phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Methods: We searched Medline/Embase/PsycINFO/BioRxiv/MedRxiv/SSRN databases (January–November 2020) for published and pre-print articles that reported specific smoking behaviour changes or intentions after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used random-effects models to pool prevalence ratios comparing the prevalence of smoking during and before the pandemic, and the prevalence of smoking behaviour changes during the pandemic. The PROSPERO registration number for this systematic review was CRD42020206383. Findings: 31 studies were included in meta-analyses, with smoking data for 269,164 participants across 24 countries. The proportion of people smoking during the pandemic was lower than that before, with a pooled prevalence ratio of 0·87 (95%CI:0·79–0·97). Among people who smoke, 21% (95%CI:14–30%) smoked less, 27% (95%CI:22–32%) smoked more, 50% (95%CI:41%-58%) had unchanged smoking and 4% (95%CI:1–9%) reported quitting smoking. Among people who did not smoke, 2% (95%CI:1–3%) started smoking during the pandemic. Heterogeneity was high in all meta-analyses and so the pooled estimates should be interpreted with caution (I2\u3e91% and p-heterogeneity\u3c0·001). Almost all studies were at high risk of bias due to use of non-representative samples, non-response bias, and utilisation of non-validated questions. Interpretation: Smoking behaviour changes during the first phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 were highly mixed. Meta-analyses indicated that there was a relative reduction in overall smoking prevalence during the pandemic, while similar proportions of people who smoke smoked more or smoked less, although heterogeneity was high. Implementation of evidence-based tobacco control policies and programs, including tobacco cessation services, have an important role in ensuring that the COVID-19 pandemic does not exacerbate the smoking pandemic and associated adverse health outcomes

Anarchy's anatomy : two-tiered security systems and Libya’s civil wars

No issue deserves more scrutiny than the mechanisms whereby popular unrest unleashes civil wars. We argue that one institution — two-tiered security systems — is particularly pernicious in terms of the accompanying civil war risk. These systems’ defining characteristic is the juxtaposition of small communally stacked units that protect regimes from internal adversaries with larger regular armed forces that deter external opponents. These systems aggravate civil war risks because stacked security units lack the size to repress widespread dissent, but inhibit rapid regime change through coup d’état. Regular militaries, meanwhile, fracture when ordered to employ force against populations from which they were recruited.PostprintPeer reviewe

An Umbrella Review of Self-Management Interventions for Health Conditions With Symptom Overlap With Traumatic Brain Injury

OBJECTIVE: To synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of self-management interventions for chronic health conditions that have symptom overlap with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to extract recommendations for self-management intervention in persons with TBI. DESIGN: An umbrella review of existing systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials or nonrandomized studies targeting self-management of chronic conditions and specific outcomes relevant to persons with TBI. METHOD: A comprehensive literature search of 5 databases was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Two independent reviewers conducted screening and data extraction using the Covidence web-based review platform. Quality assessment was conducted using criteria adapted from the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2). RESULTS: A total of 26 reviews met the inclusion criteria, covering a range of chronic conditions and a range of outcomes. Seven reviews were of moderate or high quality and focused on self-management in persons with stroke, chronic pain, and psychiatric disorders with psychotic features. Self-management interventions were found to have positive effects on quality of life, self-efficacy, hope, reduction of disability, pain, relapse and rehospitalization rates, psychiatric symptoms, and occupational and social functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are encouraging with regard to the effectiveness of self-management interventions in patients with symptoms similar to those of TBI. However, reviews did not address adaptation of self-management interventions for those with cognitive deficits or for populations with greater vulnerabilities, such as low education and older adults. Adaptations for TBI and its intersection with these special groups may be needed

O MONITORAMENTO DA COVID-19 ATRAVÉS DE SISTEMAS DE INFORMAÇÃO GEOGRÁFICA: ESTRATÉGIAS E DESAFIOS PARA A TRANSPARÊNCIA DE DADOS PÚBLICOS NO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

No quadro da chegada do Covid-19 no Rio Grande do Sul, em março de 2020, iniciamos o monitoramento da pandemia utilizando um Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG) online. Ele foi desenvolvido dentro do Projeto SIG Litoral, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, com a estratégia de disponibilizar à sociedade análises espaciais e dados organizados sobre a doença, reunindo pesquisadoras/es, bolsistas e voluntárias/os. O portal, voltado à comunicação em saúde, possibilita a visualização de dados nas escalas global, nacional e regional, além do monitoramento das populações indígenas da Amazônia e o mapeamento das redes de solidariedade no Litoral Norte do Rio Grande do Sul. No artigo em tela, enfocamos principalmente o monitoramento do Covid-19 no Rio Grande do Sul, abordando as ferramentas utilizadas, os desafios para obtenção de dados e algumas análises espaciais realizadas. Mostramos divergências entre as fontes de dados, indicando o problema da subnotificação e as diferentes metodologias empregadas pelos sistemas de vigilância sanitária. Por fim, abordamos o impacto do monitoramento do Covid-19 pela UFRGS, repercutindo positivamente na sociedade ao dar transparência aos dados oficiais, contribuindo para a pluralidade do debate sobre a pandemia, a interação de equipes multidisciplinares e a formação acadêmica de estudantes

GoldenBraid: An Iterative Cloning System for Standardized Assembly of Reusable Genetic Modules

Synthetic Biology requires efficient and versatile DNA assembly systems to facilitate the building of new genetic modules/pathways from basic DNA parts in a standardized way. Here we present GoldenBraid (GB), a standardized assembly system based on type IIS restriction enzymes that allows the indefinite growth of reusable gene modules made of standardized DNA pieces. The GB system consists of a set of four destination plasmids (pDGBs) designed to incorporate multipartite assemblies made of standard DNA parts and to combine them binarily to build increasingly complex multigene constructs. The relative position of type IIS restriction sites inside pDGB vectors introduces a double loop (“braid”) topology in the cloning strategy that allows the indefinite growth of composite parts through the succession of iterative assembling steps, while the overall simplicity of the system is maintained. We propose the use of GoldenBraid as an assembly standard for Plant Synthetic Biology. For this purpose we have GB-adapted a set of binary plasmids for A. tumefaciens-mediated plant transformation. Fast GB-engineering of several multigene T-DNAs, including two alternative modules made of five reusable devices each, and comprising a total of 19 basic parts are also described

Multisociety statement on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination as a condition of employment for healthcare personnel

This consensus statement by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA), the Association for Professionals in Epidemiology and Infection Control (APIC), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) recommends that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination should be a condition of employment for all healthcare personnel in facilities in the United States. Exemptions from this policy apply to those with medical contraindications to all COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and other exemptions as specified by federal or state law. The consensus statement also supports COVID-19 vaccination of nonemployees functioning at a healthcare facility (eg, students, contract workers, volunteers, etc)