A ética do silêncio racial no contexto urbano: políticas públicas e desigualdade social no Recife, 1900-1940

Mais de meio século após o preconceito racial ter se tornado o principal alvo dos movimentos urbanos pelos direitos civis nos Estados Unidos e na África do Sul, e décadas depois do surgimento dos movimentos negros contemporâneos no Brasil, o conjunto de ferramentas legislativas criado no Brasil para promover o direito à cidade ainda adere à longa tradição brasileira de silêncio acerca da questão racial. Este artigo propõe iniciar uma exploração das raízes históricas desse fenômeno, remontando ao surgimento do silêncio sobre a questão racial na política urbana do Recife, Brasil, durante a primeira metade do século XX. O Recife foi eé um exemplo paradigmático do processo pelo qual uma cidade amplamente marcada por traços negros e africanos chegou a ser definida política e legalmente como um espaço pobre, subdesenvolvido e racialmente neutro, onde as desigualdades sociais originaram na exclusão capitalista, e não na escravidão e nas ideologias do racismo científico. Neste sentido, Recife lança luzes sobre a política urbana que se gerou sob a sombra do silêncio racial.More than half a century after racial prejudice became central to urban civil rights movements in the United States and South Africa, and decades after the emergence of Brazil’s contemporary Black movements, Brazil's internationally recognized body of rights-to-the-city legislation still adheres to the country's long historical tradition of racial silence. This article explores the historical roots of this phenomenon by focusing on the emergence of racial silence in Recife, Brazil during the first half of the 20th Century. Recife was and remains a paradigmatic example of the process through which a city marked by its Black and African roots came to be legally and politically defined as a poor, underdeveloped and racially neutral space, where social inequalities derived from capitalist exclusion rather than from slavery and scientific racism. As such, Recife'sexperience sheds light on the urban policies that were generated in the shadow of racial silence

Design of pre-Columbian raised fields in the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivian Amazon: Differential adaptations to the local environment?

This study is concerned with raised fields – impressive pre-Columbian agricultural earthworks found throughout southwestern Amazonia – in the Llanos de Moxos (LM), in the Bolivian Lowlands. We explore the complexity of coupled human–environment interactions and propose hypotheses to explain the variation observed in the design of raised fields. We provide the most detailed description and mapping to date of raised fields and their distribution across the Bolivian Amazon. To do so, we draw on published data and on new information obtained through fieldwork, mapping, and geochemical analysis of raised fields. We describe all types of raised fields known in the LM, and introduce one new type, the filón. Our findings suggest that variation in the design of field types occurring in different regions primarily reflects differential adaptations to local environmental settings (e.g., variation in soil types, hydrology, soil engineers). Overall, our study offers an important example of a locally adapted agricultural technology that allowed pre-Columbian farmers to produce and cultivate well-drained soils in a great range of floodplain environments

Anterior approach arthrodesis - ALIF with use of a titanium cage for treatment of postoperative spondylodiscitis after lumbar microdiscectomy

Introduction. Infectious spondylodiscitis has an incidence of 0.21-3.6%. The best intervention should be individualized, using antibiotics only or combining them with stabilizing surgeries. Case presentation. A 38-year-old man presented with lumbosciatalgia, severe pain and inability to ambulate. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine showed L5-S1 extruded disc herniation and the patient underwent endoscopic microdiscectomy with complete remission of symptoms. After two weeks, he reported severe low back pain and a return of difficulty to walk. Laboratory tests showed an increase in CRP and ESR. MRI showed signs of lumbar spondylodiscitis. The patient started on broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotic therapy. He evolved with improvement in laboratory parameters and maintenance of low back pain. Due to the failure of conservative treatment, anterior approach arthrodesis (ALIF) was chosen, with the complete improvement of the low back pain and the return of the ability to walk. Discussion. Postoperative spondylodiscitis’ frequency depends on the invasiveness of the operation and the type of surgery performed. The most likely source of infection is direct inoculation by virulent pathogens during surgery. A diagnosis delay of more than two months is considered a risk factor for generating adverse results. A Conservative approach is indicated for the patient who is neurologically intact and with minimal bone destruction. Surgical indications are the presence of neurological deficits, intraspinal abscesses, extensive bone destruction, and failure of conservative management. ALIF is supported in the literature because it allows wide exposure of the entire disc space through efficient access to the spine with the complete evacuation of the disc, avoiding dissection of perineural scar tissue and preserving the articular facets. Conclusion. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial, although there is still no consensus about the best treatment approach. The use of a titanium cage with a bioglass graft had a good response in pain and infection control in our case

Quality of Online Pharmacies and Websites Selling Prescription Drugs: A Systematic Review

Background: Online pharmacies are companies that sell pharmaceutical preparations, including prescription-only drugs, on the Internet. Very little is known about this phenomenon because many online pharmacies operate from remote countries, where legal bases and business practices are largely inaccessible to international research. Objective: The aim of the study was to perform an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the scientific literature focusing on the broader picture of online pharmacies by scanning several scientific and institutional databases, with no publication time limits. Methods: We searched 4 electronic databases up to January 2011 and the gray literature on the Internet using the Google search engine and its tool Google Scholar. We also investigated the official websites of institutional agencies (World Health Organization, and US and European centers for disease control and drug regulation authorities). We focused specifically on online pharmacies offering prescription-only drugs. We decided to analyze and report only articles with original data, in order to review all the available data regarding online pharmacies and their usage. Results: We selected 193 relevant articles: 76 articles with original data, and 117 articles without original data (editorials, regulation articles, or the like) including 5 reviews. The articles with original data cover samples of online pharmacies in 47 cases, online drug purchases in 13, consumer characteristics in 15, and case reports on adverse effects of online drugs in 12. The studies show that random samples with no specific limits to prescription requirements found that at least some websites sold drugs without a prescription and that an online questionnaire was a frequent tool to replace prescription. Data about geographical characteristics show that this information can be concealed in many websites. The analysis of drug offer showed that online a consumer can get virtually everything. Regarding quality of drugs, researchers very often found inappropriate packaging and labeling, whereas the chemical composition usually was not as expected in a minority of the studies’ samples. Regarding consumers, the majority of studies found that not more than 6% of the samples had bought drugs online. Conclusions: Online pharmacies are an important phenomenon that is continuing to spread, despite partial regulation, due to intrinsic difficulties linked to the impalpable and evanescent nature of the Web and its global dimension. To enhance the benefits and minimize the risks of online pharmacies, a 2-level approach could be adopted. The first level should focus on policy, with laws regulating the phenomenon at an international level. The second level needs to focus on the individual. This approach should aim to increase health literacy, required for making appropriate health choices, recognizing risks and making the most of the multitude of opportunities offered by the world of medicine 2.0