Inventar uma democracia brasileira

RESUMO: No presente artigo argumentamos acerca da importância premente da formação de uma cultura política para o desenvolvimento de uma democracia brasileira. Entretanto, são justamente certas culturas brasileiras que vêm sendo consideradas, muitas vezes, como o principal obstáculo ao desenvolvimento da racionalidade democrática em uso no país. Na contramão dessa opinião, consideraremos a noção de cultura como um vetor crítico às sociedades contemporâneas, que se caracterizam pelo crescente desenvolvimento da racionalização da vida em todas as suas dimensões. Por sua vez, iremos sugerir que a “pesquisa cultural”, como atitude e dispositivo relacional do Estado com a sociedade civil, possa exercer uma função estruturante nas poéticas do poder público, isto é, no saber-fazer programático e operativo que orienta suas políticas e ações. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Democracia. Cultura. Pesquisa. Estado. Invenção. Brasil. To invent a Brazilian democracy ABSTRACT: In this article we argue about the importance of the urgent formation of a political culture for the development of Brazilian democracy. However, are just some Brazilian crops that have been considered often as the main obstacle to the development of democratic rationality in use in the country. Opposed to this view, we consider the notion of culture as a vector to critical contemporary societies which are characterized by increasing development of the rationalization of life in all its dimensions. In turn, we suggest that the "research culture", as relational attitude and device state with civil society, can play a role in the poetic structuring of public power, ie, know-how to guide programmatic and operational policies and actions. KEYWORDS: Democracy. Culture. Research. State. Invention. Brazil

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection