Democracia, desconfiança política e insatisfação com o regime: o caso do Brasil

Este artigo examina as bases individuais da convivência contraditória entre a desconfiança dos cidadãos em instituições públicas, a sua insatisfação com o desempenho do regime e o apoio à democracia no Brasil. As primeiras seções retomam o debate da questão e discutem os conceitos de legitimidade, satisfação e confiança política; as demais abordam as implicações metodológicas do problema e explicitam a alternativa adotada para examinar os determinantes da desconfiança política e da insatisfação com a democracia. Descrevemos e analisamos o impacto desses fatores sobre a adesão à democracia e também sobre o tipo de democracia preferido pelos entrevistados, tendo por base a série histórica de pesquisas realizadas pelo Consórcio Latinobarômetro entre 1995 e 2002.This article analyses the individual basis of the contradictory relationship between levels of distrust to public institutions and levels of support to democracy and satisfaction with the democratic regime observed in Brazil. We discuss the concepts of legitimacy, satisfaction and political trust, and the methodological implications of this problem. We describe and analyse the impact of this aspects over the democratic adhesion. The study is based on the Latinobarometer series data from 1995 to 2002

Cultura democrática em meio à pandemia de coronavírus no Brasil:: um olhar longitudinal

This article uses data from the Values in Crisis project to discuss the extent to which democratic culture was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. This project used a longitudinal panel approach to assess the sociopolitical values and attitudes of a national sample of Brazilians at three different moments of the pandemic. The results show broad stability in most variables of democratic culture throughout the pandemic, suggesting that the coronavirus crisis has not significantly affected the political culture of Brazilians. However, we have identified important variations in the level of sociodemographic disaggregation that deserve consideration. We conclude that, although at first the health crisis has fostered some forces of social capital and support for institutions, the highly troubled political context has limited any opportunity to take advantage of this situation to advance our democracy. Keywords: Democratic Culture. Values in Crisis. Democracy. Longitudinal Panel. COVID-19.Este articulo es parte de los datos del proyecto Valores em Crise para discutir en que medida la cultura democrática fué afectada por la pandemia de covid-19 en Brasil. El proyecto há utilizado un abordage de paneles para evaluar los valores y actitudes sociopolíticas de una muestra nacional de brasileños en tres momentos distintos d e la pandemia. Los resultados muestran una amplia estabilidade em la mayoria de las variables de cultura democrática al largo de la pandemia, sugeriendo que la crisis del coronavirus no há afectado significativamente la cultura política de los brasileños. Todavia, identificamos importantes variaciones em el nível de desagregaciones sociodemográficas. Concluímos que, aunque en un primer momento la crisis sanitaria tenga forjado algunas fuerzas de capital social y de apoyo a las instituciones, el contexto político altamente conturbado há limitado cualquier oportunidade para avanzar nuestra democracia. Palavras-clave: Cultura Democrática. Valores em  Crisis. Democracia. Panel. Covid-19.Este artigo parte dos dados do projeto Valores em Crise para discutir em que medida a cultura democrática foi afetada pela pandemia de covid-19 no Brasil. Tal projeto se valeu de uma abordagem de painéis longitudinais para avaliar os valores e atitudes sociopolíticas de uma amostra nacional de brasileiros em três momentos distintos da pandemia. Os resultados mostram uma ampla estabilidade na maioria das variáveis de cultura democrática ao longo da pandemia, sugerindo que a crise do coronavírus não afetou significativamente a cultura política dos brasileiros. Todavia, identificamos importantes variações no nível das desagregações sociodemográficas que merecem consideração. Concluímos que, embora em um primeiro momento a crise sanitária tenha fomentado algumas forças de capital social e de apoio às instituições, o contexto político altamente conturbado limitou qualquer oportunidade de se valer dessa situação para avançar nossa democracia. Palavras-chave: Cultura Democrática. Valores em Crise. Democracia. Painel Longitudinal. Covid-19

O projeto corrupteca – uma ferramenta analítica para a análise do fenómeno da corrupção

A corrupção política é um dos problemas mais severos e complexos enfrentados por novas e velhas democracias. A pesquisa acadêmica já abordou o papel de fatores gerais responsáveis pelo seu enraizamento no sistema político. Entretanto, falta avaliar o quanto ela afeta a qualidade da democracia, além da influência da cultura política na sua ocorrência. A Corrupteca é uma biblioteca digital especializada no tema da corrupção que visa preencher essa lacuna. O seu objetivo principal é subsidiar as pesquisas e análises sobre o fenômeno da corrupção no Brasil e no mundo. A ideia é que os interessados possam avaliar, para além de outros objetivos de conhecimento, a influência da corrupção na relação de confiança dos cidadãos com as instituições da democracia

Minimized natural versions of fungal ribotoxins show improved active site plasticity

Fungal ribotoxins are highly specific extracellular RNases which cleave a single phosphodiester bond at the ribosomal sarcin-ricin loop, inhibiting protein biosynthesis by interfering with elongation factors. Most ribotoxins show high degree of conservation, with similar sizes and amino acid sequence identities above 85%. Only two exceptions are known: Hirsutellin A and anisoplin, produced by the entomopathogenic fungi Hirsutella thompsonii and Metarhizium anisopliae, respectively. Both proteins are similar but smaller than the other known ribotoxins (130 vs 150 amino acids), displaying only about 25% sequence identity with them. They can be considered minimized natural versions of their larger counterparts, best represented by α-sarcin. The conserved α-sarcin active site residue Tyr48 has been replaced by the geometrically equivalent Asp, present in the minimized ribotoxins, to produce and characterize the corresponding mutant. As a control, the inverse anisoplin mutant (D43Y) has been also studied. The results show how the smaller versions of ribotoxins represent an optimum compromise among conformational freedom, stability, specificity, and active-site plasticity which allow these toxic proteins to accommodate the characteristic abilities of ribotoxins into a shorter amino acid sequence and more stable structure of intermediate size between that of other nontoxic fungal RNases and previously known larger ribotoxins

Competiciones de programación. Estímulo y salida laboral para los alumnos

Las competiciones de programación son un estímulo importante para los alumnos de informática. Durante los últimos años ha crecido el número de estas competiciones en su mayoría promovidas por grandes empresas con el propósito de reclutar alumnos brillantes. La International Collegiate Programming Contest es la más antigua de ellas, promovida por la ACM y patrocinada por IBM. A la final mundial van los mejores equipos de cada una de las más de 90 competiciones regionales que tienen lugar por todo el mundo. La regional en la que pueden participar las universidades españolas es la Southwestern Europe Regional Contest (España, Italia, Portugal, Suiza, Francia y Austria). Esta regional fue organizada por la Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Informàtica de la Universitat Politècnica de València en su edición de 2012 y lo será también en 2013. En este trabajo se presenta la experiencia de planificación de una regional, tanto a nivel organizativo como de planteamiento de los problemas para la competición. Asimismo, se destaca la importancia de este tipo de competiciones en cuanto al desarrollo de habilidades y destrezas en los alumnos, pues su dedicación a solucionar distintos tipos de problemas, combinando conocimientos de matemáticas con técnicas algorítmicas, les da una formación adicional que saben apreciar las grandes empresas. Algunos alumnos de la ETSInf que han participado en estas competiciones están en proceso o ya han sido contratados por empresas del sector como es Google.SUMMARY -- Programming contests are a good stimulus for computer engineering students. These contests have experienced an expansion during last years thanks to the interest of big companies for hiring brilliant students. The International Collegiate Programming Contest is the oldest one, promoted by ACM and sponsored by IBM. The ACM-ICPC World Final takes place every year, only the best teams can participate, which are selected from the ones who compete in the more than 90 regional contests celebrated around the world. Spanish universities can participate in the Southwestern Europe Regional Contest (Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and Austria). The 2012 edition of this regional contest took place in Valencia, organised by the School of Computer Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València. The 2013 edition will be organised in Valencia as well. In this paper it is presented the experience of planning a regional contest, both from the point of view of organisation as from posing the problems. Additionally, it is pointed out the value of this sort of programming contests as they foster the development of some abilities and skills in students, because the time they spend solving problems where the knowledge of mathematical concepts and of algorithmic techniques is very important. This fact gives students a special training very appreciated by big software companies. Some former students from ETSInf who participated in international programming contests were hired or are in process of being hired by Google

Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in Mexico and Colombia: Analysis of health databases, mathematical modelling and a case-series study

Background and aims Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD) have a major impact on quality of life and medical costs. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence, incidence and clinical phenotypes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) cases in Mexico and Colombia. Methods We analyzed official administrative and health databases, used mathematical modelling to estimate the incidence and complete prevalence, and performed a case-series of IBD patients at a referral center both in Mexico and Colombia. Results The age-adjusted complete prevalence of UC per 100,000 inhabitants for 2015/2016 ranged from 15.65 to 71.19 in Mexico and from 27.40 to 69.97 in Colombia depending on the model considered. The prevalence of CD per 100,000 inhabitants in Mexico ranged from 15.45 to 18.08 and from 16.75 to 18.43 in Colombia. In Mexico, the age-adjusted incidence of UC per 100,000 inhabitants per year ranged from 0.90 to 2.30, and from 0.55 to 2.33 in Colombia. The incidence for CD in Mexico ranged from 0.35 to 0.66 whereas in Colombia, the age-adjusted incidence of CD ranged from 0.30 to 0.57. The case-series included 200 IBD patients from Mexico and 204 patients from Colombia. The UC/CD prevalence ratio in Mexico and Colombia was 1.50:1 and 4.5:1 respectively. In Mexico, the female/male prevalence ratio for UC was 1.50:1 and 1.28:1 for CD, while in Colombia this ratio was 0.68:1 for UC and 0.8:1 for CD. In Mexico the relapse rate for UC was 63.3% and 72.5% for CD, while those rates in Colombia were 58.2% for UC and 58.3% for CD. Conclusions The estimated burden of disease of IBD in Mexico and Colombia is not negligible. Although these findings need to be confirmed by population-based studies, they are useful for decision-makers, practitioners and patients with this condition.Fil: Ciapponi, Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: Virgilio, Sacha Alexis. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Berrueta, Mabel. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Claire Soto, Natalie. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Ciganda, Álvaro. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Rojas Illanes, Moisés Freddy. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Rubio Martinez, Briseida. Hospital Dr. Bernardo Sepúlveda; MéxicoFil: Gamba, Johana. Fundación Universitaria Sanitas; ColombiaFil: González Salazar, Carlos Arturo. Fundación Universitaria Sanitas; ColombiaFil: Rocha Rodríguez, José Nicolás. Fundación Universitaria Sanitas; ColombiaFil: Scarpellini, Bruno. No especifíca;Fil: Bravo Perdomo, Ana María. No especifíca;Fil: Machnicki, Gerardo. No especifíca;Fil: Aldunate, Leandro. No especifíca;Fil: De Paula, Juan. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Bardach, Ariel Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; Argentin