Social projects and the internalization of sustainability and social responsibility : concepts for the improvement of quality of life

Based on studies carried out in São Paulo State, Brazil, it was observed that several municipalities have faced huge environmental changes that can be noticed in places where sustainability of natural resources was not prioritized. It was observed the prevalence of an economic development model supported by technological megaprojects in areas of environmental conservation, which also represent areas prone to social and technological risks. The municipality of Bom Jesus dos Perdões, located in São Paulo State, showed very different average values for some social indicators in a set of municipalities of the region. The analysis of data on violence and crime, between 1996 and 2015, allows us to present a general local diagnosis that shows decreasing social security. Simultaneously, it allowed to identify how it is possible to reflect on social reality through two projects: (1) voluntary social work with children and adolescents at risk, through sports practices and (2) Integrated Management Office [Gabinete de Gestão Integrada]—GGI—a project created by the Brazilian Federal Government, of optional municipal adhesion, where it is proposed the integration of several local institutions aiming a joint management of public security. Both projects seek to improve social reality with sustainability and social responsibility of the population93108CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2016/18585-3We thank São Paulo State Foundation for Research Support (FAPESP, Brazil) for financial support to the research that led to this article (FAPESP n. 2016/18585-3), and for the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil) for the Fellowship granted to the first autho

A Disease Without History? Evidence for the Antiquity of Head and Neck Cancers

There has been a long-running debate in anthropological, archaeological, and medical literature regarding the prevalence of cancer in various ancient human populations. At one extreme, some scholars have claimed that past human societies had rates of cancer roughly equivalent to those seen among modern peoples; at the other extreme, some researchers have effectively claimed that cancer is a disease of modernity. The present study aims to shed further light on this topic, at least insofar as cancers of the head and neck are concerned. A review of ancient art, medical texts, and paleopathological reports revealed somewhat discordant accounts of the age, geographical distribution, and prevalence of head and neck cancers. While representations of these neoplastic conditions in art are relatively rare and patchy in geographic distribution, descriptions of suspect lesions in ancient medical texts are rather more widespread, if unevenly distributed geographically, and the paleopathological record was found to contain surprisingly abundant evidence for cancers of the head and neck, especially as compared to what are, in modern societies, more ubiquitous cancers of the breast, lung, or prostate. While establishing the absolute prevalence of any of these conditions in antiquity is impossible, the present work establishes that cancers of the head and neck have long been present, and perhaps even prevalent, in human societies