Sustainable procurement practices in the Brazilian chemical industry context

Sustainable procurement requires an understanding of the full impact of purchase throughout the entire life cycle of the product or service, irrespective of location. The aim is to investigate the adoption of sustainable procurement in some Brazilian chemical companies. Questionnaires were sent to professionals from the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association (ABIQUIM) and from thirtyseven associated companies. The results were used to elaborate empirical illustrations about sustainable procurement practices in the Brazilian chemical industry context. Although the companies did not have a prescriptive supplier selection model that incorporates social-environmental criteria, most companies had more restrictive standards than the legislation and they supported suppliers to improve their social-environmental performance. In addition, that actions related to social and environmental issues occur in policies and documents and are reflected through middle and upper management commitments. It indicates that there are some organizational directions to incorporate social and environmental questions. However, no materialization in actions along the procurement process

Economic Losses and Cross Border Effects Caused by Pantanal Catastrophic Wildfires

The Pantanal, the Earth's largest continuous wetland, experienced severe impacts from wildfires in 2019 and, particularly, in 2020. The surge in wildfires can be attributed to several factors, including climate extremes, inadequate fire management, ineffective policymaking, as well as commercial and demographic dynamics. Understanding the economic effects of wildfires is crucial for guiding resource allocation toward prevention and firefighting efforts. This study aims to examine the economic losses resulting from the catastrophic wildfires in the Brazilian Pantanal region during 2019 and 2020. By utilizing publicly available datasets and data obtained from representatives of public and private institutions, we constructed scenarios to simulate the fire's impacts on economic input-output matrices. Through the application of structural impact analysis, we can simulate variations in output, value-added, and income by considering demand variation scenarios resulting from external shocks. Our findings reveal that the economic impact of the wildfires extends beyond the burned areas, affecting other regions of Brazil, such as São Paulo and Paraná. The lack of a comprehensive public database encompassing different scales (municipal, state, and national), along with a clear methodology for calculating and reporting firefighting expenses, hinders accurate prediction of economic losses and impedes proactive investments in wildfire prevention

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of essential oil and different plant extracts of Psidium cattleianum Sabine

Abstract The goals of the study were to determinethe antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oil and plant extracts aqueous and ethanolic of Psidium cattleianum Sabine; the chemical composition of the essential oil of P. cattleianum; and the phytochemical screening of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the same plant. Regarding the antimicrobial activity, the ethanolic extract exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity with respect to bacteria K. pneumoniae and S. epidermidis, whereas, regarding other microorganisms, it showed activity considered weak. The aqueous extract and the essential oil showed activity considered weak, although they inhibited the growth of microorganisms. About the antioxidant potential, the ethanolic and aqueous extracts exhibited a scavenging index exceeding 90%, while the essential oil didn´t show significant antioxidant activity. Regarding the phytochemical composition, the largest class of volatile compounds identified in the essential oil of P. cattleianum included the following terpenic hydrocarbons: α-copaene (22%); eucalyptol (15%), δ-cadinene (9.63%) and α-selinene (6.5%). The phytochemical screening of extracts showed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, and triterpenoids for aqueous and ethanolic extracts. The extracts and essential oils inhibit the growth of microrganisms and plant extracts showed significant antioxidant activity. Also, the phytochemical characterization of the essential oil showed the presence of compounds interest commercial, as well as extracts showed the presence of important classes and compounds with biological activities

Breast Cancer Experience of the Molecular Tumor Board at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

PurposeMultiplex genomic tests are enabling oncologists to interrogate the DNA of their patients. However, few oncologists are proficient with respect to the implications of complex molecular diagnostics. We initiated a Molecular Tumor Board that focused on individual patients with advanced cancer whose tumors underwent genomic profiling, and here report our experience with breast cancer.MethodsA multidisciplinary team that included physicians, scientists, geneticists, and bioinformatics/pathway specialists attended. All molecular tests were performed in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments environment (next-generation sequencing, 182 or 236 genes).ResultsForty of 43 patients (93%; mean age, 59 years) had at least one theoretically actionable aberration (mean, 4.79 anomalies/patient). Median time from ordering to report was 27 days (median of approximately 11 days for specimen acquisition and approximately 14 days for diagnostic processing). Even if we considered distinct abnormalities in a gene as the same, there were only two patients with an identical molecular profile. Seventy-three genes (206 abnormalities; 119 distinct) were aberrant. Seventeen of the 43 patients (40%; median, seven previous therapies in the metastatic setting) were treated in a manner consistent with Molecular Tumor Board discussions; seven (16% of 43, or 41% of 17) achieved stable disease for 6 or more months (n = 2) or partial remission (n = 5). Lack of access to targeted medication was the most common reason that patients could not be treated.ConclusionMultidisciplinary molecular tumor boards may help to optimize the management of patients with advanced, heavily pretreated breast cancer who have undergone genomic testing. Facilitating availability of appropriately targeted drugs and clinical trials is needed