The impact of decentralization policies: the environmental performance applied to municipalities of the Amazon

The historical environmental problems in the Amazon urge greater governance and transparency at the municipal level. The decentralizing of municipal environmental management (MEM) is an ongoing process in the Brazilian Amazonbut a monitoring mechanism is missing. We used an index (iMEM) derived by factorial analysis to rank the environmental management performance of 143 municipalities in Pará state at the beginning of the decentralizing process (2009) and six years after that (2015). Multiple regression analysis indicated that iMEM was positively affected by factors such as population, communication and protected areas in the municipalities and negatively affected by rural credit, GDP and property registration program. Decentralizing measures seem to be more politically than environmentally effective since only 21.7% of 143 municipalities were classified as having good environmental management in 2015. Pará’s poorly performing municipalities in both periods illustrate regions where unsustainable and misguided national policies were fostered in the 70s. The monitoring of the decentralization progress and synergic policies is crucial for the effectiveness of the policy in the Amazon. 

Municipal environmental management and regional conservation in eastern Amazon: perceived performance by public agents in the Pará state, Brazil

Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities

O ENSINO REMOTO NA REDE DE ENSINO PÚBLICO DURANTE A PANDEMIA: DISCUSSÃO ACERCA DA UNIVERSALIZAÇÃO DO ACESSO

Com as medidas de isolamento social, o ensino passou a ser remoto. Diferente do Ensino à Distância, esta modalidade não possui uma plataforma virtual de aprendizado, o que dificulta o trabalho dos docentes que se viram atribuídos das mais diversas funções, outrora divididas com as instituições de ensino. A crítica ao ensino remoto se dá tanto pela falta de logística como pela dificuldade de amplo alcance. Tendo como pauta a universalização do acesso, o presente trabalho irá debater, através de uma pesquisa qualitativa e com método indutivo, a ampliação do acesso dos discentes ao ensino remoto no contexto da pandemia

Integração entre forças de operações especiais e inteligência na repressão ao crime organizado na microrregião do Vale do Juruá, Acre / Integration between special operations and intelligence forces in the repression of organized crime in the microregion of the Juruá Valley, Acre

O presente trabalho buscou demonstrar os resultados alcançados com a integração entre Forças de Operações Especiais e Inteligência Policial com objetivo de causar danos e minimizar a atuação do Crime Organizado na Microrregião do Vale do Juruá, Estado do Acre. Essa forma de atuação foi inovadora no Estado e gerou grandes resultados, levando a apreensão de drogas e prisão de lideranças importantes, além da prisão de integrantes de menor relevância, mas que ajudou a limitar a consecução de resultados positivos à Organização Criminosa. Depois do ano de 2019, a única Organização Criminosa que atua com grande número de simpatizantes é a Intitulada “Comando Vermelho”, após a realização de esforços no intuito de enfraquecer outras Organizações, a única que ainda existe em número de integrantes é a representante Carioca, que assumiu várias Rotas de Tráfico na Amazônia, e tem sido alvo de operações das forças de segurança, em especial as Unidades de Forças de Operações Especiais da Polícia Militar e Grupos de Inteligência das Polícias Militar, Civil, Penal e Federal. Essa integração tem gerado resultados significativos, onde só no Vale do Juruá, mais de 2,5 Toneladas de Drogas foram apreendidas entre os anos de 2018 e 2020. O foco das ações tem sido o dano material (apreensão de drogas, dinheiro e bens) e humano (captura de lideranças e figuras estratégicas para o crime) na essência de atuação de Operações Especiais e Inteligência, sendo caracterizada pela baixa visibilidade de suas ações, mas com resultados táticos e estratégicos importantes no presente e futuro

Quality of seedlings of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf Cultivated in Alternative Substrates According to the Source and Methods of Application of Humic Acids

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of humic acid application methods on an alternative organic substrate in the quality of seedlings of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. The experiment was carried out in a nursery of production of forest seedlings under cover of the dark type with 50% of luminosity retention, located in the municipality of Dianópolis state of Tocantins, in geographical coordinates, 11° 37′ 41″ S of latitude, 46° 49′ 17″ W of longitude, with altitude of 702 meters. The results revealed that the use of the commercial humic acid source applied via foliar promotes a higher quality of seedlings in relation to the alternative source and the absence of application of humic acids

MBSP1: a biosurfactant protein derived from a metagenomic library with activity in oil degradation

Microorganisms represent the most abundant biomass on the planet; however, because of several cultivation technique limitations, most of this genetic patrimony has been inaccessible. Due to the advent of metagenomic methodologies, such limitations have been overcome. Prevailing over these limitations enabled the genetic pool of non-cultivable microorganisms to be exploited for improvements in the development of biotechnological products. By utilising a metagenomic approach, we identifed a new gene related to biosurfactant production and hydrocarbon degradation. Environmental DNA was extracted from soil samples collected on the banks of the Jundiaí River (Natal, Brazil), and a metagenomic library was constructed. Functional screening identifed the clone 3C6, which was positive for the biosurfactant protein and revealed an open reading frame (ORF) with high similarity to sequences encoding a hypothetical protein from species of the family Halobacteriaceae. This protein was purifed and exhibited biosurfactant activity. Due to these properties, this protein was named metagenomic biosurfactant protein 1 (MBSP1). In addition, E. coli RosettaTM (DE3) strain cells transformed with the MBSP1 clone showed an increase in aliphatic hydrocarbon degradation. In this study, we described a single gene encoding a protein with marked tensoactive properties that can be produced in a host cell, such as Escherichia coli, without substrate dependence. Furthermore, MBSP1 has been demonstrated as the frst protein with these characteristics described in the Archaea or Bacteria domains

Mandos e desmandos: os ouvidores da capitania de Pernambuco no reinado de D. João V (1706-1750)

A compreensão do processo de colonização do Brasil exige que se identifiquem as diversas formas de manifestação do poder político, seus conflitos e suas contradições, nas diversas regiões brasileiras que compunham o espaço privilegiado por Portugal para execução do seu projeto colonizador. Nesse contexto, destacamos o papel dos ouvidores com seus amplos poderes nas capitanias. Os ouvidores não eram apenas juízes, o seu papel no governo e na administração extrapolava muito essa função. A própria legislação transformava-os num poderoso agente centralizador, pelo menos na letra da lei. Na presente dissertação, tem-se por objetivo geral refletir sobre a ação dos ouvidores de Pernambuco na primeira metade do século XVIII. Para isso, buscamos, principalmente através da análise da documentação do Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, compreender e explicitar a atuação dos magistrados no sistema político-administrativo da capitania bem como as contradições dessa ação. Investigamos o modo como ocorria a relação dos ouvidores com os demais agentes de poder da capitania e de que forma os vínculos de poder influenciavam na aplicação da justiça. Acreditamos que o fato de optarmos por não limitar nossa pesquisa ao estudo de apenas uma ouvidoria específica, mas termos analisado a ação dos diversos magistrados contribuiu para uma visão globalizante da atuação dos ouvidore

Temporal analysis of oxidative effects on the pulmonary inflammatory response in mice exposed to cigarette smoke.

The most common factor related to the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development is the chronic smoking habit. Our study describes the temporal kinesis of pulmonary cellular influx through BALF analyses of mice acutely exposed to cigarette smoke (CS), the oxidative damage and antioxidative enzyme activities. Thirty-six mice (C57BL/6, 8 weeks old, male) were divided in 6 groups: the control group (CG), exposed to ambient air, and the other 30 mice were exposed to CS. Mice exposed to CS presented, especially after the third day of exposure, different cellular subpopulations in BALF. The oxidative damage was significantly higher in CS exposed groups compared to CG. Our data showed that the evaluated inflammatory cells, observed after three days of CS exposure, indicate that this time point could be relevant to studies focusing on these cellular subpopulation activities and confirm the oxidative stress even in a short term CS exposure