Federal Government of Brazil

Purpose In mission to assess the results of public policies about governance, planning and management operations, Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) stand out as institutions with powers and duties directly attributed to them by the Federal Constitution. This paper aims to discuss the main requirements of public policies for implementing sixth-generation (6G) in Brazil and a control strategy carried out by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) to ensure the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the future mobile service to be provided in the country. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses qualitative research based on previous literature and analysis of the Brazilian mobile communications scenario. This leads to a strategy to inform future research and auditing practices. Findings The 6G technology will require policymakers to develop a new regulatory agenda capable of providing equality of service to the population, optimizing investments and meeting the technological criteria required by the next mobile generation. Therefore, it is vitally important that the SAI, through new oversight strategies, has a holistic understanding of the development and deployment of 6G in the national territory, the coordination of the various stakeholders, efficiency in the application of public resources and the promotion of digital inclusion. Research limitations/implications Given policymakers’ lack of strategic planning for the dissemination of 6G, it is difficult to accurately predict all the issues in the proposed auditing strategy. Practical implications 6G mobile network technology will set new standards to meet performance requirements currently unattainable by fifth-generation networks. This is due to the need for a more robust, intelligent, ultra-low latency network with extreme data rates and support for a wide range of interconnected applications. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing an approach to the main auditing parameters from the perspective of external control for the successful deployment of 6G technology in Brazil. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first work in this area.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted public transportation systems worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the rate of COVID-19 positivity and its associated factors among users of public transportation in socioeconomically disadvantaged regions of Brazil during the pre-vaccination phase of the pandemic. This ecological study, conducted in Aracaju city in Northeast Brazil, is a component of the TestAju Program. This initiative was designed to expand COVID-19 testing to asymptomatic individuals in public spaces such as squares and bus terminals. Using logistic regression, we examined the relationship between COVID-19 positivity and factors such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and travel frequency. The Fruchterman-Reingold algorithm was used to explore transmission pathways across neighborhoods with varying living conditions. Of the 1,420 public transport users tested via real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), 249 were positive, indicating a 17.5% positivity rate (95% CI: 15.7-19.6). Our findings revealed a higher positivity rate during periods of increased viral spread (OR = 4.3, 95% CI: 3.1-5.9) and in neighborhoods with poorer conditions (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1-2.1). Network analysis revealed affluent neighborhoods as significant transmission hubs of the disease. Our study highlights the vital role of urban mobility patterns in the spread of COVID-19. Neighborhoods with better living conditions that serve as hubs of activity and movement, enable gatherings and interactions among people from diverse regions, including those from areas with higher infection rates.

An association between the use of chlorhexidine in mechanically ventilated patients for the purpose of oral hygiene and the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) lacks conclusive evidence in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to assess the clinical impact of such practice. This evaluation will consider that retention factors, infection foci, and oral biofilm will be regularly removed by a dentist. In this retrospective cohort study, a comparison was made between two groups, one using chlorhexidine and the other using saline solution. Patients from both groups included in this study were admitted between January 2016 to March 2018. Data such as the incidence of VAP, duration of mechanical ventilation (DMV), length of stay (LOS), and mortality rate (MR) were collected and compared between the groups. Only patients aged 18 or older, under mechanical ventilation for more than 48 consecutive hours were included. Were excluded from this study patients with a diagnosis of VAP or other pulmonary infection upon admission or within the first 48hours of hospitalization. Also not included were those who stayed in the ICU for less than 48hours. Dental treatment was carried out addressing the regular removal of retention factors, potential oral infection foci, and oral biofilm by a dentist. Additionally, at each appointment, the visible biofilm was removed by the dentist themselves, and the maintenance of oral hygiene was performed daily by the nursing staff. For the statistical analysis the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was used for comparisons between groups regarding LOS and DMV. Additionally, the associations between groups and VAP, outcomes (discharge or death), and diseases were analyzed using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. A significance level of 5% was assumed. In both evaluated groups, each consisting of 36 patients, the incidence of VAP was identical at 2.8%. Specifically, the chlorhexidine group had an incidence of 2.105 VAP cases per 1000 days of mechanical ventilation (MV), while the placebo group had 2.865 VAP cases per 1000 days of MV (p = 1.000). No significant difference between groups regarding LOS (p = 0.5694) and DMV (p = 0.1136) was found. There was also no significant association between the MR in the two groups (47.2% chlorhexidine, 36.1% placebo) (p=0.3390). When intensive oral care is performed, the use of chlorhexidine shows no significant change in VAP incidence, MR, LOS, and DMV. Therefore, the dentist, as part of the multiprofessional team, should decide on its use.

A robust body of research suggests that entrepreneurial activities benefit from financial development and external financing access. However, there is a gap in understanding how and the extent to which the accessibility to financial services is associated with entrepreneurial activity. Based on an unbalanced panel of 2104 Brazilian municipalities spanning 2010–2021 and comprising 23,769 municipality-year observations, our results not only confirm that bank accessibility, proxied by the number of bank branches in a municipality, is positively correlated with the number of firms but also that the relationship is nonlinear, being stronger for larger firms. By estimating a model using first differences, we find a positive causal impact of an additional bank branch on the number of firms in a municipality of 0.2% (about 26 extra firms on average). Our study contributes to the literature by corroborating that access to external financing services shapes entrepreneurial activities.

It is important to prioritize intersectoral action at schools to prevent the use of alcohol and other drugs. This strategic act should be organized with multidisciplinary learning characteristics and with the involvement of different stakeholders. The aim of a recent scoping review was to identify the factors that benefit and hinder intersectoral actions at school resulting from the elaboration of policies to prevent drug use. It seems like the research study was a scoping review that used the P-population, C-context, and C-concept structure. The study searched for information in various databases like Embase, Proquest, Lilacs, Medline via Pubmed, PsycInfo, WHO-Iris, and PAHO-Iris on April 17, 2023. According to the results, there were 5 studies that were eligible to answer the research question. One of the advantages of intersectoral actions is the role of schools in creating a support network with different social actors, particularly with family involvement. On the other hand, one of the challenges is inconsistencies in legal regulations, which do not provide enough guidance to schools on how to prevent alcohol and drug use. While public and private schools may be affected differently by social and economic factors, it is essential to invest in developing policies that focus on drug prevention for children and adolescents who are learning in schools.

We performed aurora kinase gene expression analysis, in combination with FISH and micronucleus test, in buccal mucosa cells isolated from agricultural workers to better understand the dynamics of genomic instability in these groups of professionals.Two out of a total of 97 agricultural workers who consented to participate in the study (39 men and 58 women) reported a history of cancer based on a previously applied questionnaire.The participants were 28.4 years on average and were categorized into three distinct groups based on their habits, as the "not exposed" group included 24 samples analyzed.The group classified as "indirectly exposed" consisted of 21 samples and those classified as "directly exposed" regarding their activities involved in pesticide preparation/application included 52 samples.Our results showed significant differences in the expression of AURKA and AURKB, among the groups (p < 0.0001).The differences found were also confirmed by FISH analysis, evidencing the amplification of the studied genes.To support our data, we also performed micronucleus analysis and found significant differences when comparing the three distinct groups of participants, even if some individuals not directly exposed to pesticides showed cell abnormalities.The results suggest possible ongoing DNA damage, which on a temporal scale could promote genomic instability, and ultimately, tumor development.We believe that biomonitoring strategies, including the analysis of the expression levels of the AURKA and AURKB genes, may provide important insights into the evolution of genomic instability in the cells of agricultural workers exposed to pesticides.

Due to the rapid expansion of online marketplaces, an increasing number of private firms decided to include them in their channel strategy and the creation of a government online marketplace has also been considered by many countries. This article presents a case study conducted in the Brazilian Centralized Procurement Department and has two main purposes. First, it discusses the obstacles to the implementation of a comprehensive government online marketplace in Brazil. Second, it examines two initiatives created by the Brazilian Federal Government that, to some extent, are similar to the concept of an online marketplace. This paper identifies four main obstacles to the creation of such a government marketplace in Brazil: 1) legal constraints; 2) platform design and integration difficulties, especially regarding the government budgetary allocation and payment system; 3) expansion of specialised human resources and infrastructure capacities; 4) development of a price monitoring system.