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FROM THE ONSET OF INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM IN LATIN AMERICA, URBAN WORKERS HAVE BEEN DEPENDENT ON THE STATE. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN BRAZIL, WHERE URBAN WORKERS ARE STILL IN A SITUATION OF EXTREME DEPENDENCE ON THE STATE. THUS, THE BRAZILIAN SETTING PROVIDES AN IDEAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE STUDY OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF DEPENDENT WORKERS AS WELL AS AN IMPORTANT POINT OF REFERENCE FOR COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WORKING-CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS. THIS PAPER OUTLINES THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION OF STATE-DEPENDENT WORKERS IN LATIN AMERICA, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE BRAZILIAN WORKER, IN ORDER TO SHOW HOW THEIR DEPENDENCE IS REFLECTED IN THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. THE EVIDENCE FOR OUR INTERPRETATION IS BASED ON THE ATTITUDES OF 617 URBAN WORKERS WHO ARE PART OF A LARGER PROBABILITY SAMPLE OF THE POPULATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BRAZIL.

While most factors that help others also help the children of poverty, those characteristics that benefit the poor most they are least likely to have (like white skin and lots of schooling). Community of origin and marital status are also suggested as of potentially greater importance to the economic attainment of the poor, but turn out to be powerful predictors for the nonpoor as well. (Abstract amended)

THE CENTRAL ARGUMENT OF THIS PAPER IS DEVELOPED AS A CRITICISM OF A WIDELY ACCEPTED INTERPRETATION OF COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE IN NEW STATES. IT IS SHOWN THAT INSTEAD OF INDICATING POLITICAL DECAY, VIOLENCE IN THESE STATES IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PROCESS OF ACCUMULATION OF POWER BY THE NATIONAL STATE.

THE ARTICLE SUGGESTS THAT THE MASSIVE TRANSFORMATION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OFTEN REFERRED TO AS "POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT" IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MOVEMENT FROM HIGH TO LOW BIRTH-AND DEATH RATES IN NATIONAL POPULATIONS. THE EFFECT OF THE CHANGING POLITICAL SYSTEM IS INDEPENDENT OF (AND IN ADDITION TO) THE EFFECTS OF SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED IN THE THEORY OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION. THE ARTICLE REPORTS FIRST THE NATURE OF THE SYSTEMATIC CONNECTION BETWEEN CHANGE IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM ON THE ONE HAND AND CHANGE IN VITAL RATES ON THE OTHER. SECOND, IT PRESENTS A NEW EMPIRICAL MEASURE OF THE CAPACITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF WHOLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS.

Objectives: The INCAPS COVID Oceania study aimed to assess the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac procedure volume provided in the Oceania region. Methods: A retrospective survey was performed comparing procedure volumes within March 2019 (pre-COVID-19) with April 2020 (during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic). Sixty-three (63) health care facilities within Oceania that perform cardiac diagnostic procedures were surveyed, including a mixture of metropolitan and regional, hospital and outpatient, public and private sites, and 846 facilities outside of Oceania. The percentage change in procedure volume was measured between March 2019 and April 2020, compared by test type and by facility. Results: In Oceania, the total cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was reduced by 52.2% from March 2019 to April 2020, compared to a reduction of 75.9% seen in the rest of the world (p<0.001). Within Oceania sites, this reduction varied significantly between procedure types, but not between types of health care facility. All procedure types (other than stress cardiac magnetic resonance [CMR] and positron emission tomography [PET]) saw significant reductions in volume over this time period (p<0.001). In Oceania, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) decreased by 51.6%, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) by 74.0%, and stress tests by 65% overall, which was more pronounced for stress electrocardiograph (ECG) (81.8%) and stress echocardiography (76.7%) compared to stress single-photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT) (44.3%). Invasive coronary angiography decreased by 36.7% in Oceania. Conclusion: A significant reduction in cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was seen across all facility types in Oceania and was likely a function of recommendations from cardiac societies and directives from government to minimise spread of COVID-19 amongst patients and staff. Longer term evaluation is important to assess for negative patient outcomes which may relate to deferral of usual models of care within cardiology.

© 2016 American Chemical Society. Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain consequences including potential ecological effects. Various research communities view differently whether ecotoxicological testing of ENMs should be conducted using environmentally relevant concentrations - where observing outcomes is difficult - versus higher ENM doses, where responses are observable. What exposure conditions are typically used in assessing ENM hazards to populations? What conditions are used to test ecosystem-scale hazards? What is known regarding actual ENMs in the environment, via measurements or modeling simulations? How should exposure conditions, ENM transformation, dose, and body burden be used in interpreting biological and computational findings for assessing risks? These questions were addressed in the context of this critical review. As a result, three main recommendations emerged. First, researchers should improve ecotoxicology of ENMs by choosing test end points, duration, and study conditions - including ENM test concentrations - that align with realistic exposure scenarios. Second, testing should proceed via tiers with iterative feedback that informs experiments at other levels of biological organization. Finally, environmental realism in ENM hazard assessments should involve greater coordination among ENM quantitative analysts, exposure modelers, and ecotoxicologists, across government, industry, and academia.