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Northeastern Brazil has thousands of wetland fossiliferous deposits with megafauna and, in some cases, associated lithic artifacts. The timing of the arrival of humans in South America and the extinction of megafauna is still debated and these sites contribute both to this discussion and to the reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironment. Lagoa do Quari, 40 km south of São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí state, is a marsh deposit in the present semiarid caatinga environment, excavated by an interdisciplinary team in 2002–2003. This paper presents the archaeological, palaeontological, geological, chronological, stratigraphical and palynological results and their implications for the Quaternary of northeastern Brazil. The site has a rich megafaunal bonebed at the bottom, dominated by Eremotherium giant sloth remains with poor biodiversity, and a sandy‐silty deposit at the top; two 14C dates constrain this latter layer to 9,944–9,557 and 6,308–6,177 cal. years BP and the associated rich lithic industry of quartz and chert shows a technical continuity throughout the Holocene in the region. Palynology describes an open landscape with periodic wet phases, which could explain the richness of the archaeological occurrences in Holocenic Brazilian prehistory. This study offers a model of interdisciplinary enquiry into the paleoenvironment and prehistory of lowland South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the spatiotemporal variability of Contiguous Extreme Precipitation Events (CEPE) related to Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) activity during the pre‐wet season and wet season in northern Northeast Brazil for 30 years (1979–2010). Inherent differences in rainy season regimes are associated with northern Northeast Brazil precipitation systems; these are isolated during pre‐wet and wet season and analyse the intensity and the spatial area covered by the CEPE. A daily index of MJO activity and its life cycle were used to identify activity phases during heavy rainfall events. Composite analysis was performed for days with CEPE during the most frequent MJO phases in the pre‐wet and wet seasons. The analysis shows the influence of the MJO on the occurrence of CEPE in northern Northeast Brazil. In the pre‐wet season, the MJO phases 8‐1‐2 affect the occurrence of heavy rainfall events, modifying the atmospheric circulation and water vapour transport over northern South America. Indications of Rossby wave propagation over the South Pacific associated with MJO were found, suggesting tropic‐extratropic teleconnection during occurrences of CEPE in the pre‐wet season. In the wet season, CEPE events are more frequent during MJO phases 8‐2‐3. Conversely, no wave propagation over the South Pacific is observed in the wet season, changes in wind anomalies at high and low atmospheric levels only point to the influence of the MJO via tropical teleconnection. This study may help monitoring and forecasting of very heavy rainfall events in northern Northeast Brazil in pre‐wet season and wet season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT While individual studies from several South American countries have shown driving while intoxicated to be a problem, there are no objective systematically collected alcohol-associated driving data obtained in most South American countries. This limits their ability to implement and enforce targeted prevention strategies, evaluate whether proven prevention efforts from North America (particularly the United States and Canada) can be transferred to the South, and to sustain momentum for the improvement of road safety by demonstrating that previously implemented legal and policy changes are effective. The aim of this paper is to discuss the abysmal differences that exist between northern and southern American countries regarding the current status of driving while intoxicated prevention strategies-their implementation, impacts and effects-using Brazil as a case example. We propose a three-pronged approach to close this northern-southern American gap in driving while intoxicated prevention and intervention: (a) systematic collection on road traffic crash/injury/death as well as risk factor data, (b) passage of laws without loopholes requiring compliance with blood alcohol concentration testing and (c) provision of appropriate training and equipment to the police in concomitance with vigilant enforcement. Resources and energies must be put towards data collection, implementation of prevention strategies and enforcement in order to decrease the unacceptably high rates of these preventable driving while intoxicated deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of two parts. In the first, I am going to review and synthesise the history of Jews — or rather various versions of Fuzzy Jews 1 — who settled in Brazil during the time it was a Portuguese colony, including a brief period when part of the nation passed under Dutch control. This overview probably adds nothing new to the history of this topic, except insofar as it stresses the details necessary to develop the argument in the next section. The second part turns to a more difficult and in many ways speculative kind of history, that of the emotional and psychological experience of being a Jew — again in several versions of nominal Catholicism. Here is where I bring to bear insights from psychohistory and the history of mentalities in order to interrogate the sources in Inquisitional archives and archaeological studies in Brazil and elsewhere in South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the paper "Why don't northern American solutions to drinking and driving work in southern America?" by F. Pechansky and A. Chandran, which addresses the lack of policies regarding drinking and driving. According to her, lack of data or laws is not a problem in Brazil but lapses in the enforcement of existing laws is. She refers to several studies on drunk driving and suggests acquiring a better understanding of the problem through research and monitoring.