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Abstract In response to the growing consumer demand for organic products, this study examines the economic viability of traditional versus organic Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) cultivation in Paraná State, Brazil. The research uses a robust financial analysis framework to compare production expenses, projected profits, and associated risks over a fifteen-year horizon for a single hectare of land. The analysis employs the multi-index methodology to provide empirical evidence and analytical insights into the economic and risk profiles of both traditional and organic agricultural practices. This study further enhances the evaluation by incorporating the Monte Carlo Method and Crystal Ball software, transforming key financial indicators into stochastic variables. This approach allows for a nuanced risk assessment that captures the inherent uncertainties in agricultural investment. The findings indicate a significant economic advantage for organic farming, with an organic return on investment (ROI) of 12.03%, substantially outperforming the 3.99% ROI of conventional methods. Moreover, the research highlights the improved risk-adjusted returns of organic farming, showing an almost negligible probability of encountering a negative net present value (NPV), specifically P(NPV_organic ≤ 0) ≈ 0. The results underscore the financial viability and reduced risk of organic Yerba Mate cultivation, positioning it as a strategic alternative to traditional agricultural methods. These insights align with current market trends favoring sustainable and health-conscious consumer choices and provide critical guidance for stakeholders in the farming sector. This study contributes to the academic discourse on sustainable agriculture and offers practical implications for enhancing economic sustainability and resilience in farming practices.

Abstract Mental health is deteriorating far and fast globally post-COVID. Though there were already over one billion people living with mental disorders pre-pandemic, in the first year of COVID-19 alone, the prevalence of anxiety and depression soared by 25% worldwide. In light of the chronic shortages of mental health resources and talents, along with disruptions of available health services caused by pandemic-related restrictions, technology is widely believed to hold the key to addressing the rising mental health crises. However, hurdles such as fragmented and oftentimes suboptimal patient protection measures substantially undermine technology’s potential to address the global mental health crises reliably and at scale. To shed light on these issues, this paper aims to discuss the post-pandemic mental health challenges and opportunities, and the strategies and solutions the global mental health community could leverage to protect and elevate society’s mental health in the long run.

Abstract In recent decades, quantitative models for forecasting economic crises have garnered significant interest from researchers, policymakers, and public and private institutions. Identifying the most appropriate models for predicting economic time series behaviors during crises is a pressing challenge. Effective techniques can be instrumental in forestalling financial irregularities, thus empowering institutions to deploy remedial actions and swiftly minimizing further economic setbacks. Contemporary literature introduces various forecasting models, such as the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Recognized for its statistical alignment with numerous linear models, the ARIMA model has demonstrated its efficacy across various domains. This paper delves into applying the ARIMA model to predict five critical economic time series that substantially influenced Brazil’s public and private healthcare sectors throughout the economic crisis between 2000 and 2020. These time series encompassed the variables (i) the gross domestic product—GDP, (ii) the Extended National Consumer Price Index—IPCA, (iii) the unemployment rate, (iv) the total number of health plan beneficiaries, and (v) total number of individual health plan beneficiaries. Importantly, this study provides a comprehensive outline of the ARIMA implementation process, underscoring that precise forecasting is pivotal for managers aiming to curtail financial anomalies and avert resource shortages. The findings highlight the ARIMA model’s (1, 0, 2), (2, 2, 1), (0, 1, 2), (1, 1, 2), and (2, 2, 1) viability in accurately forecasting health-related time series, exceeding 95% accuracy for economic variables analyzed. These results have significant practical implications for healthcare managers and decision-makers. By offering accurate forecasts of critical economic metrics, such as the unemployment rate and the transition of beneficiaries between public and private health systems during economic downturns, this research provides valuable insights for strategic planning within the healthcare sector.

Smart ageing is the process of leveraging accessible socio-ecological opportunities to proactively build the desired lifestyle and preferred quality of life as people age. Different from other ageing models, smart ageing views the ageing process from a socio-ecological perspective, a process which is shaped by the interplay of social, cultural, economic, political, and technological factors, along with medical ones. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach and pre-emptively defining a “universal” factor that decides the ageing process, smart ageing respects and emphasises individuals’ agency and efficacy in deciding what is important and appropriate to their well-being and designing their own ageing journey. While smart ageing can be a solution to population ageing, ingrained inequality issues like the digital divide can nevertheless hinder its ability to help people age at their own pace and with grace. To shed light on the issue, this paper examines the tsunami of social issues population ageing could unleash, and discusses how the smart ageing model—along with its opportunities and challenges—can help people better navigate their ageing adventure.

Intellectual property (IP) systems in contemporary knowledge-based societies foster sustainable economic development and incentivize innovative enterprises. The landscape of business method patents based on computer-related inventions in Brazil's health sector is examined, focusing on innovations intertwined with information and communication technology (ICT) for administrative, commercial, financial, and managerial functions. Using Questel's Orbit Intelligence software, 181 Brazilian patent families were mapped and analyzed and compared to 6609 global patents to elucidate Brazil's position in the global innovation ecosystem. Findings reveal that Brazil accounts for only 2.7 % of global patents (15th global position) in this domain, underscoring significant untapped potential. Philips and CareFusion are identified as leading innovators, highlighting a disparity between the innovation capacities of global and Brazilian entities. The research exposes a need for collaboration and knowledge flow among Brazilian assignees, contrasting with the dense network of global interactions. The technological domains predominantly include ICT methods for management, reflecting an emphasis on optimizing healthcare operations. The study concludes with strategic recommendations to enhance Brazil's regulatory framework, bolster university-industry collaborations, and leverage global innovations to improve healthcare delivery and national competitiveness. These insights contribute to understanding the dynamics of technological innovation in emerging economies and propose pathways to transition Brazil from a technology consumer to a global innovator.

This article delves into Brazil’s rapidly expanding e-commerce sector, emphasizing its significant growth and evolving dynamics. Employing a meta-narrative review and a convergence-coding matrix, this research systematically analyzes and integrates findings from the existing literature to reveal critical industry patterns. The analysis identifies four pivotal clusters: consumer behavior, e-commerce structure, product distribution, and environmental sustainability. These elements collectively offer a comprehensive view of Brazil’s present and future e-commerce directions. This study underscores the imperative for strategies responsive to changing consumer behaviors, technological advancements, and environmental concerns. It also furnishes practical insights for enhancing online retail consumer engagement, logistical efficiency, and sustainability. Furthermore, this research advocates for e-commerce as a vehicle for digital inclusion, calling for policies that promote equitable access to online markets. This underscores its broader socio-economic importance, suggesting a path forward for stakeholders in shaping a more inclusive and sustainable e-commerce ecosystem.

Background: When it comes to pandemic response, preparation can be the key. Between 2020 and 2024, the fast-paced development of COVID-19—often compounded by pubic policies’ failures to reflect the latest reality and the public’s divergent reactions to the pandemic and the policies—means that society should prepare for exit strategies that can reflect the reality of the pandemic and the interests of the people. Yet oftentimes societies only have one exit strategy with limited scope. This paper investigates the dangers of having only one pandemic exit strategy for pandemics like COVID-19. Methods: Analyses were based on a review of the literature on COVID-19 exit strategies and our own research. The PubMed literature search focused on two concepts—“COVID-19″ and “exit strategy”—and was limited to peer-reviewed papers published between 2020 and 2024 in English. Results: A total of 31 articles were included in the final review. Analyses showed that existing studies on COVID-19 exit strategies often focused on using the modelling method to gauge one exit strategy. Exit strategies were often discussed in the context of implementing, easing, or lifting specific pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical interventions. Staged and country-wide coordinated exit strategies were also discussed in the literature, both of which were often deemed as comparatively rigorous options compared to single or stand-alone exit strategies. Drawing on the overall development of COVID-19 and our own research, we presented and discussed the importance of having multiple exit strategies that are considerate of all possible pandemic trajectories, diverse interests of the public, and the communication challenges officials might face in introducing or implementing pandemic policies. Conclusion: This paper underscored the importance of having multiple exit strategies for societies to prepare for pandemics. The insights of this study can help inform health policies so that they can more comprehensively and compassionately protect the needs and wants of the “public” in public health, particularly in grave times like COVID-19.

Abstract The culling of animals that are infected, or suspected to be infected, with COVID-19 has fuelled outcry. What might have contributed to the ongoing debates and discussions about animal rights protection amid global health crises is the lack of a unified understanding and internationally agreed-upon definition of “One Health”. The term One Health is often utilised to describe the imperative to protect the health of humans, animals, and plants, along with the overarching ecosystem in an increasingly connected and globalized world. However, to date, there is a dearth of research on how to balance public health decisions that could impact all key stakeholders under the umbrella of One Health, particularly in contexts where human suffering has been immense. To shed light on the issue, this paper discusses whether One Health means “human-centred connected health” in a largely human-dominated planet, particularly amid crises like COVID-19. The insights of this study could help policymakers make more informed decisions that could effectively and efficiently protect human health while balancing the health and well-being of the rest of the inhabitants of our shared planet Earth.

Predicting operational performance enables organizations to develop operational effectiveness goals considering different combinations of resources. Measuring performance is consolidated with advances in relative efficiency analysis techniques, including data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), albeit these methods lack predictive capability. This paper proposes an approach for performance prediction by integrating relative efficiency measurement models with machine learning algorithms. Data analyses were conducted using data provided by the energy assessment project offered to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the United States ( n 7,548) using sales as the output, with the inputs being the number of employees, hours of operation, electricity, natural gas, cost of electricity, and cost of natural gas. Performance was estimated differently, employing parametric (SFA) and non-parametric (DEA) methods. The prediction benchmarking process occurred by adopting machine learning algorithms: regression (LM), support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), random forest (RF), and decision tree (DT). The findings showed that it is possible to identify the best prediction algorithm associated with a performance model. However, the performance prediction may differ if different strategies for measuring performance or machine learning model configurations are used. In addition, SFA-LOG and SVM had the best performance for regression, and DEA-VRS/IRS excelled with random forest; the RF algorithm was the best fit across all performance approaches. The error rate depends on the algorithm and the performance model, and the number of classes must be reduced to obtain a higher success rate.

Abstract Background A full understanding of the economic burden associated with treatment-related adverse events (AEs) can aid estimates of the incremental costs associated with incorporating new technologies and support cost-effective economic modeling in Brazil. In this context, the main objective of this work was to evaluate in a real-life database: (i) the direct medical cost of monitoring the occurrence of AEs (CMO); (ii) the direct medical cost of managing an identified AE (CMN); and (iii) the total direct medical cost of monitoring and managing AEs (TMC), in quarterly periods from 0 to 24 months of the monitoring of cancer patients who used a PD-1 inhibitor from the perspective of the supplementary health system in Brazil. Methods This study was conducted from the supplementary health system (SSS) perspective and followed the methodological guidelines related to cost-of-illness studies. A bottom-up (person-based) approach was used to assess the use of health resources to monitor and manage AEs during the use of PD-1 inhibitors, which made it possible to capture differences in the mean frequency of the use of health services with stratification results for different subgroups. As the Brazilian SSS is complex, asymmetric, and fragmented, this study used information from different sources. The methodology was divided into three parts: (i) Data Source: clinical management of AEs; (ii) Microcosting: management of the economic burden of AEs; (iii) Statistical analysis: stratification of results for different subgroups. Results Analysis of the economic burden of toxicity showed higher CMO costs than CMN in all the periods analyzed. In general, for every BRL 100 on average invested in the TMC of AEs, BRL 95 are used to monitor the occurrence of the AE and only BRL 5 to manage an identified AE. This work also showed that the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, the journey of oncological treatment, and the toxicity profile affect the economic burden related to AE. Conclusion This study provided real-world evidence of the economic burden of AEs associated with the use of PD-1 inhibitors in Brazil. This work also made methodological contributions by evaluating the economic burden of AE of PD-1 inhibitors considering the kinetics of toxicity occurrence and categorizing the costs in terms of CMO, CMN and TMC.

In recent years, e-commerce has assumed a more strategic and relevant role with regard to the good performance of the global retail industry. The facilities and conveniences provided by e-tail contribute to meeting the demands of a more connected consumer. However, it is necessary to consider the complex nature of the online market, which requires e-retailers to challenge themselves in order to create stronger connections with their customers to achieve greater customer satisfaction. In this context, the services offered in the after-sales phase, one of the most relevant stages of the consumer journey, can help reduce the negative impacts involved in the decision and experience of an online purchase. The post-sale in e-commerce is a research domain that has become increasingly prominent in recent years, and this maturation in the academic environment requires a deeper understanding of this scientific production. Therefore, to synthesize the main insights and suggest an agenda for future studies of this theme, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted for this study using a hybrid approach, combining a structured review with a bibliometric review. One of the main contributions of the research is the seminal presentation of after-sales attributes in e-commerce, in a global and broad view, focusing on the retailer and consumer relationship, referred to herein as After-sales Customer Services (AFSCS). Unlike the other few existing reviews regarding the theme, this work is innovative because it investigates the e-commerce post-purchase, the attributes of this stage, and the relationship between retailer and consumer at this stage of the journey in a more direct, exclusive, and complete way.

In recent decades, retail has been faced with a challenging scenario, resulting from the digital transformation driven by advances on the internet that has transformed retail business models, especially in commercial transactions, giving consumers a new shopping experience. However, it has been a challenge for retailers to maintain the same shopping experience in different marketing channel formats, mainly with regard to understanding the consumption habits of consumers and what can influence their purchase decisions. As far as is known, the buying process is not only about the act of buying. There is an entire buying journey that must be studied to ensure customer satisfaction from the first contact to the after-sales experience. In this context, this article identifies and analyzes the stages of the omnichannel retail purchase journey from the consumer’s perspective. To achieve the proposed objective, this study was conducted through a systematic literature review in accordance with the SPAR-4-SLR protocol. The results present several analyses that demonstrate the complexity involving the consumer’s perspective in the purchase decision process. The insights show how complex it can be to for companies to manage the purchase journey due to the individuality of each consumer. The main finding shows that most marketing studies do not address the omnichannel consumer journey and, when they do, they focus on specific parts to the detriment of a more holistic view of the buying process. The originality of this article lies in the fact that few studies on omnichannel retail have focused on the integration of all touchpoints using an empirical longitudinal evaluation.

Abstract Background Pandemics, such as COVID-19, are dangerous and socially disruptive. Though no one is immune to COVID-19, older persons often bear the brunt of its consequences. This is particularly true for older women, as they often face more pronounced health challenges relative to other segments in society, including complex care needs, insufficient care provisions, mental illness, neglect, and increased domestic abuse. To further compound the situation, because protective measures like lockdowns can result in unintended consequences, many health services older women depend on can become disrupted or discontinued amid pandemics. While technology-based interventions have the potential to provide near-time, location-free, and virtually accessible care, there is a dearth of systematic insights into this mode of care in the literature. To bridge the research gaps, this investigation aims to examine the characteristics and effectiveness of technology-based interventions that could address health challenges older women face amid COVID-19. Methods A systematic review of randomized trials reporting on technology-based interventions for older women (≥65 years) during COVID-19 will be conducted. The databases of Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus will be searched. Retrieved citations will be screened independently by at least two reviewers against the eligibility criteria. Included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane ROB-2 tool. Data will be extracted independently by the reviewers. Where possible, meta-analyses will be performed on relevant study outcomes and analysed via odds ratios on the dichotomized outcomes. Where applicable, heterogeneity will be measured using the Cochrane Q test, and publication bias will be assessed via funnel plots and Egger’s regression test. Discussion Technology has the potential to transform healthcare for the better. To help society better safeguard vulnerable populations’ health and quality of life, this investigation sets out to gauge the state-of-the-art development of technology-based interventions tailored to the health challenges older women face amid COVID-19. In light of the growing prevalence of population ageing and the inevitability of infectious disease outbreaks, greater research efforts are needed to ensure the timely inception and effective implementation of technology-based health solutions for vulnerable populations like older women, amid public health crises like COVID-19 and beyond. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020194003

In complex industrial systems, the deterioration of equipment and production of defective products are important points that increase the costs inherent to the production function. In this context, the purpose of this article is to estimate the survival of a group of pieces of industrial port equipment known as solid bulk conveyors, thus contributing to decision-making in the maintenance process. To achieve this goal, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the probability of global survival, and the survival curves were compared using the Log-rank test. To this end, the effect of each covariate on the survival time of the conveyors was analyzed using the Cox regression model, for which an analysis of residuals and influential observations was conducted. The 75% probability of survival of solid bulk cargo is equivalent to an operational availability time of 444 h. It was found that, of the 95 conveyors that were evaluated, 38 (40%) failed and 57 (60%) were censored by the end of the study. The results indicate a significant reduction in the probability of survival of equipment during operation time, as well as a significant difference between the survival curves of the covariates of shift, types of minerals, the number of wagons and tons moved, indicating that these are important predictors in the Cox regression model.

Tobacco is both toxic and addictive. Mounting evidence shows that tobacco use has a detrimental impact on almost every aspect of human health, causing or worsening deadly public health crises from the cancer epidemic to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while tobacco use is a threat to both personal and public health, it continues to surge across the world, especially in China and other low- and middle-income countries. To this end, this article argues in favor of using a ban on the sale of all tobacco products as a practical solution to the global tobacco use epidemic. It is our hope that insights provided by our work will inspire swift policy actions in countries such as China and beyond to curb the tide of rising tobacco consumption, so that populations around the world could be better shielded from the pervasive and long-lasting damage that tobacco products cause or compound.

Abstract Background The landscape of cutaneous melanoma (CM) diagnosis, staging, prognosis, and treatment has undergone fundamental changes in the past decade. While the benefits of new health resources are recognized, there is a distinct lack of accurate cost-of-illness information to aid healthcare decision makers. Methods The cost-of-illness study for CM was conducted from the perspective of two health systems in Brazil: the public health system (Unified Health System, SUS) and the private health system (Health Management Organization, HMO). The study considered the direct medical cost in a bottom-up analysis, using melanoma incidence, knowledge of the disease’s progression, and the overall survival rates. The executional costs for the complete healthcare delivery cycle were investigated considering different disease stages and possible clinical course variations. The structural cost was assessed qualitatively considering the health value chain in Brazil. Results CM represents a critical financial burden in Brazil, and the cost of illness varied according to the health system and by stage at diagnosis. HMO patient costs are approximately 10-fold and 90-fold more than a SUS patient in the early-stage and advanced disease, respectively. Overall, spending on advanced disease patients can be up to 34-fold (SUS) or 270-fold (HMO) higher than that required for the early-stage disease. Given the massive amount of resources spent by the SUS and HMO, significant efforts must be made to improve the health value chain to deliver the right mix of medical care goods and services using available resources. Conclusion The cost-of-illness study for CM has the potential to inform policymakers and decision-makers regarding the economic burden that melanoma impose on a society in terms of the use of health care services, assisting them in making projections of future health care costs and resource allocation decisions. We believe that cost-of-illness analysis from a strategic perspective could be of help in assessing executional costs and be used to support the change in structural costs required for long-term strategies related to the health value chain.

Several studies have indicated that a global reduction in meat consumption is inevitable for sustainability and public health, despite the challenges inherent to changing eating habits. The purpose of this article is to pursue a stock-take of consumer behavior with regard to reducing meat consumption through a literature review using bibliometric analysis. The findings show the multidisciplinary nature of the field, which is in full development and with many knowledge gaps. Publications are concentrated in a few dominant journals and originated exclusively in developed countries. Six thematic subareas are central to the theme in question and helped to structure the field. The findings also show that few authors have been recurrent in publications on the subject and that three thematic groups represent promising areas for future research: behavior, sustainability, and interventions. The contributions of this article lie in the fact that helps organizations and researchers achieve a panoramic view of the field, identifying unanswered questions and possible partners for research. From a practical perspective, this research can also support new studies to develop public policies aimed at reducing (or replacing) meat consumption or encouraging enterprises and investments related to alternative products for conventional meat.

Abstract The aim of this study was to map the innovation of services in small and medium-sized enterprises, as reported on the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases, using a structured review, involving 121 papers published between 1946 and 2019. There has been an increase in the number of studies in recent years, covering 23 countries on six continents, with the UK representing 48.78% of the studies. Patterns in the use of methods applied in research were identified, as well as a conceptual structure of the field. The main areas of science were finance, marketing, energy, and green engineering. The study makes an original contribution to the literature, highlighting the interest in the expansion of knowledge among the academic community, in addition to enabling a deeper analysis of the relation between the evaluated constructs.

The vaccination coverage rate has fallen in recent years in Brazil. Although Brazil is a country influenced by social networking and analysis of social media generated content has emerged as an important area of research, this is the first study to investigate how the HPV vaccine is portrayed on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Health and to interpret the user-generated content. Our work evaluated the posts published by the Ministry of Health as well as posted comments, shares and reactions of the population related to the HPV vaccination campaign on the specific Facebook page between January and July 2018.The data were analyzed in three stages: (i) overview of published posts; (ii) analysis of posted comments; and (iii) sub-group analysis of posted comments. This study makes important contributions from the point of view of using social media as a public health communication tool.

BackgroundThe dementia epidemic is progressing fast. As the world’s older population keeps skyrocketing, the traditional incompetent, time-consuming, and laborious interventions are becoming increasingly insufficient to address dementia patients’ health care needs. This is particularly true amid COVID-19. Instead, efficient, cost-effective, and technology-based strategies, such as sixth-generation communication solutions (6G) and artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered health solutions, might be the key to successfully managing the dementia epidemic until a cure becomes available. However, while 6G and AI technologies hold great promise, no research has examined how 6G and AI applications can effectively and efficiently address dementia patients’ health care needs and improve their quality of life. ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate ways in which 6G and AI technologies could elevate dementia care to address this study gap. MethodsA literature review was conducted in databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO. The search focused on three themes: dementia, 6G, and AI technologies. The initial search was conducted on April 25, 2021, complemented by relevant articles identified via a follow-up search on November 11, 2021, and Google Scholar alerts. ResultsThe findings of the study were analyzed in terms of the interplay between people with dementia’s unique health challenges and the promising capabilities of health technologies, with in-depth and comprehensive analyses of advanced technology-based solutions that could address key dementia care needs, ranging from impairments in memory (eg, Egocentric Live 4D Perception), speech (eg, Project Relate), motor (eg, Avatar Robot Café), cognitive (eg, Affectiva), to social interactions (eg, social robots). ConclusionsTo live is to grow old. Yet dementia is neither a proper way to live nor a natural aging process. By identifying advanced health solutions powered by 6G and AI opportunities, our study sheds light on the imperative of leveraging the potential of advanced technologies to elevate dementia patients’ will to live, enrich their daily activities, and help them engage in societies across shapes and forms.

BackgroundOmicron scares and speculations are gaining momentum. Amid the nonstop debates and discussions about COVID-19 vaccines, the “vaccine fatigue” phenomenon may become more prevalent. However, to date, no research has systematically examined factors that shape people’s vaccine fatigue. To bridge the research gap, this study aims to investigate the antecedents that cause or catalyze people’s vaccine fatigue.MethodsA narrative literature review was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO to identify factors that shape people’s vaccine fatigue. The search was completed on December 6, 2021, with a focus on scholarly literature published in English.ResultsA total of 37 articles were reviewed and analyzed. Vaccine fatigue was most frequently discussed in the context of infectious diseases in general at the pre-vaccination stage. Vaccine fatigue has been identified in the general public, the parents, and the doctors. Overall, a wide range of antecedents to vaccine fatigue has been identified, ranging from the frequency of immunization demands, vaccine side effects, misconceptions about the severity of the diseases and the need for vaccination, to lack of trust in the government and the media.ConclusionVaccine fatigue is people’s inertia or inaction towards vaccine information or instruction due to perceived burden and burnout. Our study found that while some contributors to vaccine fatigue are rooted in limitations of vaccine sciences and therefore can hardly be avoided, effective and empathetic vaccine communications hold great promise in eliminating preventable vaccine fatigue across sectors in society.

The Beijing, 2022 Olympics will be the second Games held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the unique circumstances the 2022 Games face—the Omicron spread, high virus transmissibility in winters, and uncertainties about vaccine efficacy and future variants of concern, safety measures amid the Beijing, 2022 Games will be one of the most intricate among large international events held during the pandemic. To ensure athletes' health, safety, and ability to participate in the Games, the organizers have introduced the Olympic COVID-free “bubble” protection ecosystem, in which COVID-free athletes could stay and be protected from potential infections that could upend their Games plans, if not their career as well. However, while staying in the “bubble” is key for athletes' health and success, there is a lack of insights on factors that might prevent athletes from continuing their scheduled Olympic journey as scheduled. To shed light on the issue, based on Beijing, 2022 Olympic Playbooks and most up-to-date guidance issued, this article and its accompanying infographic were developed to illustrate factors that could influence athletes’ ability to join and stay in the “bubble”, participate in the Games, and further build their career. Furthermore, we also adapted and integrated easy-to-adopt mental health de-stress techniques recommended by the World Health Organization to help athletes better thrive amid the Beijing, 2022 Winter Olympics, in or outside of the “bubble”.

Introduction A growing number of technology-based interventions are used to support the health and quality of life of nursing home residents. The onset of COVID-19 and recommended social distancing policies that followed led to an increased interest in technology-based solutions to provide healthcare and promote health. Yet, there are no comprehensive resources on technology-based healthcare solutions that describe their efficacy for nursing home residents. This systematic review will identify technology-based interventions designed for nursing home residents and describe the characteristics and effects of these interventions concerning the distinctive traits of nursing home residents and nursing facilities. Additionally, this paper will present practical insights into the varying intervention approaches that can assist in the delivery of broad digital health solutions for nursing home residents amid and beyond the impact of COVID-19.Methods and analysis Databases including the PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus will be used to identify articles related to technology-based interventions for nursing home residents published between 1 January 2010 to 30 September 2021. Titles, abstracts and full-text papers will be reviewed against the eligibility criteria. The Cochrane Collaboration evaluation framework will be adopted to examine the risk of bias of the included study. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses procedures will be followed for the reporting process and implications for existing interventions and research evaluated by a multidisciplinary research team.Ethics and dissemination As the study is a protocol for a systematic review, ethical approval is not required. The study findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.Trial registration number CRD 42020191880.

Recent research has consistently related the production and consumption of meat with environmental degradation, health problems, and damage to animal welfare. However, meat consumption represents a well-established eating behavior among many consumers. After all, meat is a central food in many cultures, and changing eating habits can be very challenging. Nevertheless, there is a group of consumers who have reduced the consumption of meat in their diet. Understanding the facilitators and barriers that influence these behavioral changes in different cultures and contexts can help to promote future collective reductions in meat consumption. This article investigates the main facilitators of and barriers to the reduction of consumption in the largest meat-consuming market in the world to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on meat-reduced diets. In order to achieve this objective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with consumers who reduced their meat consumption. In this context, a content analysis was conducted to identify 22 facilitators and 15 barriers classified according to the COM-B system. This system conceptualizes Behavior, which can be influenced by Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation. The results of this research corroborate previous discoveries or confirm the presence of a set of facilitators of and barriers to the reduction of meat consumption previously suggested in the literature.

This research analyzes the maturity level of business processes with the application of the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) in the light of Enterprise Architecture (EA). This is qualitative research, cross-sectional, and in the form of a multiple case study performed in science and technology parks in Brazil. A questionnaire conducted by semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, and document analysis to gather information on the processes was applied to achieve the proposed objective. The finding revealed that 75% of the analyzed parks show signs that processes’ maturity results in optimal performance (Level 3) and can be integrated with other internal processes, maximizing the performance of these parks. Only one park was at Level 2, indicating that business processes led to better results when implemented from one organization. This study shows that even when enterprise capability is at Level 3, this does not help the process enablers rise from Level 2 to Level 3. This study’s originality lies in its showed that the maturity level of the analyzed parks and in making comparisons to identify discrepancies and future actions, considering their responsibility to transfer knowledge from science and technology institutions to the public and private sector.

PURPOSE: New scientific evidence has led to modifications in the clinical practice of handling melanoma. In health care systems, there is currently a wide variety of clinical procedures to treat cancer, and the various routes have different effects on the survival of patients with cancer. Thus, this article aimed to evaluate the journey of patients with melanoma in the public and private health care systems in Brazil from the viewpoint of different medical professionals involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The study also considers the resources used for the complete delivery cycle of health care at different stages of the evolution of melanoma. METHODS: We conducted a behavioral study by applying a questionnaire to a group of medical professionals. A nonprobabilistic sampling method for convenience was used, justified by the heterogeneous national incidence and the limited availability of medical professionals who diagnose and treat melanoma. RESULTS: The questionnaire was answered by 138 doctors, including doctors from the Brazilian states with the highest concentration of medical specialists and regions with a higher melanoma incidence. The results of this study have the potential to enrich our understanding of the reality of Brazilian health care systems and, at the same time, allow us to discuss the multiple ways in which professionals from diverse specialist fields understand and explain decision making in health care. CONCLUSION: Health care decision making is complex and, among other factors, depends on the diversity of available health resources and the knowledge of which treatments provide the greatest benefit to patients and greatest value to the system as a whole. This work can inform debates and reflection that are applicable not only in Brazil, but also in various other countries with similar realities.

This study proposes a management model by business processes for science parks based on the premises and concept of enterprise architecture (EA). The model offers integrating business processes with activities and information that can be generated by adopting customized information systems to meet the science parks’ needs. The proposed model’s main contributions included EA as a means for shaping and enabling reconfiguration through descriptions of the structures of business processes and information systems that connect these structures, forming business and information architecture frameworks. In association with these frameworks, the managers need to define a coherent set of patterns, policies, procedures, and principles that sustain the business processes integrated with the information systems. As a result of the study, this model can help management execute and control activities related to business processes in the parks through interaction and alignment with the information system intended to facilitate the execution. The model will also lead to greater agility and efficiency in these business processes, considering their specific nature and the relationship with the parks’ actors. As a practical contribution, knowledge of these processes aids the management of the parks in their drive for a competitive advantage by maintaining and developing their management models.

The aim of this article is to investigate the influence relationships between factors of an extended model of TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) and the behavioral intention of professors for the acceptance and use of information and communications technology (ICT) in work environment. The model used in this research includes, besides the original TAM variables, another five external variables. Twelve research hypotheses regarding the relationship between TAM factors and the intention and acceptance of ICT in the work environment were elaborated. Data collection was done through a questionnaire available on the Google doc platform to the teachers of the educational institution. The sample is formed by 147 teachers from several courses of one institution in the State of Paraná, Brazil. Initially, the demographic profile data were treated using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factorial analysis, and structural equations, which were the techniques used to test the research hypothesis. All research hypotheses based on the original TAM model were corroborated. Regarding the extended model, one of the external variables was not valid and was excluded from the proposed relations by two hypotheses referring to this construct. The results of the multigroup analysis—which includes the variables demographic, gender, age, schooling, and working time in the institution—showed the significant moderating effect of relationship only for the educational variable.

Abstract: Agribusiness, including all its dimensions, is the largest economic sector in Brazil and plays a fundamental role in the development of the country's economy. About one-fourth of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is composed of agribusiness. The objective of this article is to evaluate the participation of agribusiness in the economy of an important region of Brazil from 2010 to 2015. The evaluation was carried out through the decomposition of GDP, with an analysis of aggregate inputs, agro-livestock products, industrialization, and services. This article presents three main contributions to the understanding and composition of agribusiness GDP. The novelty of this article lies in the fact that it is the first work in the literature to present the steps of the methodology for calculating GDP in a region representing Brazilian agribusiness, considering its aggregates and relating the generation of taxes and other factors. In addition to the empirical and methodological contributions, this article highlights the relevance of agribusiness to the Brazilian economy, which, in turn, has relevance to global agribusiness.

The plant-based alternative meat products market has attracted attention in recent years, as the demand for these products has grown worldwide. To meet the needs of this promising market, marketers must pay attention to the expected benefits of consumers and the insights that can be gleaned from comments posted on social media. This article proposed an investigation of the potential of the content analysis of comments posted on the Instagram social network of food companies that manufacture plant-based alternative meat products to understand the expected benefits by end consumers from the perspective of the classic marketing mix variables. The content posted voluntarily by consumers was organized into 13 categories of expected benefits analyzed within a proposal of evidence from the perspective of the marketing mix. The results showed that, among the insights obtained, 63% were related to the place variable, 21% to the product variable, 11% to the price variable, and 5% to the promotion variable. The insights reinforce the notion that marketing mix variables are crucial factors for companies to make products available in the right place, in the right quantity, and at a fair price, in addition to engaging with consumers through social media.

For some time, renewable solar energy generations using cellular photovoltaic panels have stood out among the options, especially in the segment of micro and small companies, where the return on investment is usually higher. In this context, when micro and small companies do not have the capital for the enterprises, several others, mainly small ones, have emerged to finance. However, significant difficulties occur for financiers in selecting investment portfolios, especially when considering the trade-off between return and risk and the covariations of return on investment, which are very common. In this type of selection, the Capital Asset Pricing Model criteria using the Gini risk can help significantly because this one is a more robust risk coefficient for assessments of non-normal probability distributions. However, searches for methods that meet the selection needs using the adjacent criteria are unsuccessful. Thus, this work seeks to help minimize the gap by presenting a new method for selection using the criteria. Historical and simulations data stochastic evaluations indicate that the portfolios selected by the method are attractive options for implementations. These portfolios have reasonable probabilistic expectations and satisfactory protection to avoid mistakes caused for not considering covariations in return on investment, which indicates a significant advance on the current knowledge frontier and will likely allow the increased use of the concept. The method also presents theoretical contributions in adaptations of the benchmark models, which help to minimize the adjacent literary gap of similar methods.

This article aims to show that business plan risks are clearer and more consistent, compared with classical methodology, when evaluated through the multi-index methodology. To do so, it is necessary to identify the expectations of return and perceived risks in evaluating a business plan. To explain the above statement, we used a case example of a manufacturing unit of purses made of tilapia leather in the city of Campo Mourão, Paraná State, Brazil. Relevant information was collected through documenting research and semi-structured interviews, which were conducted in 2016 and 2017. The adoption of the cost leadership strategy, practicable due to the presence of local production arrangements, proved crucial to this project’s viability. Following this strategy, the demand, initial investments, production costs, and selling price were estimated. The multi-index methodology was used for the generation and analysis of the return indicators vis-à-vis the perceived risks. The multi-index methodology perceptual map signals a medium/high return (return on investment assets = 23.71% per year) and that the perceived risks are compatible with profit expectations. The sensitivity analysis of the results, using the Monte Carlo method, shows that P(net present value ≤ 0) ≈ 0.0002, thus corroborating the decision to invest in this business. This article contributes to the literature on the use of existing productive arrangements in various stages of the production and marketing process and the use of an analysis methodology that leads decision-makers to specify the risks associated with their decision.

This article conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) on the relationship between innovation and performance in private companies. The research corpus was based on research protocol systematization. Dissemination of knowledge was examined in two stages: the summary of general corpus characteristics, and the content analysis performed according to the categories that emerged via the study’s themes. Relationships among authors, co-citations, keywords, and centrality statistics were identified through algorithms for optimizing standard graph layout. This study discusses the results of this relationship for improving the competitiveness of enterprises. The relationships among the authors of the corpus constitute relationships between isolated groups with little connectivity, low density, and a formation of distinct communities. The categories of analysis emerged in the study themes, as well as the techniques adopted to measure the relationships between innovation and private company performance. In the analyzed studies, innovation initiatives converge. Overall, they contribute to improvements in company performance. In the scientific field, initiatives for developing innovations have enhanced the performance of private companies. A key theoretical contribution of this article is in identifying the research corpus on the relationship between innovation and performance in private companies. The practical contribution of this study lies in offering evidence produced by studies that can help decision making regarding the creation of strategies and policies focused on competitiveness. The differences in the evidence found in the literature highlight the importance of the outcome of this study and indicate the need for future research in an effort to better understand the phenomenon.

This research aims at identifying explanatory factors of the environmental disclosure of potentially polluting Brazilian companies listed on the São Paulo Security, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA), from 2005 to 2015. Financial and environmental disclosure information of 182 Brazilian companies of the high-, medium-, and low-polluting potential sectors were collected. Data were analyzed through content analysis of documents and Regression with Panel Data. Results indicate that the company’s size, profitability, internationalization, and sustainability report are explanatory factors of the disclosure of environmental information, while indebtedness presents an inverse relationship. This study concludes that the explanatory factors of environmental disclosure of potentially polluting Brazilian companies are, with a higher weight, the publication of the sustainability report and stock market internationalization and, with lower weight, size, indebtedness, and profitability. This study discusses the relevance of environmental disclosure to companies that perform potentially polluting activities to provide support for different agents linked to these companies they may have access. It presents as theoretical contribution the explanatory variables for environmental disclosure of potentially polluting companies, an analysis not yet carried out in the literature. The practical contribution is to present information to interested users that potentially polluting companies, larger in size, internationalized, and with more profitability, disclose their environmental information.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which risk-tolerance attitudes differ between a sample of Brazilians and Americans (N = 620). Based on the use of a variety of statistical methodologies, including regression, factor, and discriminant analysis. The results indicate that Americans were more apt to engage in a speculative gamble and they were less likely to hold bonds as a safe asset. Overall, both Brazilian and American female respondents exhibited lower risk-tolerance scores; however, no age or marital status differences were noted. The results from this analysis show that cultural differences exist between Brazilians and Americans in terms of financial risk-tolerance attitudes.

The aim of this article is to present an artifact for evaluating the quality and performance of service providers in the field of health care: the UNIPLUS Program. To verify the scientific nature of the artifact and ensure that it meets the criteria set by the community and the environment, the premises of Design Science Research (DSR) were used. As this research field lacks empirical evidence, the artifact was tested from 2013 to 2015 with 25 health care service providers from different categories, with an emphasis on hospitals and clinics located in 7 cities in the south of Brazil. This article makes 3 main contributions to the field: (1) the artifact can be applied to any health insurance operator in Brazil and other countries, as it meets the legal norms and requirements established by current legislation; (2) it helps health service providers by generating information that identifies shortfalls and possibilities for improvement for every aspect analyzed in the evaluation process; and (3) it uses the DSR methodology in an evaluation artifact that evaluates the quality and performance of services in the field of health care. The artifact proved to be adequate for the purpose in question, helping to improve the quality of care and institutional performance.

The objective of this study is to analyze the evolution of dynamic capabilities in the discovery cycle of an innovation in the pharmaceutical market of erectile dysfunction in the period of twenty years. To achieve this, two distinct and complementary concepts were applied: models of March (1991) to exploitative and explorative discovery in the organizational learning process and the three components of dynamic capabilities. The result showed that the components of the capabilities may be identified in the discovery cycle of Viagra®. The study confirms the existence of a stock of knowledge among the companies in the pharmaceutical market of erectile dysfunction as well as a large absorptive capacity among all of them.

The objective of this study is to investigate evidence of cointegration and causality between the market price of the live cattle in Brazil and the prices of the respective derivatives traded on BM&FBOVESPA – São Paulo, Brazil. The Johansen test was used to analyze evidence of cointegration between markets. The cointegration of these markets and their bidirectional causality signal to decision-makers in this agribusiness that the variations in BM&FBOVESPA futures contracts cause changes in the prices of the spot prices, as well as the spot prices cause to the futures contracts of B&MFBOVESPA.

With the rising aging population, there is a pressing need for effective public policies and academic initiatives tailored to older adults, educational aspirations, and needs. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between older adults and university education on a global scale, highlighting the critical role of education in enhancing the quality of life for this demographic. Through a Scoping Review, this study examines the existing body of research to understand the dynamics of older adults, engagement with higher education, identifying existing gaps, and paving the way for future inquiry. The findings reveal significant benefits of higher education for older adults, including improved mental health, enhanced cognitive function, and encouragement of active aging, signaling an increasing scholarly interest in this domain. The paper emphasizes the unique challenges older adults face, such as health decline and social isolation, advocating for developing policies and academic programs that promote their active participation in higher education. Such interventions are essential for boosting older adults; self-esteem, facilitating social integration, and ultimately, elevating their overall quality of life. This study underscores the necessity of a novel approach to the integrated analysis of inclusive education, having aimed to inform and inspire the development of public policies and academic extension projects that support lifelong learning among older adults.

Demand forecasting plays an increasingly relevant role within competitive and globalized marketplaces, in as much as operations planning and subsequent transition into a sustainable chain of supplies, is concerned. To this effect, the purpose of this study is to present the application of demand forecasting as a strategic sustainability tool at a Brazilian SME. Therefore, this is a descriptive, ex-post facto and cross-cut, sectional time case study, which employs qualitative and historical quantitative and direct observational data and that utilizes, as both indicators of the level of service offered to consumers and of opportunity costs the artificial neural networks model and fill-rates, for demand forecasting and response purposes. The study further established cause-effect relationships between prediction accuracy, demand responsiveness and process-resulting economic, environmental and social performances. Findings additionally concurred with both widely acknowledged sustainability concepts - NRBV (Natural-Resource-Based View) and 3BL (Triple Bottom Line) - by demonstrating that demand forecasts ensure the efficient use of resources, improvements in customer responsiveness and also mitigate supply chain stock out and overstock losses. Further to the mentioned economic benefit, demand forecasting additionally reduced the amount of waste that arises from retail product shelf-life expiration, improving the addressing of demand itself and of customer satisfaction, thus driving consequent environmental and social gains.

The importance of demand forecasting as a management tool is a well documented issue. However, it is difficult to measure costs generated by forecasting errors and to find a model that assimilate the detailed operation of each company adequately. In general, when linear models fail in the forecasting process, more complex nonlinear models are considered. Although some studies comparing traditional models and neural networks have been conducted in the literature, the conclusions are usually contradictory. In this sense, the objective was to compare the accuracy of linear methods and neural networks with the current method used by the company. The results of this analysis also served as input to evaluate influence of errors in demand forecasting on the financial performance of the company. The study was based on historical data from five groups of food products, from 2004 to 2008. In general, one can affirm that all models tested presented good results (much better than the current forecasting method used), with mean absolute percent error (MAPE) around 10%. The total financial impact for the company was 6,05% on annual sales.

Facing the challenges of anticipating financial market uncertainties and movements, and the necessity of taking buy or sell decisions supported by rational methods, market traders found in statistics and econometrics methods, the base to support their decisions. In several scientific papers about forecasting financial time series, method selection keeps as central concern. This paper compares the performance of evolutionary feedforward artificial neural network (EANN) and an AR+GARCH model, for one step ahead forecasting of IBOVESPA returns. The EANN is trained by self-adapting differential evolution algorithm and AR+GARCH model is adjusted to be used as performance reference. The root mean square error (RMSE) and U-Theil inequality coefficient were used as performance metrics. Simulation results showed EANN feedforward achieved better results, fit better and captured the nonlinear behavior of returns.

Every organization needs to balance their production capacities with demand. The role of demand forecasting is to assist in the organization's strategic planning; this process allows administrators to anticipate the future and plot an appropriate course of action. On its own, however, a system of demand forecasting is not enough. It is the quality of information obtained by this system which enables the organization to achieve better operational planning. In this context, this paper presents case study research to: (a) define the quantitative model to forecast demand with greater accuracy; and (b) to verify the influence of accuracy in demand forecasting on financial performance. This is an ex-post facto descriptive inquiry with a time series in which we made use of historical data from five groups of products over the period 2004–2008. The results suggest that if a company employs the ARIMA model for groups A, B, and E; the Holt model for group D; and the Winter model for group C, revenues will increase by approximately $1,600,000 annually. Key-words: Accuracy. Demand forecasting. Financial performance.

This paper presents an economic assessment of Brazilian agribusiness and its relationship with other economic sectors. It was found that, in 2011, agribusiness had a share of 18.45% (basic prices) and 19.77% (market prices) of Brazilian GDP. The tax burden of agribusiness (20.68%) was higher than that of other sectors (13.59%), despite agribusiness being a major contributor to the generation of foreign exchange, employment, and essential products, such as food. Brazilian agribusiness is a major employer, responsible for 29.39% of national employment. However, its average income is lower than in the other sectors of the Brazilian economy. Finally, agribusiness was found to be the biggest generator of foreign exchange, with a positive balance of trade. It was possible to conclude that agribusiness forms a strong link between agriculture and livestock, industry, and services in other economic sectors. For this reason, it can be said that the development of agribusiness is highly relevant to the process of Brazilian economic development and is therefore important to the progress of economic policies.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o impacto da filosofia lean aplicada à gestão de estoque como diferencial de desempenho e vantagem competitiva em uma empresa metalúrgica. Trata-se de um estudo de caso descritivo, ex-post facto e de corte temporal seccional. Este estudo demonstra que após a implementação da filosofia lean, a empresa obteve maior interatividade na administração da informação entre os elementos internos e externos, o que permitiu a redução dos custos de produção, melhorias na qualidade dos produtos e eliminação dos grandes estoques de segurança sem comprometimento do nível de serviço oferecido ao cliente.

Na cadeia de suprimentos é o varejo quem seleciona a ocupação dos depósitos e do espaço de prateleira. Entretanto, para sobreviver em um ambiente competitivo e estabelecer uma forte posição no mercado, os varejistas devem gerenciar de maneira eficaz suas atividades e fornecer um nível de serviço adequado ao consumidor. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste estudo é avaliar a estratégia de planejamento do sortimento com redução do mix. Trata-se de um estudo de caso no varejo de alimentos. Os resultados da nova estratégia demonstraram considerável aumento no volume de vendas e no share de mercado.