On unplanned urbanism: How Mídia NINJA are disrupting mainstream politics in Brazil

In today’s socially effervescent Brazil, social media are being used to mobilise communities for social action. In this post, Lea Rekow introduces journalist collective Mídia NINJA to show how they are capitalising on these tools to radically change the way news and information are produced and shared in Brazil

Urban agriculture and the transformation of public spaces: the case of Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro

Urbanisation often brings devastating environmental consequences which, in the case of favelas, combine with harsh material living conditions to undermine the wellbeing of their residents. In this post, Lea Rekow reports on how a favela-based community garden is circumventing these environmental and material challenges and, in doing so, improving the quality of urban spaces and fostering community participation

Käufer und Verkäufer : im Auftrage des Verbandes Berliner Spezialgeschäfte

Inhalt: 1. Von der Stellung des Kaufmanns 2. Vom Käufer und seinen Spielarten 3. Vom Verkäufer und der Kunst des Verkaufens 4. Kaufmännischer Fortschrit

Selective removal of fluorinated tin oxide (SnO2:F) from Pilkington TEC glass

2017 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.High power lasers are utilized in a variety of processes in solar energy production and energy storage. In the production of CdTe (Cadmium Telluride) solar cells, pulse lasers are used for the so called P1 scribe step that is the first step in process of creating discrete series connected cells on an otherwise monolithic glass panel. A standard laser process sequence is well established in the industry. The common P1 process step removes all previously deposited materials, resulting in exposure of the soda lime glass substrate along the scribe line. These previously deposited layers include three layers deposited during the fabrication of the glass panel, an intrinsic SnO2 layer, a SiO2 layer, and the conductive SnO2:F layer, the latter of which forms the transparent conductive front contact of the solar cell. If the CdTe film is applied immediately afterward, sodium diffuses from the glass into the deposited CdTe film and is detrimental to the performance of the CdTe solar cell (1). To mitigate this problem, commercial processes perform the P1 scribe after CdTe deposition and the resulting groove is filled with a photo-resist. This photo-resist application process accounts for a significant fraction of the capital equipment cost in a CdTe solar panel production line (2). A means of creating a Na barrier layer in situ would eliminate the requirement of the photo-resist application step and simplify the production process. This work is aimed at developing a laser based scribe process that removes the SnO2:F layer but preserves the intrinsic SnO2 layer and the SiO2 layer to serve as a barrier to Na diffusion and hence eliminate the need for the photoresist application step. During this work, a very unusual laser-material interaction was discovered where the laser appears to initiate a physical – chemical reaction that proceeds along an unusual and apparently undescribed pathway that has many of the characteristics of an etch process. This laser "etching" mechanism allows arbitrary reduction of the film thickness in a controlled manner on the scale of a few microns. In addition to the fine depth selection, we find that there develops a laser pulse duration dependent microstructure on the surface. The unusual characteristics of this interaction are examined and a physical model is proposed to describe it. Finally, sodium diffusion effects were measured and other potential applications of this novel process are explored

On Unstable Ground: Issues Involved in Greening Space in the Rocinha Favela of Rio De Janeiro

This paper is based on fieldwork undertaken in conjunction with Green My Favela, a land use restoration project that works with informal and vulnerable income sector residents to reclaim chronically degraded public areas by creating gardens inside the urban favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The paper reveals how government intervention policies employed in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics are destabilizing the fragile social fabric of the city’s largest favela, Rocinha, through military occupation and urbanization activities that threaten an already low and unstable human security threshold

The Influence of Distress Tolerance and Anger Rumination on Suicidal Ideation

Suicidal ideation typically precedes suicide attempts. However, the dynamic relationship between the cognitive and affective mechanisms that give rise to ideation is not fully understood. In this study, we explore the effects of distress tolerance on the relationship between anger rumination and suicidal ideation. An undergraduate sample completed scales assessing distress response, anger rumination, suicidal ideation, and suicidal desire. Overall results reveal non-significant main effects for the role of distress tolerance in suicidal desire. However, moderation analysis indicates a small moderate effect of distress tolerance on perceived burdensomeness (but not on belongingness). Additionally, there is a statistically significant association between anger rumination and perceived burdensomeness. These findings highlight the nuanced interplay between distress tolerance, anger rumination, and suicidal ideation

On Unstable Ground: Issues Involved in Greening Space in the Rocinha Favela of Rio De Janeiro

This paper is based on fieldwork undertaken in conjunction with Green My Favela, a land use restoration project that works with informal and vulnerable income sector residents to reclaim chronically degraded public areas by creating gardens inside the urban favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The paper reveals how government intervention policies employed in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics are destabilizing the fragile social fabric of the city’s largest favela, Rocinha, through military occupation and urbanization activities that threaten an already low and unstable human security threshold

Socio-Ecological Implications of Soy in the Brazilian Cerrado

This paper summarizes the critical importance of the Cerrado savannah biome in Brazil and examines key ways in which large-scale agriculture, in particular large-scale soy farming, threatens water security and increases socio-ecological stress. It connects agribusiness expansion to the globalized meat industry by defining how complex economic relationships result in deforestation on a massive scale. It describes how this radical change in land cover has led to changes in rainfall patterns that are associated with extended drought periods and analyzes how these critical water shortages jeopardize socio-economic health beyond the immediate region. Further, it explicates how intensified transgenic soy farming and other pesticide-heavy crop production contributes to rising public health crises associated with carcinogen-contaminated water and food sources. Lastly, it identifies emerging trends that suggest how agribusiness corporations and governments may be legally ascribed moral responsibilities for maintaining socio-ecological health of the biome. The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the human dimensions of environmental issues and their impacts and reframe conservation social science discourse in regard to protection of land and water resources in the region

Pacification & Mega-events in Rio de Janeiro: Urbanization, Public Security & Accumulation by Dispossession

This paper outlines how Brazil's latest public security initiative-its highly controversial Police Pacification Campaign (UPP)-is an integral component of a neoliberal political framework that is enacting rapid urbanization projects in and around strategically located favelas (informal settlements or slums) of Rio de Janeiro. Specifically, it evaluates what kinds of economic development initiatives are moving forward, how they are facilitated by the UPP, how they connect to the city's mega-events, and who is profiting from them. The article also examines how the pacification has affected residents in three favelas over a seven-year period from the inauguration of the UPP in 2008 through to mid-2015

Rio De Janeiro’s Olympic Legacy: Public Security for Whom?

As Rio de Janeiro struggles to hold itself together through the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, its much lauded public security Games plan, including its highly controversial police pacification program - long promoted as one of the cornerstones of Rio’s Olympic legacy - descends into a state of near total collapse. This paper takes an intimate look at what is likely the last days of this contentious pacification policy, the part it plays in the wider 'Games Security Plan', and how and why it has been implemented in the lead up to the 2016 Summer Olympics