Woska Pires da Costa

Introduction: Decisions to enter funding competitions and subsequent funding outcomes are connected components of a broader process. However, evidence on how researcher-profile characteristics relate to these stages remains limited in public research institutions outside the research-intensive university sector, particularly in emerging-economy research systems. Objective: This exploratory case study analyzed the associations between researcher-profile characteristics and two respondent-level outcomes among researchers at a Brazilian Federal Institute: proposal submission and, among submitters, self-reported approval of at least one project. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 83 of 327 eligible researchers (response rate 25.4%) in 2023. Data from this self-selected, single-institution sample were analyzed using bivariate contingency-table tests, exact tests for sparse tables, and Cramér's V as a descriptive effect-size measure. Findings were treated as hypothesis-generating. Results: Proposal submission was associated with education level ( p = 0.020; V = 0.285) and teaching in a master's or doctoral degree program ( p < 0.001; V = 0.409). Among respondents who submitted proposals, reporting at least one approved project was associated with age group ( p = 0.011; V = 0.403) and CNPq productivity fellowship ( PQ ) status ( p = 0.047; V = 0.284). The approval outcome was measured at the respondent level and did not represent a proposal-level success rate. Conclusion: By distinguishing submission from approval, this study contributes to research evaluation by indicating that proposal submission and reporting at least one approved project among submitters were associated with different researcher-profile characteristics. These exploratory findings do not establish barriers or causal mechanisms. Multicenter, proposal-level, and longitudinal studies using explicit, context-sensitive definitions of career stage should test whether these patterns vary across institutions, fields, and career trajectories.

Background/Objectives: Dietary patterns may be associated with adolescent mental health, but nationwide Brazilian evidence based on empirically derived patterns across survey editions remains limited. This study identified dietary patterns and examined their associations with a survey-specific adverse mental health indicator among school-attending adolescents aged 13–17 years in the 2015 and 2019 National Survey of School Health (PeNSE). Methods: The two independent cross-sectional surveys were analyzed separately, with the 2015 analysis restricted to Sample 2. Two dietary patterns were derived in each edition using principal component analysis. The primary outcome was membership in the highest category defined from the weighted distribution of a non-diagnostic, survey-specific composite score of adverse mental health-related indicators. Survey-weighted modified Poisson regression estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs); continuous, ordinal, between-survey heterogeneity, alternative-outcome, weighted-PCA, and E-value analyses assessed robustness. Results: Both surveys yielded ultra-processed/unhealthy and healthy/traditional patterns. Compared with the highest adherence quartile (Q4), the lowest quartile (Q1) of the ultra-processed/unhealthy pattern was associated with a lower prevalence of the adverse indicator in 2015 (adjusted PR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.73–0.98) and 2019 (adjusted PR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.76–0.86). Conversely, Q1 of the healthy/traditional pattern was associated with a higher prevalence in 2015 (adjusted PR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.45–2.10) and 2019 (adjusted PR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.26–1.42). No between-survey heterogeneity was detected for the ultra-processed/unhealthy pattern, whereas the healthy/traditional estimates differed in magnitude between surveys; sensitivity analyses were directionally consistent. Conclusions: Greater ultra-processed/unhealthy adherence and lower healthy/traditional adherence were associated with a higher prevalence of the survey-specific adverse mental health indicator. Because the surveys were cross-sectional and used edition-specific measures, these findings do not establish temporality, causality, or temporal change in invariant constructs.

Background: Primary health care played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic by adapting care delivery to maintain essential services and reduce transmission risks. Home visits were used to monitor individuals in isolation, support vulnerable populations at increased risk, and sustain community-based care. However, their organization and operationalization varied across settings, and the available evidence remains fragmented. Objective: This protocol outlines the methods for a scoping review that will systematically map how in-person or hybrid home visits linked to primary, community-based, or first-contact care were organized and operationalized during the COVID-19 response, including the operational approaches, reported outcomes, and remaining knowledge gaps. Methods: This protocol follows the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework and will be reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) statement. Eligibility was defined using the Population, Concept, and Context framework. Searches will be conducted in seven electronic databases (Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and LILACS) without language restrictions and will include eligible studies published from 2020 onward. Conditional supplementary procedures may include backward citation searching and citation mapping of included studies and relevant reviews, as well as targeted searches and limited gray literature searching, if database searches yield limited evidence or leave relevant questions insufficiently represented. Records will be managed in Rayyan. Two reviewers will independently assess eligibility, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer. All included sources will undergo descriptive mapping. Operational configurations will be classified by provider configuration, delivery modality, and targeting logic. Basic qualitative content analysis will be limited to explicitly reported implementation experiences, barriers, facilitators, contextual adaptations, and recommendations. Results: Pilot searches were conducted solely to assess feasibility and refine the search strategy; formal searching, screening, data extraction, and synthesis have not yet begun. The review will commence after acceptance of the protocol and is expected to be completed within approximately 6 months. Conclusions: The review will provide a structured evidence map of home-visit practices during the COVID-19 response and may identify transferable operational lessons and evidence gaps relevant to preparedness for future public health emergencies. Reported outcomes will not be interpreted as evidence of comparative effectiveness or causal effects.

Leprosy remains a persistent public health challenge not only because transmission continues in endemic settings, but also because stigma remains embedded in social relations, institutional practices, and historical forms of exclusion. This study analyzes the social representations of leprosy among persons affected by leprosy and primary healthcare professionals in a historically endemic area of the Brazilian Amazon, with particular attention to how these representations shape disease recognition, stigma, and care. An exploratory mixed-methods design combined structured questionnaires with a Free Word Association Test to investigate shared meanings of leprosy among 34 persons affected by leprosy (age available for 23 participants; range, 20–85 years) and 19 primary healthcare professionals. Findings show that leprosy is socially understood less through biomedical curability than through stigma, visible bodily damage, and exclusionary meanings, reflected in candidate central elements such as “prejudice”, “deformity”, and “pain”. Although most affected participants recognized that leprosy is curable, substantial knowledge gaps were identified, particularly regarding transmission pathways. Similar limitations were observed among healthcare professionals, indicating weaknesses in diagnostic preparedness within primary healthcare. These results suggest that stigma in leprosy cannot be reduced to insufficient knowledge alone, but should instead be understood as a biosocial phenomenon produced through the interaction of social meanings, embodied experience, and institutional conditions. These dynamics may contribute to delayed diagnosis and reinforce the continued neglect of the disease, requiring integrated strategies that go beyond biomedical control, strengthen primary healthcare, and transform the social and institutional conditions that sustain stigma, diagnostic delay, and exclusion.

Introduction: orthorexia nervosa is characterized by an excessive and persistent preoccupation with healthy eating. Distinguishing between healthy dietary practices and pathological patterns remains a conceptual and clinical challenge, particularly in the context of the growing social valorization of healthy eating. Objective: analyze the relationship between concern with diet and tendencies toward orthorexia nervosa, considering psychosocial, cultural, and behavioral mediating factors. Methods: an integrative review was conducted to address the guiding question: What is the relationship between diet-related concern and orthorexia nervosa? Literature searches were performed in the PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, IBECS, and Web of Science databases using controlled descriptors in English. Publications from 2012 to 2022 were considered. Original studies assessing tendencies toward orthorexia nervosa in adults (≥ 18 years) were included, except those involving pregnant women. Results: the selected studies suggest that restrictive or specialized diets, sociocultural influences, intensive use of social media, motivations related to disease prevention, and the pursuit of food purity are related to higher orthorexic tendencies. Concerning healthy eating alone does not appear to be a direct causal factor for orthorexia nervosa but may function as a mediator of broader psychosocial processes. Conclusion: the tendency toward orthorexia nervosa seems to be less related to the practice of healthy eating itself than to the underlying etiology of adopting rigid and moralized eating behaviors. Understanding these factors is essential to distinguish healthy habits from pathological patterns and to support public health actions that promote healthy human development.

Introduction: orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized by an obsessive, persistent, and inflexible preoccupation with eating foods perceived as healthy, involving rigid rules, self-imposed dietary restrictions, and systematic avoidance of foods considered inappropriate or impure. Despite growing scientific interest, ON remains under-researched in the Brazilian university context, with reliance on less robust psychometric instruments, which limits the accuracy of prevalence estimates and associated factors. Objective: to evaluate the sociodemographic, behavioral, and academic factors associated with the progression of ON levels among university students. Methods: a cross-sectional observational study was conducted between August and November 2024 with undergraduate students from two universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Orthorexic behavior was assessed using the DOS. Participants were classified as having no, a tendency toward, or orthorexia, according to established cut-off points. Associations were analyzed using bivariate tests and ordinal logistic regression to identify factors associated with the progression of orthorexic behavior. Results: low prevalence of ON of 4.0% in the sample analyzed, while 13.0% of participants showed a tendency toward orthorexic behavior. Dieting was moderately associated with the progression of this behavior, while age group showed a weaker but statistically significant association, even after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Conclusion: although the prevalence of ON was low, a significant proportion of university students showed a tendency toward orthorexic behavior, reinforcing the understanding of this phenomenon as a graduate. The findings identify dieting as the primary associated factor and underscore the relevance of preventive and educational strategies in the university environment.

Access to justice is understood as a fundamental right that serves as an instrument for the courts to claim other rights. Factors such as ignorance of rights and the perception of justice as expensive, slow, and exclusionary prevent most of the population from going to court. This study aimed to analyze the quantitative determinants of (potential and actual) access to the Judiciary across all Brazilian courts, focusing on two perspectives: internal elements of the Judiciary and external elements. The method used was multiple linear regression, with a sample of 89 Brazilian courts (27 state courts of justice, 27 electoral courts, 24 regional labor courts, five federal regional courts, three military courts, and three superior courts). The results indicate that the statistically significant variables for effective access to the judiciary were the number of judges, the number of effective civil servants, resources invested in technology, the education rate, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Regarding potential access to the judiciary, the only statistically significant variables were the number of civil servants and GDP per capita.

Background: This theoretical-empirical study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI). In the public sector, AI-based systems are expanding, yet empirical evidence on courts remains scarce. This study proposes and applies a multidimensional framework and an effectiveness index (i – Eff) to assess AI in Brazilian courts of justice, documenting an early phase of adoption. Methods: Sixteen semi-structured interviews with judges and IT managers were conducted across federal, state, labor, and superior courts (12 h 28 min; 87,794 words). Content analysis with lexical statistics was performed using IRaMuTeQ software and operationalized across five dimensions: environment, reliability, autonomy, technics, and results. The equally weighted score (max 100) is based on the presence of variables mapped to this multidimensional model. Results: AI use concentrated on initial case screening and tax-enforcement workflows; fully autonomous systems were not observed – AI provided suggestions while judges retained final decision-making authority. Measurement of efficiency gains was uneven because many tools remained in the pilot/implementation phase. In the i – Eff synthesis, three courts reached medium, ten showed lower, and three presented no effectiveness. Conclusion: Early AI in Brazilian courts plays a supportive, not disruptive, role. Strategic alignment and result-measurement remain challenging, while transparency, data governance, and training are pivotal to scale effectiveness: the framework and i – Eff metric offer a replicable approach for cross-court benchmarking and longitudinal tracking.

Background: Modern slavery is one of the most serious violations of human rights and decent work, affecting around 50 million people worldwide. Despite international regulations and initiatives such as Agenda 2030, the phenomenon persists in multiple sectors, adapting to global economic dynamics. Understanding which approaches, concepts, and evidence have been produced on modern slavery in scientific literature, from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), allows for the guidance of integrated policies, the strengthening of accountability mechanisms, and the identification of knowledge gaps. Method: This protocol describes the methodological design for conducting a scoping review that aims to systematically map the extent, nature, and gaps in scientific production on modern slavery in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The review will follow internationally recognized methodological recommendations and will be reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches will be conducted in multidisciplinary and specialized databases (Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed, Academic Search Premier, and SocINDEX), supplemented by gray literature and institutional reports. Eligibility criteria will be defined using the PCC (Population, Concept, Context) framework. In addition, a bibliometric analysis will be performed to identify collaboration networks, research trends, and thematic clusters. Discussion: The expected result will provide insights and map academic production on modern slavery in the context of the SDGs, highlighting patterns, gaps, and regional disparities. Bibliometrics will enable the identification of research networks and key actors, providing input for public policies and future research agendas. Finally, the results will broaden the debate on sustainable development by showing how scientific literature has addressed the eradication of modern slavery, in particular target 8.7 and its connections with other goals. Trial Registration: OSF ^™ Registries, September 08, 2025: https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/gxbnq .