The world is facing the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which began in China. By August 18, 2020, the United States, Brazil, and India were the most affected countries. Health infrastructure and socioeconomic vulnerabilities may be affecting the response capacities of these countries. We compared official indicators to identify which vulnerabilities better determined the exposure risk to COVID-19 in both the most and least affected countries. To achieve this purpose, we collected indicators from the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index (IDVI), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE). All indicators were normalized to facilitate comparisons. Speed, incidence, and population were used to identify the groups of countries with the highest and lowest risks of infection. Countries’ response capacities were determined based on socioeconomic, political, and health infrastructure conditions. Vulnerabilities were identified based on the indicator sensitivity. The highest-risk group included the U.S., Brazil, and India, whereas the lowest-risk group (with the largest population by continent) consisted of China, New Zealand, and Germany. The high-sensitivity cluster had 18 indicators (50% extra IDVI), such as merchandise trade, immunization, public services, maternal mortality, life expectancy at birth, hospital beds, GINI index, adolescent fertility, governance, political stability, transparency/corruption, industry, and water supply. The greatest vulnerability of the highest-risk group was related first to economic factors (merchandise trade), followed by public health (immunization), highlighting global dependence on Chinese trade, such as protective materials, equipment, and diagnostic tests. However, domestic political factors had more indicators, beginning with high sensitivity and followed by healthcare and economic conditions, which signified a lesser capacity to guide, coordinate, and supply the population with protective measures, such as social distancing.

This paper examines the development of service innovation as a research field since the publication of Richard Barras' seminal paper 'Towards a Theory of Innovation in Services' in 1986. It presents an exhaustive literature review of 31 years of research on service innovation. It offers some cross-sectorial perspectives on twelve key themes emerging from the literature, and on the broader research landscape and trajectories. Researchers, technologists and policy makers in the field of service innovation face issues arising from theories borrowed from economics since the 1980s and evolving through operationalization of its core themes over the last 20 years. After a description of the field, theoretical underpinnings of the field drawn from organization and management theory are discussed. The field has reached a stage where it can provide theoretical knowledge beyond the scope of the original service innovation theory, such as social innovations. A research agenda is suggested in both theoretical and thematic perspectives.

In November 2020, Brazil ranked third in the number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and second in the number of deaths due to the disease. We carried out a descriptive study of deaths, mortality rate, years of potential life lost (YPLL) and excess mortality due to COVID-19, based on SARS-CoV-2 records in SIVEP-Gripe (Ministry of Health of Brazil) from 16 February 2020, to 1 January 2021. In this period, there were 98,025 deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil. Men accounted for 60.5% of the estimated 1.2 million YPLLs. High YPLL averages showed prematurity of deaths. The population aged 45–64 years (both sexes) represented more than 50% of all YPLLs. Risk factors were present in 69.5% of deaths, with heart disease, diabetes and obesity representing the most prevalent comorbidities in both sexes. Indigenous people had the lowest number of deaths and the highest average YPLL. However, in indigenous people, pregnant women and mothers had an average YPLL of over 35 years. The excess mortality for Brazil was estimated at 122,914 deaths (9.2%). The results show that the social impacts of YPLL due to COVID-19 are different depending on gender, race and risk factors. YPLL and excess mortality can be used to guide the prioritization of health interventions, such as prioritization of vaccination, lockdowns, or distribution of facial masks for the most vulnerable populations.

Este estudo se propõe a contribuir para a compreensão do processo de indução de inovações por clientes governamentais em atividades de serviços com a investigação de dez casos de inovações desenvolvidas por empresas prestadoras de serviços de software no Distrito Federal a clientes públicos. Adotou-se como opção teórica, para o exame da inovação em serviços, a abordagem integradora e investigou-se a premissa teórica escolhida para o direcionamento das compras governamentais para o fomento à inovação - compras para a inovação -, realizando-se uma leitura do modelo de análise chain-linked model desenvolvida em estudo anterior. A partir da perspectiva trazida pelo modelo, desenvolveu-se uma proposta de entendimento para a indução e a possível difusão de inovações em serviços de software com o uso de compras governamentais baseada em três etapas. Construiu-se um estudo descritivo, de natureza qualitativa e corte transversal. Dados foram coletados a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas, nas quais os entrevistados apontaram a inovação mais significativa desenvolvida para um cliente governamental. As dez inovações selecionadas foram relatadas e analisadas de acordo com quatro critérios: descrição, momento de ocorrência, características e ganhos gerados para a empresa. As análises revelaram que as inovações surgiram como resposta a um requisito (ou con-junto de requisitos) estabelecido por um cliente público e ocorreram em dois momentos: pré-venda e fase de desenvolvimento. As inovações confirmaram a premissa de indução trazida pelo modelo teórico adotado a partir de duas de suas trajetórias: caminho central da inovação, trajetória "c", e conexões e feedback, trajetória "f". Quanto às características, foram identificadas inovações radicais, incrementais e de melhoria. Os ganhos obtidos pelas empresas com as inovações confirmaram sua condição inovadora. A proposta de entendimento construída mostrou-se compatível com a dinâmica observada para a indução de inovações nos casos selecionados.

No abstract

No abstract

This work explores (non)linear associations between relative humidity and temperature and the incidence of COVID-19 among 27 Brazilian state capital cities in (sub)tropical climates, measured daily from summer through winter. Previous works analyses have shown that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, finds stability by striking a certain balance between relative humidity and temperature, which indicates the possibility of surface contact transmission. The question remains whether seasonal changes associated with climatic fluctuations might actively influence virus survival. Correlations between climatic variables and infectivity rates of SARS-CoV-2 were applied by the use of a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) and the Locally Estimated Scatterplot Smoothing LOESS nonparametric model. Tropical climates allow for more frequent outdoor human interaction, making such areas ideal for studies on the natural transmission of the virus. Outcomes revealed an inverse relationship between subtropical and tropical climates for the spread of the novel coronavirus and temperature, suggesting a sensitivity behavior to climates zones. Each 1 °C rise of the daily temperature mean correlated with a −11.76% (t = −5.71, p < 0.0001) decrease and a 5.66% (t = 5.68, p < 0.0001) increase in the incidence of COVID-19 for subtropical and tropical climates, respectively.

No abstract