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This article aims to analyze the incorporation of harm reduction health workers with lived experience in all services focused on the care for drug users in Belo Horizonte’s mental health network, one of the largest Brazilian Psychosocial Care Networks (Rede de Atenção Psicossocial [RAPS]), and reports the findings of a qualitative study on the life stories, recovery journeys and the professional practice of harm reducers in Belo Horizonte.

For the development of this research, the authors chose the following methodological tools: documentary research; follow-up of harm reduction interventions; access to harm reducers’ field diaries; joint writing of the life stories of the harm reducers.

It indicates that these professionals, as harm reducers empowered by their life experience, have developed various elements and active ingredients of peer support. Their practices and the results of their actions have consolidated their inclusion as Belo Horizonte RAPS’ health workers and highlight that recovery-oriented care and peer support are a real possibility in Brazil.

In this research, harm reducers are coauthors and report their own life experience. In this article, they also talk about the impact of this experience on their work and on the lives of users of mental health services, emphasizing the protagonism and exercise of citizenship by harm reducers.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that both the reputation of the monetary authority and the credibility of the regime of inflation targeting are important to reduce the inflation bias and the effort of the monetary authority in an emerging economy.

The paper develops a model which shows that the gain of credibility reduces the effort of the monetary authority in the conduct of monetary policy. The paper presents an econometric analysis for Brazil through ordinary least squares, generalized method of moments (GMM), system of equations by GMM and vector autoregressive.

The findings suggest that the reputation of the monetary authority is important to the improvement of credibility, and the gains of credibility reduce the effort of the monetary authority in the conduct of monetary policy, reducing the variations of the monetary base.

In the theoretical field, the study develops a model which shows that credibility is important to reduce both the inflation bias and the efforts of the monetary authority in the conduct of monetary policy. In the empirical field: first, it proposes a new index of reputation for the monetary authority; second, it demonstrates that the gain of reputation improves credibility, but also that attempts to exploit the output-inflation trade-off reduces credibility; third, the analysis found that the gains of credibility reduce the efforts of the monetary authority in the conduct of monetary policy.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of prudential regulation and monetary policies on the supply of credit as well as the influence of such policies on the aggregate investment through the credit channel in Brazil.

The empirical analysis is based on estimates through ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized method of moments (GMM), system of equations through GMM (system-GMM), and impulse response functions through vector autoregressive (VAR).

The results suggest that monetary policies and prudential regulation affect aggregate investment through the bank lending channel. With regards to elasticities, the findings indicate that the credit is very sensitive to variations in economic activity and, in turn, prudential regulation presents a stronger influence on credit than the basic interest rate and the reserve requirement rate. Moreover, the estimates suggest that aggregate investment is more sensitive to entrepreneurs’ expectations and credit supply.

Aiming to reduce systemic risk in the economy, capital requirements may be increased in order to induce banks to a lower risk exposure by reducing the supply of loans. However, while this instrument strengthens the banking system, it can also lead the banking system to become less sensitive to monetary policy shocks, and also discourage aggregate demand through the influence that the credit exerts on investments. As a consequence, prudential regulation is an important tool because it acts on the balance between economic growth and low risk exposure of banks.

The paper provides useful insights to academicians, economists and policymakers who are interested in understanding the effects of monetary policies and prudential regulation on aggregate investment through the credit channel in an emerging economy under inflation targeting. Moreover, the paper develops a theoretical model in order to show the influence of different monetary policies, as well as the influence of prudential regulation on the supply of credit.

The purpose of this paper is to address the use of sludge from water treatment plant (WTP sludge), in its natural form (wet), in the construction industry, especially in the production of concrete, evaluating the effects of replacing natural sand with different WTP sludge levels in the concrete properties.

The dosage study evaluated mixtures with replacement levels of 0, 5, 7 and 10 percent of wet sludge in relation to the mass of natural sand, analyzing their effects on mechanical properties and water absorption in concrete with water/cement (w/c) ratios of 0.45, 0.55 and 0.65.

From the results obtained, it is possible to note that the addition of WTP sludge in its natural form (wet) reduces the strength of concrete. However, from a technical point of view, a level of replacement of up to 5 percent for applications in concrete is suitable, provided that it is not structural concrete.

Further studies should be conducted to verify the influence of the replacement of sand for heat-treated sludge in concrete properties, also analyzing the environmental viability linked to the calcination process.

Few studies are conclusive in relation to the use of WTP sludge in concrete production. This study shows statistically the negative effect of the addition of wet sludge in the mechanical properties and in the water absorption of concretes from different w/c ratios.

Creativity is an important skill for design teams to reach new and useful solutions. Designers often use one or more of creativity and innovation techniques (CITs) to achieve the desired creative potential during new product development (NPD). The selection of adequate CITs requires considerable expertise, given the multiple application contexts and the extensive number of techniques available. The purpose of this study is to present a creativity support system able to manage this amount of information and provide valuable knowledge to improve NPD.

This study presents a knowledge-based system prototype using artificial intelligence (AI) to support knowledge management on the selection of CITs for design. CITs assertion is modelled through a double inference process using five categories, correlating over 500 different entry scenarios to 24 implemented CITs. The techniques are classified according to: design stage, innovation focus, team relationship, execution method and difficult of use. Prototype outputs explanations on the inference process and chosen techniques information.

To demonstrate the system scope, two opposite design cases are presented. The system was validated by experts in knowledge management and mechanical engineering design. The validation process demonstrates relevance of the approach and improvement directions for future developments.

Though literature contains toolkits and taxonomy for CITs, no work applies AI to identify design scenarios, select best CITs and instruct about their use. Validators reported to know less than half of the available techniques, showing a clear knowledge gap among design experts.

The application of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology in construction projects is of increasing interest to researchers and construction practitioners. Although the application of 3D printing technology at various stages of the project lifecycle has been explored, few studies have identified the relative importance of critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects. To address this research gap, this study aims to explore the academics (i.e. researchers) and construction practitioners’ perspectives on CSFs for implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects.

To do this, a questionnaire was administered to participants (i.e. academics and construction practitioners) with knowledge and expertise in 3D printing technology in construction projects. The collected data were analysed using mean score ranking, normalization and rank agreement analysis to identify CSFs and determine the consistency of the ranking of CSFs between academics and construction practitioners. In addition, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the relationships and underlying constructs of the measured CSFs.

Through a rank agreement analysis of the collected data, 11 CSFs for implementing 3D printing technology were retrieved (i.e. 17% agreement), indicating a diverse agreement in the ranking of the CSFs between academics and construction practitioners. In addition, the results show three key components of CSFs including “production demand enabling CSFs”, “optimize the construction process enabling CSFs” and “optimized design enabling CSFs”.

This study highlights the feasibility of implementing the identified CSFs for 3D printing technology in construction projects, which not only serves as a reference for other researchers but also increases construction practitioners’ awareness of the practical benefits of implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects. Specifically, it would optimize the construction lifecycle processes, enhance digital transformation and promote sustainable construction projects.