Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Prevalência de transtornos mentais nas tentativas de suicídio em um hospital de emergência no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Prevalence of mental disorders associated with suicide attempts treated at an emergency hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Há poucos estudos nacionais sobre prevalência de transtornos mentais nas tentativas de suicídio, os quais utilizararam principalmente dados secundários e instrumentos de rastreamento. O objetivo deste estudo foi estimar a prevalência de transtornos mentais em 96 casos de tentativas de suicídio atendidos em hospital de emergência, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (2006-2007), utilizando o Composite International Development Interview. A maioria da amostra consistiu em mulheres, jovens, baixa escolaridade e ingestão de medicamentos psicoativos como principal meio. Outros fatores: histórias prévias de tentativa e uso de álcool no momento do agravo. Os transtornos mentais mais freqüentes foram: episódio depressivo (38,9%), dependência de substâncias psicoativas (21,9%), transtorno de estresse pós-traumático (20,8%), dependência de álcool (17,7%) e esquizofrenia (15,6%). A taxa total dos transtornos mentais foi de 71,9%. Tais achados são mais próximos aos estudos em países em desenvolvimento. Além do acesso ao tratamento dos transtornos mentais, são necessárias políticas públicas que enfatizem o controle de meios e respostas sociais à redução do comportamento suicida.<br>There are few Brazilian studies on prevalence of mental disorders in suicide attempters. The available studies have mainly used secondary data and screening instruments. The principal objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders in 96 suicide attempters seen in an emergency ward in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (2006-2007) using the Composite International Development Interview. Most were female, young, and illiterate, and the main method was ingestion of psychoactive drugs. Other factors included history of prior attempts and use of alcohol at the time of attempt. The most frequent mental disorders were: depression (38.9%), use of psychoactive substances (21.9%), posttraumatic stress disorder (20.8%), alcohol abuse (17.7%), and schizophrenia (15.6%). Total prevalence of mental disorders was 71.9%. These findings are largely consistent with studies conducted in other developing countries. Besides access to treatment for mental disorders, public policies with an emphasis on the control of suicide methods and social responses for the reduction of suicidal behavior are needed