Shannon entropy of brain functional complex networks under the influence of the psychedelic Ayahuasca

The entropic brain hypothesis holds that the key facts concerning psychedelics are partially explained in terms of increased entropy of the brain's functional connectivity. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic beverage of Amazonian indigenous origin with legal status in Brazil in religious and scientific settings. In this context, we use tools and concepts from the theory of complex networks to analyze resting state fMRI data of the brains of human subjects under two distinct conditions: (i) under ordinary waking state and (ii) in an altered state of consciousness induced by ingestion of Ayahuasca. We report an increase in the Shannon entropy of the degree distribution of the networks subsequent to Ayahuasca ingestion. We also find increased local and decreased global network integration. Our results are broadly consistent with the entropic brain hypothesis. Finally, we discuss our findings in the context of descriptions of "mind-expansion" frequently seen in self-reports of users of psychedelic drugs.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure

Avaliação da fertilidade dos solos e adubação utilizada em algumas lavouras de soja.

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Calagem para soja recomendacao para o Estado do Parana.

Natureza da acidez do solo; Acidez do solo e sua neutralizacao; Resultados e recomendacoes tecnicas.bitstream/item/35343/1/1984-Comunicado-Tecnico.n.28.Calagem-21x28-OK.pd

Cultivars to face climate change effects on crops and weeds: a review

International audienceAbstractClimate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change will impact many activities, but its effects on agricultural production could be acute. Estimates of annual damages in agriculture due to temperature increase or extended periods of drought will be more costly than damages in other activities. Yield losses are caused both by direct effects of climate change on crops and by indirect effects such as increased inputs in crop production for weed control. One possible solution to counteract the effects of climate change is to seek crop cultivars that are adapted to highly variable, extreme climatic conditions and pest changes. Here we review the effects of climate change on crop cultivars and weeds. Biomass increase will augment marketable yield by 8–70 % for C3 cereals, by 20–144 % for cash and vegetable crops, and by 6–35 % for flowers. Such positive effects could however be reduced by decreasing water and nutrient availability. Rising temperature will decrease yields of temperature-sensitive crops such as maize, soybean, wheat, and cotton or specialty crops such as almonds, grapes, berries, citrus, or stone fruits. Rice, which is expected to yield better under increased CO2, will suffer serious yield losses under high temperatures. Drought stress should decrease the production of tomato, soybean, maize, and cotton. Nevertheless, reviews on C4 photosynthesis response to water stress in interaction with CO2 concentration reveal that elevated CO2 concentration lessens the deleterious effect of drought on plant productivity. C3 weeds respond more strongly than C4 types to CO2 increases through biomass and leaf area increases. The positive response of C3 crops to elevated CO2 may make C4 weeds less competitive for C3 crops, whereas C3 weeds in C4 or C3 crops could become a problem, particularly in tropical regions. Temperature increases will mainly affect the distribution of weeds, particularly C4 type, by expanding their geographical range. This will enhance further yield losses and will affect weed management systems negatively. In addition, the expansion of invasive weed species such as itchgrass, cogongrass, and witchweed facilitated by temperature increases will increase the cost for their control. Under water or nutrient shortage scenarios, an r-strategist with characteristics in the order S-C-R, such as Palmer amaranth, large crabgrass, johnsongrass, and spurges, will most probably prevail. Selection of cultivars that secure high yields under climate change but also by competing weeds is of major importance. Traits related with (a) increased root/shoot ratio, (b) vernalization periods, (c) maturity, (d) regulation of node formation and/or internode distance, (e) harvest index variations, and (f) allelopathy merit further investigation. The cumulative effects of selecting a suitable stress tolerator-competitor cultivar will be reflected in reductions of environmental pollution, lower production costs, and sustainable food production

Community pharmacies and pharmacists in Brazil: A missed opportunity

The Brazilian National Health System (BR-NHS) is one of the largest public health systems in the world. In 2019 Brazil had 114,352 community pharmacies (76.8% private owned), that represent the first point of access to healthcare in Brazil due to their wide distribution. Unfortunately, from the government's point of view, the main expected activity of private and public community pharmacies is related to dispensing medicines and other health products. Public community pharmacies can be part of a healthcare center or be in a separate location, sometimes without the presence of a pharmacist. Pharmacists working in these separated locations do not have access to patients’ medical records, and they have difficulty in accessing other members of the patient care team. Pharmacists working in public pharmacies located in healthcare centers may have access to patients’ medical records, but pharmacy activities are frequently under other professional’s supervision (e.g., nurses). Private pharmacies are usually open 24/7 with the presence of a pharmacist for 8 hours on business days. Private community pharmacies have a very limited integration in the BR-NHS and pharmacists are the third largest healthcare workforce in Brazil with more than 221,000 registered in the Brazilian Federal Pharmacist Association [CFF - Conselho Federal de Farmácia]. A University degree in pharmacy is the only requirement to entry into the profession, without any proficiency exam for maintenance or career progression. The Brazilian pharmacist's annual income is ranked as the 2nd better-paid profession with an annual average income of € 5502.37 (in 2020). Description of clinical activities for pharmacies by the CFF increased in the recent years, however there is still a long way to effectively implement them into practice

Standard Ant Clustering Algorithm (SACA) no Agrupamento de Dados Ambientais

Data Mining is a technology that uses various algorithms with the purpose of discovering knowledge in databases, among them algorithms have become the Standard Ant Clustering (SACA), which is based on a model of collective behavior of ant species, more accurately in the organization of cemeteries. This collective behavior it is used by SACA to form groups of similar data, on this work was applied environmental indicators of the quality of water resources in the River Basin Urussang

AVALIAÇÃO DAS CARACTERÍSTICAS PRÉ E PÓS-COLHEITA DE SELEÇÕES DE NESPEREIRAS

A nespereira (Eriobotrya japonica) é uma frutífera amplamente cultivada nas regiõessubtropicais de vários continentes. No Brasil a safra da nêspera é bastante curta, durandoapenas poucos meses, que vai desde meados de junho a meados de agosto. Isto se dá pelobaixo número de cultivares disponíveis para cultivo o que limita a safra desta fruta a um curtoperíodo. No entanto, existem espalhadas pelo país, na zona rural ou urbana de municípios, empátios de residências, em praças, no campo, uma infinidade de plantas propagadas porsementes produzindo frutos em um período mais longo que o das cultivares comerciais.Muitas destas plantas apresentam características interessantes que se estudadas ou submetidasao cruzamento permitiriam, talvez, a obtenção de novas cultivares adaptadas as diferentesregiões do país. No Instituto Federal Catarinense Campus Santa Rosa do Sul, existe um pomarcom aproximadamente 130 nespereiras propagadas por sementes, que apresentam grandevariabilidade genética, que desde a safra 2019/20 vem sendo avaliadas. No pomar existemplantas com diferentes tamanhos e formato de copas, épocas de floração, formato de folhas,características de frutos (formato, coloração, acidez, doçura, pilosidade), época de maturação,suscetibilidade a doenças. Este trabalho objetiva avaliar a qualidade de nêsperas de um pomarpropagado por sementes visando a seleção de plantas para melhoramento. Foram avaliadas asplantas quanto a sua fenologia, a susceptibilidade a doenças, e características organolépticascomo comprimento e diâmetro de frutos, diâmetro de polpa, firmeza, acidez, sólidos solúveis,número de sementes, relação polpa/sementes. Das 130 plantas, 24 plantas mostraramcaracterísticas interessantes para seleção. Estas 24 plantas selecionadas foram submetidas aum raleio de frutos na safra 2020 deixando 1-4 frutos por cacho sendo seus frutos colhidos eavaliados. A avaliação destas 24 plantas submetidas ao raleio permitiu cinco plantas (4, 5, 8,10, 24) com boa resposta ao raleio que produziram frutos com média de 50-60 gramas depeso. Da mesma forma foi possível identificar nestas plantas a diferença de época deprodução, de formato de frutos e de suscetibilidade a doenças como a antracnose. Na plantade número 10 os frutos colhidos apresentaram comprimento médio de 5,9 cm e diâmetroequatorial médio de 4,0 cm na planta. A planta 8 apresentou produção entre a segundaquinzena de julho e a primeira quinzena de agosto. Como passo futuro estas 5 plantasselecionadas serão propagadas e plantadas em uma nova área para avaliar melhor estasqualidades. Espera-se que estas 5 plantas possam representar no futuro a possibilidade denovas cultivares adaptadas as condições da região Sul de Santa Catarina

Prescription errors in community pharmacies: a serious problem of public health

The aim of this study was both to analyze prescription errors involving clonazepam and suggest improvements for patient safety. A descriptive and observational study with retrospective data collection was conducted at 30 community pharmacies in Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Prescription notifications were analyzed for legible handwriting and completeness. A reviewer committee evaluated patient and purchaser’s identification, pharmaceutical form, dosing regimen, administration route, and prescription by generic name. Among the 313 collected notifications, 44.1 % were legible. A total of 55.91 % had at least one illegible item, 100 % contained incomplete information, and 97.12 % contained one or more abbreviations. The proportion of illegible handwriting related to the patient's identification was statistically significantly and greater than that related to the drug purchaser's identification. This study showed high percentages of prescribing problems, identified potential causes of them, and suggest future research about medication errors in Brazilian community pharmacies.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire