Ecologias Espirituais: Relação entre Espiritualidade e Conservação da Sociobiodiversidade

The Anthropocene is in the center of academic debate and has also reached mainstream discussions in our society. What does this mean in political and socio-environmental terms? The dichotomy between society and nature plays a fundamental role in the ecological crisis we face. The moment invites us to take a more integrated look between nature and culture and it is necessary to rescue narratives in which the human being perceives himself as nature. Spiritual perspectives on nature can contribute to the enhancement of ethical narratives in which nature is conceived as sacred and, therefore, protected. In academia, the environmental humanities have emerged in recent years as a gathering of different  epistemological routes that value ​​a more integrated view of humans and non-humans. The present article aims to present the debate of spiritual ecology in the context of environmental humanities in the Anthropocene as one of the possible ways to overcome the modern dichotomy of human beings and nature. We rescued main points about spiritual ecology, praised animism as a position capable of reconfiguring our view of nature, criticized the current model of conservation and brought the proposal of Sacred Natural Sites as an alternative. Finally, we bring the landscape as a unit of analysis that allows us to observe nature-culture spiritual relationships connecting dimensions of the here and the beyond.Cada vez mais o Antropoceno está em voga. O que isso quer dizer em termos políticos e socioambientais? A dicotomia simbólica e material entre sociedade-natureza exerce um papel fundamental na crise ecológica que enfrentamos. O momento nos convida a um olhar mais integrado entre natureza e cultura e faz-se necessário o resgate de narrativas em que o ser humano se perceba natureza. Perspectivas espirituais da natureza podem contribuir para o enaltecimento de narrativas éticas em que a natureza seja concebida como sagrada e, por isso, protegida. Na academia, as humanidades ambientais surgem nos últimos anos como um encontro de diferentes rotas epistemológicas que valorizam uma visão mais integrada de humanos e não humanos. Nesse sentido, o presente artigo tem como objetivo apresentar o debate da ecologia espiritual no contexto das humanidades ambientais no antropoceno como uma das possíveis formas de superar a dicotomia moderna ser humano x natureza. Resgatamos pontos principais sobre a ecologia espiritual, enaltecemos o animismo como posicionamento capaz de reconfigurar nosso olhar para a natureza, criticamos o modelo atual de conservação e trazemos a proposta dos Sítios Naturais Sagrados como alternativa. Por fim, trazemos a paisagem como unidade de análise que nos permite observar relações espirituais naturezas-culturas conectando dimensões do aqui e do além

Multifractal Spatial Patterns and Diversity in an Ecological Succession

We analyzed the relationship between biodiversity and spatial biomass heterogeneity along an ecological succession developed in the laboratory. Periphyton (attached microalgae) biomass spatial patterns at several successional stages were obtained using digital image analysis and at the same time we estimated the species composition and abundance. We show that the spatial pattern was self-similar and as the community developed in an homogeneous environment the pattern is self-organized. To characterize it we estimated the multifractal spectrum of generalized dimensions Dq. Using Dq we analyze the existence of cycles of heterogeneity during succession and the use of the information dimension D1 as an index of successional stage. We did not find cycles but the values of D1 showed an increasing trend as the succession developed and the biomass was higher. D1 was also negatively correlated with Shannon's diversity. Several studies have found this relationship in different ecosystems but here we prove that the community self-organizes and generates its own spatial heterogeneity influencing diversity. If this is confirmed with more experimental and theoretical evidence D1 could be used as an index, easily calculated from remote sensing data, to detect high or low diversity areas

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. Methods We applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. Findings In 2019, there were 12·2 million (95% UI 11·0–13·6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93·2–111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133–153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6·55 million (6·00–7·02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11·6% [10·8–12·2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5·7% [5·1–6·2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70·0% (67·0–73·0), prevalent strokes increased by 85·0% (83·0–88·0), deaths from stroke increased by 43·0% (31·0–55·0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32·0% (22·0–42·0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17·0% (15·0–18·0), mortality decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0), prevalence decreased by 6·0% (5·0–7·0), and DALYs decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22·0% (21·0–24·0) and incidence rates increased by 15·0% (12·0–18·0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3·6 (3·5–3·8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3·7 (3·5–3·9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62·4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7·63 million [6·57–8·96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27·9% (3·41 million [2·97–3·91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9·7% (1·18 million [1·01–1·39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79·6 million [67·7–90·8] DALYs or 55·5% [48·2–62·0] of total stroke DALYs), high body-mass index (34·9 million [22·3–48·6] DALYs or 24·3% [15·7–33·2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28·9 million [19·8–41·5] DALYs or 20·2% [13·8–29·1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28·7 million [23·4–33·4] DALYs or 20·1% [16·6–23·0]), and smoking (25·3 million [22·6–28·2] DALYs or 17·6% [16·4–19·0]). Interpretation The annual number of strokes and deaths due to stroke increased substantially from 1990 to 2019, despite substantial reductions in age-standardised rates, particularly among people older than 70 years. The highest age-standardised stroke-related mortality and DALY rates were in the World Bank low-income group. The fastest-growing risk factor for stroke between 1990 and 2019 was high body-mass index. Without urgent implementation of effective primary prevention strategies, the stroke burden will probably continue to grow across the world, particularly in low-income countries.publishedVersio