What role can a homoeopathic psychiatrist play in restoring mental health in an unequal world?

World Mental Health Day, observed on the 10 October, is an occasion for the mental health professionals to dedicate themselves to bringing succour to the numerous persons suffering from mental health disorders. The World Mental Health Federation has declared this year’s theme as ‘Mental Health in an Unequal world.’ The call is timely considering the distress wrought on different communities due to the pandemic and the social and economic distress which has affected all sections of the population, albeit with different intensities causing differing impacts. The article explores the theme in the historical context and outlines the various concerns which mental health professionals should concern themselves with. It is a common knowledge that they are in short supply all over the world. Homoeopaths, due to their approach to health, disease and individuals are uniquely equipped to fill this gap and thus make a difference. There are very few examples, at the institutional level, where community-based activities addressing the mental health issues have been successfully undertaken and have made an impact. The article draws on the almost two-decade-long experience of the Department of Homoeopathic Psychiatry, Dr. M. L. Dhawale Memorial Homoeopathic Institute in this area, thereby illustrating the possibility of incorporating similar practices in the District Mental Health Programme. Clinical activity needs to be reported in peer-reviewed journals and initiating research in priority areas would help homoeopathy to be recognised as a discipline which can be a part of Integrated Mental Health Care for mental disorders.

Rethinking the Role of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Eutrophication of Aquatic Ecosystems

Nitrogen and phosphorus are two nutrients that are essential for the growth and survival of plants and animals but are often present in short supply. Both nitrogen and phosphorus are applied regularly through fertilizer to increase the yield of crops needed to feed human populations and for residential and commercial landscaping purposes. This publication contains information for stakeholders, students, scientists, and environmental agencies interested in understanding how nitrogen and phosphorus affect water resources. Major revision by Ashley Smyth, H. Dail Laughinghouse IV, Karl Havens, and Thomas Frazer; 5 pp.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg118

The Role of HRM for Innovation

Innovation is fundamental to organization performance and survival in a continuously changing and highly competitive world. In organizations, innovation occurs primary and foremost through purposeful and discretionary actions of knowledgeable and motivated individuals. However, despite some insightful studies, studies addressing the role of HRM in promoting innovation are in short supply. An enabling work environment—resources, motivation, and management practices—may be crucial for creativity and thus innovation. HRM policies and interventions have the potential to promote trust, cooperation, and collective codes and language. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is twofold: 1) to review the role of creativity and knowledge sharing for innovation and 2) to review the role of HRM for stimulating innovation through creativity and knowledge sharing. In so doing, the authors seek to shed light on the conceptual and analytical connections between motivation, creativity, knowledge, innovation, and HRM.

The Relationship between Government Information Supply and Public Information Demand in the Early Stage of COVID-19 in China—An Empirical Analysis

Accurate and effective government communication is essential for public health emergencies. To optimize the effectiveness of government crisis communication, this paper puts forward an analytical perspective of supply–demand matching based on the interaction between the government and the public. We investigate the stage characteristics and the topic evolutions of both government information supply and public information demand through combined statistical analysis, text mining, text coding and cluster analysis, using empirical data from the National Health Commission’s WeChat in China. A quantitative measure reflecting the public demand for government information supply is proposed. Result indicates that the government has provided a large amount of high-intensity epidemic-related information, with six major topics being the medical team, government actions, scientific protection knowledge, epidemic situation, high-level deployment and global cooperation. The public’s greatest information needs present different characteristics at different stages, with “scientific protection knowledge”, “government actions” and “medical teams” being the most needed in the outbreak stage, the control stage and the stable stage, respectively. The subject of oversupply is “medical team”, and the subject of short supply is “epidemic dynamics” and “science knowledge”. This paper provides important theoretical and practical value for improving the effectiveness of government communication in public health crises.

Innovation and selection of family farms’ marketing channels in Henan Province under the “Internet+” environment

With the continuous improvement of China’s market economy and the intensification of global integration trends, the relationship between the supply and demand of China’s agricultural products has also undergone significant changes. From the previous short supply to the current oversupply, the sales of agricultural products have become a key factor restricting the development of the Chinese rural economy. Solving the problem of agricultural sales has become the internal driving force to promote the steady development of family farms, which is also the fundamental purpose of this paper. Therefore, this paper makes an empirical analysis of the factors influencing the choice of agricultural products’ sales channels among 170 family farms in Henan Province using a logistic regression model. The results show that selling agricultural products from family farms to consumers, enterprises, and large sales households are the main sales channels, accounting for 17.3%, 15.3%, and 15.2% respectively. The proportion of Internet sales ranks seventh among the eight channels, which has not been widely recognized. The regression results and assumptions are verified. The brand and certification of family farms’ agricultural products, business form of a farm, and understanding of the Internet have a significant impact on the choice of sales channels. According to the weight of influencing factors, the paper puts forward four suggestions for the selection and innovation in sales channels of family farms’ agricultural products. AcknowledgmentThis study is funded by The National Social Science Fund of China (grant no: 19BJ1Y144).

POTENCIAL DE REÚSO DE EFLUENTES TRATADOS PARA IRRIGAÇÃO PERIURBANA NO MUNICÍPIO DE GUARABIRA/PB

POTENCIAL DE REÚSO DE EFLUENTES TRATADOS PARA IRRIGAÇÃO PERIURBANA NO MUNICÍPIO DE GUARABIRA/PB LIBIANE MARINHO BERNARDINO1; PATRÍCIA DA SILVA COSTA2; VERA LÚCIA ANTUNES DE LIMA3 E RENER LUCIANO DE SOUZA FERRAZ4. 1 Mestranda em Gestão e Regulação em Recursos Hídricos, Unidade Acadêmica de Tecnologia do Desenvolvimento, UFCG, Rua Luiz Grande, s/n, Frei Damião, CEP 58540-000, Sumé, PB, Brasil, [email protected] 2 Doutoranda em Engenharia Agrícola, Unidade Acadêmica de Engenharia Agrícola, UFCG, Rua Aprigio Veloso, 882, Universitário, CEP 58429-900, Campina Grande, PB, Brasil, [email protected] 3 Profa. Doutora em Engenharia Agrícola, Unidade Acadêmica de Engenharia Agrícola, UFCG, Rua Aprigio Veloso, 882, Universitário, CEP 58429-900, Campina Grande, PB, Brasil, [email protected] 4 Prof. Doutor em Engenharia Agrícola, Unidade Acadêmica de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Semiárido, UFCG, Rua Luiz Grande, s/n, Frei Damião, CEP 58540-000, Sumé, PB, Brasil, [email protected] 1 RESUMO A água é um recurso finito que se encontra escasso, o que justifica a busca por gestão e inovação de práticas que a preserve. O objetivo da pesquisa é avaliar o potencial de reúso dos efluentes tratados para irrigação periurbana. Foram levantados dados de uma Estação de Tratamento de Esgotos (ETE), localizada no município de Guarabira, PB, e operada pela Companhia de Água e Esgotos do Estado da Paraíba (CAGEPA), durante o período de janeiro a dezembro de 2019. Analisou-se os seguintes parâmetros físico-químicos e bacteriológicos: Potencial Hidrogeniônico (pH), Condutividade Elétrica (CE), Demanda Bioquímica de Oxigênio (DBO), Demanda Química de Oxigênio (DQO), Sólidos Totais (ST), Oxigênio Dissolvido (OD), Fósforo Total, e Coliformes Termotolerantes. Os dados foram submetidos à análise descritiva e expresso em valores mínimos, máximos e médios. Os indicadores foram satisfatórios para irrigação restrita, porém com a necessidade de tratamento complementar para determinados cultivos. O potencial de reúso dos efluentes tratados na ETE pode beneficiar uma área de 118,7 ha considerando uma demanda de irrigação de 18.000 m³ ha-1 ano-1, o que demonstra ser um recurso sustentável e que precisa ser regulamentado no Brasil. Palavras-chave: recursos hídricos, resíduos líquidos, tratamento de água, fertirrigação. BERNARDINO, L. M.; COSTA, P. S.; LIMA, V. L. A.; FERRAZ, L. R. S. REUSE POTENTIAL OF TREATED EFFLUENTS FOR PERIURBAN IRRIGATION IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF GUARABIRA/PB 2 ABSTRACT Water is at the center of sustainable development and a finite resource that is in short supply, which justifies the search for management and innovation of practices that preserve it. This research aims to evaluate the potential for reuse of treated effluent for periurban irrigation. Data were collected from a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), located in the municipality of Guarabira, PB, and operated by the Water and Sewage Company of the State of Paraíba (CAGEPA), during the period from January to December 2019, with the analysis of the following physicochemical and bacteriological parameters: Hipogenic Potential (pH), Electrical Conductivity (CE), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (DBO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (DQO), Total Solids (ST), Dissolved Oxygen (OD), Total Phosphorus, and Thermotolerant Coliforms. The data were submitted to the descriptive analysis and expressed as minimum, maximum and average values. The indicators were satisfactory for restricted irrigation, but with the need for complementary treatment for certain crops. The potential for reuse of the effluents treated in the ETE can benefit an area of 118.7 ha considering an irrigation demand of 18,000 m³ ha-1 year-1, which demonstrates to be a sustainable resource that needs to be regulated in Brazil. Keywords: Water resources, liquid waste, water treatment, fertigation.

Self-sufficiency Assessment: Defining the Foodshed Spatial Signature of Short Beef Supply Chains

: Foodshed approaches allow the assessment of the theoretical food self-sufficiency capacity of a specific region based on biophysical conditions. Recent analyses show that the focus needs to be shifted from foodshed size portrayed as an isotropic circle to a commodity-group-specific spatial configuration of the foodshed that takes into account the socio-economic and biophysical conditions essential to the development of local food supply chains. We focus on a specific animal product (beef) and use an innovative modeling approach based on spatial analysis to detect the areas of the foodshed dedicated to beef feeding (forage, pasture, and grassland), considering the foodshed as a complex of complementary areas called an archipelago. We use available statistical data including a census to address the city-region of Avignon (France) covering a 100 km radius. Our results show that the factors driving the use of short supply chains for beef feeding areas are the foodshed archipelago’s number of patches, the connectivity between them, and the rugosity of the boundaries. In addition, our beef self-sufficiency assessment results differ depending on geographical context. For instance, being located within the perimeters of a nature park seems to help orient beef production towards short supply chains. We discuss possible leverage for public action to reconnect beef production areas to consumption areas (the city) via short supply chains (e.g. green, home-grown school food programs) so as to increase local food security through increased local food self-sufficiency.

Research challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: The experience of a functional genomics laboratory

<p>Measures to mitigate and prevent COVID-19 infections included closing universities around the world for an indefinite time and transferring their educational activities to online platforms. Universities were not prepared for such a transition and the online teaching-learning process evolved gradually. Fortunately, there have been many advances in educational technology in recent decades which proved useful during this pandemic. I am proud that the National School of Higher Studies (Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, ENES), Unidad León, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), was one of the institutions that was able to make this digital transition. Basic research has faced its own challenges during the current pandemic. My laboratory does functional genomics research in plants with undergraduate and master’s students. The experiments of the students were at different stages when the pandemic began and could not stop going to the laboratory due to the need to care for experimental plants and cell cultures. Different strategies were developed to maintain research activities, such as: 1) Scheduling research shifts to promote social distancing, 2) Postponing non-essential experiments, 3) Rationing research supplies that were in short supply during the pandemic. Personally, I consider that the use of digital platforms has also generated unexpected opportunities such as new types of scientific collaboration. I had enough free time to edit student theses, write and publish research articles. Interestingly, the students in my work team have participated in virtual international scientific conferences, the only format that evolved during this pandemic. Digital platforms allowed tutors to be in constant contact with students to advise and support them emotionally. The students in my laboratory have been through difficult times. I asked them to tell their story in their own words (These can be read in the student’s section. Editor’s Note).</p>

A simple method to produce fragment seedstock for aquaculture of Pterocladiella capillacea (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta)

Raw material of gelidioid red algae yielding high-quality agar has been in short supply due to overharvesting, but in situ farming of gelidioids has not been practical due to their slow growth. To produce vegetative seedstock of a cosmopolitan species, Pterocladiella capillacea, we investigated the number and length of regenerated branches arising from sectioned fragments during 3 weeks of laboratory culture at 10, 15, 20, and 25°C. All sectioned fragments formed axis-like branches mostly from the upper cut edge and stolon-like branches mostly from the lower cut edge, showing a high capacity of regeneration and intrinsic bipolarity. At 20°C, the number of regenerated branches increased to 2.74 ± 1.29 on the upper cut edge and 4.26 ± 2.66 on the lower cut edge. Our study reveals that the use of fragments bearing regenerated branches as seedstock can be a simple method to initiate fast propagation for mass cultivation in the sea or outdoor tank.

Groundnut Shells as a Potential Feed Supplement for Ruminants on Pastures: A Review

Communal grazing does not offer adequate forage for ruminants throughout the year. This problem is exacerbated during the dry season when grazing is scarce and of poor nutritional quality. Mineral shortages are common in communal grazing environments and yet they are nutritional requirements for optimal development, physiologic functioning and productivity in animals, as well as for cattle growth, reproduction and health. However, the use of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) shell (GNS) that are readily available but have no direct nutritional benefit in humans, have not been extensively investigated as a potential source of animal feed. This paper investigates the potential of GNS as feed supplement for ruminants on pasture and its use in other industries. After extracting the seed, the groundnut shell, accounts for roughly 21-29 per cent of the total weight of the nut. Despite the high lignin content of the shell that necessitates adequate processing before use in animal feed, groundnut shell includes 0.50 per cent crude protein, 59.0 per cent crude fiber, 2.50 per cent ash and 4.43 per cent carbs. Sodium (42.00 mg/100 g), potassium (705.11 mg/100 g), magnesium (3.98.00 mg/100 g), calcium (2.28 mg/100 g), iron (6.97 mg/100 g), zinc (3.20 mg/100 g) and phosphorus (10.55 mg/100 g) are all abundant in groundnut shells. In view of this, GNS, a by-product of industrial processing of groundnuts is a rich source of nutrients and can be used to supplement ruminants on pastures during times when pastures are in short supply and of poor quality. Studies are needed to investigate their use to supplement cattle on pasture grazing during times of feed shortage. However, its use as animal feed supplement is likely to face challenges from other industries such as biofuel production.