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Friday, March 29, 2024

3.182 - AMICOR (26)

 3.182 - AMICOR (26)

#com Dra. Valderês A. Robinson Achutti (*13/06/1931+15/06/2021)

Visitando um "polder" na Holanda, em 1993

#Re-Publicandoartigos antigos meus

Nexo causal

29 de abril de 2009 | N° 15954

ARTIGOS

Nexo causal, por Aloyzio Achutti*

Chegam todos os dias notícias sobre novas falcatruas, sobre crimes, roubos, mentiras e os mais diversos desvios de comportamento, a ponto de se perguntar se alguém escapa. Onde está a normalidade? Foi sempre assim? Por quê?

Sabe-se que o comportamento se molda socialmente, pelo exemplo, pela imitação e pela formação cultural. A mera observação nos mostra – e também foi experimental e cientificamente demonstrado – que as pessoas tendem a se adaptar ao ambiente físico e cultural onde transitam. Num espaço limpo e ordenado, procura-se mantê-lo como foi encontrado. Na sujeira e na bagunça, não há respeito e, onde não há definição de limites, tudo é permitido.

Tem se discutido bastante a falta de disciplina nas escolas e agressão aos professores e outros funcionários de serviços públicos. Os baixos salários já expressam numericamente o desrespeito da sociedade por certas atividades. O aspecto dos prédios escolares e de ambulatórios, as moradias (se este nome pode ser atribuído a tugúrios, ranchos e favelas), os equipamentos urbanos e tantos outros sinais externos denunciam a desvalorização social de certas áreas. O que mais se pode esperar das pessoas que assim vivem? A desigualdade sociocultural não só causa doença, mas também é sintoma de uma sociedade doente que aceita conviver com parte de seu corpo degradado.

Em busca da determinação da saúde e das doenças, fala-se muito em desigualdade e, ao analisá-la, em geral o foco da atenção é o extremo pior dotado: os pobres e socioculturalmente marginalizados. Obviamente, a perspectiva populacional tem que ser global, e a dispersão é fruto de um fenômeno dinâmico que se automantém.

Dei-me conta de que pouco se considera o polo “bem-sucedido”, merecedor também de atenção especial porque, embora minoritário, detém o poder e, no mínimo, se satisfaz com essa situação enquanto não surgem ameaças ao privilégio e à hegemonia. Não é a cor da pele nem a dos olhos que os identifica, pois a desigualdade só se sustenta dentro de um equilíbrio no qual cadeias de interesse se estendem por redes secundárias, com graus variados de benefício.

Assim, no topo, a classe política – frequentemente agindo como se estivesse acima das leis – chega a seus nichos, carregada pelos nossos votos e de toda uma corriola desconhecida que só aparece quando há escândalo.

Outro grupo não menos poderoso, o dos traficantes de drogas e de armas, agindo à margem das leis, consegue sucesso porque beneficia uma extensa rede que inclui todas as classes sociais até chegar aos usuários.

O convívio com a corrupção, com a exceção que vira regra, com o privilégio junto à marginalidade, com o sucesso da safadeza, com o abuso da autoridade, termina por desmoralizar qualquer pacto social.

Buscando as causas das causas e até onde se estendem as interligações dessas redes, é de se perguntar se todo o mundo já não está envolvido e contaminado, já que se permite e muitas vezes se tira algum proveito desta situação?!...

*Médico. A desigualdade sociocultural não só causa doença, mas também é sintoma de uma sociedade doente

#National Geographic Magazine

#Neuroscience News

Bioluminescence Unveils Brain’s Oxygen Pathways

Neuroscience News

March 29

A new study introduces a novel bioluminescence imaging technique for observing oxygen movement in mouse brains. This method, inspired by firefly proteins, reveals real-time, widespread patterns of oxygen distribution, offering insights into conditions like hypoxia caused by strokes or heart attacks.

Read more of this post

#Our World in Data

Our recent publications and updates

More people care about climate change than you think

A 2024 study asked people if they’d be willing to give 1% of their income to tackle climate change. Across the 125-country sample, 69% said “yes”.

The study then asked people what share of others in their country would say “yes” to the same question. The average across countries was just 43%.

This shows that most of us systematically underestimate how widespread support for climate action is.

This wasn’t just the case in some countries; it was the case in every country surveyed.

Why does this “perception gap” exist? And why is it a problem?

Read more on climate change support
How much have temperatures risen in countries across the world?

In 2015, countries across the world agreed on a goal to limit global warming “well below 2°C” above pre-industrial temperatures while “pursuing efforts” to limit warming to 1.5°C.

These targets are set based on the rise in the global average temperature — the metric most organizations use to track global climate trajectory. 

However, climate change does not affect all areas of the globe uniformly. Some regions are warming faster than others, which matters for local ecosystems, weather patterns, and human impacts.

To allow people to track temperature changes across the globe, we've made this data explorable at the national level using high-resolution climate records.

Explore the data where you live
At least 150 ongoing armed conflicts have been recorded annually in the last decade

Armed conflicts are common and take different forms. Some are fought between states, others between a state and a non-state armed group, between non-state groups, or between an armed group and civilians.

Despite this, conflict has become less deadly, and relationships between countries more peaceful. Rivalries have steadily declined, and bilateral cooperation has spread.

Our new topic page on war and peace visualizes major data sources and summarizes the key insights.

Explore our new page

Data Insights

Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing, written by our team

Since our last Biweekly Digest, we’ve published a number of insights across a variety of topics:

If you want to follow our new Data Insights more systematically, they now have their own RSS feed.

Explore the latest Data Insights

Explore our featured work

What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?

Many people think nuclear energy is unsafe and deadly, with accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima standing out in their minds.

But if we look at the data, we see that the opposite is true.

Nuclear energy is actually one of the safest sources of energy — many hundreds of times less deadly than fossil fuels like coal and oil, and comparable to renewables like solar and wind. These numbers include the deaths from Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Fossil fuels cause millions of premature deaths every year from air pollution. But that’s not the only reason they’re deadly: they also contribute to climate change.

Nuclear energy is a tiny emitter by comparison: its life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are less than 1% of that from both coal and oil.


From the perspective of both human health and climate change, it matters less whether we transition to nuclear or renewables, and more that we stop relying on fossil fuels.

Explore global data on nuclear energy
Weather forecasts have gotten a lot more accurate
Women have made major advances in politics — but the world is still far from equal

The mission of Our World in Data is to make data and research on the world’s largest problems understandable and accessible.

We are a nonprofit, building Our World in Data as a public good that’s freely available to everyone. Help us do more by supporting us with a donation.

#

QUANTUM COMPUTING | ALL TOPICS

 

The Best Qubits for Quantum Computing Might Just Be Atoms

By PHILIP BALL

In the search for the most scalable hardware to use for quantum computers, qubits made of individual atoms are having a breakout moment.

Read the article

NEUROSCIENCE

 

The Social Benefits of Getting Our Brains in Sync

By MARTA ZARASKA

Our brain waves can align when we work and play closely together. The phenomenon, known as interbrain synchrony, suggests that collaboration is biological.

Read the article


Related: 
How Do Fireflies Flash in Sync?
Studies Suggest a New Answer.

By Joshua Sokol (2022)

THE JOY OF WHY

 

How Is Flocking Like Computing?

Podcast hosted by STEVEN STROGATZ

Birds flock. Locusts swarm. Fish school. From chaotic assemblies of life, order somehow emerges. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz interviews the evolutionary ecologist Iain Couzin about how and why collective behaviors arise.


Listen to the podcast


Read the transcript

 

Q&A

 

The Researcher Who Explores Computation by Conjuring New Worlds

By BEN BRUBAKER;
Video by CHRISTOPHER WEBB YOUNG

Russell Impagliazzo studies hard problems, the limits of cryptography, the nature of randomness and more.


Read the interview


Watch the video

APPLIED MATH

 

Topologists Tackle the Trouble With Poll Placement

By LYNDIE CHIOU

Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places where it’s hard to vote.

Read the blog

Related: 
How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering

By Michael Orcutt (2023)

#IHME

A microscopic image of nerve endings in the human body


A recent study examined disorders affecting the nervous system and global prevalence of neurological conditions. These conditions include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19.
 
  • Neurological conditions were responsible for 443 million years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability, and premature death in 2021.
     
  • Collectively, neurodevelopmental and pediatric conditions were estimated to account for almost a fifth of the total neurological burden worldwide, equivalent to 80 million years of healthy life lost in 2021.
     
  • Neurological conditions were the top contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, ahead of cardiovascular diseases.
Read the study

Q&A with an expert on neurological conditions 


🔎 In 2021, nervous system disorders like Alzheimers disease, stroke, and epilepsy affected 43% of the world’s population. This study’s lead researcher, Dr. Jaimie Steinmetz, answers common questions about the findings and their global implications. 
Watch the video

#ASRM

 Acesso às gravações das Sessões Culturais de 2023 e 2024

 Vídeo da palestra no YouTube: CLIQUE AQUI

 Cobertura jornalística da Sessão Cultural (por André Pereira): CLIQUE AQUI

#The Marginalian

The Universe in verse



#AEON Magazine

Biology

Essay

The cell is not a factory    

 

Scientific narratives project social hierarchies onto nature. That’s why we need better metaphors to describe cellular life

 

by Charudatta Navare