Temporal assessment of the medicinal plants trade in public markets of the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil

Background Open and public markets are the main providers of medicinal plants in urban environments. The present study evaluated the medicinal plants sold in public markets in different municipalities in the mesoregions of the state of Paraíba, northeast of Brazil, and the possible variations in the supply of these plants in the markets over the course of a year. Methods Interviews with medicinal plant traders were conducted in four mesoregions of different climatic and phytophysiognomic characteristics (ranging from Caatinga to Atlantic Forest). The versatility of the species sold was elucidated using the relative importance (RI) index, and the set of species sold by each informant in each mesoregion was compared with each other by one-way Anosim and by the analysis of main coordinates. Results Thirty-five plant traders identified 163 medicinal plant species (151 genders and 76 families) and more 17 non identified species. The most frequent families were Fabaceae (19 species), Asteraceae (12), Lamiaceae (11), and Myrtaceae (6). Punica granatum, Zingiber officinale, and Myracrodruon urundeuva were the species with the highest RI. The analysis of similarity showed distinct differences between the Sertão and all other mesoregions. The Agreste, an ecotone area, was also the area where more species of other regions was found. The absence of 88 species in at least one of the trading locations at some stage of the fieldwork was recorded. Conclusions The presence and absence of the commercialized species do not seem to be related to the period of the year or the mesoregion. There were differences in the inventory of plants commercialized in markets in recent years. We identified an intermediate zone of knowledge and use of species commercialized between the studied localities.

Design the technological process and equipment using fields and energy flows based on analysis of similarity criteria

It is shown that the use of transfer criteria for analysis of the formation processes of structures and phases significantly reduces the amount of experimental research in the design of technological process and equipment using fields and energy flows. It is proposed to use the ratios proportional to the criteria of heat and mass transfer, physicochemical interaction when controlling energy sources. It is shown that the modeling of the combined electromagnetic and thermomechanical effects in the design of technological process and equipment is based on the criteria of heat and mass transfer, electrical and physicochemical interaction, determines the main technological factors, and relates geometric and physical parameters, as well as mechanical quality parameters with the processing performance.

In vitro quality evaluation of brands of promethazine tablets marketed in Edo State, Nigeria

The increasing number of multisource pharmaceuticals has necessitated the need for continuous quality assessment of products available for atients’ consumption. Promethazine is an anti-histamine used in cases of nausea, vomiting, motion sickness etc. The study was to examine the in vitro quality parameters for ten brands of promethazine hydrochloride tablets sold in retail pharmacies in Edo State, Nigeria. The parameters determined were identification, weight variation, friability, hardness, disintegration, dissolution rate and assay. All samples were evaluated for conformity with British Pharmacopoeia (BP) 2017 standards. Results obtained showed tablet weight ranging from 0.08 g ± 1.77 % to 0.255 g ± 3.557 %, hardness from 4.36 ± 0.58 to 8.33 ± 3.21 kg/cm2, friability of < 1 %, disintegration time of 2.47 ± 0.90 to 69.66 ± 7.23 min and assay of 61.32 ± 2.04 to 183.19 ± 0.11%. The ten batches but one released more than 80 % of their drug content within 30 min. Analysis of similarity factor revealed other samples but PR-7 can be interchangeable with PR-1 based on dissolution profile. The results showed that not all samples examined passed all the pharmacopoeia tests for satisfactory quality. Thus, they all cannot be used interchangeably in clinical practice. Keywords: Promethazine; Quality Control; Dissolution; Pharmacopoeial specifications

Assessing the level of digitalization and robotization in the enterprises of the European Union Member States

One of the main reasons for the dynamic global economic development observed in recent years is the process of digitalization, referred to as Industry 4.0. The significance of digitalization for this development is appreciated by the EU-27. In order for these actions to be effective, it is necessary to diagnose the current level of digitalization in the EU-27countries. The article presents the results of the assessment of the level of digitalization of enterprises in the EU-27 countries. An empirical analysis was conducted using 16 determinants which describe the digitalization in a sample of 27 EU countries. Based on the adopted criteria and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution method, these countries were divided into four classes in terms of the level of digitalization. The analysis looked at the size of enterprises and was performed independently for small, medium and large enterprises. The adopted indicators allowed for the analysis of similarity between the EU-27 countries in terms of digitalization, using the Kohonen’s networks. The result of this research was the division of the EU-27 countries into groups, also taking into account the size of studied enterprises. Due to the immensely diverse EU-27 economy, such a huge undertaking as the digital transformation process requires building logical internal "digital coalitions". The designated assessment and similarity between countries creates such opportunities, also in terms of building an effective policy to support these processes by the EU. This increases the chances of success of joint ventures and building a sustainable European community based on the latest technologies.

Cuticular hydrocarbons from ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Odontomachus bauri (Emery) from the tropical forest of Maranguape, Ceará, Brazil

Semiochemicals, 5-methyl-nonacosane, Alkanes, Chromatography.Ants are eusocial organisms with great relative abundance and species richness. Studies on these organisms are scarce, especially in the high altitude humid forest environments of the state of Ceará. In view of this condition, an evaluation of the chemical composition of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) of the species Odontomachus bauri found and recorded for the first time in this study in the tropical forest of Maranguape was carried out, based on the hypothesis that different nests have different compositions of CHCs. For this purpose, collection incursions were carried out in the region to obtain individuals from three different nests. In the laboratory, the extraction of CHCs was performed by immersing the ants in hexane for 30 minutes. After removing the ants, the extracts were subjected to drying to assess the yield of the samples. Then, the extracts were subjected to a silica gel column, before performing an analysis by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The chromatograms obtained were analyzed and demonstrated a great similarity, showing long-chain saturated hydrocarbons, mainly represented by alkanes and methyl-alkanes. 5-Methyl-nonacosane was the component with the highest relative abundance. Statistical analysis of similarity and correlation between samples was performed using non-parametric tests. These analyzes provided sufficient statistical evidence to confirm the existence of a strong positive correlation between the samples and also a significant difference in the composition of HCCs in two of the three paired analyzes performed, thus confirming the study hypothesis.

Correlations Between Fish Assemblage Structure and Environmental Variables of Taruwa Pond in Nawalparasi District, Province No. 4, Nepal

The correlations between fisheries diversity and environmental variables of Nepal’s Pond are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate temporal variation of fish assemblage at Taruwa Pond in Nawalparasi district, Province no. 4, Nepal from October 2018 to April 2019. For the fish agglomeration, cast net of 4 kg in weight and 3.80 m in length and 22.5 m breadth with 12 mm mesh size was used. In total, 579 individuals representing 16 fish species, 10 families, and 12 genera were recorded. According to similarity percentage analysis, the most contributory species were Puntius ticto (27.92%) followed by Danio devario (12.06%), Puntius terio (9.76%), Badis badis (7.31%), Lepidocephalichthys guntea (5.57%) and Puntius sophore (5.57%). Analysis of similarity suggested that fish community structure was significantly different in temporal variation (R = 0.321, p<0.01). Based on the cluster analysis, fish assemblages were isolated into two distinct groups at Bray-curtis similarity. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis distinctly indicated that the water parameters of dissolved oxygen, carbon-dioxide, depth, and water temperature play an important role in influencing the fish assemblage structure of Taruwa Pond.

Temporal Assessment of the Medicinal Plant Trade in Public Markets of the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil

Background: Open and public markets are the main providers of medicinal plants in urban environments. The present study evaluated the medicinal plants sold in public markets in different municipalities in the mesoregions of the state of Paraíba, northeast of Brazil, and the possible variations in the supply of these plants in the markets over the course of a year. Methods: Thirty-five traders of medicinal plants were interviewed in four mesoregions of different climatic and phytophysiognomic characteristics (ranging from Caatinga to Atlantic Forest). The versatility of the species sold was elucidated using the Relative Importance Index (IR), and the set of species sold by each informant in each mesoregion was compared with each other by similarity analysis Anosim-One, and by the analysis of main coordinates. Results: Punica granatum , Zingiber officinale , and Myracrodruon urundeuva were the species with the highest RI. The analysis of similarity showed distinct differences between the Sertão and all other mesoregions. The analysis highlighted that a mesoregion had an intermediate similarity pattern in relation to the others, for which we suggest the term "biocultural ecotone" or “cultotone”. The absence of 88 species in at least one of the trading locations at some stage of the fieldwork was recorded. Conclusions: The commercialized species do not seem to have a presence / absence relationship in relation to the period of the year or the mesoregion, and there seem to have been changes in the inventory of plants commercialized in markets in recent years. We identified an intermediate zone of knowledge and use of species commercialized between the studied localities.

IMPLEMENTATION OF A HYBRID METHOD OF SEARCHING FOR CLOSE OBJECTS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE GENERAL AND ACOUSTIC CHARACTERISTICS

The subject of research in the article is the methods of finding close objects and technologies of forming recommendations. The aim of the article is to develop a recommendation system based on a hybrid method of searching for objects, taking into account both user preferences and audio characteristics of objects. The following tasks are solved: analysis of methods and algorithms used in recommendation systems; development of a hybrid method of forming recommendations on the principle of double organization; determination of the main functions and architecture of the system of formation of musical recommendations; testing of calculation algorithms and search methods in the system for analysis of similarity of musical recommendations. The following research methods are used: methods of correlation analysis, methods of similarity theory, algorithms of collaborative filtering and content analysis, hybrid methods, methods of analysis of audio characteristics, programming technologies. The following results were obtained: A study of collaborative filtering, content-based filtering and hybrid methods. Algorithms and calculation formulas of the considered methods are given. The main audio characteristics of musical compositions are considered. The method of formation of recommendations on the principle of double organization is developed. The main functions of the system of formation of musical recommendations are listed and the diagram of components is formed. An example of calculating the characteristics of user preferences and similarity of musical compositions by audio characteristics is given. Conclusions: According to the results of testing the system by three methods, we can conclude that the proposed hybrid method was the most effective among the studied recommendation methods with the lowest standard error rate. In addition, the hybrid method on the principle of double organization solves such problems of existing recommendation methods as excessive similarity of recommendations, potentially small number or no proposals at all by compensating data from one block of data from another.

Ruderal vegetation in Serbia - diversity and floristic composition

This study represents the first data gathering and analysis of the floristic composition of ruderal vegetation in Serbia, published over the last 70 years. The dataset included 748 relev?s of ruderal communities and a total of 716 plant species and subspecies. The study showed that the most abundant were widespread taxa, especially taxa of the Eurasian area type, while alien species accounted for a relatively small proportion of the ruderal flora (about 10%). Therophytes and hemicryptophytes were most abundant in the life form spectra. Five vegetation groups were identified, corresponding to the following vegetation classes: Bidentetea, Sisymbrietea, Digitario sanguinalis-Eragrostietea minoris, Artemisietea vulgaris and Polygono-Poetea annuae. The analysis of similarity showed that there are small floristic differences between particular vegetation groups. The determined diagnostic species for the vegetation groups were compared with those of the corresponding anthropogenic vegetation classes, and a high degree of similarity was found for all but one group. The most frequent taxa in all five groups were Polygonum aviculare, Convolvulus arvensis, Plantago major subsp. major and Chenopodium album.

Butterflies (lepidoptera: papilionoidea) of La Honda Basin, Mesa de Los Santos, Santander, Colombia

Colombia is a privileged country given the geographical position, the diversity of ecosystems and the great plant complexity, conditions that allow it to occupy the third place in diversity of diurnal butterflies. The objective of this work was to establish the composition of species of diurnal butterflies in four locations of the La Honda basin for which captures were made using entomological nets of 45 cm in diameter, in the project of Characterization of the wild Entomofauna of La Honda basin, located in the northeast of the Colombian Andes. Analysis of inventory quality and analysis of similarity between sampling sites were performed. A total of 226 specimens were collected belonging to 95 species of the family Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae and Nymphalidae, the last having greatest abundance (134) and richness of species (53). La Navarra was the site with greatest abundance (110) and richness of species (54). The analysis of inventory quality indicated a potential richness of 167.13 species, a proportion of observed species of 56.24% and a sampling effort of 99.82%. The comparison of inventories allowed establishing that butterfly communities are different for all sampling sites, although there is a slight similarity between La Navarra and La Purnia. Based on the analysis of the inventory quality, it is proposed to carry out new sampling for these and other locations, as well as at different times of the year.