Social Psychology and health: assuming complexity

Este artículo es una declaración de posición basada en una larga trayectoria de investigación e intervención en el contexto brasileño. El argumento que se presenta es que las experiencias sanitarias son complejas y que la práctica profesional debe basarse tanto en la experiencia técnica como en la erudición. La complejidad no tiene que ver con los distintos puntos de vista: el de la gente saludable, los pacientes, los doctores, los profesionales sanitarios, los administradores y la ciencia, claro está. Tiene que ver con la concomitancia de varias versiones, de las realidades fractales que representan de distintas maneras los muchos actantes sociales y materiales presentes en esta red heterogénea. Este argumento está estructurado en dos partes. La primera de ellas simplemente reafirma la multiplicidad desde la perspectiva de la Psicología como una profesión sanitaria. La segunda propone que la acción en un escenario complejo requiere una amplia base de información basada más en la erudición que en la experiencia técnica: es la familiarización con aquellos temas culturales e históricos relacionados directa o indirectamente con la organización actual de la prestación de asistencia sanitaria la que presentará las prácticas diarias políticas y éticasThis paper is a position statement based on a long trajectory of research and intervention in the Brazilian context. The argument put forward is that health experiences are complex, and professional practice must be based on both technical expertise and scholarship. Complexity is not about different points of view: that of healthy people, patients, doctors, health professionals, health administrators and science, of course. It is about the concomitance of multiple versions; about fractal realities that are performed in different manners by the many social and material actants that are present in this heterogeneous network. This argument is structured in two parts. The first one merely restates multiplicity from the perspective of Psychology as a health profession. The second, proposes that action in a complex setting requires a broad base of information based on scholarship rather that technical expertise: it is the familiarity with issues that are cultural and historical and directly or indirectly related to present-day organization of care delivery that will anchor political and ethical everyday practice

Psicologia Social e Saúde : trabalhando com a complexidade

Esse artigo reflete uma posição pessoal baseada em longa trajetória de pesquisa e intervenção no contexto brasileiro. O argumento desenvolvido é que as experiências no campo da saúde são complexas e que as práticas profissionais devem ser fundamentadas tanto no saber técnico quanto na formação ampliada. A complexidade aqui referida não trata meramente de pontos de vista diferentes: das pessoas saudáveis, pacientes, médicos, profissionais de saúde, gestores e, é claro, da ciência. Trata-se da concomitância de múltiplas versões, de realidades fractais que são performadas de diferentes formas pelos muitos actantes sociais e materiais que estão presentes nessa rede heterogênea. O argumento do texto está estruturado em duas partes. A primeira meramente reposiciona multiplicidade na perspectiva da Psicologia como uma profissão da Saúde. A segunda propõe que a ação em contextos complexos exige ampla base de informação fundada mais em erudição do que em saberes técnicos: é a familiaridade com questões que são culturalmente, historicamente e direta ou indiretamente relacionadas com a organização cotidiana da atenção em saúde que irá ancorar práticas cotidianas políticas e éticas.This paper is a position statement based on a long trajectory of research and intervention in the Brazilian context. The argument put forward is that health experiences are complex, and professional practice must be based on both technical expertise and scholarship. Complexity is not about different points of view: that of healthy people, patients, doctors, health professionals, health administrators and science, of course. It is about the concomitance of multiple versions; about fractal realities that are performed in different manners by the many social and material actants that are present in this heterogeneous network. This argument is structured in two parts. The first one merely restates multiplicity from the perspective of Psychology as a health profession. The second, proposes that action in a complex setting requires a broad base of information based on scholarship rather that technical expertise: it is the familiarity with issues that are cultural and historical and directly or indirectly related to present-day organization of care delivery that will anchor political and ethical everyday practices

Psicología social y salud : asumir la complejidad

Este artículo es una declaración de posición basada en una larga trayectoria de investigación e intervención en el contexto brasileño. El argumento que se presenta es que las experiencias sanitarias son complejas y que la práctica profesional debe basarse tanto en la experiencia técnica como en la erudición. La complejidad no tiene que ver con los distintos puntos de vista: el de la gente saludable, los pacientes, los doctores, los profesionales sanitarios, los administradores y la ciencia, claro está. Tiene que ver con la concomitancia de varias versiones, de las realidades fractales que representan de distintas maneras los muchos actantes sociales y materiales presentes en esta red heterogénea. Este argumento está estructurado en dos partes. La primera de ellas simplemente reafirma la multiplicidad desde la perspectiva de la Psicología como una profesión sanitaria. La segunda propone que la acción en un escenario complejo requiere una amplia base de información basada más en la erudición que en la experiencia técnica: es la familiarización con aquellos temas culturales e históricos relacionados directa o indirectamente con la organización actual de la prestación de asistencia sanitaria la que presentará las prácticas diarias políticas y éticasThis paper is a position statement based on a long trajectory of research and intervention in the Brazilian context. The argument put forward is that health experiences are complex, and professional practice must be based on both technical expertise and scholarship. Complexity is not about different points of view: that of healthy people, patients, doctors, health professionals, health administrators and science, of course. It is about the concomitance of multiple versions; about fractal realities that are performed in different manners by the many social and material actants that are present in this heterogeneous network. This argument is structured in two parts. The first one merely restates multiplicity from the perspective of Psychology as a health profession. The second, proposes that action in a complex setting requires a broad base of information based on scholarship rather that technical expertise: it is the familiarity with issues that are cultural and historical and directly or indirectly related to present-day organization of care delivery that will anchor political and ethical everyday practice

Caminando sobre huevos : una reflexión construccionista sobre la investigación

¿Cuál es la noción de acción que guía a la investigación construccionista? Tomando esta pregunta como base, se recurre a una investigación realizada para evaluar el papel de la Comisión Nacional de SIDA (CNAIDS) del Ministerio de Salud de Brasil como punto de partida para formular un concepto de acción compatible con la postura construccionista. Se comienza problematizando la noción clásica de acción, pasando a continuación a proponer alternativas, explorando las implicaciones de nociones tales como la de en-acción, discutida por Varela, para la investigación construccionista. La investigación sobre la CNAIDS se usa como ejemplo de las maneras posibles de conducir la investigación-intervención. La expresión investigación-intervención se usa en este artículo como estrategia discursiva para enfatizar que toda investigación tiene consecuencias, siendo necesariamente un proceso de producción de sentidos sobre los actos de nuestras vidas.What notion of action is compatible with constructionist research? Taking this question as a provocation, we use a study carried out to evaluate the role of the National Aids Committee (CNAIDS) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health as a starting point for the formulation of a concept of action that might be compatible with a constructionist position. Starting by questioning the classic notion of action, it goes on to propose alternative conceptualisations of action, exploring the implications of notions such as Varela's enaction for constructionist research. The CNAIDS research is used as an example of possible ways of conducting intervention-research with a constructionist spin. The expression intervention-research is used in this paper as a discursive strategy to emphasize that all research has consequences and is necessarily a process of making sense of events in our life

A Multiplicidade da Psicologia Social Brasileira

A Psicologia Social brasileira apresenta inúmeras definições, abordagens teóricas e objetos de estudo. Neste trabalho, embasadas em pesquisas da Teoria Ator-Rede, argumentamos que esses não são diferentes aspectos ou atributos de um mesmo objeto, mas elementos que ajudam a performar diferentes versões desse objeto. São, portanto, elementos que fazem Psicologias Sociais diferentes, embora relacionadas entre si. Que fazem uma Psicologia Social múltipla, ou seja, que é mais do que uma ao mesmo tempo em que é menos do que muitas. Buscamos, com isso, chamar a atenção para a possibilidade de ordenar e de coordenar a realidade de diferentes modos. De reconhecer que em uma disciplina cabem múltiplos e diversos actantes. De fazer uma Psicologia Social que busca conexões complexas que articulam humanos a não humanos e que performam múltiplas realidades.Brazilian Social Psychology has many definitions, theories and objects of study. In this essay, based on Actor-Network Theory, we argue that these are not different aspects or attributes of a single object, but elements that help to perform different versions of this object. They are, therefore, elements that make Social Psychologies different, although related to each other. They produce a multiple Social Psychology, which is more than one and, at the same time, less than many. In doing so, we strived to call attention to the possibility of ordinating and coordinating reality in different ways, of recognizing that there are multiple and diverse actants in a discipline and of making a Social Psychology that searches for complex connections that articulate humans and non-humans and perform multiple realities

Enhanced surface acoustic wave cell sorting by 3D microfluidic chip design

We demonstrate an acoustic wave driven microfluidic cell sorter that combines advantages of multilayer device fabrication with planar surface acoustic wave excitation. We harness the strong vertical component of the refracted acoustic wave to enhance cell actuation by using an asymmetric flow field to increase cell deflection. Precise control of the 3-dimensional flow is realized by topographical structures implemented on the top of the microchannel. We experimentally quantify the effect of the structure dimensions and acoustic parameter. The design attains cell sorting rates and purities approaching those of state of the art fluorescence-activated cell sorters with all the advantages of microfluidic cell sorting

Breeding for improved nitrogen use efficiency in oilseed rape

Oilseed rape has a high requirement for nitrogen (N) fertiliser relative to its seed yield. This paper uses published and unpublished work to explore the extent to which the N use efficiency (seed yield ÷ N supply) of oilseed rape could be improved without reducing seed yield. It was estimated that if the concentration of N in the stem and pod wall at crop maturity could be reduced from 1.0 to 0.6%, the root length density increased to 1 cm/cm3 to 100 cm soil depth and the post flowering N uptake increased by 20 kg N/ha then the fertiliser requirement could be reduced from 191 to 142 kg N/ha and the N use efficiency could be increased from 15.2 to 22.4 kg of seed dry matter per kg N. Genetic variation was found for all of the traits that were estimated to be important for N use efficiency. This indicates that there is significant scope for plant breeders to reduce N use efficiency in oilseed rape

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the Ne atom and the Ne+ ion

We report all-electron and pseudopotential calculations of the ground-stateenergies of the neutral Ne atom and the Ne+ ion using the variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. We investigate different levels of Slater-Jastrow trial wave function: (i) using Hartree-Fock orbitals, (ii) using orbitals optimized within a Monte Carlo procedure in the presence of a Jastrow factor, and (iii) including backflow correlations in the wave function. Small reductions in the total energy are obtained by optimizing the orbitals, while more significant reductions are obtained by incorporating backflow correlations. We study the finite-time-step and fixed-node biases in the DMC energy and show that there is a strong tendency for these errors to cancel when the first ionization potential (IP) is calculated. DMC gives highly accurate values for the IP of Ne at all the levels of trial wave function that we have considered

Volume segmentation and analysis of biological materials using SuRVoS (Super-region Volume Segmentation) workbench

Segmentation is the process of isolating specific regions or objects within an imaged volume, so that further study can be undertaken on these areas of interest. When considering the analysis of complex biological systems, the segmentation of three-dimensional image data is a time consuming and labor intensive step. With the increased availability of many imaging modalities and with automated data collection schemes, this poses an increased challenge for the modern experimental biologist to move from data to knowledge. This publication describes the use of SuRVoS Workbench, a program designed to address these issues by providing methods to semi-automatically segment complex biological volumetric data. Three datasets of differing magnification and imaging modalities are presented here, each highlighting different strategies of segmenting with SuRVoS. Phase contrast X-ray tomography (microCT) of the fruiting body of a plant is used to demonstrate segmentation using model training, cryo electron tomography (cryoET) of human platelets is used to demonstrate segmentation using super- and megavoxels, and cryo soft X-ray tomography (cryoSXT) of a mammalian cell line is used to demonstrate the label splitting tools. Strategies and parameters for each datatype are also presented. By blending a selection of semi-automatic processes into a single interactive tool, SuRVoS provides several benefits. Overall time to segment volumetric data is reduced by a factor of five when compared to manual segmentation, a mainstay in many image processing fields. This is a significant savings when full manual segmentation can take weeks of effort. Additionally, subjectivity is addressed through the use of computationally identified boundaries, and splitting complex collections of objects by their calculated properties rather than on a case-by-case basis

Spatial and environmental drivers of macrophyte diversity and community composition in temperate and tropical calcareous rivers

The hypothesis was examined that sources of variation in macrophyte species richness (alpha-diversity: S) and community composition (“species-set”), attributable to spatial and environmental, variables, may differ in importance between tropical and temperate calcareous rivers (>10 mg CaCO3 L−1). To test this hypothesis geographic, environmental, and aquatic vegetation data was acquired for 1151 sites on calcareous rivers within the British Isles, supporting 106 macrophyte species (mean S: 3.1 species per sample), and 203 sites from Zambian calcareous rivers, supporting 255 macrophyte species (mean S: 8.3 species per sample). The data were analysed using an eigenfunction spatial analysis procedure, Moran’s Eigenvector Maps (MEM), to assess spatial variation of species richness and community composition at large regional scale (>105 km2: British Isles and Zambia); and at medium catchment scale (104–105 km2: British Isles only). Variation-partitioning was undertaken using multiple regression for species richness data, and partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) for community data. For the British Isles, spatial and environmental variables both significantly contributed to explaining variation in both species richness and community composition. In addition, a substantial amount of the variation in community composition, for the British Isles as a whole and for some RBUs, was accounted for by spatially-structured environmental variables. In Zambia, species richness was explained only by pure spatial variables, but environmental and spatially-structured environmental variables also explained a significant part of the variation for community composition. At medium-scale, in the British Isles, species richness was explained by spatial variables, and only for four of the six RBUs