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Paraguay has become the main cannabis producer in South America and one of the largest exporters in the world. Some investigations about the cultivation of marijuana in the country portray a cruel environment in which peasants are exploited in "almost feudal" conditions by intermediaries who buy their crops at unreasonably low prices. However, a group of peasants who use the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve as their labour area have created a safe and profitable ecosystem for developing their business. Based on interviews with key informants and visits to the area, the article describes the constraints and incentives that lead those peasants to engage in criminal activities, the strategies they have used to establish protective barriers, and the moral justifications that emerge as a result of their success in doing business. Although there are violent practices and extortion, we claim that the decision-making process to get involved in illegal markets is a free action influenced by alternative moral understandings that provide reasons and justifications for breaking the law. The moral map of these cannabis growers goes far beyond the mere economic justification of generating material resources and is related to economic, institutional, and social premises linked to a generalized aspiration of dignity and a life worth living. The functioning of informal institutions learned through previous interactions with state and non-state actors who regulate and protect the market, the perceived social approval/legitimation of the activity by referent groups, and the awareness of the capacity and skills necessary to successfully conduct the business have a crucial importance in the moral reformulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the paper by B. Pardo and colleagues about the production of methamphetamine in Afghanistan. Topics discussed include the role of ephedra in the expansion of methamphetamine production in the country, the uncertainty of the Taliban's ban on drug production, and the possible increase in the manufacture of methamphetamine or other synthetic substances using synthetic precursors.

Background: The potentials of artificial intelligence (AI) have permeated all industries and fields, and the advantages of AI are extensively employed. This technology offers a wide range of benefits in the pharmaceutical industry, including reducing human interventions and increasing the speed and accuracy of tasks. This can expedite time-consuming activities, such as drug discovery, production, clinical trials, research and development, and ultimately, determining a drug's position in target markets. Methods: A comprehensive scope review was performed in this descriptive, applied study on the applications of AI in the pharmaceutical industry in Iran. Relevant data were meticulously gathered and extracted from diverse sources, including various search engines, key databases, such as Medline, PubMed, Elsevier, and the Iranian Center for Scientific Information and Documentation, and information databases, reference books, and reports from the World Health Organization. These results represent our research on key themes, including AI, the pharmaceutical industry, drug production, innovation, and evolution. Our main focus lies on the application of AI in the manufacturing part of the pharmaceutical industry, with a deliberate decision not to delve into the technical aspects. This approach allowed us to prioritize a comprehensive understanding of the practical implications and advancements in the manufacturing processes facilitated by artificial intelligence. Results: The retrieved studies showed that AI has the potential to enhance crucial processes in pharmaceutical companies across various dimensions. These potential capabilities are observed in areas such as quality control, human resource management, research and development, finance, supply chain management, logistics, data management, operations management, customer relationship management, and commerce, which are further discussed. Conclusions: Pharmaceutical companies can utilize the tools provided by AI in various value-creating processes to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. This requires the adoption and integration of this innovative technology at various levels of organizational planning so that these companies can harness the greater potential it offers with appropriate investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data-driven models were employed for the solubility correlation, while the focus was on modeling the solubility of raloxifene drug and density of carbon dioxide based on temperature (T) and pressure (P) inputs. Three Machine Learning models, namely Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Bayesian Ridge Regression (BRR), and LASSO regression, were employed and optimized using the MPHPT method for hyper-parameter tuning. The dataset consisted of experimental measurements of solubility (y), and CO2 density. For the prediction of density, the MLP model exhibited excellent performance with an R2 score of 0.99726, demonstrating a significant level of association between the anticipated and observed values. The mean squared error (MSE) was 9.8721E+01, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was 1.78565E-02, and the maximum error was 1.86395E+01. The LASSO and BRR models achieved slightly lower accuracy, with R2 scores of 0.83317 and 0.83001, respectively. Regarding the solubility of the raloxifene drug, the MLP model demonstrated a strong predictive capability with an R2 score of 0.99343. The MSE was 3.0869E-02, MAPE was 4.02666E-02, and the maximum error was 3.01133E-01. The LASSO and BRR models also provided reasonable predictions, with R2 scores of 0.90955 and 0.8891, respectively. However, they exhibited higher MSEs and MAPEs compared to the MLP model.

This article describes and analyses the system of actors, activities, and tasks that comprises the Peruvian cocaine production and commerce system. Based on the analysis of interviews with key informants and reports on the cocaine trade, the main result shows a system that works as a segmented and dispersed logic, with actors that compete with each other and that are organised in a conjunctural way. This disputes the idea of a monopoly concentrated on large pyramidal and transnational criminal organisations that control the market, and shows, conversely, the diffuse nature of a system that resembles a global commodity market economy, with various outsourced agents and work parcelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Tuberculosis is still an unresolved medical problem in Russia. Therefore, the issue of providing Russian patients with anti-tuberculosis drugs is extremely relevant. Purpose of the study. To analyze the Russian production of anti-tuberculosis drugs, focusing on the country of origin of the pharmaceutical substance (PS). Materials and methods. Using articles, reports, special databases, and the latest WHO recommendations on tuberculosis therapy, the authors showed the origin of pharmaceutical substances, which are used to produce the dosage form (DF) of anti-tuberculosis drugs in Russia. Results. The aspects of industrial provision of Russia with anti-tuberculosis drugs are outlined. The Russian anti-tuberculosis drugs manufacturers (PS and DF) as well as foreign suppliers of PS to Russia are analyzed. Out of 22 types of antibiotics, 5 are produced from imported PS only, 13 are produced from imported and domestic PS, 2 are not produced in Russia but allowed for import, 2 are not registered in Russia. In the production of 13 types of antibiotics, the share of PS suppliers from Russia does not exceed 27 %. The share of foreign suppliers of PS for DF production in Russia is: India (5-100 % for different PS), China (3-81 %), Israel (4 %), Republic of Korea (7-63.5 %), Taiwan (3 %), Thailand (20-40 %), EU (3-100 %). Conclusion. Based on the results, a conclusion was made about vulnerability of Russian healthcare system in terms of tuberculosis treatment. For implementation the drug sovereignty strategy, further actions are needed to localize the production cycle of anti-tuberculosis drugs on the Russian territory.

Background & Aim: Medicinal plants have served as the primary constituents of traditional healthcare methods. Such plants have served mankind since primordial times. But such traditional knowledge is lacking conservation and promotion in present times. Documentation of such traditional knowledge can serve as safeguards for the conservation of such knowledge. The study primarily aims at the documentation of locally abundant medicinal plants available in the Kapilvastu district of Southern Nepal. Experimental: Data on medicinal plants regarding their local name, parts used along with their usage were collected through a questionnaire survey with a total of n=54 individuals of the locality. Excel software was used to analyze the pooled data and results were demonstrated in tables, charts, and graphs. Google Scholar and Researchgate were assessed for secondary data collection. Results: A total of 50 plant species from 46 genera representing 30 families used for curing 55 types of diseases were identified in the study area. Family Fabaceae was reported with the maximum number of species used (n=6). Trees (n=26) was the major used life form and leaf was the most frequently used (n=28) in terms of parts used. Recommended applications/industries: This study serves as a future basis for research promotion, resource production, policy formulation, and protection of these highly valuable plants. The paper will also be useful for those looking for traditional remedial measures using locally available plants in Kapilvastu district, and also will serve as informational bank for homeopathy-based curative measures.

Abstract Background Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar are the world’s leading heroin and cocaine producers and have also experienced prolonged periods of armed conflict. The link between armed conflict and drug markets is well established but how conflict impacts on the health and social determinants of people who use drugs is less clear. The aim was to investigate health outcomes and associated factors among people who use illicit drugs in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. Methods We conducted a systematic review searching Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Global Health databases using terms relating to Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar; illicit drug use (all modes of drug administration); health and influencing factors. Quality assessment was assessed with the Newcastle–Ottawa-Scale and papers were analysed narratively. Results 35 studies were included in Afghanistan (n = 15), Colombia (n = 9) and Myanmar (n = 11). Health outcomes focused predominantly on HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), Hepatitis B and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), with one study looking at human rights violations (defined as maltreatment, abuse and gender inequality). Drug use was predominantly injection of heroin, often alongside use of amphetamines (Myanmar), cocaine and cocaine-based derivatives (Colombia). Only one study measured the effect of a period of conflict suggesting this was linked to increased reporting of symptoms of STIs and sharing of needles/syringes among people who inject drugs. Findings show high levels of external and internal migration, alongside low-income and unemployment across the samples. External displacement was linked to injecting drugs and reduced access to needle/syringe programmes in Afghanistan, while initiation into injecting abroad was associated with increased risk of HCV infection. Few studies focused on gender-based differences or recruited women. Living in more impoverished rural areas was associated with increased risk of HIV infection. Conclusions More research is needed to understand the impact of armed-conflict and drug production on the health of people who use drugs. The immediate scale-up of harm reduction services in these countries is imperative to minimize transmission of HIV/HCV and address harms associated with amphetamine use and other linked health and social care needs that people who use drugs may face.

Here, we employed machine learning models to predict how well Capecitabine drug would dissolve in supercritical carbon dioxide as the green solvent. The vision is to investigate the drug suitability for processing of nanodrugs with enhanced bioavailability in the body. In the employed data set, P (pressure) and T (temperature) serve as inputs, and Y, the solubility, is the only output for building the models. This study uses DT (Decision Tree) and MLP (Multilayer perceptron) as the core models. However, the raw and individual form of conventional algorithms may not provide accurate and general results. Ensemble methods like boosting improve the model performance. Also, single and ensemble models mounted on these models have hyper-parameters whose optimization affects the final models. Meta-heuristic algorithms are popular for tuning hyper-parameters. In this research, we used a new hybrid framework by coupling the basic models with the Adaboost algorithm (as an ensemble method) and PO and CS algorithms (as optimizers) to obtain four different models. The MLP model boosted with Adaboost and tuned with PO algorithm showed the best fitting accuracy among all models. This model reduces the RMSE error rate to 1.71, MSE to 2.92, and MAE to 1.42. • Developing advanced computational models for estimation of drug solubility. • Coupling the basic models with the Adaboost algorithm to enhance accuracy. • The MLP model boosted with Adaboost indicated the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar are the world's leading heroin and cocaine producers and have also experienced prolonged periods of armed conflict. The link between armed conflict and drug markets is well established but how conflict impacts on the health and social determinants of people who use drugs is less clear. The aim was to investigate health outcomes and associated factors among people who use illicit drugs in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar. Methods: We conducted a systematic review searching Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Global Health databases using terms relating to Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar; illicit drug use (all modes of drug administration); health and influencing factors. Quality assessment was assessed with the Newcastle–Ottawa-Scale and papers were analysed narratively. Results: 35 studies were included in Afghanistan (n = 15), Colombia (n = 9) and Myanmar (n = 11). Health outcomes focused predominantly on HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), Hepatitis B and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), with one study looking at human rights violations (defined as maltreatment, abuse and gender inequality). Drug use was predominantly injection of heroin, often alongside use of amphetamines (Myanmar), cocaine and cocaine-based derivatives (Colombia). Only one study measured the effect of a period of conflict suggesting this was linked to increased reporting of symptoms of STIs and sharing of needles/syringes among people who inject drugs. Findings show high levels of external and internal migration, alongside low-income and unemployment across the samples. External displacement was linked to injecting drugs and reduced access to needle/syringe programmes in Afghanistan, while initiation into injecting abroad was associated with increased risk of HCV infection. Few studies focused on gender-based differences or recruited women. Living in more impoverished rural areas was associated with increased risk of HIV infection. Conclusions: More research is needed to understand the impact of armed-conflict and drug production on the health of people who use drugs. The immediate scale-up of harm reduction services in these countries is imperative to minimize transmission of HIV/HCV and address harms associated with amphetamine use and other linked health and social care needs that people who use drugs may face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illegal drug production, specifically marijuana in California, and cocaine in South America, is resulting in intensive environmental degradation. While commonly cited as detrimental to societal health, the impacts of illicit drugs are rarely referred to as environmentally threatening. Ecosystem toxification, greenhouse gas emissions, and unsustainable water usage account for a variety of malign effects resulting from the plantation, harvest, and production of cannabis and cocaine. Ecosystem degradation remains a serious concern into the 21st century, a result indicative of the fact that current methods designed to stem the drug-trade too often involve reactionary enforcement measures by unitary actors. Preventive, not reactive, actions must be implemented to stop the production of illicit drugs in their initial stages, before ecosystem injury occurs. Coordinated efforts involving the integration of environmental and enforcement agencies, in intrastate and international realms, will be imperative for the establishment of a competent, global, anti-drug security system. Public sector involvement, through petitions and advertising campaigns by non-governmental organizations and environmental interest groups, can assist government efforts by raising awareness of drug-initiated ecosystem degradation and persuading constituents to lobby legislators for legal revisions.

China has been marked as a source country from which large volumes of precursor chemicals are shipped to foreign drug markets for synthetic drug production. However, the basic patterns of illicit distribution remain unclear. Data from closed criminal cases were extracted from legal files to develop an objective understanding of illicit distribution patterns in China. The sample consisted of 534 illicit supply cases involving 1481 individuals, three groups of precursor chemicals and 102 chemical manufacturing companies. The offenders could be categorised as lower-class offenders, occupational offenders and corporate offenders based on their profiles and criminal behaviours. Significant differences between the three groups of offenders and their specific patterns of chemical supply suggest a diverse, dynamic and complex nationwide supply network. To better understand this phenomenon in China’s rapidly transitioning society, we provide a description of cultural, legal and political backgrounds, which may provide some explanations at the macro level.

The analysis focuses on the influence of illegal economies on local order and questions the conventional rationale of instability and violence through illegal activities. In an in depth-case study the analysis provides evidence that illicit economies can contribute to the development of local order rather than destroying it. The VRAEM is the current epicenter of drug production in Peru and therefore a well-fitting case for the analysis. The paper builds on qualitative data from participant observation, interviews and theory-based questionnaires collected in 2016 and 2017. The paper focuses on current center for drug production and on the social consequences, deepens our understanding of the influence of illegal economies on the local order. Understanding this influence is essential for designing policies for and understanding dynamics of state intervention. The drug economy played a significant role in the evolution of local order particularly in the areas of economy, security and rule. Even if this order does not resemble a normative state order, it is in itself stable and legitimate.

The screening and testing of extracts against a variety of pharmacological targets in order to benefit from the immense natural chemical diversity is a concern in many laboratories worldwide. And several successes have been recorded in finding new actives in natural products, some of which have become new drugs or new sources of inspiration for drugs. But in view of the vast amount of research on the subject, it is surprising that not more drug candidates were found. In our view, it is fundamental to reflect upon the approaches of such drug discovery programs and the technical processes that are used, along with their inherent difficulties and biases. Based on an extensive survey of recent publications, we discuss the origin and the variety of natural chemical diversity as well as the strategies to having the potential to embrace this diversity. It seemed to us that some of the difficulties of the area could be related with the technical approaches that are used, so the present review begins with synthetizing some of the more used discovery strategies, exemplifying some key points, in order to address some of their limitations. It appears that one of the challenges of natural product-based drug discovery programs should be an easier access to renewable sources of plant-derived products. Maximizing the use of the data together with the exploration of chemical diversity while working on reasonable supply of natural product-based entities could be a way to answer this challenge. We suggested alternative ways to access and explore part of this chemical diversity with in vitro cultures. We also reinforced how important it was organizing and making available this worldwide knowledge in an “inventory” of natural products and their sources. And finally, we focused on strategies based on synthetic biology and syntheses that allow reaching industrial scale supply. Approaches based on the opportunities lying in untapped natural plant chemical diversity are also considered.

Copyright of URVIO - Revista Latinoamericana de Seguridad Ciudadana is the property of FLACSO - Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The screening and testing of extracts against a variety of pharmacological targets in order to benefit from the immense natural chemical diversity is a concern in many laboratories worldwide. And several successes have been recorded in finding new actives in natural products, some of which have become new drugs or new sources of inspiration for drugs. But in view of the vast amount of research on the subject, it is surprising that not more drug candidates were found. In our view, it is fundamental to reflect upon the approaches of such drug discovery programs and the technical processes that are used, along with their inherent difficulties and biases. Based on an extensive survey of recent publications, we discuss the origin and the variety of natural chemical diversity as well as the strategies to having the potential to embrace this diversity. It seemed to us that some of the difficulties of the area could be related with the technical approaches that are used, so the present review begins with synthetizing some of the more used discovery strategies, exemplifying some key points, in order to address some of their limitations. It appears that one of the challenges of natural product-based drug discovery programs should be an easier access to renewable sources of plant-derived products. Maximizing the use of the data together with the exploration of chemical diversity while working on reasonable supply of natural product-based entities could be a way to answer this challenge. We suggested alternative ways to access and explore part of this chemical diversity with in vitro cultures. We also reinforced how important it was organizing and making available this worldwide knowledge in an "inventory" of natural products and their sources. And finally, we focused on strategies based on synthetic biology and syntheses that allow reaching industrial scale supply. Approaches based on the opportunities lying in untapped natural plant chemical diversity are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Forensic Medicine & Forensic Sciences / Türkiye Klinikleri Adli Tıp ve Adli Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Turkiye Klinikleri and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The extraordinary economic growth rates of the twentieth century are historically exceptional and a continuation into the future seems neither possible nor desirable. Consequently, it is in the interest of public health to actively shape a socio-economic transformation towards a system that is not based on growth. 'Degrowth' provides coherent guidelines for such a system. Combining existing scholarship from the degrowth and the public health fields, this paper makes seven suggestions for a public health agenda towards sustainable health: (1) to develop an index of health status in relation to present and future health burden; (2) to reduce the resource burden of medical therapy; (3) to translate increased productivity to fewer working hours and more free time instead of more income and material consumption; (4) to make use of non-conventional knowledge and non-commercial forms of work and product exchange; (5) to make knowledge freely available, making use of innovative research frameworks such as open source drug research; (6) to relocalize economic life and health-related organization and to reshape citizen participation and (7) to reduce socio-economic inequality through redistribution. Generally, this paper argues that it is time for discussions on degrowth to enter the mainstream medical and health community and for doctors and other health workers to acknowledge that they have a significant role to play and important experience to contribute when our societies face the upcoming challenge of no-longer-growing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Para la década del noventa, la institucionalidad en Colombia se encontraba vulnerada frente a grandes carteles que traficaban y comercializaban con narcóticos. Fue en este contexto en el cual surgió el Plan Colombia, estrategia para recuperar la institucionalidad, reducir los cultivos ilícitos de coca y amapola, debilitar la economía de los grupos ilegales insurgentes, y finalmente recuperar la confianza inversionista. Hoy 13 años después de implementado el Plan, los cultivos ilícitos han tenido una disminución pero persisten, el tráfico y el comercio de psicoactivos han mutado y el consumo se ha incrementado, por lo tanto se cuenta con una necesidad social manifiesta por abordajes que realmente procuren un desarrollo sostenible y que den respuesta a una demanda comunitaria por acciones que procuren la prevención, la atención, el tratamiento y la rehabilitación de las personas, con servicios de salud adecuados. During the 1990's, institutionality in Colombia was negatively affected by large drug-dealing cartels. It was in this context where the Plan Colombia was born. This plan was a strategy to recover institutionality, reduce illegal coca and poppy plantations, weaken the economy of illegal insurgent groups, and restore investor confidence. Today, 13 years after the implementation of the Plan, the amount of illegal plantations has decreased. However they are still present, the traffic and trade of psychoactive substances have evolved, and consumption has increased. Therefore, there is now an evident societal need for strategies which address these issues that truly lead to sustainable development. Likewise, the community requires actions aimed at preventing this issue and promoting the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of those affected by this reality while providing adequate healthcare service

Background and aims Electronic tracking systems (ETS) are used extensively in pharmacies across the United States and Australia to control suspicious sales of pseudoephedrine. This study measures the impact of one ETS-Project STOP-on the capacity of police to reduce production, supply and possession of methamphetamine. Design Using official police data of incidents of production, supply and possession from January 1996 to December 2011 ( n = 192 data points/months over 16 years), we used a quasi-experimental, time-series approach. Setting The State of Queensland, Australia. Participants No individual participants are included in the study. The unit of analysis is reported police incidents. Measurements The study examines the impact of the ETS on production ( n = 5938 incidents), drug supply and trafficking ( n = 20 094 incidents) and drug possession or use ( n = 118 926) of methamphetamine. Findings Introduction of the ETS in November 2005 was associated with an insignificant decrease ( P = 0.15) in the production of methamphetamine. The intervention was associated with a statistically significant increase in supply incidents ( P = 0.0001). There was no statistically significant effect on the incidence of possession ( P = 0.59). Conclusions Electronic tracking systems can reduce the capacity of people to produce methamphetamine domestically, but seem unlikely to affect other aspects of the methamphetamine problem such as possession, distribution and importation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universidad & Empresa is the property of Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)