# pharma: an ethno-drug revisited ... Ayahuasca, prelude of a "magic string" in neuropharmacology

To [AA] << knowledge, this is the first controlled trial to test a psychedelic substance in treatment-resistant depression. Overall, this study brings new evidence supporting the safety and therapeutic value of ayahuasca, dosed within an appropriate setting, to help treat depression. >>

Palhano-Fontes F, Barreto D, et al.  Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Psychol Med. 2018 Jun 15:1-9. doi: 10.1017/S0033291718001356.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29903051

<< Ayahuasca is a mixture of herbs, traditionally used for spiritual and therapeutic purposes. The main active ingredients are N,N-DMT, a potent psychedelic, and several molecules that inhibit the enzyme MAO. The MAO inhibitors serve to prevent the N,N-DMT from being broken down by the digestive system, allowing it to enter the bloodstream and cause hallucinations and other alterations of consciousness. >>

Ayahuasca, the Psychedelic Antidepressant? Neuroskeptic. June 17, 2018.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2018/06/17/psychedelic-antidepressant-ayahuasca/

John Horgan. Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Don't Forget the Risks. SciAm. July 6, 2018.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/yes-make-psychedelics-legally-available-but-dont-forget-the-risks/

Also:

"magic string"

# pharma: waiting for new 'magic strings': psilocybin to treat depression. Oct 17, 2017.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2017/10/pharma-waiting-for-new-strings.html

# s-brain: 70-years after; Dr. Albert revisited. Aug 22, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/08/s-brain-70-years-after-dr-albert.html

# s-pharma-n-ethnomed: psilocybin. Dec 14, 2015.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2015/12/s-pharma-n-ethnomed-psilocybin.html

# behav: reconciliation following conflicts in wolves compared to dogs

<< Highly cooperative social species are expected to engage in frequent reconciliation following conflicts in order to maintain pack cohesiveness and preserve future cooperation. >>

AA << provide evidence for reconciliation in captive wolves, which are highly dependent on cooperation between pack members, while domestic dogs, which rely on conspecific cooperation less than wolves, avoided interacting with their partners after conflicts. >>

Simona Cafazzo, Sarah Marshall-Pescini, et al. The effect of domestication on post-conflict management: wolves reconcile while dogs avoid each other. Royal Society Open Science. doi: 10.1098/rsos.171553.  July 4, 2018

http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/7/171553 

Bob Yirka. Study suggests dogs have lost ability to reconcile after violent conflicts. July 4, 2018

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-07-dogs-lost-ability-violent-conflicts.html

# evol: defining 'species', a 'fuzzy art' in a fuzzy world ...

<< there are "n+1 definitions of 'species' in a room of n biologists." >> John S. Wilkins.

Susan Milius. Defining 'species' is a fuzzy art. A schoolroom word. A vital concept. A beast to define. Science News. 192 (8): 22. Nov 1, 2017.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/defining-species-fuzzy-art

FonT

"n+1" or, maybe,  "n+m" ...

# evol: high-latitude and low surface temperatures cause the fastest rates of fish speciation

<< the fastest rates of speciation occur in species-poor regions outside the tropics, and that high-latitude fish lineages form new species at much faster rates than their tropical counterparts. High rates of speciation occur in geographical regions that are characterized by low surface temperatures and high endemism. >>

AA << results reject a broad class of mechanisms under which the tropics serve as an evolutionary cradle for marine fish diversity and raise new questions about why the coldest oceans on Earth are present-day hotspots of species formation. >>

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0273-1

Daniel L. Rabosky, Jonathan Chang, et al. An inverse latitudinal gradient in speciation rate for marine fishes.
Nature. July 4, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0273-1

<< Our results are counterintuitive and unexpected, because we find that speciation is actually fastest in the geographic regions with the lowest species richness. (..) Extinction is the missing piece of this puzzle >> Daniel Rabosky

Frigid polar oceans, not balmy coral reefs, are species-formation hot spots. University of Michigan. July 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-07-frigid-polar-oceans-balmy-coral.html

also

# s-evol: early life in cold ocean. March 20, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/03/s-evol-early-life-in-cold-ocean.html

# esobio: #ufo, this phenomenon was a lot more than nuts and bolts machines ...

<< The investigative "I-Team" for CBS affiliate KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, NV has brought forward new documents related to the secret Pentagon UFO program first revealed by the New York Times in December. >>

<< The investigations by BAASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies) provided new lines of evidence showing that the UFO phenomenon was a lot more than nuts and bolts machines that interacted with military aircraft (..) The phenomenon also involved a whole panoply of diverse activity that included bizarre creatures, poltergeist activity, invisible entities, orbs of light, animal and human injuries and much more. >>

Andrew Whalen. Pentagon's Secret UFO Program Investigated Poltergeist  Connection To Alien Mystery. Newsweek. May 29, 2018.

http://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-ufo-program-disclosure-aliens-poltergeist-top-secret-bigelow-948051

Ralph Blumenthal. On the Trail of a Secret Pentagon U.F.O. Program. Dec 18, 2017.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/insider/secret-pentagon-ufo-program.html

Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, Leslie Kean.  Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program. Dec 16, 2017.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html

Dave Roos. How Do You Become a Ufologist? Jun 11, 2018

https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/do-become-ufologist.htm

<< I'm not surprised that the Pentagon's UFO program looked at poltergeist activity (..)  >> Nick Pope. May 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/nickpopemod/status/1001557546128179201

# behav: the social / antisocial flexibility of yellow-bellied marmots (M. flaviventer)

<< Humans in strong social relationships are more likely to live longer because social relationships may buffer stressors and thus have protective effects. However, a shortcoming of human studies is that they often rely on self-reporting of these relationships. >>

AA << focused on socially flexible yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and asked whether female longevity covaries with the specific nature of social relationships. >>

AA << found a significant negative phenotypic correlation between affiliative social relationship strength and longevity; marmots with greater degree, closeness and those with a greater negative average shortest path length died at younger ages. >>

<< sociality plays an important role in longevity, but how it does so may depend on whether a species is obligately or facultatively social. >>

Daniel T. Blumstein, Dana M. Williams, et al.   Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal. Proc Royal Soc B. Biol Sci. Jan 17, 2018. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1934.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/285/1871/20171934

Douglas Quenqua. Being Antisocial Leads to a Longer Life. For Marmots. NYTimes. Jan. 17, 2018.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/science/marmots-antisocial-lifespan.html

# acad: Prometheus vs Pandora interplay

<< Some of the most important rules we need to discover are about how to use technology and, just as importantly, how not to use it. >>

<< The great institutional economist Clarence Ayres wrote about how technology becomes incorporated into our lives in a way that is roughly equivalent to the way tribal societies use totems to interact with each other. >>

<< Every inventor is both a Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, and a Pandora unwittingly releasing a swarm of potential evils on the world. The competition of ideas between hype and doomsaying allows us to discover helpful rules which deal with both. >>

<< Technology doesn't come with a ready-made rulebook for how to use it. We have to discover this in a process of trial, error and argument. And for this the doomsayer is just as vital as the visionary. >>

Brendan Markey-Towler. Doomsaying about new technology helps make it better. Jun 21, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/doomsaying-about-new-technology-helps-make-it-better-98623