SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES

Background: The Second Southern Science Conference (SSCON 2024) represents a significant milestone in international scientific collaboration, bringing together researchers from twelve nations across multiple continents. The conference, held in Mendoza, Argentina, and co-hosted by the University of Vassouras in Brazil, marked both the 64th anniversary of Universidad de Mendoza and the 20th anniversary of Periódico Tchê Química, demonstrating the growing importance of cross-border academic partnerships. Aim: This study aimed to document and analyze the outcomes and impact of the Second Southern Science Conference, focusing on participation metrics, collaborative patterns, and institutional contributions while highlighting the significance of the hybrid format in facilitating global scientific dialogue. Methods: The analysis involved quantitative assessment of conference participation metrics, including the number of approved papers, author distributions, and institutional representation. The study examined participation patterns across countries and institutions, analyzing collaboration trends through statistical data visualization and comparative analysis of submission rates. Results: The conference achieved significant participation metrics with 65 approved papers and 242 contributing authors, averaging 4 authors per paper. The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba emerged as the leading institution, showcasing its 4 centuries legacy of academic excellence. The analysis revealed strong representation from Latin American institutions, with Brazil and Argentina leading in submissions. Most papers involved 2-5 collaborators, indicating effective research collaboration patterns. Over 500 people participated in the event through both in-person and virtual attendance options. Discussion: The hybrid format successfully facilitated broader international participation and knowledge exchange, which is particularly beneficial for addressing contemporary global challenges. The strong showing from Latin American institutions highlights the region's growing influence in international scientific discourse. The conference's interdisciplinary nature fostered new collaborative initiatives and research partnerships. Conclusions: The conference demonstrated the effectiveness of hybrid international scientific events in fostering global collaboration and knowledge exchange. Areas for improvement were identified, including extended submission timelines and establishment of a permanent management committee. The success of this edition supports the planning of future iterations, with the next edition scheduled to be held in Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro.

Prescription and non-prescription medication misuse or abuse is a global problem that has a negative impact on all human life aspects, including health, social, economic, and security status. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime reports, over 5% of adult people used drugs at least once in the year 2015, and 29.5 million of them were suffered from the consequences of inappropriate use of drugs. Information on the knowledge and perception among pharmacists regarding the misuse and abuse medications in Saudi Arabia are limited, and therefore, a study was conducted among pharmacy staff to assess their knowledge and awareness on drug misuse and abuse. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Pharmacy professionals with more than three months of experience were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the participant's responses. A Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association of sociodemographic factors with the participant's responses. Ninety pharmacy professionals were responded. Overall, 69 (76.7%) participants agreed that misuse and abuse are two different terms. In addition, the study showed different responses for patients who suspected to be medication abusers. In conclusion, this study provides an initial picture of pharmacy staffs' knowledge and opinion regarding the misuse and abuse of medicines in Saudi Arabia. Participants' reactions toward such behaviors were different and not consistent. Therefore, there should be a clear policy to define the role of the pharmacy staff toward the misuse and abuse of medication in Saudi Arabia.

Background: in the last decades, colocalization analysis of fluorescently tagged biomolecules has proven to be a powerful approach to studying functional relationships between these biomolecules. However, in many cases, to give this analysis a biological meaning, colocalization coefficients must be tested statistically, comparing them with the colocalization expected by chance. Aim: It addressed the statistical significance of triple colocalization to distinguish real triple colocalization and classify different triple signal scenarios. Methods: we use biological and generated images of triple signal scenarios to contrast seven independent statistical facts with independent statistical tests. Three of these tests correspond to pairwise relationships (double scrambling tests), and the others correspond to triple relationships: single scrambling tests (red, green, and blue scrambling) and the triple scrambling test. The analysis and methodology proposed can be reproduced using the application developed in our laboratory. Results: In the study approach, we found true triple relationships ignored by using traditional methods of computing the statistical significance, while we could reinterpret cases of not significant triple colocalization wrongly considered as significant by traditional methods. Discussion: single scrambling tests can reveal significant triple colocalization for low levels of triple co-occurrence, even when all pairwise relationships were exclusion relationships. Moreover, on the other hand, single scrambling tests can reveal the absence of a significant triple colocalization for high levels of triple co-occurrence, even when all pairwise relationships were significant colocalization. Conclusion: all scrambling tests are useful to classify a specific scenario of a triple relationship. Dynamics like mitosis can be distinguished into their phases by triple signal relationships using these 7 independent statistical tests.