This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.Vascular plants are integrated into coherent bodies via plant-specific synaptic adhesion domains, action potentials (APs) and other means of long-distance signalling running throughout the plant bodies. Plant-specific synapses and APs are proposed to allow plants to generate their self identities having unique ways of sensing and acting as agents with their own goals guiding their future activities. Plants move their organs with a purpose and with obvious awareness of their surroundings and require APs to perform and control these movements. Self-identities allow vascular plants to act as individuals enjoying sociality via their self/non-self-recognition and kin recognition. Flowering plants emerge as cognitive and intelligent organisms when the major strategy is to attract and control their animal pollinators as well as seed dispersers by providing them with food enriched with nutritive and manipulative/addictive compounds. Their goal in interactions with animals is manipulation for reproduction, dispersal and defence. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.In nervous systems, there are two main modes of transmission for the propagation of activity between cells. Synaptic transmission relies on close contact at chemical or electrical synapses while volume transmission is mediated by diffusible chemical signals and does not require direct contact. It is possible to wire complex neuronal networks by both chemical and synaptic transmission. Both types of networks are ubiquitous in nervous systems, leading to the question which of the two appeared first in evolution. This paper explores a scenario where chemically organized cellular networks appeared before synapses in evolution, a possibility supported by the presence of complex peptidergic signalling in all animals except sponges. Small peptides are ideally suited to link up cells into chemical networks. They have unlimited diversity, high diffusivity and high copy numbers derived from repetitive precursors. But chemical signalling is diffusion limited and becomes inefficient in larger bodies. To overcome this, peptidergic cells may have developed projections and formed synaptically connected networks tiling body surfaces and displaying synchronized activity with pulsatile peptide release. The advent of circulatory systems and neurohemal organs further reduced the constraint imposed on chemical signalling by diffusion. This could have contributed to the explosive radiation of peptidergic signalling systems in stem bilaterians. Neurosecretory centres in extant nervous systems are still predominantly chemically wired and coexist with the synaptic brain. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.A body shape index (ABSI) is an anthropometric measure that allows evaluating abdominal adiposity. Obesity is considered a risk factor for endometrial cancer (EC). Due to the increase in EC's incidence, identifying risk factors for endometrial pathology is essential in women's health. The study aimed to identify an association between EC/endometrial pathology and ABSI. We identified well-known risk factors for endometrial cancer and calculated ABSI in 408 women who were admitted to the Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital Research Institute between January 2016 and December 2017. Patients were divided into four subgroups no endometrial pathology, endometrial polyps, hyperplasia without atypia, and hyperplasia with atypia/cancer. Statistical analysis showed a correlation between ABSI and the presence of cancer/atypical hyperplasia (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = .042). Additional multivariate analysis revealed that both ABSI and body mass index (BMI) z scores might potentially be associated with EC presence (ABSI z score quintiles Q1, Q2, Q3 vs. Q4, Q5 p = .039; BMI z score quintiles Q1, Q2, Q3 vs. Q4, Q5 p = .038). We found an association between cancer/atypical hyperplasia and ABSI. Further studies on ABSI are needed to establish ABSI as a risk factor for EC fully. The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been declared as a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, this pandemic has dramatically affected the entire world, even radically influencing the way patients are framed at triage. Symptoms and tests in most cases lead to a correct diagnosis; however, error may be around the corner. A 60 years old patient was referred with weight loss, fatigue and mild fever for 3 weeks as he was working in a COVID-19 ward. After a positive swab and chest CT scan, he was admitted in the hospital and treated as mild COVID-19 patient. A CT scan performed after the patient was discharged revealed a renal lesion misidentified as a tumor then clarified to be an abscess which retrospectively appears to be the main cause of his symptoms. Clinicians should consider other life-threatening disease in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with similar symptoms to minimize mistakes and avoid further unnecessary investigations.Clinicians should consider other life-threatening disease in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with similar symptoms to minimize mistakes and avoid further unnecessary investigations.This study was conducted to compare the knowledge of aging and rational geriatric pharmacotherapy among Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students in Telangana state, India. A multi-school, cross-sectional study was conducted among final year BPharm and PharmD students from 136 institutions between February and June 2017. A 15-item Geriatric Knowledge Assessment Scale (GKAS) was used to assess aging and rational geriatric pharmacotherapy knowledge among 600 pharmacy students. Selinexor order A total of 530 students participated in the survey, with a response rate of 88.3%, and their mean age was 23.5 (0.5 standard deviation) years. Three-fourth (73%) of the participants were PharmD and 27% were BPharm students. Adequate knowledge about aging was identified in only 41.1% of PharmD students and 16.1% of BPharm students. Both PharmD (73.1%) and BPharm (86.7%) demonstrated poor rational geriatric pharmacotherapy knowledge. Male gender [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 2.9, 95% CI (1.46-5.71)], students aged less then 22 years [AOR 3.