Information, Externalities and Socioeconomics of Malaria in Honduras: A Preliminary Analysis

This paper explores how different levels of knowledge correlate with desirable preventive and curative practices against malaria in Honduras. The paper additionally analyzes “information externalities” associated with non-specific malaria health services, communicational campaigns and organized community networks. Using the 2004 ENSEMAH survey, the analysis tests for statistical differences in the means of behavioral variables and an index of household malaria knowledge, finding that the adoption of desirable prevention and treatment behaviors correlates with proficient levels of knowledge. Differences in behavior across groups with distinctive levels of proficiency were found statistically significant. Also, while information externalities exist, they nonetheless do not deliver adequate levels of knowledge proficiency to induce desirable anti-malaria behavior.Malaria, Information, Externalities, Honduras

Impact of sous vide cooking on nutritional quality of meat

Cooking becomes the meat more digestible, eating, and palatable. However, heat treatment can cause undesirable nutritional changes inmeat, such as loss of minerals and vitamins, oxidation of lipids and changes in some segments of the protein fraction. The use of sous vide processing technology, which refers to cooking vacuum-sealed food in heat-stable plastic pouches under precisely monitored conditions, representsan interesting cooking alternative in terms of retains its natural sensory qualities of meat along with the nutritional value. In this paper, theresearch on the effect of sous vide cooking of meat on its nutritional quality is reviewed.Fil: Aviles, Maria Victoria. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Naef, Elisa Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: Lound, Liliana Haydee. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: Olivera, Daniela Flavia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; Argentin

Sous-vide-cooked ω3-enriched chicken hamburger: Physicochemical and sensory characterization

Se diseñó una hamburguesa de carne de pollo enriquecida con ácidos grasos ω3 poliinsaturados y cocida al vacío. La carne de pollo provino de pollos BB machos de la línea comercial Cobb, alimentados durante aproximadamente 27 días con 3 dietas isoproteicas e isoenergéticas en base a: maíz y soja; soja más aceite de lino y soja más aceite de pescado. Las hamburguesas, elaboradas con una mezcla de carne fresca de pechuga y pata muslo de pollo sin piel, salvado de avena y mezcla comercial de especias, se envasaron y cocinaron al vacío a 80 °C durante 10 min. Se realizaron análisis químicos (humedad, grasa, proteína, fibra, ácido tiobarbitúrico y perfil de ácidos grasos), color y perfil de textura. Las muestras enriquecidas con aceite de pescado presentaron valores significativamente mayores de ácidos docosapentaenoico (1,53 g de ácido graso por 100 g de grasa) que la muestra control (0,30 g de ácido graso por 100 g de grasa). La caracterización sensorial fue realizada por 54 consumidores utilizando la metodología CATA (marque todo lo que corresponda). La hamburguesa de pollo y enriquecida con aceite de pescado ω3 fue la más aceptada por los consumidores. Por lo tanto, se diseñó un producto alimenticio funcional en forma de hamburguesa de pollo que se enriqueció con ω3 poliinsaturados cerca de la recomendación diaria (250 mg), y se consideró un producto aceptable por el consumidor sobre la base del sabor agradable, apariencia agradable y sabor a pollo.We designed a chicken-meat hamburger enriched with ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and cooked by sous-vide. The chicken meat used came from male BB chickens of the Cobb commercial line, fed for approximately 27 days with 3 isoprotein and isoenergetic diets based on: corn and soy; soybeans plus flax oil and soybeans plus fish oil. The hamburgers, made with a mixture of fresh skinless chicken breast and thigh meat, oat bran and a commercial mix of spices, were vacuum-packed and cooked at 80 °C for 10 min. Chemical analyses (moisture, fat, protein, fiber, thiobarbituric acid and fatty acid profile), color and texture profile were performed. The samples enriched with fish oil presented significantly higher values of docosapentaenoic acid (1.53 g of fatty acid per 100 g of fat) than the control sample (0.30 g of fatty acid per 100 g of fat). The sensory characterization was carried out by 54 consumers using the CATA methodology (check all that apply). The chicken-meat hamburger enriched with fish-ω3 oil was the most widely accepted by consumers. Therefore, a functional food product enriched with ω3 polyunsaturated acid close to the daily recommendation (250 mg) was designed. The sensory acceptability of consumers was found based on a pleasant taste, pleasant appearance and chicken flavor.Fil: Abalos, Rosa Ana. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: Naef, Elisa Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; ArgentinaFil: Aviles, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; ArgentinaFil: Gallinger, Claudia Isaber. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Concepción del Uruguay; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Maria Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; Argentin

Physiological and transcriptomic characterization of a fliA mutant of Pseudomonas putida KT2440

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 encodes 23 alternative sigma factors. The fliA gene, which encodes σ28, is in a cluster with other genes involved in flagella biosynthesis and chemotaxis. Reverse transcriptase-PCR revealed that this cluster is comprised of four independent transcriptional units: flhAF, fleNfliA, cheYZA and cheBmotAB. We generated a nonpolar fliA mutant by homologous recombination and tested its motility, adhesion to biotic and abiotic surfaces, and responses to various stress conditions. The mutant strain was nonmotile and exhibited decreased capacity to bind to corn seeds, although its ability to colonize the rhizosphere of plants was unaffected. The mutant was also affected in binding to abiotic surfaces and its ability to form biofilms decreased by almost threefold. In the fliA mutant background expression of 25 genes was affected: two genes were upregulated and 23 genes were downregulated. In addition to a number of motility and chemotaxis genes, the fliA gene product is also necessary for the expression of some genes potentially involved in amino acid utilization or stress responses; however, we were unable to assign specific phenotypes linked to these genes since the fliA mutant used the same range of amino acids as the parental strain, and was as tolerant as the wild type to stress imposed by heat, antibiotics, NaCl, sodium dodecyl sulfate, H2O2 and benzoate. Based on the sequence alignment of promoters recognized by FliA and genome in silico analysis, we propose that P. putidaσ28 recognizes a TCAAG-t-N12-GCCGATA consensus sequence located between −34 and −8 and that this sequence is preferentially associated with an AT-rich upstream region

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Cardiopoietic cell therapy for advanced ischemic heart failure: results at 39 weeks of the prospective, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled CHART-1 clinical trial

Cardiopoietic cells, produced through cardiogenic conditioning of patients' mesenchymal stem cells, have shown preliminary efficacy. The Congestive Heart Failure Cardiopoietic Regenerative Therapy (CHART-1) trial aimed to validate cardiopoiesis-based biotherapy in a larger heart failure cohort

Consumers’ Opinion and Perception toward a Convenience Food through Projective Techniques

Convenience food cooked by sous vide has been developing in the field of high cuisine and restaurants. In this paper the perception of Argentinian consumers of a convenience food cooked by sous vide was explored through the use of projective techniques. The results demonstrated that good taste and convenience were the principal positive characteristics that promoted the intent to purchase a convenience food cooked by sous vide, whereas mistrust and lack of knowledge of the preparation and composition of the product discouraged the consumption.Fil: Abalos, Rosa Ana. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Facultad de Bromatología. Departamento de Bromatologia; ArgentinaFil: Naef, Elisa Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Facultad de Bromatología. Departamento de Bromatologia; ArgentinaFil: Aviles, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Facultad de Bromatología. Departamento de Bromatologia; ArgentinaFil: Gómez, María Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Facultad de Bromatología. Departamento de Bromatologia; Argentin