Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age.

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Associations of autozygosity with a broad range of human phenotypes

In many species, the offspring of related parents suffer reduced reproductive success, a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. In humans, the importance of this effect has remained unclear, partly because reproduction between close relatives is both rare and frequently associated with confounding social factors. Here, using genomic inbreeding coefficients (FROH) for >1.4 million individuals, we show that FROH is significantly associated (p < 0.0005) with apparently deleterious changes in 32 out of 100 traits analysed. These changes are associated with runs of homozygosity (ROH), but not with common variant homozygosity, suggesting that genetic variants associated with inbreeding depression are predominantly rare. The effect on fertility is striking: FROH equivalent to the offspring of first cousins is associated with a 55% decrease [95% CI 44–66%] in the odds of having children. Finally, the effects of FROH are confirmed within full-sibling pairs, where the variation in FROH is independent of all environmental confounding

Novel Loci for Adiponectin Levels and Their Influence on Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Traits : A Multi-Ethnic Meta-Analysis of 45,891 Individuals

J. Kaprio, S. Ripatti ja M.-L. Lokki työryhmien jäseniä.Peer reviewe

Biodiesel industry by-products used for ruminant feed

Biodiesel industry by-products appear to be an excellent alternative source for ruminant feed and may contribute to increased agricultural activity in terms of productivity and profitability. Among the various by-products, oilseed cakes have great potential for use due to their high protein and lipid contents, which make them an energetic feed source that would fulfill the nutritional requirements of animals. Thus, studies that aim to determine the optimum levels of oilseed cake in ruminant feed are important for maximizing the potential use of these by-products.A utilização de coprodutos oriundos da produção do biodiesel na alimentação de ruminantes surge como alternativa, que pode contribuir para o crescimento das atividades agropecuárias, em termos de produtividade e rentabilidade. Dentre os coprodutos, as tortas apresentam grande potencial, haja vista as consideráveis concentrações de proteína e extrato etéreo, que as caracterizam como alimentos protéicos e/ou energéticos, capazes de permitir o atendimento das exigências nutricionais destas frações pelos animais. Desta forma, é importante a realização de estudos que determinem os níveis ótimos de aplicação das diversas tortas oleaginosas, visando à busca de melhores resultados.El uso de los subproductos de la industria de biodiesel para alimentar a los rumiantes parece ser una excelente alternativa, que puede contribuir al aumento de las actividades agrícolas en términos de productividad y rentabilidad. Entre los sub-productos, las tortas de semillas oleaginosas tienen un gran potencial debido a los importantes niveles de proteínas y lípidos que las caracterizan como alimentos proteicos o energéticos capaces de satisfacer las necesidades nutricionales de los animales. Así, los estudios que tienen como objetivo determinar los niveles óptimos de tortas de semillas oleaginosas en los piensos para rumiantes son importantes para maximizar el uso potencial de estos subproductos

Functions of melatonin during postharvest of horticultural crops

Melatonin, a tryptophan-derived molecule, is endogenously generated in animal, plant, fungal and prokaryotic cells. Given its antioxidant properties, it is involved in a myriad of signaling functions associated with various aspects of plant growth and development. In higher plants, melatonin (Mel) interacts with plant regulators such as phytohormones, as well as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). It shows great potential as a biotechnological tool to alleviate biotic and abiotic stress, to delay senescence and to conserve the sensory and nutritional quality of postharvest horticultural products which are of considerable economic importance worldwide. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the biochemistry of Mel, whose endogenous induction and exogenous application can play an important biotechnological role in enhancing the marketability and hence earnings from postharvest horticultural crops.Imam Khomeini International University, Iran, (to M.S.A.) Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Science and Food Technology Area (PID2020-113029RB-I00 to M.B.A.); European Regional Development Fund co-financed grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PID2019-103924GB-I00 to F.J.C.); the Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (P18-FR-1359 to F.J.C.); Junta de Andalucía (group BIO192 to F.J.C.), Spain.Peer reviewe

Consumo, digestibilidade e parâmetros sanguíneos de cordeiros submetidos a dietas com torta de dendê: Intake, digestibility and blood parameters of lambs fed diets with palm kernel

This study was conducted in order to verify the best level of palm kernel for sheep diet by intake, nutrient digestibility and blood parameters in terminated feedlot lambs. Twenty non-castrated Santa Inês lambs were fed diets with corn meal, soybean meal, Tifton 85 hay and palm kernel levels (0.0; 6.5; 13.00 and 19.5% in dry matter), as total mixed ration. The experiment lasted 24 days. For three consecutive days, feed, orts and faeces were sampled for determination of intake and nutrient digestibility. At the last day, blood was collected for plasma urea nitrogen and glucose. Dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and total digestive nutrients (TDN) expressed by g/day, body weight percentage (%BW) and grams per kg of metabolic weight (g/kg MW) intake were not influenced by palm kernel inclusion, while neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and ether extract (EE) increased with palm kernel levels and non-fibrous carbohydrate decreased. Digestibility coefficient of non- carbohydrate decreased as levels of palm kernel increased. Blood urea nitrogen and glucose levels were not influenced by the diets, however, diets promoted quadratic effect at post feeding. Up to 19.5% of palm kernel can be included in diets for lambs, with no effects on studied variables.Este trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar o melhor nível de inclusão da torta de dendê por intermédio do consumo e da digesti- bilidade dos nutrientes e parâmetros sanguíneos em cordeiros terminados em confinamento. Utilizaram-se 20 animais inteiros, Santa Inês, ali- mentados com farelo de milho, farelo de soja, feno de tifton 85 e níveis de torta de dendê (0,0; 6,5;13,5 e 19,5% da matéria seca), em mistura completa. O período experimental teve duração de 24 dias. Durante três dias consecutivos, foram coletadas amostras do alimento, das sobras e fezes para determinação do consumo e da digestibilidade. No último dia, foram coletadas amostras de sangue para analise do N-uréico e glicose plasmático. Os consumos de matéria seca (MS), matéria orgânica (MO), proteína bruta (PB) e nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT), expressos em grama por dia (g/dia), porcentagem peso corporal (%PC) e grama por quilo peso metabólico (g/kgPM), não foram influenciados pela inclusão da torta de dendê, enquanto os de fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA) e extrato etéreo (EE) tiveram efeito linear crescente e os de carboidratos não fibrosos (CNF), decrescente, com a adição da torta. A inclusão da torta na alimentação proporcionou efeito linear decrescente para os coeficientes de digestibilidade de CNF. Não houve efeito de tratamento sobre os níveis de N-uréico e glicose sanguíneos, no entanto, foi observado efeito quadrático decrescente no período pós-prandial. Pode-se incluir até 19,5% da torta de dendê na dieta dos cordeiros, sem efeitos nas variáveis estudadas

Slaughter weight, sex and age effects on beef shear force and tenderness

In Argentina, beef cattle prices decrease as slaughter weight increases regardless of animal age or carcass maturity, and this decrease is significantly greater in heifers (15%) than in steers (5%). The objectives of the present study were to (1) determine whether shear force and tenderness differ between heifers of different slaughter weight, and between heifers, steers and cull cows of similar slaughter weight; (2) evaluate whether such differences, if any, could be overcome by extending beef aging period; and (3) understand the main causes of such differences in beef shear force and tenderness. Meat from heavy heifers (H-HEIFER, 381–420 kg BW) was compared to meat from light heifers (L-HEIFER, 300–340 kg BW), steers (STEER, 391–450 kg BW) or cull cows of similar weight (COW). At slaughter, carcass characteristics were determined and Longissimus thoracis (LM) and Gluteus medius (GM) muscle samples collected for shear force determination. Total and insoluble collagen, sarcomere length and intact troponin-T content, and sensory panel scores, were evaluated for LM. Aging effect was evaluated for shear force and sensory panel scores. Irrespective of muscle or aging period, increasing heifer slaughter weight did not impact negatively on beef shear force or tenderness levels; heifers and steers of similar slaughter weight had similar beef shear force and tenderness levels; whereas heifer beef was more tender (P<0.05) than that from cow of similar slaughter weight. Tenderness differences were not overcome by extending the aging period. Based on a principal component analysis, shear force and tenderness differences appear to be associated to the variation in chilling rate and sarcomere length.EEA BalcarceFil: Lucero Borja, Jorge Omar. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Pouzo, Laura Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: de la Torre, M.S. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Langman, Leandro Ezequiel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Carduza, Fernando José. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Corva, Pablo Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Santini, Francisco Jose. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Pavan, Enrique. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina