Veganism and animal welfare, scientific, ethical, and philosophical arguments

Published Online: May 1, 2023The justification for this review article is to understand the position of vegans and those individuals who consume food of animal origin from an unbiased perspective but with a grounding in scientific evidence. This will provide people who eat meat with scientific and ethical arguments to defend their alimentary autonomy in the context of the moral conflict that has emerged in societies regarding the consumption of meat and animal products, which is criticized –sometimes even attacked– by activists, ovolactovegetarians, or vegetarians with alimentary habits that stress ethical and moral respect for animals. These individuals refuse to eat meat and animal products but sometimes show disrespect for those who do. In recent decades, veganism and vegetarianism have reached an apogee in some western societies where they are often considered a healthy option for humans that simultaneously fosters animal and environmental welfare. While those diets may provide numerous benefits, they can also entail health risks by failing to provide balance and necessary dietary supplements. Various researchers concur that they are not appropriate for pregnant women, children, or carnivorous or omnivorous pets. Our review of scientific articles in favor and against dietary regimens that lack protein of animal origin leads to the conclusion that these dietary changes, on their own, do not reduce animal suffering or the contamination generated by the meat, dairy, and poultry industries. Finally, it is important to consider that, despite the popular opinion that vegetarianism and veganism are healthy diet alternatives, the diet must be individualized and well-balanced according to each stage of their life cycle.Daniel Mota-Rojas, Alexandra L. Whittaker, Leonardo Thielo de la Vega, Marcelo Ghezzi, Karina Lezama-García, Adriana Domínguez-Oliva, Isabel Falcón, Alejandro Casas-Alvarado, María Alonso-Spilsbur

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. © 2019, The Author(s)

New national and regional bryophyte records, 36

In the moss flora of Uruguay there are recorder ten species of genus Fissidens (Matteri, 2004). Three of them (F. macrobryoides, F. prionocheilos and F. vitreo-limbatus) are species incertae because the type material for the names not was located (Purssel, 2007). As part of project "Studies on Bryophytes in the Cone Sur (Systematic and Phylogeny)" some specimens recently collected in Uruguay were determinate as Fissidens asplenioides a no previously species recorded in this country. The presence of F. asplenioides in Uruguay complete the distribution range of the species in the cone Sur (is present in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay). However, within the Neotropical region there are few records of F. asplenoides in the phytogeographic province of Pampa. In Uruguay, where other bryophytes were recently recorded (Ellis et al., 2011, 2012a, b), F. asplenioides was collected in the river on semi-submerged rock.Fil: Ellis, L. T.. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Bakalin, V. A.. Botanical Garden-Institute; Rusia. Institute of Biology and Soil Science; RusiaFil: Baisheva, E.. Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences; RusiaFil: Bednarek Ochyra, H.. Institute of Botany; PoloniaFil: Ochyra, R.. Institute of Botany; PoloniaFil: Borovichev, E. A.. Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute; RusiaFil: Choi, S. S.. Chonbuk National University; Corea del SurFil: Sun, B. Y.. Chonbuk National University; Corea del SurFil: Erzberger, P.. No especifica;Fil: Fedosov, V. E.. M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Garilleti, R.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Albertos. B.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Górski, P.. Poznań University of Life Sciences; PoloniaFil: Hájková, P.. Masaryk University; República Checa. Institute of Botany; República ChecaFil: Hodgetts, N. G.. No especifica;Fil: Ignatov, M.. Main Botanical Garden; RusiaFil: Koczur. A.. Institute of Nature Conservation; PoloniaFil: Kurbatova, L. E.. Komarov Botanical Institute; RusiaFil: Lebouvier, M.. Universite de Rennes I; FranciaFil: Mezăka, A.. University of Latvia; LetoniaFil: Miravet, J.. Jardí Botànic Marimurtra; EspañaFil: Pawlikowski, P.. Uniwersytet Warszawski; ArgentinaFil: Porley, R. D.. No especifica;Fil: Rosselló, J. A.. Jardí Botànic Marimurtra; España. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Sabovljević, M. S.. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Pantović, J.. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Sabovljević, A.. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Schröder, W.. No especifica;Fil: Ştefănut, S.. Institute of Biology of Romanian Academy; RumaniaFil: Suarez, Guillermo Martin. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Schiavone, M.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Yayintas, Ö. T.. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University; TurquíaFil: Váňa, J.. Charles University; República Chec

Grx5 Is a Mitochondrial Glutaredoxin Required for the Activity of Iron/Sulfur Enzymes

Yeast cells contain a family of three monothiol glutaredoxins: Grx3, 4, and 5. Absence of Grx5 leads to constitutive oxidative damage, exacerbating that caused by external oxidants. Phenotypic defects associated with the absence of Grx5 are suppressed by overexpression of SSQ1 and ISA2, two genes involved in the synthesis and assembly of iron/sulfur clusters into proteins. Grx5 localizes at the mitochondrial matrix, like other proteins involved in the synthesis of these clusters, and the mature form lacks the first 29 amino acids of the translation product. Absence of Grx5 causes: 1) iron accumulation in the cell, which in turn could promote oxidative damage, and 2) inactivation of enzymes requiring iron/sulfur clusters for their activity. Reduction of iron levels in grx5 null mutants does not restore the activity of iron/sulfur enzymes, and cell growth defects are not suppressed in anaerobiosis or in the presence of disulfide reductants. Hence, Grx5 forms part of the mitochondrial machinery involved in the synthesis and assembly of iron/sulfur centers