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

Morfologia de plântulas e plantas jovens de 30 espécies arbóreas de Leguminosae Morphology of seedlings and saplings of 30 tree species of Leguminosae

Tendo em vista a carência de informações a respeito das formas jovens das plantas e a importância desses dados como subsídios para trabalhos taxonômicos, filogenéticos e ecológicos, foram estudadas morfologicamente as plântulas e plantas jovens de 30 espécies arbóreas de Leguminosae, ocorrentes no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, visando à apresentação de características úteis para a identificação das espécies selecionadas. O desenvolvimento das plântulas e plantas jovens foi acompanhado diariamente, em germinador e em casa de vegetação. São apresentados dados relativos à morfologia da plântula, número de catáfilos, época de diferenciação do primeiro eófilo e sua filotaxia, época da abscisão cotiledonar e da formação do primeiro metáfilo, bem como a ocorrência de nodulação radicular. A análise das plântulas e plantas jovens demonstrou a grande variação que existe nas Leguminosae. Nessa família, plântulas epígeo-foliáceas e epígeo-carnosas ocorrem em 80% das espécies estudadas. Em Caesalpinioideae, todas as plântulas se mostraram epígeas, 20% delas com cotilédones carnosos. Em Mimosoideae, 66,7% das espécies produziram plântulas epígeo-foliáceas, 22,2% epígeo-carnosas e 11,1% semi-hipógeas. As espécies de Faboideae apresentaram dois tipos de plântulas: epígeo-carnosas em 54,5% e hipógeas em 45,5%.<br>Seedlings and saplings of tree species of Leguminosae from São Paulo State, Brazil, were studied morphologically. This study was also carried out due to the scarce information about seedlings and saplings besides the importance of these data as a support for taxonomic, phylogenetic and ecological studies. The seedling and sapling development were observed daily in a germinator and greenhouse. Seedling morphology, cataphyll number, first eophyll differentiation time and their phyllotaxis, cotyledon abscision time, first metaphyll differentiation and radicular nodulation data are presented. The results showed the greatest seedling variation in Leguminosae. In this family, epigeal-foliaceous and epigeal-fleshy seedlings occurred in 80% of the studied species. In Caesalpinioideae, all seedlings were epigeal, 20% of these seedlings had fleshy cotyledons. In Mimosoideae, 66.7% of the species had epigeal-foliaceous seedlings, 22.2% epigeal-fleshy and 11.1% semi-hypogeal seedlings. Faboideae species exhibited two types of seedlings: 54.5% were epigeal-fleshy and 45.5% were hypogeal

Identification of Cytauxzoon felis antigens via protein microarray and assessment of expression library immunization against cytauxzoonosis

Abstract Background Cytauxzoonosis is a disease of felids in North America caused by the tick-transmitted apicomplexan parasite Cytauxzoon felis. Cytauxzoonosis is particularly virulent for domestic cats, but no vaccine currently exists. The parasite cannot be cultivated in vitro, presenting a significant limitation for vaccine development. Methods Recent sequencing of the C. felis genome has identified over 4300 putative protein-encoding genes. From this pool we constructed a protein microarray containing 673 putative C. felis proteins. This microarray was probed with sera from C. felis-infected and naïve cats to identify differentially reactive antigens which were incorporated into two expression library vaccines, one polyvalent and one monovalent. We assessed the efficacy of these vaccines to prevent of infection and/or disease in a tick-challenge model. Results Probing of the protein microarray resulted in identification of 30 differentially reactive C. felis antigens that were incorporated into the two expression library vaccines. However, expression library immunization failed to prevent infection or disease in cats challenged with C. felis. Conclusions Protein microarray facilitated high-throughput identification of novel antigens, substantially increasing the pool of characterized C. felis antigens. These antigens should be considered for development of C. felis vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics