Advertising of ultra-processed foods and beverages: children as a vulnerable population

La rápida transición nutricional en América Latina tiene como resultado el aumento pronunciado de sobrepeso y obesidad en los niños. Evidencia reciente muestra que la publicidad de comidas y bebidas ejerce gran influencia en las preferencias alimenticias de los niños. Esta población se torna centro de atención para la industria de alimentos ultra procesados y bebidas, productos comercializados agresivamente. En los países de América Latina, sólo existen reglamentos ineficientes para la publicidad de bebidas y alimentos ultra procesados, y el discurso de auto regulación prevalece sobre los reglamentos legales. Este comentario explora el importante papel de la publicidad en el desarrollo de patrones de dietas no saludables y en la obesidad de niños en América Latina, así como la necesidad de acción gubernamental y participación social en la resolución de este problema de salud pública.A rápida transição nutricional na América Latina tem como resultado o aumento pronunciado de sobrepeso e obesidade nas crianças. Evidência recente mostra que a publicidade de comidas e bebidas tem grande influência nas preferências alimentares das crianças. Essa população torna-se alvo da indústria de alimentos ultraprocessados e bebidas, produtos comercializados agressivamente. Nos países da América Latina, só existem regulamentos ineficientes para a publicidade de bebidas e alimentos ultraprocessados, e o discurso de auto-regulação prevalece sobre os regulamentos legais. Este comentário explora o papel importante da publicidade no desenvolvimento de padrões de dietas não saudáveis e na obesidade das crianças na América Latina, bem como a necessidade de ação governamental e participação social na resolução desse problema de saúde pública.The rapid nutrition transition occurring in Latin America has resulted in a sharp increase of childhood overweight and obesity. Recent evidence has shown that food and beverage advertising has a great influence on children’s eating behavior. This population has become a key target market for the ultra-processed foods and beverages industry, which is marketing products in an aggressive way. Evidence shows that Latin American countries have poor regulation of ultra-processed foods and beverages advertising, where the discourse of self-regulation still prevails over statutory regulations. The following commentary explores how advertising might play an important role in developing unhealthy dietary patterns and obesity in Latin American children, as well as the urgent need for government action and the involvement of civil society to tackle this public health issue

Effects of livestock pressure and vegetation cover on the spatial and temporal structure of soil microarthropod communities in Iberian rangelands

Forests, including their soils, play an important role since they represent a large reservoir of biodiversity. Current studies show that the diversity of soil fauna provides multiple ecosystem functions and services across biomes. However, anthropogenic practices often pose a threat to soil fauna because of changes in land use and soil mismanagement. In these terms, rangelands in the southwest of Spain present several problems of soil degradation related to livestock activity and soil erosion, the intensity of which compromises the soil fauna's functions in the ecosystem. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the response of community metrics and the spatial distribution of soil microarthropods to livestock activity and vegetation in such ecosystems. A photo interpretation analysis of an experimental catchment used as a study area was developed to identify and classify the intensity of livestock pressure. A total of 150 soil samples were collected throughout 2018. Soil biological (CO2 efflux) and physical-chemical parameters (pH, bulk density, organic matter, and water contents), and such meteorological variables as precipitation, temperature, and evapotranspiration were considered as variables affecting the composition of microarthropod communities in terms of taxa diversity, abundances, and their adaptation to soil environment (evaluated by QBS-ar index). Results showed higher abundance of microarthropods and higher adaptation to soil environment outside the influence of trees rather than beneath tree canopies. Moreover, the classification of livestock pressure revealed by the photo interpretation analysis showed low correlations with community structure, as well as with the occurrence of well-adapted microarthropod groups that were found less frequently in areas with evidence of intense livestock activity. Furthermore, abundances and adaptations followed different spatial patterns. Due to future climate changes and increasing anthropogenic pressure, it is necessary to continue the study of soil fauna communities to determine their degree of sensitivity to such changes

Inducing a topological transition in graphene nanoribbon superlattices by external strain

Armchair graphene nanoribbons, when forming a superlattice, can be classified into different topological phases, with or without edge states. By means of tight-binding and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we studied the electronic and mechanical properties of some of these superlattices. MD shows that fracture in modulated superlattices is brittle, as for unmodulated ribbons, and occurs at the thinner regions, with staggered superlattices achieving a larger fracture strain than inline superlattices. We found a general mechanism to induce a topological transition with strain, related to the electronic properties of each segment of the superlattice, and by studying the sublattice polarization we were able to characterize the transition and the response of these states to the strain. For the cases studied in detail here, the topological transition occurred at ∼3-5% strain, well below the fracture strain. The topological states of the superlattice - if present - are robust to strain even close to fracture. The topological transition was characterized by means of the sublattice polarization of the states.Fil: Flores Gutierréz, Esteban. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Mella, José D.. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Aparicio, Emiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad de Mendoza. Facultad de Ingenieria; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, Rafael I.. Universidad Mayor; Chile. Centro para el Desarrollo de la Nanociencia y la Nanotecnología; ChileFil: Parra, C.. Universidad Mayor; ChileFil: Bringa, Eduardo Marcial. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad de Mendoza. Facultad de Ingenieria; Argentina. Universidad Mayor; ChileFil: Munoz, Francisco. Centro para el Desarrollo de la Nanociencia y la Nanotecnología; Chile. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Adaptation and Testing of the Factorial Structure of the Physical Education Grit Scale for Use in Secondary Education in Spain

The challenges faced by students during Physical Education classes embrace both physical and academic aspects. Therefore, each individual possesses a series of internal psychological mechanisms, such as Grit, which allow them to adapt and overcome the vicissitudes. However, there are no scales that assess Grit in Span. Thus, the aim of the present study is to test the factor structure of the Physical Education Grit Scale in Span of Physical Education classes. For this purpose, 857 secondary school students took part in the present study. In order to test the factor structure, a confirmatory factor analysis, an exploratory factor analysis, an analysis of the reliability of the questionnaire and an analysis of temporal stability were carried out. The results showed that the factor structure consisted of two factors and four sub-factors (¿2/df = 2.17 (p = 0.001); CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.96; IFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.051; SRMR = 0.037). In addition, the reliability and temporal stability analyses showed acceptable indices. Based on these results, evidence of reliability and validity of the Physical Education Grit Scale in Span of Physical Education is provided

Phytotoxic and dissuasive activity of Chihuahua desert plants

With the purpose of finding plant compounds with the potential use as herbicides and insecticides, a research was realized with the objective of evaluate the phytotoxic and dissuasive activity of four Chihuahua desert plants. The phytotoxic activity evaluation was tested on Lactuca sativa and Lolium perenne, while the dissuasive activity was realized on three species of phytophagous insects: Myzus persicae, Rhopalosiphum padi and Spodoptera littoralis. Raw extracts were used, the solvents hexane, methanol and ethanol of different plants’ organs (root, steam, leaf and flower) of four species: Fouquieria splendens (ocotillo), Larrea tridentate (governor), Astragalus mollissimus (wild grass) and Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum (echo), by the establishment of in vitro bioassays at a concentration of 10 mg/ml extract/solvent. In the toxicity bioassay, the percentage of germination, root and leaf length were measured. The results showed that the leaf extract of L. tridentata had phytotoxic activity for L. sativa, while for L. perenne the phytotoxicity was observed within the ocotillo, governor and echo extracts. In the dissuasive bioassay, each treatment had 20 repetitions with 10 adult insects per repetition. The methanolic extracts of F. splendens leaf and root, ethanolic extract of A. mollisimus sheet and the ethanolic extract of P. pecten-aboriginum stems showed moderate dissuasive response of feeding against M. persicae, presenting a settlement inhibition index of 53.53, 54.35, 60.00 and 48.84% respectively. Nevertheless, the results indicated that none of the 10 extracts tested on S. littoralis showed significant dissuasive properties for this Lepidoptera, while for R. padi all the tested extracts presented dissuasive properties. The treatments of the four vegetable species evaluated showed defensive or dissuasive properties of moderate to strong feeding against the insects M. persicae and R. padi, presenting interesting potential for being used as insecticides, while the tested extracts that presented phytotoxicity for both lettuce and ryegrass present possibilities for the realization of herbicides

Effect of conventional and organic fertilizers on volatile compounds of raspberry fruit

Raspberries are widely consumed; the taste of the fruit is determined by the interaction between sugars, organic acids and a set of volatile compounds. Meanwhile, organic agriculture has developed rapidly as an alternative to conventional system and has been driven by the demand for pesticide-free food that brings greater benefits to human health. However, this system can alter the integral quality of the fruit, including the aroma, which has been little studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the application of organic and conventional fertilizers, in the presence of volatile compounds synthesized in the cv. ‘Heritage’ raspberry, during two crop cycles. The qualitative profile of volatile compounds was analysed by mass gas chromatography, obtaining as a result that fertilization treatments significantly affected the emission of volatile compounds in the most abundant functional group (C13 norisoprenoids) 48.5 vs. 25.8% and 56.9 vs. 29.1% in conventional and organic, in 2017 and 2018, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). The crop cycle affected the concentration of aldehydes (11.2 vs. 30.6% in organic, in 2017 and 2018, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). Impact compounds such as α-ionone (13.92 vs. 9.08% and 25.34 vs. 9.17% in conventional and organic in 2017 and 2018, respectively) and β-ionone (24.93 vs. 14.10% and 22.66 vs. 15.94% in conventional and organic in 2017 and 2018, respectively), presented greater abundance in conventional fertilization (p ≤ 0.05). Since there were changes in the volatile compounds, it is recommended to study whether the consumer perceives these changes