Tackling nutritional and health claims to disentangle their effects on consumer food choices and behaviour: A systematic review

This systematic literature review collected and summarized research on consumer preferences and the purchase behaviour of food products with nutritional claims (NCs) and health claims (HCs), to reconcile, and expand upon, the findings of previous studies. First, considering that consumer behaviour is affected by a wide range of factors, to narrow the research we used a theoretical framework and divided the determinants of the effects of NCs and HCs on consumers’ preferences and purchasing behaviour into consumer characteristics, product characteristics, and consumers’ personal processes, using the quality perception process. Second, since most studies were conducted within the European Union (EU), we collected the scientific literature from 2006, when the law on NCs and HCs was harmonized in the EU, until September 2020. This same period was used to scan for other studies outside EU who used similar terminology on NCs and HCs. In total, 125 articles were found to be relevant for further analysis. The results showed that consumer characteristics such as familiarity, nutritional knowledge, motivation, and demographics affected choices. Extrinsic product characteristics, such as price, brand, colour, packaging shape and NCs and HCs, affected purchase decisions. Taste was the most important intrinsic characteristic, and consumers are not willing to sacrifice the pleasure of sensory function for health benefits. Perceived healthiness, understanding of the claims, liking and use were important factors that affected consumers’ personal processes in purchasing food with NCs and HCs. A challenge for future research is to consider exploiting new technologies and more realistic experimental methods to provide information that represents as close as possible consumers’ behaviour in real-life situations. © 2022 Elsevier Lt

Influencia de la salinidad edáfica sobre la calidad del aceite de oliva cv. Arbequina

This work analyzes the effect of soil salinity on olive oil quality. The chemical composition of oils extracted from young ‘Arbequina' olives subject in the field to three soil salinity levels (low-L, medium-M and high-H) was determined throughout a period of three years. A total of 30 parameters were analyzed (moisture, oil content, acidity, peroxides, ultraviolet absorbances, poliphenols, aliphatic alcohols, sterols, waxes, and fatty acid composition). Soil salinity was measured on fourteen different dates with an electromagnetic sensor. Overall, salinity increased oil content (+15 % in H with respect to L) and decreased aliphatic alcohols (-29 %) and palmitoleic acid (-32 %) (values significant at P0,05). In summary, olive oil quality was practically independent of soil salinity and, according to the prevailing legislation, all the oils were classified as “extra virgin”.Este trabajo analiza el efecto de la salinidad edáfica sobre la calidad del aceite de oliva. Durante tres campañas se determinó la composición química de aceites provenientes de olivos jóvenes ‘Arbequina' sujetos en campo a tres niveles de salinidad (baja-B, media-M y alta-A). En total se analizaron 30 parámetros (humedad, grasa, acidez, peróxidos, lecturas en el ultravioleta, polifenoles, alcoholes alifáticos, esteroles, ceras y composición de ácidos grasos). La salinidad edáfica se midió en catorce fechas con un sensor electromagnético. La salinidad produjo un aumento del porcentaje de grasa (+15 % en A respecto a B), y un descenso de los alcoholes alifáticos (-29 %) y del ácido palmitoleico (-32 %) (valores significativos a P0,05). En conclusión, la calidad del aceite de oliva fue prácticamente independiente de la salinidad, clasificándose en todos los casos como “virgen extra” según la normativa vigente

Apendicitis aguda y teratoma: ¿causalidad o consecuencia?

La enfermedad ginecológica puede cursar con gran variedad de manifestaciones clínicas. La coexistencia de teratoma y apendicitis aguda supone un porcentaje inusual de enfermedad abdominal en mujeres jóvenes, aunque no de forma exclusiva. Apenas hay revisiones o casos documentados en la literatura, por lo que se desconoce si existe causalidad entre ambas o simplemente es una coincidencia. Exponemos el caso de una paciente joven cuyo síntoma guía fue un dolor abdominal difuso con gran discordancia clinicorradiológica, que precisó intervención quirúrgica y confirmó la presencia de ambas entidades tras el estudio anatomopatológico. Gynaecological disorders can have a wide variety of clinical manifestations. The coexistence of teratoma and acute appendicitis accounts for unusual, but not exclusive, percentage of abdominal pathology in young women. There are virtually no reviews or documented cases in the literature, so it is unknown whether there is causality between the 2 or simply a coincidence. The case is presented of a young patient whose main symptom was diffuse abdominal pain with great clinical and radiological discordance. Surgical intervention was required to confirm the presence of both pathologies after the completion of the histopathology study

Costs and benefits of automation for astronomical facilities

The Observatorio Astrof\'isico de Javalambre (OAJ{\dag}1) in Spain is a young astronomical facility, conceived and developed from the beginning as a fully automated observatory with the main goal of optimizing the processes in the scientific and general operation of the Observatory. The OAJ has been particularly conceived for carrying out large sky surveys with two unprecedented telescopes of unusually large fields of view (FoV): the JST/T250, a 2.55m telescope of 3deg field of view, and the JAST/T80, an 83cm telescope of 2deg field of view. The most immediate objective of the two telescopes for the next years is carrying out two unique photometric surveys of several thousands square degrees, J-PAS{\dag}2 and J-PLUS{\dag}3, each of them with a wide range of scientific applications, like e.g. large structure cosmology and Dark Energy, galaxy evolution, supernovae, Milky Way structure, exoplanets, among many others. To do that, JST and JAST are equipped with panoramic cameras under development within the J-PAS collaboration, JPCam and T80Cam respectively, which make use of large format (~ 10k x 10k) CCDs covering the entire focal plane. This paper describes in detail, from operations point of view, a comparison between the detailed cost of the global automation of the Observatory and the standard automation cost for astronomical facilities, in reference to the total investment and highlighting all benefits obtained from this approach and difficulties encountered. The paper also describes the engineering development of the overall facilities and infrastructures for the fully automated observatory and a global overview of current status, pinpointing lessons learned in order to boost observatory operations performance, achieving scientific targets, maintaining quality requirements, but also minimizing operation cost and human resources.Comment: Global Observatory Control System GOC

Propuesta de un nuevo modelo microquirúrgico para el estudio de la endometriosis inducida en rata Wistar. Resultados preliminares

The current knowledge status on the patogenesis of endometriosis as well as devastating consequences of disease evolution in women's reproductive health, have promoted researchers advances in a great manner during last years. The immunologic and neangiogenesis systems implication have opened new ways of knowledge over classic theories from the beginning of the xx century. The experimental resesearch, using animal induction models. Below we explain the first steps a new induction model ("PGR1-HotDog"), based on Wistar rats using a new disease autogeneration system, created for te study of the early stages of the endometriosis

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Effectiveness of an intervention for improving drug prescription in primary care patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy:Study protocol of a cluster randomized clinical trial (Multi-PAP project)

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias ISCIII (Grant Numbers PI15/00276, PI15/00572, PI15/00996), REDISSEC (Project Numbers RD12/0001/0012, RD16/0001/0005), and the European Regional Development Fund ("A way to build Europe").Background: Multimorbidity is associated with negative effects both on people's health and on healthcare systems. A key problem linked to multimorbidity is polypharmacy, which in turn is associated with increased risk of partly preventable adverse effects, including mortality. The Ariadne principles describe a model of care based on a thorough assessment of diseases, treatments (and potential interactions), clinical status, context and preferences of patients with multimorbidity, with the aim of prioritizing and sharing realistic treatment goals that guide an individualized management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a complex intervention that implements the Ariadne principles in a population of young-old patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. The intervention seeks to improve the appropriateness of prescribing in primary care (PC), as measured by the medication appropriateness index (MAI) score at 6 and 12months, as compared with usual care. Methods/Design: Design:pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Unit of randomization: family physician (FP). Unit of analysis: patient. Scope: PC health centres in three autonomous communities: Aragon, Madrid, and Andalusia (Spain). Population: patients aged 65-74years with multimorbidity (≥3 chronic diseases) and polypharmacy (≥5 drugs prescribed in ≥3months). Sample size: n=400 (200 per study arm). Intervention: complex intervention based on the implementation of the Ariadne principles with two components: (1) FP training and (2) FP-patient interview. Outcomes: MAI score, health services use, quality of life (Euroqol 5D-5L), pharmacotherapy and adherence to treatment (Morisky-Green, Haynes-Sackett), and clinical and socio-demographic variables. Statistical analysis: primary outcome is the difference in MAI score between T0 and T1 and corresponding 95% confidence interval. Adjustment for confounding factors will be performed by multilevel analysis. All analyses will be carried out in accordance with the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: It is essential to provide evidence concerning interventions on PC patients with polypharmacy and multimorbidity, conducted in the context of routine clinical practice, and involving young-old patients with significant potential for preventing negative health outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02866799Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Reactions of complexes of gold(I) with bis(pentafluorophenyl)thallium(III) halides

The reactions of bis(pentafluorophenyl)thallium(III) halides with XAuL (L = PPh3, AsPh3) lead to results which vary according to the character of X. When X is Cl, Br or I an oxidation from gold(I) to gold(III) takes place through the transference of two C6F5 groups, and with the simultaneous precipitation of thallous halide. When X is C6F5, C6H5, NO3, CH3COO, SCN or PPh3 substitution but not oxidation takes place, which may be followed by secondary reactions. Reasons for this behaviour are discussed