Perceptions about excess weight in the sociocultural context

El exceso de peso es un padecimiento que actualmente es responsable del aumento en los riesgos de padecer diabetes, hipertensión y algunos tipos de cáncer. Este fenómeno social requiere de un tratamiento multidisciplinario en el que estén involucrados estudiosos de la salud y del comportamiento humano, desde personal de medicina, nutrición, activación física, trabajo social y psicología; hasta sociólogos, antropólogos, historiadores y otros científicos sociales que contribuyan a comprender mejor la impronta de esta problemática en contextos específicos. Aunque existan diferencias entre estas disciplinas en la forma de abordar y percibir dicho fenómeno, estas no deben de anularse, sino complementarse entre sí. Al considerar las distintas perspectivas y enfoques de estas disciplinas en torno al exceso de peso se podrá visualizar esta problemática en su totalidad, es decir, las pautas y circunstancias bajo las cuales se desarrolla. Por tanto, el objetivo de la presente investigación es examinar la ambivalencia y mutabilidad de la percepción en torno al exceso de peso. La percepción que se ha dado al exceso de peso ha cambiado a lo largo de la historia, de concebirse como algo normal, e incluso positivo, pasó a tener una connotación negativa. Esta modificación de la percepción se ha visto reflejada en la sociedad contemporánea, y el impacto que actualmente tiene se ve reflejado en el aumento constante de la población con exceso de peso. La ambivalencia genera déficit en el abordaje y las estrategias carecen de unificación en los distintos sectores, se vislumbra un escenario complejo ante las distintas posturas y la falta de un abordaje transdisciplinario. Se requiere cambios en la concepción del fenómeno alejados de la culpa y asumiendo responsabilidades tanto a nivel individual como colectivo.Excess weight is a condition that is currently responsible for the increased risks of diabetes, hypertension and some types of cancer. This social phenomenon requires a multidisciplinary treatment in which students of health and human behavior are involved, from medicine, nutrition, physical activation, social work and psychology personnel; to sociologists, anthropologists, historians and other social scientists who contribute to better understand the imprint of this problem in specific contexts. Although there are differences between these disciplines in the way of approaching and perceiving this phenomenon, they should not cancel each other out, but rather complement each other. By considering the different perspectives and approaches of these disciplines around excess weight, this problem can be visualized in its entirety, that is, the guidelines and circumstances under which it develops. Therefore, the objective of the present research is to examine the ambivalence and mutability of the perception around excess weight. The perception that has been given to excess weight has changed throughout history, from being conceived as something normal, and even positive, to have a negative connotation. This change in perception has been reflected in contemporary society, and the impact it currently has is reflected in the constant increase in the overweight population. Ambivalence generates a deficit in the approach and the strategies lack unification in the different sectors, a complex scenario is envisioned in the face of the different positions and the lack of a transdisciplinary approach. Changes are required in the conception of the phenomenon away from guilt and assuming responsibilities both individually and collectively

MEDIATE - Molecular DockIng at homE: Turning collaborative simulations into therapeutic solutions

IntroductionCollaborative computing has attracted great interest in the possibility of joining the efforts of researchers worldwide. Its relevance has further increased during the pandemic crisis since it allows for the strengthening of scientific collaborations while avoiding physical interactions. Thus, the E4C consortium presents the MEDIATE initiative which invited researchers to contribute via their virtual screening simulations that will be combined with AI-based consensus approaches to provide robust and method-independent predictions. The best compounds will be tested, and the biological results will be shared with the scientific community.Areas coveredIn this paper, the MEDIATE initiative is described. This shares compounds' libraries and protein structures prepared to perform standardized virtual screenings. Preliminary analyses are also reported which provide encouraging results emphasizing the MEDIATE initiative's capacity to identify active compounds.Expert opinionStructure-based virtual screening is well-suited for collaborative projects provided that the participating researchers work on the same input file. Until now, such a strategy was rarely pursued and most initiatives in the field were organized as challenges. The MEDIATE platform is focused on SARS-CoV-2 targets but can be seen as a prototype which can be utilized to perform collaborative virtual screening campaigns in any therapeutic field by sharing the appropriate input files

Potential Non-Covalent SARS-CoV-2 3C-like Protease Inhibitors Designed Using Generative Deep Learning Approaches and Reviewed by Human Medicinal Chemist in Virtual Reality

One of the most important SARS-CoV-2 protein targets for therapeutics is the 3C-like protease (main protease, Mpro). In our previous work1​we used the first Mpro crystal structure to become available, 6LU7. On February 4, 2020 Insilico Medicine released the first potential novel protease inhibitors designed using a ​de novo,​AI-driven generative chemistry approach. Nearly 100 X-ray structures of Mpro co-crystallized both with covalent and non-covalent ligands have been published since then. Here we utilize the recently published 6W63 crystal structure of Mpro complexed with a non-covalent inhibitor and combined two approaches used in our previous study: ligand-based and crystal structure-based. We published 10 representative structures for potential development with 3D representation in PDB format and welcome medicinal chemists for broad discussion and generated output analysis. The molecules in SDF format and PDB-models for generated protein-ligand complexes are available here and at https://insilico.com/ncov-sprint/.​Medicinal chemistry VR analysis was provided by ​Nanome team and the video of VR session is available at ​https://bit.ly/ncov-vr.​ </div