Analyse des critères nutritionnels de l'industrie alimentaire destinés à la régulation de la publicité chez l'enfant: travail de Bachelor

Introduction : En Suisse, 19 % des jeunes âgés de 0 à 18 ans sont en surpoids et 4 % souffrent d’obésité. La problématique de l’excès pondéral chez les enfants est importante, car elle a un impact direct sur la santé à l’âge adulte. L’une de ces causes est l’exposition à la publicité alimentaire. Suite à cette observation, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) et les industries alimentaires suisses (Swiss Pledge) ont développé des grilles de critères nutritionnels pour réguler le marketing alimentaire auprès des enfants âgés de moins de 12 ans. But : Le but principal de ce travail de Bachelor est d’évaluer si les critères nutritionnels proposés par la Swiss Pledge et par l’OMS peuvent être appliqués au marché suisse. Le but secondaire est d’évaluer si les critères nutritionnels des industries alimentaires correspondent aux apports nutritionnels recommandés des enfants appartenant à des tranches d’âges différentes (de 1 à 12 ans). Méthode : Deux cent septante produits alimentaires ont été sélectionnés pour former un échantillon. Les critères nutritionnels de l’OMS et de la Swiss Pledge ont été analysés à l’aide de cet échantillon afin d’évaluer l’autorisation et l’interdiction de publicité des produits. Les valeurs nutritionnelles de référence de diverses sociétés savantes pour les enfants âgés de 1 à 12 ans ont été recensées. Ensuite, elles ont été comparées aux critères nutritionnels définis par les industries alimentaires. Résultats : L’analyse des deux grilles nutritionnelles à travers l’échantillon a montré que 20 % des produits alimentaires sont interdits de publicité selon la grille de l’OMS, tandis que 38 % sont interdits selon la grille de la Swiss Pledge. Les critères de l’OMS permettent de diminuer sensiblement la promotion des produits à faible valeur nutritionnelle. La comparaison des critères des industries alimentaires avec les valeurs nutritionnelles de référence des enfants montre que la moitié des catégories alimentaires a un ou plusieurs critères nutritionnels qui dépassent les apports journaliers recommandés des enfants dans toutes les tranches d’âge (de 1 à 12 ans). Conclusion : Les critères nutritionnels de la Swiss Pledge permettent d’autoriser de publicité davantage d’aliments à faible valeur nutritionnelle. Ils présentent donc plus de lacunes comparés aux critères de l’OMS. Par conséquent, la grille nutritionnelle de l’OMS est plus adaptée pour la régulation de la publicité des denrées alimentaires suisses. L’instauration d’un marketing alimentaire responsable, strict et contrôlé est nécessaire afin de protéger un maximum les enfants. Ainsi, des stratégies futures doivent être mises en place afin de trouver des compromis entre les industriels et les instances politiques. Finalement, une approche impliquant de multiples stratégie

An ancestral secretory apparatus in the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis

The protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis belongs to one of the earliest diverged eukaryotic lineages. This is also reflected in a simple intracellular organization, as Giardia lacks common subcellular compartments such as mitochondria, peroxisomes, and apparently also a Golgi apparatus. During encystation, developmentally regulated formation of large secretory compartments containing cyst wall material occurs. Despite the lack of any morphological similarities, these encystation-specific vesicles (ESVs) show several biochemical characteristics of maturing Golgi cisternae. Previous studies suggested that Golgi structure and function are induced only during encystation in Giardia, giving rise to the hypothesis that ESVs, as a Giardia Golgi equivalent, are generated de novo. Alternatively, ESV compartments could be built on the template structure of a cryptic Golgi in trophozoites in response to ER export of cyst wall material during encystation. We addressed this question by defining the molecular framework of the Giardia secretory apparatus using a comparative genomic approach. Analysis of the corresponding transcriptome during growth and encystation revealed surprisingly little stage-specific regulation. A panel of antibodies was generated against selected marker proteins to investigate the developmental dynamics of the endomembrane system. We show evidence that Giardia accommodates the export of large amounts of cyst wall material through re-organization of membrane compartment(s) in trophozoites with biochemical similarities to ESVs. This suggests that ESVs are selectively stabilized Golgi-like compartments in a unique and archetypical secretory system, which arise from a structural template in trophozoites rather than being generated de novo

Compensation of scintillator sensitivity loss due to irradiation damage

International audienceComputed tomography reconstruction methods consider a normalized input signal. Images must be corrected using both a flat field record and a dark field record. Whereas there is no physical reason why the dark field would evolve during the experiment, the flat field may vary with time. One possible cause for flat field variation is irradiation damage which indeed occurs on the camera considered in this study. This paper considers different methods for taking into account the evolution of flat field due to irradiation damage. The aim is to keep the error resulting from bias on flat field at the same level than signal to noise ratio on fully illuminated areas of images, that is to say an error of 1%. Though this is still a work in progress, the methods proposed will be discussed and compared

Evaluation of log Po/w values of drugs from some molecular structure calculation software

Predictive software packages to estimate the lipophilicity of molecules have become key tools in the new drug design. Six different well-known computational programs including the classical BioByte-clogP and the GALAS algorithm offered by ACDlabs were evaluated through a set of 103 drugs with different structures and functionalities. To evaluate the predictions accuracy, reliable experimental log Po/w values for the whole testing set were carefully selected. The best estimations are performed by GALAS/logP based on the fragmental method, corrected according to the similarity with compounds included in the software training set

Miners and mining in the Late Bronze Age: a multidisciplinary study from Austria

The extraction and processing of metal ores, particularly those of copper and tin, are regarded as among the principal motors of Bronze Age society. The skills and risks of mining lie behind the weapons, tools and symbols that drove political and ideological change. But we hear much less about the miners themselves and their position in society. Who were these people? Were they rich and special, or expendable members of a hard-pressed workforce? In this study the spotlight moves from the adits, slags and furnaces to the bones and seeds, providing a sketch of dedicated prehistoric labourers in their habitat. The Mauken miners were largely dependent on imported meat and cereals, and scarcely hunted or foraged the resources of the local forest. They seem to be the servants of a command economy, encouraged to keep their minds on the jo

The future of European Nephrology 'Guidelines' - a declaration of intent by European Renal Best Practice (ERBP)

The disparities of medical practice, together with a growing number of possible interventions, have increased the demand for well-conceived guidance for practitioners [1]. However, this development is hampered by the number and quality of scientific studies that test medical hypotheses, which are often unsatisfactory. This is especially true in nephrology, where well-conducted controlled trials are rare [2]. Because patients with renal failure are generally excluded from controlled studies in the general population [3], the development of sufficiently well-founded guidance in nephrology has always been difficult. With the development of European Best Practice Guidelines (EBPG), the European Renal Association–European Dialysis and Transplantation Association (ERA–EDTA) has created its own guidance-generating process. Similar initiatives have also arisen in the USA (Kidney Disease Outcome Initiative—K/DOQI), Australia (Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment—CARI), Canada (Canadian Society of Nephrology—CSN), the UK (United Kingdom Renal Association—UKRA), as well as at several other locations around the world. These institutions have generated a plethora of often parallel recommendations on similar topics but sometimes with different messages [4]. The question can be asked: ‘Is there still a place for an institution generating European nephrology guidance?’ If there is, how should such an initiative be managed to conform with current demands? To answer these questions, the Council of ERA–EDTA set up a commission that convened three times in the course of 2008–09. The present text is a distillation of the discussions, reflections and final conclusions of this commission. It is an ad hoc document, reflecting the current status. In the future, concepts and attitudes might change, as medical thinking is influenced by changes in practice, needs, general philosophy, ethics and political/financial conditions

Brewer's spent grain as a no-cost substrate for polyhydroxyalkanoates production: Assessment of pretreatment strategies and different bacterial strains

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of significant interest due to their biodegradability and properties similar to petroleum-derived plastics, as well as the fact that they can be produced from renewable sources such as by-product streams. In this study, brewer's spent grain (BSG), the main by-product of the brewing industry, was subjected to a set of physicochemical pretreatments and their effect on the release of reducing sugars (RS) was evaluated. The RS obtained were used as a substrate for further PHA production in Burkholderia cepacia, Bacillus cereus, and Cupriavidus necator in liquid cultures. Although some pretreatments proved efficient in releasing RS (acid-thermal pretreatment up to 42.1 gRS L-1 and 0.77 gRS g(-1) dried BSG), the generation of inhibitors in such scenarios likely affected PHA production compared with the process run without pretreatment (direct enzymatic hydrolysis of BSG). Thus, the maximum PHA accumulation from BSG hydrolysates was found in the reference case with 0.31 +/- 0.02 g PHA per g cell dried weight, corresponding to 1.13 +/- 0.06 g L-1 and a PHA yield of 23 +/- 1 mg g(-1) BSG. It was also found that C. necator presented the highest PHA accumulation of the tested strains followed closely by B. cepacia, reaching their maxima at 48 h. Although BSG has been used as a source for other bioproducts, these results show the potential of this by-product as a no-cost raw material for producing PHAs in a waste valorization and circular economy scheme

Bax Function in the Absence of Mitochondria in the Primitive Protozoan Giardia lamblia

Bax-induced permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane and release of cytochrome c are key events in apoptosis. Although Bax can compromise mitochondria in primitive unicellular organisms that lack a classical apoptotic machinery, it is still unclear if Bax alone is sufficient for this, or whether additional mitochondrial components are required. The protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia is one of the earliest branching eukaryotes and harbors highly degenerated mitochondrial remnant organelles (mitosomes) that lack a genome. Here we tested whether human Bax expressed in Giardia can be used to ablate mitosomes. We demonstrate that these organelles are neither targeted, nor compromised, by Bax. However, specialized compartments of the regulated secretory pathway are completely ablated by Bax. As a consequence, maturing cyst wall proteins that are sorted into these organelles are released into the cytoplasm, causing a developmental arrest and cell death. Interestingly, this ectopic cargo release is dependent on the carboxy-terminal 22 amino acids of Bax, and can be prevented by the Bax-inhibiting peptide Ku70. A C-terminally truncated Bax variant still localizes to secretory organelles, but is unable to permeabilize these membranes, uncoupling membrane targeting and cargo release. Even though mitosomes are too diverged to be recognized by Bax, off-target membrane permeabilization appears to be conserved and leads to cell death completely independently of mitochondria

Pollution-Aware Walking in 16 Countries:An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

Background: The current levels of air pollution in European countries reduces life expectancy by an average of 8 months. People who actively travel by walking have a higher level of exposure to air pollution than those who use motor vehicles or electric buses. Some routes have higher air pollution levels than others, but little is known about pollution-aware route choice and intentions to actively avoid walking near polluted roads. An improved understanding of how air pollution influences intentions to walk or avoid polluted routes can inform interventions to decrease exposure. The present investigation has three aims: (1) compare experiences walking near roads with high levels of air pollution across countries; (2) identify groups of countries based on perceptions of air quality; and (3) examine how pedestrians develop their intentions of avoiding pollution using the extended TPB (demographics, social norms, attitudes, perceived control, and perceived risk).Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied. Pedestrians were asked about their experiences walking near roads with high levels of air pollution. To identify groups of countries with different levels of air pollution, a cluster analysis was implemented based on the perceptions of air quality. Finally, regressions were used to predict pedestrians’ intentions to avoid polluted roads per country group using the extended TPB.Results: 6180 respondents (Age M(SD)= 29.4(14.2); Males= 39.2%) ranging from 12.6% from Russia to 2.2% from Finland completed the questionnaire. The proportion of participants who reported never walking near air polluted roads was 12.4% (from 3% in Brazil to 54% in Japan). Seven groups of countries were identified using perceptions of air quality: G1(Japan, Mexico, Colombia, Turkey, Malaysia & Brazil), G2(Spain, Romania & Czechia), G3(Chile, Russia & Peru), G4(China), G5(Australia), G6(Finland), and G7(Portugal). Participants in China (G4) and Australia (G5) reported the worst and best air quality respectively. Across all countries, intentions to avoid polluted roads were associated with perceptions of risk. TPB-psychosocial factors such as social norms and perceived behavioural control also influenced intention in most groups. Favourable TPB-beliefs and low perceived risk increase intentions to avoid polluted routes.Conclusions: The willingness of pedestrians to walk on or near roads with high levels of air pollution differs significantly among countries in this study. Countries can be grouped based on their perceived air quality. Perceived risk was the only common predictor of intention to avoid polluted routes across the different groups of countries