Are ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) affected by Bt proteins expressed in genetically modified insect-resistant crops? A systematic review protocol

Abstract Background Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are abundant predatory species in many agroecosystems, are valued for their biological pest control functions, and have been recommended as test species for studies supporting the assessment of non-target effects of insect-resistant Bt crops. Although insecticidal Bt proteins are known to be highly specific against target pests, some recent laboratory studies reported putative toxic effects of Bt proteins on ladybird species. While such studies have been criticised because of methodological shortcomings or inconsistencies, they cast doubt on the insecticidal spectrum of activity of some Bt proteins. Performing a systematic review that synthesises all existing evidence on this controversial topic may help to resolve the remaining scientific uncertainties. The review question to be addressed by the systematic review is the following: Are ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) affected by Bt proteins expressed in genetically modified insect-resistant crops? The systematic review will focus on studies performed under controlled environmental conditions. Methods An extensive literature search will be conducted to identify the articles relevant to the review question. A wide range of electronic bibliographic databases, the internet search engine Google Scholar, and websites of specialized organizations will be searched. Citation searching, reference list-checking and searching of key journals will also be performed. The relevance of the identified articles will be assessed against a set of pre-defined eligibility criteria, following a two-step approach. In the first step, title and abstract (or summary) will be screened, whilst in the second step the full text of all remaining articles will be assessed by two members of the review team. All relevant studies will be subjected to an appraisal of external (generalisability) and internal (risk of bias) validity. Data from the selected studies will be extracted and synthesised in a narrative report. If a sufficient number of datasets generated with comparable experimental setup is available, statistical meta-analyses will be conducted on a range of comparisons and including sensitivity analyses

Tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars

Following a request from five European Nordic countries, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was tasked to provide scientific advice on a tolerable upper intake level (UL) or a safe level of intake for dietary (total/added/free) sugars based on available data on chronic metabolic diseases, pregnancy‐related endpoints and dental caries. Specific sugar types (fructose) and sources of sugars were also addressed. The intake of dietary sugars is a well‐established hazard in relation to dental caries in humans. Based on a systematic review of the literature, prospective cohort studies do not support a positive relationship between the intake of dietary sugars, in isocaloric exchange with other macronutrients, and any of the chronic metabolic diseases or pregnancy‐related endpoints assessed. Based on randomised control trials on surrogate disease endpoints, there is evidence for a positive and causal relationship between the intake of added/free sugars and risk of some chronic metabolic diseases: The level of certainty is moderate for obesity and dyslipidaemia (> 50–75% probability), low for non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes (> 15–50% probability) and very low for hypertension (0–15% probability). Health effects of added vs. free sugars could not be compared. A level of sugars intake at which the risk of dental caries/chronic metabolic diseases is not increased could not be identified over the range of observed intakes, and thus, a UL or a safe level of intake could not be set. Based on available data and related uncertainties, the intake of added and free sugars should be as low as possible in the context of a nutritionally adequate diet. Decreasing the intake of added and free sugars would decrease the intake of total sugars to a similar extent. This opinion can assist EU Member States in setting national goals/recommendations

Effectiveness of in planta control measures for Xylella fastidiosa

This opinion updates the information included in the previous EFSA Scientific Opinion concerning the in planta control measures for Xylella fastidiosa, with a systematic review and critical analysis of the potential treatment solutions that have been published against this pest so far. The output of this opinion focuses on the application of chemical or biological treatments on living plants. In vitro studies, hot water treatments, use of resistant varieties and vector control are excluded from the review. The use of antibiotics is not considered due to the risk of antimicrobial resistance development. The use of weakly virulent or avirulent strains of X. fastidiosa is covered in this review, although this organism is an EU quarantine plant pest and its introduction in the EU territory is banned. Experiments were recently conducted to assess the effect of application of zinc, copper, and citric acid biocomplex, of N-acetylcysteine, and of ‘diffusible signal factor’ (and of its homologs). Their results showed that these control measures were sometimes able to reduce symptoms caused by X. fastidiosa. Recent experiments also showed that several species of endophytic microorganisms, some bacteriophages and inoculation of weakly virulent/avirulent strains of X. fastidiosa could offer some protection against the Pierce’s disease. However, based on the reviewed results, the Panel concludes that, although several published experiments show some effects in reducing symptoms development, the tested control measures are not able to completely eliminate X. fastidiosa from diseased plants. The Panel confirms as previously stated that there is currently no control measure available to eliminate the bacteria from a diseased plant in open field conditions

Reformulando el tratamiento procesal de las víctimas de violencia sexual en procesos penales

Esta obra presenta las investigaciones desarrolladas a lo largo del proyecto europeo de investigación, financiado por el Programa de Justicia de la Union Europea (2014-2020): “RE-TREAT: Reshaping treatment approaches towards victims of sexual crimes within criminal proceedings”. Los objetivos perseguidos por este proyecto de investigación son, entre otros, el análisis de las barreras, recursos y prácticas nocivas en el tratamiento de las víctimas de delitos sexuales a lo largo de las diversas fases del proceso penal, identificación de mejores prácticas en este ámbito que pueden ser aplicadas por los operadores jurídicos, o bien, la sensibilización de los actores que abordan este fenómeno. Se presentan en el primer Capítulo los obstáculos que enfrentan las víctimas de delitos sexuales en las diversas etapas del proceso penal español, se describen los estándares prácticos para profesionales del sistema de justicia que trabajan con víctimas de violencia sexual en el Capítulo II de la obra. En el Capítulo III se incluyen recomendaciones políticas que permiten garantizar un mejor tratamiento hacia las víctimas de violencia sexual por parte del sistema de justicia en España y en el Capítulo IV el informe comparativo de la situación con Grecia e Italia.Esta obra presenta las investigaciones desarrolladas a lo largo del proyecto europeo de investigación, financiado por el Programa de Justicia de la Union Europea (2014-2020): “RE-TREAT: Reshaping treatment approaches towards victims of sexual crimes within criminal proceedings”Financed by The European Union Justice Program (2014-2020). RE-TREAT: Reshaping treatment approaches towards victims of sexual violence within criminal proceedings. JUST-JACC-AG-2019 - 878566 - RETREATObstáculos que enfrentan las víctimas de delito sexual en las etapas del proceso penal / Helena Soleto, Sabela Oubiña Barbolla, Jessica Jullien de Asís, Aurea Grané Chávez, Margarita Diges Junco, Candela Galán González, Nieves Pérez-Mata, Anna Fiodorova, Federico González Barrera, Iván Navarro Papic, Rosa Gómez de Liaño, Raquel López Jiménez, Daniel Rodríguez Horcajo, Soledad Torrecuadrada García Lozano, Ignacio de Torres Guajardo, Belén Hernández Moura, Emiliano Carretero Morales, Irene de Lamo Velado, Rocío Zafra Espinosa de los Monteros, Cristina Ruiz López, Miriam Peláez Devesa (pp. 7-92). -- Guía para profesionales de la justicia que trabajan con mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual / Monique Anderson, Evelien Claes (pp. 93-116). -- Recomendaciones políticas / Monique Anderson, Evelien Claes, Anna Fiodorova, Helena Soleto (p. 117-165). -- Estudio comparativo sobre tratamiento procesal a víctimas de violencia sexual en España, Grecia e Italia / Sabela Oubiña Barbolla, Helena Soleto Muñoz, Nieves Pérez-Mata, Daniel Rodríguez Horcajo, Margarita Diges Junco, Miriam Peláez Devesa, Jessica Jullien de Asís, Aurea Grané, Candela Galán González, Manuel Cancio Meliá, Jose Alberto Revilla González (pp. 166-229

Bienestar y familia, una mirada desde la psicología positiva

Este libro está dirigido a estudiantes y profesionales en psicología y áreas afines, como enfermería, trabajo social o educación, y a los interesados en personalidad positiva. Cada capítulo se presenta de manera sencilla y con una estructura didáctica, pero sin perder rigor científico y calidad de la revisión, con el fin de facilitar el acceso a la información sobre bienestar individual, familiar y social de una forma accesible para adentrarnos al estudio de temas de psicología positiva. Dadas las temáticas, se consideró pertinente dividir este libro en dos secciones: I. Psicología positiva y bienestar. II. Bienestar individual y familiar.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México y Ediciones y Gráficos Eón, S.A. de C.V

Cómo buscar (y encontrar) evidencia científica en salud: Guías de Práctica Clínica

The development of the Evidence-Based Medicine and Nursing Practice has meant an increasing number number of information sources that provide access to evidence synthesis documents such as, clinical practice guidelines (CPG). The paper discusses different information resources to find clinical practice guidelines in Spanish and English: GuíaSalud, National Guideline Clearinghouse, Registered Nurses' Assocation of Ontario and Pubmed. It also provides advice and tips on the information retrieval in these resources

Checklist para evaluar sitios web con herramientas de la web 2.0

Introduction. A checklist is proposed to evaluate the degree of adoption of web 2.0 technologies in health websites. There are many checklists that allow the assessment of a site from different perspectives: usability, accessibility, quality of its contents. However, there are few proposals in Spanish to facilitate to the professionals the knowledge of the integration degree of web 2.0 technologies in a website, in this case, focused in healthcare. Materials and methods. A literature search of various sources of information has been retrieved to compile existing checklists: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, IME, Virtual Health Library, Dialnet, and a number of other related Web 2.0 information resources (blogs, twitter, shared documents, social bookmarking) were hand searched. The obtained checklists were assessed and selected based on criteria that ensure their quality (number of items to evaluate, exhaustiveness, up-to-date) which need to be taken into account when drafting the new checklist. Results. Based on the results, we proceeded to make a proposal of our own checklist to evaluate websites with web 2.0 tools. An experience to apply this checklist was conducted in order to evaluate biomedical scientific publications websites