Mothers' food choices and consumption of ultra-processed foods in the Brazilian Amazon: A grounded theory study

In recent decades, an increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), a type of product frequently associated with diet-related obesity, chronic diseases, decrease of eating traditions and loss of culinary diversity, has been observed in middle-income countries. However, there is lack of information on factors related to choosing UPF. In this study, we aimed to understand the factors promoting UPF choices and consumption among mothers living in an urban context in the Brazilian Amazon, and to present a conceptual model grounded on their experiences that illustrates the dynamics between the observed factors. For this qualitative study, we used a constructive grounded theory approach, with a theoretical sampling of 40 women, to choose mothers with high and low consumption of ultra-processed foods. Data production and the first steps of analysis were performed concomitantly, followed by four steps of coding focused on creating conceptual categories and explaining the interactions between them. Our findings highlighted the importance of context in promoting UPF choice and consumption, particularly the “food environment”, physical and virtual, and the “sociocultural environment”. These contextual aspects interacted with the two main personal aspects influencing participants' UPF consumption, one concerning practices, “cooking behaviors”, and the other concerning preferences, “food tastes”. Factors such as economic and time constraints were also important and competed to shape eating practices through interactions with participants’ health valorization. Findings are discussed in relation to food choice theories, social roles and the food environment. Implications for public health initiatives include the importance of considering environmental changes, sociocultural and economic influences, the reliance on UPF, and the role of women in the home, when promoting healthy diets

APEX and NOEMA observations of H<inf>2</inf>S in nearby luminous galaxies and the ULIRG Mrk 231: A possible relation between dense gas properties and molecular outflows

Context. In order to understand the evolution and feedback of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star formation, it is important to use molecular lines as probes of physical conditions and chemistry. Aims. We use H2S to investigate the impact of starburst and AGN activity on the chemistry of the molecular interstellar medium in luminous infrared galaxies. Specifically, our aim is to search for evidence of shock enhancement of H2S related to galactic-scale mechanical feedback processes such as outflows. Methods. Using the APEX single-dish telescope, we have observed the 110 ~101 transition of ortho-H2S at 168 GHz towards the centres of 12 nearby luminous infrared galaxies. We have also observed the same line towards the ultra-luminous infrared galaxy Mrk 231 with the NOEMA interferometer. Results. We detected H2S towards NGC 253, NGC 1068, NGC 3256, NGC 4418, NGC 4826, NGC 4945, Circinus, M 83, and Mrk 231. Upper limits were obtained for NGC 1097, NGC 1377, and IC 860. We also detected line emission from HCN 2~1 in all galaxies in the APEX survey as well as HCO+, HNC, CH3CN, CH3OH, H2CS, HOC+, and SO in several of the sample galaxies. Mrk 231 has a rich 2 mm molecular spectrum and, in addition to H2S, we detect emission from HC3N, CH3OH, HC18O+, C2S, and CH3CCH. Four galaxies show elevated H2S emission relative to HCN: Circinus, NGC 3256, NGC 4826, and NGC 4418. We suggest that the high line ratios are caused by elevated H2S abundances in the dense gas. However, we do not find any clear connection between the H2S/HCN line intensity ratio and the presence (or speed) of molecular outflows in the sample galaxies. Therefore, H2S abundances do not seem to be globally affected by the large-scale outflows. In addition, the H2S/HCN line ratio is not enhanced in the line wings compared to the line core in Mrk 231. This suggests that H2S abundances do not increase in the dense gas in the outflow. However, we do find that the H2S and HCN luminosities (LH2S and LHCN) correlate well with the total molecular gas mass in the outflow, Moutflow(H2), in contrast to LCO and LHCO+. We also find that the line luminosity of H2S correlates with the total infrared luminosity in a similar way as that of H2O. Conclusions. We do not find any evidence of H2S abundance enhancements in the dense gas due to galactic-scale outflows in our sample galaxies, nor in the high-resolution study of Mrk 231. We discuss possible mechanisms behind the suggested H2S abundance enhancements in NGC 4418, Circinus, NGC 3256, and NGC 4826. These include radiative processes (for example X-rays or cosmic rays) or smaller-scale shocks. Further high-resolution and multi-transition studies are required to determine the cause behind the elevated H2S emission in these galaxies. We suggest that LH2S serves as a tracer of the dense gas content, similar to LHCN, and that the correlation between LH2S and Moutflow(H2) implies a relation between the dense gas reservoir and the properties and evolution of the molecular feedback. This potential link requires further study since it holds important keys to our understanding of how the properties of molecular outflows relate to those of their host galaxies. Finally, the similar infrared-correlation coefficients between H2S and H2O may indicate that they originate in the same regions in the galaxy: warm gas in shocks or irradiated by star formation or an AGN

A road to reality with topological superconductors

Topological states of matter are a source of low-energy quasiparticles, bound to a defect or propagating along the surface. In a superconductor these are Majorana fermions, described by a real rather than a complex wave function. The absence of complex phase factors promises protection against decoherence in quantum computations based on topological superconductivity. This is a tutorial style introduction written for a Nature Physics focus issue on topological matter.Comment: pre-copy-editing, author-produced version of the published paper: 4 pages, 2 figure

Cardiosphere-derived cells suppress allogeneic lymphocytes by production of PGE2 acting via the EP4 receptor

derived cells (CDCs) are a cardiac progenitor cell population, which have been shown to possess cardiac regenerative properties and can improve heart function in a variety of cardiac diseases. Studies in large animal models have predominantly focussed on using autologous cells for safety, however allogeneic cell banks would allow for a practical, cost-effective and efficient use in a clinical setting. The aim of this work was to determine the immunomodulatory status of these cells using CDCs and lymphocytes from 5 dogs. CDCs expressed MHC I but not MHC II molecules and in mixed lymphocyte reactions demonstrated a lack of lymphocyte proliferation in response to MHC-mismatched CDCs. Furthermore, MHC-mismatched CDCs suppressed lymphocyte proliferation and activation in response to Concanavalin A. Transwell experiments demonstrated that this was predominantly due to direct cell-cell contact in addition to soluble mediators whereby CDCs produced high levels of PGE2 under inflammatory conditions. This led to down-regulation of CD25 expression on lymphocytes via the EP4 receptor. Blocking prostaglandin synthesis restored both, proliferation and activation (measured via CD25 expression) of stimulated lymphocytes. We demonstrated for the first time in a large animal model that CDCs inhibit proliferation in allo-reactive lymphocytes and have potent immunosuppressive activity mediated via PGE2

Current quark mass dependence of nucleon magnetic moments and radii

A calculation of the current-quark-mass-dependence of nucleon static electromagnetic properties is necessary in order to use observational data as a means to place constraints on the variation of Nature's fundamental parameters. A Poincare' covariant Faddeev equation, which describes baryons as composites of confined-quarks and -nonpointlike-diquarks, is used to calculate this dependence The results indicate that, like observables dependent on the nucleons' magnetic moments, quantities sensitive to their magnetic and charge radii, such as the energy levels and transition frequencies in Hydrogen and Deuterium, might also provide a tool with which to place limits on the allowed variation in Nature's constants.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, 4 appendice

Staphylococcus sciuri Exfoliative Toxin C (ExhC) is a Necrosis-Inducer for Mammalian Cells

Staphylococcus sciuri (S. sciuri) is a rare pathogen in humans, but it can cause a wide array of human infections. Recently a S. sciuri isolate (HBXX06) was reported to cause fatal exudative epidermitis (EE) in piglets and thus considered as a potential zoonotic agent. To investigate the pathogenicity of this bacterium, we cloned exfoliative toxin C (ExhC), a major toxin of the S. sciuri isolate and performed functional analysis of the recombinant ExhC-his (rExhC) protein using in vitro cell cultures and newborn mice as models. We found that rExhC could induce necrosis in multiple cell lines and peritoneal macrophages as well as skin lesions in newborn mice, and that the rExhC-induced necrosis in cells or skin lesions in newborn mice could be completely abolished if amino acids 79-128 of rExhC were deleted or blocked with a monoclonal antibody (3E4), indicating aa 79-128 portion as an essential necrosis-inducing domain. This information contributes to further understandings of the mechanisms underlying S. sciuri infection

Nanoscale glucan polymer network causes pathogen resistance.

Successful defence of plants against colonisation by fungal pathogens depends on the ability to prevent initial penetration of the plant cell wall. Here we report that the pathogen-induced (1,3)-β-glucan cell wall polymer callose, which is deposited at sites of attempted penetration, directly interacts with the most prominent cell wall polymer, the (1,4)-β-glucan cellulose, to form a three-dimensional network at sites of attempted fungal penetration. Localisation microscopy, a super-resolution microscopy technique based on the precise localisation of single fluorescent molecules, facilitated discrimination between single polymer fibrils in this network. Overexpression of the pathogen-induced callose synthase PMR4 in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana not only enlarged focal callose deposition and polymer network formation but also resulted in the exposition of a callose layer on the surface of the pre-existing cellulosic cell wall facing the invading pathogen. The importance of this previously unknown polymeric defence network is to prevent cell wall hydrolysis and penetration by the fungus. We anticipate our study to promote nanoscale analysis of plant-microbe interactions with a special focus on polymer rearrangements in and at the cell wall. Moreover, the general applicability of localisation microscopy in visualising polymers beyond plant research will help elucidate their biological function in complex networks

Biomaterials Approaches to Combating Oral Biofilms and Dental Disease

Background: Possibilities for biomaterials to impact the dental caries epidemic are reviewed with emphasis placed on novel delivery biomaterials and new therapeutic targets

Aspects of Non-minimal Gauge Mediation

A large class of non-minimal gauge mediation models, such as (semi-)direct gauge mediation, predict a hierarchy between the masses of the supersymmetric standard model gauginos and those of scalar particles. We perform a comprehensive study of these non-minimal gauge mediation models, including mass calculations in semi-direct gauge mediation, to illustrate these features, and discuss the phenomenology of the models. We point out that the cosmological gravitino problem places stringent constraints on mass splittings, when the Bino is the NLSP. However, the GUT relation of the gaugino masses is broken unlike the case of minimal gauge mediation, and an NLSP other than the Bino (especially the gluino NLSP) becomes possible, relaxing the cosmological constraints. We also discuss the collider signals of the models.Comment: 56 pages, 8 figures; v2:minor corrections, references added; v3:minor correction