Transitions of cardio-metabolic risk factors in the Americas between 1980 and 2014

Describing the prevalence and trends of cardiometabolic risk factors that are associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is crucial for monitoring progress, planning prevention, and providing evidence to support policy efforts. We aimed to analyse the transition in body-mass index (BMI), obesity, blood pressure, raised blood pressure, and diabetes in the Americas, between 1980 and 2014

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol�which is a marker of cardiovascular risk�changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95 credible interval 3.7 million�4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Efeito de produtos alternativos para o controle do bolor verde (Penicillium digitatum) em pós-colheita de citros Effect of the alternative products for control of green mold (Penicillium digitatum) in post-harvest citrus fruit

O objetivo do trabalho foi verificar a ocorrência de sinergismo entre misturas de produtos alternativos aos fungicidas, para o controle do bolor verde (Penicillium digitatum) em pós-colheita de citros. Foram testados dez produtos individualmente e trinta e cinco combinações destes produtos dois a dois, em comparação com tiabendazole e testemunha, com e sem inoculação. Os produtos testados não apresentaram efeito de sinergismo, exceto a mistura carbonato de Na + ácido bórico. Carbonato de Na e ácido bórico controlaram a doença em 78 e 87%, respectivamente, e, utilizando a mistura, o controle foi de 93%. Destacaram-se, ainda no controle da doença, o bicarbonato de Na, metabissulfito de Na e as misturas de bicarbonato de sódio + ácido bórico, carbonato de Na + carbonato de K, carbonato de Na + sorbato de K, bicarbonato de Na + carbonato de Na, controlando 92; 77; 81; 77; 75 e 71%, respectivamente. O tiabendazole utilizado como padrão controlou totalmente a doença.<br>The objective of this work was verify the ocurrence of synergism of mixtures for alternative products to the fungicides for the control of the green mold (Penicillium digitatum) in post-harvest citrus fruits. The efficiency of ten products, tested individually, and thirty five combinations among them, in pairs, were compared to thiabendazole and control, with and without inoculation. The products didn't present a synergism effect, except the mixture sodium carbonate + boric acid, that had a disease control of 93%. The products, sodium carbonate and boric acid controled 78 and 87%, respectively. The sodium bicarbonate, sodium methabisulphite and the mixtures of sodium bicarbonate + boric acid, sodium carbonate + potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate + potassium sorbate, sodium bicarbonate + sodium carbonate had a disease control of 92%, 77%, 81%, 77%, 75% and 71%, respectively. The fungicide treatment with thiabendazole used by standard had a whole disease control

Avaliação do uso de glyphosate em soja geneticamente modificada e sua relação com o ácido chiquímico Evaluation of glyphosate application on transgenic soybean and its relationship with shikimic acid

Com o aumento da comercialização de culturas geneticamente modificadas (GM) resistentes ao glyphosate, é importante investigar a relação entre o uso desse herbicida e seus efeitos no crescimento e desenvolvimento de plantas de soja GM, assim como sua relação com o ácido chiquímico. Nesse sentido, foi conduzido um ensaio de campo e outro em casa de vegetação, com o objetivo de verificar a influência do glyphosate no crescimento, no desenvolvimento e na qualidade dos grãos da soja GM, bem como sua exsudação radicular e posterior absorção por plântulas de soja convencional cultivada sob condições hidropônicas. O ensaio de campo foi realizado em Eng. Coelho-SP, em 2007/08, sob delineamento de blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições, com aplicações isoladas (720 e 960 g e.a. ha-1 equivalente ácido) e sequenciais de glyphosate, com intervalo de 15 dias (720/720, 960/720 e 960/720/720 g e.a. ha-1 ). Transcorridos 42 dias da última aplicação de glyphosate, foram avaliados os efeitos sobre a densidade, altura de plantas e produtividade do cv. BRS Valiosa RR. Avaliou-se também o teor de ácido chiquímico sete dias após a última aplicação de glyphosate e o conteúdo de óleo e proteína dos grãos. No ensaio em casa de vegetação, conduzido sob o delineamento inteiramente casualizado com três repetições, soja GM cv. M8045RR e soja convencional cv. Conquista foram mantidas crescendo conjuntamente em solução hidropônica após aplicação de 2.400 g e.a. ha-1 de glyphosate no cultivar transgênico. O acúmulo de ácido chiquímico foi medido por HPLC a 0, 1, 3, 7 e 10 dias após aplicação do glyphosate, determinando-se também sua concentração e de seu metabólito, ácido aminometilfosfônico (AMPA), na solução nutritiva, por GC-MS. Os resultados mostraram que nenhum parâmetro fitométrico nem a qualidade nutricional dos grãos foram alterados pelas aplicações de glyphosate. Houve acúmulo de ácido chiquímico nas plantas de soja transgênica no campo quando tratadas de forma isolada com glyphosate. Os resultados também mostraram exsudação radicular do glyphosate por soja transgênica, com posterior absorção por soja convencional. Foram detectados resíduos de glyphosate e ácido aminometilfosfônico na solução nutritiva.<br>Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine]-resistant crops (GRC) are the transgenic crops most extensively grown worldwide, with soybean being the major GRC. It is important to evaluate the impact of glyphosate on transgenic soybean and its relationship with shikimic acid. A field experiment was conducted at Engenheiro Coelho-SP, Brazil, during the agricultural year 2007/2008 to evaluate the effect of glyphosate on the growth, development, and seed quality of GRC soybean variety BRS Valiosa RR. A randomized block design was used with four replications. Glyphosate was applied at 720 and 960 g a.e. ha-1 (acid equivalent) and in sequence at the doses 720/720, 960/720, and 960/720/720 g a.e. ha-1 (acid equivalent). To evaluate transfer from GRC soybean to non GRC soybean cultivated in nutrient solution, a pot experiment was conducted at Instituto Biológico, SP, Brazil. Glyphosate was applied on the GRC soybean (M8045RR) at 2,400 g a.e. ha-1. Both GRC soybean and non GRC soybean were sown in the same box with nutrient solution. At 0, 1, 3, 7, and 10 days after application, shikimic acid was measured by HPLC and the glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) levels in nutrient solution were determined by GC-MS. The results showed that yield, plant height, seed oil, and protein contents were not affected by glyphosate application. GRC soybean accumulated shikimic acid in the field. Glyphosate and AMPA were released through the roots of GRC soybean, and subsequently taken up by non-GRC soybean, exerting inhibitory effects on their shikimic pathway