Retail food environment in a Brazilian metropolis over the course of a decade: evidence of restricted availability of healthy foods.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in the retail food environment profile in a Brazilian metropolis over a 10-year period. DESIGN: An ecological study was conducted in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The addresses of formal food establishments were geocoded and classified according to their sold-food profile. Density changes were analysed according to neighbourhood, population size, income level and geospatial distribution. SETTING: Totally, 468 neighbourhoods in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: Totally, 83 752 formal food establishments registered for operation in any one or more of those years: 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2018. RESULTS: There was an increase in unhealthy establishments (154 %), followed by mixed (51 %) and healthy establishments (32 %), during the period evaluated, in addition to an increase in density according to income categories. There was a higher proportion of unhealthy establishments in relation to healthy establishments, indicating worsening of the community food environment over time. CONCLUSIONS: Over the course of 10 years, changes in the neighbourhood's food environment were unfavourable for adequate access to healthy foods in lower-income neighbourhoods. The findings reinforce the need for interventions aimed at increasing the availability of businesses that offer healthy food in the city.

Sensitive Time-Gated Immunoluminescence Detection of Prostate Cancer Cells Using a TEGylated Europium Ligand.

We describe the application of a synthetically developed tetradentate ß-diketonate-europium chelate with high quantum yield (39%), for sensitive immunodetection of prostate cancer cells (DU145). MIL38 antibody, a mouse monoclonal antibody against Glypican 1, conjugated directly to the chelate via lysine residues, resulted in soluble (hydrophilic) and stable immunoconjugates. Indirect labeling of the antibody by a europium chelated secondary polyclonal antibody and a streptavidin/biotin pair was also performed. All of these bright luminescent conjugates were used to stain DU145 cells, a prostate cancer cell line, using time gated luminescence microscopy for imaging, and their performances were compared to conventional FITC labeling. For all prepared conjugates, the europium chelate in conjunction with a gated autosynchronous luminescence detector (GALD) completely suppressed the cellular autofluorescence background to allow capture of vivid, high contrast images of immune-stained cancer cells.

Detection of rare prostate cancer cells in human urine offers prospect of non-invasive diagnosis.

Two molecular cytology approaches, (i) time-gated immunoluminescence assay (TGiA) and (ii) Raman-active immunolabeling assay (RiA), have been developed to detect prostate cancer (PCa) cells in urine from five prostate cancer patients. For TGiA, PCa cells stained by a biocompatible europium chelate antibody-conjugated probe were quantitated by automated time-gated microscopy (OSAM). For RiA, PCa cells labeled by antibody-conjugated Raman probe were detected by Raman spectrometer. TGiA and RiA were first optimized by the detection of PCa cultured cells (DU145) spiked into control urine, with TGiA-OSAM showing single-cell PCa detection sensitivity, while RiA had a limit of detection of 4-10 cells/mL. Blinded analysis of each patient urine sample, using MIL-38 antibody specific for PCa cells, was performed using both assays in parallel with control urine. Both assays detected very low abundance PCa cells in patient urine (3-20 PCa cells per mL by TGiA, 4-13 cells/mL by RiA). The normalized mean of the detected PCa cells per 1 ml of urine was plotted against the clinical data including prostate specific antigen (PSA) level and Clinical Risk Assessment for each patient. Both cell detection assays showed correlation with PSA in the high risk patients but aligned with the Clinical Assessment rather than with PSA levels of the low/intermediate risk patients. Despite the limited available urine samples of PCa patients, the data presented in this proof-of-principle work is promising for the development of highly sensitive diagnostic urine tests for PCa.

Disponibilidade, acesso percebido e insegurança alimentar em domicílios de escolares de dois municípios de Minas Gerais na pandemia de COVID-19 / Availability, perceived access, and food insecurity in households of schoolchildren in two cities of Minas Gerais in the COVID-19 pandemic

Introdução: O contexto pandêmico tem implicações diretas na situação de segurança alimentar e nutricional atual e futura, assim é urgente avaliar a situação da insegurança alimentar em suas diferentes dimensões. Há poucos estudos que avaliam conjuntamente segurança alimentar, disponibilidade e acesso aos alimentos. Objetivo: Descrever a disponibilidade alimentar domiciliar e o acesso percebido aos alimentos segundo a situação de insegurança alimentar em domicílios de escolares na pandemia de COVID-19. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal com amostra representativa de domicílios de escolares da educação infantil e ensino fundamental de escolas públicas de Mariana e Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. Os dados foram coletados na fase inicial da pandemia, "junho e julho de 2020", por meio de entrevistas telefônicas com os responsáveis por comprar e/ou preparar os alimentos nos domicílios. Investigou-se condições socioeconômicas, acesso percebido aos alimentos, disponibilidade alimentar domiciliar e insegurança alimentar, esta avaliada por meio da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar. Resultados: Dos 612 domicílios investigados, 82,0% estavam em situação de insegurança alimentar, sendo 11,3% em insegurança moderada e 5,1% em insegurança grave. Foi observada relação entre disponibilidade de frutas, hortaliças, leite, carnes e ovos com a insegurança alimentar, bem como com a percepção de dificuldade no acesso a frutas e hortaliças. Discussão: A situação de insegurança alimentar enfrentada pelos domicílios relaciona-se com menor disponibilidade de alimentos importantes para o desenvolvimento dos escolares, ademais as famílias depararam com inacessibilidade para adquirir frutas e hortaliças. (AU)

Introduction: The pandemic context impacts the current and future situation of food and nutritional security, so it is urgent to assess the situation of food insecurity in its different dimensions. There are few studies that jointly assess food security, availability, and access to food. Objective: To describe household food availability and perceived access to food according to the situation of food insecurity in households of schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of households of schoolchildren in early childhood education and elementary school from public schools in Mariana and Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. Data were collected in the initial phase of the pandemic, "June and July 2020", through telephone interviews with those responsible for buying and/or preparing the food in the households. Socioeconomic conditions, perceived access to food, and household food availability were investigated, and food insecurity was measured using the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale. Results: Of the 612 households surveyed, 82.0% of the households presented food insecurity, of which 11.3% moderate food insecurity and 5.1% severe food insecurity. A relationship was observed between the low availability of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and eggs with food insecurity and the perception of difficulty in accessing fruits and vegetables. Discussion: The situation of food insecurity faced by households is related to low availability of essential foods for the development of schoolchildren, and families also encounter inaccessibility to acquire fruits and vegetables. (AU)

Glypican-1 as a Biomarker for Prostate Cancer: Isolation and Characterization.

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed male visceral cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Standard tests such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurement have poor specificity (33%) resulting in a high number of false positive reports. Consequently there is a need for new biomarkers to address this problem. The MIL-38 antibody was first described nearly thirty years ago, however, until now, the identification of the target antigen remained elusive. By a series of molecular techniques and mass spectrometry, the MIL-38 antigen was identified to be the highly glycosylated proteoglycan Glypican-1 (GPC-1). This protein is present in two forms; a membrane bound core protein of 55-60 kDa and secreted soluble forms of 40 kDa and 52 kDa. GPC-1 identification was confirmed by immuno-precipitation, western blots and ELISA. An ELISA platform is currently being developed to assess the levels of GPC-1 in normal, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer patients to determine whether secreted GPC-1 may represent a clinically relevant biomarker for prostate cancer diagnosis.

COVID-Inconfidentes - SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in two Brazilian urban areas during the pandemic first wave: study protocol and initial results

Background: A population study is an important tool that can be used to understand the actual epidemiological scenario of the Covid-19 in different territories, identify its magnitude, understand its transmission dynamics, and its demographic, geographical, and social distribution. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the population of two Brazilian cities during the pandemic first wave and subsequent socioeconomic and health effects. Materials & methods: This paper described the methodological procedures adopted and the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the population. A household survey was conducted between October and December 2020, in two historic cities of Brazil's mining region. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody was detected using the Wondfo® rapid test. The face-to-face interview consisted of administration of a questionnaire containing registration data, sociodemographic and economic variables, living habits, general health condition, mental health, sleep habits, and eating and nutrition. Results: We evaluated 1,762 residents, of which 764 (43.4%) were in Mariana and 998 (56.6%) in Ouro Preto. For both cities, 51.9% of the interviewees were female, with a predominance of the age range 35 to 59 years old (47.2%). The prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection was 5.5% in all cities, 6.2% in Ouro Preto, and 4.7% in Mariana. The prevalence was similar between cities (P>0.05). Conclusion: The study was effective in verifying the seroprevalence of infection by the virus and its findings will enable further analyses of the health conditions of the population related to social isolation and the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2.