Impact of Bt corn expressing Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner insecticidal proteins on the growth and survival of Spodoptera frugiperda larvae in Colombia.

Bioassays were conducted under controlled conditions to determine the response of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) larvae fed with corn materials expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal endotoxins: (1) VT Double Pro® (VT2P) expressing Cry1A.105-Cry2Ab2 proteins and (2) VT Triple Pro® (VT3P) expressing Cry1A.105-Cry2Ab2-Cry3Bb1 proteins. The parameters assessed were: (i) mortality rate, and (ii) growth inhibition (GI) with respect to the control. To conduct this study, larvae were collected from commercial non-Bt corn fields, in four agricultural sub-regions in Colombia, between 2018 and 2020. Fifty-two populations were assessed from the field and neonate larvae from each of the populations were used for the bioassays. The study found that mortality rates in the regions for larvae fed with VT2P corn ranged from 95.1 to 100.0%, with a growth inhibition (%GI) higher than 76.0%. Similarly, mortality rate for larvae fed with VT3P corn were between 91.4 and 100.0%, with a %GI above 74.0%. The population collected in Agua Blanca (Espinal, Tolima; Colombia) in 2020, showed the lowest mortality rate of 53.2% and a %GI of 73.5%, with respect to the control. The population that exhibited the lowest %GI was collected in 2018 in Agua Blanca (Espinal, Tolima, Colombia) with a 30.2%, growth inhibition, with respect to the control. In recent years, the use of plant tissue to monitor susceptibility to fall armyworm has proven to be useful in the resistance management program for corn in Colombia determining that the FAW populations are still susceptible to Bt proteins contained in VT2P and VT3P.

Chemical Multiverse and Diversity of Food Chemicals.

Food chemicals have a fundamental role in our lives, with an extended impact on nutrition, disease prevention, and marked economic implications in the food industry. The number of food chemical compounds in public databases has substantially increased in the past few years, which can be characterized using chemoinformatics approaches. We and other groups explored public food chemical libraries containing up to 26,500 compounds. This study aimed to analyze the chemical contents, diversity, and coverage in the chemical space of food chemicals and additives and, from here on, food components. The approach to food components addressed in this study is a public database with more than 70,000 compounds, including those predicted via omics techniques. It was concluded that food components have distinctive physicochemical properties and constitutional descriptors despite sharing many chemical structures with natural products. Food components, on average, have large molecular weights and several apolar structures with saturated hydrocarbons. Compared to reference databases, food component structures have low scaffold and fingerprint-based diversity and high structural complexity, as measured by the fraction of sp3 carbons. These structural features are associated with a large fraction of macronutrients as lipids. Lipids in food components were decompiled by an analysis of the maximum common substructures. The chemical multiverse representation of food chemicals showed a larger coverage of chemical space than natural products and FDA-approved drugs by using different sets of representations.

Delays in Obtaining Abortion and Miscarriage Care Among Pregnant Persons in New York State During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The CAP Study.

Background: We sought to investigate delays obtaining abortion and miscarriage care during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with before the pandemic, among pregnant persons in New York State (NYS). Methods: We administered a cross-sectional survey in June-July 2020 to NYS residents aged 18-44 years who identified as female or transgender male (N = 1,525). This analysis focused on a subsample who had an abortion or miscarriage during COVID-19, were seeking an abortion at the time of the survey, or had an abortion or miscarriage before COVID-19 (n = 116). We conducted bivariate analyses to determine differences in delays to seeking or obtaining an abortion or miscarriage during versus before the pandemic, as well as consideration of abortion among those pregnant during versus before the pandemic. We also asked open-ended questions about miscarriage and abortion experiences. Main Findings: Of the 21 respondents who sought or were seeking an abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic, 76.2% (n = 16) reported experiencing a delay in obtaining abortion care, compared with 18.2% (n = 4) of those who experienced a delay before the pandemic (p < 0.001). A significantly higher proportion of respondents who were pregnant during the pandemic considered abortion, compared with those who gave birth before the pandemic (39.1% vs. 7.6%; p < 0.001). Of the 39 respondents who miscarried during the pandemic, 35.9% (n = 14) delayed care, compared with 5.9% (n = 2) before the pandemic (p < 0.01). Some respondents also commented on the difficulty of accessing miscarriage services during COVID-19 in open-ended responses. Principal Conclusions: Those who sought abortion or miscarriage care during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced significant delays in getting care. These are essential services that must be available during public health emergencies, and yet access to these services is now severely limited in many states due to the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.

A global action agenda for turning the tide on fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Fatty liver disease is a major public health threat due to its very high prevalence and related morbidity and mortality. Focused and dedicated interventions are urgently needed to target disease prevention, treatment, and care. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We developed an aligned, prioritized action agenda for the global fatty liver disease community of practice. Following a Delphi methodology over 2 rounds, a large panel (R1 n = 344, R2 n = 288) reviewed the action priorities using Qualtrics XM, indicating agreement using a 4-point Likert-scale and providing written feedback. Priorities were revised between rounds, and in R2, panelists also ranked the priorities within 6 domains: epidemiology, treatment and care, models of care, education and awareness, patient and community perspectives, and leadership and public health policy. The consensus fatty liver disease action agenda encompasses 29 priorities. In R2, the mean percentage of "agree" responses was 82.4%, with all individual priorities having at least a super-majority of agreement (> 66.7% "agree"). The highest-ranked action priorities included collaboration between liver specialists and primary care doctors on early diagnosis, action to address the needs of people living with multiple morbidities, and the incorporation of fatty liver disease into relevant non-communicable disease strategies and guidance. CONCLUSIONS: This consensus-driven multidisciplinary fatty liver disease action agenda developed by care providers, clinical researchers, and public health and policy experts provides a path to reduce the prevalence of fatty liver disease and improve health outcomes. To implement this agenda, concerted efforts will be needed at the global, regional, and national levels.

A multisociety Delphi consensus statement on new fatty liver disease nomenclature.

The principal limitations of the terms NAFLD and NASH are the reliance on exclusionary confounder terms and the use of potentially stigmatising language. This study set out to determine if content experts and patient advocates were in favor of a change in nomenclature and/or definition. A modified Delphi process was led by three large pan-national liver associations. The consensus was defined a priori as a supermajority (67%) vote. An independent committee of experts external to the nomenclature process made the final recommendation on the acronym and its diagnostic criteria. A total of 236 panelists from 56 countries participated in 4 online surveys and 2 hybrid meetings. Response rates across the 4 survey rounds were 87%, 83%, 83%, and 78%, respectively. Seventy-four percent of respondents felt that the current nomenclature was sufficiently flawed to consider a name change. The terms "nonalcoholic" and "fatty" were felt to be stigmatising by 61% and 66% of respondents, respectively. Steatotic liver disease was chosen as an overarching term to encompass the various aetiologies of steatosis. The term steatohepatitis was felt to be an important pathophysiological concept that should be retained. The name chosen to replace NAFLD was metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. There was consensus to change the definition to include the presence of at least 1 of 5 cardiometabolic risk factors. Those with no metabolic parameters and no known cause were deemed to have cryptogenic steatotic liver disease. A new category, outside pure metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, termed metabolic and alcohol related/associated liver disease (MetALD), was selected to describe those with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, who consume greater amounts of alcohol per week (140-350 g/wk and 210-420 g/wk for females and males, respectively). The new nomenclature and diagnostic criteria are widely supported and nonstigmatising, and can improve awareness and patient identification.

Effective and alternative treatment of anastomotic leak after gastrojejunal bypass: endoluminal vacuum therapy.

Anastomotic leak (AL) after with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has a morbidity rate to 53% and it can be potentially lethal (mortality rate from 0.5 to 10%). In these cases, surgery is usually a challenge, so in recent years minimally invasive endoscopic treatment is gaining ground. Endoluminal vacuum therapy (EVAC) is a promising treatment that is being used in esophagogastric and rectal surgery for the management of AL. We present the case of a patient on his 5th postoperative day of bariatric surgery (RYGB) with an acute abdomen. He was diagnosed of dehiscence of gastrojejunal anastomosis and he needed urgent surgery twice. Subsequently, in control CT, a new anastomotic leak is evidenced. However, given the clinical stability of the patient, it was decided to start EVAC type ESO-Sponge® placed by endoscopy. A total of 4 changes are made every 3-4 days with a total duration of treatment of 15 days. EVAC was removed when the defect presented a 1 mm sized.

Percepciones maternas sobre la sexualidad como tabú en personas con discapacidad

Fundamento: Una persona con discapacidad además de las barreras físicas enfrenta limitaciones sexuales, afectados por estereotipos sociales de diversa índole. Objetivo: Analizar las percepciones maternas sobre la sexualidad como un tabú para las personas que tienen algún tipo de discapacidad física o intelectual. Metodología: Estudio cualitativo con enfoque fenomenológico; se entrevistaron 100 madres, las cuales tienen familiares con discapacidad intelectual y física. Se analizó su sexualidad como tabú, y en función de ello varios subtemas y códigos de análisis. Se empleó la entrevista, procesada con Atlas. Resultados: Se observó que algunas personas con discapacidad tienen pérdida del deseo sexual; y sus familiares el sexo lo conceptualizan y lo relacionan con la prostitución. A muchos de ellos los esterilizan sin su consentimiento con la idea de que no serían capaces de ser responsables de formar una familia, o que los hijos tengan la misma discapacidad que sus progenitores. Conclusiones: Existe rechazo social a las personas con discapacidad, todavía no hay una inclusión total a la sociedad y peor aún a sus derechos de sexualidad. A las personas con discapacidad en ocasiones se les ha privado de las decisiones corporales de control natal por prejuicios y miedos de sus familiares por factores hereditarios; idea esta muy presente en el contexto estudiado; por ello, el sexo es un tabú para las madres entrevistadas de personas con discapacidad.

Background: A disabled person faces sexual limitations in addition to physical barriers, affected by various kinds of social stereotypes. Objective: To analyze maternal perceptions about sexuality as a taboo for persons who have some physical or intellectual disability. Methodology: Qualitative study with a phenomenological approach; 100 mothers were interviewed, all of whom have relatives with intellectual and physical disabilities. Their sexuality as a taboo was analyzed, and, in function of this, several sub-themes and analyses codes. The interview, processed with Atlas, was applied. Results: It was observed that some disabled persons have sexual desire loss, and their family members conceptualize sex and relate it with prostitution. Many of them are sterilized without their consent with the idea that they would not be capable to be responsible for raising a family, or that the children have the same disability as their parents. Conclusions: There is social rejection for people with disabilities; there is still no total inclusion in society and even worse to their sexuality rights. Persons with disabilities have on occasion been deprived of bodily birth control decisions because of prejudices and fears of their family members due to hereditary factors, this idea is very present in the studied context; therefore, sex is a taboo for the interviewed mothers of disabled persons.

Lack of racial and ethnic diversity in lung cancer cell lines contributes to lung cancer health disparities.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and worldwide, and a major source of cancer health disparities. Lung cancer cell lines provide key in vitro models for molecular studies of lung cancer development and progression, and for pre-clinical drug testing. To ensure health equity, it is imperative that cell lines representing different lung cancer histological types, carrying different cancer driver genes, and representing different genders, races, and ethnicities should be available. This is particularly relevant for cell lines from Black men, who experience the highest lung cancer mortality in the United States. Here, we undertook a review of the available lung cancer cell lines and their racial and ethnic origin. We noted a marked imbalance in the availability of cell lines from different races and ethnicities. Cell lines from Black patients were strongly underrepresented, and we identified no cell lines from Hispanic/Latin(x) (H/L), American Indian/American Native (AI/AN), or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) patients. The majority of cell lines were derived from White and Asian patients. Also missing are cell lines representing the cells-of-origin of the major lung cancer histological types, which can be used to model lung cancer development and to study the effects of environmental exposures on lung tissues. To our knowledge, the few available immortalized alveolar epithelial cell lines are all derived from White subjects, and the race and ethnicity of a handful of cell lines derived from bronchial epithelial cells are unknown. The lack of an appropriately diverse collection of lung cancer cell lines and lung cancer cell-of-origin lines severely limits racially and ethnically inclusive lung cancer research. It impedes the ability to develop inclusive models, screen comprehensively for effective compounds, pre-clinically test new drugs, and optimize precision medicine. It thereby hinders the development of therapies that can increase the survival of minority and underserved patients. The noted lack of cell lines from underrepresented groups should constitute a call to action to establish additional cell lines and ensure adequate representation of all population groups in this critical pre-clinical research resource.