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Although commercial entities can contribute positively to health and society there is growing evidence that the products and practices of some commercial actors—notably the largest transnational corporations—are responsible for escalating rates of avoidable ill health, planetary damage, and social and health inequity; these problems are increasingly referred to as the commercial determinants of health. The climate emergency, the non-communicable disease epidemic, and that just four industry sectors (ie, tobacco, ultra-processed food, fossil fuel, and alcohol) already account for at least a third of global deaths illustrate the scale and huge economic cost of the problem. This paper, the first in a Series on the commercial determinants of health, explains how the shift towards market fundamentalism and increasingly powerful transnational corporations has created a pathological system in which commercial actors are increasingly enabled to cause harm and externalise the costs of doing so. Consequently, as harms to human and planetary health increase, commercial sector wealth and power increase, whereas the countervailing forces having to meet these costs (notably individuals, governments, and civil society organisations) become correspondingly impoverished and disempowered or captured by commercial interests. This power imbalance leads to policy inertia; although many policy solutions are available, they are not being implemented. Health harms are escalating, leaving health-care systems increasingly unable to cope. Governments can and must act to improve, rather than continue to threaten, the wellbeing of future generations, development, and economic growth.

Most public health research on the commercial determinants of health (CDOH) to date has focused on a narrow segment of commercial actors. These actors are generally the transnational corporations producing so-called unhealthy commodities such as tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods. Furthermore, as public health researchers, we often discuss the CDOH using sweeping terms such as private sector, industry, or business that lump together diverse entities whose only shared characteristic is their engagement in commerce. The absence of clear frameworks for differentiating among commercial entities, and for understanding how they might promote or harm health, hinders the governance of commercial interests in public health. Moving forward, it is necessary to develop a nuanced understanding of commercial entities that goes beyond this narrow focus, enabling the consideration of a fuller range of commercial entities and the features that characterise and distinguish them. In this paper, which is the second of three papers in a Series on commercial determinants of health, we develop a framework that enables meaningful distinctions among diverse commercial entities through consideration of their practices, portfolios, resources, organisation, and transparency. The framework that we develop permits fuller consideration of whether, how, and to what extent a commercial actor might influence health outcomes. We discuss possible applications for decision making about engagement; managing and mitigating conflicts of interest; investment and divestment; monitoring; and further research on the CDOH. Improved differentiation among commercial actors strengthens the capacity of practitioners, advocates, academics, regulators, and policy makers to make decisions about, to better understand, and to respond to the CDOH through research, engagement, disengagement, regulation, and strategic opposition.

Immune complexes (ICs) are found in canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) and interfere with the serum detection of antibodies. Dissociation of these monovalent complexes by dissociative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) removes false-negative results and allows some characterization of antibodies and antigens. We studied the serology of dogs with suspected CVL in an endemic area, testing two Leishmania (Leishmania) [L. (L.)] infantum antigens. We analysed the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies specific to promastigote soluble extract (PSE) and low-molecular weight glycans (glycan–bovine serum albumin (BSA) complex – GBC) by conventional and dissociative ELISA. Our results showed a significant fraction of IgA ICs (46.5% for PSE and 47.6% for GBC), followed by IgG ICs (10% for PSE and 23.5% for GBC). IgM ICs were more frequent for PSE (22.7%). Hypergammaglobulinaemia in CVL would be related to the presence of IgA and IgG ICs, resulting in deficient elimination of these antibodies. Our data confirmed the presence of ICs that can generate false-negative results in conventional serology. The production of IgA antibodies and the high frequency of blockade by glycan antigens suggest the active participation of this immunoglobulin and its ICs in the immunopathology of CVL, indicating a new path for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neotropical genus Calliandra is of great importance to ecology and agroforestry, but little is known about its nodulation or its rhizobia. The nodulation of several species from two restricted diversity centres with native/endemic species (Eastern Brazil and North-Central America) and species widespread in South America, as well as their nodule structure and the molecular characterization of their rhizobial symbionts based on phylogeny of the 16S rRNA, recAand nodCgene, is reported herein. Species representative of different regions were grown in Brazilian soil, their nodulation observed, and their symbionts characterized. Calliandranodules have anatomy that is typical of mimosoid nodules regardless of the microsymbiont type. The rhizobial symbionts differed according to the geographical origin of the species, i.e. Alphaproteobacteria (Rhizobium) were the exclusive symbionts from North-Central America, Betaproteobacteria (Paraburkholderia) from Eastern Brazil, and a mixture of both nodulated the widespread species. The symbiont preferences of Calliandraspecies are the result of the host co-evolving with the “local” symbiotic bacteria that thrive in the different edaphoclimatic conditions, e.g. the acidic soils of NE Brazil are rich in acid-tolerant Paraburkholderia, whereas those of North-Central America are typically neutral-alkaline and harbour Rhizobium. It is hypothesized that the flexibility of widespread species in symbiont choice has assisted in their wider dispersal across the neotropics.

Fiber intake influences disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract and is associated with systemic inflammation in the general population. Systemic and intraperitoneal inflammation play an important role in defining outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD), but the relationship between dietary fiber intake and inflammatory biomarkers has not yet been reported in the population on PD. The objective of the present study is to analyze whether or not fiber intake in patients on PD is associated with serum and intraperitoneal levels of inflammatory biomarkers.

ABSTRACTTemperature is one of the main environmental factors that affect plant metabolism. Considering that plants are sessile, their survival depends on the efficient activation of resistance responses to thermal stress. In this comprehensive review, we discuss recent work on rapid biochemical and physiological adjustments, herein referred to as those occurring during the first few hours or a few days after the beginning of the change in the ambient temperature. The short-term metabolic modulation after plant exposure to heat and cold, including chilling and freezing, is discussed. Effects on photosynthesis, cell membranes, antioxidant system, production of heat shock proteins and nitric oxide, as well as an overview of signaling events to heat or cold stress are presented. In addition, we also discuss the acclimation process that occurs when the plant acquires resistance to an increase or decrease in temperature, adjusting its homeostasis and steady-state physiology to the new temperatures. Finally, we present studies with tropical plants that aim at elucidating the effects of temperature and the identification of the resilience levels of these plants to the expected climate changes, and which seek the development of techniques for germplasm conservation of endangered species.

The effect of the nature and concentration of different halide salts (NaBr, NaCl and NaF) was followed by electrochemical measurements in an alkaline media. Based on the interesting results that were obtained, the electrochemical oxidation (EO) of tartaric acid (TA) with Pt electrodes was performed in the absence and presence of those substances, in order to verify their influence in indirect electrocatalytic mechanisms. A slow EO was observed in the absence of mediators. Conversely, with halide salts, the rate of the electrochemical incineration was significantly enhanced in the following order Cl[?] < Br[?] < F[?]. The rate of the mediated process was practically independent of applied current density (30 and 60 mA cm[?]2). Energy efficiency and energy consumption parameters were estimated, as well as the by-products were detected by GC/MS technique.

AbstractIntroductionFour studies have found a smaller amygdalar volume in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) relative to controls, whereas four other studies have found similar amygdalar volume in BPD patients relative to controls. This study aims to compare amygdalar volumes of BPD patients with controls, and also to compare BPD patients with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with controls in order to determine whether PTSD can explain the heterogeneity of findings.MethodSystematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging studies that measured amygdalar volumes in BPD patients and healthy controls.FindingsA significant reduction of amygdalar volumes in BPD patients was confirmed (p < .001). However, data from the studies that discriminated BPD patients with and without PTSD indicated that amygdalar volumes were significantly smaller in BPD patients without PTSD relative to controls (left: p = .02; right: p = .05), but not in BPD patients with PTSD relative to controls (left: p = .08; right: p = .20).ConclusionThis meta-analysis suggests that amygdalar volumes are reduced in patients with BPD. This pattern is confirmed in BPD patients without PTSD, but not in BPD patients with PTSD, raising the possibility that reduced amygdalar volume in BPD patients cannot be explained by comorbid PTSD.

Rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) is a polyclonal mixture of immunoglobulin (Ig) G. It is used to prevent graft rejection and also graft versus host disease after transplantation. Its effect on lymphocyte function has been widely studied. Dendritic cells are central actors of the immune system. As antigen presenting cells, they are able to initiate, stimulate, and modulate immune responses.

Objectives: To study biofilm production and to detect icaAD, atlE and aap genes in 137 isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) obtained from healthy individuals from the community (35 isolates), from hospitalized patients at the Antônio Pedro University Hospital (25 isolates) and from individuals from a home-care system (HCS; 77 isolates).Methods: Biofilm production was determined in vitro using polystyrene inert surfaces. icaAD, atlE and aap genes were detected using PCR. Hybridization experiments were also carried out to confirm some PCR results. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out using the NCCLS methods.Results: Although many of the commensal MRSE isolates produced biofilms, the percentage of biofilm producers was significantly higher (P = 0.0107) among hospital isolates (76%) than among isolates from the community (60%) and from the HCS (57%). An association was observed between multiresistance and biofilm production for isolates obtained from healthy individuals from the community and from household contacts from the HCS (P < 0.0001). The concomitant presence of the ica operon and atlE and aap genes was associated with the strong biofilm-producer phenotype (P < 0.0001).Conclusion: Because many of the commensal MRSE isolates obtained from nares produced biofilms and carried icaAD, aap and atlE genes, biofilms or such genetic elements should not be used as markers for clinical significance. The biofilm environment seems to increase genetic exchanges and hence may contribute to multiresistance phenotypes.

Bioguided fractionation of extract from the leaves of Aristolochia cymbifera led to the isolation of the furofuran lignans fargesin, epieudesmin, and sesamin; the dibenzylbutyrolactone lignans hinokinin and kusunokinin; and an ent-labdane diterpene named copalic acid. Our data demonstrated that copalic acid and kusunokinin were the most active compounds against trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi. Additionally, copalic acid demonstrated the highest parasite selectivity as a result of low toxicity to mammalian cells, despite a considerable hemolytic activity at higher concentrations. Among the isolated compounds, kusunokinin could be considered the most promising candidate, as it displayed significant activity against intracellular amastigotes (IC50 = 17 �M) and trypomastigotes (IC50 = 51 �M) without hemolytic activity. Fargesin, hinokinin, epieudesmin, and sesamin were also effective against trypomastigotes, but these compounds were highly toxic to mammalian cells and no parasite selectivity could be identified. The need for novel drugs for American trypanosomiasis is evident, and these secondary metabolites from A.�cymbifera represent a useful tool for drug design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern whose detection in recovered asymptomatic patients is dependent on accurate diagnosis as it enables the estimation of the susceptibility of the population to the infection. This demand has resulted in the development of several commercial assays employing recombinant proteins, but the results of these assays are not reliable as they do not involve comparison with natural viral antigens. We independently used the SARS-CoV-2 whole viral antigen (WVA) and recombinant nucleocapsid protein (rNP) to develop in-house ELISAs for IgG detection; the results of these ELISAs were then compared to obtain reliable results.