Food Consumption and Metabolic Risks in Young University Students

The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between components of the diet, metabolic risks, and the serum concentrations of adiponectin and interleukin-6 (IL-6). With prior informed consent, an analytical cross-sectional study was carried out with 72 students in their first year of university. The subjects had a mean age of 19.2 ± 1.0 years and body mass index of 23.38 ± 4.2, and they were mainly women (80.6%). Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and dietary data and metabolic risk factors were evaluated, and biochemical parameters and adipocytokines were also considered. The data were analyzed using means, ranges, and correlations, as well as principal components. In general, the protein, fat, and sodium intake were higher than the international dietary recommendations, and deficiencies in vitamins B5 and E, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc were observed. The most frequently observed metabolic risks were insulin resistance and hypoalphalipoproteinemia. IL-6 was positively correlated with lipid and protein intake. Adiponectin showed a positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein and a negative correlation with insulin, weight, and waist, while the adiponectin pattern was similar to that of vitamins E and A, which decreased with increasing intake of calories, macronutrients, and sodium. In general, a hypercaloric diet that was high in protein, fat, and sodium and deficient in vitamins, mainly fat-soluble, was associated with a lower concentration of adiponectin and a higher concentration of IL-6, which favor the presence of metabolic risks, including insulin resistance. Intervention studies are required to evaluate the dietary intake of metabolic markers in young people without comorbidities, which will lay the foundation for implementing prevention strategies.

Right of Indigenous Communities to Prior Informed Consent under Article 7 of the Nagoya Protocol and a Comparative Analysis of Its Implementation by India and Bhutan

The Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd) was adopted in 1992. This Convention had three major objectives: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its component, and access and benefit sharing of biological resources arising out of their utilisation. The Nagoya Protocol to the cbd was adopted in 2010 for the fulfilment of the third objective of the cbd, access and benefit sharing. Article 7 of the Nagoya Protocol imposes an obligation on states parties to ensure that “prior and informed consent or approval or involvement” of the indigenous and local communities is taken before their knowledge is accessed. The present study first analyses the contents of Article 7 of the Nagoya Protocol. It will throw light on the meaning of the phrase “prior and informed consent or approval and involvement” as used in Article 7. It then highlights the implementation of Article 7 by two states parties, namely, India and Bhutan.

Risk factors and characterization of post-COVID-19 syndrome in patients from Colombia v1

Introduction: A high percentage of people who have suffered from COVID-19 present clinical manifestations that persist long after recovery from the acute phase. Objective: To determine the proportion of patients who presented post-COVID-19 syndrome, its clinical picture, and its risk factors in a group of patients from Colombia. Methods: This was an observational, longitudinal study of patients with SARS-CoV-2 treated in a network of clinics in Colombia. Over the telephone, after they gave prior informed consent, we evaluated whether the patients had post-COVID-19 syndrome and other clinical variables. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: A total of 311 patients (50.2% women) from 19 different cities were identified, with a median age of 47.0 years. In 63.0% of cases, symptoms persisted more than 3 months after recovery from the acute phase of the disease. Most common were dyspnea (54.1%), fatigue (42.9%), and muscle pain (36.2%). Greater age (30-59 vs. <30 years: OR: 2.67; 95% CI: 1.33-5.34; and ≥60 years vs. <30 years: OR: 3.23; 95% CI: 1.28-8.15), use of bronchodilators or inhaled corticosteroids (OR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.02-3.10), and presenting cough at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19 (OR: 2, 39; 95% CI 1.23-4.65) increased the probability of prolonged clinical manifestations. Conclusions:Post-COVID-19 syndrome is a frequent condition characterized by heterogeneous symptoms. Older patients, those who present cough during the acute illness, and those who are managed with bronchodilators or inhaled corticosteroids have a higher risk of presenting it.

Regulation of Natural Resources Located in Indigenous Communities Territory under the Principles of Consultation and Free, Prior-Informed Consent: Perspectives in Selected Countries

Natural resources have long been said to be under the sovereign ownership of the states in whose borders they are found. Sovereignty grants such a state not only the ownership but also the power to regulate their access and use. States’ inability to convert the resources into tangible socio-economic development has witnessed massive contractual agreements with multinational companies to harness the same. Multinational companies and state contractual arrangements seem to have ignored other potential stakeholders like communities dependent on natural resources for their survival. Consequently, communities such as those of indigenous peoples who depend on available natural resources like rivers, lakes, forests and other ecological resources are victimised in the state-multinational contractual arrangements and implementation. Internationally, principles such as consultation and free and prior-informed consent seem to regulate access and use of resources located in indigenous communities. This article shows how such principles guarantee the indigenous communities their existence in cases of large-scale development in their territory.

Territory, Private Authority, and Rights

Sustainability certification initiatives seek to harness the power of transnational corporations to reform environmentally damaging practices around the world. This amounts to a kind of de-territorialized authority that governs through global markets rather than nation-states. Yet in certifying land and reforming its uses, sustainable agriculture and forestry initiatives confront a resource that is deeply tied to state sovereignty while potentially also being claimed by Indigenous peoples. This chapter asks what happens as transnational sustainability standards meet the nationally rooted and contested governance of land. It examines the place of “free and prior informed consent” for the use of Indigenous land in the leading sustainable agriculture and forestry initiatives, and it highlights the significance of the state and civil society through a brief comparison of forest certification in Indonesia and China. Further research should look not only within the world of sustainability standards but also to parallel questions about land rights in projects focused on timber legality and payment for ecosystem services.

Awareness and utilisation of quitline among current tobacco users in a district in southern india

Background: Tobacco use not only increases mortality, but also causes enormous burden to the Nation’s health and economy. The WHO -Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implemented “MPOWER”, comprising of an important entity of ‘offering help to tobacco users’ to quit. Quitline provides evidence-based treatment services to tobacco users and advertising those services has the potential to increase their utilisation. Objectives: Our objective was to assess the awareness and utilisation of the newly introduced quitline on tobacco packs among tobacco users. Materials and Methods: After obtaining Ethics Committee approval, this cross-sectional study was conducted from March-June 2019 in a purposive sample of tobacco users aged 18 years and above at the point of sale with prior informed consent. The questionnaire included questions on the users’ knowledge and utilisation of the quitline. Results: Most of the tobacco users (84.6 %) had not observed the quitline on tobacco pack. Amongst those who observed the quitline, 65.5% were smokers, while the smokeless tobacco users who comprised half of the study population were unaware of the quitline. More than 97% of illiterates were unaware of the quitline. Only three tobacco users who were aware of quitline had tried using it. Conclusion: Most of the tobacco users had basic education but were not aware of the quitline on the tobacco packs and only a very few of them used the services, highlighting the need to increase its awareness for effective tobacco control.

Sildenafil: efectos en la calidad espermática del hombre subfértil

Objective: To evaluate the effect of sildenafil on the sperm parameters of subfertile men who attended the fertility service of the Maternidad Concepción Palacios, between June 2011 and December 2013. Methods: A clinical, prospective, descriptive, experimental, cross-sectional study was conducted, prior informed consent, in 28 subfertile men with diagnosed asthenozoospermia, by performing two basal spermogram. Thereafter, they were given 50 mg of sildenafil, one hour before obtaining the sample, for a third and final spermogram. Results: Among the 28 patients studied, it was shown an increased progressive motility post-treatment in 21 patients (75%) which was statistically significant (p-0.000); the volume ejaculated before and after treatment had no statistically significant differences (p-0.405), as well as sperm concentration (p-1,000). Conclusions: The use of sildenafil in patients with diagnosed asthenozoospermia represents an economical therapeutic option, easy to acquire, and comply with in the treatment of this pathology. Keywords: Asthenozoospermia, Sildenafil, Semen.

Assessing the Convergence of International Standards on Corporate Environmental Responsibility

This chapter carries out a critical analysis of the international standards on corporate environmental responsibility by relying on the normative advances made under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It focuses on the more recent emergence of these substantive standards that relate to the human rights of indigenous peoples to their territories, lands, natural resources, and traditional knowledge (environmental and socio-cultural impact assessments, free prior informed consent, fair and equitable benefit-sharing). The chapter also discusses other international standards of corporate environmental responsibility with regard to protected areas, and the sustainable use of natural resources, including in relation to ecosystem services, invasive alien species, threatened species, sustainable agri-business, and sustainable production more generally.