Explore the vast range of titles available.

This first paper in a three-part Lancet Series combines narrative and systematic reviews with original analyses and meta-analyses to assess three hypotheses concerning a dietary pattern based on ultra-processed foods. The first hypothesis—that this pattern is globally displacing long-established diets centred on whole foods and their culinary preparation as dishes and meals—is supported by decades of national food intake and purchase surveys, and recent global sales data. The second—that this pattern results in deterioration of diet quality, especially in relation to chronic disease prevention—is confirmed by national food intake surveys, large cohorts, and interventional studies showing gross nutrient imbalances; overeating driven by high energy density, hyper-palatability, soft texture, and disrupted food matrices; reduced intake of health-protective phytochemicals; and increased intake of toxic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and potentially harmful classes and mixtures of food additives. The third and final hypothesis—that this pattern increases the risk of multiple diet-related chronic diseases through various mechanisms—is substantiated by more than 100 prospective studies, meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials, and mechanistic studies, covering adverse outcomes across nearly all organ systems. The totality of the evidence supports the thesis that displacement of long-established dietary patterns by ultra-processed foods is a key driver of the escalating global burden of multiple diet-related chronic diseases. Two companion papers in this Series specify policy actions and wider public health strategies to promote, protect, and support diets based on fresh and minimally processed foods and prevent their displacement by ultra-processed foods.

This study aimed to investigate the kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics of biosorption of the cationic dye rhodamine B by a low-cost biosorbent prepared from Aspergillus oryzae cells. Culture medium composition (mineral salts, nitrogen source, and carbon source) influenced removal efficiency, and dye removal increased with increasing biosorbent concentrations until a plateau was reached at 10 g L−1. Temperature and dye concentration were directly related to removal, and the highest removal efficiency was obtained at 40 °C and 200 mg L−1 of dye. The adsorption kinetics was best fitted to a pseudo-second-order model, and equilibrium data were well described by the Freundlich equation. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the biosorption of rhodamine B by A. oryzae cells is physical in nature, spontaneous, and more favorable at higher temperatures and dye concentrations. Overall, the results suggest that inactivated A. oryzae biomass is a promising biosorbent for the removal of cationic dyes from wastewater.

This review addresses the different aspects of the use of titanium and its alloys in the production of dental implants, the most common causes of implant failures and the development of improved surfaces capable of stimulating osseointegration and guaranteeing the long-term success of dental implants. Titanium is the main material for the development of dental implants; despite this, different surface modifications are studied aiming to improve the osseointegration process. Nanoscale modifications and the bioactivation of surfaces with biological molecules can promote faster healing when compared to smooth surfaces. Recent studies have also pointed out that gradual changes in the implant, based on the microenvironment of insertion, are factors that may improve the integration of the implant with soft and bone tissues, preventing infections and osseointegration failures. In this context, the understanding that nanobiotechnological surface modifications in titanium dental implants improve the osseointegration process arouses interest in the development of new strategies, which is a highly relevant factor in the production of improved dental materials.

Brachycephalus are miniaturized diurnal frogs inhabiting the leaf litter of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, mainly in montane areas. The genus includes 42 currently recognized species, 35 of which being described since 2000. This study describes a new species of Brachycephalus from the B. pernix species group discovered at Serra do Quiriri, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Morphological and acoustic comparisons were made with other species in the species group, and high-resolution computed tomography was used for osteological examination. The phylogenetic position was based on partitioned Bayesian analysis of mitochondrial (16S rRNA) and nuclear DNA sequences (β-fibrinogen, ribosomal Protein L3, and tyrosinase exon 1). We collected 32 individuals and recorded 13 calls of the new species. It is distinguished by 18 characters including snout-vent length 8.9-11.3 mm for males and 11.7-13.4 mm for females, general bright orange coloration of the body with small green and brown irregular points, and advertisement call including note groups (two notes per group, with 1-4 pulses per note). Phylogenetic data indicate that the new species is closely related to B. auroguttatus and B. quiririensis, which also occur at Serra do Quiriri. A review of diagnoses among species of the B. pernix group is provided. We propose classifying the new species as Least Concern. Serra do Quiriri experienced semi-arid periods in the Quaternary, with forests likely occurring at lower altitudes. As the climate became wetter, these forests expanded upward as cloud forests, forming patches amidst grasslands, leading to speciation by allopatry (microrefugia) of B. quiririensis, B. auroguttatus, and the new species. This process continues, with recent observations of Brachycephalus colonizing newly formed cloud forests at high altitudes. We propose the creation of the Refúgio de Vida Silvestre (RVS) Serra do Quiriri to protect this and other endemic species, without requiring government acquisition of private land.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. Estrogen is currently identified as one of the main agents involved in the initiation of breast tumors; however, evidence indicates a greater risk when estrogen replacement is combined with progesterone, whereas its isolated use does not represent a significant risk. Inconsistencies in existing theories highlight the need for further detailed research on the relationship between hormone exposure and breast tumorigenesis, with particular emphasis on fibrinogen and its components in the context of this review. Introduce a new theory into the medical literature concerning the genesis of breast cancer. This is an integrative literature review based on a selection of relevant articles published between 2000 and 2025, in both Portuguese and English, and sourced from the following databases: Scielo, ScienceDirect, National Library of Medicine, PubMed, Cochrane, , and ResearchGate. Fifty-six references were selected to support the development of the discussion components, which are subdivided into the following themes: physiology of estrogen and progesterone in the body, actions of hormonal therapies, both combined and isolated, in breast cancer, and fibrinolytic physiology. After identifying contradictions in current theories about the influence of estrogen on tumor proliferation, which encouraged the search for new interpretations, it was demonstrated that free estrogen and its by-products, such as fibrinogen-related protein (fibrinogen-like protein 1 and 2), play a role in the immune system's failure to contain malignant cells, opening another field of therapeutic research for breast cancer.

Humans are exposed to tens of thousands of chemical substances that need to be assessed for their potential toxicity. Acute systemic toxicity testing serves as the basis for regulatory hazard classification, labeling, and risk management. However, it is cost- and time-prohibitive to evaluate all new and existing chemicals using traditional rodent acute toxicity tests. models built using existing data facilitate rapid acute toxicity predictions without using animals. The U.S. Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Acute Toxicity Workgroup organized an international collaboration to develop models for predicting acute oral toxicity based on five different end points: Lethal Dose 50 ( value, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hazard (four) categories, Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling hazard (five) categories, very toxic chemicals [ ( )], and nontoxic chemicals ( ). An acute oral toxicity data inventory for 11,992 chemicals was compiled, split into training and evaluation sets, and made available to 35 participating international research groups that submitted a total of 139 predictive models. Predictions that fell within the applicability domains of the submitted models were evaluated using external validation sets. These were then combined into consensus models to leverage strengths of individual approaches. The resulting consensus predictions, which leverage the collective strengths of each individual model, form the Collaborative Acute Toxicity Modeling Suite (CATMoS). CATMoS demonstrated high performance in terms of accuracy and robustness when compared with results. CATMoS is being evaluated by regulatory agencies for its utility and applicability as a potential replacement for rat acute oral toxicity studies. CATMoS predictions for more than 800,000 chemicals have been made available via the National Toxicology Program's Integrated Chemical Environment tools and data sets (ice.ntp.niehs.nih.gov). The models are also implemented in a free, standalone, open-source tool, OPERA, which allows predictions of new and untested chemicals to be made. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8495.

This study assessed the nutritional profile of foods and non-alcoholic beverages advertised on Brazilian television by applying the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO/Europe) nutrient profiling models. Food and beverage represented 18% of the total ads shown on selected channels. Over 80% advertised on Brazilian TV channels did not meet the PAHO and the WHO/Europe nutritional quality standards and were considered eligible for marketing restrictions. Altogether, 10 transnational and local food and beverage companies, two large international fast-food chains and two of Brazil’s largest supermarket retailers accounted for almost 90% of unhealthy food ads shown.

Item response theory (IRT) is a psychometric method that provides probabilistic model-based measurements. Its use is relatively recent in the assessment of food consumption, especially through dietary assessment tools. This study aims (1) to develop a food-based diet quality scale for Brazilian schoolchildren using IRT, and (2) to apply the scale to a representative sample of schoolchildren from a Southern Brazilian city. The scale was developed with daily consumption frequency of foods from 835 students who completed the Food Intake and Physical Activity of Schoolchildren questionnaire. Questionnaire foods were grouped into 10 items according to their nutritional similarities and were evaluated by full-information factor analysis that indicated a dominant factor explaining 28% of the variance. Psychometric item analysis was performed using Samejima’s model. The scale covered all levels of diet quality, from “very poor” (scores < 95) to “very good” (scores ≥ 130). Children who had higher diet quality scores consumed beans, meat, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and water more frequently, while reducing the consumption of ultraprocessed sugary foods, ultraprocessed savoury snacks and sausages, and sugary drinks. Of 6323 children, an average of less than 10% consumed the highest diet quality scores (good or very good diet quality) and about 60% of children consumed low diet quality scores. The scale can be applied to other schoolchildren with the same measure precision.

Estimates of different ancestral proportions in admixed populations are very important in population genetics studies, especially for the detection of population substructure effects in studies of case-control associations. Brazil is one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world, both from a socio-cultural and a genetic point of view. In this work, we investigated a previously developed set of 61 ancestry informative markers (AIM), aiming to estimate the proportions of four different ancestral groups (African, European, Native American and Asian) in Brazilian populations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to use a set of AIM to investigate the genetic contribution of all four main parental populations to the Brazilian population, including Asian contribution. All selected markers were genotyped through multiplex PCR and capillary electrophoresis. The set was able to successfully differentiate the four ancestral populations (represented by 939 individuals) and identify their genetic contributions to the Brazilian population. In addition, it was used to estimate individual interethnic admixture of 1050 individuals from the Southeast region of Brazil and it showed that these individuals present a higher European ancestry contribution, followed by African, Asian and Native American ancestry contributions. Therefore, the 61 AIM set has proved to be a valuable tool to estimate individual and global ancestry proportions in populations mainly formed by these four groups. Our findings highlight the importance of using sets of AIM to evaluate population substructure in studies carried in admixed populations, in order to avoid misinterpretation of results.

Introduction: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the second most common cancer globally. The mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) proto-oncogene can be targeted in NSCLC patients. Methods: We performed a literature search on PubMed in December 2019 for studies on MET inhibitors and NSCLC. Phase II and III clinical trials published in English between 2014 and 2019 were selected. Results: Data on MET inhibitors (tivantinib, cabozantinib, and crizotinib) and anti-MET antibodies (emibetuzumab and onartuzumab) are reported in the text. Conclusion: Emibetuzumab could be used for NSCLC cases with high MET expression. Further, studies on onartuzumab failed to prove its efficacy, while the results of tivantinib trials were clinically but not statistically significant. Additionally, cabozantinib was effective, but adverse reactions were common, and crizotinib was generally well-tolerated.