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Introduction: The COVID-19 lockdown significantly altered university students' lifestyles, affecting their physical activity and dietary habits, which impacted their body composition. Objective: This study examined the influence of gender, urbanization, and food preferences on body composition among university students, after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 410 students (235 males, 175 females) classified by urbanization (200 urban, 210 rural) and dietary habits (147 vegetarians, 263 non-vegetarians). Body composition parameters were measured using the MA601 Body Composition Analyzer. Results: Males had higher intracellular water, extracellular water, protein, minerals, and lean mass, while females exhibited greater fat mass, body fat percentage, and subcutaneous fat. Rural students showed higher intracellular water, protein, lean mass, and basal metabolic rate, whereas urban students had higher fat mass and subcutaneous fat. Food preferences had minimal influence on most parameters. Muscle quality assessment revealed that males, rural students, and non-vegetarians had significantly higher grip strength. Discussion: These findings align with previous research on gender and urbanization-related differences in body composition, though the limited effect of dietary preferences warrants further investigation. The study's cross-sectional nature and reliance on self-reported dietary data may have influenced results. Conclusions: Post-COVID-19 lockdown, gender and urbanization significantly impacted students’ body composition, whereas food preferences had a lesser effect. Future studies should explore long-term lifestyle influences on body composition in diverse populations. Introducción: El confinamiento por COVID-19 alteró significativamente el estilo de vida de los estudiantes universitarios, afectando su actividad física y hábitos alimentarios, lo que impactó su composición corporal. Objetivo: Este estudio analizó la influencia del género, la urbanización y las preferencias alimentarias en la composición corporal de los estudiantes de la Universidad Central de Punyab, India, después del confinamiento. Metodología: Se realizó un estudio transversal con 410 estudiantes (235 hombres, 175 mujeres) clasificados según su urbanización (200 urbanos, 210 rurales) y hábitos alimentarios (147 vegetarianos, 263 no vegetarianos). Los parámetros de composición corporal se midieron utilizando el analizador de composición corporal MA601. Resultados: Los hombres presentaron mayor agua intracelular y extracelular, proteínas, minerales y masa magra, mientras que las mujeres mostraron mayor masa grasa, porcentaje de grasa corporal y grasa subcutánea. Los estudiantes rurales tuvieron mayor agua intracelular, proteínas, masa magra y tasa metabólica basal, mientras que los urbanos mostraron más masa grasa y grasa subcutánea. Las preferencias alimentarias tuvieron una influencia mínima en la mayoría de los parámetros. La evaluación de la calidad muscular indicó que los hombres, los estudiantes rurales y los no vegetarianos tenían una fuerza de agarre significativamente mayor. Discusión: Estos hallazgos coinciden con investigaciones previas sobre diferencias de género y urbanización en la composición corporal, aunque el escaso impacto de la dieta requiere más estudios. La naturaleza transversal del estudio y el uso de datos autoinformados sobre la dieta pudieron influir en los resultados. Conclusiones: Tras el confinamiento por COVID-19, el género y la urbanización influyeron significativamente en la composición corporal de los estudiantes, mientras que la dieta tuvo un efecto menor. Futuras investigaciones deberían explorar los efectos a largo plazo del estilo de vida en poblaciones diversas. Introdução: O lockdown da COVID-19 alterou significativamente o estilo de vida dos estudantes universitários, afetando a sua atividade física e hábitos alimentares, o que impactou a sua composição corporal.Objectivo: Este estudo analisou a influência do género, da urbanização e das preferências alimentares na composição corporal dos estudantes da Universidade Central de Punjab, Índia, após o lockdown.Metodologia: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com 410 estudantes (235 homens, 175 mulheres) classificados de acordo com a sua urbanização (200 urbanos, 210 rurais) e hábitos alimentares (147 vegetarianos, 263 não vegetarianos). Os parâmetros de composição corporal foram medidos utilizando o analisador de composição corporal MA601.Resultados: Os homens apresentaram maior quantidade de água intracelular e extracelular, proteína, minerais e massa magra, enquanto as mulheres apresentaram maior massa gorda, percentagem de gordura corporal e gordura subcutânea. Os estudantes rurais apresentaram maior quantidade de água intracelular, proteína, massa magra e taxa metabólica basal, enquanto os estudantes urbanos apresentaram maior massa gorda e gordura subcutânea. As preferências alimentares tiveram uma influência mínima na maioria dos parâmetros. A avaliação da qualidade muscular indicou que os homens, os estudantes rurais e não vegetarianos apresentaram uma força de preensão significativamente mais elevada.Discussão: Estes achados são consistentes com pesquisas anteriores sobre diferenças de género e urbanização na composição corporal, embora o impacto limitado da dieta requeira mais estudos. A natureza transversal do estudo e a utilização de dados dietéticos auto-referidos podem ter influenciado os resultados.Conclusões: Após o lockdown da COVID-19, o género e a urbanização influenciaram significativamente a composição corporal dos estudantes, enquanto a dieta teve um efeito menor. Pesquisas futuras deverão explorar os efeitos a longo prazo do estilo de vida em populações diversas.

A characteristic feature of fish is the wide physiological range of blood parameters and also the large individual variations. The aim of this study was to compare the haematological profile, glucose and lactate levels of four teleost fish species (Gobius niger, Mugil cephalus, Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax) and to establish the similarities and differences between these species which are widely present in the Tyrrhenian Sea. To this end, glucose, lactate and complete haematological profiles were determined for 25 fish from each species. Statistical analysis confirmed statistical differences in blood parameters among the four species. Our findings show a lower level of glucose and higher levels of lactate, red blood cells and haemoglobin in M. cephalus with respect to the other species. White blood cell and thrombocyte counts have the same trend and result higher in S. aurata. The differences found in this study can be attributed to the feeding behaviour, life style and adaptation of the different fish species to the habitat in which they dwell.

The moths Spodoptera eridania (Stoll) and Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker) are pests of increasing importance in various grain production systems, causing defoliation and damage to reproductive structures of plants. This fact underscores the need for studies that analyze the nutrition and development of pests on different hosts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the development of S. eridania and S. cosmioides feeding on different host species. To this end, newly hatched larvae were separated individually into waxed cups and fed soybean, cotton, maize, wheat, oat leaves, or an artificial diet as control. The evaluated parameters were: duration of larval, pre-pupal, and pupal development (days), pupal weight (g), sex ratio (%), larvae-adult survival (%), oviposition preference, larval feeding performance, and weight gain on different hosts. Soybean and cotton were found to be more suitable hosts for development and oviposition of S. eridania and S. cosmioides than oat, wheat, and maize, all of which negatively affected larval development and survival. The maize cultivar ‘DKB 390’ did not allow for larvae to develop to adults and therefore proved to be inadequate for both studied Spodoptera species.

Nectar is an important biological resource that is utilized by a wide range of animals as a food source. Amino acids are the second most abundant class of compound (after sugars) to be found in nectar. In foraging for nectar, animals carry out the vital role of pollination. Many animal taxa visit flowers, but the most abundant pollinators are insects. Although amino acids are detectable by insects, little work has focussed on the role of taste in the ecology of pollination (with most studies concentrating on foraging choice). The idea that different amino acids elicit different responses in insect taste receptors was used to characterize nectar samples from 65 plant species from a wide range of families according to their amino acid profile (determined by high performance liquid chromatography). A ternary classification system was used to map the amino acids present in nectar samples. There is a wide range of taste profiles with most plant species having their own characteristic taste value. How nectar tastes to pollinating insects is of great importance in understanding the foraging choices of insect pollinators and there are many avenues that remain to be explored.

This book is a broad-ranging and provocative study of the human passion for meat. It will intrigue anyone who has ever wondered why meat is important to us; why we eat some animals but not others; why vegetarianism is increasing; why we aren't cannibals; and how meat is associated with environmental destruction. Part I: Background 1. Food = Meat 2. A Brief History of Meat Eating 3. A Matter of Taste 4. More than a Meal Part II: Meat is Muscle 5. Evolution and Elevation 6. The Power of Meat 7. The Barbarity of Meat Part III: Mixed Meataphors 8. The Reluctant Cannibal 9. Pets and Other Grey Animals 10. The Joy of Sex Part IV: Modern Meatologies 11. Economics 12. Health 13. Ethics 14. Ecology 15. Conclusions

El deterioro de la calidad de la dieta está afectando la salud de los niños menores de dos años. Por tal motivo, es de vital importancia la identificación de factores relacionados con el desarrollo y establecimiento de preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida y brindar recomendaciones que faciliten su adopción. Esta revisión sistemática de la literatura tiene como objetivo resumir la evidencia existente sobre los factores asociados a formar y modelar las preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida. Para esto se realizó una búsqueda en PubMed de estudios que evaluaran la asociación entre la exposición prenatal y posnatal de sabores, introducción temprana de alimentos y habituación al sabor dulce, alimentación complementaria y diversidad dietética. Se incluyeron artículos publicados desde el 2000 hasta el 2019. Resultados de 39 artículos sugieren que la alimentación durante los primeros dos años de vida y el desarrollo de preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida tiene el potencial de modificar los patrones de alimentación y establecerse en etapas posteriores de la vida, por lo que, los primeros mil días de vida constituyen una ventana de oportunidad para formar preferencias alimentarias saludables y mejorar la calidad de dieta de los niños. Poor diets are damaging children’s health. Therefore, it is urgent to identify factors related to the development and establishment of healthy food preferences early in life and to provide recommendations to enable their adoption. This systematic literature review aims to summarize the existing evidence on the factors identified on shaping food preferences early in life. For this, a search was conducted on PubMed about studies evaluating the association between prenatal and postnatal exposure of flavors and the development of food preferences, early food introduction, innate preference to sweet taste, complementary feeding and dietary diversity with the development of food preferences. Articles published from 2000 to 2019 were included. Results from 39 manuscripts suggest that the first 2 years of life are critical for the development of food preferences early in life. These food preferences have the potential to modify children’s eating patterns and persist later in life. Therefore, the first 1000 days of life are a key window of opportunity to establish healthy food preferences and shape the quality of children’s diet.

Host-plant selection by phytophagous insects is largely determined by adult insects choosing the developmental location of offspring. Knowledge of natural selection leads to theoretical predictions about how adult behaviour might respond to host quality, the abundance of host-plants, adult egg-load, age and available search time, density-dependence, and stochastic effects. Debates about the value of simple adaptive models can only be settled by repeated testing and reformulation. The theoretical basis of adaptive host-selection is quite strong, but several challenges remain. Models are lacking which are both general enough to be applicable to a wide range of species, and easy to test. The role of variability in plant abundance and other stochastic forces requires clarification. Empirically, good field studies of the effect of host-plants on insect fitness are rare, but without them little progress can be made. The assessment of host-preference also requires attention. Quantitative tests of theory are rare, probably because general models do not encompass enough relevant natural history for each particular species. However much anecdotal and qualitative evidence seems to reflect adaptive predictions. A challenge for the future is to assess the adaptive value of particular mechanisms of host-selection, and to relate these to the predictions made in simple adaptive models.

Sensory responses to the taste, smell, and texture of foods help determine food preferences and eating habits. However, sensory responses alone do not predict food consumption. The view that a \"sweet tooth\" leads to obesity through excess sugar consumption is overly narrow. In reality, there are multiple links between taste perceptions, taste preferences, food preferences, and food choices and the amount of food consumed. Taste responses are influenced by a range of genetic, physiological, and metabolic variables. The impact of taste factors on food intake further depends on sex and age and is modulated by obesity, eating disorders, and other pathologies of eating behavior. Food preferences and food choices of populations are further linked to attitudinal, social, and--probably most important--economic variables such as income. Nutrition education and intervention strategies aimed at improving population diets ought to consider sensory pleasure response to foods, in addition to a wide range of demographic and sociocultural variables

Concentrations of nutrients and plant secondary metabolites (PSM) vary temporally and spatially, creating a multidimensional feeding environment. Interactions between nutrients and PSM are poorly understood because research has relied largely on studying the isolated effects of nutrients or PSM on foraging behavior. Nevertheless, their interactions can influence food selection and the dynamics of plant communities. Our objective was to explore how interactions between nutrients and PSM influence food selection. For 7 d, three groups of lambs received intraruminal infusions of three different doses of a PSM (0 = Control; low and high) and 2 h later they were offered two foods that contained either low (high in energy) or high (high in protein) protein/energy ratios. The foods were offered 7 d before (baseline) and 7 d after PSM infusions. We conducted five trials each with a different PSM-terpenoids, cyanogenic glycosides, sodium nitrate, quebracho tannin, and lithium chloride. Lambs consistently preferred the food high in energy to the food high in protein, but toxins modified the degree to which this preference was manifest. Terpenoids, nitrate, and lithium chloride depressed intake of the food high in energy. Cyanogenic glycosides had the opposite effect, and at higher doses they depressed intake of the food high in protein. Tannins enhanced intake of the food high in energy at lower doses and they depressed its ingestion at higher doses. Thus, PSM selectively depressed or enhanced intake depending on the macronutrient composition of the foods. These results imply that the probability of a plant being eaten will depend not only on its chemical defenses but also on the quantity and quality of nutrients in the plant and its neighbors, and that the ability of herbivores to learn associations between nutrients and PSM may have a substantial impact on the way herbivores regulate ecosystem processes.