This article discusses the relatively new phenomenon of corporate activism concerning the LGBT+ community in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. It highlights how companies use various forms of corporate activism to show support and solidarity with LGBT+ people, especially during Pride Month. The authors note that there is a need to understand how these actions are perceived by civil society organizations (CSOs) that support LGBT+ people. To address this issue, a qualitative study was conducted to gather the perceptions of 11 CSO representatives from different organizations on the activities undertaken by companies for LGBT+ groups. The study intended to explore whether CSOs identified the support provided by businesses as activities to protect human rights, which business activities were valued most by the LGBT+ community, and what business actions in the public sphere are expected.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Misprescription of opioids has led to an epidemic of opioid use disorder (OUD). Females, among other differences, have increased susceptibility to the addictive properties of opioids. Yet, the exclusion of female subjects from many foundational studies on reward processing had hindered our ability to fully understand these disparities. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Estradiol (E2), a neuronal sex steroid, may play a role in sex differences in OUD. In this study, we used fadrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, to characterize the role of centrally produced E2 in heroin cue extinction memory retention (EMR, “remembering to forget”). Male and female rats self-administered heroin in a long-access paradigm (6hr/day) for 8 days, where a light/tone cue was co-presented with each infusion of heroin. This was followed by 1 day of cued extinction (6hr; light/tone but no heroin). Just prior to this session, fadrozole was infused into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) through implanted cannulas. The next day, subjects were given a cued EMR test (1hr; light/tone but no heroin) following another infusion of fadrozole. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Females took more heroin than males (mg/kg) despite having similar active nose poke responding during acquisition. Regardless of aromatase inhibition, females had higher active nose pokes during the first hour of cued extinction relative to males. Both males and females treated with fadrozole in the BLA prior to cued extinction had impaired EMR on test, evidenced by increased active nose pokes and lower extinction indices relative to vehicle controls. Upon examination of the brains, we expect that aromatase inhibition will have impaired neuronal plasticity, as evidenced by decreases in numerous measures of plasticity. Furthermore, we expect to find sex differential expression of estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes throughout the BLA, suggesting a convergent sex effect of E2 on heroin EMR. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study is the first to examine a behavioral role for central E2 in the BLA. Future studies will examine specific roles for ER subtypes on this behavior and synaptic plasticity. A better understanding of sex specific E2 signaling will promote further research on sex differences and allowing us to better address disparities in disorders like OUD.

Bibliometric methods were used to analyse the major research trends, themes and topics over the last 30 years in the parasitology discipline. The tools used were SciMAT, VOSviewer and SWIFT-Review in conjunction with the parasitology literature contained in the MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Dimensions databases. The analyses show that the major research themes are dynamic and continually changing with time, although some themes identified based on keywords such as malaria, nematode, epidemiology and phylogeny are consistently referenced over time. We note the major impact of countries like Brazil has had on the literature of parasitology research. The increase in recent times of research productivity on ‘antiparasitics’ is discussed, as well as the change in emphasis on different antiparasitic drugs and insecticides over time. In summary, innovation in parasitology is global, extensive, multidisciplinary, constantly evolving and closely aligned with the availability of technology.

Food cues modulate hunger and dictate nutritional choices. The omnipresent stimulus of palatable food promotes the epidemics of obesity and metabolic diseases. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of visual stimulation with food pictures on appetite-related hormones as well as the functionality of the secreted hormones and its impact on macronutrient uptake and deposition in healthy subjects. Additionally, we sought to identify differences in response to visual food cues of total and active ghrelin to and to a meal followed by the stimulation.

Healthy, non-obese participants were recruited for two two-day studies. During the first study, the subjects were shown random non-food pictures on the first day and pictures of appetizing foods on the second day of the study. The second study followed the same schedule and additionally, following the picture session, the participants were asked to drink a milkshake. The subjects reported subjective hunger. Levels of glucose, triglycerides and hunger-related hormones were measured in blood. In addition, an animal study was performed, during which 4 hours fasted mice were submitted to visual and olfactory stimulation using chow, while not being able to access the food. Following the stimulation, oral glucose tolerance test was performed, gene expression and blood total, as well as acylated ghrelin, were measured.

Exposure to food pictures affected participant's blood glucose and incretin levels. Concentrations of several hormones in the blood were interdependent and in case of ghrelin and GIP as well as ghrelin and GLP-1 this co-occurrence relied on the visual cues. Changes of total ghrelin concentration following food stimulation was highly individual and participants could be grouped as ghrelin responders or non-responders. The responders showed upregulated total ghrelin and their total ghrelin levels correlated with food picture score revealing that in ghrelin non-responders reaction to food pictures was diminished. The concentration of active ghrelin decreased following a meal but was not affected by exposure to the pictures of food. Protein content and color intensity of food pictures correlated reversely with participants’ rating of the pictures. Sensory stimulation of mice resulted in increased blood glucose levels.

We conclude that observation of food pictures significantly influences blood glucose levels and concentration of several appetite-related hormones. The protein content of the observed foods and green color intensity in pictures may serve as a predictor of subjective attractiveness of the presented meal.