Publications by authors named "Lekkas D"

Negative rumination and emotion regulation difficulties have been consistently linked with depression. Despite anhedonia-the lack of interest in pleasurable experiences-being a cardinal symptom of depression, emotion regulation of positive emotions, including dampening, are considered far less in the literature. Given that anhedonia may manifest through blunted responses to previously positive or enjoyable experiences, it is vital to understand how different positive emotion regulation strategies impact anhedonia symptom severity and how it can vary or change over time.

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Circadian misalignment has been associated with obesity both in rodents and humans. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and can be activated in adults to reduce body weight. Although previous studies suggest control of BAT thermogenesis by the circadian clock, the site and mechanisms of regulation remain unclear.

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Introduction: Existing theories and empirical works link phone use with anxiety; however, most leverage subjective self-reports of phone use (e.g., validated questionnaires) that may not correspond well with true behavior.

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Introduction: The Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) is a widely used method for evaluating non-cognitive skills of applicants to health professions training programs. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a swift transition to virtual MMIs (vMMIs), with initial indications of their feasibility and acceptability. This novel study describes the implementation and evaluation of a large-scale vMMI model for selection into undergraduate medical, dental, and oral health degrees within an Australian university.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how high-density polyethylene (HDPE) degrades in marine environments by analyzing real-world samples from Greece and laboratory specimens under controlled weathering conditions.
  • Four exposure scenarios were tested: natural atmospheric, sea weathering, accelerated UV radiation, and submersion in artificial seawater, with degradation assessed through mechanical tests and advanced imaging techniques.
  • Key findings showed a quick drop in HDPE strength, with a significant 8% loss in ultimate tensile strength after just 3 months of atmospheric exposure, and up to 60% loss after 35 years, highlighting a correlation between natural and accelerated weathering effects.
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Depression and anxiety frequently co-occur with opioid use disorder (OUD) yet are often overlooked in standard OUD treatments. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a mobile application designed to address these symptoms in individuals receiving medications for OUD (MOUD). A randomized controlled trial recruited N = 63 adults with OUD who received MOUD and screened positive for moderate depression or generalized anxiety.

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MoodCapture presents a novel approach that assesses depression based on images automatically captured from the front-facing camera of smartphones as people go about their daily lives. We collect over 125,000 photos in the wild from N=177 participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder for 90 days. Images are captured naturalistically while participants respond to the PHQ-8 depression survey question: .

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Anhedonia and depressed mood are two cardinal symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). Prior work has demonstrated that cannabis consumers often endorse anhedonia and depressed mood, which may contribute to greater cannabis use (CU) over time. However, it is unclear (1) how the unique influence of anhedonia and depressed mood affect CU and (2) how these symptoms predict CU over more proximal periods of time, including the next day or week (rather than proceeding weeks or months).

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Article Synopsis
  • Major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently co-occur, with 20% of MDD patients meeting criteria for BPD, prompting a study on how BPD traits might affect the instability of depression symptoms over time.
  • The study involved 207 adults with MDD who tracked their depression symptoms three times a day for 90 days, measuring both BPD severity and neuroticism through self-report assessments.
  • Results showed that BPD severity did not significantly predict changes in depression symptoms, suggesting a complex relationship between these disorders and highlighting the need for further research on their association.
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In a 7-year 11-wave study of low-SES adolescents (N = 856, age = 15.98), we compared multiple well-established transdiagnostic risk factors as predictors of first incidence of significant depressive, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms across the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Risk factors included negative emotionality, emotion regulation ability, social support, gender, history of trauma, parental histories of substance abuse, parental mental health, and socioeconomic status.

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There is an appreciable mental health treatment gap in the United States. Efforts to bridge this gap and improve resource accessibility have led to the provision of online, clinically-validated tools for mental health self-assessment. In theory, these screens serve as an invaluable component of information-seeking, representing the preparative and action-oriented stages of this process while altering or reinforcing the search content and language of individuals as they engage with information online.

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There is an expectation in Australia that dental students engage in primary care as they learn to recognise and respond to aspects of a person's general health and wellbeing. These skills, knowledge and behaviours are outlined by the Australian Dental Council, the accrediting body of dental training programs. Education in primary care dentistry can be seen integrated across the length and breadth of dental curricula yet is not commonly referred to as primary care.

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Food waste (FW) has become a global concern, with an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes lost annually, costing about $1 trillion. Environmental and social consequences of FW are significant, contributing to 6% of European Unions' greenhouse gasemissions and affecting global food security.

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is conceptualized by individual symptoms occurring most of the day for at least two weeks. Despite this operationalization, MDD is highly variable with persons showing greater variation within and across days. Moreover, MDD is highly heterogeneous, varying considerably across people in both function and form.

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Short sea shipping involves transporting passengers and cargo between European ports and coastal countries bordering Europe on enclosed seas. Challenges include aging fleets and environmental concerns, but efforts to reduce emissions are in progress through the use of low-sulfur fuels, hybrid and electric vessels, and improved energy efficiency. This study focuses on emissions from international short shipping routes between Mytilini and Ayvalik, using standardized emission factors to calculate CO, SO, NO, PM, and HC emissions.

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There are several sustainability issues that the linear economy of today's society cannot adequately tackle (i.e. resource depletion, waste treatment, etc.

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Objective: Transdiagnostic perspectives on the shared origins of mental illness posit that dysregulated emotion may represent a key driving force behind multiple forms of psychopathology, including substance use disorders. The present study examined whether a link between dysregulated emotion and trying illicit substances could be observed in childhood.

Method: In a large ( = 7,418) nationally representative sample of children (M = 9.

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Wearable technology enables unobtrusive collection of longitudinally dense data, allowing for continuous monitoring of physiology and behavior. These digital phenotypes, or device-based indicators, are frequently leveraged to study depression. However, they are usually considered alongside questionnaire sum-scores which collapse the symptomatic gamut into a general representation of severity.

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This work examines the continuous addition (5 g/L) of conductive granular activated carbon (GAC) in an integrated pilot-scale unit containing an anaerobic digester (180 L) and an aerobic submerged membrane bioreactor (1600 L) connected in series for the treatment of agro-industrial wastewater. Biogas production increased by 32 % after the addition of GAC. Methanosaeta was the dominant methanogen in the digester, and its relative abundance increased after the addition of GAC.

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Background: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health worldwide and in the United States have been well documented. However, there is limited research examining the long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health, particularly in relation to pervasive policies such as statewide mask mandates and political party affiliation.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine whether statewide mask mandates and political party affiliations yielded differential changes in mental health symptoms across the United States by leveraging state-specific internet search query data.

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Mental health disorders are highly prevalent, yet few persons receive access to treatment; this is compounded in rural areas where mental health services are limited. The proliferation of online mental health screening tools are considered a key strategy to increase identification, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. However, research on real-world effectiveness, especially in hard to reach rural communities, is limited.

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