The role of environmental attitudes and consumption patterns in consumers' preferences for sustainable food from circular farming system: a six EU case studies.

Unlabelled: Decisions about what we consume have environmental repercussions and, therefore, implications for future generations. Consumers' ability to pay more for sustainable food stimulates production strategies, like circular agriculture, aiding the European Green Deal's sustainable food system. With the aim of analysing the preferences and willingness to pay of European consumers for food labelled as obtained by more sustainable systems in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and the optimisation of soil nutrients, a survey with 5591 participants from Spain, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, and Belgium was conducted.

Physical activity promotion based on positive psychology: development and piloting of a novel intervention approach.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with positive health outcomes; however, rates of regular PA are low. Positive psychology interventions are efficacious in other health contexts and may be useful for promoting regular PA.

Purpose: Phased development and pilot/feasibility testing of a positive psychology intervention to promote PA using the ORBIT model for behavioral treatment development.

The blood transcriptional response in patients developing intensive care unit-acquired pneumonia.

Introduction: Immune response dysregulation has been implicated in the development of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired pneumonia. We aimed to determine differences in the longitudinal blood transcriptional response between patients who develop ICU-acquired pneumonia (cases) and those who do not (controls).

Methods: We performed a case-cohort study in mechanically ventilated trauma and surgery patients with ICU stays >2 days, enrolled in 30 hospitals across Europe.

Diaci v3.0: chromosome-level assembly, de novo transcriptome, and manual annotation of Diaphorina citri, insect vector of Huanglongbing.

Background: Diaphorina citri is an insect vector of "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (CLas), the gram-negative bacterial pathogen associated with citrus greening disease. Control measures rely on pesticides with negative impacts on the environment, natural ecosystems, and human and animal health. In contrast, gene-targeting methods have the potential to specifically target the vector species and/or reduce pathogen transmission.

Proteomic profiling of neutrophils and plasma in community-acquired pneumonia reveals crucial proteins in diverse biological pathways linked to clinical outcome.

Introduction: Neutrophils play a dichotomous role in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), providing protection and potentially causing damage. Existing research on neutrophil function in CAP relies on animal studies, leaving a gap in patient-centered investigations.

Methods: We used mass spectrometry to characterize the neutrophil proteome of moderately ill CAP patients at general ward admission and related the proteome to controls and clinical outcomes.

Safety and Immunogenicity of a Carbohydrate Fatty Acid Monosulphate Ester Adjuvant Combined with a Low-Dose Quadrivalent Split-Virion Inactivated Influenza Vaccine: A Randomised, Observer-Blind, Active-Controlled, First-in-Human, Phase 1 Study.

Seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness is low. Carbohydrate fatty acid monosulphate ester (CMS), a new oil-in-water adjuvant, has proven potency in animal models with suggested capacity for dose-sparing. The objective was to evaluate safety and immunogenicity of CMS when added to a low-dose influenza vaccine (QIV) in humans.

Myosin-independent stiffness sensing by fibroblasts is regulated by the viscoelasticity of flowing actin.

The stiffness of the extracellular matrix induces differential tension within integrin-based adhesions, triggering differential mechanoresponses. However, it has been unclear if the stiffness-dependent differential tension is induced solely by myosin activity. Here, we report that in the absence of myosin contractility, 3T3 fibroblasts still transmit stiffness-dependent differential levels of traction.

From grass to gas and beyond: Anaerobic digestion as a key enabling technology for a residual grass biorefinery.

Roadside grass clippings hold potential as a sustainable source of bioenergy as they do not compete with crops for land use, and are only partially utilized for low-value applications. In this study, we proposed using roadside grass as a sole feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD) in three different settings, and assessed the potential of producing biomaterials and fertilizers from grass-based digestate. Wet continuous digestion at pilot scale and dry batch digestion at pilot and large scales resulted in biogas yields up to 700 Nm.

Monocyte state 1 (MS1) cells in critically ill patients with sepsis or non-infectious conditions: association with disease course and host response.

Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening condition arising from an aberrant host response to infection. Recent single-cell RNA sequencing investigations identified an immature bone-marrow-derived CD14 monocyte phenotype with immune suppressive properties termed "monocyte state 1" (MS1) in patients with sepsis. Our objective was to determine the association of MS1 cell profiles with disease presentation, outcomes, and host response characteristics.

Transient low shear-stress preconditioning influences long-term endothelial traction and alignment under high shear flow.

Endothelial cells (ECs) within the vascular system encounter fluid shear stress (FSS). High, laminar FSS promotes vasodilation and anti-inflammatory responses, whereas low or disturbed FSS induces dysfunction and inflammation. However, the adaptation of endothelial cells (ECs) to dynamically changing FSS patterns remains underexplored.

Platelets of COVID-19 patients display mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism failure compatible with cell death.

Background: Alterations in platelet function have been implicated in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. While early reports linked hyperactivated platelets to thromboembolic events in COVID-19, subsequent investigations demonstrated hyporeactive platelets with a procoagulant phenotype. Mitochondria are important for energy metabolism and the function of platelets.

Host Response Changes and Their Association with Mortality in COVID-19 Patients with Lymphopenia.

Lymphopenia in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is associated with increased mortality. To explore the association between lymphopenia, host response aberrations, and mortality in patients with lymphopenic COVID-19. We determined 43 plasma biomarkers reflective of four pathophysiological domains: endothelial cell and coagulation activation, inflammation and organ damage, cytokine release, and chemokine release.

Thrombocytopenia is associated with a dysregulated host response in severe COVID-19.

Background: Thrombocytopenia is associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Objective: To determine the association between thrombocytopenia and alterations in host response pathways implicated in disease pathogenesis in patients with severe COVID-19.

Patients/methods: We studied COVID-19 patients admitted to a general hospital ward included in a national (CovidPredict) cohort derived from 13 hospitals in the Netherlands.

Inflammatory and glycolytic programs underpin a primed blood neutrophil state in patients with pneumonia.

Neutrophils are potent immune cells with key antimicrobial functions. Previous work has shown that neutrophil effector functions are mainly fueled by intracellular glycolysis. Little is known about the state of neutrophils still in the circulation in patients during infection.

Kaliuresis and Intracellular Uptake of Potassium with Potassium Citrate and Potassium Chloride Supplements: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: A potassium replete diet is associated with lower cardiovascular risk but may increase the risk of hyperkalemia, particularly in people using renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors. We investigated whether intracellular uptake and potassium excretion after an acute oral potassium load depend on the accompanying anion and/or aldosterone and whether this results in altered plasma potassium change.

Methods: In this placebo-controlled interventional cross-over trial including 18 healthy individuals, we studied the acute effects of one oral load of potassium citrate (40 mmol), potassium chloride (40 mmol), and placebo in random order after overnight fasting.

Age-related changes in plasma biomarkers and their association with mortality in COVID-19.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced mortality occurs predominantly in older patients. Several immunomodulating therapies seem less beneficial in these patients. The biological substrate behind these observations is unknown.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) field cultivation in a phytoattenuation strategy and valorization potential of the fibers for textile production.

This paper evaluates the valorization potential of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) fibers produced on HM-contaminated soil as a safe feedstock for the textile industry. The chosen strategy was phytoattenuation, which combines the progressive soil quality improvement of contaminated land using phytoremediation techniques with the production of safe non-food biomass.

Association between age and the host response in critically ill patients with sepsis.

Background: The association of ageing with increased sepsis mortality is well established. Nonetheless, current investigations on the influence of age on host response aberrations are largely limited to plasma cytokine levels while neglecting other pathophysiological sepsis domains like endothelial cell activation and function, and coagulation activation. The primary objective of this study was to gain insight into the association of ageing with aberrations in key host response pathways and blood transcriptomes in sepsis.

Association between dexamethasone treatment and the host response in COVID-19 patients admitted to the general ward.

Dexamethasone improves clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients requiring supplementary oxygen. We investigated possible mechanisms of action by comparing sixteen plasma host response biomarkers in general ward patients before and after implementation of dexamethasone as standard of care. 48 patients without and 126 patients with dexamethasone treatment were sampled within 48 h of admission.

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what they looked like, and where they came from.

Background: Soon after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the first tomatoes were presented as curiosities to the European elite and drew the attention of sixteenth-century Italian naturalists. Despite of their scientific interest in this New World crop, most Renaissance botanists did not specify where these 'golden apples' or '' came from. The debate on the first European tomatoes and their origin is often hindered by erroneous dating, botanical misidentifications and inaccessible historical sources.

Maximizing nutrient recycling from digestate for production of protein-rich microalgae for animal feed application.

The integration of phototrophic microalgal production and anaerobic digestion can recycle excess nutrients across European surplus hotspots to produce protein-rich biomass for nutritional applications. However, the challenging physico-chemical properties of raw digestate constrain microalgal growth and limit digestate valorization potential. This study focused on the pre-treatment of food waste-based digestate using paper-filtration to improve its properties for cultivating Desmodesmus sp.

Techno-economic assessment at full scale of a biogas refinery plant receiving nitrogen rich feedstock and producing renewable energy and biobased fertilisers.

Anaerobic digestion of nitrogen (N) rich substrates might be hindered when ammonia (NH) formation reaches toxic levels for methanogenic microorganisms. One possible strategy to avoid inhibiting conditions is the removal of NH from digestate by stripping and scrubbing technology and by recirculating N depleted digestate back to the digester. This study aimed to i) monitor the performance (mass and energy balances) of a full scale digestate processing cascade that includes an innovative vacuum side stream NHstripping and scrubbing system, ii) assess the production cost of ammonium sulphate (AS) solution and iii) evaluate its fertiliser quality.

Impact of time and phosphorus application rate on phosphorus bioavailability and efficiency of secondary fertilizers recovered from municipal wastewater.

Demand for phosphorus (P) resources other than non-renewable P rock has driven the development of several P recovery technologies from municipal wastewater treatment and directed recovery of P into valuable fertilizers (struvite, ash, iron phosphate, etc.). Although the bioavailability of novel secondary P fertilizers has been examined in previous studies, insufficient attention has been paid to defining optimal plant growth duration and monitoring conditions to assess the dynamic changes in P.

Structural analysis of PET-degrading enzymes PETase and MHETase from Ideonella sakaiensis.

The concept of biocatalytic PET degradation for industrial recycling processes had made a big step when the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis was discovered to break PET down to its building blocks at ambient temperature. This process involves two enzymes: cleavage of ester bonds in PET by PETase and in MHET, the resulting intermediate, by MHETase. To understand and further improve this unique capability, structural analysis of the involved enzymes was aimed at from early on.

Comparing Payments Between Sociobehavioral and Biomedical Studies in a Large Research University in Southern California.

Given the dearth of regulatory guidance and empirical research on practices of providing payments to research participants, our study aimed to examine whether there were significant differences in payment amounts between sociobehavioral and biomedical studies and to examine study factors that may explain payment differences. This study reviewed 100 sociobehavioral and 31 biomedical protocols. Results showed that both biomedical studies and sociobehavioral studies had a wide variation of payments and, on average, the biomedical studies paid significantly more.