An ex vivo model of systemically-mediated effects of ozone inhalation on the brain.

Air pollution is associated with increased risk of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions. While animal models have increased our understanding of how air pollution contributes to brain pathologies - including through oxidative stress, inflammatory, and stress hormone pathways - investigation of underlying mechanisms remains limited due to a lack of human-relevant models that incorporate systemic processes. Our objective was to establish an ex vivo approach that enables assessment of the roles of plasma mediators in pollutant-induced effects in the brain.

A mini review of leveraging biobanking in the identification of novel biomarkers in neurological disorders: insights from a rapid single-cell sequencing pipeline.

Recent successes in the identification of biomarkers and therapeutic targets for diagnosing and managing neurological diseases underscore the critical need for cutting-edge biobanks in the conduct of high-caliber translational neuroscience research. Biobanks dedicated to neurological disorders are particularly timely, given the increasing prevalence of neurological disability among the rising aging population. Translational research focusing on disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) poses distinct challenges due to the limited accessibility of CNS tissue pre-mortem.

Midwives' and nurses' experiences of providing postnatal care in partnership: A cross-sectional study.

Problem: It is unknown whether the deployment of registered nurses to assist midwives in the provision of postnatal care eases the burden of workforce shortages.

Background: The largest public maternity health service in Western Australia began employing registered nurses in 2022 to assist midwives with the provision of postnatal care on maternity wards in response to staffing shortages, exacerbated by COVID-19.

Aim: To explore midwives' and registered nurses' experiences of providing postnatal care on maternity wards together.

A Multinational Comparison Study of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Anxiety, Depression, and Anger Item Bank in the General Population.

Objectives: This study aimed to compared Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) anxiety, depression, and anger item bank among Korean, US and Dutch general population.

Methods: Between December 2021 and January 2022, we surveyed representative Korean participants (N = 2699). Then we compared the mean T-scores of PROMIS anxiety, depression, and anger full items bank among Korean, US (N = 1696) and the Dutch (N = 1002) populations.

Long-Term Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Compared to Standard Medical Care for Improving Quality of Life in Muscle Disorders.

Introduction/aims: A previous randomized controlled trial showed that guided self-help acceptance and commitment therapy plus standard medical care (ACT+SMC) was superior to standard medical care alone (SMC) for improving quality of life (QoL) and mood at 9-weeks post randomization in a sample of people with muscle disorders (MD). This follow-up study evaluated whether these effects were maintained in the longer term alongside individual patterns of response.

Methods: The original study was a two-arm parallel group randomized controlled trial, which compared ACT+SMC to SMC.

Hyper-Cross-Linked Polyphosphines as Nanoporous Macroligands-A Systematic Study on Cross-Linking and Their Catalytic Application in the CO Hydrogenation.

Hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) enable the tailored synthesis of functionalized materials and provide a versatile design strategy for porous macroligands. Based on the prototypical triphenylphosphine (PPh) monomer, we investigate the role of the involved cross-linking reagents in the formation of polyphosphines and evaluate structure-activity relations for application in the catalytic CO hydrogenation: namely by varying the Friedel-Crafts catalyst, the cross-linker unit and the degree of cross-linking. The study of monomeric reactivities shows that phosphines are insufficiently activated by iron chloride catalyzed cross-linking and that the stronger aluminum chloride is required to ensure PPh incorporation.

Phytotoxicity risk assessment of diuron residues in sands on wheat, chickpea, and canola.

While diuron residues are being detected more frequently in agricultural soils, there is limited information available regarding their potential phytotoxicity to non-target grain crops. This study aims to determine robust phytotoxicity thresholds for three common, but contrasting, crop species (canola, chickpea, and wheat) exposed to a range of diuron concentrations and to determine how loamy sand soil can change the toxicity thresholds relative to an inert sand. The log-logistic non-linear regression model proved most effective in determining toxicity thresholds by analysing crop responses to diuron.

The neural dynamics of positive and negative expectations of pain.

Pain is heavily modulated by expectations. Whereas the integration of expectations with sensory information has been examined in some detail, little is known about how positive and negative expectations are generated and their neural dynamics from generation over anticipation to the integration with sensory information. The present preregistered study employed a novel paradigm to induce positive and negative expectations on a trial-by-trial basis and examined the neural mechanisms using combined EEG-fMRI measurements (n=50).

Probing the toxicity of hydrothermal carbonised wastes on soil biota: Effect of reaction temperature and feedstock.

Hydrothermal carbonised wastes (hydrochars) can have toxic effects on soil biota, but factors influencing toxin formation in hydrochar, and subsequent toxicity to soil organisms, have not been elucidated. This study investigated the toxicity of hydrochars on soil biota, with a focus on earthworm (Eisenia fetida) avoidance, microbial metabolic quotient (qCO) and microbial activities. Two reaction temperatures (200 °C and 260 °C) and different feedstocks (biosolids, chicken manure and rice straw) were used.

[Patient-reported outcome measures-use in diagnosing depression, anxiety, and stress].

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is an umbrella term for various self-report instruments used to assess subjective health-related impressions and treatment success from the patient's perspective. In psychosomatic medicine, PROMs are often used to record subjective symptoms, psychosocial distress, and changes in health status, particularly in patients with comorbid (affective) disorders and frequent contact with physicians, but also in preventive health care and to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. In otolaryngology (ENT), self-report questionnaires (PROMs) are used, among other things, to assess the impact of hearing, speech, swallowing, and breathing disorders on patients' quality of life.

Differential neural activity predicts the long-term stability of the effects of positive and negative expectations on pain.

Expectations modulating pain perception is a well-researched phenomenon, but less is known about the persistence of expectation effects over longer time-courses. In this preregistered study, we examined the persistence of positive (placebo) and negative (nocebo) expectation effects over one week and investigated whether neural activity on day 1 (fMRI) can predict the stability of these effects one week later (n = 41). We tested whether expectations were reflected in EEG oscillatory activity at the second measurement.

The EORTC QLU-C10D distinguished better between cancer patients and the general population than PROPr and EQ-5D-5L in a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Health state utility (HSU) instruments for calculating quality-adjusted life years, such as the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Utility - Core 10 Dimensions (QLU-C10D), derived from the EORTC QLQ-30 questionnaire, the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) preference score (PROPr), and the EuroQoL-5-Dimensions-5-Levels (EQ-5D-5L), yield different HSU values due to different modeling and different underlying descriptive scales. For example the QLU-C10D includes cancer-relevant dimensions such as nausea. This study aimed to investigate how these differences in descriptive scales contribute to differences in HSU scores by comparing scores of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy to those of the general population.

Update of the risk assessment of brominated phenols and their derivatives in food.

The European Commission asked EFSA to update its 2012 risk assessment on brominated phenols and their derivatives in food, focusing on five bromophenols and one derivative: 2,4,6-tribromophenol (), 2,4-dibromophenol (), 4-bromophenol (), 2,6-dibromophenol (), tetrabrominated bisphenol S (), tetrabromobisphenol S bismethyl ether (). Based on the overall evidence, the CONTAM Panel considered in vivo genotoxicity of to be unlikely. Effects in liver and kidney were considered as the critical effects of 2,4,6-tribromophenol () in studies in rats.

Climate change influence on the trends of BFRs in the environment and food.

Climate change poses new challenges for environmental protection and food safety. With reported consequences including warmer temperatures, melting of Alpine glaciers, higher sea levels, droughts, extreme rainfall events and increased surface UV radiation, concerns about the impact on food contaminants have been raised. While the effects of climate change on POPs were initially expected to have the biggest impact in the arctic region, given the intensity, frequency and spread of extreme weather events, global influence on environmental pollution and food safety is currently anticipated.

Slowed Singlet Exciton Fission Enhances Triplet Exciton Transport in Select Perylenediimide Crystals.

Singlet fission (SF) materials used in light-harvesting devices must not only efficiently produce spin-triplet excitons but also transport them to an energy acceptor. ,'-Bis(2-phenylethyl)-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide (EP-PDI) is a promising SF chromophore due to its photostability, large extinction coefficient, and high triplet yield, but the energy transport mechanisms in EP-PDI solids are minimally understood. Herein, we use transient absorption microscopy to directly characterize exciton transport in EP-PDI crystals.

Elevated levels of cyclophilin A secreted in milk during bovine mastitis.

Bovine mastitis is an inflammatory disease that primarily occurs when bacteria invade and proliferate in the mammary gland, although it can also be caused by physical trauma. Mastitis results in a decrease in milk yield and quality, causing huge economic losses. Cyclophilin A (CyPA) is a cytosolic protein known as cyclosporine binding protein.