Use of dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) cold plasma for control of bread spoilage fungi.

Bread is a greatly consumed bakery product worldwide. Unfortunately, it is an optimal substrate for fungal contamination and deterioration (aw > 0.95), commonly caused by the genera Penicillium, Paecilomyces, and Aspergillus, resulting in significant economic losses.

Consensus Recommendations for Studies of Outflow Facility and Intraocular Pressure Regulation Using Ex Vivo Perfusion Approaches.

Intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation is the primary risk factor and currently the main treatable factor for progression of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. In addition to direct clinical and living animal in vivo studies, ex vivo perfusion of anterior segments and whole eyes is a key technique for studying conventional outflow function as it is responsible for IOP regulation. We present well-tested experimental details, protocols, considerations, advantages, and limitations of several ex vivo model systems for studying IOP regulation.

Brief imagery based metacognitive intervention for flashforwards in psychosis: a fixed baseline case series.

Background: Distressing mental images are common in people with psychosis. The central role of metacognitive difficulties in psychosis suggests that metacognitive interventions with imagery properties could play a central role in managing distressing mental imagery. A brief imagery-based metacognitive intervention was developed to target the control mechanism of distressing mental images in psychosis.

Reducing the Number of Intrusive Memories of Work-Related Traumatic Events in Frontline Health Care Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Series.

Background: Frontline health care staff are frequently exposed to traumatic events as part of their work. Although this study commenced before the emergence of COVID-19, levels of exposure were heightened by the pandemic. Many health care staff members report intrusive memories of such events, which can elicit distress, affect functioning, and be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in the long term.

Impacts of zero-fare transit policy on health and social determinants: protocol for a natural experiment study.

Population-level efforts are needed to increase levels of physical activity and healthy eating to reduce and manage chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Interventions to increase public transit use may be one promising strategy, particularly for low-income communities or populations of color who are disproportionately burdened by health disparities and transportation barriers. This study employs a natural experiment design to evaluate the impacts of a citywide zero-fare transit policy in Kansas City, Missouri, on ridership and health indicators.

Evaluation of Two Commercial ELISA Kits for Measuring Equine Serum Gastrin Compared to Radioimmunoassay.

Gastrin is an important hormone involved in gastric acid secretion. Despite its importance, validated methods other than radioimmunoassay (RIA) to assess serum gastrin concentrations in horses are lacking. This study aims to determine the agreement between ELISA and RIA in quantifying equine serum gastrin concentrations.

Hallucinations across sensory domains in people with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis.

Auditory hallucinations are common in people with histories of adversity, possibly indicating a causal relationship. However, hallucinations occur in multiple sensory modalities and the relationship between trauma and hallucinations in other sensory domains is less explored. We examined the occurrence of hallucinatory experiences in different sensory modalities in people with psychosis who also met criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (n = 67).

Associations of Neighborhood Food Retail Environments with Weight Status in a Regional Pediatric Health System.

There have been mixed findings on the relationships between childhood obesity and macroscale retail food environments. The current study investigates associations of the neighborhood retail food environment with changes in children's weight status over 6 years in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Anthropometrics and home addresses were collected during routine well-child visits in a large pediatric hospital ( = 4493; >75% were Black or Latinx children).

Establishing Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Models of Lymphomas.

Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of lymphoma typically involve the injection of human tumor cells into an immunocompromised murine host. PDXs have the advantage that the tumor cells grow in a 3D environment within the mouse, meaning the selection pressure of in vitro establishment is avoided and the tumor cells better maintain their genetic heterogeneity. Here, we outline a method for producing and maintaining a PDX model of lymphoma.

The development of the Negative Mental Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-N).

Background: Mental imagery plays a key role in the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders, and has become the target of psychological interventions for the treatment of several anxiety-related conditions. However, there are currently no transdiagnostic measures designed to assess the varied dimensions of mental imagery relevant to psychopathology.

Aim: To develop and validate a new measure assessing the experiences and appraisals of negative mental imagery.

Complex PTSD symptoms predict positive symptoms of psychosis in the flow of daily life.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to predict psychotic symptomology. However, few studies have examined the relative contribution of PTSD compared to broader post-traumatic sequelae in maintaining psychosis. Complex PTSD (cPTSD), operationalized using ICD-11 criteria, includes core PTSD (intrusions, avoidance, hyperarousal) as well as additional "disturbances of self-organisation" (DSO; emotional dysregulation, interpersonal difficulties, negative self-concept) symptoms, more likely to be associated with complex trauma histories.

Sleep and paranoia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Sleep dysfunction commonly co-occurs with paranoia and is hypothesised to be a contributory causal mechanism in its development and maintenance.

Objectives: To systematically review and quantitatively evaluate the evidence for the relationship between sleep dysfunction and paranoia across the spectrum of severity.

Method: A systematic search was conducted to identify studies investigating the relationship between aspects of sleep and paranoia across clinical and non-clinical groups.

Effectiveness of Imagery Rescripting for Trauma-Affected Voice Hearers: An Open Trial.

Objective: People who hear voices (auditory verbal hallucinations) often have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) have yielded inconsistent findings when treating voices and PTSD symptoms in voice hearers. Preliminary evidence suggests imagery rescripting (ImRs) is associated with large reductions in voice hearing and PTSD symptoms.

Experiences of imagery-based treatment for anxiety in bipolar disorder: A qualitative study embedded within the image based emotion regulation feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: Intrusive mental imagery is associated with anxiety in bipolar disorder (BD) and presents a novel treatment target. Imagery-based treatments show promise in targeting anxiety and improving mood instability. This qualitative study explored experiences of receiving up to 12 sessions of a brief structured psychological intervention: Image-Based Emotion Regulation (IBER), which targets maladaptive mental imagery in the context of BD with an aim to modify the emotional impact of these images.

Public perception of individuals who commit Child Sexual Abuse Material offences: Exploring the impact of demographic variables and cross-national differences.

Background: Lay perceptions of persons who download and distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is an underexplored subject. There is a need for understanding the factors that influence perceptions as the public perceptions have implications for endorsement of sex offender rehabilitation that in turn can influence the availability of treatment programs and stigma for help-seeking.

Objective: To explore public perceptions of individuals that commit child sexual abuse offences, to compare the results to those obtained in a large US sample, and to explore associations between demographic variables, general perceptions and endorsement of imprisonment and treatment for individuals that commit CSAM offences.

Enteral nutrition on discharge from intensive care and 30-day unplanned readmission: An exploratory, retrospective study of association.

Background & Aims: Individuals who survive critical illness are often malnourished with inadequate oral nutrient intake after leaving the intensive care unit (ICU). Enteral nutrition (EN) improves nutrient intake but there is limited evidence on the impact of maintaining EN after discharge from the ICU. The objective of this exploratory study was to understand the association between EN maintenance after ICU and 30-day unplanned hospital re-admission, to inform on future prospective research into the effects of post-ICU nutrition.

Validation of a handheld near-infrared spectrophotometer for measurement of chemical intramuscular fat in Australian lamb.

The objective of the study was to independently validate a calibrated commercial handheld near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic device and test its repeatability over time using phenotypically diverse populations of Australian lamb. Validation testing in eight separate data sub-groups (n = 1591 carcasses overall) demonstrated that the NIR device had moderate precision (R = 0.4-0.

Targeting NRAS via miR-1304-5p or farnesyltransferase inhibition confers sensitivity to ALK inhibitors in ALK-mutant neuroblastoma.

Targeting Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a promising therapeutic strategy for aberrant ALK-expressing malignancies including neuroblastoma, but resistance to ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK TKI) is a distinct possibility necessitating drug combination therapeutic approaches. Using high-throughput, genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screens, we identify miR-1304-5p loss as a desensitizer to ALK TKIs in aberrant ALK-expressing neuroblastoma; inhibition of miR-1304-5p decreases, while mimics of this miRNA increase the sensitivity of neuroblastoma cells to ALK TKIs. We show that miR-1304-5p targets NRAS, decreasing cell viability via induction of apoptosis.

Technical profiles of child sexual exploitation material offenders.

The idiographic technical profiles of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offenders provide insight into their behaviours and context for their interactions with technology, but minimal quantitative work has been done to evaluate their sociability, technical ability and technophilia compared to non-offenders. This work used an online survey to compare an offender group consisting of English-speaking adults previously convicted of CSEM offenses ( = 78) with a reference population of non-offenders ( = 254). The survey assessed sociability, technical ability and technophilia through self-rating and information on occupation, level of education and device ownership.

Halloween genes are expressed with a circadian rhythm during development in prothoracic glands of the insect RHODNIUS PROLIXUS.

We analyse the developmental and circadian profiles of expression of the genes responsible for ecdysteroidogenesis (Halloween genes) in the PGs of Rhodnius prolixus throughout larval-adult development. Extensive use of in vitro techniques enabled multiple different parameters to be measured in individual PGs. Expression of disembodied and spook closely paralleled the ecdysteroid synthesis of the same PGs, and the ecdysteroid titre in vivo, but with functionally significant exceptions.

Ferrous sulfate microparticles obtained by : characterization, stability and in vitro digestion simulation.

Unlabelled: The use of microencapsulated ferrous-sulfate is among the various options recommended for food fortification, as the protective wall material surrounding the compound can preserve it from undesirable alterations and also protect the food. Microencapsulated iron can be produced using different wall materials and encapsulation methods. Thus, a microparticle was developed through spray chilling, containing ferrous sulfate (FS), as active compound, and a fat mixture as the coating material.

Emotional and non-emotional mental imagery and auditory verbal hallucinations (hearing voices): A systematic review of imagery assessment tools.

It is unknown to what extent mental imagery and auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are related. Trials evaluating this issue used both emotional and non-emotional mental imagery tools, thereby complicating outcomes comparisons. Therefore, the present study aimed to systematically review the literature on mental imagery in individuals with AVHs to (1) inventory imagery assessment tools used in this population, (2) to collect information on the relation between emotional and non-emotional mental imagery in all sensory domains and AVHs and (3) to integrate the outcomes of this systematic review in a model of different mental imagery domains and related assessment tools.

The Impact of Two Recommended Withholding Periods for Omeprazole and the Use of a Nutraceutical Supplement on Recurrence of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Thoroughbred Racehorses.

The impact of recommended withholding periods (RWPs) for omeprazole on the recurrence of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is unknown. The study was designed to compare the effect of two RWPs on EGUS recurrence post-omeprazole treatment and to determine if a nutraceutical supplement would reduce EGUS recurrence when administrated during an RWP. The study was a blinded, randomized clinical trial.

Prospective associations of neighborhood healthy food access and walkability with weight status in a regional pediatric health system.

Background: Most neighborhood food and activity related environment research in children has been cross-sectional. A better understanding of prospective associations between these neighborhood environment factors and children's weight status can provide stronger evidence for informing interventions and policy. This study examined associations of baseline and changes in neighborhood healthy food access and walkability with changes in children's weight status over 5 years.