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BackgroundThis study aimed to provide a detailed analysis of the pandemic’s impact on the veterinary profession and education in Austria.MethodsTwo online surveys were conducted from November 2022 to January 2023, inviting all veterinarians and veterinary students in Austria to share their experiences on the impact of the pandemic on their veterinarian work and education in a free text question.ResultsA total of n = 289 veterinarians and n = 272 veterinary students provided an answer. In summary, 39.8% of veterinarians reported no impact by the pandemic, while others experienced changes in workload (19.7%), changes in client behavior (14.9%), implementation of safety measures (13.1%), and organizational changes (13.1%). Additional impacts included effects on mental health, private life, finances, as well as physical health. Changes were more frequently mentioned in veterinarians working with pets compared to those working with livestock. In the student panel, only a minority reported no significant impact (8.1%) but 44.9% reporting changes due to online and hybrid learning. Key issues included impaired learning conditions (34.9%), and social distancing (34.6%) leading to social isolation. Some students appreciated increased flexibility and reduced commuting (10.7%), while others experienced mental health challenges (10.7%). Further impacts were related to the implementation of safety measures (5.5%), organizational changes (4.8%) and impaired physical health due to infection (1.1%). Negative changes related to distance learning were mainly reported by students in the final study phase, whereas those in the first study phase reported more positive aspects related to online/hybrid learning.ConclusionOverall, this study highlights the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterinary education and professional practice in Austria, revealing diverse challenges for students and relatively lower but still notable effects on practicing veterinarians. Future research should monitor these impacts longitudinally and explore the integration of beneficial practices into standard veterinary education and care, such as effective digital learning platforms and appointment-based systems.

Structural brain aging has demonstrated strong inter-individual heterogeneity and mirroring patterns with brain development. However, due to the lack of large-scale longitudinal neuroimaging studies, most of the existing research focused on the cross-sectional changes of brain aging. In this investigation, we present a data-driven approach that incorporate both cross-sectional changes and longitudinal trajectories of structural brain aging and identified two brain aging patterns among 37,013 healthy participants from UK Biobank. Participants with accelerated brain aging also demonstrated accelerated biological aging, cognitive decline and increased genetic susceptibilities to major neuropsychiatric disorders. Further, by integrating longitudinal neuroimaging studies from a multi-center adolescent cohort, we validated the ‘last in, first out’ mirroring hypothesis and identified brain regions with manifested mirroring patterns between brain aging and brain development. Genomic analyses revealed risk loci and genes contributing to accelerated brain aging and delayed brain development, providing molecular basis for elucidating the biological mechanisms underlying brain aging and related disorders.

Substance use, including cigarettes and cannabis, is associated with poorer sustained attention in late adolescence and early adulthood. Previous studies were predominantly cross-sectional or under-powered and could not indicate if impairment in sustained attention was a predictor of substance use or a marker of the inclination to engage in such behavior. This study explored the relationship between sustained attention and substance use across a longitudinal span from ages 14 to 23 in over 1000 participants. Behaviors and brain connectivity associated with diminished sustained attention at age 14 predicted subsequent increases in cannabis and cigarette smoking, establishing sustained attention as a robust biomarker for vulnerability to substance use. Individual differences in network strength relevant to sustained attention were preserved across developmental stages and sustained attention networks generalized to participants in an external dataset. In summary, brain networks of sustained attention are robust, consistent, and able to predict aspects of later substance use.

Es wird über die Nachweise und die Ausbreitung der zwei nichtwirtswechselnden Blattlausarten Crypturaphis grassii Silvestri, 1935 und Neotoxoptera formosana (Takahashi, 1921) in Deutschland berichtet. Auf hohe Besiedelungsdichte reagiert die monophage, nur Alnus cordata besiedelnde C. grassii mit der verstärkten Produktion von geflügelten Morphen, die eine schnelle Ausbreitung ermöglichen. Diese Reaktion ist stark reduziert bei der polyphagen, zahlreiche Taxa des Genus Allium L. besiedelnden N. formosana, deren Ausbreitung hauptsächlich vom anthropogenen Transport besiedelter Wirtspflanzen abhängig ist.

Pain is a common comorbidity in patients with hemophilia (PwH) due to hemophilic arthropathy. This study aims to explore pain sensitivity in PwH methodologically investigating in cuff pressure testing compared to algometer testing.

BackgroundFood plays a dual role in promoting human health and environmental sustainability. Yet, current food systems jeopardize both. Food waste poses a major global challenge due to its significant economic, social, and environmental impacts. Healthcare facilities generate the largest amounts of food waste compared to other forms of catering provision. Food waste correlates with environmental unsustainability and diminished patient satisfaction, compounding the prevalent challenge of hospital malnutrition and contributing to suboptimal patient outcomes.Materials and methodsIn a three-year interventional study (2020-2022) at a psychiatric tertiary care center, we assessed and mitigated food waste using evidence-based measures. We conducted systematic food wastage audits over three years (2020-2022) in May and June, each lasting four weeks. Costs were analyzed comprehensively, covering food, staff, infrastructure, and disposal. Environmental impact was assessed using Umweltbelastungspunkte (UBP) and CO2e/kg emissions, alongside water usage (H2O - l/kg).ResultsEconomic losses due to food wastage were substantial, primarily from untouched plates and partially consumed dinners, prompting meal planning adjustments. Despite a >3% increase in meals served, both food waste mass and costs decreased by nearly 6%. Environmental impact indicators showed a reduction >20%. Vegetables, salad, and fruits constituted a significant portion of waste. Overproduction minimally contributed to waste, validating portion control efficacy.ConclusionOur study highlights significant economic and environmental losses due to hospital food waste, emphasizing the importance of resource efficiency. The strategies outlined offer promising avenues for enhanced efficiency. The decrease in food waste observed over the three-year period underscores the potential for improvement.

Introduction Chronic stress can cause an imbalance within the autonomic nervous system, thereby affecting cardiovascular and mental health. Physical activity (PA) may have a positive effect on the autonomic nervous system and stress-related disorders, such as depression and burnout. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive marker of the autonomic nervous system. However, limited and inconsistent data exist on the exact relationship between HRV, PA and depression and burnout symptoms. The HARMODI study aims to explore whether HRV is a feasible marker of depression and burnout symptoms and aims to evaluate the role of PA in the treatment of stress-related disorders.Methods and analyses This is an observational study with a cross-sectional up to 8 week follow-up study design. A total of 153 patients, undergoing psychiatric inpatient treatment with burnout syndrome (Z73) and depressive episode (F32 or F33) or adjustment disorder (F43.2), will be recruited. Data on depression and burnout symptoms, HRV recordings (24-hour, supine, standing and exercise stress test), cognitive function, cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular health, balance and strength will be collected at baseline (T1) and after up to 8 weeks (T2). Continuous data on PA and Ecological Momentary Assessments of exhaustion, mood and tension will be monitored daily throughout inpatient treatment. Multiple regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, will assess the association between HRV as the primary outcome, PA and depression and burnout severity score.Ethics and dissemination The protocol has been approved by Swiss Ethics Committee, Cantonal Ethics Committee Zürich. Results of HARMODI will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.Trial registration number NCT05874856.

Introducing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) as a novel transportation mode poses unique challenges due to limited practical and empirical data. One of these challenges involves accurately estimating future passenger demand and the required number of air taxis, given uncertainties in modal shift dynamics, induced traffic patterns, and long-term price elasticity. In our study, we use mobility data obtained from a Dresden traffic survey and modal shift rates to estimate the demand for AAM air taxi operations for this regional use case. We organize these operations into an air taxi rotation schedule using a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) optimization model and set a tolerance for slight deviations from the requested arrival times for higher productivity. The resulting schedule aids in determining the AAM fleet size while accounting for flight performance, energy consumption, and battery charging requirements tailored to three distinct types of air taxi fleets. According to our case study, the methodology produces feasible and high-quality air taxi flight rotations within an efficient computational time of 1.5 h. The approach provides extensive insights into air taxi utilization, charging durations at various locations, and assists in fleet planning that adapts to varying, potentially uncertain, traffic demands. Our findings reveal an average productivity of 12 trips per day per air taxi, covering distances from 13 to 99 km. These outcomes contribute to a sustainable, business-focused implementation of AAM while highlighting the interaction between operational parameters and overall system performance and contributing to vertiport capacity considerations.

Abstract The decline of insect abundance and richness has been documented for decades and has received increased attention in recent years. In 2017, a study by Hallmann and colleagues on insect biomasses in German nature protected areas received a great deal of attention and provided the impetus for the creation of the project Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA). The aim of DINA was to investigate possible causes for the decline of insects in nature protected areas throughout Germany and to develop strategies for managing the problem. A major issue for the protection of insects is the lack of insect-specific regulations for nature protected areas and the lack of a risk assessment and verification of the measures applied. Most nature protected areas border on or enclose agricultural land and are structured in a mosaic, resulting in an abundance of small and narrow areas. This leads to fragmentation or even loss of endangered habitats and thus threaten biodiversity. In addition, the impact of agricultural practices, especially pesticides and fertilisers, leads to the degradation of biodiversity at the boundaries of nature protected areas, reducing their effective size. All affected stakeholders need to be involved in solving these threats by working on joint solutions. Furthermore, agriculture in and around nature protected areas must act to promote biodiversity and utilise and develop methods that reverse the current trend. This also requires subsidies from the state to ensure economic sustainability and promote biodiversity-promoting practices.

Background: Smart phone use has become a part of people’s everyday life. However, when the lack of using the smart phone to establish and maintain electronic communication is related to psychological distress, such a behavior may be considered a modern-age phobia, or nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia). The aims of the present study were to investigate among a sample of young adults the associations between scores for nomophobia and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and obsessive–compulsive disorders. Methods: A total of 537 students (mean age: 25.52 years; 42.3% females) participated in the study. They completed a booklet of self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information and symptoms of nomophobia, depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and obsessive–compulsive disorders. Results: Higher scores for nomophobia were associated with higher scores for depression, anxiety, and stress, but not with scores for insomnia and obsessive–compulsive disorders. The regression model confirmed that symptoms of anxiety predicted nomophobia. Conclusions: The present results support the assumption that nomophobia appears to be a mood disturbance related to stronger associations with symptoms of anxiety and, to a lesser extent, with symptoms of depression and stress. By contrast, nomophobia appeared to be unrelated to insomnia and symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorders.

BackgroundAlthough the issue of high mental health burden among veterinarians is well-documented in previous studies, little is known about the specific occupational stress factors associated with mental health issues. Therefore, the aims of this study were twofold: (1) to assess occupational stress factors within the veterinary profession, with a particular emphasis on comparing the expectations of veterinary students with the experiences of practicing veterinarians and (2) to link the experienced stress with mental health indicators in veterinarians.MethodsAll registered veterinarians and veterinary-medicine students in Austria were invited to participate in a cross-sectional online survey. The data collection took place during the winter of 2022/2023 and included standardized questionnaires on mental well-being (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), stress (PSS-4), and insomnia (ISI-2). Additionally, participants were asked about various estimated (students) or experienced (vets) occupational stress factors, which were to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “not at all” to “very strongly”. An open question invited respondents to identify in free text further experienced/anticipated sources of work-related stressors in veterinary practice.ResultsA total of 430 students and 440 veterinarians participated in the study. The results of a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicate that the burden of bureaucracy is perceived as less stressful by students than experienced by veterinarians, all other areas are perceived as more stressful by students than by veterinarians. In veterinarians, bureaucracy is experienced as the most burdensome, followed by animal suffering, and communication with animal owners. Further analysis of possible associations between the extent of perceived stressors and indicators of mental health shows that while bureaucracy is the most burdensome, it has the smallest correlation with mental health indicators. On the other hand, financial concerns, which are not ranked among the main stressors, have the strongest correlation with impaired mental health.ConclusionThe results suggest that financial security for veterinarians is crucial to safeguard their mental health. The training of veterinary medicine students and practicing veterinarians in the areas of administration, time management, handling animal suffering, and communication with animal owners might be beneficial in reducing their job-related stressors.

Abstract Background Early negative life events (NLE) have long‐lasting influences on neurodevelopment and psychopathology. Reduced orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) thickness was frequently associated with NLE and depressive symptoms. OFC thinning might mediate the effect of NLE on depressive symptoms, although few longitudinal studies exist. Using a complete longitudinal design with four time points, we examined whether NLE during childhood and early adolescence predict depressive symptoms in young adulthood through accelerated OFC thinning across adolescence. Methods We acquired structural MRI from 321 participants at two sites across four time points from ages 14 to 22. We measured NLE with the Life Events Questionnaire at the first time point and depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at the fourth time point. Modeling latent growth curves, we tested whether OFC thinning mediates the effect of NLE on depressive symptoms. Results A higher burden of NLE, a thicker OFC at the age of 14, and an accelerated OFC thinning across adolescence predicted young adults' depressive symptoms. We did not identify an effect of NLE on OFC thickness nor OFC thickness mediating effects of NLE on depressive symptoms. Conclusions Using a complete longitudinal design with four waves, we show that NLE in childhood and early adolescence predict depressive symptoms in the long term. Results indicate that an accelerated OFC thinning may precede depressive symptoms. Assessment of early additionally to acute NLEs and neurodevelopment may be warranted in clinical settings to identify risk factors for depression.

IntroductionAssociative memory is arguably the most basic memory function and therein constitutes the foundation of all episodic and semantic memory processes. At the same time, the decline of associative memory represents a core feature of age-related cognitive decline in both, healthy and pathological (i.e., dementia-related) aging. The neural mechanisms underlying age-related impairments in associative memory are still not fully understood, especially regarding incidental (i.e., non-intentional) learning.MethodsWe investigated the impact of age on the incidental learning and memory retrieval of face-name combinations in a total sample of 46 young (N = 23; mean age = 23.39 years) and elderly (N = 22, mean age = 69.05 years) participants. More specifically, particular interest was placed in age-related changes in encoding/retrieval (E/R) flips, which denote a neural antagonism of opposed activation patterns in the same brain region during memory encoding and retrieval, which were assessed using fMRI.ResultsAccording to our hypothesis, the results showed a significant age-related decline in the retrieval performance in the old group. Additionally, at the neural level, we discovered an abolished E/R flip in the right anterior insula and a joint but reduced E/R flip activation magnitude in the posterior middle cingulate cortex in older subjects.DiscussionIn conclusion, the present findings suggest that the impaired neural modulation of the E/R flip in the right aIC might be a sensitive marker in the early detection of neural aging.