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This research analyzes the water-energy nexus contribution to climate change from the integral water cycle perspective. A prior analysis of the sectors involved in global warming showed that clear water/energy interdependence was a crucial factor in increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although the analysis of water consumption in the energy sector has been widely studied, global requirements of energy for water are still poorly understood as is their contribution to climate change. With this in mind, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were chosen for the specific analysis conducted in the present study as they are one of the biggest GHG emitters in the water industry. They are located in the Canary Islands (Spain), an archipelago that, like many others, is characterized by its dependence on external water and energy resources. The methodology employed involved an initial analysis of the WWTPs in the islands and the selection of four full-scale WWTPs of varying capacity for further in-depth analysis. This was followed by consideration of the different protocols and tools that can be used to quantify direct and indirect GHGs emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change protocol was selected due to the great diversity of operational data and the emission factors proposed by experts when the data are not available for a specific region under analysis. The results show that the highest emission source is due to energy consumption (ranging from 165 to 2,716 Tmeq CO2/y for the smallest and largest size WWTPs, respectively). To solve the problem, the introduction of renewable energies is presented as a feasible and attractive option due to the specific characteristics of the analyzed territory. Likewise, the use of sludge as an internal energy resource (in anaerobic digestion) obviates the need for its transport and management, contributing to the circular technology and reducing emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Due to difficulties of interpersonal interactions of patients diagnosed with eating disorders (EDs), the present study assessed 4 social cognition domains: facial and body recognition, moral judgment and empathy for pain. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine 4 social cognition domains in subjects with risk to have ED and patients with EDs. Methods: 15.351 subjects responded to the National Mental Health Survey (Gómez-Restrepo, NMHS) and we selected 1.972 subjects who responded to the social cognition and risk eating behaviors modules: identification of emotions (Ekman) and intentionality, empathy, and moral cognition when harmful actions were shown (TASIT adaptation, Baez, 2014). Fifty ED patients also completed two tasks (Aviezer et al., 2012; Santamaria-García, 2019): (1) Subjects viewed pictures of bodies (faces covered) with 4 context emotions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness with context cue: i.e. holding a knife). (2) They also had to identify a congruent face-body emotion (anger face holding a knife), or incongruent (fear face with anger body). Results: Subjects with eating risk behaviors (ENSM) as well as patients, had difficulties recognizing emotions, mainly fear and sadness; 42% of the subjects with diet behaviors do not recognize accidental harm (p=0.030). Similar profile was found in clinical population. All subjects tended to respond that aggressor deserve punishment, even though action was non intentionally (p=0.04). Conclusions: A discussion on the highest difficulty in the Social Cognition in subjects at risk as well as EDs patients will be done. Relevance on prevention, treatment and therapy, if social interactions are taken in accoun, will be highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L-arginine is an essential amino acid that exerts both peripheral and central nervous system effects. Although it has been used as a growth hormone releasing agent, this amino acid also provokes significant blood pressure and heart rate changes in all patients tested. This study assessed the changes induced by the oral administration of this amino acid on the peripheral autonomic nervous system in 52 subjects (26 L-arginine, 26 placebo). The levels of the following circulating neurotransmitters were measured before and after a small oral dose (50 mg) of L-arginine: noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline (Ad), dopamine (DA), plasma serotonin (f-5HT), platelet serotonin (p-5HT), and plasma tryptophane. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were also monitored. L-arginine triggered sustained and progressive increases of NA, DA, f-5HT, p-5HT, and the f-5HT/p-5HT ratio as well as sustained and progressive decrease of Ad. Diastolic blood pressure but not systolic blood pressure showed significant and progressive reductions. Progressive heart rate reductions were also observed. Significant positive correlation was registered between diastolic blood pressure versus NA/DA ratio and significant negative correlation was found between heart rate versus f-5HT/ p-5HT ratio. An oral administration of 50 mg of L-arginine was able to provoke parasympathetic over sympathetic and neural-sympathetic over adrenal-sympathetic predominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss two cases of patients affected by pancreatic cysts and two patients affected by cystic fibrosis showing similar neuroautonomic profile, high adrenal sympathetic activity plus low neural sympathetic activity, who were significantly improved with neuropharmacological manipulations addressed to reverse this profile. Clinical, radiological, and neurochemical assessment showed progressive and sustained improvement throughout more than two years for the cystic fibrosis cases and lasted more than four years for the pancreatic cyst cases in the follow up of both trials. The neuropharmacological therapy addressed to enhance central noradrenergic activity was carried out by the administration of doxepin (noradrenaline uptake inhibitor). Our findings are consistent with the postulation that both syndromes share a common pathophysiological disorder, acinar secretory overflow, which overwhelms the pancreatic duct drainage. Although we have assessed and treated several patients with these pathologies, we refer only to these four well investigated, treated, and followed-up patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss two cases of patients affected by the carcinoid syndrome who showed adrenal over neural sympathetic predominance and a TH-2 immunological profile. Both received neuropharmacological therapy addressed to reverting this autonomic nervous system imbalance. Clinical, autonomic nervous system and immunological improvements were registered as of the first 4-week posttreatment period. No relapses have been recorded up to the present (4 and 3 years later, respectively). The neuropharmacological therapy addressed to enhancing central nervous system-noradrenergic activity, which is able to revert adrenal over neural sympathetic predominance, seems to be a valuable tool in treating patients affected by carcinoid syndrome.The fact that patients affected by carcinoid presented common neuroautonomic disorders led us to prescribe the neuropharmacological therapy addressed to revert that abnormal profile. Although we have assessed several of the above-mentioned patients, we refer here only to these two well-investigated, treated, and followedup patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain clocks, which quantify discrepancies between brain age and chronological age, hold promise for understanding brain health and disease. However, the impact of diversity (including geographical, socioeconomic, sociodemographic, sex and neurodegeneration) on the brain-age gap is unknown. We analyzed datasets from 5,306 participants across 15 countries (7 Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) and 8 non-LAC countries). Based on higher-order interactions, we developed a brain-age gap deep learning architecture for functional magnetic resonance imaging (2,953) and electroencephalography (2,353). The datasets comprised healthy controls and individuals with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. LAC models evidenced older brain ages (functional magnetic resonance imaging: mean directional error = 5.60, root mean square error (r.m.s.e.) = 11.91; electroencephalography: mean directional error = 5.34, r.m.s.e. = 9.82) associated with frontoposterior networks compared with non-LAC models. Structural socioeconomic inequality, pollution and health disparities were influential predictors of increased brain-age gaps, especially in LAC (R² = 0.37, F² = 0.59, r.m.s.e. = 6.9). An ascending brain-age gap from healthy controls to mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease was found. In LAC, we observed larger brain-age gaps in females in control and Alzheimer disease groups compared with the respective males. The results were not explained by variations in signal quality, demographics or acquisition methods. These findings provide a quantitative framework capturing the diversity of accelerated brain aging., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To synthesize the best available evidence regarding the perceptions and current clinical practices of athletic trainers (ATs) in integrating psychological skills into patient management., Data Sources: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL; via EBSCOhost), PsycInfo (via EBSCOhost), SPORTDiscus (via EBSCOhost), and Scopus (via Elsevier)., Study Selection: Studies had to investigate the current clinical practices and perceptions of certified ATs in integrating psychologically informed practice for patient management. Studies that had level 4 evidence or higher were included. Studies were excluded if they were published before 1999, the primary language was not English, they involved athletic training students or other rehabilitation specialists, or they explored the athlete's and/or patient's perception of psychosocial techniques or strategies., Data Extraction: This systematic review is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 Statement in Exercise, Rehabilitation, Sport Medicine and Sports Science guidance., Data Synthesis: A total of 1857 articles were reviewed, and 8 met inclusion criteria. Two studies had level 2a evidence, 4 studies had level 4a evidence, and 2 studies had level 4b evidence. Six studies were rated as good quality, and 2 studies were rated as lesser quality. The included studies demonstrated a high-quality body of evidence with consistent results, which strengthens the review findings., Conclusions: Athletic trainers have the knowledge to identify when athletes are psychologically affected by injury and can identify common psychological responses. Although ATs acknowledge the value of implementing psychosocial strategies, a lack of confidence in implementing basic or advanced techniques, feeling underprepared by their educational program, and a lack of clinical training appear to affect the use of psychosocial techniques in clinical practice and the rate of mental health recognition and referral among ATs., (© by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc.)

Background: Structural income inequality - the uneven income distribution across regions or countries - could affect brain structure and function, beyond individual differences. However, the impact of structural income inequality on the brain dynamics and the roles of demographics and cognition in these associations remains unexplored., Methods: Here, we assessed the impact of structural income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient on multiple EEG metrics, while considering the subject-level effects of demographic (age, sex, education) and cognitive factors. Resting-state EEG signals were collected from a diverse sample (countries = 10; healthy individuals = 1394 from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Turkey and United Kingdom). Complexity (fractal dimension, permutation entropy, Wiener entropy, spectral structure variability), power spectral and aperiodic components (1/f slope, knee, offset), as well as graph-theoretic measures were analysed., Findings: Despite variability in samples, data collection methods, and EEG acquisition parameters, structural inequality systematically predicted electrophysiological brain dynamics, proving to be a more crucial determinant of brain dynamics than individual-level factors. Complexity and aperiodic activity metrics captured better the effects of structural inequality on brain function. Following inequality, age and cognition emerged as the most influential predictors. The overall results provided convergent multimodal metrics of biologic embedding of structural income inequality characterised by less complex signals, increased random asynchronous neural activity, and reduced alpha and beta power, particularly over temporoposterior regions., Conclusion: These findings might challenge conventional neuroscience approaches that tend to overemphasise the influence of individual-level factors, while neglecting structural factors. Results pave the way for neuroscience-informed public policies aimed at tackling structural inequalities in diverse populations., (© 2024 The Author(s). Clinical and Translational Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Shanghai Institute of Clinical Bioinformatics.)

Background: Education influences brain health and dementia. However, its impact across regions, specifically Latin America (LA) and the United States (US), is unknown., Methods: A total of 1412 participants comprising controls, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) from LA and the US were included. We studied the association of education with brain volume and functional connectivity while controlling for imaging quality and variability, age, sex, total intracranial volume (TIV), and recording type., Results: Education influenced brain measures, explaining 24%-98% of the geographical differences. The educational disparities between LA and the US were associated with gray matter volume and connectivity variations, especially in LA and AD patients. Education emerged as a critical factor in classifying aging and dementia across regions., Discussion: The results underscore the impact of education on brain structure and function in LA, highlighting the importance of incorporating educational factors into diagnosing, care, and prevention, and emphasizing the need for global diversity in research., Highlights: Lower education was linked to reduced brain volume and connectivity in healthy controls (HCs), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Latin American cohorts have lower educational levels compared to the those in the United States. Educational disparities majorly drive brain health differences between regions. Educational differences were significant in both conditions, but more in AD than FTLD. Education stands as a critical factor in classifying aging and dementia across regions., (© 2024 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Diversity in brain health is influenced by individual differences in demographics and cognition. However, most studies on brain health and diseases have typically controlled for these factors rather than explored their potential to predict brain signals. Here, we assessed the role of individual differences in demographics (age, sex, and education; n = 1298) and cognition (n = 725) as predictors of different metrics usually used in case-control studies. These included power spectrum and aperiodic (1/f slope, knee, offset) metrics, as well as complexity (fractal dimension estimation, permutation entropy, Wiener entropy, spectral structure variability) and connectivity (graph-theoretic mutual information, conditional mutual information, organizational information) from the source space resting-state EEG activity in a diverse sample from the global south and north populations. Brain-phenotype models were computed using EEG metrics reflecting local activity (power spectrum and aperiodic components) and brain dynamics and interactions (complexity and graph-theoretic measures). Electrophysiological brain dynamics were modulated by individual differences despite the varied methods of data acquisition and assessments across multiple centers, indicating that results were unlikely to be accounted for by methodological discrepancies. Variations in brain signals were mainly influenced by age and cognition, while education and sex exhibited less importance. Power spectrum activity and graph-theoretic measures were the most sensitive in capturing individual differences. Older age, poorer cognition, and being male were associated with reduced alpha power, whereas older age and less education were associated with reduced network integration and segregation. Findings suggest that basic individual differences impact core metrics of brain function that are used in standard case-control studies. Considering individual variability and diversity in global settings would contribute to a more tailored understanding of brain function., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest none., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Growing up in neglectful households can impact multiple aspects of social cognition. However, research on neglect's effects on social cognition processes and their neuroanatomical correlates during adolescence is scarce. Here, we aimed to comprehensively assess social cognition processes (recognition of basic and contextual emotions, theory of mind, the experience of envy and Schadenfreude and empathy for pain) and their structural brain correlates in adolescents with legal neglect records within family-based care. First, we compared neglected adolescents ( n  = 27) with control participants ( n  = 25) on context-sensitive social cognition tasks while controlling for physical and emotional abuse and executive and intellectual functioning. Additionally, we explored the grey matter correlates of these domains through voxel-based morphometry. Compared to controls, neglected adolescents exhibited lower performance in contextual emotional recognition and theory of mind, higher levels of envy and Schadenfreude and diminished empathy. Physical and emotional abuse and executive or intellectual functioning did not explain these effects. Moreover, social cognition scores correlated with brain volumes in regions subserving social cognition and emotional processing. Our results underscore the potential impact of neglect on different aspects of social cognition during adolescence, emphasizing the necessity for preventive and intervention strategies to address these deficits in this population., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Context: Football sport participation has been linked to both positive and negative effects on overall health. Social support, a network that provides individuals with resources to cope effectively, may positively influence one's stress and mental health. However, little research has been conducted on adolescent football players., Objective: To examine the relationships among social support, psychological stress, and mental health in adolescent football athletes., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: High school athletes during the precompetitive and postcompetitive football season in rural Alabama., Patients or Other Participants: Black and African American adolescent athletes (N = 93) competing for a school-sponsored football team., Main Outcome Measure(s): After a competitive season, participants completed a battery of social support, psychological stress, and mental health symptom measures using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Application and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. The T-score means, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analyses were calculated., Results: Social support was negatively correlated with psychological stress (emotional support, r = -0.386; family relationships, r = -0.412; peer relationships, r = -0.265) and mental health (depression, r = -0.367 and r = -0.323 for emotional support and family relationships, respectively), whereas psychological stress and mental health (depression, r = 0.751; anxiety, r = 0.732) were positively correlated. In regression analyses, social support measures (ie, emotional support, family relationships, and peer relationships) were used to predict psychological stress (F = 7.094, P < .001, R2 = 0.191), depression symptoms (F = 5.323, P < .001, R2 = 0.151), and anxiety symptoms (F = 1.644, P = .190, R2 = 0.052)., Conclusions: In line with the stress-buffering hypothesis, social support in the form of family relationships and overall emotional support garnered through sport participation may reduce psychological stress and help to preserve the mental health of football athletes. These findings indicate that perceived social support may act as a positive resource for the coping of Black and African American adolescent athletes. Further research is warranted to understand the effects of stress and social support on the mental health of adolescents, particularly racial and ethnic minorities who are underrepresented in the athletic training literature., (© by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Inc.)

Context: Deficits in perceptual-motor function, like visuomotor reaction time (VMRT), are risk factors for primary and secondary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Noncontact ACL injuries have been associated with slower reaction time, but whether this association exists for patients with contact ACL injuries is unknown. Exploring differences in VMRT among individuals with contact versus noncontact ACL injuries may provide a more comprehensive understanding of modifiable risk factors., Objective: To compare lower extremity VMRT (LEVMRT) in individuals with contact or noncontact ACL injuries after ACL reconstruction (ACLR)., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: Research laboratory., Patients or Other Participants: A total of 36 participants with primary, unilateral ACLR completed an LEVMRT assessment (contact ACL injury = 20 [56%], noncontact ACL injury = 16 [44%])., Main Outcome Measure(s): The LEVMRT was assessed bilaterally and collected using a series of wireless light discs deactivated by individuals with their feet. The ACLR-active LEVMRT (ie, ACLR limb is deactivating lights) and ACLR-stable LEVMRT were compared using separate analyses of covariance to determine the association with contact or noncontact injury using time since surgery as a covariate., Results: After controlling for time since surgery, a difference and large effect size between groups was found for the ACLR-stable LEVMRT (P = .010; η2 = 0.250) but not for the ACLR-active (P = .340; η2 = 0.065) condition. The contact group exhibited slower ACLR-stable LEVMRT (521.7 ± 59.3 milliseconds) than the noncontact group (483.4 ± 83.9 milliseconds)., Conclusions: Individuals with contact ACL injury demonstrated a slower LEVMRT while their ACLR limb was stabilizing. The group differences during the ACLR-stable LEVMRT task might indicate deficits in perceptual-motor function when the surgical limb maintains postural control during a reaction time task. After ACLR, individuals with contact injuries may need additional motor learning interventions to enhance perceptual-motor functioning., (© by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Inc.)