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The author discusses the risk associated with the anxiety disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), dysthymia and Alzheimer disease in the women during the transition to menopause. He mentions the effects of Estradiol on brain chemistry and mentions the long-term health effects of hypogonadism as a major health concern for women. Also mentioned is findings of a study that use the positron emission tomography for determining the menopause status and Estradiol level.

The immediate postpartum period is a time of acute vulnerability to mental illness, which presents unique challenges for the psychiatric consultant. Because the postpartum hospital stay is typically brief, the consultant must have a working knowledge of postpartum physiology and the myriad forms of mental illness that may emerge in this vulnerable time, in order to quickly make a diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan. This review aims to characterize the most common reasons for postpartum consultation, review postpartum physiology and psychiatric conditions, and propose an evidence-based, practical approach to treatment. A literature search using the terms "postpartum," "obstetric," "consultation," and "psychiatry" yielded six studies that identified reasons for psychiatric consultation to the obstetrics and gynecology services. These studies informed the structure of the article such that we review the most common reasons for consultation and how to approach each issue. The most common reason for consultation is past psychiatric history, often in the absence of current symptoms. For each clinical situation, including depression, adverse birth events, and psychosis, we present a differential diagnosis, as well as risk factors, clinical signs, and recommended treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structures of two cell wall glycopolymers were studied in the plant pathogenic bacterium Clavibacter tesselarius VKM Ac-1406T (family Microbacteriaceae, order Micrococcales, class Actinomycetes). The predominant polymer was a novel (1 → 6)-linked β- d -galactofuranan with a highly branched repeating unit, α-L-Rha p -(1 → 3)-α-D-Gal p -(1 → 2)-[α-L-Rha p -(1 → 3)]-α-D-Fuc p -(1 →, at O-2 on every second galactofuranose residue. The second polymer present in small amounts was acidic with the repeating unit, →3)-α-D-Gal p -(1 → 3)-α-D-[4,6- S -Pyr]-Man p -(1 → 3)-α-D-Man p- [2OAc] 0.2 -(1→, and was reported in all Clavibacter species investigated to date. The presented results expand our knowledges of structural diversity of phosphate-free cell wall glycopolymers and provide evidence in support of their taxonomic specificity for bacterial species and genera. [Display omitted] • A cell wall galactomannan and a novel (1. → 6)-linked galactofuranan are identified. • The galactofuranan has a side branched tetrasaccharide at O-2 on every second Gal f. • The branched tetrasaccharide consists of Fuc p , Gal p , Rha p in the ratio 1:1:2. • The galactomannan has Gal p , [4,6Pyr]-Man p , and partly acetylated Man p in the ratio 1:1:1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mechanisms by which parental early life stress can be transmitted to the next generation, in some cases in a sex-specific manner, are unclear. Maternal preconception stress may increase susceptibility to suboptimal health outcomes via in utero programming of the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Methods: We recruited healthy pregnant women (N = 147), dichotomized into low (0 or 1) and high (2+) adverse childhood experience (ACE) groups based on the ACE Questionnaire, to test the hypothesis that maternal ACE history influences fetal adrenal development in a sex-specific manner. At a mean (standard deviation) of 21.5 (1.4) and 29.5 (1.4) weeks gestation, participants underwent three-dimensional ultrasounds to measure fetal adrenal volume, adjusting for fetal body weight (waFAV). Results: At ultrasound 1, waFAV was smaller in high versus low ACE males (b = − 0.17; z = − 3.75; p <.001), but females did not differ significantly by maternal ACE group (b = 0.09; z = 1.72; p =.086). Compared to low ACE males, waFAV was smaller for low (b = − 0.20; z = − 4.10; p <.001) and high ACE females (b = − 0.11; z = 2.16; p =.031); however, high ACE males did not differ from low (b = 0.03; z =.57; p =.570) or high ACE females (b = − 0.06; z = − 1.29; p =.196). At ultrasound 2, waFAV did not differ significantly between any maternal ACE/offspring sex subgroups (ps ≥.055). Perceived stress did not differ between maternal ACE groups at baseline, ultrasound 1, or ultrasound 2 (ps ≥.148). Conclusions: We observed a significant impact of high maternal ACE history on waFAV, a proxy for fetal adrenal development, but only in males. Our observation that the waFAV in males of mothers with a high ACE history did not differ from the waFAV of females extends preclinical research demonstrating a dysmasculinizing effect of gestational stress on a range of offspring outcomes. Future studies investigating intergenerational transmission of stress should consider the influence of maternal preconception stress on offspring outcomes. Highlights: Three-dimensional ultrasound serves as a non-invasive way to measure fetal adrenal volume as a proxy for development of the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Weight-adjusted fetal adrenal volume (waFAV) differed between subgroups based on offspring sex and the mother's history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In males of mothers with a high ACE history, waFAV was significantly smaller than in males of mothers with a low ACE history but indistinguishable from the waFAV of females from either maternal ACE group; however, males of mothers with a low ACE history had larger waFAV than females from either maternal ACE group. These findings suggest male vulnerability to dysmasculinization of waFAV in response to maternal preconception stress in line with previous animal studies showing a dysmasculinizing effect of gestational stress on a range of offspring outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Reports of cognitive decline, particularly in the domains of executive functions (EFs), are common among menopausal women. Objective: This study aims to determine the impact of the psychostimulant lisdexamfetamine (LDX) on subjective and objective cognitive function among menopausal women who report new-onset EF complaints. Methods: Thirty-two healthy perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women experiencing mid-life-onset executive function difficulties as measured using the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scale (BADDS) were administered LDX 40-60 mg/day for 4 weeks in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Diagnosis of lifetime ADHD was exclusionary. BADDS total and subscale scores and performance on verbal memory and working memory tasks were outcomes of interest. Results: Analyses revealed a significant effect of LDX treatment over placebo for total BADDS scores ( p = 0.0001) and for four out of the five BADDS subscales (all p < 0.004). LDX treatment also resulted in significant improvement in delayed paragraph recall ( p = 0.018), but there was no significant effect of treatment on other cognitive measures. Systolic blood pressure ( p = 0.017) and heart rate increased significantly ( p = 0.006) when women were on LDX but remained, on average, within the normal range. Conclusions: LDX 40-60 mg/day was well tolerated and improved the subjective measures of executive function as well as objective measures of delayed verbal recall in this sample of healthy menopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The significance of multiple growth factors acting on individual neurons in the central nervous system is presently unclear. Cultured hippocampal neurons were used in the present study to compare the neurotrophic actions of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) with the better characterized growth factors, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Additionally, cultures were utilized to identify possible interactions between FGF-2 and the other growth factors. Activation of the ERK and Akt pro-survival pathways, as well as neuronal survival itself, were studied. The maximal magnitude of Akt activation stimulated by FGF-2 was found to be similar to that stimulated by IGF-1 and BDNF. In contrast, IGF-1 was less effective at inducing ERK activation than were BDNF and FGF-2. All three agents were found to promote survival of neurons cultured under serum-free, low-insulin conditions, with FGF-2 surprisingly being significantly more effective than the other two peptides. Co-treatment with maximal concentrations of either IGF-1 or BDNF enhanced FGF-2-stimulated Akt and ERK activation. However, no enhancement of survival beyond that stimulated by FGF-2 was observed with co-treatment. These findings suggest that FGF-2 may play an important role in promoting the survival of hippocampal neurons. Additionally, an interesting dissociation was identified between the positive interaction of FGF-2 with both IGF-1 and BDNF in activating Akt and ERK, and the lack of enhancement of FGF-2-induced neuroprotection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The cell wall glycopolymer structures of plant-associated strains Clavibacter sp. VKM Ac-1371, Clavibacter sp. VKM Ac-1372 and Clavibacter sp. VKM Ac-1374, members of three putative new species (family Microbacteriaceae, class Actinobacteria) were studied. Each strain was found to contain two glycopolymers, neutral and acidic ones. The main chain of neutral polymer, identical in all three strains, is (1 → 6)-linked β- d -galactofuranan with every second galactofuranose residue substituted at position 2 by side disaccharide, α- d -Man p -(1 → 2)-α- d -Rib f -(1 →. The second, acidic polymer, is pyruvate-containing galactomannan with the repeating unit, →3)-α- d -Gal p -(1 → 3)-α- d -[4,6- S -Pyr]-Man p -(1 → 3)-α- d -Man p -(1 →. Reducing mannopyranose residues of the acidic polysaccharides repeating unit from strains VKM Ac-1372 and VKM Ac-1374 bear O -acetyl residues additionally. The cell wall glycopolymer structures were established by chemical and NMR spectroscopic methods with using one- and two-dimensional techniques 1H,1H COSY, TOCSY, ROESY and 1H,13C HSQC, HMBC. The results obtained provide new data on diversity of the bacterial cell wall glycopolymers and may prove valuable for microbial taxonomy and insight into the molecular mechanisms of interactions between bacteria and plants and also of bacterial adaptation to survival in desert systems. [Display omitted] • Glycopolymers of three strains of the genus Clavibacter have been studied. • Novel galactofuranan and pyruvylated galactomannan structures are identified. • The (1. → 6)-linked galactofuranan has side disaccharide at O-2 on every second Gal f. • Pyruvylated galactomannans (Gal, Man, Pyr, 1:2:1) of two strains are acetylated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) with the H7-coil was FDA cleared for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in August 2018 based on multicenter sham-controlled studies. Here we look at the efficacy of dTMS for OCD in real world practices. All dTMS clinics were asked to supply their data on treatment details and outcome measures. The primary outcome measure was response, defined by at least a 30% reduction in the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) score from baseline to endpoint. Secondary outcome measures included first response, defined as the first time the YBOCS score has met response criteria, and at least one-month sustained response. Analyses included response rate at the endpoint (after 29 dTMS sessions), number of sessions and days required to reach first response and sustained response. Twenty-two clinical sites with H7-coils provided data on details of treatment and outcome (YBOCS) measures from a total of 219 patients. One-hundred-sixty-seven patients who had at least one post-baseline YBOCS measure were included in the main analyses. Overall first and sustained response rates were 72.6% and 52.4%, respectively. The response rate was 57.9% in patients who had YBOCS scores after 29 dTMS sessions. First response was achieved in average after 18.5 sessions (SD = 9.4) or 31.6 days (SD = 25.2). Onset of sustained one-month response was achieved in average after 20 sessions (SD = 9.8) or 32.1 days (SD = 20.5). Average YBOCS scores demonstrated continuous reduction with increasing numbers of dTMS sessions. In real-world clinical practice, the majority of OCD patients benefitted from dTMS, and the onset of improvement usually occurs within 20 sessions. Extending the treatment course beyond 29 sessions results in continued reduction of OCD symptoms, raising the prospect of value for extended treatment protocols in non-responders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are one of the greatest predictors of affective disorders for women. Periods of dynamic hormonal flux, including pregnancy, exacerbate the risk for affective disturbance and promote hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, a key feature of affective disorders. Little is understood as to how stress experienced in late childhood, defined as preadolescence, alters the programming unique to this period of brain maturation and its interaction with the hormonal changes of pregnancy and postpartum. Methods Preadolescent female mice were exposed to chronic stress and examined for changes in their HPA axis during pregnancy and postpartum, including assessment of maternal-specific stress responsiveness and transcriptomics of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Translationally, pregnant women with low or high ACEs were examined for their maternal stress responsiveness. Results As predicted, preadolescent stress in mice resulted in a significant blunting of the corticosterone response during pregnancy. Transcriptomic analysis of the paraventricular nucleus revealed widespread changes in expression of immediate early genes and their targets, supporting the likely involvement of an upstream epigenetic mechanism. Critically, in our human studies, the high ACE women showed a significant blunting of the HPA response. Conclusions This unique mouse model recapitulates a clinical outcome of a hyporesponsive HPA stress axis, an important feature of affective disorders, during a dynamic hormonal period, and suggests involvement of transcriptional regulation in the hypothalamus. These studies identify a novel mouse model of female ACEs that can be used to examine how additional life adversity may provoke disease risk or resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women with a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) enter pregnancy and the postpartum with a physiologic system programmed by early life stress, potentially reflected in psychophysiologic reactivity. We enrolled pregnant, psychiatrically healthy women ≥18 years old. Using the ACE Questionnaire, women were categorized as high (≥2 ACEs; n = 77) or low ACE (<2 ACEs; n = 72). Participants completed an affective modulation of acoustic startle response (ASR) task during pregnancy and postpartum, in which ASR magnitude was measured while participants viewed pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures. Two types of control trials were included (habituation trials presented at baseline and intertrial interval trials presented when no picture was present). Among high ACE women, ASR was significantly higher postpartum compared with pregnancy in the unpleasant (p = 0.002, β = 0.46, 95% CI [0.18, 0.74], χ 2 = 10.12, z = 3.18) and intertrial interval trials (p = 0.002, β = 0.44, 95% CI [0.16, 0.73], χ 2 = 9.25, z = 3.04), accounting for multiple comparisons using a Bonferroni correction at p < 0.005. Among low ACE women, ASR was similar in pregnancy and postpartum. Physiological reactivity increased in high ACE women from pregnancy to postpartum, but no change was observed in low ACE women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizobia are best known for nodulating legume roots and fixing atmospheric nitrogen for the host in exchange for photosynthates. However, the majority of the diverse strains of rhizobia do not form nodules on legumes, often because they lack key loci that are needed to induce nodulation. Nonnodulating rhizobia are robust heterotrophs that can persist in bulk soil, thrive in the rhizosphere, or colonize roots as endophytes, but their role in the legume-rhizobium mutualism remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of nonnodulating strains on the native Acmispon-Bradyrhizobium mutualism. To examine the effects on both host performance and symbiont fitness, we performed clonal inoculations of diverse nonnodulating Bradyrhizobium strains on Acmispon strigosus hosts and also coinoculated hosts with mixtures of sympatric nodulating and nonnodulating strains. In isolation, nonnodulating Bradyrhizobium strains did not affect plant performance. In most cases, coinoculation of nodulating and nonnodulating strains reduced host performance compared to that of hosts inoculated with only a symbiotic strain. However, coinoculation increased host performance only under one extreme experimental treatment. Nearly all estimates of nodulating strain fitness were reduced in the presence of nonnodulating strains. We discovered that nonnodulating strains were consistently capable of coinfecting legume nodules in the presence of nodulating strains but that the fitness effects of coinfection for hosts and symbionts were negligible. Our data suggest that nonnodulating strains most often attenuate the Acmispon-Bradyrhizobium mutualism and that this occurs via competitive interactions at the root-soil interface as opposed to in planta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase MMP-14 (MT1-MMP) is associated with poor prognosis in cancer patients, but it is unclear how MMP-14 becomes elevated in tumors. Here, we show that miR-181a-5p is downregulated in aggressive human breast and colon cancers where its levels correlate inversely with MMP-14 expression. In clinical specimens, enhanced expression of MMP-14 was observed in cancer cells located at the invasive front of tumors where miR-181a-5p was downregulated relative to adjacent normal cells. Bioinformatics analyses defined a potential miR-181a-5p response element within the 30-untranslated region of MMP-14 that was validated in reporter gene experiments. Ectopic miR-181a-5p reduced MMP-14 expression, whereas miR-181a-5p attenuation elevated MMP-14 expression. In support of a critical relationship between these two genes, miR-181a-5p-mediated reduction of MMP-14 levels was sufficient to decrease cancer cell migration, invasion, and activation of pro-MMP-2. Furthermore, this reduction in MMP-14 levels was sufficient to reduce in vivo invasion and angiogenesis in chick chorioallantoic membrane assays. Taken together, our results establish the regulation of MMP-14 in cancers by miR-181a-5p through a posttranscriptional mechanism, and they further suggest strategies to elevate miR-181a-5p to prevent cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable wind speeds over the ocean can have a significant impact on the formation mechanism and physical-chemical properties of sea spray aerosols (SSA), which in turn influence their climate-relevant impacts. Herein, for the first time, we investigate the effects of wind speed on size-dependent morphology and composition of individual nascent SSA generated from wind-wave interactions of natural seawater within a wind-wave channel as a function of size and their particle-to-particle variability. Filter-based thermal optical analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), AFM infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed in this regard. This study focuses on SSA with sizes within 0.04-1.8 μm generated at two wind speeds: 10 m/s, representing a wind lull scenario over the ocean, and 19 m/s, indicative of the wind speeds encountered in stormy conditions. Filter-based measurements revealed a reduction of the organic mass fraction as the wind speed increases. AFM imaging at 20% relative humidity of individual SSA identified six main morphologies: prism-like, rounded, core-shell, rod, rod inclusion core-shell, and aggregates. At 10 m/s, most SSA were rounded, while at 19 m/s, core-shells became predominant. Based on AFM-IR, rounded SSA at both wind speeds had similar composition, mainly composed of aliphatic and oxygenated species, whereas the shells of core-shells displayed more oxygenated organics at 19 m/s and more aliphatic organics at 10 m/s. Collectively, our observations can be attributed to the disruption of the sea surface microlayer film structure at higher wind speeds. The findings reveal a significant impact of wind speed on morphology and composition of SSA, which should be accounted for accurate assessment of their climate effects., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

The Chemical Assessment of Surfaces and Air (CASA) study aimed to understand how chemicals transform in the indoor environment using perturbations ( e.g. , cooking, cleaning) or additions of indoor and outdoor pollutants in a well-controlled test house. Chemical additions ranged from individual compounds ( e.g. , gaseous ammonia or ozone) to more complex mixtures ( e.g. , a wildfire smoke proxy and a commercial pesticide). Physical perturbations included varying temperature, ventilation rates, and relative humidity. The objectives for CASA included understanding (i) how outdoor air pollution impacts indoor air chemistry, (ii) how wildfire smoke transports and transforms indoors, (iii) how gases and particles interact with building surfaces, and (iv) how indoor environmental conditions impact indoor chemistry. Further, the combined measurements under unperturbed and experimental conditions enable investigation of mitigation strategies following outdoor and indoor air pollution events. A comprehensive suite of instruments measured different chemical components in the gas, particle, and surface phases throughout the study. We provide an overview of the test house, instrumentation, experimental design, and initial observations - including the role of humidity in controlling the air concentrations of many semi-volatile organic compounds, the potential for ozone to generate indoor nitrogen pentoxide (N 2 O 5 ), the differences in microbial composition between the test house and other occupied buildings, and the complexity of deposited particles and gases on different indoor surfaces.

Introduction: This qualitative research study explored the perspectives of adolescents, 12 to 19-years-old, and caregivers of children under 12-years-old on the acceptibility of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) screenings in five pediatric clinics., Method: A constructivist grounded theory approach was utilized. One-on-one semistructured phone interviews were conducted with 44 adolescents and 95 caregivers of children less than 12 years old. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis., Results: Most participants reported feeling comfortable discussing ACEs with their providers. Some reported that screening helped build trust. Others expressed privacy concerns and did not receive information about the reason for screening. Adolescent patients shared conflicting feelings-of both comfort and discomfort. Caregivers attending to multiple children, foster parents, and monolingual Spanish speakers disclosed unique challenges to ACEs screening. We found no evidence of lasting adverse effects., Discussion: Participants generally found ACEs screenings acceptable. Some adolescents identified benefits from the experience. However, clinics planning to adopt routine ACEs screening should ensure clear messaging on why screening is occurring, anticipate and address privacy concerns, and adopt workflows to discuss screening results., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Minerals play a critical role in the chemistry occurring along the interface of different environmental systems, including the atmosphere/geosphere and hydrosphere/geosphere. In the past few decades, vibrational spectroscopy has been used as a probe for studying interfacial geochemistry. Here, we compare four different vibrational methods for probing physical and chemical features across different mineral samples and length scales, from the macroscale to nanoscale. These methods include Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR), Atomic Force Microscopy-Infrared (AFM-IR) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The emergence of these micro-spectroscopic probes has offered new insights into heterogeneities within geochemical thin films and particles. These developments represent an important step forward for analyzing environmental interfaces and thin films as often these are assumed to be physically and chemically homogeneous. By comparing and integrating data across these measurement techniques, new insights into sample differences and heterogeneities can be gained. For example, interrogation of the various mineral samples at smaller length scales is shown to be particularly informative in highlighting unique chemical environments, including for chemically complex, multicomponent samples such as Arizona Test Dust (AZTD), as well as differences due to crystal orientation., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

We conducted an exploratory study to describe the emotional experience of adults aged 60 and older in the United States practicing social distancing during COVID-19. The survey asked respondents how they were feeling during social distancing. Responses (n=673) were coded into segments by affect and then specific emotional states. A large portion of respondents reported negative emotions (e.g. anxiety, loneliness). A smaller portion reported positive emotions (e.g. optimism, gratitude). Younger respondents (aged 60-70) reported more feelings of anxiousness and fear compared to older respondents (71+). Older respondents were more likely to report negative feelings towards the government. For both age groups, female respondents were significantly more likely to report feeling afraid and having negative feelings about their own health. We conclude that many older adults are vulnerable to negative emotional outcomes during the pandemic. This highlights the importance of interventions targeting vulnerable older adults.

Minerals in groundwater interact with various chemical and biological species including organic matter, proteins, and prevalent oxyanions, resulting in surface coatings and thin films of these different components. Surface interactions and the surface adsorption of these components on both oxide and oxyhydroxide iron surfaces have been widely investigated using a variety of spectroscopic methods. Despite these numerous studies, there still remains uncertainty with respect to interactions between these individual components, as well as heterogeneities and phase segregations within these thin films. In this study, we investigate mixtures containing Fe-containing minerals, proteins, and oxyanions to better understand surface interactions and phase segregation using Atomic Force Microscopy PhotoThermal Infrared (AFM-PTIR) spectroscopy. The results of this study show that AFM-PTIR spectroscopy can identify both nano- and microscale heterogeneities present within these thin films that are difficult to discern with other more conventional techniques such as ATR-FTIR spectroscopy due to phase segregation and mineral surface interactions. Overall, AFM-PTIR spectroscopy provides insights into multi-component environmental films that are difficult to uncover using other methodologies. This method has the potential to differentiate between bound and unbound toxic species as well as biological components, including environmental DNA, which can be used to assess the fate and transport of these species in the environment.

A glycopolymer of novel structure was found in the cell wall of plant pathogen Clavibacter phaseoli VKM Ac-2641 T (family Microbacteriaceae, class Actinomycetes). The glycopolymer was (1 → 6)-linked β-d-galactofuranan with side branched trisaccharide, α-D-Manp-(1 → 2)-[α-D-Manp-(1 → 3)]-α-D-Ribf-(1→ at O-2 on every second galactofuranose residue. The galactofuranan structure was established by chemical and NMR spectroscopic methods using one- and two-dimensional techniques 1 H, 1 H COSY, TOCSY, ROESY and 1 H, 13 C HSQC, HMBC. The results of this study provide new data on diversity of bacterial glycopolymers, may prove useful for bacterial taxonomy and contribute to the understanding of the host plant-microbiota interaction mechanisms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest 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., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effects of atmospheric aging on single-particle nascent sea spray aerosol (nSSA) physicochemical properties, such as morphology, composition, phase state, and water uptake, are important to understanding their impacts on the Earth's climate. The present study investigates these properties by focusing on the aged SSA (size range of 0.1-0.6 μm) and comparing with a similar size range nSSA, both generated at a peak of a phytoplankton bloom during a mesocosm study. The aged SSAs were generated by exposing nSSA to OH radicals with exposures equivalent to 4-5 days of atmospheric aging. Complementary filter-based thermal optical analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and AFM photothermal infrared spectroscopy were utilized. Both nSSA and aged SSA showed an increase in the organic mass fraction with decreasing particle sizes. In addition, aging results in a further increase of the organic mass fraction, which can be attributed to new particle formation and oxidation of volatile organic compounds followed by condensation on pre-existing particles. The results are consistent with single-particle measurements that showed a relative increase in the abundance of aged SSA core-shells with significantly higher organic coating thickness, relative to nSSA. Increased hygroscopicity was observed for aged SSA core-shells, which had more oxygenated organic species. Rounded nSSA and aged SSA had similar hygroscopicity and no apparent changes in the composition. The observed changes in aged SSA physicochemical properties showed a significant size-dependence and particle-to-particle variability. Overall, results showed that the atmospheric aging can significantly influence the nSSA physicochemical properties, thus altering the SSA effects on the climate., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

As the molecular mechanisms of biological aging become better understood, there is growing interest in identifying interventions that target those mechanisms to promote extended health and longevity. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has served as a premier model organism for identifying genetic and molecular factors that modulate cellular aging and is a powerful system in which to evaluate candidate longevity interventions. Here we screened a collection of natural products and natural product mixtures for effects on the growth rate, mTOR-mediated growth inhibition, and replicative lifespan. No mTOR inhibitory activity was detected, but several of the treatments affected growth rate and lifespan. The strongest lifespan shortening effects were observed for green tea extract and berberine. The most robust lifespan extension was detected from an extract of Pterocarpus marsupium and another mixture containing Pterocarpus marsupium extract. These findings illustrate the utility of the yeast system for longevity intervention discovery and identify Pterocarpus marsupium extract as a potentially fruitful longevity intervention for testing in higher eukaryotes., (© 2021. American Aging Association.)

Oligodendrocytes exist in a heterogenous state and are implicated in multiple neuropsychiatric diseases including dementia. Cortical oligodendrocytes are a glial population uniquely positioned to play a key role in neurodegeneration by synchronizing circuit connectivity but molecular pathways specific to this role are lacking. We utilized oligodendrocyte-specific translating ribosome affinity purification and RNA-seq (TRAP-seq) to transcriptionally profile adult mature oligodendrocytes from different regions of the central nervous system. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis reveals distinct region-specific gene networks. Two of these mature myelinating oligodendrocyte gene networks uniquely define cortical oligodendrocytes and differentially regulate cortical myelination (M8) and synaptic signaling (M4). These two cortical oligodendrocyte gene networks are enriched for genes associated with dementia including MAPT and include multiple gene targets of the regulatory microRNA, miR-142-3p. Using a combination of TRAP-qPCR, miR-142-3p overexpression in vitro, and miR-142-null mice, we show that miR-142-3p negatively regulates cortical myelination. In rTg4510 tau-overexpressing mice, cortical myelination is compromised, and tau-mediated neurodegeneration is associated with gene co-expression networks that recapitulate both the M8 and M4 cortical oligodendrocyte gene networks identified from normal cortex. We further demonstrate overlapping gene networks in mature oligodendrocytes present in normal cortex, rTg4510 and miR-142-null mice, and existing datasets from human tauopathies to provide evidence for a critical role of miR-142-3p-regulated cortical myelination and oligodendrocyte-mediated synaptic signaling in neurodegeneration., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects 10% of pregnancies. Because transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a nonmedication option, psychiatric patients who do not tolerate or prefer to avoid antidepressants are good candidates for TMS., Method: In a randomized controlled trial of twenty-two women with MDD in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, subjects were randomized to active TMS (n=11) or sham TMS (n=11). This study took place at a single academic center. Subjects received 20 sessions of TMS to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at 1 Hz as a single train of 900 pulses per session at 100% motor threshold. Estradiol and progesterone and were measured before session 1 and after session 20., Results: Results demonstrated significantly decreased Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) scores for the active compared to the sham group (p=0.003). Response rates were 81.82% for the active and 45.45% for the sham coil (p=0.088). Remission rates were 27.27% for the active 18.18% for the sham coil (p=0.613). Late preterm birth (PTB) occurred in three women receiving active TMS. All other maternal and delivery outcomes were normal., Conclusions: Right-sided, low frequency TMS was effective in reducing depressive symptoms in this sample of pregnant women. There may be a possibility that TMS is associated with late PTB although a larger sample size would be needed for adequate power to detect a true difference between groups. This study demonstrated that TMS is low risk during pregnancy although larger trials would provide more information about the efficacy and safety of TMS in this population. This trial shows that an RCT of a biologic intervention in pregnant women with psychiatric illness can be conducted., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central regulator of growth and proliferation and mTOR inhibition is a promising therapy for a variety of diseases and disorders. Inhibition of mTOR complex I (mTORC1) with rapamycin delays aging and increases healthy longevity in laboratory animals and is used clinically at high doses to prevent organ transplant rejection and to treat some forms of cancer. Clinical use of rapamycin is associated with several unwanted side effects, however, and several strategies are being taken to identify mTORC1 inhibitors with fewer side effects. We describe here a yeast-based growth assay that can be used to screen for novel inhibitors of mTORC1. By testing compounds using a wild-type strain and isogenic cells lacking either TOR1 or FPR1, we can resolve not only whether a compound is an inhibitor of mTORC1 but also whether the inhibitor acts through a mechanism similar to rapamycin by binding Fpr1. Using this assay, we show that rapamycin derivatives behave similarly to rapamycin, while caffeine and the ATP competitive inhibitors Torin 1 and GSK2126458 are mTORC1 inhibitors in yeast that act independently of Fpr1. Some mTOR inhibitors in mammalian cells do not inhibit mTORC1 in yeast, and several nutraceutical compounds were not found to specifically inhibit mTOR but resulted in a general inhibition of yeast growth. Our screening method holds promise as a means of effectively assaying drug libraries for mTOR-inhibitory molecules in vivo that may be adapted as novel treatments to fight diseases and extend healthy longevity.

Background: The perinatal period is a time of high risk for onset of depressive disorders and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, including maternal suicide. Perinatal depression comprises a heterogeneous group of clinical subtypes, and further refinement is needed to improve treatment outcomes. We sought to empirically identify and describe clinically relevant phenotypic subtypes of perinatal depression, and further characterise subtypes by time of symptom onset within pregnancy and three post-partum periods., Methods: Data were assembled from a subset of seven of 19 international sites in the Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment (PACT) Consortium. In this analysis, the cohort was restricted to women aged 19-40 years with information about onset of depressive symptoms in the perinatal period and complete prospective data for the ten-item Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). Principal components and common factor analysis were used to identify symptom dimensions in the EPDS. The National Institute of Mental Health research domain criteria functional constructs of negative valence and arousal were applied to the EPDS dimensions that reflect states of depressed mood, anhedonia, and anxiety. We used k-means clustering to identify subtypes of women sharing symptom patterns. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe the subtypes., Findings: Data for 663 women were included in these analyses. We found evidence for three underlying dimensions measured by the EPDS: depressed mood, anxiety, and anhedonia. On the basis of these dimensions, we identified five distinct subtypes of perinatal depression: severe anxious depression, moderate anxious depression, anxious anhedonia, pure anhedonia, and resolved depression. These subtypes have clear differences in symptom quality and time of onset. Anxiety and anhedonia emerged as prominent symptom dimensions with post-partum onset and were notably severe., Interpretation: Our findings show that there might be different types and severity of perinatal depression with varying time of onset throughout pregnancy and post partum. These findings support the need for tailored treatments that improve outcomes for women with perinatal depression., Funding: Janssen Research & Development., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Health care emergency preparedness has undergone significant changes since the first widespread distribution of federal funds occurred in 2002. Prior to the development of the Health Resources and Service Administration Bioterrorism Preparedness grant, support to hospitals and public health was limited to smaller regional preparedness programs such as the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program. Measurable progress with both the hospital preparedness program and public health emergency preparedness requires development of partnerships, establishment of coalitions, development of measurable objectives, and a community willingness to work together to solve complex preparedness problems., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Patients transferred between hospitals are at high risk of adverse events and mortality. This study aims to identify which components of the transfer handoff process are important predictors of adverse events and mortality., Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study of 335 consecutive patient transfers to 3 intensive care units at an academic tertiary referral center. We assessed the relationship between handoff documentation completeness and patient outcomes. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included adverse events, duplication of labor, disposition error, and length of stay., Results: Transfer documentation was frequently absent with overall completeness of 58.3%. Adverse events occurred in 42% of patients within 24 hours of arrival, with an overall in-hospital mortality of 17.3%. Higher documentation completeness was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.38; P = .002), reduced adverse events (coefficient, -2.08; 95% CI, -2.76 to -1.390; P < .001), and reduced duplication of labor (OR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.88; P = .033) when controlling for severity of illness., Conclusions: Documentation completeness is associated with improved outcomes and resource utilization in patients transferred between hospitals., Competing Interests: No conflict of interests for any author., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Depression and anxiety during pregnancy are common, and patients and providers are faced with complex decisions regarding various treatment modalities. A structured discussion of the risks and benefits of options with the patient and her support team is recommended to facilitate the decision-making process. This clinically focused review, with emphasis on the last 3 years of published study data, evaluates the major risk categories of medication treatments, namely pregnancy loss, physical malformations, growth impairment, behavioral teratogenicity, and neonatal toxicity. Nonpharmacological treatment options, including neuromodulation and psychotherapy, are also briefly reviewed. Specific recommendations, drawn from the literature and the authors' clinical experience, are also offered to help guide the clinician in decision-making.

As serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) use may decrease platelet function, previous research has shown a relationship between SRI use and an increased risk for bruising and bleeding. The literature regarding the association between SRI use during pregnancy and increased bleeding at delivery, referred to as postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), is mixed. In secondary analyses from two prospective observational studies of pregnant women with mood disorders, 263 women were exposed to an SRI (n = 51) or not (n = 212) in the third trimester. To be precise, we used the terminology estimated blood loss (EBL) >600 cc rather than the term PPH because the current definition of PPH differs. The occurrence of EBL >600 cc was determined using the Peripartum Events Scale (PES) completed from obstetrical records by a blinded medically trained member of the study team. EBL >600 cc occurred in 8.7% of women in this cohort. There was no statistically significant difference in the rates of EBL >600 cc in the 24 h after delivery in women taking SRIs during the third trimester (9.8%) compared to non-exposed women (8.5%). Utilizing generalizing estimating equations, the odds of EBL >600 cc in each group were not significantly different (OR 1.17, CI-0.41-3.32, p = 0.77). When the SRI group was limited to women with exposure at the time of delivery, the difference in the odds of EBL >600 cc was unchanged (OR 1.16, CI = 0.37-3.64, p = 0.79). In population, both third trimester and use at delivery of SRIs during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of excessive blood loss., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We evaluated safety, antiviral, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of aprepitant - a neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist., Design: Phase IB randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study., Methods: Eighteen patients were randomized (nine to aprepitant and nine to placebo). The patients received once-daily treatment (375 mg aprepitant or placebo by oral administration) for 2 weeks and were followed off drug for 4 weeks., Results: There were no significant changes in the plasma viremia or CD4(+) T cells during the dosing period. Aprepitant treatment was associated with significant decreases of median within patient change in percentages of CD4(+) T cells expressing programmed death 1 (-4.8%; P = 0.04), plasma substance P (-34.0 pg/ml; P = 0.05) and soluble CD163 (-563 ng/ml; P = 0.02), with no significant changes in the placebo arm. Mean peak aprepitant plasma concentration on day 14 was 7.6 ± 3.1 μg/ml. The use of aprepitant was associated with moderate increases in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein (median change = +31 mg/dl, P = 0.01; +26 mg/dl, P = 0.02; +3 mg/dl, P = 0.02, respectively)., Conclusion: Aprepitant was safe and well tolerated. At the dose used in this proof-of-concept phase IB study, aprepitant did not show a significant antiviral activity. Aprepitant-treated patients had decreased numbers of CD4(+) programmed death 1-positive cells and decreased plasma levels of substance P and soluble CD163, suggesting that blockade of the neurokinin 1 receptor pathway has a role in modulating monocyte activation in HIV infection. Prospective studies in virologically-suppressed individuals are warranted to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of aprepitant. Exposures exceeding those attained in this trial are more likely to elicit clinical benefit.

The British epidemiologist Dr. David J. Barker documented the relationship between infant birth weight and later onset of hypertension, coronary heart disease, insulin resistance, and type II diabetes. A stressful in utero environment can cause long-term consequences for offspring through prenatal programming. Prenatal programming most commonly occurs through epigenetic mechanisms and can be dependent on the type and timing of exposure as well as the sex of the fetus. In this review, we highlight the most recent evidence that prenatal programming is implicated in the development of psychiatric disorders in offspring exposed to maternal stress during pregnancy. Methodological differences between studies contribute to unavoidable heterogeneity in study findings. Current data suggest that fetal exposure to maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, excessive glucocorticoids, and inflammation with resulting epigenetic changes at both the placental and fetal levels are important areas of continued investigation.

In this study, we evaluated the association between prenatal depression symptoms adverse birth outcomes in African-American women. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 261 pregnant African-American women who were screened with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at their initial prenatal visit. Medical records were reviewed to assess pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, specifically preeclampsia, preterm birth, intrauterine growth retardation, and low birth weight. Using multivariable logistic regression models, an EPDS score ≥10 was associated with increased risk for preeclampsia, preterm birth, and low birth weight. An EPDS score ≥10 was associated with increased risk for intrauterine growth retardation, but after controlling for behavioral risk factors, this association was no longer significant. Patients who screen positive for depression symptoms during pregnancy are at increased risk for multiple adverse birth outcomes. In a positive, patient-rated depression screening at the initial obstetrics visit, depression is associated with increased risk for multiple adverse birth outcomes. Given the retrospective study design and small sample size, these findings should be confirmed in a prospective cohort study.