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Alpha activities of 210Po were determined in low-volume, 24-hour samples of 2 particulate matter (PM) size fractions indoors and outdoors in 3 localities in the centre of Prague during the winter periods of 2002-2003. High values of ventilation rates (0.34 0.12h 1) and penetration of outdoor aerosols into the indoor environment, which favours particles smaller than 1 m size, allows the application of a simplified equation of the indoor/outdoor (I/O) relationship. The slope of linear regression of indoors against outdoors for both mass concentrations and alpha activities as well as the I/O penetration factors Cmass, and Calpha, respectively were determined. While the Cmass ranged from 0.46 to 0.64, appropriate Calpha ranged from 0.57 to 0.95 being always greater and reflecting size selective particle penetration through the building envelope. Personal activities indoors had little effect on particle deposition indoors, which is in agreement with the finding that the majority (70%) of PM2.5 indoors is formed by PM1.0. For all 3 localities it was shown that outdoor PM concentrations determined indoor ones while probably the particle removal during infiltration through the building envelope is the most important aerosol loss mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As suggested by previous research, sleep health is assumed to be a key determinant of future morbidity and mortality. In line with this, recent studies have found that poor sleep is associated with impaired cognitive function. However, to date, little is known about brain structural abnormalities underlying this association. Although recent findings link sleep health deficits to specific alterations in grey matter volume, evidence remains inconsistent and reliant on small sample sizes. Addressing this problem, the current preregistered study investigated associations between sleep health and grey matter volume (139 imaging-derived phenotypes) in the UK Biobank cohort (33 356 participants). Drawing on a large sample size and consistent data acquisition, sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, daytime sleepiness, chronotype, sleep medication and sleep apnoea were examined. Our main analyses revealed that long sleep duration was systematically associated with larger grey matter volume of basal ganglia substructures. Insomnia symptoms, sleep medication and sleep apnoea were not associated with any of the 139 imaging-derived phenotypes. Short sleep duration, daytime sleepiness as well as late and early chronotype were associated with solitary imaging-derived phenotypes (no recognizable pattern, small effect sizes). To our knowledge, this is the largest study to test associations between sleep health and grey matter volume. Clinical implications of the association between long sleep duration and larger grey matter volume of basal ganglia are discussed. Insomnia symptoms as operationalized in the UK Biobank do not translate into grey matter volume findings., Competing Interests: The authors report no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.)

An increasing number of studies harness resting-state fMRI functional connectivity analysis to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms of insomnia. The results to date are inconsistent and the detection of minor and widely distributed alterations in functional connectivity requires large sample sizes. The present study investigated associations between insomnia symptoms and resting-state functional connectivity at the whole-brain level in the largest sample to date. This cross-sectional analysis used resting-state imaging data from the UK Biobank, a large scale, population-based biomedical database. The analysis included 29,423 participants (age: 63.1 ± 7.5 years, 54.3% female), comprising 9210 with frequent insomnia symptoms and 20,213 controls without. Linear models were adjusted for relevant clinical, imaging, and socio-demographic variables. The Akaike information criterion was used for model selection. Multiple comparisons were corrected using the false discovery rate with a significance level of q < 0.05. Frequent insomnia symptoms were associated with increased connectivity within the default mode network and frontoparietal network, increased negative connectivity between the default mode network and the frontoparietal network, and decreased connectivity between the salience network and a node of the default mode network. Furthermore, frequent insomnia symptoms were associated with altered functional connectivity between nodes comprising sensory areas and the cerebellum. These functional alterations of brain networks may underlie dysfunctional affective and cognitive processing in insomnia and contribute to subjectively and objectively impaired sleep. However, it must be noted that the item that was used to assess frequent insomnia symptoms in this study did not assess all the characteristics of clinically diagnosed insomnia., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Background: Sleep health (SH) is considered a key determinant of human physiological and psychological well-being. In line with this, previous studies have found that poor sleep is associated with various psychiatric disorders, in particular, with anxiety and depression. Although little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying these associations, recent findings suggest that essential dimensions of SH are associated with altered amygdala reactivity (AR); however, evidence to date is inconsistent and reliant on small sample sizes., Methods: To address this problem, the current preregistered study investigated associations between SH and AR to negative facial expressions in the UK Biobank cohort (25,758 participants). Drawing on a large sample size and consistent data acquisition, 5 dimensions of SH (insomnia symptoms, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, chronotype, and sleep medication) were examined., Results: Exploratory analyses revealed that short sleep duration was associated with decreased AR. The remaining SH dimensions and a composite measure of all SH dimensions were not associated with AR., Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the largest study to test associations between SH and AR. Habitual short sleep duration may be associated with decreased AR, possibly indicating compensation for impaired prefrontal processes and hampered emotion regulation., (Copyright © 2022 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Due to ongoing climate change, forests are expected to face significant disturbances more frequently than in the past. Appropriate management is intended to facilitate forest regeneration. Because European temperate forests mostly consist of trees associated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, understanding their role in these disturbances is important to develop strategies to minimize their consequences and effectively restore forests. Our aim was to determine how traditional (EXT) and nonintervention (NEX) management in originally Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) forests with an admixture of European larch ( Larix decidua ) affect ECM fungal communities and the potential to interconnect different tree species via ECM networks 15 years after a windstorm. Ten plots in NEX and 10 plots in EXT with the co-occurrences of Norway spruce, European larch, and silver birch ( Betula pendula ) were selected, and a total of 57 ECM taxa were identified using ITS sequencing from ECM root tips. In both treatments, five ECM species associated with all the studied tree species dominated, with a total abundance of approximately 50% in the examined root samples. Because there were no significant differences between treatments in the number of ECM species associated with different tree species combinations in individual plots, we concluded that the management type did not have a significant effect on networking. However, management significantly affected the compositions of ECM symbionts of Norway spruce and European larch but not those of silver birch. Although this result is explained by the occurrence of seedlings and ECM propagules that were present in the original forest, the consequences are difficult to assess without knowledge of the ecology of different ECM symbionts., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Veselá, Vašutová, Edwards-Jonášová, Holub, Fleischer and Cudlín.)

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. Therefore, early prevention of these diseases is a public health priority. Epidemiological data suggest that insomnia may be a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. A randomized controlled trial in a sample of insomnia patients without cardiovascular disease was conducted to investigate the effects of insomnia treatment on early markers of cardiovascular diseases assessed by 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability monitoring, and morning fasting blood samples. Forty-six patients with insomnia disorder were randomized to cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; n = 23) or a waitlist control condition (n = 23). Contrary to the hypothesis, intention-to-treat analyses did not show any significant treatment effects on early markers of cardiovascular disease (d = 0.0-0.6) despite successful insomnia treatment (d = 1.3). Potential methodological and conceptual reasons for these negative findings are discussed. Future studies might include larger sample sizes that are at risk of cardiovascular diseases and focus on other cardiovascular markers., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Purpose of Review: Previous research has struggled with identifying clear-cut, objective counterparts to subjective distress in insomnia. Approaching this discrepancy with a focus on hyperarousal and dysfunctional affective processes, studies examining brain structures and neural networks involved in affect and arousal are reviewed and conclusions for an updated understanding of insomnia are drawn., Recent Findings: Recent studies found that amygdala reactivity, morphometry and adaptation in insomnia are altered, indicating that processing of negative stimuli is intensified and more lasting. Also, patients with insomnia show aberrant connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) and the salience network (SN), which is associated with subjective sleep disturbances, hyperarousal, maladaptive emotion regulation and disturbed integration of emotional states. The limbic circuit is assumed to play a crucial role in enhanced recall of negative experiences. There is reason to consider insomnia as a disorder of affect and arousal. Dysregulation of the limbic circuit might perpetuate impaired connectivity in the DMN and the SN. However, the interplay between the networks is yet to be researched.

Building on Viktor Frankl's clinical approach of Logotherapy and the works of subsequent theoreticians, three types of meaning of life were theoretically derived and empirically investigated, Ultimate, Provisional, and Personal meaning. These types were characterized, first, by the amount of agreement of subjects, second, by sources of Life Meaning, which were assessed by content analyses, third, by correlations, and fourth by prediction with ratings of important life concepts from the domains of Well-being, Religiosity, and Prosocial Behavior. 192 German adults, 45 men and 147 women, whose M age was 31.6 yr. (SD = 11.9), participated. Analysis indicated different sources for the Ultimate meaning compared with the other meaning types, which seem to display more similarities with each other. Other important life concepts, such as Belief, Harmony, Happiness, and Human Goodness were related to the investigated types of meaning of life. Some implications for clinical applications, research perspectives, and Positive Psychology are discussed.