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The energy consumption of hydrogen liquefaction is often quantified as being approximately 40 % of hydrogen's lower heating value (LHV), making hydrogen liquefaction energy-intensive. Boundary conditions for energy consumption values in the literature are, however, often unclear, rendering these values questionable. Two methods can nevertheless significantly decrease energy consumption: (1) implementing improved liquefiers; and (2) utilising liquid hydrogen exergy – the reversible liquefaction work – stored in the liquid. Liquid hydrogen exergy equals 11.5 % LHV. And in comparison: per energy content, liquid hydrogen exergy is 5.5 times liquefied natural gas exergy. To estimate the energy savings potential of combining liquefier improvements and exergy utilisation, the exergy efficiency of improved liquefiers is calculated (44 %) and used as a quality measure. The same efficiency is assumed for exergy utilisation processes. The net energy consumption for the liquefaction - regasification chain is thereby reduced to 13-26 % LHV, depending on boundary conditions. • The H 2 liquefaction-regasification chain is evaluated by exergy analyses. • LH 2 exergy is 11.5 % of H 2 's lower heating value (LHV H 2 ), LNG exergy is 2.1 % of LHV CH 4 . • Improved H 2 liquefiers achieve 44 % exergy efficiency. • LH 2 exergy recovery during regasification estimated with liquefier exergy efficiency. • Energy consumption of H 2 liquefaction-regasification chain reducible to 13-26 % LHV H 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circadian rhythms are associated with bipolar disorder (BD). This cross-sectional study aimed at investigating ARNTL and MAOA gene expression differences (1) between individuals with BD and controls, (2) between affective episodes, and (3) the relationship between ARNTL and MAOA expression. ARNTL and MAOA gene expression in peripheral mononuclear blood cells were analysed from fasting blood samples (BD n = 81, controls n = 54) with quantitative real-time PCR operating on TaqMan® assays (normalised to 18S RNA expression). ANCOVAs corrected for age, sex, body mass index, and medication was used to evaluate expression differences and correlation analyses for the relation between ARNTL and MAOA expression. ARNTL gene expression differed between affective episodes (F(2,78) = 3.198, p = 0.047, Partial Eta2= 0.083), but not between BD and controls (n.s.). ARNTL and MAOA expression correlated positively in BD (r = 0.704, p < 0.001) and in controls (r = 0.932, p < 0.001). MAOA expression differed neither between BD and controls nor between affective episodes (n.s.). Clock gene expression changes were observed in different affective states of BD. More precisely, ARNTL gene expression was significantly higher in euthymia than in depression. ARNTL and MAOA gene expression correlated significantly in BD and in controls, which emphasises the strong concatenation between circadian rhythms and neurotransmitter breakdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a heritable mental illness with complex etiology. While the largest published genome-wide association study identified 64 BD risk loci, the causal SNPs and genes within these loci remain unknown. We applied a suite of statistical and functional fine-mapping methods to these loci, and prioritized 17 likely causal SNPs for BD. We mapped these SNPs to genes, and investigated their likely functional consequences by integrating variant annotations, brain cell-type epigenomic annotations, brain quantitative trait loci, and results from rare variant exome sequencing in BD. Convergent lines of evidence supported the roles of genes involved in neurotransmission and neurodevelopment including SCN2A, TRANK1, DCLK3, INSYN2B, SYNE1, THSD7A, CACNA1B, TUBBP5, PLCB3, PRDX5, KCNK4, CRTC3, AP001453.3, TRPT1, FKBP2, DNAJC4, RASGRP1, FURIN, FES, DPH1, GSDMB, MED24 and THRA in BD. These represent promising candidates for functional experiments to understand biological mechanisms and therapeutic potential. Additionally, we demonstrated that fine-mapping effect sizes can improve performance of BD polygenic risk scores across diverse populations, and present a high-throughput fine-mapping pipeline (https://github.com/mkoromina/SAFFARI)., Competing Interests: Competing interests OAA has served as a speaker for Janssen, Lundbeck, and Sunovion and as a consultant for Cortechs.ai. SKS has served as speaker for Janssen, Takeda and Medice Arzneimittel Puetter GmbH & CoKG. EV has received grants and served as consultant, advisor or CME speaker for the following entities (unrelated to the present work): AB-Biotics, Abbott, Abbvie, Adamed, Angelini, Biogen, Biohaven, Boehringer Ingelheim, Casen-Recordati, Celon, Compass, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Ethypharm, Ferrer, Gedeon Richter, GH Research, Glaxo Smith-Kline, Idorsia, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Lundbeck, Newron, Novartis, Organon, Otsuka, Rovi, Sage, Sanofi-Aventis, Sunovion, Takeda, and Viatris. PBM has received remuneration from Janssen (Australia) and Sanofi (Hangzhou) for lectures, and Janssen (Australia) for advisory board membership. MOD and MJO have received grants from Akrivia Health and Takeda Pharmaceuticals for work unrelated to this project.

Theory of mind (ToM) deficits, difficulties in recognizing the intentions, propensities, and beliefs of others have been shown in individuals with bipolar disorder in several studies; however, it is not yet elucidated how ToM abilities changes over the course of bipolar disorder and is related to illness symptoms. This is one of the first longitudinal studies to compare the ToM abilities of euthymic bipolar individuals and healthy controls over a four and a half years period. ToM abilities were measured using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). A total of 91 euthymic bipolar individuals and 91 healthy controls were included in the analyses. Linear mixed models were used to compare ToM abilities of bipolar individuals and healthy controls. It was found that bipolar individuals scored lower on average on the RMET than healthy controls and that these RMET scores were stable over four and a half years. The results of this study suggest that ToM deficits are a stable (possibly endophenotypic) trait of bipolar disorder. This understanding can contribute to better identification, assessment, and treatment strategies for individuals with bipolar disorder, ultimately improving their overall care and outcome., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Alongside affective episodes, cognitive dysfunction is a core symptom of bipolar disorder. The intracellular parasite T. gondii has been positively associated with both, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and poorer cognitive performance, across diagnostic boundaries. This study aims to investigate the association between T. gondii seropositivity, serointensity, and cognitive function in an euthymic sample of bipolar disorder., Methods: A total of 76 participants with bipolar disorder in remission were tested for T. gondii-specific IgG and IgM antibodies and for cognitive performance using neuropsychological test battery. Cognitive parameters were categorized into three cognitive domains (attention and processing speed, verbal memory, and executive function). Statistical analysis of associations between continuous indicators of cognitive function as dependent variables in relationship to T. gondii, included multivariate analyses of co-variance for seropositivity, and partial correlations with IgG serointensity in IgG seropositives. All analyses were controlled for age and premorbid IQ., Results: In seropositives (n = 27), verbal memory showed significant inverse partial correlations with IgG antibody levels (short delay free recall (r=-0.539, p = 0.005), long delay free recall (r=-0.423, p = 0.035), and immediate recall sum trial 1-5 (r=-0.399, p = 0.048)). Cognitive function did not differ between IgG seropositive and seronegative individuals in any of the cognitive domains (F (3,70) = 0.327, p = 0.806, n = 76). IgM positives (n = 7) were too few to be analyzed., Conclusions: This investigation is the first to show an association between T. gondii IgG serointensity and memory function in a well-diagnosed bipolar disorder sample. It adds to the existing literature on associations between latent T. gondii infection and cognition in bipolar disorder, while further research is needed to confirm and expand our findings, eliminate potential sources of bias, and establish cause-effect relationships., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Research on depression showed that dysregulations in tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN), and its KYN pathway metabolites are key aspects in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. In our previous reports, we described sex-specific changes in TRP breakdown as well as changes in KYN and KYN/TRP in association with treatment response and inflammatory and metabolic parameters. However, results of treatment effects on KYN pathway metabolites as well as how pathway changes are related to treatment response remain sparse., Objective: We investigated potential changes of KYN and KYN pathway metabolites in association with therapeutic response of individuals with depression during a six-week multimodal psychiatric rehabilitation program., Methods: 87 participants were divided into treatment responders and non-responders (48 responders, 39 non-responders; 38 male, 49 female; M age = 51.09; SD age = 7.70) using scores of psychological questionnaires. KYN pathway metabolites serum concentrations as well as their ratios were collected using high performance liquid chromatography. Changes over time (time of admission (t1) vs. time of discharge (t2)) were calculated using repeated measure analyses of (co)variance., Results: Non-responders exhibited higher levels of 3-Hydroxyanthralinic acid (3-HAA), nicotinic acid (NA), and 3-HAA/KYN, independently of measurement time. NA levels decreased, while 3-HAA levels increased over time in both groups, independently of treatment response. 3-HK/KYN levels decreased, while KYN levels increased in non-responders, but not in responders over time., Discussion: The results indicate that some compounds of the KYN pathway metabolites can be altered through multimodal long-term interventions in association with treatment response. Especially the pathway degrading KYN further down to 3-HAA and 3-HK/KYN might be decisive for treatment response in depression., 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 © 2024 Reininghaus, Lenger, Schönthaler, Fellendorf, Stross, Schwarz, Moll, Reininghaus and Dalkner.)

Introduction: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a systemic inflammatory marker, which indicates systemic inflammatory processes It is involved in different inflammatory processes of the body and is a reliable marker for the general inflammatory state of the body. High sensitive CRP seems to play a key role as a state and trait marker of bipolar disorder (BD). In the current study, we tried to determine the long-term effect of CRP levels on clinical symptoms and illness course of bipolar disorder., Methods: For the current study, we examined 106 patients with BD for a period of four years. Participants underwent a clinical screening for depressive and manic episodes with the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and the Young Mania Rating Score (YMRS) and a serological diagnostic for inflammatory parameters every six months, thus leading to 8 measurement times in total. Patients with the presence of severe medical or neurological comorbidities such as active cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease or multiple sclerosis and acute infections were not included in the study., Results: In our sample, 26% showed a mean hsCRP above 5 mg/dl. Those patients showed a significantly higher mean YMRS score than those with a mean hsCRP under 5 mg/dl during our observation period. Regarding HAMD there was no significant difference in hsCRP values. The existence of lithium treatment showed no significant influence on mean hsCRP levels between the start and endpoint., Conclusion: Individuals who were exposed to a higher level of inflammation over time suffered from more manic symptoms in this period. These findings underline the hypothesis that inflammatory processes have an accumulative influence on the illness course of BD, especially concerning manic symptoms and episodes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors disclose that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, the work of this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Owing to the heterogenic picture of bipolar disorder, it takes approximately 8.8 years to reach a correct diagnosis. Early recognition and early intervention might not only increase quality of life, but also increase life expectancy as a whole in individuals with bipolar disorder. Therefore, we hypothesize that implementing machine learning techniques can be used to support the diagnostic process of bipolar disorder and minimize misdiagnosis rates., Materials and Methods: To test this hypothesis, a de-identified data set of only demographic information and the results of cognitive tests of 196 patients with bipolar disorder and 145 healthy controls was used to train and compare five different machine learning algorithms., Results: The best performing algorithm was logistic regression, with a macro-average F1-score of 0.69 [95% CI 0.66-0.73]. After further optimization, a model with an improved macro-average F1-score of 0.75, a micro-average F1-score of 0.77, and an AUROC of 0.84 was built. Furthermore, the individual amount of contribution per variable on the classification was assessed, which revealed that body mass index, results of the Stroop test, and the d2-R test alone allow for a classification of bipolar disorder with equal performance., Conclusion: Using these data for clinical application results in an acceptable performance, but has not yet reached a state where it can sufficiently augment a diagnosis made by an experienced clinician. Therefore, further research should focus on identifying variables with the highest amount of contribution to a model's classification., (© 2024 The Authors. Bipolar Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Impaired decision-making is often displayed by individuals suffering from gambling disorder (GD). Since there are a variety of different phenomena influencing decision-making, we focused in this study on the effects of GD on neural and behavioural processes related to loss aversion and choice difficulty. Behavioural responses as well as brain images of 23 patients with GD and 20 controls were recorded while they completed a mixed gambles task, where they had to decide to either accept or reject gambles with different amounts of potential gain and loss. We found no behavioural loss aversion in either group and no group differences regarding loss and gain-related choice behaviour, but there was a weaker relation between choice difficulty and decision time in patients with GD. Similarly, we observed no group differences in processing of losses or gains, but choice difficulty was weaker associated with brain activity in the right anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex in patients with GD. Our results showed for the first time the effects of GD on neural processes related to choice difficulty. In addition, our findings on choice difficulty give new insights on the psychopathology of GD and on neural processes related to impaired decision-making in GD., (© 2024 The Authors. Addiction Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Spatial, momentum and energy separation of electronic spins in condensed-matter systems guides the development of new devices in which spin-polarized current is generated and manipulated 1-3 . Recent attention on a set of previously overlooked symmetry operations in magnetic materials 4 leads to the emergence of a new type of spin splitting, enabling giant and momentum-dependent spin polarization of energy bands on selected antiferromagnets 5-10 . Despite the ever-growing theoretical predictions, the direct spectroscopic proof of such spin splitting is still lacking. Here we provide solid spectroscopic and computational evidence for the existence of such materials. In the noncoplanar antiferromagnet manganese ditelluride (MnTe 2 ), the in-plane components of spin are found to be antisymmetric about the high-symmetry planes of the Brillouin zone, comprising a plaid-like spin texture in the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state. Such an unconventional spin pattern, further found to diminish at the high-temperature paramagnetic state, originates from the intrinsic AFM order instead of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Our finding demonstrates a new type of quadratic spin texture induced by time-reversal breaking, placing AFM spintronics on a firm basis and paving the way for studying exotic quantum phenomena in related materials., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Introduction: An increasing body of evidence suggests a strong relationship between gut health and mental state. Lately, a connection between butyrate-producing bacteria and sleep quality has been discussed. The PROVIT study, as a randomized, double-blind, 4-week, multispecies probiotic intervention study, aims at elucidating the potential interconnection between the gut's metabolome and the molecular clock in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD)., Methods: The aim of the PROVIT-CLOCK study was to analyze changes in core clock gene expression during treatment with probiotic intervention versus placebo in fasting blood and the connection with the serum- and stool-metabolome in patients with MDD (n = 53). In addition to clinical assessments in the PROVIT study, metabolomics analyses with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (stool and serum) and gene expression (RT-qPCR) analysis of the core clock genes ARNTL, PER3, CLOCK, TIMELESS, NR1D1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of fasting blood were performed., Results: The gene expression levels of the clock gene CLOCK were significantly altered only in individuals receiving probiotic add-on treatment. TIMELESS and ARNTL gene expression changed significantly over the 4-week intervention period in both groups. Various positive and negative correlations between metabolites in serum/stool and core clock gene expression levels were observed., Conclusion: Changing the gut microbiome by probiotic treatment potentially influences CLOCK gene expression. The preliminary results of the PROVIT-CLOCK study indicate a possible interconnection between the gut microbiome and circadian rhythm potentially orchestrated by metabolites., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Vitamin D status may impact acute affective symptomatology and the severity of symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore, this cross-sectional study analyzed 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH) 2 D, and the vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) in BD and correlated the results with clinical affective symptomatology and functionality. The inactive precursor 25(OH)D, and its principal catabolite 24,25(OH) 2 D, were measured simultaneously with a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method in 170 BD outpatients and 138 healthy controls. VMR was calculated as follows: VMR = 100×(24,25(OH) 2 D/25(OH)D). The psychometric assessment comprised: Beck Depression Inventory-II, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning, and number of suicide attempts. We did not find a significant difference between patients and controls in the concentrations of 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH) 2 D. Additionally, the VMR was comparable in both groups. The calculations for the clinical parameters showed a negative correlation between the Young Mania Rating Scale and 24,25(OH) 2 D ( r = -0.154, p = 0.040), as well as the Young Mania Rating Scale and the VMR ( r = -0.238, p = 0.015). Based on the small effect size and the predominantly euthymic sample, further exploration in individuals with manic symptoms would be needed to confirm this association. In addition, long-term clinical markers and an assessment in different phases of the disease may provide additional insights.

Recent evidence on the association between vitamin D and cognition in mentally healthy individuals is inconsistent. Furthermore, the link between vitamin D and cognitive ability in individuals with bipolar disorder has not been studied yet. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), 24,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D, the vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) and cognition in a cohort of euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Vitamin D metabolites were measured simultaneously by liquid-chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry in serum samples from 86 outpatients with bipolar disorder and 93 healthy controls. Neither the inactive precursor 25(OH)D, nor the primary vitamin D catabolite 24,25(OH)2D, or the vitamin D metabolite ratio were significantly associated with the domains "attention", "memory", or "executive function" in individuals with bipolar disorder and healthy controls. Further, no vitamin D deficiency effect or interaction group × vitamin D deficiency was found in the cognitive domain scores. In summary, the present study does not support vitamin D metabolism as a modulating factor of cognitive function in euthymic BD patients. Considering the current study's cross-sectional design, future research should expand these results in a longitudinal setting and include additional aspects of mental health, such as manic or depressive symptoms, long-term illness course and psychopharmacological treatment.

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces in the medical field experienced changes. Non-frontline workers in the health sector (WHS) were in many cases allowed to work from home (WFH). Changes in work locations have affected the perception of productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic perception. Studies regarding this research field are rare for WHS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the perception of productivity and its impact on symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second objective was to assess the implications for post-pandemic work settings such as WFH or work scenarios in hospitals during pandemics., Methods: At three points in time during the COVID-19 pandemic (t1; n = 161: April 2020, t2; n = 1598 winter 2020/2021, t3; n = 1879 winter 2021/2022), an online survey of WHS (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, scientific staff) in Austria concerning their productivity in their current workplace (pre- and post-pandemic) was conducted. The online survey included questions about the perceptions of productivity changes (i.e., perceptions of lower, equal, and higher productivity, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic) in different work settings (e.g., working in a hospital or working from home), as well as standardized questionnaires like the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), assessing symptoms of depression in WHS., Results: χ 2 tests showed that WHS working in hospitals experienced significantly fewer fluctuations in their perceptions of productivity than WHS working from home. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that WHS with a lower perception of productivity tended to have higher self-assessed depressive symptoms., Conclusion: The possibility of remaining working in the hospital in stressful scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic might stabilize the feeling of productivity. Moreover, productivity is associated with self-assessed depressive symptoms. Hence, looking into the reasons behind this discrepancy between WHS in hospitals and those working from home might help to improve the home office modality and to create better structures, which are related to symptoms of depression.

Humans tend to automatically imitate others and their actions while also being able to control such imitative tendencies. Interference control, necessary to suppress own imitative tendencies, develops rapidly in childhood and adolescence, plateaus in adulthood and slowly declines with advancing age. It remains to be shown though which neural processes underpin these differences across the lifespan. In a cross-sectional functional magnetic resonance imaging study with three age groups (adolescents (ADs) 14-17 years, young adults (YAs) 21-31, older adults (OAs) 56-76, N = 91 healthy female participants), we investigated the behavioral and neural correlates of interference control in the context of automatic imitation using the finger-lifting task. ADs showed the most efficient interference control, while no significant differences emerged between YAs and OAs, despite OAs showing longer reaction times. On the neural level, all age groups showed engagement of the right temporoparietal junction, right supramarginal gyrus and bilateral insula, aligning well with studies previously using this task. However, our analyses did not reveal any age-related differences in brain activation, neither in these nor in other areas. This suggests that ADs might have a more efficient use of the engaged brain networks and, on the other hand, OAs' capacity for interference control and the associated brain functions might be largely preserved., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Background: Sunlight contains ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation that triggers the production of vitamin D by skin. Vitamin D has widespread effects on brain function in both developing and adult brains. However, many people live at latitudes (about > 40 N or S) that do not receive enough UVB in winter to produce vitamin D. This exploratory study investigated the association between the age of onset of bipolar I disorder and the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production in a large global sample., Methods: Data for 6972 patients with bipolar I disorder were obtained at 75 collection sites in 41 countries in both hemispheres. The best model to assess the relation between the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production and age of onset included 1 or more months below the threshold, family history of mood disorders, and birth cohort. All coefficients estimated at P ≤ 0.001., Results: The 6972 patients had an onset in 582 locations in 70 countries, with a mean age of onset of 25.6 years. Of the onset locations, 34.0% had at least 1 month below the threshold for UVB sufficient for vitamin D production. The age of onset at locations with 1 or more months of less than or equal to the threshold for UVB was 1.66 years younger., Conclusion: UVB and vitamin D may have an important influence on the development of bipolar disorder. Study limitations included a lack of data on patient vitamin D levels, lifestyles, or supplement use. More study of the impacts of UVB and vitamin D in bipolar disorder is needed to evaluate this supposition., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is related to depression and contributes to reduced life expectancy in individuals with mental disorders. Stress coping strategies are important factors in the development and maintenance of depressive disorders and have been related to metabolic disturbances. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the use of positive (re- and devaluation, distraction, and control) and negative stress coping strategies in relation to patients' MetS. A sample of 363 individuals ( n female = 204, n male = 159) with a diagnosis of depression was measured with the Stress Coping Style Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. In addition, we collected data on MetS (waist circumference, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, fasting glucose/diabetes, blood pressure/hypertonia) according to the International Diabetes Federation. A 2 × 2 design including Mets (with vs. without) and sex (female vs. male) was performed to test for differences in stress coping strategies. Individuals with depression and MetS scored higher on distraction strategies than depressed individuals without MetS ( p < 0.01, corrected with false discovery rate). In addition, we found sex differences in stress coping strategies indicating that women with depression scored higher on distraction strategies ( p < 0.001, FDR corrected), as well as negative strategies ( p < 0.001, FDR corrected), than men. No significant interaction between MetS and sex was found regarding the higher value of stress coping strategies. Findings suggest that individuals with depression and MetS used distraction strategies to a higher amount to cope with stress, which could be stress eating in some cases, than those without MetS. Women with depressive disorders had higher values than men on other coping strategies in our sample of individuals with depression. A better understanding of MetS and sex-specific differences in stress coping strategies might help to plan more effective preventive strategies and personalized treatment options for depression.

The connection between cognitive function and the "Big Five" personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) in the general population is well known; however, studies researching bipolar disorder (BD) are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the Big Five as predictors of executive function, verbal memory, attention, and processing speed in euthymic individuals with BD (cross-sectional: n = 129, including time point t1; longitudinal: n = 35, including t1 and t2). Participants completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, the Color and Word Interference Test, the Trail Making Test, the d2 Test of Attention Revised, and the California Verbal Learning Test. The results showed a significant negative correlation between executive function and neuroticism at t1. Changes in cognitive function between t1 and t2 did not correlate with and could not be predicted by the Big Five at t1. Additionally, worse executive function at t2 was predicted by higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness at t1, and high neuroticism was a predictor of worse verbal memory at t2. The Big Five might not strongly impact cognitive function over short periods; however, they are significant predictors of cognitive function. Future studies should include a higher number of participants and more time in between points of measurement.

The global spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created new challenges for the entire healthcare system, and those who work directly with the patients or even on the front lines with COVID-19 patients have been particularly stressed. Only a few studies are currently available investigating psychosomatic symptoms among healthcare workers, particularly frontline workers, over the entire pandemic period (2020-2022). There is also a lack of knowledge about strategies to prevent stress during and after a health crisis., Methods: An online survey was conducted at three times (April 2020, winter 2020/2021, and winter 2021/2022) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. The sample included 160 healthcare workers at screening time 1, 1.361 healthcare workers at screening time 2, and 1.134 healthcare workers at screening time 3. The survey included COVID-19 work-related fears, satisfaction with the frontline work, and standardized inventories to assess psychosomatic symptoms, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D)., Results: Psychosomatic symptoms were more common among women compared to men, and among frontline workers compared to non-frontline workers, especially during the course of the pandemic at t2 and t3. Self-reported scores of COVID-19 work-related fears were significantly associated with psychosomatic symptoms. Furthermore, in frontline workers, there was a significant association between the feeling of being safe and well-informed and psychosomatic symptoms., Conclusion: COVID-19 work-related fears and psychosomatic symptoms have been prevalent among healthcare workers throughout the pandemic. Feeling safe and informed appears to be essential to prevent psychosomatic symptoms, leading to a recommendation for employers in the healthcare sector to focus on communication and information. As frontline workers are especially prone to psychosomatic symptoms, more stress prevention programs for them will be essential to maintain productivity and reduce sick days and fluctuations in the healthcare system.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic with its protective measures (e. g. lockdown) had far-reaching effects on everyone's well-being. The aim of this study was to examine lifestyle variables during the first Austrian lockdown in patients with bipolar disorder in comparison to a healthy control group and to assess subjective changes caused by the pandemic., Method: At the beginning of April 2020, an online survey of n=75 participants (35 people with bipolar disorder and 40 healthy controls) with standardized questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory-2, Food Craving Inventory, Altman Self Rating Mania Scale) as well as non-standardized COVID-19-specific questions on the subject of "Psychological stress and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in bipolar disorder" was created and distributed via LimeSurvey., Results: Both groups reported a negative impact on their mental health. The participants with bipolar disorder showed significantly higher values in the Beck Depression Inventory-2 score (p<0,001), in emotional distress due to social distancing (p=0,003) and significantly lower values in muscle-strengthening exercise (p=0,039) and in sport units (p=0,003) compared to the control group. In addition, patients with bipolar disorder smoked more often than individuals of the control group. People with bipolar disorder were 42,9% more likely to report they were less efficient during the pandemic, and 22,9% experienced weight gain compared to before the pandemic. The control group, on the other hand, was less efficient at 17,5% and 5,0% reported weight gain. However, a comparison with pre-pandemic data showed a decrease in food craving in both groups., Conclusion: This study provided first evidence of self-reported adverse effects on mental stress and lifestyle in people with bipolar disorder at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatric care and early interventions for patients with bipolar disorder would be particularly important in times of crisis in order to help maintain a healthy lifestyle and thus counteract unfavourable developments., Competing Interests: Alle Autorinnen/Autoren dieser Studie erklären keinen Interessenkonflikt., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent across most major psychiatric disorders. Alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neuroimmune mechanisms, and circadian rhythm disturbances partially explain this connection. The gut microbiome is also suspected to play a role in sleep regulation, and recent studies suggest that certain probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and fecal microbiome transplantation can improve sleep quality., Methods: We aimed to assess the relationship between gut-microbiota composition, psychiatric disorders, and sleep quality in this cross-sectional, cross-disorder study. We recruited 103 participants, 63 patients with psychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder [n = 31], bipolar disorder [n = 13], psychotic disorder [n = 19]) along with 40 healthy controls. Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The fecal microbiome was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and groups were compared based on alpha and beta diversity metrics, as well as differentially abundant species and genera., Results: A transdiagnostic decrease in alpha diversity and differences in beta diversity indices were observed in psychiatric patients, compared to controls. Correlation analysis of diversity metrics and PSQI score showed no significance in the patient and control groups. However, three species, Ellagibacter isourolithinifaciens, Senegalimassilia faecalis, and uncultured Blautia sp., and two genera, Senegalimassilia and uncultured Muribaculaceae genus, were differentially abundant in psychiatric patients with good sleep quality (PSQI &gt;8), compared to poor-sleep quality patients (PSQI ≤8)., Conclusion: In conclusion, this study raises important questions about the interconnection of the gut microbiome and sleep disturbances., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems (FCSs) need to reject large amounts of low temperature heat. Often a mobile FCS's cooling capacity limits the FCS power output. Cryogenic hydrogen is typically utilized as a direct heat sink using heat exchangers (HXs), even though HXs destroy most hydrogen exergy. This paper investigates synergies between FCS thermal management and cryogenic hydrogen exergy utilization in terms of their benchmark performance: the FCS coolant circuit supplies heat at coolant temperature level to a so named reversible cryogenic exergy utilization system (rCEUS) comprised of thermodynamically ideal heat engine processes. The rCEUS converts this heat partly to electrical energy (the value of which equals the hydrogen exergy) and rejects remaining heat to hydrogen to heat it to coolant temperature. The rCEUS output power is used to support the FCS, so the FCS rejects less heat and a significant fraction of this heat is utilized by the rCEUS. As a result, significantly less heat has to be transferred to ambient and the fuel demand decreases. In this paper, three hydrogen storage options are compared: liquid hydrogen, subcooled liquid hydrogen and cryo-compressed hydrogen. Different para- and orthohydrogen compositions are evaluated. For typical FCS operating points, rejected FCS heat to ambient is reducible by 40-67%. FCS power demand is reducible by 14-31%. FCS rejected heat to ambient reduction is 4.5-8 times larger than that of conventional HXs. Calculations are based on hydrogen's lower heating value., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Believing processes represent fundamental brain functions between cognition and emotion. Shortly before the introduction of a compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 in Austria, motives and underlying believing processes regarding the vaccination were collected in individuals with affective disorder (AD) and healthy controls (HC)., Methods: 79 individuals with AD and 173 HC were surveyed online to assess believing processes with the parameters of the credition model (narratives, certainty, emotion, mightiness) about (1) the coronavirus itself and (2) why someone is vaccinated or not. In addition, we calculated congruence scores between content of narrative and type of emotion and divided the narrative content into positive, negative, and indifferent., Results: There were no differences in vaccination status between AD and HC. Higher levels of certainty were observed in HC compared to AD in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The effects were higher when asked about the motivation to vaccinate or not than about the coronavirus itself. In HC, more positive emotions and more congruence between emotions and narratives were reported during believing in their vaccination motives. No group differences were found in mightiness for both items. Independently from diagnosis, unvaccinated people had high levels of certainty and more negative emotions and narratives while believing in their motives for not getting vaccinated., Conclusion: When believing about the COVID-19 vaccination, individuals with AD were more uncertain and experienced fewer positive emotions than HC, although both groups did not differ in vaccination status. These effects were not that strong when believing about the coronavirus in general., 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 © 2022 Dalkner, Fleischmann, Fellendorf, Wagner-Skacel, Schönthaler, Bengesser, Häussl, Tietz, Tmava-Berisha, Lenger and Reininghaus.)

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global health crisis that has posed enormous pressure on workers in the health sector (WHS), having a massive impact on their mental health. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the sleep quality of WHS during the pandemic and compare frontline WHS to those who are not directly engaged in the care of COVID-19 patients. This cross-sectional, self-reported online survey assessed the sleep quality of WHS in Austria using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The same questionnaire was sent out two times. Due to the unequal sample and anonymity of the study participants, we analyzed the data of each time point separate from each other. The first study was conducted in April/May 2020, during the first lockdown in Austria (Study1), and the second study was conducted in July/August 2020, when the social restrictions were loosened (Study2). T-test was used to compare the mean values of PSQI scores between frontline vs. non-frontline WHS, while two two-way ANCOVAs were used to analyze differences in the PSQI mean scores (controlled for age) for male vs. female between frontline vs. non-frontline WHS. During the first lockdown in Austria (Study1) we identified a shorter sleep duration of frontline WHS compared to the non-frontline group, however the difference in global PSQI score between these groups was statistically not significant. In the period after loosened restrictions (Study2) the sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and global PSQI score was worse in frontline WHS compared to the non-frontline WHS. Furthermore, female WHS scored higher in the PSQI indicating a worse sleep than male WHS. In addition, nurses and nursing assistants had a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality than other occupational groups. Our results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacts the sleep of WHS, affecting particularly frontline WHS. Preventive interventions aiming to promote good sleep quality in WHS during a healthcare crisis like this pandemic are essential to enhance resilience and mitigate the vulnerability of this specific population., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Tmava-Berisha et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Cognition, emotion, emotional regulation, and believing play a special role in psychosocial functioning, especially in times of crisis. So far, little is known about the process of believing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine the process of believing (using the Model of Credition) and the associated psychosocial strain/stress during the first lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey via LimeSurvey was conducted using the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and a dedicated Believing Questionnaire, which assesses four parameters of credition (propositions, certainty, emotion, mightiness) between April and June, 2020, in Austria. In total, n = 156 mentally healthy participants completed all questionnaires. Negative credition parameters were associated with higher global symptom load (from BSI-18): narratives: r = 0.29, p < 0.001; emotions r = 0.39, p < 0.001. These findings underline the importance of credition as a link between cognition and emotion and their impact on psychosocial functioning and stress regulation in implementing novel strategies to promote mental health.

Background: The processes underlying believing have been labeled "creditions", which are important brain functions between emotion and cognition. Creditions are influenced by both internal and external factors, one of which is the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the vaccination against the disease., Methods: To investigate believing processes shortly before the implementation of a mandatory vaccination in Austria, both vaccinated and unvaccinated workers in the health sector (WHS) were surveyed in December 2021/January 2022. In total, 1,062 vaccinated and 97 unvaccinated WHS (920 females) completed the online survey. Beliefs were assessed using the parameters of the credition model (narrative, certainty, emotion, and mightiness) with regard to (1) the COVID-19 pandemic in general, and (2) the vaccination. Type of emotion and narrative were divided into positive, negative, and indifferent. Moreover, the congruence between emotion and narrative was calculated., Results: The vaccination rate of the sample was 91.6%, with a significantly higher percentage of men being in the group of vaccinated (21.1%) as compared to unvaccinated individuals (12.4%). Pertaining beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccination, unvaccinated WHS reported more negative and less positive emotions as well as content of narrative than vaccinated WHS. In addition, they showed higher levels of certainty as well as mightiness while believing and felt less sufficiently informed about governmental and workplace-related COVID-19 measures. The groups did not differ in the type of emotion or content of narrative in their beliefs about the pandemic in general., Conclusion: In conclusion, unvaccinated WHS had more negative and less positive emotions and thoughts than vaccinated WHS in their beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccination and their motivations for not having received it. They were more certain about their beliefs and felt stronger negative emotions in their beliefs compared to vaccinated individuals. Providing unvaccinated WHS with adequate information might be helpful in reducing their mental burden., 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 © 2022 Fleischmann, Fellendorf, Schönthaler, Lenger, Hiendl, Bonkat, Wagner-Skacel, Bengesser, Angel, Seitz, Reininghaus and Dalkner.)

Objective: Circadian rhythm disruption is commonly observed in bipolar disorder (BD). Daylight is the most powerful signal to entrain the human circadian clock system. This exploratory study investigated if solar insolation at the onset location was associated with the polarity of the first episode of BD I. Solar insolation is the amount of electromagnetic energy from the Sun striking a surface area of the Earth., Methods: Data from 7488 patients with BD I were collected at 75 sites in 42 countries. The first episode occurred at 591 onset locations in 67 countries at a wide range of latitudes in both hemispheres. Solar insolation values were obtained for every onset location, and the ratio of the minimum mean monthly insolation to the maximum mean monthly insolation was calculated. This ratio is largest near the equator (with little change in solar insolation over the year), and smallest near the poles (where winter insolation is very small compared to summer insolation). This ratio also applies to tropical locations which may have a cloudy wet and clear dry season, rather than winter and summer., Results: The larger the change in solar insolation throughout the year (smaller the ratio between the minimum monthly and maximum monthly values), the greater the likelihood the first episode polarity was depression. Other associated variables were being female and increasing percentage of gross domestic product spent on country health expenditures. (All coefficients: P ≤ 0.001)., Conclusion: Increased awareness and research into circadian dysfunction throughout the course of BD is warranted., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The gut-brain axis plays a role in major depressive disorder (MDD). Gut-bacterial metabolites are suspected to reduce low-grade inflammation and influence brain function. Nevertheless, randomized, placebo-controlled probiotic intervention studies investigating metabolomic changes in patients with MDD are scarce. The PROVIT study (registered at clinicaltrials.com NCT03300440) aims to close this scientific gap. PROVIT was conducted as a randomized, single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled multispecies probiotic intervention study in individuals with MDD ( n = 57). In addition to clinical assessments, metabolomics analyses (1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) of stool and serum, and microbiome analyses (16S rRNA sequencing) were performed. After 4 weeks of probiotic add-on therapy, no significant changes in serum samples were observed, whereas the probiotic groups' ( n = 28) stool metabolome shifted towards significantly higher concentrations of butyrate, alanine, valine, isoleucine, sarcosine, methylamine, and lysine. Gallic acid was significantly decreased in the probiotic group. In contrast, and as expected, no significant changes resulted in the stool metabolome of the placebo group. Strong correlations between bacterial species and significantly altered stool metabolites were obtained. In summary, the treatment with multispecies probiotics affects the stool metabolomic profile in patients with MDD, which sets the foundation for further elucidation of the mechanistic impact of probiotics on depression.

Background: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and overweight/obesity is increased in bipolar disorder (BD) compared to the general population and is related to suicidality. The aim of this study was to examine the association between both the rate of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and metabolic variables in individuals with BD., Methods: Anthropometric measures, socio-demographic data, suicide history and serum lipid levels were measured in 215 individuals with BD. Individuals were divided into normal weight, overweight and obese according to their body mass index (BMI), and metabolic syndrome was assessed using "The International Diabetes Federation"-criteria., Results: Of the 215 individuals studied, 80.9% reported suicidal ideation, 35.3% reported at least one suicide attempt and 30.7% were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Both metabolic syndrome and BMI were not related to suicide attempts. However, individuals with normal weight had more suicidal ideation than overweight individuals, while obese individuals did not differ from either group. Furthermore, there was no association between suicide attempts or suicidal ideation and serum lipid levels., Limitations: The cross-sectional design of the study, a non-standardized questionnaire for suicidality, and not controlling the medication intake are limiting factors., Conclusion: Contrary to expectations, a difference was found in the BMI categories and suicidal ideation, but not suicide attempts. Serum lipid levels were found to be unsuitable as possible biomarkers for suicidality in individuals with BD. Special attention should be paid to suicidal ideation and BMI rather than metabolic syndrome or lipid values when treating suicidal individuals with BD., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health of individuals with bipolar disorders (BD) is potentially more vulnerable, especially regarding COVID-19-related regulations and associated symptomatic changes. A multicentric online study was conducted in Austria, Germany, and Denmark during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, data from 494 participants were collected (203 individuals with BD, 291 healthy controls (HC)). Participants filled out questionnaires surveying emotional distress due to social distancing, fear of COVID-19, and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 to assess symptom severity at four points of measurement between 2020 and 2021. General linear mixed models were calculated to determine the difference between the groups in these pandemic specific factors. Individuals with BD reported higher distress due to social distancing than HC, independently of measurement times. Fear of COVID-19 did not differ between groups; however, it was elevated in times of higher infection and mortality due to COVID-19. Individuals with BD reported higher psychiatric symptom severity than HC; however, symptom severity decreased throughout the measured time in the pandemic. Overall, individuals with BD experienced more distress due to the COVID-19 situation than HC. A supportive mental health system is thus recommended to ensure enhanced care, especially in times of strict COVID-19-related regulations.