Diet and Anxiety: A Scoping Review.

Anxiety disorders are the most common group of mental disorders. There is mounting evidence demonstrating the importance of nutrition in the development and progression of mental disorders such as depression; however, less is known about the role of nutrition in anxiety disorders. This scoping review sought to systematically map the existing literature on anxiety disorders and nutrition in order to identify associations between dietary factors and anxiety symptoms or disorder prevalence as well as identify gaps and opportunities for further research. The review followed established methodological approaches for scoping reviews. Due to the large volume of results, an online program (Abstrackr) with artificial intelligence features was used. Studies reporting an association between a dietary constituent and anxiety symptoms or disorders were counted and presented in figures. A total of 55,914 unique results were identified. After a full-text review, 1541 articles met criteria for inclusion. Analysis revealed an association between less anxiety and more fruits and vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, "healthy" dietary patterns, caloric restriction, breakfast consumption, ketogenic diet, broad-spectrum micronutrient supplementation, zinc, magnesium and selenium, probiotics, and a range of phytochemicals. Analysis revealed an association between higher levels of anxiety and high-fat diet, inadequate tryptophan and dietary protein, high intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates, and "unhealthy" dietary patterns. Results are limited by a large percentage of animal and observational studies. Only 10% of intervention studies involved participants with anxiety disorders, limiting the applicability of the findings. High quality intervention studies involving participants with anxiety disorders are warranted

Strain-induced effects in colloidal quantum dots: lifetime measurements and blinking statistics

Abstract A series of samples of CdSe/Cd x Zn 1−x S core/shell quantum dots have been synthesized in order to measure the influence of lattice-mismatch-induced strain on the photoluminescence (PL) and blinking behaviour. The PL spectra show a significant variation of the fluorescence wavelength even though the colloidal quantum dots (cQDs) are similar in size. The PL excitation spectra show a gradual splitting of the first exciton level as the proportion of Zn is increased in the shell and as the shell grows. On the other hand, blinking studies clearly demonstrate a significant dependence on the amount of Zn present in the shell. Distributions of on and off times go from the usual power-law distributions to power-law distributions with exponential cut-offs. These cut-offs become increasingly pronounced as the proportion of Zn increases. We interpret these results in the framework of diffusion-controlled electron transfer. Exciton relaxation lifetime measurements strongly suggest that lattice mismatch is responsible for a greater number of defects in core/shell cQDs. Therefore, strain and lattice mismatch are shown to be parameters of significant importance for the electronic structure of nanocrystals, influencing the photoluminescence, exciton relaxation lifetime and blinking behaviour

U and Th content in the Central Apennines continental crust: a contribution to the determination of the geo-neutrinos flux at LNGS

The regional contribution to the geo-neutrino signal at Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) was determined based on a detailed geological, geochemical and geophysical study of the region. U and Th abundances of more than 50 samples representative of the main lithotypes belonging to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary cover were analyzed. Sedimentary rocks were grouped into four main "Reservoirs" based on similar paleogeographic conditions and mineralogy. Basement rocks do not outcrop in the area. Thus U and Th in the Upper and Lower Crust of Valsugana and Ivrea-Verbano areas were analyzed. Based on geological and geophysical properties, relative abundances of the various reservoirs were calculated and used to obtain the weighted U and Th abundances for each of the three geological layers (Sedimentary Cover, Upper and Lower Crust). Using the available seismic profile as well as the stratigraphic records from a number of exploration wells, a 3D modelling was developed over an area of 2^{\circ}x2^{\circ} down to the Moho depth, for a total volume of about 1.2x10^6 km^3. This model allowed us to determine the volume of the various geological layers and eventually integrate the Th and U contents of the whole crust beneath LNGS. On this base the local contribution to the geo-neutrino flux (S) was calculated and added to the contribution given by the rest of the world, yielding a Refined Reference Model prediction for the geo-neutrino signal in the Borexino detector at LNGS: S(U) = (28.7 \pm 3.9) TNU and S(Th) = (7.5 \pm 1.0) TNU. An excess over the total flux of about 4 TNU was previously obtained by Mantovani et al. (2004) who calculated, based on general worldwide assumptions, a signal of 40.5 TNU. The considerable thickness of the sedimentary rocks, almost predominantly represented by U- and Th- poor carbonatic rocks in the area near LNGS, is responsible for this difference.Comment: 45 pages, 5 figures, 12 tables; accepted for publication in GC

Reduction of volatile acidity of wines by selected yeast strains

Herein we isolate and characterize wine yeasts with ability to reduce volatile acidity of wines using a refermentation process, which consists in mixing the acidic wine with freshly crushed grapes or musts or, alternatively, in the incubation with the residual marc. From a set of 135 yeast isolates, four strains revealed ability to use glucose and acetic acid simultaneously. Three of them were identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and one as Lachancea thermotolerans. Among nine commercial S. cerevisiae strains, strains S26, S29 and S30 display similar glucose and acetic acid initial simultaneous consumption pattern and were assessed in refermentation assays. In a medium containing an acidic wine with high glucose/low ethanol concentrations, under low oxygen availability, strain S29 is the most efficient one, whereas L. thermotolerans 44C is able to decrease significantly acetic acid similar to the control strain Zygosaccharomyces bailii ISA 1307, but only under aerobic conditions. Conversely, for low glucose/high ethanol concentrations, under aerobic conditions, S26 is the most efficient acid degrading strain, while under limited-aerobic conditions, all the S. cerevisiae strains studied display acetic acid degradation efficiencies identical to Z. bailii. Moreover, S26 strain also reveals capacity to decrease volatile acidity of wines. Together, the S. cerevisiae strains characterized herein appear promising for the oenological removal of volatile acidity of acidic wines.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Programa POCI 2010 (FEDER/FCT, POCI/AGR/56102/2004, PTDC/AGRALI/71460/2006

The landscape of Neandertal ancestry in present-day humans

Analyses of Neandertal genomes have revealed that Neandertals have contributed genetic variants to modern humans1–2. The antiquity of Neandertal gene flow into modern humans means that regions that derive from Neandertals in any one human today are usually less than a hundred kilobases in size. However, Neandertal haplotypes are also distinctive enough that several studies have been able to detect Neandertal ancestry at specific loci1,3–8. Here, we have systematically inferred Neandertal haplotypes in the genomes of 1,004 present-day humans12. Regions that harbor a high frequency of Neandertal alleles in modern humans are enriched for genes affecting keratin filaments suggesting that Neandertal alleles may have helped modern humans adapt to non-African environments. Neandertal alleles also continue to shape human biology, as we identify multiple Neandertal-derived alleles that confer risk for disease. We also identify regions of millions of base pairs that are nearly devoid of Neandertal ancestry and enriched in genes, implying selection to remove genetic material derived from Neandertals. Neandertal ancestry is significantly reduced in genes specifically expressed in testis, and there is an approximately 5-fold reduction of Neandertal ancestry on chromosome X, which is known to harbor a disproportionate fraction of male hybrid sterility genes20–22. These results suggest that part of the reduction in Neandertal ancestry near genes is due to Neandertal alleles that reduced fertility in males when moved to a modern human genetic background

HACE1 deficiency causes an autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental syndrome

Background: The genetic etiology of neurodevelopmental defects is extremely diverse, and the lack of distinctive phenotypic features means that genetic criteria are often required for accurate diagnostic classification. We aimed to identify the causative genetic lesions in two families in which eight affected individuals displayed variable learning disability, spasticity and abnormal gait. Methods: Autosomal recessive inheritance was suggested by consanguinity in one family and by sibling recurrences with normal parents in the second. Autozygosity mapping and exome sequencing, respectively, were used to identify the causative gene. Results: In both families, biallelic loss-of-function mutations in HACE1 were identified. HACE1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that regulates the activity of cellular GTPases, including Rac1 and members of the Rab family. In the consanguineous family, a homozygous mutation p.R219* predicted a truncated protein entirely lacking its catalytic domain. In the other family, compound heterozygosity for nonsense mutation p.R748* and a 20-nt insertion interrupting the catalytic HECT domain was present; Western analysis of patient cells revealed an absence of detectable HACE1 protein. Conclusion: HACE1 mutations underlie a new autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder. Previous studies have implicated HACE1 as a tumour suppressor gene; however, since cancer predisposition was not observed either in homozygous or heterozygous mutation carriers, this concept may require re-evaluation

BOFdat: Generating biomass objective functions for genome-scale metabolic models from experimental data

<div><p>Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are mathematically structured knowledge bases of metabolism that provide phenotypic predictions from genomic information. GEM-guided predictions of growth phenotypes rely on the accurate definition of a biomass objective function (BOF) that is designed to include key cellular biomass components such as the major macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins), lipids, coenzymes, inorganic ions and species-specific components. Despite its importance, no standardized computational platform is currently available to generate species-specific biomass objective functions in a data-driven, unbiased fashion. To fill this gap in the metabolic modeling software ecosystem, we implemented BOFdat, a Python package for the definition of a <b>B</b>iomass <b>O</b>bjective <b>F</b>unction from experimental <b>dat</b>a. BOFdat has a modular implementation that divides the BOF definition process into three independent modules defined here as steps: 1) the coefficients for major macromolecules are calculated, 2) coenzymes and inorganic ions are identified and their stoichiometric coefficients estimated, 3) the remaining species-specific metabolic biomass precursors are algorithmically extracted in an unbiased way from experimental data. We used BOFdat to reconstruct the BOF of the <i>Escherichia coli</i> model <i>i</i>ML1515, a gold standard in the field. The BOF generated by BOFdat resulted in the most concordant biomass composition, growth rate, and gene essentiality prediction accuracy when compared to other methods. Installation instructions for BOFdat are available in the documentation and the source code is available on GitHub (<a href="https://github.com/jclachance/BOFdat" target="_blank">https://github.com/jclachance/BOFdat</a>).</p></div

Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeasts: impact on wine and winemaking

Yeasts belonging to the Brettanomyces/Dekkera genus are non-conventional yeasts, which affect winemaking by causing wine spoilage all over the world. This mini-review focuses on recent results concerning the presence of Brettanomyces bruxellensis throughout the wine processing chain. Here, culture-dependent and independent methods to detect this yeast on grapes and at the very early stage of wine production are encompassed. Chemical, physical and biological tools, devised for the prevention and control of such a detrimental species during winemaking are also presented. Finally, the mini-review identifies future research areas relevant to the improvement of wine safety and sensory profiles