Limited Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Late in Pregnancy Are Not Related to Neonatal Outcomes

Background: Prior studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the link between antenatal depressive and anxiety symptomatology, with neonatal outcomes. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the possible association of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms, in the third trimester of pregnancy, with perinatal outcomes (birth weight of the newborn, Apgar score and the newborn’s admission in neonatal intensive care unit) in a sample of pregnant women, in Greece. Patients and Methods: A total of 117 women from Athens, during the 32nd to 35th week of pregnancy, participated in the study. Demographic and obstetric history data, as well as neonatal outcomes, were recorded. Three self-administered psychometric scales (Beck depression inventory (BDI), Edinburg postnatal depression scale (EPDS) and beck anxiety inventory (BAI)) were used to evaluate in detail the prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Descriptive statistics, Spearman’s Rho coefficients, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis testes were applied to analyze the data. Results: On the basis of BDI, 81.1% of the sample showed minimal, 15.4% mild, 2.6% moderate and 0.9% severe depressive symptoms, respectively. Furthermore, 80.3% of the participants, scored on EPDS below the cut-off point for a likely diagnosis of depression. According to BAI scale, 43.6% showed minimal, 42.7% women mild, 10.3% moderate and 3.4% severe anxiety symptoms. No statistically significant correlations were found between depressive and anxiety symptoms and neonatal outcomes (birth weight, Apgar score and admission in neonatal intensive care unit). Conclusions: Limited levels of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms do not seem to be associated with neonatal outcomes. In clinical practice, pregnant women, who suffer from low levels of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms, may be reassured, in respect of the adverse outcomes of these mood symptoms on the neonate

Διερεύνηση της σεισμικής συμπεριφοράς κτηρίων Ω/Σ με διαφορετικό λόγο ύψος προς πλάτος

195 σ.Η παρούσα διπλωματική πραγματεύεται τη σύγκριση της σεισμικής συμπεριφοράς κτηρίων ωπλισμένου σκυροδέματος με και χωρίς pilotis σε σεισμική απόκριση. Αρχικά, έγινε σχεδιασμός δύο κτηρίων με διαφορετικά γεωμετρικά χαρακτηριστικά πάνω στο λογισμικό sap 2000 v12 με βάση τον EC8. Στη συνέχεια το κάθε ένα από τα δύο κτήρια το μοντελοποιήσαμε στο ίδιο λογισμικό σε δύο διαφορετικές μορφές, όπως περιγράφεται παρακάτω, και μελετήσαμε τη σεισμική συμπεριφορά τους. Τα δύο υπο μελέτη κτήρια αποτελούν συνήθεις μορφές πολυκατοικιών (κτήριο 1) και μεγάλων εμπορικών καταστημάτων (κτήριο 2) απο ωπλισμένο σκυρόδεμα που σχεδιάζονται και μελετούνται στην Ελλάδα απο τη δεκαετία του 60 μέχρι σήμερα. Πρόκειται για δύο πενταόροφες κατασκευές πλαισιακής μορφής. Η βασική διαφορά των δύο κτηρίων είναι ο λόγος h/b, όπου h το ύψος τους απο το έδαφος και b το μήκος διεύθηνσης Χ. Το κτήριο 1 έχει λόγο 2,5 με μήκη 6m κατα Χ, 25m κατα Υ και ύψος 15m, δηλαδή πρόκειται για μια τυπική πολυκατοικία με ΄΄στενόλιγνη΄΄ πρόσωψη. Το κτήριο 2 έχει λόγο 0,33 με μήκη 45m κατα Χ, 25m κατα Υ και ύψος 15m γεωμετρικα χαρακτηριστικά παρόμοια με ένα μεγάλο εμπορικό καταστημα. Τα κτήρια αρχικά μελετώνται κατά ΕΑΚ/EC8 και διαστασιολογούνται. Στη συνέχεια πραγματοποιούνται δύο δυναμικές επιλύσεις. Στην πρώτη δεν υπάρχει τοιχοποιία, ενώ στη δεύτερη έχουμε τοιχοποιία περιμετρικά των ορόφων εκτός απο τον 1ο (ισόγειο), ο οποίος έτσι προσομοιάζεται με pilotis. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο έχουμε τα 4 δομικά συστήματα στα οποία διερευνάται η σεισμική συμπεριφορά τους. Η διερεύνηση αυτή μπορεί να γίνει μόνο με τη χρήση μίας μη γραμμικής μεθόδου αναλύσεως. Επιλέγουμε την ανάλυση με τη στατική μέθοδο της πλευρικής οριακής εξώθησης (Pushover Analysis). Μέσω αυτής της μεθόδου προσδιορίζονται οι βλάβες στα κτήρια στα διάφορα στάδια της ωθησής τους (στάδια επιτελεστικότητας). Για τον υπολογισμό της ικανότητας παραμόρφωσης των δομικών μελών ωπλισμένου σκυροδέματος υιοθετούνται τα προσομοιόματα που προτείνονται στον Ελληνικό Κανονισμό Επεμβάσεων (ΚΑΝ.ΕΠΕ.). Από τα αποτελέσματα της ανάλυσης προκύπτει ότι τα κτήρια με pilotis είναι ιδιαιτέρως ευάλωτα σε σεισμικά φορτία αφού παρουσιάζουν σημαντικές βλάβες στον ισόγειο όροφο, οι οποίες σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις δηλώνουν αυξημένες πιθανότητες αστοχίας. Αυτό οφείλεται στο ότι στον ισόγειο όροφο συγκεντρώνεται όλη σχεδόν η ανελαστική μετακίνηση των κτηρίων. Παράλληλα, παρατηρούμε ότι τα δυο κτήρια με διαφορετική γεωμετρια έχουν τελείως διαφορετική συμπεριφορά. Τέλος, έπειδή το κτήριο 1 με pilotis παρουσιάζει ιδιαιτέρως προβληματική συμπεριφορά αναλύεται και στην περίπτωση που έχει τοιχοποιία και στον ισόγειο όροφο και τα αποτελέσματα συγκρίνονται με τα αρχικά.Γεώργιος Ι. Καλογεράκη

Comparative Chemical Profiling and Antimicrobial/Anticancer Evaluation of Extracts from Farmed versus Wild Agelas oroides and Sarcotragus foetidus Sponges

This study was implemented in the framework of the research project SPINAQUA (Grant No 239) funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) under the “1st call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects for the support of Post-doctoral Researchers”. This publication is based upon work from COST Action CA18238 (Ocean4Biotech), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) program, which provided Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) grant support to D.V.-M. to perform the experimental work at NOVA-FCT. C.M.P.R. is financially supported by La Caixa Foundation (Grant No LCF/PR/HR21/52410028). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Marine sponges are highly efficient in removing organic pollutants and their cultivation, adjacent to fish farms, is increasingly considered as a strategy for improving seawater quality. Moreover, these invertebrates produce a plethora of bioactive metabolites, which could translate into an extra profit for the aquaculture sector. Here, we investigated the chemical profile and bioactivity of two Mediterranean species (i.e., Agelas oroides and Sarcotragus foetidus) and we assessed whether cultivated sponges differed substantially from their wild counterparts. Metabolomic analysis of crude sponge extracts revealed species-specific chemical patterns, with A. oroides and S. foetidus dominated by alkaloids and lipids, respectively. More importantly, farmed and wild explants of each species demonstrated similar chemical fingerprints, with the majority of the metabolites showing modest differences on a sponge mass-normalized basis. Furthermore, farmed sponge extracts presented similar or slightly lower antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, compared to the extracts resulting from wild sponges. Anticancer assays against human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116) revealed marginally active extracts from both wild and farmed S. foetidus populations. Our study highlights that, besides mitigating organic pollution in fish aquaculture, sponge farming can serve as a valuable resource of biomolecules, with promising potential in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.publishersversionpublishe

Conversion of Uric Acid into Ammonium in Oil-Degrading Marine Microbial Communities: a Possible Role of Halomonads

Uric acid is a promising hydrophobic nitrogen source for biostimulation of microbial activities in oil-impacted marine environments. This study investigated metabolic processes and microbial community changes in a series of microcosms using sediment from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea amended with ammonium and uric acid. Respiration, emulsification, ammonium and protein concentration measurements suggested a rapid production of ammonium from uric acid accompanied by the development of microbial communities containing hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria after 3 weeks of incubation. About 80 % of uric acid was converted to ammonium within the first few days of the experiment. Microbial population dynamics were investigated by Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis and Illumina sequencing as well as by culture-based techniques. Resulting data indicated that strains related to Halomonas spp. converted uric acid into ammonium, which stimulated growth of microbial consortia dominated by Alcanivorax spp. and Pseudomonas spp. Several strains of Halomonas spp. were isolated on uric acid as the sole carbon source showed location specificity. These results point towards a possible role of halomonads in the conversion of uric acid to ammonium utilized by hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria.With exception of XH and JC, all authors were supported by the FP7 Project ULIXES (FP7-KBBE-2010-266473). This work was further funded by grant BIO2011-25012 from the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness. FM was supported by Università degli Studi di Milano, European Social Fund (FSE) and Regione Lombardia (contract BDote Ricerca^). DD acknowledges support of KAUST, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. PG acknowledges the support of the European Commission through the project Kill-Spill (FP7, Contract Nr 312139).Peer Reviewe

Microplastics generation: Onset of fragmentation of polyethylene films in marine environment mesocosms

open7siFunding by the European Union FP-7 project BIOCLEAN (grant agreement No. 312100) is highly appreciated.The fragmentation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films from single-use supermarket plastic bags to microplastics under laboratory-simulated onshore and nearshore conditions was investigated for a period of 6 months. The weathering process of the plastic strips either on beach sand or in seawater under direct natural sunlight was monitored by tensile strength, molecular weight measurements, FTIR, weight loss, and image processing of photographs of the plastic strips before and after mild mechanical stress was applied. The latter represents a novel method proposed for determining the onset of fragmentation through the application of mild mechanical stress on the weathered plastic samples emulating the action of sand and wind on a beach. It was found that 12 h of application of mild mechanical stress in rotating glass bottles filled partially with sand was sufficient time to reach the maximum degree of fragmentation that could occur for the weathered plastics samples being tested. For example, applied mechanical stress yielded an area loss of almost 14% for samples weathered for a period of 5 months and about 16.7% after 5.5 months. While tensile strength tests and molecular weight measurements were rather inconclusive till the very last month when the onset of fragmentation was identified; FTIR measurements revealed that samples under ultraviolet irradiation were gradually modified chemically until fragmentation commenced. After 6 months of weathering, molecular weight measurements showed a 60% reduction for sample SMB-1 whereas for sample SMB-2 the measurement was not possible due to extensive fragmentation. The onset of fragmentation for SMB-1 and SMB-2 samples occurred at a cumulative luminance of 5.3 à 106luxâ¢d and in the presence of atmospheric oxygen whereby the polymer films broke down partially to microplastics. When the UV exposure reached 7.2 à 106luxâ¢d the weathered plastic strips broke down fully to microplastics with the application of a mild mechanical stress. Samples placed in seawater proved to be resistant to fragmentation compared to those on sand over the 6-month period of the weathering experiment. The direct implication of this work is that beached macroplastic debris should be regularly collected from the seashore before they are weathered by sunlight and returned to the sea as microplastics by the action of high waves or strong winds.openKalogerakis, Nicolas*; Karkanorachaki, Katerina; Kalogerakis, G. Calypso; Triantafyllidi, Elisavet I.; Gotsis, Alexandros D.; Partsinevelos, Panagiotis; Fava, FabioKalogerakis, Nicolas*; Karkanorachaki, Katerina; Kalogerakis, G. Calypso; Triantafyllidi, Elisavet I.; Gotsis, Alexandros D.; Partsinevelos, Panagiotis; Fava, Fabi

Product state resolved stereodynamics: Rotational polarization of OH(2II;v′,N′,Ω,f) scattered from the reaction, H+CO2→OH+CO

The quantum state resolved rotational angular momentum alignments of the OH products of the H+CO2 reaction have been determined for a range of states spanning those most populated by reaction at a collision energy of 2.5 eV. Surprisingly, for all quantum states studied, the angular momentum is shown to be aligned preferentially in the scattering plane, containing the reagent and product relative velocity vectors. The data suggest that out-of-plane HO-CO torsional forces play a significant role in dissociation of the HOCO intermediate. The polarization behavior mirrors observed in the isoelectronic H+N2O reaction [see the accompanying paper, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 3162 (2000)], and the data are compared with those obtained for that system, and with previous theoretical and experimental work on this important reaction. © 2000 American Institute of Physics

Anodic oxidation of phenol on Ti/IrO2 electrode: Experimental studies

The electrochemical oxidation of acidic solutions of phenol on a Ti/IrO2 anode has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and bulk electrolysis in a single-compartment cell. In the potential region of oxygen evolution, anodic oxidation resulted in electrode passivation (as evidenced by voltammetric measurements) allegedly due to the formation of a polymeric film on its surface. Phenol degradation increased with increasing temperature in the range investigated 30-80 degrees C and it was affected by the addition of Cl- and Br- anions in the supporting electrolyte. Complete conversion of 10 mM phenol was achieved after 37 Ah L-1 of charge passed at 80 degrees C under galvanostatic conditions (50 mA cm(-2)) in absence of Cl-. In contrast only 10 Ah L-1 were needed in the presence of 35 mM Cl-. The presence of chloride can induce reactions involving chlorohydroxyl radicals and electrogenerated oxidants such as free chlorine. On the other hand, addition of Br- slightly inhibited degradation possibly due to bromide scavenging of electrogenerated active species. Phenol degradation proceeded through the formation of three dominant, aromatic intermediates, namely 1,4-benzoquinone, hydroquinone and pyrocatechol, while total oxidation to CO2 was not significant unless harsh conditions (i.e. high temperatures and charges) were employed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved