The Mental Health and Social Media Use of Young Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Young people may be particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and may also be more likely to use social media at this time. This study aimed to explore young people\u27s mental health and social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic and examined their use of social media to seek and provide support for suicidal thoughts and self-harm during this period. Young people aged 16-25 (n = 371, M = 21.1) from the general population in Australia completed an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey advertised on social media from June to October 2020. Participants reported high levels of psychological distress, with over 40% reporting severe levels of anxiety and depression, and those with a mental health diagnosis were more likely to perceive the pandemic to have had a negative impact on their mental health. Gender-diverse participants appeared the most negatively impacted. Social media use was high, with 96% reporting use at least once a day, and two-thirds reporting an increase in social media use since the start of the pandemic. One-third had used social media to seek support for suicidal thoughts or self-harm, and half had used it to support another person. This study adds to a growing literature suggesting social media can provide an opportunity to support young people experiencing psychological distress and suicide risk. Uniquely, this study points to the utility of using social media for this purpose during high-risk periods such as pandemics, where access to face-to-face support may be limited. To promote the quality and safety of support provided on social media, resources for help-seekers and help-givers should be developed and disseminated. Social media companies must consider the vulnerability of some users during pandemics and do what they can to promote wellbeing and safety

Tracing culinary practices in the western provinces of the Roman Empire using Organic Residue Analysis

This study aims at reconstructing foodways in the north-east (NE) of the Iberian Peninsula, focusing on lipid residue analysis of utilitarian vessels and using as case studies the sites of Puig Castellar of Biosca (180–120 BCE) and Guissona (120 BCE-third century CE). In total, fifty vessel fragments of different types and origins were analysed with techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). As some vessel fragments were recovered from waterlogged contexts, they had excellent lipid preservation, which enabled the detection of various compounds that are rarely reported in archaeological contexts in Iberia. Analyses revealed both animal and plant products in the vessels, suggested that a variety of food resources was consumed, and that vessels had multiple uses. The detection of levoglucosan in some extracts, along with other heat markers, further suggested the presence of cellulose or starchy products in contact with fire as well as the heating of animal fats. Combined with available bioarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies from both sites, the analyses indicated a continuity in diet across the time periods during which the sites were occupied. Some differences were also observed, including the possible use of tubers until the first century CE. The results are then contextualised and compared with other available organic residue studies from the Roman Iberian Peninsula. The study demonstrates how the combination of multiple bioarchaeological proxies and biomolecular approaches can provide a holistic means to approach Roman foodways

A multi-level study of recombinant Pichia pastoris in different oxygen conditions

Background: Yeasts are attractive expression platforms for many recombinant proteins, and there is evidence for an important interrelation between the protein secretion machinery and environmental stresses. While adaptive responses to such stresses are extensively studied in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, little is known about their impact on the physiology of Pichia pastoris. We have recently reported a beneficial effect of hypoxia on recombinant Fab secretion in P. pastoris chemostat cultivations. As a consequence, a systems biology approach was used to comprehensively identify cellular adaptations to low oxygen availability and the additional burden of protein production. Gene expression profiling was combined with proteomic analyses and the 13C isotope labelling based experimental determination of metabolic fluxes in the central carbon metabolism. Results: The physiological adaptation of P. pastoris to hypoxia showed distinct traits in relation to the model yeast S. cerevisiae. There was a positive correlation between the transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolic fluxes adaptation of P. pastoris core metabolism to hypoxia, yielding clear evidence of a strong transcriptional regulation component of key pathways such as glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and TCA cycle. In addition, the adaptation to reduced oxygen revealed important changes in lipid metabolism, stress responses, as well as protein folding and trafficking. Conclusions: This systems level study helped to understand the physiological adaptations of cellular mechanisms to low oxygen availability in a recombinant P. pastoris strain. Remarkably, the integration of data from three different levels allowed for the identification of differences in the regulation of the core metabolism between P. pastoris and S. cerevisiae. Detailed comparative analysis of the transcriptomic data also led to new insights into the gene expression profiles of several cellular processes that are not only susceptible to low oxygen concentrations, but might also contribute to enhanced protein secretion

Possibilidades de internacionalização do Curso de Secretariado Executivo na América do Sul

Tendo em vista os ganhos institucionais advindos do processo de internacionalização da educação superior, este estudo tem como objetivo geral buscar possibilidades para ações de internacionalização entre o Curso de Secretariado Executivo (SE) da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste) e aqueles localizados em países sul-americanos. Como objetivo específico, pretende-se identificar os cursos de graduação que se assemelham à nomenclatura e à matriz curricular de formação do profissional de SE. A partir desse conhecimento, entende-se que haverá maior possibilidade de cooperação internacional a fim de fortalecer a formação dos estudantes, assim como contribuir com o processo de verticalização da área de SE. Para tanto, explana-se sobre conceitos de internacionalização da educação superior, bem como sobre a internacionalização do currículo. Trata-se de um estudo de caso comparativo, apoiado no método exploratório-descritivo e na técnica de coleta de dados secundários. Os resultados apontaram que, no contexto sul-americano, apenas o Equador oferta cursos de SE em nível superior em termos próximos aos do Brasil. Por um lado, a comparação entre as matrizes curriculares revelou muitas semelhanças entre as disciplinas da área secretarial; por outro lado, as disciplinas da área administrativa e comunicação demonstraram menores semelhanças. Essa dificuldade em encontrar cursos com maior compatibilidade sugere, como apontado na literatura, uma necessidade de maior flexibilização para a mobilidade acadêmica

Interrogation of IDH1 Status in Gliomas by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) gene are found in a high proportion of diffuse gliomas. The presence of the IDH1 mutation is a valuable diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarker for the management of patients with glial tumours. Techniques involving vibrational spectroscopy, e.g., Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, have previously demonstrated analytical capabilities for cancer detection, and have the potential to contribute to diagnostics. The implementation of FTIR microspectroscopy during surgical biopsy could present a fast, label-free method for molecular genetic classification. For example, the rapid determination of IDH1 status in a patient with a glioma diagnosis could inform intra-operative decision-making between alternative surgical strategies. In this study, we utilized synchrotron-based FTIR microanalysis to probe tissue microarray sections from 79 glioma patients, and distinguished the positive class (IDH1-mutated) from the IDH1-wildtype glioma, with a sensitivity and specificity of 82.4% and 83.4%, respectively. We also examined the ability of attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectroscopy in detecting the biomolecular events and global epigenetic and metabolic changes associated with mutations in the IDH1 enzyme, in blood serum samples collected from an additional 72 brain tumour patients. Centrifugal filtration enhanced the diagnostic ability of the classification models, with balanced accuracies up to ~69%. Identification of the molecular status from blood serum prior to biopsy could further direct some patients to alternative treatment strategies

Impaired Structural Connectivity In Parkinson's Disease Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Study Based On Probabilistic Tractography

Background: Probabilistic tractography, in combination with graph theory, has been used to reconstruct the structural whole-brain connectome. Threshold-free network-based statistics (TFNBS) is a useful technique to study structural connectivity in neurodegenerative disorders; however, there are no previous studies using TFNBS in Parkinson's disease (PD) with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Sixty-two PD patients, 27 of whom classified as PD-MCI, and 51 healthy controls (HC) underwent diffusion-weighted 3T MRI. Probabilistic tractography, using FSL, was used to compute the number of streamlines (NOS) between regions. NOS matrices were used to find group differences with TFNBS, and to calculate global and local measures of network integrity using graph theory. A binominal logistic regression was then used to assess the discrimination between PD with and without MCI using non-overlapping significant tracts. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were also performed with FSL to study changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Results: PD-MCI showed 37 white matter (WM) connections with reduced connectivity strength compared to HC, mainly involving temporo-occipital regions. These were able to differentiate PD-MCI from PD without MCI with an area under the curve of 83-85%. PD without MCI showed disrupted connectivity in 18 connections involving fronto-temporal regions. No significant differences were found in graph measures. Only PD-MCI showed reduced FA compared with HC. Discussion: TFNBS based on whole-brain probabilistic tractography can detect structural connectivity alterations in PD with and without MCI. Reduced structural connectivity in fronto-striatal and posterior corticocortical connections is associated with PD-MCI