Short-Term Effects of Climate Change on Planktonic Heterotrophic Prokaryotes in a Temperate Coastal Lagoon: Temperature Is Good, Ultraviolet Radiation Is Bad, and CO2 Is Neutral.

Planktonic heterotrophic prokaryotes (HProks) are a pivotal functional group in marine ecosystems and are highly sensitive to environmental variability and climate change. This study aimed to investigate the short-term effects of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2), ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and temperature on natural assemblages of HProks in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon during winter. Two multi-stressor microcosm experiments were used to evaluate the isolated and combined effects of these environmental changes on HProk abundance, production, growth, and mortality rates. The isolated and combined effects of increased CO2 on HProks were not significant. However, HProk production, cellular activity, instantaneous growth rate, and mortality rate were negatively influenced by elevated UVR and positively influenced by warming. Stronger effects were detected on HProk mortality in relation to specific growth rate, leading to higher HProk net growth rates and abundance under elevated UVR and lower values under warming conditions.

Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Phytoplankton Primary Production in a Shallow Temperate Coastal Lagoon (Ria Formosa, Portugal).

Coastal lagoons are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, and they provide a wide range of ecosystem services and resources. In the Ria Formosa (southern Portugal), phytoplankton production has rarely been addressed. The main goal of this study is thus to evaluate the variability of phytoplankton production and photosynthetic characteristics over the seasonal cycle and in different locations (landward, urban, intermediate, and seaward boundaries) of the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon, subjected to distinct natural and anthropogenic stressors. Primary production was evaluated using the 14C incorporation technique, and photosynthetic parameters were estimated by fitting photosynthesis-irradiance curves. Primary production showed significant seasonal variations, with higher values in the summer associated with lower euphotic depths, higher water temperatures, and higher nutrient concentrations. No spatial differences were found for primary production or photosynthetic parameters. Primary production values were lower than previous estimates, which reflects an improvement in water quality in the Ria Formosa, but values are higher than primary production estimates for other temperate coastal ecosystems, which reflects the highly productive nature of this coastal lagoon.

Orthorexia nervosa in yoga practitioners: relationship with personality, attitudes about appearance, and yoga engagement.

PURPOSE: Disordered eating symptoms and a high prevalence of orthorexia nervosa can be found in yoga practitioners. Given that yoga is increasingly used as a complementary treatment for eating disorders (ED), understanding the relationship between yoga practice and the development of disordered eating is crucial to guide treatment recommendations. The goal of this work is, therefore, to study the relationships between orthorexia nervosa (ON) and potential risk factors for ON, in an international sample of experienced yoga practitioners. METHOD: An online questionnaire that included several psychometric instruments was responded by 469 yoga practitioners. Instruments used were the Teruel orthorexia scale, Yoga immersion scale, Passion scale, Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale, Self-discipline scale of NEO-PI-R, Drive for thinness scale of EDI, and Beliefs about appearance scale. Descriptive statistics, correlational analysis and multiple regression were used to evaluate relationships between ON and the other variables. RESULTS: The main predictors of orthorexia nervosa were the drive for thinness and a healthy orthorexia, suggesting that, like in anorexia and bulimia, orthorexic individuals are also concerned with food quantity and physical appearance, rather than just food quality. CONCLUSIONS: The potential effects of yoga on eating behaviours and attitudes of long-term practitioners, particularly the high prevalence of orthorexia nervosa and the concern for physical appearance, should be taken into consideration when using yoga as prevention or treatment for eating disorders. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study.

Disordered eating behaviours and correlates in yoga practitioners: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Yoga has been increasingly used as a complementary therapy for eating disorders. However, it is still not clear whether yoga is effective in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders, as some studies suggest that yoga practitioners show elevated levels of disordered eating behaviours. The goal of this systematic review is, thus, to analyse the occurrence of disordered eating behaviours and correlates in yoga practitioners. METHOD: PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were used. Search was conducted in several databases and specific journals. RESULTS: Twelve articles, all cross-sectional, were identified, following PRISMA guidelines. Results across studies were inconsistent. Yoga practice was usually associated with healthier eating behaviours, lower disordered eating symptoms, and higher positive body image and body satisfaction, suggesting that yoga practitioners may be at a lower risk of developing eating disorders. However, other studies suggested that a high dosage of yoga practice may be associated with a higher prevalence of disordered eating behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: As yoga is increasingly used as therapy for eating disorders, understanding the relationship between yoga dosage and disordered eating behaviours is critical to guide treatment recommendations and establish yoga as a valuable complementary therapy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, systematic review.

Depression and quality of life in older adults: Mediation effect of sleep quality.

Background/Objective: Sleep insufficiency, which affects more than 45% of the world's population, has a great importance when considering older adults. Thus, this research tested a mediation hypothesis, through a path analysis, which explains how depression relates to the quality of life considering the effects of sleep quality in older adults. Method: A sample of 187 community-dwelling Portuguese older adults answered questionnaires about sociodemographic status (age, gender, highest level of education completed, family status, sports activities, health, and retirement status), quality of life, sleep quality, and depression. Descriptive and path analysis statistics were performed considering the results of the normality test. Results: The sample has health characteristics and presents adequate sleep duration. Sleep quality acted as a mediator between depression and the quality of life in older adults, considering the variation of gender and health. This suggests that it is important to establish self-care practices, namely sleep quality, to intervene in the ageing process. Conclusions: It is important to consider sleep quality associated with depression for older adults and to test interventions to minimize health impacts. Also, more researches are needed about the primary prevention in sleep quality relating to depression.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: La insuficiencia del sueño, que afecta a más del 45% de la población mundial, tiene una gran importancia al considerar los adultos mayores. Por lo tanto, esta investigación probó una hipótesis de mediación, que explica cómo la depresión se relaciona con la calidad de vida, considerando los efectos de la calidad del sueño en adultos mayores. Método: Una muestra de 187 ancianos portugueses residentes en la comunidad respondió a cuestionarios sobre el estado sociodemográfico (edad, sexo, nivel educativo más alto, estado familiar, actividades deportivas, estado de salud y jubilación), calidad de vida, calidad del sueño y depresión. Se realizaron estadísticas descriptivos y de análisis de trayectoria, considerando los resultados de la prueba de normalidad. Resultados: La muestra presenta características de salud y una duración adecuada del sueño. La calidad del sueño actuó como mediador entre la depresión y la calidad de vida en adultos mayores, considerando la variación de género y salud. Conclusiones: Es importante considerar la calidad del sueño asociada con la depresión para adultos mayores y realizar intervenciones para minimizar los impactos en la salud. Además, se necesitan más investigaciones sobre la prevención primaria de la calidad del sueño relacionada con la depresión.

Modern postural yoga as a mental health promoting tool: A systematic review.

Yoga has been gaining popularity as a complementary therapy for mental health conditions, but research on the efficacy of yoga is still in its beginnings. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effects of modern postural yoga (strong focus on physical postures) on positive mental health (PMH) indicators in clinical and nonclinical populations. The most common PMH indicators were mindfulness, affect, resilience and well-being, followed by satisfaction with life, self-compassion, empathy and others. Diverse results were found across the 14 studies analysed, including significant positive effects of yoga practice on outcome variables, to no significant effects, both in relation to baseline levels and in relation to control groups. Nonetheless, most studies observed ameliorations in PMH indicators due to yoga practice. Given that yoga interventions pose serious methodological concerns, more research and better experimental designs are needed to properly assess the effects of yoga on PMH indicators.

Depression and quality of life in older adults: Mediation effect of sleep quality / Depresión y calidad de vida en adultos mayores: mediación de la calidad del sueño

Background/Objective: Sleep insufficiency, which affects more than 45% of the world's population, has a great importance when considering older adults. Thus, this research tested a mediation hypothesis, through a path analysis, which explains how depression relates to the quality of life considering the effects of sleep quality in older adults. Method: A sample of 187 community-dwelling Portuguese older adults answered questionnaires about sociodemographic status (age, gender, highest level of education completed, family status, sports activities, health, and retirement status), quality of life, sleep quality, and depression. Descriptive and path analysis statistics were performed considering the results of the normality test. Results: The sample has health characteristics and presents adequate sleep duration. Sleep quality acted as a mediator between depression and the quality of life in older adults, considering the variation of gender and health. This suggests that it is important to establish self-care practices, namely sleep quality, to intervene in the ageing process. Conclusions: It is important to consider sleep quality associated with depression for older adults and to test interventions to minimize health impacts. Also, more researches are needed about the primary prevention in sleep quality relating to depression (AU)

Antecedentes/Objetivo: La insuficiencia del sueño, que afecta a más del 45% de la población mundial, tiene una gran importancia al considerar los adultos mayores. Por lo tanto, esta investigación probó una hipótesis de mediación, que explica cómo la depresión se relaciona con la calidad de vida, considerando los efectos de la calidad del sueño en adultos mayores. Método: Una muestra de 187 ancianos portugueses residentes en la comunidad respondió a cuestionarios sobre el estado sociodemográfico (edad, sexo, nivel educativo más alto, estado familiar, actividades deportivas, estado de salud y jubilación), calidad de vida, calidad del sueño y depresión. Se realizaron estadísticas descriptivos y de análisis de trayectoria, considerando los resultados de la prueba de normalidad. Resultados: La muestra presenta características de salud y una duración adecuada del sueño. La calidad del sueño actuó como mediador entre la depresión y la calidad de vida en adultos mayores, considerando la variación de género y salud. Conclusiones: Es importante considerar la calidad del sueño asociada con la depresión para adultos mayores y realizar intervenciones para minimizar los impactos en la salud. Además, se necesitan más investigaciones sobre la prevención primaria de la calidad del sueño relacionada con la depresión (AU)

Phytoplankton composition, growth and production in the Guadiana estuary (SW Iberia): unraveling changes induced after dam construction.

Water quality and quantity problems in the Guadiana estuary due to a recently built dam have been predicted, including an enhancement of cyanobacteria blooms. The main goal of this work was thus to describe the present phytoplankton dynamics in relation to its environmental drivers and to evaluate the effects of damming on phytoplankton in the Guadiana estuary. Sampling campaigns were conducted during 2007-2009 in 4 locations of the Guadiana estuary, covering the salinity gradient. Phytoplankton-related and physical-chemical variables were analyzed. Throughout our study, light availability was mainly controlled by suspended sediments and it was much lower than saturating intensities described for phytoplankton growth. Therefore, light was probably limiting to phytoplankton growth throughout the year, especially in the middle and upper estuarine zones. Nitrogen limitation of phytoplankton growth occurred occasionally throughout the study period, especially during spring and summer. Overall, light and nutrient availability were mainly controlled by river flow; anthropogenic sources of nutrients to the estuary were negligible. Phytoplankton showed a unimodal cycle with biomass maximum in late spring/early summer, and the typical seasonal succession of freshwater phytoplankton (diatoms, green algae, cyanobacteria) was observed. Diatoms were the main component of the phytoplankton community and their variability closely followed nitrate and river flow variability. The relative abundance of the main phytoplankton groups changed in relation to the period before dam construction, with a decrease on cyanobacteria contribution to total abundance. The environmental perturbation induced by dam construction has now stabilized and resulted in an overall decrease in nutrient concentrations, an increase in light availability and a decrease in cyanobacteria abundance.

Constraints on the use of phytoplankton as a biological quality element within the Water Framework Directive in Portuguese waters.

The European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD), a new regulation aiming to achieve and maintain a clean and well-managed water environment, refers to phytoplankton as one of the biological quality elements that should be regularly monitored, and upon which the reference conditions of water quality should be established. However, the use of phytoplankton as a biological quality element will result in several constraints, which are analyzed in this article with examples from Portuguese waters. Specifically, the establishment of reference conditions of water quality may be difficult in some water bodies for which no historical data exists. The sampling frequency proposed for phytoplankton monitoring does not seem suitable to assess phytoplankton succession, and may preclude the detection of algal blooms. Finally, the use of chlorophyll a as a proxy of phytoplankton biomass and abundance has been proposed by some authors, but it may overlook blooms of pico- and small nanophytoplankton, and overestimate the importance of large microphytoplankton. Furthermore, most studies in Portugal have used only inverted microscopy for phytoplankton observation and quantification; this method does not permit the distinction between autotrophic and heterotrophic cells, especially in samples preserved with Lugol's solution, and does not allow the observation of smaller-sized cells. Finally, some techniques, such as remote sensing and chemotaxonomic analysis, are proposed to be used as supplements in phytoplankton monitoring programs.