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Graphic abstract Iron is a fundamental element for virtually all forms of life. Despite its abundance, its bioavailability is limited, and thus, microbes developed siderophores, small molecules, which are synthesized inside the cell and then released outside for iron scavenging. Once inside the cell, iron removal does not occur spontaneously, instead this process is mediated by siderophore-interacting proteins (SIP) and/or by ferric-siderophore reductases (FSR). In the past two decades, representatives of the SIP subfamily have been structurally and biochemically characterized; however, the same was not achieved for the FSR subfamily. Here, we initiate the structural and functional characterization of FhuF, the first and only FSR ever isolated. FhuF is a globular monomeric protein mainly composed by α-helices sheltering internal cavities in a fold resembling the “palm” domain found in siderophore biosynthetic enzymes. Paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy revealed that the core of the cluster has electronic properties in line with those of previously characterized 2Fe–2S ferredoxins and differences appear to be confined to the coordination of Fe(III) in the reduced protein. In particular, the two cysteines coordinating this iron appear to have substantially different bond strengths. In similarity with the proteins from the SIP subfamily, FhuF binds both the iron-loaded and the apo forms of ferrichrome in the micromolar range and cyclic voltammetry reveals the presence of redox-Bohr effect, which broadens the range of ferric-siderophore substrates that can be thermodynamically accessible for reduction. This study suggests that despite the structural differences between FSR and SIP proteins, mechanistic similarities exist between the two classes of proteins. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00775-021-01854-y.

The enhancement of nuclear relaxation rates due to the interaction with a paramagnetic center (known as Paramagnetic Relaxation Enhancement) is a powerful source of structural and dynamics information, widely used in structural biology. However, many signals affected by the hyperfine interaction relax faster than the evolution periods of common NMR experiments and therefore they are broadened beyond detection. This gives rise to a so-called blind sphere around the paramagnetic center, which is a major limitation in the use of PREs. Reducing the blind sphere is extremely important in paramagnetic metalloproteins. The identification, characterization, and proper structural restraining of the first coordination sphere of the metal ion(s) and its immediate neighboring regions is key to understand their biological function. The novel HSQC scheme we propose here, that we termed R2-weighted, HSQC-AP, achieves this aim by detecting signals that escaped detection in a conventional HSQC experiment and provides fully reliable R2 values in the range of 1H R2 rates ca. 50–400 s−1. Independently on the type of paramagnetic center and on the size of the molecule, this experiment decreases the radius of the blind sphere and increases the number of detectable PREs. Here, we report the validation of this approach for the case of PioC, a small protein containing a high potential 4Fe-4S cluster in the reduced [Fe4S4]2+ form. The blind sphere was contracted to a minimal extent, enabling the measurement of R2 rates for the cluster coordinating residues.

High potential iron–sulfur proteins (HiPIPs) are a class of small proteins (50–100 aa residues), containing a 4Fe–4S iron–sulfur cluster. The 4Fe–4S cluster shuttles between the oxidation states [Fe4S4]3+/2+, with a positive redox potential in the range (500–50 mV) throughout the different known HiPIPs. Both oxidation states are paramagnetic at room temperature. HiPIPs are electron transfer proteins, isolated from photosynthetic bacteria and usually provide electrons to the photosynthetic reaction-center. PioC, the HIPIP isolated from Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1, is the smallest among all known HiPIPs. Despite their small dimensions, an extensive NMR assignment is only available for two of them, because paramagnetism prevents the straightforward assignment of all resonances. We report here the complete NMR assignment of 1H, 13C and 15N signals for the reduced [Fe4S4]2+ state of the protein. A set of double and triple resonance experiments performed with standardized parameters/datasets provided the assignment of about 72% of the residues. The almost complete resonance assignment (99.5% of backbone and ca. 90% of side chain resonances) was achieved by combining the above information with those obtained using a second set of NMR experiments, in which acquisition and processing parameters, as well as pulse sequences design, were optimized to account for the peculiar features of this paramagnetic protein.

CFQ-CI was previously developed and preliminarily validated in a study with a single online-recruited inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) sample. The current study presents a further validation of CFQ-CI in four different samples of patients with chronic health conditions: a sample of 82 women with breast cancer, an online-recruited mixed sample of 100 people with cancer, a sample of 69 people with IBD, and an online-recruited mixed chronic illness sample of 93 participants. Confirmatory Factor Analyses, multi-group, reliability, and differences analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the scale is a robust unidimensional 7-item measure of chronic illness-related cognitive-fusion, with excellent reliability and structural validity across the four studied samples and in both paper-pencil- and online-based collection methods. Measurement invariance was not established across the samples, suggesting that CFQ-CI does not appear tofunction equivalently across different illness diagnoses. This study confirms CFQ-CI as a robust, adequate, and simple measure of chronic illness-related cognitive fusion that can be used in different behavioural medicine research and clinical contexts. As the scale does not seem to present measurement invariance, comparing scores between different illness groups is not recommended.

Major life events have been positively associated with depression symptoms. Although psychological flexibility has been associated with adaptive coping skills and negatively linked with depression ...

Although there is some evidence on the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in improving health and psychological outcomes in women with breast cancer, further research is needed to understand these findings’ clinical significance. Furthermore, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention studies on breast cancer are scarce, and no compassion-based intervention has been tested for cancer patients. Given the complementarity and compatibility of mindfulness practice, ACT, and Compassion Focused Therapy, the current study combined these approaches to develop an integrative intervention specifically adapted to cancer patients, the Mind programme. Participants were recruited at the Radiotherapy Service of the Coimbra University Hospital (CHUC) and were assigned to one of two groups: the experimental group (Treatment As Usual + Mind Programme (8 weekly sessions and homework assignments) – n = 15) and the control group (Treatment As Usual – n = 17). There was a 100% retention on the experimental group, during the intervention. The effect size for psychological health (g = 0.79) was particularly noteworthy, suggesting that the intervention presented benefits that are comparable to mindfulness only-based interventions. The experimental group also improved on physical health (g = 0.16), quality of social relationships (g = 0.42), depression symptoms (g = −0.42), and stress (g = −0.32). Participants reported it was important for them to take part in the programme, and that it improved the way they deal with difficulties. Results indicate that the Mind programme may be a useful complement to the medical treatment of breast cancer and support the combination of acceptance, mindfulness, and compassion-based components in this context. Having an accessible and integrative psychological programme for people with cancer may significantly help improving quality of life and mental health in this population. Further implications are discussed.

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health across the globe. People living with a chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disorder might be particularly at risk of mental health complications given higher rates of comorbid anxiety and depression compared to the healthy population. As GI disorders affect up to 40% of the population worldwide, this international collaborative study seeks to evaluate the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on GI symptoms specifically and more generally on the well-being of those living with chronic GI conditions. Methods A longitudinal survey with three time points (baseline, 6-month, and 12-month) will be conducted online. Adult participants with GI disorders from multiple countries will be recruited via patient associations, social media advertising, utilizing snowball sampling. Participants will be invited to complete a battery of questionnaires including demographic and health parameters, and measures of gastrointestinal symptoms, fear of COVID-19, perceived impact of COVID-19, illness perceptions, coping, depression, anxiety, stress, catastrophizing, and quality of life, using validated measures where available. Statistical analyses will include univariate descriptive models, multivariate models utilizing regression, mediation, and moderation, and latent growth models. Conclusions This project may present novel information to the field of psychogastroenterology and may provide crucial information regarding the areas of impact for individuals with GI disorders during and following the pandemic. Further, this information can guide healthcare providers and patient associations on how to target support related to the pandemic mental health sequelae for these patients.

Considering that self-criticism is an important process in the development and maintenance of depression, and taking into account the stigma associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the present study aimed to analyse whether self-criticism exacerbates the relationships of depression symptoms with IBD symptomatology and chronic illness-related shame. The sample included 53 ambulatory IBD patients (66% females) with ages from 18 to 65. Moderation analyses were conducted using structural equation modelling. Self-criticism exacerbated the associations of depression with IBD symptoms (b = 0.01; standard error [SE] = 0.00; Z = 3.73; P < .001) and illness shame (b = 0.02; SE = 0.01; Z = 2.40; P = .016). For the same level of IBD symptomatology or chronic illness-related shame, those individuals who present more feelings of inadequacy towards the self, experience more symptoms of depression. This exacerbation effect is stronger when IBD symptomatology and chronic illness-related shame are more intense. A high self-critical IBD patient may view the illness and/or symptomatology as a flaw or error that should be self-corrected. Physicians and other health professionals should be attentive to these pathological mechanisms and should attempt to alleviate them. It may be beneficial to refer high self-critical patients to psychological care.

This study aims to (a) explore individual differences in women with chronic pain (CP) in regard to pain intensity, functional impairment, cognitive fusion, and depressive symptoms and (b) longitudinally test whether cognitive fusion is a significant predictor of depression symptoms, while controlling for pain intensity and functional impairment, over a 12-month period. This study follows a longitudinal design and was conducted in a sample of 86 women with CP who responded to an online battery of questionnaires in three equally spaced assessment moments. In order to explore the growth trajectory of variables of interest, latent growth curve models were examined. Also, correlation analyses were conducted between demographic and illness-related variables and depressive symptoms, as well as between all variables in all assessment moments. Cognitive fusion and functional impairment (but not pain intensity) were significantly associated with baseline levels of depressive symptoms. Cognitive fusion significantly predicted the growth trajectory of depressive symptoms, whereas pain intensity and functional impairment did not. No demographic (age, marital status, education, socio-economic) nor illness-related variables (number of CP diagnoses, duration of CP, taking medication) were associated with depressive symptoms at any point. These results suggest that the trajectory of depressive symptoms in women with CP is not predicted by the intensity of pain nor pain-related functional impairment, but rather by the tendency to get entangled with internal experiences (e.g., thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations), which may or may not be related to pain-specific contents. Clinical implications are discussed.

Metalloproteins play key roles across biology, and knowledge of their structure is essential to understand their physiological role. For those metalloproteins containing paramagnetic states, the enhanced relaxation caused by the unpaired electrons often makes signal detection unfeasible near the metal center, precluding adequate structural characterization right where it is more biochemically relevant. Here, we report a protein structure determination by NMR where two different sets of restraints, one containing Nuclear Overhauser Enhancements (NOEs) and another containing Paramagnetic Relaxation Enhancements (PREs), are used separately and eventually together. The protein PioC from Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 is a High Potential Iron-Sulfur Protein (HiPIP) where the [4Fe-4S] cluster is paramagnetic in both oxidation states at room temperature providing the source of PREs used as alternative distance restraints. Comparison of the family of structures obtained using NOEs only, PREs only, and the combination of both reveals that the pairwise root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) between them is similar and comparable with the precision within each family. This demonstrates that, under favorable conditions in terms of protein size and paramagnetic effects, PREs can efficiently complement and eventually replace NOEs for the structural characterization of small paramagnetic metalloproteins and de novo-designed metalloproteins by NMR. DATABASES: The 20 conformers with the lowest target function constituting the final family obtained using the full set of NMR restraints were deposited to the Protein Data Bank (PDB ID: 6XYV). The 20 conformers with the lowest target function obtained using NOEs only (PDB ID: 7A58) and PREs only (PDB ID: 7A4L) were also deposited to the Protein Data Bank. The chemical shift assignments were deposited to the BMRB (code 34487).

Literature has emphasized the significant role of social acceptance and connectedness in well-being and the benefits of cultivating a positive body image in the prevention and treatment of body and eating-related difficulties. The current study aims to examine whether strategies of self-reassurance and body-image appreciation mediate the association of feelings of social safeness and acceptance with the “core” dimensions of body and eating-related psychopathology (restraint, eating concern, weight concern, and shape concern), while controlling the effects of body mass index (BMI). Participants were 309 Portuguese women, aged between 18 and 50 years that completed self-report measures. Results from the performed path analysis revealed that self-reassurance and body-image appreciation mediated the impact of feelings of social safeness and acceptance on eating psychopathology-related dimensions. Results seem to suggest that women who perceive the self as acceptable and desirable tend to adopt self-reassurance strategies. These strategies in turn seem to predict a protective and caring relationship with one’s own body and decreased severity of eating psychopathology symptoms. This path model explained 22%, 27%, 51%, and 47% of restraint, eating concern, weight concern, and shape concern, respectively, and showed an excellent model fit. Our findings appear to offer significant insights in the field of body and eating-related psychopathology and seem to support the pertinence of creating intervention programs for women from the general community with body and eating-related difficulties that encourage the adoption of self-reassurance strategies and promote a positive and respectful relationship with one’s own body image. Level of evidence V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

The current study tested a path model examining the impact of fears of compassion in the adoption of disordered eating and whether social safeness and body shame would mediate this relationship. Participants were 645 women (aged between 18 and 55) from the general community, who completed an online survey. Results indicated that fears of compassion were negatively associated with one’s ability to feel secure and safe within close relationships, and positively linked with higher levels of body shame and disordered eating. The tested model accounted for 62% of the variance of disordered eating. Path analyses results revealed that the three dimensions of fears of compassion impacted on disordered eating. Particularly, fear of expressing compassion for others presented a direct impact on disordered eating. Moreover, fears of self-compassion and fears of receiving compassion from others partially impacted on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, through the mechanisms of social safeness and body image-focused shame. These findings suggested that women who present higher levels of fear of self-compassion and of receiving signs of affection and compassion from others tend to feel more insecure in their social group, which seem explain body shame and the engagement in disordered eating behaviours. This study highlights the pathogenic impact of fears of compassion on body image and eating attitudes and behaviours. The current data seem to offer relevant insights for research and clinical practice, by supporting the relevance of developing compassionate abilities and attitudes to target body image and eating-related difficulties.

Objective To date, research with people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has only examined how self-compassion is linked with stress, and have exclusively used cross-sectional designs. This study aims to examine the associations of self-compassion with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress in people with IBD over time. Methods Participants were 155 adults with IBD who completed the SCS and the DASS-21 at two different times, spaced 9 months apart. The study design is longitudinal: three separate hierarchical regression models were conducted to examine whether self-compassion at baseline predicted depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress measured at follow-up, while controlling for the effects of baseline IBD symptomatology and the respective outcome. Results Participants who had IBD for a longer period of time presented higher levels of self-compassion. Self-compassion at baseline predicted lower follow-up levels of depressive symptoms (β = −0.17, p = 0.015), anxiety (β = −0.15, p = 0.032), and stress (β = −0.26, p = 0.001), even in the presence of baseline levels of IBD symptomatology and the outcome. Isolation (as opposed to common humanity) was the most relevant self-compassion component for explaining higher depression levels, while the mindfulness component was important for explaining lower anxiety and stress. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate the prospective effects of self-compassion on mental health indicators in IBD. Given these findings, and previous evidence on the high comorbidity of depression and anxiety and frequent self-report of illness shame and self-criticism in this population, compassion-based interventions may be particularly beneficial for improving well-being in people with IBD.

Objective This study thus aims to test differences between patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) regarding IBD symptomatology, cognitive fusion, and psychological and physical health, as well as to explore whether the maladaptive emotion regulation process of cognitive fusion longitudinally impacts on the baseline and evolution of these outcomes over a period of 18 months. Design and methods Participants include 116 IBD patients with a mean age of 36.76 (SD = 11.39) of both genders (69.83% females) that completed the self-report measures of interest in three different times, equally spaced 9 months apart, over a period of 18 months. Latent growth curve models were conducted using structural equation modelling to estimate the growth trajectory of the variables in study. Results Inflammatory bowel disease symptomatology and cognitive fusion's levels were negatively associated with psychological health and physical health's baseline levels. Furthermore, IBD symptomatology did not influence the growth of psychological health, while cognitive fusion did (β = .30, p = .007). The same result was found for physical health (β = .26, p = .024). These findings indicate that individuals with higher levels of cognitive fusion present lower levels of psychological health and physical health that tend to further decrease over the time through the effects of this maladaptive emotion regulation process. Conclusions This study implies that it is of crucial importance to include psychotherapeutic interventions in the health care of patients with IBD. If successful, these interventions could represent decreases in the cost of IBD treatment and in the use of drugs with adverse side effects, in addition to improving patients’ mental health and quality of life. Further implications for clinical and research work are discussed. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Research has demonstrated the impact of emotion regulation on both physical and mental health. Nevertheless, the longitudinal effects of the specific emotion regulation process of cognitive fusion on physical and psychological health have never been explored. Additionally, no study has yet examined the causal role of emotion regulation in evolution of physical health in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). What does this study add? Cognitive fusion longitudinally impacted on IBD patients’ physical and mental health. These variables were measured over a period of 18 months. Treatment for IBD should include interventions aiming to diminish maladaptive emotion regulation.

This study presents the Inflexible Eating Questionnaire (IEQ), which measures the inflexible adherence to subjective eating rules. The scale's structure and psychometric properties were examined in distinct samples from the general population comprising both men and women. IEQ presented an 11-item one-dimensional structure, revealed high internal consistency, construct and temporal stability, and discriminated eating psychopathology cases from non-cases. The IEQ presented significant associations with dietary restraint, eating psychopathology, body image inflexibility, general psychopathology symptoms, and decreased intuitive eating. IEQ was a significant moderator on the association between dietary restraint and eating psychopathology symptoms. Findings suggested that the IEQ is a valid and useful instrument with potential implications for research on psychological inflexibility in disordered eating.

This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant 810856, National Funds Grant ERA-MBT/ 0003/2014, Ph.D. fellowship PD/BD/135187/2017 (to I. B. T.), and postdoctoral fellowships SFRH/BPD/94050/2013 and SFRH/BPD/93164/2013 (to E. M. and B. F. M.), through the FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article. Acknowledgments—We thank Isabel Pacheco for help in the purification of SfSIP and Dr. Américo Duarte for providing ferredoxin. We also thank all members of the Inorganic Biochemistry and NMR Laboratory for discussions and comments and feedback regarding the preparation of the manuscript. The NMR experiments were performed at CERMAX (Centro de Ressonância Magnetica António Xavier) and was financially supported by Project LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007660 (Microbiologia Molecular, Estrutural e Celular) funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020-Programa Opera-cional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI), the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013)) under Grant Agreement 283570 (BioStruct-X). Beamtime at I04 at the Diamond Light Source and assistance from the beamline staff during the synchrotron data collections are gratefully acknowledged. Siderophores make iron accessible under iron-limited conditions and play a crucial role in the survival of microorganisms. Because of their remarkable metal-scavenging properties and ease in crossing cellular envelopes, siderophores hold great potential in biotechnological applications, raising the need for a deeper knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the siderophore pathway. Here, we report the structural and functional characterization of a siderophore-interacting protein from the marine bacterium Shewanella frigidimarina NCIBM400 (SfSIP). SfSIP is a flavin-containing ferric-siderophore reductase with FAD- and NAD(P)H-binding domains that have high homology with other characterized SIPs. However, we found here that it mechanistically departs from what has been described for this family of proteins. Unlike other FAD-containing SIPs, SfSIP did not discriminate between NADH and NADPH. Furthermore, SfSIP required the presence of the Fe 2+ -scavenger, ferrozine, to use NAD(P)H to drive the reduction of Shewanella-produced hydroxamate ferric-siderophores. Additionally, this is the first SIP reported that also uses a ferredoxin as electron donor, and in contrast to NAD(P)H, its utilization did not require the mediation of ferrozine, and electron transfer occurred at fast rates. Finally, FAD oxidation was thermodynamically coupled to deprotonation at physiological pH values, enhancing the solubility of ferrous iron. On the basis of these results and the location of the SfSIP gene downstream of a sequence for putative binding of aerobic respiration control protein A (ArcA), we propose that SfSIP contributes an additional layer of regulation that maintains cellular iron homeostasis according to environmental cues of oxygen availability and cellular iron demand. publishersversion published

The current study tested a path model that examined the association between early emotional experiences with peers and male body attitudes and whether general feelings of shame and body-focused shame mediate this relationship, while controlling for the effect of body mass index. The sample comprised 241 men from the general community, aged from 18 to 60, who completed an online survey. Correlation analyses showed that the recall of positive early emotional experiences with peers is inversely linked to shame and negative body attitudes. Path analysis results indicated that early emotional experiences with peers had a direct effect on external shame, and an indirect effect on male negative body attitudes mediated by external shame and body-focused shame. Results confirmed the plausibility of the tested model, which accounted for 40% of the variance of male body attitudes. Findings suggested that men who recall fewer positive early peer emotional experiences tend to perceive that they are negatively viewed by others and present more body image-focused shame experiences. This in turn seems to explain a negative self-appreciation of one’s muscularity, body fat and height. This study contributes to a better understanding of male body attitudes. Findings suggest that the link between early emotional experiences and male body attitudes may depend on the experience of shame feelings and, particularly, on the extent to which one’s body image becomes a source of shame. These data support the relevance of addressing shame experiences when working with men with body image-related difficulties. Level V—cross-sectional descriptive study.

This study tested a model examining the impact that early affiliative memories (both with family and peers) on eating psychopathology, and whether these links are carried by the mechanisms of external shame and body image-related perfectionistic self-presentation, in a sample of 480 female college students. Path analyses' results revealed that this model accounted for 48% of disordered eating's variance and suggests that the lack of early positive emotional memories is associated with higher levels of shame (feelings of inferiority and unattractiveness), and with higher tendency to adopt body image-related perfectionistic strategies, that seem to explain excessive eating concern and rigid control of one's eating behaviors. This study offers important insights for future research and for the development of intervention programs, by revealing the importance of assessing and targeting shame and perfectionistic strategies and suggesting the importance of promoting adaptive emotion regulation strategies.

Depressive symptomatology in IBD patients is known to predict disease activity, which in turn can increase depressive symptoms in a perpetuating a cycle between depression and IBD symptomatology. The mechanisms that contribute to the relationship between disease activity and depressive symptoms are not clearly investigated yet. Since emotion regulation has been considered particularly relevant to define the impact of adverse experiences on different outcomes, the current study aimed to examine the longitudinal influence of two maladaptive emotion regulation processes, cognitive fusion and brooding, on the association between disease activity and depressed mood. This study was conducted over an 18-month period, using a sample of 116 IBD patients that completed self-report validated measures in three different waves. Correlation analyses and cross-lagged panel models were performed. The main result from this study discovered that the experience of IBD symptomatology at baseline, although positively linked to the manifestation of depressed mood 18 months later (r = 0.25; p < 0.01), does not directly predict depressive symptoms. This relationship is rather indirect, as it is explained by the engagement in cognitive fusion (p = 0.028) and brooding (p = 0.017). These maladaptive emotion regulation processes, that were revealed to be consistent over time, link IBD symptoms with subsequent depressed mood. These findings indicate that clinicians should be aware of the emotion regulation processes patients tend to use to handle difficult experiences. The inclusion of psychological assessments and interventions in the healthcare of IBD patients should be seriously considered. Further implications are discussed.

Literature suggested that the recall of early positive experiences have a major impact on the promotion of feelings of connectedness and social safeness, and seems to protect individuals against psychopathology. Recent research has also demonstrated that the absence of these positive rearing memories play a key role on disordered eating-related behaviours. The impact of early affiliative memories on disordered eating do not seem to be direct, and the mechanisms underlying this relationship are scarcely investigated. The present study aimed to clarify how memories of warmth and safeness explain the adoption of disordered eating attitudes, and tested the mediator role of social safeness, external shame and appearance-focused social comparison on aforementioned relationship, in a sample of 277 young women. The tested model explained 36% of eating psychopathology’s variance and presented an excellent fit. Path analysis results indicated that the impact of rearing memories on eating psychopathology was fully mediated through the mechanisms of social safeness, external shame and appearance-focused social comparison. Specifically, these findings suggested that the extent to which positive rearing memories are associated with lower levels of disordered eating attitudes is influenced by the current feelings of social safeness and connectedness, which in turn are totally carried by decreased feelings of external shame and by lower endorsement on unfavourable comparison based on physical appearance with proximal targets (peers). These results seem to offer important insights for research and clinical work on body image and eating-related difficulties, suggesting the relevance of promoting warm and safe interactions with others. Level V, descriptive study.

Given the clinical usefulness of the CFQ-BI (Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire-Body Image; the only existing measure to assess the body-image-related cognitive fusion), the present study aimed to confirm its one-factor structure, to verify its measurement invariance between clinical and non-clinical samples, to analyze its internal consistency and sensitivity to detect differences between samples, as well as to explore the incremental and convergent validities of the CFQ-BI scores in Brazilian samples. This was a cross-sectional study, which was conducted in clinical (women with overweight or obesity in treatment for weight loss) and non-clinical samples (women from the general population). The one-factor structure was confirmed showing factorial measurement invariance across clinical and non-clinical samples. The CFQ-BI scores presented an excellent internal consistency, were able to discriminate clinical and non-clinical samples, and were positively associated with binge eating severity, general cognitive fusion, and psychological inflexibility. Furthermore, body-image-related cognitive fusion scores (CFQ-BI) presented incremental validity over a general measure of cognitive fusion in the prediction of binge eating symptoms. This study demonstrated that CFQ-BI is a short scale with reliable and robust scores in Brazilian samples, presenting incremental and convergent validities, measurement invariance, and sensitivity to detect differences between clinical and non-clinical groups of women, enabling comparative studies between them.

This study aimed to test the effects of inflammatory bowel disease symptomatology and associated medical complications on physical and psychological quality of life and to explore whether these relationships are mediated by experiential avoidance. A total of 200 inflammatory bowel disease patients reported demographic and medical data and completed self-report instruments. Results revealed that the tested model presented an excellent fit, explaining 51 per cent of physical quality of life and 53 per cent of psychological quality of life. Inflammatory bowel disease–associated complications directly impacted on physical quality of life, and experiential avoidance significantly mediated the relationships between inflammatory bowel disease symptomatology and physical and psychological quality of life. These results highlight the importance of implementing psychological interventions for inflammatory bowel disease patients.

Objectives: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and their treatment are known to negatively impact on patients’ body image, especially female patients. However, although there are broad evidences of body image impairment in female IBD patients, its negative impact on the quality of life (QoL) of non-operated women is not clearly and specifically studied. The aim of the current study was therefore to analyse, in a sample of non-operated female IBD patients, the factors that contribute to body image impairment and its impact on QoL. Methods: Ninety-six non-operated women (39.7 % with CD and 60.3 % with UC), aged between 18 and 40 years old, completed an online survey with validated self-report measures, which included the Body Image Scale and the WHO Brief Quality of Life Assessment Scale. Results: Negative body image was correlated with lower psychological and physical QoL and increased corticosteroids use, associated medical complications, body mass index (BMI), and IBD symptomatology. Regression analyses revealed that BMI and IBD symptomatology significantly predicted body image impairment. Furthermore, results from path analyses indicated that BMI and IBD symptomatology’s effect on psychological and physical QoL was mediated through the negative effects of body image impairment. This model explained 31 % of psychological QoL and 41 % of physical QoL. Conclusions: These findings suggest that non-operated female patients are subject to pervasive and harmful effects of body image impairment on psychological and physical functioning. Therefore, psychological interventions aiming to target body dissatisfaction should be implemented in the health care of IBD, independently of patients’ operative status.

The gene encoding a putative siderophore-interacting protein from the marine bacterium S. frigidimarina was successfully cloned, followed by expression and purification of the gene product. Optimized crystals diffracted to 1.35 Å resolution and preliminary crystallographic analysis is promising with respect to structure determination and increased insight into the poorly understood molecular mechanisms underlying iron acquisition., Siderophore-binding proteins (SIPs) perform a key role in iron acquisition in multiple organisms. In the genome of the marine bacterium Shewanella frigidimarina NCIMB 400, the gene tagged as SFRI_RS12295 encodes a protein from this family. Here, the cloning, expression, purification and crystallization of this protein are reported, together with its preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis to 1.35 Å resolution. The SIP crystals belonged to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 48.04, b = 78.31, c = 67.71 Å, α = 90, β = 99.94, γ = 90°, and are predicted to contain two molecules per asymmetric unit. Structure determination by molecular replacement and the use of previously determined ∼2 Å resolution SIP structures with ∼30% sequence identity as templates are ongoing.

The Engaged Living Scale (ELS) is a measure of the process of engaged living, defined by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as the evaluation and performance of valued life activities. This 16-item measure was recently created and has been validated in middle-aged and chronic pain samples. The aim of the present study was to validate the ELS- 16 in a young-adult sample and additionally to develop a shorter ELS. This study was conducted using different samples of Portuguese young-adult college students. The dimensionality of the ELS-16 (which was translated to Portuguese from the original Dutch) was tested through a CFA. The adequacy of the shorter ELS (ELS-9) was also tested through a CFA. The scales’ internal reliability and other psychometric qualities were additionally analysed. Results from the CFA suggested that the model benefits from the establishment of correlations between pairs of error terms of items with similar contents. These results led to the decision to shorten the measure by excluding the item of each pair with the lowest communalities. The ELS-9 was then created and its CFA results revealed good to excellent adjustment values and goodness-of-fit indices. Results also showed that the ELS-16 and the ELS-9 present adequate to good psychometric properties. The present study thus shows that these instruments seem to be reliable measures of engaged living and to perform adequately in young-adult college students, with the ELS-9 being a new contribution to health research and allowing faster administrations.

Adolescence has been considered a critical time for the development of body image-related difficulties and disordered eating behaviours, especially in females. Although adherence to eating rules has been linked to disordered eating, literature has not yet explored how the inflexible subscription to those rules impacts on eating psychopathology. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore whether inflexible eating impacts on the relationships between weight and body image-related variables, and disordered eating. Participated in this study are 497 female adolescents from the community, aged between 14 and 18 years old, who completed self-report measures. Results revealed that the majority of the participants were dissatisfied with their weight and body shape. Moreover, 6.64 % of the participants demonstrated severe eating psychopathology. A path analysis revealed that BMI, body dissatisfaction and social comparisons based on physical appearance impact on disordered eating behaviours, through the mechanism of inflexible adherence to eating rules. This model explained 52 % of eating psychopathology’s variance. Findings highlight the relevance of body image-related difficulties in adolescence and additionally they emphasise the importance of promoting more flexible attitudes towards eating in prevention and intervention programmes with female adolescents.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is group of chronic diseases that cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, urgent diarrhoea and fatigue, as well as associated complications (e.g., arthritis). Literature has pointed that IBD may cause depressive symptomatology, which seems to aggravate physical symptoms in a cycle of depression and inflammation. This study's aims to examine the mediator roles of chronic illness-related shame and experiential avoidance in the relationship between IBD symptomatology and depression, while controlling for associated medical complications. The sample comprised 161 adult IBD patients (52 males and 109 females), with a mean age of 36.73 (SD = 10.93), that completed validated measures. The hypothesised model was tested through path analyses. Results (see Fig. 1) showed that although IBD symptomatology presented a direct effect of .13 on depression, the majority of its impact was mediated through chronic illness-related shame and experiential avoidance with an indirect effect of 0.22. Indeed, IBD symptomatology seemed to lead to higher chronic illness-related shame, which presented a direct effect on depression of .15 and an indirect effect mediated by experiential avoidance of 0.37. This model presented excellent goodness-of-fit indices. These findings suggest that targeting shame and experiential avoidance in IBD patients would have beneficial outcomes for patients’ well-being. It thus seems that compassion and acceptance-based psychotherapies should be included in treatment programs for IBD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

It is widely accepted that shame plays a significant role in the development and maintenance psychopathology, namely depressive symptoms. In fact, the experience of shame is highly associated with the adoption of maladaptive strategies to cope with negative feelings, such as experiential avoidance (i.e., the unavailability to accept one's private experiences), and the inability of decenter oneself from unwanted internal events. The present study aims to explore a mediation model that examines whether external shame's effect on depressive symptomatology is mediated through the mechanisms of decentering and experimental avoidance, while controlling for age. Participants were 358 adults of both genders from the general population that completed a battery of self-report scales measuring external shame, decentering, experimental avoidance and depression. The final model explained 33% of depression and revealed excellent model fit indices. Results showed that external shame has a direct effect on depressive symptomatology and simultaneously an indirect effect mediated by the mechanisms of decentering and experiential avoidance. These data seem to support the association between shame and depressive symptomatology. Nevertheless, these findings add to literature by suggesting that when the individual presents higher levels of shame he or she may present lower decentering abilities and tends to engage in experiential avoidance, which amplify the impact of external shame and depression. Furthermore, our findings seem to have important clinical implications, stressing the importance of developing intervention programs in the community that target shame and experimental avoidance and that promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., decentering) to deal with adverse experiences.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The innate recognition of fungi by leukocytes is mediated by pattern recognition receptors (PRR), such as Dectin-1, and is thought to occur at the cell surface triggering intracellular signalling cascades which lead to the induction of protective host responses. In the lung, this recognition is aided by surfactant which also serves to maintain the balance between inflammation and pulmonary function, although the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here we have explored pulmonary innate recognition of a variety of fungal particles, including zymosan, Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus , and demonstrate that opsonisation with surfactant components can limit inflammation by reducing host-cell fungal interactions. However, we found that this opsonisation does not contribute directly to innate fungal recognition and that this process is mediated through non-opsonic PRRs, including Dectin-1. Moreover, we found that pulmonary inflammatory responses to resting Aspergillus conidia were initiated by these PRRs in acidified phagolysosomes, following the uptake of fungal particles by leukocytes. Our data therefore provides crucial new insights into the mechanisms by which surfactant can maintain pulmonary function in the face of microbial challenge, and defines the phagolysosome as a novel intracellular compartment involved in the innate sensing of extracellular pathogens in the lung.

Plant growth and development is highly dependent on a variety of environmental conditions such as temperature, light, water availability and soil conditions that strongly affect productivity worldwide. Over the past years, several reports have raised awareness for the fact that extreme weather conditions are predicted to become more frequent in a near future, which is likely to have a strong impact in crop production. For instance, it is estimated that by 2030, global water demand solely for agriculture may have increased by more than 30% as a consequence of foreseen climate changes (Foresight, 2011). Therefore, there is an urgency to understand how plants behave when facing adverse conditions, in order to reduce productivity losses in sub-optimal environments. Plants have developed different strategies to cope with abiotic stress conditions. Upon environmental stimuli, changes in metabolism, signal transduction pathways and gene expression can be detected (Shinozaki & Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, 2007). Post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, as well as epigenetic and post-translational modifications, like ubiquitination and sumoylation, seem to play an important role in the regulation of gene expression in stress conditions (reviewed in Hirayama & Shinozaki, 2010). In this chapter we will provide evidences of the involvement of small RNAs (sRNAs) in the regulation of gene expression as response to abiotic stress. The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) and other sRNAs under water deficit, high salinity, cold and oxidative stress, among others, as well as their relation to hormone signalling in plants, will be reviewed. Moreover, we will show that key enzymes involved in sRNA synthesis pathways also seem to be regulated upon environmental stimuli, affecting the expression of most sRNAs and consequently of several genes.

Contains fulltext : 70889.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Recognition of microbial components by germ-line encoded pattern recognition receptors (PRR) initiates immune responses to infectious agents. We and others have proposed that pairs or sets of PRR mediate host immunity. One such pair comprises the fungal beta-glucan receptor, Dectin-1, which collaborates through an undefined mechanism with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) to induce optimal cytokine responses in macrophages. We show here that Dectin-1 signaling through the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) pathway is required for this collaboration, which can also occur with TLR4, 5, 7 and 9. Deficiency of either Syk or the TLR adaptor MyD88 abolished collaborative responses, which include TNF, MIP-1alpha and MIP-2 production, and which are comparable to the previously described synergy between TLR2 and TLR4. Collaboration of the Syk and TLR/MyD88 pathways results in sustained degradation of the inhibitor of kappaB (IkappaB), enhancing NFkappaB nuclear translocation. These findings establish the first example of Syk- and MyD88-coupled PRR collaboration, further supporting the concept that paired receptors collaborate to control infectious agents.