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Research has presented a strong case for incorporating gardening into the elementary school curriculum. It has also documented the positive impact of garden-based learning (GBL) on science achievement. Here, Rye et al describe how they implemented GBL at North Elementary School and discuss two projects--\"Just the Berries\" and \"Oh, Gourds!\"--that spanned the 2012-13 academic year.

Public attitudes vary across mental health (MH) problems. However, research on young people and certain MH conditions is limited. This online-experiment examined stigma and potential help-seeking among 554 adolescents and emerging adults aged 14–29 years towards generalized anxiety disorder, depression (DEP), bulimia nervosa (BN), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and problematic alcohol use (ALC). Participants were randomized to a video vignette depicting one of the five MH problems. Attitudes were measured with the Universal Stigma Scale (subscales: “blame/ personal responsibility” and “impairment/ distrust”) and the General Help Seeking Questionnaire assessing the likelihoods of seeking professional, informal, and no help for the respective MH problem. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni-corrected Dunn’s tests. Compared to all of the other conditions, ALC was the most stigmatized. Furthermore, ALC was more likely to prompt any help-seeking as compared to DEP, BN, and NSSI, and professional help-seeking in comparison to DEP. BN elicited more blame than DEP, whereas the reverse pattern emerged for distrust. However, this sample generally held positive MH attitudes. The results highlight the importance of addressing disorder-specific stigma and may inform the development of targeted anti-stigma and help-seeking campaigns. Trial registration : This study has been registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (www.drks.de) on September 23rd, 2020 https//drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00023110 #DRKS00023110.

Mental health (MH) problems in youth are prevalent, burdening, and frequently persistent. Despite the existence of effective treatment, the uptake of professional help is low, particularly due to attitudinal barriers. This study evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of 2 video-based microinterventions aimed at reducing barriers to MH treatment and increasing the likelihood of seeking professional help in young people. This study was entirely web based and open access. The interventions addressed 5 MH problems: generalized anxiety disorder, depression, bulimia, nonsuicidal self-injury, and problematic alcohol use. Intervention 1 aimed to destigmatize and improve MH literacy, whereas intervention 2 aimed to induce positive outcome expectancies regarding professional help seeking. Of the 2435 participants who commenced the study, a final sample of 1394 (57.25%) participants aged 14 to 29 years with complete data and sufficient durations of stay on the video pages were randomized in a fully automated manner to 1 of the 5 MH problems and 1 of 3 conditions (control, intervention 1, and intervention 2) in a permuted block design. After the presentation of a video vignette, no further videos were shown to the control group, whereas a second, short intervention video was presented to the intervention 1 and 2 groups. Intervention effects on self-reported potential professional help seeking (primary outcome), stigma, and attitudes toward help seeking were examined using analyses of covariance across and within the 5 MH problems. Furthermore, we assessed video acceptability. No significant group effects on potential professional help seeking were found in the total sample (F =0.99; P=.37). However, the groups differed significantly with regard to stigma outcomes and the likelihood of seeking informal help (F =3.75; P=.02). Furthermore, separate analyses indicated substantial differences in intervention effects among the 5 MH problems. Interventions to promote help seeking for MH problems may require disorder-specific approaches. The study results can inform future research and public health campaigns addressing adolescents and young adults. German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00023110; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00023110.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia globally and is characterised by reduced mitochondrial respiration and cortical deposition of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles comprised of hyper-phosphorylated tau. Despite its characterisation more than 110 years ago, the mechanisms by which AD develops are still unclear. Dysregulation of microglial phagocytosis of amyloid-β may play a key role. Microglia are the major innate immune cell of the central nervous system and are critical responders to pro-inflammatory states. Typically, microglia react with a short-lived inflammatory response. However, a dysregulation in the resolution of this microglial response results in the chronic release of inflammatory mediators. This prolongs the state of neuroinflammation, likely contributing to the pathogenesis of AD. In addition, the microglial specialised pro-resolving mediator (SPM) contribution to phagocytosis of amyloid-β is dysregulated in AD. SPMs are derivatives of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and potentially represent a strategic target for protection against AD progression. However, there is little understanding of how mitochondrial respiration in microglia may be sustained long term by n-3-derived SPMs, and how this affects their clearance of amyloid-β. Here, we re-evaluate the current literature on SPMs in AD and propose that SPMs may improve phagocytosis of amyloid-β by microglia as a result of sustained mitochondrial respiration and allowing a pro-resolution response.

Background Mental health problems, such as depression, have a high prevalence in young people. However, the majority of youths suffering from depression do not seek professional help. This study aimed to compare help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers between youthswith different levels of depressive symptoms. Methods This cross-sectional study is part of a large-scale, multi-center project. Participants were n  = 9509 youths who were recruited in German schools and completed a baseline screening questionnaire. Based on their depressive symptoms, youths were allocated to the following three subgroups: (a) without depressive symptoms, (b) with subclinical symptoms, (c) with clinical symptoms (measured by PHQ-A). Quantitative analyses compared previous help-seeking behavior, help-seeking intentions and perceived barriers (Barriers questionnaire) between these subgroups. An additional exploratory qualitative content analysis examined text answers on other perceived barriers to help-seeking. Results Participants were mostly female ( n  = 5575, 58.6%) and 12 to 24 years old ( M  = 15.09, SD 2.37). Participants with different levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly in help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers. Specifically, participants with clinical depressive symptoms reported more previous help-seeking, but lower intentions to seek help compared to participants without symptoms (all p  < 0.05). Participants with subclinical depressive symptoms reported a similar frequency of previous help-seeking, but higher intentions to seek help compared to participants without symptoms (all p  < 0.05). Perception of barriers was different across subgroups: participants with clinical and subclinical depressive symptoms perceived the majority of barriers such as stigma, difficulties in accessibility, and family-related barriers as more relevant than participants without depressive symptoms. Across all subgroups, participants frequently mentioned intrapersonal reasons, a high need for autonomy, and a lack of mental health literacy as barriers to help-seeking. Conclusions Youths with higher levels of depressive symptoms are more reluctant to seek professional help and perceive higher barriers. This underlines the need for effective and low-threshold interventions to tackle barriers, increase help-seeking, and lower depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults differing in depression severity. Trial registration DRKS00014685.

The impact of school-closings on adolescents’ mental health and well-being in the management of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is subject to ongoing public debate. Reliable data to inform a balanced discussion are limited. Drawing on a large ongoing multi-site project in Germany, we assessed differences in self-reported psychopathology in a matched convenience-sample of adolescents assessed pre- (November 26, 2018 to March 13, 2020; n  = 324) and post the first lockdown (March 18, 2020 to August 29, 2020; n  = 324) early 2020 in Germany. We found no evidence for an increase in emotional and behavioral problems, depression, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts, eating disorder symptoms, or a decrease in general health-related quality of life. Reported suicide plans significantly decreased from 6.14 to 2.16%. Similarly, conduct problems decreased in the post-lockdown period. Family risk-factors did not moderate these findings. The influence of socioeconomic status on emotional and behavioral problems as well as depression decreased during the lockdown. Based on the present findings, the first school-closing in Germany had no immediate and severe impact on adolescents’ well-being. However, caution is warranted as our data covers a fairly small, affluent sample over a limited time-span and long-term consequences cannot be ruled out.

Epilepsy is associated with genetic risk factors and cortico-subcortical network alterations, but associations between neurobiological mechanisms and macroscale connectomics remain unclear. This multisite ENIGMA-Epilepsy study examined whole-brain structural covariance networks in patients with epilepsy and related findings to postmortem epilepsy risk gene expression patterns. Brain network analysis included 578 adults with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 288 adults with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), and 1328 healthy controls from 18 centres worldwide. Graph theoretical analysis of structural covariance networks revealed increased clustering and path length in orbitofrontal and temporal regions in TLE, suggesting a shift towards network regularization. Conversely, people with IGE showed decreased clustering and path length in fronto-temporo-parietal cortices, indicating a random network configuration. Syndrome-specific topological alterations reflected expression patterns of risk genes for hippocampal sclerosis in TLE and for generalized epilepsy in IGE. These imaging-transcriptomic signatures could potentially guide diagnosis or tailor therapeutic approaches to specific epilepsy syndromes. Epilepsy is a brain network disorder with associated genetic risk factors. Here, the authors show that spatial patterns of transcriptomic vulnerability co-vary with structural brain network alterations in focal and generalized epilepsy.

The detection and identification of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) is complex due to the existence of seven serotypes, derived mosaic toxins and more than 40 subtypes. Expert laboratories currently use different technical approaches to detect, identify and quantify BoNT, but due to the lack of (certified) reference materials, analytical results can hardly be compared. In this study, the six BoNT/A1–F1 prototypes were successfully produced by recombinant techniques, facilitating handling, as well as improving purity, yield, reproducibility and biosafety. All six BoNTs were quantitatively nicked into active di-chain toxins linked by a disulfide bridge. The materials were thoroughly characterized with respect to purity, identity, protein concentration, catalytic and biological activities. For BoNT/A1, B1 and E1, serotypes pathogenic to humans, the catalytic activity and the precise protein concentration were determined by Endopep-mass spectrometry and validated amino acid analysis, respectively. In addition, BoNT/A1, B1, E1 and F1 were successfully detected by immunological assays, unambiguously identified by mass spectrometric-based methods, and their specific activities were assigned by the mouse LD50 bioassay. The potencies of all six BoNT/A1–F1 were quantified by the ex vivo mouse phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm assay, allowing a direct comparison. In conclusion, highly pure recombinant BoNT reference materials were produced, thoroughly characterized and employed as spiking material in a worldwide BoNT proficiency test organized by the EQuATox consortium.