Most patients that require port operation have experienced severe pain due to multiple surgeries in the past. Therefore, these patients have fear of pain before the procedure. This study aims to compare superficial cervical plexus block (SCPB) with local infiltration anesthesia in terms of comfort.Group LM, n = 50). The second group, USG, was used for venous entry with SCPB as anesthesia . The type of local anesthesia, port placement technique, duration of the procedure, number of procedures, complications, visual analog scale (VAS) score, and surgeon's satisfaction with the procedure were recorded. 100 cancer-diagnosed patients were divided into two groups. The first group, the landmark technique with local infiltration anesthesia, was used for intravenous entry (P = 0.010). VAS scores were found to be 4.04 in Group LM and 2.62 in GroupUS (P = 0.001). Surgeon satisfaction was 1.96 in GroupLM and 2.38 in GroupUS (P = 0.014). The mean duration of the procedure was 22.10 minutes in GroupLM and 43.50 minutes in GroupUS (P = 0.001). Complication rates were observed in 1 patient in GroupLM and 9 patient in GroupUS (P = 0.040). It was established that an average of 1.7 and 1.1 attempts was conducted in Groups LM and US, respectively ( In the patient group with a high level of pain and anxiety port catheter placement using USG and SCPB, supported by routine sedation, provides better comfort for both patient and surgeon. Infusion therapy through central venous subcutaneous port catheters (CVSPC) is a more favorable alternative than the peripherally placed central catheter or tunnel catheters to peripheral vessels . These cTo our knowledge, studies comparing the use of local infiltration anesthesia for port catheter placement in the jugular vein and SVs and SCPB with ultrasonography (USG) have not been conducted yet. This study aims to compare and discuss the vein entry after SCPB using the USG-guided CVSPC procedure with the landmark technique using local infiltration anesthesia in terms of the number of trials, success rate, surgical comfort, pain scores, malpositions, and complications.This study was approved by local ethics committees where appropriate and performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. This prospective randomized observational study was designed with regard to CVSPC placement in 100 cancer-diagnosed patients to receive chemotherapy, on approval of the ethics committee of our hospital, dated 12-28-2018, and numbered 190. The nurse and doctor in the oncology and palliative care clinic informed the patients who would undergo port placement and their relatives regarding the procedure and their written and verbal approvals were obtained. Patients were randomly divided as two groups with 50 patients in each group. Cancer patients were randomly sent to the physician's room by two experienced (two assistant professors) physicians who would perform the procedure by the clinical nurse. Independent two physicians applied the procedure to each group and recorded the results. Both physicians independently applied their own method and recorded the results. All the oncological and palliative care patients with no general condition disorder and those who needed chemotherapy and permanent port catheter for analgesia and nutritional purposes were included in the study .Patients with coagulopathy, thrombocytopenia , infection at the site of intervention, tumor, and general condition disorder were not included in the study. In total, 10 out of 110 applicants were excluded from the study .Group LM, n = 50). In the second group, first, the port was inserted using USG after the application of SCPB and then central venous puncture using USG was conducted  were administered intravenously. Electrocardiography, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring were performed. Oxygen at a flow rate of 2 L/min was administered using nasal cannula. During the intervention, the patients with pain, in both groups, were administered 0.5–1 μg/kg fentanyl citrate  for additional local anesthetic infiltration and sedoanalgesia. Initially, right IJV was preferred for the procedure in all patients. The left IJV was considered if the right IJV was obstructed or an obstacle was to be introduced. Right SV was used in the case of bilateral disability, and contralateral IJV was preferred in patients with a history of mastectomy.All procedures were performed with local anesthesia or SCPB under intravenous sedoanalgesia in the operating room. For sedation, 0.15–0.20 mg/kg midazolam  and 0.5–1 In this technique, once the area to be treated was covered in a sterilized manner, 10-mL 1% lidocaine  was administered to the pocket area where the port was placed, and 10-mL 2% prilocaine  was used for the venous intervention site and tunnel; therefore, a total of 20-mL local infiltration anesthesia was applied to three regions. Accordingly, the first choice for port catheter placement is the right IJV, which is mostly preferred for central venous catheterization through the supraclavicular route . The anaTo determine the vein diameter and patency of the patient, a neck vein examination was performed using USG before the procedure. After the process, the area was disinfected and covered with a sterile drape. Asepsis was induced by wrapping a sterile gel or probe with a sterile surgical glove. SCPB was introduced using 10 mL of 2% prilocaine  applied to the lower part of the SCM fascia after the image was obtained from the midline of the SCM muscle with the help of USG  . Then, wThe vein catheterization point and 0.5-cm lateral and medial parts were dilated for the port placement procedure after venous entry using the respective methods.Further, for the port pocket, 2–3 cm distal to the clavicle midline was used in both patient groups. Tunneling was performed using bridges through the two dilated areas . The porAll patients were followed up for at least 30 minutes in the postanesthesia care unit. In the absence of complications, they were transferred to the clinics. The patients who were hospitalized for 1 day were followed up for 2 hours with regard to hematoma, swelling, and edema. After the procedure, port care was demonstrated to the patients and their relatives by the responsible nurse in the clinics. Information regarding possible issues and complications was provided to the patients. The patients, who were prescribed by the clinician, were discharged 1 week later with the recommendation of suture, infection, and hematoma control.During the study, the demographic data, clinical diagnosis, type of local anesthesia, port placement technique, duration of the procedure, localization of the procedure, number of procedures, arterial puncture, hematoma, arrhythmia, shortness of breath and pneumothorax, presence of malposition, additional local anesthesia and sedation requirement, visual analog scale (VAS) score, and surgeon's satisfaction with the procedure were recorded prospectively . The malpositions were recorded by verifying the port catheter with C-arm scopy. t-test and chi-square test. P values of less than 0.05 were considered to be significant.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20 . In the evaluation, numerical data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD), median, range , and categorical data were represented in percentage (%). The central tendency was expressed as the mean (SD) if the variables were normally distributed. The tools were compared using independent or paired Student'sn = 59, 59%) were male and 41  were female. In total, 95 patients received catheters using right IJV . Second, 23 patients (23%) had gastric cancer. The other types of cancer are provided in P = 0.727; In Group LM, 4 (8%) of 50 patients who underwent local anesthesia required additional local anesthetic and sedoanalgesic medication, and in Group US, 5 (10%) of 50 patients who underwent SCPB with USG required additional local anesthetic and sedoanalgesic medication. Two groups were found to be statistically similar (P = 0.010).When the groups were compared in terms of the number of trials, an average of 1.7 and 1.1 attempts was conducted in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups (P = 0.001).When the groups were compared regarding VAS scores, average values of 4.04 and 2.62 in Groups 1 and 2, respectively, was determined. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (P = 0.014).In terms of the surgeon's satisfaction with the procedure, an average of 1.96 in Group LM and 2.38 in Group US was established. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups (P = 0.001)  .P = 0.041). Hematoma developed in three patients in Group LM and in one patient in Group US (P = 0.307). In addition, pneumothorax was detected in two patients in Group LM, but no pneumothorax was observed in any of the patients in Group US (P = 0.153). Complications were observed in 9 patients (18%) in Group LM and 1 patient in Group US (P = 0.040). There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of complication rates (P = 0.040)  .Mainly, this study aimed to compare SCPB with local infiltration anesthesia using USG during CVSPC placement in terms of comfort and to determine the superiority of USG during venous access, in addition to these two methods. The study revealed that, during CVSPC placement procedure for the chemotherapy recipients, SCPB application with USG using a single injection would be superior compared with local infiltration anesthesia application from multiple points at the intervention site. Furthermore, it required less number of attempts and provided more patient comfort with an acceptable VAS score. In addition, vascular puncture using USG was observed to superior compared with the landmark technique in terms of acute complications during CVSPC placement.Port catheters have marked advantages compared with other venous catheters because they do not restrict the patient's daily activities and cause a low rate of infection. The most common indication for CVSPC is the provision of a central venous pathway for long-term chemotherapy in oncology patients. Antecubital veins may be preferred over axillary vein, IJV, SV, or femoral vein as a site for venous entry , 8. DespP = 0.727). The statistical comparison of the groups was similar. Low VAS scores were obtained in Group US (P = 0.001). Similarly, the surgeon's satisfaction with the procedure was found to be higher and statistically significant in Group US (P = 0.014). In the results, the requirement of additional local anesthetic and sedoanalgesic medication in the CVSPC procedure was similar. However, the VAS scores, which are the main determinant of patient comfort, were significantly lower in the SCPB group with USG, which would have better results in various applications. The difference in the VAS scores may be because the pain experienced during local infiltration anesthesia is more severe than that in SCPB with USG, accompanied by a single injection.Most patients who required port operation have experienced severe pain due to the multiple surgeries that they have undergone. Therefore, their anxiety levels were very high. Some patients were anxious enough to demand general anesthesia. The most common reason for this is the fear of pain before the procedure. The aim was to administer sedoanalgesia with midazolam and fentanyl prior to the procedure to reduce the pain and related anxiety and to provide local anesthesia with minimal pain. In most of the previous studies, local infiltration anesthesia was applied to the pocket region of the anterior chest wall, which would be the site for both central venous cannulation and port placement , 17. HowP = 0.040). This situation is statistically significant and similar to that in previous studies. Thus, it shows the superiority of USG use. Although pneumothorax developed in two (4%) patients in Group LM, it was not observed in any patients in Group US (P = 0.012). When one patient had severe pneumothorax, tube thoracostomy was performed. The other three patients had mild dyspnea, oxygen requirement, and chest pain because of minimal pneumothorax. Nasal oxygen was followed by regular chest radiography without the requirement for tube thoracostomy. All patients in this study were discharged with follow-up and treatment advice.CVSPC placement, which is based on central venous access, must be performed with USG. According to reports, USG reduces the risk of complications, such as arterial puncture from vascular injury and secondary hematoma, and most importantly, it reduces the possibility of pneumothorax/hemothorax compared with the landmark technique , 21–27. In addition to the major advantages of USG use during SVPK placement, the use of other imaging methods is important for the correct termination of the procedure. In a study reported by Schummer et al.  1794 porThis study had some shortcomings. First, the bed capacity was only 36 in the palliative care and medical oncology units. The number of opened ports in this study is limited because of the less number of beds available. Second, late-term complications were not evaluated. Further randomized controlled trials with larger prospective patients are required to contribute to the literature.CVSPC placement causes high levels of anxiety in patients who have undergone multiple surgeries and/or interventions. Thus, some patients are apprehensive and request for general anesthesia. Therefore, sedoanalgesia support and CVSPC placement with USG and SCPB can provide better comfort for the patients and surgeon.USG use for venous intervention during CVSPC placement can reduce the rate of complications.USG use during venous intervention provides ease of fluoroscopy use during and after the procedure and helps in correct CVSPC placement.


N = 597; 18.99 ± 0.64 years) was conducted in a sample of university students from Ceuta, Melilla, and Granada (Spain). Religious beliefs and place of residence were directly reported, while physical activity and adherence to the MD were self-reported using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) and the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) respectively. Self-concept was evaluated using the Five-Factor Self-Concept Scale; (3) Results: Of those students reporting high levels of habitual physical activity, 82.3% also reported high adherence to the MD, with 17.7% reporting a medium adherence. Of students reporting no physical activity, 25.7% also reported medium adherence to the MD. No significant associations were found between the MD and religious beliefs. It was observed that the university campus was associated with the level of adherence to the MD (p = 0.030), with adherence being lowest in Ceuta and Melilla. Finally, the MD was associated with academic (p = 0.001) and physical self-concept (p = 0.005); 4) Conclusions: The MD should be promoted to university students, particularly those studying at Ceuta and Melilla, given the present findings of lower MD adherence. In addition, as higher MD adherence was also highlighted with more positive self-concept, its promotion would be beneficial in wider educational contexts.(1) Background: The aim of this study was to assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) and to examine the relationship between MD adherence, physical activity, self-concept, and other sociodemographic factors; (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study ( Considerable research has addressed the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet (MD) on life expectancy and quality of life , since iThe composition of the MD is based on the consumption of food cultivated around the Mediterranean Sea, which contain a high amount of natural antioxidants. It is characterized by a high intake of olive oil, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, with also a moderate consumption of fish, eggs, and dairy products. Red and processed meats, saturated fats, and alcoholic drinks are consumed in low amounts ,11,12. FThe benefits of adhering to a MD have been studied for young people living in Mediterranean areas are shown in countries, such as Italy ,14, TurkArnet describes university students as being in an “emerging adulthood stage  during wDiet is one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle, and it is sometimes characterised in university students by a lack of meals and essential foods, and by the intake of large amounts of sugar, alcohol, and saturated fats . These fSelf-concept is defined as the collection of beliefs about oneself and is also associated with health behaviours . For insStudents’ religious beliefs might also have an influence, since the Mediterranean Sea is surrounded by countries that are traditionally Catholic and Islamic . The IslAlthough the MD has been studied in relation to physical activity and healthy lifestyles, research in relation to self-concept, place of residence ,39, and The present study will address the following research question and associated hypotheses: Is adherence to the MD related to religion, place of residence, physical activity, and self-concept of university students from different parts of Spain?Hypothesis 1 (H1).The university students from Ceuta and Melilla will present a lower adherence to the MD. In addition, those who do not live in a shared flat and report Christian beliefs will follow a better-quality diet.Hypothesis 2 (H2).University students reporting higher levels of physical activity will also report greater adherence to the MD.Hypothesis 3 (H3).Higher adherence to the MD will be associated with more positive self-concept both overall and for all its associated dimensions.The main aims of the present study are: (a) To assess adherence to the MD within a population of students from Ceuta, Melilla, and Granada (Spain); and (b) to examine the relationship between adherence to the MD, physical activity, self-concept, religion, and place of residence.n = 103); Ceuta (n = 138); and Melilla (n = 356).The present research reports a cross-sectional study with a sample of 636 university students aged between 18 and 20 (18.99 ± 0.64 years) enrolled in education or health-related degree programmes in Granada, Ceuta, and Melilla (Spain). Of these, 39 participants did not meet the inclusion criteria  and so could not be included. The final sampled, therefore, consisted of 597 participants : Granada   was usedTo estimate physical activity levels, the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) was used, which has been previously validated by Kowalski et al.  and adapSelf-concept was assessed using the Five-Factor Self-Concept Questionnaire (AF-5) . The AF-Socioeconomic factors were directly reported by participants using a self-registration sheet. Participants reported their gender, age, religious belief , and place of residence .Eligible participants were provided a detailed explanation of the aims and implications of the research. Those who decided to participate then provided written informed consent. Participants were instructed on how to fill out the questionnaires. All tests were conducted during a non-teaching lesson at the student’s university. No incentives were provided for participation. A research assistant attended all data collection sessions to provide guidance on the completion of questionnaires. Ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were adhered to and ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the University of Granada.® version 24.0  for Windows. Means for all quantitative variables (self-concept) are reported alongside the standard deviation. Averages and percentages are presented for all qualitative variables . Normality of the data was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with Lilliefors correction, and homoscedasticity was assessed using the Levene test. The association between variables was determined using chi-square analysis and ANOVA. The level of significance was set at 0.05.Data were analysed using SPSSn = 103) were attending the university campus in Granada, 23.1% (n = 138) were attending in Ceuta, and 59.6% (n = 356) were attending in Melilla.As shown in p = 0.014). Students who reported practicing physical activity were more likely to report a high adherence to the MD (82.3% of the active participants), while only 73.3% of participants who reported not engaging in physical activity reported a high adherence to the MD.As shown in p = 0.001), which was more positive in students with high MD adherence (M = 3.67) relative to those reporting only a medium adherence (M = 3.45). The same tendency was observed with regards to physical self-concept (p = 0.005), with higher scores reported by students with high MD adherence (M = 3.39) compared with those who had a medium adherence (M = 3.16). No differences were found with regards to social, emotional, and family self-concept (p ≥ 0.050).As shown in p ≥ 0.050) were found in the associations between MD, religious belief, and place of residence (p = 0.030). The percentage of students who had a high adherence was 90.2% in Granada, 74.7% in Ceuta, and 72.5% in Melilla. Medium adherence was reported by 10.7% in Granada, 23.9% in Ceuta, and 26.7% in Melilla.Finally, no significant differences , making it likely these participants were still highly influenced by their family with regards to their eating behavior, a suggestion supported by previous research conducted by San Mauro et al. . On the More participants in the present study were attending the campus in Melilla than Ceuta or Granada. At this particular campus, all of the degrees pertained to the fields of social sciences or health. While the campus of Granada is the biggest of the three, it also has the greatest variety of available courses. The present study chose to focus on students studying courses previously identified by Rodrigo et al.  as beingFindings relating to the practice of physical activity are similar to those obtained in other studies, which have shown physical activity engagement to decrease upon reaching adulthood and starting university. This may at least be partly caused by the change in social tendencies and the development of habits leading to weight gain, stress, and anxiety ,47,48. TAssociations were established between adherence to the MD and the practice of physical activity, with the conclusion that those who exercise regularly have better nutritional levels. Students with low adherence to the MD tended also to not engage in physical activity, whilst those typically adhering to a MD diet also show higher levels of physical activity ,51,52. OIn the present study, academic self-concept was higher in students who reported high adherence to the MD than in those who reported low adherence. This suggests that diet influences academic achievement, as has been suggested by Unal et al.  who discContrary to research suggesting an increase in the amount of people who do not practise any religion in Spain , CatholiIn the present study, religious and cultural tendencies were not associated with diet, which is contrary to previous findings reported by Navarro-Prado et al.  suggestiHigher MD adherence was reported by participants studying at the campus in Granada than the other two included campuses. As this city is inside the Peninsula, it has an enhanced supply of good quality food in comparison to those cities outside of the Peninsula. This, alongside the previously mentioned culture of Arabian food in Ceuta and Melilla, , can helThe present study also has a number of limitations. The cross-sectional design prevents any conclusions pertaining to causality from being made. This type of study provides preliminary evidence, which should now be followed by longitudinal research. Other limitations relate to the scales used. For instance, errors caused by poor comprehension of the KIDMED test and the self-report questionnaire were identified, though evidence suggests that such errors should not impede their application ,60. FinaIn consideration of the limitations and findings of the present study, the following suggestions are made for future research. Future studies should seek to apply the present self-report instruments to more areas of knowledge and within samples of adults. Moreover, the PREDIMED and GPAQ questionnaires may be more appropriately used to measure adherence to the MD and physical activity behaviour in future research as they have been validated amongst young adults. Finally, an intervention using nutritional talks and practical activity should be developed to improve the level of adherence to the MD of university students, particularly in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. This should also include periodic measurement of psychosocial factors and health indices to ascertain relationships with adherence to the MD.Hypothesis 1 (H1) was partially supported as university students from Ceuta and Melilla reported a lower adherence to the MD. However, statistically significant differences were not found according to the place of residence and religious belief;Hypothesis 2 (H2) was completely supported. The results showed the practice of physical activity to be associated with a higher adherence to the MD; andHypothesis 3 (H3) was partially supported, since adherence to the MD was only associated with the physical and academic dimensions of self-concept.Adherence to the MD was related to certain socioeconomic factors, such as the university campus attended, the practice of physical activity, and some dimensions of self-concept. The following conclusions can, therefore, be made regarding the study hypotheses:The main conclusions established from the present study were that participating students at the three included campuses typically reported moderate levels of MD adherence, with adherence being higher amongst students at the Granada campus. No relationships were identified between MD and the place of residence or religious belief, while physical activity was positively associated with MD adherence. Finally, adherence to the MD was positively associated with the physical and academic self-concept. Given the relationships observed, the MD should be promoted in university students, with a view to improving psychosocial factors. The lower quality of diet prevalent at the campuses of Ceuta and Melilla highlights these areas as important contexts for intervention. A main strength of the present analysis of the MD in a population with particular social and cultural characteristics is the highlighting of relevant social factors, such as religion, and psychological factors of well-being, such as self-concept. Future research should now build on this to replicate the present study within other populations of relevance, such as children or adolescents, and to include other key factors for health, such as overweight or substance consumption.


These results indicate that anthropogenic factors have greatly affected the levels of soil PAHs in China. This study improves our understanding on the status and sources of soil PAH contamination in China, thereby facilitating the implementation of strategies of prevention, control, and remediation of soils.Soil polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution is a major concern due to its negative impact on soil quality around the world. In China, accurate data on soil PAHs and information on the relationship with anthropogenic activities are limited. In this study, about 30,800 samples from 1833 soil sample sites were reviewed from 306 published reports to build a soil PAHs database. Based on the data obtained, the results demonstrated that 24.11% of surface soils in China are heavily contaminated. Meanwhile, the concentration of soil PAHs varied, in the order of independent mining and industrial areas (IMIA) > urban areas > suburban areas > rural areas, and the spatial distribution in China demonstrated a descending trend from north to south. Moreover, the characteristic ratio and PCA-MLR  analysis demonstrated that coal combustion and vehicular exhaust emissions were the main sources of soil PAH pollution in China. On the other hand, provincial total Σ Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of persistent organic contaminants that are widely present in the environment. Some PAHs originate from natural sources, including volcanic eruptions and forest fires, among others. They also originate from emissions closely related to anthropogenic activities , such asSoil contamination with PAHs has been one of the most important environmental problems worldwide and requires an urgent solution ,14,15. A16PAH concentration was in urban soils, followed by rural areas and background soils. Applying the Maliszewska–Kordybach classification criteria  were artificially removed [The box-shaped distribution diagram of soil PAH concentrations was plotted by Sigmaplot13.0, and consideration of soil utilization methods was used . A totalordybach  soil Σ16 removed . These o removed . Howeverhttp://www.eia.org.cn). Information regarding the industrial land area in different provinces in 2017 was collected from the summary and analysis report of the Chinese urban land utilization data and national industrial land great survey data [2).Data on the amounts of energy reserves  in the Chinese provincial administrative areas and the production and consumption of coal and petroleum in 1997–2016 were obtained from the public service platform of Chinese energy data in 2016 (energy information association)  of PAH concentrations were calculated with the following equation:iN is the number of sampling points at sample site i, iB is the determined concentration of PAHs at sample site i obtained from 306 peer-reviewed articles, and n is the number of sample sites:iw (x) is the interpolation weight function. For an interpolated value, µ, at a given point, x, based on samples iµ = µ (ix), for i = 1, 2, …, N is the number of known points, ix, using the interpolation; d is the distance from point ix to x; and r is the weight coefficient:mA is the total Σ16PAHs in the surface soil of province m, µ(x) is the sample-number-weighted mean of the PAH concentration by applying the inverse distance weighing (IDW) method, and 16PAHs in surface soil) were calculated.The sample point numbers in each sample site were used as the weights when mapping the spatial distribution of PAHs in China. The sample-number-weighted means , with a relatively large regional variation. The highest PAH concentration was found in the Liaohe oil field [16PAHs quality standards provided by the Maliszewska–Kordybach classification criteria, 70.65% of soils in China tested in this study displayed PAH values above the standard rate, mainly at the level of weak contamination. Specific data were 33.39%, 13.15%, and 24.11% corresponding to weak, moderate, and heavy contamination, respectively. In addition, the non-contamination proportion was only 29.35%. Considering the arithmetic mean of the PAH content in the surface soils of the 1833 sampling sites included in the present investigation, the following descending order was observed: IMIA > urban area > suburban area > rural area, corresponding to concentrations of 8800.70 > 1479.97 > 523.34 > 293.95 µg/kg, respectively  , Xinjiang , and Heilongjiang .The spatial distribution of provincial total ΣAnalyst) b. The reAccording to previous reports ,72, a FlHowever, when using the characteristic ratio method to judge the source of soil PAHs, significant differences were found between the three special provinces of Heilongjiang, Shanghai, and Shanxi . For HeiBecause of the simple use of the ratio method, deviation may exist, so the simultaneous PCA-MLR was used to properly identify PAH sources for further judgment. The results of the variance contribution rate (%) were obtained by using principal component analysis of soil PAHs for urban, suburban, and rural areas and IMIA. Then, the regression analysis of the above factor analysis results was performed to reflect the contribution of each major source (contribution of PAHs sources (%)) by using the linear regression method model. The results of the contributions of different pollution sources show that coal combustion (65.639%), automobile exhaust emissions (17.747%), and biomass (16.614%) are the main sources in urban soil. For suburban soil, coal combustion and automobile exhaust emissions accounted for 76.831% and 23.169%, respectively. The sources of PAHs in rural soil are mainly from coal combustion, with a contribution rate of 91.002%, followed by biomass, accounting for 8.998%, and the sources of PAHs in IMIA areas are mainly coal and petroleum combustion, and the contribution of petroleum combustion sources was as high as 34.157%. This confirms this activity as the main energy structure in China. In addition, vehicular exhaust emission was also an important contribution to this type of pollution in China. It has been reported that with increasing living standards, the number of residential vehicles has also exceeded 100 million in 2012 and reached 209.6 million in 2017  were prePAHs concentrations in surface soils in IMIA and urban areas in China were far higher than those observed in suburban and rural areas. The spatial interpolation results a showed http://www.eia.org.cn/), the highest base reserves of the three main sources of energy  in different areas of China in 2016 were Xinjiang , Sichuan (1319.161 billion cubic meters), and Shanxi (91.619 billion tons). Results from the Pearson correlation analysis indicated that concentrations of LMW PAHs in soils were positively correlated with petroleum reserves . In addition, the content of HMW PAHs was positively correlated with gas reserves , coal reserves , coal production , and total crude oil and coal production and consumption  , Xinjiang (the main concentration of petroleum and gas reserves in China), and Heilongjiang . The provincial total Σ16PAHs in surface soil was positively correlated with petroleum reserves , gas reserves , coal reserves , coal production , as well as total crude oil and coal production and consumption . These results further confirmed that PAH pollution in these areas is caused by natural sources and anthropogenic factors, such as coal combustion and petroleum.According to the information obtained from the public service platform of China’s energy data (energy information association) ( < 0.01) . Usually2) was calculated. In addition, a correlation analysis between the provincial total Σ16PAHs in surface soil and per square kilometer GDP of industrial land was conducted . The per square kilometer GDP of industrial land and provincial total Σ16PAHs in the surface soil of Beijing, Tibet, Ningxia, Shanghai, and Tianjin were lower than those in other provinces in China. However, the values of these two indicators were found to be relatively high in the 10 provinces of China, such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Shanxi, etc. The differences between the per square kilometer GDP of industrial land and provincial total Σ16PAHs in the surface soil of Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces were small, showing a concentrated distribution; these five provinces mainly fall in southwestern and southern China. In addition, an aggregated distribution was observed in those eight provinces , which were located in central and eastern China. The lowest provincial total Σ16PAHs in surface soil was located in Shanghai, and the highest was found in Inner Mongolia. A descending trend for provincial total Σ16PAHs in the surface soil of the three provinces in northeast China was obtained as follows: Heilongjiang  > Jilin  > Liaoning . This may be a result of the petroleum exploitation activities in the Daqing oil field in the Heilongjiang province.Based on China’s industrial land survey data  and the onducted . The res16PAH concentration in rural areas was far lower than those identified in other zones, the representative phenanthrene (Phe) fraction still displayed higher values than those observed in suburban and urban sites. As we know that Phe is always generated through the incomplete combustion of straw and wood in rural areas, the result might be greatly related to the input of PAHs in rural areas [Most of the previous research reporting soil contamination with PAHs in China has focused on small areas. In this work, we collected data from a great number of references, which were evaluated by applying the Maliszewska–Kordybach classification criteria. Results indicated that from the total collected data, 70.65% surpassed the standard rates, with 33.39%, 13.15%, and 24.11% corresponding to weak, moderate, and heavy contamination, respectively. Our weak contamination ratio results were similar to those obtained by Cai et al. (34%)  and Dengal areas ,86,87.Dominant industries in IMIA are the long-term exploitation and processing of mineral resources, such as petroleum and coal. There are many petroleum-processing companies, electric power plants, and steel and iron plants in suburban areas, whereas the urban area displayed a high development level, a large traffic flow, and advanced traffic networks. These conditions favor the input, accumulation, and distribution of PAHs in surface soils in China.In general, compared with other regions of the world, the concentration of PAHs in soils in China was present at a moderate level . The ave16PAHs in surface soil, and those in the middle, south, and southeast areas were relatively lower. The results were similar to those issued by Cao et al. [In this study, the spatial distribution in China displayed a descending trend from north to south both for the PAH concentrations and provincial total Σo et al.  and Zhano et al. , who deto et al. . This miIn this work, the PAH contamination concentration data of soil samples were collected using the bibliometrics method . The lan16PAHs in Chinese lake sediments has rapidly increased since the 1980s, which is highly related to the rapidly increasing social economic development level and the total energy consumption. This study demonstrated a positive correlation between the provincial total Σ16PAHs in surface soil and the per square kilometer GDP of industrial land (R2 = 0.6031) (16PAHs in surface soil and the per capita GDP index levels were negatively correlated (R2 = 0.7159)  . It was  0.6031) . It was  0.7159) .16PAHs in surface soils and the total production and consumption of crude oil and coal    , six pro97–2016) .u)) and was used as the spatial interpolation.First, the uneven spatial distribution of the collected sampling sites and differences in sampling methods in the collected references may affect the consistency of the PAH concentration. Statistical references from northeast to southwest regions with a large span from north to south  were involved in the study. Soils in northern China included many more sampling sites, whereas the center and southern regions contained few sampling sites. Thus, places with more soil samples might have a greater contribution to the PAH concentrations at a national scale. Then, a sample number was taken as the weight to calculate the PAH sampling site concentration   . This coThird, the migration, transformation, and accumulation processes of PAHs in the entire environmental system are relatively complicated. China covers a large territory with complex soil types, so the geographical positions, terrains, climatic, light, and humidity conditions in different regions were significantly different ,111,112.16PAHs in surface soil. Until now, systematic and large-scale studies on PAH contamination in surface soil have been scarce. In addition, the current soil environmental quality standards do not consider PAHs as a parameter. Thus, comprehensive monitoring of PAHs in soils should be periodically conducted in the future to confirm the temporal and spatial characteristics and mechanism of PAH pollution. Also, it is necessary to set up environmental standards for PAHs in soils and provide scientific evidence that can help in contamination management and the formulation of proper policies.In this work, the spatial occurrence level and distribution of soil PAHs in China were evaluated. In addition, the relationship between the PAH levels in soils and anthropogenic activities was investigated. Our results showed that the concentration of PAHs in surface soils in China presented a descending gradient in the order of IMIA > urban area > suburban area > rural area. The PAH concentration in northern China was far higher than in the south. The source analysis of soil PAHs demonstrated that the main causes of PAHs are coal combustion and vehicular exhaust emissions. Besides, the per square kilometer GDP of industrial land, the per capita GDP, and the exploitation and use of coal and petroleum are closely related to the provincial total Σ


In the present study we investigated the interaction of GABRA6 rs3219151 and CNR1 rs7766029 in interaction with different types of recent life events on the presence of depression and anxiety in a large general population sample. 2191 participants completed the List of Threatening Experiences questionnaire which covers four categories of stressful life events  experienced over the previous year and the Brief Symptom Inventory for depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants were genotyped for rs3219151 and rs7766029. Data were analyzed with linear regression models with age and gender as covariates. Results indicated that CNR1 rs7766029 interacted significantly with financial but not other types of life events both in case of depression and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, GABRA6 rs3219151 showed a significant interaction with social network related life events in case of anxiety and with illness/personal problem-related life events in case of depression. Our results suggest that the psychological impact of different types of recent stress may be differentially modulated by distinct molecular genetic pathways. Furthermore, in case of certain genetic variants, the occurring psychiatric symptom may depend on the type of stress experienced.Environmental stress and its interaction with genetic variation are key contributors in the development of depression and anxiety, yet there is a failure to identify replicable genetic variants and gene-interaction effects in the background of these psychiatric symptoms. Recently it has been reported that  The study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and it was approved both by the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the Medical Research Council, Budapest, Hungary, and by the North Manchester Local Research Ethics Committee, Manchester, United Kingdom.n = 902 in Budapest, and n = 1291 in Manchester) were successfully genotyped for CNR1 rs7766029, and n = 2206  for GABRA6 rs3219151.Among these participants, 2193 (The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) was used to measure current levels of anxiety and depression experienced within the past 7 days . Each deFour different types of recent stress were measured by the List of Threatening Experiences , summing1San Diego, CA, United States) with the IplexTM assay. All laboratory work, carried out under the ISO 9001:2000 quality management requirements, was blinded regarding phenotypes.Participants provided buccal mucosa cells collected by a cytology brush . Genomic DNA was extracted according to the protocol of IBM SPSS Statistics 21 was used to calculate descriptive statistics on the variables and their comparisons between the Budapest and Manchester subsamples, in addition, to run univariate general linear models for visualization purposes.2 was used to calculate Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and minor allele frequency (MAF), and to build additive linear regression models on BSI anxiety and depression scores as primary and secondary analyses, and on each RLE subscale to test gene-environment correlation. Analyses were supported by scripts individually written in R 3.0.2 , with the aim of correction for multiple testing. To estimate the proportion of true null hypotheses, tuning parameter lambda was set to be from 0 to 0.99 by 0.05, and a bootstrap method was used for automatically choosing lambda. In case of the primary tests, we consider results with a q-value ≤ 0.05 as significant.LUE v1.0  to calcup-value ≤ 0.05 as significant, and a p-value ≤ 0.10 as trend.In case of secondary tests and all descriptive statistics, we consider a 3 was used. Type I error rate was set to 0.05, and we assumed an RGE2 = 0.5% for the GxE term, an RG2 = 0% for the G term, and RE2 values, based on Pearson correlations and coefficients of determination (n = 2269), as the following. On BSI anxiety score, RLE-relationship has an RE2 of 0.0146, RLE-financial has an RE2 of 0.0562, RLE-illness/personal problems has an RE2 of 0.0324, and RLE-social has an insignificant RE2 of 0.0005. On BSI depression score, RLE-relationship has an RE2 of 0.0272, RLE-financial has an RE2 of 0.0655, RLE-illness/personal problems has an RE2 of 0.0396, and RLE-social has an insignificant RE2 of 0.0004. The MAF value of CNR1 rs7766029 was 0.4806, and that of GABRA6 rs3219151 was 0.4341 in the combined population.To evaluate statistical power of the primary tests, Quanto v1.2CNR1 rs7766029 genotype distribution.Mean values or frequencies of the investigated variables, and their differences between the Budapest and Manchester subsamples are displayed in CNR1 rs7766029 p-values were 0.967 in the combined sample, 0.337 in Budapest, and 0.402 in Manchester populations. For GABRA6 rs3219151, 0.115 in the combined, 0.090 in Budapest, and 0.536 in Manchester samples.Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium did not deviate from the expected in case of either SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms) in the combined sample or in any of the two subsamples. For GABRA6 rs3219151 is significantly related to RLE-illness/personal in Budapest, and CNR1 rs7766029 is significantly related to RLE-social in Manchester.Gene-environment correlation results, calculated in additive linear regression models, are displayed in CNR1 rs7766029 and RLE-financial is significant both on BSI anxiety score  altering the neural information processing of affective stimuli  is located on chromosome 6q14-15 and while the function of SNPs in the CNR1 gene and their effect on expression and activity has not yet been reported, they may decrease mRNA stability and thus contribute to reduced CB1 receptor expression  gene also interacted with financial difficulty in the development of depression in another study (Similarly to our present results, we previously reported that in a general population sample, in males but not in females, and in those above, but not under thirty years of age, that the pression ,b. Variaer study . In addier study . It has er study . This suThe GABA system plays an important role in acute stress reaction  while stDisrupted GABA signaling and GABA deficit is also hypothesized to play a role in the development of depression and anxiety , while G′ untranslated region in the GABRA6 gene encoding the alpha-6 subunit of the GABA-A receptor, and predicted to be in the target region of 4 microRNAs, has previously been demonstrated to play a significant role in modulating HPA-axis activity. Those carrying the T allele exhibited higher plasma cortisol levels both during resting conditions (GABRA6 rs3219151 T allele carriers (GABRA6 rs3219151 was not directly associated with either depression or anxiety, a strong effect was observed in interaction with recent life stress on both anxiety and depression (Rs3219151, located in the 3nditions  as well nditions , showingcarriers . In a repression .GABRA6 rs3219151 mediated the effects of different types of life events in the background of depression and anxiety. While in case of depression the effects of rs3219151 were observable in case of exposure to recent illness- and personal problem related life events, in case of anxiety rs3219151 only interacted with recent social-network related stressors. In both cases, just as in case of our previous study (In our present study we observed that us study , presencCNR1 rs7766029 support a distinct role of financial stress among different life events in the development of depression and anxiety symptoms possibly related to the prominent and pervasive impact of this type of stress. However, our findings concerning GABRA6 rs3219151 indicate that other types of stressors may also be selectively mediated by distinct genetic elements, suggesting that the effects of different types of hardships are mediated by distinct neurochemical pathways. Furthermore, in case of GABRA6 rs3219151 we also observed that different types of recent stressors contribute to the emergence of different types of psychopathology: depress ion in case of illness and personal concerns and anxiety in case of social network-related problems. A further interesting aspect of these results is that in case of anxiety, a crossover pattern was observed with the “risk” T allele associated with lower anxiety without stress exposure and a higher anxiety in those exposed to severe stress. This is in part similar to a previous finding of 5-HTTLPR in a population aged younger than 30 years, we similarly found a crossover pattern in interaction with recent social-network related stress, however, in that case the “risk” s allele of 5-HTTLPR was associated with decreased depression when exposed to severe stress (In line with our previous study of 5-HTTLPR , the pree stress . Thus, oThe divergent genetic interaction patterns of distinct types of recent stress in the background of depression and anxiety has not been widely investigated so far, although in case of childhood traumas the differential genetic interaction effects of different types of maltreatment is already well-known . Our preThere are several limitations of our present study. First of all, we would emphasize the exploratory nature of our analyses and urge replication of the results presented here in other cohorts. Second, our research is cross-sectional, thus it is possible that depressive symptoms developing with a greater latency following exposure or repeated exposure remained hidden. Third, recent life events occurring in the previous year were recorded retrospectively, and these, just as measures of depression and anxiety were based on self-report. Fourth, recall of negative life events is subject to recall bias, which is, on the one hand memory dependent, and on the other hand, state dependent, so it is possible that those less depressed recalled less, while those more depressed recalled more negative life events. Fifth, our study sample was a general population sample of volunteers, which contributes to a possibility of sampling bias with respect to depression. Sixth, we used two geographically different subsamples in our study, and ancestry was not assessed in the present study using molecular methods such as whole-genome SNP genotyping. Although to consider this we used population as a covariate in all our statistical analyses, there may exist subtle genetic differences both between the two subsamples and also within each sample due to population stratification which may lead to spurious effects. Finally, while our reported results were significant in the combined population, we could not replicate some of them separately in the two population subsamples.CNR1 and rs3219151 in GABRA6, mediate the effects of different types of recent stress in depression or anxiety. Interestingly, in case of GABRA6, the resulting psychological symptom may be the function of the type of stress experienced. Our findings thus show that stress is a heterogeneous phenomenon and different types of it may activate different neural pathways. Besides its possible clinical and pharmacological implications, our results suggest that the environmental context of psychiatric symptoms, disorders and relevant genes should be specified in a more detailed and multidimensional manner in order to be able to better predict, prevent and treat affective illnesses.In our study we demonstrated that genetic variation in two distinct neurochemical systems, namely, rs7766029 in the This study was carried out in accordance with the Declarations of Helsinki. All subjects gave written informed consent and the study protocol was approved both by the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the Medical Research Council, Budapest, Hungary, and the North Manchester Local Research Ethics Committee, Manchester, United Kingdom.XG, PP, IA, BD, GJ, and GB conceived and designed the study. XG, PP, NE, and GJ participated in recruiting and evaluating the study sample and collecting the DNA samples. NE, SS, ZG, and SK participated in managing and analyzing the data. XG, PP, NE, SS, ZG, SK, IA, BD, GJ, and GB participated in interpreting the data. XG and PP wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors revised subsequent versions of the manuscript, contributed to and approved the final version of the manuscript.BD variously performed consultancy, speaking engagements and research for P1vital, Autifony, and AstraZeneca; fees are paid to The University of Manchester; he has share options in P1vital. IA has received consultancy fees from Servier, Alkermes, Lundbeck/Otsuka, and Janssen, an honorarium for speaking from Lundbeck and grant support from Servier and AstraZeneca. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Elastic bouncing is a physio-mechanical model that can elucidate running behavior in different situations, including landing and takeoff patterns and the characteristics of the muscle-tendon units during stretch and recoil in running. An increase in running speed improves the body’s elastic mechanisms. Although some measures of elastic bouncing are usually carried out, a general description of the elastic mechanism has not been explored in running performance. This study aimed to compare elastic bouncing parameters between the higher- and lower-performing athletes in a 3000 m test.high; n = 19; age: 29 ± 5 years; mass: 72.9 ± 10 kg; stature: 177 ± 8 cm; 3000time: 656 ± 32 s) and the low-performance group . They performed three tests on different days: (i) 3000 m on a track; (ii) incremental running test; and (iii) a running biomechanical test on a treadmill at 13 different speeds from 8 to 20 km h−1. Performance was evaluated using the race time of the 3000 m test. The biomechanics variables included effective contact time (tce), aerial time (tae), positive work time (tpush), negative work time (tbreak), step frequency (fstep), and elastic system frequency (fsist), vertical displacement (Sv) in tce and tae (Sce and Sae), vertical force, and vertical stiffness were evaluated in a biomechanical submaximal test on treadmill.Thirty-eight endurance runners (men) were divided into two groups based on 3000 m performance: the high-performance group  and tce and fstep were lower (p < 0.05) in Phigh, with no differences between groups in tpush and tbreak.The The elastic bouncing was optimized in runners of the best performance level, demonstrating a better use of elastic components. Individual differences in locomotor performance depend on specific biomechanical patterns. In bouncing terrestrial gaits, the body is idealized as a spring-mass composition thereby acting as a simple elastic system. The elastic mechanism is a well-recognized trait of human running to minimize the energy expenditure. It is known that animals, such as kangaroos  and ostrBCoM), namely tpush , and tbrake , respectively , when the vertical force (vF) is higher than body weight is approximately equal to that of the upper part during the effective aerial time (tae), when the vertical force on the ground is less than the body weight. Elastic bounce model is dependent on time and spatial variables. In an ideal body’s elastic bounce, the tpush equals tbrake,(symmetric landing-takeoff) and the rebound is asymmetric resulting in a tae higher than the tce due to needed to equilibrate the vertical momentum , and the tce is identical to tae (symmetric rebound). In a symmetric elastic system, tce is identical to tae. At high speeds, the duration of the upper part of the oscillation is higher than that of the lower part, i.e., tae < tce. This phenomenon is called an asymmetric rebound (The elastic function of muscle-tendon units during distance running is determined by two main asymmetries: the landing-takeoff asymmetry and the asymmetry of rebound . The forvely see . The latmomentum . These o rebound . These aBCoM (Sv) taking place at ground contact increases markedly with running speed due almost exclusively to vertical displacement during the aerial phase  and the step frequency (fstep) at different speeds , which may reflect the optimization of elastic bouncing . Therefore, trained distance runners were divided in two groups according to their performance, and analyzed for the main mechanical parameters and landing-takeoff asymmetries of spring-mass model. We hypothesized that the elastic bouncing parameters should be more optimized in the faster runners group, i.e., that faster distance runners would have a more asymmetric tae/tce relation, higher Fv, kvert, and fsist than slower runners.Additionally, the analysis of the ground reaction forces (GRF) improves the understanding of long-distance running performance. In elite athletes, the average peak force is correlated with performance and running economy (RE). In other research evaluating female runners, more substantial decreases in VOzontally . On the zontally . The sumzontally . The vern = 19 in each group), separated by the median performance in the 3000 m test, the high-performance group (Phigh) with time 682 ± 56 s and average speed 16.5 ± 0.9 km.h−1 and the low- performance group (Plow) with time 765 ± 45 s and average speed 14.9 ± 1.0 km.h−1. All runners were trained by professional coaches. The trained only distance running without cross-training programs . The runners trained commonly on overground/outdoor environment, and, however, they were habituated to run on treadmills. The runners were classified as level 3 (trained) for Plow and level 4 (highly trained) for Phigh in accordance with the guidelines proposed by The experiments were conducted on 38 men runners . InclusiVO2) and carbon dioxide were continuously measured using a telemetric portable gas analyzer  attached to a computer, and the heart rate was measured using a cardiac monitor . On the second day, the 3000 m performance test was carried out in a outdoor athletic track . On the third day, the athletes performed the biomechanical submaximal running on a treadmill instrumented with force sensors at different speeds. To calculate the spring-mass-model components, Cavagna’s methods were utilized  and the kinetic data were recorded during the final 20 s of the each trial. The interval between each test was at least 2 min or until the athlete achieved full recovery on the Total Quality Recovery scale  of the BCoM were obtained as follows.An instrumented treadmill  with four three dimensional load cell was used for data collection. The sensor had a low-pass and second-order filter with a cut-off frequency of 30 Hz. The data was collected with at 1000 Hz per canal with Instor software  and a custom LabVIEW system , and the signal was proportional to the total force collected by sensors in a vertical direction. We used the vertical component of the GRF because the spring-mass model idealized for human running  applies tbrake, and tpush (see the cm (t)/dt signals were below (for tbrake), and above (for tpush) of zero. The time interval where the dEcm (t)/dt signal ≈ zero was considered the aerial time , and an upper part, which occurred when the vertical force was smaller than body weight  and during the aerial time (ta and Sa). The measurement procedure and physical meaning of the Sv fractions have been described previously (L) was calculated by multiplying the duration of the step by the average forward velocity  are at a maximum, the derivative is nil, va = 0, and as a consequence Fv = body weight. The locations of the Ekv peaks attained during the step were therefore used to determine the instants where the vertical force equaled the body weight  and Sv in the range corresponding to the amplitude of the oscillation of the spring-mass system, i.e., from its equilibrium position (va = 0) to its maximal deformation va,mx;  = (k/Mb)0.5/(2π).The mass-specific vertical stiffness, n av,mx; . The maspost hoc tests were used to find statistical differences. Initially, intra-subject variability was tested to determine candidate random variables due to the hierarchical nature in GLMM . All descriptive statistics presented in the text, tables and figures are mean values ± SD. The level of significance was α = 0.05. Generalized linear analysis models (GLMM) were used and Bonferroni  in GLMM . The con in GLMM . All ind2peak, and VO2peak were higher in the Phigh.tpush, tbrake durations for Phigh and Plow. It was observed that ta was higher for Phigh ; however, in tc there was no difference between groups , while in tce was lower  and tae was grater  in Phigh. The tpush and tbrake showed no differences between groups .kvert and the Fv are shown in the Fv and Sce, and it is possible to observe their relationship. The results show that kvert  and Fv  were greater in Phigh.The fsist and fstep are shown in fsist was higher in Phigh,  and fstep was higher in Plow . With increasing speed, the fsist  and fstep  increased in both groups, the difference between the two frequencies fsist and fstep was lower in the Phigh group.The Sv components divided into Sa, Sc, Sae, and Sce. The Sa , Sae , Sc , Sce , Sv  and L  were higher in Phigh than Plow. With increasing speed, Sv was reduced  and L  progressively increased in both groups.high group, demonstrating that the tce/tae parameters are sensitive to detecting differences in the performance of athletes.We compared the elastic bouncing parameters in athletes with different running performances and investigated the possible mechanical adaptations for better runners. Our hypothesis was confirmed since crucial variables of the spring-mass model were significantly better for the Ptce/tae is more sensitive to represent the elastic mechanism than the traditional tc/ta asymmetry, and allows one more application of the parameters of the mass-spring system in performance athletes. When analyzing only the tc, there was no difference between groups, but when analyzing tce, it was lowest for Phigh, while tae was highest, showing a more effective force application in the ground with a greater L  in Phigh than Plow are consistent with the stiffer tendon structures in the knee extensors and more compliant ones in the plantar flexors in better long distance runners  but also including key asymmetries of spring-mass model related to the asymmetry of rebound (tce/tae) and landing-takeoff asymmetry (tpush/tbrake).The stiffness is the ratio of he Phigh , corrobosumption . Interesformance . Neverthnchanged . Given tkvert and diminished leg stiffness  which means that the system was in greater vertical oscillation and greater L. The amplitude of the vertical oscillation is indeed reduced in old subjects, resulting in an approximately 20% smaller elastic recovery and a greater fstep  than in overground (approximately 210 ms at 20 km h−1, The main limitations of the study are related to biomechanical differences between run on treadmill versus overground, limb dominancy symmetry and size effects. There are systematic differences found in studies using force platforms on the ground versus force sensors instrumented in treadmills. For example, the tae is consistently lower in treadmill (170 ms at 20 km hThis study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of UFRGS Committee with written informed consent from all subjects. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the UFRGS Committee.LP-T and RdR conceived of the study and designed the experiments. LP-T obtained the funding. RdR, HO, NG, MM, EdS, AZ, AdC, PS, and LP-T carried out the analysis, interpreted the statistical results, and drafted the manuscript. RdR, HO, NG, MM, EdS, AZ, AdC, and PS collected the data. All authors contributed to the manuscript writing, read, and approved the final manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The interest in utilizing algae for wastewater treatment has been increased due to many advantages. Algae-wastewater treatment system offers a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional treatment processes such as electrocoagulation and flocculation. In this biosystem, algae can assimilate nutrients in the wastewater for their growth and simultaneously capture the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis resulting in a decrease in the greenhouse gaseousness. Furthermore, the algal biomass obtained from the treatment process could be further converted to produce high value-added products. However, the recovery of free suspended algae from the treated effluent is one of the most important challenges during the treatment process as the current methods such as centrifugation and filtration are faced with the high cost. Immobilization of algae is a suitable approach to overcome the harvesting issue. However, there are some drawbacks with the common immobilization carriers such as alginate and polyacrylamide related to low stability and toxicity, respectively. Hence, it is necessary to apply a new carrier without the mentioned problems. One of the carriers that can be a suitable candidate for the immobilization is zeolite. To date, various types of zeolite have been used for the immobilization of cells of bacteria and yeast. If there is any possibility to apply them for the immobilization of algae, it needs to be considered in further studies. This article reviews cell immobilization technique, biomass immobilization onto zeolites, and algal immobilization with their applications. Furthermore, the potential application of zeolite as an ideal carrier for algal immobilization has been discussed. Water is the basic element of life on earth. The demand for water in the entire world is growing fast for the domestic, agricultural, and industrial activities. However, the availability and quality of water resources face severe threats due to the industrialization and rapid economic development producing a huge amount of wastewater. This wastewater contains organics, suspended solids, and hazardous materials such as heavy metals which are not biodegradable. These materials tend to accumulate in organisms and potentially cause severe contamination and diseases due to poor water management , 2. HencWastewater treatment consists of removing or decreasing a number of hazardous substances such as chemicals and biological pollutants . The selThe use of microalgae to treat wastewater is currently of global interest due to its advantages. On the one hand, microalgal cells have the ability to uptake nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and ammonium as well as heavy metals to reduce BOD in wastewater –10 and aThis article reviews the immobilization technique, biomass immobilization onto zeolites as special carriers, and algal immobilization. Furthermore, the potential application of zeolite as an ideal carrier for algal immobilization has been discussed.Immobilization is defined as a process of cell attachment and/or cell inclusion to or into a carrier volume as a support , 56. CelThe process of microorganism immobilization can be done by various mechanisms, including adsorption, covalent bonding, cross-linking, encapsulation, and entrapment in a matrix , 59–65. The immobilization process can be done in two operational modes: passive and active , 57. TheOne of the important parts in the immobilization process is selecting a suitable carrier. According to Vasilieva et al. 2016 and Das and Adholeya 2015, there are two types of carriers that can be used for cell immobilization: natural and synthetic , 13. The4 and AlO4 tetrahedra and they are connected via oxygen ions to form SBU. The SBU are then linked into a three-dimensional crystalline structure and form a honeycomb shape [4+ by Al3+, the charge of the framework is negative, which is balanced by monovalent or divalent cations located together with water [Zeolites are inorganic materials whose structures contain Primary and Secondary Building Units, PBU and SBU, respectively. PBU builds up from SiOmb shape , 68, 69.th water , 69. As th water , 69; henThere are three types of zeolite characterized as natural, modified, and synthetic. Up to now, over forty types of natural and one hundred types of synthetic or modified zeolite have been reported . Natural2 in zeolite structure is used to indicate the hydrophobicity of zeolite. A higher ratio of Si/Al2 indicates a higher degree of hydrophobicity and lower ion-exchange capacity [Zeolites have various applications in catalysis, agriculture, building industries, energy, and removal process of oil, ammonium, metal ions, etc. from water streams , 19–45. capacity . In addi Lactobacillus rhamnosus for immobilization onto zeolite and they reported that the bacterium produced EPS and formed a sticky layer on the surface of the microorganism; hence, it aided the immobilization process [Many advantages can be offered by zeolite-immobilized biomass. According to Weiß et al. 2010 and Milán et al. 2003, zeolites were used as a support for microorganism immobilization in anaerobic reactors resulting in stabilizing and optimizing process efficiency , 71. Als process .  Table  Lactobacillus rhamnosus immobilization and their results showed that the attachment of biomass on zeolite was strong and stable resulting in a continuous colonization during four cycles [ Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a bioreactor and reported that no breakage of the carrier during continuous alcohol fermentation for over 21 days was achieved [The zeolite-immobilized biomass can be used for the production of some metabolites such as acids , 49, 50 r cycles . In addiachieved . Also, Machieved .Escherichia coli), including carboxyl, hydroxyl, and phosphate groups, were probably the main binding sites in the biosorption process. It was also observed that the metal affinity to the biofilm pursued the arrangement of Fe(III) > Ni(II) > Cd(II) > Cr(VI). This preference may be described on the basis of metal ion electronegativity and cation/anion state [The main pollutant removal mechanisms by microorganisms include assimilation, biodegradation, and biosorption . Assimilon state . In addion state , 76.As suspended biofilm alone cannot be applied especially in the continuous treatment process and also zeolite, in turn, cannot retain all the metals, there is a need to evaluate the synergetic effect between biosorption ability of biomass and retention capacity of zeolite . To dateThe zeolite-immobilized biomass also can be applied in the removal of nonmetals such as phosphorus and ammonium from aqueous solutions. Various factors are interfering in the cell immobilization and adsorption capacity such as carrier particle size, surface charge, and surface modification , 79, 80.2), hydroxyl (—OH), carboxyl (—COOH), phosphoryl (—PO3O2), sulphydryl (—SH), etc. that are mostly responsible for metal ions biosorption [One of the most famous photosynthetic organisms that are capable of living and growing in many different environmental conditions is algae . Insteadsorption , 95, 98.sorption , 95. Thesorption , 95 wher Chlorella sp. immobilization within a polymeric carrier and found that the immobilized cells achieved a total lipid and chlorophyll content of 14.85% and 3.36%, respectively, which was higher than suspended ones [ Anabaena doliolum and Chlorella vulgaris and their results revealed that the agar-immobilized cells had a slow growth rate [ Chlorella vulgaris. They reported that microalgae cell walls consisted of various polysaccharides compatible with the support surface and also Chlorella cells surface has a negative surface charge (related to uronic acid and/or sulfate groups) that makes an electrostatic attraction to chitosan with the positive charge (resulting from primary amine groups) [ Chlorella sp. and their results showed that the immobilized cells had a robust morphology [Harvesting algal biomass from water streams, either culture medium or treated wastewater, is one of the most important challenges especially in a large-scale application. Harvesting methods such as mechanical, electrical, chemical, and biological techniques are not preferable due to the high assumption of chemicals and energy . Immobilded ones . In addided ones . The simwth rate . Furtherwth rate . Furtherwth rate . Eroglu  groups) . In the  groups) , 17, 95. groups) , 108 and groups)  have bee groups) , 110 has groups) , 111. Ak groups) . In addi groups) . Zeng etrphology .  Table rphology , 58, remrphology , 113, merphology , nonmetarphology , 125–131rphology .  Table 2-polycation) shell:  core hybrid system for use in an encapsulation of Dunaliella tertiolecta. They reported that high photosynthetic activity was achieved over a long time (more than one year). The system can be applied in harvesting high-value compounds, producing biofuel cells to photosynthetic solar cells for production of electricity, energy transformation, etc. [Immobilized algae can be applied to the production of valuable metabolites. Desmet et al. 2015 synthesized a robust  and, after that, the remaining nitrate uptake continued with the growth of algae using it for its cellular metabolism. Their results also showed the overall removal rate of 32 ± 3% for Chlorella-absent and 87 ± 4% for Chlorella-attached chitosan mats [ Chlorella sp. and entrapped the cells in a polymer carrier of sodium cellulose sulphate/poly-dimethyl-diallyl-ammonium chloride (NaCS-PDMDAAC) to make algal capsules for the removal of total nitrogen (T-N) and phosphate (PO43− -P) from artificial wastewater. Their results showed that high removal rate of 12.56 mg/g biomass per day for T-N and 10.24 mg/g biomass per day for PO43− - P was achieved at the end of the treatment process [Nutrient removal, including nitrate and phosphate, is another application of immobilized algae , 107. Er process . Chlorella sorokiniana for immobilization in loofa sponge as a biosorbent for the removal of Cr(III) from an aqueous solution. Their results showed a higher increase in uptake of chromium (17.79%) for the immobilized biomass than the suspended one [ Chlorella sorokiniana for immobilization on loofa sponge for the removal of nickel(II). They reached an increase in metal ion uptake with an increase in immobilized biomass concentration up to 2.5 g/L [ Chlorella sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. as biomass for the immobilization in sodium alginate beads to remove copper and zinc. The results of the biosorption capacity of Chlorella sp. of 33.4 and 28.5 mg/g were achieved after 6 hours for copper and zinc, respectively. They reported that metal ions affected the growth of algae at a concentration of 5 mg/L leading to significant diminishment in the cell count and contents of chlorophyll a and b for microalgae [Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in Ca-alginate), and they reported that an adsorption of metal ions was temperature independent [The amount of metal ion uptake in suspended and immobilized algal systems is different. On the one hand, the biosorption capacity of immobilized systems is higher than the suspended one and on the other hand, the number of repetitions in immobilized cells makes the researchers shift from the suspended to the immobilized one in the removal of metal ions , 124. Nanded one . Furthernded one , 124. Acnded one , 123. Innded one . Accordinded one , 124. Th 2.5 g/L . As a ma 2.5 g/L . Accordicroalgae , 111. Alcroalgae , 124 andcroalgae , 124 andependent . In caseependent , 111, anependent  models aependent  and pseuOne of the most significant drawbacks in algal immobilization is finding a suitable carrier. Natural carriers such as carrageenan and alginate have the problem of low stability  and synt


No significant additional outcome effects were found for behavioral- and learning-related outcomes. Cognitive training programs for preschoolers are significantly more effective for developmentally at-risk children (ADHD or low socio-economic status) than for children with typical development and without risks. Other significant moderators were: individual vs. group sessions and length of training. The number of sessions and computerized vs. non-computerized training were not significant moderators. This is the first demonstration of cognitive training for transfer effects among different executive processes. We discuss this result in relationship to the lower level of modularization of EFs in younger children.In the present meta-analysis, we examined the effect of cognitive training on the Executive Functions (EFs) of preschool children (age range: 3–6 years). We selected a final set of 32 studies from 27 papers with a total sample of 123 effect sizes. We found an overall effect of cognitive training for improving EF (Protocol Registration: PROSPERO (CRD42019124127). Available online at: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019124127. Executive Functions (EFs) are a set of top-down cognitive processes that underpin goal-directed behaviors , Inhibitory Control (IC), and Cognitive Flexibility (CF)  to Executive Functioning  or Stroop-like tasks .Some studies demonstrated that children at risk  may benefit particularly from EF programs, since improvement in EFs may lead to better academic performance , adaptive and problem behaviors ;we also wanted to investigate if such transfer effects would vary across:targeted population: (a) age of participants, (b) developmentally at-risk children vs. not-at-risk children.type of control group: (c) active vs. passivecharacteristics of the training: (d) computerized vs. not computerized; (e) individual vs. group; (f) number of sessions; (g) length in minutes.computerized when activities were carried out with the help of a computer, tablet, robot, or virtual reality and not computerized when they were conducted in a classical manner, that included paper and pencil tasks and/or activities involving the children's bodies. All interventions utilized game-like activities aimed at improving one or more EF skills by practicing tasks involving a precursor of EFs, such as attention, or one or more executive processes.We categorized the cognitive interventions based on the characteristics of the training and on the EF it targeted. Specifically, we categorized the training as group interventions when it was based on the presence of small groups of peers during the activities, and individual interventions, when based only on trainer-child interactions. To differentiate near- and far-transfer effects we categorized each outcome measure according to which major executive process it assessed, based on the preschool EFs assessment literature  as measures of cognitive flexibility. We classified tests that required the children to order events mentally in advance  EFs. This definition of far-transfer is consistent with Thorndike and Woodworth's  common eIn accordance with the PRISMA statement , in addition to relevant systematic reviews, were checked to find other eligible studies. Full texts of the identified papers were reviewed by the first and second author and we solved disagreements through discussion with the fourth author. Also in this phase, the agreement rate between the two raters was high (95%). Finally, as shown in the flow chart, we identified 27 articles (32 studies) with 123 contrasts that were eligible for the present meta-analytic review. Details concerning the method of literature search and criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies are shown in After excluding duplicates, 6,573 records remained. The first and second authors independently screened all of them, based on title and abstract and according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The agreement rate in this phase was 98%. As a secondary search, the references of the selected studies  control group;at least one of the EF measures was an objective neurocognitive measure;at least 8 participants per condition;at least 10 sessions;paper written in English, Italian or Spanish.Ethnologue Language of the World data; Lewis, Firstly, we excluded all the studies where participants were not 3–6 years old. In doing so, we strictly considered the age criterion (3–6 years old children), disregarding grade attendance since preschool attendance years vary across countries and we could have potential review papers from about 63 different countries  into a single outcome see  to avoidFinally, we accepted measures of problem behaviors and social-emotional aspects collected through teacher and parent reports, but only if studies also reported at least one neurocognitive EFs measure.During the coding phase, the first and second author coded each record according to a predefined coding schema, collecting information about bibliographic information , sample characteristics , characteristics of the cognitive training , its duration in term of number of sessions and total duration in minutes, type of control group involved , the kind of outcome measure , and additional outcome measures , the near and far transfer measures.For the studies reporting more than one intervention or control condition that met our inclusion criteria, we included more contrasts. If there were two or more eligible cognitive training programs, these were both included as compared with the control group , suggesting that differences in sample size are not an important source of the heterogeneity of the results.Next, we compared the effect sizes of published and unpublished studies, as higher effects for published studies might be an important indication of publication bias. We were able to locate only two unpublished studies, with a total of five different outcomes. No evidence of publication bias emerged. On the contrary, the size of the effect was almost three times bigger for the two unpublished studies than for the published studies: for the unpublished studies the effect was g = 0.949, SE = 0.220, 95% CI =  and for the published studies the effect was g = 0.345, SE = 0.059, 95% CI = . We, therefore, excluded the two unpublished studies from the analyses reported in the manuscript as a conservative strategy to avoid the risk of inflated estimations of the effects. We conducted parallel analyses, including data from the two unpublished studies. These analyses revealed very similar patterns of results and are presented in he study . Moreovet(122) = 7.408, p < 0.001, 95% CI = . The test for heterogeneity revealed significant variation between effect sizes, Q(122) = 172.340, p < 0.001. The log-likelihood tests indicated that the within-study variance and the between-study variance were both significant. The estimated variance between the outcomes within studies was 0.005 and, based on Cheung . Moreover, the 75% rule . The number of studies involving at-risk populations of children, however, was relatively small: we found only four studies, with a total of eight different effects and 112 participants characterized by ADHD, and four studies, with a total of seven effects and 651 participants characterized by low socio-economic status. Subsequent analyses indicated that the effect of EFs training was significant both for children with and without developmental risk. Two comparisons were performed to specifically test for the presence of differences in the effect of EFs training between children with typical development on the one hand, and children from low SES families and children with ADHD symptoms on the other hand. It emerged that the effect of EFs training did not differ significantly between children from low SES and other children without developmental risks (p = 0.339). However, a significant difference emerged for the comparison between children with ADHD symptoms and other children in average SES families (p = 0.007).Subsequently, we investigated the impact of two moderators related to the children: the mean age of the sample and developmental risk status. The mean age ranged between 51.2 and 74.4 months and did not significantly influence the EFs training effect. We categorized the presence of a developmental risk into three groups: children without developmental risks, children with symptoms of ADHD, and children characterized by low SES. The analysis indicated that the presence of a developmental risk significantly increased the effect of training  = 1.583, p = 0.122, 95% CI = .Finally, we investigated the transfer of EF training on non-EF outcomes, based on a total of 39 outcomes from 15 studies. The overall effect of training on these effects was not significant and low in size, g = 0.169, SE = 0.106, Three forest plots showing all effect sizes concerning Near Transfer, Far Transfer, and Additional Outcome Measures are presented in The aim of the present meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy of cognitive EFs training programs in preschool children aged from 3 to 6 years old. The final dataset consisted of 32 studies published between 2009 and 2019, 21 of which had been published between 2015 and 2019, showing a trend of an increasing number of studies.We were interested in assessing whether cognitive training could improve EFs in preschool children, comparing near and far transfer effects and analyzing various potential moderators, such as age, presence of developmental risk, and type of cognitive training.g = 0.342), but the most interesting results are that near and far transfer effects on EFs were statistically significant and that their sizes were not significantly different.First of all, we found evidence that cognitive training programs are beneficial for EFs in children aged between 3 and 6: the overall effect is medium . Compared to Kassai et al. (g was 0.11). However, our meta-analysis has important differences compared to the previous ones. First, we included 32 studies specifically focused on preschoolers; secondly, we selected only cognitive training programs, excluding motor-based activities, curriculum based programs, or mindfulness interventions; third, the present meta-analysis was based on a different set of studies .Near transfer refers to the effect of the cognitive training on the EF measures specifically trained . Previous studies reported that children with ADHD showed a significant EF improvement after cognitive training, in particular concerning Working Memory , in particular on inattention symptoms (d = 0.47), but not on hyperactivity, concluding that inattention is more malleable to training than hyperactivity. Rapport et al. (d = 0.63) than Cortese et al. (g = 0.785) than in Rapport et al. . Other studies demonstrated a similar effect  to 0.16–0.17 (Shifting and Inhibition). It is important to note, however, that Webb et al. (p = 0.10) higher benefit for non-computerized training (g = 0.373). Therefore, as underlined by Diamond and Ling  confirming the difficulty to generalize from a cognitive EF training to other psychological domains, such as learning prerequisites and behavioral aspects.A final comment concerns the effect of the cognitive training on the additional outcomes  could bias the results, therefore, we decided to exclude these two analysis. Finally, we found few studies on preschool children with developmental risks and only one type of neurodevelopmental disorder, namely ADHD. We did not find studies on EFs training for preschoolers with other neurodevelopmental disorders , although an EFs impairment has been demonstrated in these groups. Future research is necessary to assess whether cognitive EFs training could be useful with children presenting other neurodevelopmental disorders.All datasets generated for this study are included in the article/NS and MC contributed to conceptualization, design and methodology of the study and data collection, discussed interpretation of results, and wrote part of the manuscript. CZ contributed to conceptualization, design and methodology of the study, was responsible for outcome assessments and data collection, carried out data analyses and interpretation of data, and wrote part of the manuscript. GM contributed to conceptualization of the study, supervised data collection, was responsible for interpretation of data, and wrote part of the manuscript. All authors gave final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The majority of the data (68.88%) was acquired during the first month of the experiment, when an advertising campaign was done in order to attract the public's attention. Participants also had the option of publishing their results via social networks, which led to attract more participants in a snow-ball sampling fashion.Additionally, the database contains information on participants that voluntarily provided information about their gender, age, country of origin, education level, handedness, native language, and best foreign language. A significant percentage of participants voluntarily provided all of the requested information (79.58%). Of those, 44.66% were females, while 9.02% provided no gender information.We created recoded demographic variables and included them in the final database to facilitate its usage. One important example is the recoded variable of location (location_rec), that was constructed based on the country of origin of each participant, to identify those born in Spain and those born in Latin America. Participants that did not belong to any of those categories were not included in the database (17.44% of the data), as the focus of this database is on native Spanish speakers. After this, a total of 169,628 participants that completed 227,655 sessions remained. Figure In each experimental session, participants responded to 70 words and 30 non-words presented randomly and without repetition. Their accuracy and reaction times were automatically recorded. The task was not speeded, so participants could take all the time they needed to respond to an item. The total amount of items was chosen to ensure that each session would last around 5 min, so that participants wouldn't be discouraged to participate. During the task, they were asked to indicate for each letter string whether they knew the word or not, and they were told that some letter strings were nonce words for which they would be penalized if they selected them as known words. The procedure was analogous to that reported in Keuleers et al. .SD = 0.36), which fits well with the values reported in preceding studies despite not using the traditional 50/50 word-to-non-word ratio.The 70/30 word-to-non-word ratio was selected to warrant that more information would be collected from words rather than non-words, and to minimize the effect of words with very low frequency that could be also be regarded as non-words. To ensure that there was no a priori bias in the list composition that could impact the responses, we used the LD1NN algorithm  to generate several potential non-word candidates for each word. The resulting list  was then put through a lemmatizer to remove inflected forms of existing base forms, and a subset of the list was selected based on the candidate index produced by Wuggy (non-words with a lower index were considered better candidates).The items were randomly selected from a stimulus list of 45,389 Spanish words and 56,855 non-words. To create the word list, several words were obtained from the B-PAL , with a mean of 1,003 ms (SD = 348) for words, and 1,198 ms (SD = 358) for non-words. While these RTs are longer than those presented in preceding laboratory studies in Spanish using a speeded lexical decision task  are expressed in milliseconds. After trimming RTs for correct responses between 200 and 2,000 ms  of the items. The average split-half correlation score for words was r = 0.86  and r = 0.84  for non-words. Using the Spearman-Brown formula we obtained an average of rcorr = 0.92  for words and rcorr = 0.91  for non-words.Split-half reliabilities for the RT measure were calculated using the SD = 77.86), and separately for Spanish speakers from Spain  and Latin-America . Words with a total number of observations below 150 (0.68%) or higher than 1,500 (0.15%) were identified as outliers and removed from the database, leaving a total of 44,853 words. The mean of the percentage known for the total word database was 75.74 (SD = 27.00), and it was somewhat larger for Spanish speakers from Spain  than from Latin-America .Based on participants' responses, we calculated percentage known, a measure of the percentage of participants that know a particular word , 1.12 for Spanish natives (SD = 1.14), and 0.90 for Latin-American natives (SD = 1.05).Brysbaert et al.  also intSD = 204.41), corresponding to a mean Zipf frequency . Figure Finally, word frequencies were obtained and incorporated into the database using EsPal. Mean frequency per million was 9.48 SD = 04.41, cohttps://figshare.com/projects/SPALEX/29722The following files are contained in the SPALEX database. We opted for uploading the files separately, as unifying them would have led to redundant information and an increased file size. Nevertheless, an R script is included to create a unified file in case it is needed. All the files can be accessed via users.csv: Contains demographic information of each participant. Columns are: profile_id (unique identifier), gender (indicated with upper and lowercase m or f), age , country, education (education level from primary school to PhD level), no_foreign_lang , best_foreign (best foreign language), handedness (right or left handed), and includes recoded variables for gender , education_rec (6 levels), location_rec (2 levels), handedness_rec (2 levels).sessions.csv: Used to establish the relationship between users (participants) and sessions of the lexical decision task. Columns are: exp_id (unique identifier), date, profile_id.lexical.csv: Participants' responses to each item in the lexical decision task. Columns are: trial_id (unique identifier), exp_id, trial_order, spelling (presented stimuli), lexicality (word or non-word), rt (reaction time in milliseconds), accuracy (0 or 1), trial_no , bins .word_info.csv: Information on word percentage known, prevalence, and frequency. Columns are: spelling (unique text identifier), count_total, percent_total , prevalence_total , count_ntsmerge_script.R: Script in R language to load the databases and merge them into an unique file. This script may be modified and extended as needed.Although the aim of this Data Report is not to provide a comprehensive discussion of the multiple analyses that could be done on these data, we believe that it would be useful for other researchers to understand the real value of SPALEX in relation to other similar databases in different languages. Previous megastudies have measured the effects of different factors on lexical variables. Examples of this are the reported effects of age, education level, and multilingual status on vocabulary size (Keuleers et al., The first major application of SPALEX relates to the construction of normative data based on gender, age, country of origin, and education level. This would broaden the information already contained in other Spanish lexical databases, allowing extracting information of, for example, the performance of specific age groups on certain words. This is particularly useful for the creation of vocabulary tests. Word prevalence is an understudied measure of word knowledge that is not much correlated to word frequency and has a high impact on word processing, making it a novel approach to prevent bias in stimulus selection (Keuleers et al., Other uses extend both within and outside the bounds of SPALEX. The former is the construction of “mini-experiments” within the database to develop valid working hypotheses of the Spanish language (see Kuperman, Overall, the ultimate goal of lexical megastudies is to increase the tools available for psycholinguists to develop accurate models of language processing (Keuleers and Balota, This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Ethics Committee of the BCBL. The protocol was approved by this same Committee. All subjects were informed about the nature of the task prior to its completion, and no personal information that could identify any participant was collected. The task was correctly explained once participants voluntarily and anonymously accessed the platform, and they gave informed consent about their participation via button clicks. The protocol mimicked that previously reported in Brysbaert et al.  and KeulMC, JD, MB, and EK devised the project and the main conceptual ideas. JD selected the materials in collaboration with PM and EK and PM, EK and MB developed the platform. JA developed the analysis routine under the supervision of JD and MC and all authors verified the analytical methods. All authors supervised the findings of this work. JA drafted the manuscript and all authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer VK declared a past co-authorship with one of the authors, MB.