Interoception, the process by which the nervous system senses, interprets, and integrates signals originating from within the body, has become major research topic for mental health and in particular for mind-body interventions. Interoceptive awareness here is defined as the conscious level of interoception with its multiple dimensions potentially accessible to self-report. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) is an 8-scale state-trait questionnaire with 32 items to measure multiple dimensions of interoception by self-report and was published in November 2012. Its numerous applications in English and other languages revealed low internal consistency reliability for two of its scales. This study’s objective was to improve these scales and the psychometrics of the MAIA by adding three new items to each of the two scales and evaluate these in a new sample. Data were collected within a larger project that took place as part of the Live Science residency programme at the Science Museum London, UK, where visitors to the museum (N = 1,090) completed the MAIA and the six additional items. Based on exploratory factor analysis in one-half of the adult participants and Cronbach alphas, we discarded one and included five of the six additional items into a Version 2 of the MAIA and conducted confirmatory factor analysis in the other half of the participants. The 8-factor model of the resulting 37-item MAIA-2 was confirmed with appropriate fit indices (RMSEA = 0.055 [95% CI 0.052–0.058]; SRMR = 0.064) and improved internal consistency reliability. The MAIA-2 is public domain and available (www.osher.ucsf.edu/maia) for interoception research and the evaluation of clinical mind-body interventions.

in pre-pubertal UK children, overweight/obesity is common and has broadly similar associations with BP, HDL cholesterol, and non-HDL cholesterol to those observed in adults. Future research should evaluate whether effective interventions to maintain healthy weight in childhood could have important benefits for adult cardiovascular risk.

The findings suggest that psychoendocrine stress responses are more closely coupled than previous studies suggested. Due to different dynamics of the systems, endocrine responses lag behind psychological responses.

ObjectivesTo assess the communication potential of three-dimensional (3D) patient-specific models of congenital heart defects and their acceptability in clinical practice for cardiology consultations.DesignThis was a questionnaire-based study in which participants were randomised into two groups: the ‘model group’ received a 3D model of the cardiac lesion(s) being discussed during their appointment, while the ‘control group’ had a routine visit.SettingOutpatient clinic, cardiology follow-up visits.Participants103 parents of children with congenital heart disease were recruited (parental age: 43±8 years; patient age: 12±6 years). In order to have a 3D model made, patients needed to have a recent cardiac MRI examination; this was the crucial inclusion criterion.InterventionsQuestionnaires were administered to the participants before and after the visits and an additional questionnaire was administered to the attending cardiologist.Main outcome measuresRating (1–10) for the liking of the 3D model, its usefulness and the clarity of the explanation received were recorded, as well as rating (1–10) of the parental understanding and their engagement according to the cardiologist. Furthermore, parental knowledge was assessed by asking them to mark diagrams, tick keywords and provide free text answers. The duration of consultations was recorded and parent feedback collected.ResultsParents and cardiologists both found the models to be very useful and helpful in engaging the parents in discussing congenital heart defects. Parental knowledge was not associated with their level of education (p=0.2) and did not improve following their visit. Consultations involving 3D models lasted on average 5 min longer (p=0.02).ConclusionsPatient-specific models can enhance engagement with parents and improve communication between cardiologists and parents, potentially impacting on parent and patient psychological adjustment following treatment. However, in the short-term, parental understanding of their child's condition did not improve.

Greater childhood adiposity is associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk factors, but with no evidence of vascular damage at age 9 to 11 years. This could represent physiological adaptation to the hyperemic state of adiposity in childhood.

This research study focuses on the thermomechanical polymerization of microalgae protein biomass such as Chlorella and Spirulina to develop algal-based bioplastics and thermoplastic blends. The algal protein biomass can grow on nutrient-rich wastewater from livestock farms, municipal or industrial effluent sources, remediating the excess nitrogen and phosphorus. The algal bioplastics provide biodegradability that can be tailored to have a wide range of material properties suitable for various applications-consumable and disposable plastic products, agricultural plastic products, and horticultural planting containers. According to experimental results, pressure, temperature, content of plasticizer, and processing time are major variables in polymerization and structure stabilization during the compression molding process of both algal protein biomass and thermoplastic blends containing polyethylene polymer. Chlorella showed better bioplastic behavior than Spirulina microalgae, whereas Spirulina showed better blend performance.

Poor sleep may signal altered neuroendocrine functioning in children. The findings may offer insight into the pathways linking poor sleep with poor health.

This study suggests that processes occurring during fetal life, resulting in smaller newborns, have a lasting effect on adrenocortical responses to stress in boys and on basal adrenocortical activity in girls. Given the known associations between small alterations in adrenocortical activity and features of the metabolic syndrome such as raised blood pressure and glucose intolerance, these effects warrant further investigation of their potential impact on the future health of prepubertal children.