The Burden of Research on Trauma for Respondents: A Prospective and Comparative Study on Respondents Evaluations and Predictors

The possible burden of participating in trauma research is an important topic for Ethical Committees (EC''s), Review Boards (RB''s) and researchers. However, to what extent research on trauma is more burdensome than non-trauma research is unknown. Little is known about which factors explain respondents evaluations on the burden: to what extent are they trauma-related or dependent on other factors such as personality and how respondents evaluate research in general? Data of a large probability based multi-wave internet panel, with surveys on politics and values, personality and health in 2009 and 2011, and a survey on trauma in 2012 provided the unique opportunity to address these questions. Results among respondents confronted with these events in the past 2 years (N = 950) showed that questions on trauma were significantly and systematically evaluated as less pleasant (enjoyed less), more difficult, but also stimulated respondents to think about things more than almost all previous non-trauma surveys. Yet, the computed effect sizes indicated that the differences were (very) small and often meaningless. No differences were found between users and non-users of mental services, in contrast to posttraumatic stress symptoms. Evaluations of the burden of previous surveys in 2011 on politics and values, personality and health most strongly, systematically and independently predicted the burden of questions on trauma, and not posttraumatic stress symptoms, event-related coping self-efficacy and personality factors. For instance, multiple linear regression analyses showed that 30% of the variance of how (un)pleasant questions on trauma and life-events were evaluated, was explained by how (un)pleasant the 3 surveys in 2011 were evaluated, in contrast to posttraumatic stress symptoms (not significant) and coping self-efficacy (5%). Findings question why EC''s, RB''s and researchers should be more critical of the possible burden of trauma research than of the possible burden of other non-trauma research.     

A comparison of the changes in the non‐neuronal cell populations of the superior cervical ganglia following decentralization and axotomy

Transecting the axons of neurons in the adult superior cervical ganglion (SCG; axotomy) results in the survival of most postganglionic neurons, the influx of circulating monocytes, proliferation of satellite cells, and changes in neuronal gene expression. In contrast, transecting the afferent input to the SCG (decentralization) results in nerve terminal degeneration and elicits a different pattern of gene expression. We examined the effects of decentralization on macrophages in the SCG and compared the results to those previously obtained after axotomy. Monoclonal antibodies were used to identify infiltrating (ED1+) and resident (ED2+) macrophages, as well as macrophages expressing MHC class II molecules (OX6+). Normal ganglia contained ED2+ cells and OX6+ cells, but few infiltrating macrophages. After decentralization, the number of infiltrating ED1+ cells increased in the SCG to a density about twofold greater than that previously seen after axotomy. Both the densities of ED2+ and OX6+ cells were essentially unchanged after decentralization, though a large increase in OX6+ cells occurred after axotomy. Proliferation among the ganglion's total non‐neuronal cell population was examined and found to increase about twofold after decentralization and about fourfold after axotomy. Double‐labeling experiments indicated that some of these proliferating cells were macrophages. After both surgical procedures, the percentage of proliferating ED2+ macrophages increased, while neither procedure altered the proliferation of ED1+ macrophages. Axotomy, though not decentralization, increased the proliferation of OX6+ cells. Future studies must address what role(s) infiltrating and/or resident macrophages play in regions of decentralized and axotomized neurons and, if both are involved, whether they play distinct roles. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Neurobiol 53: 68–79, 2002     

Measuring ecological impact of water consumption by bioethanol using life cycle impact assessment

Purpose  

Though the development of biofuel has attracted numerous studies for quantifying potential water demand applying life cycle thinking, the impacts of biofuel water consumption still remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to quantify ecological impact associated with corn-based bioethanol water consumption in Minnesota in responding to different refinery expansion scenarios by applying a life cycle impact assessment method.     

Effect of whole-body vibration with different frequencies and intensities on auditory evoked potentials and heart rate in man

Auditory evoked brain potentials (AEP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded from 9 healthy male subjects during sinusoidal whole-body vibration exposure (WBV) in the longitudinal (+/- az) direction with four frequencies (1 Hz, 2 Hz, 4 Hz, and 8 Hz) and two intensities as well as under non-WBV conditions. The sequences of the different experimental conditions were arranged according to a 9 X 9 Latin Square design. The sound of the electrohydraulic vibrator was masked by a constant noise level. A subtraction technique was used to eliminate vibration-synchronous activity contaminating the electroencephalogram. The AEP amplitude N1-P2 revealed systematic effects of different WBV frequencies and intensities. The amplitude decreased along with an increase in intensity (16 dB) by about 10 per cent. It diminished increasingly with a monotonic trend in the order non-WBV, WBV 8 Hz, WBV 4 Hz, WBV 2 Hz, and WBV 1 Hz. The interbeat-interval histograms computed from the ECG exhibited the highest mean values at MBV of 1 Hz, high intensity, and the lowest ones at WBV of 4 Hz, high intensity. The AEPs are reaffirmed as an informative measure for studying the WBV effect on central nervous information processing, although the modes of action are not yet fully known. Efferent influences on the acoustic input, cross-modality interaction, sensory mismatch, and changes of central nervous activation level are discussed as potential mechanisms.     

Cellular Thiol Production and Oxidation of Low-Density Lipoprotein

Compelling evidence suggests that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is oxidized by cells within the arterial intima and that, once oxidized, it is profoundly atherogenic. The precise mechanism(s) by which cells promote the oxidation of LDL in vivo are not known; in vitro, however, oxidation of LDL can be enhanced by a number of differing mechanisms, including reaction with free and protein-bound metal ions, thiols, reactive oxygen species, lipoxygenase, myeloperoxidase and peroxynitrite. This review is concerned with the mechanisms by which cells enhance the oxidation of LDL in the presence of transition metals; in particular, the regulation, pro- and anti-oxidant consequences, and mechanism of action of cellular thiol production are examined, and contrasted with thiol-independent oxidation of LDL in the presence of transition metals.     

Rank orders of arising,eating, and retiring in a family group of tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis)

A family group of tenS. fuscicollis, housed in a greenhouse and subjected to natural variations in day length, was observed for a period of three months. All animals ordinarily slept together in the same hutch box. The order in which the various animals emerged in the morning was almost the precise inverse of the order in which they retired at night. Each of these orders was quite reliable and was related in nonlinear fashion to age—the ranks of the youngest offspring being the closest to those of the parents. Time of emergence and eating in the morning consistently preceded sunrise by about 30 min and was initiated by the oldest offspring; retiring was much more variable and was led by the parents.