Relationship of self-mutilative behaviour with history of childhood trauma and adult ADHD symptoms in a sample of inpatients with alcohol use disorder

The aim of the present study was to evaluate relationship of self-mutilative behaviour (SMB) with the severity of childhood trauma and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in a sample of inpatients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Participants included 188 inpatients with AUD. Participants were evaluated with the Self-mutilative Behaviour Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28) and the Adult ADD/ADHD DSM-IV Based Diagnostic Screening and Rating Scale (Adult ADHD Scale). Among inpatients with AUD those who have a history of SMB constituted the SMB group (n = 57, 30.3%), and those without a history of SMB constituted the group without SMB (n = 131, 69.7%). Risk of high ADHD risk was 2.5 times higher among those with SMB. Adult ADHD Scale and CTQ-28 scores were also higher in the group with SMB. In the first backward logistic regression model, the severity of ADHD symptoms predicted the presence of SMB, together with the severity of childhood trauma, whereas in the second model, physical neglect and inattentive (IN) dimension of ADHD predicted the presence of SMB. These findings suggest that the higher severity of physical neglect and adult IN dimension of ADHD may be related to SMB among inpatients with AUD.     

Investigation of the effect of naringenin on oxidative stress‐related alterations in testis of hydrogen peroxide‐administered rats

Testis tissue is prone to oxidation because its plasma membrane contains many polyunsaturated fatty acids. Naringenin is a plant‐derived natural flavonoid. We investigated the possible ameliorative role of naringenin on the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)‐induced testicular damage in Wistar rats. Animals received 12 mg/kg H₂O₂ by intraperitoneal injection, and 50 mg/kg naringenin via orogastric gavage for 4 weeks. In the H₂O₂ group, the testis malondialdehyde level increased, while the amount of reduced glutathione, glutathione transferase activities, and the testis weight decreased. There were severe testicular damages in the H₂O₂ group otherwise their grade were less in the naringenin + H₂O₂ group. However, the serum testosterone concentrations decreased in both the H₂O₂ and the naringenin + H₂O₂ groups. The testicular zinc and calcium levels reduced in the H₂O₂‐treated rats. In conclusion, the administration of H₂O₂ caused oxidative stress in the testes and naringenin supplementation decreased the H₂O₂‐induced effects, except for changes in testosterone levels.     

Circular Dichroism Sensing of Chiral Compounds Using an Achiral Metal Complex as Probe

Coordination of a chiral substrate to (meso‐salen)cobalt(II) nitrate and subsequent oxidation generates a Co(III) complex exhibiting a strong chiroptical readout that is attributed to spontaneous substrate‐to‐ligand chirality imprinting. The characteristic circular dichroism (CD) response of the (salen)cobalt complex can be used for enantiomeric analysis of a variety of chiral substrates based on a simple CD measurement at low concentration and without additional purification steps. This chirality sensing approach has potential for high‐throughput enantiomeric excess (ee) screening applications and minimizes solvent waste production. Chirality 26:379–384, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Integration of system dynamics approach toward deepening and broadening the life cycle sustainability assessment framework: a case for electric vehicles

Purpose

Quantitative life cycle sustainable assessment requires a complex and multidimensional understanding, which cannot be fully covered by the current portfolio of reductionist-oriented tools. Therefore, there is a dire need on a new generation of modeling tools and approaches that can quantitatively assess the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability in an integrated way. To this end, this research aims to present a practical and novel approach for (1) broadening the existing life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework by considering macrolevel environmental, economic, and social impacts (termed as the triple bottom line), simultaneously, (2) deepening the existing LCSA framework by capturing the complex dynamic relationships between social, environmental, and economic indicators through causal loop modeling, (3) understanding the dynamic complexity of transportation sustainability for the triple bottom line impacts of alternative vehicles, and finally (4) investigating the impacts of various vehicle-specific scenarios as a novel approach for selection of a macrolevel functional unit considering all of the complex interactions in the environmental, social, and economic aspects.

Methods

To alleviate these research objectives, we presented a novel methodology to quantify macrolevel social, economic, and environmental impacts of passenger vehicles from an integrated system analysis perspective. An integrated dynamic LCSA model is utilized to analyze the environmental, economic, and social life cycle impact as well as life cycle cost of alternative vehicles in the USA. System dynamics modeling is developed to simulate the US passenger transportation system and its interactions with economy, the environment, and society. Analysis covers manufacturing and operation phase impacts of internal combustion vehicles (ICVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). In total, seven macrolevel indicators are selected; global warming potential, particulate matter formation, photochemical oxidant formation, vehicle ownership cost, contribution to gross domestic product, employment generation, and human health impacts. Additionally, contribution of vehicle choices to global atmospheric temperature rise and public welfare is investigated.

Results and discussion

BEVs are found to be a better alternative for most of sustainability impact categories. While some of the benefits such as contribution to employment and GDP, CO₂ emission reduction potential of BEVs become greater toward 2050, other sustainability indicators including vehicle ownership cost and human health impacts of BEVs are higher than the other vehicle types on 2010s and 2020s. While the impact shares of manufacturing and operation phases are similar in the early years of 2010s, the contribution of manufacturing phase becomes higher as the vehicle performances increase toward 2050. Analysis results revealed that the US transportation sector, alone, cannot reduce the rapidly increasing atmospheric temperature and the negative impacts of the global climate change, even though the entire fleet is replaced with BEVs. Reducing the atmospheric climate change requires much more ambitious targets and international collaborative efforts. The use of different vehicle types has a small impact on public welfare, which is a function of income, education, and life expectancy indexes.

Conclusions

The authors strongly recommend that the dynamic complex and mutual interactions between sustainability indicators should be considered for the future LCSA framework. This approach will be critical to deepen the existing LCSA framework and to go beyond the current LCSA understanding, which provide a snapshot analysis with an isolated view of all pillars of sustainability. Overall, this research is a first empirical study and an important attempt toward developing integrated and dynamic LCSA framework for sustainable transportation research.

     

Distinct priming kinases contribute to differential regulation of collapsin response mediator proteins by glycogen synthase kinase-3 in vivo

Collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) are a family of neuron-enriched proteins that regulate neurite outgrowth and growth cone dynamics. Here, we show that Cdk5 phosphorylates CRMP1, CRMP2, and CRMP4, priming for subsequent phosphorylation by GSK3 in vitro. In contrast, DYRK2 phosphorylates and primes CRMP4 only. The Cdk5 and DYRK2 inhibitor purvalanol decreases the phosphorylation of CRMP proteins in neurons, whereas CRMP1 and CRMP2, but not CRMP4, phosphorylation is decreased in Cdk5(-/-) cortices. Stimulation of neuroblastoma cells with IGF1 or TPA decreases GSK3 activity concomitantly with CRMP2 and CRMP4 phosphorylation. Conversely, increased GSK3 activity is not sufficient to increase CRMP phosphorylation. However, the growth cone collapse-inducing protein Sema3A increases Cdk5 activity and promotes phosphorylation of CRMP2 (but not CRMP4). Therefore, inhibition of GSK3 alters phosphorylation of all CRMP isoforms; however, individual isoforms can be differentially regulated by their respective priming kinase. This is the first GSK3 substrate found to be regulated in this manner and may explain the hyperphosphorylation of CRMP2 observed in Alzheimer's disease.