The relationship between impulsivity, weight concern and the yoyo-effect in healthy women

Weight cycling, or the so-called yoyo-effect, is an unhealthy aspect of eating behaviour. It is hypothesized that being more impulsive is related to more weight cycling. Furthermore, the yoyo-effect is expected to follow from an interaction between impulsivity and weight concern; high-impulsive, high weight concerned eaters might experience the yoyo-effect to a higher degree than low-impulsive, high weight concerned eaters. In the current study, 214 women aged 25-50 were recruited. Weight cycling, weight concern and two concepts of impulsivity were assessed, namely trait impulsiveness and reward sensitivity. It is found that trait impulsive people and weight concerned people show a higher degree of weight cycling. The results do not reveal an interaction between both aspects of impulsivity and weight concern. This study suggests that impulsivity, as well as weight concern, might play a role in maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing the risks of the yoyo-effect.

The injury illness sensitivity index – Revised: Further validation in a Dutch community sample

Injury/illness sensitivity (IS) is conceptualized as a fundamental fear that underlies fear-related psychopathology and chronic health conditions, including chronic pain. The current study examines the internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor structure of the Dutch version of the injury/illness sensitivity index-revised (ISI-R). In addition, we aimed to further validate the ISI-R by studying convergent and divergent validity. Participants (N = 255) were recruited in a Dutch community sample to complete an online questionnaire battery including the ISI-R and several validation measures. Four weeks later, 117 participants completed the ISI-R a second time. The ISI-R showed good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two correlated factors in the ISI-R: Fear of Injury and Fear of Illness. The measure’s validity was supported by strong correlations between the ISI-R and well-established pain and physical health-related anxiety measures, moderate correlations with measures that reflect general negative emotionality (e.g. anxiety, depression), and weak correlations with fear constructs that do not entail a direct link to a health threat. These results indicate the appropriateness of working with the Dutch ISI-R and its two subscales as a reliable and valid measure of fear of physical harm, Fear of Illness and Fear of Injury

The injury illness sensitivity index – Revised: Further validation in a Dutch community sample

Injury/illness sensitivity (IS) is conceptualized as a fundamental fear that underlies fear-related psychopathology and chronic health conditions, including chronic pain. The current study examines the internal consistency, test– retest reliability, and factor structure of the Dutch version of the injury/illness sensitivity index-revised (ISI-R). In addition, we aimed to further validate the ISI-R by studying convergent and divergent validity. Participants (N = 255) were recruited in a Dutch community sample to complete an online questionnaire battery including the ISI-R and several validation measures. Four weeks later, 117 participants completed the ISI-R a second time. The ISI-R showed good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two correlated factors in the ISI-R: Fear of Injury and Fear of Illness. The measure’s validity was supported by strong correlations between the ISI-R and wellestablished pain and physical health-related anxiety measures, moderate correlations with measures that reflect general negative emotionality (e.g. anxiety, depression), and weak correlations with fear constructs that do not entail a direct link to a health threat. These results indicate the appropriateness of working with the Dutch ISI-R and its two subscales as a reliable and valid measure of fear of physical harm, Fear of Illness and Fear of Injury

Chronic early-life stress alters developmental and adult neurogenesis and impairs cognitive function in mice

Early-life stress (ES) increases vulnerability to psychopathology and impairs cognition in adulthood. These ES-induced deficits are associated with lasting changes in hippocampal plasticity. Detailed information on the neurobiological basis, the onset and progression of such changes and their sex-specificity is currently lacking but is required to tailor specific intervention strategies. Here we use a chronic ES mouse model based on limited nesting and bedding material from postnatal day (P) 2-9 to investigate; 1) if ES leads to impairments in hippocampus-dependent cognitive function in adulthood, and 2) if these alterations are paralleled by changes in developmental and/or adult hippocampal neurogenesis. ES increased developmental neurogenesis (proliferation and differentiation) in the dentate gyrus (DG) at P9, and the number of immature (NeurD1+) cells migrating postnatally from the secondary dentate matrix, indicating prompt changes in DG structure in both sexes. ES lastingly reduced DG volume and the long-term survival of developmentally born neurons in both sexes at P150. In adult male mice only, ES reduced survival of adult-born neurons (BrdU/NeuN+ cells), while proliferation (Ki67+) and differentiation (DCX+) were unaffected. These changes correlated with impaired performance in all learning and memory tasks used here. In contrast, in female mice, despite early alterations in developmental neurogenesis, no lasting changes were present in adult neurogenesis after ES and the cognitive impairments were less prominent and only apparent in some cognitive tasks. We further show that, although neurogenesis and cognition positively correlate, only the hippocampus-dependent functions depend on changes in neurogenesis, whereas cognitive functions that are not exclusively hippocampus-dependent do not. This study indicates that chronic ES has lasting consequences on hippocampal structure and function in mice and suggests that male mice are more susceptible to ES than females. Unraveling the mechanisms that underlie the persistent ES-induced effects may have clinical implications for treatments to counteract ES-induced deficits

Letter from the Editorial Board

Letter from the Editorial Boar

Coproductie van monochloorazijnzuur en energiedragers uit biomassa : : Openbaar eindrapport van project TEBE116198

Het project waarvan dit het eindrapport is, is uitgevoerd door Nouryon, Suiker Unie en Wageningen Universiteit & Research. Het doel van het project was om een nieuw duurzaam productieproces te ontwikkelen voor azijnzuur. Dit kan worden bereikt door azijnzuur te vormen uit een tussenproduct dat gemakkelijk uit de fermentatievloeistof kan worden verwijderd, zodat remming van de fermentatie wordt voorkomen. Dit tussenproduct is ethylacetaat. Deze vluchtige verbinding kan door fermentatie worden gevormd uit suikers en met hulp van een stripgas of vacuüm uit de fermentatievloeistof worden verwijderd. Vervolgens kan het ethylacetaat worden omgezet naar azijnzuur en ethanol

The injury illness sensitivity index – Revised: Further validation in a Dutch community sample

Injury/illness sensitivity (IS) is conceptualized as a fundamental fear that underlies fear-related psychopathology and chronic health conditions, including chronic pain. The current study examines the internal consistency, test– retest reliability, and factor structure of the Dutch version of the injury/illness sensitivity index-revised (ISI-R). In addition, we aimed to further validate the ISI-R by studying convergent and divergent validity. Participants (N = 255) were recruited in a Dutch community sample to complete an online questionnaire battery including the ISI-R and several validation measures. Four weeks later, 117 participants completed the ISI-R a second time. The ISI-R showed good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two correlated factors in the ISI-R: Fear of Injury and Fear of Illness. The measure’s validity was supported by strong correlations between the ISI-R and wellestablished pain and physical health-related anxiety measures, moderate correlations with measures that reflect general negative emotionality (e.g. anxiety, depression), and weak correlations with fear constructs that do not entail a direct link to a health threat. These results indicate the appropriateness of working with the Dutch ISI-R and its two subscales as a reliable and valid measure of fear of physical harm, Fear of Illness and Fear of Injury