Sexual trauma in women: The importance of identifying a history of sexual violence

Background One in three women in Australia will experience sexual violence at some time in their life. Although these women use health services more than nonvictimised women, they may not receive the holistic care they need if their sexual trauma history is not known. Objective This article discusses the importance of opportunistically identifying a history of sexual violence in women presenting to general practice in order to provide optimal healthcare and avoid iatrogenic retraumatisation. Discussion A history of sexual violence is associated with an increased incidence of long term physical and psychological health problems, psychosocial difficulties, risk taking behaviours and premature death. Most survivors do not disclose a history of sexual violence to their doctors. Without this context, their ongoing health issues may not be fully understood, leading to suboptimal care. A safe environment is vital to support disclosure. General practitioners are well placed to identify, support and treat and/or appropriately refer women with a history of sexual violence. Priorities in management include addressing the pervasive long term consequences of sexual violence, encouraging preventive care and avoiding inadvertent retraumatisation

Phospholenes from Phosphabenzenes by Selective Ring Contraction

A 3-aminofunctionalized phosphabenzene (phosphinine) was synthesized and structurally characterized. The pyramidalized nitrogen atom of the dimethylamino substituent indicates only a weak interaction between the lone pair of the nitrogen atom and the aromatic phosphorus heterocycle, resulting in somewhat basic character. It turned out that the amino group can indeed be protonated by HCl. In contrast to pyridines, however, the phosphabenzene-ammonium salt undergoes a selective ring contraction to form a hydroxylphospholene oxide in the presence of additional water. Based on deuterium labelling experiments and quantum chemical calculations, a rational mechanism for this hitherto unknown conversion is proposed

Holocene drainage systems of the English Fenland : roddons and their environmental significance

The roddons of the English Fenlands are fossilised silt and sand-filled tidal creek systems of mid- to late-Holocene age, incised into contemporaneous clay deposits. However, anthropogenic change (drainage and agriculture) has caused the former channels to become positive topographical features. Three stratigraphically discrete generations of roddon have been discriminated. They all show well-developed dendritic meander patterns, but there is little or no evidence of sand/silt infill during meandering; thus, unlike modern tidal creeks and rivers they typically lack laterally stacked point bar deposits, suggesting rapid infill. Major “trunk” roddons are rich in fine sands and there is little change in grain size from roddon mouth to the upper reaches, suggesting highly effective sand transport mechanisms and uniform conditions of deposition. Tributaries are silt-rich, while minor tributaries also have a significant clay component. During infill, active drainage networks appear to have been choked by sediment, converting mudflat/salt-marsh environments into widespread peat-forming freshwater reed swamps

Phospholenes from Phosphabenzenes by Selective Ring Contraction

A 3-amino-functionalized phosphabenzene (phosphinine) has been synthesized and structurally characterized. The pyramidalized nitrogen atom of the dimethylamino substituent indicates only a weak interaction between the lone pair of the nitrogen atom and the aromatic phosphorus heterocycle, resulting in somewhat basic character. It turned out that the amino group can indeed be protonated by HCl. In contrast to pyridines, however, the phosphabenzene-ammonium salt undergoes a selective ring contraction to form a hydroxylphospholene oxide in the presence of additional water. Based on deuterium labeling experiments and quantum chemical calculations, a rational mechanism for this hitherto unknown conversion is proposed

'A holiday is a holiday’: practicing sustainability, home and away

‘Behaviour change’ is one of the major concerns for academics and practitioners concerned with tackling climate change. Research amongst tourism geographers has conventionally focussed on the various choices that individuals can make, both before and during their holidays, to reduce environmental footprints, specifically through the use of sustainability criteria. However, whilst there is a developing understanding of the motivations for sustainable tourism practices, there is less appreciation of the relationship tourist practices have to everyday environmental activities in and around the home. This latter issue has been researched extensively by social psychologists and environmental sociologists. Accordingly, the paper will draw upon these two existing bodies of research to argue that a holistic understanding of ‘sustainable lifestyles’ is needed if effective behavioural change strategies for climate change are to be developed, revealing the complexities of contemporary environmental practices. Using data from a recent British Academy research project, the paper will explore the changing nature of sustainable lifestyles and will demonstrate the relationships between home- and tourism-based environmental practices. The paper will argue that whilst individuals are relatively comfortable with participating in a range of environmental behaviours in and around the home, the transference of these practices to tourism contexts can be problematic. This is particularly the case for high-consumption activities such as low-cost air travel. The paper concludes by arguing that both academics and policy makers need to re-frame their notions of ‘sustainable lifestyles’, transcending a series of practices and contexts.Economic and Social Research Counci

The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology through a Distributed Collaborative Network

Concerns have been growing about the veracity of psychological research. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions, or attempt to replicate prior research, in large, diverse samples. The PSA\u27s mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time-limited), efficient (in terms of re-using structures and principles for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in terms of participants and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside of the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance our understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematically examining its generalizability

Multiple perspectives on the attribution of the extreme European summer of 2012 to climate change

Summer 2012 was very wet in northern Europe, and unusually dry and hot in southern Europe. We use multiple approaches to determine whether anthropogenic forcing made the extreme European summer of 2012 more likely. Using a number of observation- and model-based methods, we find that there was an anthropogenic contribution to the extremes in southern Europe, with a qualitative consensus across all methodologies. There was a consensus across the methodologies that there has been a significant increase in the risk of hot summers in southern Europe with climate change. Most approaches also suggested a slight drying, but none of the results were statistically significant. The unusually wet summer in northern Europe was made more likely by the observed atmospheric circulation pattern in 2012, but no evidence was found for a long-term trend in circulation

Consensus statement from the 2014 International Microdialysis Forum.

Microdialysis enables the chemistry of the extracellular interstitial space to be monitored. Use of this technique in patients with acute brain injury has increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of several acute neurological disorders. In 2004, a consensus document on the clinical application of cerebral microdialysis was published. Since then, there have been significant advances in the clinical use of microdialysis in neurocritical care. The objective of this review is to report on the International Microdialysis Forum held in Cambridge, UK, in April 2014 and to produce a revised and updated consensus statement about its clinical use including technique, data interpretation, relationship with outcome, role in guiding therapy in neurocritical care and research applications.We gratefully acknowledge financial support for participants as follows: P.J.H. - National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Professorship and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge; I.J. – Medical Research Council (G1002277 ID 98489); A. H. - Medical Research Council, Royal College of Surgeons of England; K.L.H.C. - NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge (Neuroscience Theme; Brain Injury and Repair Theme); M.G.B. - Wellcome Trust Dept Health Healthcare Innovation Challenge Fund (HICF-0510-080); L. H. - The Swedish Research Council, VINNOVA and Uppsala Berzelii Technology Centre for Neurodiagnostics; S. M. - Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico; D.K.M. - NIHR Senior Investigator Award to D.K.M., NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (Neuroscience Theme), FP7 Program of the European Union; M. O. - Swiss National Science Foundation and the Novartis Foundation for Biomedical Research; J.S. - Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) (PI11/00700) co-financed by the European Regional Development; M.S. – NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre; N. S. - Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00134-015-3930-

The Expression of VEGF-A Is Down Regulated in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Most patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) eventually enter a secondary progressive (SPMS) phase, characterized by increasing neurological disability. The mechanisms underlying transition to SPMS are unknown and effective treatments and biomarkers are lacking. Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is an angiogenic factor with neuroprotective effects that has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases. SPMS has a prominent neurodegenerative facet and we investigated a possible role for VEGF-A during transition from RRMS to SPMS. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: VEGF-A mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMC) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells from RRMS (n = 128), SPMS (n = 55) and controls (n = 116) were analyzed using real time PCR. We demonstrate reduced expression of VEGF-A mRNA in MS CSF cells compared to controls (p<0.001) irrespective of disease course and expression levels are restored by natalizumab treatment(p<0.001). VEGF-A was primarily expressed in monocytes and our CSF findings in part may be explained by effects on relative monocyte proportions. However, VEGF-A mRNA expression was also down regulated in the peripheral compartment of SPMS (p<0.001), despite unchanged monocyte counts, demonstrating a particular phenotype differentiating SPMS from RRMS and controls. A possible association of allelic variability in the VEGF-A gene to risk of MS was also studied by genotyping for six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MS (n = 1114) and controls (n = 1234), which, however, did not demonstrate any significant association between VEGF-A alleles and risk of MS. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Expression of VEGF-A in CSF cells is reduced in MS patients compared to controls irrespective of disease course. In addition, SPMS patients display reduced VEGF-A mRNA expression in PBMC, which distinguish them from RRMS and controls. This indicates a possible role for VEGF-A in the mechanisms regulating transition to SPMS. Decreased levels of PBMC VEGF-A mRNA expression should be further evaluated as a biomarker for SPMS