Aircraft noise in Berlin affects quality of life even outside the airport grounds

Aircraft noise is a particularly problematic source of noise as many airports are located in or near major cities and, as a result, densely populated areas are affected. Data from the Berlin Aging Study II (Berliner Altersstudie II, BASE-II), whose socio-economic module is based on the longitudinal Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study which has been conducted since 1984, allows us to examine the effect of different levels of aircraft noise on the subjective wellbeing and health of the older residents of a major city, in this case Berlin. The findings show that the presence of aircraft noise, also measured using objective aircraft noise data, is associated with significantly reduced well-being, lower satisfaction with one's living environment, and poorer health. The association between well-being and a crossing altitude reduced by 100 meters is given certain assumptions - for crossing altitudes of between 1,000 and 2,500m - comparable to an income loss of between 30 and 117 euros per month

Urban green is more than the absence of city: Structural and functional neural basis of urbanicity and green space in the neighbourhood of older adults

The relationship between urbanization, the brain, and human mental health is subject to intensive debate in the current scientific literature. Particularly, since mood and anxiety disorders as well as schizophrenia are known to be more frequent in urban compared to rural regions. Here, we investigated the association between cerebral signatures, mental health and land use indicators (Urban Fabric and Urban Green) within a 1 km radius around the home address of 207 well-characterized older adults. We observed a negative association between Urban Fabric coverage and a positive association between Urban Green coverage and grey matter volume in perigenual/subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (p/sACC). Although p/sACC has repeatedly been associated with depressive symptoms, neither brain structure nor land use categories were related to measures of mental health. However, resting-state measure in p/sACC showed a negative association with Urban Fabric in our healthy sample, reminiscent of previous reports on major depression where p/sACC is often found to be reduced in activation. Interestingly, hierarchical regression analyses showed that Urban Green accounted for additional variance in brain structure beyond Urban Fabric. We take this finding as an exploratory result that hints at potentially salutogenic elements of green spaces (e.g. terpenes, nature sounds) that go beyond the absence of the detrimental elements of urban contexts (e.g. traffic noise, air pollution), which may inform the future search of environmental factors affecting mental health and disease

Location, location, location: the role of objective neighborhood characteristics for perceptions of control

Introduction: Control beliefs can protect against age-related declines in functioning. It is unclear whether neighborhood characteristics shape how much control people perceive over their life. This article studies associations of neighborhood characteristics with control beliefs of residents of a diverse metropolitan area (Berlin, Germany). Methods: We combine self-report data about perceptions of control obtained from participants in the Berlin Aging Study II (N = 507, 60-87 years, 51% women) with multisource geo-referenced indicators of neighborhood characteristics using linear regression models. Results: Findings indicate that objective neighborhood characteristics (i.e., unemployment rate) are indeed tied to perceptions of control, in particular, how much control participants feel others have over their lives. Including neighborhood characteristics in part doubled the amount of explained variance compared with a reference model covarying for demographic characteristics only (from R2 = 0.017 to R2 = 0.030 for internal control beliefs; R2 = 0.056 to R2 = 0.102 for external control beliefs in chance; R2 = 0.006 to R2 = 0.030 for external control beliefs in powerful others). Discussion/Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of access to neighborhood resources for control beliefs across old age and can inform interventions to build up neighborhood characteristics which might be especially helpful in residential areas with high unemployment

Study protocol subacromial impingement syndrome: the identification of pathophysiologic mechanisms (SISTIM)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Subacromial Impingement Syndrome (SIS) is the most common diagnosed disorder of the shoulder in primary health care, but its aetiology is unclear. Conservative treatment regimes focus at reduction of subacromial inflammatory reactions or pathologic scapulohumeral motion patterns (<it>intrinsic </it>aetiology). Long-lasting symptoms are often treated with surgery, which is focused at enlarging the subacromial space by resection of the anterior part of the acromion (based on <it>extrinsic </it>aetiology). Despite that acromionplasty is in the top-10 of orthopaedic surgical procedures, there is no consensus on its indications and reported results are variable (successful in 48-90%). We hypothesize that the aetiology of SIS, i.e. an increase in subacromial pressure or decrease of subacromial space, is multi-factorial. SIS can be the consequence of pathologic scapulohumeral motion patterns leading to humerus cranialisation, anatomical variations of the scapula and the humerus (e.g. hooked acromion), a subacromial inflammatory reaction (e.g. due to overuse or micro-trauma), or adjoining pathology (e.g. osteoarthritis in the acromion-clavicular-joint with subacromial osteophytes).</p> <p>We believe patients should be treated according to their predominant etiological mechanism(s). Therefore, the objective of our study is to identify and discriminate etiological mechanisms occurring in SIS patients, in order to develop tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this cross-sectional descriptive study, applied clinical and experimental methods to identify intrinsic and extrinsic etiologic mechanisms comprise: MRI-arthrography (eligibility criteria, cuff status, 3D-segmented bony contours); 3D-motion tracking (scapulohumeral rhythm, arm range of motion, dynamic subacromial volume assessment by combining the 3D bony contours and 3D-kinematics); EMG (adductor co-activation) and dynamometry instrumented shoulder radiographs during arm tasks (force and muscle activation controlled acromiohumeral translation assessments); Clinical phenotyping (Constant Score, DASH, WORC, and SF-36 scores).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>By relating anatomic properties, kinematics and muscle dynamics to subacromial volume, we expect to identify one or more predominant pathophysiological mechanisms in every SIS patient. These differences in underlying mechanisms are a reflection of the variations in symptoms, clinical scores and outcomes reported in literature. More insight in these mechanisms is necessary in order to optimize future diagnostic and treatment strategies for patients with SIS symptoms.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Dutch Trial Registry (Nederlands Trial Register) <a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2283">NTR2283</a>.</p

Does the Burglar Also Disturb the Neighbor? Crime Spillovers on Individual Well-Being

Indirect psychological effects induced by crime are likely to contribute significantly to the total costs of crime beyond the financial costs of direct victimization. Using detailed crime statistics for the whole of Germany and linking them to individual-level mental health information from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we analyze whether local crime rates affect the mental health of residents. We estimate that a one standard deviation increase in local violent crime rates significantly decreases individual mental well-being among residents by, on average, one percent. Smaller effects are found for property and total crime rates. Results are insensitive to migration and not isolated to urban areas, but are rather driven by less densely populated regions. In contrast to previous literature on vulnerability to crime, we find that men, more educated and singles react more to variation in violent crime rates in their neighborhoods. One potential explanation could be that those who are more fearful of crime have developed better coping strategies and, hence, react less to changes in crime.Indirekte psychologische Effekte stellen möglicherweise einen erheblichen Teil der durch Kriminalität verursachten Gesamtkosten dar. Um zu analysieren, ob regionale Kriminalitätsraten die mentale Gesundheit beeinflussen, nutzen wir detaillierte Kriminalitätsinformationen für Deutschland und verknüpfen diese mit Informationen zu individueller mentaler Gesundheit aus dem Sozio-ökonomischen Panel. Unsere Schätzergebnisse implizieren, dass der Anstieg um eine Standardabweichung in der Gewaltverbrechensrate das mentale Wohlbefinden der lokalen Bevölkerung signifikant um durchschnittlich ein Prozent reduziert. Für Eigentumsdelikte und die Gesamtkriminalitätsrate beobachten wir geringere Effekte. Die Ergebnisse werden weder durch Wohnortwechsler beeinflusst noch sind sie auf urbane Regionen begrenzt, sondern sind vielmehr durch weniger dicht besiedelte Regionen getrieben. Im Gegensatz zur Literatur zur Angst vor Kriminalität beobachten wir, dass Männer, höher Gebildete und Alleinstehende sensibler auf Veränderungen in der regionalen Gewaltverbrechensrate reagieren. Eine Erklärung hierfür könnte sein, dass diejenigen, die mehr Angst vor Kriminalität haben, entsprechende Coping-Strategien entwickelt haben und daher auch weniger auf Veränderungen in der Kriminalitätsrate reagieren

Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind? The Effect of Wind Turbines on Residential Well-Being

This paper investigates the effect of wind turbines on residential well-being in Germany, using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a unique, novel data set on wind turbines for the time period between 2000 and 2012. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), it calculates the distance from households to the nearest wind turbines to determine whether an individual is affected by disamenities, e.g. through visual pollution. The depth of our unique, novel data set on wind turbines, which has been collected at the regional level and which includes, besides their exact geographical coordinates, their construction dates, allows estimating the causal effect of wind turbines on residential well-being, using difference-in-difference propensity-score and spatial matching techniques. We demonstrate that the construction of a new wind turbine in a treatment area of 4000 metres around households has a significantly negative impact on life satisfaction. Moreover, this effect is found to be of transitory nature. Contrasting the implicit monetary valuation with the damage through CO2 emissions avoided by wind turbines, wind power turns out to be a favorable technology despite robust evidence for negative externalities