The Impact of Foehn Wind on Mental Distress among Patients in a Swiss Psychiatric Hospital.

Psychiatric patients are particularly vulnerable to strong weather stimuli, such as foehn, a hot wind that occurs in the alps. However, there is a dearth of research regarding its impact on mental health. This study investigated the impact of foehn wind among patients of a psychiatric hospital located in a foehn area in the Swiss Alps. Analysis was based on anonymized datasets obtained from routine records on admission and discharge, including the Brief Symptom Checklist (BSCL) questionnaire, as well as sociodemographic parameters (age, sex, and diagnosis). Between 2013 and 2020, a total of 10,456 admission days and 10,575 discharge days were recorded. All meteorological data were extracted from the database of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology of Switzerland. We estimated the effect of foehn on the BSCL items using a distributed lag model. Significant differences were found between foehn and non-foehn admissions in obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and general severity index (GSI) (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that foehn wind events may negatively affect specific mental health parameters in patients. More research is needed to fully understand the impact of foehn's events on mental health

Electrocorticographic Activation Patterns of Electroencephalographic Microstates.

Electroencephalography (EEG) microstates are short successive periods of stable scalp field potentials representing spontaneous activation of brain resting-state networks. EEG microstates are assumed to mediate local activity patterns. To test this hypothesis, we correlated momentary global EEG microstate dynamics with the local temporo-spectral evolution of electrocorticography (ECoG) and stereotactic EEG (SEEG) depth electrode recordings. We hypothesized that these correlations involve the gamma band. We also hypothesized that the anatomical locations of these correlations would converge with those of previous studies using either combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-EEG or EEG source localization. We analyzed resting-state data (5 min) of simultaneous noninvasive scalp EEG and invasive ECoG and SEEG recordings of two participants. Data were recorded during the presurgical evaluation of pharmacoresistant epilepsy using subdural and intracranial electrodes. After standard preprocessing, we fitted a set of normative microstate template maps to the scalp EEG data. Using covariance mapping with EEG microstate timelines and ECoG/SEEG temporo-spectral evolutions as inputs, we identified systematic changes in the activation of ECoG/SEEG local field potentials in different frequency bands (theta, alpha, beta, and high-gamma) based on the presence of particular microstate classes. We found significant covariation of ECoG/SEEG spectral amplitudes with microstate timelines in all four frequency bands (p = 0.001, permutation test). The covariance patterns of the ECoG/SEEG electrodes during the different microstates of both participants were similar. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate distinct activation/deactivation patterns of frequency-domain ECoG local field potentials associated with simultaneous EEG microstates

Individual and Work-Related Psychological Characteristics Contributing to Subjective Well-Being in Air Rescue Employees.

OBJECTIVE Air rescue staff are subject to stressors, including frequent traumatic events, shift work, and unfavorable conditions during rescue missions. We investigated subjective well-being among employees of the Swiss Air-Rescue organization and the potential determining factors, such as sense of coherence, self-esteem, coping, stress, and mental health status. METHODS All employees (N = 142) received a questionnaire battery composed of the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, the Salutogenic Subjective Work Analysis, the Stress Coping Questionnaire, the Health and Stress Questionnaire, the Sense of Coherence Scale 13-item scale, the Inventory for the Measurement of Self-Efficacy and Externality, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. A discriminant analysis was conducted (input: subjective well-being, output: potential determining factors). A total of 48 participants provided complete data. RESULTS The discriminant analysis was significant (χ2 = 40.80, P < .001; correct classification: 89.4%) and revealed that sense of coherence (F1,45 = 40.46) and self-esteem (F1,45 = 36.20) were the most important discriminating factors for subjective well-being. CONCLUSION Sense of coherence and self-esteem play an important role in the subjective well-being of emergency and rescue personnel. Fostering these traits should be included in preventive programs

Individual and Work-Related Psychological Characteristics Contributing to Subjective Well-Being in Air Rescue Employees

Objective Air rescue staff are subject to stressors, including frequent traumatic events, shift work, and unfavorable conditions during rescue missions. We investigated subjective well-being among employees of the Swiss Air-Rescue organization and the potential determining factors, such as sense of coherence, self-esteem, coping, stress, and mental health status. Methods All employees (N = 142) received a questionnaire battery composed of the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, the Salutogenic Subjective Work Analysis, the Stress Coping Questionnaire, the Health and Stress Questionnaire, the Sense of Coherence Scale 13-item scale, the Inventory for the Measurement of Self-Efficacy and Externality, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. A discriminant analysis was conducted (input: subjective well-being, output: potential determining factors). A total of 48 participants provided complete data. Results The discriminant analysis was significant (χ2 = 40.80, P < .001; correct classification: 89.4%) and revealed that sense of coherence (F1,45 = 40.46) and self-esteem (F1,45 = 36.20) were the most important discriminating factors for subjective well-being. Conclusion Sense of coherence and self-esteem play an important role in the subjective well-being of emergency and rescue personnel. Fostering these traits should be included in preventive programs

Predictors of sleep quality in the Swiss alpine rescue service

Introduction: Sleep is a prerequisite for mental health, but data are lacking with regard to sleep quality in voluntary emergency and rescue workers. In this analysis of data from a larger study, we assess sleep quality and explore possible risk and protective factors of Swiss alpine rescue personnel. Methods: Using data from an online survey of 465 mountain rescuers, we estimated sleep quality with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Participants additionally completed the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5), the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Results: Only 14% of the participants indicated poor sleep quality. Moreover, higher scores on the GHQ-12, PCL-5, and PSS-10 emerged as risk factors for poor sleep quality. Conclusion: Our results indicate a good sleep quality in Swiss alpine rescue personnel. Risk factors for poor sleep quality were poorer general mental health, the presence of PTSD symptoms, and higher perceived stress

Iron isotope fractionation and atom exchange during sorption of ferrous iron to mineral surfaces

The application of stable Fe isotopes as a tracer of the biogeochemical Fe cycle necessitates a mechanistic knowledge of natural fractionation processes. We studied the equilibrium Fe isotope fractionation upon sorption of Fe(II) to aluminum oxide (gamma-Al2O3), goethite (alpha-FeOOH), quartz (alpha-SiO2), and goethite-loaded quartz in batch experiments, and performed continuous-flow column experiments to study the extent of equilibrium and kinetic Fe isotope fractionation during reactive transport of Fe(II) through pure and goethite-loaded quartz sand. In addition, batch and column experiments were used to quantify the coupled electron transfer-atom exchange between dissolved Fe(II) (Fe(II)(aq)) and structural Fe(III) of goethite. All experiments were conducted under strictly anoxic conditions at pH 7.2 in 20 mM MOPS (3-(N-morpholino)-propanesulfonic acid) buffer and 23 degrees C. Iron isotope ratios were measured by high-resolution MC-ICP-MS. Isotope data were analyzed with isotope fractionation models. In batch systems, we observed significant Fe isotope fractionation upon equilibrium of Fe(II) to all sorbents tested, except for aluminum oxide. The equilibrium enrichment factor epsilon(eq)(56/54), of the Fe(II)(sorb)-Fe(II)(aq) couple was 0.85 +/- 0.10 parts per thousand (+/- 2 sigma) for quartz and 0.85 +/- 0.08 parts per thousand (+/- 2 sigma) for goethite-loaded quartz. In the goethite system, the sorption-induced isotope fractionation was superimposed by atom exchange, leading to a delta(56/54) Fe shift in solution towards the isotopic composition of the goethite. Without consideration of atom exchange, the equilibrium enrichment factor was 2.01 +/- 0.08 parts per thousand (+/- 2 sigma), but decreased to 0.73 +/- 0.24 parts per thousand (+/- 2 sigma) when atom exchange was taken into account. The amount of structural Fe in goethite that equilibrated isotopically with Fe(II)(aq) via atom exchange was equivalent to one atomic Fe layer of the mineral surface (similar to 3% of goethite-Fe). Column experiments showed significant Fe isotope fractionation with delta(56/54) Fe(II)(aq) spanning a range of 1.00 parts per thousand and 1.65 parts per thousand for pure and goethite-loaded quartz, respectively. Reactive transport of Fe(II) under non-steady state conditions led to complex, non-monotonous Fe isotope trends that could be explained by a combination of kinetic and equilibrium isotope enrichment factors. Our results demonstrate that in abiotic anoxic systems with near-neutral pH, sorption of Fe(II) to mineral surfaces, even to supposedly non-reactive minerals such as quartz, induces significant Fe isotope fractionation. Therefore we expect Fe isotope signatures in natural systems with changing concentration gradients of Fe(II)(aq) to be affected by sorption. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Phase-amplitude coupling of sleep slow oscillatory and spindle activity correlates with overnight memory consolidation.

Initially independent lines of research suggest that sleep-specific brain activity patterns, observed as electroencephalographic slow oscillatory and sleep spindle activity, promote memory consolidation and underlying synaptic refinements. Here, we further tested the emerging concept that specifically the coordinated interplay of slow oscillations and spindle activity (phase-amplitude coupling) support memory consolidation. Particularly, we associated indices of the interplay between slow oscillatory (0.16-1.25 Hz) and spindle activity (12-16 Hz) during non-rapid eye movement sleep (strength [modulation index] and phase degree of coupling) in 20 healthy adults with parameters of overnight declarative (word-list task) and procedural (mirror-tracing task) memory consolidation. The pattern of results supports the notion that the interplay between oscillations facilitates memory consolidation. The coincidence of the spindle amplitude maximum with the up-state of the slow oscillation (phase degree) was significantly associated with declarative memory consolidation (r = .65, p = .013), whereas the overall strength of coupling (modulation index) correlated with procedural memory consolidation (r = .45, p = .04). Future studies are needed to test for potential causal effects of the observed association between neural oscillations during sleep and memory consolidation, and to elucidate ways of modulating these processes, for instance through non-invasive brain-stimulation techniques