Wellness or medicine? Use and perception of Ayurveda in Germany: data from an online-representative cross-sectional study

Introduction: Ayurveda, South Asia’s largest and most relevant system of Traditional Medicine, holds a legal status akin to conventional Western medicine in India and elsewhere. There is an almost complete lack of data on the use of Ayurveda in Germany. The aim of this study was to investigate Ayurveda’s utilization patterns, entry points, and factors influencing its use and the perception of Ayurveda among the German population. Methods: Basis of this manuscript was an online-representative survey which involved 4,065 participants aged 18–75 about the use and acceptance of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) in Germany. The survey was conducted online using Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) in 2022. The dataset was analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Results: Altogether 9.3% (n = 377) of all survey participants (n = 4,065) had already used Ayurveda somehow, either more often (1.7%) or at least once in a lifetime (7.6%). Responders associated Ayurveda primarily with Indian Medicine (27.7%) and wellness (18%). Commonly used Ayurvedic services included non-medical treatments at wellness resorts/spas (48.3%), in outpatient practices (27.1%), and hotels (23.6%). 30.2% of the participants believe in Ayurveda’s therapeutic potential. 76.7% of Ayurveda users find healthy nutrition important or very important. Nine predictors were found to classify Ayurveda users vs. non-users with spirituality and belief in Ayurveda’s therapeutic efficacy as the most relevant ones. Ayurveda seems to be primarily used by well-educated and female individuals, often from higher-income groups and with a rather modern social milieu-orientation. Conclusion: Study results suggest that about every tenth German citizen has used Ayurveda in the past and about one third believes in its therapeutic potential. Because Ayurvedic therapies are often not evidence-based, there is an urgent need to perform high quality randomized controlled trials to investigate potential effects and safety of Ayurveda and how evidence-based Ayurveda treatments can be integrated into the German healthcare system.Peer Reviewe

Database including spatial data on ecosystem services and (anthropogenic) pressures

The Baltic Sea Atlas (http://bio-50.io-warnemuende.de/iowbsa/index.php) was implemented to storeand share marine spatial planning data and datasets from the BONUS BASMATI project. Data areused in the project’s case studies. Additional datasets were included to provide examples on whatkind of data can be used in marine spatial planning to account for ecosystem services. Datacategories, data properties and metadata information follow the recommendations of Deliverable 3.1.The Baltic Sea Atlas is based on the open source webGIS framework kvwmap. The application ishosted at the Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Germany and connected to themetadata portal of the institute. The application provides simple visualisation including basicoperation tools. The access via login and password allows data sharing with the project partners andother interested users, while ensuring basic licence agreements.</p

A Longitudinal Study

Adverse experiences interact with individual vulnerability in the etiology of mental disorders, but due to the paucity of longitudinal studies, their precise interplay remains unclear. Here, we investigated how individual differences in threat responsiveness modulated adjustments in negative affect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 441) underwent a fear conditioning and generalization experiment between 2013 and 2020 and were reassessed regarding anxiety and depression symptoms after the pandemic outbreak. Participants showed increased levels of negative affect following pandemic onset, which were partly modulated by laboratory measures of threat responsiveness. Decreased differentiation of threat and safety signals in participants with higher prepandemic depression and anxiety scores in the laboratory assessment were most predictive of increased symptom levels after the onset of the pandemic. However, effects were small and should be replicated in independent samples to further characterize how individual differences in threat processing interact with adverse experiences in the development of psychopathology.Peer Reviewe

Generalization of Conditioned Contextual Anxiety and the Modulatory Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity

Anxiety patients overgeneralize fear responses, possibly because they cannot distinguish between cues never been associated with a threat (i.e., safe) and threat-associated cues. However, as contexts and not cues are discussed as the relevant triggers for prolonged anxiety responses characterizing many anxiety disorders, we speculated that it is rather overgeneralization of contextual anxiety, which constitutes a risk factor for anxiety disorders. To this end, we investigated generalization of conditioned contextual anxiety and explored modulatory effects of anxiety sensitivity, a risk factor for anxiety disorders. Fifty-five participants underwent context conditioning in a virtual reality paradigm. On Day 1 (acquisition), participants received unpredictable mildly painful electric stimuli (unconditioned stimulus, US) in one virtual office (anxiety context, CTX+), but never in a

Wellness or medicine? Use and perception of Ayurveda in Germany: data from an online-representative cross-sectional study

IntroductionAyurveda, South Asia’s largest and most relevant system of Traditional Medicine, holds a legal status akin to conventional Western medicine in India and elsewhere. There is an almost complete lack of data on the use of Ayurveda in Germany. The aim of this study was to investigate Ayurveda’s utilization patterns, entry points, and factors influencing its use and the perception of Ayurveda among the German population.MethodsBasis of this manuscript was an online-representative survey which involved 4,065 participants aged 18–75 about the use and acceptance of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) in Germany. The survey was conducted online using Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) in 2022. The dataset was analyzed descriptively and inferentially.ResultsAltogether 9.3% (n = 377) of all survey participants (n = 4,065) had already used Ayurveda somehow, either more often (1.7%) or at least once in a lifetime (7.6%). Responders associated Ayurveda primarily with Indian Medicine (27.7%) and wellness (18%). Commonly used Ayurvedic services included non-medical treatments at wellness resorts/spas (48.3%), in outpatient practices (27.1%), and hotels (23.6%). 30.2% of the participants believe in Ayurveda’s therapeutic potential. 76.7% of Ayurveda users find healthy nutrition important or very important. Nine predictors were found to classify Ayurveda users vs. non-users with spirituality and belief in Ayurveda’s therapeutic efficacy as the most relevant ones. Ayurveda seems to be primarily used by well-educated and female individuals, often from higher-income groups and with a rather modern social milieu-orientation.ConclusionStudy results suggest that about every tenth German citizen has used Ayurveda in the past and about one third believes in its therapeutic potential. Because Ayurvedic therapies are often not evidence-based, there is an urgent need to perform high quality randomized controlled trials to investigate potential effects and safety of Ayurveda and how evidence-based Ayurveda treatments can be integrated into the German healthcare system

The Future of Marine Spatial Planning—Perspectives from Early Career Researchers

In early 2021, the Erasmus+ knowledge flows partnership organised a session to discuss the future of marine spatial planning (MSP) at an international conference. We, a group of nine early career researchers, came together after the conference to continue the discussion: which topics should be considered in future MSP, what are the challenges, and which solutions are there to overcome these challenges? This communication shall raise awareness of the topics of climate change, ecological sustainability, blue justice, ecosystem services, and blue governance, which we identified as important for future MSP endeavours. We show the interconnectedness of the topics and argue that transdisciplinary education is required to contribute to a common understanding of MSP, which adopts an ecosystem-based approach, ensures equitable distribution of benefits, and secures ecologically sustainable development within an adaptive governance framework

BONUS BASMATI Thematic Scoping/Vision Document: report outlining the main conflict and potential synergy areas in crossborder MSP. Deliverable 2.2

Addressing conflicts between marine interests and finding workable solutions that can facilitate synergies between stakeholders is an important task of spatial planning both onshore and in the sea. A general assumption among many experts in marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) is that promoting synergies and coexistence can enhance spatial efficiency of marine uses and possibly result in a more sustainable use of marine resources. However, in order to promote cooperation, one needs to first establish a better understanding of the crucial components of conflictive and synergetic planning situations and important definitions related to this. This scoping report examines conceptualisations and analytical perspectives on work with conflicts and synergies in MSP in relation to the case studies of the BONUS BASMATI project. The theme of conflicts and synergies is rather topical, not least in connection with attempts of the EU and other actors to promote growth in the blue economic sector and keep related environmental impacts low. MSP is seen as an important tool or approach to promote and achieve these goals (European Commission 2008; European Commission 2009; European Commission 2012). Chapter 1 provides introductory reflections on conflicts and synergies in marine spatial planning using both an analytical narrative complemented with examples from conflict theory. The aim is to provide the reader with an easily understandable introduction into relevant terms used and important issues to be considered when working with conflicts and synergies in MSP. These include interests, stakeholders, institutional frameworks, rules, systems and practices, space and geography, knowledge and technologies, conflict-synergies in a broader context. The chapter concludes with an analysis of conflict analysis and management literature and a discussion on the potential role of conflict management in MSP. Chapter 2 provides examples of conflicts and obstacles that have emerged in a Baltic Sea Region (BSR) context and how, through people, planning processes, projects and institutions synergies have been developed. The chapter focuses on 1) Conflicts of interest: Marine use related conflicts / obstacles and synergies, 2) Institutional cross-border conflicts / obstacles and synergies, 3) Process related conflicts / obstacles and synergies, 4) Knowledge and data related conflicts / obstacles and synergies, 5) Other types of obstacles that are context related. Chapter 3 zooms in on the three BONUS BASMATI case studies and highlights emerging and potential conflicts and synergies within the case study areas. It also suggests potential synergies and solutions for overcoming challenges that can be addressed in the case studies and during the lifetime of the project.</p

New Cav1.2 Channelopathy with High-Functioning Autism, Affective Disorder, Severe Dental Enamel Defects, a Short QT Interval, and a Novel CACNA1C Loss-of-Function Mutation

Complex neuropsychiatric-cardiac syndromes can be genetically determined. For the first time, the authors present a syndromal form of short QT syndrome in a 34-year-old German male patient with extracardiac features with predominant psychiatric manifestation, namely a severe form of secondary high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), along with affective and psychotic exacerbations, and severe dental enamel defects (with rapid wearing off his teeth) due to a heterozygous loss-of-function mutation in the CACNA1C gene (NM_000719.6: c.2399A > C; p.Lys800Thr). This mutation was found only once in control databases; the mutated lysine is located in the Cav1.2 calcium channel, is highly conserved during evolution, and is predicted to affect protein function by most pathogenicity prediction algorithms. L-type Cav1.2 calcium channels are widely expressed in the brain and heart. In the case presented, electrophysiological studies revealed a prominent reduction in the current amplitude without changes in the gating behavior of the Cav1.2 channel, most likely due to a trafficking defect. Due to the demonstrated loss of function, the p.Lys800Thr variant was finally classified as pathogenic (ACMG class 4 variant) and is likely to cause a newly described Cav1.2 channelopathy

GLRB allelic variation associated with agoraphobic cognitions, increased startle response and fear network activation : a potential neurogenetic pathway to panic disorder

The molecular genetics of panic disorder (PD) with and without agoraphobia (AG) are still largely unknown and progress is hampered by small sample sizes. We therefore performed a genome-wide association study with a dimensional, PD/AG - related anxiety phenotype based on the Agoraphobia Cognition Questionnaire (ACQ) in a sample of 1,370 healthy German volunteers of the CRC TRR58 MEGA study wave 1. A genome-wide significant association was found between ACQ and single non-coding nucleotide variants of the GLRB gene (rs78726293, p=3.3x10-8; rs191260602, p=3.9x10-8). We followed up on this finding in a larger dimensional ACQ sample (N=2,547) and in independent samples with a dichotomous AG phenotype based on the Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90; N=3,845) and a case control sample with the categorical phenotype PD/AG (Ncombined =1,012) obtaining highly significant p-values also for GLRB single nucleotide variants rs17035816 (p=3.8x10-4) and rs7688285 (p=7.6x10-5). GLRB gene expression was found to be modulated by rs7688285 in brain tissue as well as cell culture. Analyses of intermediate PD/AG phenotypes demonstrated increased startle reflex and increased fear network as well as general sensory activation by GLRB risk gene variants rs78726293, rs191260602, rs17035816 and rs7688285. Partial Glrb knockout-mice demonstrated an agoraphobic phenotype. In conjunction withthe clinical observation that rare coding GLRB gene mutations are associated with the neurological disorder hyperekplexia characterized by a generalized startle reaction and agoraphobic behavior, our data provide evidence that non-coding, though functional GLRB gene polymorphisms may predispose to PD by increasing startle response and agoraphobic cognitions.PostprintPeer reviewe