Gibt es einen Zusammenhang zwischen Bewegungsaktivität und psychischem Befinden im Alltag?

Mit diesem Beitrag wollen wir illustrieren, wie mit Hilfe der Technik des ambulanten Monitoring gesundheitspsychologische Fragestellungen im Alltag untersucht werden können. Dazu wurde der Zusammenhang von körperlicher Aktivität und Wohlbefinden im Alltag analysiert. Mit Hilfe von Beschleunigungssensoren wurden Bewegungsdaten über einen Zeitraum von 12 Stunden an 124 Probanden zwischen 18 und 73 Jahren aufgezeichnet. Energetische Aktiviertheit/positiver Affekt (EA/PA) und Anspannung/negativer Affekt (WA/NA) wurden etwa stündlich mittels Pocketcomputer erfasst. Die Daten wurden mit Mehrebenenmodellen ausgewertet. Bewegungsepisoden, die vor der Befindensabfrage auftraten, waren positiv mit EA/PA assoziiert. Zusammenhänge mit WA/NA konnten hingegen nicht beobachtet werden. Weiterhin waren BMI und EA/PA negativ miteinander assoziiert, wobei dieser Zusammenhang vor allem auf die Männer zurückzuführen war. Weiterhin zeigte sich, dass mit zunehmendem BMI der Zusammenhang zwischen Bewegung und EA/PA anstieg. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Untersuchung gesundheitspsychologischer Fragestellungen im Feld viel versprechend ist und die Befunde bisheriger Untersuchungen erweitern.This study aimed to examine if a correlation exists between physical activity and mood in daily life using ambulatory monitoring technology. 124 individuals (64 females, age range 18-73 years) participated. Physical activity was recorded throughout one day (12 hours) via accelerometers and mood (energetic arousal/positive affect and tension arousal/negative affect) was assessed about every hour using handheld (palm) computers. Mixed model analyses revealed that energetic arousal/positive affect was significantly positively associated with preceding physical activity episodes. Moreover, BMI was negatively associated with energetic arousal/positive affect and this effect was especially pronounced in males. Further analyses showed that with increasing BMI the relation between physical activity and energetic arousal/positive affect grew stronger. Contrary to energetic arousal/positive affect tension arousal/negative affect was unrelated to physical activity. The results suggest that daily physical activity episodes seem to modulate mood aspects and that ambulatory monitoring technology is a useful tool for examining these associations

Convergence of the Many-Body Expansion of Interaction Potentials: From van der Waals to Covalent and Metallic Systems

The many-body expansion of the interaction potential between atoms and molecules is analyzed in detail for different types of interactions involving up to seven atoms. Elementary clusters of Ar, Na, Si, and, in particular, Au are studied, using first-principles wave-function- and density-functional-based methods to obtain the individual n-body contributions to the interaction energies. With increasing atom number the many-body expansion converges rapidly only for long-range weak interactions. Large oscillatory behavior is observed for other types of interactions. This is consistent with the fact that Au clusters up to a certain size prefer planar structures over the more compact three-dimensional Lennard-Jones-type structures. Several Au model potentials and semi-empirical PM6 theory are investigated for their ability to reproduce the quantum results. We further investigate small water clusters as prototypes of hydrogen-bonded systems. Here, the many-body expansion converges rapidly, reflecting the localized nature of the hydrogen bond and justifying the use of two-body potentials to describe water-water interactions. The question of whether electron correlation contributions can be successfully modeled by a many-body interaction potential is also addressed

“Switch-Off” of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Can Occur in a Minority of Subjects During Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

A group of 23 healthy scanner naïve participants of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with increased state anxiety exhibited 0.1 Hz oscillations in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signals, heart rate (HR) beat-to-beat intervals (RRI) and respiration. The goal of the present paper is to explore slow oscillations in respiration and RRI and their phase-coupling by applying the dynamic “wave-by-wave” analysis. Five participants with either high or moderate levels of fMRI-related anxiety (age 23.8 ± 3.3y) were found with at least one bulk of consecutive breathing waves with a respiration rate between 6 to 9 breaths/min in a 5-min resting state. The following results were obtained: (i) Breathing oscillations with dominant frequencies at 0.1 Hz and 0.15 Hz displayed a 1:1 coupling with RRI. (ii) Inspiration time was significantly longer than expiration time. (iii) RRI minima (start of HR decrease) coincided with the early inspiration, and RRI maxima (start of HR increase) coincided with the late inspiration. (iv) RRI rhythm led over the respiratory rhythm. This phase-coupling pattern is quite contrary to typical respiratory sinus arrhythmia where HR increases during inspiration and decreases during expiration

Verification of a Central Pacemaker in Brain Stem by Phase-Coupling Analysis Between HR Interval- and BOLD-Oscillations in the 0.10–0.15 Hz Frequency Band

The origin of slow intrinsic oscillations in resting states of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals is still a matter of debate. The present study aims to test the hypothesis that slow blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) oscillations with frequency components greater than 0.10 Hz result from a central neural pacemaker located in the brain stem. We predict that a central oscillator modulates cardiac beatto- beat interval (RRI) fluctuations rapidly, with only a short neural lag around 0.3 s. Spontaneous BOLD fluctuations in the brain stem, however, are considerably delayed due to the hemodynamic response time of about 2–3 s. In order to test these predictions, we analyzed the time delay between slow RRI oscillations from thorax and BOLD oscillations in the brain stem by calculating the phase locking value (PLV). Our findings show a significant time delay of 2.2 0.2 s between RRI and BOLD signals in 12 out of 23 (50%) participants in axial slices of the pons/brain stem. Adding the neural lag of 0.3 s to the observed lag of 2.2 s we obtain 2.5 s, which is the time between neural activity increase and BOLD increase, termed neuro-BOLD coupling. Note, this time window for neuro-BOLD coupling in awake humans is surprisingly of similar size as in awake head-fixed adult mice (Mateo et al., 2017)

Determining the direction of prediction of the association between parasympathetic dysregulation and exhaustion symptoms

Stress-related exhaustion symptoms have a high prevalence which is only likely to increase further in the near future. Understanding the physiological underpinnings of exhaustion has important implications for accurate diagnosis and the development of effective prevention and intervention programs. Given its integrative role in stress-regulation, the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous systems has been a valid starting point in the exploration of the physiological mechanisms behind exhaustion. The aim of the present study was to examine the directionality and specificity of the association between exhaustion symptoms and vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a relatively pure measure of parasympathetic tone. Exhaustion symptoms and vmHRV were measured at four annually assessment waves (2015–2018) of the Dresden Burnout Study. A total sample of N = 378 participants who attended at least two of the four annual biomarker measurements were included in the present analyses. Cross-lagged multi-level panel modelling adjusting for various covariates (e.g., age, sex, BMI) revealed that vmHRV was meaningfully predictive of exhaustion symptoms and not vice versa. In addition, these effects were specific for exhaustion symptoms as no effect was shown for the other burnout sub-dimensions, or for depressive symptoms. Our findings indicate a clear link between exhaustion symptoms and vmHRV which may hold great potential for both enhancing the diagnosis and treatment of exhaustion symptoms

Brain Edema Formation and Functional Outcome After Surgical Decompression in Murine Closed Head Injury Are Modulated by Acetazolamide Administration

Acetazolamide (ACZ), carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, has been successfully applied in several neurosurgical conditions for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Furthermore, neuroprotective and anti-edematous properties of ACZ have been postulated. However, its use in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is limited, since ACZ-caused vasodilatation according to the Monro-Kellie doctrine may lead to increased intracranial blood volume / raise of intracranial pressure. We hypothesized that these negative effects of ACZ will be reduced or prevented, if the drug is administered after already performed decompression. To test this hypothesis, we used a mouse model of closed head injury (CHI) and decompressive craniectomy (DC). Mice were assigned into following experimental groups: sham, DC, CHI, CHI+ACZ, CHI+DC, and CHI+DC+ACZ (n = 8 each group). 1d and 3d post injury, the neurological function was assessed according to Neurological Severity Score (NSS) and Beam Balance Score (BBS). At the same time points, brain edema was quantified by MRI investigations. Functional impairment and edema volume were compared between groups and over time. Among the animals without skull decompression, the group additionally treated with acetazolamide demonstrated the most severe functional impairment. This pattern was reversed among the mice with decompressive craniectomy: CHI+DC treated but not CHI+DC+ACZ treated animals showed a significant neurological deficit. Accordingly, radiological assessment revealed most severe edema formation in the CHI+DC group while in CHI+DC+ACZ animals, volume of brain edema did not differ from DC-only animals. In our CHI model, the response to acetazolamide treatment varies between animals with decompressive craniectomy and those without surgical treatment. Opening the cranial vault potentially creates an opportunity for acetazolamide to exert its beneficial effects while vasodilatation-related risks are attenuated. Therefore, we recommend further exploration of this potentially beneficial drug in translational research projects

First identification of large electric monopole strength in well-deformed rare earth nuclei

Excited states in the well-deformed rare earth isotopes $^{154}$Sm and $^{166}$Er were populated via ``safe'' Coulomb excitation at the Munich MLL Tandem accelerator. Conversion electrons were registered in a cooled Si(Li) detector in conjunction with a magnetic transport and filter system, the Mini-Orange spectrometer. For the first excited $0^+$ state in $^{154}$Sm at 1099 keV a large value of the monopole strength for the transition to the ground state of $\rho^2(\text{E0}; 0^+_2 \to 0^+_\text{g}) = 96(42)\cdot 10^{-3}$ could be extracted. This confirms the interpretation of the lowest excited $0^+$ state in $^{154}$Sm as the collective $\beta$-vibrational excitation of the ground state. In $^{166}$Er the measured large electric monopole strength of $\rho^2(\text{E0}; 0^+_4 \to 0^+_1) = 127(60)\cdot 10^{-3}$ clearly identifies the $0_4^+$ state at 1934 keV to be the $\beta$-vibrational excitation of the ground state.Comment: submitted to Physics Letters

An easterly tip jet off Cape Farewell, Greenland. I: Aircraft observations

An easterly tip jet event off Cape Farewell, Greenland, is described and analysed in considerable detail. In Part I of this study (this paper) comprehensive aircraft-based observations are described, while in Part II of this study numerical simulations and a dynamical analysis are presented. The easterly tip jet of 21 February 2007 took place during the Greenland Flow Distortion experiment. It resulted through the interaction of a barotropic synoptic-scale low pressure system in the central North Atlantic and the high topography of southern Greenland. In situ observations reveal a jet core at the coast with peak winds of almost 50 m s-1, about 600–800 m above the sea surface, and of 30 m s-1 at 10 m. The depth of the jet increased with wind speed from ~1500 m to ~2500 m as the peak winds increased from 30 to 50 m s-1. The jet accelerated and curved anticyclonically as it reached Cape Farewell and the end of the barrier. The easterly tip jet was associated with a tongue of cold and dry air along the coast of southeast Greenland, general cloud cover to the east, and cloud streets to the south of Cape Farewell. Precipitation was observed during the low-level components of the flight. The very high wind speeds generated a highly turbulent atmospheric boundary layer and resulted in some of the highest surface wind stresses ever observed over the ocean

Identification of extremely GC-rich micro RNAs for RT-qPCR data normalization in human plasma

We aimed at extending the repertoire of high-quality miRNA normalizers for reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) of human plasma with special emphasis on the extremely guanine-cytosine-rich portion of the miRNome. For high-throughput selection of stable candidates, microarray technology was preferred over small-RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) since the latter underrepresented miRNAs with a guanine-cytosine (GC) content of at least 75% (p = 0.0002, n = 2). miRNA abundances measured on the microarray were ranked for consistency and uniformity using nine normalization approaches. The eleven most stable sequences included miRNAs of moderate, but also extreme GC content (45%–65%: miR-320d, miR-425-5p, miR-185-5p, miR-486-5p; 80%–95%: miR-1915-3p, miR-3656-5p, miR-3665-5p, miR-3960-5p, miR-4488-5p, miR-4497 and miR-4787-5p). In contrast, the seven extremely GC-rich miRNAs were not found in the two plasma miRNomes screened by sRNA-seq. Stem-loop RT-qPCR was employed for stability verification in 32 plasma samples of healthy male Caucasians (age range: 18–55 years). The lowest inter-individual variance of miRNA abundance was determined for miR-3665 and miR-1915-3p [coefficient of variation (CV) values: 0.08 and 0.50, respectively]. The eight most stable sequences included four extremely GC-rich miRNAs (miR-1915-3p, miR-3665, miR-4787-5p and miR-4497). The best-performing duo normalization factor (NF) for the condition of human plasma, miR-320d and miR-4787-5p, also included a GC-extreme miRNA. In summary, the identification of extremely guanine-cytosine-rich plasma normalizers will help to increase accuracy of PCR-based miRNA quantification, thus raise the potential that miRNAs become markers for psychological stress reactions or early and precise diagnosis of clinical phenotypes. The novel miRNAs might also be useful for orthologous contexts considering their conservation in related animal genomes