Integration of immigrants into a new culture is related to poor sleep quality

Background: This article reports on the relationship between cultural influences on life style, coping style, and sleep in a sample of female Portuguese immigrants living in Germany. Sleep quality is known to be poorer in women than in men, yet little is known about mediating psychological and sociological variables such as stress and coping with stressful life circumstances. Migration constitutes a particularly difficult life circumstance for women if it involves differing role conceptions in the country of origin and the emigrant country. Methods: The study investigated sleep quality, coping styles and level of integration in a sample of Portuguese (N = 48) and Moroccan (N = 64) immigrant women who took part in a structured personal interview. Results: Sleep quality was poor in 54% of Portuguese and 39% of Moroccan women, which strongly exceeds reports of sleep complaints in epidemiologic studies of sleep quality in German women. Reports of poor sleep were associated with the degree of adoption of a German life style. Women who had integrated more into German society slept worse than less integrated women in both samples, suggesting that non-integration serves a protective function. An unusually large proportion of women preferred an information-seeking (monitoring) coping style and adaptive coping. Poor sleep was related to high monitoring in the Portuguese but not the Moroccan sample. Conclusion: Sleep quality appears to be severely affected in women with a migration background. Our data suggest that non-integration may be less stressful than integration. This result points to possible benefits of non-integration. The high preference for an information-seeking coping style may be related to the process of migration, representing the attempt at regaining control over an uncontrollable and stressful life situation

Detoxification of LPS by alkaline phosphatase:application of a new concept in sepsis and inflammatory bowel disease

Bij chronische darmziekten – zoals colitis ulcerosa en de ziekte van Crohn – ontstaan ontstekingen nadat de darmwand beschadigd geraakt is. Een enzym dat al van nature in ons lichaam voorkomt zou wel eens een goed medicijn tegen dit soort ziektes kunnen zijn. Dit blijkt uit onderzoek van Annemarie Tuin. Alkalisch fosfatase (AF) is een enzym dat in het menselijk lichaam betrokken is bij de botvorming, legt Tuin uit. ‘In 1997 ontdekte mijn promotor, Klaas Poelstra, dat AF ook bepaalde giftige moleculen, endotoxines, onschadelijk kan maken.’ Dit leidde tot een onderzoek waaruit bleek dat AF een effectief middel is tegen sepsis (bloedvergiftiging) - wereldwijd een van de belangrijkste doodsoorzaken op intensivecare-afdelingen. ‘Sepsis wordt veroorzaakt doordat endotoxines die aan de buitenkant voorkomen van Gram-negatieve bacteriën in het bloed terechtkomen. Daardoor komt er een afweerreactie op gang die soms zo heftig is dat dit de dood tot gevolg heeft. AF is in staat om een stukje van het endotoxine-molecuul, de fosfaatgroep, af te splitsen. Hierdoor is deze niet meer toxisch.’

Facial fat grafting:Technique and Outcomes

The research performed in this thesis aimed to generate more clinical evidence in the field of facial fat grafting. Fat grafting literally means transplantation of autologous adipose tissue to another part of the body. Facial fat grafting is an established technique to restore facial volume, to correct volume deficiencies and to improve soft tissue contours. The overall aim of the research described in this thesis was to assess the volumetric outcome of and patient satisfaction with facial fat grafting when applying the best current processing technique and validated measuring tools. The research in thesis described the assessment of many different fat grafting techniques and stromal vascular fraction (SVF) isolation techniques for clinical use. In order to improve the scientific level of the assessment of facial fat grafting a new algorithm based automatic 3D volumetric analysis tool was designed resulting in “personalized aesthetic templates”. It is objectified that the 3D technique lead to accurate and reproducible volume analysis of predefined aesthetic areas after facial fat grafting. In clinical studies it became clear that the measured volumetric effect after facial fat grafting is area dependent. A hypothesis which is often assumed, but never been proved until now. This finding is very important knowledge for all facial surgeons in order to manage the expectations of the procedure. In addition, this thesis showed the major role of preoperative psychological well-being to the satisfaction of the result of facial fat grafting

On The Threshold of New Materialist Studies

This article answers a question addressed to the author during the selection procedure for a research network: if we were to be awarded funding, would we also work toward formulating (under)graduate degrees in new materialist studies? The article engages with this issue of Forum to provide an original impetus for preliminary thoughts on the institutionalisation of new materialist studies as a platform for academic research and scholarly degrees