TY - JOUR A1 - Witt, Stephanie H. A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Nieratschker, Vanessa A1 - Treutlein, Jens A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Bidlingmaier, Martin A1 - Wiedemann, Klaus A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Laucht, Manfred A1 - Wuest, Stefan A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. T1 - An interaction between a neuropeptide Y gene polymorphism and early adversity modulates endocrine stress responses JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Interindividual variability in the regulation of the human stress system accounts for a part of the individual's liability to stress-related diseases. These differences are influenced by environmental and genetic factors. Early childhood adversity is a well-studied environmental factor affecting an individual's stress response which has been shown to be modulated by gene environment interaction (GxE). Neuropeptide Y (NPY) plays a role in stress regulation and genetic variation in NPY may influence stress responses. In this study, we analyzed the association of a common variant in the NPY gene promoter, rs16147, with cortisol and ACTH responses to acute psychosocial stress in young adults from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an ongoing epidemiological cohort study following the outcome of early adversity from birth into adulthood. We found evidence of a GxE interaction between rs16147 and early adversity significantly affecting HPA axis responses to acute psychosocial stress. These findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanisms linking early adverse experience and later neuroendocrine stress regulation are modulated by a gene variant whose functional relevance is documented by increasing convergent evidence from in vitro, animal and human studies. KW - GxE interaction KW - Stress KW - HPA KW - Neuropeptide Y KW - Early adversity Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.015 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 36 IS - 7 SP - 1010 EP - 1020 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kanitz, Jenny Lena A1 - Pretzer, Kim A1 - Reif, Marcus A1 - Voss, Andreas A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Warschburger, Petra A1 - Laengler, Alfred A1 - Henze, Guenter A1 - Seifert, Georg T1 - The impact of eurythmy therapy on stress coping strategies and health-related quality of life in healthy, moderately stressed adults JF - Complementary therapies in medicine : the journal for all health care professionals. N2 - Background: 'Stress' and 'health-related quality of life' (HRQoL) are two important theoretical constructs for modern therapy evaluation with clinical relevance. Eurythmy therapy (EYT) is a mind-body-therapy derived from anthroposophic medicine with promising effects on heart rate variability (HRV), HRQoL and disease scores. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of EYT on stress coping strategies (SCS) and HRQoL in a controlled study with moderately stressed participants. Methods: 68 healthy, moderately stressed adults (mean age: 42.2; SD: 8.2) performed 10 h of EYT in a group setting over a period of six weeks. A non-randomised control group of 22 healthy adults (mean age: 43.6; SD: 13.7) received no intervention and did only complete the questionnaires at the same data points. Outcomes were measured before and after the intervention (AVEM & SF-36). Results: A significant impact on SCS was found in seven AVEM scales (MANOVA, F (1/74) = 4.59; p = .04). With regard to changes in risk pattern affiliation (AVEM), 24% of the participants receiving EYT (n = 55) changed over time from a risky stress coping pattern to a healthier pattern. Concerning the HRQoL four normally distributed scales of the SF-36 ('vitality', 'social functioning', 'mental health' and 'physical functioning') showed a significant group x time interaction favouring the EYT group (MANOVA, F (1/74) = 17.26; p < .001). Statistically and clinically relevant mean differences over time of at least eight scale points were found for 'role physical', 'bodily pain', 'vitality' and 'mental health', and of at least 15 scale points for 'role emotional' and 'social functioning'. Conclusions: A six-week period of EYT training can result in a significant reduction of stress and consequently improve QoL. Because a significant proportion of participants had high levels of stress at baseline the results suggest a health-enhancing benefit of EYT that may have clinical potential for prevention of stress and associated disorders in healthy individuals and possibly in patients with chronic diseases, for example. KW - Eurythmy therapy KW - Mind-body-therapy KW - Stress KW - Health related quality of life Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2011.06.008 SN - 0965-2299 VL - 19 IS - 5 SP - 247 EP - 255 PB - Churchill Livingstone CY - Edinburgh ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roul, Pradip A1 - Schinner, Alexander A1 - Kassner, Klaus T1 - Simulation of the strain distribution under a two-dimensional sand pile JF - Powder technology : an international journal on the science and technology of wet and dry particulate systems N2 - We study the averaged macroscopic strain tensor for a sand pile consisting of soft convex polygonal particles numerically, using the discrete-element method (DEM). First, we construct two types of "sand piles" by two different pouring protocols. Afterwards, we deform the sand piles, relaxing them under a 10% reduction of gravity. Four different types of methods, three best-fit strains and a derivative strain, are adopted for determining the strain distribution under a sand pile. The results of four different versions of strains obtained from DEM simulation are compared with each other. Moreover, we compare the vertical normal strain tensor between two types of sand piles qualitatively and show how the construction history of the piles affects their strain distribution. KW - Numerical simulation KW - Sand pile KW - Stress KW - Strain KW - Granular matter KW - Discrete-element method Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2011.08.039 SN - 0032-5910 VL - 214 IS - 3 SP - 406 EP - 414 PB - Elsevier CY - Lausanne ER -