Cadaveric Identification through Macroscopic Analysis of Dental Implants Subjected to High Temperatures-An Experimental Model

The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of identifying a dental implant through the measurement of the apical width and the interspiral distance in a periapical radiograph after being subjected to high temperatures for certain lengths of time. In total, 11 fresh human anatomical models were selected, in which 137 implants were placed. Previous periapical radiographs were performed using parallelizers in each implant. Subsequently, the anatomical models were introduced into a crematory oven at different temperatures and for various durations: 500 °C/15 min, 500 °C/30 min, 700 °C/15 min, 800 °C/15 min, 800 °C/45 min, 500 °C/15 min, 700 °C/15 min, and finally, 1000 °C/120 min. After this, X-rays were taken via a parallel technique, and the apical width and interspiral distance were measured. The implants were disinserted, and the coronal width was used to calculate magnification or possible distortion. All data were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test. There were no statistically significant differences for the apical width parameter, except when the temperature was raised to 700 °C/15 min and to 800 °C/45 min. For the interspiral distance parameter, there were no statistically significant differences, except when the implants were subjected to 800 °C/15 min and 1000 °C/120 min. It was determined that there were changes in some groups based on the increase in temperature and exposure time. Neither of the two parameters were completely useful for the identification because some of the groups studied in both variables presented differences, which makes them difficult to identify correctly.

Contesting the crisis narrative: epidemic accounts in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo

Scientists and global commentators watched African countries closely in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicting an impending disaster: the virus was projected to overwhelm already weak health systems. These expectations were informed by imaginaries of Africa as an inevitable site of epidemic disaster. This paper draws on accounts from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo to contrast global catastrophe framings with everyday imaginations and experiences of crisis and crisis management. Utilising ethnographic research, the paper initially explores how COVID-19 was understood in relation to previous epidemics, from HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) to Ebola, as well as political conflict. It then considers how global crisis narratives both inform and are in tension with everyday collective and personal experiences. The paper brings these empirical reflections into a conversation with theoretical debates on the discursive construction of crisis and its effects, and argues that these tensions matter because crisis framings have consequences.

The Loss in Connection with Catastrophes (LICCS) Scale: Understanding couple outcomes

This study presented the design of the Loss in Connection with Catastrophes Scale (LICCS). Information regarding reliability and validity were presented, alongside the potential uses of this instrument in research and clinical settings. Furthermore, the importance of attending to couple and family relationships in disaster studies was proposed, and preliminary dyadic findings examining the LICCS with a sample of heterosexual couples (N = 240) as a correlate of mental and relational well-being were set forth. The overall findings suggest (a) resource loss as well as indicators of mental and relational well-being were associated among couples and (b) greater resource loss was associated with greater distress within and between partners. This study was important in that it is one of only a few in the past two decades to utilize dyadic data in the study of couples and disasters. Directions for future study using the LICCS to understand loss processes were addressed.

Continuum of care for disasters and catastrophes

Disasters and their more extensive and more serious variant, catastrophes, are different than most human experiences. They are inherently quite complex. Extensive and diverse resources are required to assist disaster survivors as well as disaster response personnel, and hospital medical staffs. Except for warfare, there are few other human predicaments that require such a massive and highly coordinated response. Traditional psycho-therapeutic interventions have little chance of being helpful in the acute stages of a disaster. Research demonstrates that selected crisis intervention processes provided by crisis-trained psychological support personnel have been quite successful in assisting both the survivors and responders in coping with disasters and catastrophes. Assistance to military personnel, emergency operations personnel, and survivors must be carefully crafted to assure that the right type of help is provided at the right time by the most appropriate, well-trained, and experienced personnel. This paper employed a scoping review methodology synthesizing the lessons gleaned from wars and past disasters beginning in the late 1800's up to the present. It sets a course for the appropriate management of the psychological impacts of future disasters and catastrophes. Evidence suggests effective psychiatric and psychological services provided during and in the aftermath of a disaster must be simple, brief, immediate, practical, and innovative. Most importantly, disaster mental health support services must consist of an integrated and comprehensive continuum of mental health services spanning all levels of intensity of support and care.

[Organisation and methods of intervention of the medical-psychological emergency units]

In the particular case of exceptional health situations involving multiple victims or not, the early psychiatric care of patients affected, directly or not, relies on the medical-psychological emergency cells (Cump). The organisation of these units is based on ministerial instructions. The indications for recourse to the Cump as well as the method of triggering it are based on recommendations established by French learned societies.

[Managing mass psychiatric chaos]

During an event with a high traumatic potential, the patient, as well as the first intervener in the care process, will resonate with his or her own intimate life experience and that of the other person. This happens in the reality of experiences, but also in the constructed projections. These stress-related phenomena must be widely known and taught, in order to increase the capacity to respond and adjust to these individual and collective crisis situations. This guarantees the physical and psychological health of the people involved.

[Emergency response plans in France]

Disaster is a risk which health professionals must learn to manage without ever being sure that they will be confronted with it. A health crisis will have potentially significant repercussions within healthcare facilities. Emergency response plans as well as a shared culture enable healthcare workers to face a crisis by being organised.

Major Stressors and Coping Strategies of Internal Migrant Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration

COVID-19 forced lockdown in India, leading to the loss of job, crisis of food, and other financial catastrophes that led to the exodus migration of internal migrant workers, operating in the private sector, back to their homes. Unavailability of transport facilities led to an inflicted need to walk back to homes barefooted without lack of any other crucial resources on the way. The woeful state of internal migrant workers walking back, with all their stuff on their back, holding their children, was trending on social media worldwide. Their problem continued even after reaching home, including misbehavior of villagers, indifferent mannerism of family members toward them, inability to fulfill family responsibility, and financial crisis, which led to stress, fear, and trauma for these internal migrant workers. The present paper aimed to assess the idiosyncratic stressors of internal migrant workers throughout the pandemic era and their responses toward those problems, which helped them cope with it. In-depth semistructured telephonic interviews were conducted with 25 internal migrant workers who were working in different cities in India before lockdown. The analyses revealed that multiple stressors include financial crisis, unavailability of food, inability to continue education, inability to pay house rent, lack of support from neighbors and family, and other psychological stressors that affected them. However, they also tried multiple strategies to deal with the problems, including a cognitive appraisal of the problem and making oneself psychologically competent to deal with the situation. Social support of family and friends played a vital role in enhancing hardiness and increasing the level of happiness at scarce times. At the same time, some of them could not deal with stressors and opted for psychiatric help to manage the physical symptoms of stress.

Conspiracy theories as a natural part of pandemics

Effectiveness of the policy measures against the COVID-19 pandemic is reduced by spread of conspiracy theories. Moreover, conspiracy theories induce opposition to vaccines. The text shows that increased occurrence of conspiracy theories is a typical public reaction to a disaster and describes some of the mechanisms contributing to susceptibility to conspiracy explanations on the individual as well as societal level.

Centrosomal Localization of RXRα Promotes PLK1 Activation and Mitotic Progression and Constitutes a Tumor Vulnerability

Retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRα), a nuclear receptor of transcription factor, controls various physiological and pathological pathways including cellular growth, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Here, we report that RXRα is phosphorylated at its N-terminal A/B domain by cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) at the onset of mitosis, triggering its translocation to the centrosome, where phosphorylated-RXRα (p-RXRα) interacts with polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) through its N-terminal A/B domain by a unique mechanism. The interaction promotes PLK1 activation, centrosome maturation, and mitotic progression. Levels of p-RXRα are abnormally elevated in cancer cell lines, during carcinogenesis in animals, and in clinical tumor tissues. An RXRα ligand XS060, which specifically inhibits p-RXRα/PLK1 interaction but not RXRα heterodimerization, promotes mitotic arrest and catastrophe in a tumor-specific manner. These findings unravel a transcription-independent action of RXRα at the centrosome during mitosis and identify p-RXRα as a tumor-specific vulnerability for developing mitotic drugs with improved therapeutic index.

Ethical aspects of the COVID-19 crisis: How to deal with an overwhelming shortage of acute beds

The current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has and continues to put huge pressure on intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. Many patients with COVID-19 require some form of respiratory support and often have prolonged ICU stays, which results in a critical shortage of ICU beds. It is therefore not always physically possible to treat all the patients who require intensive care, raising major ethical dilemmas related to which patients should benefit from the limited resources and which should not. Here we consider some of the approaches to the acute shortages seen during this and other epidemics, including some guidelines for triaging ICU admissions and treatments.

Patient costs of diabetes mellitus care in public health care facilities in Kenya

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the direct and indirect costs of diabetes mellitus care at five public health facilities in Kenya.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study in two counties where diabetes patients aged 18 years and above were interviewed. Data on care-seeking costs were obtained from 163 patients seeking diabetes care at five public facilities using the cost-of-illness approach. Medicines and user charges were classified as direct health care costs while expenses on transport, food, and accommodation were classified as direct non-health care costs. Productivity losses due to diabetes were classified as indirect costs. We computed annual direct and indirect costs borne by these patients.

RESULTS

More than half (57.7%) of sampled patients had hypertension comorbidity. Overall, the mean annual direct patient cost was KES 53 907 (95% CI, 43 625.4-64 188.6) (US$ 528.5 [95% CI, 427.7-629.3]). Medicines accounted for 52.4%, transport 22.6%, user charges 17.5%, and food 7.5% of total direct costs. Overall mean annual indirect cost was KES 23 174 (95% CI, 20 910-25 438.8) (US$ 227.2 [95% CI, 205-249.4]). Patients reporting hypertension comorbidity incurred higher costs compared with diabetes-only patients. The incidence of catastrophic costs was 63.1% (95% CI, 55.7-70.7) and increased to 75.4% (95% CI, 68.3-82.1) when transport costs were included.

CONCLUSION

There are substantial direct and indirect costs borne by diabetic patients in seeking care from public facilities in Kenya. High incidence of catastrophic costs suggests diabetes services are unaffordable to majority of diabetic patients and illustrate the urgent need to improve financial risk protection to ensure access to care.

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Traumatology is an old specialty, and most knowledge about it was developed during wars. On the other hand, burn care is much more recent and knowledge has been acquired in particular from civilian disaster casualties. This paper aims to describe some of the disasters that led to progress in burn care.

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Massive influx of burns (thermal, chemical or electrical) is a potential crisis situation in the world in peacetime. In fact, burn is one of the most frequently encountered injuries following natural or human disasters. The management of a massive influx of burn victims is considered to be a real challenge, not only from a medical point of view but also from a logistical and organizational point of view. It is an exceptional event requiring exceptional organization and planning in advance, including systematically training medical and paramedical personnel, without forgetting ambulance and fire workers as they will be the first to arrive at the scene. Planning must necessarily include equipment for fast and effective support. We will present our experience in managing a massive influx of burns from a juvenile detention centre. We share it in order to help establish a better plan to deal with these rare but challenging situations.

Quantification of Cytoskeletal Dynamics in Time-Lapse Recordings

The cytoskeleton is key to many essential processes in a plant cell, e.g., growth, division, and defense. Contrary to what "skeleton" implies, the cytoskeleton is highly dynamic, and is able to re-organize itself continuously. The advent of live-cell microscopy and the development of genetically encoded fluorophores enabled detailed observation of the organization and dynamics of the cytoskeleton. Despite the biological importance of the cytoskeletal dynamics, quantitative analyses remain laborious endeavors that only a handful of research teams regularly conduct. With this protocol, we provide a standardized step-by-step guide to analyze the dynamics of microtubules. We provide example data and code for post-processing in Fiji that enables researchers to modify and adapt the routine to their needs. More such tools are needed to quantitatively assess the cytoskeleton and thus to better understand cell biology. © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[The nurse at the heart of combat rescue in the navy]

Based on lessons learned from the the war in Afghanistan, combat rescue, taught to all army soldiers, equips troops with techniques for saving lives in the most critical conditions. Combat rescue in the maritime environment is the equivalent for the French navy. There are specificities inherent to this form of rescue due to the particular place of practice, like the place of the on-board nurse.

The Structure and Dynamics of C. elegans Tubulin Reveals the Mechanistic Basis of Microtubule Growth

The dynamic instability of microtubules is a conserved and fundamental mechanism in eukaryotes. Yet microtubules from different species diverge in their growth rates, lattice structures, and responses to GTP hydrolysis. Therefore, we do not know what limits microtubule growth, what determines microtubule structure, or whether the mechanisms of dynamic instability are universal. Here, we studied microtubules from the nematode C. elegans, which have strikingly fast growth rates and non-canonical lattices in vivo. Using a reconstitution approach, we discovered that C. elegans microtubules combine intrinsically fast growth with very frequent catastrophes. We solved the structure of C. elegans microtubules to 4.8 Å and discovered sequence divergence in the lateral contact loops, one of which is ordered in C. elegans but unresolved in other species. We provide direct evidence that C. elegans tubulin has a higher free energy in solution and propose a model wherein the ordering of lateral contact loops activates tubulin for growth.

Interrogating resilience in health systems development

The Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research was themed around 'Resilient and responsive health systems for a changing world.' This commentary is the outcome of a panel discussion at the symposium in which the resilience discourse and its use in health systems development was critically interrogated. The 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West-Africa added momentum for the wider adoption of resilient health systems as a crucial element to prepare for and effectively respond to crisis. The growing salience of resilience in development and health systems debates can be attributed in part to development actors and philanthropies such as the Rockefeller Foundation. Three concerns regarding the application of resilience to health systems development are discussed: (1) the resilience narrative overrules certain democratic procedures and priority setting in public health agendas by 'claiming' an exceptional policy space; (2) resilience compels accepting and maintaining the status quo and excludes alternative imaginations of just and equitable health systems including the socio-political struggles required to attain those; and (3) an empirical case study from Gaza makes the case that resilience and vulnerability are symbiotic with each other rather than providing a solution for developing a strong health system. In conclusion, if the normative aim of health policies is to build sustainable, universally accessible, health systems then resilience is not the answer. The current threats that health systems face demand us to imagine beyond and explore possibilities for global solidarity and justice in health.

A Reminder From the Devastation Hurricane Maria Left Behind

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis on a level that none of us have experienced before. The following editorial intends to show a physician's perspective of the impact of this storm on healthcare, particularly in triggering cardiovascular events.

Replication Catastrophe: When a Checkpoint Fails because of Exhaustion

Proliferating cells rely on the so-called DNA replication checkpoint to ensure orderly completion of genome duplication, and its malfunction may lead to catastrophic genome disruption, including unscheduled firing of replication origins, stalling and collapse of replication forks, massive DNA breakage, and, ultimately, cell death. Despite many years of intensive research into the molecular underpinnings of the eukaryotic replication checkpoint, the mechanisms underlying the dismal consequences of its failure remain enigmatic. A recent development offers a unifying model in which the replication checkpoint guards against global exhaustion of rate-limiting replication regulators. Here we discuss how such a mechanism can prevent catastrophic genome disruption and suggest how to harness this knowledge to advance therapeutic strategies to eliminate cancer cells that inherently proliferate under increased DNA replication stress.

[On-scene medical response]

In cases of exceptional medical emergencies, the setting up and organisation of a response to the increased need for medical aid are complex. Command of the operations and responsibilities are assured by specific people depending on the seriousness of the situation. Each role is identified.

Beyond linear fields: the Lie-Taylor expansion

The work extends the linear fields' solution of compressible nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to the case where the magnetic field depends on superlinear powers of position vector, usually, but not always, expressed in Cartesian components. Implications of the resulting Lie-Taylor series expansion for physical applicability of the Dolzhansky-Kirchhoff (D-K) equations are found to be positive. It is demonstrated how resistivity may be included in the D-K model. Arguments are put forward that the D-K equations may be regarded as illustrating properties of nonlinear MHD in the same sense that the Lorenz equations inform about the onset of convective turbulence. It is suggested that the Lie-Taylor series approach may lead to valuable insights into other fluid models.

Reading Achievement, Mastery, and Performance Goal Structures Among Students With Learning Disabilities: A Nonlinear Perspective

The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that a nonlinear relationship exists between a performance-classroom climate and the reading achievement of adolescent students with learning disabilities (LD). Participants were 62 students with LD (Grades 5-9) from public elementary schools in northern Greece. Classroom climate was assessed using the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Styles. Achievement in reading was assessed using a normative reading assessment. Data were analyzed by means of catastrophe theory in which the behavior is predicted as a function of two control variables, the asymmetry factor and the bifurcation factor. Reading achievement (word identification) was predicted by students' ability to decode pseudowords (asymmetry variable) and by a mastery or performance motivational discourse (bifurcation factor). Results indicated that in classrooms with a performance goal structure, the cusp model fit the data and accounted for 54% of the variance in real word identification. In this condition, the association between pseudoword reading and real word reading was nonlinear. When a mastery climate was tested as a bifurcation variable, results indicated that its effect was nonsignificant and that instead the linear model fitted the data more adequately. Thus, increases in a classroom's performance motivational discourse are associated with sudden, unpredictable, and discontinued changes in students' reading performance.

Chromosomal catastrophe is a frequent event in clinically insignificant prostate cancer

Massive genomic rearrangements, a result of single catastrophic event termed chromothrispsis or chromosomal catastrophe, have been identified in a variety of human cancers. In a few cancer types, chromothripsis was found to be associated with poor prognosis. We performed mate-pair sequencing and analysis of structural rearrangements in 132 prostate cancer cases which included clinically insignificant Gleason score 6 tumors, clinically significant tumors of higher grade (7+) and high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Chromothripsis was observed at least 30 per cent of the samples across different grades. Surprisingly, it was frequently observed in clinically insignificant Gleason score 6 tumors, indicating that chromothripsis does not define more aggressive phenotype. The degree of chromothripsis did not increase significantly in tumors of advanced grades and did not appear to contribute to tumor progression. Our data showed that distribution of chromothriptic rearrangements differed from that of fragile sites but correlated with the size of chromosomes. We also provided evidence that rearrangements resulting from chromothripsis were present in the cells of neighboring Gleason patterns of the same tumor. Our data suggest that that chromothripsis plays role in prostate cancer initiation.

Successes and failures of compulsory risk mitigation: re-evaluating the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool

The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) is one of the best practices of public-private partnerships in an emerging market designed to reduce economic losses from disasters. This paper reviews the application of this compulsory mechanism along with data relating to the performance of the scheme following recent earthquakes in Turkey. We also consider the current perceptions of Turkish society towards the TCIP and how they can be enhanced. Our conclusions aim to assist stakeholders in government, homeowners, insurance companies, media, banks and civil society to appreciate the value of the system and key actions necessary to improve it.

Report on a transborder spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria by a patient injured during Euromaidan, Ukraine

Spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria has been described all over the world. This phenomenon may be accelerated by many factors, including wars and natural disasters. In this report, we described an NDM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumonia ST11 recovered from a patient injured during the Maidan revolution in Ukraine. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Ukraine and one of several reports describing wound colonization/infection of humans injured during war.

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Disaster situations involving mass burn casualties can occur at any time after a fire, a terrorist attack, an industrial explosion or a transport accident. The various burn societies in the world published recommendations on disaster burn-care planning. French burn society (Société Française d'Étude et de Traitement des Brûlures-SFETB) proposes triage of burned victims according to Total Burn Surface Area (TBSA), inhalation injury and associated traumatic injuries. This plan seeks to classify victims and to refer each burned patient to a bed suited to its needs (burn centre, surgical or medical ICU, Emergency room, surgical ward and triage). Emergency Medical Services play a pivotal role in this organisation: first care, advanced medical post, medical coordination, triage and transportation, additional equipment supply in proximal hospital. Burn disaster plan should be adapted to local medical resources.

The cusp catastrophe model as cross-sectional and longitudinal mixture structural equation models

Catastrophe theory (Thom, 1972, 1993) is the study of the many ways in which continuous changes in a system's parameters can result in discontinuous changes in 1 or several outcome variables of interest. Catastrophe theory-inspired models have been used to represent a variety of change phenomena in the realm of social and behavioral sciences. Despite their promise, widespread applications of catastrophe models have been impeded, in part, by difficulties in performing model fitting and model comparison procedures. We propose a new modeling framework for testing 1 kind of catastrophe model-the cusp catastrophe model-as a mixture structural equation model (MSEM) when cross-sectional data are available; or alternatively, as an MSEM with regime-switching (MSEM-RS) when longitudinal panel data are available. The proposed models and the advantages offered by this alternative modeling framework are illustrated using 2 empirical examples and a simulation study.

[Treating accident or chemical attack casualties in hospital]

It is mandatory for all hospitals to be prepared for the occurrence of a chemical biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) event. This preparation requires specific investment on the part of the hospital management, as well as from the nursing teams on the frontline. Teams from Lariboisière hospital in Paris have been working on these risks for several years.

Human population reduction is not a quick fix for environmental problems

The inexorable demographic momentum of the global human population is rapidly eroding Earth's life-support system. There are consequently more frequent calls to address environmental problems by advocating further reductions in human fertility. To examine how quickly this could lead to a smaller human population, we used scenario-based matrix modeling to project the global population to the year 2100. Assuming a continuation of current trends in mortality reduction, even a rapid transition to a worldwide one-child policy leads to a population similar to today's by 2100. Even a catastrophic mass mortality event of 2 billion deaths over a hypothetical 5-y window in the mid-21(st) century would still yield around 8.5 billion people by 2100. In the absence of catastrophe or large fertility reductions (to fewer than two children per female worldwide), the greatest threats to ecosystems--as measured by regional projections within the 35 global Biodiversity Hotspots--indicate that Africa and South Asia will experience the greatest human pressures on future ecosystems. Humanity's large demographic momentum means that there are no easy policy levers to change the size of the human population substantially over coming decades, short of extreme and rapid reductions in female fertility; it will take centuries, and the long-term target remains unclear. However, some reduction could be achieved by midcentury and lead to hundreds of millions fewer people to feed. More immediate results for sustainability would emerge from policies and technologies that reverse rising consumption of natural resources.

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Burn injuries are most commonly encountered during natural disasters or disasters related to human activity (accidental fires in public places, in time of war, or in terrorist attacks). The care and triage of a large number of burn patients is a difficult problem, which requires adequate planning and emergency preparedness in anticipation of such crises. The training and readiness of doctors and paramedics is of utmost importance. The challenges are many: burn treatment requires a large and qualified staff; evacuations should be prioritized according to the severity of the burn and associated injuries; stocks (especially in topical anti-infective and crystalloid) should be sufficient and appropriate; and hospital services in a military training hospital Mohammed V such as there is in Rabat must be able to be quickly adapted to accommodate and isolate these particular patients. The hypothesis of a fire disaster with a mass influx of burn patients at this hospital should leave no room for improvisation, or else the prompt and accurate prognosis of the patients could be severely hindered.

Multiscale analysis of compartment models with dispersal

The characterization of the population dynamics of animal populations and dispersal provides the underlying setting of this article. Novel results emerge from our exploration of the role of disease in this context. We focus on the study of the impact of dispersal on the dynamics of populations that account for (a) induced Allee effects; (b) disease dynamics; and (c) spatial heterogeneity, using deterministic and stochastic models. Specifically, the models incorporate disease-driven effects on the individuals' competitive ability to acquire resources as well as on their ability to move or reproduce. The results bring to the forefront the role of initial conditions and patch quality as well as 'topological' structure or connectivity landscape structure (the physical space where individuals move, reproduce, get sick, die, or compete for resources). The emphasis is placed on the dynamics of populations when disease is an important selective force. This article surveys the appropriate literature while including original research.

Stress and alcohol: epidemiologic evidence

Exposure to stress often is psychologically distressing. The impact of stress on alcohol use and the risk of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) depends on the type, timing during the life course, duration, and severity of the stress experienced. Four important categories of stressors that can influence alcohol consumption are general life stress, catastrophic/fateful stress, childhood maltreatment, and minority stress. General life stressors, including divorce and job loss, increase the risk for AUDs. Exposure to terrorism or other disasters causes population-level increases in overall alcohol consumption but little increase in the incidence of AUDs. However, individuals with a history of AUDs are more likely to drink to cope with the traumatic event. Early onset of drinking in adolescence, as well as adult AUDs, are more common among people who experience childhood maltreatment. Finally, both perceptions and objective indicators of discrimination are associated with alcohol use and AUDs among racial/ethnic and sexual minorities. These observations demonstrate that exposure to stress in many forms is related to subsequent alcohol consumption and AUDs. However, many areas of this research remain to be studied, including greater attention to the role of various stressors in the course of AUDs and potential risk moderators when individuals are exposed to stressors.

Out of the wave: The meaning of suffering and relief from suffering as described in autobiographies by survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of suffering and relief from suffering as described in autobiographies by tourists who experienced the tsunami on 26 December 2004 and lost loved ones. A lifeworld approach, inspired by the French philosopher Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception, was chosen for the theoretical framework. This catastrophe totally changed the survivors' world within a moment. In this new world, there were three main phases: the power of remaining focused, a life of despair, and the unbearable becoming bearable. Life turns into a matter of making the unbearable bearable. Such challenging experiences are discussed in terms of the philosophy of Weil, Jaspers, and Merleau-Ponty. The survivors of the tsunami catastrophe were facing a boundary situation and "le malheur," the unthinkable misfortune. Even at this lowest level of misfortune, joy is possible to experience. This is part of the survivors' ambivalent experiences of their lifeworld. In this world of the uttermost despair there are also rays of hope, joy, and new life possibilities.

A novel mechanism important for the alignment of microtubules

Using a live-cell imaging approach to study individual micro-tubules, we have compared microtubule behavior between net-like and aligned cortical arrays. In contrast to previous studies, a steep angled collision between the growing end of a microtubule and a preexisting microtubule was found to favor crossover. Frequencies of microtubule crossovers, bundling and catastrophes are similar regardless of whether the cell exhibited a net-like or aligned microtubule array. In the predominantly aligned array of petiole cells, severing occurs at the sites of microtubule crossovers and serves to remove unaligned microtubules and to increase microtubule density. Severing was observed to be rare in net-like arrays. Microtubule severing is carried out by the katanin enzyme. In this addendum, we present new insights into the possible mechanism of crossing over and preliminary data looking at organization of the array in a katanin mutant.

Catastrophe in asunción, paraguay

On Sunday 1 August 2004, at noon, in a well-known supermarket (Ycua Bolaños) on the outskirts of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, there was a violent explosion in the fast-food section. This was caused by a build-up of gases in the chimneys of the kitchen. The flames spread rapidly through the air ducts, causing a huge fire throughout the supermarket. When the fire broke out, there were about 1000 people present. According to official records, 424 people died in the disaster and 30 were reported missing. Various medical institutions admitted a total number of 360 patients with third-degree burns and/or damage to the airways. One hundred and eighteen patients were treated in the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Department of the Institute of Social Welfare Hospital, the centre of reference for the capital of Paraguay.