[Victims of Acts of Violence during the Procedure of the Victim Reparation Law - Characteristics of the Affected, Acts, Perpetrators and Predictors for the Period Until Claim of Help Provided by Law]. / Opfer von Gewalttaten im Verfahren nach dem Opferentschädigungsgesetz.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Coping with psychological trauma plays a central role in victims of acts of violence. The Victim Reparation Law (in German: Opferentschädigungsgesetz, OEG) provides services for the reparation of participation. To further improve the care of the affected persons, the characteristics of the victims were determined in relation to the acts and the perpetrators. METHOD: 312 OEG-files of adult victims were sighted. On the basis of a system of categories, demographic data, trauma specific and health-related characteristics of the victims, relevant characteristics of the perpetrators and the violence, as well as predictors for the time difference between the violent act and the application were determined. RESULTS: Mostly women (71%) were affected by acts of violence. 49% of the affected persons suffered from physical and 87% from psychological impairment (64% of these from a posttraumatic stress disorder). 55% of the acts of violence were sex crimes, 47% were bodily injuries and in 44% additional psychological abuse existed. The perpetrators were often connected to the victims. 42% of the offenses concerned domestic violence. Time difference between the act of violence and the request for help which is provided by law variated between 0 and 52 years. 50% made use of help within one year, further 15.2% within five years. In 34.3% of cases, time difference was longer than 5 years. In case of serial and severe traumatizations, depression and close connections between victim and perpetrator help provided by law was called for only late. CONCLUSION: Many victims of acts of violence acts are psychologically traumatized. In order to prevent a traumatization from becoming a permanent health disorder, the offering of early evidence-based specialist or psychological acute therapy (e. g., in trauma outpatient clinics) ought to be optimized.

[Minor Victims of Violent Acts in the Context of the Victim Reparation Law]. / Minderjährige Opfer von Gewalttaten im Verfahren des Opferentschädigungsgesetzes.

Objective: A descriptive analysis of victim compensation applications for children and adolescents as well as sociodemographic and trauma-specific information concerning victims and perpetrators. Method: We did analysis of 100 victim-compensation application files based on a self-developed category system. Results: The files included solely interpersonal trauma, 59 % of which are type II trauma. The most frequent form is sexual violence. The perpetrators stem mostly from children's homes or peripherals. 79 % of the victims received a diagnosis of a mental disorder, most often posttraumatic stress disorder. Conclusions: Sexually abused children and adolescents make up the majority of the target population in OEG-related trauma outpatient units. Such outpatient units should therefore offer a specific expertise in treating sexually abused children and adolescents.

Rapid adaptation to microgravity in mammalian macrophage cells.

Despite the observed severe effects of microgravity on mammalian cells, many astronauts have completed long term stays in space without suffering from severe health problems. This raises questions about the cellular capacity for adaptation to a new gravitational environment. The International Space Station (ISS) experiment TRIPLE LUX A, performed in the BIOLAB laboratory of the ISS COLUMBUS module, allowed for the first time the direct measurement of a cellular function in real time and on orbit. We measured the oxidative burst reaction in mammalian macrophages (NR8383 rat alveolar macrophages) exposed to a centrifuge regime of internal 0 g and 1 g controls and step-wise increase or decrease of the gravitational force in four independent experiments. Surprisingly, we found that these macrophages adapted to microgravity in an ultra-fast manner within seconds, after an immediate inhibitory effect on the oxidative burst reaction. For the first time, we provided direct evidence of cellular sensitivity to gravity, through real-time on orbit measurements and by using an experimental system, in which all factors except gravity were constant. The surprisingly ultra-fast adaptation to microgravity indicates that mammalian macrophages are equipped with a highly efficient adaptation potential to a low gravity environment. This opens new avenues for the exploration of adaptation of mammalian cells to gravitational changes.

Factors influencing endothelial function in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women of the EU-RISC study.

BACKGROUND: We studied the impact of lifestyle, body composition, different insulin sensitivity indices and the first insulin response in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women with a low cardiovascular risk profile (the EU-RISC study, 'Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease' (n = 51, 47 ± 4 years, body mass index 23.6 ± 3.7 kg/m(2), waist girth 79.2 ± 10.3 cm) on endothelial function (flow mediated arterial dilatation (FMD)), an early marker for atherosclerosis. RESULTS: Waist circumference (p = 0.06), tobacco consumption (p = 0.02) and leucocyte count (p = 0.09) were inversely related with FMD in both pre- and post-menopausal women. Neither insulin sensitivity nor first insulin response indices were correlated with FMD. In pre-menopausal women (n = 24), waist (p < 0.02), waist-to-hip ratio (p < 0.02), HDL cholesterol (p < 0.01) and smoking habits (p < 0.03) were significantly correlated with endothelial function. In postmenopausal women (n = 27) age (r = -0.17, p = 0.04) was related with FMD. CONCLUSION: Smoking and waist circumference, a simple marker of visceral adiposity, were related with endothelial function in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women.