Shame, Dissociation, and Complex PTSD Symptoms in Traumatized Psychiatric and Control Groups: Direct and Indirect Associations With Relationship Distress

Objectives: Elevated shame and dissociation are common in dissociative identity disorder (DID) and chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are part of the constellation of symptoms defined as complex PTSD. Previous work examined the relationship between shame, dissociation, and complex PTSD and whether they are associated with intimate relationship anxiety, relationship depression, and fear of relationships. This study investigated these variables in traumatized clinical samples and a nonclinical community group.

Method: Participants were drawn from the DID (n = 20), conflict-related chronic PTSD (n = 65), and nonclinical (n = 125) populations and completed questionnaires assessing the variables of interest. A model examining the direct impact of shame and dissociation on relationship functioning, and their indirect effect via complex PTSD symptoms, was tested through path analysis.

Results: The DID sample reported significantly higher dissociation, shame, complex PTSD symptom severity, relationship anxiety, relationship depression, and fear of relationships than the other two samples. Support was found for the proposed model, with shame directly affecting relationship anxiety and fear of relationships, and pathological dissociation directly affecting relationship anxiety and relationship depression. The indirect effect of shame and dissociation via complex PTSD symptom severity was evident on all relationship variables.

Conclusion: Shame and pathological dissociation are important for not only the effect they have on the development of other complex PTSD symptoms, but also their direct and indirect effects on distress associated with relationships.

Energy efficiency in the Chinese provinces: a fixed effects stochastic frontier spatial Durbin error panel analysis

Energy efficiency improvement has been a key objective of China’s long-term energy policy. In this paper, we derive single-factor technical energy efficiency (abbreviated as energy efficiency) in China from multi-factor efficiency estimated by means of a translog production function and a stochastic frontier model on the basis of panel data on 29 Chinese provinces over the period 2003–2011. We find that average energy efficiency has been increasing over the research period and that the provinces with the highest energy efficiency are at the east coast and the ones with the lowest in the west, with an intermediate corridor in between. In the analysis of the determinants of energy efficiency by means of a spatial Durbin error model both factors in the own province and in first-order neighboring provinces are considered. Per capita income in the own province has a positive effect. Furthermore, foreign direct investment and population density in the own province and in neighboring provinces have positive effects, whereas the share of state-owned enterprises in Gross Provincial Product in the own province and in neighboring provinces has negative effects. From the analysis it follows that inflow of foreign direct investment and reform of state-owned enterprises are important policy handles.

Effects of menthol on rat tail artery mediated by TRPM8 and voltage-gated calcium channels

Transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) is the principal cold and menthol receptor channel. Characterized primarily for its cold sensing role in sensory neurons, it is expressed and functional in several non-neuronal tissues, including vasculature. We previously demonstrated that menthol causes vasoconstriction and vasodilatation in isolated arteries, depending on vascular tone. Here we investigated calcium's role in responses mediated by TRPM8 ligands in rat tail artery myocytes using patch-clamp electrophysiology and ratiometric Ca2+ recording. Isometric contraction studies examined actions of TRPM8 ligands in the presence/absence of L-type calcium channel blocker. Menthol (300 μM), a concentration typically used to induce TRPM8 currents, strongly inhibited L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ current (L-ICa) in myocytes, especially it's sustained component, most relevant for depolarisation-induced vasoconstriction. In contraction studies, with nifedipine present (10 μM) to abolish L-ICa contribution to phenylephrine (PE)-induced vasoconstrictions of vascular rings, a marked increase in tone was observed with menthol. Menthol-induced increases in PE-induced vasoconstrictions were mediated predominantly by Ca2+-release from sarcoplasmic reticulum, since they were significantly inhibited by cyclopiazonic acid. Pre-incubation of vascular rings with a TRPM8 antagonist strongly inhibited menthol-induced increases in PE-induced vasoconstrictions, thus confirming specific role of TRPM8. Finally, two other common TRPM8 agonists, WS-12 and icilin, inhibited L-ICa. Thus, TRPM8 channels are functionally active in rat tail artery myocytes and play a distinct direct stimulatory role in control of vascular tone. However, indirect effects of TRPM8 agonists, which are unrelated to TRPM8, are mediated by inhibition of L-type Ca2+ channels, and largely obscure TRPM8-mediated vasoconstriction.