The plastic response of fine roots to a changing environment is suggested to affect the growth and form of a plant. Here we show that the plasticity of fine root growth may increase plant productivity based on an experiment using young seedlings (14-week old) of loblolly pine. We use two contrasting pine ecotypes, "mesic" and "xeric", to investigate the adaptive significance of such a plastic response.The partitioning of biomass to fine roots is observed to reduce with increased nutrient availability. For the "mesic" ecotype, increased stem biomass as a consequence of more nutrients may be primarily due to reduced fine-root biomass partitioning. For the "xeric" ecotype, the favorable influence of the plasticity of fine root growth on stem growth results from increased allocation of biomass to foliage and decreased allocation to fine roots. An evolutionary genetic analysis indicates that the plasticity of fine root growth is inducible, whereas the plasticity of foliage is constitutive.Results promise to enhance a fundamental understanding of evolutionary changes of tree architecture under domestication and to design sound silvicultural and breeding measures for improving plant productivity. In anPhenotypic plasticity is the potential of an organism to alter its phenotype in changing environments -19. PhenLoblolly pine is the most important tree species for fiber production in the southern US . BecauseP < 0.001). These values increased to 102% and 199% for these two ecotypes, respectively, when the trees were treated for 14 weeks (P < 0.001).After 4 weeks of treatment, trees receiving the high nutrient treatment displayed 22% ("xeric") and 47% ("mesic") greater stem biomass than those under the low fertilizer treatment (P < 0.01), as compared to the significance level when the proportion was not held constant (P < 0.0001). These dependent relationships suggest that increased stem biomass due to better nutrient supplies was attributable to both increased foliage investment and decreased energetic costs of fine root construction.Allometric analysis was used to evaluate the influences of foliage and fine-root biomass partitioning on stem growth which arise from differences in nutrient supply. On both harvesting dates, the proportion of foliage biomass to total plant biomass increased markedly, whereas the proportion of fine root biomass decreased significantly, with better nutrient supplies. As an illustration, we use Figure py←1 = -0.09), whereas the plasticity of fine-root biomass partitioning, i.e., decreased partitioning of biomass to fine roots under higher fertilization, had a significant impact on the corresponding increase of stem biomass . Plasticity between different growth stages indicates the dependence of plastic responses on the timing and sequences of developmental events. Ecotypic variation in developmental plasticity represents different genetic bases involved in relevant developmental events [Foliage and fine roots have complementary roles in uptake of resources; the former in energy and carbon uptake and the latter in water and nutrient uptake ,22. Mechl events .Ecotypic differentiation of loblolly pine could be explained by limits of plasticity. Quantitative evolutionary genetic models predict that the phenotypic plasticity of a trait is costly or physiologically limiting when the trait is forced to respond to environmental variation ("passive" response). DeWitt et al.  delineatOur analysis suggests that the plasticity of fine-root biomass proportion is physiologically limiting, whereas the plasticity of foliage biomass proportion is not. The relationship of the shoot biomass residuals was positive with the degree of plasticity of foliage biomass proportion Fig. , but negForest tree form (biomass partitioning) is highly plastic in response to changes in nutrient levels. The carbon budgets for forest trees show a surprisingly large role of roots. Under low nutrient conditions that predominate in natural forests, 60–80% of photosynthate is allocated below ground, compared with 30% for high nutrient levels [Progress towards domestication in trees will be slowed by long generation times, but is likely to be based on the exploitation of interactions between genotypes and yield associated with various types of agronomic methods , as have been shown for herbaceous crop plants. However, the environmental uncertainties during the long life span of trees have caused some breeders to consider the value of plasticity as a trait itself. And plasticity could obscure the relationship between phenotype and genotype, making selection less efficient. Efforts to domesticate forest trees will be enhanced by a deeper knowledge of phenotypic plasticity .Our study of biomass partitioning in relation to varying nutritional levels in loblolly pine supports the previous hypothesis, proposed by Linder and Axelson , that thPinus taeda L.). We used two contrasting loblolly pine ecotypes from regions that differ in soil resource availability. One of the ecotypes, known as the "Lost Pines" of Texas, is adapted to droughty conditions and low soil fertility and is denoted by "xeric", whereas the other, Atlantic Coastal Plain, is adapted to more moderate conditions and is denoted by "mesic". Adaptive differentiation between the contrasting "xeric" and "mesic" ecotypes has been previously characterized [Phenotypic plasticity was evaluated for fine roots and biomass partitioning of a commercially important forest tree species, loblolly pine  and fine root biomass (py2←) to stem biomass through the change of nutritional levels were estimated by solving the following regular equations:Path analysis was used to identify the cause-effect relationships in a complex system . Path anpy 1←+ r12py 2←= ry1r12py 1←+ py 2←= ry2ry 1and ry 2are the family correlation coefficients of the plasticity of foliage biomass and fine-root biomass with the plasticity of stem biomass, respectively, and r12 is the family correlation coefficient between the plasticity of foliage biomass and fine-root biomass. Residuals were estimated to evaluate the degree of determination for the path analysis [where analysis . All datRW designed the study, carried out the experiment, analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. JEG participated in the experiment. SEM participated in the design of the study. DMO participated in the design and coordination. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Primary care physicians underestimate the prevalence of domestic violence and community violence. Victims are therefore at risk of further episodes of violence, with psychological and physical consequences. We used an interview to assess the prevalence of domestic and community violence among Swiss natives and foreigners. In a follow-up study, we evaluated the consequences of the interview for the positive patients.We evaluated the prevalence of violence by use of a questionnaire in an interview, in an academic general internal medicine clinic in Switzerland. In a follow-up, we evaluated the consequences of the interview for positive patients. The participants were 38 residents and 446 consecutive patients. Questionnaires were presented in the principal language spoken by our patients. They addressed sociodemographics, present and past violence, the security or lack of security felt by victims of violence, and the patients' own violence. Between 3 and 6 months after the first interview, we did a follow-up of all patients who had reported domestic violence in the last year.Of the 366 patients included in the study, 36 (9.8%) reported being victims of physical violence during the last year (physicians identified only 4 patients out of the 36), and 34/366 (9.3%) reported being victims of psychological violence. Domestic violence was responsible for 67.3% of the cases, and community violence for 21.8%. In 10.9% of the cases, both forms of violence were found.Of 29 patients who reported being victims of domestic violence, 22 were found in the follow-up. The frequency of violence had diminished (4/22) or the violence had ceased (17/22).The prevalence of violence is high; domestic violence is more frequent than community violence. There was no statistically significant difference between the Swiss and foreign patients' responses related to the rates of violence. Patients in a currently violent relationship stated that participating in the study helped them and that the violence decreased or ceased a few months later. Violence is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation." Violence can be divided into three broad categories, which are self-directed violence, interpersonal violence, and collective violence. Our focus is on interpersonal violence, which is divided into two subcategories: family and intimate partner violence, and community violence; that is, violence between unrelated individuals who may or may not know each other. The nature of violent acts can be physical, sexual, or psychological, or involve deprivation or neglect . UNICEF According to the WHO, an estimated 1.6 million people from around the world died as a result of violence , and 520,000 were killed as a result of interpersonal violence, in 2000. This is the "tip of the iceberg," as it is impossible to estimate non-fatal violence precisely . The LawAs for domestic violence, which we know is frequent, especially towards women, 48 population-based surveys from around the world found that 10 to 69% of women reported being physically assaulted by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives . In SwitAn estimate of the direct costs of violence concluded that 400 million Swiss francs are annually spent on violence against women by public authorities, through the health care system, police and judicial interventions, social services, shelters or specialized centers for battered women, and for research on the subject, most of it for intimate partner violence . HoweverEven though battered women seek more hospital care than other women ,11, physThe aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of domestic and community violence among the patients (Swiss natives and foreigners) of an academic general internal medicine clinic. A follow-up was carried out to assess the consequences of the interview for patients who had reported domestic violence.Our study limits itself to psychological and physical abuse experienced during the last 12 months and during the patient's lifetime.We conducted a study that allowed us to screen for violence among our patients, with a follow-up for patients who were screened as being victims or perpetrators of domestic violence. It took place in an academic general internal medicine clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland. The site is a primary care clinic where residents provide adult ambulatory care for approximately 22,000 outpatient visits per year, at walk-in and follow-up visits. We focused on walk-in patients, as they are not known beforehand by the residents. We included all physicians working at the clinic at the time of the study.We based our sample-size calculation on a recent study using a similar design . We baseThe physicians were 22 women and 16 men. The majority of the residents were at the end of postgraduate training in general internal medicine or family medicine .We tried to minimize a Hawthorne effect; that is, a change in attitude in response to attention from the investigators (15). To blind them to the purpose of the study, we only informed them that a study focusing on the principal health problems brought up during consultations would take place among the patients. The physicians received a questionnaire through which they were asked about the main problems they identified during the consultation.Consecutive patients (men and women) consulting for an emergency visit at the clinic were approached during business hours (8 h-18 h) on weekdays. Eligible patients were over 18 years of age and spoke French, or were able to read French, English, Spanish, or Albanian, the languages into which the questionnaire was translated, and agreed to be questioned alone. Patients who were severely ill and needed to lie down were not included in the study, as they could not be interviewed in a private place. A research psychologist informed the recruited patients that the study was aimed at improving the medical follow-up of patients. For safety reasons recommended by the World Health Organization , we toldThe psychologist interviewed patients before the medical visit. Patients were asked for demographic information, which included their age, sex, nationality, spoken language(s), level of education, profession, marital status, household composition, and family composition. The questionnaire itself comprised a modified version of the partner violence screen (PVS), a tool tested and validated in 1994 in two urban emergency departments in Denver, Colorado . This quBetween 3 and 6 months after the intervention, we phoned the patients who had been screened as victims or perpetrators of violence to learn whether their situation had changed. The questionnaire assessed the frequency and form of violence suffered or perpetrated. We also asked them if they had talked about it with their partner or with someone else.t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous data. We considered p values < 0.05 to be significant.We used the chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical data and a To look for confounding and interaction in a multivariable analysis , we introduced age, sex, nationality, spoken language, level of education, profession, composition of the patient's household circle, and composition of the patient's family circle into the model.The physicians were similar in their sociodemographic characteristics and professional achievements: they were 22 women and 16 men; their mean age was 32.9 years old. The majority of them were at the end of the postgraduate training in general internal medicine (median duration of training: 6 years). Among all residents, one of them came from Africa, another from Eastern- Europe, and all the others were Caucasian.We approached 446 patients in total. The demographic characteristics of the patients were similar and are summarized in Table We found that 9.8% (36/366) of the patients had suffered physical violence (only 4 patients of these 36 were identified by physicians) and that 9.3% (34/366) had suffered psychological violence in the last 12 months, with 15 patients declaring both forms. Domestic violence was responsible for 67.3% (37 patients), and community violence for 21.8% (12 patients). In 10.9% (6 cases), both domestic violence and community violence were reported. Patients said they had suffered violence at another time in their lives in 49% (126/257) of the cases; the forms were domestic violence in 50.8% of the patients, community violence in 38.1%, and both forms in 11.1%.The patients who were victims of physical or psychological violence were asked more questions. Some of them  said they did not feel safe with their partner or in their family circle, and 28.4% (27/95) said they currently felt unsafe, because of a past or present partner/member of their family circle. The request for a consultation was due to these circumstances in 10.3% (9/87) of the cases. Three questions about the perpetrator's position were asked. To the first question, 30.3% (111/366) of the patients answered in the affirmative. To the second question, 55.7% (204/366) of the patients said "yes" for shouting and 36.9% (135/366) for hitting. To the last one, 17.2% (63/366) answered "yes."There was no significant difference between the responses of Swiss and foreign patients, except for one regarding the patients' own violence. More foreign patients than Swiss patients said they were afraid of not being able to control themselves . We also found a significant difference between men and women. Men suffer more community violence and women more domestic violence, as present and past violence experienced . These results are summarized in Table The patients who were screened as being victims or perpetrators of domestic violence were re-contacted by phone. They were 18 victims and 16 perpetrators of violence; 5 were both. The victims were 5 men and 13 women; their mean age was 29.44 ; 10 were from Europe (8 being Swiss), 5 were from Latin America , and 4 were from Africa. The perpetrators were 8 men and 8 women; their mean age was 33.12 ; there were 7 from Europe (3 being Swiss), 1 from North America, 5 from Latin America, and 4 from Africa. We were able to make contact with 22 of the 29 patients involved; 3 victims and 4 perpetrators could not be found. More than half the victims  and perpetrators  said they had been able to talk about their problem of violence with the person responsible for the violence or with the victim; 73.3% (11/15) of the victims and 41.7% (5/12) of the perpetrators spoke with someone else. The violence totally ceased for 73.3% (11/15) of the victims and 75% (9/12) of the perpetrators. It diminished in frequency for 20% (3/15) of the victims and 16.7% (2/12) of the perpetrators, and in the case of one victim/perpetrator, it occurred once between her participation in the study and the follow-up interview. The form of violence changed for 46.7% (7/15) of the victims and 45.5% (5/11) of the perpetrators, mostly becoming verbal . One victim lost the possibility of seeing his children anymore. Interestingly enough, some patients  told us, without us asking, that the study helped them by allowing them to talk about the violence or in becoming conscious that the situation should be changed, etc. Finally, it seems important to state that for 7 of the patients (31.8%), the relationship they had at the time of the study had ended by the time we did this follow-up. The results are summarized in Table The originality of this study lies in our decision to include consecutive patients consulting for an emergency visit, so that we had women and men, including Swiss and foreign patients, who took part in the study. We found rates of violence similar to those reported in other studies -8. Our rWe did not find a statistically significant difference between the Swiss and foreign patients' responses related to rates of violence. Not many studies have compared rates of violence among women and men, or among natives and foreigners. A United States national survey on intimate-partner violence  revealedThe detection of the domestic violence/community violence by physicians is low in our study (8%) as documented in the literature. One study found screening rates of only 13% for victims of acute intimate partner violence presenting to an emergency department . LimitedAt follow-up, we noted that domestic violence had diminished or ceased for the majority of the patients we contacted. Victims and perpetrators did not differ in their responses, except that perpetrators tended to have more difficulty in talking about their violent behavior to people than the victims had in talking about what happened to them. It seems that the interview by the psychologist made it possible for the patients to initiate changes in their family life, resulting in decreased violence.Patients were free to not participate, so we probably missed some who had a problem of violence. For example, one woman said she did not want to participate in the study because the subject concerned her and she was afraid that it would be too disturbing to talk about it. Also, as she was seeing a psychologist for this problem, she did not want to talk about it again.We did not have a group control. This is a methodological limitation, but also an ethical necessity when working with people affected by violence. Victims of violence cannot be left without anyone to intervene.The rate of detection of domestic violence by physicians is insufficient, as is generally documented in the literature. The low physician suspicion/detection rate can be related to the lack of awareness that their patients are exposed to violence and their impression that it is not a relevant issue for that particular unit. Another reason could be the barriers to disclosure by the victim's feelings of shame, loyalty to the partner or intimidation by the perpetrator and fear of being not believed .The originality of this study is that this is one of the few papers to assess prevalence of violence experiences in a primary care population clinic in Switzerland, including both Swiss nationals and foreign patients, and the assessment of the provider's understanding and recognition of his or her patient's exposure to violence.The prevalence of violence is high, and domestic violence is more frequent than community violence. There was no statistically significant difference between the Swiss and foreign patients' responses related to rates of violence.Finally, we noted that domestic violence had diminished or ceased at follow-up for the majority of the patients we contacted. Study participation was considered to be helpful by victims because they felt that the provider recognized their real problem and that they were not alone in this situation; the victim could also feel that the violence perpetrated against him or her was not deserved .The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.Claire Morier-Genoud: conceived and designed the study, prepared the training and gave the lecture, collected the data by interviewing the patients, participated in the statistical analysis and the interpretation of the data, and wrote the manuscript.Patrick Bodenmann: participated in the design and coordination of the study in the collection and interpretation of the data, and helped to draft the manuscript.Bernard Favrat participated in the design of the study, did the statistical analysis, and participated in the interpretation of the data.Marco Vannotti participated in the design of the study, gave the lecture, and participated in the interpretation of data.All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:


Switzerland is confronted with the problem of interpersonal violence. Violence is in the increase and the potential for aggression seems to be rising. Observations by hospitals discern an appalling increase of the severity of the injuries. The aim of this study is to collect accurate information about the social environment, the motivation and possible reasons for violence. We also intend to investigate whether sociocultural, or ethnic differences among male victims exist.For the first time in Switzerland, this survey employed a validated questionnaire from the division of violence prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. The first part of the questionnaire addressed social and demographic factors which could influence the risk of violence: age, gender, duration of stay in Switzerland, nationality and educational level. Beside these social structural factors, the questionnaire included questions on experience of violent offences in the past, information about the most recent violent offence and intra and interpersonal facts. The questionnaire itself consists of 27 questions, translated into German and French. In a pilot study, the questionnaire was checked with adolescents for feasibility and comprehensibility.69 male VIVs were interviewed at two hospitals in the Canton of Bern. Most of the adolescents emphasised that weapons were not used during their confrontations. It is astonishing that all of the young men considered themselves to be victims. Most of the brawls were incited after an exchange of verbal abuse and provocations with unfamiliar individuals. The rivals could neither be classified with the help of ethnic categories nor identifiable groups of the youth scenes. The incidents took place in scenes, where violence was more likely to happen. Interestingly and contrary to a general perception the offenders are well integrated into sport and leisure clubs. A further surprising result of our research is that the attitude towards religion differs between young men with experience of violence and non-violent men.Youth violence is a health issue, which concerns us globally. The human and economic toll of violence on victims and offenders, their families, and on society in general is high. The economic costs associated with violence-related illness and disability is estimated to be millions of Swiss francs each year. Physicians and psychologists are compelled to identify the factors, which cause young people to be violent, to find out which interventions prove to be successful, and to design effective prevention programs. The identification of effective programs depends on the availability of reliable and valid measures to assess changes in violence-related attitudes. In our efforts to create healthier communities, we need to investigate; document and do research on the causes and circumstances of youth violence. Like other European countries, Switzerland is also struggling with the problem of interpersonal violence . Not onlInterpersonal violence can be defined as a conscious physical attack, with the intention to cause physical and psychological harm ,11,12. AMost of the measures in this compendium intend to assess such factors as serious violent and delinquent behaviour, conflict resolution strategies, social and emotional competencies, peer influences, parental monitoring and supervision, family relationships, exposure to violence, collective efficacy, and neighbourhood characteristics. The compendium also contains a number of scales and assessments to measure factors such as aggressive fantasies, beliefs supportive of aggression, attributional biases, and unsocial and aggressive behaviour .Based on our personal experience we hypothesised that VIVs in Switzerland, a country with a very high standard of living and education, may not belong to socially deprived parts of the community, like in other European countries, but can be found within higher educational and social levels too.Therefore the aim of the study was to collect detailed information about the social environment, the motivation and possible reasons for violent behaviour. We also intended to investigate whether there are sociocultural or ethnic differences among VIVs. To the best of our knowledge, this type of study, with interviews in an emergency shortly after the violent incident, is unique.The University Emergency Department of the Inselspital Berne is the only major emergency department in the city of Berne providing its services 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Berne is the capital of Switzerland, with over 128,000 inhabitants. The official spoken and written language in Berne is German. 78% of the population of Berne are Swiss nationals, and about 22% hold a foreign passport [The regional hospital of the city of Biel is a Level II emergency department and was chosen as the second study site. Biel/Bienne is officially considered bilingual (french-german), with about 70,000 residents. It is the largest bilingual city in Switzerland. In December 2006, 27% of Biel residents were foreigners .Each of these units sees about 30,000 patients a year,1000 of whom are VIVs.The first part of the questionnaire addressed social and demographic factors which could influence the risk of violence: age, gender, duration of stay in Switzerland, nationality and educational level. Beside these social structural factors, the questionnaire included questions on experience of violent offences in the past, information about the most recent violent offence and intra and interpersonal facts.Original Questions selected from the questionnaire.For the following questions, indicate how many times you did something during the last 7 days.1. I got angry very easily with someone.2. I got into a physical fight because I was angry.3. I slapped or kicked someone.4. I made someone look stupid with words.5. I have threatened to hurt or to hit someone.6. In the past six months, I have attacked or threatened someone with a weapon.7. In the past six months, I was involved in a gang fight.8. How often were you involved in a fight in the last twelve months?9. During the past 12 months, how many times were you in a physical fight in which you were injured and had to be treated by a doctor or nurse? (excluding the current one)?10. Where did most of your fights take place within the last 12 months?11. How did the last fight happen?12. When was the last time that you hurt someone in a fight?13. What kinds of feelings were caused by this?14. When was the last time that you have seen a fight without participating in it (excluding the current one)?15. Who did you fight with most often?16. Do you have a special type of fighting?17. Do you attend to be active (participating) or passive (witness) in fights?18. On which level are most of your confrontations with others?19. Where I come from is important.20. I have a clear sense of my religion and what it means for me21. If I go out, I like to meet people of other nationalities.22. People of other nationalities make me aggressive and angry.23. Did you experience violence in childhood?24. Do you and your environment consume alcohol or drugs before you are involved in fights?25. Do you identify yourself with an association, a group or a party of which you are a member?26. What do you do in your free time?27. For completing this questionnaire, you will receive a CD-coupon amounting to CHF 20. What kind of music are you going to buy with this coupon?We decided with the help of a psychologist specialized in youth violence (AG) to identify question directly related to hypothesis.The questionnaire consisted of 27 questions, translated into German and French. In a pilot study, the questionnaire was checked with adolescents for feasibility and comprehensibility.Included in this prospective survey were VIVs (>16 years) treated at the emergency departments of the two participating hospitals. During the recruitment of the participants, 189 VIVs were approached. The final decision on inclusion was at the discretion of the consultant on call. In total, 100 VIVs agreed to complete the questionnaire, including 69 men and 19 women . The interview costs more time than expected . Therefore the number of patients recruited for this pilot study, has been limited to 100. As a bonus, the interviewed patients received either a CD or a cinema coupon for 20 Swiss Francs (USD 20). This had been found to be useful in previous studies [The physicians interviewing the VIVs were trained in advance according to the requirements of the text. After medical treatment, the VIV was asked if he/she was interested in participating. The required coupon was handed over if the patient agreed and filled out the questionnaire. VIVs who could not speak German or French and who were physically and psychologically unable to complete the questionnaire were excluded.48 (70%) of 69 male patients were Swiss citizens. 30% had completed a public school; 35% had finished an apprenticeship; 6% had obtained a university entrance certificate; 4% held a college degree and 1% attended a university.Question 1-5: For the following questions, indicate how many times you did something during the last 7 days.I got angry very easily with someone.I got into a physical fight because I was angry.I slapped or kicked someone.I made someone look stupid with words.I have threatened to hurt or to hit someone.Answers 1-5: Verbal confrontations and threats occur more often than fights ?Answer 9: 20% of VIVs stated that they had been involved in an additional brawl in the course of the previous year ?Answer 14: 20% stated that they had witnessed a fight during the last half year and 33% during the last month.Question 15: Who did you fight with most often?Answer 15: In most cases, the opponents were strangers (50%); only about 10% were colleagues or adherents of a different political opinion. Family members were not mentioned as adversaries. 42% stated that their opponents were people of other nationalities  in fights?Answer 17: 13% asserted that they are active in fights; 50% believed they tended to be passive and for 37% stated this depended on the situation.Question 18: On which level are most of your confrontations with others?Answer 18: Most of the confrontations remained at the verbal level (88%),Question 19+20: Where I come from is important. I have a clear sense of my religion and what it means for me.Answer 19+20: The personal origin was important for 39% of the VIVs. 18% stated that their religion was significant for them  considered themselves a member of a distinct group of friends or a sports club (22%).Question 26: What do you do in your free time?Answer 26: The VIVs spent their spare time in many different ways. They had casual meeting with friends (70%), played videogames (25%), played sports (63%) or listened to music (65%).Question 27: For completing this questionnaire, you will receive a CD-coupon amounting to CHF 20. What kind of music are you going to buy with this coupon?Answer 27: Most VIVs were fans of black hip hop or rap music.Violence among adolescents has become a public concern. Are there any distinct behaviour patterns and personality traits recognisable in VIVs? Do they choose to spend their time in distinct surroundings? Do they pursue specific interests?It is interesting that most of the adolescents emphasised that weapons were not used and were of no importance during their confrontations. Instead of guns and knives, they relied on fists. Fortunately for Switzerland, there is no gradual armament of the scene. In contrast to other countries, weapons are still considered a taboo . This isIt is astonishing that all young men considered themselves as victims! From their point of view, they were only defending themselves. They seemed convinced, that they had to act, after having been verbally abused, provoked or attacked. They seemed unable to see their part in the incidence. These findings reveal a widely known unconscious defence mechanism. After having been involved in a violent incidence, even the most aggressive perpetuators tend to clear themselves of any personal responsibility. Psychologically they have to see themselves as innocent victims, because any other self-description might arise tension. The vile behaviour creates a conflict with the self-image. Self-images don't contain actual features and character traits, but serve a distinct psychological purpose. Self-images need to be whitewashed from any disturbing features or deeds. Self-descriptions need to be in compliance with the values and attitudes of the social environment we belong to, actions, which contradict these values, must be suppressed. When we reflect our actions, we naturally tune in our habitat. This phenomenon raises several questions about violence prevention. It means, that it is not sufficient to work on the conscious level, when we want to help young people at risk. They might honestly declare, that they abhor violence and believe in peaceful conflict resolutions, while their actual behaviour and reactions tell a different story. In conflict situations unconscious motives prevail. Violent features and thoughts are spontaneously suppressed, because on wants to tune in to a society, which focuses on victims and has great difficulty in accepting violence as a behaviours pattern in ourselves. This means, that prevention work might be of no avail, when we work on a conscious, cognitive level. Promoting peaceful gaols, handing out leaflets against violence or organizing workshops in order to encourage peaceful communication, might not have a big effect. The very first step in violence prevention might be the acceptance of our problematic features. These questions need to be investigated in future studies . How canunfamiliar and who also could not be classified into an ethnic group or known sociological sub-group. The incidents happened in scenes in which violence is more likely to happen. This indicates, that the social context plays an important role. Violent behaviour is influence by the social surroundings of the young men, might even have certain function with respective social context. These findings are consistent with the existing literature [Most of the fights occurred after verbal provocations from people who were terature .In contrast to a generally held opinion, young men who are engaged in violence participate in sport club. This could be a sign, that they are integrated into society and enjoy acceptable leisure activities. Engaging in sportive activities does not seem to reduce the likelihood of violence. The engagement in sport clubs does not deter young men from being violent. Sportive activities don't seem to be an outlet for aggression either. Our finding also indicate, that violent criminals may not belong to a marginalised stratum and .A further interesting difference between young men with experience of violence and non-violent men is their attitude towards religion. Men without experience of violence value religion more than violent men. Is religion therefore a deterrent? This could mean, that a religious attitude does not foster violence but might even impede it . This fiThe data confirms that there is a small group of persistently violent men. According to our data, they have experienced violence during their childhood and adolescence. However, we could not discern whether they were victims or perpetrators .Our conclusions are preliminary, as they have been recorded for a small group of patients. In order to be validated, they have to be confirmed in larger groups of patients. Furthermore: this analysis might be biased because the inclusion of the patients was not consecutive and intoxicated or violent patients were not asked to participate. Some VIVs might have been reluctant to answer sincerely, fearing reprisals or the instigation of interrogations by the police, although they were assured this would not be the case. It is difficult to determine whether the answers are accurate or distorted.Youth violence is a serious global public health problem. Despite low violence rates across Switzerland in comparison to other European countries, interpersonal violence is rising and claims the health of many young people. The human and economic toll of violence on victims and offenders, their families, and society in general is high. The ecoThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.AKE has been the principal investigator and drafted the manuscript, AE and FE collected data and interviewed patients, UK reviewed and analysed data, KD coordinated study at both hospital sites, AR supervised study at Biel Hospital, VJ helped revising the manuscript, HZ co-designed study, UL co-designed study, AG designed study and drafted the questions, co-drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Both violence and depression during pregnancy have been linked to adverse neonatal outcomes, particularly low birth weight. The aim of this study was to investigate the independent and interactive effects of these maternal exposures upon neonatal outcomes among pregnant adolescents in a disadvantaged population from Sao Paulo, Brazil.930 consecutive pregnant teenagers, admitted for delivery were recruited. Violence was assessed using the Californian Perinatal Assessment. Mental illness was measured using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Apgar scores of newborns were estimated and their weight measured.21.9% of mothers reported lifetime violence (2% during pregnancy) and 24.3% had a common mental disorder in the past 12 months. The exposures were correlated and each was associated with low education. Lifetime violence was strongly associated with Common Mental Disorders. Violence during pregnancy (PR = 2.59(1.05–6.40) and threat of physical violence (PR = 1.86(1.03–3.35) and any common mental disorders (PR = 2.09 (1.21–3.63)  were independently associated with low birth weight.Efforts to improve neonatal outcomes in low income countries may be neglecting two important independent, but correlated risk factors: maternal experience of violence and common mental disorder. Both the experience of violence and antenatal depression may be risk factors for adverse neonatal outcomes, particularly low birth weight. A review of studies conducted in the USA and Europe showed aThe study was carried out in the Hospital Maternidade Mario de Moraes Altenfelder, the only public hospital providing obstetric care to people living in a poor neighbourhood in the north of São Paulo. Consecutive adolescents (11 to 19 years old) admitted to the hospital for obstetric care between 24/7/2001 and 27/11/2002 were invited to participate.Data were collected through interviews in hospital after the women had recovered from labor and the effects of anaesthesia. This period varied between 4 to 48 hours after delivery.Violence was assessed using the relevant section from the Californian Perinatal Assessment,12. The 1. Sometimes women (girls) are physically attacked by another person. Have you ever been attacked with a gun, knife or other weapon, either by a family member or a lover or friend, or by a stranger? 2. Have you ever been attacked by anyone without a weapon but with the intent to seriously injure you?3. Have you ever been threatened with the intent to seriously harm or injure you?4. Has anyone ever made you have any kind of sex by using physical force or by threatening to harm you?5. Did any of these incidents occur during your pregnancy?6. Did you ever ask for police help or for a restraining order due to domestic violence?The first two questions were combined to generate the variable 'any physical violence' and questions one to four were combined to generate the variable "any lifetime violence". Item 4 was used to define "any sexual violence". Item 5 was used to define the exposure of any type of violence experienced during pregnancy.th version (DSM-IV).Mental disorders were assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 2.1 version). The interview has been validated for use in Brazil,14 and ath percentile for expected weight according to gestational age[Five outcomes were considered: still-birth; pre term birth, Small for gestagional age (SGA), low birth weight and low Apgar scores. Babies were weighed immediately after delivery by a pediatrician using a digital scale with a precision level of 10 grams. Low birth weight was defined as < 2500 grams. A low Apgar score was defined as below 7 at 5 minutes . Gestatiional age, using, ional age populatiWe also asked about the participants' age, education, socio-economic status and living arrangements. A Brazilian classification of social-economic class  was usedWritten informed consent was sought after explanations about the aims, potential risks and benefits of the research. Interviewers offered referral to the social and mental health team of the hospital or other agencies, as appropriate. The study was approved by the ethical committee of the hospital  and the ethical committee of Federal University of Sao Paulo.Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for associations of violence exposures with maternal and newborn health outcomes. Poisson regression with robust variance was usedOne thousand and two pregnant adolescents were admitted to the hospital during the study period, representing 24.4% of the 4108 women admitted for obstetric care. One thousand adolescents agreed to participate, of whom 70, admitted for miscarriage were excluded entirely from this study (n = 930). There were eight twin pregnancies, and ten still births; Apgar scores, pre term births and small-for-gestational-age births were studied only in singleton live births leaving 912 mother/child dyads for these analyses. Low birth weight was restricted to singleton live births with 37 weeks of gestational age or above leaving 795 mother/child dyads for these analyses.A third of the mothers were 16 or younger Table . One in 203 participants (21.8%) had experienced one or more types of violence at some time in their lives. The most common category was actual physical violence, experienced by 14% (n = 130) (evenly distributed between with and without a weapon), with threats of physical violence reported by 10% (n = 95) and 5% (n = 48) reporting sexual violence. Most of the violence went unreported; only 4% of those who suffered violence with a weapon and 17% of those reporting sexual violence had sought police help. Only 2% of mothers (n = 19) experienced violence during pregnancy; 26% of these had asked for police help.Two hundred and twenty six participants (24.3%) were diagnosed with a Common Mental Disorder in the previous 12 months. The most common diagnosis was depression (13.0%) followed by PTSD (9.8%), anxiety disorders (5.7%), somatoform disorder (1.8%) and dissociative disorder (0.3%). There was much comorbidity between depression, anxiety and PTSD: 32.0% of those with PTSD and 39.6% of those with anxiety also had depression.Low education and higher alcohol intake in pregnancy were associated with lifetime violence and CMD tables  and 2. HAfter adjusting for age and years of education, violence was strongly associated with CMD: lifetime physical violence, PR 2.17 (95%CI 1.72–2.73); lifetime threats of physical violence, PR 2.39 (95%CI 1.89–3.02); lifetime sexual violence, PR 2.60 (95%CI 2.00–3.41); and any violence during pregnancy, PR 2.29 (95%CI 1.50–3.50). We examined the association between violence and specific types of CMD. The risk for depressive disorder was higher for mothers who had experienced lifetime physical violence , but associations with threats of physical violence , sexual violence  and violence during pregnancy  were not statistically significant. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was more strongly associated with all of the categories of violence; actual physical violence , threats of violence , sexual violence  and violence during pregnancy . Anxiety disorders were strongly associated with actual physical violence ; threats  and sexual violence .Ten babies (1.1%) were still born. Only one of these mothers had experienced lifetime violence (not during the pregnancy). There was no association between CMD and still birth, crude PR = 1.33 (95%CI 0.35–5.12). Apgar scores at five minutes were low (below 7) in 146 babies (16%). Neither lifetime violence  = 1.11, 95%CI 0.77–1.60), nor violence during pregnancy , nor CMD  was associated with low Apgar scores. 14.2% (131) were born with less than 37 weeks of gestational age. After adjustment for all potential confounders and mediators (*), pre term birth was found to be associated with common mental disorders (PR = 1.45 95% CI 1.00–2.09) but not with experience of violence. 239 babies (22.6%) were small for gestational age (SGA). After controlling for all potential confounders and mediators (*) only violence during pregnancy was associated with SGA .One hundred and forty one babies (15.5%) had low birth-weight (LBW). Among those over 37 weeks of gestational age (n = 795) there were 62 babies with LBW (7.8%). There was a statistically significant trend for the risk of LBW to decrease with the number of ante-natal consultations . LBW was also strongly associated with pregnancy complications .Table The effects of violence during pregnancy and CMD in the last 12 months on birth weight were additive rather than multiplicative; with no statistical interaction in the final model (p = 0.31) (interaction term PR = 0.35 (95%CI 0.11–2.00). One hundred and seventy seven adolescents had a CMD and did not suffer violence during pregnancy , seven had only been exposed to violence during pregnancy  and 10 had suffered both exposures .Brazilian adolescents (10–19 years old) comprise 21% of the population. We founThe main limitation of our study is the timing of the interviews with mothers. The measurement of mental health shortly after childbirth may be confounded by emotional experiences common after childbirth. Also, recall bias is a possibility when exposures are ascertained after the outcomes have occurred. Arguably, this is more likely for still birth than for the less striking outcomes of low Apgar scores and low birth weight. However, we used a structured mental health diagnostic interview, delivered by trained interviewers who ensured that interviews were only carried out after the mother had fully recovered from childbirth. This method has been used in other studies,23. AnteThe 22% prevalence of lifetime physical violence in our study is consistent with other estimates; 25% in India, and 13.et al's review[et al [Very few studies have examined the impact of violence on newborn outcomes in developing countries. Nasir 's review reported's review-4 , substance abuse (such as smoking), low socioeconomic status (leading to hunger), maternal medical problems and maternal mental illness ,31. The The effect of violence on young mothers who have limited personal and social resources can be devastating. Appropriate interventions are urgently required to avoid or minimize the effects of violence on the health of the mothers and the babies. The implication for clinical practice is that all adolescent mothers should be routinely screened for the experience of violence, both lifetime and during pregnancy, as well as for mental disorder. Identification of the one should alert clinical teams to the possibility of the other, given the strong correlations that we and others have reported. Exposed mothers should be treated as 'at risk', supported intensively during the pregnancy and monitored for fetal growth. Antenatal mental disorder seems particularly likely to be associated with adverse obstetric factors . At the social policy level, concerted efforts are need to combat gender-based violence not only as a human rights issue but as a major risk factor for poor maternal and newborn health; health professionals must actively engage in this advocacy.Further research, preferably utilizing longitudinal designs, is needed to tease out the causal mechanisms linking violence with maternal and newborn outcomes. Such studies should examine not only the role of physical violence but also the influence of behaviors that cause harm without the use of physical force including neglect, humiliation and non-violent coerced sexual acts. The role of protective factors, such as social support, also merits investigation.The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.CPF, VP and MP participated in the study concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript and reviewing the manuscript for important intellectual content. MB, EC, RG, RL and SM participated in the study concept and design, acquisition of data, obtaining funding and critically reviewed the paper for important intellectual content. All authors approved the version submitted.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:


Bacillus megatherium D01 biomass have once been investigated, still the mechanism active in the platinum biosorption remains to be seen and requires further elucidating.Platinum nanomaterial is one of the significant noble metal catalysts, and the interaction of platinum with microbe is one of the key factors in influencing the size and the distribution of the platinum nanoparticles on the microbial biomass. Some properties of Pt(IV) adsorption and reduction by resting cells of Bacillus megatherium D02 biomass on a molecular level has been obtained. The image of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the D02 biomass challenged with Pt(IV) displayed a clear distribution of bioreduced platinum particles with sizes of nanometer scale on the biomass. The state of Pt(IV) bioreduced to elemental Pt(0) examined via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggested that the biomass reduces the Pt(IV) to Pt(II) followed by a slower reduction to Pt(0). The analysis of glucose content in the hydrolysates of D02 biomass for different time intervals using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometry indicated that certain reducing sugars occur in the hydrolyzed biomass and that the hydrolysis of polysaccharides of the biomass is a rapid process. The infrared (IR) spectrometry on D02 biomass and that challenged with Pt(IV), and on glucose and that reacted with Pt(IV) demonstrated that the interaction of the biomass with Pt(IV) seems to be through oxygenous or nitrogenous chemical functional groups on the cell wall biopolymers; that the potential binding sites for Pt species include hydroxyl of saccharides, carboxylate anion and carboxyl of amino acid residues, peptide bond, etc.; and that the free monosaccharic group bearing hemiacetalic hydroxyl from the hydrolyzed biomass behaving as an electron donor, in situ reduces the Pt(IV) to Pt(0). And moreover, the binding of the Pt(IV) to the oxygen of the carbonyl group of peptide bond caused a change in the secondary structure of proteins; i.e. a transformation, in polypeptide chains, of β-folded to α-helical form; it might be expected to be more advantageous than β-folded form to the platinum nanoparticles under shelter from gathering although the both special conformations of proteins could be much probably responsible for the stabilization of the particles.A further insight into the biosorption mechanism of Pt(IV) onto resting cells of That knowledge could serve as a guide in the researches for improving the preparation of highly dispersive supported platinum catalyst and for fabricating new advanced platinum nanostructured devices by biotechnological methods. Bacillus megatherium D01 biomass were described previously [Bacillus megatherium D02 biomass using IR and other spectroscopic techniques.The roles the microorganisms play in biotechnological applications including effective recovery of noble metal ions -3, createviously , and yetBacillus megatherium D02 and easy to obtain and culture. It was cultured in an aqueous solution containing beef gels, peptone, salt, etc. [2PtCl6·6H2O) aqueous solution at pH 3.5 and 37°C for 2 hours (h).The strain D02 was screened out from different bacterial strains that were isolated from soils and waters of mining areas, because it has a relatively strong ability to adsorb and reduce Au(III), Ag(I), Pt(IV), Pd(II) and Rh(III). The strain is Gram-positive and identified as lt, etc. . The ads62- anion, i.e. six-coordinate, octahedral complex. While the contact with D02 biomass suspension at pH 3.5, the liberation of chloride ion from the platinum complex occurred and the rate of the release was essentially as fast as that of the adsorption of the metal [62- anion due to electrostatic interactions. The process therefore is believed to involve the initial formation of an ion pair between negatively charged PtCl62- and positively charged oxygenous or nitrogenous functional groups on the biomass, followed by elimination of chloride [6-2 anion at early stage. As the interaction of the D02 biomass with the platinum occurred mainly between the functional groups of the biomass and their adsorbate, i.e. the Pt(IV) cation, it therefore was described to replace the PtCl6-2 in the text. Similarly Pt(II) for PtCl4-2.The chloroplatinic acid in an aqueous solution is generally in the form of PtClhe metal . The intchloride ; thus thThe appearance of Pt(IV) challenging D02 biomass was observed by SEM examination; the reducing ratios of Pt(IV) to Pt(II) and Pt(II) to Pt(0) by the biomass were determined using XPS and the hydrolysates of the biomass for different time intervals were analyzed for glucose content via UV-vis spectrophotometry. The interaction of chemical functional groups from the cell wall surfaces of the biomass with Pt(IV) was further studied by means of IR spectroscopic technique.The biosorbent was prepared after a reported method . The harSEM examination: Two samples of (I) blank D02 biomass powder and (II) that challenged with Pt(IV) at pH 3.5 and 37°C for 48 h followed by drying under vacuum at 80°C and then by grinding were sprayed with gold prior to examination. The specimens were then examined under a LEO-1530 scan electron microscope (Germany).Kα radiation with hv of 1 486.60 eV and using the binding energy of 284.7eV of the amorphous carbon C1s as a reference point.XPS examination: Two samples of the D02 biomass powder challenged with Pt(IV) at pH 3.5 and 37°C, respectively, for 12 and 24 h were dried under vacuum at 80°C to be pressed into pellets prior to examination. The specimens were then determined on a PHI Quantum 2000 X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (USA). The spectra were recorded by monochromatized Al Two 30 mg samples of the D02 biomass powder were suspended separately in 6 ml of diluted HCl with final biomass concentration of 5 mg/ml and the pH adjustment at 3.5. Two milliliters of the biomass suspension (10 mg biomass) was placed separately into 6 test tubes followed by centrifugation to remove the supernatants. A 2 ml of deionized water at pH 3.5 was added to each of the six samples of the biomass followed by shake at 130 r/min in an incubator at 37°C; two sections of three samples each for the respective reaction times of 10 min and 24 h were centrifuged at 3500 r./min for 8 min. The supernatant of each tube, i.e. the hydrolysate of the biomass, was analyzed for glucose content by a phenol-sulfuric acid method ,12 at 48-1 at a resolution of 4 cm-1 with 32 scans.Generally, biological samples contain much water that strongly interferes with IR absorptions; in order to get rid of the water disturbing, the samples must be dried as much as possible to thoroughly eliminate the liquid water prior to examination. Two samples of (I) the hydrolysate of D02 biomass on hydrolysis for 24 h, just from the above sample for analyzing the glucose content and (II) that challenged with Pt(IV) at pH 3.5 and 37°C for 2 h; and six samples of (III) D02 biomass powder (IV) that challenged with Pt(IV) at pH 3.5 and 37°C for 2 d (V) 4 d (VI) 6 d (VII) 8 d and (VIII) 10 d were analysed. Three other samples of (IX) chloroplatinic acid powder (X) anhydrous glucose powder and (XI) a close to saturated aqueous solution of chloroplatinic acid powder fully mixed with anhydrous glucose (1.4: 1 in gravimetric ratio) were heated respectively in an oil-bath at 100°C for 60 min followed by drying prior to examination. The samples for IR analysis were prepared by pressing powdered KBr pellets mixed intimately with about 5% – 10% of finely ground powder of the each sample, and then determined on a Nicolet 740SX FTIR spectrophotometer with a MCT-B detector (USA). The spectra were recorded in the range 4 000 ~ 625 cmUnder the scan electron microscope, the blank D02 biomass hadn't any small metallic particles to be seen Figure , but thaThe UV-vis spectra of the hydrolysates of D02 biomass on hydrolysis for 10 min and 24 h respectively displayed an absorption band near 488 nm arising from glucose  and free hydroxyl (C-O-H) of the cell walls, an IR comparative study between the hydrolysate of D02 biomass and that challenged with Pt(IV) was performed. The use of the hydrolysate in this case would avoid any insoluble impurities that could interfere with the IR spectra studied. The spectrum of the hydrolysate displayed absorptions near 1 593 and 1 404 cm-1  [-1 and a decrease in the intensity of the symmetric at 1 404 cm-1  . The binric band , which crmis R08  and so f-1 corresponding to the δN-H + ∪C-N, a coupled vibration including N-H in-plane bending and C-N stretching modes of the amideIIband originating from the C-N-H group of the peptide bond (HNC = O) [N-H + ∪C-N from 1 551 to 1 537 cm-1  ,17  and 1 053 cm-1 (δO-H + ∪C-O) can be found in Figure -1 (∪C = O) and 979 cm-1 (δO-H) in IR must have resulted from the oxidation of reducing sugars to their corresponding acids by platinum cations [As indicated earlier, two clear increases in the intensities of absorptions of the saccharide hydroxyl at 3 410 cm cations ,16.-1 range, it can be observed that the spectra of chloroplatinic acid and glucose showed only a single band of H2O at 1 622 and 1 645 cm-1 respectively, and the glucose reacted with Pt(IV) displayed a spectrum with the occurrence of the ∪C = O of the carboxyl at 1 715 cm-1 besides one absorption of H2O at 1 642 cm-1. The result meant that the free aldehyde group shifted from the cyclic hemiacetalic hydroxyl of the glucose had already been oxidized to the carboxyl by the platinum cation. Further analysis of this sample using X-ray powder diffractometry gave a pattern with peaks corresponding exactly to those of the elemental Pt(0), which proved that the Pt(IV) had been reduced to the Pt(0) by the glucose under the reaction conditions. The redox reaction of the Pt(IV) with the glucose can be expressed as follows:In order to verify the above inference; glucose, the commonest reducing sugar, was examined by IR for the interaction with Pt(IV). To be in comparison with each other; IR spectra of chloroplatinic acid, glucose and that challenged with Pt(IV) were shown in Figures As a matter of fact, this is a model reaction of the Pt(IV) with the D02 biomass, the mechanism of the bioreduction of Pt(IV) to Pt(0) by the biomass can be assumed to be the same as that by the glucose. The biomass fulfilled the roles as a catalyst as well as an electron donor in this redox reaction. Both UV-vis and IR analyses testified that in the system some polysaccharides of the biomass had been hydrolyzed to reducing sugars; so when they met the Pt(IV) adsorbed on the cell wall surfaces, the reduction of Pt(IV) to Pt(II) followed by a slower reduction to Pt(0) occurred:-1  being reduced, hence two clear increases in the respective intensities of the carboxyl absorptions at 1 726 and 979 cm1 Figure , curve 2rmis R08 , etc. It-1 disappeared after the contact with Pt(IV) [C = O (1 726 cm-1) and δO-H (979 cm-1) from the carboxyl absorptions were found to change with prolonging the exposure time of the D02 biomass to Pt(IV). The ratios of the intensity of the ∪C = O of the carboxyl at 1 726 cm-1 to that of the ∪C = O (the amideIband) of the peptide bond at 1 652 cm-1  for different time intervals are shown: 0.637 (2 d), 0.706 (4 d), 0.739 (6 d), 0.581 (8 d) and 0.423 (10 d). As seen from the values, the carbonyl absorption of the carboxyl becomes the most intense as the biomass challenged Pt(IV) for 6 days, and it becomes lower for 8 days and lowest for 10 days. Fourest et al. [Sargassum biomass showed the IR spectra with an obvious decrease in the intensity of the free ∪C = O of the carboxyl at 1738 cm-1 after the contact with Cd(II), the absorption became weak and finally disappeared with increasing the concentration of Cd(II). The result reflected that the carboxyl is also an active group for binding Cd(II) and there is not the occurrence of the redox reaction but only the binding action between Sargassum biomass and Cd(II). Based on electronegativity and steric effect points of view, the carboxyl could successfully compete with the peptide bond for binding Pt species [-1, which caused a decrease in the intensity of this band.It has been reported that the carbonyl absorption of the carboxyl at 1726 cmh Pt(IV) , this ret et al.  noted th-1  hydrogen bond linking neighboring peptide chains to destroy the original pleated structure of β-folded and led to the occurrence of α-helical conformation that has the regular arrays of intra-chain (i.e. intra-molecular) hydrogen bond. So a change in the secondary structures of proteins, namely, a transformation of β-folded to α-helical conformation, took placed. In general; α-helical form, the most content and the commonest secondary structure in proteins, bearing 169 atoms of both carbon and nitrogen in each of the helical rings closed by intra-molecular hydrogen bonding, has a fixed nanometer diameter and a pitch of 0.54 nm between the helices [6-2 anion, i.e. an octahedral coordinated complex with diameter of about 0.65 nm, was quickly attracted on the surface of the proteins of the biomass and the release of chloride ion from the platinum complex took place simultaneously with the adsorption of PtCl6-2 [It is of interest to note that the amideIband, due to the carbonyl stretching absorption of polypeptides, can be found to split into two peaks at 1 658 and 1 635 cm1 Figure , curve 11 Figure , curve 2 helices . And β-f PtCl6-2 , so thatBacillus megatherium D02 biomass on a molecular level has further been investigated mainly by infrared spectrometry in this report. The findings of the Pt(IV) bioreduced by the biomass to elemental Pt(0) at near normal temperature followed by the formation of platinum nanoparticles show that the biomass must have behaved as a catalyst as well as a role in sheltering the particles from gathering besides as an electron donor in this redox reaction. Further analysis suggests that the binding of the Pt(IV) to proteins led to a change, in polypeptide chains, of β-folded to α-helical form in that the latter might be expected to be more advantageous than the former to the nanoparticles under shelter from gathering, although the both special secondary structures of proteins could be much probably responsible for the stabilization of the particles. At all events, both patterns of the secondary constructions of proteins  and pores of the net-like structural polysaccharides on peptidoglycan layers of cell walls of the biomass may perform a significant function for stabilization and uniformity of the particles by having the pH under control in process of the biosorption. A better understanding of the biosorbent mechanisms responsible for Pt(IV) binding and reduction could contribute to the development of a method for fabrication of platinum nanoscale devices, and for an improvement of preparation of highly dispersive supported platinum catalysts by biotechnological methods.The biosorption mechanism of Pt(IV) onto RX carried out the SEM examination, participated in the interpretation of the SEM images. YY carried out the XRD examination, participated in analysis and interpretation of XRD patterns. JZ and ZX carried out biosorption examinations, participated in the analyses of both adsorptive efficiency and capacity of the biomass. ZL conceived of the study and carried out the IR examinations and performed further synthetic analyses and drafted the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Violence against women is now widely recognised as an important public health problem, owing to its health consequences. Violence against women among many Indian communities on a regularly basis goes unreported. The objective of this study is to report the prevalence and other related issues of various forms of domestic violence against women from the eastern zone of India.It is a population-based study covering both married women (n = 1718) and men (n = 1715) from three of the four states of Eastern India selected through a systematic multistage sampling strategy. Interviews were conducted using separate pre-piloted structured questionnaires for women (victimization) and men (perpetration). Women were asked whether their husband or any other family members committed violent acts against them. And men were asked whether they had ever perpetrated violent acts against their wives. Three principle domestic violence outcome variables  were determined by response to a set of questions for each variable. In addition, data on socio-economic characteristics were collected. Descriptive statistics, bi- and multivariate analyses were done.The overall prevalence of physical, psychological, sexual and any form of violence among women of Eastern India were 16%, 52%, 25% and 56% respectively. These rates reported by men were 22%, 59%, 17% and 59.5% respectively. Men reported higher prevalence of all forms of violence apart from sexual violence. Husbands were mostly responsible for violence in majority of cases and some women reported the involvement of husbands' parents. It is found that various acts of violence were continuing among majority of women who reported violence. Some socio-economic characteristics of women have significant association with the occurrence of domestic violence. Urban residence, older age, lower education and lower family income are associated with occurrence of domestic violence. Multivariate logistic regressions revealed that the physical violence has significant association with state, residence , age and occupation of women, and monthly family income. Similar associations are found for psychological violence  and sexual violence .The prevalence of domestic violence in Eastern India is relatively high compared to majority of information available from India and confirms that domestic violence is a universal phenomenon. The primary healthcare institutions in India should institutionalise the routine screening and treatment for violence related injuries and trauma. Also, these results provide vital information to assess the situation to develop public health interventions, and to sensitise the concerned agencies to implement the laws related to violence against women. Violence against women is widely recognised as an important public health problem, owing to its substantial consequences for women's physical, mental and reproductive health -5. This India possessed several communities which are distinct in their geography, language and culture. In several places of India, violence faced by women on a regularly basis goes unreported even in newspapers, where as newspapers often carry reports about young women being burnt alive or dying due to unnatural causes in unnatural circumstances . EstimatWe hypothesize that domestic violence is wide-spread phenomenon and variation in its prevalence occur across the eastern Indian states, as these states differ from each other in overall development. Also, it is hypothesized that differences occur within the population of these states based on some socio-economic characteristics such as habitation , age, religion/caste affiliation, education, occupation and income. The purpose of the present study is to report the prevalence of various forms of domestic violence against women and to examine various related issues from the eastern zone of India. The term domestic violence is usually taken to mean partner abuse, specifically violence perpetrated by male partner. However, it may also be used to refers to violence perpetrated by any member of the household towards the women . HoweverThe eastern zone of India possessed four states namely, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Of these four states, three states  were selected to have a wider representation of the zone. The population of these states was 31.7 million, 80.2 million and 26.9 million in the year 2001 ,28. The All the interviews were held in local language of the state. Interviews took place in a private place in or outside the respondents' home, and care has been taken to avoid presence of other family/community members during interviews. If some one comes nearer during interview, the discussion on general health was made and the interview was restarted after the third person has retired. Interviewers stressed that honest responses were needed during interview to gain insight into the issue. Participants were assured of the confidentiality of their responses. To attain all these, care has been taken to establish rapport with every participant prior to interviews. Women and men were interviewed by women and men investigators, respectively. Individual verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants by explaining the purpose of the study. These field works were carried out during September 2004–July 2005.The sample size was calculated based on the available estimated prevalence of domestic violence for these states . Based oAfter selecting the village/urban pocket, the research team met village/community heads and elders before initiating the data collection, and the purpose of the survey was explained. Rapport is established with the community and especially the women were taken to the confidence. The sample to be collected from each village was determined by dividing total rural sample required for that state by total number of villages (eight). In each village, eight random points were identified from all corners and care has been taken to include all communities. From each point, required number of sample was collected from households spread in four directions of the point. Similarly, in each urban pocket, participants were selected from the households spread in all the four directions. A married woman up to the age of 50 years of sampled household was sampled from each household. Corresponding to the women sample, married men aged below 50 years were selected in the similar way from the neighbouring village/urban pocket. Initially, 1753 women and 1730 men were contacted; however, 35 women and 15 men have refused to participate, yielding a refusal rate of 2% and 0.8% among women and men, respectively. Thus, samples of 1718 women and 1715 men were obtained.Three principle domestic violence outcome variables considered in our analysis are: physical violence, psychological violence and sexual violence. They were determined by response to a set of questions for each outcome variable. If a woman (as a victim)/man (as a perpetrator) gave a positive response to any of the questions in a set, it is considered as violence of that category. The questions used for women and men were listed in Annexure 1a and 1b, respectively in Additional file Data were collected on a number of community-level and individual-level variables that have been linked to domestic violence. The community-level variables included are the state of residence , residence , religion  and caste. During the survey, individual caste of the respondent was collected and they were categorized subsequently during analysis. The Government of India had categorised some ethnic groups (castes and tribes) into scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward castes, and these categories are entitled for positive discrimination in educational, employment and other developmental opportunities for their upliftment. The uncategorized castes, which form the majority of the population, are often referred to as forward castes. The individual-level variables were: age in years , education, which was categorized in to illiterate (those who can neither read nor write), functional literate , school education (1–10 years of schooling) and, college education and above (those having more than 10 years of education). The occupation of the participant was recorded and the responses were categorized into salaried jobs , farming and small business , labourer (daily-waged skilled and unskilled labourers), housewives (only women) and other occupations. The monthly income of the family was calculated during data analysis based on the information collected on income of all members as well as from common sources of the family. The income details were collected in Indian Rupees (INR). One INR was equivalent to 0.02 United States Dollars (US$). For logistic regression, these variables were used as categorical variables, except the age. The categories under each variable were explained above. The age was taken as continuous variable.p value of less than 0.05 was considered as the minimum level of significance.The data were computerized through Epi-Info 6. The database of Epi-Info was exported to SPSS and further analysis was carried out. The prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of different forms of domestic violence reported by women and men were computed for each of the states. For the domestic violence prevalence reported by women, the associations with socio-economic variables  were examined by using both bivariate and multivariate procedures. For each of the group under a variable, the prevalences in the form of percentages were presented and bivariate logistic regressions were carried out. In addition, multiple logistic regression analysis was used to model the presence or absence of physical, psychological and sexual violence, and any form of domestic violence by all of the aforementioned socio-economic variables. For these logistic regression analyses, the dependent variables were dichotomised (presence or absence of violence). The independent variables were categorised into different groups as described under measurements. While calculating odds ratios (OR), the category with the lowest weight was taken as the reference category. The OR is the value by which odds of the event (occurrence of violence) change when the independent variable increases by one unit/step. And it has been calculated by adjusting for all other independent variables in multivariate models. A The study protocol has been approved by the Human Ethical Committee of Regional Medical Research Centre. Individual informed consent was obtained from all participants, as mentioned above. Guidelines of World Health Organization, including the importance of ensuring confidentiality and privacy, both as means to protect the safety of study participants and field staff, and to improve the quality of the data were followed .The details of socio-economic characteristics of sampled women and men participants were presented in Table The prevalence of physical, psychological, sexual and any form of domestic violence in the life time of women were presented in Table Similarly, men were also interviewed to know whether they perpetrated any violence during their life time against their wives Table . The perIt was probed from the women about the person, who actually perpetrated different violent behaviour. Table It was probed to know whether or not the reported behaviours of violence are continuing currently among the women, who reported the experience of different acts of physical, psychological and sexual violence during their lifetime. If it is continuing, it was further probed for each act to know the periodicity of their occurrence. It is probed to know whether they are experiencing these acts daily. It is found that, almost all acts of violence were still continuing among majority of women Table . For exaTable The above associations were further examined through bivariate logistic regressions by taking presence or absence of violence as a dependent variable and women's socio-economic characteristic as a covariate (independent variables). OR along with levels of significance of regression models for all types of violence are shown in Table Further, multivariate logistic regressions were carried out to examine these associations, separately for each type of domestic violence Tables  and 10. In the present study, women reported as high as 56% of some form of violence against them in Eastern part of India. The levels of physical, psychological and sexual violence against women were also considerably high. These data along with the world-wide literature confirm that domestic violence is a universal phenomenon existing in all communities ,12,31. AThe present data demonstrated that in Eastern India, the domestic violence is persisting considerably across all socio-economic strata. Some characteristics of women namely, residence, age, education, occupation and family income have influence on the prevalence of domestic violence. The prevalence of violence decreased along with the increase of women's education and family income. However, no comprehensive studies are available from this part of India to compare these findings. One nation-wide study from India revealed that higher socio-economic status as a protective buffer against domestic violence . The datSome of the earlier studies from India revealed that though inadequate and failure of timely payment of dowry has been focused as an important reason for domestic violence in India, several other triggers of domestic violence such as negligence or failure in performing duties expected of women in the family also led to violence against women . These cThis study, along with the domestic violence rates based on the reporting of women, presented the prevalence of domestic violence reported by men, as perpetrator. These rates are in corroboration with those reported by women. Almost all research on domestic violence has relied on women's rather than men's report of their experiences . Few stuThere are limitations in this study, as usual to this type of research topic. The topic of interview is very sensitive and participants may not express their views openly, as they think that their responses may damage the reputation of themselves and their families. Sometimes in this type of research, participants may also report the behaviour that is believed to be consistent with their culture, rather than the actual . HoweverThe study confirms the high prevalence of all forms of violence against women across all socio-economic settings in eastern zone of India. However, urban residence, older age, lower education and lower family income are associated with occurrence of domestic violence. Women are at risk of violence from the husband than any other type of perpetrator. This situation has public health implications as public health can have a role in preventing the violence and its health consequences. Also, the primary healthcare institutions in India should institutionalise the routine screening and treatment for violence related injuries and trauma. These results also provide vital information to assess the situation to develop interventions as well as policies and programmes towards preventing violence against women. As India has already passed a bill against domestic violence, the present results on robustness of the problem will be useful to sensitise the concerned agencies to strictly implement the law.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Both the authors contributed to the conception of the study design and development of study instruments. BVB involved in field works; coordinated in the data collection; computerized and analysed the data; interpreted the results; prepared the manuscript. Both the authors read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:Annexure 1. A: Questions posed to women in this study to consider physical, psychological and sexual violence against women. B: Questions posed to men in this study to consider physical, psychological and sexual violence against their wivesClick here for file


India and Pakistan have disputed ownership of the Kashmir Valley region for many years, resulting in several conflicts since the end of partition in 1947. Very little is known about the prevalence of violence and insecurity in this population.We undertook a two-stage cluster household survey in two districts (30 villages) of the Indian part of Kashmir to assess experiences with violence and mental health status among the conflict-affected Kashmiri population. The article presents our findings for confrontations with violence. Data were collected for recent events (last 3 months) and those occurring since the start of the conflict. Informed consent was obtained for all interviews.510 interviews were completed. Respondents reported frequent direct confrontations with violence since the start of conflict, including exposure to crossfire (85.7%), round up raids (82.7%), the witnessing of torture (66.9%), rape (13.3%), and self-experience of forced labour (33.7%), arrests/kidnapping (16.9%), torture (12.9%), and sexual violence (11.6%). Males reported more confrontations with violence than females, and had an increased likelihood of having directly experienced physical/mental maltreatment , violation of their modesty  and injury . Males also had high odds of self-being arrested/kidnapped .The civilian population in Kashmir is exposed to high levels of violence, as demonstrated by the high frequency of deliberate events as detention, hostage, and torture. The reported violence may result in substantial health, including mental health problems. Males reported significantly more confrontations with almost all violent events; this can be explained by higher participation in outdoor activities. The British rule over Jammu and Kashmir terminated in 1947. During partition, the Kashmiri population – the majority of whom is Muslim – was promised a choice of joining either India or Pakistan through a popular vote but this plebiscite never took place. Instead, partition was the start of a long history of conflict affecting the roughly 8 million inhabitants of Kashmir . Respondents reported having an average household of nine persons . Nearly all respondents were originally from the Kashmir area . The majority of respondents were married  and half  had no formal schooling. A quarter of respondents  reported high or total dependence on financial/material assistance from the authorities or from charity.Confrontation with violence was reported both in the past since 1989) and more recently (three months prior to the survey). Exposure to crossfire  reported being physically or mentally mistreated themselves , forced labour , violation of modesty  and injury , and had a higher odds of being arrested/kidnapped .This paper presents findings related to confrontation with violence among the conflict-affected Kashmiri population. We did not assess who was responsible for the violence because it was not relevant for our medical needs assessment. We found a high exposure to violence (being in the vicinity but not witnessing or self-experiencing) among the civilian participants in our survey, reflecting a pervasive climate of violence in which the population is living. The frequency of exposure to violence on multiple occasions (>5 times) since the start of the conflict Table  is high High levels of confrontation with violence have been reported in another recent study from Kashmir. In this study, no substantial differences between males (59.51%) and females 57.39%) were found for lifetime prevalence of traumatic experiences. 9% were f, and mayThe high level of people reporting being tortured while detained or taken hostage is a particular concern, indicating that the violence against civilians is not simply circumstantial. We used "violation of modesty" as the local equivalent for sexual violence . The facThe completion rate of the survey was good (93%), and the design was adapted to the purpose and the context. However, there are a number of potential limitations. First, there is a possible selection bias in the fact that only people who were home during the time of the survey were interviewed. This methodology was deemed necessary for security reasons. The selection of one person per household may lead to a bias as individuals in large households are under represented. However, we do not think this bias influenced our findings since the overall household size in our sample was large (9). Second, retrospective study designs are subject to recall bias, and we cannot exclude recall bias in the participants' answers on confrontations with violence. However, a recent study  has demoThis survey aimed to determine exposure to violence and mental health impact as part of a routine programme assessment. We found that the Kashmiri population is confronted with high levels of violence committed by all parties to the conflict, with potentially substantial implications for mental health. This confrontation with violent events is not simply an environmental effect of living in a conflict-affected area, as demonstrated by the high frequency of deliberate events as detention, hostage, and torture. The conflict continues with no end in sight, with civilian deaths reported as this article goes to print .The authors declare that they have no competing interests.KJ designed and co-ordinated the study and wrote the first draft of the paper. NF supported the conceptual framing of the findings, assisted with the analysis, and led subsequent drafts. SK and KL provided statistical support for the design and analysis, and helped with the writing of the paper. SF, RG and BR oversaw the implementation of the survey, managed data collection in the field, and contributed to the writing of the paper. RK provided conceptual oversight and contributed to the writing of the paper.