Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework

Finger prints, palms and soles. An introduction to dermatoglyphics

Spending time in nature is one potential way to cope with the negative physical and psychological health impacts from major stressful life events. In 2020, a large fraction of the global population was impacted by restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, a period characterised by marked health risks and behavioural changes. Here we explore whether people responded to this stressor by spending more time in nature and investigate the reasons for any changes.We surveyed 1,002 people in Brisbane, Australia in 2020, to measure the change in use of green space during the restrictions period and benefits people associated with visiting them.About 36% of participants increased their urban green space use, but 26% reduced it, indicating a great deal of flux. Furthermore, 45% of the previous non-users of urban green space began using it for the first time during the restrictions period. Older people were less likely to increase their green space use and those with a backyard were more likely to increase their use of green spaces.Participants' change in use occurred regardless of the amount of green space available in close proximity to their households. In addition, we did not find a relationship between nature-relatedness and change in use.People's reasons for green space use shifted during the pandemic-related restrictions period, with many emphasising improvement of personal well-being rather than consolidating community capital. Most participants indicated an increase in the importance of the psychological and physical benefits obtained from urban green spaces.We conclude that increased urban green space use during moments of stress such as the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to ameliorate some of the negative effects of the stressor, but that the capacity and desire to spend more time in green space varies markedly across society. Sufficient urban green space provision for all sections of society will maximise the opportunity to employ a nature-based coping mechanism during times of personal or community stress.

Urban green space use during a time of stress: A case study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brisbane, Australia

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the global response have dramatically changed people's lifestyles in much of the world These major changes, as well as the associated changes in impacts on the environment, can alter the dynamics of the direct interactions between humans and nature (hereafter human?nature interactions) far beyond those concerned with animals as sources of novel human coronavirus infections There may be a variety of consequences for both people and nature Here, we suggest a conceptual framework for understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect the dynamics of human?nature interactions This highlights three different, but not mutually exclusive, pathways: changes in (a) opportunity, (b) capability and (c) motivation Through this framework, we also suggest that there are several feedback loops by which changes in human?nature interactions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to further changes in these interactions such that the impacts of the pandemic could persist over the long term, including after it has ended The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had the most tragic consequences, can also be viewed as a ?global natural experiment? in human?nature interactions that can provide unprecedented mechanistic insights into the complex processes and dynamics of these interactions and into possible strategies to manage them to best effect A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pan3.10201

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human–nature interactions: Pathways, evidence and implications

Growing urbanisation is a threat to both mental health and biodiversity. Street trees are an important biodiversity component of urban greenspace, but little is known about their effects on mental health. Here, we analysed the association of street tree density and species richness with antidepressant prescribing for 9751 inhabitants of Leipzig, Germany. We examined spatial scale effects of street trees at different distances around participant’s homes, using Euclidean buffers of 100, 300, 500, and 1000 m. Employing generalised additive models, we found a lower rate of antidepressant prescriptions for people living within 100 m of higher density of street trees—although this relationship was marginally significant (p = 0.057) when confounding factors were considered. Density of street trees at further spatial distances, and species richness of street trees at any distance, were not associated with antidepressant prescriptions. However, for individuals with low socio-economic status, high density of street trees at 100 m around the home significantly reduced the probability of being prescribed antidepressants. The study suggests that unintentional daily contact to nature through street trees close to the home may reduce the risk of depression, especially for individuals in deprived groups. This has important implications for urban planning and nature-based health interventions in cities.

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Urban street tree biodiversity and antidepressant prescriptions.

Does greenery experienced indoors and outdoors provide an escape and support mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine?

Background: Online education became mandatory for many students during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and blurred the distinction between settings where processes of stress and restoration used to take place. The lockdown also likely changed perceptions of the indoor acoustic environment (i.e., soundscape) and raised its importance. In the present study, we seek to understand how indoor soundscape related to university students’ self-rated health in Bulgaria around the time that the country was under a state of emergency declaration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Between 17 May and 10 June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey among 323 students (median age 21 years; 31% male) from two universities in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Self-rated health (SRH) was measured with a single-item. Participants were asked how frequently they heard different types of sounds while at home and how pleasant they considered each of those sounds to be. Restorative quality of the home (the “being away” dimension of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale) was measured with a single-item. A priori confounders and effect modifiers included sociodemographics, house-related characteristics, general sensitivity to environmental influences, and mental health. Our analysis strategy involved sequential exploratory factor analysis (EFA), multivariate linear and ordinal regressions, effect modification tests, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: EFA supported grouping perceived sounds into three distinct factors—mechanical, human, and nature sounds. Regression analyses revealed that greater exposure to mechanical sounds was consistently associated with worse SRH, whereas no significant associations were found for human and nature sounds. In SEM, exposure to mechanical sounds related to lower restorative quality of the home, and then to poorer SRH, whereas nature sounds correlated with higher restorative quality, and in turn with better SRH. Conclusions: These findings suggest a role of positive indoor soundscape and restorative quality for promoting self-rated health in times of social distancing.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2538/pdf

University Students' Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine.

https://www.journal-imab-bg.org 3213 ABSTRACT Background: Patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) type 2 display an increased prevalence of apparently innocent changes in their patterns and count of their dermatoglyphics. Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess the variability and bilateral asymmetry of fingerprint patterns in healthy individuals and mentally diseased patients and established their relationship with disease. Methods: The study included 344 subjects of Bulgarian ethnicity, aged 18-64 years, 285 mentally healthy and 59 schizophrenia and BD Type I patients. The patients met DSM-V criteria for schizophrenia and BD Type I. Fingerprints were obtained by the typographic method, in a rotating manner. Papillary patterns were classified into four main types. The data were analyzed statistically with SPSS 17.0 software. Results: The differences in fingerprint patterns on both hands of healthy and mentally diseased males show a trend of statistical significance in their distribution (p = 0.065). We found that Furuhata and Poll’s indices are lower in mentally diseased males, that seems logical from the standpoint of lower frequency of whorls and higher frequency of ulnar loops presented in them. Our results show the greater asymmetry between fingerprint images of homologous digits of the diseased males on the second finger, and of the diseased females – on second and on the third finger. Conclusion: The results of this study provide a perspective on potential biomarkers and support neurodevelopmental concepts of the etiology, pathogenesis and diagnosis of psychotic disorder.

/pdf/fingerprint-patterns-and-their-bilateral-differences-in-1eihtwaf6y.pdf

Fingerprint patterns and their bilateral differences in patients with mental disorders and healthy controls

Purpose: The objective of the present investigation was to juxtapose some qualitative dermatoglyphic characteristics of finger papillary patterns between breast cancer patients and healthy control females. Material/Methods: In 2014-2017, several qualitative fingerprint papillary traits such as loops, arches and whorls were examined in 82 females with breast cancer and 60 healthy women from the region of Varna using the classical dermatoglyphic method of Cummins & Midlo. Results: There was a coincidence of the mean values of homologous finger papillary traits between breast cancer patients and healthy controls. There were statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients and healthy controls in terms of the sum frequencies of left thumb, left and right index finger papillary traits, the frequencies of arches ulnar loops and whorls of the left index finger, the frequencies of arches of the left ring and left little finger, of the whorls of the right index, middle and little fingers, the total frequencies of left and right finger papillary traits as well as the total frequency of the finger papillary traits of the left and right hand and both hands. Conclusion: These statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients and healthy females in terms of the mean values of fingerprint papillary traits of all the five homologous fingers, of total frequencies of these traits of the first and second left-hand finger as well as of the second, third and fifth right-hand finger could contribute to the enrichment of the screening and prognostic dermatoglyphic armamentarium in the field of breast cancer.

/pdf/finger-papillary-traits-in-bulgarian-female-breast-cancer-16kygx2ncj.pdf

Finger papillary traits in Bulgarian female breast cancer patients

The aim of the present study is to examine the differences in palmar dermatoglyphic traits between healthy controls and schizophrenic patients, thus to investigate their possible diagnostic significance in relation to the disease. The study included 344 subjects of Bulgarian ethnicity, aged 18–64 years, 285 mentally healthy and 59 schizophrenic patients. The patients met DSMV criteria for schizophrenia. Palmar prints were obtained by the typographic method, in a rotating manner. Palmar dermatoglyphic traits are determined according to the rules of Cummins and Midlo [18]. The data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS software version 17.0.
Our results showed that on the right hand the differences of palmar patterns between healthy and diseased males in interdigital area IV reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). On the left hand, the differences between healthy and diseased males in interdigital area IV reached high statistical significance (p < 0.001). There was a significant increase in the frequency of Line A ending in the fields 5I and 5II on both hands of diseased males, while in diseased females – in fields 3 and 4 only on the left hand. A higher frequency of accessorytriradii in diseased males was found on both hands compared to the healthy ones, as the frequency differences of accessory triradii for the left hand were significant (p < 0.01).
The study confirms the presence of palmar dermatoglyphic dissociations in psychiatric patients, the differences with the healthy are in the palmar patterns, accessory triradii, and in the ending fields of the main Line A. 

/pdf/palmar-dermatoglyphic-traits-of-schizophrenic-patients-and-3k2muesn.pdf

Nadezhda Petrova

Papers

Does greenery experienced indoors and outdoors provide an escape and support mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine?

University Students' Self-Rated Health in Relation to Perceived Acoustic Environment during the COVID-19 Home Quarantine.

Fingerprint patterns and their bilateral differences in patients with mental disorders and healthy controls

Finger papillary traits in Bulgarian female breast cancer patients

Palmar Dermatoglyphic Traits of Schizophrenic Patients and Healthy Controls