Mother nature: Applicability to contemporary attachment styles.

OBJECTIVES: Explore humanity's shifting attachment to the natural world using established attachment theories as a framework. METHODS: Investigate the analogy between human-nature connection and caregiver-child attachment styles. Draw on indigenous case studies, sociology and anthropology to highlight contemporary repercussions of this 'detachment'. RESULTS: Factors such as rapid population growth and urbanisation have disrupted the secure attachment with nature, which is evidenced in ancient egalitarian societies. These factors can be mapped onto contemporary attachment domains. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need to re-establish a secure attachment to nature. This may be a pivotal strategy in addressing both mental health and environmental challenges, particularly in the context of the escalating climate crisis.

Irradiation causes biphasic neutrophilic granulocyte phagocytic function.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The anti-inflammatory effect of low-dose radiotherapy is clinically well described. Nevertheless, until now neither the optimal dose nor the background of tissue reactions have been defined. The current study examines the influence of low radiation doses on neutrophilic granulocyte function, which could be helpful in finding the optimal dose for either stimulation or suppression of anti-inflammatory activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Lymphoprep density gradient-purified neutrophilic granulocytes of three voluntary, healthy donors were used for all experiments. Granulocytes were incubated 48 h in RPMI 1640 and irradiated with single doses of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 6.0, and 12 Gy using a (137)Cs IBL 437L irradiator. Their function was assessed by measuring granulocytic release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). RESULTS: Relative changes of ROS release (ROS release before stimulation was set to 100%) increased after stimulation with PMA (mean +/- standard deviation [SD]): 0 Gy: 147.6% +/- 60%; 0.5 Gy: 153.6% +/- 70%; 1.0 Gy: 164.9% +/- 63%; 1.5 Gy: 177.8% +/- 66%; 2.0 Gy: 162.5% +/- 57%; 2.5 Gy: 156.2% +/- 60%; 3.0 Gy: 159.2% +/- 60%; 3.5 Gy: 126.9% +/- 55%; 4.0 Gy: 137.9% +/- 71%; 6.0 Gy: 148.3% +/- 65%; 12.0 Gy: 156.1% +/- 52%. The relative ROS release showed a significant increase at 1.5 Gy (p < 0.001) after PMA stimulation and a significant decrease of ROS release at 3.5 Gy (p < 0.005) and less markedly at 4.0 Gy (p < 0.05). 6.0 and 12.0 Gy showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase again. CONCLUSION: This ex vivo in vitro study on native human neutrophilic granulocytes shows an increase at 1.5 Gy and a significant decrease of granulocyte function at 3.5 and 4.0 Gy, as it was described for different other phenomena in low-dose radiotherapy. These results may provide a further explanation for the local anti-inflammatory effect of low-dose ionizing irradiation.