Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Parent-Adolescent Attachment Relationship Quality and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined the direction of effects between adolescents’ generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms and perceived parent-adolescent attachment relationship quality, as well as the moderating role of gender and age. 1,313 Dutch adolescents (48.5% boys) from two age cohorts of early (n = 923, Mage = 12 at W1) and middle (n = 390, Mage = 16 at W1) adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their attachment relationship to parents and GAD symptoms in four waves. Cross-lagged path analyses demonstrated that adolescents’ GAD symptoms and perceived father-adolescent attachment relationship quality bidirectionally negatively affected each other over time. For mothers, adolescents’ GAD symptoms negatively predicted perceived mother-adolescent attachment relationship quality over time. The within-wave correlated residuals between perceived attachment relationship quality with fathers and GAD symptoms were stronger for boys than for girls and stronger for the cohort of middle adolescents than for the cohort of early adolescents. This study demonstrates that both the parents’ and the adolescents’ gender as well as the adolescents’ age affects the relation between adolescents’ GAD symptoms and perceived parent-adolescent attachment relationship quality

Associations of depression and depressive symptoms with preeclampsia: results from a Peruvian case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Preeclampsia involves endothelial dysfunction, platelet dysfunction/activation and sympathetic over-activity similar to cardiovascular disorders (CVD). Depression, an independent risk factor for progression of CVD, was found to be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia among Finnish women. We examined the relation between depression/depressive symptoms and preeclampsia risk among Peruvian women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study included 339 preeclamptic cases and 337 normotensive controls. Depression and depressive symptoms during pregnancy were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated from logistic regression models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of moderate depression was 11.5% among cases and 5.3% among controls. The corresponding figures for moderate-severe depression were 3.5% for cases and 2.1% for controls. Compared with non-depressed women, those with moderate depression had a 2.3-fold increased risk of preeclampsia (95% CI: 1.2–4.4), while moderate-severe depression was associated with a 3.2-fold (95% CI: 1.1–9.6) increased risk of preeclampsia. Associations of each of the 9-items of the PHQ-9 depression screening module with preeclampsia risk were also observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings are consistent with the only other published report on this topic. Collectively, available data support recent calls for expanded efforts to study and address depression among pregnant women.</p

Lesbian and Heterosexual Two-Parent Families: Adolescent–Parent Relationship Quality and Adolescent Well-Being

This study compared 51 adolescents from intact two-mother planned lesbian families (all conceived through donor insemination) with 51 adolescents from intact mother-father families on their relationships with their parents (parental control, disclosure to parents, and adolescent-parent relationship quality), psychological adjustment (self-esteem, social anxiety, and conduct problems), and substance usage (consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana/hashish). The adolescents (average age 16 years) were matched on demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level, country of birth, parental birth country) with a sample from a large school-based survey, and data were collected by means of adolescent self-reports. Analyses indicated that adolescents in both family types had positive relationships with their parents, which were favorably associated with psychological well-being. On the assessments of psychological adjustment and substance use, family type was significantly associated only with self-esteem and conduct problems: Adolescents with lesbian mothers had higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of conduct problems than their counterparts in heterosexual-parent families. Overall, the findings indicate that adolescents from intact two-mother lesbian families are comparable to those in a matched comparison group with intact mother-father families. The few differences found on psychological well-being favored the adolescents in lesbian two-mother families

Associations among the parent–adolescent relationship, aggression and delinquency in different ethnic groups: a replication across two Dutch samples

Background: The aim of the present study is to examine whether the patterns of association between the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship on the one hand, and aggression and delinquency on the other hand, are the same for boys and girls of Dutch and Moroccan origin living in the Netherlands. Since inconsistent results have been found previously, the present study tests the replicability of the model of associations in two different Dutch samples of adolescents. Method: Study 1 included 288 adolescents (M age = 14.9, range 12-17 years) all attending lower secondary education. Study 2 included 306 adolescents (M age = 13.2, range = 12-15 years) who were part of a larger community sample with oversampling of at risk adolescents. Results: Multigroup structural analyses showed that neither in Study 1 nor in Study 2 ethnic or gender differences were found in the patterns of associations between support, autonomy, disclosure, and negativity in the parent-adolescent relationship and aggression and delinquency. The patterns were largely similar for both studies. Mainly negative quality of the relationship in both studies was found to be strongly related to both aggression and delinquency. Discussion: Results show that family processes that affect adolescent development, show a large degree of universality across gender and ethnicity

Environmental and genetic risk factors and gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive lung disease.

Current understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a source of substantial morbidity and mortality in the United States, suggests that chronic inflammation leads to the airways obstruction and parenchymal destruction that characterize this condition. Environmental factors, especially tobacco smoke exposure, are known to accelerate longitudinal decline of lung function, and there is substantial evidence that upregulation of inflammatory pathways plays a vital role in this process. Genetic regulation of both inflammatory responses and anti-inflammatory protective mechanisms likely underlies the heritability of COPD observed in family studies. In alpha-1 protease inhibitor deficiency, the only genetic disorder known to cause COPD, lack of inhibition of elastase activity, results in the parenchymal destruction of emphysema. Other genetic polymorphisms have been hypothesized to alter the risk of COPD but have not been established as causes of this condition. It is likely that multiple genetic factors interacting with each other and with a number of environmental agents will be found to result in the development of COPD

Using twins to better understand sibling relationships

We compared the nature of the sibling relationship in dyads of varying genetic relatedness, employing a behavioural genetic design to estimate the contribution that genes and the environment have on this familial bond. Two samples were used—the Sisters and Brothers Study consisted of 173 families with two target non-twin children (mean ages = 7.42 and 5.22 years respectively); and the Twins, Family and Behaviour study included 234 families with two target twin children (mean age = 4.70 years). Mothers and fathers reported on their children’s relationship with each other, via a postal questionnaire (the Sisters and Brothers Study) or a telephone interview (the Twins, Family and Behaviour study). Contrary to expectations, no mean level differences emerged when monozygotic twin pairs, dizygotic twin pairs, and non-twin pairs were compared on their sibling relationship quality. Behavioural genetic analyses also revealed that the sibling bond was modestly to moderately influenced by the genetic propensities of the children within the dyad, and moderately to substantially influenced by the shared environment common to both siblings. In addition, for sibling negativity, we found evidence of twin-specific environmental influence—dizygotic twins showed more reciprocity than did non-twins. Our findings have repercussions for the broader application of results from future twin-based investigations

A LysM and SH3-Domain Containing Region of the Listeria monocytogenes p60 Protein Stimulates Accessory Cells to Promote Activation of Host NK Cells

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) infection induces rapid and robust activation of host natural killer (NK) cells. Here we define a region of the abundantly secreted Lm endopeptidase, p60, that potently but indirectly stimulates NK cell activation in vitro and in vivo. Lm expression of p60 resulted in increased IFNγ production by naïve NK cells co-cultured with treated dendritic cells (DCs). Moreover, recombinant p60 protein stimulated activation of naive NK cells when co-cultured with TLR or cytokine primed DCs in the absence of Lm. Intact p60 protein weakly digested bacterial peptidoglycan (PGN), but neither muropeptide recognition by RIP2 nor the catalytic activity of p60 was required for NK cell activation. Rather, the immune stimulating activity mapped to an N-terminal region of p60, termed L1S. Treatment of DCs with a recombinant L1S polypeptide stimulated them to activate naïve NK cells in a cell culture model. Further, L1S treatment activated NK cells in vivo and increased host resistance to infection with Francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS). These studies demonstrate an immune stimulating function for a bacterial LysM domain-containing polypeptide and suggest that recombinant versions of L1S or other p60 derivatives can be used to promote NK cell activation in therapeutic contexts

The Role of the Frank–Starling Law in the Transduction of Cellular Work to Whole Organ Pump Function: A Computational Modeling Analysis

We have developed a multi-scale biophysical electromechanics model of the rat left ventricle at room temperature. This model has been applied to investigate the relative roles of cellular scale length dependent regulators of tension generation on the transduction of work from the cell to whole organ pump function. Specifically, the role of the length dependent Ca2+ sensitivity of tension (Ca50), filament overlap tension dependence, velocity dependence of tension, and tension dependent binding of Ca2+ to Troponin C on metrics of efficient transduction of work and stress and strain homogeneity were predicted by performing simulations in the absence of each of these feedback mechanisms. The length dependent Ca50 and the filament overlap, which make up the Frank-Starling Law, were found to be the two dominant regulators of the efficient transduction of work. Analyzing the fiber velocity field in the absence of the Frank-Starling mechanisms showed that the decreased efficiency in the transduction of work in the absence of filament overlap effects was caused by increased post systolic shortening, whereas the decreased efficiency in the absence of length dependent Ca50 was caused by an inversion in the regional distribution of strain