Annual Research Review: interparental conflict and youth psychopathology: an evidence review and practice focused update

The quality of the interparental relationship is recognized as an important influence on child and adolescent psychopathology. Historically, clinically-oriented research on this topic has focused on the impacts of parental divorce and domestic violence as primary interparental relationship influences on child outcomes, to the relative neglect of dimensional or qualitative features of the couple/interparental relationship for youth (child and adolescent) psychopathology. Recent research has highlighted that children are affected by attributes of interparental conflict, specifically how parents express and manage conflicts in their relationship, across a continuum of expressed severity and negativity – ranging from silence to violence. Further, new evidence highlights that children’s emotional, behavioral, social, academic outcomes and future interpersonal relationships are adversely affected by conflict between parents/carers whether adults are living together or not (i.e. married or separated), or where children are or are not genetically related to their rearing parents (e.g. adoption). We review evidence and present an integrated theoretical model, highlighting how children are affected by interparental conflict and what this evidence base means for effective intervention and prevention program development, as well as the development of possible cost-benefit models. Additionally, we review policy implications of this research and highlight some very recent examples of UK-based policy focusing on addressing the interparental relationship and its impact on youth psychopathology

The structure of the cysteine protease and lectin-like domains of Cwp84, a surface layer-associated protein from <em>Clostridium</em> <em>difficile</em>

Clostridium difficile is a major problem as an aetiological agent for antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. The mechanism by which the bacterium colonizes the gut during infection is poorly understood, but undoubtedly involves a myriad of components present on the bacterial surface. The mechanism of C. difficile surface-layer (S-layer) biogenesis is also largely unknown but involves the post-translational cleavage of a single polypeptide (surface-layer protein A; SlpA) into low- and high-molecular-weight subunits by Cwp84, a surface-located cysteine protease. Here, the first crystal structure of the surface protein Cwp84 is described at 1.4 Å resolution and the key structural components are identified. The truncated Cwp84 active-site mutant (amino-acid residues 33–497; C116A) exhibits three regions: a cleavable propeptide and a cysteine protease domain which exhibits a cathepsin L-like fold followed by a newly identified putative carbohydrate-binding domain with a bound calcium ion, which is referred to here as a lectin-like domain. This study thus provides the first structural insights into Cwp84 and a strong base to elucidate its role in the C. difficile S-layer maturation mechanism

Mechanical methods for induction of labour

Background Mechanical methods were the first methods developed to ripen the cervix and induce labour.During recent decades they have been substituted by pharmacological methods. Potential advantages of mechanical methods, compared with pharmacological methods may include reduction in side effects that could improve neonatal outcomes. This is an update of a review first published in 2001, last updated in 2012. Objectives To determine the effectiveness and safety of mechanical methods for third trimester (> 24 weeks' gestation) induction of labour in comparison with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) (vaginal and intracervical), low-dose misoprostol (oral and vaginal), amniotomy or oxytocin. Search methods For this update, we searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth’s Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and reference lists of retrieved studies (9 January 2018). We updated the search in March 2019 and added the search results to the awaiting classification section of the review. Selection criteria Clinicaltrials comparingmechanicalmethodsusedforthirdtrimester cervicalripeningorlabourinductionwithpharmacologicalmethods. Mechanical methods include: (1) the introduction of a catheter through the cervix into the extra-amniotic space with balloon insufflation; (2) introduction of laminaria tents, or their synthetic equivalent (Dilapan), into the cervical canal; (3) use of a catheter to inject fluid into the extra-amniotic space (EASI). This review includes the following comparisons: (1) specific mechanical methods (balloon catheter, laminaria tents or EASI) compared with prostaglandins (different types, different routes) or with oxytocin; (2) single balloon compared to a double balloon; (3) addition of prostaglandins or oxytocin to mechanical methods compared with prostaglandins or oxytocin alone. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and assessed risk of bias. Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach. Main results This review update includes a total of 113 trials (22,373 women) contributing data to 21 comparisons. Risk of bias of trials varied. Overall, the evidence was graded from very-low to moderate quality. All evidence was downgraded f

Probabilistic frames: An overview

Finite frames can be viewed as mass points distributed in $N$-dimensional Euclidean space. As such they form a subclass of a larger and rich class of probability measures that we call probabilistic frames. We derive the basic properties of probabilistic frames, and we characterize one of their subclasses in terms of minimizers of some appropriate potential function. In addition, we survey a range of areas where probabilistic frames, albeit, under different names, appear. These areas include directional statistics, the geometry of convex bodies, and the theory of t-designs

Reproducibility of differential proteomic technologies in CPTAC fractionated xenografts

The NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) employed a pair of reference xenograft proteomes for initial platform validation and ongoing quality control of its data collection for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) tumors. These two xenografts, representing basal and luminal-B human breast cancer, were fractionated and analyzed on six mass spectrometers in a total of 46 replicates divided between iTRAQ and label-free technologies, spanning a total of 1095 LC-MS/MS experiments. These data represent a unique opportunity to evaluate the stability of proteomic differentiation by mass spectrometry over many months of time for individual instruments or across instruments running dissimilar workflows. We evaluated iTRAQ reporter ions, label-free spectral counts, and label-free extracted ion chromatograms as strategies for data interpretation (source code is available from http://homepages.uc.edu/~wang2x7/Research.htm). From these assessments, we found that differential genes from a single replicate were confirmed by other replicates on the same instrument from 61 to 93% of the time. When comparing across different instruments and quantitative technologies, using multiple replicates, differential genes were reproduced by other data sets from 67 to 99% of the time. Projecting gene differences to biological pathways and networks increased the degree of similarity. These overlaps send an encouraging message about the maturity of technologies for proteomic differentiation

Time-orthogonal unitary dilations and noncommutative Feynman-Kac formulae

An analysis of Feynman-Kac formulae reveals that, typically, the unperturbed semigroup is expressed as the expectation of a random unitary evolution and the perturbed semigroup is the expectation of a perturbation of this evolution in which the latter perturbation is effected by a cocycle with certain covariance properties with respect to the group of translations and reflections of the line. We consider generalisations of the classical commutative formalism in which the probabilistic properties are described in terms of non-commutative probability theory based on von Neumann algebras. Examples of this type are generated, by means of second quantisation, from a unitary dilation of a given self-adjoint contraction semigroup, called the time orthogonal unitary dilation, whose key feature is that the dilation operators corresponding to disjoint time intervals act nontrivially only in mutually orthogonal supplementary Hilbert spaces.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46525/1/220_2005_Article_BF01976044.pd

Exercise and pregnancy in recreational and elite athletes: 2016/17 evidence summary from the IOC Expert Group Meeting, Lausanne. Part 3 - Exercise in the postpartum period

This is Part 3 in the series of reviews from the IOC expert committee on exercise and pregnancy in recreational and elite athletes. Part 1 focused on the effects of training during pregnancy and on the management of common pregnancy-related complaints experienced by athletes1; Part 2 addressed maternal and fetal perinatal outcomes.2 In this part, we review the implications of pregnancy and childbirth on return to exercise and on common illnesses and complaints in the postpartum period. The postpartum period can be divided into hospital-based (during hospital stay), immediate postpartum (hospital discharge to 6 weeks postpartum) and later postpartum (6 weeks to 1 year, corresponding sometimes to cessation of breast feeding).3 In the literature, the postpartum period is usually defined as the first 6 weeks after pregnancy, during which time women have not typically been encouraged to exercise, except for strength training of the pelvic floor muscles. However, 6 weeks is an arbitrary time point and, anecdotally, many elite athletes report starting exercise inside that period. For the purpose of the present review, we consider the postpartum period to be up to 12 months following birth