Mind-mindedness and styles of interaction of young fathers with their infants at three months: a pilot study

Abstract Background Fatherhood at a young age can be characterized by a multiproblematic background with several risk factors that can negatively affect father-child relationships, the father’s well-being and child’s social-emotional development. Methods This pilot study evaluated paternal interaction styles and mentalization in a sample of 22 young fathers and their 3-month-old infants and compared these variables with those of 22 adolescent and young mothers (the fathers’ partners). Parent-infant interaction were codified with Care-Index to evaluate styles of interaction and with Mind-Mindedness system to evaluate mentalization. Results The results showed that young fathers had high scores in controlling behaviors and low scores in sensitivity, placing them in a risk range. The young father’s interaction profile did not differ from the young mother’s interaction profile. Infants had high scores in passive behaviors and low scores in cooperative behaviors, placing them in a high-risk range. Moreover, young fathers had more nonattuned mind-related comments than their partners. Conclusions The findings indicate that low responsiveness and low mind-mindedness characterize the quality of adolescent and young father-infant interactions, highlighting the value of providing early intervention to support the father–child relationship, enhancing the father’s sensitivity and his ability to keep the infant in mind

Quality of recycling : urgent and undefined

Quality of recycling is a concept used by many authors in the scientific literature and the EU legislator. However, a clear definition of what is intended for quality of recycling and a framework for operationalising it is lacking. Most studies, while proposing indicators reflecting quality, leave the concept of quality largely undefined. Such lack of clarity is an obstacle to the conception of robust policies addressing recycling and circular economy. In this article, we review the available studies investigating on recycling quality, synthetize the approaches available and conclude suggesting a way forward for research to operationalise the definition to support circular economy policy measures and monitoring. Essentially, quality is not an on/off criterion. The definition of quality of recycling should consider that quality depends on technical characteristics of the recyclate, which determine if it is adequate (thus functional) for a certain end application or not. Furthermore, it should consider that the recyclate can be used in different end applications over different markets and that can be adequate for substitution of primary resources in certain applications, but less or not in others. At system-wide level, this results in a certain degree of virgin resource substitution. To this end, preserving functionality, i.e. minimising the recyclate loss of functions via functional recycling, is key. Drawing upon studies on waste management, life cycle assessment and resource dissipation, we link the concept of functionality to substitutability of virgin resources and broader suitability in the circular economy, striving to show the linkages between different perspectives

Disclosing the Interaction between Carbon Monoxide and Alkylated Ti3+ Species: a Direct Insight into ZieglerNatta Catalysis

In the field of Ziegler-Natta catalysis for olefin polymerization, carbon monoxide (CO) is used in the industrial practice to quench the reaction when it proceeds too fast, approaching critical levels for the plant safety. The quenching effect is explained as due to the reversible coordination of CO to the titanium active sites, but no direct evidence has been ever reported. In this work, we designed a series of experiments to monitor CO adsorption at variable temperatures on a model Ziegler-Natta catalyst by means of FT-IR spectroscopy. For the first time, we have been able to spectroscopically detect CO coordinated to alkylated Ti3+ sites and the Ti-acyl species formed upon the subsequent insertion of CO into the Ti3+-alkyl bond, both in the absence and in the presence of the olefin monomer. In perspective, this has important implications for the characterization of the active sites in industrial Ziegler-Natta catalysts, even under working conditions

A comprehensive longitudinal study of magnetic resonance imaging identifies novel features of the Mecp2 deficient mouse brain

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder which represents the leading cause of severe incurable intellectual disability in females worldwide. The vast majority of RTT cases are caused by mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene, and preclinical studies on RTT largely benefit from the use of mouse models of Mecp2, which present a broad spectrum of symptoms phenocopying those manifested by RTT patients.Neurons represent the core targets of the pathology; however, neuroanatomical abnormalities that regionally characterize the Mecp2 deficient mammalian brain remain ill-defined.Neuroimaging techniques, such as MRI and MRS, represent a key approach for assessing in vivo anatomic and metabolic changes in brain. Being non-invasive, these analyses also permit to investigate how the disease progresses over time through longitudinal studies.To foster the biological comprehension of RTT and identify useful biomarkers, we have performed a thorough in vivo longitudinal study of MRI and MRS in Mecp2 deficient mouse brains. Analyses were performed on both genders of two different mouse models of RTT, using an automatic atlas-based segmentation tool that permitted to obtain a detailed and unbiased description of the whole RTT mouse brain. We found that the most robust alteration of the RTT brain consists in an overall reduction of the brain volume. Accordingly, Mecp2 deficiency generally delays brain growth, eventually leading, in heterozygous older animals, to stagnation and/or contraction. Most but not all brain regions participate in the observed deficiency in brain size; similarly, the volumetric defect progresses diversely in different brain areas also depending on the specific Mecp2 genetic lesion and gender. Interestingly, in some regions volumetric defects anticipate overt symptoms, possibly revealing where the pathology originates and providing a useful biomarker for assessing drug efficacy in pre-clinical studies