A Dyadic Analysis of Emotion Regulation as a Moderator of Associations Between Marital Conflict and Marital Satisfaction Among First-married and Remarried Couples

We examined emotion regulation strategies as moderators of marital conflict and marital satisfaction between first-married and remarried couples. Remarried couples with a stepchild (n = 108) and first marriage couples (n = 111) with a child completed online surveys. Perceptions of both spouses were analyzed using actor–partner interdependence modeling. Although remarried spouses reported more marital conflict and lower marital satisfaction than first marriage spouses, emotion regulation strategies did not moderate the association between marital conflict and marital satisfaction differently for first-married and remarried couples. Expressive suppression exacerbated the negative association between marital conflict and marital satisfaction for men, and cognitive reappraisal attenuated the negative association for women. There was one partner effect; husbands’ greater cognitive reappraisal buffered the negative association between husbands’ marital conflict and wives’ marital satisfaction. Marriage order was less important than gender in how emotion regulation moderated the associations among marital conflict and marital satisfaction

Immunochemical characterization of polysaccharide antigens from six clinical strains of Enterococci

BACKGROUND: Enterococci have become major nosocomial pathogens due to their intrinsic and acquired resistance to a broad spectrum of antibiotics. Their increasing drug resistance prompts us to search for prominent antigens to develop vaccines against enterococci. Given the success of polysaccharide-based vaccines against various bacterial pathogens, we isolated and characterized the immunochemical properties of polysaccharide antigens from five strains of Enterococcus faecalis and one strain of vancomycin-resistant E. faecium. RESULTS: We cultured large batches of each strain, isolated sufficient quantities of polysaccharides, analyzed their chemical structures, and compared their antigenic specificity. Three classes of polysaccharides were isolated from each strain, including a polyglucan, a teichoic acid, and a heteroglycan composed of rhamnose, glucose, galactose, mannosamine, and glucosamine. The polyglucans from all six strains are identical and appear to be dextran. Yields of the teichoic acids were generally low. The most abundant polysaccharides are the heteroglycans. The six heteroglycans are structurally different as evidenced by NMR spectroscopy. They also differ in their antigenic specificities as revealed by competitive ELISA. The heteroglycans are not immunogenic by themselves but conjugation to protein carriers significantly enhanced their ability to induce antibodies. CONCLUSION: The six clinical strains of enterococci express abundant, strain-specific cell-surface heteroglycans. These polysaccharides may provide a molecular basis for serological typing of enterococcal strains and antigens for the development of vaccines against multi-drug resistant enterococci

Speech Communication

Contains reports on five research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS04332-12)National Institutes of Health (Grant HD05168-04)U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-67-A-0204-0069)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)National Science Foundation (Grant SOC74-22167

What factors influence training opportunities for older workers? Three factorial surveys exploring the attitudes of HR professionals

The core research questions addressed in this paper are: what factors influence HR professionals in deciding whether to approve training proposals for older workers? What kind of training are they more likely to recommend for older employees and in which organizational contexts? We administered three factorial surveys to 66 HR professionals in Italy. Participants made specific training decisions based on profiles of hypothetical older workers. Multilevel analyses indicated that access to training decreases strongly with age, while highly-skilled older employees with low absenteeism rates are more likely to enjoy training opportunities. In addition, older workers displaying positive performance are more likely to receive training than older workers who perform poorly, suggesting that training late in working life may serve as a reward for good performance rather than as a means of enhancing productivity. The older the HR professional evaluating training proposals, the higher the probability that older workers will be recommended for training. keywords: training; older workers; HR professionals; factorial survey; multilevel model

Multiple Motherhoods: The Effect of the Internalization of Motherhood Ideals on Life Satisfaction

Purpose – This study examined whether life satisfaction varied among women who occupy different motherhood statuses, and if these variations were influenced by differences in women’s internalization of cultural motherhood norms. We distinguished among women as biological mothers, stepmothers, and “double mothers,” who were both biological and stepmothers. We also included two groups of women without children: voluntary childfree and involuntary childless women. Design/methodology/approach – Data were drawn from the National Study of Fertility Barriers and analyzed using OLS regression. Findings – Biological mothers reported greater life satisfaction than women in other motherhood statuses. Accounting for the internalization of motherhood norms, double mothers had significantly lower life satisfaction compared to biological mothers, but voluntary childfree women had significantly greater life satisfaction. More detailed analyses indicated that internalization of cultural norms only appears to influence the life satisfaction of women with biological children. Research limitations/implications – The results suggest that it may not simply be motherhood that affects women’s well-being, but rather that women’s internalization of motherhood ideals, particularly when it corresponds with their motherhood status, significantly impacts well-being. Limitations of this study include small cell sizes for some categories of women where additional distinctions may have been useful, such as lesbian or adoptive mothers. Future work should incorporate diverse family forms and expand on the newly named category “double mothers.” Originality/value – By providing a more nuanced approach to categorizing motherhood status, including identifying double mothers, stepmothers-only, and two groups of childless women, the study added detail that has been overlooked in previous work on well-being

Impact of age norms and stereotypes on managers' hiring decisions of retirees

Purpose -Our study investigates the role of managers in the re-employment of early retirees and asks what the effect is of managers’ age norms and stereotypes on managers’ employment decisions. Design/methodology/approach- A combination of a factorial study and a survey was conducted. First, information on the age norms and stereotypes was collected. Secondly, profiles of hypothetical retired job applicants were presented to the employers, who were asked to make a specific hiring decision. The information collected during both studies was combined in the analysis and multilevel models were estimated. Findings -The results indicate that higher age norms result in a higher propensity to hire an early retiree. Stereotypes, by contrast, do not influence managers’ decisions. Early retirees’ chances for re-employment are also related to their own circumstances (physical appearance and relevant experience) and organisational forces, as they are hired when organisations face labour force shortages. Research limitation / implications – with the use of vignettes study we deal with hypothetical hiring situation. Originality value- Although the effect of age norms and age stereotypes has been often suggested, not much empirical evidence was presented to support this notion. Our study estimates the effect of age norms and stereotypes on hiring decision. key words: bridge employment; early retirees; age norms; age stereotypes; multilevel models.

Ornipressin in the treatment of functional renal failure in decompensated liver cirrhosis

In 11 patients with decompensated cirrhosis and deteriorating renal function, the effect of the vasoconstrictor substance 8-ornithin vasopressin (ornipressin; POR 8; Sandoz, Basel, Switzerland) on renal function, hemodynamic parameters, and humoral mediators was studied. Ornipressin was infused at a dose of 6 IU/h over a period of 4 hours. During ornipressin infusion an improvement of renal function was achieved as indicated by significant increases in inulin clearance (+65%), paraaminohippuric acid clearance (+49%), urine volume (+45%), sodium excretion (+259%), and fractional elimination of sodium (+130%). The hyperdynamic circulation was reversed to a nearly normal circulatory state. The increase in systemic vascular resistance (+60%) coincided with a decrease of a previously elevated renal vascular resistance (-27%) and increase in renal blood flow (+44%). The renal fraction of the cardiac output increased from 2.3% to 4.7% (P less than 0.05). A decline of the elevated plasma levels of noradrenaline (2.08-1.13 ng/mL; P less than 0.01) and renin activity (27.6-14.2 ng.mL-1.h-1; P less than 0.01) was achieved. The plasma concentration of the atrial natriuretic factor increased in most of the patients, but slightly decreased in 3 patients. The decrease of renal vascular resistance and the increase of renal blood flow and of the renal fraction of cardiac output play a key role in the beneficial effect of ornipressin on renal failure. These changes develop by an increase in mean arterial pressure, the reduction of the sympathetic activity, and probably of an extenuation of the splanchnic vasodilation. A significant contribution of atrial natriuretic factor is less likely. The present findings implicate that treatment with ornipressin represents an alternative approach to the management of functional renal failure in advanced liver cirrhosis

Effect of different standing poses on whole body volume acquisition by three-dimensional photonic scanning

The present study compared whole body volumes obtained by three-dimensional (3D) photonic scanning of two different poses and discussed its effect on body composition estimation. Pose A with large angles of shoulder abduction and feet separated and Pose B with shoulders abducted slightly, the elbows extended and heels together. 16 male and 13 female participants were scanned twice in each pose using a 3D scanner. The mean of whole body volume and the mean of body composition obtained with Pose B was corrected by a regression equation and compared with the results obtained from Pose A. After correction, the whole body volumes acquired with these two poses were similar [limit of agreement = (-0.71 l,0.71 l)] but the body compositions obtained with Pose A and Pose B were different [limit of agreement = (-4.4%, 4.4%)]. The results indicated that scanning using either pose gives reliable estimations for whole body volume and body composition. The whole body volume obtained from different poses can be adjusted using the regression equation but small volumetric differences translate into much more substantial differences in body fat percentage. Hence, it is recommended to use the same scanning pose consistently when monitoring individuals longitudinally

Cryptosporidium parvum activates nuclear factor κB in biliary epithelia preventing epithelial cell apoptosis

AbstractBackground & Aims: Our previous studies have shown that Cryptosporidium parvum induces biliary epithelial cell apoptosis in vivo and causes apoptosis in bystander uninfected biliary epithelia in vitro. We analyzed C. parvum–induced nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation in human biliary epithelial cells and assessed its relevance to epithelial cell apoptosis. Methods: In vitro models of cryptosporidial infection using a human biliary epithelial cell line were used to assay C. parvum– induced NF-κB activation and associated apoptosis. Results: Degradation of IκB and nuclear translocation of the NF-κB family of proteins (p65 and p50) were observed in the biliary epithelial cell cultures directly exposed to the parasite. Activation of NF-κB was found only in directly infected cells (but not in bystander uninfected cells). A time-dependent secretion of a known NF-κB gene product, interleukin 8, from infected cell cultures was detected. C. parvum–induced biliary epithelial cell apoptosis was limited to bystander uninfected cells. In contrast, inhibition of NF-κB activation resulted in apoptosis in directly infected cells and significantly enhanced C. parvum–induced apoptosis in bystander uninfected cells. Conclusions: These observations support the concept that, while C. parvum triggers host cell apoptosis in bystander uninfected biliary epithelial cells, which may limit spread of the infection, it directly activates the NF-κB/IκB system in infected biliary epithelia thus protecting infected cells from death and facilitating parasite survival and propagation.GASTROENTEROLOGY 2001;120:1774-178