Self-esteem and body-image dissatisfaction among adolescents: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Adolescence is the time period in which the values about themselves will be created. Hence, self-esteem and correct perception about own body are an important context in their life. Objectives: The objective of this study is to find out the degree of dissatisfaction with their body size (DDBS) among adolescents and to analyze the influence of it on self-esteem. Material and Methods: This study was cross-sectional done among the undergraduate students in a private medical college and students of high-school section of the government school. A questionnaire was used to document the sociodemographic details, subjective assessment of body image, and self-esteem. Results: In this study, majority of the students had high (93; 50.8%) self-esteem and moderate self-esteem (62; 33.9%). Out of 183 samples, 53 (29%) were satisfied with body contour based on DDBS. In those who were underweight, it is shown that 48 (54.5%) wanted to increase their body weight, and in normal body mass index (BMI) category, 50% of participants wanted to lose their body weight. Age and BMI were significantly associated with self-esteem and body-image perception. Conclusion: The concept of body image has to be modified to reduce the risk of overweight, obesity, and eating disorders. This, in turn, can increase and sustain the self-esteem of adolescence

In situ labeling and distance measurements of membrane proteins in E. coli using Finland and OX063 trityl labels

In situ investigation of membrane proteins is a challenging task. Previously we demonstrated that nitroxide labels combined with pulsed ESR spectroscopy is a promising tool for this purpose. However, the nitroxide labels suffer from poor stability, high background labeling, and low sensitivity. Here we show that Finland (FTAM) and OX063 based labels enable labeling of the cobalamin transporter BtuB and BamA, the central component of the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex, in E coli. Compared to the methanethiosulfonate spin label (MTSL), trityl labels eliminated the background signals and enabled specific in situ labeling of the proteins with high efficiency. The OX063 labels show a long phase memory time (TM) of ≈5 μs. All the trityls enabled distance measurements between BtuB and an orthogonally labeled substrate with high selectivity and sensitivity down to a few μm concentration. Our data corroborate the BtuB and BamA conformations in the cellular environment of E. coli