Adolescent mental health resilience and combinations of caregiver monitoring and warmth : a person-centred perspective

DATA AVAILABILITY : The data are stored in an institutional repository and can be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.Caregiver monitoring and warmth have protective mental health effects for adolescents, including vulnerable adolescents. However, combinations of the aforesaid parenting behaviours and their relationship with adolescent mental health are underexplored, especially among younger and older South African (SA) adolescents challenged by structural disadvantage. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate unique profiles of caregiver monitoring and warmth and their associations with depression and conduct problems as reported by younger and older adolescents from disadvantaged SA communities. Latent profile and linear regression analyses were used to examine cross-sectional survey data generated by 891 adolescents from two disadvantaged SA communities (62.2% aged 13–17 [average age: 16.13]; 37.5% aged 18–24 [average age: 20.62]). Two profiles emerged. The first, i.e. substantial caregiver warmth and some monitoring, was associated with younger and older adolescent reports of statistically significantly fewer symptoms of depression and conduct problems. The second, i.e. caregiver monitoring without much warmth, was associated with significantly more symptoms of depression or conduct problems among younger and older adolescents. Traditional gender effects (i.e. higher depression symptoms among girls; higher conduct problem symptoms among boys) were amplified when caregiver monitoring was combined with low warmth. In short, protecting the mental health of younger and older adolescents from disadvantaged communities requires higher levels of caregiver warmth combined with moderate levels of caregiver supervision. Because stressors associated with disadvantaged communities jeopardise warm parenting, supporting caregiver resilience to those stressors is integral to supporting adolescent mental health.The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Research Foundation.https://link.springer.com/journal/10826hj2023Educational Psycholog

Differential adaptation to adversity : a latent profile analysis of youth engagement with resilience-enabling cultural resources and mental health outcomes in a stressed Canadian and South African community

Please read abstract in the article.The RYSE study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and JH position was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jcchj2023Educational Psycholog

Atomistic Understanding of the Coherent Interface Between Lead Iodide Perovskite and Lead Iodide

Abstract Metal halide perovskite semiconductors have shown great performance in solar cells, and including an excess of lead iodide (PbI2) in the thin films, either as mesoscopic particles or embedded domains, often leads to improved solar cell performance. Atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscope micrographs of formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) perovskite films reveal the FAPbI3:PbI2 interface to be remarkably coherent. It is demonstrated that such interface coherence is achieved by the PbI2 deviating from its common 2H hexagonal phase to form a trigonal 3R polytype through minor shifts in the stacking of the weakly van-der-Waals-bonded layers containing the near-octahedral units. The exact crystallographic interfacial relationship and lattice misfit are revealed. It is further shown that this 3R polytype of PbI2 has similar X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks to that of the perovskite, making XRD-based quantification of the presence of PbI2 unreliable. Density functional theory demonstrates that this interface does not introduce additional electronic states in the bandgap, making it electronically benign. These findings explain why a slight PbI2 excess during perovskite film growth can help template perovskite crystal growth and passivate interfacial defects, improving solar cell performance

Non-invasive detection of neuroendocrine prostate cancer through targeted cell-free DNA methylation

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a heterogeneous disease associated with phenotypic subtypes that drive therapy response and outcome differences. Histologic transformation to castration-resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer (CRPC-NE) is associated with distinct epigenetic alterations, including changes in DNA methylation. The current diagnosis of CRPC-NE is challenging and relies on metastatic biopsy. We developed a targeted DNA methylation assay to detect CRPC-NE using plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA). The assay quantifies tumor content and provides a phenotype evidence score that captures diverse CRPC phenotypes, leveraging regions to inform transcriptional state. We tested the design in independent clinical cohorts (n=222 plasma samples) and qualified it achieving an AUC>0.93 for detecting pathology-confirmed CRPC-NE (n=136). Methylation-defined cfDNA tumor content was associated with clinical outcomes in two prospective phase II clinical trials geared towards aggressive variant CRPC and CRPC-NE. These data support the application of targeted DNA methylation for CRPC-NE detection and patient stratification

Novel biomaterials: plasma-enabled nanostructures and functions

Material processing techniques utilizing low-temperature plasmas as the main process tool feature many unique capabilities for the fabrication of various nanostructured materials. As compared with the neutral-gas based techniques and methods, the plasma-based approaches offer higher levels of energy and flux controllability, often leading to higher quality of the fabricated nanomaterials and sometimes to the synthesis of the hierarchical materials with interesting properties. Among others, nanoscale biomaterials attract significant attention due to their special properties towards the biological materials (proteins, enzymes), living cells and tissues. This review briefly examines various approaches based on the use of low-temperature plasma environments to fabricate nanoscale biomaterials exhibiting high biological activity, biological inertness for drug delivery system, and other features of the biomaterials make them highly attractive. In particular, we briefly discuss the plasma-assisted fabrication of gold and silicon nanoparticles for bio-applications; carbon nanoparticles for bioimaging and cancer therapy; carbon nanotube-based platforms for enzyme production and bacteria growth control, and other applications of low-temperature plasmas in the production of biologically-active materials

Standards in semen examination:publishing reproducible and reliable data based on high-quality methodology

Biomedical science is rapidly developing in terms of more transparency, openness and reproducibility of scientific publications. This is even more important for all studies that are based on results from basic semen examination. Recently two concordant documents have been published: the 6th edition of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen, and the International Standard ISO 23162:2021. With these tools, we propose that authors should be instructed to follow these laboratory methods in order to publish studies in peer-reviewed journals, preferable by using a checklist as suggested in an Appendix to this article.Peer reviewe

Path dependence and the stabilization of strategic premises: how the funeral industry buries itself

Several studies have shown that path-dependent organizations may pathologically reproduce their paths even in times of crisis. The unchallenged retention of underlying strategic premises seems to play a key role in this selfdestructive process. Whereas the previous literature largely assumes that organizational crises provide sufficient impetus for updating strategic premises, recent empirical studies have highlighted that path-dependent organizations may find this highly difficult. In the present study, I explore how path-dependent organizations stabilize strategic premises even in times of crisis. Drawing on a case study of the funeral industry, I theoretically distill four mechanisms that stabilize strategic premises in path-dependent organizations despite the fierce pressures of organizational crises. While these mechanisms constitute either reflexive modes of processing feedback or generative modes of producing market outcomes, they all inhibit a disconfirmation and, thus, an update of strategic premises. Furthermore, the study presents indicative evidence of how this unchallenged retention of strategic premises leads to the pathological reproduction of the path

Bioanalytical Techniques to Investigate Acyl Carrier Protein-Protein Interactions /

The acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a small, stable protein with exquisite specificity and reactivity. The work outlined in this thesis demonstrates the design of assays that leverage an understanding of the reactivity of ACP for the design of novel bioanalytical systems. The systems designed here rely on a variety of techniques including mass spectrometry, fluorescent microscopy, electrophoresis mobility and in gel fluorescent scanning, high performance liquid chromatography, and enzyme immobilization. This array of techniques allows the biochemist a host of opportunities not only to investigate the cellular role of ACP but also the possibilities to use this protein as a tool in the investigation of other biological systems. ACP plays a vital role in cellular metabolism and therefore an understanding of the cellular processes that involve ACP is crucial for understanding the overall metabolic processes of the cell. Much of the work presented here aims to elucidate the protein-protein interactions of ACP and the extent of its cellular interactome. Some enzyme interactions described here have been previously annotated for their roles and in closely associated processes and others are more unexpected, suggesting allosteric regulation and involvement in pathways that are not so closely related to the primary role of ACP in fatty acid biosynthesis. Also, fundamental questions about how ACP and its cofactors are synthesized and their levels regulated are posed and investigated. Finally, new techniques to aid the preparation of various forms of ACP are presented. Using the favorable properties of enzyme immobilization, we enable expedited ACP preparation for use in all of the applications mentioned abov