Dispositional and Psychosocial Variables as Longitudinal Predictors of Acculturative Stress

ABSTRACT: As societies become more multicultural, citizens need to develop selfregulatory mechanisms in order to successfully cope with the increasing levelsof psychosocial stress related to acculturation. In this study, a longitudinal theoretical model was tested in order to evaluate the role of implicit theories of cultural intelligence, causal attributions, perceived social support, and cultural identity as predictors of acculturative stress. The research was carried out in Spain across three consecutive years with a multicultural sample of 292 students (natives and immigrants). The results confirm the proposed theoretical model using multi-group structural equation modelling to test the equivalence of the longitudinal causal structure in immigrants and natives. Moreover, mediation analyses confirmed the mediating effect of cultural identity between the implicit theories of cultural intelligence and acculturative stress, as well as the mediating effect of perceived social support between causal attributions and acculturative stress. The model indicates the relevance of promoting psychosocial interventions with native and immigrant adolescents in intercultural contexts. In those interventions, it will be relevant to promote incremental implicit theories of cultural intelligence and internal causal attributions, as well as to highlight a more intercultural identity and to encourage greater social support networks.The data collection was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology Grant number PSI 2009-0742

Stability of domain structures in multi-domain proteins

Multi-domain proteins have many advantages with respect to stability and folding inside cells. Here we attempt to understand the intricate relationship between the domain-domain interactions and the stability of domains in isolation. We provide quantitative treatment and proof for prevailing intuitive ideas on the strategies employed by nature to stabilize otherwise unstable domains. We find that domains incapable of independent stability are stabilized by favourable interactions with tethered domains in the multi-domain context. Stability of such folds to exist independently is optimized by evolution. Specific residue mutations in the sites equivalent to inter-domain interface enhance the overall solvation, thereby stabilizing these domain folds independently. A few naturally occurring variants at these sites alter communication between domains and affect stability leading to disease manifestation. Our analysis provides safe guidelines for mutagenesis which have attractive applications in obtaining stable fragments and domain constructs essential for structural studies by crystallography and NMR

Effect of inclusion of electron correlation in MM3 studies of cyclic conjugated compounds

Electron correlation at the MØller–Plesset second-order level was incorporated into the Π-system portion of MM3 calculations for several conformers of [10]annulene, [18]annulene, bicyclo[5.3.1]undecapentaene, and bicyclo[4.4.1]undecapentaene. The conformers with “localized” C(SINGLE BOND)C Π bonds (strongly alternating bond lengths) were found to be of lower energy than their counterparts with “delocalized” C(SINGLE BOND)C Π bonds (similar bond lengths) before correlation energy was included. Correlation always lowered the energies of the delocalized conformation more than it did that of the localized conformation, such that often the latter was found to be more stable after correlation energy was included in the calculation. When a delocalized structure was not at a stationary point on the MM3 energy surface, such comparison could not be made. An example is the porphin molecule. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 475–487, 1998Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38290/1/1_ftp.pd

Home care in Europe: a systematic literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health and social services provided at home are becoming increasingly important. Hence, there is a need for information on home care in Europe. The objective of this literature review was to respond to this need by systematically describing what has been reported on home care in Europe in the scientific literature over the past decade.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature search was performed for papers on home care published in English, using the following data bases: Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Social Care Online. Studies were only included if they complied with the definition of home care, were published between January 1998 and October 2009, and dealt with at least one of the 31 specified countries. Clinical interventions, instrument developments, local projects and reviews were excluded. The data extracted included: the characteristics of the study and aspects of home care 'policy & regulation', 'financing', 'organisation & service delivery', and 'clients & informal carers'.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seventy-four out of 5,133 potentially relevant studies met the inclusion criteria, providing information on 18 countries. Many focused on the characteristics of home care recipients and on the organisation of home care. Geographical inequalities, market forces, quality and integration of services were also among the issues frequently discussed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Home care systems appeared to differ both between and within countries. The papers included, however, provided only a limited picture of home care. Many studies only focused on one aspect of the home care system and international comparative studies were rare. Furthermore, little information emerged on home care financing and on home care in general in Eastern Europe. This review clearly shows the need for more scientific publications on home care, especially studies comparing countries. A comprehensive and more complete insight into the state of home care in Europe requires the gathering of information using a uniform framework and methodology.</p

LIM and SH3 Protein -1 Modulates CXCR2-Mediated Cell Migration

BACKGROUND: The chemokine receptor CXCR2 plays a pivotal role in migration of neutrophils, macrophages and endothelial cells, modulating several biological responses such as angiogenesis, wound healing and acute inflammation. CXCR2 is also involved in pathogenesis of chronic inflammation, sepsis and atherosclerosis. The ability of CXCR2 to associate with a variety of proteins dynamically is responsible for its effects on directed cell migration or chemotaxis. The dynamic network of such CXCR2 binding proteins is termed as "CXCR2 chemosynapse". Proteomic analysis of proteins that co-immunoprecipitated with CXCR2 in neutrophil-like dHL-60 cells revealed a novel protein, LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1), binds CXCR2 under both basal and ligand activated conditions. LASP-1 is an actin binding cytoskeletal protein, involved in the cell migration. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrate that CXCR2 and LASP-1 co-immunoprecipitate and co-localize at the leading edge of migrating cells. The LIM domain of LASP-1 directly binds to the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of CXCR2. Moreover, LASP-1 also directly binds the CTD of CXCR1, CXCR3 and CXCR4. Using a site-directed and deletion mutagenesis approach, Iso323-Leu324 of the conserved LKIL motif on CXCR2-CTD was identified as the binding site for LASP-1. Interruption of the interaction between CXCR2-CTD and LIM domain of LASP-1 by dominant negative and knock down approaches inhibited CXCR2-mediated chemotaxis. Analysis for the mechanism for inhibition of CXCR2-mediated chemotaxis indicated that LASP-1/CXCR2 interaction is essential for cell motility and focal adhesion turnover involving activation of Src, paxillin, PAK1, p130CAS and ERK1/2. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate here for the first time that LASP-1 is a key component of the "CXCR2 chemosynapse" and LASP-1 interaction with CXCR2 is critical for CXCR2-mediated chemotaxis. Furthermore, LASP-1 also directly binds the CTD of CXCR1, CXCR3 and CXCR4, suggesting that LASP-1 is a general mediator of CXC chemokine mediated chemotaxis. Thus, LASP-1 may serve as a new link coordinating the flow of information between chemokine receptors and nascent focal adhesions, especially at the leading edge. Thus the association between the chemokine receptors and LASP-1 suggests to the presence of a CXC chemokine receptor-LASP-1 pro-migratory module in cells governing the cell migration

An ecological future for weed science to sustain crop production and the environment. A review

Sustainable strategies for managing weeds are critical to meeting agriculture's potential to feed the world's population while conserving the ecosystems and biodiversity on which we depend. The dominant paradigm of weed management in developed countries is currently founded on the two principal tools of herbicides and tillage to remove weeds. However, evidence of negative environmental impacts from both tools is growing, and herbicide resistance is increasingly prevalent. These challenges emerge from a lack of attention to how weeds interact with and are regulated by the agroecosystem as a whole. Novel technological tools proposed for weed control, such as new herbicides, gene editing, and seed destructors, do not address these systemic challenges and thus are unlikely to provide truly sustainable solutions. Combining multiple tools and techniques in an Integrated Weed Management strategy is a step forward, but many integrated strategies still remain overly reliant on too few tools. In contrast, advances in weed ecology are revealing a wealth of options to manage weedsat the agroecosystem levelthat, rather than aiming to eradicate weeds, act to regulate populations to limit their negative impacts while conserving diversity. Here, we review the current state of knowledge in weed ecology and identify how this can be translated into practical weed management. The major points are the following: (1) the diversity and type of crops, management actions and limiting resources can be manipulated to limit weed competitiveness while promoting weed diversity; (2) in contrast to technological tools, ecological approaches to weed management tend to be synergistic with other agroecosystem functions; and (3) there are many existing practices compatible with this approach that could be integrated into current systems, alongside new options to explore. Overall, this review demonstrates that integrating systems-level ecological thinking into agronomic decision-making offers the best route to achieving sustainable weed management

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Essentially biased: why people are fatalistic about genes

We propose that people are genetic essentialists—that is, they tend to think of genetic attributions as being immutable, of a specific etiology, natural, and dividing people into homogenous and discrete groups. Although there are rare conditions where genes operate in these kinds of deterministic ways, people overgeneralize from these to the far more common conditions where genes are not at all deterministic. These essentialist biases are associated with some harmful outcomes such as racism, sexism, pessimism in the face of illnesses, political polarization, and support for eugenics, while at the same time they are linked with increased tolerance and sympathy for gay rights, mental illness, and less severe judgments of responsibility for crime. We will also discuss how these essentialist biases connect with the burgeoning direct-to-consumer genomics industry and various kinds of genetic engineering. Overall, these biases appear rather resistant to efforts to reduce them, although genetics literacy predicts weaker essentialist tendencies