Adverse childhood experiences, attachment insecurity, and emotion regulation: implications for substance use in emerging adulthood

The new responsibilities and circumstances of individuals entering the first phases of adulthood allow for many outlets of coping that may be potentially harmful to one’s health and/or wellbeing, with one such outlet being substance use. In this study, self-report measures were used to assess the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), parental warmth, and emotion dysregulation and their potential predictive power for substance use in emerging adulthood. It was hypothesized that parental warmth, an facet of attachment, would mediate a relationship between ACEs and emotion dysregulation, with an overall effect on 1) substance use and 2) its associated negative consequences. Two hundred sixty-six participants’ responses were evaluated using a moderated mediation analysis. Neither model yielded significant results relating to mediation in this study, though potential pathways for future research are expanded. The direct pathway from ACEs to substance use and associated consequences in adulthood were significant in both models. Exploratory analyses revealed the underlying assumed moderation effect of emotion dysregulation was incorrect, at least for the sample obtained for the study. However, further analyses suggest parental warmth serves a moderating role on this relationship. Results are discussed with relation to methods and limitations

Lymphatic and Immune Cell Cross-Talk Regulates Cardiac Recovery After Experimental Myocardial Infarction

Objective: Lymphatics play an essential pathophysiological role in promoting fluid and immune cell tissue clearance. Conversely, immune cells may influence lymphatic function and remodeling. Recently, cardiac lymphangiogenesis has been proposed as a therapeutic target to prevent heart failure after myocardial infarction (MI). We investigated the effects of gene therapy to modulate cardiac lymphangiogenesis post-MI in rodents. Second, we determined the impact of cardiac-infiltrating T cells on lymphatic remodeling in the heart. Approach and Results: Comparing adenoviral versus adeno-associated viral gene delivery in mice, we found that only sustained VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor)-C(C156S)therapy, achieved by adeno-associated viral vectors, increased cardiac lymphangiogenesis, and led to reduced cardiac inflammation and dysfunction by 3 weeks post-MI. Conversely, inhibition of VEGF-C/-D signaling, through adeno-associated viral delivery of soluble VEGFR3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3), limited infarct lymphangiogenesis. Unexpectedly, this treatment improved cardiac function post-MI in both mice and rats, linked to reduced infarct thinning due to acute suppression of T-cell infiltration. Finally, using pharmacological, genetic, and antibody-mediated prevention of cardiac T-cell recruitment in mice, we discovered that both CD4(+)and CD8(+)T cells potently suppress, in part through interferon-gamma, cardiac lymphangiogenesis post-MI. Conclusions: We show that resolution of cardiac inflammation after MI may be accelerated by therapeutic lymphangiogenesis based on adeno-associated viral gene delivery of VEGF-C-C156S. Conversely, our work uncovers a major negative role of cardiac-recruited T cells on lymphatic remodeling. Our results give new insight into the interconnection between immune cells and lymphatics in orchestration of cardiac repair after injury.Peer reviewe

Social Integration and the Mental Health of Black Adolescents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106936/1/cdev12182.pd

Parallel Evaluation and Promotion Programs for Staff Specialists

The primary purpose of this thesis is analyze objectively present methods of evaluation and promotion based on the findings of a questionnaire, which was sent to various selected companies in the nation with the cooperation of the Bureau of Business Research of the University of Nebraska. These companies represent different fields of business and were randomly selected from the various industry classifications from Moody’s Handbook of Widely Held Common Stocks.After reviewing the results, there will a further discussion of need and feasibility for changed and improved methods of evaluating and promoting staff specialists. Advisor: Keith Broma

The interrelationship among perceived family environment, control -related cognitions, and social anxiety in adolescents: An investigation of mediational and moderational models

This investigation assessed the relationship among perceived parental control and overprotection, control-related cognitions (i.e., external locus of control and negative attributional style), and social anxiety in adolescents. Three hundred and sixty-eight adolescents recruited from the public school system of a Midwestern, mid-sized city were administered a demographic questionnaire, mother and father versions of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (NSLOC), the Children\u27s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ-R), and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A). As hypothesized, results indicated that perceived maternal care predicted total SAS-A and Social Avoidance and Distress-General Social Inhibition (SAD-G) scores, and perceived maternal overprotection predicted Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) scores. Furthermore, perceived paternal overprotection predicted total SAS-A, SAD-G, and FNE scores. Contrary to hypotheses, there was no significant interaction between perceived parental care and overprotection in relation to social anxiety. As a primary purpose of the investigation was to decipher mediational and moderational effects of cognitive style on the association between perceived family environment and social anxiety, a series of path analyses was conducted. In partial support of the hypotheses, results indicated that attributional style moderated the relationship between perceived paternal care and social anxiety. Mediational effects, however, were more frequent, with locus of control and attributional style mediating perceived maternal care and social anxiety, perceived maternal overprotection and social anxiety, perceived paternal care and social anxiety, and perceived paternal overprotection and social anxiety. Hence, results indicated that parenting dimensions, such as care and overprotection, may engender an external locus of control or negative attributional style in youth, which in turn may compel social anxiety symptomatology

Design of self-disinfecting PVC surfaces using the click chemistry

International audienc

Design of bacteria repellent PVC surfaces using the click chemistry

International audienc