"I'M JUST TEXTING TO SAY HELLO": EXAMINING HOW PARENTS' ACCESS TO AND USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES INFLUENCES SATISFACTION AMONG ADULT CHILDREN

Advancements in technology have altered how and when communication occurs between individuals in a relationship. Although research has investigated how new information communication technologies (ICTs) affect peer relationships (Yoon, 2003) and parents' communication with their young children (Devitt & Roker, 2009), how information communication technologies influence parent-adult child relationships is less clear. By examining contradictory premises of media multiplexity theory (Haythornthwaite, 2005) and the theory of electronic propinquity (Korzenny, 1978), this study tested whether parental access to ICTs influences communication and relationship satisfaction for adult children and to what extent. This study also examined a new use of ICTs - connectedness - and analyzed how parents' reported connectedness influences parent-adult child relationships. The results indicate that the number of media parents and adult children utilize to maintain their relationship does modestly influence satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction is greater when parents act more in line with a connected mode of communicating and when they are more communicatively competent. These results provide families, therapists, researchers, and educators with a better understanding of how ICTs influence family relationships

Mitochondria: The Next (Neurode)Generation

Adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders are disabling and often fatal diseases of the nervous system whose underlying mechanisms of cell death remain unknown. Defects in mitochondrial respiration had previously been proposed to contribute to the occurrence of many, if not all, of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. However, the discovery of genes mutated in hereditary forms of these enigmatic diseases has additionally suggested defects in mitochondrial dynamics. Such disturbances can lead to changes in mitochondrial trafficking, in interorganellar communication, and in mitochondrial quality control. These new mechanisms by which mitochondria may also be linked to neurodegeneration will likely have far-reaching implications for our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders

Self-aligned charge read-out for InAs nanowire quantum dots

A highly sensitive charge detector is realized for a quantum dot in an InAs nanowire. We have developed a self-aligned etching process to fabricate in a single step a quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas and a quantum dot in an InAs nanowire. The quantum dot is strongly coupled to the underlying point contact which is used as a charge detector. The addition of one electron to the quantum dot leads to a change of the conductance of the charge detector by typically 20%. The charge sensitivity of the detector is used to measure Coulomb diamonds as well as charging events outside the dot. Charge stability diagrams measured by transport through the quantum dot and charge detection merge perfectly.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

The Josephson critical current in a long mesoscopic S-N-S junction

We carry out an extensive experimental and theoretical study of the Josephson effect in S-N-S junctions made of a diffusive normal metal (N) embedded between two superconducting electrodes (S). Our experiments are performed on Nb-Cu-Nb junctions with highly-transparent interfaces. We give the predictions of the quasiclassical theory in various regimes on a precise and quantitative level. We describe the crossover between the short and the long junction regimes and provide the temperature dependence of the critical current using dimensionless units $eR_{N}I_{c}/\epsilon_{c}$ and $k_{B}T/\epsilon_{c}$ where $\epsilon_{c}$ is the Thouless energy. Experimental and theoretical results are in excellent quantitative agreement.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, slighly modified version, publishe

Eliminating Mitochondrial DNA from Sperm

Most eukaryotes show uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In this issue of Developmental Cell, DeLuca and O'Farrell (2012) show that active elimination of mtDNA during sperm development in Drosophila ensures that mature spermatozoa are devoid of DNA

Strong Electron Tunneling through a Small Metallic Grain

Electron tunneling through mesoscopic metallic grains can be treated perturbatively only provided the tunnel junction conductances are sufficiently small. If it is not the case, fluctuations of the grain charge become strong. As a result (i) contributions of all -- including high energy -- charge states become important and (ii) excited charge states become broadened and essentially overlap. At the same time the grain charge remains discrete and the system conductance $e$-periodically depends on the gate charge. We develop a nonperturbative approach which accounts for all these features and calculate the temperature dependent conductance of the system in the strong tunneling regime at different values of the gate charge.Comment: revtex, 8 pages, 2 .ps figure

Developing transferable management skills through Action Learning

There has been increasing criticism of the relevance of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in developing skills and competencies. Action learning, devised to address problem-solving in the workplace, offers a potential response to such criticism. This paper offers an insight into one university’s attempt to integrate action learning into the curriculum. Sixty-five part-time students were questioned at two points in their final year about their action learning experience and the enhancement of relevant skills and competencies. Results showed a mixed picture. Strong confirmation of the importance of selected skills and competencies contrasted with weaker agreement about the extent to which these were developed by action learning. There was, nonetheless, a firm belief in the positive impact on the learning process. The paper concludes that action learning is not a panacea but has an important role in a repertoire of educational approaches to develop relevant skills and competencies

Young Adults' Relationship Satisfaction with Parents: The Effects of Overparenting and Relational Maintenance Behaviors Performed Via ICTs

A growing body of scholarship finds that information communication technologies (ICTs) influence parent-young adult child relationships (Gentzler et al., 2011; Ramsey et al., 2013; Schon, 2014). Few studies have examined explanatory mechanisms for this relationship. Based on the Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000a) and the Cues-Filtered-In Perspective (Walther & Parks, 2002), this study examined perceptions of parents’ relational maintenance and overparenting as potential mediators of this relationship for three ICTs: voice calls, text messages, and Facebook. The results from a survey of 491 overparented young adults suggest that it is perceptions of behaviors performed through ICTs (perceptions of overparenting and parents’ relational maintenance) that best predict young adults’ relationship satisfaction. These results support other recent findings (e.g., Kelly et al., 2017) that suggest that overparenting has a positive influence in parent-young adult child relationships. These results also reaffirm the importance of relational maintenance for effective relational functioning