Dyadic coping and mental health in couples: A systematic review

Globally, one out of three people suffer from a mental health issue during their lifetime. In romantic relationships, impaired mental health does not only affect the individual but also their partner and therefore needs to be coped with dyadically. In this systematic review, we summarize research examining dyadic coping (DC) in the context of mental health and individual and relational outcomes. We searched for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1990 and April 2023 on PsycInfo, Medline, and PSYNDEX on DC and mental health within romantic relationships. A total of 60 qualitative, quantitative, and intervention studies met the inclusion criteria, reporting on 16,394 individuals and 4,945 dyads. To synthesize the studies, we used a narrative synthesis approach. Overall, stress expression and positive DC yielded beneficial individual and relational outcomes, whereas, for negative DC, the opposite was true. Results differed between mental health clusters and context played an important role (e.g., symptom severity, life phase). Due to the great diversity of studies and variables, further research should focus on understudied mental health clusters (e.g., anxiety disorders). Clinicians are advised to view mental health issues as a dyadic rather than an individual phenomenon (“we-disease”) and develop tailored couple-centered interventions

Contrasting Pattern of Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Primary and Autoimmune Sclerosing Cholangitis.

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the pagePrimary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (AISC) are related, but distinct chronic liver diseases. PSC is associated with a high prevalence of ulcerative colitis while the intestinal inflammation associated with AISC is less well characterised.To assess and contrast aspects of intestinal inflammation in patients with AISC and PSC and compare the clinical features with those of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.23 and 22 patients with AISC and PSC, respectively, underwent review of colonoscopy and biopsy findings, capsule enteroscopy and assessment of clinical and inflammatory (faecal calprotectin) disease activity, which was compared with that of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (n = 55 each).Five and 6 patients with AISC and PSC, respectively, had normal colonoscopy and faecal calprotectin levels of 34.4 ± 8.3 and 39.7 ± 8.4 μg/g, respectively (normal 0.05) between patients with intestinal inflammation in AISC (588 ± 549 μg/g), PSC (421 ± 351 μg/g), ulcerative colitis (501 ± 656 μg/g) or Crohn's disease (476 ± 571 μg/g). Capsule enteroscopy showed that 7 of 18 (39%) (p < 0.03) of those with AISC had small bowel mucosal breaks whereas no patient with PSC had these findings.Collectively these findings lend support to the suggestion that the chronic inflammatory bowel disease associated with PSC and in particular AISC may represent a distinct nosologic entity different from classic ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

Mismatches in Scale Between Highly Mobile Marine Megafauna and Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs), particularly large MPAs, are increasing in number and size around the globe in part to facilitate the conservation of marine megafauna under the assumption that large-scale MPAs better align with vagile life histories; however, this alignment is not well established. Using a global tracking dataset from 36 species across five taxa, chosen to reflect the span of home range size in highly mobile marine megafauna, we show most MPAs are too small to encompass complete home ranges of most species. Based on size alone, 40% of existing MPAs could encompass the home ranges of the smallest ranged species, while only \u3c 1% of existing MPAs could encompass those of the largest ranged species. Further, where home ranges and MPAs overlapped in real geographic space, MPAs encompassed \u3c 5% of core areas used by all species. Despite most home ranges of mobile marine megafauna being much larger than existing MPAs, we demonstrate how benefits from MPAs are still likely to accrue by targeting seasonal aggregations and critical life history stages and through other management techniques

Mismatches in Scale Between Highly Mobile Marine Megafauna and Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs), particularly large MPAs, are increasing in number and size around the globe in part to facilitate the conservation of marine megafauna under the assumption that large-scale MPAs better align with vagile life histories; however, this alignment is not well established. Using a global tracking dataset from 36 species across five taxa, chosen to reflect the span of home range size in highly mobile marine megafauna, we show most MPAs are too small to encompass complete home ranges of most species. Based on size alone, 40% of existing MPAs could encompass the home ranges of the smallest ranged species, while only \u3c 1% of existing MPAs could encompass those of the largest ranged species. Further, where home ranges and MPAs overlapped in real geographic space, MPAs encompassed \u3c 5% of core areas used by all species. Despite most home ranges of mobile marine megafauna being much larger than existing MPAs, we demonstrate how benefits from MPAs are still likely to accrue by targeting seasonal aggregations and critical life history stages and through other management techniques

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Tunable Porous Organic Crystals: Structural Scope and Adsorption Properties of Nanoporous Steroidal Ureas

Previous work has shown that certain steroidal bis-(N-phenyl)ureas, derived from cholic acid, form crystals in the P61 space group with unusually wide unidimensional pores. A key feature of the nanoporous steroidal urea (NPSU) structure is that groups at either end of the steroid are directed into the channels and may in principle be altered without disturbing the crystal packing. Herein we report an expanded study of this system, which increases the structural variety of NPSUs and also examines their inclusion properties. Nineteen new NPSU crystal structures are described, to add to the six which were previously reported. The materials show wide variations in channel size, shape, and chemical nature. Minimum pore diameters vary from ∼0 up to 13.1 Å, while some of the interior surfaces are markedly corrugated. Several variants possess functional groups positioned in the channels with potential to interact with guest molecules. Inclusion studies were performed using a relatively accessible tris-(N-phenyl)urea. Solvent removal was possible without crystal degradation, and gas adsorption could be demonstrated. Organic molecules ranging from simple aromatics (e.g., aniline and chlorobenzene) to the much larger squalene (Mw = 411) could be adsorbed from the liquid state, while several dyes were taken up from solutions in ether. Some dyes gave dichroic complexes, implying alignment of the chromophores in the NPSU channels. Notably, these complexes were formed by direct adsorption rather than cocrystallization, emphasizing the unusually robust nature of these organic molecular hosts

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570