The STRONG Resiliency Program for Newcomer Youth: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Youth Experiences and Impacts

Many refugee and immigrant youth face significant adversity, pre- and post-migration, as well as during their migratory journey. Although these youth demonstrate considerable resilience, there is also an opportunity to bolster coping skills and adjustment with group-based interventions in schools. We utilized a mixed-methods approach to describe the impacts of one such program, as experienced by youth (n=19). The program is a ten-session strengths-based resilience intervention that promotes relaxation skills, healthy coping, communication, and problem-solving. There is also one individual session focused on helping each participant share their journey narrative. Youth from six intervention groups participated in this study through completing pre- and post-intervention surveys and focus groups. Our qualitative results identified a high level of acceptability among youth. Perceived benefits included improved coping and relaxation strategies, increased confidence and trust, increased peer connectedness and belongingness, benefits of sharing and exchanging stories with peers, and increased knowledge in the Canadian context. Youths’ scores on resilience and use of STRONG skills increased significantly from pre- to post-intervention, but there was no change in school connectedness scores. We discuss the convergence between qualitative and quantitative findings and highlight some of the areas that were only evident in focus groups. Youth made minor suggestions for program improvement. Based on this small pilot, a resilience intervention resonated with newcomer youth and helped them foster their strengths

GENERATION OF TRANSLUCENT LANGUAGE BY SUPERIMPOSITION OPERATION

We have introduced a new operation called the superimposition operation. The translucent language generated by a given superimposition operation and a language L is the set of words generated by the superimposition of any two words in L. In this paper we study the properties of translucent languages. We also introduce a variant of the operation called Superimposition under control. We examine the properties of languages under this operatio

Red and blue light treatments of ripening bilberry fruits reveal differences in signalling through abscisic acid-regulated anthocyanin biosynthesis

The biosynthesis of anthocyanins has been shown to be influenced by light quality. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the light-mediated regulation of fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis are not well understood. In this study, we analysed the effects of supplemental red and blue light on the anthocyanin biosynthesis in non-climacteric bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.). After 6 days of continuous irradiation during ripening, both red and blue light elevated concentration of anthocyanins, up to 12- and 4-folds, respectively, compared to the control. Transcriptomic analysis of ripening berries showed that both light treatments up-regulated all the major anthocyanin structural genes, the key regulatory MYB transcription factors and abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthetic genes. However, higher induction of specific genes of anthocyanin and delphinidin biosynthesis alongside ABA signal perception and metabolism were found in red light. The difference in red and blue light signalling was found in 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED), ABA receptor pyrabactin resistance-like (PYL) and catabolic ABA-8'hydroxylase gene expression. Red light also up-regulated expression of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) domain transporters, which may indicate involvement of these proteins in vesicular trafficking of anthocyanins during fruit ripening. Our results suggest differential signal transduction and transport mechanisms between red and blue light in ABA-regulated anthocyanin and delphinidin biosynthesis during bilberry fruit ripening.Peer reviewe

PLANE LANGUAGES AND THEIR PROPERTIES

In this paper we study the Generalized Parikh Vector of words over three letter alphabet. For S = {a, b, c} the GPVs of words lie in the tetrahedron whose vertices are (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1) and (0, 0, 0). All GPVs of words of equal length lie on the same plane. Plane languages and their language theoretical properties are studied. Further, the GPVs of words lying on surfaces are discussed. The concepts of surface language, language surface and their properties are also studied in this paper

The effect of hydrogen peroxide produced during ultraviolet disinfection of CHO cell culture media

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2017.06.025 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is being considered for protection against viral contamination in cell culture media. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced by UV irradiation has been suggested as the cause for poor cell growth in irradiated media, but this hypothesis has not been carefully evaluated. The impact of H2O2 on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell culture medium was compared with the impact of UV irradiation. Media composition was analyzed via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS), and cell growth in treated media was also evaluated. Although addition of H2O2 to medium caused significant changes in pyruvate, formate, acetate, and sarcosine concentrations, there was less effect on CHO cell growth compared with irradiation. UV irradiation caused other changes in composition that did not occur as a result of H2O2 addition. Catalase inhibited the effects of adding H2O2 to the media, but catalase added before irradiation did not affect most irradiation-induced changes, even though catalase retained activity. In conclusion we found that while H2O2, which can be generated as a result of UV-irradiation, may be the cause of some changes in medium composition, it does not directly account for impaired CHO cell growth after high UV doses.MITACS Accelerate grantNatural Sciences and Engineering Council Collaborative Research and Development grant (NSERC-CRDPJ-48483-2015)Strategic Network Grant (NETGP 380070-08

Prospects for the Development of the Oil and Gas Industry in the Regional and Global Economy

Problems of energy efficiency, along with increasing environmental safety of production and increasing social responsibility, are becoming a central object of research. Therefore, the main goal of the work is to analyze the prospects for the development of the oil and gas industry. It was established that innovative technologies play an important role in the development of energy. In the structure of public administration, the definition of the place in the close relationship with commodity-money relations, mediating its implementation. But refusal of oil resources will lead to negative consequences. It is established that the maximum production of conventional oil in the world in the amount of 4.5-4.8 billion tons per year will be achieved in 2020-2030. Major areas of conventional oil production in this period will be oil and gas basins of the Persian Gulf, Western and Eastern Siberia, the Caspian sea, the Atlantic shelves of Africa and South America. The achieved level of oil production can be maintained by large-scale involvement in the development of non-traditional sources (bitumen and shale oil). According to the raw material base, the leaders of unconventional oil production should be Venezuela, Canada, Russia and the United States. Keywords: environmental policy, oil production, forecast, coal-fired power plants, economic crisis. JEL Classifications: L100, Q400, Q430

The Coordinated Action of MYB Activators and Repressors Controls Proanthocyanidin and Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Vaccinium

Vaccinium berries are regarded as “superfoods” owing to their high concentrations of anthocyanins, flavonoid metabolites that provide pigmentation and positively affect human health. Anthocyanin localization differs between the fruit of cultivated highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum) and wild bilberry (V. myrtillus), with the latter having deep red flesh coloration. Analysis of comparative transcriptomics across a developmental series of blueberry and bilberry fruit skin and flesh identified candidate anthocyanin regulators responsible for this distinction. This included multiple activator and repressor transcription factors (TFs) that correlated strongly with anthocyanin production and had minimal expression in blueberry (non-pigmented) flesh. R2R3 MYB TFs appeared key to the presence and absence of anthocyanin-based pigmentation; MYBA1 and MYBPA1.1 co-activated the pathway while MYBC2.1 repressed it. Transient overexpression of MYBA1 in Nicotiana benthamiana strongly induced anthocyanins, but this was substantially reduced when co-infiltrated with MYBC2.1. Co-infiltration of MYBC2.1 with MYBA1 also reduced activation of DFR and UFGT, key anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, in promoter activation studies. We demonstrated that these TFs operate within a regulatory hierarchy where MYBA1 activated the promoters of MYBC2.1 and bHLH2. Stable overexpression of VcMYBA1 in blueberry elevated anthocyanin content in transgenic plants, indicating that MYBA1 is sufficient to upregulate the TF module and activate the pathway. Our findings identify TF activators and repressors that are hierarchically regulated by SG6 MYBA1, and fine-tune anthocyanin production in Vaccinium. The lack of this TF module in blueberry flesh results in an absence of anthocyanins.publishedVersio