What Collaboration Means to Me: Perspectives on Library/Vendor Collaboration

There is much librarians and content providers can do to challenge the narrative that we are constantly at odds, both within the legacy relationship of buyer and seller and within new opportunities for collaboration. This column offers insights and practical suggestions for enriched relationships and future collaboration from the unique perspective of working for and with both vendors and libraries

Cumulative risk as a moderator of the association between intimate partner violence and maternal parenting behaviors with infants

The primary objective of this study was to broaden psychological and scientific understanding of the lasting effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on maternal parenting behaviors in families with infants. This study used longitudinal data to examine these associations. Much is to be gained from exploring the association between IPV and maternal parenting behaviors in families with infants because IPV is known to negatively impact a wide range of parenting capacities, as well as the social-emotional adjustment of young children. This study also examined an accumulation of social-contextual risk factors as a moderator between the chronicity and severity of IPV experiences and observed maternal parenting behaviors with infants. Very few studies have examined this particular model, and almost no research has examined these associations in homes with infants as compared to homes with older children. This study was also unique in that it used a variety of methodologies to assess the previously mentioned variables. Maternal report was used to assess IPV over four time periods, an observed mother-infant interaction task was used to measure maternal parenting behaviors when infants were 1 year old, and maternal self-report was used to assess numerous social-contextual risk factors over the transition to parenthood. Findings did not support a direct association between IPV experiences and maternal parenting behaviors. Instead, results indicated a direct effect between cumulative risk and maternal positive and negative parenting behaviors, providing empirical support for the cumulative risk model. Surprisingly, cumulative risk did not moderate the association between IPV experiences and maternal parenting behaviors. Implications for these findings and directions for future research are discussed

The impact of mothers’ partner relationship quality and maternal parenting on school-age children’s relationships with peers

This study examined the longitudinal effects of the partner relationship quality on parenting behaviors and school-age children’s peer relationships. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) archival data were used to examine parenting behaviors as a mediator between the quality of the partner relationship and school-age children’s peer relationships. Maternal report was used to assess partner relationship quality when the child was 1 month old; an observed parent-child interaction task was used to measure maternal parenting behaviors when the child was 54 months old; and teacher and child report were used to assess children’s peer relationships during 5th grade. Maternal parenting behaviors partially mediated the association between partner quality and children’s negative outcomes with peers and fully mediated this association when partner change was controlled for. Mediation was not established for children’s positive outcomes with peers. Results are discussed in terms of the emotional security hypothesis and attachment theory

A Study of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors: Determination of the Binding Energetics of Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid with Zinc and Cobalt and Preliminary Screening of Nitric Oxide Donors

Inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs) can suppress tumor cell growth eventually leading to their death, makeing HDACs an important drug target. Therefore, understanding the mechanism behind inhibiting HDACs is imperative. To determine the thermodynamic parameters for the interaction of a known competitive HDAC inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), with zinc(II), the metal ion in the HDAC active site, and cobalt(II), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used. The results showed that SAHA binds to zinc(II) more strongly than it does to cobalt(II) as the equilibrium binding constants were 4.3 ± 0.5 x 102 M-1 and 2.0 ± 0.5 x 102 M-1 for zinc (II) and cobalt (II), respectively. In addition, the calculated value of ΔG⁰ for SAHA and zinc(II) of -15.0 ± 0.3 kJ/mol compared to -35.6 kJ/mol for SAHA and HDAC suggest that the hydroxamic acid functional group contributes significantly to the overall binding energetics of the interaction. Additional titration experiments using the literature prototype for hydroxamic acid binding, acetohydroxamic acid (AHA), suggested that the binding parameters obtained for SAHA interacting with zinc(II) and cobalt(II) in the non-physiological mixture are likely comparable to what they would be in aqueous conditions. To further characterize HDAC as a drug target, various nitric oxide (NO) donors, known to chemically modify and inhibit HDACs, were screened using an HDAC8 discontinuous fluorogenic assay. These assays allowed the effectiveness of the NO donors to be determined through comparison of HDAC8 percent activity relative to a control. The screened commercially available NO donors displayed no inhibition, whereas SAHA, a different class of NO donors, did decrease HDAC8 activity. Overall these studies suggest that inhibitors which bind in the active site of HDACs are more effective than those that covalently modify cysteine residues