Perceived Similarity, Expectation-Reality Discrepancies, and Mentors\u27 Expressed Intention to Remain in Big Brothers/Big Sisters Programs

Studies have begun to document the academic and psychosocial benefits of Big Brothers/ Big Sisters programs for at-risk youth (Rhodes, Grossman, & Resch, 2000). However, investigators have noted a problem with mentor attrition (Meissen & Lounsbury, 1981). The purpose of the current study was twofold. First, we explored the relative importance of specific dimensions of perceived similarity (including similarity in attitudes, interests, race, and personality) as well as mentors\u27 expectation-reality discrepancies in predicting mentors\u27 expressed intention to remain in Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs. Second, we examined a model whereby interpersonal attraction and relationship quality served as mediators of these associations. Our results suggest that perceived similarity in extraver-sion as well as the discrepancy between mentors\u27 ideal versus actual roles were significant predictors of mentors\u27 expressed intention to remain in the relationship. Relationship quality and interpersonal attraction appeared to mediate these findings

Studying informal care during the pandemic: Mental health, gender and job status

Unexpected negative health shocks such as COVID-19 put pressure on households to provide more care to relatives and friends. This study uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to investigate the impact of informal caregiving on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, we find that individuals who started providing care after the pandemic began reported more mental health issues than those who never provided care. Additionally, the gender gap in mental health widened during the pandemic, with women more likely to report mental health issues. We also find that those who began providing care during the pandemic reduced their work hours compared to those who never provided care. Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of informal caregivers, particularly for women.Horizon Europe [grant number ES/T008415/1] and from the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley at Ox ford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Consortium iNEST (Interconnected North-Est Innovation Ecosystem) funded by the European Union Next GenerationEU (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) – Mis sione 4 Componente 2, Investimento 1.5 – D.D. 1058 23/06/2022, ECS_00000043). Moscone receives funding from a project funded by Next Generation EU - ‘‘Age-It - Ageing well in an ageing society’’ project (PE0000015), National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) - PE8 - Mission 4, C2, Intervention 1.3. The views and opinions expressed are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR or European Union or the European Commission

Tor-Sch9 deficiency activates catabolism of the ketone body-like acetic acid to promote trehalose accumulation and longevity.

n mammals, extended periods of fasting leads to the accumulation of blood ketone bodies including acetoacetate. Here we show that similar to the conversion of leucine to acetoacetate in fasting mammals, starvation conditions induced ketone body-like acetic acid generation from leucine in S. cerevisiae. Whereas wild-type and ras2Δ cells accumulated acetic acid, long-lived tor1Δ and sch9Δ mutants rapidly depleted it through a mitochondrial acetate CoA transferase-dependent mechanism, which was essential for lifespan extension. The sch9Δ-dependent utilization of acetic acid also required coenzyme Q biosynthetic genes and promoted the accumulation of intracellular trehalose. These results indicate that Tor-Sch9 deficiency extends longevity by switching cells to an alternative metabolic mode, in which acetic acid can be utilized for the storage of stress resistance carbon sources. These effects are reminiscent of those described for ketone bodies in fasting mammals and raise the possibility that the lifespan extension caused by Tor-S6K inhibition may also involve analogous metabolic changes in higher eukaryotes

Risk management as a social defence against anxiety.

Orientation: This article deals with the unconscious role of risk management in an African country. Research purpose: The aim of the study is to describe how risk management unconsciously influences behaviour when doing business in an African country. Motivation for the study: Operational risk management is a rational management imperative. However, this does not take cognisance of the unconscious role of risk management. A systems-psychodynamic perspective might be particularly relevant if the anxiety implied in risk management is not appropriately contained. Awareness of these dynamics may provide an opportunity for addressing them and allow for a more holistic way of managing risk. Research design, approach and method: The researchers conducted the study as a qualitative case study in an African country. They used purposive sampling and analysed the data using qualitative content analysis. Main findings: Viewing risk management from a systems-psychodynamic perspective allowed the researchers to identify the influence of risk management on the behaviour of people. The emerging hypothesis was that, if businesses do not address the anxiety underlying risk management, managing risk becomes a social defence against the anxiety. Practical/managerial implications: Awareness of the anxiety involved in risk management may assist businesses to manage risk in a more realistic way, making provision for, and even capitalising on, the human element. Contributions/value-add: The article provides a systems-psychodynamic, and hence a more complete, perspective of operational risk management when doing business in an African country

AMPA receptor GluA2 subunit defects are a cause of neurodevelopmental disorders

© 2019, The Author(s). AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are tetrameric ligand-gated channels made up of combinations of GluA1-4 subunits encoded by GRIA1-4 genes. GluA2 has an especially important role because, following post-transcriptional editing at the Q607 site, it renders heteromultimeric AMPARs Ca2+-impermeable, with a linear relationship between current and trans-membrane voltage. Here, we report heterozygous de novo GRIA2 mutations in 28 unrelated patients with intellectual disability (ID) and neurodevelopmental abnormalities including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Rett syndrome-like features, and seizures or developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). In functional expression studies, mutations lead to a decrease in agonist-evoked current mediated by mutant subunits compared to wild-type channels. When GluA2 subunits are co-expressed with GluA1, most GRIA2 mutations cause a decreased current amplitude and some also affect voltage rectification. Our results show that de-novo variants in GRIA2 can cause neurodevelopmental disorders, complementing evidence that other genetic causes of ID, ASD and DEE also disrupt glutamatergic synaptic transmission

Radiological environmental assessment of the recycle of LMFBR advanced fuels

The environmental impact resulting from the release of radioactive material during reprocessing and refabrication of spent LMFBR advanced fuels was compared with that from similar treatment of reference oxide fuel. Candidate advanced fuels include carbide ((U,Pu)C) in addition to nitride ((U,Pu)N) with selected concentrations of /sup 15/N. Several techniques for preparing enriched /sup 15/N were reviewed and estimates were made of the cost of preparing nitrogen enriched to greater than 99 percent by each method. Core neutronics, fuel management, and designs appropriate for each fuel were used with the ORIGEN code to calculate the compositions of spent core and blanket fuel. The mass of fuel recycled annually was that providing 50 GW(e)-years of energy at the burnup attained by each fuel. Confinement factors for each isotope were identified for reprocessing and refabrication operations and were used to calculate source terms describing isotopic release rates. These source terms were used in the AIRDOS-II code to estimate the 50-year dose to the maximally exposed individual and to both the local and world populations. Total body dose commitments to the maximally exposed individual for oxide and carbide fuels are about 2.8 millirem, while nitride fuel would result in a range of 59 to 3.4 millirem as the /sup 14/N content in fresh fuel is varied from 99.64 percent to zero

Study of Plutonium Oxide Powder Emissions from Simulated Shipping Container Leaks

To provide data to facilitate the predictions of PuO{sub 2} emissions through leaks in PuO{sub 2} shipping containers under accident conditions, a series of experiments was conducted using PuO{sub 2} powder and an experimental system designed to simulate a shipping container leak. Over two hundred experiments were completed. The experimental parameters investigated were the leak size/type, internal system pressure, agitation of the apparatus, leak orientation with respect to the powder location and the run time. No single parameter appeared to have any observable effect on the quantities of PuO{sub 2} emitted. However, there was an apparent dependency on the interaction between the orifice area and the internal pressure. The dependency took the form of a function of A{radical}P. Although this functional form was suggested by the data, the data were not sufficient to allow a more detailed function to be determined. The results of experiments in which the run time was variable produced the observation that changes in the run time did not result in changes in the quantities of PuO{sub 2} emitted. This observation led to the conclusion that the majority of PuO{sub 2} observed is emitted during the initial pressurization of the leak tube

Influence of a 265 C heat treatment on the residual stress state of a PBF LB M AlSi10Mg alloy

Laser Powder Bed Fusion PBF LB M additive manufacturing AM induces high magnitude residual stress RS in structures due to the extremely heterogeneous cooling and heating rates. As the RS can be deleterious to the fatigue resistance of engineering components, great efforts are focused on understanding their generation and evolution after post process heat treatments. In this study, one of the few of its kind, the RS relaxation induced in an as built PBF LB M AlSi10Mg material by a low temperature heat treatment 265 C for 1 h is studied by means of X ray and neutron diffraction. Since the specimens are manufactured using a baseplate heated up to 200 C, low RS are found in the as built condition. After heat treatment a redistribution of the RS is observed, while their magnitude remains constant. It is proposed that the redistribution is induced by a repartition of stresses between the amp; 945; aluminium matrix and the silicon phase, as the morphology of the silicon phase is affected by the heat treatment. A considerable scatter is observed in the neutron diffraction RS profiles, which is principally correlated to the presence or absence of pockets of porosity developed at the borders of the chessboard patter

Intrinsic electron traps in atomic-layer deposited HfO2 insulators

Analysis of photodepopulation of electron traps in HfO2 films grown by atomic layer deposition is shown to provide the trap energy distribution across the entire oxide bandgap. The presence is revealed of two kinds of deep electron traps energetically distributed at around Et ≈ 2.0 eV and Et ≈ 3.0 eV below the oxide conduction band. Comparison of the trapped electron energy distributions in HfO2 layers prepared using different precursors or subjected to thermal treatment suggests that these centers are intrinsic in origin. However, the common assumption that these would implicate O vacancies cannot explain the charging behavior of HfO2, suggesting that alternative defect models should be considered