Exploring the experience of biological children of foster parents : their views on family as adults

Despite the fact that family foster care is a large part of the current child welfare system, little is known about the experience of biological children of foster parents. This qualitative research study analyzed the stories of ten adults who grew up in foster homes as biological children of foster parents from a family systems perspective. Common themes and areas for future research were identified. Participants identified and described diverse experiences in which both positive aspects as well as individual and family struggles . Participants described exposure to foster siblings behaviors and knowledge about their lives. Due to this exposure, participants describe, areas of stress as well as changes in perspective. In many cases this led to an increase in family closeness, feelings of gratitude and the development of positive personal attributes. Participants also identified an awareness of parental stress in the areas of finances, discipline, and relationships with foster children. Effects of foster children entering and exiting the home in regards to adjustment and closeness of relationships were also discussed. Findings indicated a need for further research and attention to the experiences of foster family members

Reph, a Regulator of Eph Receptor Expression in the Drosophila melanogaster Optic Lobe

Receptors of the Eph family of tyrosine kinases and their Ephrin ligands are involved in developmental processes as diverse as angiogenesis, axon guidance and cell migration. However, our understanding of the Eph signaling pathway is incomplete, and could benefit from an analysis by genetic methods. To this end, we performed a genetic modifier screen for mutations that affect Eph signaling in Drosophila melanogaster. Several dozen loci were identified on the basis of their suppression or enhancement of an eye defect induced by the ectopic expression of Ephrin during development; many of these mutant loci were found to disrupt visual system development. One modifier locus, reph (regulator of eph expression), was characterized in molecular detail and found to encode a putative nuclear protein that interacts genetically with Eph signaling pathway mutations. Reph is an autonomous regulator of Eph receptor expression, required for the graded expression of Eph protein and the establishment of an optic lobe axonal topographic map. These results reveal a novel component of the regulatory pathway controlling expression of eph and identify reph as a novel factor in the developing visual system

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

A neutron diffraction study of the phase transition of fully deuterated triglycine sulphate (ND 2 CD 2 COOD) 3 .D 2 SO 4

Using neutron single crystal and powder diffraction, the first thorough investigation of the structure of fully deuterated triglycine sulphate, (ND 2CD2COOD)3.D2SO4 is presented, including its evolution with T, through its structural phase transition. This includes new precise structural parameters determined at several key temperatures above and below TC using single crystal diffraction, and for the first time a parametric study has been undertaken over a wide temperature range - from 4 to 500 K in 2 K steps. It was found that fully deuterated TGS shows a structure consistent with hydrogenous TGS and partially deuterated TGS. The evolution of several key hydrogen bond lengths suggests that weakening of the H-bond network with T is crucial in decoupling the polarising glycine molecules from the other glycines and allowing the long-range ferroelectric order to break down. A new parameterisation of the phase transition is demonstrated. Contrary to results of physical properties measurements, there is no evidence of a second low temperature phase transition in TGS - no low temperature anomalies were observed in the crystal structure. Using neutron single crystal and powder diffraction, the first thorough investigation of the structure of fully deuterated triglycine sulphate, (ND 2CD2COOD)3.D2SO4 is presented, including its evolution with T, through its structural phase transition. This includes new precise structural parameters determined at several key temperatures above and below TC using single crystal diffraction, and for the first time a parametric study has been undertaken over a wide temperature range - from 4 to 500 K in 2 K steps. It was found that fully deuterated TGS shows a structure consistent with hydrogenous TGS and partially deuterated TGS. The evolution of several key hydrogen bond lengths suggests that weakening of the H-bond network with T is crucial in decoupling the polarising glycine molecules from the other glycines and allowing the long-range ferroelectric order to break down. A new parameterisation of the phase transition is demonstrated. Contrary to results of physical properties measurements, there is no evidence of a second low temperature phase transition in TGS - no low temperature anomalies were observed in the crystal structure

Crystal and magnetic structures in Perovskite-related La 1-x Ca x FeO 3-δ (x=0.2, 0.33)

Using solgel synthesis, single phase perovskite-related compounds in the family La1-xCaxFeO3-δ have been formed for x=0.2 and x=0.33, but not for x=0.5. The x=0.2 and x=0.33 compounds are isostructural with LaFeO3 (Pnma). The magnetic structure of La0.

The crystal and magnetic structures of LaCa 2 Fe 3 O 8 and NdCa 2 Fe 3 O 8

The crystal and magnetic structures of LaCa2Fe3O 8 and NdCa2Fe3O8 have been established using a combination of x-ray, neutron and electron diffraction. It was already considered likely that LaCa2Fe3O8 and NdCa2Fe3O8 were made up of stacked perovskite-like layers of FeO6 octahedra, with every third layer being replaced by a layer of tetrahedrally coordinated Fe, rather like a variation on the Brownmillerite (Ca2Fe2O5) structure type. We have gone further and determined a likely space group for this Grenier phase and determined the magnetic structure of the compounds at room temperature. The space group is found to be P 21ma (b axis as the long axis), and the crystal structure has been refined, subject to the stacking faulting along the long axis that is apparent in electron diffraction patterns. The magnetic structure of LaCa2Fe3O8 is shown to consist of antiferromagnetically ordered Fe3+ ions on a collinear G-type antiferromagnetic structure, with the magnetic moments most likely (anti)parallel with the c axis, and of magnitude 3.4 0.2μB (3.6 0.2μB for NdCa2Fe3O8). The result is reasonable given the magnetic structures of the end members of the La1-xCaxFeO3 series, LaFeO3 (x = 0) and Ca2Fe2O5 (x = 1)