Investor structure and the price-volume relationship in a continuous double auction market: An agent-based modeling perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei; Bi, Zhengzheng; Shen, Dehua

2017-02-01

This paper investigates the impact of investor structure on the price-volume relationship by simulating a continuous double auction market. Connected with the underlying mechanisms of the price-volume relationship, i.e., the Mixture of Distribution Hypothesis (MDH) and the Sequential Information Arrival Hypothesis (SIAH), the simulation results show that: (1) there exists a strong lead-lag relationship between the return volatility and trading volume when the number of informed investors is close to the number of uninformed investors in the market; (2) as more and more informed investors entering the market, the lead-lag relationship becomes weaker and weaker, while the contemporaneous relationship between the return volatility and trading volume becomes more prominent; (3) when the informed investors are in absolute majority, the market can achieve the new equilibrium immediately. Therefore, we can conclude that the investor structure is a key factor in affecting the price-volume relationship.

Interpersonal Identity Formation in Conversations with Close Friends about Dating Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Elizabeth M.; Korobov, Neill

2012-01-01

The present study explores how close same-sex friendship groups participate in the co-construction of identities in the interpersonal domain during young adulthood. Participants included 24 same-sex college student friendship triads (12 male and 12 female; 72 total participants) who took part in semi-structured group interviews that elicited…

An Exploration of Jamaican Mothers’ Perceptions of Closeness and Intimacy in the Mother–Child Relationship during Middle Childhood

PubMed Central

Burke, Taniesha; Kuczynski, Leon; Perren, Sonja

2017-01-01

Research on Jamaican mother–child relationships has had a limited focus on authoritarian parenting styles and selected discipline practices such as corporal punishment. This study examined Jamaican mothers’ experiences of closeness and connectedness with their children to provide a holistic perspective on Jamaican-parent–child relationships. Thirty mothers (17 middle class and 13 lower class) living in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, participated in a 1-h to 1.5-h semi-structured, open-ended interview regarding their 8- to 12-year-old children. Thematic analyses indicated that mothers experienced closeness through intimate interactions (e.g., shared projects, shared physical affection, mutuality, and child self-disclosure) and parent–child nurturance. Both mothers and children were active in creating contexts for closeness. Mothers also reported experiences that temporarily damaged their connection with their children. The findings suggest that the construct of parent–child intimacy may be useful in teasing out the psychological meanings and interpersonal processes of parent–child relatedness in cultural research. PMID:29312035

An Exploration of Jamaican Mothers' Perceptions of Closeness and Intimacy in the Mother-Child Relationship during Middle Childhood.

PubMed

Burke, Taniesha; Kuczynski, Leon; Perren, Sonja

2017-01-01

Research on Jamaican mother-child relationships has had a limited focus on authoritarian parenting styles and selected discipline practices such as corporal punishment. This study examined Jamaican mothers' experiences of closeness and connectedness with their children to provide a holistic perspective on Jamaican-parent-child relationships. Thirty mothers (17 middle class and 13 lower class) living in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, participated in a 1-h to 1.5-h semi-structured, open-ended interview regarding their 8- to 12-year-old children. Thematic analyses indicated that mothers experienced closeness through intimate interactions (e.g., shared projects, shared physical affection, mutuality, and child self-disclosure) and parent-child nurturance. Both mothers and children were active in creating contexts for closeness. Mothers also reported experiences that temporarily damaged their connection with their children. The findings suggest that the construct of parent-child intimacy may be useful in teasing out the psychological meanings and interpersonal processes of parent-child relatedness in cultural research.

Female adoptees' experiences balancing relationships with biological and adoptive mothers post-reunification.

PubMed

Richardson, Angelle; Davey, Maureen P; Swint, Phyllis A

2013-07-01

Using a feminist postmodern perspective and the sensitizing concept of split loyalties from Contextual Theory, the primary purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a better understanding of how adult female adoptees from closed adoptions negotiate relationships with their adoptive and biological mothers post-reunion. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with nine adult female adoptees, ages 28-52, who were adopted prior to the age of two. Six were Caucasian, three were African American, and the average age at reunion was 29. Grounded theory techniques were used to code the qualitative data, in particular the constant comparative method of analysis. Four main categories emerged: (a) Negotiating Mother-Daughter Relationships, (b) Relating to Mothers Equitably, (c) Loyalty, and (d) Adoptees' Emotional Needs. Our findings suggest the adoptive mother-daughter relationship has a salient effect on adoptees' relationships with biological mothers post-reunion. Loyalty to the adoptive mother seems to influence the evolving relationship and closeness displayed toward the birth mother. Adult female adoptees from closed adoptions described struggling with managing their two mother-daughter relationships and need clinical help addressing their own emotional needs. © 2012 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Mechanical design of an intracranial stent for treating cerebral aneurysms.

PubMed

Shobayashi, Yasuhiro; Tanoue, Tetsuya; Tateshima, Satoshi; Tanishita, Kazuo

2010-11-01

Endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms using stents has advanced markedly in recent years. Mechanically, a cerebrovascular stent must be very flexible longitudinally and have low radial stiffness. However, no study has examined the stress distribution and deformation of cerebrovascular stents using the finite element method (FEM) and experiments. Stents can have open- and closed-cell structures, and open-cell stents are used clinically in the cerebrovasculature because of their high flexibility. However, the open-cell structure confers a risk of in-stent stenosis due to protrusion of stent struts into the normal parent artery. Therefore, a flexible stent with a closed-cell structure is required. To design a clinically useful, highly flexible, closed-cell stent, one must examine the mechanical properties of the closed-cell structure. In this study, we investigated the relationship between mesh patterns and the mechanical properties of closed-cell stents. Several mesh patterns were designed and their characteristics were studied using numerical simulation. The results showed that the bending stiffness of a closed-cell stent depends on the geometric configuration of the stent cell. It decreases when the stent cell is stretched in the circumferential direction. Mechanical flexibility equal to an open-cell structure was obtained in a closed-cell structure by varying the geometric configuration of the stent cell. Copyright © 2010 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of Design and Analysis Techniques of Tailored Composite Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jegley, Dawn C. (Technical Monitor); Wijayratne, Dulnath D.

2004-01-01

Aeroelasticity is the relationship between the elasticity of an aircraft structure and its aerodynamics. This relationship can cause instabilities such as flutter in a wing. Engineers have long studied aeroelasticity to ensure such instabilities do not become a problem within normal operating conditions. In recent decades structural tailoring has been used to take advantage of aeroelasticity. It is possible to tailor an aircraft structure to respond favorably to multiple different flight regimes such as takeoff, landing, cruise, 2-g pull up, etc. Structures can be designed so that these responses provide an aerodynamic advantage. This research investigates the ability to design and analyze tailored structures made from filamentary composites. Specifically the accuracy of tailored composite analysis must be verified if this design technique is to become feasible. To pursue this idea, a validation experiment has been performed on a small-scale filamentary composite wing box. The box is tailored such that its cover panels induce a global bend-twist coupling under an applied load. Two types of analysis were chosen for the experiment. The first is a closed form analysis based on a theoretical model of a single cell tailored box beam and the second is a finite element analysis. The predicted results are compared with the measured data to validate the analyses. The comparison of results show that the finite element analysis is capable of predicting displacements and strains to within 10% on the small-scale structure. The closed form code is consistently able to predict the wing box bending to 25% of the measured value. This error is expected due to simplifying assumptions in the closed form analysis. Differences between the closed form code representation and the wing box specimen caused large errors in the twist prediction. The closed form analysis prediction of twist has not been validated from this test.

Processing Information about Support Exchanges in Close Relationships: The Role of a Knowledge Structure.

PubMed

Turan, Bulent

2016-01-01

People develop knowledge of interpersonal interaction patterns (e.g., prototypes and schemas), which shape how they process incoming information. One such knowledge structure based on attachment theory was examined: the secure base script (the prototypic sequence of events when an attachment figure comforts a close relationship partner in distress). In two studies (N = 53 and N = 119), participants were shown animated film clips in which geometric figures depicted the secure base script and asked to describe the animations. Both studies found that many people readily recognize the secure-base script from these minimal cues quite well, suggesting that this script is not only available in the context of specific relationships (i.e., a relationship-specific knowledge): The generalized (abstract) structure of the script is also readily accessible, which would make it possible to apply it to any relationship (including new relationships). Regression analyses suggested that participants who recognized the script were more likely to (a) include more animation elements when describing the animations, (b) see a common theme in different animations, (c) create better organized stories, and (d) later recall more details of the animations. These findings suggest that access to this knowledge structure helps a person organize and remember relevant incoming information. Furthermore, in both Study 1 and Study 2, individual differences in the ready recognition of the script were associated with individual differences in having access to another related knowledge: indicators suggesting that a potential relationship partner can be trusted to be supportive and responsive at times of stress. Results of Study 2 also suggest that recognizing the script is associated with those items of an attachment measure that concern giving and receiving support. Thus, these knowledge structures may shape how people process support-relevant information in their everyday lives, potentially affecting relationship outcomes and mental and physical health.

Processing Information about Support Exchanges in Close Relationships: The Role of a Knowledge Structure

PubMed Central

Turan, Bulent

2016-01-01

People develop knowledge of interpersonal interaction patterns (e.g., prototypes and schemas), which shape how they process incoming information. One such knowledge structure based on attachment theory was examined: the secure base script (the prototypic sequence of events when an attachment figure comforts a close relationship partner in distress). In two studies (N = 53 and N = 119), participants were shown animated film clips in which geometric figures depicted the secure base script and asked to describe the animations. Both studies found that many people readily recognize the secure-base script from these minimal cues quite well, suggesting that this script is not only available in the context of specific relationships (i.e., a relationship-specific knowledge): The generalized (abstract) structure of the script is also readily accessible, which would make it possible to apply it to any relationship (including new relationships). Regression analyses suggested that participants who recognized the script were more likely to (a) include more animation elements when describing the animations, (b) see a common theme in different animations, (c) create better organized stories, and (d) later recall more details of the animations. These findings suggest that access to this knowledge structure helps a person organize and remember relevant incoming information. Furthermore, in both Study 1 and Study 2, individual differences in the ready recognition of the script were associated with individual differences in having access to another related knowledge: indicators suggesting that a potential relationship partner can be trusted to be supportive and responsive at times of stress. Results of Study 2 also suggest that recognizing the script is associated with those items of an attachment measure that concern giving and receiving support. Thus, these knowledge structures may shape how people process support-relevant information in their everyday lives, potentially affecting relationship outcomes and mental and physical health. PMID:26973562

The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-short form: reliability, validity, and factor structure.

PubMed

Wei, Meifen; Russell, Daniel W; Mallinckrodt, Brent; Vogel, David L

2007-04-01

We developed a 12-item, short form of the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) across 6 studies. In Study 1, we examined the reliability and factor structure of the measure. In Studies 2 and 3, we cross-validated the reliability, factor structure, and validity of the short form measure; whereas in Study 4, we examined test-retest reliability over a 1-month period. In Studies 5 and 6, we further assessed the reliability, factor structure, and validity of the short version of the ECR when administered as a stand-alone instrument. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that 2 factors, labeled Anxiety and Avoidance, provided a good fit to the data after removing the influence of response sets. We found validity to be equivalent for the short and the original versions of the ECR across studies. Finally, the results were comparable when we embedded the short form within the original version of the ECR and when we administered it as a stand-alone measure.

ECOD: An Evolutionary Classification of Protein Domains

PubMed Central

Kinch, Lisa N.; Pei, Jimin; Shi, Shuoyong; Kim, Bong-Hyun; Grishin, Nick V.

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of a protein, including both close and distant relationships, often reveals insight into its structure and function. Fast and easy access to such up-to-date information facilitates research. We have developed a hierarchical evolutionary classification of all proteins with experimentally determined spatial structures, and presented it as an interactive and updatable online database. ECOD (Evolutionary Classification of protein Domains) is distinct from other structural classifications in that it groups domains primarily by evolutionary relationships (homology), rather than topology (or “fold”). This distinction highlights cases of homology between domains of differing topology to aid in understanding of protein structure evolution. ECOD uniquely emphasizes distantly related homologs that are difficult to detect, and thus catalogs the largest number of evolutionary links among structural domain classifications. Placing distant homologs together underscores the ancestral similarities of these proteins and draws attention to the most important regions of sequence and structure, as well as conserved functional sites. ECOD also recognizes closer sequence-based relationships between protein domains. Currently, approximately 100,000 protein structures are classified in ECOD into 9,000 sequence families clustered into close to 2,000 evolutionary groups. The classification is assisted by an automated pipeline that quickly and consistently classifies weekly releases of PDB structures and allows for continual updates. This synchronization with PDB uniquely distinguishes ECOD among all protein classifications. Finally, we present several case studies of homologous proteins not recorded in other classifications, illustrating the potential of how ECOD can be used to further biological and evolutionary studies. PMID:25474468

ECOD: an evolutionary classification of protein domains.

PubMed

Cheng, Hua; Schaeffer, R Dustin; Liao, Yuxing; Kinch, Lisa N; Pei, Jimin; Shi, Shuoyong; Kim, Bong-Hyun; Grishin, Nick V

2014-12-01

Understanding the evolution of a protein, including both close and distant relationships, often reveals insight into its structure and function. Fast and easy access to such up-to-date information facilitates research. We have developed a hierarchical evolutionary classification of all proteins with experimentally determined spatial structures, and presented it as an interactive and updatable online database. ECOD (Evolutionary Classification of protein Domains) is distinct from other structural classifications in that it groups domains primarily by evolutionary relationships (homology), rather than topology (or "fold"). This distinction highlights cases of homology between domains of differing topology to aid in understanding of protein structure evolution. ECOD uniquely emphasizes distantly related homologs that are difficult to detect, and thus catalogs the largest number of evolutionary links among structural domain classifications. Placing distant homologs together underscores the ancestral similarities of these proteins and draws attention to the most important regions of sequence and structure, as well as conserved functional sites. ECOD also recognizes closer sequence-based relationships between protein domains. Currently, approximately 100,000 protein structures are classified in ECOD into 9,000 sequence families clustered into close to 2,000 evolutionary groups. The classification is assisted by an automated pipeline that quickly and consistently classifies weekly releases of PDB structures and allows for continual updates. This synchronization with PDB uniquely distinguishes ECOD among all protein classifications. Finally, we present several case studies of homologous proteins not recorded in other classifications, illustrating the potential of how ECOD can be used to further biological and evolutionary studies.

Structural and functional measures of social relationships and quality of life among older adults: does chronic disease status matter?

PubMed

Liao, Jing; Brunner, Eric J

2016-01-01

To evaluate the relative importance of structural and functional social relationships for quality of life (QoL) and the extent to which diagnosed chronic disease modifies these associations. Multivariate linear regression was used to investigate time-lagged associations between structural and functional measures of social relationships and QoL assessed 5 years apart by CASP-19, in 5925 Whitehall II participants (mean age 61, SD 6.0). Chronic disease was clinically verified coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer. Social relationships-QoL associations were consistent across disease status (P-values for interaction: 0.15-0.99). Larger friend network (β = 1.9, 95% CI 1.5-2.3), having a partner (β = 1.2, 95% CI 0.5-1.7), higher confiding support (β = 2.2, 95% CI 1.8-2.7) and lower negative aspects of close relationships (β = 3.3, 95% CI 2.8-3.8) were independently related to improved QoL in old age. The estimated difference in QoL due to social relationships was equivalent to up to 0.5 SD of the CASP-19 score and was stronger than the effect of chronic disease (coronary heart disease β = 2.0, 95% CI 1.4-2.6). We found that beneficial aspects of social relationships in relation to QoL were, in order of importance: avoiding negative aspects of close relationships, having confiding support, having a wide network of friends and having a partner. These associations were not modified by chronic disease. Thus, despite inevitable physical deterioration, we may be able to enhance a satisfying late life by optimizing our social relationships.

The importance of family management, closeness with father and family structure in early adolescent alcohol use.

PubMed

Habib, Cherine; Santoro, Joseph; Kremer, Peter; Toumbourou, John; Leslie, Eva; Williams, Joanne

2010-10-01

To examine the importance of family management, family structure and father-adolescent relationships on early adolescent alcohol use. Cross-sectional data was collected across 30 randomly selected Australian communities stratified to represent a range of socio-economic and regional variation. Data were collected during school time from adolescents attending a broad range of schools. The sample consisted of a combined 8256 students (aged 10-14 years). Students completed a web-based survey as part of the Healthy Neighbourhoods project. Family management-which included practices such as parental monitoring and family rules about alcohol use-had the strongest and most consistent relationship with alcohol use in early adolescence. Adolescents reporting higher family management were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time, less likely to drink alcohol in the preceding 30 days and less likely to have had an alcohol binge. Adolescents reporting emotionally close relationships with their fathers were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time and less likely to have had an alcohol binge in the preceding fortnight. Findings indicate that family management practices may contribute to alcohol abstinence in adolescents. Furthermore, emotionally close father-adolescent relationships may also foster abstinence; however, fathers' drinking behaviours need to be considered. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Linking social anxiety and adolescent romantic relationship functioning: indirect effects and the importance of peers.

PubMed

Hebert, Karen R; Fales, Jessica; Nangle, Douglas W; Papadakis, Alison A; Grover, Rachel L

2013-11-01

Peer relationships undergo dramatic shifts in form and function during adolescence, at the same time the incidence of socially evaluative fears sharply rises. Despite well-established links between social anxiety and broader interpersonal functioning, there is a dearth of research evaluating the impact of social anxiety on functioning in close relationships during this developmental stage. The present study examines the impact of social anxiety on functioning in close friendships and romantic relationships during adolescence. From a developmental psychopathology perspective, it was expected that social anxiety would influence functioning (quality, length, satisfaction) in romantic relationships through its influence on functioning in same- and other-sex friendships. Participants included 314 adolescents (60.5% female, 14-19 years of age) with a prior or current history of romantic relationship involvement. Structural equation modeling was used to test a mediation model positing an indirect pathway from social anxiety to romantic relationship functioning through functioning in close same- and other-sex friendships. Given known gender differences in social anxiety and relationship functioning, gender also was explored as a potential moderator. Results supported the hypothesized indirect pathway whereby social anxiety was associated with impairment in same-sex friendships; functioning in same-sex friendships was associated with functioning in other-sex friendships, which was associated, in turn, with functioning in romantic relationships. While the hypothesized indirect pathway was significant among both boys and girls, there was greater continuity of functioning between same- and other-sex friendships for girls. These findings highlight the importance of examining the multiple downstream effects of social anxiety on perceived social functioning in adolescence, and suggest that continuity may exist for maladaptive patterns of socialization, particularly across developmentally salient close relationships.

High School Students' Scientific Epistemological Beliefs, Self-Efficacy in Learning Physics and Attitudes toward Physics: A Structural Equation Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapucu, Serkan; Bahçivan, Eralp

2015-01-01

Background: There are some theoretical evidences that explain the relationships between core beliefs (i.e., epistemological beliefs) and peripheral beliefs (self-efficacy in learning) in the literature. The close relationships of such type of beliefs with attitudes are also discussed by some researchers. Constructing a model that investigates…

Bariatric Surgery Candidates' Peer and Romantic Relationships and Associations with Health Behaviors.

PubMed

Pratt, Keeley J; Balk, Elizabeth K; Ferriby, Megan; Wallace, Lorraine; Noria, Sabrena; Needleman, Bradley

2016-11-01

The aim was to assess the romantic and peer relationships of bariatric surgery candidates and associations with health behaviors. Adults seeking bariatric surgery (N = 120) completed surveys addressing health behaviors and social relationships at information sessions. Analysis was done to compare male/female differences in peer and romantic relationships and associations with health behaviors. Previously published reference (REF) data on the Relationship Structures questionnaire was used for comparison, and to split our sample into those ≤ or > REF mean for relationship anxiety and avoidance. Our sample reported higher avoidance and lower anxiety in their close friendships and romantic relationships compared to the REF sample. Men in our sample had higher peer and romantic relationships avoidance compared to the REF sample and had significantly higher close friendship avoidance than women in our sample. Participants with lower anxiety in their romantic relationships (≤ REF) had higher uncontrolled eating and physical activity; those with more anxiety in their romantic relationships (> REF) had a higher BMI. Our findings highlight the potential influence that social relationships may have on health behaviors within the bariatric surgery population. Further investigation is warranted to explore male bariatric surgery candidates' relationships to inform understanding and intervention development.

How To Use Crystallographic Information in Teaching First-Year Chemistry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bevan, D. J. M.; And Others

1988-01-01

Emphasizes the role that crystallography plays and has played in building up the body of chemical fact. Shows how the teaching of much of this material is illuminated by reference to crystal structures and crystallochemical relationships in all areas of chemistry. Discusses close packing, silicate structures, and salt hydrates. (CW)

Structural Patterns in Empirical Research Articles: A Cross-Disciplinary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Ling; Evans, Stephen

2012-01-01

This paper presents an analysis of the major generic structures of empirical research articles (RAs), with a particular focus on disciplinary variation and the relationship between the adjacent sections in the introductory and concluding parts. The findings were derived from a close "manual" analysis of 433 recent empirical RAs from high-impact…

Structural and genetic relationships of closely related O-antigens of Cronobacter spp. and Escherichia coli: C. sakazakii G2594 (serotype O4)/E. coli O103 and C. malonaticus G3864 (serotype O1)/E. coli O29.

PubMed

Shashkov, Alexander S; Wang, Min; Turdymuratov, Eldar M; Hu, Shaohui; Arbatsky, Nikolay P; Guo, Xi; Wang, Lei; Knirel, Yuriy A

2015-03-02

O-Antigen (O-polysaccharide) variation is the basis for bacterial serotyping and is important in bacterial virulence and niche adaptation. In this work, we present structural and genetic evidences for close relationships between the O-antigens of the Cronobacter spp. and Escherichia coli. Cronobacter sakazakii G2594 (serotype O4) and Cronobacter malonaticus G3864 (serotype O1) are structurally related to those of E. coli O103 and O29, respectively, and some other members of the Enterobacteriaceae family differing in the patterns of lateral glucosylation (C. sakazakii G2594) or O-acetylation (C. malonaticus G3864). The O-antigen gene clusters of the corresponding Cronobacter and E. coli strains contain the same genes with high-level similarity, and the structural differences within both O-antigen pairs were suggested to be due to modification genes carried by prophages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Associated with Positive Relationships between Stepfathers and Adolescent Stepchildren

PubMed Central

Thorsen, Maggie L.; Amato, Paul R.

2014-01-01

This study employs nationally representative data on adolescents and their stepfathers (n = 2085) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine factors associated with positive stepfather-stepchild relationships in married stepfamilies. Results reveal substantial variability in the perceived quality of adolescents’ relationships with stepfathers. Structural equation models using Wave I data reveal that close relationships with mothers and close ties between mothers and stepfathers are positively related to the perceived quality of adolescents’ relationships with stepfathers. Longitudinal models using Waves I and II do not yield definitive results but suggest that the direction of influence runs in both directions, with the mother-child relationship and the stepfather-stepchild relationship mutually reinforcing one another. We identify a number of other factors that are associated with positive stepfather-stepchild ties, as well as a few factors that may be less consequential than previously thought. Most of the correlates of positive stepfather-stepchild relationships are similar for boys and girls; for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics; and for stepfamilies of various durations. PMID:24913942

Research on the relationship between the structural properties of bedding layer in spring mattress and sleep quality.

PubMed

Shen, Liming; Chen, Yu-xia; Guo, Yong; Zhong, ShiLu; Fang, Fei; Zhao, Jing; Hu, Tian-Yi

2012-01-01

Mattress, as a sleep platform, its types and physical properties has an important effect on sleep quality and rest efficiency. In this paper, by subjective evaluations, analysis of sleeping behaviors and tests of depth of sleep, the relationship between characteristics of the bedding materials, the structure of mattress, sleep quality and sleep behaviors were studied. The results showed that: (1) Characteristics of the bedding materials and structure of spring mattress had a remarkable effect on sleep behaviors and sleep quality. An optimum combination of the bedding materials, the structure of mattress and its core could improve the overall comfort of mattress, thereby improving the depth of sleep and sleep quality. (2) Sleep behaviors had a close relationship with sleeping postures and sleep habits. The characteristics of sleep behaviors vary from person to person.

Closed-form solutions for linear regulator-design of mechanical systems including optimal weighting matrix selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanks, Brantley R.; Skelton, Robert E.

1991-01-01

This paper addresses the restriction of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) solutions to the algebraic Riccati Equation to design spaces which can be implemented as passive structural members and/or dampers. A general closed-form solution to the optimal free-decay control problem is presented which is tailored for structural-mechanical systems. The solution includes, as subsets, special cases such as the Rayleigh Dissipation Function and total energy. Weighting matrix selection is a constrained choice among several parameters to obtain desired physical relationships. The closed-form solution is also applicable to active control design for systems where perfect, collocated actuator-sensor pairs exist. Some examples of simple spring mass systems are shown to illustrate key points.

Relationship between birth order of spouses with different degrees of consanguineous relationship.

PubMed

Reddy, B M; Malhotra, K C

1991-08-01

The relationship between birth order of spouses with different degrees of consanguinity is examined in a sample of 1826 couples belonging to the endogamous Vadde Fisherfolk of Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India. We attempt to explain the wide variation in the frequency of different kinds of consanguineous marriages through the age-sex structure of the population in general and especially of the related families. This structure may also be manifested in the association between the birth orders of spouses. A highly significant and large correlation between the birth orders of spouses in uncle-niece marriages and a gradual decrease in the correlation with increase in remoteness of the relationship between the spouses were observed. Given the distribution of age differences between the spouses and assuming a standard age-sex structure, it seems possible to estimate the optimum frequency with which at least close consanguineous marriages occur in any particular population.

Gravitational Lenses and the Structure and Evolution of Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kockanek, Christopher; Oliversen, Ronald J. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This grant has supported papers which present a new direction in the theory and interpretation of gravitational lenses. During the second year we have focused more closely on the relationship of baryons and dark matter.

Social Cohesion, Structural Holes, and a Tale of Two Measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latora, V.; Nicosia, V.; Panzarasa, P.

2013-05-01

In the social sciences, the debate over the structural foundations of social capital has long vacillated between two positions on the relative benefits associated with two types of social structures: closed structures, rich in third-party relationships, and open structures, rich in structural holes and brokerage opportunities. In this paper, we engage with this debate by focusing on the measures typically used for formalising the two conceptions of social capital: clustering and effective size. We show that these two measures are simply two sides of the same coin, as they can be expressed one in terms of the other through a simple functional relation. Building on this relation, we then attempt to reconcile closed and open structures by proposing a new measure, Simmelian brokerage, that captures opportunities of brokerage between otherwise disconnected cohesive groups of contacts. Implications of our findings for research on social capital and complex networks are discussed.

Connecting Structure-Property and Structure-Function Relationships across the Disciplines of Chemistry and Biology: Exploring Student Perceptions.

PubMed

Kohn, Kathryn P; Underwood, Sonia M; Cooper, Melanie M

2018-06-01

While many university students take science courses in multiple disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives. Structure-property and structure-function relationships have long been considered important explanatory concepts in the disciplines of chemistry and biology, respectively. Fourteen university students concurrently enrolled in introductory chemistry and biology courses were interviewed to explore their perceptions regarding 1) the meaning of structure, properties, and function; 2) the presentation of these concepts in their courses; and 3) how these concepts might be related. Findings suggest that the concepts of structure and properties were interpreted similarly between chemistry and biology, but students more closely associated the discussion of structure-property relationships with their chemistry courses and structure-function with biology. Despite receiving little in the way of instructional support, nine students proposed a coherent conceptual relationship, indicating that structure determines properties, which determine function. Furthermore, students described ways in which they connected and benefited from their understanding. Though many students are prepared to make these connections, we would encourage instructors to engage in cross-disciplinary conversations to understand the shared goals and disciplinary distinctions regarding these important concepts in an effort to better support students unable to construct these connections for themselves.

The Unidimensional Relationship Closeness Scale (URCS): Reliability and Validity Evidence for a New Measure of Relationship Closeness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dibble, Jayson L.; Levine, Timothy R.; Park, Hee Sun

2012-01-01

A fundamental dimension along which all social and personal relationships vary is closeness. The Unidimensional Relationship Closeness Scale (URCS) is a 12-item self-report scale measuring the closeness of social and personal relationships. The reliability and validity of the URCS were assessed with college dating couples (N = 192), female friends…

Above-ground biomass and structure of 260 African tropical forests

PubMed Central

Lewis, Simon L.; Sonké, Bonaventure; Sunderland, Terry; Begne, Serge K.; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; van der Heijden, Geertje M. F.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Affum-Baffoe, Kofi; Baker, Timothy R.; Banin, Lindsay; Bastin, Jean-François; Beeckman, Hans; Boeckx, Pascal; Bogaert, Jan; De Cannière, Charles; Chezeaux, Eric; Clark, Connie J.; Collins, Murray; Djagbletey, Gloria; Djuikouo, Marie Noël K.; Droissart, Vincent; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Ewango, Cornielle E. N.; Fauset, Sophie; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Foli, Ernest G.; Gillet, Jean-François; Hamilton, Alan C.; Harris, David J.; Hart, Terese B.; de Haulleville, Thales; Hladik, Annette; Hufkens, Koen; Huygens, Dries; Jeanmart, Philippe; Jeffery, Kathryn J.; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Leal, Miguel E.; Lloyd, Jon; Lovett, Jon C.; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Marshall, Andrew R.; Ojo, Lucas; Peh, Kelvin S.-H.; Pickavance, Georgia; Poulsen, John R.; Reitsma, Jan M.; Sheil, Douglas; Simo, Murielle; Steppe, Kathy; Taedoumg, Hermann E.; Talbot, Joey; Taplin, James R. D.; Taylor, David; Thomas, Sean C.; Toirambe, Benjamin; Verbeeck, Hans; Vleminckx, Jason; White, Lee J. T.; Willcock, Simon; Woell, Hannsjorg; Zemagho, Lise

2013-01-01

We report above-ground biomass (AGB), basal area, stem density and wood mass density estimates from 260 sample plots (mean size: 1.2 ha) in intact closed-canopy tropical forests across 12 African countries. Mean AGB is 395.7 Mg dry mass ha−1 (95% CI: 14.3), substantially higher than Amazonian values, with the Congo Basin and contiguous forest region attaining AGB values (429 Mg ha−1) similar to those of Bornean forests, and significantly greater than East or West African forests. AGB therefore appears generally higher in palaeo- compared with neotropical forests. However, mean stem density is low (426 ± 11 stems ha−1 greater than or equal to 100 mm diameter) compared with both Amazonian and Bornean forests (cf. approx. 600) and is the signature structural feature of African tropical forests. While spatial autocorrelation complicates analyses, AGB shows a positive relationship with rainfall in the driest nine months of the year, and an opposite association with the wettest three months of the year; a negative relationship with temperature; positive relationship with clay-rich soils; and negative relationships with C : N ratio (suggesting a positive soil phosphorus–AGB relationship), and soil fertility computed as the sum of base cations. The results indicate that AGB is mediated by both climate and soils, and suggest that the AGB of African closed-canopy tropical forests may be particularly sensitive to future precipitation and temperature changes. PMID:23878327

The structural analysis of the mitochondrial SSUrRNA implies a close phylogenetic relationship between mitochondria from plants and from the heterotrophic alga Prototheca wickerhamii.

PubMed

Wolff, G; Kück, U

1990-04-01

The gene for the mitochondrial small subunit rRNA (SSUrRNA) from the heterotrophic alga Prototheca wickerhamii has been isolated from a gene library of extranuclear DNA. Sequence and structural analyses allow the determination of a secondary structure model for this rRNA. In addition, several sequence motifs are present which are typically found in SSUrRNAs of various mitochondrial origins. Unexpectedly, the Prototheca RNA sequence has more features in common with mitochondrial SSUrRNAs from plants than with that from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The phylogenetic relationship between mitochondria from plants and algae is discussed.

Morphological relationships in the chromospheric H-alpha fine structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foukal, P.

1971-01-01

A continuous relationship is proposed between the basic elements of the dark fine structure of the quiet and active chromosphere. A progression from chromospheric bushes to fibrils, then to chromospheric threads and active region filaments, and finally to diffuse quiescent filaments, is described. It is shown that the horizontal component of the field on opposite sides of an active region quiescent filament can be in the same direction and closely parallel to the filament axis. Consequently, it is unnecessary to postulate twisted or otherwise complex field configurations to reconcile the support mechanism of filaments with the observed motion along their axis.

The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q): development and initial validation.

PubMed

Jowett, Sophia; Ntoumanis, Nikos

2004-08-01

The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a self-report instrument that measures the nature of the coach-athlete relationship. Jowett et al.'s (Jowett & Meek, 2000; Jowett, in press) qualitative case studies and relevant literature were used to generate items for an instrument that measures affective, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of the coach-athlete relationship. Two studies were carried out in an attempt to assess content, predictive, and construct validity, as well as internal consistency, of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), using two independent British samples. Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to reduce the number of items, identify principal components, and confirm the latent structure of the CART-Q. Results supported the multidimensional nature of the coach-athlete relationship. The latent structure of the CART-Q was underlined by the latent variables of coaches' and athletes' Closeness (emotions), Commitment (cognitions), and Complementarity (behaviors).

Associations between Family Communication Patterns, Sibling Closeness, and Adoptive Status

PubMed Central

Samek, Diana R.; Rueter, Martha A.

2011-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated the protective effect of family and sibling closeness on child adjustment, but fewer studies have investigated how closeness is promoted within families. Guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory, we tested the association between family communication and sibling emotional and behavioral closeness, and whether adoptive status moderated this relationship. Participating families included 616 adoptive and non-adoptive families with two adolescent children. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Sibling closeness was highest in families that emphasized both conversation and conformity and lowest in families that emphasized only conversation or neither conversation nor conformity. Emotional and behavioral closeness were differentially associated with adoption status, sibling age, and sibling gender. Few moderating effects of adoption status were found. Post hoc analyses showed moderating effects of sibling gender composition. PMID:21984844

Associations between Family Communication Patterns, Sibling Closeness, and Adoptive Status.

PubMed

Samek, Diana R; Rueter, Martha A

2011-10-01

Previous research has demonstrated the protective effect of family and sibling closeness on child adjustment, but fewer studies have investigated how closeness is promoted within families. Guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory, we tested the association between family communication and sibling emotional and behavioral closeness, and whether adoptive status moderated this relationship. Participating families included 616 adoptive and non-adoptive families with two adolescent children. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Sibling closeness was highest in families that emphasized both conversation and conformity and lowest in families that emphasized only conversation or neither conversation nor conformity. Emotional and behavioral closeness were differentially associated with adoption status, sibling age, and sibling gender. Few moderating effects of adoption status were found. Post hoc analyses showed moderating effects of sibling gender composition.

Does Closeness to Someone Who Is Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Influence Etiology Beliefs About Homosexuality?

PubMed

Chonody, Jill M; Kavanagh, Phillip S; Woodford, Michael R

2016-12-01

Research suggests that contact with sexual minorities and etiology beliefs regarding the origins of homosexuality are associated with antigay bias; however, factors related to etiology beliefs have received little empirical attention. Our primary research question is: Does closeness to someone who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual influence etiology beliefs? Students (n = 851) from four U.S. universities completed an anonymous survey, and regression results indicated that contact and closeness were not significantly associated with etiology beliefs. Because both contact and relationship closeness were associated with antigay attitudes, and closeness demonstrated the largest effect, we tested three alternative structural equation models to determine if contact and closeness mediated etiology beliefs. Results suggested that contact and the degree of closeness are indirectly associated with students' etiology beliefs through antigay bias.

Sexual Closeness Discrepancies: What They Are and Why They Matter for Sexual Well-Being in Romantic Relationships.

PubMed

Frost, David M; McClelland, Sara I; Dettmann, Miranda

2017-11-01

This study examined the impact of sexual closeness on sexual well-being. We developed a nuanced and multifaceted conceptualization of sexual closeness in the form of a constellation of ideal sexual closeness with a partner, actual sexual closeness, and the discrepancy between the two. Data were obtained from a diverse sample of N = 619 participants who took part in the Lives and Relationships Study: A longitudinal survey of men and women in relationships living in the U.S. and Canada. Increases in sexual closeness discrepancies over a period of 1 year predicted concomitant decreases in two indicators of sexual well-being: sexual satisfaction and orgasm frequency evaluations. Decreases in sexual closeness discrepancies resulted in improvement in sexual well-being. Individuals who reported no sexual closeness discrepancies and experienced no changes in sexual closeness discrepancies tended to have the highest levels of sexual well-being. Importantly, sexual closeness discrepancies were robust predictors of sexual well-being, above and beyond individuals' actual sexual closeness, general relationship closeness, and other demographic and relationship characteristics known to be associated with sexual well-being. The present findings demonstrate that how close people feel sexually to their relationship partners is part of a general constellation of factors related to relationship closeness that, only when considered together, sufficiently explain the ways in which experiences of closeness impact sexual well-being in romantic relationships.

Sibling death and death fear in relation to depressive symptomatology in older adults.

PubMed

Cicirelli, Victor G

2009-01-01

Previously overlooked factors in elders' depressive symptomatology were examined, including death fear, sibling death, and sibling closeness. Participants were 150 elders (61 men, 89 women) aged 65-97 years with at least one sibling. Measures were proportion of deceased siblings, sibling closeness, the Death Fear Subscale of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (20-item adult form). Age and education were exogenous variables in a structural equation model. Death fear, sibling closeness, and proportion of dead siblings were directly related to depression, with path coefficients of .42, -.24, and .13, respectively. Proportion of dead siblings had indirect effects on depression, as did age and education. Depressive symptomatology in old age is influenced by death fear related to sibling death as well as by poor relationships with them; it must be understood within a situational context including death fear and sibling relationships.

Approximate analytical relationships for linear optimal aeroelastic flight control laws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassem, Ayman Hamdy

1998-09-01

This dissertation introduces new methods to uncover functional relationships between design parameters of a contemporary control design technique and the resulting closed-loop properties. Three new methods are developed for generating such relationships through analytical expressions: the Direct Eigen-Based Technique, the Order of Magnitude Technique, and the Cost Function Imbedding Technique. Efforts concentrated on the linear-quadratic state-feedback control-design technique applied to an aeroelastic flight control task. For this specific application, simple and accurate analytical expressions for the closed-loop eigenvalues and zeros in terms of basic parameters such as stability and control derivatives, structural vibration damping and natural frequency, and cost function weights are generated. These expressions explicitly indicate how the weights augment the short period and aeroelastic modes, as well as the closed-loop zeros, and by what physical mechanism. The analytical expressions are used to address topics such as damping, nonminimum phase behavior, stability, and performance with robustness considerations, and design modifications. This type of knowledge is invaluable to the flight control designer and would be more difficult to formulate when obtained from numerical-based sensitivity analysis.

Incrementally Dissociating Syntax and Semantics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brennan, Jonathan R.

2010-01-01

A basic challenge for research into the neurobiology of language is understanding how the brain combines words to make complex representations. Linguistic theory divides this task into several computations including syntactic structure building and semantic composition. The close relationship between these computations, however, poses a strong…

Educational Interpretations of General Systems Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hug, William E.; King, James E.

This chapter discusses General Systems Theory as it applies to education, classrooms, innovations, and instructional design. The principles of equifinality, open and closed systems, the individual as the key system, hierarchical structures, optimization, stability, cooperation, and competition are discussed, and their relationship to instructional…

Family relationships and the development of social competence in adolescence.

PubMed

Brennan, J L

1993-01-01

Resilient adolescents are notable for their social competence, which enables them to form and maintain close relationships. The evidence is that adolescents' social competence is derived from their experience of close relationships within their family. On the basis of structured interviews, adolescents' working models of attachments can be categorized into secure, dismissive, or pre-occupied. These attachment styles are associated with very divergent beliefs about the self and others, with differing patterns of emotion regulation and with differing risk profiles for maladjustment. Parenting styles and family relationships appear to have considerable influence on attachment behaviour. Further evidence for the importance of the family comes from research on ego development. Family level behavioural patterns have been discerned from family research interviews which are associated with stagnation or advancement in ego development during adolescence. Though the results suggest causal connections, the direction of effects is far from clear. Longitudinal research underpins the importance of childhood temperament as a contributing factor to the quality of the family environment that the child and then adolescent experiences.

Response of rocky invertebrate diversity, structure and function to the vertical layering of vegetation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bustamante, María; Tajadura, Javier; Gorostiaga, José María; Saiz-Salinas, José Ignacio

2014-06-01

Macroalgae comprise a prominent part of the rocky benthos where many invertebrates develop, and are believed to be undergoing severe declines worldwide. In order to investigate how the vegetation structure (crustose, basal and canopy layers) contributes to the diversity, structure and function of benthic invertebrates, a total of 31 subtidal transects were sampled along the northeast Atlantic coast of Spain. Significant positive relationships were found between the canopy layer and faunal abundance, taxonomic diversity and functional group diversity. Canopy forming algae were also related to epiphytic invertebrates, medium size forms, colonial strategy and suspensivores. By contrast, basal algae showed negative relationships with all variables tested except for detritivores. Multivariate multiple regression analyses (DISTLM) point to crustose as well as canopy layers as the best link between seaweeds and invertebrate assemblage structure. A close relationship was found between taxonomic and functional diversities. In general, low levels of taxonomic redundancy were detected for functional groups correlated with vegetation structure. A conceptual model based on the results is proposed, describing distinct stages of invertebrate assemblages in relation to the vertical structure of vegetation.

Validating the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale: testing factor structure and measurement invariance across child gender and age in a Dutch sample.

PubMed

Koomen, Helma M Y; Verschueren, Karine; van Schooten, Erik; Jak, Suzanne; Pianta, Robert C

2012-04-01

The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is widely used to examine teachers' relationships with young students in terms of closeness, conflict, and dependency. This study aimed to verify the dimensional structure of the STRS with confirmatory factor analysis, test its measurement invariance across child gender and age, improve its measurement of the dependency construct, and extend its age range. Teachers completed a slightly adapted STRS for a Dutch sample of 2335 children aged 3 to 12. Overall, the 3-factor model showed an acceptable fit. Results indicated metric invariance across gender and age up to 8years. Scalar invariance generally did not hold. Lack of metric invariance at ages 8 to 12 primarily involved Conflict items, whereas scale differences across gender and age primarily involved Closeness items. The adapted Dependency scale showed strong invariance and higher internal consistencies than the original scale for this Dutch sample. Importantly, the revealed non-invariance for gender and age did not influence mean group comparisons. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Primary structures of skin antimicrobial peptides indicate a close, but not conspecific, phylogenetic relationship between the leopard frogs Lithobates onca and Lithobates yavapaiensis (Ranidae).

PubMed

Conlon, J Michael; Coquet, Laurent; Leprince, Jérôme; Jouenne, Thierry; Vaudry, Hubert; King, Jay D

2010-04-01

The phylogenetic relationship between the relict leopard frog Lithobates (Rana) onca (Cope, 1875) and the lowland leopard frog Lithobates (Rana) yavapaiensis (Platz and Frost, 1984) is unclear. Chromatographic analysis of norepinephrine-stimulated skin secretions from L. onca led to the identification of six peptides with antimicrobial activity. Determination of their primary structures indicated that four of the peptides were identical to brevinin-1Ya, brevinin-1Yb, brevinin-1Yc and ranatuerin-2Ya previously isolated from skin secretions of L. yavapaiensis. However, a peptide belonging to the temporin family (temporin-ONa: FLPTFGKILSGLF.NH(2)) and an atypical member of the ranatuerin-2 family containing a C-terminal cyclic heptapeptide domain (ranatuerin-2ONa: GLMDTVKNAAKNLAGQMLDKLKCKITGSC) were isolated from the L. onca secretions but were not present in the L. yavapaiensis secretions. Ranatuerin-2ONa inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli (MIC=50muM) and Candida albicans (MIC=100muM ) and showed hemolytic activity (LC(50)=90muM) but was inactive against Staphylococcus aureus. The data indicate a close phylogenetic relationship between L. onca and L. yavapaiensis but suggest that they are not conspecific species.

Divergent Perceptual Processes on Cyberbullying Between Victims and Aggressors: Construction of Explanatory Models.

PubMed

Fernández-Antelo, Inmaculada; Cuadrado-Gordillo, Isabel

2018-01-01

Understanding the causes of adolescents' aggressive behavior in and through technological means and resources requires a thorough analysis of the criteria that they consider to be identifying and defining cyberbullying and of the network of relationships established between the different criteria. The present study has aimed at making a foray into the attempt to understand the underlying structures and mechanisms that determine aggressors' and victims' perceptions of the cyberbullying phenomenon. The sample consisted of 2148 adolescents (49.1% girls; SD = 0.5) of ages from 12 to 16 ( M = 13.9; SD = 1.2). The data collected through a validated questionnaire for this study whose dimensions were confirmed from the data extracted from the focus groups and a CFA of the victim and aggressor subsamples. The analysis of the data is completed with CFA and the construction of structural models. The results have shown the importance and interdependence of imbalance of power and intention to harm in the aggressors' perceptual structure. The criteria of anonymity and repetition are related to the asymmetry of power, giving greater prominence to this factor. In its perceptual structure, the criterion "social relationship" also appears, which indicates that the manifestations of cyberbullying are sometimes interpreted as patterns of behavior that have become massively extended among the adolescent population, and have become accepted as a normalized and harmless way of communicating with other adolescents. In the victims' perceptual structure the key factor is the intention to harm, closely linked to the asymmetry of power and publicity. Anonymity, revenge and repetition are also present in this structure, although its relationship with cyberbullying is indirect. These results allow to design more effective measures of prevention and intervention closely tailored to addressing directly the factors that are considered to be predictors of risk.

Segmented molecular design of self-healing proteinaceous materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sariola, Veikko; Pena-Francesch, Abdon; Jung, Huihun; Çetinkaya, Murat; Pacheco, Carlos; Sitti, Metin; Demirel, Melik C.

2015-09-01

Hierarchical assembly of self-healing adhesive proteins creates strong and robust structural and interfacial materials, but understanding of the molecular design and structure-property relationships of structural proteins remains unclear. Elucidating this relationship would allow rational design of next generation genetically engineered self-healing structural proteins. Here we report a general self-healing and -assembly strategy based on a multiphase recombinant protein based material. Segmented structure of the protein shows soft glycine- and tyrosine-rich segments with self-healing capability and hard beta-sheet segments. The soft segments are strongly plasticized by water, lowering the self-healing temperature close to body temperature. The hard segments self-assemble into nanoconfined domains to reinforce the material. The healing strength scales sublinearly with contact time, which associates with diffusion and wetting of autohesion. The finding suggests that recombinant structural proteins from heterologous expression have potential as strong and repairable engineering materials.

Segmented molecular design of self-healing proteinaceous materials.

PubMed

Sariola, Veikko; Pena-Francesch, Abdon; Jung, Huihun; Çetinkaya, Murat; Pacheco, Carlos; Sitti, Metin; Demirel, Melik C

2015-09-01

Hierarchical assembly of self-healing adhesive proteins creates strong and robust structural and interfacial materials, but understanding of the molecular design and structure-property relationships of structural proteins remains unclear. Elucidating this relationship would allow rational design of next generation genetically engineered self-healing structural proteins. Here we report a general self-healing and -assembly strategy based on a multiphase recombinant protein based material. Segmented structure of the protein shows soft glycine- and tyrosine-rich segments with self-healing capability and hard beta-sheet segments. The soft segments are strongly plasticized by water, lowering the self-healing temperature close to body temperature. The hard segments self-assemble into nanoconfined domains to reinforce the material. The healing strength scales sublinearly with contact time, which associates with diffusion and wetting of autohesion. The finding suggests that recombinant structural proteins from heterologous expression have potential as strong and repairable engineering materials.

Emergence of scale-free close-knit friendship structure in online social networks.

PubMed

Cui, Ai-Xiang; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Tang, Ming; Hui, Pak Ming; Fu, Yan

2012-01-01

Although the structural properties of online social networks have attracted much attention, the properties of the close-knit friendship structures remain an important question. Here, we mainly focus on how these mesoscale structures are affected by the local and global structural properties. Analyzing the data of four large-scale online social networks reveals several common structural properties. It is found that not only the local structures given by the indegree, outdegree, and reciprocal degree distributions follow a similar scaling behavior, the mesoscale structures represented by the distributions of close-knit friendship structures also exhibit a similar scaling law. The degree correlation is very weak over a wide range of the degrees. We propose a simple directed network model that captures the observed properties. The model incorporates two mechanisms: reciprocation and preferential attachment. Through rate equation analysis of our model, the local-scale and mesoscale structural properties are derived. In the local-scale, the same scaling behavior of indegree and outdegree distributions stems from indegree and outdegree of nodes both growing as the same function of the introduction time, and the reciprocal degree distribution also shows the same power-law due to the linear relationship between the reciprocal degree and in/outdegree of nodes. In the mesoscale, the distributions of four closed triples representing close-knit friendship structures are found to exhibit identical power-laws, a behavior attributed to the negligible degree correlations. Intriguingly, all the power-law exponents of the distributions in the local-scale and mesoscale depend only on one global parameter, the mean in/outdegree, while both the mean in/outdegree and the reciprocity together determine the ratio of the reciprocal degree of a node to its in/outdegree. Structural properties of numerical simulated networks are analyzed and compared with each of the four real networks. This work helps understand the interplay between structures on different scales in online social networks.

Emergence of Scale-Free Close-Knit Friendship Structure in Online Social Networks

PubMed Central

Cui, Ai-Xiang; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Tang, Ming; Hui, Pak Ming; Fu, Yan

2012-01-01

Although the structural properties of online social networks have attracted much attention, the properties of the close-knit friendship structures remain an important question. Here, we mainly focus on how these mesoscale structures are affected by the local and global structural properties. Analyzing the data of four large-scale online social networks reveals several common structural properties. It is found that not only the local structures given by the indegree, outdegree, and reciprocal degree distributions follow a similar scaling behavior, the mesoscale structures represented by the distributions of close-knit friendship structures also exhibit a similar scaling law. The degree correlation is very weak over a wide range of the degrees. We propose a simple directed network model that captures the observed properties. The model incorporates two mechanisms: reciprocation and preferential attachment. Through rate equation analysis of our model, the local-scale and mesoscale structural properties are derived. In the local-scale, the same scaling behavior of indegree and outdegree distributions stems from indegree and outdegree of nodes both growing as the same function of the introduction time, and the reciprocal degree distribution also shows the same power-law due to the linear relationship between the reciprocal degree and in/outdegree of nodes. In the mesoscale, the distributions of four closed triples representing close-knit friendship structures are found to exhibit identical power-laws, a behavior attributed to the negligible degree correlations. Intriguingly, all the power-law exponents of the distributions in the local-scale and mesoscale depend only on one global parameter, the mean in/outdegree, while both the mean in/outdegree and the reciprocity together determine the ratio of the reciprocal degree of a node to its in/outdegree. Structural properties of numerical simulated networks are analyzed and compared with each of the four real networks. This work helps understand the interplay between structures on different scales in online social networks. PMID:23272067

Applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling to Examine the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale in a Representative Greek Sample.

PubMed

Tsigilis, Nikolaos; Gregoriadis, Athanasios; Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Zachopoulou, Evridiki

2018-01-01

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a fundamental prerequisite for children's social, emotional, and academic development. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most widely accepted and used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. STRS is a 28-item questionnaire that assess three relational dimensions, Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The relevant literature has shown a pattern regarding the difficulty to support the STRS factor structure with CFA, while it is well-documented with EFA. Recently, a new statistical technique was proposed to combine the best of the CFA and EFA namely, the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the factor structure of the STRS in a Greek national sample. Toward this end, the ESEM framework was applied in order to overcome the limitations of EFA and CFA, (b) to confirm previous findings about the cultural influence in teacher-child relationship patterns, and (c) to examine the invariance of STRS across gender and age. Early educators from a representative Greek sample size of 535 child care and kindergarten centers completed the STRS for 4,158 children. CFA as well as ESEM procedures were implemented. Results showed that ESEM provided better fit to the data than CFA in both groups, supporting the argument that CFA is an overly restrictive approach in comparison to ESEM for the study of STRS. All primary loadings were statistically significant and were associated with their respective latent factors. Contrary to the existing literature conducted in USA and northern Europe, the association between Closeness and Dependency yielded a positive correlation. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in Greece and confirm the existence of cultural differences in teacher-child relationships. In addition, findings supported the configural, metric, scalar, and variance/covariance equivalence of the STRS between males and females and between preschoolers (3-5 years) and early primary years (5-7 years). Latent factor means comparisons showed that females seem to have a warmer and more dependent relationship with their teachers and are less conflictual in comparison to males.

Applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling to Examine the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale in a Representative Greek Sample

PubMed Central

Tsigilis, Nikolaos; Gregoriadis, Athanasios; Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Zachopoulou, Evridiki

2018-01-01

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a fundamental prerequisite for children's social, emotional, and academic development. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most widely accepted and used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. STRS is a 28-item questionnaire that assess three relational dimensions, Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The relevant literature has shown a pattern regarding the difficulty to support the STRS factor structure with CFA, while it is well-documented with EFA. Recently, a new statistical technique was proposed to combine the best of the CFA and EFA namely, the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the factor structure of the STRS in a Greek national sample. Toward this end, the ESEM framework was applied in order to overcome the limitations of EFA and CFA, (b) to confirm previous findings about the cultural influence in teacher-child relationship patterns, and (c) to examine the invariance of STRS across gender and age. Early educators from a representative Greek sample size of 535 child care and kindergarten centers completed the STRS for 4,158 children. CFA as well as ESEM procedures were implemented. Results showed that ESEM provided better fit to the data than CFA in both groups, supporting the argument that CFA is an overly restrictive approach in comparison to ESEM for the study of STRS. All primary loadings were statistically significant and were associated with their respective latent factors. Contrary to the existing literature conducted in USA and northern Europe, the association between Closeness and Dependency yielded a positive correlation. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in Greece and confirm the existence of cultural differences in teacher-child relationships. In addition, findings supported the configural, metric, scalar, and variance/covariance equivalence of the STRS between males and females and between preschoolers (3–5 years) and early primary years (5–7 years). Latent factor means comparisons showed that females seem to have a warmer and more dependent relationship with their teachers and are less conflictual in comparison to males. PMID:29867688

The Strategic Systems Therapies: Measuring the Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohrbaugh, Michael

As family therapy becomes a serious intellectual disipline, the relationships among its leading variations require closer examination. To examine similarities and differences among four closely related approaches (brief, problem-focused therapy; structural family therapy; strategic family therapy; and systemic family therapy) and to determine if…

Closed-form solutions for linear regulator design of mechanical systems including optimal weighting matrix selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanks, Brantley R.; Skelton, Robert E.

1991-01-01

Vibration in modern structural and mechanical systems can be reduced in amplitude by increasing stiffness, redistributing stiffness and mass, and/or adding damping if design techniques are available to do so. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) theory in modern multivariable control design, attacks the general dissipative elastic system design problem in a global formulation. The optimal design, however, allows electronic connections and phase relations which are not physically practical or possible in passive structural-mechanical devices. The restriction of LQR solutions (to the Algebraic Riccati Equation) to design spaces which can be implemented as passive structural members and/or dampers is addressed. A general closed-form solution to the optimal free-decay control problem is presented which is tailored for structural-mechanical system. The solution includes, as subsets, special cases such as the Rayleigh Dissipation Function and total energy. Weighting matrix selection is a constrained choice among several parameters to obtain desired physical relationships. The closed-form solution is also applicable to active control design for systems where perfect, collocated actuator-sensor pairs exist.

Modeling process-structure-property relationships for additive manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Wentao; Lin, Stephen; Kafka, Orion L.; Yu, Cheng; Liu, Zeliang; Lian, Yanping; Wolff, Sarah; Cao, Jian; Wagner, Gregory J.; Liu, Wing Kam

2018-02-01

This paper presents our latest work on comprehensive modeling of process-structure-property relationships for additive manufacturing (AM) materials, including using data-mining techniques to close the cycle of design-predict-optimize. To illustrate the processstructure relationship, the multi-scale multi-physics process modeling starts from the micro-scale to establish a mechanistic heat source model, to the meso-scale models of individual powder particle evolution, and finally to the macro-scale model to simulate the fabrication process of a complex product. To link structure and properties, a highefficiency mechanistic model, self-consistent clustering analyses, is developed to capture a variety of material response. The model incorporates factors such as voids, phase composition, inclusions, and grain structures, which are the differentiating features of AM metals. Furthermore, we propose data-mining as an effective solution for novel rapid design and optimization, which is motivated by the numerous influencing factors in the AM process. We believe this paper will provide a roadmap to advance AM fundamental understanding and guide the monitoring and advanced diagnostics of AM processing.

Childhood Sibling Relationships of Eminent Canadian Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yewchuk, Carolyn R.; Schlosser, Grace A.

1996-01-01

This study compared differences between 72 eminent Canadian women who reported close sibling relationships and 72 similar women who reported no close sibling relationships. Those with close siblings expressed their responsibility within the relationship and rivalry within the sibship. Those not close to siblings often blamed this on age…

Conservative whole-organ scaling contrasts with highly labile suborgan scaling differences among compound eyes of closely related Formica ants.

PubMed

Perl, Craig D; Rossoni, Sergio; Niven, Jeremy E

2017-03-01

Static allometries determine how organ size scales in relation to body mass. The extent to which these allometric relationships are free to evolve, and how they differ among closely related species, has been debated extensively and remains unclear; changes in intercept appear common, but changes in slope are far rarer. Here, we compare the scaling relationships that govern the structure of compound eyes of four closely related ant species from the genus Formica . Comparison among these species revealed changes in intercept but not slope in the allometric scaling relationships governing eye area, facet number, and mean facet diameter. Moreover, the scaling between facet diameter and number was conserved across all four species. In contrast, facet diameters from distinct regions of the compound eye differed in both intercept and slope within a single species and when comparing homologous regions among species. Thus, even when species are conservative in the scaling of whole organs, they can differ substantially in regional scaling within organs. This, at least partly, explains how species can produce organs that adhere to genus wide scaling relationships while still being able to invest differentially in particular regions of organs to produce specific features that match their ecology.

Interorganizational relationships among family support organizations and child mental health agencies.

PubMed

Acri, Mary C; Palinkas, Larry; Hoagwood, Kimberly E; Shen, Sa; Schoonover, Diana; Reutz, Jennifer Rolls; Landsverk, John

2014-07-01

This study examined: (1) qualitative aspects of close working relationships between family support organizations and child mental health agencies, including effective and ineffective characteristics of the relationship and aspects that they would change, and (2) the impact of the working relationship upon the family support organization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 directors of family support organizations characterized as having a close working relationship with a child mental health agency. Three main themes emerged regarding the quality of the working relationship: (a) interactional factors, including shared trust, communication, collaboration and service coordination; (b) aspects of the inner context of the family support organization, mental health agency, or both, including alignment of goals and values and perceptions of mental health services; and (c) outer contextual factors external to the organizations, such as financial and county regulations. Responses to the perceived impact of the relationship was divided into two themes: positive impacts (e.g. gained respect, influence and visibility), and negative impacts (e.g. lack of trust). This study lays the foundation for future research to better understand the mechanisms underlying interorganizational relationships in communities among different types of providers to create a more seamless continuum of services for families of children with mental health conditions.

Tailoring the Psychotherapy to the Borderline Patient

PubMed Central

HORWITZ, LEONARD; GABBARD, GLEN O.; ALLEN, JON G.; COLSON, DONALD B.; FRIESWYK, SIEBOLT; NEWSOM, GAVIN E.; COYNE, LOLAFAYE

1996-01-01

Views still differ as to the optimal psychodynamic treatment of borderline patients. Recommendations range from psychoanalysis and exploratory psychotherapy to an explicitly supportive treatment aimed at strengthening adaptive defenses. The authors contend that no single approach is appropriate for all patients in this wide-ranging diagnostic category, which spans a continuum from close-to-neurotic to close-to-psychotic levels of functioning. Careful differentiations based on developmental considerations, ego structures, and relationship patterns provide the basis for the optimal treatment approach. PMID:22700301

The moderating role of cultural affiliation in the link between emotional closeness to grandparents and adolescent adjustment difficulties and prosocial behavior.

PubMed

Attar-Schwartz, Shalhevet; Khoury-Kassabri, Mona

2016-01-01

A growing body of research has shown the positive contribution of grandparents to adolescents' well-being. However, studies often overlook the cultural context in which this relationship is embedded. The current study examined whether emotional closeness to the grandparent identified by the adolescents as their closest grandparent varied among Arab and Jewish adolescents and whether cultural affiliation serves as a moderator in the association between emotional closeness to grandparents and adolescent adjustment difficulties and prosocial behaviors. The study was based on a sample of 2,751 Jewish and Arab secondary school students (aged 12-18) from Israel who completed a structured questionnaire. Among the whole sample, greater emotional closeness to the closest grandparent was associated with reduced emotional symptoms, reduced hyperactivity, and increased prosocial behaviors. While there were lower levels of emotional closeness to the closest grandparents among Arab adolescents, emotional closeness to grandparents was found to be more strongly associated with reduced emotional symptoms and increased prosocial behavior among Arab adolescents than among Jewish adolescents. These findings emphasize the importance of considering culture when examining intergenerational relationships in the family and their contribution to grandchildren's well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The existential function of close relationships: introducing death into the science of love.

PubMed

Mikulincer, Mario; Florian, Victor; Hirschberger, Gilad

2003-01-01

Originally, terror management theory proposed two psychological mechanisms in dealing with the terror of death awareness-cultural worldview validation and self-esteem enhancement. In this article, we would like to promote the idea of close relationships as an additional death-anxiety buffering mechanism and review a growing body of empirical data that support this contention. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the sociocultural and personal functions of close relationships, we formulate two basic hypotheses that have received empirical support in a series of experimental studies. First, death reminders heighten the motivation to form and maintain close relationships. Second, the maintenance of close relationships provides a symbolic shield against the terror of death, whereas the breaking of close relationships results in an upsurge of death awareness. In addition, we present empirical evidence supporting the possibility that close relationships function as a related yet separate mechanism from the self-esteem and cultural worldview defenses.

A Close Look in to Role of ICT in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaffash, Hamid Reza; Kargiban, Zohreh Abedi; Kargiban, Sodabeh Abedi; Ramezani, Mehrdad Talesh

2010-01-01

Theoretical approaches and frameworks which are helpful to understand the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the formal education sector are reviewed and examined. The structured literature review and documentary research techniques are applied. Relationships between ICT, curriculum development, pedagogy, and practice in…

Trends of Educational Policy in Socialist Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kluczynski, J.

Education in Eastern Europe's socialist countries is closely related to national development, emphasizes this report on the structure and goals of education in seven nations and two Soviet federated states. The author discusses the relationship of educational development to technical and organizational progress, changes in socioeconomic and…

Adoptees' Portrayal of the Development of Family Structure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobol, Michael P.; And Others

1994-01-01

Young adult adoptees (n=48) and nonadoptees (n=72) provided retrospective accounts of family relationships that portrayed adoptive families as more cohesive and adaptable, with greater closeness before adolescence. Results are considered in terms of discontinuities of observations of adoptive families and adoptees' personal reflections. (SLD)

Do Close Supportive Relationships Moderate the Effect of Depressive Symptoms on Suicidal Ideation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Aja L.; McKenzie, Karen; Murray, Kara R.; Richelieu, Marc

2016-01-01

Depressive symptoms, a lack of close supportive relationships and suicidal ideation are important risk factors for suicidal acts. Previous studies have primarily focused on the additive effects of close relationships and depressive symptoms on suicide risk. Here we explored whether, in addition, close relationships moderated the impact of…

The observed characteristics of flare energy release. I - Magnetic structure at the energy release site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Machado, Marcos E.; Moore, Ronald L.; Hagyard, Mona J.; Hernandez, Ana M.; Rovira, Marta G.

1988-01-01

It is shown that flaring activity as seen in X-rays usually encompasses two or more interacting magnetic bipoles within an active region. Soft and hard X-ray spatiotemporal evolution is considered as well as the time dependence of the thermal energy content in different magnetic bipoles participating in the flare, the hardness and impulsivity of the hard X-ray emission, and the relationship between the X-ray behavior and the strength and 'observable shear' of the magnetic field. It is found that the basic structure of a flare usually consists of an initiating closed bipole plus one or more adjacent closed bipoles impacted against it.

Molecular dynamics simulations: advances and applications

PubMed Central

Hospital, Adam; Goñi, Josep Ramon; Orozco, Modesto; Gelpí, Josep L

2015-01-01

Molecular dynamics simulations have evolved into a mature technique that can be used effectively to understand macromolecular structure-to-function relationships. Present simulation times are close to biologically relevant ones. Information gathered about the dynamic properties of macromolecules is rich enough to shift the usual paradigm of structural bioinformatics from studying single structures to analyze conformational ensembles. Here, we describe the foundations of molecular dynamics and the improvements made in the direction of getting such ensemble. Specific application of the technique to three main issues (allosteric regulation, docking, and structure refinement) is discussed. PMID:26604800

Familism and Psychological Health: The Intervening Role of Closeness and Social Support

PubMed Central

Campos, Belinda; Ullman, Jodie B.; Aguilera, Adrian; Schetter, Christine Dunkel

2014-01-01

Familism, a cultural value that emphasizes warm, close, supportive family relationships and that family be prioritized over self, has been associated with psychological health. The goal of this work was to fill a gap in the literature on how familism contributes to psychological health. Drawing from conceptual links between familism and close relationship processes, we hypothesized that familism contributes to better psychological health by facilitating closeness and social support. A university sample of U.S. women and men of Latino (n = 173), European (n = 257), and Asian (n = 642) cultural backgrounds completed measures of familism, closeness to family members, general perceived social support, and psychological health as indexed by perceived stress, general mental health, and depressive symptoms. Structural equation multiple-group modeling analyses found direct effects of familism on closeness to family members and perceived social support and an indirect effect of familism on better psychological health via greater closeness to family members and greater perceived social support. These effects did not differ by cultural background. Consistent with previous research, however, Latinos reported the highest levels of familism of the three cultural groups, and women reported higher familism and support as well as poorer psychological health than men. Discussion is focused on the implications of these findings for understanding the association of familism with psychological health and the relevance of the familism construct for diverse U.S. groups. PMID:24773004

Radiating despite a Lack of Character: Ecological Divergence among Closely Related, Morphologically Similar Honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae) Co-occurring in Arid Australian Environments.

PubMed

Miller, Eliot T; Wagner, Sarah K; Harmon, Luke J; Ricklefs, Robert E

2017-02-01

Quantifying the relationship between form and function can inform use of morphology as a surrogate for ecology. How the strength of this relationship varies continentally can inform understanding of evolutionary radiations; for example, does the relationship break down when certain lineages invade and diversify in novel habitats? The 75 species of Australian honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) are morphologically and ecologically diverse, with species feeding on nectar, insects, fruit, and other resources. We investigated Meliphagidae ecomorphology and community structure by (1) quantifying the concordance between morphology and ecology (foraging behavior), (2) estimating rates of trait evolution in relation to the packing of ecological space, and (3) comparing phylogenetic and trait community structure across the broad environmental gradients of the continent. We found that morphology explained 37% of the variance in ecology (and 62% vice versa), and we uncovered well-known bivariate relationships among the multivariate ecomorphological data. Ecological trait diversity declined less rapidly than phylogenetic diversity along a gradient of decreasing precipitation. We employ a new method (trait fields) and extend another (phylogenetic fields) to show that while species in phylogenetically clustered, arid-environment assemblages are similar morphologically, they are as varied in foraging behavior as those from more diverse assemblages. Thus, although closely related and similar morphologically, these arid-adapted species have diverged in ecological space to a similar degree as their mesic counterparts.

Segmented molecular design of self-healing proteinaceous materials

PubMed Central

Sariola, Veikko; Pena-Francesch, Abdon; Jung, Huihun; Çetinkaya, Murat; Pacheco, Carlos; Sitti, Metin; Demirel, Melik C.

2015-01-01

Hierarchical assembly of self-healing adhesive proteins creates strong and robust structural and interfacial materials, but understanding of the molecular design and structure–property relationships of structural proteins remains unclear. Elucidating this relationship would allow rational design of next generation genetically engineered self-healing structural proteins. Here we report a general self-healing and -assembly strategy based on a multiphase recombinant protein based material. Segmented structure of the protein shows soft glycine- and tyrosine-rich segments with self-healing capability and hard beta-sheet segments. The soft segments are strongly plasticized by water, lowering the self-healing temperature close to body temperature. The hard segments self-assemble into nanoconfined domains to reinforce the material. The healing strength scales sublinearly with contact time, which associates with diffusion and wetting of autohesion. The finding suggests that recombinant structural proteins from heterologous expression have potential as strong and repairable engineering materials. PMID:26323335

Maturation of the Concept of Death in Elementary School Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townley, Kim; Thornburg, Kathy R.

1980-01-01

A structured interview was used to ascertain the level of understanding of the concept of death in 52 elementary school children. Data analysis showed sex, religious affilation, and the death of a close relative had little or no relationship to the level of understanding of death. (Author/RL)

Public and Private Dialogue About the American Family on Television.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albada, Kelly Fudge

2000-01-01

Finds that the private dialog between parents and children closely approximated the public dialog about TV family portrayals by focusing on TV family realism, structure, and relationship models. Shows that a social learning model was implicit in participants' arguments, and that most participants argued that family portrayals affect expectations…

Links between Adolescents’ Closeness to Adoptive Parents and Attachment Style in Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Grant-Marsney, Holly A.; Grotevant, Harold D.; Sayer, Aline G.

2014-01-01

This study examined whether adolescents’ closeness to adoptive parents (APs) predicted attachment styles in close relationships outside their family during young adulthood. In a longitudinal study of domestic infant adoptions, closeness to adoptive mother and adoptive father was assessed in 156 adolescents (M = 15.7 years). Approximately nine years later (M = 25.0 years), closeness to parents was assessed again as well as attachment style in their close relationships. Multilevel modeling was used to predict attachment style in young adulthood from the average and discrepancy of closeness to adolescents’ adoptive mothers and fathers and the change over time in closeness to APs. Less avoidant attachment style was predicted by stronger closeness to both APs during adolescence. Increased closeness to APs over time was related to less anxiety in close relationships. Higher closeness over time to either AP was related to less avoidance and anxiety in close relationships. PMID:25859067

Links between Adolescents' Closeness to Adoptive Parents and Attachment Style in Young Adulthood.

PubMed

Grant-Marsney, Holly A; Grotevant, Harold D; Sayer, Aline G

2015-04-01

This study examined whether adolescents' closeness to adoptive parents (APs) predicted attachment styles in close relationships outside their family during young adulthood. In a longitudinal study of domestic infant adoptions, closeness to adoptive mother and adoptive father was assessed in 156 adolescents ( M = 15.7 years). Approximately nine years later ( M = 25.0 years), closeness to parents was assessed again as well as attachment style in their close relationships. Multilevel modeling was used to predict attachment style in young adulthood from the average and discrepancy of closeness to adolescents' adoptive mothers and fathers and the change over time in closeness to APs. Less avoidant attachment style was predicted by stronger closeness to both APs during adolescence. Increased closeness to APs over time was related to less anxiety in close relationships. Higher closeness over time to either AP was related to less avoidance and anxiety in close relationships.

The structure of mushroom polysaccharides and their beneficial role in health.

PubMed

Huang, Xiaojun; Nie, Shaoping

2015-10-01

Mushroom is a kind of fungus that has been popular for its special flavour and renowned biological values. The polysaccharide contained in mushroom is regarded as one of the primary bioactive constituents and is beneficial for health. The structural features and bioactivities of mushroom polysaccharides have been studied extensively. It is believed that the diverse biological bioactivities of polysaccharides are closely related to their structure or conformation properties. In this review, the structural characteristics, conformational features and bioactivities of several mushroom polysaccharides are summarized, and their beneficial mechanisms and the relationships between their structure and bioactivities are also discussed.

Multigene-based analyses on evolutionary phylogeny of two controversial ciliate orders: Pleuronematida and Loxocephalida (Protista, Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea).

PubMed

Gao, Feng; Katz, Laura A; Song, Weibo

2013-07-01

Relationships among members of the ciliate subclass Scuticociliatia (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) are largely unresolved. Phylogenetic studies of its orders Pleuronematida and Loxocephalida were initially based on small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU-rDNA) analyses of a limited number of taxa. Here we characterized 37 sequences (SSU-rDNA, ITS-5.8S and LSU-rDNA) from 21 taxonomically controversial members of these orders. Phylogenetic trees constructed to assess the inter- and intra-generic relationships of pleuronematids and loxocephalids reveal the following: (1) the order Loxocephalida and its two families Loxocephalidae and Cinetochilidae are not monophyletic when more taxa are added; (2) the core pleuronematids are divided into two fully supported clades, however, the order Pleuronematida is not monophyletic because Cyclidium glaucoma is closer to Thigmotrichida; (3) the family Pleuronematidae and the genus Schizocalyptra are monophyletic, though rDNA sequences of Pleuronema species are highly variable; (4) Pseudoplatynematum and Sathrophilus are closely related to the subclass Astomatia, while Cinetochilum forms a monophyletic group with the subclass Apostomatia; and (5) Hippocomos falls in the order Pleuronematida and is closely related to Eurystomatellidae and Cyclidium plouneouri. Further, in an effort to provide a better resolution of evolutionary relationships, the secondary structures of ITS2 transcripts and the variable region 4 (V4) of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU-rRNA) are predicted, revealing that ITS2 structures are conserved at the order level while V4 region structures are more variable than ITS2 structures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A convenient and accurate wide-range parameter relationship between Buckingham and Morse potential energy functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Teik-Cheng; Dawson, James Alexander

2018-05-01

This study explores the close-range, short-range and long-range relationships between the parameters of the Morse and Buckingham potential energy functions. The results show that the close-range and short-range relationships are valid for bond compression and for very small changes in bond length, respectively, while the long-range relationship is valid for bond stretching. A wide-range relationship is proposed to combine the comparative advantages of the close-range, short-range and long-range parameter relationships. The wide-range relationship is useful for replacing the close-range, short-range and long-range parameter relationships, thereby preventing the undesired effects of potential energy jumps resulting from functional switching between the close-range, short-range and long-range interaction energies.

Interpersonal identity formation in conversations with close friends about dating relationships.

PubMed

Morgan, Elizabeth M; Korobov, Neill

2012-12-01

The present study explores how close same-sex friendship groups participate in the co-construction of identities in the interpersonal domain during young adulthood. Participants included 24 same-sex college student friendship triads (12 male and 12 female; 72 total participants) who took part in semi-structured group interviews that elicited stories about conversations with their friends about dating relationship problems. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed five common responses to dating problems evidencing identity work in the context of friends' conversations. These responses included relating the issue to one's own experiences, providing validation and encouragement, joking about the problem, offering advice, and providing concrete instrumental support. Results are interpreted with regard to gender differences and similarities as well as the social context of college and developmental context of emerging adulthood. The findings identify ways in which young adults are actively co-constructing and re-evaluating their interpersonal identities within conversations with close same-sex friends. Copyright © 2011 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in bacterioplankton community structure during early lake ontogeny resulting from the retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet

PubMed Central

Peter, Hannes; Jeppesen, Erik; De Meester, Luc; Sommaruga, Ruben

2018-01-01

Retreating glaciers and ice sheets are among the clearest signs of global climate change. One consequence of glacier retreat is the formation of new meltwater-lakes in previously ice-covered terrain. These lakes provide unique opportunities to understand patterns in community organization during early lake ontogeny. Here, we analyzed the bacterial community structure and diversity in six lakes recently formed by the retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). The lakes represented a turbidity gradient depending on their past and present connectivity to the GrIS meltwaters. Bulk (16S rRNA genes) and putatively active (16S rRNA) fractions of the bacterioplankton communities were structured by changes in environmental conditions associated to the turbidity gradient. Differences in community structure among lakes were attributed to both, rare and abundant community members. Further, positive co-occurrence relationships among phylogenetically closely related community members dominate in these lakes. Our results show that environmental conditions along the turbidity gradient structure bacterial community composition, which shifts during lake ontogeny. Rare taxa contribute to these shifts, suggesting that the rare biosphere has an important ecological role during early lakes ontogeny. Members of the rare biosphere may be adapted to the transient niches in these nutrient poor lakes. The directionality and phylogenetic structure of co-occurrence relationships indicate that competitive interactions among closely related taxa may be important in the most turbid lakes. PMID:29087379

Changes in bacterioplankton community structure during early lake ontogeny resulting from the retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

PubMed

Peter, Hannes; Jeppesen, Erik; De Meester, Luc; Sommaruga, Ruben

2017-10-31

Retreating glaciers and ice sheets are among the clearest signs of global climate change. One consequence of glacier retreat is the formation of new meltwater-lakes in previously ice-covered terrain. These lakes provide unique opportunities to understand patterns in community organization during early lake ontogeny. Here, we analyzed the bacterial community structure and diversity in six lakes recently formed by the retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). The lakes represented a turbidity gradient depending on their past and present connectivity to the GrIS meltwaters. Bulk (16S rRNA genes) and putatively active (16S rRNA) fractions of the bacterioplankton communities were structured by changes in environmental conditions associated to the turbidity gradient. Differences in community structure among lakes were attributed to both, rare and abundant community members. Further, positive co-occurrence relationships among phylogenetically closely related community members dominate in these lakes. Our results show that environmental conditions along the turbidity gradient structure bacterial community composition, which shifts during lake ontogeny. Rare taxa contribute to these shifts, suggesting that the rare biosphere has an important ecological role during early lakes ontogeny. Members of the rare biosphere may be adapted to the transient niches in these nutrient poor lakes. The directionality and phylogenetic structure of co-occurrence relationships indicate that competitive interactions among closely related taxa may be important in the most turbid lakes.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 31 October 2017; doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.191.

Quantitative Structure-Antifungal Activity Relationships for cinnamate derivatives.

PubMed

Saavedra, Laura M; Ruiz, Diego; Romanelli, Gustavo P; Duchowicz, Pablo R

2015-12-01

Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) are established with the aim of analyzing the fungicidal activities of a set of 27 active cinnamate derivatives. The exploration of more than a thousand of constitutional, topological, geometrical and electronic molecular descriptors, which are calculated with Dragon software, leads to predictions of the growth inhibition on Pythium sp and Corticium rolfsii fungi species, in close agreement to the experimental values extracted from the literature. A set containing 21 new structurally related cinnamate compounds is prepared. The developed QSAR models are applied to predict the unknown fungicidal activity of this set, showing that cinnamates like 38, 28 and 42 are expected to be highly active for Pythium sp, while this is also predicted for 28 and 34 in C. rolfsii. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships.

PubMed

Cuming, Samantha; Rapee, Ronald M

2010-02-01

People with higher social anxiety tend to reveal less information about themselves in interactions with strangers, and this appears to be part of a self-protective strategy adopted in situations in which the risk of negative evaluation is judged to be particularly high. This research examined whether a similar style of communication may be adopted by people with higher social anxiety in their close relationships, and whether it may be associated with decrements in the quality (support, depth, conflict) of these relationships. Over 300 people from the community completed a series of online questionnaires measuring social anxiety and depression, and disclosure in and quality of their close friendships and romantic relationships. After controlling for levels of depression, social anxiety was associated with a paucity of disclosure in both romantic relationships and close friendships in females, but not males. There was an indirect association between higher social anxiety and lower relationship quality (lower support, with a trend towards greater conflict) via lower self-disclosure in women's romantic relationships, but not their close friendships. Addressing disclosure in the context of close relationships may assist socially anxious women to develop more fulfilling and harmonious close relationships. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clustered Multi-Task Learning for Automatic Radar Target Recognition

PubMed Central

Li, Cong; Bao, Weimin; Xu, Luping; Zhang, Hua

2017-01-01

Model training is a key technique for radar target recognition. Traditional model training algorithms in the framework of single task leaning ignore the relationships among multiple tasks, which degrades the recognition performance. In this paper, we propose a clustered multi-task learning, which can reveal and share the multi-task relationships for radar target recognition. To further make full use of these relationships, the latent multi-task relationships in the projection space are taken into consideration. Specifically, a constraint term in the projection space is proposed, the main idea of which is that multiple tasks within a close cluster should be close to each other in the projection space. In the proposed method, the cluster structures and multi-task relationships can be autonomously learned and utilized in both of the original and projected space. In view of the nonlinear characteristics of radar targets, the proposed method is extended to a non-linear kernel version and the corresponding non-linear multi-task solving method is proposed. Comprehensive experimental studies on simulated high-resolution range profile dataset and MSTAR SAR public database verify the superiority of the proposed method to some related algorithms. PMID:28953267

The Transcriptional Regulator CBP Has Defined Spatial Associations within Interphase Nuclei

PubMed Central

McManus, Kirk J; Stephens, David A; Adams, Niall M; Islam, Suhail A; Freemont, Paul S; Hendzel, Michael J

2006-01-01

It is becoming increasingly clear that nuclear macromolecules and macromolecular complexes are compartmentalized through binding interactions into an apparent three-dimensionally ordered structure. This ordering, however, does not appear to be deterministic to the extent that chromatin and nonchromatin structures maintain a strict 3-D arrangement. Rather, spatial ordering within the cell nucleus appears to conform to stochastic rather than deterministic spatial relationships. The stochastic nature of organization becomes particularly problematic when any attempt is made to describe the spatial relationship between proteins involved in the regulation of the genome. The CREB–binding protein (CBP) is one such transcriptional regulator that, when visualised by confocal microscopy, reveals a highly punctate staining pattern comprising several hundred individual foci distributed within the nuclear volume. Markers for euchromatic sequences have similar patterns. Surprisingly, in most cases, the predicted one-to-one relationship between transcription factor and chromatin sequence is not observed. Consequently, to understand whether spatial relationships that are not coincident are nonrandom and potentially biologically important, it is necessary to develop statistical approaches. In this study, we report on the development of such an approach and apply it to understanding the role of CBP in mediating chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. We have used nearest-neighbor distance measurements and probability analyses to study the spatial relationship between CBP and other nuclear subcompartments enriched in transcription factors, chromatin, and splicing factors. Our results demonstrate that CBP has an order of spatial association with other nuclear subcompartments. We observe closer associations between CBP and RNA polymerase II–enriched foci and SC35 speckles than nascent RNA or specific acetylated histones. Furthermore, we find that CBP has a significantly higher probability of being close to its known in vivo substrate histone H4 lysine 5 compared with the closely related H4 lysine 12. This study demonstrates that complex relationships not described by colocalization exist in the interphase nucleus and can be characterized and quantified. The subnuclear distribution of CBP is difficult to reconcile with a model where chromatin organization is the sole determinant of the nuclear organization of proteins that regulate transcription but is consistent with a close link between spatial associations and nuclear functions. PMID:17054391

Using Chou's general PseAAC to analyze the evolutionary relationship of receptor associated proteins (RAP) with various folding patterns of protein domains.

PubMed

Muthu Krishnan, S

2018-05-14

The receptor-associated protein (RAP) is an inhibitor of endocytic receptors that belong to the lipoprotein receptor gene family. In this study, a computational approach was tried to find the evolutionarily related fold of the RAP proteins. Through the structural and sequence-based analysis, found various protein folds that are very close to the RAP folds. Remote homolog datasets were used potentially to develop a different support vector machine (SVM) methods to recognize the homologous RAP fold. This study helps in understanding the relationship of RAP homologs folds based on the structure, function and evolutionary history. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Isolation and connectivity: Relationships between periodic connection to the ocean and environmental variables in intermittently closed estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lill, Adrian Wilfred Thomas; Schallenberg, Marc; Lal, Aparna; Savage, Candida; Closs, Gerard Patrick

2013-08-01

Morphometric and physicochemical variables are key determinants of biotic community structure in estuaries and are influenced by changes to estuary mouth state (open/closed). This study examined and compared the consequences of intermittent connection to the ocean on environmental gradients among estuaries; specifically, how estuary morphology and hydrology relate to physical connection to the sea, and the influence of this relationship on the physicochemical environment. By sampling 20 estuaries across New Zealand and using historical aerial photographs, a continuous index of estuarine connection to the ocean was developed and independently validated using berm elevation derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. Using published literature, this index was compared to equivalent indices in South Africa and Australia. A clear relationship between connections to the ocean, freshwater flow and productivity indices underlie the environmental differences between permanently open and intermittently closed estuaries. Consistent patterns across the Southern Hemisphere, albeit with regional variations in estuarine characteristics, suggest that remote sensing is useful for predicting the physicochemical environment of small estuaries across regions. Principal components analysis for Otago estuaries showed that 40% of measured variation in the environment could be attributed to the gradient of relative connectivity (EOI), or isolation (berm elevation) to the ocean. Evaluating these relationships is central to understanding how global and local environmental changes may affect estuarine connectivity regimes and, ultimately, the functioning of estuarine ecosystems.

Roles of Communication Problems and Communication Strategies on Resident-Related Role Demand and Role Satisfaction.

PubMed

Savundranayagam, Marie Y; Lee, Christopher

2017-03-01

This study investigated the impact of dementia-related communication difficulties and communication strategies used by staff on resident-related indicators of role demand and role satisfaction. Formal/paid long-term care staff caregivers (N = 109) of residents with dementia completed questionnaires on dementia-related communication difficulties, communication strategies, role demand (ie, residents make unreasonable demands), and role satisfaction (measured by relationship closeness and influence over residents). Three types of communication strategies were included: (a) effective repair strategies, (b) completing actions by oneself, and (c) tuning out or ignoring the resident. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that communication problems were positively linked with role demand. Repair strategies were positively linked with relationship closeness and influence over residents. Completing actions by oneself was positively linked to role demand and influence over residents, whereas tuning out was negatively linked with influence over residents. The findings underscore that effective caregiver communication skills are essential in enhancing staff-resident relationships.

Sharpening Our Focus on "Family Life Education": Evidence-Based Curricula for Strengthening Close Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randall, G. Kevin

2012-01-01

In the past 40 years, individuals' close relationships, marriages, and families have undergone dramatic changes. The development and maintenance of strong interpersonal relationships, particularly close romantic relationships, are known to associate strongly and positively with physiological and psychological measures of well-being across the…

Governmental Steering, Reform and the Institutionalization of Student Interest in Higher Education in Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stensaker, Bjørn; Michelsen, Svein

2012-01-01

The article addresses the relationship between changes in the higher education landscape concerning its structure and governance, and the organization of student interest representation at the institutional and national level. Based on a historical analysis of the development of higher education in Norway, the article identifies close links…

Structuring Mentoring Relationships for Competence, Character, and Purpose

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, Jean E.; Spencer, Renee

2010-01-01

We close this volume with a final commentary from two leaders in the mentoring field. Rhodes and Spencer articulate how the contributions to this volume offer a richer, more complex rendering of relational styles and processes than has been laid out previously in the mentoring literature. They suggest that these efforts should provoke discussion…

Myth Structure and Media Fiction Plot: An Exploration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harless, James D.

Based on the general research of Joseph Campbell in adventure plots from mythology, the author explores the simplified monomyth plots currently in frequent use in mass media programing. The close relationship of media fiction to mythic stories is established through the analysis of more than 25 stories resulting from media broadcasting. The media…

Austrian Higher Education Meets the Knowledge Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pechar, Hans

2004-01-01

Austria has gone through two cycles of university reforms since the 1960s. The first aimed to open the universities to social and labour market demand and to make their structures more democratic and flexible. The second reform cycle dealt with glitches in the overly close relationship between universities and state bureaucracy. Bureaucrats still…

Ecological dynamics across the Arctic associated with recent climate change

Treesearch

Eric Post; Mads C. Forchhammer; M. Syndonia Bret-Harte; Terry V. Callaghan; Torben R. Christensen; Bo Elberling; Anthony D. Fox; Olivier Gilg; David S. Hik; Toke T. Høye; Rolf A. Ims; Erik Jeppesen; David R. Klein; Jesper Madsen; A. David McGuire; Søren Rysgaard; Daniel E. Schindler; Ian Stirling; Mikkel P. Tamstorf; Nicholas J.C. Tyler; Rene van der Wal; Jeffrey Welker; Philip A. Wookey; Niels Martin Schmidt; Peter Aastrup

2009-01-01

At the close of the Fourth International Polar Year, we take stock of the ecological consequences of recent climate change in the Arctic, focusing on effects at population, community, and ecosystem scales. Despite the buffering effect of landscape heterogeneity, Arctic ecosystems and the trophic relationships that structure them have been severely perturbed. These...

Relationships between major epitopes of the IA-2 autoantigen in Type 1 diabetes: Implications for determinant spreading.

PubMed

McLaughlin, Kerry A; Richardson, Carolyn C; Williams, Stefan; Bonifacio, Ezio; Morgan, Diana; Feltbower, Richard G; Powell, Michael; Rees Smith, Bernard; Furmaniak, Jadwiga; Christie, Michael R

2015-10-01

Diversification of autoimmunity to islet autoantigens is critical for progression to Type 1 diabetes. B-cells participate in diversification by modifying antigen processing, thereby influencing which peptides are presented to T-cells. In Type 1 diabetes, JM antibodies are associated with T-cell responses to PTP domain peptides. We investigated whether this is the consequence of close structural alignment of JM and PTP domain determinants on IA-2. Fab fragments of IA-2 antibodies with epitopes mapped to the JM domain blocked IA-2 binding of antibodies that recognise epitopes in the IA-2 PTP domain. Peptides from both the JM and PTP domains were protected from degradation during proteolysis of JM antibody:IA-2 complexes and included those representing major T-cell determinants in Type 1 diabetes. The results demonstrate close structural relationships between JM and PTP domain epitopes on IA-2. Stabilisation of PTP domain peptides during proteolysis in JM-specific B-cells may explain determinant spreading in IA-2 autoimmunity. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Social Psychological Perspective on the Links between Close Relationships and Health.

PubMed

Slatcher, Richard B; Selcuk, Emre

2017-02-01

The association between the quality of people's close relationships and their physical health is well-established. But from a psychological perspective, how do close relationships impact physical health? This article summarizes recent work seeking to identify the relationship processes, psychological mediators and moderators of the links between close relationships and health, with an emphasis on studies of married and cohabitating couples. We begin with a brief review of a recent meta-analysis of the links between marital quality and health. We then describe our strength and strain model of marriage and health, homing in on one process- partner responsiveness -and one moderator- adult attachment style -to illustrate ways in which basic relationship science can inform our understanding of how relationships impact physical health. We conclude with a brief discussion of promising directions in the study of close relationships and health.

Electronic structure contributions to reactivity in xanthine oxidase family enzymes.

PubMed

Stein, Benjamin W; Kirk, Martin L

2015-03-01

We review the xanthine oxidase (XO) family of pyranopterin molybdenum enzymes with a specific emphasis on electronic structure contributions to reactivity. In addition to xanthine and aldehyde oxidoreductases, which catalyze the two-electron oxidation of aromatic heterocycles and aldehyde substrates, this mini-review highlights recent work on the closely related carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) that catalyzes the oxidation of CO using a unique Mo-Cu heterobimetallic active site. A primary focus of this mini-review relates to how spectroscopy and computational methods have been used to develop an understanding of critical relationships between geometric structure, electronic structure, and catalytic function.

Structural robustness with suboptimal responses for linear state space model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keel, L. H.; Lim, Kyong B.; Juang, Jer-Nan

1989-01-01

A relationship between the closed-loop eigenvalues and the amount of perturbations in the open-loop matrix is addressed in the context of performance robustness. If the allowable perturbation ranges of elements of the open-loop matrix A and the desired tolerance of the closed-loop eigenvalues are given such that max(j) of the absolute value of Delta-lambda(j) (A+BF) should be less than some prescribed value, what is a state feedback controller F which satisfies the closed-loop eigenvalue perturbation-tolerance requirement for a class of given perturbation in A? The paper gives an algorithm to design such a controller. Numerical examples are included for illustration.

The gamut of alkoxy radicals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Box, Harold C.; Budzinski, Edwin E.; Freund, Harold G.

1984-12-01

It is shown that various radicals exhibiting diverse ESR and ENDOR spectral characteristics are nonetheless a closely related family of alkoxy radicals. The relationship is established by correlating the g tensor with crystal structure and by relating dihedral angles inferred from proton hyperfine couplings to dihedral angles inferred from the g tensor and crystal structure. The analysis also serves to demonstrate that an ESR absorption observed in x-irradiated single crystals of uridine 5'-monophosphate is due to an alkoxy radical.

Wave tilt sounding of multilayered structures. [for probing of stratified planetary surface electrical properties and thickness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warne, L.; Jaggard, D. L.; Elachi, C.

1979-01-01

The relationship between the wave tilt and the electrical parameters of a multilayered structure is investigated. Particular emphasis is placed on the inverse problem associated with the sounding planetary surfaces. An inversion technique, based on multifrequency wave tilt, is proposed and demonstrated with several computer models. It is determined that there is close agreement between the electrical parameters used in the models and those in the inversion values.

The Role of Personality in Relationship Closeness, Developer Assistance, and Career Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Pei-Chuan; Foo, Maw-Der; Turban, Daniel B.

2008-01-01

We investigate the role of relationship closeness, which is adapted from social network theory, in developmental relationships using a sample of 278 full-time working individuals. We theorize that personality, operationalized with the Five Factor Model, is associated with relationship closeness which is positively related to developer assistance…

A Developmental Guide to the Organisation of Close Relationships

PubMed Central

Laursen, Brett; Bukowski, William M.

2009-01-01

A developmental guide to close relationships is presented. Parent-child, sibling, friend, and romantic relationships are described along dimensions that address permanence, power, and gender. These dimensions describe relationship differences in organisational principles that encompass internal representations, social understanding, and interpersonal experiences. The concept of domain specificity is borrowed from cognitive development to address the shifting developmental dynamics of close relationships. Distinct relationships are organised around distinct socialisation tasks, so each relationship requires its own organisational system. As a consequence, different principles guide different relationships, and these organisational principles change with development. PMID:20090927

Teachers’ Relationship Closeness with Students as a Resource for Teacher Wellbeing: A Response Surface Analytical Approach

PubMed Central

Milatz, Anne; Lüftenegger, Marko; Schober, Barbara

2015-01-01

Teachers’ relationship quality with students has been argued to be an important source of teacher wellbeing. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate to what extent teachers’ relationship closeness toward students, combined with attachment security is a resource protecting against teacher burnout. Eighty-three elementary school teachers reported on their most and least attached student’s relationship closeness, their attachment security and levels of burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Response surface analysis (RSA), enabling researchers to investigate the effect of congruence/incongruence of two predictors on an outcome, revealed that teachers’ depersonalization and emotional exhaustion were lowest when they developed homogenous close relationships toward the students within their classroom and when teachers in general made congruent relationship experiences. No RSA model could be specified for personal accomplishment, even though a correlational analysis revealed that increasing closeness with students fostered teachers’ personal accomplishment. Teachers’ secure attachment experiences were not directly related to burnout, but enhanced their capability to establish close relationships toward their students. Findings suggest that teachers’ relationships toward students are a resource for the teacher’s wellbeing, which highlights once again the importance of student–teacher relationships in education. PMID:26779045

Influence of Molecular Conformations and Microstructure on the Optoelectronic Properties of Conjugated Polymers

PubMed Central

Botiz, Ioan; Stingelin, Natalie

2014-01-01

It is increasingly obvious that the molecular conformations and the long-range arrangement that conjugated polymers can adopt under various experimental conditions in bulk, solutions or thin films, significantly impact their resulting optoelectronic properties. As a consequence, the functionalities and efficiencies of resulting organic devices, such as field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, or photovoltaic cells, also dramatically change due to the close structure/property relationship. A range of structure/optoelectronic properties relationships have been investigated over the last few years using various experimental and theoretical methods, and, further, interesting correlations are continuously revealed by the scientific community. In this review, we discuss the latest findings related to the structure/optoelectronic properties interrelationships that exist in organic devices fabricated with conjugated polymers in terms of charge mobility, absorption, photoluminescence, as well as photovoltaic properties. PMID:28788568

Relational Systems: How Older Women with Chronic Health Problems Construct Close Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCann, Brandy Renee; Roberto, Karen A.

2012-01-01

Close relationships are important throughout life, but their dynamics may change as chronic health conditions permeate the lives of older women. To understand how older women (N = 36) manage their close relationships, this study was guided by two research questions: How do older women with chronic health conditions define meaningful relationships?…

On Ramachandran angles, closed strings and knots in protein structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Si; Niemi, Antti J.

2016-08-01

The Ramachandran angles (φ,\\psi ) of a protein backbone form the vertices of a piecewise geodesic curve on the surface of a torus. When the ends of the curve are connected to each other similarly, by a geodesic, the result is a closed string that in general wraps around the torus a number of times both in the meridional and the longitudinal directions. The two wrapping numbers are global characteristics of the protein structure. A statistical analysis of the wrapping numbers in terms of crystallographic x-ray structures in the protein data bank (PDB) reveals that proteins have no net chirality in the ϕ direction but in the ψ direction, proteins prefer to display chirality. A comparison between the wrapping numbers and the concept of folding index discloses a non-linearity in their relationship. Thus these three integer valued invariants can be used in tandem, to scrutinize and classify the global loop structure of individual PDB proteins, in terms of the overall fold topology.

Family Structure and Long-Term Care Insurance Purchase

PubMed Central

Van Houtven, Courtney Harold; Coe, Norma B.; Konetzka, R. Tamara

2015-01-01

While it has long been assumed that family structure and potential sources of informal care play a large role in the purchase decisions for long-term care insurance (LTCI), current empirical evidence is inconclusive. Our study examines the relationship between family structure and LTCI purchase and addresses several major limitations of the prior literature by using a long panel of data and considering modern family relationships, such as presence of stepchildren. We find that family structure characteristics from one’s own generation, particularly about one’s spouse, are associated with purchase, but that few family structure attributes from the younger generation have an influence. Family factors that may indicate future caregiver supply are negatively associated with purchase: having a coresidential child, signaling close proximity, and having a currently working spouse, signaling a healthy and able spouse, that LTC planning has not occurred yet, or that there is less need for asset protection afforded by LTCI. Dynamic factors, such as increasing wealth or turning 65, are associated with higher likelihood of LTCI purchase. PMID:25760583

Cultural regulation of emotion: individual, relational, and structural sources.

PubMed

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

2013-01-01

The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships-close others shape people's environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways-and are afforded by structural conditions-people's daily lives "limit" the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules.

Patterns of forest phylogenetic community structure across the United States and their possible forest health implications

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Frank H. Koch

2014-01-01

The analysis of phylogenetic relationships among co-occurring tree species offers insights into the ecological organization of forest communities from an evolutionary perspective and, when employed regionally across thousands of plots, can assist in forest health assessment. Phylogenetic clustering of species, when species are more closely related than expected by...

Activation of Midbrain Structures by Associative Novelty and the Formation of Explicit Memory in Humans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schott, Bjorn H.; Sellner, Daniela B.; Lauer, Corinna-J.; Habib, Reza; Frey, Julietta U.; Guderian, Sebastian; Heinze, Hans-Jochen; Duzel, Emrah

2004-01-01

Recent evidence suggests a close functional relationship between memory formation in the hippocampus and dopaminergic neuromodulation originating in the ventral tegmental area and medial substantia nigra of the midbrain. Here we report midbrain activation in two functional MRI studies of visual memory in healthy young adults. In the first study,…

Solar and stellar coronal plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golub, L.

1985-01-01

Progress made in describing and interpreting coronal plasma processes and the relationship between the solar corona and its stellar counterparts is reported. Topics covered include: stellar X-ray emission, HEAO 2 X-ray survey of the Pleiades, closed coronal structures, X-ray survey of main-sequence stars with shallow convection zones, implications of the 1400 MHz flare emission, and magnetic field stochasticity.

Chiral recognition of sandalwood odorants.

PubMed

Bajgrowicz, J A; Frater, G

2000-01-01

Looking for more efficient sandalwood oil smelling compounds, new campholenic aldehyde derivatives with rigidifying cyclopropane rings were prepared. For some of them, having the lowest odor threshold ever measured for this type of odorants and a very appreciated scent, close to that of the scarce natural sandalwood oils, pure stereoisomers were obtained and their olfactory properties were evaluated. Thus acquired structure-odor relationship data, together with consolidated and completed previous knowledge on structurally different sandalwood-smelling compounds, allowed to propose new models of the sandalwood olfactophore.

Internal and external relationships of the Cnidaria: implications of primary and predicted secondary structure of the 5'-end of the 23S-like rDNA.

PubMed Central

Odorico, D M; Miller, D J

1997-01-01

Since both internal (class-level) and external relationships of the Cnidaria remain unclear on the basis of analyses of 18S and (partial) 16S rDNA sequence data, we examined the informativeness of the 5'-end of the 23S-like rDNA. Here we describe analyses of both primary and predicted secondary structure data for this region from the ctenophore Bolinopsis sp., the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens, the sponge Hymeniacidon heliophila, and representatives of all four cnidarian classes. Primary sequence analyses clearly resolved the Cnidaria from other lower Metazoa, supported sister group relationships between the Scyphozoa and Cubozoa and between the Ctenophora and the Placozoa, and confirmed the basal status of the Anthozoa within the Cnidaria. Additionally, in the ctenophore, placozoan and sponge, non-canonical base pairing is required to maintain the secondary structure of the B12 region, whereas amongst the Cnidaria this is not the case. Although the phylogenetic significance of this molecular character is unclear, our analyses do not support the close relationship between Cnidaria and Placozoa suggested by previous studies. PMID:9061962

Associations between the parent-child relationship and adolescent self-worth: a genetically informed study of twin parents and their adolescent children.

PubMed

McAdams, Tom A; Rijsdijk, Fruhling V; Narusyte, Jurgita; Ganiban, Jody M; Reiss, David; Spotts, Erica; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Lichtenstein, Paul; Eley, Thalia C

2017-01-01

Low self-worth during adolescence predicts a range of emotional and behavioural problems. As such, identifying potential sources of influence on self-worth is important. Aspects of the parent-child relationship are often associated with adolescent self-worth but to date it is unclear whether such associations may be attributable to familial confounding (e.g. genetic relatedness). We set out to clarify the nature of relationships between parental expressed affection and adolescent self-worth, and parent-child closeness and adolescent self-worth. We used data from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, a children-of-twins sample comprising 909 adult twin pairs with adolescent children. Using these data we were able to apply structural equation models with which we could examine whether associations remained after accounting for genetic transmission. Results demonstrated that parent-child closeness and parental-expressed affection were both phenotypically associated with adolescent self-worth. Associations could not be attributed to genetic relatedness between parent and child. Parent-child closeness and parental affection are associated with adolescent self-worth above and beyond effects attributable to genetic relatedness. Data were cross-sectional, so the direction of effects cannot be confirmed but findings support the notion that positive parent-child relationships increase adolescent self-worth. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

7 CFR 1900.152 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... association or immediate working relationship. Business association. Business relationship between those with... relationship. Close personal association. Social relationship between unrelated residents of the same household... closing agents who, although they are not employees, have a special relationship to FmHA or its successor...

7 CFR 1900.152 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... association or immediate working relationship. Business association. Business relationship between those with... relationship. Close personal association. Social relationship between unrelated residents of the same household... closing agents who, although they are not employees, have a special relationship to FmHA or its successor...

7 CFR 1900.152 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... association or immediate working relationship. Business association. Business relationship between those with... relationship. Close personal association. Social relationship between unrelated residents of the same household... closing agents who, although they are not employees, have a special relationship to FmHA or its successor...

7 CFR 1900.152 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... association or immediate working relationship. Business association. Business relationship between those with... relationship. Close personal association. Social relationship between unrelated residents of the same household... closing agents who, although they are not employees, have a special relationship to FmHA or its successor...

Research on Closed Residential Area Based on Balanced Distribution Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Si; Fang, Ni; Lin, Hai Peng; Ye, Shi Qi

2018-06-01

With the promotion of the street system, residential quarters and units of the compound gradually open. In this paper, the relationship between traffic flow and traffic flow is established for external roads, and the road resistance model is established by internal roads. We propose a balanced distribution model from the two aspects of road opening conditions and traffic flow inside and outside the district, and quantitatively analyze the impact of the opening and closing on the surrounding roads. Finally, it puts forward feasible suggestions to improve the traffic situation and optimize the network structure.

[Maxillodental anomalies and consanguineous marriages].

PubMed

Garaev, Z I

1999-01-01

Families of 549 probands and families of 123 probands with cleft lip and/or palate were examined in order to evaluate the relationship between marriages between close relatives and the incidence and structure of maxillodental diseases. Clinical and genealogical analysis of families of probands with maxillodental abnormalities and cleft lip and/or palate showed a significantly higher incidence of marriages between close relatives and an inbreeding coefficient in these families. Analysis of the population and familial incidence of maxillodental abnormalities and the inbreeding coefficient will help the physicians consulting such families more accurately evaluate the risk and improve the efficacy of prevention of such conditions.

A Statistical Test of the Relationship between Galactic HI Structure and Small-scale Structure in the Cosmic Microwave Background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verschuur, Gerrit L.

2014-06-01

The archive of IRIS, PLANCK and WMAP data available at the IRSA website of IPAC allows the apparent associations between galactic neutral hydrogen (HI) features and small-scale structure in WMAP and PLANCK data to be closely examined. In addition, HI new observations made with the Green Bank Telescope are used to perform a statistical test of putative associations. It is concluded that attention should be paid to the possibility that some of the small-scale structure found in WMAP and PLANCK data harbors the signature of a previously unrecognized source of high-frequency continuum emission in the Galaxy.

Electronic Structure Contributions to Reactivity in Xanthine Oxidase Family Enzymes

PubMed Central

Stein, Benjamin W.; Kirk, Martin L.

2016-01-01

We review the xanthine oxidase (XO) family of pyranopterin molybdenum enzymes with a specific emphasis on electronic structure contributions to reactivity. In addition to xanthine and aldehyde oxidoreductases, which catalyze the 2-electron oxidation of aromatic heterocycles and aldehyde substrates, this mini-review highlights recent work on the closely related carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) that catalyzes the oxidation of CO using a unique Mo-Cu heterobimetallic active site. A primary focus of this mini-review relates to how spectroscopy and computational methods have been used to develop an understanding of critical relationships between geometric structure, electronic structure, and catalytic function. PMID:25425163

[Nasolabial muscle finite-element study and clinical application].

PubMed

Yin, Ningbei; Wu, Jiajun; Chen, Bo; Wang, Yongqian; Song, Tao; Ma, Hengyuan

2015-05-01

To investigate the nasolabial muscle anatomy and biomechanical characteristics. Micro-computed tomography scan was performed in 8 cases of spontaneous abortion fetus lip nasal specimens to construct a three-dimensional model. The nasolabial muscle structure was analyzed using Mimics software. The three-dimensional configuration model of nasolabial muscle was established based on local anatomy and tissue section, and compared with tissue section. Three dimensional finite element analysis was performed on lip nasal muscle related biomechanics and surface deformation in Application verification was carried out in 263 cases of microform cleft lip surgery. There was close relationship between nasolabial muscle. The nasolabial muscle tension system was constituted, based on which a new cleft lip repair surgery was designed and satisfied results were achieved. There is close relationship among nasolabial muscle in anatomy, histology and biomechanics. To obtain better effect, cleft lip repair should be performed on the basis of recovering muscle tension system.

Recent Advances in Marine Algae Polysaccharides: Isolation, Structure, and Activities.

PubMed

Xu, Shu-Ying; Huang, Xuesong; Cheong, Kit-Leong

2017-12-13

Marine algae have attracted a great deal of interest as excellent sources of nutrients. Polysaccharides are the main components in marine algae, hence a great deal of attention has been directed at isolation and characterization of marine algae polysaccharides because of their numerous health benefits. In this review, extraction and purification approaches and chemico-physical properties of marine algae polysaccharides (MAPs) are summarized. The biological activities, which include immunomodulatory, antitumor, antiviral, antioxidant, and hypolipidemic, are also discussed. Additionally, structure-function relationships are analyzed and summarized. MAPs' biological activities are closely correlated with their monosaccharide composition, molecular weights, linkage types, and chain conformation. In order to promote further exploitation and utilization of polysaccharides from marine algae for functional food and pharmaceutical areas, high efficiency, and low-cost polysaccharide extraction and purification methods, quality control, structure-function activity relationships, and specific mechanisms of MAPs activation need to be extensively investigated.

Structure of a group II intron in complex with its reverse transcriptase.

PubMed

Qu, Guosheng; Kaushal, Prem Singh; Wang, Jia; Shigematsu, Hideki; Piazza, Carol Lyn; Agrawal, Rajendra Kumar; Belfort, Marlene; Wang, Hong-Wei

2016-06-01

Bacterial group II introns are large catalytic RNAs related to nuclear spliceosomal introns and eukaryotic retrotransposons. They self-splice, yielding mature RNA, and integrate into DNA as retroelements. A fully active group II intron forms a ribonucleoprotein complex comprising the intron ribozyme and an intron-encoded protein that performs multiple activities including reverse transcription, in which intron RNA is copied into the DNA target. Here we report cryo-EM structures of an endogenously spliced Lactococcus lactis group IIA intron in its ribonucleoprotein complex form at 3.8-Å resolution and in its protein-depleted form at 4.5-Å resolution, revealing functional coordination of the intron RNA with the protein. Remarkably, the protein structure reveals a close relationship between the reverse transcriptase catalytic domain and telomerase, whereas the active splicing center resembles the spliceosomal Prp8 protein. These extraordinary similarities hint at intricate ancestral relationships and provide new insights into splicing and retromobility.

Non-linear quantitative structure-activity relationship for adenine derivatives as competitive inhibitors of adenosine deaminase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sadat Hayatshahi, Sayyed Hamed; Abdolmaleki, Parviz; Safarian, Shahrokh

2005-12-16

Logistic regression and artificial neural networks have been developed as two non-linear models to establish quantitative structure-activity relationships between structural descriptors and biochemical activity of adenosine based competitive inhibitors, toward adenosine deaminase. The training set included 24 compounds with known k {sub i} values. The models were trained to solve two-class problems. Unlike the previous work in which multiple linear regression was used, the highest of positive charge on the molecules was recognized to be in close relation with their inhibition activity, while the electric charge on atom N1 of adenosine was found to be a poor descriptor. Consequently, themore » previously developed equation was improved and the newly formed one could predict the class of 91.66% of compounds correctly. Also optimized 2-3-1 and 3-4-1 neural networks could increase this rate to 95.83%.« less

Tetrametallic molecular catalysts for photochemical water oxidation.

PubMed

Sartorel, Andrea; Bonchio, Marcella; Campagna, Sebastiano; Scandola, Franco

2013-03-21

Among molecular water oxidation catalysts (WOCs), those featuring a reactive set of four multi-redox transition metals can leverage an extraordinary interplay of electronic and structural properties. These are of particular interest, owing to their close structural, and possibly functional, relationship to the oxygen evolving complex of natural photosynthesis. In this review, special attention is given to two classes of tetrametallic molecular WOCs: (i) M(4)O(4) cubane-type structures stabilized by simple organic ligands, and (ii) systems in which a tetranuclear metal core is stabilized by coordination of two polyoxometalate (POM) ligands. Recent work in this rapidly evolving field is reviewed, with particular emphasis on photocatalytic aspects. Special attention is given to studies addressing the mechanistic complexity of these systems, sometimes overlooked in the rush for oxygen evolving performance. The complementary role of molecular WOCs and their relationship with bulk oxides and heterogeneous catalysis are discussed.

Revisiting Parametric Types and Virtual Classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madsen, Anders Bach; Ernst, Erik

This paper presents a conceptually oriented updated view on the relationship between parametric types and virtual classes. The traditional view is that parametric types excel at structurally oriented composition and decomposition, and virtual classes excel at specifying mutually recursive families of classes whose relationships are preserved in derived families. Conversely, while class families can be specified using a large number of F-bounded type parameters, this approach is complex and fragile; and it is difficult to use traditional virtual classes to specify object composition in a structural manner, because virtual classes are closely tied to nominal typing. This paper adds new insight about the dichotomy between these two approaches; it illustrates how virtual constraints and type refinements, as recently introduced in gbeta and Scala, enable structural treatment of virtual types; finally, it shows how a novel kind of dynamic type check can detect compatibility among entire families of classes.

Older Adults' Perceptions of Closeness in Sibling Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Helgola G.; And Others

Decreasing numbers of peers in the lives of older adults give a special meaning to closeness in their sibling relationships. Interviews elicited perceptions of closeness from 30 adults. Content analyses revealed several patterns, i.e., participants perceived themselves as always having been close, as having grown more or less close over time, or…

The gating mechanism of the large mechanosensitive channel MscL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sukharev, S.; Betanzos, M.; Chiang, C. S.; Guy, H. R.

2001-01-01

The mechanosensitive channel of large conductance, MscL, is a ubiquitous membrane-embedded valve involved in turgor regulation in bacteria. The crystal structure of MscL from Mycobacterium tuberculosis provides a starting point for analysing molecular mechanisms of tension-dependent channel gating. Here we develop structural models in which a cytoplasmic gate is formed by a bundle of five amino-terminal helices (S1), previously unresolved in the crystal structure. When membrane tension is applied, the transmembrane barrel expands and pulls the gate apart through the S1-M1 linker. We tested these models by substituting cysteines for residues predicted to be near each other only in either the closed or open conformation. Our results demonstrate that S1 segments form the bundle when the channel is closed, and crosslinking between S1 segments prevents opening. S1 segments interact with M2 when the channel is open, and crosslinking of S1 to M2 impedes channel closing. Gating is affected by the length of the S1-M1 linker in a manner consistent with the model, revealing critical spatial relationships between the domains that transmit force from the lipid bilayer to the channel gate.

Preschool Interpersonal Relationships Predict Kindergarten Achievement: Mediated by Gains in Emotion Knowledge

PubMed Central

Torres, Marcela M.; Domitrovich, Celene E.; Bierman, Karen L.

2016-01-01

Using longitudinal data, this study tested a model in which preschool interpersonal relationships promoted kindergarten achievement in a pathway mediated by growth in emotion knowledge. The sample included 164 children attending Head Start (14% Hispanic-American, 30% African-American, 56% Caucasian; 56% girls). Preschool interpersonal relationships were indexed by student-teacher relationship closeness and positive peer interactions. Two measures of emotion knowledge (identifying emotions in photographs, recognizing emotions in stories) were assessed at the start and end of the preschool year. Structural equation models revealed that positive interpersonal relationships (with teachers and peers) predicted gains in emotion knowledge (identification, recognition) during the preschool year. Positive interpersonal relationships in preschool also predicted kindergarten achievement (controlling for initial preschool achievement); however, this association was mediated by gains in emotion knowledge during the preschool year. Implications are discussed for school readiness programs serving economically-disadvantaged children. PMID:27630379

A gravitational puzzle.

PubMed

Caldwell, Robert R

2011-12-28

The challenge to understand the physical origin of the cosmic acceleration is framed as a problem of gravitation. Specifically, does the relationship between stress-energy and space-time curvature differ on large scales from the predictions of general relativity. In this article, we describe efforts to model and test a generalized relationship between the matter and the metric using cosmological observations. Late-time tracers of large-scale structure, including the cosmic microwave background, weak gravitational lensing, and clustering are shown to provide good tests of the proposed solution. Current data are very close to proving a critical test, leaving only a small window in parameter space in the case that the generalized relationship is scale free above galactic scales.

Coupled Analysis of In Vitro and Histology Tissue Samples to Quantify Structure-Function Relationship

PubMed Central

Acar, Evrim; Plopper, George E.; Yener, Bülent

2012-01-01

The structure/function relationship is fundamental to our understanding of biological systems at all levels, and drives most, if not all, techniques for detecting, diagnosing, and treating disease. However, at the tissue level of biological complexity we encounter a gap in the structure/function relationship: having accumulated an extraordinary amount of detailed information about biological tissues at the cellular and subcellular level, we cannot assemble it in a way that explains the correspondingly complex biological functions these structures perform. To help close this information gap we define here several quantitative temperospatial features that link tissue structure to its corresponding biological function. Both histological images of human tissue samples and fluorescence images of three-dimensional cultures of human cells are used to compare the accuracy of in vitro culture models with their corresponding human tissues. To the best of our knowledge, there is no prior work on a quantitative comparison of histology and in vitro samples. Features are calculated from graph theoretical representations of tissue structures and the data are analyzed in the form of matrices and higher-order tensors using matrix and tensor factorization methods, with a goal of differentiating between cancerous and healthy states of brain, breast, and bone tissues. We also show that our techniques can differentiate between the structural organization of native tissues and their corresponding in vitro engineered cell culture models. PMID:22479315

Minding the close relationship.

PubMed

Harvey, J H; Omarzu, J

1997-01-01

In this theoretical analysis, we argue that a process referred to as minding is essential for a couple to feel mutually close and satisfied in a close relationship over a long period Minding represents a package of mutual self-disclosure, other forms of goal-oriented behavior aimed at facilitating the relationship, and attributions about self's and other's motivations, intentions, and Mort in the relationship. Self-disclosure and attribution activities in minding are aimed at getting to know the other, trying to understand the other's motivations and deeper disposition as they pertain to the relationship, and showing respect and acceptance for knowledge gained about other. We link the concept of minding to other major ideas and literatures about how couples achieve closeness: self-disclosure and social penetration, intimacy, empathy and empathic accuracy, and love and self-expansion. We argue that the minding process articulated here has not previously been delineated and that it is a useful composite notion about essential steps in bonding among humans. We also argue that the minding concept stretches our understanding of the interface of attribution and close relationships. We present research possibilities and implications and consider possible alternative positions and counter arguments about the merits of the minding idea for close relationship satisfaction.

Negative Aspects of Close Relationships as Risk Factors for Cognitive Aging

PubMed Central

Liao, Jing; Head, Jenny; Kumari, Meena; Stansfeld, Stephen; Kivimaki, Mika; Singh-Manoux, Archana; Brunner, Eric J.

2014-01-01

The extent to which social relationships influence cognitive aging is unclear. In this study, we investigated the association of midlife quality of close relationships with subsequent cognitive decline. Participants in the Whitehall II Study (n = 5,873; ages 45–69 years at first cognitive assessment) underwent executive function and memory tests 3 times over a period of 10 years (1997–1999 to 2007–2009). Midlife negative and positive aspects of close relationships were assessed twice using the Close Persons Questionnaire during the 8 years preceding cognitive assessment. Negative aspects of close relationships, but not positive aspects, were associated with accelerated cognitive aging. Participants in the top third of reported negative aspects of close relationships experienced a faster 10-year change in executive function (−0.04 standard deviation, 95% confidence interval: −0.08, −0.01) than those in the bottom third, which was comparable with 1 extra year of cognitive decline for participants aged 60 years after adjustment for sociodemographic and health status. Longitudinal analysis found no evidence of reverse causality. This study highlights the importance of differentiating aspects of social relationships to evaluate their unique associations with cognitive aging. PMID:25342204

Indexing and retrieving motions of characters in close contact.

PubMed

Ho, Edmond S L; Komura, Taku

2009-01-01

Human motion indexing and retrieval are important for animators due to the need to search for motions in the database which can be blended and concatenated. Most of the previous researches of human motion indexing and retrieval compute the Euclidean distance of joint angles or joint positions. Such approaches are difficult to apply for cases in which multiple characters are closely interacting with each other, as the relationships of the characters are not encoded in the representation. In this research, we propose a topology-based approach to index the motions of two human characters in close contact. We compute and encode how the two bodies are tangled based on the concept of rational tangles. The encoded relationships, which we define as TangleList, are used to determine the similarity of the pairs of postures. Using our method, we can index and retrieve motions such as one person piggy-backing another, one person assisting another in walking, and two persons dancing / wrestling. Our method is useful to manage a motion database of multiple characters. We can also produce motion graph structures of two characters closely interacting with each other by interpolating and concatenating topologically similar postures and motion clips, which are applicable to 3D computer games and computer animation.

University Student Death Response Plans Using a Structural Management Approach Provide Effective Coordinated Institutional Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cusick, Anne

2008-01-01

Student death is an inevitable event in the long life of university communities. Although student death is uncommon, universities need to be able respond in a timely and appropriate way to bring the relationship with a deceased student to a dignified close. This article presents a review of factors previously identified in higher education and…

Uncertainty relations, zero point energy and the linear canonical group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sudarshan, E. C. G.

1993-01-01

The close relationship between the zero point energy, the uncertainty relations, coherent states, squeezed states, and correlated states for one mode is investigated. This group-theoretic perspective enables the parametrization and identification of their multimode generalization. In particular the generalized Schroedinger-Robertson uncertainty relations are analyzed. An elementary method of determining the canonical structure of the generalized correlated states is presented.

Muscle tension line concept in nasolabial muscle complex--based on 3-dimensional reconstruction of nasolabial muscle fibers.

PubMed

Yin, Ningbei; Wu, Jiajun; Chen, Bo; Song, Tao; Ma, Hengyuan; Zhao, Zhenmin; Wang, Yongqian; Li, Haidong; Wu, Di

2015-03-01

Plastic surgeons have attempted various ways to rebuild the aesthetic subunits of the upper lip in patients with cleft lip with less than perfect results in most cases. We propose that repairing the 3 muscle tension line groups in the nasolabial complex will have improved aesthetic results. Micro-computed tomographic scans were performed on the nasolabial tissues of 5 normal aborted fetuses and used to construct a 3-dimensional model to study the nasolabial muscle complex structure. The micro-computed tomographic (CT) scans showed the close relationship and interaction between the muscle fibers of nasalis, pars peripheralis, levator labii superioris, and pars marginalis. Based on the 2-dimensional images obtained from the micro-computed tomographic scans, we suggest the concept of nasolabial muscle complex and muscle tension line group theory: there is a close relationship among the alar part of the nasalis, depressor septi muscle, orbicularis oris muscle, and levator labii superioris alaeque nasi. The tension line groups are 3 tension line structures in the nasolabial muscle complex that interlock with each other at the intersections and maintain the specific shape and aesthetics of the lip and nose.

Intimate Relationships among Adolescent Romantic Partners and Same-Sex Friends: Individual and Systemic Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shulman, Shmuel; Levy-Shiff, Rachel; Kedem, Peri; Alon, Eiton

1997-01-01

Examined adolescent intimacy in close friendships and romantic relationships from a systemic perspective. Found qualitative sex-related differences in how partners balance closeness and individuality in the two types of close friendships. Development of an intimate romantic relationship was also found to require greater commitment for males than…

Modal parameter identification based on combining transmissibility functions and blind source separation techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araújo, Iván Gómez; Sánchez, Jesús Antonio García; Andersen, Palle

2018-05-01

Transmissibility-based operational modal analysis is a recent and alternative approach used to identify the modal parameters of structures under operational conditions. This approach is advantageous compared with traditional operational modal analysis because it does not make any assumptions about the excitation spectrum (i.e., white noise with a flat spectrum). However, common methodologies do not include a procedure to extract closely spaced modes with low signal-to-noise ratios. This issue is relevant when considering that engineering structures generally have closely spaced modes and that their measured responses present high levels of noise. Therefore, to overcome these problems, a new combined method for modal parameter identification is proposed in this work. The proposed method combines blind source separation (BSS) techniques and transmissibility-based methods. Here, BSS techniques were used to recover source signals, and transmissibility-based methods were applied to estimate modal information from the recovered source signals. To achieve this combination, a new method to define a transmissibility function was proposed. The suggested transmissibility function is based on the relationship between the power spectral density (PSD) of mixed signals and the PSD of signals from a single source. The numerical responses of a truss structure with high levels of added noise and very closely spaced modes were processed using the proposed combined method to evaluate its ability to identify modal parameters in these conditions. Colored and white noise excitations were used for the numerical example. The proposed combined method was also used to evaluate the modal parameters of an experimental test on a structure containing closely spaced modes. The results showed that the proposed combined method is capable of identifying very closely spaced modes in the presence of noise and, thus, may be potentially applied to improve the identification of damping ratios.

Design and implementation of a database for Brucella melitensis genome annotation.

PubMed

De Hertogh, Benoît; Lahlimi, Leïla; Lambert, Christophe; Letesson, Jean-Jacques; Depiereux, Eric

2008-03-18

The genome sequences of three Brucella biovars and of some species close to Brucella sp. have become available, leading to new relationship analysis. Moreover, the automatic genome annotation of the pathogenic bacteria Brucella melitensis has been manually corrected by a consortium of experts, leading to 899 modifications of start sites predictions among the 3198 open reading frames (ORFs) examined. This new annotation, coupled with the results of automatic annotation tools of the complete genome sequences of the B. melitensis genome (including BLASTs to 9 genomes close to Brucella), provides numerous data sets related to predicted functions, biochemical properties and phylogenic comparisons. To made these results available, alphaPAGe, a functional auto-updatable database of the corrected sequence genome of B. melitensis, has been built, using the entity-relationship (ER) approach and a multi-purpose database structure. A friendly graphical user interface has been designed, and users can carry out different kinds of information by three levels of queries: (1) the basic search use the classical keywords or sequence identifiers; (2) the original advanced search engine allows to combine (by using logical operators) numerous criteria: (a) keywords (textual comparison) related to the pCDS's function, family domains and cellular localization; (b) physico-chemical characteristics (numerical comparison) such as isoelectric point or molecular weight and structural criteria such as the nucleic length or the number of transmembrane helix (TMH); (c) similarity scores with Escherichia coli and 10 species phylogenetically close to B. melitensis; (3) complex queries can be performed by using a SQL field, which allows all queries respecting the database's structure. The database is publicly available through a Web server at the following url: http://www.fundp.ac.be/urbm/bioinfo/aPAGe.

Bacteriophage P23-77 Capsid Protein Structures Reveal the Archetype of an Ancient Branch from a Major Virus Lineage

PubMed Central

Rissanen, Ilona; Grimes, Jonathan M.; Pawlowski, Alice; Mäntynen, Sari; Harlos, Karl; Bamford, Jaana K.H.; Stuart, David I.

2013-01-01

Summary It has proved difficult to classify viruses unless they are closely related since their rapid evolution hinders detection of remote evolutionary relationships in their genetic sequences. However, structure varies more slowly than sequence, allowing deeper evolutionary relationships to be detected. Bacteriophage P23-77 is an example of a newly identified viral lineage, with members inhabiting extreme environments. We have solved multiple crystal structures of the major capsid proteins VP16 and VP17 of bacteriophage P23-77. They fit the 14 Å resolution cryo-electron microscopy reconstruction of the entire virus exquisitely well, allowing us to propose a model for both the capsid architecture and viral assembly, quite different from previously published models. The structures of the capsid proteins and their mode of association to form the viral capsid suggest that the P23-77-like and adeno-PRD1 lineages of viruses share an extremely ancient common ancestor. PMID:23623731

Female chacma baboons form strong, equitable, and enduring social bonds

PubMed Central

Beehner, Jacinta C.; Bergman, Thore J.; Crockford, Catherine; Engh, Anne L.; Moscovice, Liza R.; Wittig, Roman M.; Seyfarth, Robert M.; Cheney, Dorothy L.

2010-01-01

Analyses of the pattern of associations, social interactions, coalitions, and aggression among chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in the Okavango Delta of Botswana over a 16-year period indicate that adult females form close, equitable, supportive, and enduring social relationships. They show strong and stable preferences for close kin, particularly their own mothers and daughters. Females also form strong attachments to unrelated females who are close to their own age and who are likely to be paternal half-sisters. Although absolute rates of aggression among kin are as high as rates of aggression among nonkin, females are more tolerant of close relatives than they are of others with whom they have comparable amounts of contact. These findings complement previous work which indicates that the strength of social bonds enhances the fitness of females in this population and support findings about the structure and function of social bonds in other primate groups. PMID:20976293

Origin of lower Tyler Oil in central Montana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kranzler, I.

A study of the Heath (Mississippian) and lower Tyler (Pennsylvanian) sediments of central Montana suggests a close relationship between the oil accumulations and the relative positions of the Heath limestone and the lower Tyler sandstones. Reconstruction of the pre-Amsden structure and the Tyler-Heath paleogeology shows that the oil accumulations at Sumatra, Stensvad, Ivanhoe, Keg Coulee, Bascom, Melstone, and Big Wall Fields occur where the paleostructural position of the lower Tyler sandstones is updip from, and in direct contact with, the Heath limestone. The foregoing relationships seem to be further supported by a study of Alice and Porcupine domes. These domesmore » have barren sandstone reservoirs in excellent structural- stratigraphic traps. The peleostructural attitude in the area of the domes was flat and the Heath limestone apparently not well developed.« less

Structural evolution of nrDNA ITS in Pinaceae and its phylogenetic implications.

PubMed

Kan, Xian-Zhao; Wang, Shan-Shan; Ding, Xin; Wang, Xiao-Quan

2007-08-01

Nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) has been considered as an important tool for inferring phylogenetic relationships at many taxonomic levels. In comparison with its fast concerted evolution in angiosperms, nrDNA is symbolized by slow concerted evolution and substantial ITS region length variation in gymnosperms, particularly in Pinaceae. Here we studied structure characteristics, including subrepeat composition, size, GC content and secondary structure, of nrDNA ITS regions of all Pinaceae genera. The results showed that the ITS regions of all taxa studied contained subrepeat units, ranging from 2 to 9 in number, and these units could be divided into two types, longer subrepeat (LSR) without the motif (5'-GGCCACCCTAGTC) and shorter subrepeat (SSR) with the motif. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the homology of some SSRs still can be recognized, providing important informations for the evolutionary history of nrDNA ITS and phylogeny of Pinaceae. In particular, the adjacent tandem SSRs are not more closely related to one another than they are to remote SSRs in some genera, which may imply that multiple structure variations such as recombination have occurred in the ITS1 region of these groups. This study also found that GC content in the ITS1 region is relevant to its sequence length and subrepeat number, and could provide some phylogenetic information, especially supporting the close relationships among Picea, Pinus, and Cathaya. Moreover, several characteristics of the secondary structure of Pinaceae ITS1 were found as follows: (1) the structure is dominated by several extended hairpins; (2) the configuration complexity is positively correlated with subrepeat number; (3) paired subrepeats often partially overlap at the conserved motif (5'-GGCCACCCTAGTC), and form a long stem, while other subrepeats fold onto itself, leaving part of the conserved motif exposed in hairpin loops.

Divergent Perceptual Processes on Cyberbullying Between Victims and Aggressors: Construction of Explanatory Models

PubMed Central

Fernández-Antelo, Inmaculada; Cuadrado-Gordillo, Isabel

2018-01-01

Understanding the causes of adolescents' aggressive behavior in and through technological means and resources requires a thorough analysis of the criteria that they consider to be identifying and defining cyberbullying and of the network of relationships established between the different criteria. The present study has aimed at making a foray into the attempt to understand the underlying structures and mechanisms that determine aggressors' and victims' perceptions of the cyberbullying phenomenon. The sample consisted of 2148 adolescents (49.1% girls; SD = 0.5) of ages from 12 to 16 (M = 13.9; SD = 1.2). The data collected through a validated questionnaire for this study whose dimensions were confirmed from the data extracted from the focus groups and a CFA of the victim and aggressor subsamples. The analysis of the data is completed with CFA and the construction of structural models. The results have shown the importance and interdependence of imbalance of power and intention to harm in the aggressors' perceptual structure. The criteria of anonymity and repetition are related to the asymmetry of power, giving greater prominence to this factor. In its perceptual structure, the criterion “social relationship” also appears, which indicates that the manifestations of cyberbullying are sometimes interpreted as patterns of behavior that have become massively extended among the adolescent population, and have become accepted as a normalized and harmless way of communicating with other adolescents. In the victims' perceptual structure the key factor is the intention to harm, closely linked to the asymmetry of power and publicity. Anonymity, revenge and repetition are also present in this structure, although its relationship with cyberbullying is indirect. These results allow to design more effective measures of prevention and intervention closely tailored to addressing directly the factors that are considered to be predictors of risk. PMID:29632506

November 15, 1991 X Flare -- The Movie: Hα , Soft X-rays, and Hard X-rays and Magnetic Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wulser, J.-P.; Acton, L.; Sakao, T.; Canfield, R.; Kosugi, T.; Slater, G.; Strong, K.; Tsuneta, S.

1992-05-01

The X1.5/3B flare on 1991 November 15, 22:33 UT was well observed by the Hα Imaging Spectrograph and the Vector Magnetograph (Stokes Polarimeter) at Mees Solar Observatory, and by the Soft- and Hard X-ray Telescopes (SXT and HXT) aboard YOHKOH. We have combined this multispectral dataset into a series of temporally and spatially co-aligned video movies and analyzed the morphological and temporal relationships of the various flare emissions. The earliest manifestations of this flare include unresolved preflare SXR brightenings very close to the magnetic neutral line and preflare motions of filaments seen in Hα . In the flare core, SXR and Hα emission show moving and rotating coronal structures which we interpret as a successive brightening of adjacent loops during the main phase of the flare. The HXR source shows much more dramatic variability than the SXR source, and they are clearly not cospatial. On the other hand, there is a close spatial relationship between the HXR and Hα blue wing emission sites. The Hα , HXR, and SXR images all point to acceleration and heating in a region that starts close to the neutral line and moves outward during each HXR burst and during the gradual phase. Spectacular mass ejections are seen in both SXR and Hα , with clear unwinding of tightly coiled structures, acceleration of X-ray and Hα material to velocities of order 1000 km/s, and a striking thermal bifurcation between hot and cold plasma.

Entropy-theory-based study on the relationship between land use structure and industry system: a case study of the eastern Hubei metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Lilan; Liu, Yanfang; Gao, Xiaoyong

2009-10-01

During the process of economic growth, the industry structure transforms at different developing sections and that industrial composition as well as each department interior demand for land resources would reflect on land-use structure reform. This paper takes Hubei as the research zone, through a consecutive time sequence of 10 years period (1996-2005) just before and after the 1 plus 8 Eastern Hubei Metropolitan Area project, a quantitative study of the correlation between the industry structure and land-use structure is made based on the entropy theory. According to the classification of industrial composition, the land-use structure here is also redefined into four types as Land Use for Primary Industry, Land Use for Secondary Industry, Land Use for Tertiary Industry, and Land Use for Potential Reserve, in the aim that it should model new methods for researching the relationship of industry structure and land-use structure, and the instinct driving force would be presented more evidently at the same time. The outcomes indicate that the change of land-use structure has close relationship with the structure of industry composition; the trend of information entropy in Hubei mostly keeps increasing during the past 10 years which predicating the symmetrical degree of land-use structure is gradually built; and Eastern Hubei Metropolitan Area is of favorable power far superiority other units within province in promoting regional development, yet land-use structure adjustments are still not stable and a optimal mode of land use needs further approach.

Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Understanding the nature and influence of social relationships is of increasing interest to behavioral economists, and behavioral scientists more generally. In turn, this creates a need for tractable, and reliable, tools for measuring fundamental aspects of social relationships. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' (IOS) Scale, a handy pictorial tool for measuring the subjectively perceived closeness of a relationship. The tool is highly portable, very easy for subjects to understand and takes less than 1 minute to administer. Across our three online studies with a diverse adult population (n = 772) we show that six different scales designed to measure relationship closeness are all highly significantly positively correlated with the IOS Scale. We then conduct a Principal Component Analysis to construct an Index of Relationship Closeness and find that it correlates very strongly (ρ = 85) with the IOS Scale. We conclude that the IOS Scale is a psychologically meaningful and highly reliable measure of the subjective closeness of relationships. PMID:26068873

The optimal community detection of software based on complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Guoyan; Zhang, Peng; Zhang, Bing; Yin, Tengteng; Ren, Jiadong

2016-02-01

The community structure is important for software in terms of understanding the design patterns, controlling the development and the maintenance process. In order to detect the optimal community structure in the software network, a method Optimal Partition Software Network (OPSN) is proposed based on the dependency relationship among the software functions. First, by analyzing the information of multiple execution traces of one software, we construct Software Execution Dependency Network (SEDN). Second, based on the relationship among the function nodes in the network, we define Fault Accumulation (FA) to measure the importance of the function node and sort the nodes with measure results. Third, we select the top K(K=1,2,…) nodes as the core of the primal communities (only exist one core node). By comparing the dependency relationships between each node and the K communities, we put the node into the existing community which has the most close relationship. Finally, we calculate the modularity with different initial K to obtain the optimal division. With experiments, the method OPSN is verified to be efficient to detect the optimal community in various softwares.

A Close Look At The Relationship Between WMAP (ILC) Small-Scale Features And Galactic HI Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verschuur, Gerrit L.

2012-05-01

Galactic HI emission profiles surrounding two pairs of features located where large-scale filaments at very different velocities overlap were decomposed into Gaussian components. Families of components defined by similarity of center velocities and line widths were identified and found to be spatially related. Each of the two pairs of HI peaks straddle a high-frequency continuum source revealed in the WMAP survey data. It is suggested that where filamentary HI features are directly interacting high-frequency continuum radiation is being produced. The previously hypothesized mechanism for producing high-frequency continuum radiation involving free-free emission from electrons in the interstellar medium, in this case created where HI filaments interact to produce fractional ionizations of order 5 to 15%, fit the data very closely. The results confirm that WMAP data on small-scale structures believed to be cosmological in origin are in fact compromised by the presence of intervening galactic sources of interstellar electrons clumped on scales typical of interstellar HI structure.

[Sibling relations in processing sexual trauma: the film "The Celebration"

PubMed

Sohni, H

2001-01-01

Movies appeal as a subject of psychoanalytical art interpretation due to their structural closeness to "scenical understanding" and enrich our Insight into human relationships. The movie Das Pest is worth seeing because of its particular aesthetic form and because of its message about sibling relationships. According to the assessment of film journalists the movie shows the dismantling of middle class society and the reinscenation of destructive violence. In this author's interpretation, however, the movie leads out of passing violence on through the generations and herein differs from numerous current movies about siblings. The movie is about the process of a constructive development in the reciprocal relationships between four siblings and shows this in the formal structure of a film. With countertransference and our "viewing habits" the author discusses why this development could be overlooked. The movie shows neither a sibling fixation nor an idealization of sibling love as a regressive, timeless topos, but rather a horizontal relationship process. This is open towards partners and allows for a conciliatory attitude towards the parents. The movie is able to show this process conclusively under the burden of intergenerational violence and in its creativity enriches our image of sibling relationships.

Workshop on High-Field NMR and Biological Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory have been working toward the establishment of a new Molecular Science Research Center (MSRC). The primary scientific thrust of this new research center is in the areas of theoretical chemistry, chemical dynamics, surface and interfacial science, and studies on the structure and interactions of biological macromolecules. The MSRC will provide important new capabilities for studies on the structure of biological macromolecules. The MSRC program includes several types of advanced spectroscopic techniques for molecular structure analysis, and a theory and modeling laboratory for molecular mechanics/dynamics calculations and graphics. It is the goal to closely integrate experimental and theoretical studies on macromolecular structure, and to join these research efforts with those of the molecular biological programs to provide new insights into the structure/function relationships of biological macromolecules. One of the areas of structural biology on which initial efforts in the MSRC will be focused is the application of high field, 2-D NMR to the study of biological macromolecules. First, there is interest in obtaining 3-D structural information on large proteins and oligonucleotides. Second, one of the primary objectives is to closely link theoretical approaches to molecular structure analysis with the results obtained in experimental research using NMR and other spectroscopies.

Epistemic companions: shared reality development in close relationships.

PubMed

Rossignac-Milon, Maya; Higgins, E Tory

2018-01-11

We propose a framework outlining the development of shared reality in close relationships. In this framework, we attempt to integrate disparate close relationship phenomena under the conceptual umbrella of shared reality. We argue that jointly satisfying epistemic needs-making sense of the world together-plays an important but under-appreciated role in establishing and maintaining close relationships. Specifically, we propose that dyads progress through four cumulative phases in which new forms of shared reality emerge. Relationships are often initiated when people discover Shared Feelings, which then facilitate the co-construction of dyad-specific Shared Practices. Partners then form an interdependent web of Shared Coordination and ultimately develop a Shared Identity. Each emergent form of shared reality continues to evolve throughout subsequent phases, and, if neglected, can engender relationship dissolution. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Escaping or connecting? Characteristics of youth who form close online relationships.

PubMed

Wolak, Janis; Mitchell, Kimberly J; Finkelhor, David

2003-02-01

We used data from a US national sample of Internet users, ages 10-17 (N=1501), to explore the characteristics of youth who had formed close relationships with people they met on the Internet (n=210). Girls who had high levels of conflict with parents or were highly troubled were more likely than other girls to have close online relationships, as were boys who had low levels of communication with parents or were highly troubled, compared to other boys. Age, race and aspects of Internet use were also related. We know little about the nature or quality of the close online relationships, but youth with these sorts of problems may be more vulnerable to online exploitation and to other possible ill effects of online relationships. At the same time, these relationships may have helpful aspects.

The Conditions under which Growth-Fostering Relationships Promote Resilience and Alleviate Psychological Distress among Sexual Minorities: Applications of Relational Cultural Theory

PubMed Central

Mereish, Ethan H.; Poteat, V. Paul

2015-01-01

Relational cultural theory posits that resilience and psychological growth are rooted in relational connections and are facilitated through growth-fostering relationships. Framed within this theory, the current study examined the associations between growth-fostering relationships (i.e., relationships characterized by authenticity and mutuality) with a close friend and psychological distress among sexual minorities. More specifically, we tested the moderating effects of individuals’ internalized homophobia and their friend’s sexual orientation on the associations between growth-fostering relationship with their close friend and level of psychological distress. A sample of sexual minorities (N = 661) were recruited online and completed a questionnaire. The 3-way interaction between (a) growth-fostering relationship with a close friend, (b) the close friend’s sexual orientation, and (c) internalized homophobia was significant in predicting psychological distress. Among participants with low levels of internalized homophobia, a stronger growth-fostering relationship with a close heterosexual or LGBT friend was associated with less psychological distress. Among participants with high levels of internalized homophobia, a stronger growth-fostering relationship with a close LGBT friend was associated with less psychological distress but not with a heterosexual friend. Our results demonstrate that growth-fostering relationships may be associated with less psychological distress but under specific conditions. These findings illuminate a potential mechanism for sexual minorities’ resilience and provide support for relational cultural theory. Understanding resilience factors among sexual minorities is critical for culturally sensitive and affirmative clinical practice and future research. PMID:26380836

Couple Infertility: From the Perspective of the Close-Relationship Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, Barbara S.

1990-01-01

Presents Close-Relationship Model as comprehensive framework in which to examine interrelated nature of causes and effects of infertility on marital relationship. Includes these factors: physical and psychological characteristics of both partners; joint, couple characteristics; physical and social environment; and relationship itself. Discusses…

A new species of Megaperlodes Yokoyama et al. 1990 (Plecoptera, Perlodidae) from the South of the Russian Far East.

PubMed

Teslenko, Valentina A

2015-01-08

A new species of Plecoptera Megaperlodes tiunovi sp. n., from the South of the Russian Far East is described and illustrated. The relationships with its close relatives are discussed. Newly discovered features are added to the diagnosis of the genus Megaperlodes, especially previously overlooked eversible lobes within the paraprocts, egg structure, and wing venation.

Architectural design influences the diversity and structure of the built environment microbiome

PubMed Central

Kembel, Steven W; Jones, Evan; Kline, Jeff; Northcutt, Dale; Stenson, Jason; Womack, Ann M; Bohannan, Brendan JM; Brown, G Z; Green, Jessica L

2012-01-01

Buildings are complex ecosystems that house trillions of microorganisms interacting with each other, with humans and with their environment. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that determine the diversity and composition of the built environment microbiome—the community of microorganisms that live indoors—is important for understanding the relationship between building design, biodiversity and human health. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to quantify relationships between building attributes and airborne bacterial communities at a health-care facility. We quantified airborne bacterial community structure and environmental conditions in patient rooms exposed to mechanical or window ventilation and in outdoor air. The phylogenetic diversity of airborne bacterial communities was lower indoors than outdoors, and mechanically ventilated rooms contained less diverse microbial communities than did window-ventilated rooms. Bacterial communities in indoor environments contained many taxa that are absent or rare outdoors, including taxa closely related to potential human pathogens. Building attributes, specifically the source of ventilation air, airflow rates, relative humidity and temperature, were correlated with the diversity and composition of indoor bacterial communities. The relative abundance of bacteria closely related to human pathogens was higher indoors than outdoors, and higher in rooms with lower airflow rates and lower relative humidity. The observed relationship between building design and airborne bacterial diversity suggests that we can manage indoor environments, altering through building design and operation the community of microbial species that potentially colonize the human microbiome during our time indoors. PMID:22278670

A Relational Model of Sexual Minority Mental and Physical Health: The Negative Effects of Shame on Relationships, Loneliness, and Health

PubMed Central

Mereish, Ethan H.; Poteat, V. Paul

2015-01-01

Sexual minorities (e.g., lesbians, gay men, bisexual individuals) are at higher risk for mental and physical health disparities than heterosexuals, and some of these disparities relate to minority stressors such as discrimination. Yet, there is little research elucidating pathways that predict health or that promote resiliency among sexual minorities. Building on the minority stress model, the present study utilized relational cultural theory to situate sexual minority health within a relational framework. Specifically, the study tested mediators of the relationships between distal (i.e., discrimination, rejection, victimization) and proximal stressors (i.e., internalized homophobia, sexual orientation concealment) and psychological and physical distress for sexual minorities. Among 719 sexual minority adults, structural equation modeling analyses were used to test four models reflecting the mediating effects of shame, poorer relationships with a close peer and the LGBT community, and loneliness on the associations between minority stressors and psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety) and physical distress (i.e., distressing physical symptoms). As hypothesized, the associations between distal and proximal minority stressors and distress were mediated by shame, poorer relationships with a close peer and the LGBT community, and loneliness. Findings underscore the possible relational and interpersonal mechanisms by which sexual minority stressors lead to psychological and physical distress. PMID:26010289

Evolving Relationship Structures in Multi-sourcing Arrangements: The Case of Mission Critical Outsourcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heitlager, Ilja; Helms, Remko; Brinkkemper, Sjaak

Information Technology Outsourcing practice and research mainly considers the outsourcing phenomenon as a generic fulfilment of the IT function by external parties. Inspired by the logic of commodity, core competencies and economies of scale; assets, existing departments and IT functions are transferred to external parties. Although the generic approach might work for desktop outsourcing, where standardisation is the dominant factor, it does not work for the management of mission critical applications. Managing mission critical applications requires a different approach where building relationships is critical. The relationships involve inter and intra organisational parties in a multi-sourcing arrangement, called an IT service chain, consisting of multiple (specialist) parties that have to collaborate closely to deliver high quality services.

Veering and nonlinear interactions of a clamped beam in bending and torsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ehrhardt, David A.; Hill, Thomas L.; Neild, Simon A.; Cooper, Jonathan E.

2018-03-01

Understanding the linear and nonlinear dynamic behaviour of beams is critical for the design of many engineering structures such as spacecraft antennae, aircraft wings, and turbine blades. When the eigenvalues of such structures are closely-spaced, nonlinearity may lead to interactions between the underlying linear normal modes (LNMs). This work considers a clamped-clamped beam which exhibits nonlinear behaviour due to axial tension from large amplitudes of deformation. An additional cross-beam, mounted transversely and with a movable mass at each tip, allows tuning of the primary torsion LNM such that it is close to the primary bending LNM. Perturbing the location of one mass relative to that of the other leads to veering between the eigenvalues of the bending and torsion LNMs. For a number of selected geometries in the region of veering, a nonlinear reduced order model (NLROM) is created and the nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) are used to describe the underlying nonlinear behaviour of the structure. The relationship between the 'closeness' of the eigenvalues and the nonlinear dynamic behaviour is demonstrated in the NNM backbone curves, and veering-like behaviour is observed. Finally, the forced and damped dynamics of the structure are predicted using several analytical and numerical tools and are compared to experimental measurements. As well as showing a good agreement between the predicted and measured responses, phenomena such as a 1:1 internal resonance and quasi-periodic behaviour are identified.

Reaction mechanism of a PbS-on-ZnO heterostructure and enhanced photovoltaic diode performance with an interface-modulated heterojunction energy band structure.

PubMed

Li, Haili; Jiao, Shujie; Ren, Jinxian; Li, Hongtao; Gao, Shiyong; Wang, Jinzhong; Wang, Dongbo; Yu, Qingjiang; Zhang, Yong; Li, Lin

2016-02-07

A room temperature successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method is introduced for fabricating quantum dots-on-wide bandgap semiconductors. Detailed exploration of how SILAR begins and proceeds is performed by analyzing changes in the electronic structure of related elements at interfaces by X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy, together with characterization of optical properties and X-ray diffraction. The distribution of PbS QDs on ZnO, which is critical for optoelectrical applications of PbS with a large dielectric constant, shows a close relationship with the dipping order. A successively deposited PbS QDs layer is obtained when the sample is first immersed in Na2S solution. This is reasonable because the initial formation of different chemical bonds on ZnO nanorods is closely related to dangling bonds and defect states on surfaces. Most importantly, dipping order also affects their optoelectrical characteristics greatly, which can be explained by the heterojunction energy band structure related to the interface. The formation mechanism for PbS QDs on ZnO is confirmed by the fact that the photovoltaic diode device performance is closely related to the dipping order. Our atomic-scale understanding emphasises the fundamental role of surface chemistry in the structure and tuning of optoelectrical properties, and consequently in devices.

The Impact of Emotional Solidarity on Residents' Attitude and Tourism Development.

PubMed

Hasani, Ali; Moghavvemi, Sedigheh; Hamzah, Amran

2016-01-01

In many countries, especially one such as Malaysia, tourism has become a key factor in economic development, and the industry heavily relies on feedback from local residents. It is essential to observe and examine the perceptions of residents towards tourists and tourism development for better planning in realizing successful and sustainable tourism development. Therefore, this research measured the relationship between residents' welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding (emotional solidarity) towards tourists and their respective attitudes towards supporting tourism development. To test the proposed research model, we collected data using a questionnaire survey from 333 residents in rural areas in Malaysia. We used the structural equation modelling technique (Amos) to evaluate the research model, and the results revealed that the residents' willingness (welcoming nature) to accept tourists is the strongest factor that effects the residents' attitudes towards supporting tourism development. However, there was no significant relationship between residents' emotional closeness and their sympathetic understanding towards tourists with their attitude and support towards tourism development. Welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding are able to predict 48% of residents' attitudes towards tourism development and 62% of their support towards tourism development.

The Impact of Emotional Solidarity on Residents’ Attitude and Tourism Development

PubMed Central

Hasani, Ali; Moghavvemi, Sedigheh; Hamzah, Amran

2016-01-01

In many countries, especially one such as Malaysia, tourism has become a key factor in economic development, and the industry heavily relies on feedback from local residents. It is essential to observe and examine the perceptions of residents towards tourists and tourism development for better planning in realizing successful and sustainable tourism development. Therefore, this research measured the relationship between residents’ welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding (emotional solidarity) towards tourists and their respective attitudes towards supporting tourism development. To test the proposed research model, we collected data using a questionnaire survey from 333 residents in rural areas in Malaysia. We used the structural equation modelling technique (Amos) to evaluate the research model, and the results revealed that the residents’ willingness (welcoming nature) to accept tourists is the strongest factor that effects the residents’ attitudes towards supporting tourism development. However, there was no significant relationship between residents’ emotional closeness and their sympathetic understanding towards tourists with their attitude and support towards tourism development. Welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding are able to predict 48% of residents’ attitudes towards tourism development and 62% of their support towards tourism development. PMID:27341569

Detailed Anatomy of the Nasolabial Muscle in Human Fetuses as Determined by Micro-CT Combined With Iodine Staining.

PubMed

Wu, Jiajun; Yin, Ningbei

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate the 3-dimensional (3D) anatomical structure of the orbicularis oris and nasalis, which are closely associated with the appearance of the upper lip and lower part of the nose. The relationship of the complicated 3D anatomical structure with the outline shape was also determined. Microcomputed tomography combined with iodine staining was used to scan the nasolabial tissues of 3 aborted fetuses. The strictly aligned, corrected, full-capacity, 2-dimensional (2D) grayscale images obtained were then used to reconstruct 3D structures using a 3D reconstruction software. 2D grayscale slices and a 3D anatomical model of the orbicularis oris and nasalis of the specimens were obtained. The 2D images and the 3D model confirmed the orbicularis oris anatomical structure reported in previous studies and also provided new insights (such as the close association of the formation of the philtral dimple, lip peak, philtral ridge, and nasal sill with the orbicularis oris). In addition, the results show that the nasolabial muscle consists of muscle fibers from different sources and is divided into four distinct parts: pars marginalis, pars peripheralis, muscle fibers of the levator labii superioris, and nasalis muscle fibers. The 3D anatomical structures indicate that the orbicularis oris and nasalis are closely associated with the appearances of the upper lip and lower part of the nose. The results may aid plastic surgeons in performing cleft-lip correction surgery.

Behavior Problems in Elementary School among Low-Income Males: The Role of Teacher-Child Relationships

PubMed Central

O’Connor, Erin Eileen; Supplee, Lauren

2017-01-01

The present study identified trajectories of teacher-child relationship conflict and closeness from first through sixth grades, and associations between these trajectories and externalizing and internalizing behaviors at age 11 among low-income, urban males (N = 262). There were three main findings. Nagin cluster analyses indicated five trajectories for conflict with all children evidencing increases in conflict, and four trajectories for closeness with all children demonstrating decreases in closeness. Trajectories with higher levels of conflict and lower levels of closeness were associated with higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at age 11. Moreover, conflictual teacher-child relationships exacerbated the effects of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in early childhood; children with conflictual teacher-child relationships had higher levels of behavior problems in middle childhood relative to children with low conflictual teacher-child relationships. Implications of targeting teacher-child relationships as interventions to help prevent behavior problems are discussed. PMID:29170565

Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence

PubMed Central

McHale, Susan M.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Whiteman, Shawn D.

2014-01-01

The authors review the literature on sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, starting by tracing themes from foundational research and theory and then focusing on empirical research during the past 2 decades. This literature documents siblings’ centrality in family life, sources of variation in sibling relationship qualities, and the significance of siblings for child and adolescent development and adjustment. Sibling influences emerge not only in the context of siblings’ frequent and often emotionally intense interactions but also by virtue of siblings’ role in larger family system dynamics. Although siblings are building blocks of family structure and key players in family dynamics, their role has been relatively neglected by family scholars and by those who study close relationships. Incorporating study of siblings into family research provides novel insights into the operation of families as social and socializing systems. PMID:24653527

Observed Emotions as Predictors of Quality of Kindergartners’ Social Relationships

PubMed Central

Hernández, Maciel M.; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos; Spinrad, Tracy L.; VanSchyndel, Sarah K.; Diaz, Anjolii; Silva, Kassondra M.; Berger, Rebecca H.; Southworth, Jody

2018-01-01

This study evaluated whether positive and anger emotional frequency (the proportion of instances an emotion was observed) and intensity (the strength of an emotion when it was observed) uniquely predicted social relationships among kindergarteners (N = 301). Emotions were observed as naturally occurring at school in the fall term and multiple reporters (peers and teachers) provided information on quality of relationships with children in the spring term. In structural equation models, positive emotion frequency, but not positive emotion intensity, was positively related to peer acceptance and negatively related to peer rejection. In contrast, the frequency of anger provided unique positive prediction of teacher–student conflict and negative prediction of peer acceptance. Furthermore, anger intensity negatively predicted teacher–student closeness and positively predicted teacher–student conflict. Implications for promoting social relationships in school are discussed. PMID:29861553

On the relationship between residue structural environment and sequence conservation in proteins.

PubMed

Liu, Jen-Wei; Lin, Jau-Ji; Cheng, Chih-Wen; Lin, Yu-Feng; Hwang, Jenn-Kang; Huang, Tsun-Tsao

2017-09-01

Residues that are crucial to protein function or structure are usually evolutionarily conserved. To identify the important residues in protein, sequence conservation is estimated, and current methods rely upon the unbiased collection of homologous sequences. Surprisingly, our previous studies have shown that the sequence conservation is closely correlated with the weighted contact number (WCN), a measure of packing density for residue's structural environment, calculated only based on the C α positions of a protein structure. Moreover, studies have shown that sequence conservation is correlated with environment-related structural properties calculated based on different protein substructures, such as a protein's all atoms, backbone atoms, side-chain atoms, or side-chain centroid. To know whether the C α atomic positions are adequate to show the relationship between residue environment and sequence conservation or not, here we compared C α atoms with other substructures in their contributions to the sequence conservation. Our results show that C α positions are substantially equivalent to the other substructures in calculations of various measures of residue environment. As a result, the overlapping contributions between C α atoms and the other substructures are high, yielding similar structure-conservation relationship. Take the WCN as an example, the average overlapping contribution to sequence conservation is 87% between C α and all-atom substructures. These results indicate that only C α atoms of a protein structure could reflect sequence conservation at the residue level. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Social anxiety and romantic relationships: the costs and benefits of negative emotion expression are context-dependent.

PubMed

Kashdan, Todd B; Volkmann, Jeffrey R; Breen, William E; Han, Susan

2007-01-01

In general, expressing emotions is beneficial and withholding emotions has personal and social costs. Yet, to serve social functions there are situations when emotions are withheld strategically. We examined whether social anxiety influenced when and how emotion expressiveness influences interpersonal closeness in existing romantic relationships. For people with greater social anxiety, withholding the expression of negative emotions was proposed to preserve romantic relationships and their benefits. We examined whether social anxiety and emotion expressiveness interacted to predict prospective changes in romantic relationship closeness over a 12-week period. For people with less social anxiety, relationship closeness was enhanced over time when negative emotions were openly expressed whereas relationship deterioration was found for those more likely to withhold emotions. The reverse pattern was found for people with greater social anxiety such that relationship closeness was enhanced over time for those more likely to withhold negative emotions. Related social anxiety findings were found for discrepancies between desired and actual feelings of closeness over time. Findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the costs and benefits of emotion expression are influenced by a person's degree of social anxiety.

Close relationships and attributions for peer victimization among late adolescents.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaochen; Graham, Sandra

2012-12-01

This study examined the effect of close relationships (best friendship and romantic relationship) on late adolescents' casual attributions for peer victimization. A total of 1106 twelfth grade students completed self-report measures of perceived peer victimization, self-blame attribution, psychological maladjustment (loneliness and social anxiety), and quality of close peer relationships. Results indicated that self-blame partly mediated the link between peer victimization and psychological maladjustment. Relationship quality moderated the victimization-self-blame relation. Participants were more likely to endorse self-blame attributions for peer victimization when they had a negative relationship with a best friend or romantic partner. The moderated effect of negative best friendship quality was only significant for girls, whereas the moderated effect of negative romantic relationship quality was only significant for boys. Implications of these findings for future research on close relations during adolescence and for interventions to reduce the effects of peer victimization were discussed. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary relationship and structural characterization of the EPF/EPFL gene family.

PubMed

Takata, Naoki; Yokota, Kiyonobu; Ohki, Shinya; Mori, Masashi; Taniguchi, Toru; Kurita, Manabu

2013-01-01

EPF1-EPF2 and EPFL9/Stomagen act antagonistically in regulating leaf stomatal density. The aim of this study was to elucidate the evolutionary functional divergence of EPF/EPFL family genes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like genes are conserved only in vascular plants and are closely related to AtEPF1/EPF2-like genes. Modeling showed that EPF/EPFL peptides share a common 3D structure that is constituted of a scaffold and loop. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that AtEPF1/EPF2-like peptides form an additional disulfide bond in their loop regions and show greater flexibility in these regions than AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like peptides. This study uncovered the evolutionary relationship and the conformational divergence of proteins encoded by the EPF/EPFL family genes.

Evolutionary Relationship and Structural Characterization of the EPF/EPFL Gene Family

PubMed Central

Takata, Naoki; Yokota, Kiyonobu; Ohki, Shinya; Mori, Masashi; Taniguchi, Toru; Kurita, Manabu

2013-01-01

EPF1-EPF2 and EPFL9/Stomagen act antagonistically in regulating leaf stomatal density. The aim of this study was to elucidate the evolutionary functional divergence of EPF/EPFL family genes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like genes are conserved only in vascular plants and are closely related to AtEPF1/EPF2-like genes. Modeling showed that EPF/EPFL peptides share a common 3D structure that is constituted of a scaffold and loop. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that AtEPF1/EPF2-like peptides form an additional disulfide bond in their loop regions and show greater flexibility in these regions than AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like peptides. This study uncovered the evolutionary relationship and the conformational divergence of proteins encoded by the EPF/EPFL family genes. PMID:23755192

The Origin and Fate of Annulate Lamellae in Maturing Sand Dollar Eggs

PubMed Central

Merriam, R. W.

1959-01-01

Electron micrograph evidence is presented that the nuclear envelope of the mature ovum of Dendraster excentricus is implicated in a proliferation of what appear as nuclear envelope replicas in the cytoplasm. The proliferation is associated with intranuclear vesicles which apparently coalesce to form comparatively simple replicas of the nuclear envelope closely applied to the inside of the nuclear envelope. The envelope itself may become disorganized at the time when fully formed annulate lamellae appear on the cytoplasmic side and parallel with it. The concept of interconvertibility of general cytoplasmic vesicles with most of the membrane systems of the cytoplasm is presented. The structure of the annuli in the annulate lamellae is shown to include small spheres or vesicles of variable size embedded in a dense matrix. Dense particles which are about 150 A in diameter are often found closely associated with annulate lamellae in the cytoplasm. Similar structures in other echinoderm eggs are basophilic. In this species, unlike other published examples, the association apparently takes place in the cytoplasm only after the lamellae have separated from the nucleus. If 150 A particles are synthesized by annulate lamellae, as their close physical relationship suggests, then in this species at least the necessary synthetic mechanisms and specificity must reside in the structure of annulate lamellae. PMID:13630942

What determines forgiveness in close relationships? The role of post-transgression trust.

PubMed

Strelan, Peter; Karremans, Johan C; Krieg, Josiah

2017-03-01

Relationship closeness is one of the best predictors of forgiveness. But what is the process by which closeness encourages forgiveness? Across three studies, we employed a mix of experimental and correlational designs with prospective (N = 108), scenario (N = 71), and recall (N = 184) paradigms to test a multiple mediation model. We found consistent evidence that the positive association between relationship closeness and forgiveness may be explained by levels of post-transgression trust in the offender. Moreover, trust always played the main mediating role in the forgiveness process, even when taking into account several transgression-specific variables associated with both trust and forgiveness (e.g., apology). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of trust as a key indicator of forgiveness in close relationships. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Depression, anxiety and quality of life in suicide survivors: a comparison of close and distant relationships.

PubMed

Mitchell, Ann M; Sakraida, Teresa J; Kim, Yookyung; Bullian, Leann; Chiappetta, Laurel

2009-02-01

The study's purpose was to describe and compare depression, anxiety, and quality of life, by degree of relationship, between closely related and distantly related survivors (persons close to the suicide victim, or "suicide survivors"; N = 60) during the acute phase of bereavement (within 1 month of the death). The close relationship category included spouses, parents, children, and siblings, whereas the distant relationship category included in-laws, aunts/uncles, and nieces/nephews. Analysis of covariance examined differences between the two groups on the symptom measures. Results indicate that, after controlling for age and gender effects, closely related survivors had significantly higher mean levels of depression and anxiety and had lower levels of mental health quality of life. There were no statistically significant differences on the physical health quality of life subscale.

Spatial patterns of close relationships across the lifespan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jo, Hang-Hyun; Saramäki, Jari; Dunbar, Robin I. M.; Kaski, Kimmo

2014-11-01

The dynamics of close relationships is important for understanding the migration patterns of individual life-courses. The bottom-up approach to this subject by social scientists has been limited by sample size, while the more recent top-down approach using large-scale datasets suffers from a lack of detail about the human individuals. We incorporate the geographic and demographic information of millions of mobile phone users with their communication patterns to study the dynamics of close relationships and its effect in their life-course migration. We demonstrate how the close age- and sex-biased dyadic relationships are correlated with the geographic proximity of the pair of individuals, e.g., young couples tend to live further from each other than old couples. In addition, we find that emotionally closer pairs are living geographically closer to each other. These findings imply that the life-course framework is crucial for understanding the complex dynamics of close relationships and their effect on the migration patterns of human individuals.

Associations between Teacher-Child Relationships and Children's Writing in Kindergarten and First Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Kelley Mayer

2013-01-01

When children experience conflict in relationships with their teachers during early education, they perform more poorly on measures of language development and overall academic competence. Whereas children who have close relationships with teachers, often perform better on these measures. A close teacher-child relationship may be important for…

Genomic and antigenic characterization of the newly emerging Chinese duck egg-drop syndrome flavivirus: genomic comparison with Tembusu and Sitiawan viruses.

PubMed

Liu, Peipei; Lu, Hao; Li, Shuang; Moureau, Gregory; Deng, Yong-Qiang; Wang, Yongyue; Zhang, Lijiao; Jiang, Tao; de Lamballerie, Xavier; Qin, Cheng-Feng; Gould, Ernest A; Su, Jingliang; Gao, George F

2012-10-01

Duck egg-drop syndrome virus (DEDSV) is a newly emerging pathogenic flavivirus causing avian diseases in China. The infection occurs in laying ducks characterized by a severe drop in egg production with a fatality rate of 5-15 %. The virus was found to be most closely related to Tembusu virus (TMUV), an isolate from mosquitoes in South-east Asia. Here, we have sequenced and characterized the full-length genomes of seven DEDSV strains, including the 5'- and 3'-non-coding regions (NCRs). We also report for the first time the ORF sequences of TMUV and Sitiawan virus (STWV), another closely related flavivirus isolated from diseased chickens. We analysed the phylogenetic and antigenic relationships of DEDSV in relation to the Asian viruses TMUV and STWV, and other representative flaviviruses. Our results confirm the close relationship between DEDSV and TMUV/STWV and we discuss their probable evolutionary origins. We have also characterized the cleavage sites, potential glycosylation sites and unique motifs/modules of these viruses. Additionally, conserved sequences in both 5'- and 3'-NCRs were identified and the predicted secondary structures of the terminal sequences were studied. Antigenic cross-reactivity comparisons of DEDSV with related pathogenic flaviviruses identified a surprisingly close relationship with dengue virus (DENV) and raised the question of whether or not DEDSV may have a potential infectious threat to man. Importantly, DEDSV can be efficiently recognized by a broadly cross-reactive flavivirus mAb, 2A10G6, derived against DENV. The significance of these studies is discussed in the context of the emergence, evolution, epidemiology, antigenicity and pathogenicity of the newly emergent DEDSV.

Teachers' dispositional mindfulness and the quality of their relationships with children in Head Start classrooms.

PubMed

Becker, Brandon D; Gallagher, Kathleen C; Whitaker, Robert C

2017-12-01

The quality of teachers' relationships with children is a key predictor of children's later social emotional competence and academic achievement. Interventions to increase mindfulness among teachers have focused primarily on the impacts on teachers' subjective well-being, but not on the quality of their relationships with children. Furthermore, none of these interventions have involved preschool teachers. To consider the potential of mindfulness-based interventions to improve the quality of teachers' relationships with preschool-aged children, we examined data from an online survey of 1001 classroom teachers in 37 Pennsylvania Head Start Programs. Using path analysis we investigated the association between teachers' dispositional mindfulness and the quality of their relationships with children (conflict and closeness). We further examined whether this association was mediated by teacher depressive symptoms and moderated by perceived workplace stress. Higher levels of dispositional mindfulness among teachers were associated with higher quality relationships with children (less conflict and greater closeness). The association between greater dispositional mindfulness and less conflict was partially mediated by lower depressive symptoms, and the conditional direct effect of mindfulness on conflict was stronger when perceived workplace stress was lower. These findings suggest that preschool teachers who have higher levels of dispositional mindfulness may experience higher quality relationships with children in their classrooms. Interventions to increase levels of dispositional mindfulness among early childhood educators may improve their well-being along with the quality of their relationships with children, potentially impacting children's educational outcomes. The potential impacts of such interventions may be even stronger if structural and systemic changes are also made to reduce workplace stress. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Women Favour Dyadic Relationships, but Men Prefer Clubs: Cross-Cultural Evidence from Social Networking

PubMed Central

David-Barrett, Tamas; Rotkirch, Anna; Carney, James; Behncke Izquierdo, Isabel; Krems, Jaimie A.; Townley, Dylan; McDaniell, Elinor; Byrne-Smith, Anna; Dunbar, Robin I. M.

2015-01-01

The ability to create lasting, trust-based friendships makes it possible for humans to form large and coherent groups. The recent literature on the evolution of sociality and on the network dynamics of human societies suggests that large human groups have a layered structure generated by emotionally supported social relationships. There are also gender differences in adult social style which may involve different trade-offs between the quantity and quality of friendships. Although many have suggested that females tend to focus on intimate relations with a few other females, while males build larger, more hierarchical coalitions, the existence of such gender differences is disputed and data from adults is scarce. Here, we present cross-cultural evidence for gender differences in the preference for close friendships. We use a sample of ∼112,000 profile pictures from nine world regions posted on a popular social networking site to show that, in self-selected displays of social relationships, women favour dyadic relations, whereas men favour larger, all-male cliques. These apparently different solutions to quality-quantity trade-offs suggest a universal and fundamental difference in the function of close friendships for the two sexes. PMID:25775258

Women favour dyadic relationships, but men prefer clubs: cross-cultural evidence from social networking.

PubMed

David-Barrett, Tamas; Rotkirch, Anna; Carney, James; Behncke Izquierdo, Isabel; Krems, Jaimie A; Townley, Dylan; McDaniell, Elinor; Byrne-Smith, Anna; Dunbar, Robin I M

2015-01-01

The ability to create lasting, trust-based friendships makes it possible for humans to form large and coherent groups. The recent literature on the evolution of sociality and on the network dynamics of human societies suggests that large human groups have a layered structure generated by emotionally supported social relationships. There are also gender differences in adult social style which may involve different trade-offs between the quantity and quality of friendships. Although many have suggested that females tend to focus on intimate relations with a few other females, while males build larger, more hierarchical coalitions, the existence of such gender differences is disputed and data from adults is scarce. Here, we present cross-cultural evidence for gender differences in the preference for close friendships. We use a sample of ∼112,000 profile pictures from nine world regions posted on a popular social networking site to show that, in self-selected displays of social relationships, women favour dyadic relations, whereas men favour larger, all-male cliques. These apparently different solutions to quality-quantity trade-offs suggest a universal and fundamental difference in the function of close friendships for the two sexes.

Structure activity relationship of synaptic and junctional neurotransmission.

PubMed

Goyal, Raj K; Chaudhury, Arun

2013-06-01

Chemical neurotransmission may include transmission to local or remote sites. Locally, contact between 'bare' portions of the bulbous nerve terminal termed a varicosity and the effector cell may be in the form of either synapse or non-synaptic contact. Traditionally, all local transmissions between nerves and effector cells are considered synaptic in nature. This is particularly true for communication between neurons. However, communication between nerves and other effectors such as smooth muscles has been described as nonsynaptic or junctional in nature. Nonsynaptic neurotransmission is now also increasingly recognized in the CNS. This review focuses on the relationship between structure and function that orchestrate synaptic and junctional neurotransmissions. A synapse is a specialized focal contact between the presynaptic active zone capable of ultrafast release of soluble transmitters and the postsynaptic density that cluster ionotropic receptors. The presynaptic and the postsynaptic areas are separated by the 'closed' synaptic cavity. The physiological hallmark of the synapse is ultrafast postsynaptic potentials lasting milliseconds. In contrast, junctions are juxtapositions of nerve terminals and the effector cells without clear synaptic specializations and the junctional space is 'open' to the extracellular space. Based on the nature of the transmitters, postjunctional receptors and their separation from the release sites, the junctions can be divided into 'close' and 'wide' junctions. Functionally, the 'close' and the 'wide' junctions can be distinguished by postjunctional potentials lasting ~1s and tens of seconds, respectively. Both synaptic and junctional communications are common between neurons; however, junctional transmission is the rule at many neuro-non-neural effectors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Application of information theory to a three-body coarse-grained representation of proteins in the PDB: insights into the structural and evolutionary roles of residues in protein structure.

PubMed

Thompson, Jared J; Tabatabaei Ghomi, Hamed; Lill, Markus A

2014-12-01

Knowledge-based methods for analyzing protein structures, such as statistical potentials, primarily consider the distances between pairs of bodies (atoms or groups of atoms). Considerations of several bodies simultaneously are generally used to characterize bonded structural elements or those in close contact with each other, but historically do not consider atoms that are not in direct contact with each other. In this report, we introduce an information-theoretic method for detecting and quantifying distance-dependent through-space multibody relationships between the sidechains of three residues. The technique introduced is capable of producing convergent and consistent results when applied to a sufficiently large database of randomly chosen, experimentally solved protein structures. The results of our study can be shown to reproduce established physico-chemical properties of residues as well as more recently discovered properties and interactions. These results offer insight into the numerous roles that residues play in protein structure, as well as relationships between residue function, protein structure, and evolution. The techniques and insights presented in this work should be useful in the future development of novel knowledge-based tools for the evaluation of protein structure. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Market basket analysis visualization on a spherical surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Ming C.; Hsu, Meichun; Dayal, Umeshwar; Wei, Shu F.; Sprenger, Thomas; Holenstein, Thomas

2001-05-01

This paper discusses the visualization of the relationships in e-commerce transactions. To date, many practical research projects have shown the usefulness of a physics-based mass- spring technique to layout data items with close relationships on a graph. We describe a market basket analysis visualization system using this technique. This system is described as the following: (1) integrates a physics-based engine into a visual data mining platform; (2) use a 3D spherical surface to visualize the cluster of related data items; and (3) for large volumes of transactions, uses hidden structures to unclutter the display. Several examples of market basket analysis are also provided.

NMR relaxation studies on the hydrate layer of intrinsically unstructured proteins.

PubMed

Bokor, Mónika; Csizmók, Veronika; Kovács, Dénes; Bánki, Péter; Friedrich, Peter; Tompa, Peter; Tompa, Kálmán

2005-03-01

Intrinsically unstructured/disordered proteins (IUPs) exist in a disordered and largely solvent-exposed, still functional, structural state under physiological conditions. As their function is often directly linked with structural disorder, understanding their structure-function relationship in detail is a great challenge to structural biology. In particular, their hydration and residual structure, both closely linked with their mechanism of action, require close attention. Here we demonstrate that the hydration of IUPs can be adequately approached by a technique so far unexplored with respect to IUPs, solid-state NMR relaxation measurements. This technique provides quantitative information on various features of hydrate water bound to these proteins. By freezing nonhydrate (bulk) water out, we have been able to measure free induction decays pertaining to protons of bound water from which the amount of hydrate water, its activation energy, and correlation times could be calculated. Thus, for three IUPs, the first inhibitory domain of calpastatin, microtubule-associated protein 2c, and plant dehydrin early responsive to dehydration 10, we demonstrate that they bind a significantly larger amount of water than globular proteins, whereas their suboptimal hydration and relaxation parameters are correlated with their differing modes of function. The theoretical treatment and experimental approach presented in this article may have general utility in characterizing proteins that belong to this novel structural class.

[Meniscal lesion. A pre-osteoarthritic condition of the knee joint].

PubMed

Goebel, L; Reinhard, J; Madry, H

2017-10-01

A close relationship between meniscal damage and articular cartilage exist. Likewise, (partial) meniscectomy may lead to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). With a special emphasis on therapeutic consequences for orthopaedic surgeons, the structural and functional relationship between meniscal tears/extrusion and cartilage loss, and/or the effect of meniscectomy or meniscal repair on the development of OA, are emphasized. A selective literature review with implementation of own research findings. The close topographical and functional interplay between the menisci and the tibiofemoral cartilage is the basis for the clinically important relationship between meniscal damage and cartilage degeneration. In particular, due to its close connection to tibiofemoral OA, a degenerative meniscal lesion represents a pre-osteoarthritic condition. Meniscus extrusion is also often associated with tibiofemoral OA. Even large cartilage defects can cause meniscus lesions. Partial meniscectomy is strongly associated with the incidence and risk of progression of OA. Clinical results are particularly problematic after partial resection of the lateral meniscus. Although the use of arthroscopic partial resection for degenerative meniscal lesions has been controversially discussed, no long-term studies are available. A large number of studies emphasize the medium-term value of meniscus reconstruction compared to partial meniscus resection. Combined meniscus and cartilage damage are complex cases, and the value of a simultaneous therapy remains unclear. Preserving the meniscus is the first step towards cartilage repair. Randomized and controlled studies will provide better information on the long-term outcomes of meniscal resection and repair with regard to OA development.

Relationship among visual field, blood flow, and neural structure measurements in glaucoma.

PubMed

Hwang, John C; Konduru, Ranjith; Zhang, Xinbo; Tan, Ou; Francis, Brian A; Varma, Rohit; Sehi, Mitra; Greenfield, David S; Sadda, Srinivas R; Huang, David

2012-05-17

To determine the relationship among visual field, neural structural, and blood flow measurements in glaucoma. Case-control study. Forty-seven eyes of 42 patients with perimetric glaucoma were age-matched with 27 normal eyes of 27 patients. All patients underwent Doppler Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography to measure retinal blood flow and standard glaucoma evaluation with visual field testing and quantitative structural imaging. Linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the relationship among visual field, blood flow, and structure, after all variables were converted to logarithmic decibel scale. Retinal blood flow was reduced in glaucoma eyes compared to normal eyes (P < 0.001). Visual field loss was correlated with both reduced retinal blood flow and structural loss of rim area and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). There was no correlation or paradoxical correlation between blood flow and structure. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that reduced blood flow and structural loss are independent predictors of visual field loss. Each dB decrease in blood flow was associated with at least 1.62 dB loss in mean deviation (P ≤ 0.001), whereas each dB decrease in rim area and RNFL was associated with 1.15 dB and 2.56 dB loss in mean deviation, respectively (P ≤ 0.03). There is a close link between reduced retinal blood flow and visual field loss in glaucoma that is largely independent of structural loss. Further studies are needed to elucidate the causes of the vascular dysfunction and potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. Blood flow measurement may be useful as an independent assessment of glaucoma severity.

Structural Priming: A Critical Review

PubMed Central

Pickering, Martin J.; Ferreira, Victor S.

2009-01-01

Repetition is a central phenomenon of behavior, and researchers make extensive use of it to illuminate psychological functioning. In the language sciences, a ubiquitous form of such repetition is structural priming, a tendency to repeat or better process a current sentence because of its structural similarity to a previously experienced (“prime”) sentence (Bock, 1986). The recent explosion of research in structural priming has made it the dominant means of investigating the processes involved in the production (and increasingly, comprehension) of complex expressions such as sentences. This review considers its implications for the representation of syntax and the mechanisms of production, comprehension, and their relationship. It then addresses the potential functions of structural priming, before turning to its implications for first language acquisition, bilingualism, and aphasia We close with theoretical and empirical recommendations for future investigations. PMID:18444704

Structure-function relationships in tendons: a review

PubMed Central

Benjamin, M; Kaiser, E; Milz, S

2008-01-01

The purpose of the current review is to highlight the structure-function relationship of tendons and related structures to provide an overview for readers whose interest in tendons needs to be underpinned by anatomy. Because of the availability of several recent reviews on tendon development and entheses, the focus of the current work is primarily directed towards what can best be described as the ‘tendon proper’ or the ‘mid-substance’ of tendons. The review covers all levels of tendon structure from the molecular to the gross and deals both with the extracellular matrix and with tendon cells. The latter are often called ‘tenocytes’ and are increasingly recognized as a defined cell population that is functionally and phenotypically distinct from other fibroblast-like cells. This is illustrated by their response to different types of mechanical stress. However, it is not only tendon cells, but tendons as a whole that exhibit distinct structure-function relationships geared to the changing mechanical stresses to which they are subject. This aspect of tendon biology is considered in some detail. Attention is briefly directed to the blood and nerve supply of tendons, for this is an important issue that relates to the intrinsic healing capacity of tendons. Structures closely related to tendons (joint capsules, tendon sheaths, pulleys, retinacula, fat pads and bursae) are also covered and the concept of a ‘supertendon’ is introduced to describe a collection of tendons in which the function of the whole complex exceeds that of its individual members. Finally, attention is drawn to the important relationship between tendons and fascia, highlighted by Wood Jones in his concept of an ‘ectoskeleton’ over half a century ago – work that is often forgotten today. PMID:18304204

Optimization of the parameters for obtaining zirconia-alumina coatings, made by flame spraying from results of numerical simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrer, M.; Vargas, F.; Peña, G.

2017-12-01

The K-Sommerfeld values (K) and the melting percentage (% F) obtained by numerical simulation using the Jets et Poudres software were used to find the projection parameters of zirconia-alumina coatings by thermal spraying flame, in order to obtain coatings with good morphological and structural properties to be used as thermal insulation. The experimental results show the relationship between the Sommerfeld parameter and the porosity of the zirconia-alumina coatings. It is found that the lowest porosity is obtained when the K-Sommerfeld value is close to 45 with an oxidant flame, on the contrary, when superoxidant flames are used K values are close 52, which improve wear resistance.

[Family communication styles, attitude towards institutional authority and adolescents' violent behaviour at school].

PubMed

Estévez López, Estefanía; Murgui Pérez, Sergio; Moreno Ruiz, David; Musitu Ochoa, Gonzalo

2007-02-01

The purpose of present study is to analyse the relationship among certain family and school factors, adolescents' attitude towards institutional authority, and violent behaviour at school. The sample is composed of 1049 adolescents of both sexes and aged from 11 to 16 years old. Statistical analyses were carried out using structural equation modelling. Results indicate a close association between negative communication with father and violent behaviour in adolescence. Moreover, data suggest that teachers' expectations affect students' attitude towards institutional authority, which in turn is closely related to school violence. Finally, findings show an indirect influence of father, mother and teacher in adolescents' violent behaviour, mainly through their effect on family- and school-self-concept.

A comparative study of the inner ear structures of artiodactyls and early cetaceans

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klingshirn, M.A.; Luo, Z.

1994-12-31

It has been suggested that the order Cetacea (whales and porpoises) are closely related to artiodactyls, even-hoofed ungulate mammals such as the pig and cow. Paleontological and molecular data strongly supports this concept of phylogenetic relationships. In a study of DNA sequences of two mitochondrial ribosomal gene segments of cetaceans, the artiodactyls were found to be closest related to Cetaceans. These well accepted studies on the phylogenetic affinities of artiodactyls and cetaceans cause us to conduct a comparative study of the bony structure of the inner ear of these two taxa.

Observation of Dirac-like band dispersion in LaAgSb 2

DOE PAGES

Shi, X.; Richard, P.; Wang, Kefeng; ...

2016-02-16

In this paper, we present a combined angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculations study of the electronic structure of LaAgSb 2 in the entire first Brillouin zone. We observe a Dirac-cone-like structure in the vicinity of the Fermi level formed by the crossing of two linear energy bands, as well as the nested segments of a Fermi surface pocket emerging from the cone. In conclusion, our ARPES results show the close relationship of the Dirac cone to the charge-density-wave ordering, providing consistent explanations for exotic behaviors in this material.

Interdependence of attachment styles and relationship quality in parent-adolescent dyads.

PubMed

Chow, Chong Man; Hart, Ellen; Ellis, Lillian; Tan, Cin Cin

2017-12-01

The current study examined how attachment styles of parents and adolescents may jointly influence the quality of their relationship. Parent-adolescent (N dyads  = 77) pairs were recruited from a Midwestern town in the United States. The mean of adolescents' age was 16.25. Both members reported their attachment styles, relationship closeness, and relationship discord. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) showed that both members' attachment avoidance was associated with self-report lower levels of closeness. Parents' attachment anxiety was related to relationship discord. Parents with higher avoidant attachment reported lower closeness when adolescents were higher in avoidant attachment. Higher parents' anxious attachment was related to higher relationship closeness when adolescents were higher on anxious attachment. Such an association was negative when adolescents had lower anxious attachment. Higher parents' anxious attachment was related to greater discord when adolescents were lower on anxiety attachment. This study reveals the complex dyadic dynamics of relationship quality in parent-adolescent pairs. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between language use and depression: illuminating the importance of self-reflection, self-rumination, and the need for absolute truth.

PubMed

Şimşek, Ömer Faruk

2013-01-01

The main aim of the present study was to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language relates to depression. Although previous research gave clear evidence that language is closely related to depression, the research on intervening variables in the relationship has been limited. The present investigation tested a structural equation model in which self-concept clarity and self-consciousness mediated the relationship between personal perceptions of language and depression. Since "the need for absolute truth" construct has been shown to be important in providing greater consistency in estimates of the relationships among the variables, it has been added to the model as a control variable. The results supported the model and showed that personal perceptions of language predicted self-concept clarity, which in turn predicted the participants' self-reflection and self-rumination. Self-reflection and self-rumination, in turn, predicted depression.

The importance of transformational leadership style for the well-being of employees working with older people.

PubMed

Nielsen, Karina; Yarker, Joanna; Brenner, Sten-Olof; Randall, Raymond; Borg, Vilhelm

2008-09-01

This paper is a report of a study to explore the relationships between transformational leadership, followers' perceived working conditions and employee well-being and job satisfaction. There is some evidence that transformational leadership style is linked to employee job satisfaction and well-being. However, it is not clear whether this is due to (i) a direct relationship between leadership and job satisfaction and well-being outcomes or (ii) whether followers' perceived working conditions mediate this relationship. A cross-sectional design was applied to data from a questionnaire study of 447 staff caring for older people in Denmark. Data were collected in 2005. A theory-driven model of the relationships between leadership, working conditions, job satisfaction and well-being was tested using structural equation modelling. The transformational leadership style was closely associated with followers' working conditions, namely involvement, influence and meaningfulness. Involvement was associated with job satisfaction and meaningfulness was associated with well-being. However, working conditions were closely correlated with each other, and thus the mediating mechanisms may operate through several different working conditions. A direct path between leadership behaviour and employee well-being was also found. Considering working conditions in the absence of studying leadership behaviour (or vice versa) may reveal an incomplete picture of the impact of work and work relationships on well-being. Work re-design interventions focused on influence may benefit from the consideration of training managers to exert transformational leadership behaviours.

Close Relationships and Attributions for Peer Victimization among Late Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xiaochen; Graham, Sandra

2012-01-01

This study examined the effect of close relationships (best friendship and romantic relationship) on late adolescents' casual attributions for peer victimization. A total of 1106 twelfth grade students completed self-report measures of perceived peer victimization, self-blame attribution, psychological maladjustment (loneliness and social…

Commitment Predictors: Long-Distance versus Geographically Close Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pistole, M. Carole; Roberts, Amber; Mosko, Jonathan E.

2010-01-01

In this web-based study, the authors examined long-distance relationships (LDRs) and geographically close relationships (GCRs). Two hierarchical multiple regressions (N = 138) indicated that attachment predicted LDR and GCR commitment in Step 1. Final equations indicated that high satisfaction and investments predicted LDR commitment, whereas low…

Coupled cryoconite ecosystem structure-function relationships are revealed by comparing bacterial communities in alpine and Arctic glaciers.

PubMed

Edwards, Arwyn; Mur, Luis A J; Girdwood, Susan E; Anesio, Alexandre M; Stibal, Marek; Rassner, Sara M E; Hell, Katherina; Pachebat, Justin A; Post, Barbara; Bussell, Jennifer S; Cameron, Simon J S; Griffith, Gareth Wyn; Hodson, Andrew J; Sattler, Birgit

2014-08-01

Cryoconite holes are known as foci of microbial diversity and activity on polar glacier surfaces, but are virtually unexplored microbial habitats in alpine regions. In addition, whether cryoconite community structure reflects ecosystem functionality is poorly understood. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and Fourier transform infrared metabolite fingerprinting of cryoconite from glaciers in Austria, Greenland and Svalbard demonstrated cryoconite bacterial communities are closely correlated with cognate metabolite fingerprints. The influence of bacterial-associated fatty acids and polysaccharides was inferred, underlining the importance of bacterial community structure in the properties of cryoconite. Thus, combined application of T-RFLP and FT-IR metabolite fingerprinting promises high throughput, and hence, rapid assessment of community structure-function relationships. Pyrosequencing revealed Proteobacteria were particularly abundant, with Cyanobacteria likely acting as ecosystem engineers in both alpine and Arctic cryoconite communities. However, despite these generalities, significant differences in bacterial community structures, compositions and metabolomes are found between alpine and Arctic cryoconite habitats, reflecting the impact of local and regional conditions on the challenges of thriving in glacial ecosystems. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Numerical model updating technique for structures using firefly algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sai Kubair, K.; Mohan, S. C.

2018-03-01

Numerical model updating is a technique used for updating the existing experimental models for any structures related to civil, mechanical, automobiles, marine, aerospace engineering, etc. The basic concept behind this technique is updating the numerical models to closely match with experimental data obtained from real or prototype test structures. The present work involves the development of numerical model using MATLAB as a computational tool and with mathematical equations that define the experimental model. Firefly algorithm is used as an optimization tool in this study. In this updating process a response parameter of the structure has to be chosen, which helps to correlate the numerical model developed with the experimental results obtained. The variables for the updating can be either material or geometrical properties of the model or both. In this study, to verify the proposed technique, a cantilever beam is analyzed for its tip deflection and a space frame has been analyzed for its natural frequencies. Both the models are updated with their respective response values obtained from experimental results. The numerical results after updating show that there is a close relationship that can be brought between the experimental and the numerical models.

ATTACHMENT AND CORE RELATIONSHIP THEMES: WISHES FOR AUTONOMY AND CLOSENESS IN THE NARRATIVES OF SECURELY AND INSECURELY ATTACHED ADULTS

PubMed Central

Waldinger, Robert J.; Seidman, Ethan L.; Gerber, Andrew J.; Liem, Joan H.; Allen, Joseph P.; Hauser, Stuart T.

2006-01-01

This study examines links between attachment states of mind and relationship schemas in a sample of 40 young adults, half of whom were hospitalized as adolescents for psychiatric treatment. Participants were interviewed about their closest relationships, and, using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method, their narratives about these relationships were analyzed for the relative frequency with which they expressed wishes for closeness and for autonomy in relation to others. Participants were also administered the Adult Attachment Interview and were classified with respect to security of attachment. Security of attachment was associated with the relative frequency with which participants expressed wishes for autonomy in their narratives about close relationships, even after accounting for current levels of psychological functioning and history of serious psychopathology in adolescence. Security of attachment was not associated with the relative frequency with which participants expressed wishes for closeness. The study suggests that core relational wishes for autonomy are linked specifically with subtypes of insecure attachment. These findings extend what is known about connections between the representation of early attachment relationships and the wishes and needs expressed in current relationships with significant others. PMID:16946799

Multilevel examination of facility characteristics, social integration, and health for older adults living in nursing homes.

PubMed

Leedahl, Skye N; Chapin, Rosemary K; Little, Todd D

2015-01-01

Testing a model based on past research and theory, this study assessed relationships between facility characteristics (i.e., culture change efforts, social workers) and residents' social networks and social support across nursing homes; and examined relationships between multiple aspects of social integration (i.e., social networks, social capital, social engagement, social support) and mental and functional health for older adults in nursing homes. Data were collected at nursing homes using a planned missing data design with random sampling techniques. Data collection occurred at the individual-level through in-person structured interviews with older adult nursing home residents (N = 140) and at the facility-level (N = 30) with nursing home staff. The best fitting multilevel structural equation model indicated that the culture change subscale for relationships significantly predicted differences in residents' social networks. Additionally, social networks had a positive indirect relationship with mental and functional health among residents primarily via social engagement. Social capital had a positive direct relationship with both health outcomes. To predict better social integration and mental and functional health outcomes for nursing homes residents, study findings support prioritizing that close relationships exist among staff, residents, and the community as well as increased resident social engagement and social trust. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Close Relationships: A Study of Mobile Communication Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palchykov, Vasyl; Kertész, János; Dunbar, Robin; Kaski, Kimmo

2013-05-01

Mobile phone communication as digital service generates ever-increasing datasets of human communication actions, which in turn allow us to investigate the structure and evolution of social interactions and their networks. These datasets can be used to study the structuring of such egocentric networks with respect to the strength of the relationships by assuming direct dependence of the communication intensity on the strength of the social tie. Recently we have discovered that there are significant differences between the first and further "best friends" from the point of view of age and gender preferences. Here we introduce a control parameter p max based on the statistics of communication with the first and second "best friend" and use it to filter the data. We find that when p max is decreased the identification of the "best friend" becomes less ambiguous and the earlier observed effects get stronger, thus corroborating them.

Cultural regulation of emotion: individual, relational, and structural sources

PubMed Central

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

2013-01-01

The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships—close others shape people's environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways—and are afforded by structural conditions—people's daily lives “limit” the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules. PMID:23408753

A relational model of sexual minority mental and physical health: The negative effects of shame on relationships, loneliness, and health.

PubMed

Mereish, Ethan H; Poteat, V Paul

2015-07-01

Sexual minorities (e.g., lesbians, gay men, bisexual individuals) are at an increased risk for poorer mental and physical health outcomes than heterosexuals, and some of these health disparities relate to minority stressors such as discrimination. Yet, there is little research elucidating pathways that predict health or that promote resiliency among sexual minorities. Building on the minority stress model, the present study utilized relational cultural theory to situate sexual minority health within a relational framework. Specifically, the study tested mediators of the relationships between distal (i.e., discrimination, rejection, victimization) and proximal stressors (i.e., internalized homophobia, sexual orientation concealment) and psychological and physical distress for sexual minorities. Among 719 sexual minority adults, structural equation modeling analyses were used to test 4 models reflecting the mediating effects of shame, poorer relationships with a close peer and the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) community, and loneliness on the associations between minority stressors and psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety) and physical distress (i.e., distressing physical symptoms). As hypothesized, the associations between distal and proximal minority stressors and distress were mediated by shame, poorer relationships with a close peer and the LGBT community, and loneliness. Findings underscore the possible relational and interpersonal mechanisms by which sexual minority stressors lead to psychological and physical distress. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Close Relationships of People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Faye; Bowden, Keith; McKenzie, Karen; Quayle, Ethel

2016-01-01

Background: Positive interpersonal relationships have been found to enhance an individual's quality of life. However, people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) often have restricted social networks, and little is known about their views on close social relationships. The study aimed to explore how this group perceives and experiences close…

Cognitive Processes in Close Relationships: Recent Findings and Implications for Counseling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Frederick G.

1993-01-01

Notes that coinciding with recent growth of professional interest in relationship counseling has been emergence of important research on cognitive processes of persons in close relationships. Reviews selected findings from this literature which illuminates attributional, self-evaluation, and self-verification processes of participants in close…

Teacher-Child Relationships in Prekindergarten: The Influences of Child and Teacher Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koles, Bernadett; O'Connor, Erin; McCartney, Kathleen

2009-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate child and teacher characteristics associated with closeness and conflict in prekindergarten teacher-child relationships. Child gender and temperament were significantly associated with closeness and conflict. Specifically, higher levels of shyness correlated with closer relationships for boys…

Comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes of the genus Citrus and its close relatives.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaogang; Wu, Hongkun; Luo, Yan; Xi, Wanpeng; Zhou, Zhiqin

2017-01-01

The genus Citrus and its close relatives are economically and nutritionally important fruit trees. However, the huge controversy over the phylogeny of key wild species, as well as the genetic relationship between the cultivated species and their putative wild progenitors, remains unresolved. Comparative analyses of chloroplast (cp) genomes have been useful in resolving various phylogenetic issues. Thus far, the cp genomes of only two Citrus species have been sequenced. In this study, we sequenced six complete cp genomes, four belonging to the genus Citrus, and two belonging to the genera Fortunella and Poncirus, respectively. These newly sequenced genomes together with the two publicly available were used for comparative analyses of the genus Citrus and its close relatives. All eight cp genomes share similar basic structure, gene order and gene content. Phylogenetic analyses supported the monophyly of the three genera in the order Sapindales within the major clade Malvidae.

Literature and English Language Teaching and Learning: A Symbiotic Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ihejirika, Richard C.

2014-01-01

A close look at literature and language shows that the two are closely related. This close relationship is obvious because from all indications, literature presupposes language. It is inconceivable to discuss literature without reference to language. But going by the traditional practice at the secondary school level in Nigerian context, there are…

Parent-Adolescent Relationship Qualities, Internal Working Models, and Styles as Predictors of Adolescents’ Observed Interactions with Friends

PubMed Central

Shomaker, Lauren B.; Furman, Wyndol

2010-01-01

This study examined how current parent-adolescent relationship qualities and adolescents’ representations of relationships with parents were related to friendship interactions in 200 adolescent-close friend dyads. Adolescents and friends were observed discussing problems during a series of structured tasks. Negative interactions with mothers were significantly related to adolescents’ greater conflict with friends, poorer focus on tasks, and poorer communication skills. Security of working models (as assessed by interview) was significantly associated with qualities of friendship interactions, whereas security of attachment styles (as assessed by questionnaire) was not. More dismissing (vs. secure) working models were associated with poorer focus on problem discussions and weaker communication skills with friends, even after accounting for gender differences and current parent-adolescent relationship qualities. We discuss possible mechanisms for the observed links between dimensions of parent-adolescent relationships and friendships. We also consider methodological and conceptual differences between working model and style measures of attachment representations. PMID:20174459

Strong population structure of Schizopygopsis chengi and the origin of S. chengi baoxingensis revealed by mtDNA and microsatellite markers.

PubMed

Liu, Dongqi; Hou, Feixia; Liu, Qin; Zhang, Xiuyue; Yan, Taiming; Song, Zhaobin

2015-02-01

The Tibetan Plateau underwent dramatic geological and climatic changes, which had important implications for genetic divergence and population dynamics of freshwater fish populations. Fluctuations of the ecogeographical environment and major hydrographic formations might have promoted the formation of new subspecies or species. In order to understand the impact of plateau uplift on freshwater fish evolutionary history, we estimated the genetic diversity and population structure in two subspecies of Schizopygopsis chengi (S. c. chengi and S. c. baoxingensis) in upper Yangtze River in Tibetan Plateau area using mitochondrial DNA control region and eight microsatellite markers, which suggested that there was a close genetic relationship. S. chengi showed some significant genetic structure that did not correlate with geographic distance. Bayesian assignment tests indicated that S. chengi samples in the study could be divided into four populations: upstream population, midstream population, tributary population and S. c. baoxingensis population. S. c. chengi and S. c. baoxingensis showed significant genetic divergence. However, phylogenetic analysis, population structure analysis and historical gene flow estimation suggested that there was close genetic relationship between S. c. baoxingensis and the Dawei population which belongs to populations of S. c. chengi. The time that Dawei population suffered from a bottleneck and S. c. baoxingensis underwent population expansion was congruent with the last glacial period on the Tibetan Plateau. The results confirmed the hypothesis that the Dawei River and Baoxing River were once connected, and the Dawei and Baoxing populations originated from a single population, but were isolated into separate populations because of crustal movements and the Baoxing population evolved as S. c. baoxingensis.

Three dimensional microstructural network of elastin, collagen, and cells in Achilles tendons.

PubMed

Pang, Xin; Wu, Jian-Ping; Allison, Garry T; Xu, Jiake; Rubenson, Jonas; Zheng, Ming-Hao; Lloyd, David G; Gardiner, Bruce; Wang, Allan; Kirk, Thomas Brett

2017-06-01

Similar to most biological tissues, the biomechanical, and functional characteristics of the Achilles tendon are closely related to its composition and microstructure. It is commonly reported that type I collagen is the predominant component of tendons and is mainly responsible for the tissue's function. Although elastin has been found in varying proportions in other connective tissues, previous studies report that tendons contain very small quantities of elastin. However, the morphology and the microstructural relationship among the elastic fibres, collagen, and cells in tendon tissue have not been well examined. We hypothesize the elastic fibres, as another fibrillar component in the extracellular matrix, have a unique role in mechanical function and microstructural arrangement in Achilles tendons. It has been shown that elastic fibres present a close connection with the tenocytes. The close relationship of the three components has been revealed as a distinct, integrated and complex microstructural network. Notably, a "spiral" structure within fibril bundles in Achilles tendons was observed in some samples in specialized regions. This study substantiates the hierarchical system of the spatial microstructure of tendon, including the mapping of collagen, elastin and tenocytes, with 3-dimensional confocal images. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1203-1214, 2017. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The social network-network: size is predicted by brain structure and function in the amygdala and paralimbic regions

PubMed Central

Von Der Heide, Rebecca; Vyas, Govinda

2014-01-01

The social brain hypothesis proposes that the large size of the primate neocortex evolved to support complex and demanding social interactions. Accordingly, recent studies have reported correlations between the size of an individual’s social network and the density of gray matter (GM) in regions of the brain implicated in social cognition. However, the reported relationships between GM density and social group size are somewhat inconsistent with studies reporting correlations in different brain regions. One factor that might account for these discrepancies is the use of different measures of social network size (SNS). This study used several measures of SNS to assess the relationships SNS and GM density. The second goal of this study was to test the relationship between social network measures and functional brain activity. Participants performed a social closeness task using photos of their friends and unknown people. Across the VBM and functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses, individual differences in SNS were consistently related to structural and functional differences in three regions: the left amygdala, right amygdala and the right entorhinal/ventral anterior temporal cortex. PMID:24493846

Maintaining close relationships: gratitude as a motivator and a detector of maintenance behavior.

PubMed

Kubacka, Kaska E; Finkenauer, Catrin; Rusbult, Caryl E; Keijsers, Loes

2011-10-01

This research examined the dual function of gratitude for relationship maintenance in close relationships. In a longitudinal study among married couples, the authors tested the dyadic effects of gratitude over three time points for approximately 4 years following marriage. They found that feelings of gratitude toward a partner stem from the partner's relationship maintenance behaviors, partly because such behaviors create the perception of responsiveness to one's needs. In turn, gratitude motivates partners to engage in relationship maintenance. Hence, the present model emphasizes that gratitude between close partners (a) originates from partners' relationship maintenance behaviors and the perception of a partner's responsiveness and (b) promotes a partner's reciprocal maintenance behaviors. Thus, the authors' findings add credence to their model, in that gratitude contributes to a reciprocal process of relationship maintenance, whereby each partner's maintenance behaviors, perceptions of responsiveness, and feelings of gratitude feed back on and influence the other's behaviors, perceptions, and feelings.

Real-life closeness of social media contacts and depressive symptoms among university students.

PubMed

Shensa, Ariel; Sidani, Jaime E; Escobar-Viera, César G; Chu, Kar-Hai; Bowman, Nicholas D; Knight, Jennifer M; Primack, Brian A

2018-02-16

To examine the association between degree of real-life closeness of social media (SM) contacts and depressive symptoms. Students ages 18-30 (N = 1124) were recruited in August 2016. Participants completed an online survey assessing SM use and depression. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between real-life closeness of SM contacts and depressive symptoms. After controlling for covariates, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had no face-to-face relationship was associated with a 9% increase in odds of depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05-1.13). However, each 10% increase in the proportion of SM friends with whom participants had a close face-to-face relationship was associated with a 7% decrease in depressive symptoms (AOR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89-0.97). Having no in-person relationship with SM contacts is associated with increased depressive symptoms; however, having close in-person relationships with SM contacts is associated with decreased depressive symptoms.

Memory as Social Glue: Close Interpersonal Relationships in Amnesic Patients

PubMed Central

Davidson, Patrick S. R.; Drouin, Héloïse; Kwan, Donna; Moscovitch, Morris; Rosenbaum, R. Shayna

2012-01-01

Memory may be crucial for establishing and/or maintaining social bonds. Using the National Social life, Health, and Aging Project questionnaire, we examined close interpersonal relationships in three amnesic people: K.C. and D.A. (who are adult-onset cases) and H.C. (who has developmental amnesia). All three patients were less involved than demographically matched controls with neighbors and religious and community groups. A higher-than-normal percentage of the adult-onset (K.C. and D.A.) cases’ close relationships were with family members, and they had made few new close friends in the decades since the onset of their amnesia. On the other hand, the patient with developmental amnesia (H.C.) had forged a couple of close relationships, including one with her fiancé. Social networks appear to be winnowed, but not obliterated, by amnesia. The obvious explanation for the patients’ reduced social functioning stems from their memory impairment, but we discuss other potentially important factors for future study. PMID:23316176

Memory as social glue: close interpersonal relationships in amnesic patients.

PubMed

Davidson, Patrick S R; Drouin, Héloïse; Kwan, Donna; Moscovitch, Morris; Rosenbaum, R Shayna

2012-01-01

Memory may be crucial for establishing and/or maintaining social bonds. Using the National Social life, Health, and Aging Project questionnaire, we examined close interpersonal relationships in three amnesic people: K.C. and D.A. (who are adult-onset cases) and H.C. (who has developmental amnesia). All three patients were less involved than demographically matched controls with neighbors and religious and community groups. A higher-than-normal percentage of the adult-onset (K.C. and D.A.) cases' close relationships were with family members, and they had made few new close friends in the decades since the onset of their amnesia. On the other hand, the patient with developmental amnesia (H.C.) had forged a couple of close relationships, including one with her fiancé. Social networks appear to be winnowed, but not obliterated, by amnesia. The obvious explanation for the patients' reduced social functioning stems from their memory impairment, but we discuss other potentially important factors for future study.

Social and emotional patterns in adulthood: support for socioemotional selectivity theory.

PubMed

Carstensen, L L

1992-09-01

This investigation explored 2 hypotheses derived from socioemotional selectivity theory: (a) Selective reductions in social interaction begin in early adulthood and (b) emotional closeness to significant others increases rather than decreases in adulthood even when rate reductions occur. Transcribed interviews with 28 women and 22 men from the Child Guidance Study, conducted over 34 years, were reviewed and rated for frequency of interaction, satisfaction with the relationship, and degree of emotional closeness in 6 types of relationships. Interaction frequency with acquaintances and close friends declined from early adulthood on. Interaction frequency with spouses and siblings increased across the same time period and emotional closeness increased throughout adulthood in relationships with relatives and close friends. Findings suggest that individuals begin narrowing their range of social partners long before old age.

Physical structure changes of solid medium by steam explosion sterilization.

PubMed

Zhao, Zhi-Min; Wang, Lan; Chen, Hong-Zhang

2016-03-01

Physical structure changes of solid medium were investigated to reveal effects of steam explosion sterilization on solid-state fermentation (SSF). Results indicated that steam explosion changed the structure of solid medium at both molecular and three-dimensional structural levels, which exposed hydrophilic groups and enlarged pores and cavities. It was interesting to find that pores where capillary water located were the active sites for SSF, due to the close relationship among capillary water relaxation time, specific surface area and fermentation performance. Therefore, steam explosion sterilization increased the effective contact area for microbial cells on solid medium, which contributed to improving SSF performance. Combined with the previous research, mechanisms of SSF improvement by steam explosion sterilization contained both chemical and physical effects. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Structural Equation Model on Korean Adolescents' Excessive Use of Smartphones.

PubMed

Lee, Hana; Kim, JooHyun

2018-03-31

We develop a unified structural model that defines multi-relationships between systematic factors causing excessive use of smartphones and the corresponding results. We conducted a survey with adolescents who live in Seoul, Pusan, Gangneung, Donghae, and Samcheok from Feb. to Mar. 2016. We utilized SPSS Ver. 22 and Amos Ver. 22 to analyze the survey result at a 0.05 significance level. To investigate demographic characteristics of the participants and their variations, we employed descriptive analysis. We adopted the maximum likelihood estimate method to verify the fitness of the hypothetical model and the hypotheses therein. We used χ 2 statistics, GFI, AGFI, CFI, NFI, IFI, RMR, and RMSEA to verify the fitness of our structural model. (1) Our proposed structural model demonstrated a fine fitness level. (2) Our proposed structural model could describe the excessive use of a smartphone with 88.6% accuracy. (3) The absence of the family function and relationship between friends, impulsiveness, and low self-esteem were confirmed as key factors that cause excessive use of smartphones. (4) Further, impulsiveness and low self-esteem are closely related to the absence of family functions and relations between friends by 68.3% and 54.4%, respectively. We suggest that nursing intervention programs from various angles are required to reduce adolescents' excessive use of smartphones. For example, family communication programs would be helpful for both parents and children. Consultant programs about friend relationship also meaningful for the program. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Ten new complete mitochondrial genomes of pulmonates (Mollusca: Gastropoda) and their impact on phylogenetic relationships

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Reconstructing the higher relationships of pulmonate gastropods has been difficult. The use of morphology is problematic due to high homoplasy. Molecular studies have suffered from low taxon sampling. Forty-eight complete mitochondrial genomes are available for gastropods, ten of which are pulmonates. Here are presented the new complete mitochondrial genomes of the ten following species of pulmonates: Salinator rhamphidia (Amphiboloidea); Auriculinella bidentata, Myosotella myosotis, Ovatella vulcani, and Pedipes pedipes (Ellobiidae); Peronia peronii (Onchidiidae); Siphonaria gigas (Siphonariidae); Succinea putris (Stylommatophora); Trimusculus reticulatus (Trimusculidae); and Rhopalocaulis grandidieri (Veronicellidae). Also, 94 new pulmonate-specific primers across the entire mitochondrial genome are provided, which were designed for amplifying entire mitochondrial genomes through short reactions and closing gaps after shotgun sequencing. Results The structural features of the 10 new mitochondrial genomes are provided. All genomes share similar gene orders. Phylogenetic analyses were performed including the 10 new genomes and 17 genomes from Genbank (outgroups, opisthobranchs, and other pulmonates). Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood analyses, based on the concatenated amino-acid sequences of the 13 protein-coding genes, produced the same topology. The pulmonates are paraphyletic and basal to the opisthobranchs that are monophyletic at the tip of the tree. Siphonaria, traditionally regarded as a basal pulmonate, is nested within opisthobranchs. Pyramidella, traditionally regarded as a basal (non-euthyneuran) heterobranch, is nested within pulmonates. Several hypotheses are rejected, such as the Systellommatophora, Geophila, and Eupulmonata. The Ellobiidae is polyphyletic, but the false limpet Trimusculus reticulatus is closely related to some ellobiids. Conclusions Despite recent efforts for increasing the taxon sampling in euthyneuran (opisthobranchs and pulmonates) molecular phylogenies, several of the deeper nodes are still uncertain, because of low support values as well as some incongruence between analyses based on complete mitochondrial genomes and those based on individual genes (18S, 28S, 16S, CO1). Additional complete genomes are needed for pulmonates (especially for Williamia, Otina, and Smeagol), as well as basal heterobranchs closely related to euthyneurans. Increasing the number of markers for gastropod (and more broadly mollusk) phylogenetics also is necessary in order to resolve some of the deeper nodes -although clearly not an easy task. Step by step, however, new relationships are being unveiled, such as the close relationships between the false limpet Trimusculus and ellobiids, the nesting of pyramidelloids within pulmonates, and the close relationships of Siphonaria to sacoglossan opisthobranchs. The additional genomes presented here show that some species share an identical mitochondrial gene order due to convergence. PMID:21985526

Autonomy and Togetherness in Close Relationships: A Study of Seven Nations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buunk, Bram; Hupka, Ralph B.

The necessity of balancing the need for togetherness and the need for separateness in intimate relationships has been well documented in family research. To investigate cross national differences in the value placed on autonomy versus togetherness in close relationships, 2,079 college students from Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the…

Diversity in Romantic Relations of Adolescents with Varying Health Status: Links to Intimacy in Close Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seiffge-Krenke, Inge

2000-01-01

Investigated similarities and differences between close friendships and romantic relationships among 95 adolescents, who were either diabetic or healthy. Among healthy adolescents, found demonstrated time-dependent links between intimacy in both relationship types. Among diabetic adolescents, found a preference for romantic partners who offered…

Perceptions of Interdependence and Closeness in Family and Peer Relationships among Adolescents with and without Romantic Partners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laursen, Brett; Williams, Vickie A.

1997-01-01

This study examined the developmental variations in adolescent close relationships with family members, friends, and romantic partners. Within the context of social exchange theory, the study shows how interdependence and closeness shift from parents to peers and romantic partners, with patterns that differ somewhat for adolescents with and…

Quality of Relationships with Parents and Friends in Adolescence Predicts Metabolic Risk in Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Hoyt, Lindsay T.; Sumner, Jennifer A.; McDade, Thomas W.; Adam, Emma K.

2015-01-01

Objective The present study was designed to examine whether family and peer relationships in adolescence predict the emergence of metabolic risk factors in young adulthood. Methods Participants from a large, nationally representative cohort study (N = 11,617 for these analyses) reported on their relationship experiences with parents and close friends during adolescence. Fourteen years later, interviewers collected blood samples, as well as anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Blood samples were analyzed for HbA1c. Results Ordered logistic regressions revealed that for females, supportive parent-child relationships and close male friendships in adolescence were associated with reduced odds of having elevated metabolic risk markers in young adulthood. These effects remained significant even after controlling for baseline measures of body mass index (BMI) and health and demographic covariates. The protective effects of close relationships were not significant for males, however. Exploratory analyses with two-parent families revealed that supportive father-child relationships were especially protective for females. Conclusions These findings suggest that, for females, close and supportive relationships with parents and male friends in adolescence may reduce the risk of metabolic dysregulation in adulthood. PMID:25689301

Quality of relationships with parents and friends in adolescence predicts metabolic risk in young adulthood.

PubMed

Ehrlich, Katherine B; Hoyt, Lindsay Till; Sumner, Jennifer A; McDade, Thomas W; Adam, Emma K

2015-09-01

This study was designed to examine whether family and peer relationships in adolescence predict the emergence of metabolic risk factors in young adulthood. Participants from a large, nationally representative cohort study (N = 11,617 for these analyses) reported on their relationship experiences with parents and close friends during adolescence. Fourteen years later, interviewers collected blood samples, as well as anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Blood samples were analyzed for HbA1c. Ordered logistic regressions revealed that for females, supportive parent-child relationships and close male friendships in adolescence were associated with reduced odds of having elevated metabolic risk markers in young adulthood. These effects remained significant even after controlling for baseline measures of body mass index (BMI) and health and demographic covariates. The protective effects of close relationships were not significant for males, however. Exploratory analyses with 2-parent families revealed that supportive father-child relationships were especially protective for females. These findings suggest that, for females, close and supportive relationships with parents and male friends in adolescence may reduce the risk of metabolic dysregulation in adulthood. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Close Relationships in Terror Management: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda.

PubMed

Plusnin, Nicholas; Pepping, Christopher A; Kashima, Emiko S

2018-02-01

Terror management theory outlines how humans seek self-esteem and worldview validation to manage death-related anxiety. Accumulating evidence reveals that close relationships serve a similar role. However, to date, there has been no synthesis of the literature that delineates when close relationships buffer mortality concerns, under what conditions, on which specific outcomes, and for whom. This systematic review presents over two decades of research to address these questions. Findings from 73 reviewed studies revealed that close relationships serve an important role in buffering death-related anxiety. A range of dispositional and situational moderating factors influence either the activation or inhibition of relational strivings to manage heightened death awareness, the most influential being attachment, gender, and relationship-contingent self-esteem. These findings were integrated into an overarching model that highlights some of the conditions under which mortality salience (MS) influences relational outcomes. We conclude by highlighting a range of theoretical and methodological concerns to be addressed by future research.

Dogs’ attention towards humans depends on their relationship, not only on social familiarity

PubMed Central

Horn, Lisa; Range, Friederike; Huber, Ludwig

2014-01-01

Both in humans and non-human animals it has been shown that individuals attend more to those they have previously interacted with and/or that they are more closely associated with than to unfamiliar individuals. Whether this preference is mediated by mere social familiarity based on exposure or by the specific relationship between the two individuals, however, remains unclear. The domestic dog is an interesting subject in this line of research as it lives in the human environment and regularly interacts with numerous humans, yet it often has a particularly close relationship with its owner. Therefore, we investigated how long dogs (Canis familiaris) would attend to the actions of two familiar humans and one unfamiliar experimenter, while varying whether dogs had a close relationship with only one or both familiar humans. Our data provide evidence that social familiarity by itself cannot account for dogs’ increased attention towards their owners since they only attended more to those familiar humans with whom they also had a close relationship. PMID:23224364

Anxiety, Depression and Hopelessness in Adolescents: A Structural Equation Model

PubMed Central

Cunningham, Shaylyn; Gunn, Thelma; Alladin, Assen; Cawthorpe, David

2008-01-01

Objective This study tested a structural model, examining the relationship between a latent variable termed demoralization and measured variables (anxiety, depression and hopelessness) in a community sample of Canadian youth. Methods The combined sample consisted of data collected from four independent studies from 2001 to 2005. Nine hundred and seventy one (n=971) participants were high school students (grades 10–12) from three geographic locations: Calgary, Saskatchewan and Lethbridge. Participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory-Revised (BDI-II), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and demographic survey. Structural equation modeling was used for statistical analysis. Results The analysis revealed that the final model, including depression, anxiety and hopelessness and one latent variable demoralization, fit the data (chi-square value, X2 (2) = 7.25, p< .001, goodness of fit indices (CFI=0.99, NFI=0.98) and standardized error (0.05). Overall, the findings suggest that close relationships exist among depression, anxiety, hopelessness and demoralization that is stable across demographic variables. Further, the model explains the relationship between sub-clinical anxiety, depression and hopelessness. Conclusion These findings contribute to a theoretical framework, which has implications for educational and clinical intervention. The present findings will help guide further preventative research on examining demoralization as a precursor to sub-clinical anxiety and depression. PMID:18769644

Precision of Sensitivity in the Design Optimization of Indeterminate Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patnaik, Surya N.; Pai, Shantaram S.; Hopkins, Dale A.

2006-01-01

Design sensitivity is central to most optimization methods. The analytical sensitivity expression for an indeterminate structural design optimization problem can be factored into a simple determinate term and a complicated indeterminate component. Sensitivity can be approximated by retaining only the determinate term and setting the indeterminate factor to zero. The optimum solution is reached with the approximate sensitivity. The central processing unit (CPU) time to solution is substantially reduced. The benefit that accrues from using the approximate sensitivity is quantified by solving a set of problems in a controlled environment. Each problem is solved twice: first using the closed-form sensitivity expression, then using the approximation. The problem solutions use the CometBoards testbed as the optimization tool with the integrated force method as the analyzer. The modification that may be required, to use the stiffener method as the analysis tool in optimization, is discussed. The design optimization problem of an indeterminate structure contains many dependent constraints because of the implicit relationship between stresses, as well as the relationship between the stresses and displacements. The design optimization process can become problematic because the implicit relationship reduces the rank of the sensitivity matrix. The proposed approximation restores the full rank and enhances the robustness of the design optimization method.

Structure and function of lysosomal phospholipase A2 and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glukhova, Alisa; Hinkovska-Galcheva, Vania; Kelly, Robert; Abe, Akira; Shayman, James A.; Tesmer, John J. G.

2015-03-01

Lysosomal phospholipase A2 (LPLA2) and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) belong to a structurally uncharacterized family of key lipid-metabolizing enzymes responsible for lung surfactant catabolism and for reverse cholesterol transport, respectively. Whereas LPLA2 is predicted to underlie the development of drug-induced phospholipidosis, somatic mutations in LCAT cause fish eye disease and familial LCAT deficiency. Here we describe several high-resolution crystal structures of human LPLA2 and a low-resolution structure of LCAT that confirms its close structural relationship to LPLA2. Insertions in the α/β hydrolase core of LPLA2 form domains that are responsible for membrane interaction and binding the acyl chains and head groups of phospholipid substrates. The LCAT structure suggests the molecular basis underlying human disease for most of the known LCAT missense mutations, and paves the way for rational development of new therapeutics to treat LCAT deficiency, atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndrome.

Obstructed bi-leaflet prosthetic mitral valve imaging with real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.

PubMed

Shimbo, Mai; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Kimura, Shunsuke; Terada, Mai; Iino, Takako; Iino, Kenji; Ito, Hiroshi

2015-01-01

Real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (RT3D-TEE) can provide unique visualization and better understanding of the relationship among cardiac structures. Here, we report the case of an 85-year-old woman with an obstructed mitral prosthetic valve diagnosed promptly by RT3D-TEE, which clearly showed a leaflet stuck in the closed position. The opening and closing angles of the valve leaflets measured by RT3D-TEE were compatible with those measured by fluoroscopy. Moreover, RT3D-TEE revealed, in the ring of the prosthetic valve, thrombi that were not visible on fluoroscopy. RT3D-TEE might be a valuable diagnostic technique for prosthetic mitral valve thrombosis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The shock and spall response of three industrially important hexagonal close-packed metals: magnesium, titanium and zirconium.

PubMed

Hazell, P J; Appleby-Thomas, G J; Wielewski, E; Escobedo, J P

2014-08-28

Magnesium, titanium and zirconium and their alloys are extensively used in industrial and military applications where they would be subjected to extreme environments of high stress and strain-rate loading. Their hexagonal close-packed (HCP) crystal lattice structures present interesting challenges for optimizing their mechanical response under such loading conditions. In this paper, we review how these materials respond to shock loading via plate-impact experiments. We also discuss the relationship between a heterogeneous and anisotropic microstructure, typical of HCP materials, and the directional dependency of the elastic limit and, in some cases, the strength prior to failure. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Species area relationships in mediterranean-climate plant communities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeley, Jon E.; Fotheringham, C.J.

2003-01-01

Aim To determine the best-fit model of species–area relationships for Mediterranean-type plant communities and evaluate how community structure affects these species–area models.Location Data were collected from California shrublands and woodlands and compared with literature reports for other Mediterranean-climate regions.Methods The number of species was recorded from 1, 100 and 1000 m2 nested plots. Best fit to the power model or exponential model was determined by comparing adjusted r2 values from the least squares regression, pattern of residuals, homoscedasticity across scales, and semi-log slopes at 1–100 m2 and 100–1000 m2. Dominance–diversity curves were tested for fit to the lognormal model, MacArthur's broken stick model, and the geometric and harmonic series.Results Early successional Western Australia and California shrublands represented the extremes and provide an interesting contrast as the exponential model was the best fit for the former, and the power model for the latter, despite similar total species richness. We hypothesize that structural differences in these communities account for the different species–area curves and are tied to patterns of dominance, equitability and life form distribution. Dominance–diversity relationships for Western Australian heathlands exhibited a close fit to MacArthur's broken stick model, indicating more equitable distribution of species. In contrast, Californian shrublands, both postfire and mature stands, were best fit by the geometric model indicating strong dominance and many minor subordinate species. These regions differ in life form distribution, with annuals being a major component of diversity in early successional Californian shrublands although they are largely lacking in mature stands. Both young and old Australian heathlands are dominated by perennials, and annuals are largely absent. Inherent in all of these ecosystems is cyclical disequilibrium caused by periodic fires. The potential for community reassembly is greater in Californian shrublands where only a quarter of the flora resprout, whereas three quarters resprout in Australian heathlands.Other Californian vegetation types sampled include coniferous forests, oak savannas and desert scrub, and demonstrate that different community structures may lead to a similar species–area relationship. Dominance–diversity relationships for coniferous forests closely follow a geometric model whereas associated oak savannas show a close fit to the lognormal model. However, for both communities, species–area curves fit a power model. The primary driver appears to be the presence of annuals. Desert scrub communities illustrate dramatic changes in both species diversity and dominance–diversity relationships in high and low rainfall years, because of the disappearance of annuals in drought years.Main conclusions Species–area curves for immature shrublands in California and the majority of Mediterranean plant communities fit a power function model. Exceptions that fit the exponential model are not because of sampling error or scaling effects, rather structural differences in these communities provide plausible explanations. The exponential species–area model may arise in more than one way. In the highly diverse Australian heathlands it results from a rapid increase in species richness at small scales. In mature California shrublands it results from very depauperate richness at the community scale. In both instances the exponential model is tied to a preponderance of perennials and paucity of annuals. For communities fit by a power model, coefficients z and log c exhibit a number of significant correlations with other diversity parameters, suggesting that they have some predictive value in ecological communities.

Spectral analysis for weighted tree-like fractals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Meifeng; Chen, Yufei; Wang, Xiaoqian; Sun, Yu; Su, Weiyi

2018-02-01

Much information about the structural properties and dynamical aspects of a network is measured by the eigenvalues of its normalized Laplacian matrix. In this paper, we aim to present a study on the spectra of the normalized Laplacian of weighted tree-like fractals. We analytically obtain the relationship between the eigenvalues and their multiplicities for two successive generations. As an example of application of these results, we then derive closed-form expressions for their multiplicative Kirchhoff index and Kemeny's constant.

Altered fish community and feeding behaviour in close proximity to boat moorings in an urban estuary.

PubMed

Lanham, Brendan S; Vergés, Adriana; Hedge, Luke H; Johnston, Emma L; Poore, Alistair G B

2018-04-01

Coastal urbanization has led to large-scale transformation of estuaries, with artificial structures now commonplace. Boat moorings are known to reduce seagrass cover, but little is known about their effect on fish communities. We used underwater video to quantify abundance, diversity, composition and feeding behaviour of fish assemblages on two scales: with increasing distance from moorings on fine scales, and among locations where moorings were present or absent. Fish were less abundant in close proximity to boat moorings, and the species composition varied on fine scales, leading to lower predation pressure near moorings. There was no relationship at the location with seagrass. On larger scales, we detected no differences in abundance or community composition among locations where moorings were present or absent. These findings show a clear impact of moorings on fish and highlight the importance of fine-scale assessments over location-scale comparisons in the detection of the effects of artificial structures. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conformational states of the full-length glucagon receptor

PubMed Central

Yang, Linlin; Yang, Dehua; de Graaf, Chris; Moeller, Arne; West, Graham M.; Dharmarajan, Venkatasubramanian; Wang, Chong; Siu, Fai Y.; Song, Gaojie; Reedtz-Runge, Steffen; Pascal, Bruce D.; Wu, Beili; Potter, Clinton S.; Zhou, Hu; Griffin, Patrick R.; Carragher, Bridget; Yang, Huaiyu; Wang, Ming-Wei; Stevens, Raymond C.; Jiang, Hualiang

2015-01-01

Class B G protein-coupled receptors are composed of an extracellular domain (ECD) and a seven-transmembrane (7TM) domain, and their signalling is regulated by peptide hormones. Using a hybrid structural biology approach together with the ECD and 7TM domain crystal structures of the glucagon receptor (GCGR), we examine the relationship between full-length receptor conformation and peptide ligand binding. Molecular dynamics (MD) and disulfide crosslinking studies suggest that apo-GCGR can adopt both an open and closed conformation associated with extensive contacts between the ECD and 7TM domain. The electron microscopy (EM) map of the full-length GCGR shows how a monoclonal antibody stabilizes the ECD and 7TM domain in an elongated conformation. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) studies and MD simulations indicate that an open conformation is also stabilized by peptide ligand binding. The combined studies reveal the open/closed states of GCGR and suggest that glucagon binds to GCGR by a conformational selection mechanism. PMID:26227798

Sex linked versus autosomal inbreeding coefficient in close consanguineous marriages in the Basque country and Castile (Spain): genetic implications.

PubMed

Calderón, R; Morales, B; Peña, J A; Delgado, J

1995-10-01

Pedigree structures of 161 uncle/niece-aunt/nephew and 4420 first cousin consanguineous marriages registered during the 19th and 20th centuries in two large and very different Spanish regions have been analysed and their genetic consequences evaluated. The frequencies of the different pedigree subtypes within each degree of relationship were quite similar in both populations despite significant heterogeneity in inbreeding patterns. The mean X-linked inbreeding coefficient (Fx) for each type of cousin mating was calculated and compared to that expected for autosomal genes (F). The effect of genealogical structure on the Fx/F ratio was compared to different cultural populations worldwide. Preferentiality and avoidance of close consanguinity along with specific types of pedigrees are discussed on the basis of premarital migration and sociocultural rules still deeply rooted in certain human groups. By admitting that the observed Fx coefficient is usually higher than F in most human populations some remarks have been made in terms of population genetic risk.

An Analysis of natural mentoring relationship profiles and associations with mentees’ mental health: considering links via support from important others

PubMed Central

Hurd, Noelle M.; Zimmerman, Marc A.

2015-01-01

We explored associations between natural mentoring relationship profiles and young adults’ life satisfaction and symptoms of depression via participants’ perceived support from important others accounting for participants’ perceived support and mental health prior to the onset of their natural mentoring relationships. Participants included 396 young adults (57% female; mean age = 30.97, SD = .6), the majority of whom identified as Black or African American (79% Black, 18% White, 3% Biracial). Most participants had completed high school but few participants (13%) had completed degrees from 4-year institutions. We used a latent profile approach to identify natural mentoring relationship profiles and employed structural equation modeling to test our study hypotheses. Slightly over half of study participants (53%) reported the presence of a natural mentor in their lives since the age of 14. Results suggest that natural mentoring relationships characterized by high levels of relational closeness and either extended relationship duration or frequent contact may promote improvements in psychological well-being among mentees over time via greater experiences of social support from important others. PMID:24132713

Structure-function relationships during segregated and integrated network states of human brain functional connectivity.

PubMed

Fukushima, Makoto; Betzel, Richard F; He, Ye; van den Heuvel, Martijn P; Zuo, Xi-Nian; Sporns, Olaf

2018-04-01

Structural white matter connections are thought to facilitate integration of neural information across functionally segregated systems. Recent studies have demonstrated that changes in the balance between segregation and integration in brain networks can be tracked by time-resolved functional connectivity derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data and that fluctuations between segregated and integrated network states are related to human behavior. However, how these network states relate to structural connectivity is largely unknown. To obtain a better understanding of structural substrates for these network states, we investigated how the relationship between structural connectivity, derived from diffusion tractography, and functional connectivity, as measured by rs-fMRI, changes with fluctuations between segregated and integrated states in the human brain. We found that the similarity of edge weights between structural and functional connectivity was greater in the integrated state, especially at edges connecting the default mode and the dorsal attention networks. We also demonstrated that the similarity of network partitions, evaluated between structural and functional connectivity, increased and the density of direct structural connections within modules in functional networks was elevated during the integrated state. These results suggest that, when functional connectivity exhibited an integrated network topology, structural connectivity and functional connectivity were more closely linked to each other and direct structural connections mediated a larger proportion of neural communication within functional modules. Our findings point out the possibility of significant contributions of structural connections to integrative neural processes underlying human behavior.

Effects of spatial resolution and landscape structure on land cover characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wenli

This dissertation addressed problems in scaling, problems that are among the main challenges in remote sensing. The principal objective of the research was to investigate the effects of changing spatial scale on the representation of land cover. A second objective was to determine the relationship between such effects, characteristics of landscape structure and scaling procedures. Four research issues related to spatial scaling were examined. They included: (1) the upscaling of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); (2) the effects of spatial scale on indices of landscape structure; (3) the representation of land cover databases at different spatial scales; and (4) the relationships between landscape indices and land cover area estimations. The overall bias resulting from non-linearity of NDVI in relation to spatial resolution is generally insignificant as compared to other factors such as influences of aerosols and water vapor. The bias is, however, related to land surface characteristics. Significant errors may be introduced in heterogeneous areas where different land cover types exhibit strong spectral contrast. Spatially upscaled SPOT and TM NDVIs have information content comparable with the AVHRR-derived NDVI. Indices of landscape structure and spatial resolution are generally related, but the exact forms of the relationships are subject to changes in other factors including the basic patch unit constituting a landscape and the proportional area of foreground land cover under consideration. The extent of agreement between spatially aggregated coarse resolution land cover datasets and full resolution datasets changes with the properties of the original datasets, including the pixel size and class definition. There are close relationships between landscape structure and class areas estimated from spatially aggregated land cover databases. The relationships, however, do not permit extension from one area to another. Inversion calibration across different geographic/ecological areas is, therefore, not feasible. Different rules govern the land cover area changes across resolutions when different upscaling methods are used. Special attention should be given to comparison between land cover maps derived using different methods.

Perceived sibling relationships of sexual minority youth.

PubMed

Toomey, Russell B; Richardson, Rhonda A

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of sexual minority youth and their siblings. The participants were 56 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals ranging in age from 18 to 24 years, who reported information about a total of 107 siblings. Respondents completed a demographic data questionnaire as well as adapted versions of the Sibling Closeness Scale (SCS) and the Sibling Approval of Sexual Behavior Scale (SASBS) to describe their relationship with each of their siblings. Analyses examined birth order and gender in relation to outness to siblings as well as sibling closeness and approval. Results provide information about disclosure of LGBT status to siblings, elements of closeness and acceptance in sibling relationships of sexual minority youth, and the significance of gender and birth order in these sibling relationships.

Being Close and Being Social: Peer Ratings of Distinct Aspects of Young Adult Social Competence

PubMed Central

Larson, Justine J.; Whitton, Sarah W.; Hauser, Stuart T.; Allen, Joseph P.

2012-01-01

The present study had three main objectives: (1) to develop and validate scales of young adult social competence in two domains, close relationships and social groups, using peer ratings of California Q-sort (Block, 1974; Kremen & Block, 2002) items; (2) to test the hypothesis that social competence is associated with young adult well-being and ego development; (3) to test the hypothesis that close relationship competence aligns more closely than social group competence with young adult functioning. Psychometric data on peer ratings of social competence are presented. For 133 young adults, peer ratings of social competence were correlated in expected directions with indices of functioning (e.g., self-worth, education, psychological distress, criminal behavior, and ego development). Associations were generally stronger for competence in close relationships than in social groups. PMID:17764391

The Effects of Attachment and Acculturation on Latino College Students' Relationship Satisfaction with a Close Friend

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Adrian; Ratanasiripong, Paul; Hayashino, Diane; Locks, Angela

2014-01-01

This study explored the effects of attachment and acculturation on relationship satisfaction for Latino college students in their current close friendships. Results indicated that attachment but not acculturation predicts relationship satisfaction. Women were more satisfied than men with friends of the same and opposite sex. High-quality close…

Parenting Practices as Moderators of the Relationship between Peers and Adolescent Marijuana Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorius, Cassandra J.; Bahr, Stephen J.; Hoffmann, John P.; Harmon, Elizabeth Lovelady

2004-01-01

Using data from a probability sample of 4,987 adolescents, we examine the degree to which closeness to mother, closeness to father, parental support, and parental monitoring buffer the relationship between peer drug use and adolescent marijuana use. The relationship between peer drug use and adolescent marijuana use was attenuated by both…

Two Careers/One Family. The Promise of Gender Equality. Sage Series on Close Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Lucia Albino

This book describes the frontier of close relationships, where traditional gender roles are being reevaluated in light of what is both functional and optimal for persons in dual-career partnerships. Because social environments are crucial to understanding personal relationships and individual behavior, the three chapters in part 1 describe the…

Volatility spillover between crude oil and exchange rate: A copula-CARR approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Y. J.; Guo, M. Y.

2017-11-01

Oil provides a powerful impetus for modern society's production and life. The influences of oil price fluctuations on socio-economic development are obvious, and it draws more attention from scholars. However, the distribution of oil is highly centralized, which leads to the vast majority of oil trading through foreign trade. As a result, exchange rate plays an important role in the oil business. Study on the relationship between exchange rate and crude oil gradually becomes a hot research topic in recent years. In this paper, we use copula and CARR model to study correlation structure and relationship between crude oil price and exchange rate. We establish CARR models as marginal models and use five copulas which are Gaussian Copula, Student-t Copula, Gumbel Copula, Clayton Copula and Frank Copula to study the correlation structure between NYMEX crude oil price range and U. S. Dollar Index range. Furthermore, we use Copula-CARR model with structural breaks to detect the change points in the correlation structure between NYMEX crude oil price range and U. S. Dollar Index range. Empirical results show that the change points are closely related to the actual economic events.

Computational genetic neuroanatomy of the developing mouse brain: dimensionality reduction, visualization, and clustering.

PubMed

Ji, Shuiwang

2013-07-11

The structured organization of cells in the brain plays a key role in its functional efficiency. This delicate organization is the consequence of unique molecular identity of each cell gradually established by precise spatiotemporal gene expression control during development. Currently, studies on the molecular-structural association are beginning to reveal how the spatiotemporal gene expression patterns are related to cellular differentiation and structural development. In this article, we aim at a global, data-driven study of the relationship between gene expressions and neuroanatomy in the developing mouse brain. To enable visual explorations of the high-dimensional data, we map the in situ hybridization gene expression data to a two-dimensional space by preserving both the global and the local structures. Our results show that the developing brain anatomy is largely preserved in the reduced gene expression space. To provide a quantitative analysis, we cluster the reduced data into groups and measure the consistency with neuroanatomy at multiple levels. Our results show that the clusters in the low-dimensional space are more consistent with neuroanatomy than those in the original space. Gene expression patterns and developing brain anatomy are closely related. Dimensionality reduction and visual exploration facilitate the study of this relationship.

Facial first impressions and partner preference models: Comparable or distinct underlying structures?

PubMed

South Palomares, Jennifer K; Sutherland, Clare A M; Young, Andrew W

2017-12-17

Given the frequency of relationships nowadays initiated online, where impressions from face photographs may influence relationship initiation, it is important to understand how facial first impressions might be used in such contexts. We therefore examined the applicability of a leading model of verbally expressed partner preferences to impressions derived from real face images and investigated how the factor structure of first impressions based on potential partner preference-related traits might relate to a more general model of facial first impressions. Participants rated 1,000 everyday face photographs on 12 traits selected to represent (Fletcher, et al. 1999, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 72) verbal model of partner preferences. Facial trait judgements showed an underlying structure that largely paralleled the tripartite structure of Fletcher et al.'s verbal preference model, regardless of either face gender or participant gender. Furthermore, there was close correspondence between the verbal partner preference model and a more general tripartite model of facial first impressions derived from a different literature (Sutherland et al., 2013, Cognition, 127, 105), suggesting an underlying correspondence between verbal conceptual models of romantic preferences and more general models of facial first impressions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Language development in the early school years: the importance of close relationships with teachers.

PubMed

Spilt, Jantine L; Koomen, Helma M Y; Harrison, Linda J

2015-02-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their parents and teachers (N = 4,983) participating in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) at ages 4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years (3 waves). Teachers reported on levels of closeness in relationships with individual children. Independent assessments of receptive language were employed. Parents and teachers reported on peer interaction problems and child conduct problems. Results indicated reciprocal associations between close teacher-child relationships and receptive language development above and beyond associations with peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. However, the effects were only modest. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Structural characterization of the cell division cycle in Strigomonas culicis, an endosymbiont-bearing trypanosomatid.

PubMed

Brum, Felipe Lopes; Catta-Preta, Carolina Moura Costa; de Souza, Wanderley; Schenkman, Sergio; Elias, Maria Carolina; Motta, Maria Cristina Machado

2014-02-01

Strigomonas culicis (previously referred to as Blastocrithidia culicis) is a monoxenic trypanosomatid harboring a symbiotic bacterium, which maintains an obligatory relationship with the host protozoan. Investigations of the cell cycle in symbiont harboring trypanosomatids suggest that the bacterium divides in coordination with other host cell structures, particularly the nucleus. In this study we used light and electron microscopy followed by three-dimensional reconstruction to characterize the symbiont division during the cell cycle of S. culicis. We observed that during this process, the symbiotic bacterium presents different forms and is found at different positions in relationship to the host cell structures. At the G1/S phase of the protozoan cell cycle, the endosymbiont exhibits a constricted form that appears to elongate, resulting in the bacterium division, which occurs before kinetoplast and nucleus segregation. During cytokinesis, the symbionts are positioned close to each nucleus to ensure that each daughter cell will inherit a single copy of the bacterium. These observations indicated that the association of the bacterium with the protozoan nucleus coordinates the cell cycle in both organisms.

Reward Dependent Invigoration Relates to Theta Oscillations and Is Predicted by Dopaminergic Midbrain Integrity in Healthy Elderly.

PubMed

Steiger, Tineke K; Bunzeck, Nico

2017-01-01

Motivation can have invigorating effects on behavior via dopaminergic neuromodulation. While this relationship has mainly been established in theoretical models and studies in younger subjects, the impact of structural declines of the dopaminergic system during healthy aging remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we used electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy young and elderly humans in a reward-learning paradigm. Specifically, scene images were initially encoded by combining them with cues predicting monetary reward (high vs. low reward). Subsequently, recognition memory for the scenes was tested. As a main finding, we can show that response times (RTs) during encoding were faster for high reward predicting images in the young but not elderly participants. This pattern was resembled in power changes in the theta-band (4-7 Hz). Importantly, analyses of structural MRI data revealed that individual reward-related differences in the elderlies' response time could be predicted by the structural integrity of the dopaminergic substantia nigra (SN; as measured by magnetization transfer (MT)). These findings suggest a close relationship between reward-based invigoration, theta oscillations and age-dependent changes of the dopaminergic system.

The close relationships of Lesbians and gay men.

PubMed

Peplau, Letitia Anne; Fingerhut, Adam W

2007-01-01

This article reviews empirical studies of same-sex couples in the United States, highlighting consistent findings, drawing comparisons to heterosexual couples, and noting gaps in available research. U.S. Census data indicate that there were more than 600,000 same-sex couples living together in 2000. Research about relationship formation, the division of household labor, power, satisfaction, sexuality, conflict, commitment, and relationship stability is presented. Next, we highlight three recent research topics: the legalization of same-sex relationships through civil unions and same-sex marriage, the experiences of same-sex couples raising children, and the impact of societal prejudice and discrimination on same-sex partners. We conclude with comments about the contributions of empirical research to debunking negative stereotypes of same-sex couples, testing the generalizability of theories about close relationships, informing our understanding of gender and close relationships, and providing a scientific basis for public policy.

Arterial relationships to the nerves and some rigid structures in the posterior cranial fossa.

PubMed

Surchev, N

2008-09-01

The close relationships between the cranial nerves and the arterial vessels in the posterior cranial fossa are one of the predisposing factors for artery-nerve compression. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships of the vertebral and basilar arteries to some skull and dural structures and the nerves in the posterior cranial fossa. For this purpose, the skull bases and brains of 70 cadavers were studied. The topographic relationships of the vertebral and basilar arteries to the cranial nerves in the posterior cranial fossa were studied and the distances between the arteries and some osseous formations were measured. The most significant variations in arterial position were registered in the lower half of the basilar artery. Direct contact with an artery was established for the hypoglossal canal, jugular tubercle, and jugular foramen. The results reveal additional information about the relationships of the nerves and arteries to the skull and dural formations in the posterior cranial fossa. New quantitative information is given to illustrate them. The conditions for possible artery-nerve compression due to arterial dislocation are discussed and two groups (lines) of compression points are suggested. The medial line comprises of the brain stem points, usually the nerve root entry/exit zone. The lateral line includes the skull eminences, on which the nerves lie, or skull and dural foramina through which they exit the cranial cavity. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Is a multivariate consensus representation of genetic relationships among populations always meaningful?

PubMed Central

Moazami-Goudarzi, K; Laloë, D

2002-01-01

To determine the relationships among closely related populations or species, two methods are commonly used in the literature: phylogenetic reconstruction or multivariate analysis. The aim of this article is to assess the reliability of multivariate analysis. We describe a method that is based on principal component analysis and Mantel correlations, using a two-step process: The first step consists of a single-marker analysis and the second step tests if each marker reveals the same typology concerning population differentiation. We conclude that if single markers are not congruent, the compromise structure is not meaningful. Our model is not based on any particular mutation process and it can be applied to most of the commonly used genetic markers. This method is also useful to determine the contribution of each marker to the typology of populations. We test whether our method is efficient with two real data sets based on microsatellite markers. Our analysis suggests that for closely related populations, it is not always possible to accept the hypothesis that an increase in the number of markers will increase the reliability of the typology analysis. PMID:12242255

Molecular evidence for a terrestrial origin of snakes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vidal, Nicolas; Hedges, S. Blair

2004-01-01

Biologists have debated the origin of snakes since the nineteenth century. One hypothesis suggests that snakes are most closely related to terrestrial lizards, and reduced their limbs on land. An alternative hypothesis proposes that snakes are most closely related to Cretaceous marine lizards, such as mosasaurs, and reduced their limbs in water. A presumed close relationship between living monitor lizards, believed to be close relatives of the extinct mosasaurs, and snakes has bolstered the marine origin hypothesis. Here, we show that DNA sequence evidence does not support a close relationship between snakes and monitor lizards, and thus supports a terrestrial origin of snakes.

Molecular Epidemiology of Novel Pathogen "Brachyspira hampsonii" Reveals Relationships between Diverse Genetic Groups, Regions, Host Species, and Other Pathogenic and Commensal Brachyspira Species.

PubMed

Mirajkar, Nandita S; Bekele, Aschalew Z; Chander, Yogesh Y; Gebhart, Connie J

2015-09-01

Outbreaks of bloody diarrhea in swine herds in the late 2000s signaled the reemergence of an economically significant disease, swine dysentery, in the United States. Investigations confirmed the emergence of a novel spirochete in swine, provisionally designated "Brachyspira hampsonii," with two genetically distinct clades. Although it has since been detected in swine and migratory birds in Europe and North America, little is known about its genetic diversity or its relationships with other Brachyspira species. This study characterizes B. hampsonii using a newly developed multilocus sequence typing (MLST) approach and elucidates the diversity, distribution, population structure, and genetic relationships of this pathogen from diverse epidemiological sources globally. Genetic characterization of 81 B. hampsonii isolates, originating from six countries, with our newly established MLST scheme identified a total of 20 sequence types (STs) belonging to three clonal complexes (CCs). B. hampsonii showed a heterogeneous population structure with evidence of microevolution locally in swine production systems, while its clustering patterns showed associations with its epidemiological origins (country, swine production system, and host species). The close genetic relatedness of B. hampsonii isolates from different countries and host species highlights the importance of strict biosecurity control measures. A comparative analysis of 430 isolates representing seven Brachyspira species (pathogens and commensals) from 19 countries and 10 host species depicted clustering by microbial species. It revealed the close genetic relatedness of B. hampsonii with commensal Brachyspira species and also provided support for the two clades of B. hampsonii to be considered a single species. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Shared Relationship Efficacy of Dyad Can Increase Life Satisfaction in Close Relationships: Multilevel Study

PubMed Central

Ito, Kenichi; Yoshida, Toshikazu

2016-01-01

Characteristics of relationship itself play an important role in determining well-being of individuals who participate in the relationship. We used efficacy expectations mutually shared between close friends or romantic partners as a characteristic of relationship and investigated its impact on their life satisfaction. In Study 1, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 137 pairs of close same-sex friends to test whether the efficacy expectations shared between friends are associated with levels of life satisfaction. In Study 2, we conducted a longitudinal study among 114 heterosexual romantic couples to test predictive validity of the efficacy expectations shared between couples predict levels of life satisfaction 2 month later. In both studies we found a consistent result that as degrees of the efficacy expectations shared between individuals in a relationship increased, the degree of their life satisfaction also increased. Underlying mechanisms that explain how characteristics of relationship itself increase life satisfaction are discussed. PMID:27437946

Perceived Close Relationships with Parents, Teachers, and Peers: Predictors of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Features in Adolescents With LD or Comorbid LD and ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Yagon, Michal

2016-01-01

This study examined the role of adolescents' perceived close relationships with significant others (attachment relationships with mothers/fathers, appraisal of homeroom teacher as secure base, and quality of peer friendship) in explaining differences in their socioemotional and behavioral functioning (peer-network/peer-dyadic loneliness,…

The role of child maltreatment and attachment style in adolescent relationship violence.

PubMed

Wekerle, C; Wolfe, D A

1998-01-01

Utilizing attachment theory as a basis for conceptualizing close relationships among adolescents, this study investigated two important relationship risk factors (child maltreatment, and adolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style) as predictors of "offender" and "victim" experiences in youth relationships. In addition to considering the influence of these risk factors, we further considered their interaction in predicting conflict in close relationships. Of interest was the extent to which attachment styles may function as a moderator of the relationship between childhood abuse and current abuse in teen close relationships. High school students (N = 321) in grades 9 and 10 completed questionnaires tapping their histories of maltreatment, currently viewed styles of attachment, and conflict in close relationships over the past 6 months. Maltreatment alone emerged as the most consistent predictor, accounting for 13-18% of the variance in male's physically, sexually, and verbally abusive behaviors; in contrast, it was not highly predictive of female's abusive behaviors. Maltreatment was predictive of victimization experiences for both males and females. Attachment style did not substantially add to the prediction of relationship conflict beyond maltreatment; however, avoidant attachment style emerged repeatedly as a significant predictor of female abusiveness and victimization. Attachment self-ratings were found to function as a moderator of child maltreatment in predicting primarily male coercive behavior towards a relationship partner as well as predicting male's experience of coercion from a partner. Thus, the presence of childhood maltreatment and adolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style applies predominantly to male youth. The implication of these gender differences for understanding relationship violence is discussed.

Progressive evolution of deformation band populations during Laramide fault-propagation folding: Navajo Sandstone, San Rafael monocline, Utah, U.S.A.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuluaga, Luisa F.; Fossen, Haakon; Rotevatn, Atle

2014-11-01

Monoclinal fault propagation folds are a common type of structure in orogenic foreland settings, particularly on the Colorado Plateau. We have studied a portion of the San Rafael monocline, Utah, assumed to have formed through pure thrust- or reverse-slip (blind) fault movement, and mapped a particular sequence of subseismic cataclastic deformation structures (deformation bands) that can be related in terms of geometry, density and orientation to the dip of the forelimb or fold interlimb angle. In simple terms, deformation bands parallel to bedding are the first structures to form, increasing exponentially in number as the forelimb gets steeper. At about 30° rotation of the forelimb, bands forming ladder structures start to cross-cut bedding, consolidating themselves into a well-defined and regularly spaced network of deformation band zones that rotate with the layering during further deformation. In summary, we demonstrate a close relationship between limb dip and deformation band density that can be used to predict the distribution and orientation of such subseismic structures in subsurface reservoirs of similar type. Furthermore, given the fact that these cataclastic deformation bands compartmentalize fluid flow, this relationship can be used to predict or model fluid flow across and along comparable fault-propagation folds.

The relationship between bond ionicity, lattice energy, coefficient of thermal expansion and microwave dielectric properties of Nd(Nb(1-x)Sb(x))O4 ceramics.

PubMed

Zhang, Ping; Zhao, Yonggui; Wang, Xiuyu

2015-06-28

The crystalline structure refinement, chemical bond ionicity, lattice energy and coefficient of thermal expansion were carried out for Nd(Nb(1-x)Sb(x))O4 ceramics with a monoclinic fergusonite structure to investigate the correlations between the crystalline structure, phase stability, bond ionicity, lattice energy, coefficient of thermal expansion, and microwave dielectric properties. The bond ionicity, lattice energy, and coefficient of thermal expansion of Nd(Nb(1-x)Sb(x))O4 ceramics were calculated using a semiempirical method based on the complex bond theory. The phase structure stability varied with the lattice energy which was resulted by the substitution constant of Sb(5+). With the increasing of the Sb(5+) contents, the decrease of Nb/Sb-O bond ionicity was observed, which could be contributed to the electric polarization. The ε(r) had a close relationship with the Nb/Sb-O bond ionicity. The increase of the Q×f and |τ(f)| values could be attributed to the lattice energy and the coefficient of thermal expansion. The microwave dielectric properties of Nd(Nb(1-x)Sb(x))O4 ceramics with the monoclinic fergusonite structure were strongly dependent on the chemical bond ionicity, lattice energy and coefficient of thermal expansion.

Affect dysregulation, psychoform dissociation, and adult relational fears mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and complex posttraumatic stress disorder independent of the symptoms of borderline personality disorder.

PubMed

van Dijke, Annemiek; Hopman, Juliette A B; Ford, Julian D

2018-01-01

Objective : Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) as defined by the Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS) formulation is associated with childhood relational trauma and involves relational impairment, affect dysregulation, and identity alterations. However, the distinct contributions of relational impairment (operationalized in the form fears of closeness or abandonment), affect dysregulation (operationalized in the form of overregulation and under-regulation of affect), and identity alterations (operationalized in the form of positive or negative psychoform or somatoform dissociation) to the relationship between childhood trauma and CPTSD/DESNOS have not been systematically tested. Method and Results : In a clinical sample of adults diagnosed with severe and chronic psychiatric and personality disorders ( n  = 472; M  = 34.7 years, SD  = 10.1), structural equation modelling with bootstrap 95% confidence intervals demonstrated that the association between childhood trauma and CPTSD/DESNOS symptoms in adulthood was partially mediated by under-regulation of affect, negative psychoform dissociation, and adult relational fears of closeness and of abandonment. These results also were independent of the effects of borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms. Conclusions : Some, but not all, hypothesized components of the DESNOS formulation of CPTSD statistically mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and adult CPTSD/DESNOS. These relationships appear specific to CPTSD/DESNOS and not to the effects of another potential sequelae of childhood trauma BPD. Replication with prospective longitudinal studies is needed.

Insights into the structural features and stability of peptide nucleic acid with a D-prolyl-2-aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid backbone that binds to DNA and RNA.

PubMed

Poomsuk, Nattawee; Vilaivan, Tirayut; Siriwong, Khatcharin

2018-06-12

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a powerful biomolecule with a wide variety of important applications. In this work, the molecular structures and binding affinity of PNA with a D-prolyl-2-aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid backbone (acpcPNA) that binds to both DNA and RNA were studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulated structures of acpcPNA-DNA and acpcPNA-RNA duplexes more closely resembled the typical structures of B-DNA and A-RNA than the corresponding duplexes of aegPNA. The calculated binding free energies are in good agreement with the experimental results that the acpcPNA-DNA duplex is more stable than the acpcPNA-RNA duplex regardless of the base sequences. The results provide further insights in the relationship between structure and stability of this unique PNA system. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUNSPOT STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC FIELD CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH SOLAR FLARES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Song, Y. L.; Zhang, M., E-mail: ylsong@bao.ac.cn

Many previous studies have shown that magnetic fields and sunspot structures present rapid and irreversible changes associated with solar flares. In this paper, we first use five X-class flares observed by Solar Dynamics Observatory /Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager to show that not only do magnetic fields and sunspot structures show rapid, irreversible changes, but also that these changes are closely related both spatially and temporally. The magnitudes of the correlation coefficients between the temporal variations of the horizontal magnetic field and sunspot intensity are all larger than 0.90, with a maximum value of 0.99 and an average value of 0.96.more » Then, using four active regions during quiescent periods, three observed and one simulated, we show that in sunspot penumbra regions there also exists a close correlation between sunspot intensity and horizontal magnetic field strength in addition to the well-known correlation between sunspot intensity and the normal magnetic field strength. By connecting these two observational phenomena, we show that the sunspot structure change and magnetic field change are two facets of the same phenomena of solar flares; one change might be induced by the change of the other due to a linear correlation between sunspot intensity and magnetic field strength out of a local force balance.« less

Purification and structural characterization of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide from the trout and bowfin.

PubMed

Wang, Y; Conlon, J M

1995-04-01

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was purified from extracts of the stomachs of the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and the bowfin, Amia calva. The primary structure of VIP from both species was the same: His-Ser-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asp-Asn-Tyr10- Ser-Arg-Phe-Arg-Lys-Gln-Met-Ala-Val-Lys20-Lys-Tyr-Leu-Asn-Ser-Val- Leu-Thr. This amino acid sequence shows only one amino acid substitution (Val5-->Ile) compared with the common sequence of VIP from the chicken, alligator, and European green frog. The structural identity of VIP from the trout and bowfin is consistent with the close phylogenetic relationship between the Salmoniformes and the Amiiformes and the data indicate that pressure to conserve the complete primary structure of VIP during vertebrate evolution has been very strong.

Relationship of microstructure properties to oxygen impurities in nanocrystalline silicon photovoltaic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, H.; Wen, C.; Liu, H.; Li, Z. P.; Shen, W. Z.

2013-03-01

We have fully investigated the correlation of microstructure properties and oxygen impurities in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon photovoltaic films. The achievement has been realized through a series of different hydrogen dilution ratio treatment by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. Raman scattering, x-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet-visible transmission techniques have been employed to characterize the physical structural characterization and to elucidate the structure evolution. The bonding configuration of the oxygen impurities was investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the Si-O stretching mode of infrared-transmission, indicating that the films were well oxidized in SiO2 form. Based on the consistence between the proposed structure factor and the oxygen content, we have demonstrated that there are two dominant disordered structure regions closely related to the post-oxidation contamination: plate-like configuration and clustered microvoids.

Attachment Insecurity in Advanced Cancer Patients: Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Brief Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR-M16-G).

PubMed

Philipp, Rebecca; Vehling, Sigrun; Scheffold, Katharina; Grünke, Britta; Härter, Martin; Mehnert, Anja; Oechsle, Karin; Schulz-Kindermann, Frank; Lo, Christopher

2017-10-01

Attachment insecurity refers to difficulty in trusting and relying on others in times of need. Its underlying factors attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance have been empirically associated with impaired coping in advanced cancer and, therefore, should be considered in individually tailored medical and psychosocial treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the German translation of the Brief Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR-M16-G). We recruited 182 advanced cancer patients from outpatient psycho-oncology clinics of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University Medical Center Leipzig, local and external cancer care facilities. We performed confirmatory factor analysis to replicate the higher order factor structure reported in previous research. We conducted item and reliability analysis, also correlation analysis, to examine concurrent validity. One hundred fifty-eight patients completed the ECR-M16-G (women 61%, mean age 57.9, SD = 11.1). We replicated the factor structure with the subscales Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance as second-order factors and Worrying about relationships, Frustration about unavailability, Discomfort with close others, and Turning away from others as first-order factors. An adjusted model that interchanged factor loadings of items 4 and 10 showed good fit (Comparative Fit Index = 0.94, Non-Normed Fit Index = 0.93, root mean square error of approximation = 0.05). Subscales showed acceptable to good internal consistency (anxiety α = .81 and avoidance α = .78). Attachment insecurity (mean = 3.1, SD = 1.0) was positively associated with depression, anxiety, demoralization (P < 0.001), and symptom burden (P = 0.02) and negatively associated with spiritual well-being (P < 0.001). The ECR-M16-G is a valid and reliable measure of attachment insecurity in patients with advanced cancer and can be recommended as a tool for clinical care and further research. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Isolation and characterization of fatty acid binding protein in the liver of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum.

PubMed

Bass, N M; Manning, J A; Luer, C A

1991-01-01

1. A 14.5 kDa fatty acid binding protein was isolated from the liver of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum. 2. Purified shark liver FABP (pI = 5.4) bound oleic acid at a single site with an affinity similar to that of mammalian FABP. 3. The apparent size, pI and amino acid composition of shark liver FABP indicate a close structural relationship between this protein and mammalian heart FABP.

Elastic Response of Crimped Collagen Fibrils

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Alan D.; Doehring, Todd C.

2005-01-01

A physiologic constitutive expression is presented in algorithmic format for the elastic response of wavy collagen fibrils found in soft connective tissues. The model is based on the observation that crimped fibrils have a three-dimensional structure at the micrometer scale that we approximate as a helical spring. The symmetry of this waveform allows the force/displacement relationship derived from Castigliano's theorem to be solved in closed form. Model predictions are in good agreement with experimental observations for mitral-valve chordae tendineae

Elementary Students' Effortful Control and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality

PubMed Central

Hernández, Maciel M.; Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy; Berger, Rebecca H.; Spinrad, Tracy L.; VanSchyndel, Sarah K.; Silva, Kassondra M.; Southworth, Jody; Thompson, Marilyn S.

2017-01-01

This study evaluated the association between effortful control in kindergarten and academic achievement one year later (N = 301), and whether teacher–student closeness and conflict in kindergarten mediated the association. Parents, teachers, and observers reported on children's effortful control, and teachers reported on their perceived levels of closeness and conflict with students. Students completed the passage comprehension and applied problems subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson tests of achievement, as well as a behavioral measure of effortful control. Analytical models predicting academic achievement were estimated using a structural equation model framework. Effortful control positively predicted academic achievement even when controlling for prior achievement and other covariates. Mediation hypotheses were tested in a separate model; effortful control positively predicted teacher–student closeness and strongly, negatively predicted teacher–student conflict. Teacher–student closeness and effortful control, but not teacher–student conflict, had small, positive associations with academic achievement. Effortful control also indirectly predicted higher academic achievement through its positive effect on teacher–student closeness and via its positive relation to early academic achievement. The findings suggest that teacher–student closeness is one mechanism by which effortful control is associated with academic achievement. Effortful control was also a consistent predictor of academic achievement, beyond prior achievement levels and controlling for teacher–student closeness and conflict, with implications for intervention programs on fostering regulation and achievement concurrently. PMID:28684888

Elementary Students' Effortful Control and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality.

PubMed

Hernández, Maciel M; Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy; Berger, Rebecca H; Spinrad, Tracy L; VanSchyndel, Sarah K; Silva, Kassondra M; Southworth, Jody; Thompson, Marilyn S

This study evaluated the association between effortful control in kindergarten and academic achievement one year later ( N = 301), and whether teacher-student closeness and conflict in kindergarten mediated the association. Parents, teachers, and observers reported on children's effortful control, and teachers reported on their perceived levels of closeness and conflict with students. Students completed the passage comprehension and applied problems subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson tests of achievement, as well as a behavioral measure of effortful control. Analytical models predicting academic achievement were estimated using a structural equation model framework. Effortful control positively predicted academic achievement even when controlling for prior achievement and other covariates. Mediation hypotheses were tested in a separate model; effortful control positively predicted teacher-student closeness and strongly, negatively predicted teacher-student conflict. Teacher-student closeness and effortful control, but not teacher-student conflict, had small, positive associations with academic achievement. Effortful control also indirectly predicted higher academic achievement through its positive effect on teacher-student closeness and via its positive relation to early academic achievement. The findings suggest that teacher-student closeness is one mechanism by which effortful control is associated with academic achievement. Effortful control was also a consistent predictor of academic achievement, beyond prior achievement levels and controlling for teacher-student closeness and conflict, with implications for intervention programs on fostering regulation and achievement concurrently.

Longitudinal pathways linking family factors and sibling relationship qualities to adolescent substance use and sexual risk behaviors.

PubMed

East, Patricia L; Khoo, Siek Toon

2005-12-01

This 3-wave, 5-year longitudinal study tested the contributions of family contextual factors and sibling relationship qualities to younger siblings' substance use, sexual risk behaviors, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease. More than 220 non-White families participated (67% Latino and 33% African American), all of which involved a younger sibling (133 girls and 89 boys; mean age = 13.6 years at Time 1) and an older sister (mean age = 17 years at Time 1). Results from structural equation latent growth curve modeling indicated that qualities of the sibling relationship (high older sister power, low warmth/closeness, and low conflict) mediated effects from several family risks (mothers' single parenting, older sisters' teen parenting, and family's receipt of aid) to younger sibling outcomes. Model results were generally stronger for sister-sister pairs than for sister-brother pairs. Findings add to theoretical models that emphasize the role of family and parenting processes in shaping sibling relationships, which, in turn, influence adolescent outcomes. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring the Link among State of Mind Concerning Childhood Attachment, Attachment in Close Relationships, Parental Bonding, and Psychopathological Symptoms in Substance Users.

PubMed

Musetti, Alessandro; Terrone, Grazia; Corsano, Paola; Magnani, Barbara; Salvatore, Sergio

2016-01-01

In the present study, we have explored the link among styles of attachment and psychopathology in drug users. We know that insecure attachment predisposes the individuals the development of drug-addiction and psychopathological symptoms. However, we do not know which attachment is more frequent in drug users and which is related to particular psychopathological symptoms. The aim of the present work is to explore the relationship between childhood attachment state of mind, attachment in close relationships, parental bonding and psychopathology in sample of Italian substance users. We explored, in a sample of 70 drug users and drug-addicted patients, the childhood attachment state of mind measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, the attachment in close relationships by the Relationship Questionnaire and parental bonding measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument. The Symptom Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R) measured psychopathological symptoms. We found that parental bonding, rather than state of mind concerning childhood attachment or attachment in close relationships, is related to the psychopathological manifestation of anxiety, hostility, depression, and paranoid ideation in the sample. The latter occurs frequently in our sample, independent of state of mind concerning child attachment, attachment in close relationships, and parental bonding, suggesting its role either as a factor that favors a bad image of the participants' own relationships or as a direct effect of consuming drugs. These results have clinical implications on suggesting ways of interventions that prevent drug-addiction, which should include the evaluation of attachment in the prodromic phases of substance use onset or rehabilitation programs to prevent and manage psychotic-like symptoms.

Exploring the Link among State of Mind Concerning Childhood Attachment, Attachment in Close Relationships, Parental Bonding, and Psychopathological Symptoms in Substance Users

PubMed Central

Musetti, Alessandro; Terrone, Grazia; Corsano, Paola; Magnani, Barbara; Salvatore, Sergio

2016-01-01

Background: In the present study, we have explored the link among styles of attachment and psychopathology in drug users. We know that insecure attachment predisposes the individuals the development of drug-addiction and psychopathological symptoms. However, we do not know which attachment is more frequent in drug users and which is related to particular psychopathological symptoms. The aim of the present work is to explore the relationship between childhood attachment state of mind, attachment in close relationships, parental bonding and psychopathology in sample of Italian substance users. Methods: We explored, in a sample of 70 drug users and drug-addicted patients, the childhood attachment state of mind measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, the attachment in close relationships by the Relationship Questionnaire and parental bonding measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument. The Symptom Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R) measured psychopathological symptoms. Results: We found that parental bonding, rather than state of mind concerning childhood attachment or attachment in close relationships, is related to the psychopathological manifestation of anxiety, hostility, depression, and paranoid ideation in the sample. The latter occurs frequently in our sample, independent of state of mind concerning child attachment, attachment in close relationships, and parental bonding, suggesting its role either as a factor that favors a bad image of the participants’ own relationships or as a direct effect of consuming drugs. Conclusion: These results have clinical implications on suggesting ways of interventions that prevent drug-addiction, which should include the evaluation of attachment in the prodromic phases of substance use onset or rehabilitation programs to prevent and manage psychotic-like symptoms. PMID:27555832

Brain Events Underlying Episodic Memory Changes in Aging: A Longitudinal Investigation of Structural and Functional Connectivity.

PubMed

Fjell, Anders M; Sneve, Markus H; Storsve, Andreas B; Grydeland, Håkon; Yendiki, Anastasia; Walhovd, Kristine B

2016-03-01

Episodic memories are established and maintained by close interplay between hippocampus and other cortical regions, but degradation of a fronto-striatal network has been suggested to be a driving force of memory decline in aging. We wanted to directly address how changes in hippocampal-cortical versus striatal-cortical networks over time impact episodic memory with age. We followed 119 healthy participants (20-83 years) for 3.5 years with repeated tests of episodic verbal memory and magnetic resonance imaging for quantification of functional and structural connectivity and regional brain atrophy. While hippocampal-cortical functional connectivity predicted memory change in young, changes in cortico-striatal functional connectivity were related to change in recall in older adults. Within each age group, effects of functional and structural connectivity were anatomically closely aligned. Interestingly, the relationship between functional connectivity and memory was strongest in the age ranges where the rate of reduction of the relevant brain structure was lowest, implying selective impacts of the different brain events on memory. Together, these findings suggest a partly sequential and partly simultaneous model of brain events underlying cognitive changes in aging, where different functional and structural events are more or less important in various time windows, dismissing a simple uni-factorial view on neurocognitive aging. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Analysis and prediction of structure-reactive toxicity relationships of substituted aromatic compounds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Z.T.; Wang, L.S.; Chen, S.P.

1996-12-31

The fundamental differentiation of toxicity is between reactive and nonreactive toxicity. Reactive toxicity is associated with a specific mechanism for the reaction with an enzyme or inhibition of a metabolic pathway, and nonreactive toxicity is related directly to the quantity of toxicant acting upon the cell. The quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) have been successfully used in the nonreactive toxicity, such as prediction of the toxicity of nonreactive compounds based on their solubility in the lipids of organisms. The elements of molecular structure that are most closely related to nonreactive toxicity are those that describe the partitioning of the toxicant intomore » the organism, while QSARs for the reactive toxicity are less common in the environmental toxicology literature. With the recent increase in the use of synthetic substituted benzenes as industrial chemicals, the accurate analysis of the effect of reactive toxic chemicals has become recognized with QSAR. For this purpose, we selected the fish (Carassias auratus) as the test organism, measured the acute toxicity of 50% lethal concentration (LC{sub 50}) of the chemicals and the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content of the liver cells for the organism. These determined the relationships of the acute toxicity of some substituted benzenes with their physicochemical structural parameters. The effects on the ATP content was also compared to predict biological reactivities of the chemicals, so as to find some clues to explain the mode of mechanism of the toxicity. 17 refs., 1 tab.« less

The relationships between OHS prevention costs, safety performance, employee satisfaction and accident costs.

PubMed

Bayram, Metin; Ünğan, Mustafa C; Ardıç, Kadir

2017-06-01

Little is known about the costs of safety. A literature review conducted for this study indicates there is a lack of survey-based research dealing with the effects of occupational health and safety (OHS) prevention costs. To close this gap in the literature, this study investigates the interwoven relationships between OHS prevention costs, employee satisfaction, OHS performance and accident costs. Data were collected from 159 OHS management system 18001-certified firms operating in Turkey and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that OHS prevention costs have a significant positive effect on safety performance, employee satisfaction and accident costs savings; employee satisfaction has a significant positive effect on accident costs savings; and occupational safety performance has a significant positive effect on employee satisfaction and accident costs savings. Also, the results indicate that safety performance and employee satisfaction leverage the relationship between prevention costs and accident costs.

Finite Element Analysis and Understanding the Biomechanics and Evolution of Living and Fossil Organisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rayfield, Emily J.

2007-05-01

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a technique that reconstructs stress, strain, and deformation in a digital structure. Although commonplace in engineering and orthopedic science for more than 30 years, only recently has it begun to be adopted in the zoological and paleontological sciences to address questions of organismal morphology, function, and evolution. Current research tends to focus on either deductive studies that assume a close relationship between form and function or inductive studies that aim to test this relationship, although explicit hypothesis-testing bridges these two standpoints. Validation studies have shown congruence between in vivo or in vitro strain and FE-inferred strain. Future validation work on a broad range of taxa will assist in phylogenetically bracketing our extinct animal FE-models to increase confidence in our input parameters, although currently, FEA has much potential in addressing questions of form-function relationships, providing appropriate questions are asked of the existing data.

Exploring sets of molecules from patents and relationships to other active compounds in chemical space networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunimoto, Ryo; Bajorath, Jürgen

2017-09-01

Patents from medicinal chemistry represent a rich source of novel compounds and activity data that appear only infrequently in the scientific literature. Moreover, patent information provides a primary focal point for drug discovery. Accordingly, text mining and image extraction approaches have become hot topics in patent analysis and repositories of patent data are being established. In this work, we have generated network representations using alternative similarity measures to systematically compare molecules from patents with other bioactive compounds, visualize similarity relationships, explore the chemical neighbourhood of patent molecules, and identify closely related compounds with different activities. The design of network representations that combine patent molecules and other bioactive compounds and view patent information in the context of current bioactive chemical space aids in the analysis of patents and further extends the use of molecular networks to explore structure-activity relationships.

Relationship Transitions and the Risk for Child Maltreatment.

PubMed

Schneider, William

2016-12-01

Family structure as a risk for child maltreatment has long been viewed as a static state in the child maltreatment literature. Drawing on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the author uses a series of individual fixed-effects models to investigate whether particular types of relationship transitions over children's first decade of life are associated with increased risk for maternal and paternal child abuse and maternal neglect. Findings question and confirm a number of long-standing theoretical and empirical findings from the child maltreatment literature. Results indicate that transitions to being single are associated with increased risk for maternal child abuse and neglect. In addition, the frequency and severity of paternal harsh parenting may be closely linked with the nature of fathers' relationship transitions. Last, results largely do not provide support for the theory that the presence of social (nonbiological) fathers increases mothers' risk for engaging in child abuse or neglect.

Examining the Distribution, Modularity, and Community Structure in Article Networks for Systematic Reviews.

PubMed

Ji, Xiaonan; Machiraju, Raghu; Ritter, Alan; Yen, Po-Yin

2015-01-01

Systematic reviews (SRs) provide high quality evidence for clinical practice, but the article screening process is time and labor intensive. As SRs aim to identify relevant articles with a specific scope, we propose that a pre-defined article relationship, using similarity metrics, could accelerate this process. In this study, we established the article relationship using MEDLINE element similarities and visualized the article network with the Force Atlas layout. We also analyzed the article networks with graph diameter, closeness centrality, and module classes. The results revealed the distribution of articles and found that included articles tended to aggregate together in some module classes, providing further evidence of the existence of strong relationships among included articles. This approach can be utilized to facilitate the articles selection process through early identification of these dominant module classes. We are optimistic that the use of article network visualization can help better SR work prioritization.

Examining the Distribution, Modularity, and Community Structure in Article Networks for Systematic Reviews

PubMed Central

Ji, Xiaonan; Machiraju, Raghu; Ritter, Alan; Yen, Po-Yin

2015-01-01

Systematic reviews (SRs) provide high quality evidence for clinical practice, but the article screening process is time and labor intensive. As SRs aim to identify relevant articles with a specific scope, we propose that a pre-defined article relationship, using similarity metrics, could accelerate this process. In this study, we established the article relationship using MEDLINE element similarities and visualized the article network with the Force Atlas layout. We also analyzed the article networks with graph diameter, closeness centrality, and module classes. The results revealed the distribution of articles and found that included articles tended to aggregate together in some module classes, providing further evidence of the existence of strong relationships among included articles. This approach can be utilized to facilitate the articles selection process through early identification of these dominant module classes. We are optimistic that the use of article network visualization can help better SR work prioritization. PMID:26958292

Generational Solidarity in Europe and Israel.

PubMed

Katz, Ruth; Lowenstein, Ariela; Halperin, Dafna; Tur-Sinai, Aviad

2015-09-01

This study explored various dimensions of generational relationships between older parents and their adult children using the second wave of SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), comparing it to Dykstra's and Fokkema's (2011) analyses of the first wave. Results were further compared to the OASIS study (Old Age and Autonomy: The Role of Service Systems and Intergenerational Solidarity). The intergenerational solidarity model served as the main conceptual framework. Analyses yielded four family relationship types present in all countries, albeit with different frequencies. Around half of the respondents in the 11 countries were identified with close ties and flow of support. Four conclusions were drawn: (1) importance of personal resources; (2) cultural differences and meanings for families; (3) highlighting within-country difference; and (4) strength of intergenerational solidarity. The importance of understanding generational relationships in the current era with higher longevity and changing family structures is emphasized and explicated.

Parents' Discord and Divorce, Parent-Child Relationships and Subjective Well-Being in Early Adulthood: Is Feeling Close to Two Parents Always Better than Feeling Close to One?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobolewski, Juliana M.; Amato, Paul R.

2007-01-01

We assessed the associations between parents' marital discord and divorce, patterns of parent-child relationships, and adult children's subjective well-being. Parental divorce and marital conflict appeared to increase the odds that children were close to neither parent in adulthood. Parental divorce (but not marital conflict) appeared to increase…

Facial dynamics and emotional expressions in facial aging treatments.

PubMed

Michaud, Thierry; Gassia, Véronique; Belhaouari, Lakhdar

2015-03-01

Facial expressions convey emotions that form the foundation of interpersonal relationships, and many of these emotions promote and regulate our social linkages. Hence, the facial aging symptomatological analysis and the treatment plan must of necessity include knowledge of the facial dynamics and the emotional expressions of the face. This approach aims to more closely meet patients' expectations of natural-looking results, by correcting age-related negative expressions while observing the emotional language of the face. This article will successively describe patients' expectations, the role of facial expressions in relational dynamics, the relationship between facial structures and facial expressions, and the way facial aging mimics negative expressions. Eventually, therapeutic implications for facial aging treatment will be addressed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Distribution and function of voltage-gated sodium channels in the nervous system.

PubMed

Wang, Jun; Ou, Shao-Wu; Wang, Yun-Jie

2017-11-02

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are the basic ion channels for neuronal excitability, which are crucial for the resting potential and the generation and propagation of action potentials in neurons. To date, at least nine distinct sodium channel isoforms have been detected in the nervous system. Recent studies have identified that voltage-gated sodium channels not only play an essential role in the normal electrophysiological activities of neurons but also have a close relationship with neurological diseases. In this study, the latest research findings regarding the structure, type, distribution, and function of VGSCs in the nervous system and their relationship to neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, neuropathic pain, brain tumors, neural trauma, and multiple sclerosis, are reviewed in detail.

The influence of parents' religious practices on young adults' divorce attitudes.

PubMed

Kapinus, Carolyn A; Pellerin, Lisa A

2008-09-01

This study investigates the intergenerational transmission of parents' religious views and divorce attitudes, paying particular attention to the effect of parent-child closeness. We use structural equation modeling to examine a national longitudinal data set containing information from 455 married individuals and their adult offspring. We find that parent religiosity influences young adults' views of divorce via two pathways: by affecting offspring's religiosity and parents' views of divorce. More religious offspring are less tolerant of divorce, but offspring who do not share their parents' religious practices are nonetheless influenced by their parents' religiously-influenced divorce attitudes. While parent religiosity has no effect on parent-child closeness, religious offspring report having been closer to their parents, suggesting that their current religious practices may affect their perceptions of the parent-child relationship.

De novo design of recombinant spider silk proteins for material applications.

PubMed

Zheng, Ke; Ling, Shengjie

2018-05-21

Spider silks are well known for their superior mechanical properties that are stronger and tougher than steel despite being assembled at close to ambient conditions and using water as the solvent. However, it is a significant challenge to utilize spider silks for practical applications due to their limited sources. Fortunately, genetic engineering techniques offer a promising approach to produce useable amounts of spider silk variants. Starting from these recombinant spider silk proteins, a series of experiments and simulations strategies were developed to improve the recombinant spider silk proteins (RSSP) material design and fabrication with the aim of biomimicking the structure-property-function relationships of spider silks. Accordingly, in this review, we first introduce the structure-property-function relationship of spider silks. Then, we discuss the recent progress in the genetic synthesis of RSSPs and summarize their related multiscale self-assembly behaviors. Finally, we outline works utilizing multiscale modeling to assist RSSP material design. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Relationships among msx gene structure and function in zebrafish and other vertebrates.

PubMed

Ekker, M; Akimenko, M A; Allende, M L; Smith, R; Drouin, G; Langille, R M; Weinberg, E S; Westerfield, M

1997-10-01

The zebrafish genome contains at least five msx homeobox genes, msxA, msxB, msxC, msxD, and the newly isolated msxE. Although these genes share structural features common to all Msx genes, phylogenetic analyses of protein sequences indicate that the msx genes from zebrafish are not orthologous to the Msx1 and Msx2 genes of mammals, birds, and amphibians. The zebrafish msxB and msxC are more closely related to each other and to the mouse Msx3. Similarly, although the combinatorial expression of the zebrafish msx genes in the embryonic dorsal neuroectoderm, visceral arches, fins, and sensory organs suggests functional similarities with the Msx genes of other vertebrates, differences in the expression patterns preclude precise assignment of orthological relationships. Distinct duplication events may have given rise to the msx genes of modern fish and other vertebrate lineages whereas many aspects of msx gene functions during embryonic development have been preserved.

Does viscosity or structure govern the rate at which starch granules are digested?

PubMed

Hardacre, Allan K; Lentle, Roger G; Yap, Sia-Yen; Monro, John A

2016-01-20

The rates of in vitro digestion of incompletely or fully gelatinised potato and corn starch were measured at 37 °C over 20 min in a rheometer fitted with cup and vane geometry at shear rates of 0.1, 1 and 10 s(-1). Shear rate did not influence the rate of starch digestion provided it was close to physiological levels. However, rates of digestion were significantly reduced when shear rates were below the physiological range (0.1 s(-1)) or when gelatinisation was incomplete. At physiological shear rates the relationship between starch digestion and viscosity was sigmoid in form and following a short initial slow phase a rapid decline in viscosity occurred as starch was digested and the structural integrity of the granules was lost. Conversely, when shear rate was reduced below physiological levels or gelatinisation was incomplete, digestion was hindered, granule integrity was maintained and the relationship between starch and viscosity became linear. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Relationship between Structural and Air-Water Interfacial Properties of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Gluten Hydrolysates in a Food System Relevant pH Range.

PubMed

Wouters, Arno G B; Fierens, Ellen; Rombouts, Ine; Brijs, Kristof; Joye, Iris J; Delcour, Jan A

2017-02-15

The relationship between structural and foaming properties of two tryptic and two peptic wheat gluten hydrolysates was studied at different pH conditions. The impact of pH on foam stability (FS) of the samples heavily depended on the peptidase used and the degree of hydrolysis reached. Surface dilatational moduli were in most, but not all, instances related to FS, implying that, although the formation of a viscoelastic protein hydrolysate film is certainly important, this is not the only phenomenon that determines FS. In contrast to what might be expected, surface charge was not a major factor contributing to FS, except when close to the point-of-zero-charge. Surface hydrophobicity and intrinsic fluorescence measurements suggested that changes in protein conformation take place when the pH is varied, which can in turn influence foaming. Finally, hydrolyzed gluten proteins formed relatively large particles, suggesting that protein hydrolysate aggregation probably influences its foaming properties.

M-Polynomials and topological indices of V-Phenylenic Nanotubes and Nanotori.

PubMed

Kwun, Young Chel; Munir, Mobeen; Nazeer, Waqas; Rafique, Shazia; Min Kang, Shin

2017-08-18

V-Phenylenic nanotubes and nanotori are most comprehensively studied nanostructures due to widespread applications in the production of catalytic, gas-sensing and corrosion-resistant materials. Representing chemical compounds with M-polynomial is a recent idea and it produces nice formulas of degree-based topological indices which correlate chemical properties of the material under investigation. These indices are used in the development of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) in which the biological activity and other properties of molecules like boiling point, stability, strain energy etc. are correlated with their structures. In this paper, we determine general closed formulae for M-polynomials of V-Phylenic nanotubes and nanotori. We recover important topological degree-based indices. We also give different graphs of topological indices and their relations with the parameters of structures.

Analysis of retinal and cortical components of Retinex algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeonan-Kim, Jihyun; Bertalmío, Marcelo

2017-05-01

Following Land and McCann's first proposal of the Retinex theory, numerous Retinex algorithms that differ considerably both algorithmically and functionally have been developed. We clarify the relationships among various Retinex families by associating their spatial processing structures to the neural organizations in the retina and the primary visual cortex in the brain. Some of the Retinex algorithms have a retina-like processing structure (Land's designator idea and NASA Retinex), and some show a close connection with the cortical structures in the primary visual area of the brain (two-dimensional L&M Retinex). A third group of Retinexes (the variational Retinex) manifests an explicit algorithmic relation to Wilson-Cowan's physiological model. We intend to overview these three groups of Retinexes with the frame of reference in the biological visual mechanisms.

[Specialized outpatient care in the Unified Health System: how to fill a void].

PubMed

Tesser, Charles Dalcanale; Poli, Paulo

2017-03-01

The structuring of specialized outpatient care is a bottleneck in the operation of the Unified Health System. Based on a brief discussion about this void in an organizational model, we propose the federal induction of a format of specialized services from the experiences of Centers of Support for Family Health (NASF). They adapted matrix operations and constitute an excellent prototype for the organization of specialized outpatient care. It allows for equal access and maximum proximity to the specialized care of the reality of primary care users, the personal relationship and the close relationship between the family health teams and medical and non-medical specialists, enabling mutual lifelong learning, negotiated regulation and increased efficacy of primary care. Municipal experiences of Florianopolis and Curitiba are synthesized as partial examples of the proposal. the structure of care in mental health of Florianópolis, all organized as a matrix support is briefly described; and we focus on the change in the action of the support teams of Curitiba, which gradually began to engage, involve and mediate the relationship between basic and specialized care. This format can be expanded to most medical specialties.

Structural development of wheat nutrient transfer tissues and their relationships with filial tissues development.

PubMed

Xurun, Yu; Xinyu, Chen; Liang, Zhou; Jing, Zhang; Heng, Yu; Shanshan, Shao; Fei, Xiong; Zhong, Wang

2015-03-01

Nutrients from spikelet phloem are commonly delivered to endosperm via caryopsis nutrient transfer tissues (NTTs). Elucidation of NTTs development is paramount to developing an understanding of the control of assimilate partitioning. Little information was available on the structural development of the entire NTTs and their functions, particularly those involved in the relationship between development of NTTs and growth of filial tissues including endosperm and embryo. In this study, wheat caryopses at different development stages were collected for observation of the NTTs by light microscopy, stereoscopic microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The cytological features of NTTs in the developing wheat caryopsis were clearly elucidated. The results were as follows: NTTs in the wheat caryopsis include maternal transfer tissues that are composed of vascular bundle, chalaza and nucellar projection transfer cells, and endosperm transfer tissues that consist of the aleurone transfer cells, starchy endosperm transfer cells, and endosperm conducting cells. The initiation, development, and apoptosis of these NTTs revealed the pattern of temporal and spatial gradient and were closely coordinated with endosperm and embryo development. These results may give us a further understanding about the functions of NTTs and their relationships with endosperm and embryo development.

Exceptional body sizes but typical trophic structure in a Pleistocene food web.

PubMed

Segura, Angel M; Fariña, Richard A; Arim, Matías

2016-05-01

In this study, we focused on the exceptionally large mammals inhabiting the Americas during the Quaternary period and the paramount role of body size in species ecology. We evaluated two main features of Pleistocene food webs: the relationship between body size and (i) trophic position and (ii) vulnerability to predation. Despite the large range of species sizes, we found a hump-shaped relationship between trophic position and body size. We also found a negative trend in species vulnerability similar to that observed in modern faunas. The largest species lived near the boundary of energetic constraints, such that any shift in resource availability could drive these species to extinction. Our results reinforce several features of megafauna ecology: (i) the negative relationship between trophic position and body size implies that large-sized species were particularly vulnerable to changes in energetic support; (ii) living close to energetic imbalance could favour the incorporation of additional energy sources, for example, a transition from a herbivorous to a scavenging diet in the largest species (e.g. Megatherium) and (iii) the interactions and structure of Quaternary megafauna communities were shaped by similar forces to those shaping modern fauna communities. © 2016 The Author(s).

Structural phylogeny by profile extraction and multiple superimposition using electrostatic congruence as a discriminator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chakraborty, Sandeep; Rao, Basuthkar J.; Baker, Nathan A.

2013-04-01

Phylogenetic analysis of proteins using multiple sequence alignment (MSA) assumes an underlying evolutionary relationship in these proteins which occasionally remains undetected due to considerable sequence divergence. Structural alignment programs have been developed to unravel such fuzzy relationships. However, none of these structure based methods have used electrostatic properties to discriminate between spatially equivalent residues. We present a methodology for MSA of a set of related proteins with known structures using electrostatic properties as an additional discriminator (STEEP). STEEP first extracts a profile, then generates a multiple structural superimposition providing a consolidated spatial framework for comparing residues and finally emits themore » MSA. Residues that are aligned differently by including or excluding electrostatic properties can be targeted by directed evolution experiments to transform the enzymatic properties of one protein into another. We have compared STEEP results to those obtained from a MSA program (ClustalW) and a structural alignment method (MUSTANG) for chymotrypsin serine proteases. Subsequently, we used PhyML to generate phylogenetic trees for the serine and metallo-β-lactamase superfamilies from the STEEP generated MSA, and corroborated the accepted relationships in these superfamilies. We have observed that STEEP acts as a functional classifier when electrostatic congruence is used as a discriminator, and thus identifies potential targets for directed evolution experiments. In summary, STEEP is unique among phylogenetic methods for its ability to use electrostatic congruence to specify mutations that might be the source of the functional divergence in a protein family. Based on our results, we also hypothesize that the active site and its close vicinity contains enough information to infer the correct phylogeny for related proteins.« less

Parenting and antisocial behavior: a model of the relationship between adolescent self-disclosure, parental closeness, parental control, and adolescent antisocial behavior.

PubMed

Vieno, Alessio; Nation, Maury; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo

2009-11-01

This study used data collected from a sample of 840 Italian adolescents (418 boys; M age = 12.58) and their parents (657 mothers; M age = 43.78) to explore the relations between parenting, adolescent self-disclosure, and antisocial behavior. In the hypothesized model, parenting practices (e.g., parental monitoring and control) have direct effects on parental knowledge and antisocial behavior. Parenting style (e.g., parent-child closeness), on the other hand, is directly related to adolescent self-disclosure, which in turn is positively related to parental knowledge and negatively related to adolescents' antisocial behavior. A structural equation model, which incorporated data from parents and adolescents, largely supported the hypothesized model. Gender-specific models also found some gender differences among adolescents and parents, as the hypothesized model adequately fit the subsample of mothers but not fathers. Mothers' closeness to girls predicted their knowledge of their daughters' behavior; mothers' control predicted boys' antisocial behavior.

Water cycle and its management for plant habitats at reduced pressures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rygalov, Vadim Y.; Fowler, Philip A.; Wheeler, Raymond M.; Bucklin, Ray A.

2004-01-01

Experimental and mathematical models were developed for describing and testing temperature and humidity parameters for plant production in bioregenerative life support systems. A factor was included for analyzing systems operating at low (10-101.3 kPa) pressure to reduce gas leakage and structural mass (e.g., inflatable greenhouses for space application). The expected close relationship between temperature and relative humidity was observed, along with the importance of heat exchanger coil temperature and air circulation rate. The presence of plants in closed habitats results in increased water flux through the system. Changes in pressure affect gas diffusion rates and surface boundary layers, and change convective transfer capabilities and water evaporation rates. A consistent observation from studies with plants at reduced pressures is increased evapotranspiration rates, even at constant vapor pressure deficits. This suggests that plant water status is a critical factor for managing low-pressure production systems. The approach suggested should help space mission planners design artificial environments in closed habitats.

Water cycle and its management for plant habitats at reduced pressures.

PubMed

Rygalov, Vadim Y; Fowler, Philip A; Wheeler, Raymond M; Bucklin, Ray A

2004-01-01

Experimental and mathematical models were developed for describing and testing temperature and humidity parameters for plant production in bioregenerative life support systems. A factor was included for analyzing systems operating at low (10-101.3 kPa) pressure to reduce gas leakage and structural mass (e.g., inflatable greenhouses for space application). The expected close relationship between temperature and relative humidity was observed, along with the importance of heat exchanger coil temperature and air circulation rate. The presence of plants in closed habitats results in increased water flux through the system. Changes in pressure affect gas diffusion rates and surface boundary layers, and change convective transfer capabilities and water evaporation rates. A consistent observation from studies with plants at reduced pressures is increased evapotranspiration rates, even at constant vapor pressure deficits. This suggests that plant water status is a critical factor for managing low-pressure production systems. The approach suggested should help space mission planners design artificial environments in closed habitats.

Does individualism bring happiness? Negative effects of individualism on interpersonal relationships and happiness.

PubMed

Ogihara, Yuji; Uchida, Yukiko

2014-01-01

We examined the negative effects of individualism in an East Asian culture. Although individualistic systems decrease interpersonal relationships through competition, individualistic values have prevailed in European American cultures. One reason is because individuals could overcome negativity by actively constructing interpersonal relationships. In contrast, people in East Asian cultures do not have such strategies to overcome the negative impact of individualistic systems, leading to decreased well-being. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between individualistic values, number of close friends, and subjective well-being (SWB). Study 1 indicated that individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB for Japanese college students but not for American college students. Moreover, Study 2 showed that even in an individualistic workplace in Japan, individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB. We discuss how cultural change toward increasing individualism might affect interpersonal relationships and well-being.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maughan, Annalise E.; Ganose, Alex M.; Bordelon, Mitchell M.

Vacancy-ordered double perovskites of the general formula, A2BX6, are a family of perovskite derivatives composed of a face-centered lattice of nearly isolated [BX6] units with A-site cations occupying the cuboctahedral voids. Despite the presence of isolated octahedral units, the close-packed iodide lattice provides significant electronic dispersion, such that Cs2SnI6 has recently been explored for applications in photovoltaic devices. To elucidate the structure-property relationships of these materials, we have synthesized the solid solution Cs2Sn1-xTexI6. However, even though tellurium substitution increases electronic dispersion via closer I-I contact distances, the substitution experimentally yields insulating behavior from a significant decrease in carrier concentration andmore » mobility. Density functional calculations of native defects in Cs2SnI6 reveal that iodine vacancies exhibit a low enthalpy of formation and the defect energy level is a shallow donor to the conduction band, rendering the material tolerant to these defect states. The increased covalency of Te-I bonding renders the formation of iodine vacancy states unfavorable, and is responsible for the reduction in conductivity upon Te substitution. Additionally, Cs2TeI6 is intolerant to the formation of these defects, as the defect level occurs deep within the band gap and thus localizes potential mobile charge carriers. In these vacancy-ordered double perovskites, the close-packed lattice of iodine provides significant electronic dispersion, while the interaction of the B- and X-site ions dictates the properties as they pertain to electronic structure and defect tolerance. This simplified perspective -- based on extensive experimental and theoretical analysis -- provides a platform from which to understand structure-property relationships in functional perovskite halides.« less

Groundwater-surfacewater relationships in the Bonaparte Creek basin, Okanogan County, Washington, 1979-1980

USGS Publications Warehouse

Packard, F.A.; Sumioka, S.S.; Whiteman, K.J.

1983-01-01

Ground water-surface-water relationships were studied in five morphological segments in the Bonaparte Creek basin, Washington during 1979 and 1980. In one segment, kettle lakes were found to be closely associated with the ground-water system. In the other four segments, a close relationship was found between streamflow and ground water. It was concluded that additional ground-water development would adversely affect lake levels and streamflow, thereby reducing surface-water resources already closed to further appropriation. The ground-water divide between the Bonaparte and Sanpoil basins was 6 miles southeast of where it was estimated to be. (USGS)

Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Use of People With Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Differential Impact of Family and Friends.

PubMed

Nam, Eunji; Fukui, Sadaaki

2017-01-01

Substance use among people with mood and anxiety disorders is highly prevalent. The literature suggests that substance use among people with mood and anxiety disorders is linked to social relational factors, yet it has rarely been the case that studies explicitly examine the differential impact of family and friends. This study investigated the association among family relationships, friendships, and substance use among people with mood and anxiety disorders. Using the National Survey of American Life, structural equation modeling tested the unique effects of family relationships and friendships on tobacco, alcohol, and drug use (n = 1,076). The quality of family relationships was assessed using 12 items on the frequency of contact with family, received help from family, closeness in feeling toward family, and emotional support from family. The quality of friendships was assessed using four items on the frequency of contact with friends, received and given help, and closeness in feeling toward friends. Substance use was measured using self-reported use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. Findings indicated that family relationships (β = -.101, p = .031) and friendships (β = .142, p = .004) were associated with drug use among people with mood and anxiety disorders, controlling for gender, age, race, education level, employment status, income, and family substance use history. Yet, family relationships and friendships were not significantly associated with tobacco and alcohol use. People with mood and anxiety disorders who had better family relationships were less likely to use drugs, while those who had better friendships were more likely to use drugs. Practitioners should be attentive to the differential impact of family and friends when working with people with mood and anxiety disorders to reduce the risk of drug use. Family interventions promoting and maintaining quality relationships with family will be helpful. However, friendships may facilitate drug use of people with mood and anxiety disorders. Practitioners should be cognizant of the potential risks of friendship networks for people with mood and anxiety disorders.

Relationship Power Among Same-Sex Male Couples in New York and San Francisco: Laying the Groundwork for Sexual Risk Reduction Interventions Focused on Interpersonal Power.

PubMed

Dworkin, Shari L; Zakaras, Jennifer M; Campbell, Chadwick; Wilson, Patrick; Grisham, Kirk; Chakravarty, Deepalika; Neilands, Torsten B; Hoff, Colleen

2017-09-01

Research is clear that power differentials between women and men shape women's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risks; however, little research has attempted to examine power differentials within same-sex male (SSM) couples and whether these influence sexual risk outcomes. To produce the first quantitative scale that measures power in SSM relationships, the current work was a Phase 1 qualitative study that sought to understand domains of relationship power and how power operated in the relationship among 48 Black, White, and interracial (Black-White) SSM couples recruited from San Francisco and New York. Interview domains were focused on definitions of power and perceptions of how power operated in the relationship. Findings revealed that couples described power in three key ways: as power exerted over a partner through decision-making dominance and relationship control; as power to accomplish goals through personal agency; and as couple-level power. In addition, men described ways that decision-making dominance and relationship control could be enacted in the relationship-through structural resources, emotional and sexual influence, and gender norm expectations. We discuss the implications of these findings for sexual risks and HIV care and treatment with SSM couples that are focused on closing gaps in power.

Late Adolescents' Self-Defining Memories about Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLean, Kate C.; Thorne, Avril

2003-01-01

Examined European-American 19-year-olds' self-defining memories about relationships with parents and/or peers. Found that parent memories emphasized separation more so than peer memories, which emphasized closeness. Parental separation was exemplified by parental divorce experiences, parent closeness by comforting a grieving parent, and peer…

Food allergy and attitudes to close interpersonal relationships: An exploratory study on attachment.

PubMed

Polloni, Laura; Schiff, Sami; Ferruzza, Emilia; Lazzarotto, Francesca; Bonaguro, Roberta; Toniolo, Alice; Celegato, Nicolò; Muraro, Antonella

2017-08-01

Food allergy is a common immunologic disease that includes potentially fatal reactions. It impacts considerably on patients' social life including close interpersonal relationships. Attachment theory provides a theoretic framework to evaluate the quality of close interpersonal relationships in chronic disorders. Attachment insecurity, mainly characterized by attachment avoidance, has been found in a variety of health conditions, but still needs to be investigated in food allergy. The study aimed to investigate attachment, as attitude to close interpersonal relationships, among food-allergic young patients, compared to healthy controls. This is a cross-sectional study involving patients suffering from IgE-mediated food allergy sequentially recruited and matched to healthy controls for age and gender. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) was used to assess five factors and two attachment dimensions (Anxiety-Avoidance). Associations with anaphylaxis and adrenaline prescription were explored among patients. 174 participants were assessed (female=45%; mean age=17.51; SD=4.26). Food-allergic patients reported significantly higher levels of Discomfort with Closeness (P<.05), Relationships as Secondary (P<.05) and Attachment Avoidance (P<.0001) compared to controls. Clinicians should be aware of implications of insecure attachment for health and illness. They should support patients in limiting social impairment finding a balance between safety and psychologic well-being. © 2017 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Predictors of satisfaction in geographically close and long-distance relationships.

PubMed

Lee, Ji-yeon; Pistole, M Carole

2012-04-01

In this study, the authors examined geographically close (GCRs) and long-distance (LDRs) romantic relationship satisfaction as explained by insecure attachment, self-disclosure, gossip, and idealization. After college student participants (N = 536) completed a Web survey, structural equation modeling (SEM) multigroup analysis revealed that the GCR and LDR models were nonequivalent, as expected. Self-disclosure mediated the insecure attachment-idealization path differently in GCRs and in LDRs. Self-disclosure was positively associated with idealization in GCRs and negatively associated with idealization in LDRs, with the insecure attachment-idealization and the insecure attachment-satisfaction paths negative for both GCRs and LDRs. Furthermore, the insecure attachment-idealization path was stronger than the mediated path, especially for LDRs; the insecure attachment-satisfaction path was stronger than the mediation model for GCRs and LDRs. In other words, the GCR and LDR models differed despite some similarities. For both, with higher insecure (i.e., anxious and avoidant) attachment, the person discloses less to the partner, idealizes the partner less, and is less satisfied with the relationship. Also, people who idealize are more satisfied. In contrast, in LDRs only, with higher insecure attachment, the people tend to gossip more. With higher insecure attachment and with higher self-disclosure, people idealize more in GCRs but idealize less in LDRs. Overall, attachment insecurity explained more idealization and satisfaction in LDRs than in GCRs. Implications are discussed.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of water-soluble, fluorescent gold nanoclusters capped with small organic molecules and a revealing fluorescence and X-ray absorption study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helmbrecht, C.; Lützenkirchen-Hecht, D.; Frank, W.

2015-03-01

Colourless solutions of blue light-emitting, water-soluble gold nanoclusters (AuNC) were synthesized from gold colloids under microwave irradiation using small organic molecules as ligands. Stabilized by 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (TPA) or l-glutamine (GLU), fluorescence quantum yields up to 5% were obtained. AuNC are considered to be very promising for biological labelling, optoelectronic devices and light-emitting materials but the structure-property relationships have still not been fully clarified. To expand the knowledge about the AuNC apart from their fluorescent properties they were studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy elucidating the oxidation state of the nanoclusters' gold atoms. Based on curve fitting of the XANES spectra in comparison to several gold references, optically transparent fluorescent AuNC are predicted to be ligand-stabilized Au5+ species. Additionally, their near edge structure compared with analogous results of polynuclear clusters known from the literature discloses an increasing intensity of the feature close to the absorption edge with decreasing cluster size. As a result, a linear relationship between the cluster size and the X-ray absorption coefficient can be established for the first time.Colourless solutions of blue light-emitting, water-soluble gold nanoclusters (AuNC) were synthesized from gold colloids under microwave irradiation using small organic molecules as ligands. Stabilized by 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (TPA) or l-glutamine (GLU), fluorescence quantum yields up to 5% were obtained. AuNC are considered to be very promising for biological labelling, optoelectronic devices and light-emitting materials but the structure-property relationships have still not been fully clarified. To expand the knowledge about the AuNC apart from their fluorescent properties they were studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy elucidating the oxidation state of the nanoclusters' gold atoms. Based on curve fitting of the XANES spectra in comparison to several gold references, optically transparent fluorescent AuNC are predicted to be ligand-stabilized Au5+ species. Additionally, their near edge structure compared with analogous results of polynuclear clusters known from the literature discloses an increasing intensity of the feature close to the absorption edge with decreasing cluster size. As a result, a linear relationship between the cluster size and the X-ray absorption coefficient can be established for the first time. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The deconvoluted reference spectra are given in ESI Fig. 1-9. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr07051h

Application of Lidar remote sensing to the estimation of forest canopy and stand structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefsky, Michael Andrew

A new remote sensing instrument, SLICER (Scanning Lidar Imager of Canopies by Echo Recovery), has been applied to the problem of remote sensing the canopy and stand structure of two groups of deciduous forests, Tulip Poplar-Oak stands in the vicinity of Annapolis, MD. and bottomland hardwood stands near Williamston, NC. The ability of the SLICER instrument to remotely sense the vertical distribution of canopy structure (Canopy Height Profile), bulk canopy transmittance, and several indices of canopy height has been successfully validated using twelve stands with coincident field and SLICER estimates of canopy structure. Principal components analysis has been applied to canopy height profiles from both field sites, and three significant factors were identified, each closely related to the amount of foliage in a recognizable layer of the forest, either understory, midstory, or overstory. The distribution of canopy structure to these layers is significantly correlated with the size and number of stems supporting them. The same layered structure was shown to apply to both field and SLICER remotely sensed canopy height profiles, and to apply to SLICER remotely sensed canopy profiles from both the bottomland hardwood stands in the coastal plain of North Carolina, and to mesic Tulip-Poplars stands in the upland coastal plain of Maryland. Linear regressions have demonstrated that canopy and stand structure are correlated to both a statistically significant and useful degree. Stand age and stem density is more highly correlated to stand height, while stand basal area and aboveground biomass are more closely related to a new measure of canopy structure, the quadratic mean canopy height. A geometric model of canopy structure has been shown to explain the differing relationships between canopy structure and stand basal area for stands of Eastern Deciduous Forest and Douglas Fir Forest.

Structural determinants of hydration, mechanics and fluid flow in freeze-dried collagen scaffolds.

PubMed

Offeddu, G S; Ashworth, J C; Cameron, R E; Oyen, M L

2016-09-01

Freeze-dried scaffolds provide regeneration templates for a wide range of tissues, due to their flexibility in physical and biological properties. Control of structure is crucial for tuning such properties, and therefore scaffold functionality. However, the common approach of modeling these scaffolds as open-cell foams does not fully account for their structural complexity. Here, the validity of the open-cell model is examined across a range of physical characteristics, rigorously linking morphology to hydration and mechanical properties. Collagen scaffolds with systematic changes in relative density were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography and spherical indentation analyzed in a time-dependent poroelastic framework. Morphologically, all scaffolds were mid-way between the open- and closed-cell models, approaching the closed-cell model as relative density increased. Although pore size remained constant, transport pathway diameter decreased. Larger collagen fractions also produced greater volume swelling on hydration, although the change in pore diameter was constant, and relatively small at ∼6%. Mechanically, the dry and hydrated scaffold moduli varied quadratically with relative density, as expected of open-cell materials. However, the increasing pore wall closure was found to determine the time-dependent nature of the hydrated scaffold response, with a decrease in permeability producing increasingly elastic rather than viscoelastic behavior. These results demonstrate that characterizing the deviation from the open-cell model is vital to gain a full understanding of scaffold biophysical properties, and provide a template for structural studies of other freeze-dried biomaterials. Freeze-dried collagen sponges are three-dimensional microporous scaffolds that have been used for a number of exploratory tissue engineering applications. The characterization of the structure-properties relationships of these scaffolds is necessary to understand their biophysical behavior in vivo. In this work, the relationship between morphology and physical properties in the dry and hydrated states was investigated across a range of solid concentrations in the scaffolds. The quantitative results provided can aid the design of scaffolds with a target trade-off between mechanical properties and structural features important for their biological activity. Copyright © 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between Subjective School Adaptation and Life Skills in Elementary School Children with Chronic Diseases.

PubMed

Aoji, Yurina; Miyai, Nobuyuki

2016-01-01

In this study, we investigated the association between subjective school adaptation and life skills in elementary school children with chronic diseases. A cross-sectional sample of children with chronic diseases (n=76), who were being treated as pediatric outpatients and who were in the 4th to 6th grade of public elementary schools, was selected. The subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire that comprised an Adaptation Scale for School Environments on Six Spheres (ASSESS) and life skills scales for self-management and stress coping strategies. Structural equation modeling was conducted to identify the inter-relationship between subjective school adaptation and life skills. Compared with the gender- and schoolyear-matched healthy controls (n=380), a large number of children with chronic diseases had low scores on the measure of interpersonal relationship in school. From the structural equation modeling, the subscales "friend's support" and "victimized relationship" in interpersonal relationship were two of the factors closely related to subjective adaptation of learning as well as school satisfaction in the children with chronic diseases. Furthermore, the "decision-making" and "goal-setting" components of self-management skills demonstrated positive contributions to the adaptation of learning and interpersonal relationship either directly affected by the skills themselves or through the affirmative effects of stress coping strategies. These results suggest that life skills education, focusing on self-management and stress coping strategies along with support to improve interpersonal relationships, is effective in promoting subjective school adaptation and leads to increased school satisfaction in children with chronic diseases.

Peer acceptance protects global self-esteem from negative effects of low closeness to parents during adolescence and early adulthood.

PubMed

Birkeland, Marianne Skogbrott; Breivik, Kyrre; Wold, Bente

2014-01-01

Having a distant relationship with parents seems to increase the risk of developing a more negative global self-esteem. This article describes a longitudinal study of 1,090 Norwegian adolescents from the age of 13-23 (54 % males) that explored whether peer acceptance can act as a moderator and protect global self-esteem against the negative effects of experiencing low closeness in relationships with parents. A quadratic latent growth curve for global self-esteem with closeness to parents and peer acceptance as time-varying covariates was modeled, taking partial measurement invariance in global self-esteem into account. Peer acceptance was found to have a general protective effect on global self-esteem for all adolescents. In addition, at most ages, peer acceptance was found to have a protective-stabilizing effect on the relationship between closeness to parents and global self-esteem. This indicates that peer acceptance can be an especially valuable source of global self-esteem when closeness to parents is low.

Evolution and Cryo-electron Microscopy Capsid Structure of a North American Bat Adenovirus and Its Relationship to Other Mastadenoviruses.

PubMed

Hackenbrack, Nicole; Rogers, Matthew B; Ashley, Robert E; Keel, M Kevin; Kubiski, Steven V; Bryan, John A; Ghedin, Elodie; Holmes, Edward C; Hafenstein, Susan L; Allison, Andrew B

2017-01-15

Since the first description of adenoviruses in bats in 2006, a number of micro- and megabat species in Europe, Africa, and Asia have been shown to carry a wide diversity of adenoviruses. Here, we report on the evolutionary, biological, and structural characterization of a novel bat adenovirus (BtAdV) recovered from a Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) in Kentucky, USA, which is the first adenovirus isolated from North American bats. This virus (BtAdV 250-A) exhibits a close phylogenetic relationship with Canine mastadenovirus A (CAdV A), as previously observed with other BtAdVs. To further investigate the relationships between BtAdVs and CAdVs, we conducted mass spectrometric analysis and single-particle cryo-electron microscopy reconstructions of the BtAdV 250-A capsid and also analyzed the in vitro host ranges of both viruses. Our results demonstrate that BtAdV 250-A represents a new mastadenovirus species that, in contrast to CAdV, has a unique capsid morphology that contains more prominent extensions of protein IX and can replicate efficiently in a phylogenetically diverse range of species. These findings, in addition to the recognition that both the genetic diversity of BtAdVs and the number of different bat species from disparate geographic regions infected with BtAdVs appears to be extensive, tentatively suggest that bats may have served as a potential reservoir for the cross-species transfer of adenoviruses to other hosts, as theorized for CAdV. Although many adenoviruses are host specific and likely codiverged with their hosts over millions of years, other adenoviruses appear to have emerged through successful cross-species transmission events on more recent time scales. The wide geographic distribution and genetic diversity of adenoviruses in bats and their close phylogenetic relationship to Canine mastadenovirus A (CAdV A) has raised important questions about how CAdV A, and possibly other mammalian adenoviruses, may have emerged. Although most adenoviruses tend to cause limited disease in their natural hosts, CAdV A is unusual in that it may cause high morbidity and sometimes fatal infections in immunocompetent hosts and is thus an important pathogen of carnivores. Here, we performed a comparative evolutionary and structural study of representative bat and canine adenoviruses to better understand the relationship between these two viral groups. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Close Online Relationships in a National Sample of Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolak, Janis; Mitchell, Kimberly J.; Finkelhor, David

2002-01-01

Uses data from a national survey of adolescent Internet users to describe online relationships. Fourteen percent of the youths interviewed reported close online friendships during the past year, 7% reported face-to-face meetings, and 2% reported online romances. Few youths reported bad experiences with online friends. (GCP)

[Occurrence of helminths in slaughtered sheep in Upper Bavaria. 2. Relationship between fecal egg count and worm burden].

PubMed

Rehbein, S; Lindner, T; Kollmannsberger, M; Visser, M; Winter, R

1997-04-01

The relationship between the faecal egg count and the worm burden of the gastrointestinal tract of sheep was examined. Close relationships were found in strongyles, Trichostrongylidae (other than Nematodirus spp.), Nematodirus spp., Strongyloides papillosus, Chabertiidae and Trichuris spp.. Due to high percentage of false negative diagnosis from faecal examination, this relationship was in Nematodirus spp. and Trichuris spp. not as close as in the other nematodes. However, the results support the high diagnostic value of quantitative faecal examinations in sheep.

Considering context: reliable entity networks through contextual relationship extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, Peter; Hawes, Timothy; Hansen, Nichole; Nolan, James J.

2016-05-01

Existing information extraction techniques can only partially address the problem of exploiting unreadable-large amounts text. When discussion of events and relationships is limited to simple, past-tense, factual descriptions of events, current NLP-based systems can identify events and relationships and extract a limited amount of additional information. But the simple subset of available information that existing tools can extract from text is only useful to a small set of users and problems. Automated systems need to find and separate information based on what is threatened or planned to occur, has occurred in the past, or could potentially occur. We address the problem of advanced event and relationship extraction with our event and relationship attribute recognition system, which labels generic, planned, recurring, and potential events. The approach is based on a combination of new machine learning methods, novel linguistic features, and crowd-sourced labeling. The attribute labeler closes the gap between structured event and relationship models and the complicated and nuanced language that people use to describe them. Our operational-quality event and relationship attribute labeler enables Warfighters and analysts to more thoroughly exploit information in unstructured text. This is made possible through 1) More precise event and relationship interpretation, 2) More detailed information about extracted events and relationships, and 3) More reliable and informative entity networks that acknowledge the different attributes of entity-entity relationships.

Engineering Cu surfaces for the electrocatalytic conversion of CO2: Controlling selectivity toward oxygenates and hydrocarbons

PubMed Central

Hahn, Christopher; Hatsukade, Toru; Kim, Youn-Geun; Vailionis, Arturas; Baricuatro, Jack H.; Higgins, Drew C.; Nitopi, Stephanie A.; Soriaga, Manuel P.; Jaramillo, Thomas F.

2017-01-01

In this study we control the surface structure of Cu thin-film catalysts to probe the relationship between active sites and catalytic activity for the electroreduction of CO2 to fuels and chemicals. Here, we report physical vapor deposition of Cu thin films on large-format (∼6 cm2) single-crystal substrates, and confirm epitaxial growth in the <100>, <111>, and <751> orientations using X-ray pole figures. To understand the relationship between the bulk and surface structures, in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy was conducted on Cu(100), (111), and (751) thin films. The studies revealed that Cu(100) and (111) have surface adlattices that are identical to the bulk structure, and that Cu(751) has a heterogeneous kinked surface with (110) terraces that is closely related to the bulk structure. Electrochemical CO2 reduction testing showed that whereas both Cu(100) and (751) thin films are more active and selective for C–C coupling than Cu(111), Cu(751) is the most selective for >2e− oxygenate formation at low overpotentials. Our results demonstrate that epitaxy can be used to grow single-crystal analogous materials as large-format electrodes that provide insights on controlling electrocatalytic activity and selectivity for this reaction. PMID:28533377

Computational genetic neuroanatomy of the developing mouse brain: dimensionality reduction, visualization, and clustering

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The structured organization of cells in the brain plays a key role in its functional efficiency. This delicate organization is the consequence of unique molecular identity of each cell gradually established by precise spatiotemporal gene expression control during development. Currently, studies on the molecular-structural association are beginning to reveal how the spatiotemporal gene expression patterns are related to cellular differentiation and structural development. Results In this article, we aim at a global, data-driven study of the relationship between gene expressions and neuroanatomy in the developing mouse brain. To enable visual explorations of the high-dimensional data, we map the in situ hybridization gene expression data to a two-dimensional space by preserving both the global and the local structures. Our results show that the developing brain anatomy is largely preserved in the reduced gene expression space. To provide a quantitative analysis, we cluster the reduced data into groups and measure the consistency with neuroanatomy at multiple levels. Our results show that the clusters in the low-dimensional space are more consistent with neuroanatomy than those in the original space. Conclusions Gene expression patterns and developing brain anatomy are closely related. Dimensionality reduction and visual exploration facilitate the study of this relationship. PMID:23845024

Healthcare quality improvement work: a professional employee perspective.

PubMed

Gadolin, Christian; Andersson, Thomas

2017-06-12

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare quality improvement (QI) work. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative case study based on interviews ( n=27) and observations ( n=10). Findings The main conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare QI work are professions, work structures and working relationships. These conditions can both prevent and facilitate healthcare QI. Professions and work structures may cement existing institutional logics and thus prevent employees from engaging in healthcare QI work. However, attempts to align QI with professional logics, together with work structures that empower employees, can make these conditions increase employee engagement, which can be accomplished through positive working relationships that foster institutional work, which bridge different competing institutional logics, making it possible to overcome barriers that professions and work structures may constitute. Practical implications Understanding the conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare QI work will make initiatives more likely to succeed. Originality/value Healthcare QI has mainly been studied from an implementer perspective, and employees have either been neglected or seen as passive resisters. Weak employee perspectives make healthcare QI research incomplete. In our research, healthcare QI work is studied closely at the actor level to understand healthcare QI from an employee perspective.

Quantitative structure-retention relationship studies for taxanes including epimers and isomeric metabolites in ultra fast liquid chromatography.

PubMed

Dong, Pei-Pei; Ge, Guang-Bo; Zhang, Yan-Yan; Ai, Chun-Zhi; Li, Guo-Hui; Zhu, Liang-Liang; Luan, Hong-Wei; Liu, Xing-Bao; Yang, Ling

2009-10-16

Seven pairs of epimers and one pair of isomeric metabolites of taxanes, each pair of which have similar structures but different retention behaviors, together with additional 13 taxanes with different substitutions were chosen to investigate the quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) of taxanes in ultra fast liquid chromatography (UFLC). Monte Carlo variable selection (MCVS) method was adopted to choose descriptors. The selected four descriptors were used to build QSRR model with multi-linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) modeling techniques. Both linear and nonlinear models show good predictive ability, of which ANN model was better with the determination coefficient R(2) for training, validation and test set being 0.9892, 0.9747 and 0.9840, respectively. The results of 100 times' leave-12-out cross validation showed the robustness of this model. All the isomers can be correctly differentiated by this model. According to the selected descriptors, the three dimensional structural information was critical for recognition of epimers. Hydrophobic interaction was the uppermost factor for retention in UFLC. Molecules' polarizability and polarity properties were also closely correlated with retention behaviors. This QSRR model will be useful for separation and identification of taxanes including epimers and metabolites from botanical or biological samples.

Navigating the interdependence dilemma: Attachment goals and the use of communal norms with potential close others.

PubMed

Bartz, Jennifer A; Lydon, John E

2006-07-01

Four studies investigated attachment in the context of new relationship development. Anxiously attached individuals overwhelmingly used communal norms and avoided using exchange norms when interacting with a potential close other; however, when a potential close other used communal norms, anxious individuals experienced increased interpersonal anxiety. Anxious individuals also used discrete communal behaviors to diagnose relationship potential. By contrast, secure individuals were more comfortable in potential communal situations. Moreover, implicit thoughts about closeness were associated with improved performance on a mental concentration task for secure individuals, whereas implicit closeness thoughts were associated with poorer performance for anxious individuals. Finally, avoidant individuals disliked the potential close other when the other used communal norms and downplayed relational motives for the other's communal behavior. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Misfit dislocation patterns of Mg-Nb interfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Youxing; Shao, Shuai; Liu, Xiang-Yang

The role of heterogeneous interfaces in improving mechanical properties of polycrystalline aggregates and laminated composites has been well recognized with interface structure being of fundamental importance in designing composites containing multiple interfaces. In this paper, taking the Mg (hexagonal close-packed (hcp))/Nb (body-centered cubic (bcc)) interface as an example, we develop Mg-Nb interatomic potentials for predicting atomic configurations of Mg/Nb interfaces. We systematically characterize interface dislocations of Mg/Nb interfaces with Nishiyama-Wassermann (NW) and Kurdjumov-Sachs (KS) orientation relationships and propose a generalized procedure of characterizing interface structure by combining atomistic simulation and interface dislocation theory, which is applicable for not only hcp/bccmore » interfaces, but also other systems with complicated interface dislocation configurations.Here, in Mg/Nb, interface dislocation networks of two types of interfaces are significantly different although they originate from partial dislocations of similar character: the NW interface is composed of three sets of partial dislocations, while the KS interface is composed of four sets of interface dislocations - three sets of partial dislocations and one set of full dislocations that forms from the reaction of two close partial dislocations.« less

High school students' scientific epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy in learning physics and attitudes toward physics: a structural equation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapucu, Serkan; Bahçivan, Eralp

2015-05-01

Background: There are some theoretical evidences that explain the relationships between core beliefs (i.e., epistemological beliefs) and peripheral beliefs (self-efficacy in learning) in the literature. The close relationships of such type of beliefs with attitudes are also discussed by some researchers. Constructing a model that investigates these relationships by considering theoretical and empirical evidences can empower researchers to discuss these relationships more comprehensively. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among Turkish high school students' scientific epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy in learning physics and their attitudes toward physics. Sample: A total of 632 high school students participated in this study; however, 269 female and 229 male (a total of 498) high school students' data were used. Design and methods: Three distinct instruments that measure scientific epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy in learning physics and attitudes toward physics were combined into a unique questionnaire form and it was distributed to high school students. To explore the relationships among these variables, structural equation modeling was used. Results: The results showed that scientific epistemological belief dimensions uncovered by the nature of knowing (source and justification) significantly and positively related to both self-efficacy in learning physics and attitudes toward other important physics dimensions. Additionally, self-efficacy in learning physics significantly and positively predicted attitudes toward multiple physics dimensions (importance, comprehension and requirement). However, epistemological belief dimensions related to the nature of knowledge (certainty and development) did not have significant impact on self-efficacy in learning physics or attitudes toward physics. Conclusions: This study concludes that there are positive and significant relationships among Turkish high school students' scientific epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy in learning physics and their attitudes toward physics.

Social support among HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescents in Umlazi, South Africa: changes in family and partner relationships during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

PubMed

Hill, Lauren M; Maman, Suzanne; Groves, Allison K; Moodley, Dhayendre

2015-05-17

Pregnancy is common among adolescents in South Africa, yet the social experiences of adolescents during the pregnancy and postpartum period remain understudied in this context. We aimed to explore how adolescent women's discovery and disclosure of both their pregnancy and HIV status affected their relationships with family members and sexual partners, with a particular focus on whether and how support changed throughout this time period. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescent women who were either pregnant or had delivered in the last 18 months from one urban clinic in Umlazi, South Africa. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, and coded for analysis. Young women described stress and instability in their relationships with family and partners during pregnancy and the postpartum period, though prior to and during HIV-status disclosure women generally experienced less stress than in disclosing their pregnancy to family members and partners. After a destabilizing period immediately following pregnancy disclosure, families became and remained the primary source of material and emotional support for the young women. Women discussed heightened closeness with their partners during pregnancy, but few women had close relationships with their partners postpartum. Support experiences did not differ by HIV status. Programs should be aware of the relative importance of pregnancy-related concerns over HIV-related concerns in this population of young women. Engaging family members is critical in ensuring social support for this population of young pregnant women, and in encouraging timely initiation of antenatal care.

The review on tessellation origami inspired folded structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Chai Chen; Keong, Choong Kok

2017-10-01

Existence of folds enhances the load carrying capacity of a folded structure which makes it suitable to be used for application where large open space is required such as large span roof structures and façade. Folded structure is closely related to origami especially the tessellation origami. Tessellation origami provides a folded configuration with facetted surface as a result from repeated folding pattern. Besides that, tessellation origami has flexible folding mechanism that produced a variety of 3-dimensional folded configurations. Despite the direct relationship between fold in origami and folded structure, the idea of origami inspired folded structure is not properly reviewed in the relevant engineering field. Hence, this paper aims to present the current studies from related discipline which has direct relation with application of tessellation origami in folded structure. First, tessellation origami is properly introduced and defined. Then, the review covers the topic on the origami tessellation design suitable for folded structure, its modeling and simulation method, and existing studies and applications of origami as folded structure is presented. The paper also includes the discussion on the current issues related to each topic.

Difficult but Close Relationships: Children's Perspectives on Relationships With Their Mothers in the Context of Domestic Violence.

PubMed

Lapierre, Simon; Côté, Isabelle; Lambert, Amélie; Buetti, David; Lavergne, Chantal; Damant, Dominique; Couturier, Vanessa

2018-07-01

This article reports findings from a participative and qualitative study conducted with children who had experienced domestic violence, focusing on their perspectives on their relationships with their mothers. Three focus groups and 46 individual interviews were conducted with children to gather their experiences. The research findings demonstrate that women's and children's victimizations are inextricably linked, and that domestic violence affects mother-child relationships. They also show that, despite the challenges and difficulties, children generally consider their mothers as very significant individuals in their lives, and have close relationships with them. The findings also reveal a dynamic of mutual protectiveness.

Preliminary evidence that sub-chronic citalopram triggers the re-evaluation of value in intimate partnerships

PubMed Central

Bilderbeck, Amy C.; Wakeley, Judi; Godlewska, Beata R.; McGlone, Francis; Harris, Tirril; Cowen, Phillip J.

2014-01-01

Depression frequently involves disrupted inter-personal relationships, while treatment with serotonergic anti-depressants can interfere with libido and sexual function. However, little is known about how serotonin activity influences appraisals of intimate partnerships. Learning more could help to specify how serotonergic mechanisms mediate social isolation in psychiatric illness. Forty-four healthy heterosexual adults, currently in romantic relationships, received 8 days treatment with the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor citalopram (N = 21; 10 male) or placebo (N = 23; 12 male). Participants viewed photographs of unknown, heterosexual couples and made a series of judgements about their relationships. Participants also indicated the importance of relationship features in their own close partnerships, and close partnerships generally. Citalopram reduced the rated quality of couples’ physical relationships and the importance attributed to physical and intimate aspects of participants’ own relationships. In contrast, citalopram also enhanced the evaluated worth of mutual trust in relationships. Amongst males, citalopram was associated with judgements of reduced turbulence and bickering in others’ relationships, and increased male dominance. These data constitute preliminary evidence that enhancing serotonin activity modulates cognitions about sexual activity as part of a re-appraisal of sources of value within close intimate relationships, enhancing the judged importance of longer-term benefits of trust and shared experiences. PMID:23996287

Peer attitudes effects on adolescent substance use: the moderating role of race and gender.

PubMed

Mason, Michael J; Mennis, Jeremy; Linker, Julie; Bares, Cristina; Zaharakis, Nikola

2014-02-01

We examined the relationship between adolescents' perceptions of their close friends' attitudes about substance use, and their own use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Using data from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a multistage area probability sample sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (n = 17,865), we tested the direct and moderating effects of subgroups of race and gender on perceptions of adolescents' close friends on past month substance use. Significant effects were found on peer attitudes influencing substance use for all race and gender subgroups. Close friends' attitudes of indifference were associated with increased substance use and disapproval associated with reduced use, controlling for age, income, family structure, and adolescents' own attitudes of risk of substance use. Significant moderating effects of peer attitudes on cigarette and marijuana use were found for both gender and race moderators. Conditional effects of the moderation by race were also examined for gender subgroups. The moderating effect of race on close friends' attitudes impacting cigarette and marijuana use was stronger in magnitude and significance for females compared to males. Female marijuana and cigarette use was more influenced by close friends' attitudes than males, and whites were more influenced by their close friends than Hispanics and blacks. White females are more susceptible to close friends' attitudes on cigarette use as compared to white males and youth of other races. Implications for socially oriented preventive interventions are discussed.

Heterometric sediment and benthic micro-habitat: In situ and experimental approaches.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navon, Maxime; Dauvin, Jean-Claude; Lesourd, Sandric

2016-04-01

The eastern Bay of Seine and its estuary are characterized by complex sediment structures with high temporal, spatial and vertical heterogeneities. As the result of different hydrodynamics forcing, estuary is a particular area with fine sediment accumulation since the last decades. This complex system involves particular relationships between benthic species and the environment. Dominant species show particular traits of life: bentho-pelagic reproductive cycle, burrowing, tubicoulous, surface and subsurface species. Moreover, species behaviours are different according to the sediment properties: grain size, stratification, texture, silt and clay contents… Although benthic macrofauna and sediment relationship is often describe as the major factor structuring benthic communities, no spatial and temporal relationships has been highlighted in this area. So, our study is focused on the relationship between species and sediment at the individual scale and on micro-habitats. The aim of the study is to define the macrofauna vertical distribution to understand how the sediment structure acts on organisms and the organism behaviour in a heterometric sediment context, i.e. how organisms act in return on the sediment structure. An in situ approach is used to answer these questions with four campaigns on board on the Oceanographic Vessel 'Le Côtes de la Manche'. A total of 43 cores (16 cm diameter, 35 cm high) in three typical sediment facies are sampled. Cores are analysed with Computer-Aided Tomography scan (Cyceron Laboratory, Caen) to 3D visualize organisms and to determine volumetric space occupation by biogenic structures. The same cores are transversally cut to check the species out and to analyse sediment parameters (grain size, organic matter and other chemical components on XRF device). Results show that most of the organism are closed to the surface sediment but also that some species, even small size individuals, are found deeper in the sediment-column until 9 cm depth. This approach gives nondestructive 3D picture on the organism position in sediment and provides information on the manner how sediment structure acts on organisms and in return how organisms disturb sediment structure.

[Family characteristics and the labor market in developed countries: a clear distinction between north and south].

PubMed

Barrere-maurisson, M; Marchand, O

1990-09-01

The relationship between family characteristics and the labor market is explored using data concerning 15 OECD countries. Several distinct geographical groupings are identified, including the Mediterranean countries, Scandinavia, North America, and Japan and West Germany. Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom occupy a middle ground and are less specifically defined. Furthermore, "the statistical map shows a strong relationship which manifests itself in two opposite ways. On the one hand, it shows the link between a traditional family structure and a weak integration of women in the working population (Spain, Ireland), and, on the other hand, it shows a close link between a divided family and the fact women have a paying job, often just part time (Sweden, Denmark)." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA) excerpt

Relationship between axial length of the emmetropic eye and the age, body height, and body weight of schoolchildren.

PubMed

Selović, Alen; Juresa, Vesna; Ivankovic, Davor; Malcic, Davor; Selović Bobonj, Gordana

2005-01-01

This report assesses the relationship of axial length of emmetropic (without refractive error) eyes to age, height, and weight in 1,600 Croatian schoolchildren. Axial eye lengths were determined by an ultrasonic eye biometry (A scan). Axial length of both eyes increases with age, height, and weight but shows a closer correlation to height and weight than to age. Boys have a significantly longer axial eye length than girls (P < 0.01). Boys or girls of similar or nearing body height and body weight and with emmetropic eyes have close linear measures of anatomic eye structures within their sex, regardless their age. Body height demonstrates the closest correlation to the growth and development of the emmetropic eye. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

AAPI college students' willingness to seek counseling: the role of culture, stigma, and attitudes.

PubMed

Choi, Na-Yeun; Miller, Matthew J

2014-07-01

This study tested 4 theoretically and empirically derived structural equation models of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders' willingness to seek counseling with a sample of 278 college students. The models represented competing hypotheses regarding the manner in which Asian cultural values, European American cultural values, public stigma, stigma by close others, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking professional help related to willingness to seek counseling. We found that Asian and European American cultural values differentially related to willingness to seek counseling indirectly through specific indirect pathways (public stigma, stigma by close others, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking professional help). Our results also showed that the magnitude of model-implied relationships did not vary as a function of generational status. Study limitations, future directions for research, and implications for counseling are discussed.

Substituted 7-amino-5-thio-thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines as potent and selective antagonists of the fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1).

PubMed

Karlström, Sofia; Nordvall, Gunnar; Sohn, Daniel; Hettman, Andreas; Turek, Dominika; Åhlin, Kristofer; Kers, Annika; Claesson, Martina; Slivo, Can; Lo-Alfredsson, Yvonne; Petersson, Carl; Bessidskaia, Galina; Svensson, Per H; Rein, Tobias; Jerning, Eva; Malmberg, Åsa; Ahlgen, Charlotte; Ray, Colin; Vares, Lauri; Ivanov, Vladimir; Johansson, Rolf

2013-04-25

We have developed two parallel series, A and B, of CX3CR1 antagonists for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. By modifying the substituents on the 7-amino-5-thio-thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine core structure, we were able to achieve compounds with high selectivity for CX3CR1 over the closely related CXCR2 receptor. The structure-activity relationships showed that a leucinol moiety attached to the core-structure in the 7-position together with α-methyl branched benzyl derivatives in the 5-position displayed promising affinity, and selectivity as well as physicochemical properties, as exemplified by compounds 18a and 24h. We show the preparation of the first potent and selective orally available CX3CR1 antagonists.

The association between varicella (chickenpox) and group A streptococcus infections in historical perspective

PubMed Central

Coleman, Stephen

2016-01-01

Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the historical relationship between varicella and Streptococcus pyogenes infections. In the past few decades, varicella has been identified as a risk factor for invasive group A streptococcus infections. The question is whether this relationship also existed between varicella and scarlet fever in the historical era. Methods: The analysis begins with a search of historical medical reports on the relationship between varicella and scarlet fever epidemics in the late 19th and early 20th century, as well as in more recent empirical studies. Correlations and cross-correlations between varicella and scarlet fever are analyzed using weekly public health case reports from 1924 to 1932 for Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia. Regression models are used to estimate the relationship between varicella and scarlet fever after controlling for seasonal forcing. Results: Historical records give limited support for a causal relationship between varicella and scarlet fever but indicate that these diseases often occurred close in time to each other. Likewise, statistical analysis shows that varicella and scarlet fever epidemics are closely aligned with each other, and varicella has a strong relationship with scarlet fever. The relationship is stronger than reported in any previous research on the two diseases. Conclusion: The close correspondence of the two diseases likely depends on multiple factors, including seasonal forcing, a causal relationship, and co-infections. The results raise questions about whether this close relationship might have had a synergistic effect or a role in the evolution of S. pyogenes from the virulent, high incidence epidemics of the 19th century to the relatively benign scarlet fever of the 1950s. PMID:27504182

Elastic model for crimped collagen fibrils

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Alan D.; Doehring, Todd C.

2005-01-01

A physiologic constitutive expression is presented in algorithmic format for the nonlinear elastic response of wavy collagen fibrils found in soft connective tissues. The model is based on the observation that crimped fibrils in a fascicle have a three-dimensional structure at the micron scale that we approximate as a helical spring. The symmetry of this wave form allows the force/displacement relationship derived from Castigliano's theorem to be solved in closed form: all integrals become analytic. Model predictions are in good agreement with experimental observations for mitral-valve chordae tendinece.

Scorpions: A Presentation

PubMed Central

Goyffon, Max; Tournier, Jean-Nicolas

2014-01-01

Scorpions, at least the species of the family Buthidæ whose venoms are better known, appear as animals that have evolved very little over time. The composition of their venoms is relatively simple as most toxins have a common structural motif that is found in other venoms from primitive species. Moreover, all the scorpion venom toxins principally act on membrane ionic channels of excitable cells. The results of recent works lead to the conclusion that in scorpions there is a close relationship between venomous function and innate immune function both remarkably efficient. PMID:25133517

Clearing the skies over modular polyketide synthases.

PubMed

Sherman, David H; Smith, Janet L

2006-09-19

Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) are large multifunctional proteins that synthesize complex polyketide metabolites in microbial cells. A series of recent studies confirm the close protein structural relationship between catalytic domains in the type I mammalian fatty acid synthase (FAS) and the basic synthase unit of the modular PKS. They also establish a remarkable similarity in the overall organization of the type I FAS and the PKS module. This information provides important new conclusions about catalytic domain architecture, function, and molecular recognition that are essential for future efforts to engineer useful polyketide metabolites with valuable biological activities.

Management of craniomandibular disorders. Part 1: A craniocervical dysfunction index.

PubMed

Wallace, C; Klineberg, I J

1993-01-01

A craniocervical dysfunction index has been developed (based on the Helkimo Dysfunction Index) to comprehensively assess craniocervical dysfunction and to objectively monitor the management of patients who present with these clinical problems. The close functional interrelationship of temporomandibular joints, jaw muscles, and cervical joints and muscles is reviewed, and a mechanism is proposed to explain dysfunctional relationships between these structures. This is the first of three papers stemming from a clinical study that investigated craniomandibular disorders and assessed the effect of routine dental management on craniomandibular and craniocervical dysfunction.

Conflict, Closeness, and Academic Skills: A Longitudinal Examination of the Teacher-Student Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Benjamin A.; Hajovsky, Daniel B.; McCune, Luke A.; Turek, Joshua J.

2017-01-01

The longitudinal relations between teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) and student achievement were examined to determine the directional associations between the quality of teacher-rated closeness and conflict with students, and measured math and reading achievement in a large, multisite sample of U.S. youth at first, third, and fifth…

Language Development in the Early School Years: The Importance of Close Relationships with Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spilt, Jantine L.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Harrison, Linda J.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their…

On the Links between Aggressive Behaviour, Loneliness, and Patterns of Close Relationships among Non-Clinical School-Age Boys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Yagon, Michal

2008-01-01

This study explored multifaceted associations between children's aggressive behaviours and loneliness feelings by identifying sub-groups of children with different individual profiles, and also examined whether profiles associated differently with children's quality of close relationships with mothers and peers. Participants were 145 non-clinical…

Patterns of Interaction in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: Distinct Features and Links to Other Close Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furman, Wyndol; Shomaker, Lauren B.

2008-01-01

This study examined the similarities and differences between adolescents' interactions with romantic partners and those with friends and mothers. Thirty-two adolescents were observed interacting with a romantic partner, a close friend, and their mother. Adolescents and romantic partners engaged in more conflict than adolescents and friends.…

The geography of trust.

PubMed

Joni, Saj-nicole A

2004-03-01

Leaders who rely forever on the same internal advisers, entrusting them with issues of ever greater sensitivity and consequence, run the risk of being sold short and possibly betrayed. Alternatively, lone-wolf leaders who trust no one may make enormous, yet preventable, mistakes when trying to sort through difficult decisions. A sophisticated understanding of trust can protect leaders from both fates. During the past decade, author and consultant Saj-nicole Joni studied leadership in more than 150 European and North American companies. Her research reveals three fundamental types of trustpersonal trust, expertise trust, and structural trust. Executives may persevere in relationships that are based on personal trust, no matter how exalted their leadership roles become. But such relationships are unlikely to remain static. They also probably won't provide the kinds of deep, often specialized knowledge leaders need. In circumstances where advisers' competence matters as much as their character, expertise trust--reliance on an adviser's ability in a specific subject--enters the picture. In organizations, leaders develop expertise trust by working closely with people who consistently demonstrate their mastery of particular subjects or processes. Structural trust refers to how roles and ambitions influence advisers' perspectives and candor. It shifts constantly as people rise through organizations. High-level structural trust can provide leaders with pure insight and information--but advisers in positions of the highest structural trust generally reside outside organizations. These advisers provide leaders with insights that their organizations cannot. High-performing leaders' most enduring--and most valuable--relationships are characterized by enormous levels of all three kinds of trust.

[Discussion on relationship between "living alone with closed windows and doors" and depression].

PubMed

Liu, Fengfeng; Li, Rui

2018-03-12

"Living alone with closed windows and doors"was mentioned in the pathological manifestations of stomach meridian of foot- yangming in Neijing ( The Inner Canon of Huangdi ), which is similar to the symptoms of depression. Currently the treatment of depression is mostly based on"spirit being stored in five organs"theory, and little attention is paid on stomach meridian of foot- yangming . From the pathological manifestations of"living alone with closed windows and doors"in stomach meridian of foot- yangming , the relationship between stomach meridian and depression is discussed from ying-yang and qi -blood. In addition, the close relationship between the stomach meridian and qi -blood, qi movement of five organs, heart and brain is discussed to explore the mechanism of treating depression. In conclusion, the literature and modern research regarding treating depression from stomach meridian are summarized, hoping to provide more clinical methods for the treatment of depression.

Romantic relationships and psychological distress among adolescents: Moderating role of friendship closeness.

PubMed

Chow, Chong Man; Ruhl, Holly; Buhrmester, Duane

2015-11-01

The formation of romantic relationships and friendships in adolescence is a defining milestone in the progression toward social maturity. Thus, examining adolescents' friendship and romantic experiences serves a vital role in understanding their psychological adjustment. The main purposes of the current study were to examine (a) whether romantic involvement, romantic security, and friendship closeness were independently predictive of late adolescents' depression and loneliness, and (b) whether friendship closeness would moderate the negative effects of adolescents' lower degrees of romantic involvement and romantic security on depression and loneliness. Data came from 12th grade adolescents (N = 110, 53 females) as well as their parents and a same-sex best friend. Adolescents reported on their romantic involvement, romantic security, and psychological distress. Parent reports of adolescents' depressive symptoms and friend reports of friendship closeness were also included. Higher degrees of romantic involvement and friendship closeness were related to lower degrees of loneliness. Higher degrees of romantic security were related to lower degrees of depression and loneliness. The effect of romantic involvement on depression and loneliness was moderated by friendship closeness. Also, the effect of romantic security on loneliness was moderated by friendship closeness. Future research should focus on the interactive roles that friendships and romantic relationships play in the emergence of psychopathology during adolescence. © The Author(s) 2015.

New Look at Social Support: A Theoretical Perspective on Thriving through Relationships

PubMed Central

Feeney, Brooke C.; Collins, Nancy L.

2017-01-01

Close and caring relationships are undeniably linked to health and well-being at all stages in the lifespan. Yet the specific pathways through which close relationships promote optimal well-being are not well understood. In this article, we present a model of thriving through relationships to provide a theoretical foundation for identifying the specific interpersonal processes that underlie the effects of close relationships on thriving. This model highlights two life contexts through which people may potentially thrive (coping successfully with life’s adversities and actively pursuing life opportunities for growth and development), it proposes two relational support functions that are fundamental to the experience of thriving in each life context, and it identifies mediators through which relational support is likely to have long-term effects on thriving. This perspective highlights the need for researchers to take a new look at social support by conceptualizing it as an interpersonal process with a focus on thriving. PMID:25125368

Does individualism bring happiness? Negative effects of individualism on interpersonal relationships and happiness

PubMed Central

Ogihara, Yuji; Uchida, Yukiko

2014-01-01

We examined the negative effects of individualism in an East Asian culture. Although individualistic systems decrease interpersonal relationships through competition, individualistic values have prevailed in European American cultures. One reason is because individuals could overcome negativity by actively constructing interpersonal relationships. In contrast, people in East Asian cultures do not have such strategies to overcome the negative impact of individualistic systems, leading to decreased well-being. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between individualistic values, number of close friends, and subjective well-being (SWB). Study 1 indicated that individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB for Japanese college students but not for American college students. Moreover, Study 2 showed that even in an individualistic workplace in Japan, individualistic values were negatively related with the number of close friends and SWB. We discuss how cultural change toward increasing individualism might affect interpersonal relationships and well-being. PMID:24634663

Reporting of neuropsychological dysfunction remains discrepant between individuals with traumatic brain injury and their close others up to five years post-injury.

PubMed

Stolwyk, Renerus J; Ponsford, Jennie L

2015-12-22

The degree to which individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their close others share a common understanding and experience of post-injury neuropsychological changes is currently unclear. The aim of this preliminary study was to longitudinally examine levels of agreement between self and close other reports of neuropsychological dysfunction following TBI and explore factors associated with these agreement levels. Sixty-three people with TBI and their nominated close others independently completed the Structured Outcome Questionnaire at 1- and 5-years post-injury, reporting whether the person with TBI was experiencing any negative cognitive, behavioural or emotional changes compared to pre-injury. Agreement levels between pair members ranged from chance to approximately 75% across neuropsychological domains and did not significantly change over 1- and 5-year time points. In the case of pair disagreement, close others were generally more likely to report difficulties. Pair disagreement was significantly associated with close other anxiety. Agreement between self and close others remains limited up to 5-years post-injury which questions the practice of using these reports interchangeably in research and clinical practice. Preliminary findings suggest some association between pair disagreement and close other psychological function; however, further research is warranted. Implications for Rehabilitation Reporting of neuropsychological dysfunction between individuals with TBI and their close others is not sufficiently reliable to warrant interchangeable use within research or clinical practice. Including both individuals with TBI and their close others in clinical assessments will facilitate a more holistic understanding of the client's difficulties and their relationships with those close to them. Preliminary findings indicate that disagreement between individuals with TBI and their close others may be associated with close other anxiety. Clinicians should be aware of the potential for disagreement to impact on the psychological health of close others.

The closer the relationship, the more the interaction on facebook? Investigating the case of Taiwan users.

PubMed

Hsu, Chiung-Wen Julia; Wang, Ching-Chan; Tai, Yi-Ting

2011-01-01

This study argues for the necessity of applying offline contexts to social networking site research and the importance of distinguishing the relationship types of users' counterparts when studying Facebook users' behaviors. In an attempt to examine the relationship among users' behaviors, their counterparts' relationship types, and the users' perceived acquaintanceships after using Facebook, this study first investigated users' frequently used tools when interacting with different types of friends. Users tended to use less time- and effort-consuming and less privacy-concerned tools with newly acquired friends. This study further examined users' behaviors in terms of their closeness and intimacy and their perceived acquaintanceships toward four different types of friends. The study found that users gained more perceived acquaintanceships from less close friends with whom users have more frequent interaction but less intimate behaviors. As for closer friends, users tended to use more intimate activities to interact with them. However, these activities did not necessarily occur more frequently than the activities they employed with their less close friends. It was found that perceived acquaintanceships with closer friends were significantly lower than those with less close friends. This implies that Facebook is a mechanism for new friends, rather than close friends, to become more acquainted.

Friendship after a friends with benefits relationship: deception, psychological functioning, and social connectedness.

PubMed

Owen, Jesse; Fincham, Frank D; Manthos, Megan

2013-11-01

Friends with benefits (FWB) relationships are formed by an integration of friendship and sexual intimacy, typically without the explicit commitments characteristic of an exclusive romantic relationship. The majority of these relationships do not transition into committed romantic relationships, raising questions about what happens to the relationship after the FWB ends. In a sample of 119 men and 189 women university students, with a median age of 19 years and the majority identified as Caucasian (63.6 %), we assessed relationship adjustment, feelings of deception, perception of the FWB relationship and friendship, social connectedness, psychological distress, and loneliness. Results demonstrated that the majority of FWB relationships continued as friendships after the sexual intimacy ceased and that about 50 % of the participants reported feeling as close or closer to their FWB partner. Those who did not remain friends were more likely to report that their FWB relationship was more sex- than friendship-based; they also reported higher levels of feeling deceived by their FWB partner and higher levels of loneliness and psychological distress, but lower levels of mutual social connectedness. Higher levels of feeling deceived were related to feeling less close to the post-FWB friend; also, more sex-based FWB relationships were likely to result in post-FWB friendships that were either more or less close (as opposed to unchanged). FWB relationships, especially those that include more attention to friendship based intimacy, do not appear to negatively impact the quality of the friendship after the "with benefits" ends.

A meta-analysis of longitudinal associations between substance use and interpersonal attachment security.

PubMed

Fairbairn, Catharine E; Briley, Daniel A; Kang, Dahyeon; Fraley, R Chris; Hankin, Benjamin L; Ariss, Talia

2018-05-01

Substance use has long been associated with close relationship distress. Although the direction of influence for this association has not been established, it has often been assumed that substance use is the causal agent and that close relationship distress is the effect. But research seeking to establish temporal precedence in this link has produced mixed findings. Further, theoretical models of substance use and close relationship processes present the plausibility of the inverse pathway-that insecure close relationships may serve as a vulnerability factor for the development of later substance problems. The current review applies an attachment-theoretical framework to the association between close social bonds and substance use and substance-related problems. Targeting longitudinal studies of attachment and substance use, we examined 665 effect sizes drawn from 34 samples (total N = 56,721) spanning time frames ranging from 1 month to 20 years (M = 3.8 years). Results revealed a significant prospective correlation between earlier attachment and later substance use (r = -.11, 95% CI [-.14, -0.08]). Further, cross-lagged coefficients were calculated which parsed auto-regressive effects, indicating that lower attachment security temporally preceded increases in substance use (r = -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.04]). Analyses further indicated that the pathway from earlier attachment to later substance use was significantly stronger than that from earlier substance use to later attachment. Results also revealed several moderators of the attachment-substance use link. These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a vulnerability factor for substance use, and indicate close relationship quality as a promising line of inquiry in research on substance use disorder risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Associations between Substance Use and Interpersonal Attachment Security

PubMed Central

Fairbairn, Catharine E.; Briley, Daniel A.; Kang, Dahyeon; Fraley, R. Chris; Hankin, Benjamin L.; Ariss, Talia

2018-01-01

Substance use has long been associated with close relationship distress. While the direction of influence for this association has not been established, it has often been assumed that substance use is the causal agent and that close relationship distress is the effect. But research seeking to establish temporal precedence in this link has produced mixed findings. Further, theoretical models of substance use and close relationship processes present the plausibility of the inverse pathway—that insecure close relationships may serve as a vulnerability factor for the development of later substance problems. The current review applies an attachment-theoretical framework to the association between close social bonds and substance use and substance-related problems. Targeting longitudinal studies of attachment and substance use, we examined 665 effect sizes drawn from 34 samples (total N=56,721) spanning time frames ranging from 1 month to 20 years (M=3.8 years). Results revealed a significant prospective correlation between earlier attachment and later substance use (r =−.11, 95%CI=−.14 to −0.08). Further, cross-lagged coefficients were calculated which parsed auto-regressive effects, indicating that lower attachment security temporally preceded increases in substance use (r=−.05, 95%CI=−.06 to −.04). Analyses further indicated that the pathway from earlier attachment to later substance use was significantly stronger than that from earlier substance use to later attachment. Results also revealed several moderators of the attachment-substance use link. These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a vulnerability factor for substance use, and indicate close relationship quality as a promising line of inquiry in research on substance use disorder risk. PMID:29494194

Response of SCP-2L domain of human MFE-2 to ligand removal: binding site closure and burial of peroxisomal targeting signal.

PubMed

Lensink, M F; Haapalainen, A M; Hiltunen, J K; Glumoff, T; Juffer, A H

2002-10-11

In the study of the structure and function relationship of human MFE-2, we have investigated the dynamics of human MFE-2SCP-2L (hSCP-2L) and its response to ligand removal. A comparison was made with homologous rabbit SCP-2. Breathing and a closing motion are found, identifiable with an adjustment in size and a closing off of the binding pocket. Crucial residues for structural integrity have been identified. Particularly mobile areas of the protein are loop 1 that is connecting helices A and C in space, and helix D, next to the entrance of the pocket. In hSCP-2L, the binding pocket gets occupied by Phe93, which is making a tight hydrophobic contact with Trp36. In addition, it is found that the C-terminal peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1) that is solvent exposed in the complexed structure becomes buried when no ligand is present. Moreover, an anti-correlation exists between burial of PTS1 and the size of the binding pocket. The results are in accordance with plant nsLTPs, where a similar accommodation of binding pocket size was found after ligand binding/removal. Furthermore, the calculations support the suggestion of a ligand-assisted targeting mechanism.

The Effects of Partnership Management on Supply Chain Cooperative Performance: A Case Study of High-Tech Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mei-Ying; Chang, Yun-Ju; Weng, Yung-Chien

2009-08-01

With the structural change of global supply chains, the relationship between manufacturers and suppliers has transformed into a long-term partnership. Thus, this study aims to explore the partnership between manufacturers and suppliers in Taiwan's high-tech industry. Four constructs, including partner characteristic, partnership quality, partnership closeness, and cooperative performance, induced from previous literatures are used to construct the research framework and hypotheses. A questionnaire survey is then performed on executives and staffs involved in the high-tech industry. The proposed framework and hypotheses are empirically validated through confirmatory factory analysis and structural equation modeling. It is expected that the research findings can serve as a reference for Taiwan's high-tech industry on building partnerships.

Mechanical properties of additively manufactured octagonal honeycombs.

PubMed

Hedayati, R; Sadighi, M; Mohammadi-Aghdam, M; Zadpoor, A A

2016-12-01

Honeycomb structures have found numerous applications as structural and biomedical materials due to their favourable properties such as low weight, high stiffness, and porosity. Application of additive manufacturing and 3D printing techniques allows for manufacturing of honeycombs with arbitrary shape and wall thickness, opening the way for optimizing the mechanical and physical properties for specific applications. In this study, the mechanical properties of honeycomb structures with a new geometry, called octagonal honeycomb, were investigated using analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. An additive manufacturing technique, namely fused deposition modelling, was used to fabricate the honeycomb from polylactic acid (PLA). The honeycombs structures were then mechanically tested under compression and the mechanical properties of the structures were determined. In addition, the Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories were used for deriving analytical relationships for elastic modulus, yield stress, Poisson's ratio, and buckling stress of this new design of honeycomb structures. Finite element models were also created to analyse the mechanical behaviour of the honeycombs computationally. The analytical solutions obtained using Timoshenko beam theory were close to computational results in terms of elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and yield stress, especially for relative densities smaller than 25%. The analytical solutions based on the Timoshenko analytical solution and the computational results were in good agreement with experimental observations. Finally, the elastic properties of the proposed honeycomb structure were compared to those of other honeycomb structures such as square, triangular, hexagonal, mixed, diamond, and Kagome. The octagonal honeycomb showed yield stress and elastic modulus values very close to those of regular hexagonal honeycombs and lower than the other considered honeycombs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

2D and 3D imaging of the gas phase close to an operating model catalyst by planar laser induced fluorescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blomberg, Sara; Zhou, Jianfeng; Gustafson, Johan; Zetterberg, Johan; Lundgren, Edvin

2016-11-01

In recent years, efforts have been made in catalysis related surface science studies to explore the possibilities to perform experiments at conditions closer to those of a technical catalyst, in particular at increased pressures. Techniques such as high pressure scanning tunneling/atomic force microscopy (HPSTM/AFM), near ambient pressure x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (NAPXPS), surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD) and polarization-modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRAS) at semi-realistic conditions have been used to study the surface structure of model catalysts under reaction conditions, combined with simultaneous mass spectrometry (MS). These studies have provided an increased understanding of the surface dynamics and the structure of the active phase of surfaces and nano particles as a reaction occurs, providing novel information on the structure/activity relationship. However, the surface structure detected during the reaction is sensitive to the composition of the gas phase close to the catalyst surface. Therefore, the catalytic activity of the sample itself will act as a gas-source or gas-sink, and will affect the surface structure, which in turn may complicate the assignment of the active phase. For this reason, we have applied planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) to the gas phase in the vicinity of an active model catalysts. Our measurements demonstrate that the gas composition differs significantly close to the catalyst and at the position of the MS, which indeed should have a profound effect on the surface structure. However, PLIF applied to catalytic reactions presents several beneficial properties in addition to investigate the effect of the catalyst on the effective gas composition close to the model catalyst. The high spatial and temporal resolution of PLIF provides a unique tool to visualize the on-set of catalytic reactions and to compare different model catalysts in the same reactive environment. The technique can be applied to a large number of molecules thanks to the technical development of lasers and detectors over the last decades, and is a complementary and visual alternative to traditional MS to be used in environments difficult to asses with MS. In this article we will review general considerations when performing PLIF experiments, our experimental set-up for PLIF and discuss relevant examples of PLIF applied to catalysis.

Potential negative effects of perspective-taking efforts in the context of close relationships: increased bias and reduced satisfaction.

PubMed

Vorauer, Jacquie D; Sucharyna, Tamara A

2013-01-01

Three experiments demonstrated that trying to appreciate a close other's unique point of view (imagine-other perspective taking) increases the extent to which individuals overestimate their own transparency to the close other, that is, how many of their values, preferences, traits, and feelings are readily apparent to him or her. Trying to be objective and pay careful attention to cues from a close other, which inhibits perspective taking, instead had the opposite effect. Mediation analyses suggested that increased focus on the self as an object of evaluation contributed to the positive effect of imagine-other perspective taking on perceived transparency, and decreased focus on the self as an object of evaluation contributed to the negative effect of trying to be objective on these judgments. These effects on perceived transparency had important implications for relationship well-being: Enhanced perceived transparency of negative feelings prompted by imagine-other perspective taking during a back-and-forth exchange with a romantic partner led to systematic discrepancies between individuals' own and their partner's experience of the exchange and reduced relationship satisfaction; trying to be objective instead reduced perceived transparency and thereby increased satisfaction. Notably, initial closeness with another person enhanced rather than tempered the egocentric effects of perspective taking. Taken together, these results suggest that positive motivations to nurture a close relationship and be sensitive to a loved one might sometimes be better channeled toward paying closer attention to his or her behavior than toward perspective taking.

Resting-state functional connectivity emerges from structurally and dynamically shaped slow linear fluctuations.

PubMed

Deco, Gustavo; Ponce-Alvarez, Adrián; Mantini, Dante; Romani, Gian Luca; Hagmann, Patric; Corbetta, Maurizio

2013-07-03

Brain fluctuations at rest are not random but are structured in spatial patterns of correlated activity across different brain areas. The question of how resting-state functional connectivity (FC) emerges from the brain's anatomical connections has motivated several experimental and computational studies to understand structure-function relationships. However, the mechanistic origin of resting state is obscured by large-scale models' complexity, and a close structure-function relation is still an open problem. Thus, a realistic but simple enough description of relevant brain dynamics is needed. Here, we derived a dynamic mean field model that consistently summarizes the realistic dynamics of a detailed spiking and conductance-based synaptic large-scale network, in which connectivity is constrained by diffusion imaging data from human subjects. The dynamic mean field approximates the ensemble dynamics, whose temporal evolution is dominated by the longest time scale of the system. With this reduction, we demonstrated that FC emerges as structured linear fluctuations around a stable low firing activity state close to destabilization. Moreover, the model can be further and crucially simplified into a set of motion equations for statistical moments, providing a direct analytical link between anatomical structure, neural network dynamics, and FC. Our study suggests that FC arises from noise propagation and dynamical slowing down of fluctuations in an anatomically constrained dynamical system. Altogether, the reduction from spiking models to statistical moments presented here provides a new framework to explicitly understand the building up of FC through neuronal dynamics underpinned by anatomical connections and to drive hypotheses in task-evoked studies and for clinical applications.

Adult Children of Gay Fathers: Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Mental Health.

PubMed

Tornello, Samantha L; Patterson, Charlotte J

2018-01-01

According to family systems theory, parent-child relationships are an important aspect of individual wellbeing. This study explored associations among parental disclosure, parent-child relationships, and wellbeing among 84 adult children with gay fathers. We explored associations between the adult children's wellbeing and the children's ages at sexual orientation disclosure, geographic distance, relationship quality, and closeness with their fathers. We found that when parental disclosure had occurred earlier in the adult child's life, participants reported feeling closer to fathers in adulthood. Those who reported closer relationships with their fathers reported greater wellbeing. Using a stepwise regression, we found that adult children's reports of closeness with fathers were the best predictors of adult children's wellbeing.

A Closer Look at Close Reading: Three Under-the-Radar Skills Needed to Comprehend Sentences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mesmer, Heidi Anne; Rose-McCully, M. M.

2018-01-01

Close reading requires students to unpack the implicit relationships within and across sentences. The authors discuss three potential barriers to comprehension embedded within text that they have seen with their own students and with the teachers they have worked with: anaphoric relationships, connectives, and appositives. The authors begin each…

Exploring the Relationship between Experienced Students' Preference for Open- and Closed-Book Examinations, Approaches to Learning and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karagiannopoulou, Evangelia; Milienos, Fotios S.

2013-01-01

The relationship between university students' approaches to learning and preference for the open- and closed-book examinations was investigated for 144 Greek undergraduate (56 third- and 88 fourth-year) students attending a Philosophy, Education and Psychology Department. The approaches were explored by the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory…

One Falls, We All Fall: How Boys of Color Develop Close Peer Mentoring Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sánchez, Bernadette; Pinkston, Kevin D.; Cooper, Adina C.; Luna, Carlos; Wyatt, Shelby T.

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the processes involved in developing close peer mentoring relationships among African American and Latino male adolescents in a school-based, group peer mentoring program. Qualitative one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with six school staff members, who administer the program, and 26 program…

Social Anxiety Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in a Clinical Sample of Early Adolescents: Examining Loneliness and Social Support as Longitudinal Mediators

PubMed Central

Prinstein, Mitchell J.; Simon, Valerie; Spirito, Anthony

2014-01-01

Recent research has shown that social anxiety may be related to increased risk for suicidal ideation in teens, although this research largely has been cross-sectional and has not examined potential mediators of this relationship. A clinical sample of 144 early adolescents (72 % female; 12–15 years old) was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and followed up at 9 and 18 months post-baseline. Symptoms of social anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and perceived social support were assessed via structured interviews and self-report instruments. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant direct relationship between social anxiety symptoms at baseline and suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline, even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and ideation. A second multiple mediation model revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline through loneliness at 9 months post-baseline. Social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation through perceived social support from either parents or close friends. Findings suggest that loneliness may be particularly implicated in the relationship between social anxiety and suicidality in teens. Clinicians should assess and address feelings of loneliness when treating socially anxious adolescents. PMID:24390470

Social anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of early adolescents: examining loneliness and social support as longitudinal mediators.

PubMed

Gallagher, Michelle; Prinstein, Mitchell J; Simon, Valerie; Spirito, Anthony

2014-08-01

Recent research has shown that social anxiety may be related to increased risk for suicidal ideation in teens, although this research largely has been cross-sectional and has not examined potential mediators of this relationship. A clinical sample of 144 early adolescents (72 % female; 12-15 years old) was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and followed up at 9 and 18 months post-baseline. Symptoms of social anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and perceived social support were assessed via structured interviews and self-report instruments. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant direct relationship between social anxiety symptoms at baseline and suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline, even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and ideation. A second multiple mediation model revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline through loneliness at 9 months post-baseline. Social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation through perceived social support from either parents or close friends. Findings suggest that loneliness may be particularly implicated in the relationship between social anxiety and suicidality in teens. Clinicians should assess and address feelings of loneliness when treating socially anxious adolescents.

Autosomal and X chromosome Alu insertions in Bolivian Aymaras and Quechuas: two languages and one genetic pool.

PubMed

Gayà-Vidal, Magdalena; Dugoujon, Jean-Michel; Esteban, Esther; Athanasiadis, Georgios; Rodríguez, Armando; Villena, Mercedes; Vasquez, René; Moral, Pedro

2010-01-01

Thirty-two polymorphic Alu insertions (18 autosomal and 14 from the X chromosome) were studied in 192 individuals from two Amerindian populations of the Bolivian Altiplano (Aymara and Quechua speakers: the two main Andean linguistic groups), to provide relevant information about their genetic relationships and demographic processes. The main objective was to determine from genetic data whether the expansion of the Quechua language into Bolivia could be associated with demographic (Inca migration of Quechua-speakers from Peru into Bolivia) or cultural (language imposition by the Inca Empire) processes. Allele frequencies were used to assess the genetic relationships between these two linguistic groups. Our results indicated that the two Bolivian samples showed a high genetic similarity for both sets of markers and were clearly differentiated from the two Peruvian Quechua samples available in the literature. Additionally, our data were compared with the available literature to determine the genetic and linguistic structure, and East-West differentiation in South America. The close genetic relationship between the two Bolivian samples and their differentiation from the Quechua-speakers from Peru suggests that the Quechua language expansion in Bolivia took place without any important demographic contribution. Moreover, no clear geographical or linguistic structure was found for the Alu variation among South Amerindians. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Examining the role of attachment in the relationship between childhood adversity, psychological distress and subjective well-being.

PubMed

Corcoran, Mark; McNulty, Muireann

2018-02-01

Childhood adversity is associated with a wide range of detrimental psychological consequences. This study examined the mediating role of relationship-specific attachment (avoidance and anxiety) in the associations between childhood adversity and both psychological distress and subjective well-being. University students (N=190) across the Republic of Ireland completed self-report measures including the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale, Experiences in Close Relationships - Relationship Structures scale, Depression Anxiety and Stress scales and measures of subjective well-being. One hundred and twenty-eight participants (67.4%) reported experiencing at least one adverse childhood experience. Childhood adversity was associated with symptoms of psychological distress and subjective well-being. All such associations were mediated by certain relationship-specific attachment dimensions. Of these, attachment anxiety in general relationships was the most prominent mediator for both psychological distress and subjective well-being. Attachment to one's father and to one's romantic partner did not mediate any association. These findings indicate that attachment, in particular relationships, is an important factor in the associations between childhood adversity and both psychological distress and subjective well-being as an adult. One's attachment anxiety in general relationships is particularly important in these associations. Therapeutic interventions addressing these attachment domains may offset the detrimental effects of childhood adversity. Future research is required using a longitudinal design. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary evidence that sub-chronic citalopram triggers the re-evaluation of value in intimate partnerships.

PubMed

Bilderbeck, Amy C; Wakeley, Judi; Godlewska, Beata R; McGlone, Francis; Harris, Tirril; Cowen, Phillip J; Rogers, Robert D

2014-09-01

Depression frequently involves disrupted inter-personal relationships, while treatment with serotonergic anti-depressants can interfere with libido and sexual function. However, little is known about how serotonin activity influences appraisals of intimate partnerships. Learning more could help to specify how serotonergic mechanisms mediate social isolation in psychiatric illness. Forty-four healthy heterosexual adults, currently in romantic relationships, received 8 days treatment with the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor citalopram (N = 21; 10 male) or placebo (N = 23; 12 male). Participants viewed photographs of unknown, heterosexual couples and made a series of judgements about their relationships. Participants also indicated the importance of relationship features in their own close partnerships, and close partnerships generally. Citalopram reduced the rated quality of couples' physical relationships and the importance attributed to physical and intimate aspects of participants' own relationships. In contrast, citalopram also enhanced the evaluated worth of mutual trust in relationships. Amongst males, citalopram was associated with judgements of reduced turbulence and bickering in others' relationships, and increased male dominance. These data constitute preliminary evidence that enhancing serotonin activity modulates cognitions about sexual activity as part of a re-appraisal of sources of value within close intimate relationships, enhancing the judged importance of longer-term benefits of trust and shared experiences. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process.

PubMed

Dishion, T J; Andrews, D W; Crosby, L

1995-02-01

This study examines the close friendships of early adolescent boys in relation to antisocial behavior. 186 13-14-year-old boys and their close friends were interviewed, assessed at school, and videotaped in a problem-solving task. Similarity was observed between the demographic characteristics and antisocial behavior of the boys and their close friends. There was a tendency for the close friends of antisocial boys to live within the same neighborhood block and to have met in unstructured, unsupervised activities. Direct observations of interactions with close friends revealed a reliable correlation between antisocial behavior, directives, and negative reciprocity. Positive interactions within the friendship were uncorrelated with antisocial behavior and relationship quality. Implications of these findings for clinical and developmental theory are discussed.

Latent constructs model explaining the attachment-linked variation in autobiographical remembering.

PubMed

Öner, Sezin; Gülgöz, Sami

2016-01-01

In the current study, we proposed a latent constructs model to characterise the qualitative aspects of autobiographical remembering and investigated the structural relations in the model that may vary across individuals. Primarily, we focused on the memories of romantic relationships and argued that attachment anxiety and avoidance would be reflected in the ways that individuals encode, rehearse, or remember autobiographical memories in close relationships. Participants reported two positive and two negative relationship-specific memories and rated the characteristics for each memory. As predicted, the basic memory model yielded appropriate fit, indicating that event characteristics (EC) predicted the frequency of rehearsal (RC) and phenomenology at retrieval (PC). When attachment variables were integrated, the model showed that rehearsal mediated the link between anxiety and PC, especially for negative memories. On the other hand, for avoidance EC was the key factor mediating the link between avoidance and RC, as well as PC. Findings were discussed with respect to autobiographical memory functions emphasising a systematically, integrated framework.

Power of theta waves in the EEG of human subjects increases during recall of haptic information.

PubMed

Grunwald, M; Weiss, T; Krause, W; Beyer, L; Rost, R; Gutberlet, I; Gertz, H J

1999-02-05

Several studies have reported a functional relationship between spectral power within the theta-band of the EEG (theta-power) and memory load while processing visual or semantic information. We investigated theta power during the processing of different complex haptic stimuli using a delayed recall design. The haptic explorations consisted of palpating the structure of twelve sunken reliefs with closed eyes. Subjects had to reproduce each relief by drawing it 10 s after the end of the exploration. The relationship between mean theta power and mean exploration time was analysed using a regression model. A linear relationship was found between the exploration time and theta power over fronto-central regions (Fp1, Fp2, F3, F7, F8, Fz, C3) directly before the recall of the relief. This result is interpreted in favour of the hypothesis that fronto-central theta power of the EEG correlates with the load of working memory independent of stimulus modality.

Adolescents' Perceptions of Relationships with Older Sibling in the Context of Other Close Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seginer, Rachel

1998-01-01

Examined 11th graders' perceived relationships with older sibling in the context of adolescent-parent and adolescent-peer relationships. Found that relationships with older siblings were similar to relationships with parents and peers. Positive sibling relationships contributed to emotional and school-related support beyond the contribution of…

Genetic characterization of the non-structural protein-3 gene of bluetongue virus serotype-2 isolate from India.

PubMed

Pudupakam, Raghavendra Sumanth; Raghunath, Shobana; Pudupakam, Meghanath; Daggupati, Sreenivasulu

2017-03-01

Sequence analysis and phylogenetic studies based on non-structural protein-3 (NS3) gene are important in understanding the evolution and epidemiology of bluetongue virus (BTV). This study was aimed at characterizing the NS3 gene sequence of Indian BTV serotype-2 (BTV2) to elucidate its genetic relationship to global BTV isolates. The NS3 gene of BTV2 was amplified from infected BHK-21 cell cultures, cloned and subjected to sequence analysis. The generated NS3 gene sequence was compared with the corresponding sequences of different BTV serotypes across the world, and a phylogenetic relationship was established. The NS3 gene of BTV2 showed moderate levels of variability in comparison to different BTV serotypes, with nucleotide sequence identities ranging from 81% to 98%. The region showed high sequence homology of 93-99% at amino acid level with various BTV serotypes. The PPXY/PTAP late domain motifs, glycosylation sites, hydrophobic domains, and the amino acid residues critical for virus-host interactions were conserved in NS3 protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that BTV isolates segregate into four topotypes and that the Indian BTV2 in subclade IA is closely related to Asian and Australian origin strains. Analysis of the NS3 gene indicated that Indian BTV2 isolate is closely related to strains from Asia and Australia, suggesting a common origin of infection. Although the pattern of evolution of BTV2 isolate is different from other global isolates, the deduced amino acid sequence of NS3 protein demonstrated high molecular stability.

Genetic characterization of the non-structural protein-3 gene of bluetongue virus serotype-2 isolate from India

PubMed Central

Pudupakam, Raghavendra Sumanth; Raghunath, Shobana; Pudupakam, Meghanath; Daggupati, Sreenivasulu

2017-01-01

Aim: Sequence analysis and phylogenetic studies based on non-structural protein-3 (NS3) gene are important in understanding the evolution and epidemiology of bluetongue virus (BTV). This study was aimed at characterizing the NS3 gene sequence of Indian BTV serotype-2 (BTV2) to elucidate its genetic relationship to global BTV isolates. Materials and Methods: The NS3 gene of BTV2 was amplified from infected BHK-21 cell cultures, cloned and subjected to sequence analysis. The generated NS3 gene sequence was compared with the corresponding sequences of different BTV serotypes across the world, and a phylogenetic relationship was established. Results: The NS3 gene of BTV2 showed moderate levels of variability in comparison to different BTV serotypes, with nucleotide sequence identities ranging from 81% to 98%. The region showed high sequence homology of 93-99% at amino acid level with various BTV serotypes. The PPXY/PTAP late domain motifs, glycosylation sites, hydrophobic domains, and the amino acid residues critical for virus-host interactions were conserved in NS3 protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that BTV isolates segregate into four topotypes and that the Indian BTV2 in subclade IA is closely related to Asian and Australian origin strains. Conclusion: Analysis of the NS3 gene indicated that Indian BTV2 isolate is closely related to strains from Asia and Australia, suggesting a common origin of infection. Although the pattern of evolution of BTV2 isolate is different from other global isolates, the deduced amino acid sequence of NS3 protein demonstrated high molecular stability. PMID:28435199

Investigation of the protein osteocalcin of Camelops hesternus: Sequence, structure and phylogenetic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humpula, James F.; Ostrom, Peggy H.; Gandhi, Hasand; Strahler, John R.; Walker, Angela K.; Stafford, Thomas W.; Smith, James J.; Voorhies, Michael R.; George Corner, R.; Andrews, Phillip C.

2007-12-01

Ancient DNA sequences offer an extraordinary opportunity to unravel the evolutionary history of ancient organisms. Protein sequences offer another reservoir of genetic information that has recently become tractable through the application of mass spectrometric techniques. The extent to which ancient protein sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships, however, has not been explored. We determined the osteocalcin amino acid sequence from the bone of an extinct Camelid (21 ka, Camelops hesternus) excavated from Isleta Cave, New Mexico and three bones of extant camelids: bactrian camel ( Camelus bactrianus); dromedary camel ( Camelus dromedarius) and guanaco ( Llama guanacoe) for a diagenetic and phylogenetic assessment. There was no difference in sequence among the four taxa. Structural attributes observed in both modern and ancient osteocalcin include a post-translation modification, Hyp 9, deamidation of Gln 35 and Gln 39, and oxidation of Met 36. Carbamylation of the N-terminus in ancient osteocalcin may result in blockage and explain previous difficulties in sequencing ancient proteins via Edman degradation. A phylogenetic analysis using osteocalcin sequences of 25 vertebrate taxa was conducted to explore osteocalcin protein evolution and the utility of osteocalcin sequences for delineating phylogenetic relationships. The maximum likelihood tree closely reflected generally recognized taxonomic relationships. For example, maximum likelihood analysis recovered rodents, birds and, within hominins, the Homo-Pan-Gorilla trichotomy. Within Artiodactyla, character state analysis showed that a substitution of Pro 4 for His 4 defines the Capra-Ovis clade within Artiodactyla. Homoplasy in our analysis indicated that osteocalcin evolution is not a perfect indicator of species evolution. Limited sequence availability prevented assigning functional significance to sequence changes. Our preliminary analysis of osteocalcin evolution represents an initial step towards a complete character analysis aimed at determining the evolutionary history of this functionally significant protein. We emphasize that ancient protein sequencing and phylogenetic analyses using amino acid sequences must pay close attention to post-translational modifications, amino acid substitutions due to diagenetic alteration and the impacts of isobaric amino acids on mass shifts and sequence alignments.

The relationship between two fast/slow analysis techniques for bursting oscillations

PubMed Central

Teka, Wondimu; Tabak, Joël; Bertram, Richard

2012-01-01

Bursting oscillations in excitable systems reflect multi-timescale dynamics. These oscillations have often been studied in mathematical models by splitting the equations into fast and slow subsystems. Typically, one treats the slow variables as parameters of the fast subsystem and studies the bifurcation structure of this subsystem. This has key features such as a z-curve (stationary branch) and a Hopf bifurcation that gives rise to a branch of periodic spiking solutions. In models of bursting in pituitary cells, we have recently used a different approach that focuses on the dynamics of the slow subsystem. Characteristic features of this approach are folded node singularities and a critical manifold. In this article, we investigate the relationships between the key structures of the two analysis techniques. We find that the z-curve and Hopf bifurcation of the two-fast/one-slow decomposition are closely related to the voltage nullcline and folded node singularity of the one-fast/two-slow decomposition, respectively. They become identical in the double singular limit in which voltage is infinitely fast and calcium is infinitely slow. PMID:23278052

Genomic Comparison of the P-ATPase Gene Family in Four Cotton Species and Their Expression Patterns in Gossypium hirsutum.

PubMed

Chen, Wen; Si, Guo-Yang; Zhao, Gang; Abdullah, Muhammad; Guo, Ning; Li, Da-Hui; Sun, Xu; Cai, Yong-Ping; Lin, Yi; Gao, Jun-Shan

2018-05-05

Plant P-type H⁺-ATPase (P-ATPase) is a membrane protein existing in the plasma membrane that plays an important role in the transmembrane transport of plant cells. To understand the variety and quantity of P-ATPase proteins in different cotton species, we combined four databases from two diploid cotton species ( Gossypium raimondii and G. arboreum ) and two tetraploid cotton species ( G. hirsutum and G. barbadense ) to screen the P-ATPase gene family and resolved the evolutionary relationships between the former cotton species. We identified 53, 51, 99 and 98 P-ATPase genes from G. arboretum, G. raimondii , G. barbadense and G. hirsutum , respectively. The structural and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the gene structure was consistent between P-ATPase genes, with a close evolutionary relationship. The expression analysis of P-ATPase genes showed that many P-ATPase genes were highly expressed in various tissues and at different fiber developmental stages in G. hirsutum , suggesting that they have potential functions during growth and fiber development in cotton.

Gravitational Lenses and the Structure and Evolution of Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oliversen, Ronald J. (Technical Monitor); Kochanek, Christopher

2004-01-01

During the first year of the project we completed five papers, each of which represents a new direction in the theory and interpretation of gravitational lenses. In the first paper, The Importance of Einstein Rings, we developed the first theory for the formation and structure of the Einstein rings formed by lensing extended sources like the host galaxies of quasar and radio sources. In the second paper, Cusped Mass Models Of Gravitational Lenses, we introduced a new class of lens models. In the third paper, Global Probes of the Impact of Baryons on Dark Matter Halos, we made the first globally consistent models for the separation distribution of gravitational lenses including both galaxy and cluster lenses. The last two papers explore the properties of two lenses in detail. During the second year we have focused more closely on the relationship of baryons and dark matter. In the third year we have been further examining the relationship between baryons and dark matter. In the present year we extended our statistical analysis of lens mass distributions using a self-similar model for the halo mass distribution as compared to the luminous galaxy.

The Development of Altruism with Special Reference to Human Relationships: A 10-Stage Theory.

PubMed

Ma, Hing Keung

2017-01-01

All human relationships involve some form of cost and benefit and altruism forms the foundation upon which human relationships are built. In this paper, a taxonomy of human relationships in terms of altruism was constructed. In the proposed taxonomy, human relationships are categorized into three major groups: primary group, secondary group, and tertiary group. The primary group consists of members that are very closely related to each other either by genetic relatedness (e.g., parents, siblings, and cousins) or social relatedness (e.g., mate and close friends) or both. The secondary group consists of members that are socially related but also less closely related with each other (e.g., people of the same political or religious group, teachers, mentors, acquaintances, neighbors, working colleagues, and strangers). Lastly, the tertiary group consists of members of other species. A 10-stage theory of altruism with special reference to human relationships is proposed. The affective, cognitive, and relationship aspects of each stage are delineated in details. There are two developmental principles of altruism. The first principle states that the development of altruism follows the 10-stage theory and moves from Stage 1: Egoism toward the higher stages of altruism slowly. The second developmental principle states that the taxonomy of human relationships is valid at any stage of altruism development. In other words, people at any stage of altruism are more altruistic toward their kin and mate, and then close friends, extended family members, and so on. They are least altruistic toward enemies and members of non-human species. In summary, the proposed developmental principle of altruism and human relationships is logical and robust. It is formulated based on the major developmental and social psychological theories. The theory has the potential in providing a useful framework for future studies on the development and evolution of human relationships.

The Development of Altruism with Special Reference to Human Relationships: A 10-Stage Theory

PubMed Central

Ma, Hing Keung

2017-01-01

All human relationships involve some form of cost and benefit and altruism forms the foundation upon which human relationships are built. In this paper, a taxonomy of human relationships in terms of altruism was constructed. In the proposed taxonomy, human relationships are categorized into three major groups: primary group, secondary group, and tertiary group. The primary group consists of members that are very closely related to each other either by genetic relatedness (e.g., parents, siblings, and cousins) or social relatedness (e.g., mate and close friends) or both. The secondary group consists of members that are socially related but also less closely related with each other (e.g., people of the same political or religious group, teachers, mentors, acquaintances, neighbors, working colleagues, and strangers). Lastly, the tertiary group consists of members of other species. A 10-stage theory of altruism with special reference to human relationships is proposed. The affective, cognitive, and relationship aspects of each stage are delineated in details. There are two developmental principles of altruism. The first principle states that the development of altruism follows the 10-stage theory and moves from Stage 1: Egoism toward the higher stages of altruism slowly. The second developmental principle states that the taxonomy of human relationships is valid at any stage of altruism development. In other words, people at any stage of altruism are more altruistic toward their kin and mate, and then close friends, extended family members, and so on. They are least altruistic toward enemies and members of non-human species. In summary, the proposed developmental principle of altruism and human relationships is logical and robust. It is formulated based on the major developmental and social psychological theories. The theory has the potential in providing a useful framework for future studies on the development and evolution of human relationships. PMID:29085818

A study on technology development strategy and collaborative relationships using patent information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakaoka, Iori; Fujino, Hayato; Chen, Yunju; Park, Yousin; Matsuno, Seigo

2017-10-01

Japanese economy has fallen into a long downturn called "The Lost Two Decades" after the collapse of bubble economy in early 1990s. Many companies could not gain competitive advantages although they conducted various management reforms to restore their competitiveness. The companies that have played the main role of the Japanese economy growth until then have lost the sustained competitive advantage. Moreover, they have struggled in the global market even now. On the other hand, Japanese automobile companies have high competitiveness and market share due to their advanced technology development. It is considered that personnel groups engaged in research and development of their companies cannot turn into core rigidity and the structure also hinders new core capabilities. In addition, there is a hypothesis that the close relationships with many suppliers contribute to acquisition of competitive advantage. Therefore, this paper focuses on the collaboration relationships with suppliers and core rigidity of human resources related to research and development as the analysis factors. First, we analyze the composition and core rigidity degree of human resources involved in technology development by social network analysis using patent information, which represents the research and development capability. Second, we analyze the degree of collaboration among companies based on the hypothesis that advanced technology development can be executed by joint research and developments with many kinds of suppliers. As a result, features of close collaboration with suppliers and high core rigidity rate in the Japanese automobile industry are clarified.

Sunken costs and desired plans: examining different types of investments in close relationships.

PubMed

Goodfriend, Wind; Agnew, Christopher R

2008-12-01

Although the concept of investments in romantic relationships has featured prominently in close relationships research, there have been no empirical analyses of different types of investments and their possible differential predictive power regarding relationship state or fate. With data from five independent samples, the authors offer and examine investments that differ in terms of their timing (past vs. planned) and materiality (tangible vs. intangible). Cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of hypotheses regarding these investment types provide evidence for the utility of considering specific types of investments in predicting a variety of important relationship factors, including commitment, stability, and the impact of breakup on relationship partners. Intangible investments and planned investments were found to be particularly robust predictors of key relational states and outcomes.

Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Martin J. P.; Talbot, Joey; Lewis, Simon L.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Qie, Lan; Begne, Serge K.; Chave, Jerôme; Cuni-Sanchez, Aida; Hubau, Wannes; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Miles, Lera; Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel; Sonké, Bonaventure; Sunderland, Terry; Ter Steege, Hans; White, Lee J. T.; Affum-Baffoe, Kofi; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; de Almeida, Everton Cristo; de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Dávila, Esteban Álvarez; Andrade, Ana; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; Ashton, Peter; Aymard C., Gerardo A.; Baker, Timothy R.; Balinga, Michael; Banin, Lindsay F.; Baraloto, Christopher; Bastin, Jean-Francois; Berry, Nicholas; Bogaert, Jan; Bonal, Damien; Bongers, Frans; Brienen, Roel; Camargo, José Luís C.; Cerón, Carlos; Moscoso, Victor Chama; Chezeaux, Eric; Clark, Connie J.; Pacheco, Álvaro Cogollo; Comiskey, James A.; Valverde, Fernando Cornejo; Coronado, Eurídice N. Honorio; Dargie, Greta; Davies, Stuart J.; de Canniere, Charles; Djuikouo K., Marie Noel; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Erwin, Terry L.; Espejo, Javier Silva; Ewango, Corneille E. N.; Fauset, Sophie; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Herrera, Rafael; Gilpin, Martin; Gloor, Emanuel; Hall, Jefferson S.; Harris, David J.; Hart, Terese B.; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kho, Lip Khoon; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Laurance, Susan G. W.; Laurance, William F.; Leal, Miguel E.; Lovejoy, Thomas; Lovett, Jon C.; Lukasu, Faustin Mpanya; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Maracahipes, Leandro; Marimon, Beatriz S.; Junior, Ben Hur Marimon; Marshall, Andrew R.; Morandi, Paulo S.; Mukendi, John Tshibamba; Mukinzi, Jaques; Nilus, Reuben; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Camacho, Nadir C. Pallqui; Pardo, Guido; Peña-Claros, Marielos; Pétronelli, Pascal; Pickavance, Georgia C.; Poulsen, Axel Dalberg; Poulsen, John R.; Primack, Richard B.; Priyadi, Hari; Quesada, Carlos A.; Reitsma, Jan; Réjou-Méchain, Maxime; Restrepo, Zorayda; Rutishauser, Ervan; Salim, Kamariah Abu; Salomão, Rafael P.; Samsoedin, Ismayadi; Sheil, Douglas; Sierra, Rodrigo; Silveira, Marcos; Slik, J. W. Ferry; Steel, Lisa; Taedoumg, Hermann; Tan, Sylvester; Terborgh, John W.; Thomas, Sean C.; Toledo, Marisol; Umunay, Peter M.; Gamarra, Luis Valenzuela; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Vos, Vincent A.; Wang, Ophelia; Willcock, Simon; Zemagho, Lise

2017-01-01

Tropical forests are global centres of biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest tree diversity-carbon storage relationship. Assessing this relationship is challenging due to the scarcity of inventories where carbon stocks in aboveground biomass and species identifications have been simultaneously and robustly quantified. Here, we compile a unique pan-tropical dataset of 360 plots located in structurally intact old-growth closed-canopy forest, surveyed using standardised methods, allowing a multi-scale evaluation of diversity-carbon relationships in tropical forests. Diversity-carbon relationships among all plots at 1 ha scale across the tropics are absent, and within continents are either weak (Asia) or absent (Amazonia, Africa). A weak positive relationship is detectable within 1 ha plots, indicating that diversity effects in tropical forests may be scale dependent. The absence of clear diversity-carbon relationships at scales relevant to conservation planning means that carbon-centred conservation strategies will inevitably miss many high diversity ecosystems. As tropical forests can have any combination of tree diversity and carbon stocks both require explicit consideration when optimising policies to manage tropical carbon and biodiversity.

Relationship-focused therapy for bulimia and binge eating: Introduction to the special section.

PubMed

Thompson-Brenner, Heather

2016-06-01

Individuals with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder commonly report co-occurring interpersonal problems, and treatment that focuses on relationships and relational functioning has shown benefit relative to other forms of treatment. Relational psychotherapy for eating disorders can vary on several important dimensions, such as how structured and symptom-focused versus exploratory and patient-directed it is, whether it focuses on past relationships and patterns in relationships over time versus focusing on current relationships, and whether it includes the relationship with the therapist as an explicit topic of conversation and mechanism for relational change. The cases in this special section provide the opportunity to closely compare 3 therapeutic approaches on each of these dimensions. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Bulimia Nervosa, Integrative Dynamic Therapy for Bulimia Nervosa, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy for the Prevention of Weight Gain and Eating Disorders are each highly distinct approaches. The authors of each case explain the intended mechanisms of treatment response, the measures that assess changes in eating disorder symptoms as well as the mechanisms of change, and provide extensive excerpts from case material to demonstrate and illustrate the particular evidence-based treatment. Therapists and researchers may usefully consider the process and outcome variables described in these interpersonal approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome.

PubMed

Sullivan, Martin J P; Talbot, Joey; Lewis, Simon L; Phillips, Oliver L; Qie, Lan; Begne, Serge K; Chave, Jerôme; Cuni-Sanchez, Aida; Hubau, Wannes; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Miles, Lera; Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel; Sonké, Bonaventure; Sunderland, Terry; Ter Steege, Hans; White, Lee J T; Affum-Baffoe, Kofi; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; de Almeida, Everton Cristo; de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Dávila, Esteban Álvarez; Andrade, Ana; Aragão, Luiz E O C; Ashton, Peter; Aymard C, Gerardo A; Baker, Timothy R; Balinga, Michael; Banin, Lindsay F; Baraloto, Christopher; Bastin, Jean-Francois; Berry, Nicholas; Bogaert, Jan; Bonal, Damien; Bongers, Frans; Brienen, Roel; Camargo, José Luís C; Cerón, Carlos; Moscoso, Victor Chama; Chezeaux, Eric; Clark, Connie J; Pacheco, Álvaro Cogollo; Comiskey, James A; Valverde, Fernando Cornejo; Coronado, Eurídice N Honorio; Dargie, Greta; Davies, Stuart J; De Canniere, Charles; Djuikouo K, Marie Noel; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Erwin, Terry L; Espejo, Javier Silva; Ewango, Corneille E N; Fauset, Sophie; Feldpausch, Ted R; Herrera, Rafael; Gilpin, Martin; Gloor, Emanuel; Hall, Jefferson S; Harris, David J; Hart, Terese B; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kho, Lip Khoon; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Laurance, Susan G W; Laurance, William F; Leal, Miguel E; Lovejoy, Thomas; Lovett, Jon C; Lukasu, Faustin Mpanya; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Maracahipes, Leandro; Marimon, Beatriz S; Junior, Ben Hur Marimon; Marshall, Andrew R; Morandi, Paulo S; Mukendi, John Tshibamba; Mukinzi, Jaques; Nilus, Reuben; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Camacho, Nadir C Pallqui; Pardo, Guido; Peña-Claros, Marielos; Pétronelli, Pascal; Pickavance, Georgia C; Poulsen, Axel Dalberg; Poulsen, John R; Primack, Richard B; Priyadi, Hari; Quesada, Carlos A; Reitsma, Jan; Réjou-Méchain, Maxime; Restrepo, Zorayda; Rutishauser, Ervan; Salim, Kamariah Abu; Salomão, Rafael P; Samsoedin, Ismayadi; Sheil, Douglas; Sierra, Rodrigo; Silveira, Marcos; Slik, J W Ferry; Steel, Lisa; Taedoumg, Hermann; Tan, Sylvester; Terborgh, John W; Thomas, Sean C; Toledo, Marisol; Umunay, Peter M; Gamarra, Luis Valenzuela; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Vos, Vincent A; Wang, Ophelia; Willcock, Simon; Zemagho, Lise

2017-01-17

Tropical forests are global centres of biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest tree diversity-carbon storage relationship. Assessing this relationship is challenging due to the scarcity of inventories where carbon stocks in aboveground biomass and species identifications have been simultaneously and robustly quantified. Here, we compile a unique pan-tropical dataset of 360 plots located in structurally intact old-growth closed-canopy forest, surveyed using standardised methods, allowing a multi-scale evaluation of diversity-carbon relationships in tropical forests. Diversity-carbon relationships among all plots at 1 ha scale across the tropics are absent, and within continents are either weak (Asia) or absent (Amazonia, Africa). A weak positive relationship is detectable within 1 ha plots, indicating that diversity effects in tropical forests may be scale dependent. The absence of clear diversity-carbon relationships at scales relevant to conservation planning means that carbon-centred conservation strategies will inevitably miss many high diversity ecosystems. As tropical forests can have any combination of tree diversity and carbon stocks both require explicit consideration when optimising policies to manage tropical carbon and biodiversity.

Modeling time-lagged reciprocal psychological empowerment-performance relationships.

PubMed

Maynard, M Travis; Luciano, Margaret M; D'Innocenzo, Lauren; Mathieu, John E; Dean, Matthew D

2014-11-01

Employee psychological empowerment is widely accepted as a means for organizations to compete in increasingly dynamic environments. Previous empirical research and meta-analyses have demonstrated that employee psychological empowerment is positively related to several attitudinal and behavioral outcomes including job performance. While this research positions psychological empowerment as an antecedent influencing such outcomes, a close examination of the literature reveals that this relationship is primarily based on cross-sectional research. Notably, evidence supporting the presumed benefits of empowerment has failed to account for potential reciprocal relationships and endogeneity effects. Accordingly, using a multiwave, time-lagged design, we model reciprocal relationships between psychological empowerment and job performance using a sample of 441 nurses from 5 hospitals. Incorporating temporal effects in a staggered research design and using structural equation modeling techniques, our findings provide support for the conventional positive correlation between empowerment and subsequent performance. Moreover, accounting for the temporal stability of variables over time, we found support for empowerment levels as positive influences on subsequent changes in performance. Finally, we also found support for the reciprocal relationship, as performance levels were shown to relate positively to changes in empowerment over time. Theoretical and practical implications of the reciprocal psychological empowerment-performance relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome

PubMed Central

Sullivan, Martin J. P.; Talbot, Joey; Lewis, Simon L.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Qie, Lan; Begne, Serge K.; Chave, Jerôme; Cuni-Sanchez, Aida; Hubau, Wannes; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Miles, Lera; Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel; Sonké, Bonaventure; Sunderland, Terry; ter Steege, Hans; White, Lee J. T.; Affum-Baffoe, Kofi; Aiba, Shin-ichiro; de Almeida, Everton Cristo; de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Dávila, Esteban Álvarez; Andrade, Ana; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; Ashton, Peter; Aymard C., Gerardo A.; Baker, Timothy R.; Balinga, Michael; Banin, Lindsay F.; Baraloto, Christopher; Bastin, Jean-Francois; Berry, Nicholas; Bogaert, Jan; Bonal, Damien; Bongers, Frans; Brienen, Roel; Camargo, José Luís C.; Cerón, Carlos; Moscoso, Victor Chama; Chezeaux, Eric; Clark, Connie J.; Pacheco, Álvaro Cogollo; Comiskey, James A.; Valverde, Fernando Cornejo; Coronado, Eurídice N. Honorio; Dargie, Greta; Davies, Stuart J.; De Canniere, Charles; Djuikouo K., Marie Noel; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Erwin, Terry L.; Espejo, Javier Silva; Ewango, Corneille E. N.; Fauset, Sophie; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Herrera, Rafael; Gilpin, Martin; Gloor, Emanuel; Hall, Jefferson S.; Harris, David J.; Hart, Terese B.; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kho, Lip Khoon; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Laurance, Susan G. W.; Laurance, William F.; Leal, Miguel E.; Lovejoy, Thomas; Lovett, Jon C.; Lukasu, Faustin Mpanya; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Maracahipes, Leandro; Marimon, Beatriz S.; Junior, Ben Hur Marimon; Marshall, Andrew R.; Morandi, Paulo S.; Mukendi, John Tshibamba; Mukinzi, Jaques; Nilus, Reuben; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Camacho, Nadir C. Pallqui; Pardo, Guido; Peña-Claros, Marielos; Pétronelli, Pascal; Pickavance, Georgia C.; Poulsen, Axel Dalberg; Poulsen, John R.; Primack, Richard B.; Priyadi, Hari; Quesada, Carlos A.; Reitsma, Jan; Réjou-Méchain, Maxime; Restrepo, Zorayda; Rutishauser, Ervan; Salim, Kamariah Abu; Salomão, Rafael P.; Samsoedin, Ismayadi; Sheil, Douglas; Sierra, Rodrigo; Silveira, Marcos; Slik, J. W. Ferry; Steel, Lisa; Taedoumg, Hermann; Tan, Sylvester; Terborgh, John W.; Thomas, Sean C.; Toledo, Marisol; Umunay, Peter M.; Gamarra, Luis Valenzuela; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Vos, Vincent A.; Wang, Ophelia; Willcock, Simon; Zemagho, Lise

2017-01-01

Tropical forests are global centres of biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest tree diversity-carbon storage relationship. Assessing this relationship is challenging due to the scarcity of inventories where carbon stocks in aboveground biomass and species identifications have been simultaneously and robustly quantified. Here, we compile a unique pan-tropical dataset of 360 plots located in structurally intact old-growth closed-canopy forest, surveyed using standardised methods, allowing a multi-scale evaluation of diversity-carbon relationships in tropical forests. Diversity-carbon relationships among all plots at 1 ha scale across the tropics are absent, and within continents are either weak (Asia) or absent (Amazonia, Africa). A weak positive relationship is detectable within 1 ha plots, indicating that diversity effects in tropical forests may be scale dependent. The absence of clear diversity-carbon relationships at scales relevant to conservation planning means that carbon-centred conservation strategies will inevitably miss many high diversity ecosystems. As tropical forests can have any combination of tree diversity and carbon stocks both require explicit consideration when optimising policies to manage tropical carbon and biodiversity. PMID:28094794

Relationship between the posterior cerebral artery and the cisternal segment of the oculomotor nerve.

PubMed

Uz, Aysun; Tekdemir, Ibrahim

2006-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the cisternal segment of the oculomotor nerve and the posterior cerebral artery and its branches. The oculomotor nerve and the posterior cerebral artery of 15 cadaver brains (30 hemispheres) were examined using a surgical microscope. The dorsal portion of the cisternal segment of the oculomotor nerve had a close relationship with the P(1) and P(2) segments of the posterior cerebral artery in 100% of cases, the thalamoperforating arteries in 97%, the collicular arteries in 97%, the short circumferential arteries in 33% and the posterior medial choroidal arteries in 20%. The proximal portion of the nerve had a close relationship with the P(1) segment of the posterior cerebral artery, the thalamoperforating arteries, the collicular arteries and the short circumferential arteries, whereas the distal portion had a close relationship with the P(2) segment of the posterior cerebral artery and the posterior medial choroidal arteries. The oculomotor nerve was perforated by various arteries in different portions. These arteries were the thalamoperforating arteries in 10% of the hemispheres, the collicular arteries in 16% and the short circumferential arteries in 11%. It can be concluded that the dorsal portion of the cisternal segment of the oculomotor nerve has a close relationship with the branches arising from the P(1) and P(2) segments of the posterior cerebral artery. These arteries supply the cisternal segment of the oculomotor nerve.

Failed reciprocity in close social relationships and health: findings from the Whitehall II study.

PubMed

Chandola, Tarani; Marmot, Michael; Siegrist, Johannes

2007-10-01

To extend the model of effort-reward imbalance at work to close and more general social relationships and test the associations with different measures of health. Lack of reciprocity at work is associated with poorer health in a number of studies. However, few studies have analysed the effect of nonreciprocity in other kinds of social relationships on health. The Whitehall II Study is an ongoing prospective study of British civil servants (n=10308 at baseline in 1985-88). Cross-sectional data from the latest phase (7, n=6944 in 2002-04) were used in the analyses. The main exposure was a questionnaire measuring nonreciprocal social relations in partnership, parent-children, and general trusting relationships. Health measures included the SF-36 mental and physical component scores, General Health Questionnaire-30 depression subscale, Jenkins' Sleep disturbance questionnaire, and the Rose Angina questionnaire. Logistic and linear regression models were analysed, adjusted for potential confounders, and mediators of the association. Lack of reciprocity is associated with all measures of poorer health. This association attenuates after adjustment for previous health and additional confounders and mediators but remains significant in a majority of models. Negative social support from a close person is independently associated with reduced health, but adjusting for this effect does not eliminate the association of nonreciprocity with poor health. The effort-reward imbalance at work model has been extended to close and more general social relationships. Lack of reciprocity in partnership, parent-children and general trusting relationships is associated with poorer health.

Long-Distance and Proximal Romantic Relationship Satisfaction: Attachment and Closeness Predictors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Amber; Pistole, M. Carole

2009-01-01

Relationship satisfaction was examined in college student long-distance romantic relationships (LDRRs) and geographically proximal romantic relationships (PRRs). LDRR/PRR attachment style proportions and relationship satisfaction were similar. Multiple regression analyses revealed that low attachment avoidance contributed uniquely to high LDRR…

The Psychology of Close Relationships: Fourteen Core Principles.

PubMed

Finkel, Eli J; Simpson, Jeffry A; Eastwick, Paul W

2017-01-03

Relationship science is a theory-rich discipline, but there have been no attempts to articulate the broader themes or principles that cut across the theories themselves. We have sought to fill that void by reviewing the psychological literature on close relationships, particularly romantic relationships, to extract its core principles. This review reveals 14 principles, which collectively address four central questions: (a) What is a relationship? (b) How do relationships operate? (c) What tendencies do people bring to their relationships? (d) How does the context affect relationships? The 14 principles paint a cohesive and unified picture of romantic relationships that reflects a strong and maturing discipline. However, the principles afford few of the sorts of conflicting predictions that can be especially helpful in fostering novel theory development. We conclude that relationship science is likely to benefit from simultaneous pushes toward both greater integration across theories (to reduce redundancy) and greater emphasis on the circumstances under which existing (or not-yet-developed) principles conflict with one another.

Going that extra mile: individuals travel further to maintain face-to-face contact with highly related kin than with less related kin.

PubMed

Pollet, Thomas V; Roberts, Sam G B; Dunbar, Robin I M

2013-01-01

The theory of inclusive fitness has transformed our understanding of cooperation and altruism. However, the proximate psychological underpinnings of altruism are less well understood, and it has been argued that emotional closeness mediates the relationship between genetic relatedness and altruism. In this study, we use a real-life costly behaviour (travel time) to dissociate the effects of genetic relatedness from emotional closeness. Participants travelled further to see more closely related kin, as compared to more distantly related kin. For distantly related kin, the level of emotional closeness mediated this relationship--when emotional closeness was controlled for, there was no effect of genetic relatedness on travel time. However, participants were willing to travel further to visit parents, children and siblings as compared to more distantly related kin, even when emotional closeness was controlled for. This suggests that the mediating effect of emotional closeness on altruism varies with levels of genetic relatedness.

Intimacy and Relationship Processes in Couples’ Psychosocial Adaptation to Cancer

PubMed Central

Manne, Sharon; Badr, Hoda

2015-01-01

The authors highlighted the importance of viewing cancer from a relationship perspective. This perspective not only considers the marital relationship as a resource that individual partners draw upon but also highlights the importance of focusing attention onto the relationship and engaging in communication behaviors aimed at sustaining and/or enhancing the relationship during stressful times. On the basis of existing conceptualizations, empiric research on couples and cancer, and the authors’ perspective on the literature, they formulated the relationship intimacy model of couples’ psychosocial adaptation to cancer as a first step toward building a framework for researchers and clinicians to inform their work in this area. The model proposes that patients and their partners engage in behaviors that either promote or undermine the level of closeness in their relationship and that the closeness of the marital relationship is an important determinant of patient and partner psychologic adaptation to cancer. Preliminary data from a couples’ intimacy-enhancing intervention for breast cancer patients and their partners supported the model. Of the 25 couples who consented to participate in the intervention and completed the preintervention surveys, 15 couples completed all 5 sessions, and 12 couples completed the follow-up survey. The current results suggested that the intervention improved patient and partner perceptions of the closeness of their relationship and reduced their distress. The authors also discuss limitations of the relationship intimacy model as well as future directions for empiric and clinical research on couples’ psychosocial adaptation to cancer. PMID:18428202

The capacity for romantic intimacy: exploring the contribution of best friend and marital and parental relationships.

PubMed

Scharf, M; Mayseless, O

2001-06-01

This study examined, in a longitudinal design, the contributions of three different relationships, namely marital, parent-child and best friend, to the capacity for intimacy in romantic relationships of Israeli male adolescents, as well as the mediating role of socio-emotional capacities. Eighty-four 17-year-old adolescents and their parents filled out questionnaires concerning the quality of these relational contexts. Four years later the Intimacy Status Interview was administered to the adolescents at the conclusion of their mandatory military service to examine closeness, separateness, and commitment within their romantic relationships. Results showed that all relational contexts were related to capacity for intimacy (directly or indirectly), with higher relational qualities associated with better capability for intimacy. The marital relationship was associated with intimacy through its effect on the parent-child relationships. The effects of the parent-child relationships on the capacity for intimacy were mediated through the adolescents' socio-emotional capabilities. The contribution of the parent-adolescent relationships to the capacity for closeness and commitment was further mediated through relationships with the best friend, whereas the contribution to the capacity for separateness was not. A substantial number of our participants showed high capability for intimacy although in the military service context the circumstances for the development of intimacy were quite limited and non-optimal. Exploration of the separateness and closeness facets of intimacy in romantic relationships in the two sexes and in other contexts is recommended. Copyright 2001 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

Convergent evolution of modularity in metabolic networks through different community structures.

PubMed

Zhou, Wanding; Nakhleh, Luay

2012-09-14

It has been reported that the modularity of metabolic networks of bacteria is closely related to the variability of their living habitats. However, given the dependency of the modularity score on the community structure, it remains unknown whether organisms achieve certain modularity via similar or different community structures. In this work, we studied the relationship between similarities in modularity scores and similarities in community structures of the metabolic networks of 1021 species. Both similarities are then compared against the genetic distances. We revisited the association between modularity and variability of the microbial living environments and extended the analysis to other aspects of their life style such as temperature and oxygen requirements. We also tested both topological and biological intuition of the community structures identified and investigated the extent of their conservation with respect to the taxonomy. We find that similar modularities are realized by different community structures. We find that such convergent evolution of modularity is closely associated with the number of (distinct) enzymes in the organism's metabolome, a consequence of different life styles of the species. We find that the order of modularity is the same as the order of the number of the enzymes under the classification based on the temperature preference but not on the oxygen requirement. Besides, inspection of modularity-based communities reveals that these communities are graph-theoretically meaningful yet not reflective of specific biological functions. From an evolutionary perspective, we find that the community structures are conserved only at the level of kingdoms. Our results call for more investigation into the interplay between evolution and modularity: how evolution shapes modularity, and how modularity affects evolution (mainly in terms of fitness and evolvability). Further, our results call for exploring new measures of modularity and network communities that better correspond to functional categorizations.

Psychological adjustment and the facilitative nature of close personal relationships.

PubMed

Cramer, D

1985-06-01

The Rogerian hypothesis that psychological adjustment is positively related to having a relationship which is perceived as being characterized by understanding, congruence and unconditional acceptance was tested in the context of a current, close relationship, using the original Relationship Inventory in two studies which used different measures of assessing psychological adjustment. In the first study 26 females and 19 males completed Phillips' questionnaire which assesses acceptance of self and of others, while in the second study, 98 females and 23 males completed Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and a 30-item symptom checklist. The hypothesis was strongly confirmed for the females but not for the males in both studies.

Cognitive processes and conflict in close relationships: an attribution-efficacy model.

PubMed

Fincham, F D; Bradbury, T N

1987-12-01

A recently proposed model of cognitive processes underlying conflict in close relationships (Doherty, 1978, 1981a, 1981b) is revised and tested in two studies. Central to the original model are the causal attributions made for conflict and the perceived efficacy or ability to resolve conflict. The model is revised to incorporate judgments of responsibility and to provide a closer link to self-efficacy theory. The first study examines attributions and efficacy expectations in mother-child relationships. As anticipated, only weak evidence was obtained for predictions retained from the original model, high-lighting the relationship-specific nature of cognitive processes for conflict in families. A second study examines husband-wife relationships and provides evidence for the usefulness of an attribution-efficacy model for marital conflict. The attributional component of the model received greater support than that pertaining to efficacy expectations. In both studies, support was obtained for the proposal that the relation between conflict dimensions (e.g., blame) and causal dimensions is mediated by judgments of responsibility. The significance of the revisions to Doherty's model for understanding conflict in close relationships is discussed, and several avenues for further research are outlined.

Urbanism, Neighborhood Context, and Social Networks.

PubMed

Cornwell, Erin York; Behler, Rachel L

2015-09-01

Theories of urbanism suggest that the urban context erodes individuals' strong social ties with friends and family. Recent research has narrowed focus to the neighborhood context, emphasizing how localized structural disadvantage affects community-level cohesion and social capital. In this paper, we argue that neighborhood context also shapes social ties with friends and family- particularly for community-dwelling seniors. We hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage, residential instability, and disorder restrict residents' abilities to cultivate close relationships with neighbors and non-neighbor friends and family. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we find that older adults who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods have smaller social networks. Neighborhood disadvantage is also associated with less close network ties and less frequent interaction - but only among men. Furthermore, residents of disordered neighborhoods have smaller networks and weaker ties. We urge scholars to pay greater attention to how neighborhood context contributes to disparities in network-based access to resources.

Urbanism, Neighborhood Context, and Social Networks

PubMed Central

Cornwell, Erin York; Behler, Rachel L.

2017-01-01

Theories of urbanism suggest that the urban context erodes individuals’ strong social ties with friends and family. Recent research has narrowed focus to the neighborhood context, emphasizing how localized structural disadvantage affects community-level cohesion and social capital. In this paper, we argue that neighborhood context also shapes social ties with friends and family– particularly for community-dwelling seniors. We hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage, residential instability, and disorder restrict residents’ abilities to cultivate close relationships with neighbors and non-neighbor friends and family. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we find that older adults who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods have smaller social networks. Neighborhood disadvantage is also associated with less close network ties and less frequent interaction – but only among men. Furthermore, residents of disordered neighborhoods have smaller networks and weaker ties. We urge scholars to pay greater attention to how neighborhood context contributes to disparities in network-based access to resources. PMID:28819338

Close genetic relationships in vast territories: autosomal and X chromosome Alu diversity in Yakuts from Siberia.

PubMed

Rocañín-Arjó, Ares; Rodríguez-Botigué, Laura; Esteban, Esther; Theves, Catherine; Evdokimova, Larissa E; Fedorova, Sardana A; Gibert, Morgane; Crubezy, Eric; Moral, Pedro

2013-01-01

Twelve autosomal and 8 X chromosome Alu markers were genotyped for the first time in 161 Central and West Yakuts to test their ability to reconstruct the genetic history of these populations, the northernmost Turkic-speaker ethnic group living in Siberia. Autosomal data revealed that both groups showed extremely close genetic distances to other populations of Siberian origins that occupied areas from Lake Baikal, the ancestral place of origin of Yakuts, to North Siberia, their current territories. Autosomal and X chromosome data revealed some discrepancies on the genetic differentiation and the effective sizes of Central and West Yakuts. Such discrepancies could be related to the patrilineal and occasionally polygamous structure of these populations. Autosomal and X Alu markers are informative markers to reconstruct population past demography and history, but their utility is limited by the available data. This study represents a contribution for further investigations on these populations.

Biochemical and chemical characterization of trifluoromethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone), a close analog of the antileukemic drug mitoguazone.

PubMed

Elo, H; Mutikainen, I

1988-01-01

In order to study the structure-activity relationships of bis(guanylhydrazone) type polyamine antimetabolites, trifluoromethylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (CF3-GBG), a close analog of the antileukemic drug methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (mitoguazone, MGBG) was synthesized according to a novel modification of previous methods, yielding single crystals. Single-crystal X-ray crystallography revealed the presence of an isomer different from the one detected in the case of MGBG and all other bis(guanylhydrazones) so far studied. In contrast to MGBG, CF3-GBG was shown to be a very weak inhibitor of yeast adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, being thus devoid of value as a polyamine antimetabolite. In addition, the compound did not have antiproliferative activity against mouse L1210 leukemia cells in vitro. As long as analogous isomers of the two compounds are not available, no conclusions can be drawn about the reasons lying behind the drastical differences between their biological properties.

Operator Performance Support System (OPSS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-02-01

both the military and the industry. The OPSS will propose practical application’ in how to more closely align the relationships between technical...industry. The OPSS will propose practical applications in how to more closely align the relationships between technical knowledge and equipment operator...commercial programs provide flexibility to suppori existing and futurc kourscware and "hardware enhancements. In the development process of the OPSS

School-Based Mentoring Programs: Using Volunteers to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayer, Amanda; Grossman, Jean; DuBois, David

2015-01-01

Prior research on mentoring relationships outside of school does point toward relationship closeness and related indicators of the emotional quality of the mentor-protégé tie as important influences on youth outcomes. There is preliminary evidence that this may also be the case for School Based Mentoring (SBM), or at least that closeness promotes…

Proton channel models

PubMed Central

Pupo, Amaury; Baez-Nieto, David; Martínez, Agustín; Latorre, Ramón; González, Carlos

2014-01-01

Voltage-gated proton channels are integral membrane proteins with the capacity to permeate elementary particles in a voltage and pH dependent manner. These proteins have been found in several species and are involved in various physiological processes. Although their primary topology is known, lack of details regarding their structures in the open conformation has limited analyses toward a deeper understanding of the molecular determinants of their function and regulation. Consequently, the function-structure relationships have been inferred based on homology models. In the present work, we review the existing proton channel models, their assumptions, predictions and the experimental facts that support them. Modeling proton channels is not a trivial task due to the lack of a close homolog template. Hence, there are important differences between published models. This work attempts to critically review existing proton channel models toward the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the structural features of these proteins. PMID:24755912

A financial network perspective of financial institutions' systemic risk contributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wei-Qiang; Zhuang, Xin-Tian; Yao, Shuang; Uryasev, Stan

2016-08-01

This study considers the effects of the financial institutions' local topology structure in the financial network on their systemic risk contribution using data from the Chinese stock market. We first measure the systemic risk contribution with the Conditional Value-at-Risk (CoVaR) which is estimated by applying dynamic conditional correlation multivariate GARCH model (DCC-MVGARCH). Financial networks are constructed from dynamic conditional correlations (DCC) with graph filtering method of minimum spanning trees (MSTs). Then we investigate dynamics of systemic risk contributions of financial institution. Also we study dynamics of financial institution's local topology structure in the financial network. Finally, we analyze the quantitative relationships between the local topology structure and systemic risk contribution with panel data regression analysis. We find that financial institutions with greater node strength, larger node betweenness centrality, larger node closeness centrality and larger node clustering coefficient tend to be associated with larger systemic risk contributions.

Unjamming and cell shape in the asthmatic airway epithelium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Jin-Ah; Kim, Jae Hun; Bi, Dapeng; Mitchel, Jennifer A.; Qazvini, Nader Taheri; Tantisira, Kelan; Park, Chan Young; McGill, Maureen; Kim, Sae-Hoon; Gweon, Bomi; Notbohm, Jacob; Steward, Robert, Jr.; Burger, Stephanie; Randell, Scott H.; Kho, Alvin T.; Tambe, Dhananjay T.; Hardin, Corey; Shore, Stephanie A.; Israel, Elliot; Weitz, David A.; Tschumperlin, Daniel J.; Henske, Elizabeth P.; Weiss, Scott T.; Manning, M. Lisa; Butler, James P.; Drazen, Jeffrey M.; Fredberg, Jeffrey J.

2015-10-01

From coffee beans flowing in a chute to cells remodelling in a living tissue, a wide variety of close-packed collective systems--both inert and living--have the potential to jam. The collective can sometimes flow like a fluid or jam and rigidify like a solid. The unjammed-to-jammed transition remains poorly understood, however, and structural properties characterizing these phases remain unknown. Using primary human bronchial epithelial cells, we show that the jamming transition in asthma is linked to cell shape, thus establishing in that system a structural criterion for cell jamming. Surprisingly, the collapse of critical scaling predicts a counter-intuitive relationship between jamming, cell shape and cell-cell adhesive stresses that is borne out by direct experimental observations. Cell shape thus provides a rigorous structural signature for classification and investigation of bronchial epithelial layer jamming in asthma, and potentially in any process in disease or development in which epithelial dynamics play a prominent role.

Aquaporin structure-function relationships: water flow through plant living cells.

PubMed

Zhao, Chang-Xing; Shao, Hong-Bo; Chu, Li-Ye

2008-04-01

Plant aquaporins play an important role in water uptake and movement-an aquaporin that opens and closes a gate that regulates water movement in and out of cells. Some plant aquaporins also play an important role in response to water stress. Since their discovery, advancing knowledge of their structures and properties led to an understanding of the basic features of the water transport mechanism and increased illumination to water relations. Meanwhile, molecular and functional characterization of aquaporins has revealed the significance of their regulation in response to the adverse environments such as salinity and drought. This paper reviews the structure, species diversity, physiology function, regulation of plant aquaporins, and the relations between environmental factors and plant aquaporins. Complete understanding of aquaporin function and regulation is to integrate those mechanisms in time and space and to well regulate the permeation of water across biological membranes under changing environmental and developmental conditions.

Volcanology and morphology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, W. B.

1976-01-01

Apollo 15 photographs of the southern parts of Serenitatis and Imbrium were used for a study of the morphology and distribution of wrinkle ridges. Volcanic and structural features along the south margin of Serenitatis were also studied, including the Dawes basalt cinder cones. Volcanic and structural features in crater Aitken were investigated as well. Study of crater Goclenius showed a close relationship between morphology of the impact crater and grabens which tend to parallel directions of the lunar grid. Similar trends were observed in the walls of crater Tsiolkovsky and other linear structures. Small craters of possible volcanic origin were also studied. Possible cinder cones were found associated with the Dawes basalt and in the floor of craters Aitken and Goclenius. Small pit craters were observed in the floors of these craters. Attempts were made to obtain contour maps of specific small features and to compare Orbiter and Apollo photographs to determine short term changes associated with other processes.

Current-voltage characteristics of double stranded versus single stranded DNA molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartzell, B.; Chen, Hong; Heremans, J. J.; McCord, B.; Soghomonian, V.

2004-03-01

Investigation of DNA conductivity has focused on the native, duplex structure, with controversial results. Here, we present the influence of the double-helical structure on charge transport through lambda DNA molecules. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of both disulfide-labeled double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and disulfide-labeled single stranded DNA (ssDNA) were measured. The ssDNA was formed from the dsDNA using two different methods for comparison purposes: a thermal/chemical denaturation and enzymatic digestion utilizing lambda exonuclease. Resulting I-V characteristics of both the double stranded and single stranded samples were close-to-linear when measured at room temperature. However, the ssDNA samples consistently gave conductivity values about two orders of magnitude smaller in amplitude. Our results suggest an integral relationship between the native structure of DNA with its stacked base pairs and the molecule's ability to support charge transport.(NSF NIRT 0103034)

Adolescent language brokering in diverse contexts: associations with parenting and parent-youth relationships in a new immigrant destination area.

PubMed

Roche, Kathleen M; Lambert, Sharon F; Ghazarian, Sharon R; Little, Todd D

2015-01-01

In the US, children in immigrant families have a longstanding history of language brokering for their parents. Scholars have surmised that youth's role in language brokering may influence the nature of parenting practices and parent-child relationships that are important to the positive adjustment of adolescent youth. Research findings in this regard, however, have been mixed. Drawing from the family stress model and the concept of adolescent helpfulness, the present study examined how language brokering across different contexts-school, community, and home-was associated with indicators of parental support and parental behavioral control. The sample included 118 (53% female) primarily Mexican- and Central American-origin 7th, 9th, and 11th grade children in Latino immigrant families living in suburban Atlanta, an important new immigrant destination. The results from structural equation models indicated that language brokering at home-translations for items such as bills, credit card statements, and insurance forms-was associated with less parental decision-making authority, lower levels of parental knowledge, and less parent-child closeness. Language brokering pertinent to school and community contexts, on the other hand, was not associated with variations in parenting. The adverse consequences for parenting conferred by youth translating insurance forms and family financial bills may stem from the excessive cognitive demands placed on youth in these situations, as well as the elevated power that youth gain in relationship to their immigrant parents. For the country's rapidly growing population of youth being raised by immigrant Latino parents, it is important to consider that youth's role as language broker at home may affect closeness in the parent-child relationship as well as the degree to which parents are able to maintain authority over youth's behaviors.

First law of black hole mechanics as a condition for stationarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCormick, Stephen

2014-11-01

In earlier work, we provided a Hilbert manifold structure for the phase space for the Einstein-Yang-Mills equations, and used this to prove a condition for initial data to be stationary [S. McCormick, Adv. Theor. Math. Phys. 18, 799 (2014)]. Here we use the same phase space to consider the evolution of initial data exterior to some closed 2-surface boundary, and establish a condition for stationarity in this case. It is shown that the differential relationship given in the first law of black hole mechanics is exactly the condition required for the initial data to be stationary; this was first argued nonrigorously by Sudarsky and Wald [Phys. Rev. D 46, 1453 (1992)]. Furthermore, we give evidence to suggest that if this differential relationship holds then the boundary surface is the bifurcation surface of a bifurcate Killing horizon.

Remote sensing investigations of wetland biomass and productivity for global biosystems research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klemas, V.

1986-01-01

The relationship between spectral radiance and plant canopy biomass was studied in wetlands. Spectroradiometer data was gathered on Thematic Mapper wavebands 3, 4, and 5, and correlated with canopy and edaphic factors determined by harvesting. The relationship between spectral radiance and plant canopy biomass for major salt and brackish canopy types was determined. Algorithms were developed for biomass measurement in mangrove swamps. The influence of latitudinal variability in canopy structure on biomass assessment of selected plants was investigated. Brackish marsh biomass estimates were obtained from low altitude aircraft and compared with ground measurements. Annual net aerial primary productivity estimates computed from spectral radiance data were compiled for a Spartina alterniflora marsh. Spectral radiance data were expressed as vegetation or infrared index values. Biomass estimates computed from models were in close agreement with biomass estimates determined from harvests.

Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health.

PubMed

Pietromonaco, Paula R; Collins, Nancy L

2017-09-01

Close relationships play a vital role in human health, but much remains to be learned about specific mechanisms of action and potential avenues for intervention. This article provides an evaluation of research on close relationships processes relevant to health, drawing on themes from major relationship science theories to present a broad conceptual framework for understanding the interpersonal processes and intrapersonal pathways linking relationships to health and disease outcomes. The analysis reveals that both social connection and social disconnection broadly shape biological responses and behaviors that are consequential for health. Furthermore, emerging work offers insights into the types of social dynamics that are most consequential for health, and the potential pathways through which they operate. Following from this analysis, the authors suggest several research priorities to facilitate the translation of discoveries from relationship science into relationship-based interventions and public health initiatives. These priorities include developing finer grained theoretical models to guide research, the systematic investigation of potential mediating pathways such as dyadic influences on health behavior and physiological coregulation, and taking into account individual differences and contextual factors such as attachment style, gender, socioeconomic status, and culture. In addition, a pressing need exists for laboratory and field research to determine which types of interventions are both practical and effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Does Death of a Family Member Moderate the Relationship between Religious Attendance and Depressive Symptoms? The HUNT Study, Norway

PubMed Central

Sørensen, Torgeir; Danbolt, Lars J.; Holmen, Jostein; Koenig, Harold G.; Lien, Lars

2012-01-01

Background. The death of a family member is a stressful life event and can result in an increased level of depressive symptoms. Previous American research has shown inverse relationships between religious involvement and depression. European investigations are few and findings inconsistent; different contexts may have an important influence on findings. We therefore investigated the relationship between attendance at church/prayer house and depressive symptoms, and whether this relationship was moderated by the death of a close family member, in Norway. Methods. A population-based sample from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, Norway (HUNT 3, N = 37,981), was the population examined. Multiple regression and interaction tests were utilised. Results. Religious attendees had lower scores on depressive symptoms than non-attendees; death of a close family member moderated this relationship. The inverse relationships between attendance at church/prayer house and depressive symptoms were greater among those experiencing the death of an immediate family member in the last twelve months compared to those without such an experience, with men's decrease of depressive symptoms more pronounced than women's. Conclusion. In a population-based study in Norway, attendance at church/prayer house was associated with lower depressive symptoms, and the death of a close relative and gender moderated this relationship. PMID:22655182

The role of social relationships in the link between olfactory dysfunction and mortality.

PubMed

Leschak, Carrianne J; Eisenberger, Naomi I

2018-01-01

Recent work suggests that olfactory dysfunction is a strong predictor of five-year mortality in older adults. Based on past work showing: 1) that olfactory dysfunction impairs social functioning and 2) that social ties are linked with mortality, the current work explored whether impairments in social life mediated the relationship between olfactory dysfunction and mortality. Additionally, based on work showing gender differences in the social consequences of olfactory dysfunction, gender was assessed as a potential moderator of this association. Social network size mediated the olfactory-mortality link for females. To probe what feature of social networks was driving this effect, we investigated two subcomponents of social life: emotional closeness (e.g., perceived social support, loneliness) and physical closeness (e.g., physical contact, in-person socializing with others). Physical closeness significantly mediated the olfactory-mortality link for females, even after controlling for social network size. Emotional closeness did not mediate this link. Possible mechanisms underlying this relationship are discussed.

Teacher-student relationship quality and academic achievement in elementary school: A longitudinal examination of gender differences.

PubMed

Hajovsky, Daniel B; Mason, Benjamin A; McCune, Luke A

2017-08-01

Multiple group longitudinal cross-lagged panel models were implemented to understand the directional influences between teacher-student closeness and conflict and measured math and reading achievement across elementary grades and gender groups using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development longitudinal sample (N=1133). Specifically, after testing multiple group longitudinal measurement invariance to ensure consistent measurement across genders and time, and tests of equivalence of the latent parameters, we were interested in whether longitudinal changes in teacher-rated closeness and conflict explained longitudinal changes in achievement, and vice versa, and whether those longitudinal influences varied by gender. Latent teacher-student closeness decreased for both genders over time (Cohen's d=-0.15 to -0.32), but latent conflict increased for males (Cohen's d=0.16). There was also increased heterogeneity in teacher-student relationship quality for males relative to females. Math and reading achievement had medium reciprocal effects (β=0.12 to 0.23), and previous math achievement had small to medium effects on subsequent teacher-student closeness (β=0.08 to 0.11) and conflict (β=-0.07 to -0.09). Teacher-student conflict and closeness did not influence subsequent levels of math or reading achievement once previous levels were controlled. Further, these influences were consistent across gender groups despite latent differences in teacher-student closeness and conflict with teachers reporting closer relationships with female students and more conflictual relationships with male students. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

When cancer cannot be cured: A qualitative study on relationship changes in couples facing advanced melanoma.

PubMed

Drabe, Natalie; Jenewein, Josef; Weidt, Steffi; Engeli, Lucia; Meier, Caroline; Büchi, Stefan; Schad, Karin; Schönbucher, Verena; Canella, Claudia; Nuñez, David Garcia

2016-12-01

The aim of this qualitative study was to gain a deeper understanding about couples' relationship changes over time (the first six months) after one partner is diagnosed with an incurable advanced melanoma (stage III or IV). In semistructured interviews, eight patients and their partners were asked separately about potential changes in their relationship since diagnosis. The same questions were asked again six months later, but focusing on relationship changes over the preceding six months. Some 32 audiotaped interviews were analyzed applying qualitative content analysis. At baseline (t1), relationship changes were mostly reported in terms of caring, closeness/distance regulation, and communication patterns. While changes in caregiving and distance/closeness regulation remained main issues at six months follow-up (t2), greater appreciation of the relationship and limitations in terms of planning spare time also emerged as major issues. Unexpectedly, 50% of patients and partners reported actively hiding their negative emotions and sorrows from their counterparts to spare them worry. Furthermore, qualitative content analysis revealed relationship changes even in those patients and partners who primarily reported no changes over the course of the disease. Our findings revealed a differentiated and complex picture about relationship changes over time, which also might aid in the development of support programs for couples dealing with advanced cancer, focusing on the aspects of caring, closeness/distance regulation, and communication patterns.

Anatomical features associated with water transport in imperforate tracheary elements of vessel-bearing angiosperms

PubMed Central

Sano, Yuzou; Morris, Hugh; Shimada, Hiroshi; Ronse De Craene, Louis P.; Jansen, Steven

2011-01-01

Background and Aims Imperforate tracheary elements (ITEs) in wood of vessel-bearing angiosperms may or may not transport water. Despite the significance of hydraulic transport for defining ITE types, the combination of cell structure with water transport visualization in planta has received little attention. This study provides a quantitative analysis of structural features associated with the conductive vs. non-conductive nature of ITEs. Methods Visualization of water transport was studied in 15 angiosperm species by dye injection and cryo-scanning electron microscopy. Structural features of ITEs were examined using light and electron microscopy. Key Results ITEs connected to each other by pit pairs with complete pit membranes contributed to water transport, while cells showing pit membranes with perforations up to 2 µm were hydraulically not functional. A close relationship was found between pit diameter and pit density, with both characters significantly higher in conductive than in non-conductive cells. In species with both conductive and non-conductive ITEs, a larger diameter was characteristic of the conductive cells. Water transport showed no apparent relationship with the length of ITEs and vessel grouping. Conclusions The structure and density of pits between ITEs represent the main anatomical characters determining water transport. The pit membrane structure of ITEs provides a reliable, but practically challenging, criterion to determine their conductive status. It is suggested that the term tracheids should strictly be used for conductive ITEs, while fibre-tracheids and libriform fibres are non-conductive. PMID:21385773

Ge 3P 6Si 2O 25: A cage structure closely related to the intersecting tunnel structure KMo 3P 6Si 2O 25

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclaire, A.; Raveau, B.

1988-08-01

A germanosilicophosphate Ge 3P 6Si 2O 25 has been isolated. Its structure was solved from a single-crystal study in the space group P overline31c . Its cell parameters are a = b = 7.994(1) Å, c = 16.513(2) Å, Z = 2. The refinement by full-matrix least-squares calculations leads to R = 0.043 with 686 independent reflections. The structure of this oxide is built up from corner-sharing PO 4 and SiO 4 tetrahedra and GeO 6 octahedra. One observes a feature common to several silicophosphates: the presence of the structural unit P 6Si 2O 25 built up from a disilicate group sharing its corners with six PO 4 tetrahedra. The structural relationships between this oxide and the silicophosphates AMo 3P 6Si 2O 25 and Si 3P 6Si 2O 25 (or Ge 3P 6 Ge 2O 25) are described.

Structure-function relationship of reduced cytochrome c probed by complete solution structure determination in 30% acetonitrile/water solution.

PubMed

Sivakolundu, Sivashankar G; Mabrouk, Patricia Ann

2003-05-01

The complete solution structure of ferrocytochrome c in 30% acetonitrile/70% water has been determined using high-field 1D and 2D (1)H NMR methods and deposited in the Protein Data Bank with codes 1LC1 and 1LC2. This is the first time a complete solution protein structure has been determined for a protein in nonaqueous media. Ferrocyt c retains a native protein secondary structure (five alpha-helices and two omega loops) in 30% acetonitrile. H18 and M80 residues are the axial heme ligands, as in aqueous solution. Residues believed to be axial heme ligands in the alkaline-like conformers of ferricyt c, specifically H33 and K72, are positioned close to the heme iron. The orientations of both heme propionates are markedly different in 30% acetonitrile/70% water. Comparative structural analysis of reduced cyt c in 30% acetonitrile/70% water solution with cyt c in different environments has given new insight into the cyt c folding mechanism, the electron transfer pathway, and cell apoptosis.

Theoretical study of the gas-phase structures of sodiated and cesiated leucine and isoleucine: zwitterionic structure disfavored in kinetic method experiments.

PubMed

Rozman, Marko

2005-10-01

The most stable charge-solvated (CS) and zwitterionic (ZW) structures of sodiated and cesiated leucine and isoleucine were studied by density functional theory methods. According to the Boltzmann distribution in gas phase, both forms of LeuNa+ and IleNa+ exist, but in LeuCs+ and IleCs+, the ZW forms are dominant. Results for the sodiated compounds are consistent with the relationship found between decrease in relative stability of CS versus ZW form and aliphatic amino acid side chain length. The observed degeneracy in energy for IleNa+ conformers is at odds with kinetic method results. Additional calculations showed that kinetic method structural determinations for IleNa+ do not reflect relative order of populations in the lowest energy conformers. Since complexation of cationized amino acids into ion-bound dimers disfavors ZW structure by approximately 8 kJ mol(-1), it is suggested that for energy close conformers of sodium-cationized amino acids, the kinetic method may not be reliable for structural determinations. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Communication patterns in audiologic rehabilitation history-taking: audiologists, patients, and their companions.

PubMed

Grenness, Caitlin; Hickson, Louise; Laplante-Lévesque, Ariane; Meyer, Carly; Davidson, Bronwyn

2015-01-01

The nature of communication between patient and practitioner influences patient outcomes. Specifically, the history-taking phase of a consultation plays a role in the development of a relationship and in the success of subsequent shared decision making. There is limited research investigating patient-centered communication in audiology, and this study may be the first to investigate verbal communication in an adult audiologic rehabilitation context. This research aimed, first, to describe the nature of verbal communication involving audiologists, patients, and companions in the history-taking phase of initial audiology consultations and, second, to determine factors associated with communication dynamics. Sixty-three initial audiology consultations involving patients over the age of 55, their companions when present, and audiologists were audio-video recorded. Consultations were coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System and divided into three consultation phases: history, examination, and counseling. This study analyzed only the history-taking phase in terms of opening structure, communication profiles of each speaker, and communication dynamics. Associations between communication dynamics (verbal dominance, content balance, and communication control) and 11 variables were evaluated using Linear Mixed Model methods. The mean length of the history-taking phase was 8.8 min (range 1.7 to 22.6). A companion was present in 27% of consultations. Results were grouped into three areas of communication: opening structure, information exchange, and relationship building. Examination of the history opening structure revealed audiologists' tendency to control the agenda by initiating consultations with a closed-ended question 62% of the time, followed by interruption of patient talk after 21.3 sec, on average. The aforementioned behaviors were associated with increased verbal dominance throughout the history and increased control over the content of questions. For the remainder of the history, audiologists asked 97% of the questions and did so primarily in closed-ended form. This resulted in the audiologist talking as much as the patient and much more than the companions when they were present. Questions asked by the audiologist were balanced in topic: biomedical and psychosocial/lifestyle; however, few emotionally focused utterances were observed from any speaker (less than 5% of utter ances). Analysis of verbal communication involving audiologists, patients, and companions in the history-taking phase in 63 initial audiology consultations revealed a communicative exchange that was audiologist-controlled and structured, but covered both medical and lifestyle content. Audiologists often attempted to create a relationship with their patients; however, little emotional relationship building occurred, which may have implications later in the consultation when management decisions are being made. These results are not in line with patient-centered communication principles. Further research and changes to clinical practice are warranted to transform patient-centered communication from an ideal to a reality.

Support across two generations: children's closeness to grandparents following parental divorce and remarriage.

PubMed

Lussier, Gretchen; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Dunn, Judy; Davies, Lisa

2002-09-01

There has been relatively little research on the role of grandparents as a source of support for children during and following their parents' marital transitions. In this study, we examined children's contact with and closeness to grandparents in different family types (i.e., two biological parents, single mother, stepparent). Participants included 155 children from the Avon Brothers and Sisters Study. Parent and child interviews and questionnaires regarding the children's relationships with maternal and paternal biological and stepgrandparents were examined. There were family type differences in rates of contact with grandparents as well as children's closeness to grandparents. Furthermore, children's and parents' view about these relationships with grandparents were modestly correlated, suggesting that children often held different views about their closeness to their grandparents than did their parents. Greater closeness to grandparents was associated with fewer adjustment problems.

Links Among Italian Preschoolers’ Socio-Emotional Competence, Teacher-Child Relationship Quality and Peer Acceptance

PubMed Central

Sette, Stefania; Spinrad, Tracy; Baumgartner, Emma

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations of teacher-child relationship quality (close, conflictive, and dependent), children’s social behavior, and peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool-aged children (46 boys; 42 girls). Preschool teachers evaluated the quality of the teacher-child relationship and children’s social behaviors (i.e., social competence, anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal). Peer-rated likability was measured using a sociometric procedure. Results indicated that conflictual teacher-child relationships were related to high aggressive behavior, and dependent teacher-child relationships were positively associated with children’s anxiety-withdrawal. Moreover, we found an indirect association between close teacher-child relationship quality and peer likability through children’s social competence. The findings provide evidence that the teacher-child relationship is critical for children’s social behaviors, and that social competence was uniquely related to peer likability. PMID:24039375

Conflict management in online relationships.

PubMed

Ishii, Kumi

2010-08-01

With the diffusion of networked technology, personal relationships can be easily formed and maintained online today. Similar to a face-to-face situation, conflict is also seen in these online relationships. Early theories suggested that computer-mediated communication (CMC) tends to increase conflicts because of the lack of social-context cues, and CMC is not rich enough to manage conflict. As CMC has become part of our daily life, we often face conflict online, and thus we need to understand how people manage conflict online. This study explored how online users manage interpersonal conflict. Self-report survey data from 159 university students were analyzed to examine their conflict-management styles in association with the perceived closeness of the online relationship and a future intention toward the relationship. The results indicated that online users select cooperative management styles to handle conflict in their close relationships. In addition, online users avoid less cooperative styles when they want to continue the relationship.

Links Among Italian Preschoolers' Socio-Emotional Competence, Teacher-Child Relationship Quality and Peer Acceptance.

PubMed

Sette, Stefania; Spinrad, Tracy; Baumgartner, Emma

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations of teacher-child relationship quality (close, conflictive, and dependent), children's social behavior, and peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool-aged children (46 boys; 42 girls). Preschool teachers evaluated the quality of the teacher-child relationship and children's social behaviors (i.e., social competence, anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal). Peer-rated likability was measured using a sociometric procedure. Results indicated that conflictual teacher-child relationships were related to high aggressive behavior, and dependent teacher-child relationships were positively associated with children's anxiety-withdrawal. Moreover, we found an indirect association between close teacher-child relationship quality and peer likability through children's social competence. The findings provide evidence that the teacher-child relationship is critical for children's social behaviors, and that social competence was uniquely related to peer likability.

Structure-dependent metallokinetics of antidiabetic vanadyl-picolinate complexes in rats: studies on solution structure, insulinomimetic activity, and metallokinetics.

PubMed

Yasui, Hiroyuki; Tamura, Asuka; Takino, Toshikazu; Sakurai, Hiromu

2002-07-25

The insulinomimetic effect of vanadium is the most remarkable and important among its several biological actions. Vanadyl ion (+4 oxidation state of vanadium) and its complexes have been found to normalize the blood glucose levels of both type 1 and 2 diabetic animals. We have developed insulinomimetic vanadyl complexes having different coordination modes, emphasizing the possible usefulness of vanadyl-picolinate [VO(pa)(2)] and its related complexes with the VO(N(2)O(2)) coordination mode. In order to apply these complexes clinically in the future, the relationship between the chemical structure, insulinomimetic action, organ distribution of vanadium, and blood disposition of vanadyl species must be closely investigated. In the present investigation, we studied the blood disposition of the vanadyl-picolinate complexes in healthy rats, and tried to understand comprehensively the relationship between the structures, insulinomimetic activity, and metallokinetic parameters of the complexes, which had been recently prepared and specifically synthesized for the present study, by using an in vivo blood circulation monitoring -- electron spin resonance (BCM-ESR) method for analyzing ESR signals due to paramagnetic metal ions and complexes in the blood in real time. Metallokinetic parameters were estimated based on the blood clearance curves in terms of a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model, and vanadyl species were indicated to be distributed in peripheral tissues and gradually eliminated from the circulating blood, depending on their chemical structures. Vanadyl concentrations in the blood of rats given bis(5-iodopicolinato)oxovanadium(IV) [VO(5ipa)(2)] and bis(3-methylpicolinato)oxovanadium(IV) [VO(3mpa)(2)] with electron-withdrawing and donating groups, respectively, remained significantly higher and longer, due to their slower clearance rates from the blood, than in rats given other complexes, suggesting that the high exposure and long residence of vanadyl species bring about the high normoglyceric effect in diabetic animals. We then examined the relationship between insulinomimetic activity and metallokinetic parameters in the family of VO(pa)(2) for further development of insulinomimetic vanadyl complexes. IC(50), the 50% inhibitory concentration of the complexes on the free fatty acid release from isolated rat adipocytes treated with epinephrine, was found to be sufficiently correlated with metallokinetic parameters such as area under the concentration curve, mean residence time, total clearance, and distribution volume at steady-state. Furthermore, the in vivo antidiabetic activity of the complexes was enhanced with increasing exposure and residence of vanadyl species in the blood of animals. On the basis of these results, we concluded that in vitro insulinomimetic activity, metallokinetic character, and in vivo antidiabetic action of vanadyl-picolinate complexes are closely related to their chemical structures.

The relationship between carbon dioxide emission and economic growth: Hierarchical structure methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deviren, Seyma Akkaya; Deviren, Bayram

2016-06-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has an essential role in the current debate on sustainable development and environmental protection. CO2 emission is also directly linked with use of energy which plays a focal role both for production and consumption in the world economy. Therefore the relationship between the CO2 emission and economic growth has a significant implication for the environmental and economical policies. In this study, within the scope of sociophysics, the topology, taxonomy and relationships among the 33 countries, which have almost the high CO2 emission and economic growth values, are investigated by using the hierarchical structure methods, such as the minimal spanning tree (MST) and hierarchical tree (HT), over the period of 1970-2010. The average linkage cluster analysis (ALCA) is also used to examine the cluster structure more clearly in HTs. According to their proximity, economic ties and economic growth, different clusters of countries are identified from the structural topologies of these trees. We have found that the high income & OECD countries are closely connected to each other and are isolated from the upper middle and lower middle income countries from the MSTs, which are obtained both for the CO2 emission and economic growth. Moreover, the high income & OECD clusters are homogeneous with respect to the economic activities and economic ties of the countries. It is also mentioned that the Group of Seven (G7) countries (CAN, ENG, FRA, GER, ITA, JPN, USA) are connected to each other and these countries are located at the center of the MST for the results of CO2 emission. The same analysis may also successfully apply to the other environmental sources and different countries.

The mechanics of fault-bend folding and tear-fault systems in the Niger Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benesh, Nathan Philip

This dissertation investigates the mechanics of fault-bend folding using the discrete element method (DEM) and explores the nature of tear-fault systems in the deep-water Niger Delta fold-and-thrust belt. In Chapter 1, we employ the DEM to investigate the development of growth structures in anticlinal fault-bend folds. This work was inspired by observations that growth strata in active folds show a pronounced upward decrease in bed dip, in contrast to traditional kinematic fault-bend fold models. Our analysis shows that the modeled folds grow largely by parallel folding as specified by the kinematic theory; however, the process of folding over a broad axial surface zone yields a component of fold growth by limb rotation that is consistent with the patterns observed in natural folds. This result has important implications for how growth structures can he used to constrain slip and paleo-earthquake ages on active blind-thrust faults. In Chapter 2, we expand our DEM study to investigate the development of a wider range of fault-bend folds. We examine the influence of mechanical stratigraphy and quantitatively compare our models with the relationships between fold and fault shape prescribed by the kinematic theory. While the synclinal fault-bend models closely match the kinematic theory, the modeled anticlinal fault-bend folds show robust behavior that is distinct from the kinematic theory. Specifically, we observe that modeled structures maintain a linear relationship between fold shape (gamma) and fault-horizon cutoff angle (theta), rather than expressing the non-linear relationship with two distinct modes of anticlinal folding that is prescribed by the kinematic theory. These observations lead to a revised quantitative relationship for fault-bend folds that can serve as a useful interpretation tool. Finally, in Chapter 3, we examine the 3D relationships of tear- and thrust-fault systems in the western, deep-water Niger Delta. Using 3D seismic reflection data and new map-based structural restoration techniques, we find that the tear faults have distinct displacement patterns that distinguish them from conventional strike-slip faults and reflect their roles in accommodating displacement gradients within the fold-and-thrust belt.

Three-dimensional imaging of redundant Chiari's network prolapsing into right ventricle.

PubMed

Betrián Blasco, Pedro; Sarrat Torres, Rebeca; Pijuan Domènech, Maria Antonia; Marimón Blanch, Cristina; Pérez Herrera, Verónica; Girona Comas, Josep

2008-02-01

An asymptomatic 1-month-old girl was studied in another institution because of the presence of a cardiac murmur, and referred to our center for further evaluation as a result of tricuspid valve abnormalities detected in the echocardiographic study. Echocardiography revealed a very redundant, thin, freely mobile structure in the right atrium, moving rapidly in (systole) and out (diastole) of the right ventricle through the tricuspid orifice. It arose from near the border of the inferior vena cava and attached to the atrial wall close to the coronary sinus ostium, suggesting an unusually prominent Chiari's network. Three-dimensional imaging allowed definition of the structure in all the planes and dimensions, and the relationship of the structure with right atrium and ventricle. Chiari's network is an embryonic remnant present in 2% to 3% of the population. The identification of a Chiari's network is important because the widely mobile structure within the right atrium can be confused with other entities, such as right heart vegetation, flail tricuspid leaflet, ruptured chordae tendinae, or a thrombus.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choi, Cheong R.

The structural changes of kinetic Alfvén solitary waves (KASWs) due to higher-order terms are investigated. While the first-order differential equation for KASWs provides the dispersion relation for kinetic Alfvén waves, the second-order differential equation describes the structural changes of the solitary waves due to higher-order nonlinearity. The reductive perturbation method is used to obtain the second-order and third-order partial differential equations; then, Kodama and Taniuti's technique [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 45, 298 (1978)] is applied in order to remove the secularities in the third-order differential equations and derive a linear second-order inhomogeneous differential equation. The solution to this new second-ordermore » equation indicates that, as the amplitude increases, the hump-type Korteweg-de Vries solution is concentrated more around the center position of the soliton and that dip-type structures form near the two edges of the soliton. This result has a close relationship with the interpretation of the complex KASW structures observed in space with satellites.« less

Fiber Optic Bragg Grating Sensors for Thermographic Detection of Subsurface Anomalies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allison, Sidney G.; Winfree, William P.; Wu, Meng-Chou

2009-01-01

Conventional thermography with an infrared imager has been shown to be an extremely viable technique for nondestructively detecting subsurface anomalies such as thickness variations due to corrosion. A recently developed technique using fiber optic sensors to measure temperature holds potential for performing similar inspections without requiring an infrared imager. The structure is heated using a heat source such as a quartz lamp with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors at the surface of the structure to detect temperature. Investigated structures include a stainless steel plate with thickness variations simulated by small platelets attached to the back side using thermal grease. A relationship is shown between the FBG sensor thermal response and variations in material thickness. For comparison, finite element modeling was performed and found to agree closely with the fiber optic thermography results. This technique shows potential for applications where FBG sensors are already bonded to structures for Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring (IVHM) strain measurements and can serve dual-use by also performing thermographic detection of subsurface anomalies.

Watching proteins function with picosecond X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anfinrud, Philip

2006-03-01

Time-resolved electron density maps of myoglobin, a ligand-binding heme protein, have been stitched together into movies that unveil with < 2-å spatial resolution and 150-ps time-resolution the correlated protein motions that accompany and/or mediate ligand migration within the hydrophobic interior of a protein. A joint analysis of all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) calculations and picosecond time-resolved X-ray structures provides single-molecule insights into mechanisms of protein function. Ensemble-averaged MD simulations of the L29F mutant of myoglobin following ligand dissociation reproduce the direction, amplitude, and timescales of crystallographically-determined structural changes. This close agreement with experiments at comparable resolution in space and time validates the individual MD trajectories, which identify and structurally characterize a conformational switch that directs dissociated ligands to one of two nearby protein cavities. This unique combination of simulation and experiment unveils functional protein motions and illustrates at an atomic level relationships among protein structure, dynamics, and function. In collaboration with Friedrich Schotte and Gerhard Hummer, NIH.

Fluorination of Metal Phthalocyanines: Single-Crystal Growth, Efficient N-Channel Organic Field-Effect Transistors, and Structure-Property Relationships

PubMed Central

Jiang, Hui; Ye, Jun; Hu, Peng; Wei, Fengxia; Du, Kezhao; Wang, Ning; Ba, Te; Feng, Shuanglong; Kloc, Christian

2014-01-01

The fluorination of p-type metal phthalocyanines produces n-type semiconductors, allowing the design of organic electronic circuits that contain inexpensive heterojunctions made from chemically and thermally stable p- and n-type organic semiconductors. For the evaluation of close to intrinsic transport properties, high-quality centimeter-sized single crystals of F16CuPc, F16CoPc and F16ZnPc have been grown. New crystal structures of F16CuPc, F16CoPc and F16ZnPc have been determined. Organic single-crystal field-effect transistors have been fabricated to study the effects of the central metal atom on their charge transport properties. The F16ZnPc has the highest electron mobility (~1.1 cm2 V−1 s−1). Theoretical calculations indicate that the crystal structure and electronic structure of the central metal atom determine the transport properties of fluorinated metal phthalocyanines. PMID:25524460

Fibromyalgia family and relationship impact exploratory survey.

PubMed

Marcus, Dawn A; Richards, Karen Lee; Chambers, Janet F; Bhowmick, Amrita

2013-09-01

Fibromyalgia is frequently associated with impairments in activities of daily living and work disability. Limited data have investigated the impact of fibromyalgia on relationships with family and friends. This exploratory study was designed to survey a large community sample of adults with fibromyalgia about the impact on the spouse/partner, children and close friends. A 40-question, multiple-choice survey was made available online for a two-month period, with potential participants recruited through fibromyalgia and migraine community websites. Items included questions about demographics, fibromyalgia symptoms, comorbid mood disturbance and relationship impact, including the Relationship Assessment Scale. The survey was completed by 6,126 adults who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Using updated diagnostic criteria from the American College of Rheumatology, 91% satisfied the criteria for fibromyalgia (Fibromyalgia Severity score ≥13 and pain ≥3 months). Half of participants endorsed that fibromyalgia had mildly to moderately damaged relationship(s) with their spouse(s)/partner(s) or contributed to a break-up with a spouse or partner. Half of participants scored as not being satisfied with their current spouse/partner relationship, with satisfaction negatively affected by the presence of mood disturbance symptoms and higher fibromyalgia severity. Relationships with children and close friends were also negatively impacted for a substantial minority of participants. In addition to physical impairments that are well documented among individuals with fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia can result in a substantial negative impact on important relationships with family and close friends. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Analysis on the urban street network of Korea: Connections between topology and meta-information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Byoung-Hwa; Jung, Woo-Sung

2018-05-01

Cities consist of infrastructure that enables transportation, which can be considered as topology in abstract terms. Once cities are physically organized in terms of infrastructure, people interact with each other to form the values, which can be regarded as the meta-information of the cities. The topology and meta-information coevolve together as the cities are developed. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the topology and meta-information for a street network, which has aspects of both a complex network and planar graph. The degree of organization of a street structure determines the efficiency and productivity of the city in that they act as blood vessels to transport people, goods, and information. We analyze the topological aspect of a street network using centralities including the betweenness, closeness, straightness, and information. We classify the cities into several groups that share common meta-information based on the centrality, indicating that the topological factor of the street structure is closely related to meta-information through coevolution. We also obtain the coevolution in the planned cities using the regularity. Another footprint is the relation between the street segment length and the population, which shows the sublinear scaling.

Image defog algorithm based on open close filter and gradient domain recursive bilateral filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Daqian; Liu, Wanjun; Zhao, Qingguo; Fei, Bowen

2017-11-01

To solve the problems of fuzzy details, color distortion, low brightness of the image obtained by the dark channel prior defog algorithm, an image defog algorithm based on open close filter and gradient domain recursive bilateral filter, referred to as OCRBF, was put forward. The algorithm named OCRBF firstly makes use of weighted quad tree to obtain more accurate the global atmospheric value, then exploits multiple-structure element morphological open and close filter towards the minimum channel map to obtain a rough scattering map by dark channel prior, makes use of variogram to correct the transmittance map,and uses gradient domain recursive bilateral filter for the smooth operation, finally gets recovery images by image degradation model, and makes contrast adjustment to get bright, clear and no fog image. A large number of experimental results show that the proposed defog method in this paper can be good to remove the fog , recover color and definition of the fog image containing close range image, image perspective, the image including the bright areas very well, compared with other image defog algorithms,obtain more clear and natural fog free images with details of higher visibility, what's more, the relationship between the time complexity of SIDA algorithm and the number of image pixels is a linear correlation.

The green eyed monster in the bottle: Relationship contingent self-esteem, romantic jealousy, and alcohol-related problems.

PubMed

DiBello, Angelo M; Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Hadden, Benjamin W; Neighbors, Clayton

2015-10-01

Previous research suggests that both jealousy and relationship contingent self-esteem (RCSE) are related to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. No work, however, has examined these two constructs together as they relate to motives for alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. The current study aims to build upon emerging literature examining different types of jealousy (i.e., emotional, cognitive, and behavioral), relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness), RCSE, and alcohol use. More specifically, the current study aimed to examine the associations between RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems, in the context of the different types of jealousy. Moreover, the current study aimed to assess whether the associations between RCSE, jealousy, and drinking outcomes vary as a function of relationship quality. Two hundred and seventy seven individuals (87% female) at a large southern university participated in the study. They completed measures of RCSE, relationship satisfaction, commitment, closeness, and jealousy as well as alcohol-related outcomes. Using PROCESS, moderated mediational analyses were used to evaluate different types of jealousy as mediators of the association between RCSE and drinking to cope/alcohol-related problems. Further, we aimed to examine whether relationship quality moderated the association between RCSE and jealousy in predicting alcohol-related variables. Results indicated that cognitive jealousy mediated the association between both RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems. Further, relationship satisfaction, commitment, and closeness were all found to moderate the association between RSCE and cognitive jealousy such that at lower, but not higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and closeness, cognitive jealousy mediated the association between RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Three-dimensional circulation structures leading to heavy summer rainfall over central North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wei; Yu, Rucong; Li, Jian; Yuan, Weihua

2016-04-01

Using daily and hourly rain gauge records and Japanese 25 year reanalysis data over 30 years, this work reveals two major circulation structures leading to heavy summer rainfall events in central North China (CNC), and further analyzes the effects of the circulations on these rainfall events. One circulation structure has an extensive upper tropospheric warm anomaly (UTWA) covering North China (NC). By strengthening the upper anticyclonic anomaly and lower southerly flows around NC, the UTWA plays a positive role in forming upper level divergence and lower level moisture convergence. As a result, the warm anomalous circulation has a solid relationship with large-scale, long-duration rainfall events with a diurnal peak around midnight to early morning. The other circulation structure has an upper tropospheric cold anomaly (UTCA) located in the upper stream of NC. Contributed to by the UTCA, a cold trough appears in the upper stream of NC and an unstable configuration with upper (lower) cold (warm) anomalies forms around CNC. Consequently, CNC is covered by strong instability and high convective energy, and the cold anomalous circulation is closely connected with local, short-duration rainfall events concentrated from late afternoon to early nighttime. The close connections between circulation structures and typical rainfall events are confirmed by two independent converse analysis processes: from circulations to rainfall characteristics, and from typical rainfall events to circulations. The results presented in this work indicate that the upper tropospheric temperature has significant influences on heavy rainfall, and thus more attention should be paid to the upper tropospheric temperature in future analyses.

Privacy online: up, close and personal.

PubMed

Tikk, Eneken

2017-01-01

In the era of information, administration of personal data protection mingles with expectations of access to information as well as the overall sense of cyber (in)security. A failure to appropriately consider the system of data processing relationships easily reduces personal data protection to assurances in letter. The complexity of contemporary data transactions demands a systemic and structured normative approach to personal data protection. Any evaluation of relevant norms should not be isolated from factors that determine or condition their implementation. As privacy is an intrinsically subjective claim, enforcing data privacy is premised on data subject's personal participation in the protection of her data.

[Research advance on role of Coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in tumor progression].

PubMed

Fan, Liang-Sheng; Chen, Gang; Ma, Ding

2009-03-01

Coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is originally identified as the cellular receptor of 2-and 5-type adenoviruses. Many researches have suggested that CAR can affect the growth, adhesive ability and cytoskeleton of tumor cells, and has complicated functions in metastasis and invasion of tumors. Moreover, the expression of CAR has close relationship with tumor prognosis and cytoreduction mediated by adenoviruses. CAR has become a new hotspot in the research on mechanism of tumor progression and gene therapy. Our review focuses on the structure and function of CAR and its role in mediating occurrence and progression of tumor.

γ-BUTYROBETAINE AS A SPECIFIC ANTAGONIST FOR CARNITINE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLY CHICK EMBRYO

PubMed Central

Ito, Toshio; Fraenkel, G.

1957-01-01

The effect of γ-butyrobetaine alone and with the addition of carnitine on the development of the early excised chick embryo has been studied. γ-Butyrobetaine in appropriate amounts exerts an inhibitory effect which can be relieved or annulled by the inclusion of appropriate amounts of carnitine. This has been interpreted as a metabolite-antimetabolite relationship, in which the normal metabolite, carnitine, is antagonized by the structurally closely related γ-butyrobetaine, and is regarded as evidence of an important role of carnitine in the metabolism of the developing chick embryo. PMID:13475691

[Criteria of radical sector resection in mastopathy].

PubMed

Sidorenko, L N; Sokolovskiĭ, R M

1978-02-01

Statistical investigations of morphological structure in 2 groups of patients with localized forms of fibroadenomatosis (93 observations) have been carried out. Histological findings of the morphological picture have been received both within the localized fibroadenomatosis sites and beyond them. The character of the distribution of morphological forms has been shown to remain the same in all the sites of a single and in both mammary glands. Close relationship between the morphological picture in the localized sites and in so called "normal" sites of the mammae has been established. This proves the expedience of radical sectoral resection and the necessity of longlasting conservative treatment.

NEUTRONIC REACTOR SHIELD AND SPACER CONSTRUCTION

DOEpatents

Wigner, E.P.; Ohlinger, L.A.

1958-11-18

Reactors of the heterogeneous, graphite moderated, fluid cooled type and shielding and spacing plugs for the coolant channels thereof are reported. In this design, the coolant passages extend horizontally through the moderator structure, accommodating the fuel elements in abutting end-to-end relationship, and have access openings through the outer shield at one face of the reactor to facilitate loading of the fuel elements. In the outer ends of the channels which extend through the shields are provided spacers and shielding plugs designed to offer minimal reslstance to coolant fluid flow while preventing emanation of harmful radiation through the access openings when closed between loadings.

Ecological dynamics across the Arctic associated with recent climate change.

PubMed

Post, Eric; Forchhammer, Mads C; Bret-Harte, M Syndonia; Callaghan, Terry V; Christensen, Torben R; Elberling, Bo; Fox, Anthony D; Gilg, Olivier; Hik, David S; Høye, Toke T; Ims, Rolf A; Jeppesen, Erik; Klein, David R; Madsen, Jesper; McGuire, A David; Rysgaard, Søren; Schindler, Daniel E; Stirling, Ian; Tamstorf, Mikkel P; Tyler, Nicholas J C; van der Wal, Rene; Welker, Jeffrey; Wookey, Philip A; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Aastrup, Peter

2009-09-11

At the close of the Fourth International Polar Year, we take stock of the ecological consequences of recent climate change in the Arctic, focusing on effects at population, community, and ecosystem scales. Despite the buffering effect of landscape heterogeneity, Arctic ecosystems and the trophic relationships that structure them have been severely perturbed. These rapid changes may be a bellwether of changes to come at lower latitudes and have the potential to affect ecosystem services related to natural resources, food production, climate regulation, and cultural integrity. We highlight areas of ecological research that deserve priority as the Arctic continues to warm.

Lessons learned.

PubMed

Hall, Richard L

2012-01-01

The paper discusses my early years, education, and life experiences, including aspects of my career at McCormick & Co., Inc. A major intensive effort, one that greatly influenced my career, was helping the flavor industry cope with the passage of the Food Additives Amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It resulted in a program now in its 51st year that is unique in the food industry. Other activities took me further into the fields of toxicology, structure/activity relationships, food safety, nutrition, and biotechnology. The paper closes with some observations on current challenges, and the steps that, in my opinion, we must take to meet them.

A new insight into the three-dimensional architecture of the Golgi complex: Characterization of unusual structures in epididymal principal cells

PubMed Central

Martínez-Martínez, Narcisa; Martínez-Alonso, Emma; Tomás, Mónica; Neumüller, Josef; Pavelka, Margit

2017-01-01

Principal epididymal cells have one of the largest and more developed Golgi complex of mammalian cells. In the present study, we have used this cell as model for the study of the three-dimensional architecture of the Golgi complex of highly secretory and endocytic cells. Electron tomography demonstrated the presence in this cell type of some unknown or very unusual Golgi structures such as branched cisternae, pocket-like cisternal invaginations or tubular connections. In addition, we have used this methodology and immunoelectron microscopy to analyze the close relationship between this organelle and both the endoplasmic reticulum and microtubules, and to describe in detail how these elements interact with compact and non-compact regions of the ribbon. PMID:28957389

Differential effects of triterpene glycosides, frondoside A and cucumarioside A2-2 isolated from sea cucumbers on caspase activation and apoptosis of human leukemia cells.

PubMed

Jin, Jun-O; Shastina, Valeria V; Shin, Sung-Won; Xu, Qi; Park, Joo-In; Rasskazov, Valery A; Avilov, Sergey A; Fedorov, Sergey N; Stonik, Valentin A; Kwak, Jong-Young

2009-02-18

Frondoside A is a pentaoside having an acetyl moiety at the aglycon ring and xylose as a third monosaccharide residue. Cucumarioside A(2)-2 is a pentaoside having glucose as a third monosaccahride unit. We compared the effects of frondoside A and A(2)-2 for cell death-inducing capability with close attention paid to structure-activity relationships. Both frondoside A and A(2)-2 strongly induced apoptosis of leukemic cells. Frondoside A-induced apoptosis was more potent and rapid than A(2)-2-induced apoptosis. A(2)-2-induced but not frondoside A-induced apoptosis was caspase-dependent. This suggests that holothurians may induce apoptosis of leukemic cells caspase-dependently or -independently, depending on the holothurian structure.

Can Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency Be Used to Characterize Students' Perceptions of the Affective Relationship with Their Teacher? Testing a New Child Measure in Middle Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Jellesma, Francine C.

2015-01-01

Background: The constructs of closeness, conflict, and dependency, which are derived from attachment theory, are widely used to qualify teachers' perceptions of relationships with individual children. Aims: Our main aim was to reveal whether similar and reliable dimensions could be identified in middle childhood with a newly developed student…

How are Closeness and Conflict in Student-Teacher Relationships Associated with Demographic Factors, School Functioning and Mental Health in Norwegian Schoolchildren Aged 6-13?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drugli, May Britt

2013-01-01

This study explored the association between teacher-reported student-teacher relationship quality (closeness and conflict) and demographic factors, school functioning and child mental health in a cross-sectional study. The study was conducted among a national sample of Norwegian school children (N?=?825) in grades 1 to 7. Bivariate analyses and…

Evidence for a close phylogenetic relationship between Melissococcus pluton, the causative agent of European foulbrood disease, and the genus Enterococcus.

PubMed

Cai, J; Collins, M D

1994-04-01

The 16S rRNA gene sequence of Melissococcus pluton, the causative agent of European foulbrood disease, was determined in order to investigate the phylogenetic relationships between this organism and other low-G + C-content gram-positive bacteria. A comparative sequence analysis revealed that M. pluton is a close phylogenetic relative of the genus Enterococcus.

Close Relationship between West Nile Virus from Turkey and Lineage 1 Strain from Central African Republic

PubMed Central

Ergunay, Koray; Bakonyi, Tamas; Nowotny, Norbert

2015-01-01

We sequenced West Nile viruses (WNVs) from Turkey and found close relationships to WNV lineage 1 strain ArB310/67 from the Central African Republic, distinct from other WNVs circulating in the Mediterranean Basin, eastern Europe, and the Middle East. These findings suggest independent introductions of WNV strains from Africa to the Middle East. PMID:25625703

Coping with early stage breast cancer: examining the influence of personality traits and interpersonal closeness.

PubMed

Saita, Emanuela; Acquati, Chiara; Kayser, Karen

2015-01-01

The study examines the influence of personality traits and close relationships on the coping style of women with breast cancer. A sample of 72 Italian patients receiving treatment for early stage breast cancer was recruited. Participants completed questionnaires measuring personality traits (Interpersonal Adaptation Questionnaire), interpersonal closeness (Inclusion of the Other in the Self Scale), and adjustment to cancer (Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale). We hypothesized that diverse personality traits and degrees of closeness contribute to determine the coping styles shown by participants. Multiple regression analyses were conducted for each of the five coping styles (Helplessness/Hopelessness, Anxious Preoccupation, Avoidance, Fatalism, and Fighting Spirit) using personality traits and interpersonal closeness variables (Strength of Support Relations, and Number of Support Relations) as predictors. Women who rated high on assertiveness and social anxiety were more likely to utilize active coping strategies (Fighting Spirit). Perceived strength of relationships was predictive of using an active coping style while the number of supportive relationships did not correlate with any of the coping styles. Implications for assessment of breast cancer patients at risk for negative adaptation to the illness and the development of psychosocial interventions are discussed.

The Relationship Between Perceived Hookup Attitudes and Negative Hookup Consequences: Do Perceived Attitudes of Close Friends Matter?

PubMed

Montes, Kevin S; Blanco, Lyzette; LaBrie, Joseph W

2017-01-01

Research suggests that the perceived hookup attitudes of close referents are generally a poor predictor of hookup behavior and likely a poor direct predictor of negative hookup consequences. The current study aimed to examine three intervening variables as mediators of the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of college students' close friends and negative hookup consequences (e.g., regret, embarrassment). Self-report data were collected from 589 heavy-drinking college students from three midsized universities. The results indicated that students' own attitudes toward hooking up, motivation to hook up, and self-reported number of hookup partners significantly mediated the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of close friends and negative hookup consequences. The perceived hookup attitudes of close friends were positively associated with participants' attitudes toward hooking up. Participants' attitudes toward hooking up were positively associated with social-sexual motivation to hook up. Elevated social-sexual motivation to hook up was positively associated with hooking up with multiple partners, with hooking up with multiple partners positively associated with negative hookup consequences. A better understanding of the predictors and mediators of negative hookup consequences has the potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts.

Relational mobility explains between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends.

PubMed

Schug, Joanna; Yuki, Masaki; Maddux, William

2010-10-01

In the current research, we tested a novel explanation for previously demonstrated findings that East Asians disclose less personal information to other people than do Westerners. We propose that both between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends may be explained by the construct of relational mobility, the general degree to which individuals in a society have opportunities to form new relationships and terminate old ones. In Study 1, we found that cross-cultural differences (Japan vs. United States) in self-disclosure to a close friend were mediated by individuals' perceptions of relational mobility. In Study 2, two separate measures of relational mobility predicted self-disclosure within a single culture (Japan), and this relationship was mediated by the motivation to engage in self-disclosure to strengthen personal relationships. We conclude that societies and social contexts higher in relational mobility (in which relationships can be formed and dissolved relatively easily) produce stronger incentives for self-disclosure as a social-commitment device.

Postdivorce Father-Adolescent Closeness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Mindy E.; Booth, Alan; King, Valarie; Johnson, David R.

2007-01-01

Research indicates that closeness of the father-child bond following parental divorce is associated with better outcomes for children and adolescents. Unlike other investigations, this study takes a long-term developmental approach to understanding stability and change in postdivorce father-adolescent relationship closeness. Drawing on Add Health…

Unbalanced-flow, fluid-mixing plug with metering capabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

England, John Dwight (Inventor); Kelley, Anthony R. (Inventor); Van Buskirk, Paul D. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A fluid mixer plug has holes formed therethrough such that a remaining portion is closed to fluid flow. The plug's inlet face defines a central circuit region and a ring-shaped region with the ring-shaped region including at least some of the plug's remaining portion so-closed to fluid flow. This remaining portion or closed region at each radius R of the ring shaped region satisfies a radius independent, flow-based relationship. Entry openings are defined in the plug's inlet face in correspondence with the holes. The entry openings define an open flow area at each radius of the ring-shaped region. The open flow area at each such radius satisfies the inverse of the flow-based relationship defining the closed regions of the plug.

Benefits of negative social exchanges for emotional closeness.

PubMed

Fung, Helene H; Yeung, Dannii Y; Li, Kin-Kit; Lang, Frieder R

2009-09-01

Negative exchanges in social relationships have traditionally been studied as having negative consequences. This study explored whether they might have positive effects for relationship closeness. The sample included 351 adults, aged between 18 and 91 years, residing in Hong Kong, China. Closeness of social partners to the participants was measured by the Social Convoy Questionnaire, and the levels of negative exchanges and social support from each social partner were assessed. Multilevel analyses revealed that more negative exchanges were associated with a more positive change in closeness over a 2-year period, even after statistically controlling for social support and sociostructural characteristics of the participant and the social partner. Findings extended our knowledge on the positive effects of negative exchanges and their moderating conditions.

Social relationships and GP use of middle-aged and older adults in Europe: a moderator analysis.

PubMed

Bremer, Daniel; Lüdecke, Daniel; Vonneilich, Nico; von dem Knesebeck, Olaf

2018-04-07

This paper investigates (1) how social relationships (SRs) relate to the frequency of general practitioner (GP) visits among middle-aged and older adults in Europe, (2) if SRs moderate the association between self-rated health and GP visits, and (3) how the associations vary regarding employment status. Data stem from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe project (wave 4, 56 989 respondents, 50 years or older). GP use was assessed by frequency of contacts with GPs in the last 12 months. Predictors were self-rated health and structural (Social Integration Index (SII), social contact frequency) and functional (emotional closeness) aspects of SR. Regressions were used to measure the associations between GP use and those predictors. Sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors were used as covariates. Additional models were computed with interactions. Analyses did not reveal significant associations of functional and structural aspects of SR with frequency of GP visits (SII: incidence rate ratio (IRR)=0.99, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.01, social contact frequency: IRR=1.04, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.07, emotional closeness: IRR=1.02, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04). Moderator analyses showed that 'high social contact frequency people' with better health had more statistically significant GP visits than 'low social contact frequency people' with better health. Furthermore, people with poor health and an emotionally close network showed a significantly higher number of GP visits compared with people with same health, but less close networks. Three-way interaction analyses indicated employment status specific behavioural patterns with regard to SR and GP use, but coefficients were mostly not significant. All in all, the not employed groups showed a higher number of GP visits. Different indicators of SR showed statistically insignificantly associations with GP visits. Consequently, the relevance of SR may be rated rather low in quantitative terms for investigating GP use behaviour of middle-aged and older adults in Europe. Nevertheless, investigating the two-way and three-way interactions indicated potential inequalities in GP use due to different characteristics of SR accounting for health and employment status. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Centripetal myosin redistribution in thrombin-stimulated platelets. Relationship to platelet Factor 4 secretion.

PubMed

Painter, R G; Ginsberg, M H

1984-11-01

We have examined the F-actin and myosin distribution in resting and thrombin-activated platelets by double label immunofluorescence microscopy. In resting, discoid platelets, F-actin and myosin staining was distributed in a diffuse pattern throughout the interior of the cell with slight accentuation at the cell periphery. In contrast, platelet factor 4 antigen (PF4) was more centrally localized in a fine punctate distribution which is consistent with its localization in alpha-granules. Within 5 sec after thrombin stimulation both F-actin and myosin staining were increased at the periphery of the now spherical platelets. Subsequently, a myosin-containing spherical structure decreased in diameter closely surrounding a phase-dense central zone. In contrast, F-actin staining continued to be accentuated at the cell periphery and was prominent in filopodia and blebs. As previously shown, PF4 staining was localized after 30 sec within large intracellular masses that corresponded to closed vacuolar structures at the ultrastructural level. Morphometric analysis of electron micrographs showed that formation of these vacuolar structures kinetically paralleled alpha-granule disappearance and preceded PF4 release. These PF4-containing structures translocated to the cell periphery after 1-3 min, where they appeared to fuse with the plasma membrane. Ultrastructural analysis of thin sections showed that the myosin-rich spherical structure spatially and temporally correlated with a band of microfilaments that closely surrounded the organelle-rich central zone of the cell. Morphometric analysis of these micrographs showed that the absolute volume of this central zone decreased with time after thrombin addition, showing a significant change after 15 sec and reaching a maximum value after 3-5 min. Changes in the volume of this compartment kinetically preceded PF4 release. On the basis of these data, we propose that an actomyosin contractile force is generated which centripetally redistributes the myosinrich structure and organelle zone. Conceivably this inward force may not only accelerate granule-granule fusion to form intracellular secretory vacuoles, but may also provide aid in their extrusion toward the platelet plasma membrane.

The Knaster-Kuratowski-Mazurkiewicz theorem and abstract convexities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cain, George L., Jr.; González, Luis

2008-02-01

The Knaster-Kuratowski-Mazurkiewicz covering theorem (KKM), is the basic ingredient in the proofs of many so-called "intersection" theorems and related fixed point theorems (including the famous Brouwer fixed point theorem). The KKM theorem was extended from Rn to Hausdorff linear spaces by Ky Fan. There has subsequently been a plethora of attempts at extending the KKM type results to arbitrary topological spaces. Virtually all these involve the introduction of some sort of abstract convexity structure for a topological space, among others we could mention H-spaces and G-spaces. We have introduced a new abstract convexity structure that generalizes the concept of a metric space with a convex structure, introduced by E. Michael in [E. Michael, Convex structures and continuous selections, Canad. J. MathE 11 (1959) 556-575] and called a topological space endowed with this structure an M-space. In an article by Shie Park and Hoonjoo Kim [S. Park, H. Kim, Coincidence theorems for admissible multifunctions on generalized convex spaces, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 197 (1996) 173-187], the concepts of G-spaces and metric spaces with Michael's convex structure, were mentioned together but no kind of relationship was shown. In this article, we prove that G-spaces and M-spaces are close related. We also introduce here the concept of an L-space, which is inspired in the MC-spaces of J.V. Llinares [J.V. Llinares, Unified treatment of the problem of existence of maximal elements in binary relations: A characterization, J. Math. Econom. 29 (1998) 285-302], and establish relationships between the convexities of these spaces with the spaces previously mentioned.

Phase equilibria in the NaF-CdO-NaPO3 system at 873 K and crystal structure and physico-chemical characterizations of the new Na2CdPO4F fluorophosphate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aboussatar, Mohamed; Mbarek, Aïcha; Naili, Houcine; El-Ghozzi, Malika; Chadeyron, Geneviève; Avignant, Daniel; Zambon, Daniel

2017-04-01

Isothermal sections of the diagram representing phase relationships in the NaF-CdO-NaPO3 system have been investigated by solid state reactions and powder X-ray diffraction. This phase diagram investigation confirms the polymorphism of the NaCdPO4 side component and the structure of the ß high temperature polymorph (orthorhombic, space group Pnma and unit cell parameters a=9.3118(2), b=7.0459(1), c=5.1849(1) Å has been refined. A new fluorophosphate, Na2CdPO4F, has been discovered and its crystal structure determined and refined from powder X-ray diffraction data. It exhibits a new 3D structure with orthorhombic symmetry, space group Pnma and unit cell parameters a=5.3731(1), b=6.8530(1), c=12.2691(2) Å. The structure is closely related to those of the high temperature polymorph of the nacaphite Na2CaPO4F and the fluorosilicate Ca2NaSiO4F but differs essentially in the cationic repartition since the structure is fully ordered with one Na site (8d) and one Cd site (4c). Relationships with other Na2MIIPO4F (MII=Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) have been examined and the crystal-chemical and topographical analysis of these fluorophosphates is briefly reviewed. IR, Raman, optical and 19F, 23Na, 31P MAS NMR characterizations of Na2CdPO4F have been investigated.

Relationship between Molecular Structure Characteristics of Feed Proteins and Protein In vitro Digestibility and Solubility.

PubMed

Bai, Mingmei; Qin, Guixin; Sun, Zewei; Long, Guohui

2016-08-01

The nutritional value of feed proteins and their utilization by livestock are related not only to the chemical composition but also to the structure of feed proteins, but few studies thus far have investigated the relationship between the structure of feed proteins and their solubility as well as digestibility in monogastric animals. To address this question we analyzed soybean meal, fish meal, corn distiller's dried grains with solubles, corn gluten meal, and feather meal by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the protein molecular spectral band characteristics for amides I and II as well as α-helices and β-sheets and their ratios. Protein solubility and in vitro digestibility were measured with the Kjeldahl method using 0.2% KOH solution and the pepsin-pancreatin two-step enzymatic method, respectively. We found that all measured spectral band intensities (height and area) of feed proteins were correlated with their the in vitro digestibility and solubility (p≤0.003); moreover, the relatively quantitative amounts of α-helices, random coils, and α-helix to β-sheet ratio in protein secondary structures were positively correlated with protein in vitro digestibility and solubility (p≤0.004). On the other hand, the percentage of β-sheet structures was negatively correlated with protein in vitro digestibility (p<0.001) and solubility (p = 0.002). These results demonstrate that the molecular structure characteristics of feed proteins are closely related to their in vitro digestibility at 28 h and solubility. Furthermore, the α-helix-to-β-sheet ratio can be used to predict the nutritional value of feed proteins.

Relationship between Molecular Structure Characteristics of Feed Proteins and Protein In vitro Digestibility and Solubility

PubMed Central

Bai, Mingmei; Qin, Guixin; Sun, Zewei; Long, Guohui

2016-01-01

The nutritional value of feed proteins and their utilization by livestock are related not only to the chemical composition but also to the structure of feed proteins, but few studies thus far have investigated the relationship between the structure of feed proteins and their solubility as well as digestibility in monogastric animals. To address this question we analyzed soybean meal, fish meal, corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles, corn gluten meal, and feather meal by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the protein molecular spectral band characteristics for amides I and II as well as α-helices and β-sheets and their ratios. Protein solubility and in vitro digestibility were measured with the Kjeldahl method using 0.2% KOH solution and the pepsin-pancreatin two-step enzymatic method, respectively. We found that all measured spectral band intensities (height and area) of feed proteins were correlated with their the in vitro digestibility and solubility (p≤0.003); moreover, the relatively quantitative amounts of α-helices, random coils, and α-helix to β-sheet ratio in protein secondary structures were positively correlated with protein in vitro digestibility and solubility (p≤0.004). On the other hand, the percentage of β-sheet structures was negatively correlated with protein in vitro digestibility (p<0.001) and solubility (p = 0.002). These results demonstrate that the molecular structure characteristics of feed proteins are closely related to their in vitro digestibility at 28 h and solubility. Furthermore, the α-helix-to-β-sheet ratio can be used to predict the nutritional value of feed proteins. PMID:26954145

Exploring the Structure of the Voltage-gated Na+ Channel by an Engineered Drug Access Pathway to the Receptor Site for Local Anesthetics*

PubMed Central

Lukacs, Peter; Gawali, Vaibhavkumar S.; Cervenka, Rene; Ke, Song; Koenig, Xaver; Rubi, Lena; Zarrabi, Touran; Hilber, Karlheinz; Stary-Weinzinger, Anna; Todt, Hannes

2014-01-01

Despite the availability of several crystal structures of bacterial voltage-gated Na+ channels, the structure of eukaryotic Na+ channels is still undefined. We used predictions from available homology models and crystal structures to modulate an external access pathway for the membrane-impermeant local anesthetic derivative QX-222 into the internal vestibule of the mammalian rNaV1.4 channel. Potassium channel-based homology models predict amino acid Ile-1575 in domain IV segment 6 to be in close proximity to Lys-1237 of the domain III pore-loop selectivity filter. The mutation K1237E has been shown previously to increase the diameter of the selectivity filter. We found that an access pathway for external QX-222 created by mutations of Ile-1575 was abolished by the additional mutation K1237E, supporting the notion of a close spatial relationship between sites 1237 and 1575. Crystal structures of bacterial voltage-gated Na+ channels predict that the side chain of rNaV1.4 Trp-1531 of the domain IV pore-loop projects into the space between domain IV segment 6 and domain III pore-loop and, therefore, should obstruct the putative external access pathway. Indeed, mutations W1531A and W1531G allowed for exceptionally rapid access of QX-222. In addition, W1531G created a second non-selective ion-conducting pore, bypassing the outer vestibule but probably merging into the internal vestibule, allowing for control by the activation gate. These data suggest a strong structural similarity between bacterial and eukaryotic voltage-gated Na+ channels. PMID:24947510

Aqueous turbulence structure immediately adjacent to the air - water interface and interfacial gas exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Binbin

Air-sea interaction and the interfacial exchange of gas across the air-water interface are of great importance in coupled atmospheric-oceanic environmental systems. Aqueous turbulence structure immediately adjacent to the air-water interface is the combined result of wind, surface waves, currents and other environmental forces and plays a key role in energy budgets, gas fluxes and hence the global climate system. However, the quantification of turbulence structure sufficiently close to the air-water interface is extremely difficult. The physical relationship between interfacial gas exchange and near surface turbulence remains insufficiently investigated. This dissertation aims to measure turbulence in situ in a complex environmental forcing system on Lake Michigan and to reveal the relationship between turbulent statistics and the CO2 flux across the air-water interface. The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate the physical control of the interfacial gas exchange and to provide a universal parameterization of gas transfer velocity from environmental factors, as well as to propose a mechanistic model for the global CO2 flux that can be applied in three dimensional climate-ocean models. Firstly, this dissertation presents an advanced measurement instrument, an in situ free floating Particle Image Velocimetry (FPIV) system, designed and developed to investigate the small scale turbulence structure immediately below the air-water interface. Description of hardware components, design of the system, measurement theory, data analysis procedure and estimation of measurement error were provided. Secondly, with the FPIV system, statistics of small scale turbulence immediately below the air-water interface were investigated under a variety of environmental conditions. One dimensional wave-number spectrum and structure function sufficiently close to the water surface were examined. The vertical profiles of turbulent dissipation rate were intensively studied. Comparison between the turbulence structures measured during the wind wave initiation period and those obtained during the growing period was presented. Significant wave effects on near surface turbulence were found. A universal scaling law was proposed to parameterize turbulent dissipation rate immediately below the air-water interface with friction velocity, significant wave height and wave age. Finally, the gas transfer velocity was measured with a floating chamber (FC) system, along with simultaneously FPIV measurements. Turbulent dissipation rate both at the interface and at a short distance away from the interface (~ 10 cm) were analyzed and used to examine the small scale eddy model. The model coefficient was found to be dependent on the level of turbulence, instead of being a constant. An empirical relationship between the model coefficient and turbulent dissipation rate was provided, which improved the accuracy of the gas transfer velocity estimation by more than 100% for data acquired. Other data from the literature also supported this empirical relation. Furthermore, the relationship between model coefficient and turbulent Reynolds number was also investigated. In addition to physical control of gas exchange, the disturbance on near surface hydrodynamics by the FC was also discussed. Turbulent dissipation rates are enhanced at the short distance away from the interface, while the surface dissipation rates do not change significantly.

Flow-structure interaction simulation of voice production in a canine larynx

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Weili; Zheng, Xudong; Xue, Qian; Oren, Liran; Khosla, Sid

2017-11-01

Experimental measurements conducted on a hemi-larynx canine vocal fold showed that negative pressures formed in the glottis near the superior surface of the vocal fold in the closing phase even without a supra-glottal vocal tract. It was hypothesized that such negative pressures were due to intraglottal vortices caused by flow separation in a divergent vocal tract during vocal fold closing phase. This work aims to test this hypothesis from the numerical aspect. Flow-structure interaction simulations are performed in realistic canine laryngeal shapes. In the simulations, a sharp interface immersed boundary method based incompressible flow solver is utilized to model the air flow; a finite element based solid mechanics solver is utilized to model the vocal fold vibration. The geometric structure of the vocal fold and vocal tract are based on MRI scans of a mongrel canine. The vocal fold tissue is modeled as transversely isotropic nonlinear materials with a vertical stiffness gradient. Numerical indentation is first performed and compared with the experiment data to obtain the material properties. Simulation setup about the inlet and outlet pressure follows the setup in the experiment. Simulation results including the fundamental frequency, air flow rate, the divergent angle will be compared with the experimental data, providing the validation of the simulation approach. The relationship between flow separation, intra-glottal vortices, divergent angle and flow rate will be comprehensively analyzed.

Salt bridges: geometrically specific, designable interactions.

PubMed

Donald, Jason E; Kulp, Daniel W; DeGrado, William F

2011-03-01

Salt bridges occur frequently in proteins, providing conformational specificity and contributing to molecular recognition and catalysis. We present a comprehensive analysis of these interactions in protein structures by surveying a large database of protein structures. Salt bridges between Asp or Glu and His, Arg, or Lys display extremely well-defined geometric preferences. Several previously observed preferences are confirmed, and others that were previously unrecognized are discovered. Salt bridges are explored for their preferences for different separations in sequence and in space, geometric preferences within proteins and at protein-protein interfaces, co-operativity in networked salt bridges, inclusion within metal-binding sites, preference for acidic electrons, apparent conformational side chain entropy reduction on formation, and degree of burial. Salt bridges occur far more frequently between residues at close than distant sequence separations, but, at close distances, there remain strong preferences for salt bridges at specific separations. Specific types of complex salt bridges, involving three or more members, are also discovered. As we observe a strong relationship between the propensity to form a salt bridge and the placement of salt-bridging residues in protein sequences, we discuss the role that salt bridges might play in kinetically influencing protein folding and thermodynamically stabilizing the native conformation. We also develop a quantitative method to select appropriate crystal structure resolution and B-factor cutoffs. Detailed knowledge of these geometric and sequence dependences should aid de novo design and prediction algorithms. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evolution of the Bucium Rodu and Frasin magmatic-hydrothermal system, Metaliferi Mountains, Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iatan, Elena Luisa; Berbeleac, Ion; Visan, Madalina; Minut, Adrian; Nadasan, Laurentiu

2013-04-01

The Miocene Bucium Rodu and Frasin maar-diatreme structures and related Au-Ag epithermal low sulfidation with passing to mesothermal mineralizations are located in the Bucium-Rosia Montana-Baia de Aries metallogenetic district, within so called the "Golden Quatrilaterum", in the northeastern part of the Metaliferi Mountains. These structures are situated at about 5 km southeast from Rosia Montana, the largest European Au-Ag deposit. The total reserves for Bucium Rodu-Frasin are estimated at 43.3 Mt with average contents of 1.3 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag. The Miocene geological evolution of Bucium Rodu and Frasin magmatic-hydrothermal system took place in closely relationships with tectonic, magmatic and metallogenetic activity from Bucium-Rosia Montana-Baia de Aries district in general, and adjacent areas, in special. The hydrothermal alteration is pervasive; adularia followed by phyllic, carbonatization and silicification alterations, usually show a close relationship with the mineralizations. Propylitic alteration occurs dominantly towards the depth; argillic alteration shows a local character. The mineralization occurs in veins, breccias, stockworks and disseminations and is hosted within two volcanic structures emplaced into a sequence of Cretaceous sediments in closely genetically relations with the Miocene phreatomagmatic fracturing and brecciation events. Within Rodu maar-diatreme structure the mineralizations follow especially the contact between the diatreme and Cretaceous flysch. The vein sets with low, moderately and near vertical dippings, cover 400x400m with N-S trend. The most important mineralization style is represented by veins, accompanied by hydrothermal breccias and disseminations. The veins spatial distribution relives as "en echelon" tension veins. They carry gold, minor base metal sulphides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, arsenopyrite). Gangue is represented by carbonates (calcite, dolomite, ankerite, siderite, rhodochrosite) and quartz. In contrast, in Frasin maar-diatreme structure, the mineralizations are focused especially along the northeastern contact between the andesite dome and polimictic breccias. Stockwork is the main style of mineralization and consists of pyrite, small amounts of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, arsenopyrite and gold within a gangue of quartz and carbonates similar to Rodu mineralizations. The ore minerals deposition from hydrothermal fluids have pulsated character with a three stage evolution and mineral assemblages: 1) magnetite (hematite) - pyrite (marcasite) - quartz in the first stage, epithermal low sulfidation with passing to mesothermal; 2) arsenopyrite (Au) - (-base metal sulfides) - quartz, "Chinga" (pyrite (Au)-quartz-adularia) - carbonates (calcite, aragonite, dolomite, ankerite, ± rhodochrosite ± kutnahorite) - quartz - adularia in the second stage, epithermal low sulfidation and 3) pyrite - marcasite - carbonates - quartz, (Au) - carbonates (dominant rhodochrosite) - quartz - adularia and alabandite - rhodochrosite - quartz in the third stage, epithermal low sulfidation. The mineralizing hydrothermal fluids had near neutral pH with the gold transported probably as a bisulfide complex; boiling seems to be the main way of gold precipitation.

Development and Lability in the Parent-Child Relationship During Adolescence: Associations With Pubertal Timing and Tempo

PubMed Central

Marceau, Kristine; Ram, Nilam; Susman, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Adolescents' and parents' reactions to pubertal development are hypothesized to contribute to changes in family dynamics. Using 7-year longitudinal data from the NICHD-SECCYD (488 boys, 475 girls) we examined relations between pubertal development (timing, tempo) and trajectories (developmental change and year-to-year lability) of parent-child conflict and closeness from age 8.5 to 15.5 years. Changes were mostly characterized by year-to-year fluctuations – lability. Parent-child conflict increased and closeness decreased some with age. Pubertal timing and tempo were more consistently associated with lability in parent-child relationships than with long-term trends, although faster tempo was associated with steeper decreases in parent-child closeness. Findings provide a platform for examining how puberty contributes to both long-term and transient changes in adolescents' relationships and adjustment. PMID:26321856

Close relationships between Asian American and European American college students.

PubMed

Chen, C; Edwards, K; Young, B; Greenberger, E

2001-02-01

The authors examined attitudes and behaviors regarding close relationships between European and Asian Americans, with a particular emphasis on 5 major subgroups of Asian Americans (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino Americans). Participants were 218 Asian American college students and 171 European American college students attending a culturally diverse university. The European Americans did not differentiate among the various subgroups of Asian Americans. Their attitudes regarding close relationships were less positive toward Asian Americans than toward Mexican and African Americans, a finding contrary to the prediction of social exchange theory (H. Tajfel, 1975). In contrast to the European Americans' view of homogeneity among Asian Americans, the 5 major subgroups of Asian Americans expressed a distinctive hierarchy of social preference among themselves. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research on interethnic relations involving Asian Americans.

Social support and antenatal depression in extended and nuclear family environments in Turkey: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Senturk, Vesile; Abas, Melanie; Berksun, Oguz; Stewart, Robert

2011-03-24

Social support is strongly implicated in the aetiology of perinatal mental disorder: particularly the quality of the marital and family environment. Family structures are important under-researched potential modifiers. Turkey offers particular advantages for research in this area because of long-standing coexistence of Western and Middle Eastern family structures. We aimed to investigate associations between the quality of key relationships and depression in women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and the extent to which these associations were modified by family structure. Women attending antenatal clinics in their third trimester were recruited from urban and rural settings in Ankara. A nuclear family structure was defined as a wife and husband living alone or with their children in the same household, whereas a traditional/extended family structure was defined if another adult was living with the married couple in the same household. Depression was ascertained using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and social support was assessed by the Close Person Questionnaire with respect to the husband, mother and mother-in-law. Social support was compared between participants with/without case-level depression on the EPDS in linear regression models adjusted for relevant covariates, then stratified by nuclear/traditional family structure. Of 772 women approached, 751 (97.3%) participated and 730 (94.6%) had sufficient data for this analysis. Prevalence of case-level depression was 33.1% and this was associated with lower social support from all three family members but not with traditional/nuclear family structure. The association between depression and lower emotional support from the husband was significantly stronger in traditional compared to nuclear family environments. Lower quality of relationships between key family members was strongly associated with third trimester depression. Family structure modified the association but, contrary to expectations, spousal emotional support was a stronger correlate of antenatal depression in traditional rather than nuclear family settings. Previous psychiatric history was not formally ascertained and the temporal relationship between mood state and social support needs to be clarified. © 2011 Senturk et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Analysis of the Explanatory Variables of the Differences in Perceptions of Cyberbullying: A Role-Based-Model Approach.

PubMed

Fernández-Antelo, Inmaculada; Cuadrado-Gordillo, Isabel

2018-04-01

The controversies that exist regarding the delimitation of the cyberbullying construct demonstrate the need for further research focused on determining the criteria that shape the structure of the perceptions that adolescents have of this phenomenon and on seeking explanations of this behavior. The objectives of this study were to (a) construct possible explanatory models of the perception of cyberbullying from identifying and relating the criteria that form this construct and (b) analyze the influence of previous cyber victimization and cyber aggression experiences in the construction of explanatory models of the perception of cyberbullying. The sample consisted of 2,148 adolescents (49.1% girls; SD = 0.5) aged from 12 to 16 years ( M = 13.9 years; SD = 1.2). The results have shown that previous cyber victimization and cyber aggression experiences lead to major differences in the explanatory models to interpret cyber-abusive behavior as cyberbullying episodes, or as social relationship mechanisms, or as a revenge reaction. We note that the aggressors' explanatory model is based primarily on a strong reciprocal relationship between the imbalance of power and intentionality, that it functions as a link promoting indirect causal relationships of the anonymity and repetition factors with the cyberbullying construct. The victims' perceptual structure is based on three criteria-imbalance of power, intentionality, and publicity-where the key factor in this structure is the intention to harm. These results allow to design more effective measures of prevention and intervention closely tailored to addressing directly the factors that are considered to be predictors of risk.

Interphyletic relationships in the use of nesting cavities: mutualism, competition and amensalism among hymenopterans and vertebrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veiga, José P.; Wamiti, Wanyoike; Polo, Vicente; Muchai, Muchane

2013-09-01

Although competition is usually assumed to be the most common interaction between closely related organisms that share limiting resources, the relationships linking distant taxa that use the same nesting sites are poorly understood. In the present study, we examine the interactions among social hymenopterans (honeybees and wasps) and vertebrates in tropical ecosystems of East Africa. By analysing the preferences of these three groups for nest boxes that were empty or previously occupied by a different taxon, we try to establish whether the relationships among them are commensal, mutualistic, competitive or amensal. Vertebrates and honeybees selected nest boxes that had previously been occupied by the other, which suggests that each obtains some benefit from the other. This relationship can be considered mutualistic, although a mutual preference for each others' nests does not exclude a competitive interaction. Vertebrates and wasps preferred nest boxes not previously occupied by the other, which suggests that they compete for tree cavities. Finally, wasps seemed to completely refuse cavities previously used by honeybees, while the bees occupied cavities regardless of whether they had been previously used by wasps, an apparently amensal relationship. These results indicate that the interdependence between distantly related taxa is stronger and more complex than previously described, which may have important implications for population dynamics and community structure.

A Framework for Integrating Multiple Biological Networks to Predict MicroRNA-Disease Associations.

PubMed

Peng, Wei; Lan, Wei; Yu, Zeng; Wang, Jianxin; Pan, Yi

2017-03-01

MicroRNAs have close relationship with human diseases. Therefore, identifying disease related MicroRNAs plays an important role in disease diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. However, designing an effective computational method which can make good use of various biological resources and correctly predict the associations between MicroRNA and disease is still a big challenge. Previous researchers have pointed out that there are complex relationships among microRNAs, diseases and environment factors. There are inter-relationships between microRNAs, diseases or environment factors based on their functional similarity or phenotype similarity or chemical structure similarity and so on. There are also intra-relationships between microRNAs and diseases, microRNAs and environment factors, diseases and environment factors. Moreover, functionally similar microRNAs tend to associate with common diseases and common environment factors. The diseases with similar phenotypes are likely caused by common microRNAs and common environment factors. In this work, we propose a framework namely ThrRWMDE which can integrate these complex relationships to predict microRNA-disease associations. In this framework, microRNA similarity network (MFN), disease similarity network (DSN) and environmental factor similarity network (ESN) are constructed according to certain biological properties. Then, an unbalanced three random walking algorithm is implemented on the three networks so as to obtain information from neighbors in corresponding networks. This algorithm not only can flexibly infer information from different levels of neighbors with respect to the topological and structural differences of the three networks, but also in the course of working the functional information will be transferred from one network to another according to the associations between the nodes in different networks. The results of experiment show that our method achieves better prediction performance than other state-of-the-art methods.

Evaluation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Rubia cordifolia L. by spectrum-effect relationships.

PubMed

Shen, Cai-Hong; Liu, Cui-Ting; Song, Xiao-Juan; Zeng, Wei-Ya; Lu, Xiao-Ying; Zheng, Zuo-Liang; Jie-Pan; Zhan, Ruo-Ting; Ping-Yan

2018-07-15

The objective of the current work was to evaluate the spectrum-effect relationships between high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints and analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of Rubia cordifolia L. extract (RCE), and to identify active components of RCE. Chemical fingerprints of ten batches of RC from various sources were obtained by HPLC, and similarity and hierarchical clustering analyses were carried out. Pharmacodynamic assays were performed in adjuvant-induced arthritis rat model to assess the analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of RCE. The spectrum-effect relationships between chemical fingerprints and the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of RCE were established by gray correlation analysis. UPLC-ESI-MS was used to identify the structures of potential active components, by reference standards comparison. The results showed that a close correlation existed between chemical fingerprints with analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, and alizarin, 6-hydroxyrubiadin, purpurin and rubiadin might be the active constituents of RCE. In addition, RCE attenuated pathological changes in adjuvant-induced arthritis. The current findings provide a strong basis for combining chemical fingerprints with analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in assessing the spectrum-effect relationships of RCE. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The use of social networking sites for relationship maintenance in long-distance and geographically close romantic relationships.

PubMed

Billedo, Cherrie Joy; Kerkhof, Peter; Finkenauer, Catrin

2015-03-01

Social networking sites (SNS) play an increasingly important role in maintaining geographically close romantic relationships (GCRR). However, knowledge about SNS use in long-distance romantic relationships (LDRR) is still lacking. The present study examined the relative importance of SNS in maintaining LDRR compared to GCRR, particularly with regard to the use of SNS to express involvement (via relational maintenance behaviors) and to gauge a partner's involvement (via partner surveillance and jealousy) in the relationship. An online survey was conducted among predominantly young adult Facebook users who were in a romantic relationship (N=272). Results showed that participants who were in a LDRR reported higher levels of relational maintenance behaviors through SNS than participants who were in a GCRR. Also, as compared to participants who were in a GCRR, participants who were in a LDRR used SNS more for partner surveillance and experienced higher levels of SNS jealousy.