Risk and protective factors associated with grandparent kinship caregivers' psychological distress in COVID-19: Kinship license status as a moderator.

COVID-19 and its related policy measures have increased the psychological distress of individuals, including grandparent kinship caregivers. Guided by the Resilience Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, this study examines relationships between material hardship, parenting stress, social support, resilience and psychological distress of grandparent kinship caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the moderating role of kinship license status on these relationships. Kinship care licensing is a prerequisite to receiving financial assistance and other supporting services from the government.

Modulation of electrophoresis, electroosmosis and diffusion for electrical transport of proteins through a solid-state nanopore.

Nanopore probing of molecular level transport of proteins is strongly influenced by electrolyte type, concentration, and solution pH. As a result, electrolyte chemistry and applied voltage are critical for protein transport and impact, for example, capture rate ( ), transport mechanism (, electrophoresis, electroosmosis or diffusion), and 3D conformation (, chaotropic kosmotropic effects). In this study, we explored these using 0.

Silicon Oxynitrophosphide Nanoscale Coating Enhances Antioxidant Marker-Induced Angiogenesis During in vivo Cranial Bone-Defect Healing.

Critical-sized bone defects are challenging to heal because of the sudden and large volume of lost bone. Fixative plates are often used to stabilize defects, yet oxidative stress and delayed angiogenesis are contributing factors to poor biocompatibility and delayed bone healing. This study tests the angiogenic and antioxidant properties of amorphous silicon oxynitrophosphide (SiONPx) nanoscale-coating material on endothelial cells to regenerate vascular tissue in vitro and in bone defects.

A Retrospective Study of Federal Employees' Outcomes Following A Smoking Cessation Intervention.

This retrospective study aimed to describe the federal employee population who participated in Federal Occupational Health's (FOH) smoking cessation intervention and to examine relationships and factors that influenced smoking cessation within this population. A large-scale national database of federal employees who participated in the smoking cessation intervention from January 2009 to January 2019 was obtained from FOH's administrators. The sample included 1265 participants who completed the survey 6 months post intervention.

Lipid membrane interactions of self-assembling antimicrobial nanofibers: effect of PEGylation.

Supramolecular assembly and PEGylation (attachment of a polyethylene glycol polymer chain) of peptides can be an effective strategy to develop antimicrobial peptides with increased stability, antimicrobial efficacy and hemocompatibility. However, how the self-assembly properties and PEGylation affect their lipid membrane interaction is still an unanswered question. In this work, we use state-of-the-art small angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS) together with neutron reflectometry (NR) to study the membrane interaction of a series of multidomain peptides, with and without PEGylation, known to self-assemble into nanofibers.

Novel homozygous variant in in a family with unrecognized progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia.

We present the use of whole-genome sequencing to correctly diagnose progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia in patients with atypical clinical and radiologic findings and prior diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Modular design and self-assembly of multidomain peptides towards cytocompatible supramolecular cell penetrating nanofibers.

The discovery of cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) with unique membrane activity has inspired the design and synthesis of a variety of cell penetrating macromolecules, which offer tremendous opportunity and promise for intracellular delivery of a variety of imaging probes and therapeutics. While cell penetrating macromolecules can be designed and synthesized to have equivalent or even superior cell penetrating activity compared with natural CPPs, most of them suffer from moderate to severe cytotoxicity. Inspired by recent advances in peptide self-assembly and cell penetrating macromolecules, in this work, we demonstrated a new class of peptide assemblies with intrinsic cell penetrating activity and excellent cytocompatibility.

Greater Daily Psychosocial Stress Exposure is Associated With Increased Norepinephrine-Induced Vasoconstriction in Young Adults.

Background Epidemiological data suggest a link between psychological stress and increased cardiovascular disease risk; however, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. The purpose of this investigation was to directly examine the influence of daily psychosocial stress on microvascular adrenergic vasoconstrictor responsiveness in healthy adults. We hypothesized increased daily psychosocial stress would be positively related to increased norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction.

Disruption of microtubule function in cultured human cells by a cytotoxic ruthenium(ii) polypyridyl complex.

Treatment of malignant and non-malignant cultured human cell lines with a cytotoxic IC dose of ∼2 μM tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium(ii) chloride () retards or arrests microtubule motion as tracked by visualizing fluorescently-tagged microtubule plus end-tracking proteins. Immunofluorescent microscopic images of the microtubules in fixed cells show substantial changes to cellular microtubule network and to overall cell morphology upon treatment with . Flow cytometry with MCF7 and H358 cells reveals only minor elevations of the number of cells in G/M phase, suggesting that the observed cytotoxicity is not tied to mitotic arrest.

Sampling related individuals within ponds biases estimates of population structure in a pond-breeding amphibian.

Effective conservation and management of pond-breeding amphibians depends on the accurate estimation of population structure, demographic parameters, and the influence of landscape features on breeding-site connectivity. Population-level studies of pond-breeding amphibians typically sample larval life stages because they are easily captured and can be sampled nondestructively. These studies often identify high levels of relatedness between individuals from the same pond, which can be exacerbated by sampling the larval stage.

3D Printing of Anisotropic Hydrogels with Bioinspired Motion.

Motion in biological organisms often relies on the functional arrangement of anisotropic tissues that linearly expand and contract in response to external signals. However, a general approach that can implement such anisotropic behavior into synthetic soft materials and thereby produce complex motions seen in biological organisms remains a challenge. Here, a bioinspired approach is presented that uses temperature-responsive linear hydrogel actuators, analogous to biological linear contractile elements, as building blocks to create three-dimensional (3D) structures with programmed motions.

Correction: Preparation of a novel injectable -gelling nanoparticle with applications in controlled protein release and cancer cell entrapment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C8RA06589F.].

Preparation of a novel injectable -gelling nanoparticle with applications in controlled protein release and cancer cell entrapment.

Temperature sensitive injectable hydrogels have been used as drug/protein carriers for a variety of pharmaceutical applications. Oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA) monomers with varying ethylene oxide chain lengths have been used for the synthesis of forming hydrogel. In this study, a new series of thermally induced gelling hydrogel nanoparticles (PMOA hydrogel nanoparticles) was developed by copolymerization with di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (MEOMA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (300 g mol, OEGMA), and acrylic acid (AAc).

Correction: Well protected SmCo nanoclusters: fabrication and transformation to single crystals.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C7RA10158A.].

Automated Programmable Preparation of Carbonate-Bicarbonate Eluents for Ion Chromatography with Pressurized Carbon Dioxide.

We introduce a novel carbonate-bicarbonate eluent generation system in which CO is introduced using programmable CO pressures across a membrane into a flowing solution of electrodialytically generated high purity KOH. Many different gradient types are possible, including situations where gradients are run both on the [KOH] and the CO pressure. The system is more versatile than current electrodialytic carbonate eluent generators and can easily generate significantly higher eluent concentrations (at least to 40 mM carbonate), paving the way for future higher capacity columns.

Insight into the roles of selection in speciation from genomic patterns of divergence and introgression in secondary contact in venomous rattlesnakes.

Investigating secondary contact of historically isolated lineages can provide insight into how selection and drift influence genomic divergence and admixture. Here, we studied the genomic landscape of divergence and introgression following secondary contact between lineages of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake () to determine whether genomic regions under selection in allopatry also contribute to reproductive isolation during introgression. We used thousands of nuclear loci to study genomic differentiation between two lineages that have experienced recent secondary contact following isolation, and incorporated sampling from a zone of secondary contact to identify loci that are resistant to gene flow in hybrids.

Correlation between Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation in the dayside polar cap boundary regions.

Observations have revealed large Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation around the cusp region, which have strong impacts on the polar ionosphere/thermosphere. Simulations also confirmed that Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation significantly change the neutral density and dynamics around the dayside polar cap boundary regions. However, no detailed study has been conducted to show if they should coincide with each other or not.

Coronatine Facilitates Pseudomonas syringae Infection of Arabidopsis Leaves at Night.

In many land plants, the stomatal pore opens during the day and closes during the night. Thus, periods of darkness could be effective in decreasing pathogen penetration into leaves through stomata, the primary sites for infection by many pathogens. Pseudomonas syringae pv.

Skeletal Muscle, but not Cardiovascular Function, Is Altered in a Mouse Model of Autosomal Recessive Hypophosphatemic Rickets.

Autosomal recessive hypophosphatemic rickets (ARHR) is a heritable disorder characterized by hypophosphatemia, osteomalacia, and poor bone development. ARHR results from inactivating mutations in the DMP1 gene with the human phenotype being recapitulated in the Dmp1 null mouse model which displays elevated plasma fibroblast growth factor 23. While the bone phenotype has been well-characterized, it is not known what effects ARHR may also have on skeletal, cardiac, or vascular smooth muscle function, which is critical to understand in order to treat patients suffering from this condition.