Make new friends or keep the old: Gender and personality differences in social networking use

The present study examined the influence of gender and personality on individuals’ use of online social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Participants were 238 undergraduate students who reported being members of Facebook, MySpace, or both. Based on prior research examining online behavior, we expected that gender and scores on the Big Five personality scale would moderate online social networking behavior. The results supported our predictions. Specifically, men reported using social networking sites for forming new relationships while women reported using them more for relationship maintenance. Furthermore, women low in agreeableness reported using instant messaging features of social networking sites more often than women high in agreeableness, whereas men low in openness reported playing more games on social networking sites compared to men high in openness. Overall, these results indicate the importance of examining individual differences in online behavior.     

A randomised controlled trial of a self-guided internet intervention promoting well-being

Positive psychology is paving the way for interventions that enduringly enhance well-being and the internet offers the potential to disseminate these interventions to a broad audience in an accessible and sustainable manner. There is now sufficient evidence demonstrating the efficacy of internet interventions for mental illness treatment and prevention, but little is known about enhancing well-being. The current study examined the efficacy of a positive psychology internet-based intervention by adopting a randomised controlled trial design to compare a strengths intervention, a problem solving intervention and a placebo control. Participants (n = 160) completed measures of well-being (PWI-A, SWLS, PANAS, OTH) and mental illness (DASS-21) at pre-assessment, post-assessment and 3-month follow-up. Well-being increased for the strengths group at post- and follow-up assessment on the PWI-A, but not the SWLS or PANAS. Significant changes were detected on the OTH subscales of engagement and pleasure. No changes in mental illness were detected by group or time. Attrition from the study was 83% at 3-month follow-up, with significant group differences in adherence to the intervention: strengths (34%), problem solving (15.5%) and placebo control (42.6%). Although the results are mixed, it appears possible to enhance the cognitive component of well-being via a self-guided internet intervention.     

Effect of a polyglucosamine on the body weight of male rats: Mechanisms of action

Polyglucosamine (PG) is a low-molecular-weight chitosan (125 kDa) mixed with vitamin C and tartaric acid in standardised proportions. The aim of this study was to determine its effect on the body weight of male rats and clarify the mechanism of action. Three groups of 12 young male rats were fed a standard diet, or a diet containing PG (1% or 2%), for nine weeks. Body weight, food and water intake, and total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured before and at the end of treatment; low-density (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL), the amount of faeces, and their lipid, glucose and acetate content were also measured at the end of treatment.     

AFLP molecular markers to identify virgin olive oils from single Italian cultivars

Olive oil traceability becomes instrumental to ensure the consumer’s protection, particularly for extra virgin olive oil, the quality of which is highly related to the cultivars employed. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the possibility of identifying the cultivar used to obtain the derived olive oil by the analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. To this purpose, ten virgin olive oils were prepared in the laboratory from ten different very common Italian cultivars and were then analysed using six AFLP primer combinations. The technique was optimised for fragmented DNA of oil in order to enhance the intensity of the bands in the AFLP patterns. The obtained results indicated a percentage of polymorphism ranging from 16% for Pst-AGC/Mse-AGT to 43% for Pst-AGC/Mse-ACA. The diversity index was comprised between 90.2% for Pst-AGC/Mse-AGT and 95.2% for Pst-AGG/Mse-AGG. One of the six primer combination analysed, namely Pst-AGG/Mse-AGG, was able to distinguish all the olive oil examined, and a similarity tree of the samples was elaborated.     

Management of Acute Lung Injury: Palmitoylethanolamide as a New Approach

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are common and devastating clinical disorders with high mortality and no specific therapy. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is usually used intratracheally to induce ALI in mice. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an ultramicronized preparation of palmitoylethanolamide (um-PEA) in mice subjected to LPS-induced ALI. Histopathological analysis reveals that um-PEA reduced alteration in lung after LPS intratracheal administration. Besides, um-PEA decreased wet/dry weight ratio and myeloperoxidase, a marker of neutrophils infiltration, macrophages and total immune cells number and mast cells degranulation in lung. Moreover, um-PEA could also decrease cytokines release of interleukin (IL)-6, interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-18. Furthermore, um-PEA significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor, alpha (IκBα) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) activation in ALI, and at the same time decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38/MAPK) expression, that was increased after LPS administration. Our study suggested that um-PEA contrasted LPS-induced ALI, exerting its potential role as an adjuvant anti-inflammatory therapeutic for treating lung injury, maybe also by p38/NF-κB pathway.     

Molecular Landscape and Therapeutic Strategies in Cholangiocarcinoma: An Integrated Translational Approach towards Precision Medicine

Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are heterogeneous biliary tract malignancies with dismal prognosis, mainly due to tumor aggressiveness, late diagnosis, and poor response to current therapeutic options. High-throughput technologies have been used as a fundamental tool in unveiling CCA molecular landscape, and several molecular classifications have been proposed, leading to various targeted therapy trials. In this review, we aim to analyze the critical issues concerning the status of precision medicine in CCA, discussing molecular signatures and clusters, related to both anatomical classification and different etiopathogenesis, and the latest therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, we propose an integrated approach comprising the CCA molecular mechanism, pathobiology, clinical and histological findings, and treatment perspectives for the ultimate purpose of improving the methods of patient allocations in clinical trials and the response to personalized therapies.     

Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of 2'-substituted 2-(3'-carboxybicyclo[1.1.1]pentyl)glycine derivatives as group I selective metabotropic glutamate receptor ligands

The first series of 2'-substituted 2-(3'-carboxybicyclo[1.1.1]pentyl)glycine derivatives, (2R)- and (2S)-(2',2'-dichloro-3'-carboxybicyclo[1.1.1]pentyl)glycine (10) and (11), and 2-(2'-chloro-3'-carboxybicyclo[1.1.1]pentyl)glycine (12) were synthesized and evaluated as mGluR ligands. Compounds 11 and 12 were shown to be competitive group I mGluR antagonists. These results are also discussed in light of docking studies with both the active (closed) and inactive (open) conformations of mGluR1.     

Quality evaluation of re-milled durum wheat semolinas used for bread-making in Southern Italy

Re-milled durum wheat semolinas from Altamura, Laterza and Matera (Southern Italy), currently used in the production of traditional breads, were tested for quality. The re-milled semolinas exhibited variable technological quality, and different bread-making techniques were observed. Alveograph P/L ranged from 0.34 to 2.50 with W values from 71×10^–4 to 176×10^–4 J. The higher values were found in samples from Laterza, which gave breads with the lowest specific volumes, due to its excessive gluten tenacity. The P/L values were correlated to SDS sedimentation height; dry gluten was correlated to both wet gluten content and protein content, and was negatively correlated to P/L. Bread protein content was correlated to the protein content of the starting material and bread specific volumes were negatively correlated to alveographic P/L values. Significant differences were found between breads from different points of origin (attributable to differences in the bread-making processes), in terms of the level of total titratable acidity and the yellow pigment content of the crumb.This revised version was published online October 2004. The errors concern the seventh column in Table 2, all the numbers need to be amended.     

Assessment of overt behavior and childhood depression among psychiatrically disturbed children.

Examined the relation of direct observations of overt behavior to depression among 62 child psychiatric inpatients (aged 8–13 yrs). Childhood depression was assessed by self-report and interview measures administered separately to Ss and their mothers. DSM-III diagnoses were also obtained from direct interviews and were supplemented with clinical information. Direct observations of Ss were obtained during free-time periods over several days. Multiple behaviors were observed and coded into 1 of 3 categories: social activity (e.g., talking with others and playing games), solitary behavior (e.g., working alone on a task and playing alone), and affect-related expression (e.g., smiling and frowning). Results show that depressed Ss (n?=?21) engaged in significantly less social activity and exhibited less affect-related expression than nondepressed peers (n?=?41). Moderate stability in performance was observed over a 4-wk test–retest interval. Overt behavioral measures were consistently related to parent-completed but not to S-completed measures of depression. Findings suggest that depressive symptoms are reflected in diverse behaviors in everyday life. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)