Parental reports of coparenting and observed coparenting behavior during the toddler period.

Fifty-two married partners played with their 30-mo-olds in both dyadic (parent–child) and whole family contexts and reported on their own coparenting activities (family integrity-promoting behavior, conflict, disparagement, and reprimand). Coparenting behavior observed in the whole family context was evaluated for antagonism, warmth and cooperation, child–adult centeredness, balance of positive involvement, and management of toddler behavior. Parallel balance and management scores were also formed using dyadic session data. Men's reported family integrity-promoting activities and women's reported conflict and reprimand activities were reliable correlates of family group process in both bivariate and discriminant analyses, with links enduring even after controlling for marital quality. Whole family- and dyad-based estimates of coparenting were altogether unrelated, and reported coparenting was tied only to behavior in family context, not to family measures created from dyad-based data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is leptin sensitivity the link between smoking cessation and weight gain?

We performed a case-control study to investigate the association of the poor metaboliser genotype of the cytochrome P450 2D6 gene with Parkinson's disease (PD). Genotyping was determined by the polymerase chain reaction followed by digestion with restriction enzymes. The poor metaboliser genotype was more frequent in 112 patients with PD than in 206 matched controls (odds ratio 1.7, 95% CI: 0.94-2.45). A meta-analysis of these results together with ten other published studies gave a pooled odds ratio for the poor metaboliser genotype of 1.47 (95% CI: 1.18-1.96, P=0.01). Thus, the poor metaboliser genotype has a small but highly significant association with PD which would be easily missed in small studies. Research now should focus on the mechanism of this association.     

Release of proinflammatory cytokines during pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass: heparin-bonded versus nonbonded oxygenators

BACKGROUND: Heparin bonding of the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit may be associated with a reduced inflammatory response and improved clinical outcome. The relative contribution of a heparin-bonded oxygenator (ie, >80% of circuit surface area) to these effects was assessed in a group of pediatric patients. METHODS: Twenty-one pediatric patients undergoing CPB operations were assigned randomly to receive either a heparin-bonded oxygenator (group H, n = 11) or a nonbonded oxygenator (group C, n = 10) in otherwise nonbonded circuits. The two groups were similar in pathology, age, weight, CPB time, and cross-clamp time. Plasma levels of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8, as well as terminal complement complex, neutrophils, and elastase, were analyzed before, during, and after CPB. RESULTS: Significant levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha were not detected in either group. Plasma levels of all other markers increased during and after CPB compared with baseline. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 peaked in both groups 2 hours after the administration of protamine but remained significantly higher in group C 24 hours after operation. Plasma concentrations of interleukin-8 peaked at similar levels in both groups 30 minutes after protamine administration and returned to baseline thereafter. Levels of terminal complement complex and elastase peaked in both groups 30 minutes after protamine administration. Plasma levels of terminal complement complex were significantly higher at the end of CPB and after protamine administration in group C. Elastase levels were significantly higher 2 and 24 hours after CPB in group C. The ventilation time of patients in group H was significantly lower than that of patients in group C: 10 (range, 3 to 24) versus 22 (range, 7 to 24) hours, respectively (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms the proinflammatory nature of pediatric operations and demonstrates a lessened systemic inflammatory response with the use of heparin-bonded oxygenators. This is achieved without bonding of the entire circuit, which could have significant cost-benefit implications by negating the need for custom-built heparin-bonded circuitry.     

New tunable thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-based materials

The effect of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing side chains on the electronic properties of thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines and their corresponding homopolymers have been investigated. Contrary to common trends in polythiophene materials, the addition of electron-donating groups results in higher HOMO–LUMO energies in the monomers and higher E_g values in the resulting polymers. The use of electron-withdrawing groups, however, provides reduced HOMO–LUMO energies and lower E_g values. The application of electron-withdrawing functionalized thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines appears to be a promising new approach for the production of low E_g materials.     

Estimation of atmospheric transmittance from upper-air humidity

A very simple model of atmospheric transmittance uses as its input regularly observed and archived measures of upper air humidity. The five model parameters were determined empirically to optimize the agreement with radiation measured at six sites in the northwestern contiguous U.S. in summer and winter 1990. The model uses the relative humidity at 500 hPa, the relative humidity at either 950 hPa or 800 hPa depending on the altitude of the station, and the precipitable water.Although the model does not use cloud observations explicitly, it is partitioned into a low-humidity stage and a high-humidity stage with markedly different dependences on relative humidity. In the low-humidity stage the transmittance is approximated as the product of factors for dry air and for water vapor. In the high-humidity stage the transmittance is the product of the transmittances of each of the two layers used; the product is a strongly decreasing function of relative humidity, as a representation of the effect of cloud.A split-sample test using measurements for spring and autumn indicated that the model parameters were not badly distorted by conditions unique to the summer and winter seasons. In terms of the average daily global shortwave radiation received at the surface, the rms errors are 31 W m⁻² in spring, 33 in summer, 30 in autumn, and 18 in winter. The corresponding relative errors are 0.25, 0.17, 0.20, and 0.31. Because of high-frequency temporal variation in the model residuals, the error declines to about half of the daily error for 7-day averages and to about a quarter of the daily error for 30-day averages.     

Effects of ingesting protein with various forms of carbohydrate following resistance-exercise on substrate availability and markers of anabolism, catabolism, and immunity

Background  

Ingestion of carbohydrate (CHO) and protein (PRO) following intense exercise has been reported to increase insulin levels, optimize glycogen resynthesis, enhance PRO synthesis, and lessen the immuno-suppressive effects of intense exercise. Since different forms of CHO have varying glycemic effects, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the type of CHO ingested with PRO following resistance-exercise affects blood glucose availability and insulin levels, markers of anabolism and catabolism, and/or general immune markers.