Stress and coping in parents of newly born twins

Objective: Research indicates that parents of twins have poorer psychosocial outcomes than parents of singletons. Parents who have conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) have been found to be at higher risk of negative psychosocial outcomes compared to parents who have conceived spontaneously. The current study aimed to model the factors associated with parenting stress of newly-born twins, using the Transactional Model of Stress.

Methods: Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design with participants identified from delivery records across Northern Ireland. Mothers and fathers (n = 104) of twins aged between 1 and 12 months old returned a questionnaire pack containing the Parenting Stress Index, Impact on the Family Scale-Financial Burden, Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced – Brief Version, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, General Health Questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire.

Results: There were no differences on psychological outcomes between parents who had conceived via ART and those who conceived spontaneously. Regression analyses found that social interaction and support is an important variable in terms of the psychological outcomes experienced by parents of twins.

Conclusion: Parents of newly-born twins regardless of the mode of conception should be considered an at risk group for parental distress. Support groups such as the Twins and Multiple Births Association could be important in providing that crucial social interaction and support that seems to be important in the emotional well-being of parents of twins.

Roles of multiple flagellins in flagellar formation and flagellar growth post bdelloplast lysis in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus cells have a single polar flagellum whose helical pitch and diameter characteristically change near the midpoint, resulting in a tapered wave. There are six flagellin genes in the genome: fliC1 to fliC6. Accordingly, the flagellar filament is composed of several similar flagellin species. We have used knockout mutants of each gene and analyzed the mutational effects on the filament length and on the composition and localization of each flagellin species in the filament by electron microscopy and one- and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The location and amounts of flagellins in a filament were determined to be as follows: a small amount of FliC3 at the proximal end, followed by a large amount of FliC5, a large amount of FliC1, a small amount of FliC2 in this order, and a large amount of FliC6 at the distal end. FliC4 was present at a low level, but the location was not determined. Filament lengths of newly born progeny cells increased during prolonged incubation in nutrient-deficient buffer. The newly formed part of the elongated filament was composed of mainly FliC6. Reverse transcription PCR analysis of flagellar gene expression over 5 days in buffer showed that fliC gene expression tailed off over 5 days in the wild-type cells, but in the fliC5 mutant, expression of the fliC2, fliC4, and fliC6 genes was elevated on day 5, suggesting that they may be expressed to compensate for the absence of a major component, FliC5.

The extreme-ultraviolet structure and properties of a newly emerged active region

The structure and properties of a newly emerged solar active region (NOAA Active Region 7985) are discussed using the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) and the Extreme- Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. CDS obtained high-resolution EUV spectra in the 308-381 Angstrom and 513-633 Angstrom wavelength ranges, while EIT recorded full-disk EUV images in the He II (304 Angstrom), Fe IX/X (171 Angstrom), Fe xii (195 Angstrom), and Fe XV (284 Angstrom) bandpasses. Electron density measurements from Si rx, Si X, Fe xii, Fe XIII, and Fe xiv line ratios indicate that the region consists of a central high- density core with peak densities of the order of 1.2 x 10(10) cm(-3), which decrease monotonically to similar to5.0 X 10(8) cm(-3) at the active region boundary. The derived electron densities also vary systematically with temperature. Electron pressures as a function of both active region position and temperature were estimated using the derived electron densities and ion formation temperatures, and the constant pressure assumption was found to be an unrealistic simplification. Indeed, the active region is found to have a high-pressure core (1.3 x 10(16) cm(-3) K) that falls to 6.0 x 10(14) cm(-3) K just outside the region. CDS line ratios from different ionization stages of iron, specifically Fe xvi (335.4 Angstrom) and Fe xiv (334.4 Angstrom), were used to diagnose plasma temperatures within the active region. Using this method, peak temperatures of 2.1 x 10(6) K were identified. This is in good agreement with electron temperatures derived using EIT filter ratios and the two-temperature model of Zhang et al. The high- temperature emission is confined to the active region core, while emission from cooler (1-1.6) x 10(6) K lines originates in a system of loops visible in EIT 171 and 195 X images. Finally, the three-dimensional geometry of the active region is investigated using potential field extrapolations from a Kitt Peak magnetogram. The combination of EUV and magnetic field extrapolations extends the "core-halo" picture of active region structure to one in which the core is composed of a number of compact coronal loops that confine the hot, dense, high- pressure core plasma while the halo emission emerges from a system of cooler and more extended loops.

The impact of newly identified loci on coronary heart disease, stroke and total mortality in the MORGAM prospective cohorts

Recently, genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as being associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). We estimated the effect of these SNPs on incident CHD, stroke and total mortality in the prospective cohorts of the MORGAM Project. We studied cohorts from Finland, Sweden, France and Northern Ireland (total N=33,282, including 1,436 incident CHD events and 571 incident stroke events). The lead SNPs at seven loci identified thus far and additional SNPs (in total 42) were genotyped using a case-cohort design.We estimated the effect of the SNPs on disease history at baseline, disease events during follow-up and classic risk factors. Multiple testing was taken into account using false discovery rate (FDR) analysis. SNP rs1333049 on chromosome 9p21.3 was associated with both CHD and stroke (HR5=.20, 95% CI 1.08-1.34 for incident CHD events and 1.15, 0.99-1.34 for incident stroke). SNP rs11670734 (19q12) was associated with total mortality and stroke. SNP rs2146807 (10q11.21) showed some association with the fatality of acute coronary event. SNP rs2943634 (2q36.3) was associated with high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and SNPs rs599839, rs4970834 (1p13.3) and rs17228212 (15q22.23) were associated with non-HDL cholesterol. SNPs rs2943634 (2q36.3) and rs12525353 (6q25.1) were associated with blood pressure. These findings underline the need for replication studies in prospective settings and confirm the candidacy of several SNPs that may play a role in the etiology of cardiovascular disease.

Disaggregating conservative Protestant groups in Northern Ireland: Overlapping categories and the importance of a born-again self-identification

Rather than treating conservative Protestantism as a homogenous phenomenon, recent literature has underlined the importance of disaggregating this group to illuminate important attitudinal and behavioral differences between conservative Protestants. However, the methods used to empirically operationalize conservative Protestantism have not always been able to capture variations within the groupings. Based on analysis of the 2004 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, we argue that religious self-identification is a more useful way of analyzing conservative Protestant subgroups than denomination or religious belief. We show that many of these identifications are overlapping, rather than stand-alone, religious group identifications. Moreover, the identification category of born-again has seldom been included in surveys. We find having a born-again identification to be a better predictor than the more frequently asked fundamentalist and evangelical categories of the religious and social beliefs that are seen as indicative of conservative Protestantism.

Inelastic quantum transport in nanostructures: The self-consistent Born approximation and correlated electron-ion dynamics

A dynamical method for inelastic transport simulations in nanostructures is compared to a steady-state method based on nonequilibrium Green's functions. A simplified form of the dynamical method produces, in the steady state in the weak-coupling limit, effective self-energies analogous to those in the Born approximation due to electron-phonon coupling. The two methods are then compared numerically on a resonant system consisting of a linear trimer weakly embedded between metal electrodes. This system exhibits an enhanced heating at high biases and long phonon equilibration times. Despite the differences in their formulation, the static and dynamical methods capture local current-induced heating and inelastic corrections to the current with good agreement over a wide range of conditions, except in the limit of very high vibrational excitations where differences begin to emerge.