The Manufacturing Conditions for the Direct and Reproducible Formation of Electrospun PCL/Gelatine 3D Structures for Tissue Regeneration.

Electrospinning is a versatile technique for fabricating nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. However, the direct formation of 3D sponges through electrospinning has previously not been reproducible. We used a Taguchi experimental design approach to optimise the electrospinning parameters for forming PCL and PCL/gelatine 3D sponges. The following parameters were investigated to improve sponge formation: solution concentration, humidity, and solution conductivity. Pure PCL sponges were achievable. However, a much fluffier sponge formed by increasing the solution conductivity with gelatine. The optimal conditions for sponge formation 24 w/v% 80:20 PCL:gelatine on aluminium foil at ≥70% humidity, 15 cm, 22 kV and 1500 µL/h. The resulting sponge had a highly porous structure with a fibre diameter of ~1 µm. They also supported significantly higher cell viability than 2D electrospun mats, dropcast films of the same material and even the TCP positive control. Our study demonstrates that the direct formation of PCL/gelatine 3D sponges through electrospinning is feasible and promising for tissue engineering applications. The sponges have a highly porous structure and support cell viability, which are essential properties for tissue engineering scaffolds. Further studies are needed to optimise the manufacturing process and evaluate the sponges' long-term performance in vivo.

Thinking twice: examining gender differences in repetitive negative thinking across the adult lifespan.

Background: A wealth of literature shows that women report greater levels of repetitive negative thinking, particularly rumination, than men in adolescence and adulthood. However, little research has examined how these gender differences develop or change across the entire adult lifespan. Methods: The present study addresses these oversights using a nationwide longitudinal probability sample of adults over 12 annual assessment points (N = 64,901; Mage = 42.50, range 18-81; 62.9% women) and a single-item measure of global repetitive negative thinking. Critically, we use multigroup cohort-sequential latent growth modeling to determine whether changes in this construct over time are due to (a) normative aging, (b) generational differences associated with the historical period one was born and raised in, or (c) a combination of these processes. Results: Our results reveal that rumination peaks in young adulthood for both women and men but declines steadily thereafter, reaching its lowest levels at the end of the adult lifespan. That said, some gender and cohort differences emerged, with young women-particularly young cohorts-reporting higher levels of rumination than their male counterparts and older birth cohorts. Discussion: Our study suggests that gender differences in rumination may be most prevalent among young birth cohorts, though future research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these processes.

Do stressful life events impact long-term well-being? Annual change in well-being following different life events compared to matched controls.

Available longitudinal evidence suggests that personal growth following adversity may not be as prevalent as suggested in cross-sectional research. Firm conclusions regarding resiliency versus post-traumatic growth following adverse events are further tempered by the restricted range of outcomes assessed when examining resilience, the focus on specific adverse events or cumulative adversity scores that hinder comparisons between event types, and the relative scarcity of analyses including matched control groups. The current study addresses these gaps by leveraging longitudinal panel data comparing annual change in well-being from 2018 to 2019 for people who experienced a major life stressor relative to propensity score matched controls who did not experience such stressors over the same period. Moreover, independent comparisons are conducted across three distinct event categories: traumatic interpersonal events (N matched pairs = 1,030), job loss (N matched pairs = 1,361), and birth (N matched pairs = 1,225), and five self-reported well-being indicators: life satisfaction, felt belongingness, self-esteem, meaning in life, and gratitude. Results indicate that people's well-being (across all five indicators) remained consistent over the year in independent analyses of samples experiencing each of the three types of events, and did not differ from matched controls. These findings indicate high population levels of psychological resilience, in the sense that people did not decrease in annual well-being following various life events. These findings also fail to detect significant evidence for possible post-traumatic growth, insofar as such growth might relate to a broad range of different aspects of well-being.

Monthly Trends in the Life Events Reported in the Prior Year and First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Zealand.

The current study examines changes in the economic, social, and well-being life events that women and men reported during the first 7 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyses compared monthly averages in cross-sectional national probability data from two annual waves of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study collected between October 2018-September 2019 (N = 17,924), and October 2019-September 2020 (N = 41,653), which included the first 7 months of the pandemic (Mar-Sep 2020). Results indicated that people (particularly women) reported increased job loss in the months following an initial COVID-19 lockdown relative to the same months the year earlier. Women also experienced an increase in family troubles when restrictions eased and reported increased negative lifestyle changes that persisted throughout the first 7 months of the pandemic. The proportion of people experiencing many other life events (e.g., mental health, financial concerns) in New Zealand did not differ reliably from the pre-pandemic monthly baseline. These results highlight resilience to many potential negative life events within the first 7 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic did not affect everyone equally, and the burden of increased negative events appears more heavily borne by women. As the pandemic continues more than 18 months from initial community transmission of COVID-19, our findings provide important insight into the impact of the pandemic on potential negative life events, especially among women, that may have critical consequences for mental health, gender equality, and social well-being over time.