Configurations of mother-child and father-child attachment relationships as predictors of child language competence: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

An individual participant data meta-analysis was conducted to test pre-registered hypotheses about how the configuration of attachment relationships to mothers and fathers predicts children's language competence. Data from seven studies (published between 1985 and 2014) including 719 children (Mage : 19.84 months; 51% female; 87% White) were included in the linear mixed effects analyses. Mean language competence scores exceeded the population average across children with different attachment configurations. Children with two secure attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one or no secure attachment relationships (d = .26). Children with two organized attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one organized attachment relationship (d = .23), and this difference was observed in older versus younger children in exploratory analyses. Mother-child and father-child attachment quality did not differentially predict language competence, supporting the comparable importance of attachment to both parents in predicting developmental outcomes.

The latent structure of the adult attachment interview: Large sample evidence from the collaboration on attachment transmission synthesis.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a widely used measure in developmental science that assesses adults' current states of mind regarding early attachment-related experiences with their primary caregivers. The standard system for coding the AAI recommends classifying individuals categorically as having an autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved attachment state of mind. However, previous factor and taxometric analyses suggest that: (a) adults' attachment states of mind are captured by two weakly correlated factors reflecting adults' dismissing and preoccupied states of mind and (b) individual differences on these factors are continuously rather than categorically distributed. The current study revisited these suggestions about the latent structure of AAI scales by leveraging individual participant data from 40 studies (N = 3,218), with a particular focus on the controversial observation from prior factor analytic work that indicators of preoccupied states of mind and indicators of unresolved states of mind about loss and trauma loaded on a common factor. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that: (a) a 2-factor model with weakly correlated dismissing and preoccupied factors and (b) a 3-factor model that further distinguished unresolved from preoccupied states of mind were both compatible with the data. The preoccupied and unresolved factors in the 3-factor model were highly correlated. Taxometric analyses suggested that individual differences in dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved states of mind were more consistent with a continuous than a categorical model. The importance of additional tests of predictive validity of the various models is emphasized.

Reducing chilling injury in 'Palmer' mangoes submitted to quarantine cold treatment.

BACKGROUND: Treatment with low temperatures can be used to quarantine mangoes against fruit-fly infestation. However, mangoes can develop chilling injury (CI) when stored at temperatures below 13 °C. We demonstrated that the immersion in polyol solutions can alleviate CI symptoms in 'Palmer' mangoes stored at 8 °C. These suggest that polyols can be used to reduce CI in mangoes during quarantine at low temperatures. Thus, we investigated the efficacy of applying 0.1% (v/v) glycerol, propylene glycol, or sorbitol to 'Palmer' mangoes subjected to cold treatment (1.0 °C) for 28 days. Mangoes were then ripened at 23 °C for 7 days. RESULTS: Among these polyols, sorbitol was the most effective in alleviating CI for up to 14 days of cold treatment. Mangoes treated with sorbitol showed lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), and reduced polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. These fruit also had elevated levels of ascorbate (AsA), especially in the epicarp, and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity. CONCLUSION: Sorbitol can reduce the CI, but to an unsatisfying level, and it should be combined with other treatments storage at low temperature. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Tuberculosis infection and lung adenocarcinoma: Mendelian randomization and pathway analysis of genome-wide association study data from never-smoking Asian women.

We investigated whether genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) influences lung adenocarcinoma development among never-smokers using TB genome-wide association study (GWAS) results within the Female Lung Cancer Consortium in Asia. Pathway analysis with the adaptive rank truncated product method was used to assess the association between a TB-related gene-set and lung adenocarcinoma using GWAS data from 5512 lung adenocarcinoma cases and 6277 controls. The gene-set consisted of 31 genes containing known/suggestive associations with genetic variants from previous TB-GWAS. Subsequently, we followed-up with Mendelian Randomization to evaluate the association between TB and lung adenocarcinoma using three genome-wide significant variants from previous TB-GWAS in East Asians. The TB-related gene-set was associated with lung adenocarcinoma (p = 0.016). Additionally, the Mendelian Randomization showed an association between TB and lung adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.66, p = 0.027). Our findings support TB as a causal risk factor for lung cancer development among never-smoking Asian women.

Configurations of mother-child and father-child attachment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems: An individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis.

An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children's attachment patterns with mothers and fathers jointly predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children's internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing behavioral problems compared with children who were securely attached to both parents. Children whose attachment relationships with both parents were classified as disorganized had more externalizing behavioral problems compared to children with either one or no disorganized attachment relationship with their parents. Across attachment classification networks and behavioral problems, findings suggest (a) an increased vulnerability to behavioral problems when children have insecure or disorganized attachment to both parents, and (b) that mother-child and father-child attachment relationships may not differ in the roles they play in children's development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems.

Design Strategies for Biocontainment Units to Reduce Risk During Doffing of High-level Personal Protective Equipment.

BACKGROUND: Few data exist to guide the physical design of biocontainment units, particularly the doffing area. This can impact the contamination risk of healthcare workers (HCWs) during doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE). METHODS: In phase I of our study, we analyzed simulations of a standard patient care task with 56 trained HCWs focusing on doffing of high-level PPE. In phase II, using a rapid cycle improvement approach, we tested different balance aids and redesigned doffing area layouts with 38 students. In phase III, we tested 1 redesigned layout with an additional 10 trained HCWs. We assessed the effectiveness of design changes on improving the HCW performance (measured by occurrence and number of risky behaviors) and reducing the physical and cognitive load by comparing the results from phase I and phase III. RESULTS: The physical load was highest when participants were removing their shoe covers without any balance aid; the use of a chair required the lowest physical effort, followed by horizontal and vertical grab bars. In the revised design (phase III), the overall performance of participants improved. There was a significant decrease in the number of HCW risky behaviors (P = .004); 5 risky behaviors were eliminated and 2 others increased. There was a significant decrease in physical load when removing disposable shoe covers (P = .04), and participants reported a similar workload in the redesigned doffing layout (P = .43). CONCLUSIONS: Through optimizing the design and layout of the doffing space, we reduced risky behaviors of HCWs during doffing of high-level PPE.

Association between GWAS-identified lung adenocarcinoma susceptibility loci and EGFR mutations in never-smoking Asian women, and comparison with findings from Western populations.

To evaluate associations by EGFR mutation status for lung adenocarcinoma risk among never-smoking Asian women, we conducted a meta-analysis of 11 loci previously identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Genotyping in an additional 10,780 never-smoking cases and 10,938 never-smoking controls from Asia confirmed associations with eight known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Two new signals were observed at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10-8), namely, rs7216064 (17q24.3, BPTF), for overall lung adenocarcinoma risk, and rs3817963 (6p21.3, BTNL2) which is specific to cases with EGFR mutations. In further sub-analyses by EGFR status, rs9387478 (ROS1/DCBLD1) and rs2179920 (HLA-DPB1) showed stronger estimated associations in EGFR-positive compared to EGFR-negative cases. Comparison of the overall associations with published results in Western populations revealed that the majority of these findings were distinct, underscoring the importance of distinct contributing factors for smoking and non-smoking lung cancer. Our results extend the catalogue of regions associated with lung adenocarcinoma in non-smoking Asian women and highlight the importance of how the germline could inform risk for specific tumour mutation patterns, which could have important translational implications.

Proceeding report of the Symposium on Hidradenitis Suppurativa Advances (SHSA).

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a chronic debilitating skin condition that impairs the productivity and the quality of patients` lives. HS has recently drawn lots of attention among scholars to further expand their knowledge but it still loads with uncertainties and gaps to be explored. This publication addresses these uncertainties, and provides a road-map for researchers, scholars and clinicians from different disciplines for their future studies about HS. This is a proceeding report of the first Symposium on Hidradenitis Suppurativa Advances (SHSA), and it reviews the scientific sessions about the epidemiology, pathophysiology, presentations, and management of HS. This symposium was a great opportunity for experts in the HS field to exchange their knowledge, and improve their mutual understanding of this disease.

Sleep Characteristics and Behavioral Problems Among Children of Alcoholics and Controls.

BACKGROUND: Past research has indicated that both sleep difficulties and a parental history of alcoholism increase the risk of behavioral problems. But it is not known whether sleep difficulties differentially increase the risk of problem behaviors among children of alcoholics (COAs) and controls. We compared multiple measures of sleep and the relationships between sleep and behavioral problems in these 2 groups of children. METHODS: One hundred and fifteen children aged 8 to 12 (67% COAs; 56% girls; Mage  = 10.85, SDage  = 1.51) participated in this study. Data presented here were taken from Time 1 of a larger prospective study designed to understand the relationship between sleep and alcohol use. All participants were naïve to alcohol and other illicit drugs. Participants were asked to wear an actigraph watch on their nondominant wrist for 1 week. Parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. RESULTS: Parents of COAs were more likely to rate their children as overtired compared with parents of non-COAs. Structural equation modeling analyses focusing on overall internalizing and externalizing problems did not reveal any group differences on the relationships between sleep measures and behavioral problems. Regression analyses focusing on specific behavioral problems showed that longer total sleep time, parental ratings of "sleep more" and "sleep less" than other children interacted with COA status to predict specific behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep difficulties and duration appear to be a general risk factor for behavioral problems in both COAs and non-COAs, yet the relationships between specific sleep parameters and behavioral problems appear to be different between the 2 groups.

Examining Ecological Constraints on the Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Via Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis.

Parents' attachment representations and child-parent attachment have been shown to be associated, but these associations vary across populations (Verhage et al., 2016). The current study examined whether ecological factors may explain variability in the strength of intergenerational transmission of attachment, using individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Analyses on 4,396 parent-child dyads (58 studies, child age 11-96 months) revealed a combined effect size of r = .29. IPD meta-analyses revealed that effect sizes for the transmission of autonomous-secure representations to secure attachments were weaker under risk conditions and weaker in adolescent parent-child dyads, whereas transmission was stronger for older children. Findings support the ecological constraints hypothesis on attachment transmission. Implications for attachment theory and the use of IPD meta-analysis are discussed.

GWASdb v2: an update database for human genetic variants identified by genome-wide association studies.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs), now as a routine approach to study single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-trait association, have uncovered over ten thousand significant trait/disease associated SNPs (TASs). Here, we updated GWASdb (GWASdb v2, http://jjwanglab.org/gwasdb) which provides comprehensive data curation and knowledge integration for GWAS TASs. These updates include: (i) Up to August 2015, we collected 2479 unique publications from PubMed and other resources; (ii) We further curated moderate SNP-trait associations (P-value < 1.0 × 10(-3)) from each original publication, and generated a total of 252,530 unique TASs in all GWASdb v2 collected studies; (iii) We manually mapped 1610 GWAS traits to 501 Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) terms, 435 Disease Ontology (DO) terms and 228 Disease Ontology Lite (DOLite) terms. For each ontology term, we also predicted the putative causal genes; (iv) We curated the detailed sub-populations and related sample size for each study; (v) Importantly, we performed extensive function annotation for each TAS by incorporating gene-based information, ENCODE ChIP-seq assays, eQTL, population haplotype, functional prediction across multiple biological domains, evolutionary signals and disease-related annotation; (vi) Additionally, we compiled a SNP-drug response association dataset for 650 pharmacogenetic studies involving 257 drugs in this update; (vii) Last, we improved the user interface of website.

dbPSHP: a database of recent positive selection across human populations.

The dbPSHP database (http://jjwanglab.org/dbpshp) aims to help researchers to efficiently identify, validate and visualize putative positively selected loci in human evolution and further discover the mechanism governing these natural selections. Recent evolution of human populations at the genomic level reflects the adaptations to the living environments, including climate change and availability and stability of nutrients. Many genetic regions under positive selection have been identified, which assist us to understand how natural selection has shaped population differences. Here, we manually collect recent positive selections in different human populations, consisting of 15,472 loci from 132 publications. We further compiled a database that used 15 statistical terms of different evolutionary attributes for single nucleotide variant sites from the HapMap 3 and 1000 Genomes Project to identify putative regions under positive selection. These attributes include variant allele/genotype properties, variant heterozygosity, within population diversity, long-range haplotypes, pairwise population differentiation and evolutionary conservation. We also provide interactive pages for visualization and annotation of different selective signals. The database is freely available to the public and will be frequently updated.

SpliceNet: recovering splicing isoform-specific differential gene networks from RNA-Seq data of normal and diseased samples.

Conventionally, overall gene expressions from microarrays are used to infer gene networks, but it is challenging to account splicing isoforms. High-throughput RNA Sequencing has made splice variant profiling practical. However, its true merit in quantifying splicing isoforms and isoform-specific exon expressions is not well explored in inferring gene networks. This study demonstrates SpliceNet, a method to infer isoform-specific co-expression networks from exon-level RNA-Seq data, using large dimensional trace. It goes beyond differentially expressed genes and infers splicing isoform network changes between normal and diseased samples. It eases the sample size bottleneck; evaluations on simulated data and lung cancer-specific ERBB2 and MAPK signaling pathways, with varying number of samples, evince the merit in handling high exon to sample size ratio datasets. Inferred network rewiring of well established Bcl-x and EGFR centered networks from lung adenocarcinoma expression data is in good agreement with literature. Gene level evaluations demonstrate a substantial performance of SpliceNet over canonical correlation analysis, a method that is currently applied to exon level RNA-Seq data. SpliceNet can also be applied to exon array data. SpliceNet is distributed as an R package available at http://www.jjwanglab.org/SpliceNet.

Structure of reflective functioning and adult attachment scales: overlap and distinctions.

This investigation examined the structure of reflective functioning (RF) - an understanding of the links between mental states and behaviors - and adult attachment scales. Both RF and traditional adult attachment scales were coded based on 194 prebirth Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI). Correlational and factor analyses indicated considerable overlap between RF and traditional AAI coding. Exploratory factor analyses of RF and AAI state-of-mind scales indicated that RF loaded, along with coherence of mind, on the primary factor distinguishing between individuals categorized as secure and dismissing. These findings indicate substantial overlap between RF and AAI scales; however, the magnitude of the correlations between these scales indicates that they are not redundant.

EGFR Mutant Structural Database: computationally predicted 3D structures and the corresponding binding free energies with gefitinib and erlotinib.

BACKGROUND: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-induced drug resistance has caused great difficulties in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, structural information is available for just a few EGFR mutants. In this study, we created an EGFR Mutant Structural Database (freely available at http://bcc.ee.cityu.edu.hk/data/EGFR.html ), including the 3D EGFR mutant structures and their corresponding binding free energies with two commonly used inhibitors (gefitinib and erlotinib). RESULTS: We collected the information of 942 NSCLC patients belonging to 112 mutation types. These mutation types are divided into five groups (insertion, deletion, duplication, modification and substitution), and substitution accounts for 61.61% of the mutation types and 54.14% of all the patients. Among all the 942 patients, 388 cases experienced a mutation at residue site 858 with leucine replaced by arginine (L858R), making it the most common mutation type. Moreover, 36 (32.14%) mutation types occur at exon 19, and 419 (44.48%) patients carried a mutation at exon 21. In this study, we predicted the EGFR mutant structures using Rosetta with the collected mutation types. In addition, Amber was employed to refine the structures followed by calculating the binding free energies of mutant-drug complexes. CONCLUSIONS: The EGFR Mutant Structural Database provides resources of 3D structures and the binding affinity with inhibitors, which can be used by other researchers to study NSCLC further and by medical doctors as reference for NSCLC treatment.

FaSD-somatic: a fast and accurate somatic SNV detection algorithm for cancer genome sequencing data.

UNLABELLED: Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled us to sequence large number of cancer samples to reveal novel insights into oncogenetic mechanisms. However, the presence of intratumoral heterogeneity, normal cell contamination and insufficient sequencing depth, together pose a challenge for detecting somatic mutations. Here we propose a fast and an accurate somatic single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) detection program, FaSD-somatic. The performance of FaSD-somatic is extensively assessed on various types of cancer against several state-of-the-art somatic SNV detection programs. Benchmarked by somatic SNVs from either existing databases or de novo higher-depth sequencing data, FaSD-somatic has the best overall performance. Furthermore, FaSD-somatic is efficient, it finishes somatic SNV calling within 14 h on 50X whole genome sequencing data in paired samples. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The program, datasets and supplementary files are available at http://jjwanglab.org/FaSD-somatic/. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Glycomic analysis of human respiratory tract tissues and correlation with influenza virus infection.

The first step in influenza infection of the human respiratory tract is binding of the virus to sialic (Sia) acid terminated receptors. The binding of different strains of virus for the receptor is determined by the α linkage of the sialic acid to galactose and the adjacent glycan structure. In this study the N- and O-glycan composition of the human lung, bronchus and nasopharynx was characterized by mass spectrometry. Analysis showed that there was a wide spectrum of both Sia α2-3 and α2-6 glycans in the lung and bronchus. This glycan structural data was then utilized in combination with binding data from 4 of the published glycan arrays to assess whether these current glycan arrays were able to predict replication of human, avian and swine viruses in human ex vivo respiratory tract tissues. The most comprehensive array from the Consortium for Functional Glycomics contained the greatest diversity of sialylated glycans, but was not predictive of productive replication in the bronchus and lung. Our findings indicate that more comprehensive but focused arrays need to be developed to investigate influenza virus binding in an assessment of newly emerging influenza viruses.

Prospective relationship between poor sleep and substance-related problems in a national sample of adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed that poor sleep prospectively predicted alcohol-related problems and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults (Wong and Brower, 2012; Wong et al., 2010). However, more work needs to be done to elucidate the nature of these problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether sleep difficulties and hours of sleep prospectively predicted several serious substance-related problems, for example, binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol, and risky sexual behavior. METHODS: Study participants were 6,504 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Data were collected from interviews and questionnaires. This study analyzed data from the first 3 waves of data (T1: 1994 to 1995; T2: 1996; T3: 2001 to 2002). In all analyses, we used sleep difficulties at a previous wave to predict substance-related problems at a subsequent wave, while controlling for substance-related problems at a previous wave. RESULTS: Holding T1 alcohol-related problems constant, sleep difficulties at T1 significantly predicted alcohol-related interpersonal problems, binge drinking, gotten drunk or very high on alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol, getting into a sexual situation one later regretted due to drinking, ever using any illicit drugs, and drug-related problems at T2. T1 hours of sleep negatively predicted T2 alcohol-related interpersonal problems and binge drinking. The relationship between T2 sleep variables and T3 substance-related problems was consistent with previous waves, although the effect was weaker. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep difficulties and hours of sleep are a significant predictor of a number of substance-related problems. It may be useful to educate adolescents about the importance of sleep, sleep hygiene, and the potential consequences of poor sleep on drinking and related behaviors.

Antecedents of maternal sensitivity during distressing tasks: integrating attachment, social information processing, and psychobiological perspectives.

Predictors of maternal sensitivity to infant distress were examined among 259 primiparous mothers. The Adult Attachment Interview, self-reports of personality and emotional functioning, and measures of physiological, emotional, and cognitive responses to videotapes of crying infants were administered prenatally. Maternal sensitivity was observed during three distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 months old. Coherence of mind was directly associated with higher maternal sensitivity to distress. Mothers' heightened emotional risk was indirectly associated with lower sensitivity via mothers' self-focused and negative processing of infant cry cues. Likewise, high physiological arousal accompanied by poor physiological regulation in response to infant crying was indirectly associated with lower maternal sensitivity to distress through mothers' self-focused and negative processing of infant cry cues.