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Objective: This multimethod, short‐term longitudinal study examined the effect of interparental marital adjustment on Chinese preschool children's prosocial behavior, and further explored the mediating effect of child executive function in this process. Background: Although children from families characterized by high marital adjustment have been found to exhibit more prosocial behaviors, less is known about the longitudinal association between marital adjustment and peer nominations of child prosocial behavior and, more importantly, the cognitive mechanisms generating this association. Method: A total of 307 mothers and their 2–6‐year‐olds (151 boys, 156 girls) from mainland China participated in this study. Mothers were required to report on their marital adjustment (T1); their children were interviewed to nominate classmates who displayed more prosocial behaviors 5 months later (T2). In addition, child executive function abilities, including working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, were assessed with three cognitive tasks at T2. Results: Mother‐reported marital adjustment at T1 was positively related to peer nominations of prosocial behavior at T2, even after accounting for child gender and age. A latent construct of child executive function mediated this relationship. Specifically, better marital adjustment (T1) predicted greater child executive function (T2), which in turn was associated with more child prosocial behaviors (T2). Conclusion: Executive function explains the association between marital adjustment and peer nominations of prosocial behavior in preschoolers. This finding suggests that preschool children's prosocial behavior may be effectively promoted through efforts to improve marital adjustment and strengthen child executive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the large exciton binding energy, two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) provide an ideal platform for studying excitonic states and related photonics and optoelectronics. Polarization states lead to distinct light-matter interactions which are of great importance for device applications. In this work, we study polarized photoluminescence spectra from intralayer exciton and indirect exciton in WS2 and WSe2 atomic layers, and interlayer exciton in WS2/WSe2 heterostructures by radially and azimuthally polarized cylindrical vector laser beams. We demonstrated the same in-plane and out-of-plane polarization behavior from the intralayer and indirect exciton. Moreover, with these two laser modes, we obtained interlayer exciton in WS2/WSe2 heterostructures with stronger out-of-plane polarization, due to the formation of vertical electric dipole moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been found to be associated with marital dissatisfaction. However, less attention has been paid to the married couples during the initial transition to parenthood from the perspective of both partners, as well as the underlying mechanisms by which parents' CEM histories are related to marital satisfaction. The purposes of this study were to examine the relation between CEM and current marital satisfaction among first-time parents using dyadic analysis, and to test the serial mediating effects of emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress. A total of 156 couples during the transition to parenthood from mainland China reported on CEM, emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms), and marital satisfaction at 6 months postpartum. Results indicated that paternal depression significantly mediated the paths from paternal emotional maltreatment to paternal and maternal marital dissatisfaction. In comparison, maternal depression significantly mediated the link between maternal CEM and maternal marital dissatisfaction. In addition, the association between maternal CEM and maternal marital satisfaction was serially mediated by maternal cognitive reappraisal and maternal depression. This study highlights the importance of examining the link between CEM and marital satisfaction and its underlying mechanisms from the dyadic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the links between maternal life stress and subsequent toddler behavior problems and social competence, as well as the potential moderating effects of cool and hot inhibitory control (IC) in mainland China. Participants included 89 mothers and their infants (42 boys, 47 girls). Mothers completed self-report measure of maternal life stress when their children were 1 year of age (M = 1.18, SD = .07 at Time 1), and reported on their children’s social adjustment using the Chinese version of Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (CITSEA) at Time 1 and again a year later (M = 2.06, SD = .09 at Time 2). Toddler IC was assessed with laboratory tasks at Time 2. Structural equation modeling with a bootstrap resample of 1000 indicated that cool IC significantly moderated the longitudinal association between maternal life stress (T1) and latent construct of toddler behavior problems (T2), controlling for behavior problems at Time 1, child age and maternal age. Specifically, maternal life stress was associated with subsequent behavior problems only for toddlers who were low in cool IC. In comparison to the results of behavior problems, high levels of maternal life stress predicted subsequent low levels of social competence. Neither cool IC nor hot IC served as the moderator in the association between maternal life stress (T1) and toddler social competence (T2). These findings indicated that toddler cool IC may promote resilient adaptation and modify the links between maternal life stress and toddler behavior problems but not social competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Salmonella contamination in a dry processing facility frequently requires removal methods that are nonaqueous. Removal of pathogens from food processing systems with a purge of uncontaminated dry food materials has been proposed; however, little is known with respect to efficacy. In this study, survival of Salmonella on inert contact surfaces and transfer of Salmonella from inert contact surfaces to low-moisture foods were evaluated. Six stainless steel and polymeric food contact material types, in bead form, were contaminated at 11 log CFU/mL and then stored at two temperatures, 25 and 4°C, for 6 months. Simultaneously, three dry food materials or ingredients were used to remove Salmonella from contaminated beads. Wheat flour, cornmeal, and NaCl (1 g each) were mechanically mixed with 3 beads of each material type. The rate of microbial transfer from contaminated beads to food materials was measured. Further experimentation using multiple transfers was applied on two representative beads types, 316 stainless steel and polypropylene, representing common surface contact materials used in processing equipment. Survival of Salmonella on beads depended on storage temperature, with longer survival (P < 0.05) at 4°C than at 25°C, but survival was not influenced by type of bead material. Transfer of Salmonella from stainless steel beads to flour was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than from plastic. Transfer rates from stainless steel to wheat flour, cornmeal, and NaCl were measured as -0.5713, -0.2592, and -1.4221 log CFU of Salmonella removed per cm2 per g of clean material used. Transfer rates from polypropylene to whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and NaCl were more than 10-fold lower at -0.0156, -0.0148, and -0.0129 log CFU of Salmonella removed per cm2 per g of clean material used. These results indicate that although material type may not influence Salmonella survival during storage, Salmonella is more easily removed from stainless steel than polypropylene., (Published 2022 by the International Association for Food Protection. Not subject to U.S. Copyright.)