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Bismuth is a well-known therapeutic agent that is used primarily for treatment against peptic ulcers. It has also had success in protecting against nephrotoxicity caused by the anticancer compound cisplatin by inducing the liver and kidney metalloprotein, metallothionein (MT) that then binds to the cisplatin. MT is a small, ubiquitous protein that binds monovalent, divalent, and trivalent metals using its abundant cysteine thiols (20 cysteines in the mammalian protein). It is important in the understanding of both these therapeutic applications to explore in detail the earliest stages of MT binding to bismuth salts. In this paper, we explored the binding of [Bi(cit)]− and [Bi(EDTA)]− to apo-MT 1a as the most basic of binding motifs. It was found that both Bi3+ salts bound in a non-cooperative stepwise manner to terminal cysteinal thiolates at pH 2.6, 5.0, and 7.4. We report that [Bi(EDTA)]− only binds stepwise up to Bi6MT, whereas [Bi(cit)]− forms up to Bi8MT, where the 7th and 8th Bi3+ appear to be adducts. Stepwise speciation analysis provided the 7 binding constants that decreased systematically from K1 to K7 indicating a non-cooperative binding profile. They are reported as log K1 = 27.89, log K2 = 27.78, log K3 = 27.77, log K4 = 27.62, log K5 = 27.32, log K6 = 26.75, and log K7 = 26.12, with log K[Bi(cit)]− determined to be 24.17. Cysteine modifications with benzoquinone and iodoacetamide revealed that when apoMT is fully metallated with Bi3+ there are two free cysteines, meaning 18 cysteines are used in binding the 6 Bi3+. Kinetic studies showed that [Bi(EDTA)]− binds very slowly at pH 2.6 (k = 0.0290 × 106 M−1 s−1) and approximately 2000 times faster at pH 7.4 (k = 66.5 × 106 M−1 s−1). [Bi(cit)]− binding at pH 2.6 was faster than [Bi(EDTA)]− (k = 672 × 106 M−1 s−1) at either pH level. The data strongly support a non-clustered binding motif, emphasizing the non-traditional pathway reported previously for As3+.

Despite the crucial role of humor in t(w)eens’ media entertainment, we lack a theoretically informed approach to investigate the prevalence and co-occurrence of humor types in such entertainment. Therefore, this study tested a coding framework of humor in t(w)eens’ media entertainment by content-analyzing 107 television series (5,633 scenes) listed by 10- to 14-year-olds as their favorite. Results confirmed ten humor types (aggressive, slapstick, self-defeating, sexual, irreverent, coping, parody, wordplay, incongruity, absurdity) with aggressive humor most often and coping humor least often present (in 87.9% versus 23.4% of series, respectively). Humor types also frequently co-occurred, highlighting the need to revise existing theories.

Humorous media entertainment frequently punctuates the everyday lives of adolescents. Theorists have suggested that this exposure may impact behavior, particularly real-life aggression. Specifically, exposure to prosocial (coping) humor in media entertainment is posited to decrease aggression, whereas the reverse has been argued for exposure to antisocial (disparaging and slapstick) humor. Despite these suppositions, little empirical evidence about this relationship exists. To fill this gap, this study employed a cohort-sequential design using latent growth curve models to estimate the (co-)development of adolescents’ preferences for television shows featuring disparaging, slapstick, and coping humor and aggression from age 10 to 17. Results showed that at the onset of adolescence, especially boys had a higher preference for shows with disparaging and slapstick humor than with coping humor. However, over the course of adolescence, boys’ and girls’ preferences for shows with coping humor increased, while especially girls’ preferences for shows with disparaging and slapstick humor decreased. These preferences were unrelated to adolescents’ aggression. Our findings provide an important addition to the ongoing media effects debate. Taken together, they offer room for optimism and point toward an increased focus on the potential positive rather than the negative sides of humor in the lives of young people.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-nms-10.1177_14614448211065425 for The associations of active and passive social media use with well-being: A critical scoping review by Patti M Valkenburg, Irene I van Driel and Ine Beyens in New Media & Society

Item does not contain fulltext This study investigated the effects of active private, passive private, and passive public social media use on adolescents’ affective well-being. Intensive longitudinal data (34,930 assessments in total) were collected through a preregistered three-week experience sampling method study among 387 adolescents. N = 1 time series were investigated, using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling. Findings showed that different types of social media use very rarely yielded different effects within one and the same adolescent: 45% of adolescents experienced no changes in well-being due to any of the three types of social media use, 28% only experienced declines in well-being, and 26% only experienced increases in well-being. Only one adolescent experienced the theoretically expected effect pattern of a positive effect of active private and passive private use and negative effect of passive public use. Together, the findings suggest that the active-passive use dichotomy in social media research is less clear-cut than it might seem. 13 december 2021 26 p.

Il volume Una questione di provincia, pubblicato nel 2020 dalla napoletana editoriale Scienti fica, si concentra sull’analisi delle «forme peculiari della criminalità camorrista» (p. 15) tra età giolittiana e fascismo nell’area dell’agro napoletano estesa fra le pendici del Vesuvio e la piana di nola, la piana del Volturno e l’area intorno ad Aversa.

Contains fulltext : 239443.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) A recurring hypothesis in the literature is that "passive" social media use (browsing) leads to negative effects on well-being. This preregistered study investigated a rival hypothesis, which states that the effects of browsing on well-being depend on person-specific susceptibilities to envy, inspiration, and enjoyment. We conducted a three-week experience sampling study among 353 adolescents (13-15 years, 126 assessments per adolescent). Using an advanced N = 1 method of analysis, we found sizeable heterogeneity in the associations of browsing with envy, inspiration, and enjoyment (e.g., for envy ranging from β = -.44 to ß = +.71). The Passive Social Media Use Hypothesis was confirmed for 20% of adolescents and rejected for 80%. More adolescents with browsing-induced envy experienced negative effects on affective well-being (25%) than adolescents with no browsing-induced envy (13%). Conversely, more adolescents with browsing-induced enjoyment experienced positive effects on affective well-being (47%) than adolescents with no browsing-induced enjoyment (9%). Lay summary: 'A recurrent question among academics is whether social media browsing negatively affects teens' well-being. Some scholars believe that this browsing can lead to envy and declines in well-being. Others think that it can also lead to inspiration and enjoyment, and to increases in well-being. To investigate which scholars are right, we asked 353 teens to report six times a day for a period of three weeks how often they had browsed Instagram and Snapchat in the past hour. Furthermore, we asked them how much envy, inspiration, and enjoyment they had experienced in that hour, and how well they felt at that moment. We found sizeable differences among teens in the effects of browsing on well-being at that moment. While one group of teens (20%) felt worse after browsing, another group (17%) felt better. More teens who had felt envy while browsing, experienced negative effects on well-being than teens who did not feel such envy while browsing. Conversely, more teens who had felt enjoyment while browsing, experienced positive effects on well-being than teens who had not felt such enjoyment. 19 p.

Review

Contains fulltext : 239438.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The aim of this preregistered study was to compare and explain the effects of (a) time spent on social media (SM) and (b) the valence (positivity or negativity) of SM experiences on adolescents' self-esteem. We conducted a 3-week experience sampling (ESM) study among 300 adolescents (13-16 years; 126 assessments per adolescent; 21,970 assessments in total). Using an N = 1 method of analysis (Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling [DSEM]), we found that the within-person effects of time spent with SM on selfesteem ranged from strongly negative (ß = -.31) to moderately positive (β = +.27) across adolescents. Across all ESM observations of the valence of adolescents' SM experiences, 55% of these experiences were positive, 18% negative, and 27% neutral. Finally, 78% of adolescents experienced a positive within-person effect of the valence of SM experiences on self-esteem (β ≥ +.05), 19% no to a very small effect (-.05 < ß < +.05), and 3% a negative effect (ß

Literature reviews on how social media use affects adolescent mental health have accumulated at an unprecedented rate of late. Yet, a higher-level integration of the evidence is still lacking. We fill this gap with an up-to-date umbrella review, a review of reviews published between 2019 and mid-2021. Our search yielded 25 reviews: seven meta-analyses, nine systematic, and nine narrative reviews. Results showed that most reviews interpreted the associations between social media use and mental health as ‘weak’ or ‘inconsistent,’ whereas a few qualified the same associations as ‘substantial’ and ‘deleterious.’ We summarize the gaps identified in the reviews, provide an explanation for their diverging interpretations, and suggest several avenues for future research.

Whether studies should rely on parent or child reports of parental mediation remains a much-debated question. We investigated the agreement between parent and adolescent reports of the frequency and style (autonomy-supportive, controlling, inconsistent) of restrictive and active mediation, and their relative validity. Results revealed perceptual differences, with parents reporting more autonomy-supportive mediation. With some exceptions, both parent and adolescent reports correlated with relevant criterion measures. Results suggest that parent and adolescent reports are equally valid to assess the frequency and style of mediation, and that both reports should be considered to obtain a complete understanding of parents’ mediation efforts.

Research into the impact of social media use (SMU) on well-being (e.g., happiness) and ill-being (e.g., depression) has exploded over the past few years. From 2019 to August 2021, 27 reviews have been published: nine meta-analyses, nine systematic reviews, and nine narrative reviews, which together included hundreds of empirical studies. The aim of this umbrella review is to synthesize the results of these meta-analyses and reviews. Even though the meta-analyses are supposed to rely on the same evidence base, they yielded disagreeing associations with well- and ill-being, especially for time spent on SM, active SMU, and passive SMU. This umbrella review explains why their results disagree, summarizes the gaps in the literature, and ends with recommendations for future research.