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Feeling loved by one's parents is critical for children's health and well‐being. How can such feelings be fostered? A vital feature of loving interactions is reciprocal self‐disclosure, where individuals disclose intimate information about themselves. In a proof‐of‐concept experiment, we examined whether encouraging reciprocal self‐disclosure in parent‐child dyads would make children feel more loved during the conversation. Participants were 218 children (ages 8–13, 50% girls, 94% Dutch) and one of their parents (ages 28–56, 62% women, 90% Dutch). Parent‐child dyads received a list of 14 questions and took turns asking them each other for 9 min. Dyads were assigned randomly to engage in self‐disclosure (questions invoking escalated intimacy) or small talk (questions invoking minimal intimacy). Before and after, children reported how loved they felt by their parent during the conversation. Self‐disclosure made children feel more loved during the conversation than did small talk. Compared to small talk, self‐disclosure did not instigate conversations that were lengthier or more positive; rather, it instigated conversations that were more emotionally charged (reflecting anger, anxiety, and sadness), social (discussing family and friends), reflective (creating insight), and meaningful (addressing deeply personal topics, including the passing of loved ones). The dyad's gender composition did not significantly moderate these effects. Our research suggests that reciprocal self‐disclosure can make children feel more loved in the moment, uncovers linguistic signatures of reciprocal self‐disclosure, and offers developmental scientists a tool to examine causal effects of reciprocal self‐disclosure in parent‐child dyads. Future work should examine long‐term effects in everyday parent‐child interactions. Research Highlights: How can parents make children feel more loved by them in the moment? We theorize that these feelings can be cultivated through reciprocal self‐disclosure.In a proof‐of‐concept experiment, we examined effects of reciprocal self‐disclosure versus small talk in 218 parent‐child dyads, with children aged 8−13.Self‐disclosure (vs. small talk) made children feel more loved during the conversation. Linguistically, self‐disclosure instigated conversations that were more emotionally charged, social, reflective, and meaningful.This research provides an experimental method to study self‐disclosure in parent‐child dyads and suggests that self‐disclosure can make children feel more loved in the moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The light-harvesting reactions of photosynthesis take place on the thylakoid membrane inside chloroplasts. The thylakoid membrane is folded into appressed membranes, the grana, and nonappressed membranes that interconnect the grana, the stroma lamellae. This folding is essential for the correct functioning of photosynthesis. Electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy are commonly used to study the thylakoid membrane, but these techniques have limitations in visualizing a complete chloroplast and its organization. To overcome this limitation, we applied expansion microscopy (ExM) on isolated chloroplasts. ExM is a technique that involves physically expanding a sample in a swellable hydrogel to enhance the spatial resolution of fluorescence microscopy. Using all-protein staining, we visualized the 3D structure of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) thylakoids in detail. We were able to resolve stroma lamellae that were 60 nm apart and observe their helical wrapping around the grana. Furthermore, we accurately measured the dimensions of grana from top views of chloroplasts, which allow for precise determination of the granum diameter. Our results demonstrate that ExM is a fast and reliable technique for studying thylakoid organization in great detail. Expansion microscopy reveals the intricate folding of the thylakoid membrane, combining fast imaging and 60-nm resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vitro methods provide a key opportunity to model human-relevant exposure scenarios for hazard identification of inhaled toxicants. Compared to in vivo tests, in vitro methods have the advantage of assessing effects of inhaled toxicants caused by differences in dosimetry, e.g., variations in concentration (exposure intensity), exposure duration, and exposure frequency, in an easier way. Variations in dosimetry can be used to obtain information on adverse effects in human-relevant exposure scenarios that can be used for risk assessment. Based on the published literature of exposure approaches using air-liquid interface models of the respiratory tract, supplemented with additional experimental data from the EU H2020 project "PATROLS" and research funded by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the advantages and disadvantages of different exposure methods and considerations to design an experimental setup are summarized and discussed. As the cell models used are models for the respiratory epithelium, our focus is on the local effects in the airways. In conclusion, in order to generate data from in vitro methods for risk assessment of inhaled toxicants it is recommended that (1) it is considered what information really is needed for hazard or risk assessment; (2) the exposure system that is most suitable for the chemical to be assessed is chosen; (3) a deposited dose that mimics deposition in the human respiratory tract is used, and (4) the post-exposure sampling methodology should be carefully considered and relevant to the testing strategy used. Plain language summary The impact of airborne pollutants on human health is determined by what pollutant it is, how much we breathe in, for how long and how often. Testing in animals is cumbersome and results may not reflect human health impacts. Advanced cell models of the human lung allow prediction of the health impact of many different exposure scenarios. Here, we compare different models and exposure methods and provide criteria that may assist in designing experiments, interpreting the results, and thus assessing the risks posed by airborne pollutants. We recommend (1) determining what information is needed to plan the experiment, (2) choosing an exposure method that is suitable for the pollutant of interest, (3) determining the amount of pollutant that interacts with the human lung, to relate this to realistic deposition in the lung, and (4) considering the time between the exposure and measurement of the effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]