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The respiratory inhibitor cyanide stimulates growth of the ethanologenic bacterium Zymomonas mobilis, perhaps by diverting reducing equivalents from respiration to ethanol synthesis, thereby minimizing accumulation of toxic acetaldehyde. This study sought to identify cyanide-sensitive components of respiration. In aerobically grown, permeabilized Z. mobilis cells, addition of 200 [micro]M cyanide caused gradual inhibition of ADH II, the iron-containing alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzyme, which, in aerobic cultures, might be oxidizing ethanol and supplying NADH to the respiratory chain. In membrane preparations, NADH oxidase was inhibited more rapidly, but to a lesser extent, than ADH II. The time-course of inhibition of whole-cell respiration resembled that of NADH oxidase, yet the inhibition was almost complete, and was accompanied by an increase of intracellular NADH concentration. Cyanide did not significantly affect the activity of ADH I, the zinc-containing alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzyme. When an aerobic batch culture was grown in the presence of 200 [micro]M cyanide, cyanide-resistant ADH II activity was observed, its appearance correlating with the onset of respiration. It is concluded that the membrane-associated respiratory chain, but not ADH II, is responsible for the whole-cell cyanide sensitivity, while the cyanide-resistant ADH II is needed for respiration in the presence of cyanide, and represents an adaptive response of Z. mobilis to cyanide, analogous to the induction of alternative terminal oxidases in other bacteria.

Results demonstrate that in chemostat aerobic cultures of Zymomonas mobilis potassium cyanide promoted biomass production. Data indicate that this growth stimulation is due to the production inhibition of the growth inhibitory acetaldehyde under decreased respiration caused by cyanide.

The effect of probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii on genotoxicity induced by the well-known mutagen 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4-NQO), as well as antibacterial (furazolidone) and antibiotic (nalidixic acid) drugs, has been studied using the short-term bacterial assay, SOS chromotest, with Escherichia coli PQ 37 as the test organism. It has been shown that S. boulardii possesses antigenotoxic activity, revealed by SOS chromotest, when coincubated with these genotoxins. A weaker antigenotoxic activity against the same compounds was observed with S. carlsbergensis, too.

The Social Misfit Theory, which states that some individuals deviate from what is normative in a community and may therefore be more likely to be victimized, has mostly been studied in Western countries. The current study addresses in a longitudinal sample whether socio-economic minorities (SES) in the classroom (a contextual SES minority) are more likely to become victims of bullying in India, and whether the relation between minority status and victimization is mediated by perception of oneself as a minority. The current study used three waves separated by three month intervals. A sample of youth from Indore India (grades 7 to 9; N = 1238; M-age T1  = 13.15, SD = 1.16, 24 percent girls) was used. It was found that being a contextual SES minority was related to more victimization, but only when the contextual status was corroborated by the perceived minority status. However, over time, being part of a contextual minority predicted decreased victimization, possibly pointing to normative beliefs and values in the Indian context. The results of this study are in contrast to the Social Misfit Theory, but do support self-perception as a mediator., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Prior to the 2016 crisis in Syria, a study conducted in Aleppo found the prevalence of metabolic syndrome to be 39.6%, which is known to be favoured by age and poor lifestyle (including physical inactivity and the consumption of hypercaloric foods, rich in saturated fats, concentrated carbohydrates, and salt), so the objective of this study was to identify the association of different dietary patterns with metabolic syndrome and their components. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in 104 adults aged 40 to 65 years who did not suffer from previous diseases. The sample was chosen from middle-class citizens of the city of Damascus who were contacted by telephone; they were explained about the study, the information that would be collected, and the studies that should be carried out in the clinical analysis laboratory of the Private University of Syria. A nutritional and food study was carried out using previously validated forms containing 62 items in which the food intake of the participants was studied. We apply principal component analysis and factor analysis to detect nutritional components and dietary patterns. Dietary pattern 3 (foods with simple carbohydrates and saturated fat) increased glucose levels, while dietary patterns 1 (high intake of calories, protein, and saturated fat) and 5 (fast food) increased serum triglyceride levels. In addition, pattern 1 (carbonated beverages, grains, chicken, and meat) was associated with elevated LDL cholesterol levels and the presence of the metabolic syndrome. The study findings suggest that the presence of metabolic syndrome and its components are associated with dietary patterns high in calories, protein, simple carbohydrates, and saturated fat., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Malda Atasi et al.)

Past research has shown concurrent associations between adolescent's body mass index (BMI) and classroom bullying victimization experiences. The goal of this three-wave longitudinal study is to examine a transactional model of associations between BMI and bullying victimization among adolescents in India. We investigate concurrent unidirectional and bidirectional relations between BMI and victimization. In a sample of 1238 students from nine schools (Grades 7-9; M-age T1  = 13.15, SD = 1.16) in Indore, India, we used self- and peer-reports to measure bullying victimization in the classroom, and objective measurement of students' height and weight to collect data on adolescents' BMI, across three waves in one school year. Structural equational modeling was used to test transactional relations between BMI and bullying victimization. For self-reported victimization, there was no concurrent or over time association between BMI and victimization for boys or girls in the present study. For peer-reported victimization, we observed concurrent associations between BMI and victimization for boys and girls and a prospective relation where higher BMI corresponded to less victimization over time for boys. The study yielded mainly concurrent relations between BMI and victimization among adolescents in India. Results from western countries may not generalize to India., (© 2020 The Authors. Aggressive Behavior Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

When bilingual children enter formal reading education, host language proficiency becomes increasingly important. This study investigated the relation between socioeconomic status (SES), maternal language use, reading input, and vocabulary in a sample of 111 six-year-old children of first- and second-generation Turkish immigrant parents in the Netherlands. Mothers reported on their language use with the child, frequency of reading by both parents, and availability of children's books in the ethnic and the host language. Children's Dutch and Turkish vocabulary were tested during a home visit. SES was related to maternal language use and to host language reading input. Reading input mediated the relation between SES and host language vocabulary and between maternal language use and host language vocabulary, whereas only maternal language use was related to ethnic language vocabulary. During transition to formal reading education, one should be aware that children from low-SES families receive less host language reading input.

Using a randomized control trial design we tested the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive adaptation of the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) in a sample of 76 Turkish minority families in the Netherlands. The VIPP-SD was adapted based on a pilot with feedback of the target mothers, resulting in the VIPP-TM (VIPP-Turkish Minorities). The sample included families with 20-47-month-old children with high levels of externalizing problems. Maternal sensitivity, nonintrusiveness, and discipline strategies were observed during pretest and posttest home visits. The VIPP-TM was effective in increasing maternal sensitivity and nonintrusiveness, but not in enhancing discipline strategies. Applying newly learned sensitivity skills in discipline situations may take more time, especially in a cultural context that favors more authoritarian strategies. We conclude that the VIPP-SD program and its video-feedback approach can be successfully applied in immigrant families with a non-Western cultural background, with demonstrated effects on parenting sensitivity and nonintrusiveness.

According to the family stress model (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), low socioeconomic status (SES) predicts less-than-optimal parenting through family stress. Minority families generally come from lower SES backgrounds than majority families, and may experience additional stressors associated with their minority status, such as acculturation stress. The primary goal of this study was to test a minority family stress model with a general family stress pathway, as well as a pathway specific to ethnic minority families. The sample consisted of 107 Turkish-Dutch mothers and their 5- to 6-year-old children, and positive parenting was observed during a 7-min problem-solving task. In addition, mothers reported their daily hassles, psychological distress, and acculturation stress. The relation between SES and positive parenting was partially mediated by both general maternal psychological stress and maternal acculturation stress. Our study contributes to the argument that stressors specific to minority status should be considered in addition to more general demographic and family stressors in understanding parenting behavior in ethnic minority families.

The primary goal of this study is to test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal sensitive mother are similar across Dutch, Moroccan, and Turkish mothers living in the Netherlands. A total of 75 mothers with at least one child between the ages of six months and six years described their views about the ideal sensitive mother using the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (Pederson, Moran, & Bento, 1999 ). These views were highly similar within and across cultural and socio-economic groups. Nevertheless, family income fully mediated the relationship between ethnic background and sensitivity beliefs; income of minority mothers was lower which was in turn predictive of a lower sensitivity belief score. Our findings suggest that the main behavioral markers of sensitivity are valued by mothers from different cultural backgrounds. The role of socio-economic status in sensitivity beliefs is consistent with the Family Stress Model.

A positive correlation between species diversity and genetic diversity has been proposed, consistent with neutral predictions in macroecology. We assessed the species--genetic diversity correlation in tenebrionid beetle communities of the Aegean archipelago on 15 islands of different sizes, distances to mainland, and ages of isolation. Alpha and beta diversity of species and haplotypes were assessed using sequences of > 1,000 individuals (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and nuclear muscular protein 20). We show that (i) there is a strong species-area and haplotype-area relationship; (ii) species richness in island communities is correlated with intraspecific genetic diversity in the constituent species except when island size or distance to mainland is factored out in partial correlations; (iii) community similarity declines exponentially at an increasing rate when calculated on the basis of species, nuclear, and mtDNA haplotypes; and (iv) distance decay of community similarity is slower in dispersive sand-dwelling lineages compared with less dispersive lineages that are not sand obligate. Taken together, these correlated patterns at the species and haplotype level are consistent with individual-based stochastic dispersal proposed by neutral theories of biodiversity. The results also demonstrate the utility of haplotype data for exploring macroecological patterns in poorly known biota and predicting large-scale biodiversity patterns based on genetic inventories of local samples.

The authors evaluated the adequacy of an extensive adaptation of the American Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (KABC-II), for 6- to 10-year-old Kannada-speaking children of low socioeconomic status in Bangalore, South India. The adapted KABC-II was administered to 598 children. Subtests showed high reliabilities, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model underlying the original KABC-II was largely replicated, and external relations with demographic characteristics and an achievement measure were consistent with expectations. The subtests showed relatively high loadings on the general cognitive factor, presumably because of the high task novelty and, hence, cognitive complexity of the tests for the children. The findings support the suitability and validity of the KABC-II adaptation. The authors emphasize that test adaptations can only be adequate if they meet both judgmental (qualitative) and statistical (quantitative) adaptation criteria.