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Author(s): Justina RybakovaitÄ [sup.1] , M. S. Poskus [sup.1] [sup.2] , S. Lo Bue [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5259.b, 0000 0001 1009 8986, Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, , [...], Conscription is an exceptionally stressful life event for young adults. During service, some conscripts manage to cope with service challenges and demands, stay engaged and motivated. Others develop serious adjustment problems, which prevents them from continuing the service. The personality characteristic of psychological hardiness has been recognized as a protective factor against adversity and stressful events. The aim of this study is (1) compare levels of psychological hardiness between mandatory service volunteers and draftees (personal choice); (2) examine the direct and indirect effects of the relationship between psychological hardiness, basic psychological need satisfaction (Self-determination theory; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and engagement; (3) explore the potential moderating role of personal choice (i.e. volunteer service status) in the direct and indirect links between hardiness, need fulfilment, and engagement. The results among a sample of Lithuanian Armed Forces conscripts (N = 601) showed that conscripts who joined military service voluntarily scored significantly higher on hardiness compared to draftees. In addition, results of the structural equation analyses showed that the effect of psychological hardiness on conscripts' engagement is at least partially mediated by psychological need satisfaction; this relationship is moderated by volunteer service status. This study is among the first to explore the role of personal choice (i.e. volunteer service status) for predicting conscripts' engagement.

Three field studies using norm-based public service announcements were carried out in a university context. The studies yielded inconclusive results, pointing toward the need to investigate the contextual and individual effectiveness of persuasive communication based on making social norms salient. The presented studies are discussed as the first steps in introducing persuasive pro-environmental communication in a specific university context and some ways forward are proposed.

The impermeable outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is bypassed by antibacterial proteins known as S-type pyocins. Because of their properties, pyocins are investigated as a potential new class of antimicrobials against Pseudomonas infections. Their production and modification, however, remain challenging. To address this limitation, we employed automated fast-flow peptide synthesis for the rapid production of a pyocin S2 import domain. The N-terminal domain sequence (PyS2 NTD ) was synthesized in under 10 h and purified to yield milligram quantities of the desired product. To our knowledge, the 214 amino acid sequence of PyS2 NTD is among the longest peptides produced from a "single-shot" synthesis, i.e., made in a single stepwise route without the use of ligation techniques. Biophysical characterization of the PyS2 NTD with circular dichroism was consistent with the literature reports. Fluorescently labeled PyS2 NTD binds to P. aeruginosa expressing the cognate ferripyoverdine receptor and is taken up into the periplasm. This selective uptake was validated with confocal and super resolution microscopy, flow cytometry, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. These modified, synthetic S-type pyocin domains can be used to probe import mechanisms of P. aeruginosa and leveraged to develop selective antimicrobial agents that bypass the outer membrane.

The chemical synthesis of polypeptides involves stepwise formation of amide bonds on an immobilized solid support. The high yields required for efficient incorporation of each individual amino acid in the growing chain are often impacted by sequence-dependent events such as aggregation. Here, we apply deep learning over ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) analytical data collected from 35 427 individual fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) deprotection reactions performed with an automated fast-flow peptide synthesizer. The integral, height, and width of these time-resolved UV-vis deprotection traces indirectly allow for analysis of the iterative amide coupling cycles on resin. The computational model maps structural representations of amino acids and peptide sequences to experimental synthesis parameters and predicts the outcome of deprotection reactions with less than 6% error. Our deep-learning approach enables experimentally aware computational design for prediction of Fmoc deprotection efficiency and minimization of aggregation events, building the foundation for real-time optimization of peptide synthesis in flow., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): B.L.P. is a co-founder of Amide Technologies and Resolute Bio. Both companies focus on the development of protein and peptide therapeutics. B.L.P. is co-inventor on U.S. Pat. Appl. 20170081358A1 (March 23, 2017) describing methods and systems for solid phase peptide synthesis and on U.S. Pat. 9,868,759 (January 16, 2018), U.S. Pat. 9,695,214 (July 4, 2017), and U.S. Pat. 9,169,287 (October 27, 2015) describing solid phase peptide synthesis processes and associated systems., (© 2020 American Chemical Society.)