Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adulthood Negotiation in Intimate Partner Violence: The Sequentially Paradoxical Role of Interpersonal Sensitivity Among Female Inmates.

The present study examined interpersonal sensitivity and hostility as separate and sequential mediators in the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the conflict tactic of negotiation (e.g., a strategy utilized to resolve conflict with a romantic partner) among female inmates. Participants were 258 female inmates recruited from three Southern California jails. After statistically controlling for partner-negotiation, results from a sequential mediation model revealed that the association between ACE and negotiation was mediated through three separate pathways. The first single mediational pathway indicated that ACE was positively associated with interpersonal sensitivity, which in turn had a positive association with negotiation. The second single mediational pathway revealed that ACE was positively associated with hostility, which in turn had a negative association with negotiation. Finally, the sequential meditational path revealed that interpersonal sensitivity through hostility mediated the ACE and negotiation relationship. The present results suggest that ACE may result in increased interpersonal sensitivity, which may paradoxically result in both more and less negotiation with romantic partners. That is, ACE through interpersonal sensitivity alone may result in more negotiation, and ACE through interpersonal sensitivity and then hostility may result in less negotiation with romantic partners. We explicate how the psychopathological construct of interpersonal sensitivity may lead to increased and decreased rates of the positively construed conflict tacit of negotiation. In addition, the present findings are discussed in light of the high rates of both revictimization and perpetration of violence among female inmates.

Isolation of Unstable Isomers of Lucilactaene and Evaluation of Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Secondary Metabolites Produced by the Endophytic Fungus Fusarium sp. QF001 from the Roots of Scutellaria baicalensis.

The filamentous fungal pathogen Fusarium sp. causes several crop diseases. Some Fusarium sp. are endophytes that produce diverse valuable bioactive secondary metabolites. Here, extensive chemical investigation of the endophytic fungus, Fusarium sp. QF001, isolated from the inner rotten part of old roots of Scutellariae baicalensis resulted in the isolation of two new photosensitive geometrical isomers of lucilactaene (compounds 2 and 3) along with lucilactaene (6) and six other known compounds (fusarubin (1), (+)-solaniol (4), javanicin (5), 9-desmethylherbarine (7), NG391 (8) and NG393 (9)). Newly isolated isomers and lucilactaene were unstable under light at room temperature and tended to be a mixture in equilibrium state when exposed to a polar protic solvent during reversed phase chromatography. Normal phase chromatography under dim light conditions with an aprotic mobile phase led to the successful isolation of the relatively unstable isomers 2 and 3. Their structures were elucidated as 8(Z)-lucilactaene (2) and 4(Z)-lucilactaene (3) based on spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of 4 was speculated to be R by computer-assisted specific rotation analysis. The isolated compounds could inhibit NO production and suppress pro-inflammatory cytokines expression in LPS-stimulated macrophage cells. These properties of the isolated compounds indicate their potential use as anti-inflammatory drugs.

Polyphasic taxonomic analysis of Paracoccus ravus sp. nov., an alphaproteobacterium isolated from marine sediment.

Polyphasic taxonomic analysis was performed on a novel marine bacterium, designated as strain YJ057T, isolated from marine sediment collected in the Republic of Korea. The strain was Gram-negative, beige-colored, facultatively anaerobic, coccoid or ovoid-shaped and nonmotile. Preliminary 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis indicated that this novel marine isolate belongs to the family Rhodobacteraceae of the class Alphaproteobacteria, and has the greatest (96.2%) sequence similarity to Paracoccus aestuariivivens GHD-30T. Major (>10%) fatty acids of strain YJ057T were C16:0 and C18:1 ω7c, G+C content in the genomic DNA of the strain was 63.6 mol% and the sole respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-10. It had phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and some unidentified components (three aminolipids, a glycolipid, a phospholipid and two lipids). As per the distinct phylogenetic position and combination of phenotypic and genotypic traits, the strain is considered a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, and the name Paracoccus ravus sp. nov. is proposed.

Probiotics mixture increases butyrate, and subsequently rescues the nigral dopaminergic neurons from MPTP and rotenone-induced neurotoxicity.

Microbiota in the gut affect brain physiology via various pathways, and dysbiosis seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Probiotics showed pleiotropic effects on functions of the central nervous system via microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, no studies displayed the neuroprotective effects of probiotics in the Parkinson's disease. This study aimed to test the neuroprotective effects of probiotics in two different models of PD. We evaluated neuroprotective effects of a probiotic cocktail containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Bifidobacterium animalis lactis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus in PD models induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) or rotenone utilizing behavioral tests, immunohistochemistry and neurochemical analysis. To assure the neuroprotection came from increased production of butyrate, we further determined beneficial effects of butyrate in the MPTP-mediated PD model. The probiotic mixture overtly protected the dopaminergic neurons against MPTP neurotoxicity. However, the probiotics downregulated expression of monoamine oxidase (MAO) B in the striatum, which was accompanied by a lower level of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), the main neurotoxic metabolite of MPTP. Thus, we extended the investigation into the rotenone-induced PD model. Rescuing effects of the probiotics were observed in the setup, which came with increased levels of neurotrophic factors and butyrate in the brain. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was identified to be a major contributor to the induction of neurotrophic factors and downregulation of MAO B. Finally, we demonstrated that sodium butyrate attenuated MPTP-induced neuronal loss in the nigrostriatal pathway. Probiotics could ameliorate neurodegeneration at least partially by increasing butyrate level. These data highlight the role of probiotics for brain health, and their potential as a preventive measure for neurodegenerative diseases such as PD.