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Abstract: Background: Our aim was to determine whether child attachment to parents, parent attachment style, and morning cortisol levels were related to diabetes outcomes measured by average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), HbA1c variability over 4 years and time in range (TIR) in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Research design and methods: 101 children with T1D and one of their parents were assessed at baseline for child attachment (Child Attachment Interview; CAI) and parent attachment (Relationship Structures Questionnaire; ECR-RS). Serum samples were collected for cortisol measurements before the interviews. HbA1c levels were measured during a 4-year follow-up period at regular 3-monthly visits, and data for TIR were exported from blood glucose measuring devices. Multivariate linear regression models were constructed to identify independent predictors of glycemic outcomes. Results: More girls than boys exhibited secure attachment to their mothers. The results of the regression models showed that securely attached girls (CAI) had higher average HbA1c than did insecurely attached girls (B = -0.64, p = 0.03). In boys, the more insecure the parent's attachment style, the worse the child's glycemic outcome: the higher the average Hb1Ac (B = 0.51, p = 0.005), the higher the HbA1c variability (B = 0.017, p = 0.011), and the lower the TIR (B = -8.543, p = 0.002). Conclusions: Attachment in close relationships is associated with glycemic outcomes in children with T1D, and we observed significant differences between sexes. A sex- and attachment-specific approach is recommended when treating children with less favorable glycemic outcomes. Special attention and tailored support should be offered to securely attached girls in transferring responsibility for diabetes care and at least to male children of insecurely attached parents to prevent suboptimal glycemic control. Further studies in larger samples and more daily cortisol measurements may help us better understand the links between stress response, attachment and T1D.
Keywords: attachment, childhood and adolescence, cortisol, diabetes control, time in range
Published in DKUM: 21.05.2024; Views: 152; Downloads: 10
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Abstract: We study the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes through the lens of the prisoner’s dilemma game. But while previous studies on cooperation amongst selfsh individuals often assume instantaneous interactions, we take into consideration delays to investigate how these might afect the causes underlying prosocial behavior. Through analytical calculations and numerical simulations, we demonstrate that delays can lead to oscillations, and by incorporating also the ecological variable of altruistic free space and the evolutionary strategy of punishment, we explore how these factors impact population and community dynamics. Depending on the parameter values and the initial fraction of each strategy, the studied eco-evolutionary model can mimic a cyclic dominance system and even exhibit chaotic behavior, thereby highlighting the importance of complex dynamics for the efective management and conservation of ecological communities. Our research thus contributes to the broader understanding of group decision-making and the emergence of moral behavior in multidimensional social systems.
Keywords: cooperation, time delay, evolutionary dynamics, social dilemma, social physics
Published in DKUM: 04.04.2024; Views: 191; Downloads: 16
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Keywords: optical sensor layers preparation, spin coating, spray coating, inkjet printing, SFE, XPS, NH3, response, real-time response
Published in DKUM: 28.03.2024; Views: 198; Downloads: 7
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Abstract: Increasing antimicrobial resistance has caused a great interest in natural products as alternatives or potentiators of antibiotics. The objective of this study was to isolate individual tannins from crude chestnut extract as well as to determine the influence of both crude extracts (tannic acid extract, chestnut extract) and individual pure tannins (gallic acid, vescalin, vescalagin, castalin, castalagin) on the growth of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Their antibacterial activity was monitored by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) as well as the duration of the lag phase, growth rate and generation time. The effect of growth medium strength on the MIC of different tannins was also investigated. Bacterial growth was followed spectrophotometrically, and MIC values were determined by the microdilution method. The MIC values of various isolated compounds allowed us to determine the bioactive compounds and their contribution to antimicrobial activity. It was found that MIC values increase with increasing growth medium strength and that the lag phase lengthens with increasing tannin concentrations, while the growth rates decrease. Comparing the results of the two studies, the antimicrobial activity of tannins against S. aureus was not as pronounced as in the case of E. coli, which may indicate that a different mechanism of action is responsible for the antimicrobial effects of tannins on Gram-positive than on Gram-negative bacteria, or that a different mechanism is more pronounced.
Keywords: tannins, antibacterial activity, MIC, MBC, Staphylococcus aureus, lag phase, generation time
Published in DKUM: 20.02.2024; Views: 363; Downloads: 64
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Abstract: This article approaches personal memory travels with the aim of investigating people’s encounters with the changing environment in relation to time. It centers on the intra-actions with perceptual ephemera as immaterial non-solid entities to argue that our relational reality is a cyclical, dis-continuous process of past and present encounters. The study is grounded in the post-humanist performativ-ity approach and based on personal life histories of memory trips gathered in Slovenia with the help of in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation. Findings suggest that travelers’ engagements with ephemera at site illustrate complex entanglements between human and other (immaterial) entities as co-constituted in time and from within time, provoking the production of situated and temporally sensitive knowledge about the more-than-human world. The article endorses the significance of memory work and human engagements with absences and resonances, both allusions to other (past) contexts, as fundamental for cultivating post-anthropocentric attitudes and advancing the habit of timefulness.
Keywords: personal memory travel, encounters, environment, absence, anthropocene, ephemera, memory, time, trave
Published in DKUM: 16.02.2024; Views: 255; Downloads: 13
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