Childhood anxiety disorders (CAD) are a common childhood mental disorder and understanding early developmental pathways is key to prevention and early intervention. What is not understood is... Show moreChildhood anxiety disorders (CAD) are a common childhood mental disorder and understanding early developmental pathways is key to prevention and early intervention. What is not understood is whether early life stress predictors of CAD might be both mediated by infant cortisol reactivity and moderated by infant attachment status. To address this question, this exploratory study draws on 190 women recruited in early pregnancy and followed together with their children until 4 years of age. Early life stress is operationalized as maternal depression measured using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Parenting Stress Index, and antenatal maternal hair cortisol concentrations. Infant cortisol reactivity was measured at 12 months together with the Strange Situation Procedure and CAD assessed at 4 years of age using the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. There was no direct association between attachment classification and CAD. Furthermore, infant cortisol reactivity neither mediated nor attachment moderated the association of early life stress predictors and CAD. However, only for infants with organized attachment classifications, higher maternal antenatal depression, and hair cortisol were associated with a higher risk of CAD. Show less
Albulescu, I.C.; White-Scholten, L.; Tas, A.; Hoornweg, T.E.; Ferla, S.; Kovacikova, K.; ... ; Hemert, M.J. van 2020
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that can cause a debilitating disease that is primarily characterized by persistent joint pain. CHIKV has been emerging globally,... Show moreChikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that can cause a debilitating disease that is primarily characterized by persistent joint pain. CHIKV has been emerging globally, while neither a vaccine nor antiviral medication is available. The anti-parasitic drug suramin was previously shown to inhibit CHIKV replication. In this study we aimed to obtain more detailed insight into its mechanism of action. We found that suramin interacts with virions and can inhibit virus binding to cells. It also appeared to inhibit post-attachment steps of the infection process, likely by preventing conformational changes of the envelope glycoproteins required for fusion and the progression of infection. Suramin-resistant CHIKV strains were selected and genotyping and reverse genetics experiments indicated that mutations in E2 were responsible for resistance. The substitutions N5R and H18Q were reverse engineered in the E2 glycoprotein in order to understand their role in resistance. The binding of suramin-resistant viruses with these two E2 mutations was inhibited by suramin like that of wild-type virus, but they appeared to be able to overcome the post-attachment inhibitory effect of suramin. Conversely, a virus with a G82R mutation in E2 (implicated in attenuation of vaccine strain 181/25), which renders it dependent on the interaction with heparan sulfate for entry, was more sensitive to suramin than wild-type virus. Using molecular modelling studies, we predicted the potential suramin binding sites on the mature spikes of the chikungunya virion. We conclude that suramin interferes with CHIKV entry by interacting with the E2 envelope protein, which inhibits attachment and also interferes with conformational changes required for fusion. Show less
In this reply, we respond to the critique by Barbaro, Boutwell, Barnes, and Shackelford (2017) in regard to our recent meta-analysis of intergenerational transmission of attachment (Verhage et al.,... Show moreIn this reply, we respond to the critique by Barbaro, Boutwell, Barnes, and Shackelford (2017) in regard to our recent meta-analysis of intergenerational transmission of attachment (Verhage et al., 2016). Barbaro et al. (2017) claim that the influence of shared environment on attachment decreases with age, whereas unique environmental and genetic influences increase, which they felt was disregarded in our meta-analysis. Their criticisms, we argue, are based on a misunderstanding of the core tenets of attachment theory. Barbaro et al. (2017) unify parent-offspring attachment, attachment representations, and romantic-pair attachment under the same conceptual and empirical umbrella, even though these constructs serve different behavioral systems. We show that excluding the incompatible twin data on pair bonding from their analysis undercuts their argument. Statements about the role of the shared environment in attachment beyond early childhood are highly uncertain at this point. Importantly, even if the role of the shared environment were to wane with age, its effects may still be causally important in later childhood or adult outcomes, as either an indirect factor or as a factor influencing earlier developmental outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) Show less
