Coping in the context of racial-ethnic discrimination is often framed as an individualistic process, where the focus is on how the individual deals with the racialized stressor to mitigate its ...negative effects. However, individuals exist within social contexts including the family and coping processes may operate interdependently as well. Further, racialized stressors have the potential to disrupt the entire family system, regardless of whether the experience in that moment is shared among all its members. Despite these realities, few studies have considered how Latinx youth and their parents may cope together in the face of racial-ethnic discrimination. To address this gap, we analyzed focus group data from Mexican-origin adolescents (n = 17; Mage = 12.8; 71% girls) and their parents (n = 17; Mage = 42.8; 82% mothers) to explore the coping strategies used in response to racial-ethnic discrimination. An inductive thematic analysis identified a broad range of coping strategies representing both individualistic and interdependent approaches to deal with racial-ethnic discrimination. Strategies included (a) reframing (with pride) and ignoring an encounter, (b) standing up for oneself, (c) talking issues out, (d) problem-solving together, and (e) protection tactics. These findings provide evidence for the ways in which Mexican-origin families help adolescents cope with racial-ethnic discrimination and offer a glimpse as to how adolescents may help their families cope as well. Future research is needed to further explore the interdependent nature of coping as Latinx family members protect and support one another in the face of pervasive racialized stressors.
Objective: This study expands the literature on risk taking among college students by exploring anti-racism action as a form of positive risk taking. Participants: 346 Black (64%) and Latinx (36%) ...college students (85% female) ages 18-27 years (M = 18.75, SD = 1.31). Methods: Participants responded to questionnaires on anti-racism action, health-risk taking, and college functioning. Latent class analysis identified behavioral profiles of risk takers. Indicators of profile membership and associations with college functioning were examined. Results: Three profiles emerged: moderate overall risk taking, high health-risk taking, and high anti-racism action. Personal experience with discrimination was associated with a greater likelihood of health-risk taking. Students in the high anti-racism profile evinced greater educational functioning than those in the high-health risk taking profile. Conclusions: Risky behavior on college campuses is not homogeneous. Specific interventions and support networks are necessary to support students falling within specific risk profiles.
Youth are frequently involved in preparing meals for themselves and family members. Latinx youth may be more likely to be involved in food preparation compared to youth from other ethnic backgrounds. ...Involvement in food preparation has been linked to various positive health outcomes, such as better diet quality and higher self-esteem. However, little is known about how youth come to be involved in food preparation at home. In addition, previous research has failed to explore the perspectives of youth regarding their role in food preparation. The objective of the present study was to qualitatively explore the food preparation practices of youth from im/migrant Latinx families. A multi-method study consisting of participatory focus groups embedded within an ethnographic fieldwork period was conducted. Participatory focus groups with Latinx youth featured inclusive discussions and participatory techniques, such as draw-write-tell activities, photo-elicitation activities, a decision-making chart activity, and listing activities. Twenty-three youths ages 9–17 years participated in this study. A thematic analysis uncovered themes related to gender norm expectations, specific cooking skills bound by age and food type, and food preparation as an important household contribution. Findings illustrate the diverse experiences of Latinx youth in food preparation. The investigation of youth involvement in food preparation in the home environment may identify potential targets for obesity prevention and dietary health promotion.
Racial-ethnic inequity is deeply entrenched in U.S. social systems, yet adolescents’ voices and understanding around inequity are not often directly examined. The current qualitative study uses focus ...group data from African American (n = 21), Chinese- (n = 17), Indian- (n = 13), and Mexican- (n = 17) origin adolescents (Mage = 12.93 years; SD = 1.23; 51% boys) to provide insight on how youth navigate their attitudes and beliefs about these issues. Using a racial-ethnic socialization lens, we explore proximal (e.g., parents, peers, teachers) and distal (e.g., media, society) ways in which adolescents come to understand racial-ethnic inequity. Three themes characterized adolescents’ discussions. School diversity, of peers and of thought, and messages around egalitarianism were two prominent influences on their perceptions. A third theme related to perceptions of social hierarchies, which appeared to be shaped by stereotypes, peer interactions, and ideas about inequity itself. Emergent themes suggest that the school context is a particularly salient social setting that encompasses multiple sources of socialization (e.g., teachers, classmates, academics, climate), and parents, peers, and the media also play prominent roles.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy
and promotes cardiometabolic health
. Loss of BAT during obesity and ageing is a principal hurdle for BAT-centred obesity therapies, but not much is known ...about BAT apoptosis. Here, untargeted metabolomics demonstrated that apoptotic brown adipocytes release a specific pattern of metabolites with purine metabolites being highly enriched. This apoptotic secretome enhances expression of the thermogenic programme in healthy adipocytes. This effect is mediated by the purine inosine that stimulates energy expenditure in brown adipocytes by the cyclic adenosine monophosphate-protein kinase A signalling pathway. Treatment of mice with inosine increased BAT-dependent energy expenditure and induced 'browning' of white adipose tissue. Mechanistically, the equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1, SLC29A1) regulates inosine levels in BAT: ENT1-deficiency increases extracellular inosine levels and consequently enhances thermogenic adipocyte differentiation. In mice, pharmacological inhibition of ENT1 as well as global and adipose-specific ablation enhanced BAT activity and counteracted diet-induced obesity, respectively. In human brown adipocytes, knockdown or blockade of ENT1 increased extracellular inosine, which enhanced thermogenic capacity. Conversely, high ENT1 levels correlated with lower expression of the thermogenic marker UCP1 in human adipose tissues. Finally, the Ile216Thr loss of function mutation in human ENT1 was associated with significantly lower body mass index and 59% lower odds of obesity for individuals carrying the Thr variant. Our data identify inosine as a metabolite released during apoptosis with a 'replace me' signalling function that regulates thermogenic fat and counteracts obesity.
Shift-&-persist is a coping strategy that has been shown to lead to positive health outcomes in low-SES youth but has not yet been examined with respect to psychological health. This study tests ...whether the shift-&-persist coping strategy works in tandem with ethnic-racial identity to protect against depressive symptoms in the face of two uncontrollable stressors: economic hardship and peer discrimination. In a sample of 175 Latinx youth (51.4% female;
M
age
= 12.9), shift-&-persist buffered the positive relation between economic hardship and depressive symptoms. In terms of peer discrimination, among youth who reported little use of shift and persist, discrimination was related to higher depressive symptoms, whereas youth who reported higher amounts of shift and persist (at and above the mean) were protected and did not evidence this association. However, among youth with high ethnic-racial identity, shift-&-persist failed to protect against the deleterious association between peer discrimination and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that shift-&-persist is protective for Latinx youth, although the context in which it is protective changes based on the racialized/non-racialized nature of the stressor.
Critical civic engagement (CCE) refers to interpersonal, community, and political actions to combat and cope with racial inequity. While discrimination and identity are well-known drivers of civic ...engagement, it is less well-known how parental preparation for bias socialization, which teaches Black youth how to cope with unequal social systems, works in concert with discrimination and identity to predict CCE. Furthermore, there are several ways individuals may be civically engaged, and these factors may be differentially associated with the various types of CCE. This study uses a sample of 186 Black college students (Mage = 18.72, age range = 18-29; 86% female) to examine how discrimination, ethnic-racial centrality, and preparation for bias socialization interact to differentially predict interpersonal, communal, and political CCE. Discrimination was associated with political CCE, whereas both discrimination and racial centrality were associated with greater communal CCE. A three-way interaction between discrimination, centrality, and preparation for bias socialization predicted greater interpersonal CCE. Findings highlight the importance of attending to sociocultural factors when supporting Black college student activists in public minority-serving institutions.
Public Policy Relevance Statement
Experiencing discrimination is cross-sectionally associated with greater civic engagement to address social injustice among Black college students at a majority-minority institution. For communal civic engagement, valuing Blackness as a central part of oneself played a role. For interpersonal civic engagement, both race-central identity and having received preparation from parents on how to cope with racism were important.
Aldolases are C−C bond forming enzymes that have become prominent tools for sustainable synthesis of complex synthons. However, enzymatic methods of fluorine incorporation into such compounds are ...lacking due to the rarity of fluorine in nature. Recently, the use of fluoropyruvate as a non‐native aldolase substrate has arisen as a solution. Here, we report that the type II HpcH aldolases efficiently catalyze fluoropyruvate addition to diverse aldehydes, with exclusive (3S)‐selectivity at fluorine that is rationalized by DFT calculations on a mechanistic model. We also measure the kinetic parameters of aldol addition and demonstrate engineering of the hydroxyl group stereoselectivity. Our aldolase collection is then employed in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of novel fluoroacids and ester derivatives in high stereopurity (d.r. 80–98 %). The compounds made available by this method serve as precursors to fluorinated analogs of sugars, amino acids, and other valuable chiral building blocks.
Pyruvate aldolases of the type II HpcH family are excellent catalysts for fluoropyruvate addition to aldehydes. The stereoselectivity and kinetic behavior are rationalized, and engineering of hydroxyl stereoselectivity is demonstrated. Downstream reactions allow the synthesis of numerous fluorinated analogs of sugars, amino acids, and other valuable chiral organofluorines.
Obesity continues to be a significant public health challenge. While weight loss medications have been studied and available for several years, the newest generation of highly effective anti-obesity ...medications (AOMs) will shift how behavioral science professionals approach obesity treatment and research. With the unique skill set of behavioral science professionals, this commentary suggests ways to integrate behavioral science into the rapidly evolving landscape of AOM use to accelerate better obesity care and generate new lines of research. The goal of this commentary is to stimulate discussion and encourage responsive and relevant action to improve population health.
Whether the factors contributing to poor work–life balance are external (e.g., hyper-competitiveness for research grants, the ticking tenure clock) or internal (e.g., seeking perfection, believing ...the need to do more to measure up), the outcome is the same —being stretched to the limit negatively impacts our well-being. Pushing the gas pedal to the floor, a contributing factor to work–life imbalance, comes at a cost. Because the focus in academia is often on speed and productivity, it is easy to miss the “slow down,” “curve ahead,” or “stop signs” in life. While addressing this complex issue will likely require changes on multiple levels (e.g., individual, institutional, societal), individual scientists do have an opportunity to reflect on their career trajectory and the balance between home life and work life. 1 Using automotive and road trip exemplars, in this perspective article we offer five strategies that can help guide scientists to course correct, get on, and stay on, the road to work–life balance (Figure 1). For trainees, these opportunities can lead to great growth in a short period of time. ...these detours oftentimes lead to new research, teaching, or service activities that can accelerate progress.
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