[Impact of maternal risky behaviors on the behaviors of children born to adolescent and young mothers]

Objective: To examine the impact of maternal risky behaviors on the behaviors of children born to adolescent and young mothers. Methods: Adolescents and young Chinese mothers were recruited from an integrated young mother supportive program in Hong Kong between January and June 2015. Eligible mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire on their sociodemographic characteristics and history of risky behavior as well as their children's behaviors. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore the association between maternal risky behaviors and their children's behaviors. Results: Among 201 respondents, there were 187 (93.0%) ex-drinkers, 136 (67.7%) ex-smokers, and 83 (41.3%) ex-addicts. Compared to the reference group, children of mothers with drug use behaviors were more likely to have abnormal SDQ total difficulties scores (odds ratio 2.60, P=0.01), those of ex-drinking mothers had more behavioral difficulties and more conduct problems (B=3.82 and 1.37, P both=0.01) and those of ex-smoking mothers had more conduct problems (B=0.74, P=0.01) after adjustment for confounders. Children of active drug-taking mothers also had more emotional symptoms (B=1.77, P=0.04) and hyperactivity/inattention problems (B=2.14, P=0.03). Conclusion: The history of mother's risky behavior was significantly associated with the behavioral problems of the children.

Molecular dynamics of a liquid drop spreading in a corner formed by two planar substrates

Molecular-dynamics simulations were used to investigate the spreading of nonvolatile liquid drops in a solid corner formed by two planar substrates. To understand the effect of the corner on the spreading, liquid drops in a corner with angles of 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees as well as on a flat substrate were examined. Both the solid substrate and the liquid drop were modeled using the Lennard-Jones interaction potential in the present study. Simulation results show that the mass center of the liquid molecules migrated towards the corner as time evolved and the spreading rate increased as the corner angle decreased. It is found that the variation of the mean spreading area with time can be described by a general relation of A(t) approximately t, which is in agreement with results obtained by other investigators. The distribution of liquid atoms per unit normalized corner degree shows a similar trend for different corner angles.