Video-Recall Procedures for Examining Subjective Understanding in Observational Data.

Video-recall procedures allow researchers and clinicians to ascertain participants' subjective understanding of their interactions with significant others. The procedures involve recording participants' interactions and subsequently asking them to review the recorded interactions. The reviewing involves participants providing feedback about their perceptions of their interactions, behaviors, or experiences during the original interactions. Participants' subjective understandings can be contrasted with each other and with those of trained coders to examine shared and discrepant understandings and the differential predictive utility of interactional processes. In this article, the authors briefly review the literature on video-recall procedures, discuss their potential for application in a variety of areas in family psychology, and provide an analysis of current video-recall procedures. Finally, the authors present the Digital Video-Recall System as an example of current video-recall methodology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Atomic force microscopy for the measurement of flexibility of single softwood pulp fibres

A new method based on the atomic force microscope has been developed to measure the lateral flexibility of single wood pulp fibres. In this method, individual wet pulp fibres from earlywood and latewood of Pinus radiata were placed on a newly designed two-point support, and the load and the deflection of fibres were measured under three-point bending test using a modified cantilever probe. The lateral flexibility values of the fibres were then calculated using propped cantilever beam theory. The results obtained indicate that earlywood fibres are substantially more flexible, and have a greater range of flexibility values than latewood fibres.     

Photobiological hydrogen production from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 encapsulated in silica sol–gel

Hydrogen production was measured from viable wild-type and M55 mutant cells of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 encapsulated in silica sol–gel derived from tetraethoxysilane, tetramethoxysilane, and a mixture of tetraethoxysilane with methyltriethoxysilane. Glycerol and polyethylene glycol were used as additives in concentrations up to 14 wt.% to increase porosity and pore connectivity and to reduce stress on the encapsulated cells. Mixtures were evaluated for hydrogen production in a high-throughput screening assay, and samples were imaged with environmental scanning electron microscopy. Compositions showing improved H₂ production were selected for further study via quantitative analysis of H₂ production in GC vial assays. H₂ production activity was monitored for up to 5 days and H₂ production from encapsulated cells was observed at levels comparable to or exceeding cells suspended in liquid media.     

Injection and compression molding of polystyrene/high-density polyethylene blends—phase morphology and tensile behavior

Processing and compatibilization effects on the phase morphology and the tensile behavior of blends of polystyrene and high-density polyethylene (PS/HDPE) were investigated. As predicted by theory, high shear rates encountered during extrusion blending led to efficient minor phase emulsification in immiscible PS/HDPE blends for which the viscosity ratio approaches unity. Consequently, the emulsifying effect of a styrene/ethylene-butylene/styrene (SEBS) compatibilizer was found to be negligible. In the subsequent molding process, disintegration, shape relaxation and coarsening of the minor phase domains were found to be responsible for the morphological evolution. In the compression molding process, morphological observations showed that the rate of minor phase coarsening followed the predictions of the Ostwald ripening theory, in agreement with the rheological analysis. In the injection molding process, minor phase coarsening was attributed to shear coalescence. Tensile tests performed on compression molded and injection molded blends showed that the mechanical behavior of PS/HDPE blends depend strongly upon the matrix orientation as well as the dispersed phase morphology and orientation. In both postforming operations, compatibilization effects on the morphological stability and the tensile behavior of PS/HDPE blends were found to be dependent upon the composition and the rheological behavior of the blend. Evidence of adhesion between the PS and HDPE phases was observed in the presence of SEBS in HDPE-rich blends.     

AY-9944 inhibition of sterol biosynthesis inChlorella emersonii

WhenChlorella emersonii, a green alga, was cultured in the presence of 20 ppm AY-9944, a number of sterols accumulated which appear to be intermediates of sterol biosynthesis in this organism. The sterols isolated include 14α-methyl-ergost-8-en-3β-ol, 14α-methyl 24S-stigmast-8-en-3β-ol, 14α-methyl ergosta-8,24(28)-dien-3β-ol and 4α, 14α-dimethyl 24S-stigmast-8-en-3β-ol. Smaller quantities of several other sterols were found in addition to the normally occurring Δ⁷, chondrillasterol and Δ⁷. Control cultures were found to contain, in addition to the normally occurring sterols, smaller quantities of most of the sterols isolated from AY-9944 inhibited cultures. AY-9944 is a specific inhibitor of Δ⁷ in cholesterol biosynthesis in animals. However, sinceC. emersonii terminates sterol biosynthesis one step prior to the Δ⁷ step, AY-9944 apparently inhibits sterol biosynthesis prior to this step in this organism. The accumulation of 14α-methyl sterols in treated cultures suggests that AY-9944 is an effective inhibitor of the 14α-methyl removal inC. emersonii. Scientific Article No. A1865, Contribution No. 4775 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Carbonate fuel cell materials

This article reviews the current status and discusses future opportunities for major direct fuel cell (DFC) materials. Major progress on DFC materials development (e.g., electrode, electrolyte, matrix, catalyst, cell hardware, and stack/power plant hardware) at fuel cell energy is discussed. Long-term (i.e., ∼18,000 h) field testing results are reported. These results confirm at least a five year operational life for selected key stack materials. Cost reduction is the current main focus. This paper was presented at the ASM Materials Solutions Conference & Show held October 18–21, 2004 in Columbus, OH.     

The use of anti-D to improve post-transfusion platelet response: a randomized trial

Patients undergoing induction chemotherapy for acute leukaemia often become refractory to platelet transfusions. Increased clearance of transfused platelets due to alloimmune destruction has been identified as one of the primary mechanisms contributing to this refractory state. We performed a double-blind randomized trial to determine whether the administration of anti-D to Rh-positive individuals could prevent the refractory state and improve post-transfusion platelet response. Rh-positive patients with acute leukaemia undergoing induction chemotherapy and requiring platelet transfusions were allocated to weekly intravenous anti-D (20 micrograms/kg) or placebo. Platelets and red cell concentrates were administered according to standardized transfusion guidelines. Outcome measures included platelet transfusion utilization, red cell utilization, platelet recovery 18-24 h post-infusion, and the percentage of patients refractory to platelet transfusion. There were 43 patients studied: 21 received anti-D and 22 saline placebo. The mean number of platelet concentrates required per day of observation was 0.59 (SD 0.22) in the anti-D group and 0.61 (SD 0.22) in the placebo group, P = 0.86. No difference was detected between groups in terms of platelet recovery post-infusion, refractoriness to platelet transfusion or frequency of infection (P = 0.97). Red cell concentrate utilization was significantly increased in the anti-D group compared to the placebo group, 0.58 units per day versus 0.37 units per day respectively, P = 0.005. We conclude that the use of anti-D did not improve post-transfusion platelet response in Rh positive patients with acute leukaemia, but did result in an increased need for red cell transfusion.     

Relationship between biliary and serum bile acids and response to ursodeoxycholic acid in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

OBJECTIVE: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) improves liver biochemistries and enriches the bile with UDCA in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether the degree of enrichment of bile correlated with that of serum and whether either of these measures correlated with improvement in measures of liver disease. METHODS: In a randomized study, biliary and serum bile acid analyses were performed at entry and after 2 yr of UDCA or placebo. RESULTS: The percentage of ursodeoxycholic acid in bile increased by 42% in the UDCA group (n = 61) compared with 8% in the placebo group (n = 57) (p < 0.0001). Measurement of serum bile acids in 32 patients (18 ursodeoxycholic acid, 14 placebo) indicated that at 2 yr, ursodeoxycholic acid comprised 65% of serum bile acids in the treated group and 7% in the placebo group. Agreement between bile and serum was fair (r = 0.75, p < or = 0.00002) because in some patients, plasma but not biliary bile acids were enriched with UDCA. Changes in biliary ursodeoxycholic acid correlated significantly but weakly with the changes in serum alkaline phosphatase, AST, bilirubin, and in Mayo risk score. Correlations between changes in serum bile acid composition and biochemical measures of disease activity were even weaker. CONCLUSION: The measurement of biliary bile acids is superior to that of serum bile acids for assessing the compliance and changes in the circulating bile acids in patients receiving ursodeoxycholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. Furthermore, measures to further increase the proportion of ursodeoxycholic acid in circulating bile acids should be explored.