Influence of self-reported distress and empathy on egoistic versus altruistic motivation to help.

Proposed that a distinction be made between 2 emotional responses to seeing another person suffer—personal distress and empathy—and that these 2 emotions lead to 2 different kinds of motivation to help: Personal distress leads to egoistic motivation; empathy, to altruistic motivation. These distinctions were tested in 3 studies, each using 10 male and 10 female undergraduates. Across the 3 studies, factor analysis of Ss' self-reported emotional response indicated that feelings of personal distress and empathy, although positively correlated, were experienced as qualitatively distinct. The pattern of helping in Studies 1 and 2 indicated that a predominance of personal distress led to egoistic motivation, whereas a predominance of empathy led to altruistic motivation. In Study 3, the cost of helping was made especially high. Results suggest an important qualification on the link between empathic emotion and altruistic motivation: Ss reporting a predominance of empathy displayed an egoistic pattern of helping. Apparently, making helping costly evoked self-concern, which overrode any altruistic impulse produced by feeling empathy. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incidence of faecal streptococci as an indicator of sanitation in ice-cream and frozen vegetables

Fifty-three ice-cream and fifty-five frozen vegetable samples, collected from two different factories, were analysed for total coliform bacteria, faecal coliform bacteria and faecal streptococci so that the value of faecal streptococci as an indicator of faecal contamination and sanitation in ice-cream and frozen vegetables could be evaluated. Thirty-two per cent of the ice-cream samples and 73% of the frozen vegetable samples were positive for coliform bacteria, whereas only 4% of the ice-cream samples and 24% of the frozen vegetable samples contained faecal coliform bacteria. Occurrence of faecal streptococci in the ice-cream and frozen vegetable samples were 81 and 75%, respectively. These results indicate that there is no direct relationship between the presence of faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci, and the high occurrence of faecal streptococci in frozen foods examined suggests that faecal streptococci is a better sanitary indicator in frozen food products.     

Novel zwitterionic ABA-type triblock copolymer for pH- and salt-controlled release of risperidone

An ABA-type triblock copolymer was synthesized through group-transfer polymerization by using poly[2-(diethylamino) ethyl methacrylate] (PDEA) as A block and poly[2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate] (PDMA) as B block. By utilizing the 1,3-propane sultone to obtain polyzwitterionic triblock copolymer under moderate conditions, PDMA block of the triblock copolymer has been selectively betainized. The selectively betainized block copolymer and its precursor were molecularly dissolved in acidic aqueous media without any use of cosolvent at room temperature. In both cases, an increase in solution pH caused near monodisperse cationic or neutral flower-like micellization with hydrophobic PDEA-core at basic aqueous solution. However, at higher polymer concentrations where precursor triblock copolymer does not exhibit any gelling behavior (10% and higher), polyzwitterionic copolymer derivative can be gelated as a result of inter-chain integration of polyzwitterionic groups. Furthermore, the load of risperidone (RISP) into gel matrix and release studies have been successively realized. The results indicated that the betainized novel gel is appropriate for using as a pH- and salt-controlled risperidone-releasing system.     

Conducting polymers with benzothiadiazole and benzoselenadiazole units for biosensor applications

Poly(4,7-di(2,3)-dihydrothienol[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl-benzo[1,2,5]thiadiazole) (PBDT) and poly(4,7-di(2,3)-dihydrothienol[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl-2,1,3-benzoselenadiazole) (PESeE) were electrochemically deposited on graphite electrodes and used as immobilization matrices for biosensing studies. After electrochemical deposition of the polymeric matrices, glucose oxidase (GOx) was immobilized on the modified electrodes as the model enzyme. In the biosensing studies, the decrease in oxygen level as a result of enzymatic reaction was monitored at −0.7 V vs Ag/AgCl (3.0 M KCl) and correlated with substrate concentration. The biosensor was characterized in terms of several parameters such as operational and storage stabilities, kinetic parameters (K_m and I_max) and surface morphologies. The biosensor was tested on real human blood serum samples.     

A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition.

Positive affect systematically influences performance on many cognitive tasks. A new neuropsychological theory is proposed that accounts for many of these effects by assuming that positive affect is associated with increased brain dopamine levels. The theory predicts or accounts for influences of positive affect on olfaction, the consolidation of long-term (i.e., episodic) memories, working memory, and creative problem solving. For example, the theory assumes that creative problem solving is improved, in part, because increased dopamine release in the anterior cingulate improves cognitive flexibility and facilitates the selection of cognitive perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural and Chemical Evolution of Highly Fluorinated Li-Rich Disordered Rocksalt Oxyfluorides as a Function of Temperature

Li-rich disordered rocksalt (DRS) oxyfluorides have emerged as promising high-energy cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. While a high level of fluorination in DRS materials offers performance advantages, it can only be achieved via mechanochemical synthesis, which poses challenges of reproducibility and scalability. The definition of relationships between fluorination and structural stability is required to devise alternative methods that overcome these challenges. In this study, the thermal evolution of three highly fluorinated phases, Li₂TMO₂F (TM = Mn, Co, and Ni), is investigated in an inert atmosphere. Diffraction and spectroscopic techniques are utilized to examine their electronic and chemical states up until conditions of decomposition. The analysis reveals that the materials phase-separate above 400 °C, at most. It is also observed that heat-treated DRS materials exhibit intricate changes in the local coordination of the metals, including their spin, and ordering compared to the pristine states. The changes upon annealing are accompanied by a modulation of the voltage profile, including reduced hysteresis, when used as electrodes. These results provide an in-depth understanding of the fundamental crystal chemistry of DRS oxyfluorides in view of their promising role as the next generation of Li-ion cathodes.     

Effect of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate on microbial population and fermentation of black olives

Black olive fermentation characteristics and diffusion of preservatives into olives were evaluated in brines containing 500 ppm potassium sorbate, 1000 ppm sodium benzoate, 500 ppm sodium benzoate + 250 ppm potassium sorbate and no preservative (control). Changes in brine pH, acidity and microbial population (lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, moulds) were followed during fermentation and storage. Results indicated that K‐sorbate when used at 500 ppm concentration in black olive fermentation had a slight stimulatory effect on the growth of lactic acid bacteria. The yeast counts of brines containing 500 ppm K‐sorbate and 1000 ppm Na‐benzoate were lower than for the brine containing 250 ppm K‐sorbate + 500 ppm Na‐benzoate and for the control with no preservative, while mould growth was completely inhibited in all treatments during fermentation. Mould counts stayed below the detection limit (<10 cfu g⁻¹) during 214 days of vacuum‐packaged storage. Yeast counts showed a progressive decline within 28 days of storage and then stayed relatively constant in all treatments thereafter. The level of yeast population was higher in the control sample than in the sample containing both preservatives during storage. The diffusion of Na‐benzoate and K‐sorbate into the olives after equilibrium was 64% and 80% during fermentation respectively. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Assessing primary areas for a sustainable biochar application in soil by using GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - In this study, an innovative approach was carried out using the geographic information systems (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation model to assign...     

Resin-loaded cationic hydrogel: A new sorbent for recovering of grapefruit polyphenols

This paper presents a study of the recovering of polyphenols from grapefruit biowastes through extraction and batch adsorption process using novel resin-loaded cationic hydrogel. To prepare adsorbent, 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) monomer was polymerized by free radical mechanisms in presence of resin particles and then tertiary amino groups on PDMAEMA residue were quaternized using methyl iodide. The developed adsorbent was then characterized by FTIR, SEM, XRD, and Brunauer, Emmet, and Teller analysis. The resin-loaded cationic hydrogel displayed an enhanced affinity for binding with polyphenols at pH value of 10 due to the strong electrostatic attraction between positively charged adsorbent surface and solute molecules. The adsorption capacity of 60 (mg-naringin-g^?1-adsorbent) was obtained when the other experimental conditions were chosen as follows: initial polyphenol concentration; 0.13?g?mL^?1, contact time; 30?min, temperature; 25°C. On the other hand, the adsorbent consisting solely of resin particles shown lower affinity for polyphenols. The adsorption results revealed that the resin-loaded cationic hydrogels exhibited significant improvement in the recovery of polyphenols from grapefruit peels through integrated extraction–adsorption process.