Co-carbonization of hard coals and coal extracts 2. The co-carbonization of medium- and high-rank coals with extracts

Studies on the influence of anthracene coal extracts on the carbonization process of medium- and high-rank coals were undertaken. Extracts from flame coal (Int. Class. 900) and gas-coking coal (Int. Class. 632) were used as additives. The blends prepared from the examined coals and the extracts exhibited better coking properties than the parent coals. The addition of extract to the coals gave an increase in the microstrength of the resultant cokes. The effects of co-carbonization of coking coals with extracts were increases in the size of the optical texture as well as in the degree of structural ordering of cokes. In the co-carbonization of semicoking coal with addition of coal extracts, a reduction in the size of the anisotropic units and a decrease in the crystallite height of cokes were observed. No modification of the basic anisotropy of coke from anthracite by coal extract was observed. With increasing extract content in anthracite/extract blends there was an increase in the degree of structural ordering of co-carbonization products. Extract addition was unable to modify the behaviour of fusinite. Based on the results of investigation of the influence of coal extracts on the carbonization of different-rank coals, a division of coals according to the modification of the optical texture of coke is given.     

Beyond cognition: Expanding the search for the early roots of internalization and conscience.

J. E. Grusec and J. J. Goodnow (see record 1994-25033-001) offered a new comprehensive reformulation of discipline encounters as context for children's internalization of parental views. They focused mainly on children's social information processing and how it affects perception and acceptance of parental messages. The model seems best suited for middle childhood and adolescence. This commentary suggests additional directions in research on internalization in early childhood. It is argued that processes such as social referencing, sensitivity to standard violations, emergence of self, emotional reactions to wrongdoing, early self-conscious emotions, and self-regulation may be important antecedents and signs of internalization in the 1st 3 yrs of life. The proposed shift from cognitive to affective and self-regulatory aspects of early conscience reveals children's temperament as an important but neglected contributor to early moral development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal Power Assertion in Discipline and Moral Discourse Contexts: Commonalities, Differences, and Implications for Children's Moral Conduct and Cognition.

Parental power assertion is traditionally studied in the behavioral domain--discipline triggered by the child's immediate misbehavior--but rarely in the cognitive domain--parent-child discussions of the child's past misbehavior. Maternal power assertion was observed in "do" and "don't" discipline contexts from 14 to 45 months and in the context of mother-child discourse about a recent misbehavior at 56 months. Mothers' use of power cohered across the "do," "don't," and discourse contexts, but its implications were domain specific. Power assertion in the "don't" discipline context predicted behavioral outcomes (more moral conduct at 56 and 73 months, less antisocial conduct at 73 months) but not cognitive outcomes (moral cognition at 56 and 73 months). Power assertion in the discourse context predicted less mature moral cognition but not moral or antisocial conduct. Mothers' high Neuroticism predicted more power assertion in all three contexts. Child effects were examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of p53 in hematopoietic recovery after cytotoxic treatment

Prompt reconstitution of hematopoiesis after cytoreductive therapy is essential for patient recovery and may have a positive impact on long-term prognosis. We examined the role of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in hematopoietic recovery in vivo after treatment with the cytotoxic drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). We used p53 knock-out (p53-/-) and wild-type (p53+/+) mice injected with 5-FU as the experimental model. Analysis of the repopulation ability and clonogenic activity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and their lineage-committed descendants showed a greater number of HSCs responsible for reconstitution of lethally irradiated recipients in p53-/- bone marrow cells (BMCs) recovering after 5-FU treatment than in the corresponding p53+/+ BMCs. In post-5-FU recovering BMCs, the percentage of HSC-enriched Lin- Sca-1(+) c-Kit+ cells was about threefold higher in p53-/- than in p53+/+ cells. Although the percentage of the most primitive HSCs (Lin- Sca-1(+) c-Kit+ CD34(low/-)) did not depend on p53, the percentage of multipotential HSCs and committed progenitors (Lin- Sca-1(+) c-Kit+ CD34(high/+)) was almost fourfold higher in post-5-FU recovering p53-/- BMCs than in their p53+/+ counterparts. The pool of HSCs from 5-FU-treated p53-/- BMCs was exhausted more slowly than that from the p53+/+ population as shown in vivo using pre-spleen colony-forming unit (CFU-S) assay and in vitro using long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) and methylcellulose replating assays. Clonogenic activity of various lineage-specific descendants was significantly higher in post-5-FU regenerating p53-/- BMCs than in p53+/+ BMCs, probably because of their increased sensitivity to growth factors. Despite all these changes and the dramatic difference in sensitivity of p53-/- and p53+/+ BMCs to 5-FU-induced apoptosis, lineage commitment and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors appeared to be independent of p53 status. These studies suggest that suppression of p53 function facilitates hematopoietic reconstitution after cytoreductive therapy by: (1) delaying the exhaustion of the most primitive HSC pool, (2) stimulating the production of multipotential HSCs, (3) increasing the sensitivity of hematopoietic cells to growth factors, and (4) decreasing the sensitivity to apoptosis.     

Segmentation of microscope images of living cells

This paper describes a segmentation method combining a texture based technique with a contour based method. The technique is designed to enable the study of cell behaviour over time by segmenting brightfield microscope image sequences. The technique was tested on artificial images, based on images of living cells and on real sequences acquired from microscope observations of neutrophils and lymphocytes as well as on a sequence of MRI images. The results of the segmentation are compared with the results of the watershed and snake segmentation methods. The results show that the method is both effective and practical.

Parents' Personality and Infants' Temperament as Contributors to Their Emerging Relationship.

The authors examined the contributions of infant's temperament and parent's personality to their relationship. In Study 1, 102 infants, mothers, and fathers were studied when infants were 7 months; in Study 2, 112 infants and mothers were followed from 9 to 45 months. Infants' temperament (joy, fear, anger, and attention) was observed in standard temperament paradigms. Parents' personality measures encompassed the Big Five traits and Empathy in Study 1 and Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Aggression, Dependency, Entitlement, and Workaholism in Study 2. Parent-child relationship (shared positive affect and parental responsiveness in Studies 1 and 2 and parental tracking of the infant in Study 1) was observed in naturalistic contexts. In Study 1, mothers' Neuroticism, Empathy, and Conscientiousness and fathers' Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion related to the relationship with the infants. All measures of infant temperament also related to the emerging relationship. In Study 2, maternal Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Dependency, and Workaholism predicted the relationship with the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex‐related differences in the nutritional value of Japanese quail meat

The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of birds’ sex on the carcass composition and meat (breast muscle) nutritional value in Japanese quails in a large‐scale four‐generation study. Standard poultry feed was used, based on maize, soya bean meal and wheat. Four generations of quails were housed up to the age of 17 weeks each. Then samples of breast muscle were collected after dissection and analysed for basic nutrient content and for fatty acids composition. Results were analysed by GLM procedure in SAS, and significance of differences between birds of different sex was estimated by Duncan's test. Dissection revealed marked differences between birds’ of different sex in case of relative organ weight. Results of meat analyses showed no differences in the basic composition. Fatty acids analyses showed a more advantageous profile in female meat.     

N‐Oligo(3‐hydroxybutyrate)‐functionalized polypyrroles: towards bio‐erodible conducting copolymers

New copolymer materials have been prepared by chemical grafting of oligomeric 3‐hydroxybutyric acid (OHB) onto polypyrrole (PPy) derivatives. The influence of grafting density and molecular weight of OHB brushes on the physicochemical properties of prepared copolymers was investigated. PPy substrates were prepared by FeCl₃‐driven oxidative homopolymerization of N‐(2‐carboxyethyl)pyrrole or its copolymerization with pyrrole. The grafting method employed involved controlled anionic polymerization of β‐butyrolactone on pyrrole‐tethered potassium carboxylate active sites. Obtained PPy‐g‐OHB copolymers of varying grafting density and pendant polyester chain length were characterized and the observed structure–property relationships discussed. The impact of real time exposure to phosphate‐buffered saline environment was investigated and the residue products were characterized. Cross‐correlation of spectroscopic, thermal, electrical and elemental analysis data afforded comprehensive evaluation of the structure of prepared materials and their behaviour in hydrolytic medium. Erosion and degradation pathways have been identified, indicating ways to consciously tailor the physicochemical properties of these new biomimetic materials. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry