Preparation of carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles with very thin shells by DC arc discharge

Carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles(CEINPs) with very thin shells and good core-shell structures were prepared by DC arc discharge at argon intake temperature(AIT) of 800 ℃. The results of high resolution transmission electron microscope(HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray(EDX) spectroscope, X-ray diffraction(XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope(XPS) characterizations on the product B show that the thickness of the carbon shells of CEINPs in the product B is in the range of ca. 0.5—5.3 nm, i. e., which can be as thin as only two layers of graphite. The average diameter of the CEINPs is about 24. 7 nm. The total content of Fe element in the product B is 77.0 wt%. The saturation magnetization(Ms) and coercivity(Hc) of the product B are 107.4 emu/g and 143 Oe, respectively. The formation of the CEINPs in the product B is discussed briefly.     

Calculation method for effect of silt sediment on lifting force of hydraulic gate

In this paper, silt sediment is considered to be Bingham body, which is made up of coarse and fine particles in front of a hydraulic gate. The coarse and fine particles provide friction and shear stress in the course of opening the gate. They constitute together the adhesion force of the sediment. Based on this viewpoint, this paper puts forward a formula for the effect of silt sediment on the lifting force. The formula includes gate weight, down-suction force, sealing rubber friction, plus-weight, water-column pressure, plus-silted-sediment weight and rolling (or sliding)-bearing friction. Finally, the verification results show that the formula has certain reliability and the calculation accuracy can meet the need of practical engineering.     

Neuro-space mapping for modeling heterojunction bipolar transistor

A neuro-space mapping(Neuro-SM) for modeling heterojunction bipolar transistor(HBT) is presented, which can automatically modify the input signals of the given model by neural network. The novel Neuro-SM formulations for DC and small-signal simulation are proposed to obtain the mapping network. Simulation results show that the errors between Neuro-SM models and the accurate data are less than 1%, demonstrating that the accurcy of the proposed method is higher than those of the existing models.     

Cloning and efficient expression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus sp.</Emphasis> BH072 <Emphasis Type="Italic">tasA</Emphasis> gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

The Bacillus strain BH072 isolated from a honey sample showed strong antifungal activity against phytopathogen. Gene cloning test demonstrated that the strain had a tasA gene encoding an antifungal TasA protein. Although the wild strain simultaneously produced various antifungal substances, only the physicochemical property and antifungal activity of TasA protein were unclear due to the difficulty in extraction. In this study, tasA gene encoding the protein from Bacillus sp. BH072 was amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and cloned into pET 28a (+) vector, and then expressed in host cells Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The expressed proteins were collected by centrifugation and ultrasonic treatment, and then purified by using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) metal affinity column and dialysis methods. The result of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) test showed that an expected protein band appeared with a size of 31 kDa. The expressed products possessed antifungal activity against the phytopathogenic indicator strain Botrytis cinerea. A genetically engineered strain tasA of E. coli was established in this study which can efficiently express Tas A protein.     

Culturally Responsive Counseling for Asian Americans: Clinician Perspectives

Research has consistently found acute mental health treatment disparities among Asian Americans. One proposed reason for the underutilization of mental health services by Asian Americans is that available services are not culturally competent. This exploratory study presents qualitative data gathered from interviews with professional counselors who serve Asian American clients. Findings revealed significant barriers to counseling due to cultural stigma and shame, suppression of emotions, and communication gaps between clients and counselors. In response, clinicians frequently made adjustments to therapeutic approaches to accommodate the cultural beliefs and practices of clients and families. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Development of students’ conceptual thinking by means of video analysis and interactive simulations at technical universities

Video analysis, using the program Tracker (Open Source Physics), in the educational process introduces a new creative method of teaching physics and makes natural sciences more interesting for students. This way of exploring the laws of nature can amaze students because this illustrative and interactive educational software inspires them to think creatively, improves their performance and helps them in studying physics. This paper deals with increasing the key competencies in engineering by analysing real-life situation videos – physical problems – by means of video analysis and the modelling tools using the program Tracker and simulations of physical phenomena from The Physics Education Technology (PhET?) Project (VAS method of problem tasks). The statistical testing using the t-test confirmed the significance of the differences in the knowledge of the experimental and control groups, which were the result of interactive method application.     

Differential effects of reading trainings on reading processes: a comparison in Grade 2

Phonics, fluency, and reading strategy trainings are evidence-based interventions that foster the reading skills of poor readers in primary school. The purpose of the present study was to compare differential effects of the three types of trainings on the efficiency of component processes on word, sentence, and text level immediately after the training and at a 3-month follow-up. The 235 poor readers were randomly allocated to one of the reading interventions or to a control condition. All interventions consisted of 25 sessions that were scheduled twice a week and lasted 45 min. Results indicated short-term effects of the phonics training and the strategy training on the efficiency of a broad range of word-level and sentence-level processes. None of the treatment effects persisted over the long term, indicating the need for instructional efforts to regularly practice the acquired skills after the actual training.     

Do more hours in center-based care cause more externalizing problems? A cross-national replication study

Whether high quantities of center-based care cause behavior problems is a controversial question. Studies using covariate adjustment for selection factors have detected relations between center care and behavior problems, but studies with stronger internal validity less often find such evidence. We examined whether within-child changes in hours in center-based care predicted changes in externalizing problems in toddlers and preschoolers (N = 10,105; 49% female; data collection 1993–2012) in seven studies, including from Germany, Netherlands, Norway, two from Canada and two from the U.S. Race/ethnicity data were only collected in the United States (57% and 80% White; 42% and 13% African-American; 1.2% and 5% Latinx). Meta-analyses showed no association (r = .00, p = .88) between hours in center-based care and externalizing problems.     

Taking a step towards understanding interactions between teacher efficacy in behavior management and the social learning environment: a two-level multilevel analysis

Behavior management in the classroom is well known for being a challenge and a source of stress for preservice and experienced teachers alike. This means it may not only impact teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, but teachers’ efficacy perceived by their students too, engendering effects on the social learning environment and vice-versa. This article aims at taking a step towards a better understanding of which aspects of the social learning environment preservice teachers and their students take into account when positioning themselves on behavior management efficacy. It then goes onto exploring how students’ perception of teacher efficacy in behavior management varies across classes and how it interacts with the social learning environment through a two-level model analysis. Results showed that the social learning environment’s dimensions are associated with the perception of teacher efficacy by students. On one hand, students perceive that efficacy in behavior management is linked to the social learning environment and therefore expect that an efficient teacher in this area will be able to create a healthy relationship with appropriate rules and class organization. On the other, when it comes to preservice teachers, findings seem to show the importance of the training program and how it supports self-efficacy beliefs throughout first teaching experiences as results go in the direction of confirming that these beliefs stabilize fairly early on, because unlike the students, the preservice teachers seem to take other aspects than the learning environment into account while evaluating their self-efficacy regarding behavior management. Finally, this research adds yet another element to the observation that effective behavior management within the classroom requires a positive relationship between teachers and their students. In addition, the way rules and organization are taken into account by students demonstrates the need for a proactive approach in which teachers’ expectations are clear.

     

Comparison of digoxin concentration in plastic serum tubes with clot activator and heparinized plasma tubes

Introduction:

Sample type recommended by the manufacturer for the digoxin Abbott assay is either serum collected in glass tubes or plasma (sodium heparin, lithium heparin, citrate, EDTA or oxalate as anticoagulant) collected in plastic tubes. In our hospital samples are collected in plastic tubes. Our hypothesis was that the serum sample collected in plastic serum tube can be used interchangeably with plasma sample for measurement of digoxin concentration. Our aim was verification of plastic serum tubes for determination of digoxin concentration.

Materials and methods:

Concentration of digoxin was determined simultaneously in 26 venous blood plasma (plastic Vacuette, LH Lithium heparin) and serum (plastic Vacuette, Z Serum Clot activator; both Greiner Bio-One GmbH, Kremsmünster, Austria) samples, on Abbott AxSYM analyzer using the original Abbott Digoxin III assay (Abbott, Wiesbaden, Germany). Tube comparability was assessed using the Passing Bablok regression and Bland-Altman plot.

Results:

Serum and plasma digoxin concentrations are comparable. Passing Bablok intercept (0.08 [95% CI = −0.10 to 0.20]) and slope (0.99 [95% CI = 0.92 to 1.11]) showed there is no constant or proportional error.

Conclusion:

Blood samples drawn in plastic serum tubes and plastic plasma tubes can be interchangeably used for determination of digoxin concentration.