Cross-cultural differences in parenting and moral development in late adolescence: A narrative approach

This study investigated differences in parenting and late adolescents’ moral development in two cultural groups: Chinese-Canadian and European-Canadian Measures of parental authoritativeness and degree of parental influence on moral values were administered to a sample of 62 European-Canadian and 40 Chinese-Canadian university students, aged 17-26 years. The participants were then compared with respect to two outcome measures, one assessing the degree to which they internalized and represented parents’ viewpoints (“voice”) in narratives about moral socialization, and the other assessing level of moral reasoning development. Results indicated that reported parental authoritativeness was positively related to the degree of parent “voice” displayed in participants’ moral narratives. No relationship was found between parental authoritativeness and participants’ level of moral reasoning development. Analyses also revealed that Chinese-Canadian participants rated their parents as being more authoritarian and less authoritative when compared to the ratings of their European-Canadian counterparts. Differences in the types of moral values selected as most important were also found between the two cultural groups. Unexpectedly, the European-Canadian students tended to rate parental influence on moral values as higher and to represent parental viewpoints to a greater degree in their moral narratives than did the Chinese-Canadian students. These findings suggest that parents’ style of childrearing may have an important role to play in the moral development of older adolescents and young adults, and provide support for the study of parental influence on children\u27s moral values via the collection of moral socialization narratives. The results of this investigation also demonstrate the importance of investigating parenting and morality from a cross-cultural perspective

Sulfonic-Functionalized Carbon Catalyst for Esterification of High Free Fatty Acid

AbstractWe report synthesis and characteristics of sulfonic-functionalized carbon catalyst in this work. The carbon soild acid was prepared through the sulfonation of the incomplete carbonized mung bean vermicelli and was used as a solid acid catalyst for esterification of high free fatty acid. The catalyst (SBET = 18.1 m2/g, acid site density of 1.53 mmol H+/gcat) could exhibit high esterification activity in the reaction of oleic acid with methanol due to the efficient accessibility of bulky substrate molecule to sulfonic active site during the reaction. This environmentally benign and ecofriendly C-SO3H catalyst could be suited to esterify high FFA feedstocks reducing the production cost of biodiesel

On the Gas Surrounding High Redshift Galaxy Clusters

Francis & Hewett (1993) identified two 10-Mpc scale regions of the high redshift universe that were seemingly very overdense in neutral hydrogen. Subsequent observations showed that at least one of these gas-rich regions enveloped a cluster of galaxies at redshift 2.38. We present improved observations of the three background QSOs with sightlines passing within a few Mpc of this cluster of galaxies. All three QSOs show strong neutral hydrogen absorption at the cluster redshift, suggesting that this cluster (and perhaps all high redshift clusters) may be surrounded by a ~5 Mpc scale region containing ~ 10^12 solar masses of neutral gas. If most high redshift clusters are surrounded by such regions, we show that the gas must be in the form of many small ( 0.03 cm^-3) clouds, each of mass < 10^6 solar masses. These clouds are themselves probably gathered into > 20 kpc sized clumps, which may be galaxy halos or protogalaxies. If this gas exists, it will be partially photoionised by the UV background. We predict the diffuse Ly-alpha flux from this photoionisation, and place observational limits on its intensity.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS

Increased Hematopoietic Extracellular RNAs and Vesicles in the Lung during Allergic Airway Responses.

Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) can be released by numerous cell types in vitro, are often protected within vesicles, and can modify recipient cell function. To determine how the composition and cellular sources of exRNAs and the extracellular vesicles (EVs) that carry them change in vivo during tissue inflammation, we analyzed bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from mice before and after lung allergen challenge. In the lung, extracellular microRNAs (ex-miRNAs) had a composition that was highly correlated with airway-lining epithelium. Using cell type-specific membrane tagging and single vesicle flow, we also found that 80% of detected vesicles were of epithelial origin. After the induction of allergic airway inflammation, miRNAs selectively expressed by immune cells, including miR-223 and miR-142a, increased and hematopoietic-cell-derived EVs also increased &gt;2-fold. These data demonstrate that infiltrating immune cells release ex-miRNAs and EVs in inflamed tissues to alter the local extracellular environment

Effect of Ultrasound Frequency and Treatment Duration on Antibiotic Elution from Polymethylmethacrylate Bone Cement

Introduction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect ofultrasound frequency and treatment duration on antibiotic-impregnatedpolymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) antibiotic elution rates andmechanical strength.Methods.xTwo batches of PMMA were prepared: one with five gramsof vancomycin powder and one without. Each batch was dividedinto two frequency groups: kHz and MHz. Each frequency groupwas divided into two duration groups: two minutes and ten minutes.Elution samples were measured daily using flow injection analysis.After one week of elution, ultrasound treatments were done daily untileach group’s average concentration fell below those of non-ultrasoundcontrol groups. After elution testing, compression testing determinedmechanical properties. Paired t-tests were used to compare dailyelution amounts to baseline values. Univariate ANOVAs were used totest for effects of both frequency and treatment duration on antibioticelution amounts and on mechanical properties.Results. All ultrasound treatments resulted in significant increasesin antibiotic elution. Frequency and duration had significant effects ofincreasing antibiotic elution (p &lt; 0.001). The kHz group produced significantlygreater antibiotic elution than the MHz group (p &lt; 0.001).The 10-minute duration produced significantly greater antibioticelution than the two-minute duration (both p &lt; 0.001). Frequencyand duration did not have significant effects on yield stress (p = 0.841and p = 0.179, respectively). Frequency had a significant effect (p =0.024) on modulus, but duration did not (p = 0.136).Conclusions. Ultrasound frequency and treatment duration significantlyaffect antibiotic elution from PMMA which may be helpful fortreatment of periprosthetic joint infections during revision arthroplasty.Kans J Med 2019;12(2):45-49

Circulating Irisin Levels Are Not Regulated by Nutritional Status, Obesity, or Leptin Levels in Rodents

Irisin is a cleaved and secreted fragment of fibronectin type III domain containing 5 (FNDC5) that is mainly released by skeletal muscle and was proposed to mediate the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism. In the present study we aim to investigate the regulation of the circulating levels of irisin in obese animal models (diet-induced obese (DIO) rats and leptin-deficient (ob/ob) mice), as well as the influence of nutritional status and leptin. Irisin levels were measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Radioimmunoassay (RIA). Serum irisin levels remained unaltered in DIO rats and ob/ob mice. Moreover, its circulating levels were also unaffected by fasting, leptin deficiency, and exogenous leptin administration in rodents. In spite of these negative results we find a negative correlation between irisin and insulin in DIO animals and a positive correlation between irisin and glucose under short-term changes in nutritional status. Our findings indicate that serum irisin levels are not modulated by different physiological settings associated to alterations in energy homeostasis. These results suggest that in rodents circulating levels of irisin are not involved in the pathophysiology of obesity and could be unrelated to metabolic status; however, further studies should clarify its precise role in states of glucose homeostasis imbalance.Xunta de GaliciaIDISGobierno de España/Ministerio de Economía y CompetitividadInstituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII