Effects of peer relationship and peer presence on giving and repaying in preschoolers' triad interactions

This study aimed to assess social preferences in dynamic interpersonal interactions among preschool children and to examine the effects of peer relationship (friend vs. stranger) and peer presence (peer presence vs. peer absence) on giving and repaying. Ninety-nine children participated in a triad game, which consisted of two mixed-dictator games. The allocations from a proposer in the first dictator game were evaluated as giving, and the allocations from two respondents in the second dictator game were evaluated as repaying friends and strangers. The results indicated that children did not have any specific social preferences for friends in giving and repaying but had altruistic and fair preferences for giving to strangers, and strangers had egoistic preferences in repaying. Furthermore, children allocated more to strangers than to friends and allocated more in peer presence. Besides, friends positively reciprocated to proposers in peer absence and repaid less in peer presence. However, strangers consistently repaid less regardless of whether peers were present or not. These results provide more evidence for the assumption of weak ties in giving and demonstrate the strength of strong ties in repaying. These findings enhance our understanding of the interplay of childhood interactions in the development of early relationships.</p

Research advances of <i>ERECTA</i> gene family and its functions in abiotic stress response in plants

ERECTA is a receptor-like kinase gene isolated from Arabidopsis for the first time.ERECTA plays an important role in leaf morphogenesis, inflorescence structure, stomata development, as well as in biotic and abiotic stress responses. This article reviews the composition of the ERECTA family as well as their protein sequence characteristics and functions in response to abiotic stress, providing new clues for further research on ERECTA functions

Immobilizing Laccase on Modified Cellulose/CF Beads to Degrade Chlorinated Biphenyl in Wastewater

Novel modified cellulose/cellulose fibril (CF) beads (MCCBs) loaded with laccase were prepared to degrade polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in wastewater. The proper porous structure in MCCBs was achieved by introducing nano CaCO3 (as a pore forming agent) in cellulose/CF (CCBs) beads during the preparation process. Cellulose/CF composite beads were modified by maleic anhydride to introduce carboxyl groups. Laccase was immobilized on the MCCBs through electrostatic adsorption and covalent bonding. The effects of pH, laccase concentration and contact time on immobilization yields and recovered activity were investigated. The best conditions were pH 4, concentration 16 g/L and contact time 3 h. The immobilized laccase under these conditions showed a good performance in thermal and operational stability. The laccase immobilized on MCCB beads can remove 85% of 20 mg/L 4-hydroxy-3,5-dichlorobiphenyl (HO-DiCB) in wastewater. The results demonstrated that MCCBs, as a new type of green-based support, are very promising in material immobilizing laccase. This technology may be of potential advantage for the removal of polychlorinated biphenyls in wastewater from an environmental point of view

The predictive value of CD4, CD8, and C—reactive protein in the prognosis of schistosomal and non-schistosomal colorectal cancer

Abstract Background Although schistosomiasis has been basically eliminated, it has not been completely extinction in China and occasional outbreaks occur in Europe in recent years. The relationship between inflammation caused by Schistosoma japonicum and colorectal cancer (CRC) is still obscure, and the inflammation based prognostic systems of schistosomal colorectal (SCRC) has rarely been reported. Aim To explore the different roles of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in SCRC and in Non-schistosomal CRC (NSCRC), providing a possible predictive system to evaluate outcomes and to improve the risk stratification for CRC patients, especially for CRC patients with schistosomiasis. Methods Three hundred fifty-one CRC tumors were evaluated for density of CD4 + , CD8 + T cells and CRP in intratumoral and stromal compartments by immunohistochemical using tissue microarray. Results There were no association between TILs and CRP and schistosomiasis. Multivariate analysis identified stromal CD4 (sCD4) (p = 0.038), intratumoral CD8 (iCD8) (p = 0.003), schistosomiasis (p = 0.045) as independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in the whole cohort; and sCD4 (p = 0.006) and iCD8 (p = 0.020) were independent prognostic factors for OS in the NSCRC and SCRC set, respectively. Besides, we found that there were no differences of TILs and CRP, which were distributed in different areas of tumor tissue, between CRC patients with and without schistosomiasis. Conclusion The results remind us that different subtypes of TILs have distinguished biological behavior and prognosis value in the immune microenvironment of NSCRC and SCRC patients. Meanwhile, the findings require us to stratify patients with schistosomiasis and this might facilitate patient counseling and management

Modification of graphene oxide by ATRP: A pH-responsive additive in membrane for separation of salts, dyes and heavy metals

Incorporation of hydrophilic multifunctional compounds in to the polymeric membrane's matrix is one of the useful methods for modification of mixed matrix membranes. Therefore, in this study, preparation and properties of polyethersulfone (PES) mixed matrix membranes with hydrolyzed polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA(hyd)) grafted on graphene oxide (GO-PMMA(hyd)) is investigated as an effective additive to improve permeability and antifouling properties. In this respect, grafting of PMMA(hyd) on the GO surface is done by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique and confirm by FTIR, H NMR, EDAX and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). During membrane formation, the membrane surface porosity improves and the hydrophilic GO-PMMA(hyd) nanoparticles tend to migrate toward the membrane top surfaces which confirms by FE-SEM cross-section images. Moreover, contact angle measurements show that the surface hydrophilicity enhanced after introducing GO-PMMA(hyd). More importantly, prepared nanocomposite membranes show excellent performance in the separation of salts, dyes and heavy metal ions. Furthermore, it can be expected that by creating acid groups on graphene oxide plates, prepared mixed matrix membranes were pH-sensitive, so this claim is examined and proved in membranes