The Physical Environment for Play Therapy with Chinese Children

The growing interest in addressing the mental health needs of Chinese children through play therapy calls for an understanding of the cultural roots and norms of Chinese families. To help professionals succeed in this traditionally Western treatmen when providing cross-cultural play therapy, the authors make recommendations concerning the location and appearance of the play therapy facility, including its waiting room and playroom. They discuss the need for carefully introducing play therapy to Chinese parents and suggest Western and Chinese toys and play items that are therapeutically appropriate for Chinese children. The authors also propose an outdoor play area based on the therapeutic rationales of contemporary neuropsychology. With this culturally sensitive discussion, the authors seek more effective play therapy not only for the children living in Chinese societies—mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan—but also in countries with major Chinese child populations

Effective Amelioration of Liver Fibrosis Through Lentiviral Vector Carrying Toxoplasma gondii gra15II in Murine Model

Our previous investigations indicated that in vitro polarization of mouse macrophages by Toxoplasma gondii type II strain dense granule protein 15 (GRA15II), one of the genotype-associated effectors of T. gondii, induced the phenotypes of classically activated macrophage (M1). Transfusion of the cells to mice may effectively alleviated hepatic fibrosis caused by schistosomiasis. The purpose of the study was to identify whether liver macrophages can be in vivo driven to M1 macrophages by lentiviral vector (LV) carrying GRA15II gene (LV-gra15II) and to explore the potential mechanism by which the LV-gra15II-activated liver macrophage (LV-gra15II-M) ameliorates the hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis. The mice were treated with LV-gra15II by hydrodynamic injection via the tail vein followed by challenge of Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum). Our experiments showed that LV-gra15II was successfully delivered to liver macrophages and GRA15II was persistently expressed in the macrophages of mice for at least 2 months. Furthermore, the LV-gra15II infected macrophages were polarized to M1 macrophages in vivo. Consequently, mice with schistosomiasis receiving LV-gra15II injection displayed a remarkable amelioration of liver granuloma formation and collagen deposition in association with downregulated expression of transforming growth factor-beta1, arginase 1 (Arg-1), α-smooth muscle actin, and an increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP13). Simultaneously, no negative effects of liver function and vitality of mice were noted. The in vitro experiments indicated that the C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 and nitric oxide level were elevated in LV-gra15II-M cultural supernatants; hepatocyte growth factor expression was enhanced in LV-gra15II-M. In addition, LV-gra15II-M not only secreted MMP13, which greatly degraded type I collagen, but also induced murine hepatic stellate cell (HSC) line (JS1) apoptosis in the co-culture system. Taken together, we identified for the first time that LV-gra15II may in vivo drive liver macrophages to M1 macrophage phenotypes, which helps for alteration of the liver fibrotic microenvironment with collagen dissolution, HSC deactivation, apoptosis and hepatocyte protection. Our study gives an insight into the use of gene delivery with parasite-derived immunomodulatory factor as a potential immune cell activating agent to re-equilibrate the other pathogen-induced immune response in some chronic diseases

Effects of yeast culture and oxalic acid supplementation on in vitro nutrient disappearance, rumen fermentation, and bacterial community composition

Hemicellulose is an important polysaccharide in ruminant nutrition, but it has not been studied as thoroughly as cellulose. Further research is needed to explore supplements that can improve its digestibility and ruminal buffering effects. Our previous research demonstrated the efficacy of oxalic acid (OA) as an essential nutrient in yeast culture (YC) for improving rumen fermentation performance. Consequently, we conducted in vitro rumen digestion experiments to examine the effects of YC and OA on rumen fermentation and bacterial composition. Two diets containing different levels of hemicellulose were formulated: diet 1 with 10.3% and diet 2 with 17% hemicellulose. Three levels of YC (0.00, 0.625, and 1.25 g/kg) and three doses of OA (0.0, 0.4, and 0.8 g/kg, DM) were added into each diet with a 3 × 3 factorial design. A comprehensive assessment was conducted on a total of 18 experimental treatments at fermentation periods of 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. In the first experiment (diet 1), the supplementation of YC, OA, and their interaction significantly increased in vitro DM disappearance (IVDMD) and NDF disappearance (IVNDFD; p < 0.001). In the second experiment (diet 2), the supplementation of OA and the interaction between YC and OA (p < 0.001) increased IVDMD and IVCPD, but had no significant effects on IVNDFD. The interactions of YC and OA significantly increased ammonia nitrogen (p < 0.001). The production of acetic acid, propionic acid, and total volatile fatty acids (TVFA), and pH levels were significantly higher in treatments supplemented with YC and OA (p < 0.001). YC and OA in both diets significantly altered the rumen bacterial community leading to increased Shannon and Simpson diversity indices (p < 0.001). In both diets, OA supplementation significantly increased the relative abundance of the phylum Bacteroidetes and Prevotella genus. The result also showed a positive correlation between the Prevotella and Selenomonas genera with IVDMD, IVNDFD, propionic acid, and TVFA production, suggesting that these dominant bacteria enhanced nutrient disappearance in the rumen. In conclusion, adding YC and OA resulted in modifications to the bacterial community’s composition and diversity, and improved nutrient disappearance. These changes indicate improved rumen fermentation efficiency, which is promising for future in vivo studies

Mechanistic insights into inositol-mediated rumen function promotion and metabolic alteration using in vitro and in vivo models

Inositol is a bioactive factor that is widely found in nature; however, there are few studies on its use in ruminant nutrition. This study investigated the effects of different inositol doses and fermentation times on rumen fermentation and microbial diversity, as well as the levels of rumen and blood metabolites in sheep. Rumen fermentation parameters, microbial diversity, and metabolites after different inositol doses were determined in vitro. According to the in vitro results, six small-tailed Han sheep fitted with permanent rumen fistulas were used in a 3 × 3 Latin square feeding experiment where inositol was injected into the rumen twice a day and rumen fluid and blood samples were collected. The in vitro results showed that inositol could increase in vitro dry matter digestibility, in vitro crude protein digestibility, NH3-N, acetic acid, propionic acid, and rumen microbial diversity and affect rumen metabolic pathways (p < 0.05). The feeding experiment results showed that inositol increased the blood concentration of high-density lipoprotein and IgG, IgM, and IL-4 levels. The rumen microbial composition was significantly affected (p < 0.05). Differential metabolites in the rumen were mainly involved in ABC transporters, biotin metabolism, and phenylalanine metabolism, whereas those in the blood were mainly involved in arginine biosynthesis and glutathione and tyrosine metabolism. In conclusion, inositol improves rumen function, affects rumen microorganisms and rumen and blood metabolites and may reduce inflammation, improving animal health

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Study on water stability of asphalt binder with medium weathered igneous rock

Aiming at the problems of weak acidity of medium weathered igneous rock around Nairobi, Kenya, poor adhesion with asphalt and poor water stability of asphalt binder, the article studied the use of anti-stripping agent, cement, hydrated Lime and other technical measures to improve the water stability of asphalt binder with medium weathered igneous rock. The results showed that the 48h Marshall residual stability of the benchmark asphalt binder without any measures was 78.5%, which did not meet the standard requirements. The Marshall residual stability of medium weathered igneous rock can be significantly improved by adding anti stripping agent, cement and hydrated Lime. After freeze-thaw cycles, the splitting tensile strength of the asphalt binder with medium weathered igneous rock decreased obviously, and the TSR values of the asphalt binder with anti-spalling measures from small to large were K-4, K-3, K-2, K-6 and K-5. The water stability of the medium weathered igneous rock asphalt binder mixed with anti-stripping agent alone had relatively poor durability, and the medium weathered igneous rock asphalt binder mixed with cement and anti-stripping agent had the strongest ability to resist deformation when immersed in water

Study on the adhesion performance of medium weathered igneous rock aggregate and asphalt

In view of the current situation of the shortage of alkaline aggregate and the abundance of weakly acidic weathered igneous rocks around Nairobi, Kenya, in order to fully improve the adhesion performance of asphalt and acidic igneous rocks, this paper studies the effects of different anti-stripping agents separately and combined on the adhesion performance of asphalt aggregates. The results show that the anti-stripping agent can improve the anti-stripping property of the medium weathered igneous rock aggregate and asphalt, and the effect is better when the anti-stripping agent is combined

Numerical Simulation of Elastic Wave Field in Viscoelastic Two-Phasic Porous Materials Based on Constant Q Fractional-Order BISQ Model

The fractional-order differential operator describes history dependence and global correlation. In this paper, we use this trait to describe the viscoelastic characteristics of the solid skeleton of a viscoelastic two-phasic porous material. Combining Kjartansson constant Q fractional order theory with the BISQ theory, a new BISQ model is proposed to simulate elastic wave propagation in a viscoelastic two-phasic porous material. The corresponding time-domain wave propagation equations are derived, and then the elastic waves are numerically simulated in different cases. The integer-order derivatives are discretised using higher-order staggered-grid finite differences, and the fractional-order time derivatives are discretised using short-time memory central differences. Numerical simulations and analysis of the wave field characterisation in different phase boundaries, different quality factor groups, and multilayered materials containing buried bodies are carried out. The simulation results show that it is feasible to combine the constant Q fractional-order derivative theory with the BISQ theory to simulate elastic waves in viscoelastic two-phasic porous materials. The combination can better describe the viscoelastic characteristics of the viscoelastic two-phasic porous materials, which is of great significance for further understanding the propagation mechanism of elastic waves in viscoelastic two-phasic porous materials and viscoelastic two-phasic porous materials containing buried bodies. This paper provides a theoretical forward simulation for fine inversion and reconstruction of layer information and buried body structure in viscoelastic two-phasic porous materials

Proceedings of PVP2007 2007 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference Online AE Inspection and Safety Assessment of Vertical Storage Tank

Abstract With the rapid growth of the global petroleum industry and continuous increase of energy demand, the crude oil and product oil reserve has been given a general concern in every country, and the requirements for the reserve capacity of various types of petroleum storage depots become higher and higher, therefore, the quantity of various types of storage tanks is increasing dramatically. At present, 100,000m 3 storage tank has become the primary structure for construction of crude oil storage tanks for Chinese petrochemical industry. Large vertical metal storage tank features large capacity, central distribution, storage of inflammable, explosive and toxic media etc., leakage or explosion accident, once happens, often results in disastrous consequence and severe environmental pollution, which brings a huge loss and hazard to social economy, production and people's living. The major cause for the accidents of storage tanks is corrosion and leakage, the external corrosion is mainly the soil corrosion and moist atmospheric corrosion of outer wall of oil tank baseplate; the internal corrosion is the corrosion of tank bottom, tank wall and tank top. Among the above corrosions, the most hard to treat is the corrosion of tank baseplate. In this paper through laboratory simulation of AE tests of leakage of storage tank and corrosion of baseplate and comparison between online AE inspection of more than 30 large vertical storage tanks and shutdown inspection of part of storage tanks, the matters about online AE inspection techniques for corrosion and leakage of storage tank baseplate and safety assessment of vertical storage tank are discussed, online AE inspection technique and assessment standard fit for China's present condition are proposed, the safety class and corresponding shutdown inspection cycle of vertical storage tank are determined, the storage tanks where no problems are found by online AE inspection continue their service, whereas the storage tanks where severe problems are found are shut down for inspection, thus the contradiction between shutdown inspection and safe production is basically solved