The quality of the parent-infant interaction is essential for the infant's development and is most objectively measured by observation. The existing observational tools for assessing parent-infant interaction were identified and described, and their psychometric soundness was evaluated. Twenty electronic databases from inception through June 2013 were searched. Validity was evaluated in five domains (test content, response process, internal structure, relations to other variables, and consequences). Of the 23,961 citations identified, 24 tools were included. Most tools demonstrated a valid rating procedure, reproducibility, and discriminant validity, based on studies with credible quality. The tools lacked factorial and predictive validity, and standardized norms. Further refinement of the existing tools is needed, particularly in the domains of content validity and consequential validity. The synthesized validity evidence and descriptions of the tools reported in this review might guide clinicians and researchers in the selection of an appropriate tool.

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Micro-vesicles (MVs) protect kidneys both in vivo and vitro, and MVs are superior to MSCs in some respects. MVs can be a potential therapy in treatment of kidney diseases.

IntroductionMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play a central role in the remediation of cell and tissue damage. Erythropoietin (EPO) may enhance the beneficial influence of MSCs during recovery from tissue and organ injuries. Microvesicles (MVs) released from MSCs contribute to the restoration of kidney damage. We studied the influence of EPO on MVs derived from MSCs, and the protective effects of these factors in subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsThe MVs derived from untreated MSCs (MSC-MVs) or from MSCs incubated in different concentrations of EPO (1, 10, 100, and 500 IU/ml EPO-MVs) were used to treat renal injury of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in vivo, and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced fibrosis in a human renal proximal tubular epithelial (HK2) cell line in vitro. Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses were used to evaluate the expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers in the renal tissue and HK2 cells. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis within the HK2 cells, and microRNA (miRNA) microarray assays were used to determine the expression profiles of miRNA in the MSC-MVs and EPO-MVs.ResultsCompared to MSC-MVs (untreated), there was a significant increase in the number of EPO-MVs derived from MSCs treated with 1–100 IU/ml EPO, and these EPO-MVs had a greater benefit in UUO mice on days 7 and 14. Moreover, the EPO-MVs had a better restorative effect following TGF-β1-induced fibrosis in HK2 cells at 24 h and 48 h. The flow cytometry results revealed that both types of MVs, especially EPO-MVs, play an important anti-apoptotic role in HK2 cells treated with TGF-β1. The miRNA profiles of the MVs revealed that EPO-MVs changed 212 miRNAs (fold-change ≥ 1.5), including miR-299, miR-499, miR-302, and miRNA-200, and that 70.28 % of these changes involved upregulation. The changed miRNA in EPO-MVs may have contributed to their enhanced protective effects following renal injury compared to MSC-MVs.ConclusionsThere was a dose-dependent increase in the level of EPO-MVs within the range of 1–100 IU/ml EPO. Although both MSC-MVs and EPO-MVs protect the kidney from fibrosis-related damage, there is a superior effect of EPO-MVs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-015-0095-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A total of 10 new N-alkyl piperazinium-based ionic liquids (ILs) have been prepared, and they are used as extractants for removing aromatics from three kinds of hydrocarbon fuels. A total of 3 ILs, N-methyl piperazinium lactate (MPL), N-ethyl piperazinium lactate (EPL), and N-ethyl piperazinium propionate (EPP), in the liquid state at room temperature are used directly for extraction, while the other 7 ILs in the solid state at room temperature are used with methanol as the co-solvent. Effects on the extraction efficiency of the temperature and the amounts of IL and co-solvent are investigated. The results indicate that the amounts of IL and co-solvent play very important roles in the extraction process and the efficiency is greatly influenced by the cation and anion structures in the N-alkyl piperazinium-based ILs. In comparison to 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium lactate (TMGL), the extraction capability order is EPP > EPL > MPL > TMGL. The ILs with aromatic anions are found to have better extraction capability than the others. Furthermore, recycling of ILs reflects that these ILs can be recovered simply by vacuum distillation without a significant decrease in the activity of dearomatization.

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Three kinds of piperazinium-based room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), namely, N-methylpiperazinium lactate ([C 1 pi][Lac]), N-ethylpiperazinium lactate ([C 2 pi][Lac]), and N,N′-dimethylpiperazinium dilactate ([C 1 C 1 pi][Lac] 2 ), have been synthesized by the direct reaction of N-alkyl-substituted piperazines and lactate acid. Together with 1,1,3,3tetramethylguanidinium lactate ([TMG][Lac]), they are employed as new extractants for removing aromatic sulfur compounds, thiophene (TS), benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT), and 4-methyldibenzothiophene (4-MDBT), from various hydrocarbon fuels. The effects of the temperature, extraction time, and amount of ionic liquid (IL) on the sulfur removal are investigated systematically. The mutual solubility measurements show that the ILs are dissolved in n-heptane with the mass fraction less than 0.01 at 30 °C. The solubility values of 93 gasoline in the ILs are observed with the following sequence: [C 1 C 1 pi][Lac] 2 (0.007 in mass fraction) < [C 1 pi][Lac] (0.014 in mass fraction) < [TMG][Lac] (0.017 in mass fraction) < [C 2 pi][Lac] (0.070 in mass fraction), and the sulfur distribution coefficient follows the order: [TMG][Lac] (1.08 in mass fraction) > [C 2 pi][Lac] (0.98 in mass fraction) > [C 1 pi][Lac] (0.78 in mass fraction) > [C 1 C 1 pi][Lac] 2 (0.53 in mass fraction) for 93 gasoline. Selectivity between TS and toluene is observed higher than 4 with the following sequence: [TMG][Lac] (13.19 in mass fraction) > [C 1 pi][Lac] (10.59 in mass fraction) > [C 2 pi][Lac] (7.12 in mass fraction) > [C 1 C 1 pi][Lac] 2 ( 4.94 in mass fraction), revealing that these ILs are more preferable to extract TS than toluene from hydrocarbon fuels. The used ILs can be recycled without a significant decrease of desulfurization activity after extraction 5 times. These fundamental results hopefully provide useful information for future commercialization and practical desulfurization.

CoP/Mo2CTx is prepared as efficient catalyst for HER, OER, and water splitting. DFT calculations revealed that it has optimal H* adsorption free energy and MXene plays a critical role to boost HER, while CoP is transformed into Co–OOH in OER.