The role of format familiarity and word frequency in Chinese reading

For Chinese readers, reading from left to right is the norm, while reading from right to left is unfamiliar. This study comprises two experiments investigating how format familiarity and word frequency affect reading by Chinese people. Experiment 1 examines the roles of format familiarity (reading from left to right is the familiar Chinese format, and reading from right to left is the unfamiliar Chinese format) and word frequency in vocabulary recognition. Forty students read the same Chinese sentences from left to right and from right to left. Target words were divided into high and low frequency words. In Experiment 2, participants engaged in right-to-left reading training for 10 days to test whether their right-to-left reading performance could be improved. The study yields several main findings. First, format familiarity affects vocabulary recognition. Participants reading from left to right had shorter fixation times, higher skipping rates, and viewing positions closer to word center.. Second,  word frequency affects vocabulary recognition in Chinese reading. Third, right-to-left reading training could improve reading performance. In the early indexes, the interaction effect of format familiarity and word frequency was significant. There was also a significant word-frequency effect from left to right but not from right to left. Therefore, word segmentation and vocabulary recognition may be sequential in Chinese reading

Weighted estimates for commutators associated to singular integral operator satisfying a variant of Hörmander's condition

In this paper, we establish some boundedness for commutators generated by the singular integral operator satisfying a variant of Hörmander's condition and a weighted BMO function on weighted Hardy spaces and weighted Herz spaces. As an application, we obtain some classical results

Unique effects of acute aripiprazole treatment on the dopamine D2 receptor downstream cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways in rats

Aripiprazole is a wide-used antipsychotic drug with therapeutic effects on both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and reduced side-effects. Although aripiprazole was developed as a dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) partial agonist, all other D2R partial agonists that aimed to mimic aripiprazole failed to exert therapeutic effects in clinic. The present in vivo study aimed to investigate the effects of aripiprazole on the D2R downstream cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways in comparison with a D2R antagonist - haloperidol and a D2R partial agonist - bifeprunox. Rats were injected once with aripiprazole (0.75mg/kg, i.p.), bifeprunox (0.8mg/kg, i.p.), haloperidol (0.1mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle. Five brain regions - the prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate putamen (CPu), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN) were collected. The protein levels of PKA, Akt and GSK3β were measured by Western Blotting; the cAMP levels were examined by ELISA tests. The results showed that aripiprazole presented similar acute effects on PKA expression to haloperidol, but not bifeprunox, in the CPU and VTA. Additionally, aripiprazole was able to increase the phosphorylation of GSK3β in the PFC, NAc, CPu and SN, respectively, which cannot be achieved by bifeprunox and haloperidol. These results suggested that acute treatment of aripiprazole had differential effects on the cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways from haloperidol and bifeprunox in these brain areas. This study further indicated that, by comparison with bifeprunox, the unique pharmacological profile of aripiprazole may be attributed to the relatively lower intrinsic activity at D2R

Unique effects of acute aripiprazole treatment on the dopamine D2 receptor downstream cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways in rats

Aripiprazole is a wide-used antipsychotic drug with therapeutic effects on both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and reduced side-effects. Although aripiprazole was developed as a dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) partial agonist, all other D2R partial agonists that aimed to mimic aripiprazole failed to exert therapeutic effects in clinic. The present in vivo study aimed to investigate the effects of aripiprazole on the D2R downstream cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways in comparison with a D2R antagonist - haloperidol and a D2R partial agonist - bifeprunox. Rats were injected once with aripiprazole (0.75mg/kg, i.p.), bifeprunox (0.8mg/kg, i.p.), haloperidol (0.1mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle. Five brain regions - the prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate putamen (CPu), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN) were collected. The protein levels of PKA, Akt and GSK3β were measured by Western Blotting; the cAMP levels were examined by ELISA tests. The results showed that aripiprazole presented similar acute effects on PKA expression to haloperidol, but not bifeprunox, in the CPU and VTA. Additionally, aripiprazole was able to increase the phosphorylation of GSK3β in the PFC, NAc, CPu and SN, respectively, which cannot be achieved by bifeprunox and haloperidol. These results suggested that acute treatment of aripiprazole had differential effects on the cAMP-PKA and Akt-GSK3β signalling pathways from haloperidol and bifeprunox in these brain areas. This study further indicated that, by comparison with bifeprunox, the unique pharmacological profile of aripiprazole may be attributed to the relatively lower intrinsic activity at D2R

SVM-Based Spectrum Mobility Prediction Scheme in Mobile Cognitive Radio Networks

Spectrum mobility as an essential issue has not been fully investigated in mobile cognitive radio networks (CRNs). In this paper, a novel support vector machine based spectrum mobility prediction (SVM-SMP) scheme is presented considering time-varying and space-varying characteristics simultaneously in mobile CRNs. The mobility of cognitive users (CUs) and the working activities of primary users (PUs) are analyzed in theory. And a joint feature vector extraction (JFVE) method is proposed based on the theoretical analysis. Then spectrum mobility prediction is executed through the classification of SVM with a fast convergence speed. Numerical results validate that SVM-SMP gains better short-time prediction accuracy rate and miss prediction rate performance than the two algorithms just depending on the location and speed information. Additionally, a rational parameter design can remedy the prediction performance degradation caused by high speed SUs with strong randomness movements

A novel frame-shift mutation in FRMD7 causes X-linked idiopathic congenital nystagmus in a Chinese family

Purpose: To screen mutations in the FERM domain-containing 7 (FRMD7) gene in a Chinese family with X-linked idiopathic congenital nystagmus (ICN). Methods: It has been reported that FRMD7 mutations account for approximately 47% of X-linked nystagmus in Chinese patients. We collected 5 ml of blood samples from members of a family with X-linked ICN and 100 normal controls. Mutations in FRMD7 were determined by sequencing PCR products. Results: We identified a previously unreported 4 bp deletion in FRMD7 (c.1486-1489 del TTTT) in a Chinese family. The mutation co-segregated with the disease phenotype in patients and female carriers, while it was not detected in other relatives or in the 100 normal controls. Conclusions: Our results expand the spectrum of FRMD7 mutations causing ICN, and further confirm the role of FRMD7 in the pathogenesis of ICN. Direct sequencing of FRMD7 could be used as a diagnostic testing of idiopathic congenital nystagmus.Biochemistry & Molecular BiologyOphthalmologySCI(E)PubMed4ARTICLE297-992765-27681

Effects of estradiol on fatty acid composition and tissue structure of hepatopancreas in <em>Procambarus clarkii</em>

The hepatopancreas of Procambarus clarkii provides lipids and other nutrients for ovarian development and contains hormones such as estradiol related to ovarian development. During the development of the P. clarkii ovary, the hepatopancreas' tissue structure and fatty acid content undergo corresponding changes. A controlled indoor experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous estradiol injection on the tissue structure and fatty acid content in the hepatopancreas of P. clarkii. The experiment consists of three experimental groups and one control group. The P. clarkii in the experimental group were injected with 5, 0.5, and 0.05 μg/(g body weight) of estradiol once every 5 days for 5 times and with normal saline injection as the control. After 25 days, the content of fatty acids and changes in tissue structure in the hepatopancreas were measured. The results showed that the main fatty acids in P. clarkii hepatopancreas were C18:4n, C20:3n, and EPA, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content was 57.17%±4.76%. Injecting estradiol mainly affected the content of C16:0, C16:1n, C18:0, C18:1n9, C18:2n, C18:3n6, C18:3n6, C18:4n, C20:1n, C20:2n, C20:3n, C20:4n3, C20:5n3, C22:n (n=1-4), C22:5n, and C22:6n in the hepatopancreas. Injecting estradiol significantly reduced the total content of PUFA in hepatopancreas with the reduction of C18:3n6, C18:4n, C20:3n, C20:4n3, C20:5n3 C22: n (n=1-4) (P<0.05); Estradiol injection significantly increased the total content of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) in hepatopancreas with the increase of C18:1n9, and C20:1n (P<0.05); Injection of estradiol (0.05 μg/g) significantly increased the total content of saturated fatty acids (SFA) in the hepatopancreas (P<0.05) with the increase of C16:0 and C18:0 (P<0.05). Injecting estradiol can increase the volume and quantity of hepatopancreatic B cells, and the 5 μg/g group had the most obvious changes

Comparing marine ecosystems of Laizhou and Haizhou Bays, China, using ecological indicators estimated from food web models

Abstract(#br)Two Ecopath mass-balance models are built to describe the structural and functional ecosystems of Laizhou Bay (LZB) for 2014–2015 and Haizhou Bay (HZB) for 2011–2012. This is the first comparative study to analyze the similarities and differences between these two bays using ecological indicators estimated from a food web model. A comparison between the two models highlights similar characteristics in trophic functioning: zooplankton and shrimps as the structuring groups are important organisms enabling the pelagic-benthic coupling in the two ecosystems; and top-down effects are the main mechanism of control within the two ecosystems. Analysis of differences between the two ecosystems indicates that: (1) the ecological size (total system throughput, TST), total exports/TST and ecosystem efficiencies are bigger in LZB; (2) the bottom-up controls from the benthos, shrimps and zooplankton are enhanced in LZB; and (3) the ecosystem state is less mature but more stable in LZB. These differences can be attributed, at least in part, to the effects of sea ranching of low trophic-level species, such as shellfish and the holothurian Stichopus japonicus , in LZB. Analysis of similarities and differences may benefit the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management in different ecosystems