Developmental differences in the structure of executive function in middle childhood and adolescence

Although it has been argued that the structure of executive function (EF) may change developmentally, there is little empirical research to examine this view in middle childhood and adolescence. The main objective of this study was to examine developmental changes in the component structure of EF in a large sample (N = 457) of 7–15 year olds. Participants completed batteries of tasks that measured three components of EF: updating working memory (UWM), inhibition, and shifting. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test five alternative models in 7–9 year olds, 10–12 year olds, and 13–15 year olds. The results of CFA showed that a single-factor EF model best explained EF performance in 7–9-year-old and 10–12-year-old groups, namely unitary EF, though this single factor explained different amounts of variance at these two ages. In contrast, a three-factor model that included UWM, inhibition, and shifting best accounted for the data from 13–15 year olds, namely diverse EF. In sum, during middle childhood, putative measures of UWM, inhibition, and shifting may rely on similar underlying cognitive processes. Importantly, our findings suggest that developmental dissociations in these three EF components do not emerge until children transition into adolescence. These findings provided empirical evidence for the development of EF structure which progressed from unity to diversity during middle childhood and adolescence

Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Quantification of Cirrhotic Livers Based on Morphological Analysis and Machine Learning

It is widely known that morphological changes of the liver and the spleen occur during the clinical course of chronic liver diseases. In this paper, we proposed a morphological analysis method based on statistical shape models (SSMs) of the liver and spleen for computer-aided diagnosis and quantification of the chronic liver. We constructed not only the liver SSM but also the spleen SSM and a joint SSM of the liver and the spleen for a morphologic analysis of the cirrhotic liver in CT images. The effective modes are selected based on both its accumulation contribution rate and its correlation with doctor’s opinions (stage labels). We then learn a mapping function between the selected mode and the stage of chronic liver. The mapping function was used for diagnosis and staging of chronic liver diseases

Differential contributory roles of nucleotide excision and homologous recombination repair for enhancing cisplatin sensitivity in human ovarian cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents are widely used to treat various solid tumors, the acquired platinum resistance is a major impediment in their successful treatment. Since enhanced DNA repair capacity is a major factor in conferring cisplatin resistance, targeting of DNA repair pathways is an effective stratagem for overcoming cisplatin resistance. This study was designed to delineate the role of nucleotide excision repair (NER), the principal mechanism for the removal of cisplatin-induced DNA intrastrand crosslinks, in cisplatin resistance and reveal the impact of DNA repair interference on cisplatin sensitivity in human ovarian cancer cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We assessed the inherent NER efficiency of multiple matched pairs of cisplatin-sensitive and -resistant ovarian cancer cell lines and their expression of NER-related factors at mRNA and protein levels. Our results showed that only the cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell line PEO4 possessed an increased NER capacity compared to its inherently NER-inefficient parental line PEO1. Several other cisplatin-resistant cell lines, including CP70, CDDP and 2008C13, exhibited a normal and parental cell-comparable NER capacity for removing cisplatin-induced DNA intrastrand cross-links (Pt-GG). Concomitant gene expression analysis revealed discordance in mRNA and protein levels of NER factors in various ovarian cancer cell lines and NER proteins level were unrelated to the cisplatin sensitivity of these cell lines. Although knockdown of NER factors was able to compromise the NER efficiency, it only caused a minimal effect on cisplatin sensitivity. On the contrary, downregulation of BRCA2, a critical protein for homologous recombination repair (HRR), significantly enhanced the efficacy of cisplatin in killing ovarian cancer cell line PEO4.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our studies indicate that the level of NER factors in ovarian cancer cell lines is neither a determinant of their NER capacity nor of the sensitivity to cisplatin, and suggest that manipulation of the HRR but not the NER factor expression provides an effective strategy for sensitizing cisplatin-resistant tumors to platinating agents.</p

miR-17-5p and miR-106a are involved in the balance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

AbstractMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into several distinct cell types, including osteoblasts and adipocytes. The balance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation is disrupted in several osteogenic-related disorders, such as osteoporosis. So far, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that drive final lineage commitment of MSCs. In this study, we revealed that miR-17-5p and miR-106a have dual functions in the modulation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) commitment by gain- and loss-of-function assays. They could promote adipogenesis and inhibit osteogenesis. Luciferase reporter assay, western blot and ELISA suggested BMP2 was a direct target of miR-17-5p and miR-106a. Downregulation of endogeneous BMP2 by RNA interference suppressed osteogenesis and increased adipogenesis, similar to the effect of miR-17-5p and miR-106a upregulation. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of miR-17-5p on osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of hADSCs could be reversed by BMP2 RNA interference. In conclusion, miR-17-5p and miR-106a regulate osteogenic and adipogenic lineage commitment of hADSCs by directly targeting BMP2, and subsequently decreased osteogenic TAZ, MSX2 and Runx2, and increased adipogenic C/EBPα and PPARγ

Directly mapping whispering gallery modes in a microsphere through modal coupling and directional emission

We fabricate slightly deformed fused-silica microspheres in which whispering gallery modes possess remarkably directional escape emission from the microsphere boundary. With efficient free-space excitation and collection, the lateral spatial distribution of whispering gallery modes with different azimuthal mode numbers, m, is directly observed through modal coupling and directional emission. Excellent agreement with theory is obtained

Rapid detection of porcine circovirus type 2 using a TaqMan-based real-time PCR

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and the associated disease postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) have caused heavy losses in global agriculture in recent decades. Rapid detection of PCV2 is very important for the effective prophylaxis and treatment of PMWS. To establish a sensitive, specific assay for the detection and quantitation of PCV2, we designed and synthesized specific primers and a probe in the open reading frame 2. The assay had a wide dynamic range with excellent linearity and reliable reproducibility, and detected between 102 and 1010 copies of the genomic DNA per reaction. The coefficient of variation for Ct values varied from 0.59% to 1.05% in the same assay and from 1.9% to 4.2% in 10 different assays. The assay did not cross-react with porcine circovirus type 1, porcine reproductive and respiratory, porcine epidemic diarrhea, transmissible gastroenteritis of pigs and rotavirus. The limits of detection and quantitation were 10 and 100 copies, respectively. Using the established real-time PCR system, 39 of the 40 samples we tested were detected as positive

The Location Privacy Preserving of Social Network Based on RCCAM Access Control

Location-based services in social networks provide much convenience for people but bring much risk of location privacy disclosure. Aiming at this problem, a location privacy preservation algorithm based on RCCAM access control model is proposed to assign the accessing users of the access permission and the visibility level of location information through the combination of conflict resolution strategy, permission allocation strategy and location generalization strategy. RCCAM is a relationship-based multi-users cooperation access control model, which takes the same shared contents that may involves the privacy profits of multi-users into consideration. The core of the algorithm is the value of open tendency which depends on the location sensitivity and the intimacy between the users. The conflict resolution strategy adopts the value of open tendency to vote for concessions. The permission allocation strategy and location generalization strategy to obtain the specific access permission and the location visibility level for accessing users according to the value of open tendency. The algorithm can achieve fine-grained control of location publishing of the shared content which involves stakeholder's privacy profit and maintain the sharing will of promulgator as possible