Research Directions and Projects In an Institute of Developmental Psychology in China

We are a team who maintained to focus on 3 fields in people’s mental health recent years: marriage and family research and therapy, mental health of middle and primary school students, and internet addiction in youth. In every field, we focus on both fundamental research and clinical practice. We aim to explore mechanisms using survey, observation and cognitive neuroscience methods (fMRI), and develop prediction and intervention projects based on research, to improve people’s life and policies

Head and Neck Cancer Tumor Segmentation Using Support Vector Machine in Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI

Objective. We aimed to propose an automatic method based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI) to segment the tumor lesions of head and neck cancer (HNC). Materials and Methods. 120 DCE-MRI samples were collected. Five curve features and two principal components of the normalized time-intensity curve (TIC) in 80 samples were calculated as the dataset in training three SVM classifiers. The other 40 samples were used as the testing dataset. The area overlap measure (AOM) and the corresponding ratio (CR) and percent match (PM) were calculated to evaluate the segmentation performance. The training and testing procedure was repeated for 10 times, and the average performance was calculated and compared with similar studies. Results. Our method has achieved higher accuracy compared to the previous results in literature in HNC segmentation. The average AOM with the testing dataset was 0.76 ± 0.08, and the mean CR and PM were 79 ± 9% and 86 ± 8%, respectively. Conclusion. With improved segmentation performance, our proposed method is of potential in clinical practice for HNC

Classification of temporal lobe epilepsy based on neuropsychological tests and exploration of its underlying neurobiology

ObjectiveTo assist improving long-term postoperative seizure-free rate, we aimed to use machine learning algorithms based on neuropsychological data to differentiate temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) from extratemporal lobe epilepsy (extraTLE), as well as explore the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological tests.MethodsTwenty-three patients with TLE and 23 patients with extraTLE underwent neuropsychological tests and MRI scans before surgery. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator were firstly employed for feature selection, and a machine learning approach with neuropsychological tests was employed to classify TLE using leave-one-out cross-validation. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the relationship between brain alterations and neuropsychological tests.ResultsWe found that logistic regression with the selected neuropsychological tests generated classification accuracies of 87.0%, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.89. Three neuropsychological tests were acquired as significant neuropsychological signatures for the diagnosis of TLE. We also found that the Right-Left Orientation Test difference was related to the superior temporal and the banks of the superior temporal sulcus (bankssts). The Conditional Association Learning Test (CALT) was associated with the cortical thickness difference in the lateral orbitofrontal area between the two groups, and the Component Verbal Fluency Test was associated with the cortical thickness difference in the lateral occipital cortex between the two groups.ConclusionThese results showed that machine learning-based classification with the selected neuropsychological data can successfully classify TLE with high accuracy compared to previous studies, which could provide kind of warning sign for surgery candidate of TLE patients. In addition, understanding the mechanism of cognitive behavior by neuroimaging information could assist doctors in the presurgical evaluation of TLE

miRNA-1290 Promotes Aggressiveness in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Targeting IKK1

Background/Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs that play diverse roles in pancreatic carcinogenesis. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), NF-kB is constitutively activated in most patients and is linked to a mutation in KRAS via IkB kinase complex 1 (IKK1, also known as IKKa). We investigated the link between PDAC aggressiveness and miR-1290. Methods: We used miRCURYTM LNA Array and in situ hybridization to investigate candidate miRNAs and validated the findings with PCR. The malignant behavior of cell lines was assessed with Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and Transwell assays. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to evaluate the interaction between miR-1290 and IKK1. Protein expression was observed by western blotting. Results: In this study, 36 miRNAs were dysregulated in high-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and PDAC tissues compared with low-grade PanIN tissues. The area under the curve values of miR-1290 and miR-31-5p were 0.829 and 0.848, respectively (95% confidence interval, 0.722–0.936 and 0.749–0.948, both P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between miR-1290 and histological differentiation (P = 0.029), pT stage (P = 0.006), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). In addition, the in vitro work showed that miR-1290 promoted PDAC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Western blotting and the dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-1290 promoted cancer aggressiveness by directly targeting IKK1. The synergist effect of miR-1290 on the proliferation and metastasis of PDAC cells was attenuated and enhanced by IKK1 overexpression and knockdown, respectively. Consistent with the in vitro results, a subcutaneous tumor mouse model showed that miR-1290 functioned as a potent promoter of PDAC in vivo. Conclusion: MiR-1290 may act as an oncogene by directly targeting the 3’-untranslated region of IKK1, and the miR-1290/IKK1 pathway may prove to be a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for PDAC

Career-Specific Parenting Practices and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Among Chinese Adolescents: The Interactive Effects of Parenting Practices and the Mediating Role of Autonomy

This study examined the unique and interactive effects of various career-specific parenting practices (i.e., parental career support, interference, and lack of engagement) on Chinese high school students’ career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) as well as the mediating role of autonomy in such associations. Based on data from 641 Chinese high school students (47.6% male; mean age = 15.28 years old, SD = 0.49) in 2016, two moderated mediating effects were identified. Higher level of parental career engagement strengthened the positive association between parental career support and adolescents’ autonomy, which in turn, was associated positively with adolescents’ CDSE. Parental career interference related negatively with adolescents’ CDSE via autonomy when lack of parental career engagement was low, but related positively with adolescents’ CDSE via autonomy when lack of parental career engagement was high. These findings advance our understanding of the underlying processes between career-specific parenting practices and adolescents’ CDSE. Implications for practices were discussed

Analysis for the units of regional geography on UK’s geography textbook: The case study of “Geog 4th edition”

In Britain, the volume of “Regional Geography” was decreased in “the National Curriculum”. The aim of this paper is to cralify the contents of “Regional Geography” in Britain. We analyzed the geographical school textbook “Geog 4th edition” by Oxfor University Press. We find that “Geog” has only 2 or 3 case studies in each grade. The students don’t learn all of the world in geographical class. That is because it is important to learn the geographical skill

Deletion of the epigenetic regulator GcnE in Aspergillus niger FGSC A1279 activates the production of multiple polyketide metabolites

Epigenetic modification is an important regulatory mechanism in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in Aspergillus species, which have been considered to be the treasure trove of new bioactive secondary metabolites. In this study, we reported that deletion of the epigenetic regulator gcnE, a histone acetyltransferase in the SAGA/ADA complex, resulted in the production of 12 polyketide secondary metabolites in A. niger FGSC A1279, which was previously not known to produce toxins or secondary metabolites. Chemical workup and structural elucidation by 1D/2D NMR and high resolution electrospray ionization mass (HR-ESIMS) yielded the novel compound nigerpyrone (1) and five known compounds: carbonarone A (2), pestalamide A (3), funalenone (4), aurasperone E (5), and aurasperone A (6). Based on chemical information and the literature, the biosynthetic gene clusters of funalenone (4), aurasperone E (5), and aurasperone A (6) were located on chromosomes of A. niger FGSC A1279. This study found that inactivation of GcnE activated the production of secondary metabolites in A. niger. The biosynthetic pathway for nigerpyrone and its derivatives was identified and characterized via gene knockout and complementation experiments. A biosynthetic model of this group of pyran-based fungal metabolites was proposed. [Abstract copyright: Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.