Teachers’ Belief Changes in a Technology-Enhanced Pedagogical Laboratory

Preservice teachers who were enrolled in a technology integration course facilitated student-centered lessons to K-12 students in a pedagogical laboratory. A quantitative instrument, Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding Technology Use Survey (TBTUS), was employed to measure the impact of the pedagogical laboratory experience on preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding technology integration. The impact was largely insignificant. The qualitative data suggest that changes might be incremental and TBTUS might not be sensitive to the changes that occurred after 22-hour treatment, with only six hours of real teaching experience. Moreover, unlike vicarious experiences, personal teaching experiences may be different for each candidate, so they might have learned strategies that are unrelated to the beliefs that were measure

Interannual variability of extreme precipitation in late summer over west China during 1961–2021

The characteristics and related mechanisms of the interannual variability of late summer (August) extreme precipitation in West China (WC) were investigated from 1961 to 2021. Precipitation and extreme precipitation (defined as the 99th percentile) generally decreased in the southeast-northwest direction, with a maximum in the Sichuan Basin. The non-linear trends in extreme precipitation have increased since the 1980s. Therefore, we further found that the interannual increase in extreme precipitation in the WC was significantly related to the eastward-strengthened South Asian high, western-stretched Western Pacific Subtropical high, enhanced westerly jet, anomalous cyclone in Mongolia, and anomalous anticyclone in the western Pacific. The anti-cyclonic anomaly is a Gill-type response to increase the sea surface temperature in the western Pacific. A mid-high latitude barotropic Rossby-wave train can be induced and has essential effects on the above key circulation patterns, further cooperating with the strong updrafts rather than strengthening and maintaining extreme precipitation in the WC

A Kernel of Truth: Determining Rumor Veracity on Twitter by Diffusion Pattern Alone

Recent work in the domain of misinformation detection has leveraged rich signals in the text and user identities associated with content on social media. But text can be strategically manipulated and accounts reopened under different aliases, suggesting that these approaches are inherently brittle. In this work, we investigate an alternative modality that is naturally robust: the pattern in which information propagates. Can the veracity of an unverified rumor spreading online be discerned solely on the basis of its pattern of diffusion through the social network? Using graph kernels to extract complex topological information from Twitter cascade structures, we train accurate predictive models that are blind to language, user identities, and time, demonstrating for the first time that such "sanitized" diffusion patterns are highly informative of veracity. Our results indicate that, with proper aggregation, the collective sharing pattern of the crowd may reveal powerful signals of rumor truth or falsehood, even in the early stages of propagation.Comment: Published at The Web Conference (WWW) 202

Optogenetic Control of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels

Voltage-gated Ca(2+) (CaV ) channels mediate Ca(2+) entry into excitable cells to regulate a myriad of cellular events following membrane depolarization. We report the engineering of RGK GTPases, a class of genetically encoded CaV channel modulators, to enable photo-tunable modulation of CaV channel activity in excitable mammalian cells. This optogenetic tool (designated optoRGK) tailored for CaV channels could find broad applications in interrogating a wide range of CaV -mediated physiological processes

Comparison of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient and T2 Relaxation Time Variation Patterns in Assessment of Age and Disc Level Related Intervertebral Disc Changes

Purpose To compare the variation patterns of ADC and T2 values in different age and intervertebral disc (IVD) levels, thus to identify their sensitivities in assessing age and disc level related IVDs changes. Materials and Methods The T2 and ADC values were recorded from 345 IVDs of 69 volunteers. Kendall's correlation analysis was used to identify the relationship between age and T2/ADC mean values respectively. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analysis was then applied to test the differences of T2 and ADC values among different IVD levels and age groups, followed by linear regression analysis between age (45 years) and T2/ADC mean values. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Results: Significant negative correlation was observed between age and T2/ADC mean values. The T2 and ADC values showed significant differences among IVD levels and among age groups except for T2 values in age group 1 (25–34 years) and group 2 (35–44 years), and for ADC values at L1–2 level. Both T2 and ADC values showed significant differences between young (age45 years) at each IVD level. A linear relationship was observed between age and T2/ADC mean values in the elderly group as well as in the young group for the ADC mean values, while no such tendency was identified in the young group for the T2 mean values. Conclusions: ADC values may be a more sensitive parameter than T2 in assessing age and disc level related intervertebral disc changes

Altered coupling of resting-state cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in Meige syndrome

IntroductionMeige syndrome (MS) is an adult-onset segmental dystonia disease, mainly manifested as blepharospasm and involuntary movement caused by dystonic dysfunction of the oromandibular muscles. The changes of brain activity, perfusion and neurovascular coupling in patients with Meige syndrome are hitherto unknown.MethodsTwenty-five MS patients and thirty age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were prospectively recruited in this study. All the participants underwent resting-state arterial spin labeling and blood oxygen level-dependent examinations on a 3.0 T MR scanner. The measurement of neurovascular coupling was calculated using cerebral blood flow (CBF)-functional connectivity strength (FCS) correlations across the voxels of whole gray matter. Also, voxel-wised analyses of CBF, FCS, and CBF/FCS ratio images between MS and HC were conducted. Additionally, CBF and FCS values were compared between these two groups in selected motion-related brain regions.ResultsMS patients showed increased whole gray matter CBF-FCS coupling relative to HC (t = 2.262, p = 0.028). In addition, MS patients showed significantly increased CBF value in middle frontal gyrus and bilateral precentral gyrus.ConclusionThe abnormal elevated neurovascular coupling of MS may indicate a compensated blood perfusion in motor-related brain regions and reorganized the balance between neuronal activity and brain blood supply. Our results provide a new insight into the neural mechanism underlying MS from the perspective of neurovascular coupling and cerebral perfusion

Near-infrared photoactivatable control of Ca signaling and optogenetic immunomodulation

The application of current channelrhodopsin-based optogenetic tools is limited by the lack of strict ion selectivity and the inability to extend the spectra sensitivity into the near-infrared (NIR) tissue transmissible range. Here we present an NIR-stimulable optogenetic platform (termed Opto-CRAC ) that selectively and remotely controls Ca2+ oscillations and Ca2+-responsive gene expression to regulate the function of non-excitable cells, including T lymphocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. When coupled to upconversion nanoparticles, the optogenetic operation window is shifted from the visible range to NIR wavelengths to enable wireless photoactivation of Ca2+-dependent signaling and optogenetic modulation of immunoinflammatory responses. In a mouse model of melanoma by using ovalbumin as surrogate tumor antigen, Opto-CRAC has been shown to act as a genetically-encoded photoactivatable adjuvant to improve antigen-specific immune responses to specifically destruct tumor cells. Our study represents a solid step forward towards the goal of achieving remote control of Ca2+-modulated activities with tailored function

Room temperature magnetic phase transition in an electrically-tuned van der Waals ferromagnet

Finding tunable van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets that operate at above room temperature is an important research focus in physics and materials science. Most vdW magnets are only intrinsically magnetic far below room temperature and magnetism with square-shaped hysteresis at room-temperature has yet to be observed. Here, we report magnetism in a quasi-2D magnet Cr1.2Te2 observed at room temperature (290 K). This magnetism was tuned via a protonic gate with an electron doping concentration up to 3.8 * 10^21 cm^-3. We observed non-monotonic evolutions in both coercivity and anomalous Hall resistivity. Under increased electron doping, the coercivities and anomalous Hall effects (AHEs) vanished, indicating a doping-induced magnetic phase transition. This occurred up to room temperature. DFT calculations showed the formation of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase caused by the intercalation of protons which induced significant electron doping in the Cr1.2Te2. The tunability of the magnetic properties and phase in room temperature magnetic vdW Cr1.2Te2 is a significant step towards practical spintronic devices.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Altered Brain Fraction Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation at Resting State in Patients With Early Left and Right Bell’s Palsy: Do They Have Differences?

Purpose: Bell’s palsy refers to acute idiopathic unilateral facial nerve palsy. It is a common disorder of the main motor pathway to the facial muscles. This study aimed to investigate the abnormal fraction amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) of the brain in patients with early left and right Bell’s palsy.Materials and Methods: Sixty-seven patients (left 33, right 34) and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) examination. The fALFF values were measured from all subjects and were compared among the left palsy, right palsy, and control groups. Then, correlations between the Toronto Facial Grading System (TFGS) scores of the patients and the fALFF values of abnormal brain regions were analyzed.Results: Significant group differences in fALFF values among the three groups were observed mainly in the cerebral cortical, subcortical, and deep gray matter regions. Compared with the right Bell’s palsy group, the left Bell’s palsy group showed significantly decreased fALFF values in the left temporal pole of the superior temporal gyrus (TPOsup), right supramarginal, left and right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and left precentral gyrus (PreCG), and increased fALFF values were observed in the right SFG and PreCG. Furthermore, altered fALFF values correlated positively with the TFGS scores in the left superior TPO, bilateral MCC, and right PreCG, and correlated negatively with the TFGS scores in the right SFG of the left Bell’s palsy group. Altered fALFF values correlated positively with the TFGS scores in the bilateral MCC and right PreCG and correlated negatively with the TFGS scores in the left superior TPO and SFG of the right Bell’s palsy group.Conclusion: Regulatory mechanisms seem to differ between patients with left and right early Bell’s palsy. The severity of the disease is associated with these functional alterations