Effects of Socioeconomic Status, Parent–Child Relationship, and Learning Motivation on Reading Ability

Against the background of Chinese culture, we investigated the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s reading ability. Participants included 2294 middle-school students in grade 8. SES was measured by parents’ education level, parents’ occupational prestige, and family property, and children’s reading ability was estimated with item response theory. In addition, we adopted an 8-item parent–child relationship scale and a 22-item learning motivation scale that included four dimensions. We examined whether the parent–child relationship mediated the relationship between family SES and reading ability and whether this was moderated by learning motivation. The results indicated that the parent–child relationship played a mediating role in the relationship between SES and reading ability. This relationship was moderated by students’ learning motivation. The direct effects of SES on reading ability at high, medium, and low levels of learning motivation were 0.24, 0.32, and 0.40, respectively

ReCGiP, a database of reproduction candidate genes in pigs based on bibliomics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reproduction in pigs is one of the most economically important traits. To improve the reproductive performances, numerous studies have focused on the identification of candidate genes. However, it is hard for one to read all literatures thoroughly to get information. So we have developed a database providing candidate genes for reproductive researches in pig by mining and processing existing biological literatures in human and pigs, named as ReCGiP.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>Based on text-mining and comparative genomics, ReCGiP presents diverse information of reproduction-relevant genes in human and pig. The genes were sorted by the degree of relevance with the reproduction topics and were visualized in a gene's co-occurrence network where two genes were connected if they were co-cited in a PubMed abstract. The 'hub' genes which had more 'neighbors' were thought to be have more important functions and could be identified by the user in their web browser. In addition, ReCGiP provided integrated GO annotation, OMIM and biological pathway information collected from the Internet. Both pig and human gene information can be found in the database, which is now available.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>ReCGiP is a unique database providing information on reproduction related genes for pig. It can be used in the area of the molecular genetics, the genetic linkage map, and the breeding of the pig and other livestock. Moreover, it can be used as a reference for human reproduction research.</p

Twinning-assisted dynamic adjustment of grain boundary mobility

Grain boundary (GB) plasticity dominates the mechanical behaviours of nanocrystalline materials. Under mechanical loading, GB configuration and its local deformation geometry change dynamically with the deformation; the dynamic variation of GB deformability, however, remains largely elusive, especially regarding its relation with the frequently-observed GB-associated deformation twins in nanocrystalline materials. Attention here is focused on the GB dynamics in metallic nanocrystals, by means of well-designed in situ nanomechanical testing integrated with molecular dynamics simulations. GBs with low mobility are found to dynamically adjust their configurations and local deformation geometries via crystallographic twinning, which instantly changes the GB dynamics and enhances the GB mobility. This selfadjust twin-assisted GB dynamics is found common in a wide range of face-centred cubic nanocrystalline metals under different deformation conditions. These findings enrich our understanding of GB-mediated plasticity, especially the dynamic behaviour of GBs, and bear practical implication for developing high performance nanocrystalline materials through interface engineering

Detection of genome-wide structural variations in the Shanghai Holstein cattle population using next-generation sequencing

Objective The Shanghai Holstein cattle breed is susceptible to severe mastitis and other diseases due to the hot weather and long-term humidity in Shanghai, which is the main distribution centre for providing Holstein semen to various farms throughout China. Our objective was to determine the genetic mechanisms influencing economically important traits, especially diseases that have huge impact on the yield and quality of milk as well as reproduction. Methods In our study, we detected the structural variations of 1,092 Shanghai Holstein cows by using next-generation sequencing. We used the DELLY software to identify deletions and insertions, cn.MOPS to identify copy-number variants (CNVs). Furthermore, we annotated these structural variations using different bioinformatics tools, such as gene ontology, cattle quantitative trait locus (QTL) database and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA). Results The average number of high-quality reads was 3,046,279. After filtering, a total of 16,831 deletions, 12,735 insertions and 490 CNVs were identified. The annotation results showed that these mapped genes were significantly enriched for specific biological functions, such as disease and reproduction. In addition, the enrichment results based on the cattle QTL database showed that the number of variants related to milk and reproduction was higher than the number of variants related to other traits. IPA core analysis found that the structural variations were related to reproduction, lipid metabolism, and inflammation. According to the functional analysis, structural variations were important factors affecting the variation of different traits in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Our results provide meaningful information about structural variations, which may be useful in future assessments of the associations between variations and important phenotypes in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Conclusion Structural variations identified in this study were extremely different from those of previous studies. Many structural variations were found to be associated with mastitis and reproductive system diseases; these results are in accordance with the characteristics of the environment that Shanghai Holstein cattle experience

Role of VEGFR2 in Mediating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Under Glucose Deprivation and Determining Cell Death, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammatory Factor Expression

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a postmitotic monolayer located between the neuroretina and choroid, supports the retina and is closely associated with vision loss diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) upon dysfunction. Although environmental stresses are known to play critical roles in AMD pathogenesis and the roles of other stresses have been well investigated, glucose deprivation, which can arise from choriocapillary flow voids, has yet to be fully explored. In this study, we examined the involvement of VEGFR2 in glucose deprivation-mediated cell death and the underlying mechanisms. We found that VEGFR2 levels are a determinant for RPE cell death, a critical factor for dry AMD, under glucose deprivation. RNA sequencing analysis showed that upon VEGFR2 knockdown under glucose starvation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and unfolded protein response (UPR) are reduced. Consistently, VEGFR2 overexpression increased ER stress under the same condition. Although VEGFR2 was less expressed compared to EGFR1 and c-Met in RPE cells, it could elicit a higher level of ER stress induced by glucose starvation. Finally, downregulated VEGFR2 attenuated the oxidative stress and inflammatory factor expression, two downstream targets of ER stress. Our study, for the first time, has demonstrated a novel role of VEGFR2 in RPE cells under glucose deprivation, thus providing valuable insights into the mechanisms of AMD pathogenesis and suggesting that VEGFR2 might be a potential therapeutic target for AMD prevention, which may impede its progression

A Novel Role of Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 in Macrophage Differentiation and Polarization

This work forms part of the research themes contributing to the translational research portfolio of Barts and the London Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, which is supported and funded by the National Institute of Health Research

Analysis of Galileo and GPS systems

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, NevadaThis paper describes key points in the field of Galileo application abroad spacecraft and normal vehicles. On the basis of ephemeris of Galileo constellation, the mathematic model and procession are given in high dynamic signal environment, the digital simulation is also completed, the results are statistics and analyzed and presented. On the topic of navigation satellite constellation orbit and visibility, the paper presents the Galileo frame system, time system, navigation satellite orbit elements, constellation structure, and GDOP calculation. The users include low dynamic as well as high dynamic spacecraft. The analysis for relevant GPS is also showed. About the navigation signal structure, main points are Galileo system working frequency, including E5, E6 and L1 frequency spans, the modulation and navigation data, ets. At the same time, this paper compares Galileo with GPS. On the aspect of signal communication link, Dopplar frequency shift and power level calculation are present as well as compare with GPS system.International Foundation for TelemeteringProceedings from the International Telemetering Conference are made available by the International Foundation for Telemetering and the University of Arizona Libraries. Visit http://www.telemetry.org/index.php/contact-us if you have questions about items in this collection

Study on the Influence of Population Aging on China's Economic Development Based on Individual Fixed Effect Model

In recent years, the aging process of China's population has been accelerating, which has a series of impacts on China's economic development. This paper first analyzes the positive and negative effects of population aging on China from the perspective of theory. Then based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 1998 to 2017, this paper establishes individual fixed effect model through unit root test, cointegration test, F-test and Hausman test. The result of the model estimation is that the aging of population can promote the economic development of China and the elasticity of GDP per capita to the ratio of the elderly population is 0.05. According to this analysis, this paper provides some policy suggestions for China's future economic development