147 research outputs found
Chinese comprehenders’ interpretation of underinformativeness in L1 and L2 accented speech narratives
Second language (L2) speakers with foreign accents are well-known to face disadvantages in terms of language processing; however, recent research has demonstrated possible social benefits for foreign-accented L2 speakers. While previous research has focused on the ways in which first language (L1) speakers of English comprehend L2 speech, the present article contributes to this line of research by exploring the ways in which comprehenders from a different culture and linguistic background perceive L2 speech narratives. This study investigates this issue by exploring how comprehenders with Mandarin Chinese as the first language interpret underinformative utterances containing scalar and ad hoc implicature in L1, accent-free L2, and foreign-accented L2 speech narratives. The sentence judgment task with a guise design used written sentences rather than oral utterances as stimuli in order to isolate the role of intelligibility factors. The results indicate that foreign accent confers social benefits on L2 speakers in that their omission of information in communication is tolerated and they are viewed as more likely to possess positive attributes. More importantly, we find that the bilingual characteristics of Chinese participants, as well as the different linguistic complexity of deriving scalar and ad hoc implicature, affect Chinese participants’ explanations of underinformative sentences of L2 speakers. This study contributes to our understanding of L2 language processing
miR-30 Regulates Mitochondrial Fission through Targeting p53 and the Dynamin-Related Protein-1 Pathway
miRNAs participate in the regulation of apoptosis. However, it remains largely unknown as to how miRNAs are integrated into the apoptotic program. Mitochondrial fission is involved in the initiation of apoptosis. It is not yet clear whether miRNAs are able to regulate mitochondrial fission. Here we report that miR-30 family members are able to regulate apoptosis by targeting the mitochondrial fission machinery. Our data show that miR-30 family members can inhibit mitochondrial fission and the consequent apoptosis. In exploring the underlying molecular mechanism, we identified that miR-30 family members can suppress p53 expression. In response to the apoptotic stimulation, the expression levels of miR-30 family members were reduced, whereas p53 was upregulated. p53 transcriptionally activated the mitochondrial fission protein, dynamin-related protein-1 (Drp1). The latter conveyed the apoptotic signal of p53 by initiating the mitochondrial fission program. miR-30 family members inhibited mitochondrial fission through suppressing the expression of p53 and its downstream target Drp1. Our data reveal a novel model in which a miRNA can regulate apoptosis through targeting the mitochondrial fission machinery
Effect of immunotherapy on T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio in children with allergic asthma
Purpose: To study the effect of specific immunotherapy on T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-γ/IL-4 in children with allergic asthma (AA).
Methods: 57 AA children were selected and received the allergen specific immunotherapy, thereafter, the T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio were measured at three time points, before treatment, after 1yr and 2yr of treatment. Then the clinical efficacy after 2yr was recorded.
Results: The pre- and post- treatment percentages of CD4 + CD25 + T cells in CD4 + T cells had no difference (P>0.05). The proportion of CD4 + CD25 high T cells in CD4 + T was significantly increased after 1yr and 2yr of treatment (P<0.05), the difference between that after 1yr and 2yr of treatment was not significant. The relative expression of FOXP3 at three time points in a descending order was after 1yr, 2yr of treatment and pre-treatment (P<0.05). The relative IFN-γ expression after 1yr of treatment increased and returned to pre-treatment level after 2yr of treatment; IL-4 expression levels decreased as the treatment time extended; The IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio at three time points in a descending order was after 1yr, 2yr of treatment and pretreatment (P<0.05). The levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ in the children increased significantly as treatment time extended (P<0.05), and became stable after 1yr and 2yr of treatment, while the concentration of IL-4 showed a decrease trend (P<0.05), also tended to be stable after 1yr and 2yr of treatment. The clinical efficacy after 2yr of treatment was 87.72%.
Conclusion: This study has revealed that FOXP3, IFN-γ, and IL-4 have significant roles FOXP3 in the process of specific immunotherapy for children with allergic asthma. Further studies are needed to explore the mechanism
Radioimmunotherapy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma : a review of the current status of literature
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has long been associated with low survival rates. A lack of accurate diagnostic tests and limited treatment options contribute to the poor prognosis of PDAC. Radioimmunotherapy using α- or β-emitting radionuclides has been identified as a potential treatment for PDAC. By harnessing the cytotoxicity of α or β particles, radioimmunotherapy may overcome the anatomic and physiological factors which traditionally make PDAC resistant to most conventional treatments. Appropriate selection of target receptors and the development of selective and cytotoxic radioimmunoconjugates are needed to achieve the desired results of radioimmunotherapy. The aim of this review is to examine the growing preclinical and clinical trial evidence regarding the application of α and β radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of PDAC. A systematic search of MEDLINE® and Scopus databases was performed to identify 34 relevant studies conducted on α or β radioimmunotherapy of PDAC. Preclinical results demonstrated α and β radioimmunotherapy provided effective tumour control. Clinical studies were limited to investigating β radioimmunotherapy only. Phase I and II trials observed disease control rates of 11.2%–57.9%, with synergistic effects noted for combination therapies. Further developments and optimisation of treatment regimens are needed to improve the clinical relevance of α and β radioimmunotherapy in PDAC
What to expect from dynamical modelling of cluster haloes II. Investigating dynamical state indicators with Random Forest
We investigate the importances of various dynamical features in predicting
the dynamical state (DS) of galaxy clusters, based on the Random Forest (RF)
machine learning approach. We use a large sample of galaxy clusters from the
Three Hundred Project of hydrodynamical zoomed-in simulations, and construct
dynamical features from the raw data as well as from the corresponding mock
maps in the optical, X-ray, and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) channels. Instead of
relying on the impurity based feature importance of the RF algorithm, we
directly use the out-of-bag (OOB) scores to evaluate the importances of
individual features and different feature combinations. Among all the features
studied, we find the virial ratio, , to be the most important single
feature. The features calculated directly from the simulations and in
3-dimensions carry more information on the DS than those constructed from the
mock maps. Compared with the features based on X-ray or SZ maps, features
related to the centroid positions are more important. Despite the large number
of investigated features, a combination of up to three features of different
types can already saturate the score of the prediction. Lastly, we show that
the most sensitive feature is strongly correlated with the well-known
half-mass bias in dynamical modelling. Without a selection in DS, cluster halos
have an asymmetric distribution in , corresponding to an overall positive
half-mass bias. Our work provides a quantitative reference for selecting the
best features to discriminate the DS of galaxy clusters in both simulations and
observations.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRA
Intranasally inoculated bacterium-like particles displaying porcine epidemic diarrhea virus S1 protein induced intestinal mucosal immune response in mice
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes acute watery diarrhea and high mortality in newborn piglets. Activation of intestinal mucosal immunity is crucial to anti-PEDV infection. To develop a vaccine capable of stimulating intestinal mucosal immunity, we prepared a bacterium (Lactococcus lactis)-like particle (BLP) vaccine (S1-BLPs) displaying the S1 protein, a domain of PEDV spike protein (S), based on gram-positive enhancer matrix (GEM) particle display technology. We further compared the effects of different vaccination routes on mucosal immune responses in mice induced by S1-BLPs. The specific IgG titer in serum of intramuscularly immunized mice with S1-BLPs was significantly higher than that of the intranasally administered. The specific IgA antibody was found in the serum and intestinal lavage fluid of mice vaccinated intranasally, but not intramuscularly. Moreover, the intranasally inoculated S1-BLPs induced higher levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 in serum than the intramuscularly inoculated. In addition, the ratio of serum IgG2a/IgG1 of mice inoculated intramuscularly was significantly higher with S1-BLPs compared to that of with S1 protein, suggesting that the immune responses induced by S1-BLPs was characterized by helper T (Th) cell type 1 immunity. The results indicated that S1-BLPs induced systemic and local immunity, and the immunization routes significantly affected the specific antibody classes and Th immune response types. The intranasally administered S1-BLPs could effectively stimulate intestinal mucosal specific secretory IgA response. S1-BLPs have the potential to be developed as PEDV mucosal vaccine
Two-element interferometer for millimeter-wave solar flare observations
In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a two-element
interferometer working in the millimeter wave band (39.5 GHz - 40 GHz) for
observing solar radio emissions through nulling interference. The system is
composed of two 50 cm aperture Cassegrain antennas mounted on a common
equatorial mount, with a separation of 230 wavelengths. The cross-correlation
of the received signals effectively cancels the quiet solar component of the
large flux density (~3000 sfu) that reduces the detection limit due to
atmospheric fluctuations. The system performance is obtained as follows: the
noise factor of the AFE in the observation band is less than 2.1 dB, system
sensitivity is approximately 12.4 K (~34 sfu) with an integration time constant
of 0.1 ms (default), the frequency resolution is 153 kHz, and the dynamic range
is larger than 30 dB. Through actual testing, the nulling interferometer
observes a quiet sun with a low level of output fluctuations (of up to 50 sfu)
and has a significantly lower radiation flux variability (of up to 190 sfu)
than an equivalent single-antenna system, even under thick cloud cover. As a
result, this new design can effectively improve observation sensitivity by
reducing the impact of atmospheric and system fluctuations during observation
- …