A Neoclassic Growth Model of Leisure Time and China\u27s Economic Growth

The Purpose of this study was to assess the effect of leisure time on China’s long-run economic growth. Two compensation effects of leisure were introduced into the economic growth model to assess if leisure choice-set affect economic growth in the long-run. A time series data of 23 years (1981-2003) was used in the study. A neoclassic growth model was used to analyze the data. The result found a weak negative relationship between leisure time and China’s long-run economic growth

A Berry-Esseen bound of order \u3csup\u3ep\u3c/sup\u3e\u3csup\u3e1\u3c/sup\u3e√ \u3csub\u3en\u3c/sub\u3e for martingales

© 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Renz [13] has established a rate of convergence 1/pn in the central limit theorem for martingales with some restrictive conditions. In the present paper a modification of the methods, developed by Bolthausen [2] and Grama and Haeusler [6], is applied for obtaining the same convergence rate for a class of more general martingales. An application to linear processes is discussed

Approximate Number Sense in Students With Severe Hearing Loss: A Modality-Neutral Cognitive Ability

The Approximate Number System (ANS) allows humans and non-human animals to estimate large quantities without counting. It is most commonly studied in visual contexts (i.e., with displays containing different numbers of dots), although the ANS may operate on all approximate quantities regardless of modality (e.g., estimating the number of a series of auditory tones). Previous research has shown that there is a link between ANS and mathematics abilities, and that this link is resilient to differences in visual experience (Kanjlia et al., 2018). However, little is known about the function of the ANS and its relationship to mathematics abilities in the absence of other types of sensory input. Here, we investigated the acuity of the ANS and its relationship with mathematics abilities in a group of students from the Sichuan Province in China, half of whom were deaf. We found, consistent with previous research, that ANS acuity improves with age. We found that mathematics ability was predicted by Non-verbal IQ and Inhibitory Control, but not visual working memory capacity or Attention Network efficiencies. Even above and beyond these predictors, ANS ability still accounted for unique variance in mathematics ability. Notably, there was no interaction with hearing, which indicates that the role played by the ANS in explaining mathematics competence is not modulated by hearing capacity. Finally, we found that age, Non-verbal IQ and Visual Working Memory capacity were predictive of ANS performance when controlling for other factors. In fact, although students with hearing loss performed slightly worse than students with normal hearing on the ANS task, hearing was no longer significantly predictive of ANS performance once other factors were taken into account. These results indicate that the ANS is able to develop at a consistent pace with other cognitive abilities in the absence of auditory experience, and that its relationship with mathematics ability is not contingent on sensory input from hearing

Long-Term Exposure to High Altitude Affects Voluntary Spatial Attention at Early and Late Processing Stages

The neurocognitive basis of the effect of long-term high altitude exposure on voluntary attention is unclear. Using event related potentials, the high altitude group (people born in low altitude but who had lived at high altitude for 3 years) and the low altitude group (living in low altitude only) were investigated using a voluntary spatial attention discrimination task under high and low perceptual load conditions. The high altitude group responded slower than the low altitude group, while bilateral N1 activity was found only in the high altitude group. The P3 amplitude was smaller in the high altitude compared to the low altitude group only under high perceptual load. These results suggest that long-term exposure to high altitudes causes hemispheric compensation during discrimination processes at early processing stages and reduces attentional resources at late processing stages. In addition, the effect of altitude during the late stage is affected by perceptual load

Experimental Study on the Wood Combustion Restraining by Ultra-fine Water Mist in Confined Space

Because of wood is one kind of the basic combustible material, a small scale compartment was built for ultra-fine water mist restraining wood fire, and then the restraining efficiency and related factors were investigated. The study found: the heat release rate and the volume fraction of O2 decreased quickly, the production of CO2 increased in a short time and ultimately tended to be stable after discharging the ultra-fine water mist. It showed that the ultra-fine water mist can effectively reduce the heat release rate of wood and components generation rate. It was found that the restraining effect relies on preignition time, mist flux, discharging time and so on.特集 : 「資源、新エネルギー、環境、防災研究国際セミナー

Design of Octave-bandwidth Phased Array Feed for Large Radio Telescope

This paper presents design scenarios of Octave-bandwidth Phase Array Feed (PAF) based on a novel wideband dual polarized tightly-fed Bowtie antenna element. The PAF is optimized for the 4 - 8GHz band aiming to possible later integration in the SKA pathfinder PHAROS2. The proposed design can be a good candidate of PAF for the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) and Qi Tai Telescope (QTT) as well as other large radio telescopes

Dexmedetomidine provides renoprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice

Abstract Introduction Acute kidney injury following surgery incurs significant mortality with no proven preventative therapy. We investigated whether the α2 adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine (Dex) provides protection against ischemia-reperfusion induced kidney injury in vitro and in vivo. Methods In vitro, a stabilised cell line of human kidney proximal tubular cells (HK2) was exposed to culture medium deprived of oxygen and glucose. Dex decreased HK2 cell death in a dose-dependent manner, an effect attenuated by the α2 adrenoceptor antagonist atipamezole, and likely transduced by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K-Akt) signaling. In vivo C57BL/6J mice received Dex (25 μg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)) 30 minutes before or after either bilateral renal pedicle clamping for 25 minutes or right renal pedicle clamping for 40 minutes and left nephrectomy. Results Pre- or post-treatment with Dex provided cytoprotection, improved tubular architecture and function following renal ischemia. Consistent with this cytoprotection, dexmedetomidine reduced plasma high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB-1) elevation when given prior to or after kidney ischemia-reperfusion; pretreatment also decreased toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression in tubular cells. Dex treatment provided long-term functional renoprotection, and even increased survival following nephrectomy. Conclusions Our data suggest that Dex likely activates cell survival signal pAKT via α2 adrenoceptors to reduce cell death and HMGB1 release and subsequently inhibits TLR4 signaling to provide reno-protection

Aptamer-conjugated, fluorescent gold nanorods as potential cancer theradiagnostic agents

Funding for this project was provided by the ERC grant StG242991.GNRs are emerging as a new class of probes for theradiagnostic applications thanks to their unique optical properties. However, the achievement of proper nanoconstructs requires the synthesis of highly pure GNRs with well-defined aspect ratio (AR), in addition to extensive surface chemistry modification to provide them with active targeting and, possibly, multifunctionality. In this work, we refined the method of the seed mediated growth and developed a robust procedure for the fabrication of GNRs with specific AR. We also revealed and characterized unexplored aging phenomena that follow the synthesis and consistently alter GNRs' final AR. Such advances appreciably improved the feasibility of GNRs fabrication and offered useful insights on the growth mechanism. We next produced fluorescent, biocompatible, aptamer-conjugated GNRs by performing ligand exchange followed by bioconjugation to anti-cancer oligonucleotide AS1411. In vitro studies showed that our nanoconstructs selectively target cancer cells while showing negligible cytotoxicity. As a result, our aptamer-conjugated GNRs constitute ideal cancer-selective multifunctional probes and promising candidates as photothermal therapy agents.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Dexmedetomidine Attenuates Oxidative Stress Induced Lung Alveolar Epithelial Cell Apoptosis In Vitro

Background. Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the lung injuries of critical ill patients. This study investigates the protection conferred by α2 adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine (Dex) from lung alveolar epithelial cell injury induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the underlying mechanisms. Methods. The lung alveolar epithelial cell line, A549, was cultured and then treated with 500 μM H2O2 with or without Dex (1 nM) or Dex in combination with atipamezole (10 nM), an antagonist of α2 receptors. Their effect on mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the cell cycle was assessed by flow cytometry. Cleaved-caspases 3 and 9, BAX, Bcl-2, phospho-mTOR (p-mTOR), ERK1/2, and E-cadherin expression were also determined with immunocytochemistry. Results. Upregulation of cleaved-caspases 3 and 9 and BAX and downregulation of Bcl-2, p-mTOR, and E-cadherin were found following H2O2 treatment, and all of these were reversed by Dex. Dex also prevented the ROS generation, cytochrome C release, and cell cycle arrest induced by H2O2. The effects of Dex were partially reversed by atipamezole. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated that Dex protected lung alveolar epithelial cells from apoptotic injury, cell cycle arrest, and loss of cell adhesion induced by H2O2 through enhancing the cell survival and proliferation