Search

High prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescence has been reported. This study seeks to investigate the mediating effect of alexithymia and dependency on anxiety and emotional-behavioral problems among adolescents. The study population included 519 adolescents. The assessments included the completion of standardized scales such as the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale (MASC), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Independent-sample t-tests, bivariate correlation, and serial mediation analyses were performed using SPSS23.0. Bivariate analyses revealed that anxiety, emotional-behavioral problem, alexithymia, and dependency were positively correlated. Alexithymia and dependency play a significant role in mediating the effect of multidimensional anxiety on emotional-behavioral problems. The effects of the two mediating paths were 69.86% and 7.81% for indirect effect through alexithymia, dependency, and specific indirect effect by alexithymia and dependency was 12.33%. Anxiety and emotional-behavioral problems mediate the relationship between alexithymia and dependency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypoxia plays a crucial role in regulating various cellular functions, including ion-transport mechanisms in the kidney. The sodium-chloride co-transporter (NCC) is essential for sodium reabsorption in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT). However, the effects of hypoxia on NCC expression and its regulatory pathways remain unclear. We aimed to explore the effects and potential mechanisms of hypoxia on NCC in vitro. Methods: mDCT15 cells were treated with cobalt chloride (CoCl2) at a concentration of 300 μmol/L to induce hypoxia. The cells were harvested at different time points, namely 30 min, 1 h, 6 h, and 24 h, and the expression of NCC and CaMKII-β was analyzed using Western blot. Results: A time-dependent upregulation of NCC and CaMKII-β expression in response to CoCl2-induced hypoxia. KN93 reversed the effect of CoCl2 on NCC and phosphorylated NCC expression. Conclusions: Hypoxia, mediated through cobalt chloride treatment, upregulates NCC expression via the CaMKII-β pathway in mDCT15 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth from a newly discovered sedimentary rare earth ore (SREO) in Guizhou Province, China, was extracted through ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) activated roasting and leaching with sulfuric acid. The phase changes and reaction mechanism during the roasting process were explored through thermodynamic analysis, XRD, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. When roasted at 650°C, first, the layered structure of kaolinite was destroyed by the reaction between (NH4)2SO4 with the SREO. Meanwhile, it is conducive to the reaction of rare earth minerals with (NH4)2SO4 to produce soluble rare earth sulfate. Second, the surface of the roasted product is loose, which makes it easier for sulfuric acid to erode into the ore. Therefore, the leaching rate of rare earth elements (REEs) improved after acid leaching. Under the optimized reaction conditions, specifically, a roasting temperature of 650°C, an (NH4)2SO4 to SREO mass ratio of 2.5:1, a roasting time of 1 h, a leaching temperature of 80°C, a leaching time of 2 h, an acid concentration of 5 mol/L, and a liquid-to-solid ratio of 9:1 (mg/L), the leaching rate of REEs reached 90.05%, 18.57% higher than that of roasting without (NH4)2SO4 addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis (AS) is considered to be one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease. Its pathological microenvironment is characterised by increased production of reactive oxygen species, lipid oxides, and excessive inflammatory factors, which accumulate at the monolayer endothelial cells in the vascular wall to form AS plaques. Therefore, intervention in the pathological microenvironment would be beneficial in delaying AS. Researchers have designed biomimetic nanomedicines with excellent biocompatibility and the ability to avoid being cleared by the immune system through different therapeutic strategies to achieve better therapeutic effects for the characteristics of AS. Biomimetic nanomedicines can further enhance delivery efficiency and improve treatment efficacy due to their good biocompatibility and ability to evade clearance by the immune system. Biomimetic nanomedicines based on therapeutic strategies such as neutralising inflammatory factors, ROS scavengers, lipid clearance and integration of diagnosis and treatment are versatile approaches for effective treatment of AS. The review firstly summarises the targeting therapeutic strategy of biomimetic nanomedicine for AS in recent 5 years. Biomimetic nanomedicines using cell membranes, proteins, and extracellular vesicles as carriers have been developed for AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the outbreak of the global energy crisis, renewable solar energy has become a focal point of research. However, the utilization efficiency of natural photosynthesis (NPS) is only about 1%. Inspired by NPS, artificial photosynthesis (APS) was developed and utilized in applications such as the regeneration of coenzymes. APS for coenzyme regeneration can overcome the problem of high energy consumption in comparison to electrocatalytic methods. Microreactors represent a promising technology. Compared with the conventional system, it has the advantages of a large specific surface area, the fast diffusion of small molecules, and high efficiency. Introducing microreactors can lead to more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly coenzyme regeneration in artificial photosynthesis. This review begins with a brief introduction of APS and microreactors, and then summarizes research on traditional electrocatalytic coenzyme regeneration, as well as photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalysis coenzyme regeneration by APS, all based on microreactors, and compares them with the corresponding conventional system. Finally, it looks forward to the promising prospects of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we reported two experiments that examined how syntactic category information affects the acquisition of ambiguous words in second language (L2). Chinese-English bilinguals were instructed to learn a set of English pseudowords to simulate ambiguous words' learning process. Each ambiguous pseudoword was paired with two unrelated Chinese meanings, which either belonged to the same syntactic category (i.e., both were nouns or both were verbs) or belonged to different syntactic categories (i.e., one was a noun and the other one was a verb or vice versa). The results from translation recognition and L2-L1 production tasks showed that ambiguous words with two noun meanings were easier to learn than ambiguous words with one noun meaning and one verb meaning (Experiment 1). Ambiguous words with one verb meaning and one noun meaning were easier to learn than those with two verb meanings (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the syntactic categorical structure of an L2 ambiguous word impacts the whole word's learning efficiency, and noun meanings facilitate the learning performance of L2 ambiguous words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is associated with a high rate of pulmonary infections (bacteria, fungi, and viruses). To overcome the low sensitivity and long turnaround time of traditional laboratory-based diagnostic strategies, we adopted metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology to identify and classify pathogens. Results: This study enrolled 75 patients with AIDS and suspected pulmonary infections who were admitted to Nanning Fourth People's Hospital. Specimens were collected for traditional microbiological testing and mNGS-based diagnosis. The diagnostic yields of the two methods were compared to evaluate the diagnostic value (detection rate and turn around time) of mNGS for infections with unknown causative agent. Accordingly, 22 cases (29.3%) had a positive culture and 70 (93.3%) had positive valve mNGS results (P value < 0.0001, Chi-square test). Meanwhile, 15 patients with AIDS showed concordant results between the culture and mNGS, whereas only one 1 patient showed concordant results between Giemsa-stained smear screening and mNGS. In addition, mNGS identified multiple microbial infections (at least three pathogens) in almost 60.0% of patients with AIDS. More importantly, mNGS was able to detect a large variety of pathogens from patient tissue displaying potential infection and colonization, while culture results remained negative. There were 18 members of pathogens which were consistently detected in patients with and without AIDS. Conclusions: In conclusion, mNGS analysis provides fast and precise pathogen detection and identification, contributing substantially to the accurate diagnosis, real-time monitoring, and treatment appropriateness of pulmonary infection in patients with AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new ligand DFIP (2-(dibenzo[b,d]furan-3-yl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline) and its two complexes iridium(III) [Ir(ppy)2(DFIP)](PF6) (ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, Ir1) and ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy)2(DFIP)](PF6)2 (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, Ru1) were synthesized and characterized. The anticancer effects of the two complexes on A549, BEL-7402, HepG2, SGC-7901, HCT116 and normal LO2 cells were tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. Complex Ir1 shows high cytotoxic activity on A549, BEL-7402, SGC-7901 and HepG2, Ru1 exhibits moderate anticancer activity toward A549, BEL-7402 and SGC-7901 cells. The IC50 values of Ir1 and Ru1 toward A549 are 7.2 ± 0.1 and 22.6 ± 1.4 μM, respectively. The localization of complexes Ir1 and Ru1 in the mitochondrial, intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cytochrome c (cyto-c) were investigated. Apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) was used to detect the effects of Ir1 and Ru1 on the A549 using a confocal laser scanning microscope. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins was detected by western blotting. Ir1 and Ru1 can increase the intracellular ROS levels and release cyto-c, reduce the MMP, leading to the apoptosis of A549 cells and blocking the A549 cells at the G0/G1 phase. Additionally, the complexes caused a decrease of the expression of polyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), caspase 3, Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2), PI3K (phosphoinositide-3 kinase) and upregulated the expression of Bax. All these findings indicated that the complexes exert anticancer efficacy to induce cell death through immunogenic cell death, apoptosis, and autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the age of acquisition (AoA) effect in processing second language (L2) words and how it is related to the AoA of the corresponding first language (L1) words. We adopted a lexical decision task in three experiments. The filler words were orthographically illegal in Experiment 1 to elicit more word form processing, while Experiment 2 used legal fillers to shift the bias toward semantic processing. In Experiment 3, we used a larger amount of stimuli containing more longer words with legal fillers. Our results showed that L2 AoA has a weak effect at the orthographical processing level and a stable effect at the semantic processing level. The L1 AoA modulates the L2 AoA effect at the semantic processing level, which is more likely to appear in long words. These results suggest that it is important to take bilingual representation and activation into consideration to explain the L2 AoA effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stretchable electronic devices as an emerging electronic application product break the limitations of traditional planar rigid circuits and further expand the application fields of optoelectronics. Stretchable organic field-effect transistors (STOFETs) are an indispensable class of stretchable electronic devices, especially in wearable electronics, implantable electronics and skin like electronics. Therefore, extensive research effort has been devoted to the development of high-performance STOFETs, and remarkable advances in materials, processing techniques and applications have been achieved. Here, the latest studies of core materials for STOFETs are reviewed, mainly focusing on electrodes, dielectric layers and semiconductor layers. Then, the recent progress of some approaches for fabricating intrinsic STOFETs is mentioned, including solution methods, printing, and other methods. Detailed descriptions of the various stretchable electronic device applications of STOFETs are provided, along with their electrical/mechanical properties and examples of device applications. To conclude, a brief future outlook is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common clinical disease with an increasing incidence, affecting 10 to 15% of the world's population. Hypertension is the most common and modifiable risk factor for preventing adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with CKD. A survey from developed countries shows that 47% of hypertensive patients over the age of 20 have uncontrolled blood pressure (BP), and the control rate is even lower in developing countries. CKD is both a common cause of uncontrolled hypertension and a risk factor for altered sequelae. In particular, studies have demonstrated that abnormal blood-pressure patterns in CKD patients, such as non-dipping-blood-pressure patterns, are associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease. The distal convoluted tubule (DCT) is a region of the kidney, and although only 5–10% of the sodium (Na+) filtered by the glomerulus is reabsorbed by DCT, most studies agree that Na-Cl cotransporter (NCC) in human, rabbit, mouse, and rat kidneys is the most important route of sodium reabsorption across the DCT for maintaining the homeostasis of sodium. The regulation of NCC involves a large and complex network structure, including certain physiological factors, kinases, scaffold proteins, transporter phosphorylation, and other aspects. This regulation network includes various levels. Naturally, cross-talk between the components of this system must occur in order to relay the important signals to the transporter to play its role. Knowledge of the mechanisms regulating NCC activation is critical for understanding and treating hypertension and CKD. Previous studies from our laboratory have investigated the mechanisms through which NCC is activated in several different models. In the following sections, we review the literature on the mechanisms of NCC in relation to hypertension in CKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatic fibrosis (HF) is a process that occurs during the progression of several chronic liver diseases, for which there is a lack of effective treatment options. Carthamus tinctorius L. (CTL) is often used in Chinese or Mongolian medicine to treat liver diseases. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. In the present study, CTL was used to treat rats with CCl4-induced HF. The histopathological, biochemical and HF markers of the livers of the rats were analyzed, and CTL-infused serum was used to treat hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in order to detect the relevant markers of HSC activation. Protein expression pathways were detected both in vitro and in vivo. Histopathological results showed that CTL significantly improved CCl4-induced liver injury, reduced aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, promoted E-cadherin expression, and decreased α-smooth muscle actin (SMA), SOX9, collagen I and hydroxyproline expression. Moreover, CTL-infused serum was found to decrease α-SMA and collagen I expression in HSCs. Further studies showed that CTL inhibited the activity of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in the rat livers. Following the administration of the PI3K agonist 740Y-P to HSCs, the inhibitory effect of CTL on the PI3K/Akt//mTOR pathway was blocked. These results suggested that CTL can inhibit HF and HSC activation by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology is a mainstream detection method used in medical diagnoses, environmental monitoring, food hygiene, and safety. However, the systematic analysis of a compact structure with fast temperature changes for an ultra-fast PCR device that is convenient for on-site detection still lacks investigation. To overcome the problems of low heating efficiency and non-portability of PCR devices currently used, a miniaturized PCR system based on a microfluidic chip, i.e., lab-on-chip technology, has been proposed. The main objective of this paper is to explore the feasibility of using a heat resistor that can reach a fast heating rate and temperature uniformity combined with air cooling technology for rapid cooling and to investigate the influences of various pattern designs and thicknesses of the resistor on heating rates and temperature uniformity. Additionally, a PCR chip made of various materials with different thermal properties, such as surface emissivity, thermal conductivity, mass density, and heat capacity at constant pressure is analyzed. In addition to the heat loss caused by the natural convection of air, the radiation loss of the simulation object is also considered, which makes the model much closer to the practical situation. Our research results provide a considerable reference for the design of the heating and cooling modules used in the ultra-fast PCR protocol, which has great potential in In Vitro Diagnosis (IVD) and the PCR detection of foodborne pathogens and bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of mercury ion selective fluorescent probe is significant because it is one of toxic heavy metals and poses great risks and hazards to human health. Herein, we develop a mercury ion-selective fluorescent probe, namely IB, based on imidazole decorated benzothiadiazole that obtained by a facile palladium catalytic C-N coupling reaction. IB exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity towards mercury ion in water with nearly 32-fold fluorescent enhancement. The detection limit is calculated to be 0.93 nmol/L. In addition, the sensing of mercury ion can be conducted in a wide pH scope ranging from 4.0 to 10.0. Subsequently, the mercury ion elicits fluorescence of IB solution can be quenched by the addition of cyanide anions, showing "off-on-off" fluorescence transformation with at least 5 cycles, demonstrating the reversible sensing ability of IB. Furthermore, an INHIBIT logical detector has been developed using mercury ion and cyanide anions as inputs and fluorescence of IB as output. Significantly, IB can be utilized for mercury ion detection in real water sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perfective aspect marker in Chinese is partly functionally similar to inflectional suffixes in Indo-European languages but is non-inflectional and lexical in nature, lying thus at the semantics–syntax interface. This provides us with the opportunity to compare directly the syntactic and semantic constraints during second language (L2) sentence processing. The present study explored how L2 Chinese learners with Indo-European languages as their first languages (L1s) process the Chinese perfective marker. The Competition Model prioritizes syntactic processes entailed by cross-linguistic transfer from the participants' L1s, but this prediction might be challenged by the concurrent functioning of semantic processes. In an event-related potentials (ERP) experiment, 22 European language-speaking L2 Chinese learners with low to intermediate proficiency level and 20 native Chinese speakers (i.e. the control group) participated. An aspectual agreement paradigm was used for materials. Results showed that in the aspect marker mismatch condition, L2 Chinese learners with a shorter learning experience were more likely to show a P600-like component, indicating a morpho-syntactic routine, supporting thus the predictions of cross-linguistic transfer based on the Competition Model. Those with a longer L2 learning experience were more likely to show an N400-like component similar to native Chinese speakers. This shift from P600 to N400 for more advanced learners suggests that L1–L2 syntactic similarity may exert much stronger influence than semantic constraints for learners with shorter L2 experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, biopolymers have been widely used in optoelectronic devices because of their unique structure, novel optical and physical properties. In this paper, novel RNA-based photofunctional materials were fabricated by associating an RNA–OTMA (octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride) lipid complex with a luminescent Eu (III) complex. The fluorescence emission intensity, fluorescence quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime were characterized in both solution and thin film states, and the interaction between the RNA–OTMA lipid complex and Eu (III) complexes was analyzed. This study suggests that the luminescence performance of the Eu (III) complexes doped with RNA–OTMARNA–OTMA was significantly enhanced compared with those of the complex in a conventional poly (methyl methacrylate) matrix, thereby providing an important basis for the application of biomaterials in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the similar symptoms of upper airway obstruction to asthma, misdiagnosis is common. Spirometry is a cost-effective screening test for upper airway obstruction and its characteristic patterns involving fixed, variable intrathoracic and extrathoracic lesions. We aimed to develop a deep learning model to detect upper airway obstruction patterns and compared its performance with that of lung function clinicians. Methods: Spirometry records were reviewed to detect the possible condition of airway stenosis. Then they were confirmed by the gold standard (e.g., computed tomography, endoscopy, or clinic diagnosis of upper airway obstruction). Images and indices derived from flow-volume curves were used for training and testing the model. Clinicians determined cases using spirometry records from the test set. The deep learning model evaluated the same data. Results: Of 45,831 patients' spirometry records, 564 subjects with curves suggesting upper airway obstruction, after verified by the gold standard, 351 patients were confirmed. These cases and another 200 cases without airway stenosis were used as the training and testing sets. 432 clinicians evaluated 20 cases of each of the three patterns and 20 no airway stenosis cases (n = 80). They assigned an accuracy of 41.2% (±15.4) (interquartile range: 27.5–52.5%), with poor agreements (κ = 0.12). For the same cases, the model generated a correct detection of 81.3% (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Deep learning could detect upper airway obstruction patterns from other classic patterns of ventilatory defects with high accuracy, whereas clinicians presented marked errors and variabilities. The model may serve as a support tool to enhance clinicians' correct diagnosis of upper airway obstruction using spirometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With mortise and tenon structure furniture as the design carrier, the cultural connotation of traditional symbols is absorbed and new ideas for the inheritance and development of traditional culture in modern life are explored. Starting from the analysis of the modeling characteristics, decorative characteristics, and allegorical connotations of the swastika, its feature elements is summarized, the keywords of the design elements are screened, applications and extensions on this basis are designed, the basic model of furniture products is established, then the tenon and tenon forms that meet the strength requirements and material requirements according to the model are screened, the overall construction of tenon and tenon structure furniture products is completed, and the physical production of the products is guided. Combining the swastika form with the tenon structure bookcase design, the traditional symbolic feature elements are effectively integrated into the design of the tenon structure furniture, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the method and provides a reference for the design research of related tenon and tenon products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The present study investigated whether bilinguals differing in L2 proficiency are different in their non-native phonetic perception mechanism. Methodology: An event-related potential (ERP) experiment was conducted, in which high and low L2 proficiency bilinguals were asked to focus their attention on a muted film while listening pre-attentively to phoneme contrasts arranged in the Oddball paradigm. Non-native and native phonetic conditions were investigated in two separate blocks. Data and analysis: The mean amplitudes of the ERP epochs time-locked to the onset of phonemes were analyzed within four consecutive time windows: 50–150 ms, 150–250 ms, 250–350 ms, and 350–600 ms. Repeated measures analyses were performed on the following factors: phonetic condition (non-native vs. native) × deviancy (standard vs. deviant) × brain region (frontal vs. parietal) × proficiency (high vs. low). Phonetic condition, deviancy, and brain region were within-subjects factors, whereas proficiency was a between-subjects factor. Findings: In the non-native phonetic condition, a deviancy effect in the form of mismatch negativity (MMN) and late discriminative negativity (LDN) ERP components was observed in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency, whereas the P3b and late positive component (LPC) were found in those with low L2 proficiency. In the native phonetic condition, the two proficiency groups were the same in the deviancy effect as manifested by their similar brain responses in the form of the MMN component. Originality: This was the first study to take native phonetic condition into consideration while investigating the relationship between L2 proficiency and non-native phonetic discrimination. Significance/implications: The current findings suggest that high L2 proficiency might be related to faster involuntary phonetic discrimination and efficient high-level phonetic evaluation, whereas low L2 proficiency bilinguals may need to rely on additional memory processing. Findings of this study provide more evidence for the perceptual plasticity in pre-attentive non-native phonetic processing as a function of L2 proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spirometry quality assurance is a challenging task across levels of healthcare tiers, especially in primary care. Deep learning may serve as a support tool for enhancing spirometry quality. We aimed to develop a high accuracy and sensitive deep learning-based model aiming at assisting high-quality spirometry assurance.Methods: Spirometry PDF files retrieved from one hospital between October 2017 and October 2020 were labeled according to ATS/ERS 2019 criteria and divided into training and internal test sets. Additional files from three hospitals were used for external testing. A deep learning-based model was constructed and assessed to determine acceptability, usability, and quality rating for FEV1 and FVC. System warning messages and patient instructions were also generated for general practitioners (GPs).Results: A total of 16,502 files were labeled. Of these, 4592 curves were assigned to the internal test set, the remaining constituted the training set. In the internal test set, the model generated 95.1%, 92.4%, and 94.3% accuracy for FEV1 acceptability, usability, and rating. The accuracy for FVC acceptability, usability, and rating were 93.6%, 94.3%, and 92.2%. With the assistance of the model, the performance of GPs in terms of monthly percentages of good quality (A, B, or C grades) tests for FEV1 and FVC was higher by ~ 21% and ~ 36%, respectively.Conclusion: The proposed model assisted GPs in spirometry quality assurance, resulting in enhancing the performance of GPs in quality control of spirometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a market means to control nongreen behaviors of firms, the most expected incentive effect of the carbon emission trading system (CETS) is to achieve the dual economic and environmental effects. As a typical developing country, whether China's CETS has a positive incentive effect is significant to controlling greenhouse gas. Based on the quasinatural experiment of China's pilot policy on CETS in 2013, this study investigates its emission reduction and economic benefits using the difference-in-difference (DID) method. Then, the realization mechanism of CETS's incentive benefits is reversely studied with the idea that goals generate behavior. The results show that the following: (a) China's CETS has produced positive incentive effects of promoting both economic and emission reduction benefits. Furthermore, the results are still valid after using the instrumental variable to overcome the endogenous problem, placebo tests to eliminate sampling bias, and a series of robustness tests. (b) Further analysis shows that firms can choose to improve technology innovation and energy efficiency to get the positive incentive effects of CETS. (c) The incentive effects of CETS also have regional heterogeneity. The emission reduction and economic benefits are greater in provinces with deficient resource endowments and strict environmental law enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous study has found that previously learned meaning affects the learning of new meaning for known second language (L2) words. However, it is not clear whether learning a new meaning also affects the previously learned meaning and whether this effect is modulated by the semantic similarity between them. The current study aimed to explore this issue using event‐related potential technique. A word learning task was used, in which Chinese‐English bilinguals were required to learn a new meaning that was semantically related or unrelated to the previously learned meaning of familiar L2 words and judge the semantic relatedness between the trained word and a probe word in the same trial. The results showed that both the N400 and late‐positive component (LPC) amplitudes for probe words in the unrelated new meaning condition were significantly different from the unlearned condition, which suggests learning new meaning interferes with accessing the previously learned meaning. Moreover, significantly less positive LPC was found in the unrelated new meaning condition relative to the related new meaning condition, showing a mediation of semantic similarity in the perturbation effect. We conclude that learning L2 new meaning has a backward interference effect on accessing the previously learned meaning and this effect is modulated by semantic similarity. These findings provide supporting evidence for the interaction mechanism of learning the multiple meanings of L2 ambiguous words. Although previous studies have found that semantic similarity impacts second language (L2) ambiguous word learning, it is still unclear how interactions between new and previously learned meanings affect the semantic representation of L2 ambiguous words. Our study revealed retroactive interference from new meaning on prior meaning and the mediation of semantic similarity on this backward effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small plateau (SP) on the flow-volume curve was found in parts of patients with suspected asthma or upper airway abnormalities, but it lacks clear scientific proof. Therefore, we aimed to characterize its clinical features.Methods: We involved patients by reviewing the bronchoprovocation test (BPT) and bronchodilator test (BDT) completed between October 2017 and October 2020 to assess the characteristics of the sign. Patients who underwent laryngoscopy were assigned to perform spirometry to analyze the relationship of the sign and upper airway abnormalities. SP-Network was developed to recognition of the sign using flow-volume curves.Results: Of 13,661 BPTs and 8,168 BDTs completed, we labeled 2,123 (15.5%) and 219 (2.7%) patients with the sign, respectively. Among them, there were 1,782 (83.9%) with the negative-BPT and 194 (88.6%) with the negative-BDT. Patients with SP sign had higher median FVC and FEV1% predicted (both P < .0001). Of 48 patients (16 with and 32 without the sign) who performed laryngoscopy and spirometry, the rate of laryngoscopy-diagnosis upper airway abnormalities in patients with the sign (63%) was higher than those without the sign (31%) (P = 0.038). SP-Network achieved an accuracy of 95.2% in the task of automatic recognition of the sign.Conclusions: SP sign is featured on the flow-volume curve and recognized by the SP-Network model. Patients with the sign are less likely to have airway hyperresponsiveness, automatic visualizing of this sign is helpful for primary care centers where BPT cannot available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health emergency that has caused worldwide concern. The mental health of medical students under the COVID-19 epidemic has attracted much attention. This study aims to identify subgroups of medical students based on depression and anxiety and explore the influencing factors during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Methods: A total of 29,663 medical students were recruited during the epidemic of COVID-19 in China. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD7) respectively. Latent class analysis was performed based on depression and anxiety symptoms in medical students. The latent class subtypes were compared using the chi-square test. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between identified classes and related factors. Results: In this study, three distinct subgroups were identified, namely, the poor mental health group, the mild mental health group and the low symptoms group. The number of medical students in each class is 4325, 9321 and 16,017 respectively. The multinomial logistic regression results showed that compared with the low symptoms group, the factors influencing depression and anxiety in the poor mental health group and mild mental health group were sex, educational level, drinking, individual psychiatric disorders, family psychiatric disorders, knowledge of COVID-19, fear of being infected, and participate in mental health education on COVID-19. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that latent class analysis can be used to categorize different medical students according to their depression and anxiety symptoms during the outbreak of COVID-19. The main factors influencing the poor mental health group and the mild mental health group are basic demographic characteristics, disease history, COVID-19 related factors and behavioural lifestyle. School administrative departments can carry out targeted psychological counseling according to different subgroups to promote the physical and mental health of medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: An experiment was conducted to explore how emotional valence of contexts and exposure frequency of novel words affect second language (L2) contextual word learning. Methodology: Chinese native speakers who learned English in a formal classroom setting were asked to read English paragraphs with different emotional valence (positive, negative or neutral) across five different days. These paragraphs were embedded with pseudowords. During this learning process, form recognition test and meaning recall test were carried out for these pseudowords. Data and analysis: Data were analyzed using mixed-model ANOVA. Accuracy for each task was compared among the three kinds of emotional contexts. Findings/Conclusions: In the form recognition test, the accuracy in the negative context was higher than in the positive and neutral contexts, and the pseudowords were acquired much earlier. In the meaning recall test, the accuracy in the positive and negative contexts was higher than that in the neutral context. Accuracy increased gradually with the increase of exposure frequency of the pseudowords. More importantly, we found that less exposure times were needed for emotional context relative to neutral context in contextual word learning. Originality: This may be the first study to explore the influence of emotional valence and exposure frequency on L2 contextual word learning. Significance/Implications: This study underlined the importance of emotional information in L2 contextual word learning and contributed to the understanding of how emotional information and exposure frequency functions in this learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous researches indicated that emotional regulation can be associated with depression and anxiety, which may be an important mediating factor between emotional regulation and internet addiction. However, the mechanism between these associations has received little attention and it is still unclear. This study has examined 716 Chinese adolescents, 341 were males (47.6%), aged 13 to 18(Mean = 14.58, SD = 1.50), using a cross-sectional survey involving Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction, the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the seven-item Generalized Anxiety (GAD-7) scale, and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Correlation analysis, multiple-group analysis and structural equation modeling were carried out in SPSS Statistics version 23 (IBM, Armonk, NY) and AMOS version 21. Cognitive reappraisal had a significantly negative direct effect on Internet addiction (β = −0.118, p < 0.05). Furthermore, negative emotions mediated the relationships between expression suppression and Internet addiction [β = 0.149, 95% CI = (0.099, 0.212)] and the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and Internet addiction [β = −0.101, 95% CI = (−0.147, −0.065)]. The differences in the structure path coefficients for different development stages demonstrated that recognitive reappraisal showed more protective roles for negative emotion (p < 0.01), and negative emotion also predict Internet addiction more effectively in high school students (p < 0.001). However, cognitive reappraisal directly predicted negative Internet addiction in junior high school students. Therefore, the intervention on adolescents for internet addiction should not only focus on emotional regulation and negative emotion, but also development stages of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the abuse of antibiotics has led to the pollution of soil and water environment, not only poultry husbandry and food manufacturing will be influenced to different degree, but also the human body will produce antibody. The detection of antibiotic content in production and life is imperative. In this review, we provide comprehensive information about chemical sensors and biosensors for antibiotic detection. We classify the currently reported antibiotic detection technologies into chromatography, mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, optical detection, and electrochemistry, introduce some representative examples for each technology, and conclude the advantages and limitations. In particular, the optical and electrochemical methods based on nanomaterials are discussed and evaluated in detail. In addition, the latest research in the detection of antibiotics by photosensitive materials is discussed. Finally, we summarize the pros and cons of various antibiotic detection methods and present a discussion and outlook on the expansion of cross-scientific areas. The synthesis and application of optoelectronic nanomaterials and aptamer screening are discussed and prospected, and the future trends and potential impact of biosensors in antibiotic detection are outlined. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The present study aimed to explore the impact of L2 proficiency on the time course and neural basis of L2 semantic access. Methodology: Two groups of participants with either high or low L2 proficiency performed a picture–word semantic matching task (i.e. consistent vs. inconsistent), with their event-related potentials (ERP) responses being recorded. Two stimulus types, L2 words and L1 words, were investigated in two separate blocks. Here the L1 words were tested as a control condition. Data and Analysis: The ERP epochs time-locked to the onset of the word were analyzed within 300–600 ms both at the surface (i.e. mean amplitude and peak latency) and the source (i.e. source localization) level. Findings/Conclusions: In the L2, a reliable N400 effect (i.e. semantic incongruity effect) was found for both high and low L2 proficiency bilinguals. However, the difference waves showed that the N400 peak latency was much shorter and the mean amplitude within 300–600 ms was much larger in bilinguals with higher L2 proficiency. Source localization analysis found left insula cortex (Brodmann area 13, Low > High) to be responsible for this proficiency effect (i.e. a decrease in the activation of left insula at a higher proficiency level). In the L1, a reliable N400 effect was found for both participant groups, and the two groups were matched in the N400 peak latency and amplitude, and its neural source. Originality: This study provides further evidence for the neural substrates underlying the modulation of L2 proficiency in semantic access by using a more sensitive task (i.e. picture–word matching task), and the current results revealed the engagement of left insula for the first time. Significance/Implications: The current findings suggest that L2 proficiency affects the time course and neural basis of L2 semantic access, probably through a modulation of the strength of "L2 word-to-concept" connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambiguous words have multiple meanings. How these multiple meanings interact with each other during ambiguous word learning remains unclear. The current study adopted an event-related potentials (ERPs) technique to explore whether there is an interaction between two meanings when learning second language (L2) ambiguous words and how semantic similarity affects ambiguous word learning. In order to explore this issue, Chinese–English bilinguals were asked to learn pseudowords, which were paired with either two related new meanings (polysemes), two unrelated new meanings (homonyms), or one single new meaning (monosomies) over 2 consecutive days. ERP results revealed that learning the second meaning of a homonym induced a more negative N400 than the first meaning; learning the second meaning of a polyseme tended to produce a more positive late component (LPC) than the first meaning. These results indicate that the first meaning of homonyms may interfere with learning their second meaning. However, the first meaning of polysemous words may facilitate learning their second meaning. The current findings suggest that different mechanisms might be involved in learning L2 homonyms and polysemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied indium-free, solution-processed thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on tin-based oxide (SnOx) semiconductors with various dopants. The dopants include aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr), and yttrium (Y) for their electron-suppressing properties and elemental abundance. A series of doping ratio has been studied and the doped devices exhibit improved switching characteristics as compared with pure SnOx-based TFTs. A SnOx-based TFT having a Zr-to-Sn ratio of 6.67% shows high performance with saturation mobility of 3.1 cm2/Vs, a turn on voltage of −5.4 V, and an ON– OFF current ratio of ${4.9}\,\,\times \,\,{10}^{{6}}$. X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy studies were used to confirm that Zr can suppress oxygen vacancies effectively and significantly reduce carrier concentration. Furthermore, low-voltage SnZrO TFTs based on a solution-processed ZrO2 dielectric layer were fabricated and performed at high saturation mobility of 10.9 cm2/Vs. This research may provide new valuable insights for improving SnOx-based TFT performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that bilingual production experience has beneficial effects on executive functions. In the current study, four experiments were conducted to investigate whether bilingual comprehension experience influences executive functions. In Experiments 1 and 2, Chinese–English bilinguals completed a flanker task interleaved with a language comprehension task (reading comprehension in Experiment 1 and listening comprehension in Experiment 2). There were three blocks distinguished by language context, with a Chinese (L1) block, an English (L2) block, and a mixed (L1 and L2) block. Results showed that performance in the mixed block was better on both congruent and incongruent flanker trials when compared with the L1 and L2 blocks, indicating better monitoring functions overall. In Experiments 3 and 4 (reading comprehension and listening comprehension, respectively), participants were also exposed to three language contexts (i.e., L1, L2, and mixed block) but performed a non-conflict control task that did not require any conflict resolution. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 showed similar performance under the three different language contexts. Taken together, these results indicate that language control mechanisms involved in bilingual comprehension contribute to domain-general executive control performance. The results suggest a monitoring mechanism establishes a bridge connecting executive functions and bilingual language control during comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the relationships among molecular structures, self-assembly behavior and the organic electronic properties of discotic liquid crystals, 2-(neopentyloxy)-3,6,7,10,11-pentakis(pentyloxy)triphenylene (T5ON1) and 2-pivalate-3,6,7,10,11-penta-pentyloxy-triphenylene (T5EP1) have been synthesized based on hexapentyloxy-triphenylene (HAT5). Their mesomorphic properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), one-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction (1D WAXD) and two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction (2D WAXD). T5ON1 and T5EP1 showed an ordered hexagonal columnar phase and a highly ordered hexagonal columnar plastic phase, respectively. To our surprise, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images proved that a uniformly distributed superlattice nanostructure formed in the organic system of T5EP1. In addition, the hole and electron mobilities of T5EP1, which were 3.66 × 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 3.33 × 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, indicated that T5EP1 was a bipolar charge carrier transport material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to investigate how individuals’ inhibitory control (IC) ability affects language switching in the initial period of language learning. Design: Using a pretest/posttest design and event-related potential (ERP) methodology, we investigated the effect of IC on Chinese–English bilinguals during their language switching between Chinese (L1) and Korean (a language new to the participants, Lnew). All participants were required to name pictures (picture-naming task) in their L1 and Lnew in the pretest and posttest. Low-IC participants received an IC task training between the pretest and the posttest, while the high-IC group did not. Data and analysis: Analyses of both response latencies and ERP data were conducted by repeated-measures ANOVA. Findings: Results showed that the high-IC group exhibited symmetrical switch costs in both the pretest and the posttest. Besides, a more obvious late positive component (LPC) was observed when the high-IC participants switched from L1 to Lnew than the other way around, indicating their ability to inhibit cross-language interference. In contrast, the low-IC group exhibited asymmetrical switch costs, and no amplitude difference when switching between Lnew and L1 in the pretest. However, in the posttest, the switch costs pattern and the LPC results of the low-IC group became similar to those of the high-IC group. Innovation: The present study was a first attempt to provide electrophysiological evidence that IC ability plays an important role during L1–Lnew switching. Significance: These findings support the hypothesis that individuals’ IC ability plays a role of suppressing the non-target lexical access during language switching in the initial period of second language learning. The results also indicate that the relevant training in IC ability could contribute to the improvement of the language-switching efficiency in the initial period of language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, biopolymers are highly desired for their application in optic electronic devices, because of their unique structure and fantastic characteristics. In this work, a non-volatile memory (NVM) device based on the bio thin-film transistor (TFT) was fabricated through applying a new RNA–CTMA (cetyltrimethylammonium) complex as a gate dielectric. The physicochemical performance, including UV, CD spectral, thermal stability, surface roughness, and microstructure, has been investigated systematically. The RNA–CTMA complex film exhibits strong absorption with a well-defined absorption peak around 260 nm, the RMS roughness is ~2.1 nm, and displayed excellent thermal stability, up to 240 °C. In addition, the RNA–CTMA complex-based memory device shows good electric performance, with a large memory window up to 52 V. This demonstrates that the RNA–CTMA complex is a promising candidate for low cost, low-temperature processes, and as an environmentally friendly electronic device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, biological materials such as DNA molecules, proteins, and albumen have been extensively investigated for various applications, as they are environmentally friendly and exhibit novel optical and electronic properties. Especially, over the last decades, DNA-lipid complex have been frequently reported as components of optical electronic devices. In this mini-review, the physicochemical performance of DNA-lipid complex is introduced, and then the related research progress in electronic devices such as organic thin film transistors and other optical-electrical devices are discussed. Finally, the challenges and prospects of other possible applications are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study adopted a face-to-face dialogue approach to investigate the modulatory role of inhibition during quasi language switching. Pairs of Chinese–English unbalanced bilinguals with measured inhibitory control (IC) abilities took turns to talk about assigned conversational topics in three conditions: L2 only (L2-only order), switching from L1 to L2 (L1-L2 order), and switching from L2 to L1 (L2-L1 order). The dependent measure was the number of morpho-syntactic content- and function-word errors made in L2 in each condition. In addition to the conversations, participants completed a Simon switch task to measure IC abilities. Results showed that better IC ability predicted high accuracy in morpho-syntactic content and function words in the L1-L2 order relative to L2-only order. Further analysis revealed that better IC ability predicted fewer morpho-syntactic content-word errors in quasi within-person switching. Hence, IC benefits quasi language switching within dialogue contexts by suppressing non-target morpho-syntax. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives/research questions: The present study focused on the performance of Chinese learners of English to investigate the activation of morpho-semantic information in the early processing of second language (L2) morphologically complex words when participants’ first language (L1) and L2 are typologically different. Methodology: We used forward masked priming paradigm to compare the priming effect in three prime conditions, semantically transparent, semantically opaque and semantically related. In Experiment 1, the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was 40 milliseconds (ms), while, In Experiment 2, the SOA was extended to 80 ms. Data and analysis: Reaction time and comprehension accuracy data were analysed using the linear mixed-effects model. Findings/conclusions: In Experiment 1, we only found a priming effect in the semantically transparent condition. In Experiment 2, we found a reliable priming effect in the semantically opaque condition, but not in the semantically related condition. These results suggest even Chinese learners of English whose native language is typologically different from English can employ the rule-based decomposing mechanism. The decomposition is based on the interplay of morpho-orthographic and morpho-semantic information, adding new evidence to the assumption of parallel orthography-semantics activation. Originality: We manipulated SOAs to investigate the role of the morpho-semantic factor in the early processing of morphologically complex L2 words when participants’ L1 and L2 are typologically different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesized vectors with nanoscale size and stable colloid dispersion are highly desirable for improving gene delivery efficiency. Here, a core-shell template particle was constructed with polyethylene glycol- b-poly1-(3-aminopropyl)-3-(2-methacryloyloxy propylimidazolium bromine) (PEG- b-PAMPImB) coating gold nanoparticles (PEG- b-PAMPImB-@-Au NPs) for loading DNA and delivering in vitro. Data from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) suggest that these nanoplexes, by forming an electrostatic complex with DNA at the inner PAMPImB shell, offer steric protection for the outer PEG corona leading to single dispersion and small size. Notably, higher colloid stability and lower cytotoxicity were achieved with these nanoplexes when compared with PAMPImB monolayer-coated gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Confocal laser scanning microscopy and intracellular trafficking TEM further indicate that the nanoplexes can translocate across the cell membrane and partly enter the nucleus for high efficient expression. Thus, template assembly represents a promising approach to control the size and colloid stability of gene vectors and ensure safety and efficiency of DNA delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The present study adopted the electroencephalogram (EEG) technique to investigate whether inhibition advantage could modulate different language switches, regardless of the time spent on second language learning. Design: The inhibitory control (IC) ability of 80 low-proficient Chinese (L1)-English (L2) bilinguals was assessed by the Simon task. Half of these bilinguals were then subdivided into 20 high- and 20 low-IC participants to perform switching between L1 and L2 (L1–L2 switching), and the other half were subdivided into 20 high- and 20 low-IC participants to conduct switching between L1 and Lnew (L1–Lnew switching). All participants were required to name pictures (picture naming task) in their L1 and L2/Lnew in language switching task. Data and analysis: Both response latencies and EEG data were obtained, and then evoked and induced oscillations were calculated using time–frequency analysis. Findings: The results of language switching showed similar naming latencies for L1 and L2/Lnew switch trials in the high-IC group, whereas the low-IC group showed larger naming latencies for L1 switch trials than L2/Lnew switch trials. In contrast, the high-IC group exhibited larger theta evoked and induced power for L2/Lnew switch trials than L1 switch trials at the lexical selection level, whereas the low-IC group did not. These findings indicate that inhibition advantage helps the high-IC group to suppress effectively the non-target word via recruiting bottom-up (evoked oscillation) and top-down (induced oscillation) processes. Innovation: The present study was a first attempt to provide evidence that theta oscillation indicates cross-language interference at the lexical selection level. Significance: Inhibition plays a modulatory role in language switching, which is independent of the time spent on second language learning, and such role involves bottom-up (i.e., evoked oscillation) and top-down (i.e., induced oscillation) processes which were mainly evident at the lexical selection level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delivery of genetic materials to cells provides a promising treatment approach to many genetic diseases. The rational structural design for reducing the toxicity while improving transfection efficiency is an important strategy for the development of safe and highly efficient polycation gene vectors. In this study, a novel block copolymer composed of PEG and cationic histamine-like segments was synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and subsequently the potential of its gene vector was explored in vitro. The block copolymer showed a lower cytotoxicity to three cell lines. After complexation with pEGFP-C1, the resulting DNA-encapsulated micelles possessed uniform small size, high salt and serum tolerance which were confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Highly efficient gene transfection was further obtained in human liver carcinoma (HepG2) in vitro. The low cytotoxicity and high transfection stem from the well-defined functions of different moieties, PEG segments, imidazolium and amine groups on histamine-like pendants contributing to the different steps of gene delivery, including colloid stability, highly effective DNA condensation and endosomal escape respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A probe based on the phenothiazine–acridine orange conjugate (Ptz–AO) has been designed and synthesized for the sensitive and selective detection of HOCl. Ptz–AO has excellent properties, including pH-independence of fluorescence, high resistance to photobleaching, and response in real time. The value of Ptz–AO was confirmed by exogenous, endogenous and the real-time imaging of HOCl in vitro using a fluorescence microscope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, double hydrophilic ionic liquid block copolymers (ILBCs), poly poly[1-methyl-3-(2-methacryloyloxy propylimidazolium bromine)]- block-(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PMMPImB- b-PNIPAAm) was first synthesized by reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) and then attached on the surface of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) via a strong gold-sulfur bonding for preparing hybrid nanoparticles (PMMPImB- b-PNIPAAm-@-Au NPs). The hybrid NPs had a three layers micelle-like structure, including a gold core, thermo-responsive inner shell and anion responsive outer corona. The self-assembling behavior of thermal- and anion-response from shell and corona were respectively investigated by change of temperature and addition of (CFSO)N. The results showed the hybrid NPs retained a stable dispersion beyond the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) because of the space or electrostatic protecting by outer PMMPImB. However, with increasing concentration of (CFSO)N, the micellization of self-assembling PMMPImB- b-PNIPAAm-@-Au NPs was induced to form micellar structure containing the core with hydrophobic PMMPImB-(CFSO)N surrounded by composite shell of Au NPs-PNIPAAm via the anionresponsive properties of ILBCs. These results indicated that the block copolymers protected plasmonic nanoparticles remain self-assembling properties of block copolymers when phase transition from outer corona polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the distributive effect when producing subject–verb agreement in English as a second language (L2) when the participant's first language either does or does not require subject–verb agreement. Both Chinese–English and Uygur–English bilinguals were included in Experiment 1. Chinese has no required subject–verb agreement, whereas Uygur does. Results showed that the distributive effect was observed in Uygur–English bilinguals but not in Chinese–English bilinguals, indicating that this particular first language (L1) syntactic feature is one significant factor affecting the distributive effect in the production of subject–verb agreement in L2. Experiment 2 further investigated the matter by choosing Chinese–English participants with higher L2 proficiency. Still, no distributive effect was observed, suggesting that the absence of distributive effect in Chinese–English bilinguals in Experiment 1 was not due to low proficiency in the target language. Experiment 3 changed the way the stimuli were presented, highlighting the singular or distributive nature of the subject noun phrases, and the distributive effect was observed in Chinese–English bilinguals. Altogether, the results show that the L1 syntactic feature of subject–verb agreement is one significant factor affecting the distributive effect in the production of subject–verb agreement in L2. More specifically, distributive effects rarely occur in L2 when L1 has no requirement on subject–verb agreement, whereas distributive effects are more likely to occur in L2 when the L1 also has required subject–verb agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]