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This study is a conceptual replication of Ellis' 'Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study', published in "Studies in Second Language Acquisition" (2005), aiming to establish the importance of including belief statements (hypothesized to increase processing demands) in the design of Elicited Imitation (EI) tests. In a between-groups comparison, 103 participants completed one of two versions of Erlam's EI test (2006), one which required participants to make a 'belief' judgement, and one which did not. Both contained ungrammatical stimuli. Participants were scored for repetition of grammatical stimuli and correction of ungrammatical stimuli. An Exit questionnaire aimed to establish how aware they were of ungrammatical stimuli. Participants also completed a timed grammaticality judgement test (TGJT), an untimed grammaticality judgement test (UGJT), a metalinguistic knowledge test (MKT), and another Elicited Imitation (EI) test designed as a measure of global proficiency. Performance on each EI version was examined in relationship to performance on these measures. There was no variation between performance on either EI test version. The article underscores the need for ongoing research investigating design features of EI tests.

Abstract Objective To investigate the feasibility of transvaginal posterior levatorplasty combined with perineoplasty (TPLP) for women with primary stress urinary incontinence and demonstrate the surgical technique with step-by-step procedures. Methods A prospective, non-randomised study was conducted using technique of TPLP to treat female primary SUI from January 2019 to December 2021. Patient follow-up was performed at 3 and 12 months posteroperatively. A series of validated questionnaires were used to evaluate the improvement of symptom severity, sexual function and quality of life. In addition, 4-D ultrasonography was used to measure the anatomic changes of pelvic structures. Results A total of 47 patients were enrolled in this study with a mean age of 43.6 years. Mean operative time was 78.7 min. Median estimated intraoperative blood loss was 80.2 ml. Objective cure and subjective cure rates were 87.2% and 91.5%, respectively. Compared with baseline, scores of quality of life, symptom severity and sexual function improved after surgery. Meanwhile, mobility of the urethra and bladder neck and areas of levator hiatus were decreased after surgery. Mild coitus pain was reported in 15.4% (6/39) patients at the initial several times of intercourse after resuming sexual activity. Conclusions This study shows that transvaginal posterior levatorplasty combined with perineoplasty appears to be an effective surgical method for selected women with primary stress urinary incontinence.

Abstract Background Recent studies have found that histone-modified genes play an increasingly important role in tumor progression. Lysine(K) specific demethylase 4A (KDM4A) is a histone lysine-specific demethylase highly expressed in a variety of malignant tumors, data showed that KDM4A was negatively correlated with the Bone Morphogenetic Protein 9 (BMP9) in breast cancer. And previous experiments have demonstrated that exogenous BMP9 significantly inhibits breast cancer development. Materials and methods We detected the expression of KDM4A in breast cancer and the relationship between KDM4A and BMP9 using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot, and verified the interaction between KDM4A and BMP9 by ChIP experiments. At the same time, we also detected whether KDM4A had effects on the RNA and protein stability of BMP9 using actinomycin D and cycloheximide. Measurement of alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) level by ELISA to observe the effect of BMP9 on glutamine metabolism in breast cancer cells. Nucleoplasmic distribution of KDM4A after exogenous BMP9 treatment in breast cancer cells were observed by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. A subcutaneous xenograft tumor model in nude mice was used to study the therapeutic effects of exogenous BMP9 and KDM4A inhibitor (JIB-04) in breast cancer. CCK-8, conoly formation, Transwell, wound healing, and immunohistochemistry were used to monitor the growth of tumor and cell function. Results We found that KDM4A was abnormally highly expressed in breast cancer, and silenced BMP9 expression by removing histone methyl groups from the BMP9 gene region. Meanwhile, KDM4A could also reduce the stability of BMP9 protein. BMP9 inhibit glutamine metabolism in breast cancer, resulting in a decrease in its product α-KG, is confirmed by ELISA. Altered nucleoplasmic distribution of KDM4A due to decreased α-KG was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. Animal experiments confirm that the combination of exogenous BMP9 and JIB-04 shows significantly better results in breast cancer. Conclusions KDM4A silences BMP9 expression by removing histone methyl groups from the BMP9 gene region, leading to further enhancement of glutamine metabolism, which contributes to malignant tumor progression. In addition, using JIB-04 in combination with exogenous BMP9 could inhibit the malignant progression of breast cancer cells and the growth of tumors more significantly.

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major concern regarding blood safety in countries with a high HBV prevalence, such as China. We aimed to understand the prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors in Chongqing and provide an important basis for developing appropriate blood screening strategies. Methods Dual enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were conducted in parallel with nucleic acid testing (NAT) of donors. All HBsAg-reactive and/or HBV DNA-positive blood samples were tested for HBsAg and hepatitis B DNA levels. Results A total of 117,927 blood donor samples were collected from the Chongqing Blood Center between April 2020 and November 2020. In total, 473 HBV-ineligible samples were retained for HBsAg and DNA confirmation. A total of 272 samples were confirmed to be HBsAg+, including 2 HBV DNA − and 270 HBV DNA + samples. A total of 201 donations were HBsAg−, including 72 HBV DNA − samples. The rate of HBV infection was 65.33% (309/473) in men, which was significantly higher than that in women (p

Background With the gradual deepening of the comprehensive reform of community health services, the prevention and control of single diseases for the entire population in the community is also constantly being optimized, However, there is still a lack of appropriate evaluation methods in the community to reflect its prevention and control effectiveness evaluation. Objective By analyzing and exploring the cost effect of the existing whole-population prevention and control measures of osteoporosis in Fenglin community, from 2016 to 2022, this paper answers the initial results and possible problems of the whole-population prevention and control of single disease in the community. Methods This study conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis on 4 293 community residents who received osteoporosis prevention and treatment in Fenglin community from 2016 to 2022. Divide the research object into three states based on bone density values: healthy, low bone mass, and osteoporosis, and construct a Markov model to analyze the influencing factors of different state transitions. And based on the predicted values of the Markov model combined with quality adjusted life years (QALY) , the increment of quality adjusted life years (QALY) is calculated. All costs invested in prevention and control work from 2016 to 2022 are counted, and the effectiveness of prevention and control is evaluated by the cost/quality adjusted life year increment ratio. Quality adjusted life years (QALY) are obtained by calculating the health utility value and expected life determined through literature search. Results The total cost of osteoporosis prevention and treatment in Fenglin community was 33 814 102.15 yuan. The total quality-adjusted life years of 4 293 community osteoporosis prevention and treatment population were 77 098.288 9 at the first diagnosis, the average per capita was 17.959, and the standard deviation was 9.34. At the second diagnosis, the total quality-adjusted life years were 79 616.936 1, the mean per capita was 18.546, the standard deviation was 9.342, and the difference between the two diagnoses was 2 518.647 2. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is 2 132.907 0 yuan /QALY, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is less than 1 times (66 965.10 yuan) per capita GDP, indicating that the intervention scheme is fully cost-effective. Conclusion This study combined Markov model and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) to make a preliminary evaluation of the prevention and treatment effect of osteoporosis in Fenglin community. The results showed that the intervention program of osteoporosis prevention and treatment in Fenglin community was worth investing, and provided a certain basis for the accurate prevention and treatment decision of osteoporosis in the future.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of glycemic gap in the conservative medicine treatment of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in stroke patients. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 133 elderly stroke patients who received conservative drug treatment in Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2021 to January 2023. According to whether symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred, they were divided into the occurrence group (33 cases) and the non-occurrence group (100 cases), and relevant clinical data of the two groups were collected. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the related factors affecting the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and ROC curve was drawn to analyze the predictive value of glycemic gap on the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Results There were significant differences in age, drinking history, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, combined hypertension and glycemic gap between the two groups (P

BackgroundWhile exercise rehabilitation is recognized as safe and effective, medium- to long-term compliance among patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) remains low. Therefore, promoting long-term adherence to exercise rehabilitation for these patients warrants significant attention. ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the impact of remote exercise rehabilitation on time investment and related cognitive levels in homebound patients with CHD. This study utilizes the SCeiP (Self-Evaluation/Condition of Exercise-Effect Perception-Internal Drive-Persistence Behavior) model, alongside WeChat and exercise bracelets. MethodsA total of 147 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in the cardiovascular department of a grade III hospital in Jiangsu Province from June 2022 to March 2023 were selected as study participants through convenience sampling. The patients were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received an exercise rehabilitation promotion strategy based on the “SCeiP” model through WeChat and exercise bracelets, while the control group followed rehabilitation training according to a standard exercise rehabilitation guide. The days and duration of exercise, levels of cardiac rehabilitation cognition, exercise planning, and exercise input were analyzed before the intervention and at 1 month and 3 months after the intervention. ResultsA total of 81 men (55.1%) and 66 women (44.9%) were recruited for the study. The completion rate of exercise days was significantly higher in the experimental group compared with the control group at both 1 month (t145=5.429, P

IntroductionBody color is a prominent phenotypic trait and a significant economic characteristic in fish. While current research mainly examines the effects of genetic factors, less emphasis has been placed on the role of endogenous hormones in fish body color.MethodsIn this study, we investigated the changes in phenotype and pigment content in juvenile Sinibrama taeniatus after a 30-day treatment with gradient concentrations of L-thyroxine. To further understanding of the regulatory roles of thyroid hormone on pigment synthesis, we investigated the expression changes in genes involved in melanin-based and non-melanin-based pigmentation under the different hormonal regimes.ResultsCompared to the control group, the body color of the low-concentration L-thyroxine treatment group (20 nM) was lighter, while that of the high-concentration group (40 nM and 80 nM) was darker. Thyroid hormone treatment simultaneously affected melanophores, xanthophores, and iridophores in different ways, leading to an increase of melanin and guanine, and a reduction of pteridine and β-carotene. These findings suggest that thyroid hormone regulates fish body color pigment synthesis through both melanin-based and non-melanin-based mechanisms. Additionally, expression of genes involved in melanin-based (e.g. ctnnb1, wnt10b, and adcy3) and non-melanin-based pigmentation (e.g. xdh, ltk, pnp4a, and mpv17) were modified by thyroid hormone treatment.DiscussionOur results enhanced the understanding of the role of thyroid hormone in fish pigmentation and provide useful information for cultivating fish with desirable body colors in aquaculture.

Objective To investigate the correlation between bone metabolism indicators and cerebrovascular diseases in patients with diabetic nephropathy and their impact on survival rate. Methods A total of 996 elderly patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy who visited the department of endocrinology,Xuanwu Hospital,Capital Medical University from January 2014 to December 2019 were selected as the study subjects and divided into the combined group(n=599) and the uncombined group(n=397) according to the presence or absence of cerebrovascular disease.General data,clinical data,laboratory data,bone metabolism data and follow-up data of the patients were collected.Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between bone metabolism indicators(bone mineral density,osteocalcin,bone alkaline phosphatase,vitamin D,parathyroid hormone,etc.) and cerebrovascular disease. Results Bone mineral density and vitamin D in the combined group were lower than those in the uncombined group;osteocalcin and bone alkaline phosphatase were higher than those in the uncombined group;serum calcium and phosphorus levels in the combined group were lower than those in the uncombined group,and the differences were statistically significant(P

Abstract Background Accumulating evidences indicate that the specific alternative splicing (AS) events are linked to the occurrence and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). Nevertheless, the impact of AS is still unclear and needed to further elucidation. Methods The expression profile of GC and normal samples were downloaded from TCGA. AS events were achieved from SpliceSeq database. Cox regression together with LASSO analysis were employed to identify survival-associated AS events (SASEs) and calculate risk scores. PPI and pathway enrichment analysis were implemented to determine the function and pathways of these genes. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves were used to evaluate the clinical significance of genes of SASEs. Q-PCR were applied to validate the hub genes on the survival prognosis in 47 GC samples. Drug sensitivity and immune cell infiltration analysis were conducted. Results In total, 48 140 AS events in 10 610 genes from 361 GC and 31 normal samples were analyzed. Through univariate Cox regression, 855 SASEs in 763 genes were screened out. Further, these SASEs were analyzed by PPI and 17 hub genes were identified. Meanwhile, using Lasso and multivariate Cox regression analysis, 135 SASEs in 132 genes related to 7 AS forms were further screened and a GC prognostic model was constructed. K-M curves indicates that high-risk group has poorer prognosis. And the nomogram analysis on the basis of the multivariate Cox analysis was disclosed the interrelationships between 7 AS forms and clinical parameters in the model. Five key genes were then screened out by PPI analysis and Differential Expression Gene analysis based on TCGA and Combined-dataset, namely STAT3, RAD51B, SOCS2, POLE2 and TSR1. The expression levels of AS in STAT3, RAD51B, SOCS2, POLE2 and TSR1 were all significantly correlated with survival by qPCR verification. Nineteen drugs were sensitized to high-risk patients and eight immune cells showed significantly different infiltration between the STAD and normal groups. Conclusions In this research, the prognostic model constructed by SASEs can be applied to predict the prognosis of GC patients and the selected key genes are expected to become new biomarkers and therapeutical targets for GC treatment.

【Objective】Excessive use of fertilizers, low utilization rates of crop straw/livestock/poultry manure resources, and environmental pollution caused by agricultural and forestry waste restrict the development of agriculture. The scientific fertilization method of organic substitution+reduced fertilization was studied to provide technical support for the reduction of chemical fertilizer and soil fertility in banana production areas of the the Pearl River Delta.【Method】Field experiments were conducted to study the effects of organic substitution combined with reduced fertilization on banana growth, yield, quality and soil nutrients. The main purpose was to taking conventional fertilization as the control, four fertilizer managements were set up, including 10% reduction of fertilizer amount (10% reduction of nitrogen)+organic fertilizer (T1), 20% reduction of fertilizer amount (20% reduction of nitrogen)+organic fertilizer (T2), 10% reduction of fertilizer amount (10% reduction of nitrogen)+biochar-based-organic fertilizer (T3), and 20% reduction of fertilizer amount (20% reduction of nitrogen)+biochar-based-organic fertilizer (T4), then their effects on the banana growth, yield, and soil nutrients and physical and chemical properties were investigated.【Result】Compared with the control, Organic fertilizer substitution and reduction treatments (T1-T4) could increase the pH and organic matter content of the treated soil. Among them, pH had a more significant effect in ripening stage, increasing by 0.38-0.77. While the soil organic matter content increased more significantly in budding stage, increasing by 6.62%-56.09% compared to the control. Moreover, the soil organic matter content of soil increased with the increasing of organic material application amount. The content of large elements, Calcium and Magnesium in the treated soil during the ripening stage was generally higher than that during the budding stage, but the difference between treatments was not significant. T1-T4 treatment had positive effects on banana growth, yield, quality and leaf nutrient elements, among which the effect of T3 and T4 treatment with carbon-based organic fertilizer was better, and banana yield increased by 14.44% and 13.43% respectively. Soluble solid, soluble sugar, vitamin C content increased 13.09%-21.99%, 3.98%-17.32%, 28.09%-41.57%, respectively.【Conclusion】Comprehensive analysis of banana growth and soil physical/chemical properties, the organic fertilizer substitution combined with reduced fertilization treatment is suitable for the fertilizer reduction and efficient utilization of newly-planted bananas in the pearl river delta.

Background: Epilepsy, a prevalent neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures affecting an estimated 70 million people worldwide, poses a significant diagnostic challenge. EEG serves as an important tool in identifying these seizures, but the manual examination of EEGs by experts is time-consuming. To expedite this process, automated seizure detection methods have emerged as powerful aids for expert EEG analysis. It is worth noting that while such methods are well-established for adult EEGs, they have been underdeveloped for pediatric and adolescent EEGs. This study sought to address this gap by devising an automatic seizure detection system tailored for pediatric and adolescent EEG data. Methods: Leveraging publicly available datasets, the TUH pediatric and adolescent EEG and CHB-MIT EEG datasets, the machine learning-based models were constructed. The TUH pediatric and adolescent EEG dataset was divided into training (n = 118), validation (n = 19), and testing (n = 37) subsets, with special attention to ensure a clear demarcation between the individuals in the training and test sets to preserve the test set’s independence. The CHB-MIT EEG dataset was used as an external test set. Age and sex were incorporated as features in the models to investigate their potential influence on seizure detection. Results: By leveraging 20 features extracted from both time and frequency domains, along with age as an additional feature, the method achieved an accuracy of 98.95% on the TUH test set and 64.82% on the CHB-MIT external test set. Our investigation revealed that age is a crucial factor for accurate seizure detection in pediatric and adolescent EEGs. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study hold substantial promise in supporting researchers and clinicians engaged in the automated analysis of seizures in pediatric and adolescent EEGs.

EEG is a test that helps in the clinical diagnosis of epilepsy. Epilepsy diagnosis is facilitated by establishing the presence of interictal epileptiform abnormalities on EEG, which predict an increased risk of seizure. The identification of interictal epileptiform discharges is a time-consuming task that requires highly-trained experts. A method to assist in the recognition of EEGs with epileptiform abnormalities was developed using transfer learning on multiple channels of paediatric EEGs, without the use of human annotations. The dataset included 350 children with normal EEGs and 597 children with interictal abnormalities, and it was divided into training data (n=452), validation data (n=112), and testing data (n=383). Spectrograms from each EEG signal channel were used as input for five pre-trained transfer learning models (Inception, ResNet, DenseNet, VGG16 and VGG19) and traditional feature-based machine learning methods were developed as a benchmark. A comparison was made between a transfer learning-based method and a traditional feature-based machine learning algorithm. The results revealed that the transfer learning-based method outperformed the feature-based machine learning methods, achieving an accuracy of 77%, an F1 score of 0.85, and a balanced accuracy of 77% on the test set. Our transfer learning-based method can identify interictal abnormalities without the need for feature estimation by domain experts or human annotations. This method can assist in the recognition of EEGs with epileptiform abnormalities in children thereby facilitating the clinical diagnosis of epilepsy.

We report the publication of 953 DNA barcodes of forest leaf litter beetles from central Taiwan, in total representing 334 species of 36 beetle families. This is the first bulk of data from the Taiwanese Leaf Litter beetles project focused on uncovering the under-explored diversity of leaf litter beetles across Taiwan. Based on these data, we provide the first records of the following taxa for Taiwan: family Sphindidae (genus Aspidiphorus Ziegler, 1821); tribes Trichonychini, Ctenistini, and Bythinoplectini (all Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae); genera Gyrelon Hinton, 1942, Thyroderus Sharp, 1885, Cautomus Sharp, 1885 (all Cerylonidae), Dermatohomoeus Hlisnikovský, 1963 (Leiodidae), Paraploderus Herman, 1970 (Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae), Thinocharis Kraatz, 1859 (Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Cephennodes Reitter, 1884, Napoconnus Franz, 1957 (both Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Bicava Belon, 1884 (Latridiidae), Otibazo Morimoto, 1961, Seleuca Pascoe, 1871 and Acallinus Morimoto, 1962 (all Curculionidae); species Oodes (Lachnocrepis) japonicus (Bates, 1873) (Carabidae: Licininae), Drusilla obliqua (Bernhauer, 1916) (Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) and Coccotrypes advena Blandford, 1894 (Curculionidae: Scolytinae). The records of Anapleus Horn, 1873 (Histeridae) and Batraxis Reitter, 1882 (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) have been confirmed. The male of Sivacrypticus taiwanicus Kaszab, 1964 (Archeocrypticidae) is described for the first time. Gyrelon jenpani Hu, Fikáček & Matsumoto, sp. nov. (Cerylonidae) is described, illustrated, and compared with related species. DNA barcodes associated larvae of 42 species with adults, we are concisely illustrating some of these: Oodes japonicus, Perigona cf. nigriceps Dejean, 1831 (both Carabidae), Ptilodactyla sp. (Ptilodactylidae), Maltypus ryukyuanus Wittmer, 1970 (Cantharidae), Drusilla obliqua, Myrmecocephalus brevisulcus (Pace, 2008), Diochus sp., Mimopinophilus sp. (all Staphylinidae), Stelidota multiguttata Reitter, 1877, Lasiodites inaequalis (Grouvelle, 1914) (both Nitidulidae), Lagria scutellaris Pic, 1910, and Anaedus spinicornis Kaszab, 1973 (both Tenebrionidae). We also report the first cases of Rickettsia infections in Scydmaeninae and Pselaphinae. All data (sequences, metadata, and voucher photos) are made public in BOLD database and in a Zenodo Archive.

Abstract Lightweight flexible piezoelectric polymers are demanded for various applications. However, the low instinctively piezoelectric coefficient (i.e. d33) and complex poling process greatly resist their applications. Herein, we show that introducing dynamic pressure during fabrication is capable for poling polyvinylidene difluoride/barium titanate (PVDF/BTO) composites with d33 of ~51.20 pC/N at low density of ~0.64 g/cm3. The melt-state dynamic pressure driven energy implantation induces structure evolutions of both PVDF and BTO are demonstrated as reasons for self-poling. Then, the porous material is employed as pressure sensor with a high output of ~20.0 V and sensitivity of ~132.87 mV/kPa. Besides, the energy harvesting experiment suggests power density of ~58.7 mW/m2 can be achieved for 10 N pressure with a long-term durability. In summary, we not only provide a high performance lightweight, flexible piezoelectric polymer composite towards sustainable self-powered sensing and energy harvesting, but also pave an avenue for electrical-free fabrication of piezoelectric polymers.