Influence of Perceptual Saliency Hierarchy on Learning of Language Structures: An Artificial Language Learning Experiment.

Psychological experiments have revealed that in normal visual perception of humans, color cues are more salient than shape cues, which are more salient than textural patterns. We carried out an artificial language learning experiment to study whether such perceptual saliency hierarchy (color > shape > texture) influences the learning of orders regulating adjectives of involved visual features in a manner either congruent (expressing a salient feature in a salient part of the form) or incongruent (expressing a salient feature in a less salient part of the form) with that hierarchy. Results showed that within a few rounds of learning participants could learn the compositional segments encoding the visual features and the order between them, generalize the learned knowledge to unseen instances with the same or different orders, and show learning biases for orders that are congruent with the perceptual saliency hierarchy.

An instrument for measuring scintillators efficiently based on silicon photomultipliers.

An instrument used for measuring multiple scintillators' light output and energy resolution was developed. The instrument consisted of a light sensor array which was composed of 64 discrete SiPMs (Silicon Photomultipliers), a corresponding individual channel readout electronics system, and a data processing algorithm. A Teflon grid and a large interval between adjacent SiPMs were employed to eliminate the optical cross talk among scintillators.

Formaldehyde stabilization facilitates lignin monomer production during biomass depolymerization.

Practical, high-yield lignin depolymerization methods could greatly increase biorefinery productivity and profitability. However, development of these methods is limited by the presence of interunit carbon-carbon bonds within native lignin, and further by formation of such linkages during lignin extraction. We report that adding formaldehyde during biomass pretreatment produces a soluble lignin fraction that can be converted to guaiacyl and syringyl monomers at near theoretical yields during subsequent hydrogenolysis (47 mole % of Klason lignin for beech and 78 mole % for a high-syringyl transgenic poplar).

miR-589-5p inhibits MAP3K8 and suppresses CD90 cancer stem cells in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are important in the tumorigenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles regulating CD133 and EpCAM CSCs in HCC, although it is unclear whether miRNAs regulate CD90 CSCs in HCC.

Methods: The miRNA profiles of CD90 and CD90 HCC cells were analyzed using a miRNA microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).

Functional liver tissue engineering by an adult mouse liver-derived neuro-glia antigen 2-expressing stem/progenitor population.

Deaths due to end-stage liver diseases are increasingly registered annually in the world. Liver transplantation is the ultimate treatment for end-stage liver diseases to date, which has been hampered by a critical shortage of organs. The potential of decellularized liver scaffolds (DLS) derived from solid organs as a three-dimensional platform has been evolved as a promising approach in liver tissue engineering for translating functional liver organ replacements, but questions still exist regarding the optimal cell population for seeding in DLS and the preparation of the DLS themselves.

Effects of cattle grazing on small mammal communities in the Hulunber meadow steppe.

Small mammals play important roles in many ecosystems, and understanding their response to disturbances such as cattle grazing is fundamental for developing sustainable land use strategies. However, how small mammals respond to cattle grazing remains controversial. A potential cause is that most of previous studies adopt rather simple experimental designs based solely on the presence/absence of grazing, and are thus unable to detect any complex relationships between diversity and grazing intensity.

Efficient Production of Fluorescent Transgenic Rats using the piggyBac Transposon.

Rats with fluorescent markers are of great value for studies that trace lineage-specific development, particularly those assessing the differentiation potential of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The piggyBac (PB) transposon is widely used for the efficient introduction of genetic modifications into genomes, and has already been successfully used to produce transgenic mice and rats. Here, we generated transgenic rats carrying either the desRed fluorescent protein (RFP) gene or the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene by injecting pronuclei with PB plasmids.

Chimeric rabies glycoprotein with a transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail from Newcastle disease virus fusion protein incorporates into the Newcastle disease virion at reduced levels.

Rabies remains an important worldwide health problem. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was developed as a vaccine vector in animals by using a reverse genetics approach. Previously, our group generated a recombinant NDV (LaSota strain) expressing the complete rabies virus G protein (RVG), named rL-RVG.

Breviscapine prevents downregulation of renal water and sodium transport proteins in response to unilateral ureteral obstruction.

Objectives: Our recent report indicates that breviscapine play a protective role of the kidney by down-regulating transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and alleviating interstitial fibrosis following unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). In this study, we investigate the effect of breviscapine on changes of renal water and sodium transport proteins in response to UUO.

Materials And Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups, sham group, UUO group and UUO treat with breviscapine.

Infection of Common Marmosets with GB Virus B Chimeric Virus Encoding the Major Nonstructural Proteins NS2 to NS4A of Hepatitis C Virus.

Unlabelled: A lack of immunocompetent-small-primate models has been an obstacle for developing hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccines and affordable antiviral drugs. In this study, HCV/GB virus B (GBV-B) chimeric virus carrying the major nonstructural proteins NS2 to NS4A (HCV NS2 to -4A chimera) was produced and used to infect common marmosets, since HCV NS2 to NS4A proteins are critical proteases and major antigens. Seven marmosets were inoculated intrahepatically with HCV NS2 to -4A chimera RNA for primary infection or intravenously injected with chimera-containing serum for passage infection.

HOXA13 exerts a beneficial effect in albumin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition via the glucocorticoid receptor signaling pathway in human renal tubular epithelial cells.

Previous studies have suggested that albumin-induced renal tubular epithelial cell injury contributes to renal interstitial fibrosis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to be a key mechanism in the pathogenesis and progression of renal interstitial fibrosis. Homeobox protein HOX‑A13 (HOXA13) is a nuclear transcriptional factor that has been reported to be involved in renal fibrosis.

Repair of liver mediated by adult mouse liver neuro-glia antigen 2-positive progenitor cell transplantation in a mouse model of cirrhosis.

NG2-expressing cells are a population of periportal vascular stem/progenitors (MLpvNG2(+) cells) that were isolated from healthy adult mouse liver by using a "Percoll-Plate-Wait" procedure. We demonstrated that isolated cells are able to restore liver function after transplantation into a cirrhotic liver, and co-localized with the pericyte marker (immunohistochemistry: PDGFR-β) and CK19. Cells were positive for: stem cell (Sca-1, CD133, Dlk) and liver stem cell markers (EpCAM, CD14, CD24, CD49f); and negative for: hematopoietic (CD34, CD45) and endothelial markers (CD31, vWf, von Willebrand factor).

Spirocyclic Sultam and Heterobiaryl Synthesis through Rh-Catalyzed Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of N-Sulfonyl Ketimines and Thiophenes or Furans.

A useful approach is developed for the synthesis of various structurally interesting spirocyclic sultams and heterobiaryls using a cross-dehydrogenative coupling strategy that features high atom and step economy. This method employs [Cp*RhCl2]2 as a catalyst and N-sulfonylimine, a weak coordinating group, as an efficient directing group to assist C-H activation. A number of the coupled products were converted into interesting molecules through further synthetic transformations.

Encoding lexical tones in jTRACE: a simulation of monosyllabic spoken word recognition in Mandarin Chinese.

Despite its prevalence as one of the most highly influential models of spoken word recognition, the TRACE model has yet to be extended to consider tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese. A key reason for this is that the model in its current state does not encode lexical tone. In this report, we present a modified version of the jTRACE model in which we borrowed on its existing architecture to code for Mandarin phonemes and tones.

Motion Capture With Ellipsoidal Skeleton Using Multiple Depth Cameras.

This paper introduces a novel motion capturing framework which works by minimizing the fitting error between an ellipsoid based skeleton and the input point cloud data captured by multiple depth cameras. The novelty of this method comes from that it uses the ellipsoids equipped with the spherical harmonics encoded displacement and normal functions to capture the geometry details of the tracked object. This method is also integrated with a mechanism to avoid collisions of bones during the motion capturing process.

Generation and Application of Mouse-Rat Allodiploid Embryonic Stem Cells.

Mammalian interspecific hybrids provide unique advantages for mechanistic studies of speciation, gene expression regulation, and X chromosome inactivation (XCI) but are constrained by their limited natural resources. Previous artificially generated mammalian interspecific hybrid cells are usually tetraploids with unstable genomes and limited developmental abilities. Here, we report the generation of mouse-rat allodiploid embryonic stem cells (AdESCs) by fusing haploid ESCs of the two species.

[Effect of Homeobox A13 transfection on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and bone morphogenetic protein-7 expression in kidney tubular epithelial cells].

Objective: To examine the transfection of Homeobox A13 (HOXA13) on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) induced by albumin-overload in human kidney tubular epithelial cells (HKCs).

Methods: The cultured HKCs were treated with 20 mg/mL human serum albumin (HSA) for 48 hours. Protein expression of cytokeratin (CK), vimentin and HOXA13 in the HKCs was assessed by Western blot.

Organic Solvent Effects in Biomass Conversion Reactions.

Transforming lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals has been intensely studied in recent years. A large amount of work has been dedicated to finding suitable solvent systems, which can improve the transformation of biomass into value-added chemicals. These efforts have been undertaken based on numerous research results that have shown that organic solvents can improve both conversion and selectivity of biomass to platform molecules.

Modeling Coevolution between Language and Memory Capacity during Language Origin.

Memory is essential to many cognitive tasks including language. Apart from empirical studies of memory effects on language acquisition and use, there lack sufficient evolutionary explorations on whether a high level of memory capacity is prerequisite for language and whether language origin could influence memory capacity. In line with evolutionary theories that natural selection refined language-related cognitive abilities, we advocated a coevolution scenario between language and memory capacity, which incorporated the genetic transmission of individual memory capacity, cultural transmission of idiolects, and natural and cultural selections on individual reproduction and language teaching.

Selective remote C-H sulfonylation of aminoquinolines with arylsulfonyl chlorides via copper catalysis.

Copper-catalysed direct C-H bond sulfonylation of aminoquinolines using commercially available and inexpensive arylsulfonyl chlorides as the sulfonylation reagents is described. The reactions took place exclusively at the C5-H position of the quinoline rings and tolerated a wide spectrum of functional groups. Moreover, synthetic transformations of the sulfonylated products led to useful compounds.

Analysis of plasma microRNA expression profiles in male textile workers with noise-induced hearing loss.

Background: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have attracted interests as non-invasive biomarkers of physiological and pathological conditions, which may be applied in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). However, no epidemiology studies have yet examined the potential effects of NIHL or noise exposure on miRNA expression profiles.

Objectives: We sought to identify permanent NIHL-related miRNAs and to predict the biological functions of the putative genes encoding the indicated miRNAs.

[Analysis of Samples from Wastewater Treatment Plant and Receiving Waters Using EEM Fluorescence Spectroscopy].

The samples from several treatment units in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and different sample sites of receiving waters were characterized using excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. After analyzed by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) method, the EEM fluorescence spectra of the principal components and fluorescence intensity scores matrix were acquired. Results showed that protein-like and fulvic-like substances were the main components of the samples from the WWTP and the receiving water body.

Durable pluripotency and haploidy in epiblast stem cells derived from haploid embryonic stem cells in vitro.

Haploid pluripotent stem cells, such as haploid embryonic stem cells (haESCs), facilitate the genetic study of recessive traits. In vitro, fish haESCs maintain haploidy in both undifferentiated and differentiated states, but whether mammalian haESCs can preserve pluripotency in the haploid state has not been tested. Here, we report that mouse haESCs can differentiate in vitro into haploid epiblast stem cells (haEpiSCs), which maintain an intact haploid genome, unlimited self-renewal potential, and durable pluripotency to differentiate into various tissues in vitro and in vivo.