Who thrives in a public health crisis?

Public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic pose daunting challenges to both policymakers and citizens. Social distancing measures have been found to adversely impact mental health. In this study, we sought to identify those who thrived throughout the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.

Unraveling Chinese talk about emotion.

Research in cross-cultural psychiatry has asserted that Chinese people have a higher tendency to report somatic symptoms of their psychological distress than people with a European ethnic background. However, recent studies have reached inconsistent conclusions and most have confounded language use with culture in their study designs. Focusing on the varying degrees of orientation to Chinese culture, the present study examined the words freely listed by two Chinese groups of university students (mainland Chinese and Hong Kong Chinese) when describing their illness experience.

Mapping Chinese Personality: An Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the NEO-PI-3 in Monolingual and Bilingual Studies.

The NEO-PI-3 is a fourth-generation instrument that has been shown to improve the psychometrics and readability of its immediate precedent, the NEO-PI-R. We examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of the NEO-PI-R and NEO-PI-3 using three datasets (s = 913, 299, 403) collected using both monolingual and bilingual designs. The Chinese NEO-PI-3 scales displayed a five-factor structure in which the facets had the highest loadings on their intended factors.

The Emotional Anatomy of the Wuhan Lockdown: Sentiment Analysis Using Weibo Data.

Background: On January 23, 2020, the city of Wuhan, China, was sealed off in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have found that the lockdown was associated with both positive and negative emotions, although their findings are not conclusive. In these studies, emotional responses to the Wuhan lockdown were identified using lexicons based on limited emotion types.

Elucidating miRNA Function in Cancer Biology via the Molecular Genetics' Toolbox.

Micro-RNA (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs of about 18-20 nucleotides in length and are implicated in many cellular processes including proliferation, development, differentiation, apoptosis and cell signaling. Furthermore, it is well known that miRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in many cancers. Therefore, this review will highlight the various mechanisms by which microRNAs are dysregulated in cancer.

On the relationship between valence and arousal in samples across the globe.

Affect is involved in many psychological phenomena, but a descriptive structure, long sought, has been elusive. Valence and arousal are fundamental, and a key question-the focus of the present study-is the relationship between them. Valence is sometimes thought to be independent of arousal, but, in some studies (representing too few societies in the world) arousal was found to vary with valence.

Utilization of CRISPR-Mediated Tools for Studying Functional Genomics in Hematological Malignancies: An Overview on the Current Perspectives, Challenges, and Clinical Implications.

Hematological malignancies (HM) are a group of neoplastic diseases that are usually heterogenous in nature due to the complex underlying genetic aberrations in which collaborating mutations enable cells to evade checkpoints that normally safeguard it against DNA damage and other disruptions of healthy cell growth. Research regarding chromosomal structural rearrangements and alterations, gene mutations, and functionality are currently being carried out to understand the genomics of these abnormalities. It is also becoming more evident that cross talk between the functional changes in transcription and proteins gives the characteristics of the disease although specific mutations may induce unique phenotypes.

, a blockchain-based informative platform for quality assurance and quality control of herbal products.

The use of medicinal plants is popular worldwide. Correct herbal authentication is of paramount importance to the safety and best interest of consumers. On the market, there is no comprehensive blockchain-based system to track the processes from plantation to manufacturing and to the sale.

Footprints of microRNAs in Cancer Biology.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Over the past years, various studies have demonstrated the role of aberrant miRNA expression in the onset of cancer. The mechanisms by which miRNA exerts its cancer-promoting or inhibitory effects are apparent through the various cancer hallmarks, which include selective proliferative advantage, altered stress response, vascularization, invasion and metastasis, metabolic rewiring, the tumor microenvironment and immune modulation; therefore, this review aims to highlight the association between miRNAs and the various cancer hallmarks by dissecting the mechanisms of miRNA regulation in each hallmark separately.

Mechanism of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase () Regulation and Clinical Impacts in Leukemia.

The proliferative capacity and continuous survival of cells are highly dependent on telomerase expression and the maintenance of telomere length. For this reason, elevated expression of telomerase has been identified in virtually all cancers, including leukemias; however, it should be noted that expression of telomerase is sometimes observed later in malignant development. This time point of activation is highly dependent on the type of leukemia and its causative factors.

Authentication of Hedyotis products by adaptor ligation-mediated PCR and metabarcoding.

DNA barcoding is a widely used tool for species identification and authentication. However, it may not be applicable to highly processed herbal products due to severe DNA fragmentation. The emergence of DNA metabarcoding provides an alternative way to solve the problem.

Differentiation of and Common Adulterants Based on Chloroplast Genome Sequencing and DNA Barcoding Markers.

Chinese herbal tea, also known as Liang Cha or cooling beverage, is popular in South China. It is regarded as a quick-fix remedy to relieve minor health problems. Willd.

Anchoring-and-Adjustment During Affect Inferences.

People can easily infer the thoughts and feelings of others from brief descriptions of scenarios. But how do they arrive at these inferences? Three studies tested how, through anchoring-and-adjustment, people used semantic and numerical anchors (irrelevant values provided by experimenters) in inferring feelings from scenario descriptions. We showed that in a between-subject design, people's inference was biased toward anchoring information (Studies 1 and 2).

Effective authentication of Placenta Hominis.

Background: Human placenta is used to make the medicinal product Placenta Hominis in Asian countries. With its therapeutic benefits and limited supply, intentional or inadvertent adulteration is found in the market. In order to enforce the implementation of product description laws and protect customer rights, we established a hierarchical protocol involving morphological, chemical, biochemical and molecular diagnosis to authenticate this medicinal product.

The Relation Between Valence and Arousal in Subjective Experience Varies With Personality and Culture.

Objective: While in general arousal increases with positive or negative valence (a so-called V-shaped relation), there are large differences among individuals in how these two fundamental dimensions of affect are related in people's experience. In two studies, we examined two possible sources of this variation: personality and culture.

Method: In Study 1, participants (Belgian university students) recalled a recent event that was characterized by high or low valence or arousal and reported on their feelings and their personality in terms of the Five-Factor Model.

The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study.

Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them.

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues.

The Inaccuracy of National Character Stereotypes.

Consensual stereotypes of some groups are relatively accurate, whereas others are not. Previous work suggesting that national character stereotypes are inaccurate has been criticized on several grounds. In this article we (a) provide arguments for the validity of assessed national mean trait levels as criteria for evaluating stereotype accuracy; and (b) report new data on national character in 26 cultures from descriptions (=3,323) of the typical male or female adolescent, adult, or old person in each.

A Consanguinity Related Autosomal Translocation which Leads to Premature Ovarian Failure.

The premature ovarian failures with underlying chromosomal abnormalities are normally X-linked, although their associations with the autosomal and the Robertsonian translocations are also possible. Here, we are reporting a case of premature ovarian failure which was associated with a translocation between the long arm of chromosome 7 at q11.23 and the short arm of chromosome 5 at p15.

The within-subjects design in the study of facial expressions.

The common within-subjects design of studies on the recognition of emotion from facial expressions allows the judgement of one face to be influenced by previous faces, thus introducing the potential for artefacts. The present study (N=344) showed that the canonical "disgust face" was judged as disgusted, provided that the preceding set of faces included "anger expressions", but was judged as angry when the preceding set of faces excluded anger but instead included persons who looked sad or about to be sick. Chinese observers showed lower recognition of the "disgust face" than did American observers.

Stereotypes of age differences in personality traits: universal and accurate?

Age trajectories for personality traits are known to be similar across cultures. To address whether stereotypes of age groups reflect these age-related changes in personality, we asked participants in 26 countries (N = 3,323) to rate typical adolescents, adults, and old persons in their own country. Raters across nations tended to share similar beliefs about different age groups; adolescents were seen as impulsive, rebellious, undisciplined, preferring excitement and novelty, whereas old people were consistently considered lower on impulsivity, activity, antagonism, and Openness.

Threat advantage: perception of angry and happy dynamic faces across cultures.

The current study tested whether the perception of angry faces is cross-culturally privileged over that of happy faces, by comparing perception of the offset of emotion in a dynamic flow of expressions. Thirty Chinese and 30 European-American participants saw movies that morphed an anger expression into a happy expression of the same stimulus person, or vice versa. Participants were asked to stop the movie at the point where they ceased seeing the initial emotion.

A 12-Point Circumplex Structure of Core Affect.

Core Affect is a state accessible to consciousness as a single simple feeling (feeling good or bad, energized or enervated) that can vary from moment to moment and that is the heart of, but not the whole of, mood and emotion. In four correlational studies (Ns = 535, 190, 234, 395), a 12-Point Affect Circumplex (12-PAC) model of Core Affect was developed that is finer grained than previously available and that integrates major dimensional models of mood and emotion. Self-report scales in three response formats were cross-validated for Core Affect felt during current and remembered moments.

Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates.

College students (N=3,435) in 26 cultures reported their perceptions of age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional areas of functioning and rated societal views of aging within their culture. There was widespread cross-cultural consensus regarding the expected direction of aging trajectories with (a) perceived declines in societal views of aging, physical attractiveness, the ability to perform everyday tasks, and new learning; (b) perceived increases in wisdom, knowledge, and received respect; and (c) perceived stability in family authority and life satisfaction. Cross-cultural variations in aging perceptions were associated with culture-level indicators of population aging, education levels, values, and national character stereotypes.

Studying affect among the Chinese: the circular way.

Past research on Chinese emotion has been plagued by the lack of a measurement map for affective feelings. In this article, I developed a fine-grained circumplex model of affective feelings that is arbitrarily defined by 12 segments. I created twelve 4-item self-report scales to measure affect felt during a clearly remembered moment (N = 395), and I cross-validated them twice with affect felt during the current moment (Ns = 269, 302).