ABSTRACT
Infants' motivation to engage with the social world depends on the interplay between individual brain's characteristics and previous exposure to social cues such as the parent's smile or eye contact. Different hypotheses about why specific combinations of emotional expressions and gaze direction engage children have been tested with group-level approaches rather than focusing on individual differences in the social brain development. Here, a novel Artificial Intelligence-enhanced brain-imaging approach, Neuroadaptive Bayesian Optimisation (NBO), was applied to infant electro-encephalography (EEG) to understand how selected neural signals encode social cues in individual infants. EEG data from 42 6- to 9-month-old infants looking at images of their parent's face were analysed in real-time and used by a Bayesian Optimisation algorithm to identify which combination of the parent's gaze/head direction and emotional expression produces the strongest brain activation in the child. This individualised approach supported the theory that the infant's brain is maximally engaged by communicative cues with a negative valence (angry faces with direct gaze). Infants attending preferentially to faces with direct gaze had increased positive affectivity and decreased negative affectivity. This work confirmed that infants' attentional preferences for social cues are heterogeneous and shows the NBO's potential to study diversity in neurodevelopmental trajectories.
Subject(s)
Bayes Theorem , Cues , Electroencephalography , Facial Expression , Individuality , Humans , Infant , Male , Female , Social Perception , Facial Recognition/physiology , Emotions/physiology , Attention/physiology , Brain/physiology , Fixation, Ocular/physiology , Artificial Intelligence , Child Development/physiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and tumor metastasis suppressor gene (KISS-1) in patients with liver cancer and to analyze the correlation between HIF-1α and KISS-1 and liver cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 20 normal liver tissues and 30 liver cancer tissues in our hospital were selected. The expressions of HIF-1α and KISS-1 in normal liver tissues and liver cancer tissues were detected via immunofluorescence assay. The mRNA expressions of HIF-1α and KISS-1 in normal liver tissues and liver cancer tissues were detected via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The protein expressions of HIF-1α and KISS-1 in normal liver tissues and liver cancer tissues were detected via Western blotting. Differences of HIF-1α and KISS-1 expressions in normal liver tissues and liver cancer tissues were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 statistical software. RESULTS: Immunofluorescence assay, RT-PCR, and Western blotting, showed that HIF-1α was highly expressed in liver cancer tissues, and its expression level was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues. However, the expression of KISS-1 in normal liver tissues was significantly higher than that in liver cancer tissues. The results of analysis of variance showed that the differences of HIF-1α and KISS-1 expressions in normal liver tissues and liver cancer tissues were statistically significant (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The abnormal expressions of HIF-1α and KISS-1 are closely related to the development and progression of liver cancer, indicating that HIF-1α and KISS-1 have important research values in liver cancer, and the expressions of HIF-1α and KISS-1 can be used as the index of deterioration degree of liver cancer, providing a new clinical basis for diagnosis and treatment.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism , Kisspeptins/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Adult , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Female , Humans , Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics , Kisspeptins/genetics , Liver/metabolism , Liver/pathology , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Male , Microscopy, Fluorescence , Middle AgedABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To identify the diagnosis of 14 cases with "kala-azar" previously reported in Hubei Province since 1989 and to evaluate the present status of the disease. METHODS: Bone marrow smear, immunological test (LDTand IFAT), mouse inoculation, fungi culture, vector (Phlebotomus) and reservoir host (dog) survey. RESULTS: Among the 14 cases, 12 cases were progressive disseminated histoplasmois, one was an imported case and another one was a remnant skin type "kala-azar" case. An immunological survey was conducted during 1997-1999 in 25 townships located in 23 counties of 9 prefectures and cities. A total of 13,890 persons had been examined by LDT, the positive rate was 0.07%, no positive case was found among the persons under 40 years of age. During the survey, 1,756 persons had been examined by IFAT, the results were negative. No Phlebotomus chinensis had been found in the surveyed area. A total of 302 dogs were examined, no sick dog had been found. CONCLUSION: Kala-azar has been eradicated in Hubei Province.
Subject(s)
Leishmaniasis, Visceral/epidemiology , Animals , Antibodies, Protozoan/analysis , China/epidemiology , Dogs , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Humans , Intradermal Tests , Leishmania donovani/immunology , PrevalenceABSTRACT
An epidemiological study on clonorchiasis sinensis was conducted in 62 counties and cities in Hubei Province during 1987-1991, and clonorchis sinensis was identified in 52 counties and cities. Human population studies showed there were patients with clonorchiasis sinensis in 29 of 31 counties and cities investigated, with infection rates of 0.1%-16.2%. There were five species in two families of freshwater spiral shells as first intermediate host of clonorchis sinensis, 31 species in seven families of freshwater fish (with five species of fish newly discovered) and one species of freshwater shrimp as second intermediate host, and six species as reservoir host. Studies revealed holding small fish in the mouth and eating undercooked roasted fish were two major modes of transmission for clonorchiasis sinensis in the province.