Modality-dependent distortion effects of temporal frequency on time perception.

Time perception has been known to depend on the temporal frequency of the stimulus. Previously, the effect of temporal frequency modulation was assumed to be monotonically lengthening or shortening. However, this study shows that temporal frequency affects time perception in a non-monotonic and modality-dependent manner. Four experiments investigated the time distortion effects induced by modulation of temporal frequency across auditory and visual modalities. Critically, the temporal frequency was parametrically manipulated across four levels (steady stimulus, 10-, 20-, and 30/40-Hz intermittent auditory/visual stimulus). Experiment 1, 2, and 3 consistently showed that a 10-Hz auditory stimulus was perceived as shorter than a steady auditory stimulus. Meanwhile, as the temporal frequency increased, the perceived duration of the intermittent auditory stimulus was lengthened. A 40-Hz auditory stimulus was perceived as longer than a 10- Hz auditory stimulus, but did not differ significantly from a steady one. Experiment 4 showed that, for the visual modality, a 10-Hz visual stimulus was perceived as longer than a steady stimulus, and the perceived duration was lengthened as temporal frequency increased. This study demonstrated that within the scope of the temporal frequencies examined in this study, there were differential distortion effects observed across sensory modalities.

Concurrent attention to hetero-depth surfaces in 3-D visual space is governed by theta rhythm.

When simultaneously confronted with multiple attentional targets, visual system employs a time-multiplexing approach in which each target alternates for prioritized access, a mechanism broadly known as rhythmic attentional sampling. For the past decade, rhythmic attentional sampling has received mounting support from converging behavioral and neural findings. However, so compelling are these findings that a critical test ground has been long overshadowed, namely the 3-D visual space where attention is complicated by extraction of the spatial layout of surfaces extending beyond 2-D planes. It remains unknown how attentional deployment to multiple targets is accomplished in the 3-D space. Here, we provided a time-resolved portrait of the behavioral and neural dynamics when participants concurrently attended to two surfaces defined by motion-depth conjunctions. To characterize the moment-to-moment attentional modulation effects, we measured perceptual sensitivity to the hetero-depth surface motions on a fine temporal scale and reconstructed their neural representations using a time-resolved multivariate inverted encoding model. We found that the perceptual sensitivity to the two surface motions rhythmically fluctuated over time at ~4 Hz, with one's enhancement closely tracked by the other's diminishment. Moreover, the behavioral pattern was coupled with an ongoing periodic alternation in strength between the two surface motion representations in the same frequency. Together, our findings provide the first converging evidence of an attentional "pendulum" that rhythmically traverses different stereoscopic depth planes and are indicative of a ubiquitous attentional time multiplexor based on theta rhythm in the 3-D visual space.

The influence of methods of selecting concepts of an expository text on different reading representations' predictive ability.

In this study, we compared two experimental methods of selecting terms in expository text to generate reading representations and tested how well these reading representations predicted reading comprehension. The two experimental methods were the traditional method of using all terms (all keywords) to create participants' representation networks, and the terms categorization (TC) method of using only important terms (core and branch words). Representation networks were assessed using participants' adjacency scores, ratings of relatedness in pairs of terms, and using summary (summary writing) by all turms. An in-subject design was performed in experiments 1 and 2, and an inter-subject design was performed in experiment 3 to test the hypothesis. With the same sample in exp1 and epx2, a different sample in each exp3. Experiment 1 showed that when using only the traditional way of selecting terms, adjacency was better than relatedness in predicting reading comprehension. Reading representations generated based on the summary method could not predict participants' reading comprehension ability, so this method was excluded from subsequent studies. Experiment 2 showed that the terms selected in Experiment 1 were stronger predictors of reading comprehension when the word pairs included a core term (central to understanding of full text) or a branch term (key to understanding paragraph), relative to a detail term (not affect the understanding full text). Experiment 3 found that whereas the two methods were equally effective in generating representations measured by adjacency, TC was superior in generating representations measured by relatedness. These conclusions have important implications for future research and application.

Optimization of Molasses and Soybean Meal Content to Enhance Tetramethylpyrazine Yield by Bacillus sp. TTMP20.

Microbial fermentation for the production of tetramethylpyrazine (TTMP) is considered to be the most promising method, and the development of a cheap fermentation substrate is of great importance for large-scale TTMP production. In this study, inexpensive by-products from the food industry, i.e., molasses and soybean meal (instead of glucose and tryptone), were used as substrates for TTMP fermentation. The pretreatment of soybean meal was explored in order to achieve a better fermentation effect. The contents of each component in the fermentation medium were optimized by central composite design (CCD). The optimum contents were as follows: 72.5 g/L of molasses, 37.4 g/L of diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP), 53.4 g/L of soybean meal, and 5 g/L of yeast powder. The software predicted a maximum TTMP yield of 1469.03 mg/L, and the actual TTMP yield was 1328.95 mg/L for the validation experiment in the optimum medium. Under the optimum conditions (72.5 g/L of molasses, 37.4 g/L of DAP, 53.4 g/L of soybean meal, and 5 g/L of yeast powder), the actual maximum TTMP yield (1328.95 mg/L) in this study was much higher than the TTMP yield (895.13 mg/L) under the conditions (150 g/L of molasses, 30 g/L of DAP, 30 g/L of tryptone, and 10 g/L of yeast powder) of our previous study published in Molecules. In this study, the TTMP yield improved by 48.46%, with decreased molasses (more than half), decreased yeast powder (half) and by-product soybean meal instead of tryptone compared to our previous study. In summary, the cheaper fermentation medium had a higher TTMP yield in this study, which improves the application potential of Bacillus sp. TTMP20.

Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory.

Introduction: Reading literacy is not only central to students' academic success during their school years but also crucial to their personal development in their later life. The development of assessment instruments for reading literacy has been of interest to researchers, educators and educational administrators. The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a comparable item bank for assessing fourth-grade students' reading literacy. Methods: One hundred fifteen reading comprehension items were developed and administered to 2,174 Grade 4 students to construct an item bank. Using the test equating technique and balanced incomplete block design, we divided participants into 10 subgroups, and the 115 items were further assigned into 10 test forms. Item response theory software was used to estimate discrimination, items' threshold parameters, and students' ability parameters. The criterion-related validity was also examined in 135 Grade 4 students who completed the reading literacy test and verbal self-description questionnaire. Results: The final item bank included 99 reading performance indicators to express high achievement. The correlation between the students' reading literacy and the verbal self-description questionnaire was significant and demonstrated the item bank's good criterion-related validity. The item bank developed in this study shows good psychometric characteristics and can be used to assess the reading literacy of fourth graders.

ROS-responsive self-activatable photosensitizing agent for photodynamic-immunotherapy of cancer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as a non-invasive and spatiotemporally controllable modality, exhibits great potential in cancer treatment. However, the efficiency of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was restricted to the hydrophobic characteristics and aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) of photosensitizers. Herein, we designed a ROS self-activatable nano system (denoted as PTKPa) based on poly(thioketal) conjugated with photosensitizers (PSs) pheophorbide A (Ppa) on the polymer side chains for suppressing ACQ and enhancing PDT. The process of self-activation is that ROS, which is derived from laser irradiated PTKPa, as an activating agent accelerates poly(thioketal) cleavage with the release of Ppa from PTKPa. This in turn generates abundant ROS, accelerates degradation of the remaining PTKPa and amplifies the efficacy of PDT with more tremendous ROS generated. Moreover, these abundant ROS can amplify PDT-induced oxidative stress, cause irreversible damage to tumor cells and achieve immunogenic cell death (ICD), thereby boosting the efficacy of photodynamic-immunotherapy. These findings provide new insights into ROS self-activatable strategy for enhancing cancer photodynamic- immunotherapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This work described an approach to utilize ROS-responsive self-activatable poly(thioketal) conjugated with pheophorbide A (Ppa) for suppressing aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and enhancing photodynamic-immunotherapy. The ROS, generated from the conjugated Ppa upon 660nm laser irradiation, as a triggering agent which initiates the release of Ppa with poly(thioketal) degradation. That in turn generates abundant ROS and facilitates degradation of the remaining PTKPa, resulting in oxidative stress to tumor cells and achieving immunogenic cell death (ICD). This work provides a promising solution to improve tumor photodynamic therapeutic effects.

The Influence of Emotional Experience on Semantic Processing of Concrete Concepts.

Introduction: Parallel distributed processing theory (PDP theory) holds that all brain regions involved in conceptual representation perform a series of activities at the same time. However, the role of emotional experience information in concrete conceptual representation is still unknown. This study further explores whether the emotional experience will also affect the semantic processing of concrete concept representations. Methods: This study used the emotion priming paradigm and semantic judgment task to explore whether emotion priming impacts the processing of animal concepts with different emotional experiences through two experiments. In Experiments 1a and 1b, pleasant or disgusted faces were used as emotional priming stimuli to explore whether the explicit processing of emotions would affect the semantic processing of animal concepts. Experiments 2a and 2b used positive or negative scenery pictures as emotional priming stimuli to explore whether the implicit processing of emotions would affect the semantic processing of animal concepts. Results: The Experiment 1 results showed that the perception of faces promotes the processing of animal words, showing the "word-emotion congruence effect". Experiment 2a did not show the expected results, while Experiment 2b showed that the general negative perception of scenery pictures could significantly promote the processing of disgusted animal words. The results further proved the "word-emotion congruence effect" shown in the results of Experiment 1 from the perspective of implicit emotion processing. Combining the results of two experiments, it can be proven that emotional experience affects the semantic processing process of concrete concepts. Discussion: Both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2b of this study show the "word-emotion congruence effect". PDP theory believes that conceptual representation is represented by the activity patterns of billions of neurons distributed in many areas of the brain, and related semantic processing and sensory processing will occur simultaneously. The results of this experiment well support PDP theory.

Assessing the allocation of attention during visual search using digit-tracking, a calibration-free alternative to eye tracking.

Digit-tracking, a simple, calibration-free technique, has proven to be a good alternative to eye tracking in vision science. Participants view stimuli superimposed by Gaussian blur on a touchscreen interface and slide a finger across the display to locally sharpen an area the size of the foveal region just at the finger's position. Finger movements are recorded as an indicator of eye movements and attentional focus. Because of its simplicity and portability, this system has many potential applications in basic and applied research. Here we used digit-tracking to investigate visual search and replicated several known effects observed using different types of search arrays. Exploration patterns measured with digit-tracking during visual search of natural scenes were comparable to those previously reported for eye-tracking and constrained by similar saliency. Therefore, our results provide further evidence for the validity and relevance of digit-tracking for basic and applied research on vision and attention.

Task demands modulate pre-stimulus alpha frequency and sensory template during bistable apparent motion perception.

Despite ambiguous environmental inputs, top-down attention biases our subjective perception toward the preferred percepts, via modulating prestimulus neural activity or inducing prestimulus sensory templates that carry concrete internal sensory representations of the preferred percepts. In contrast to frequent changes of behavioral goals in the typical cue-target paradigm, human beings are often engaged in a prolonged task state with only 1 specific behavioral goal. It remains unclear how prestimulus neural signals and sensory templates are modulated in the latter case. To answer this question in the present electroencephalogram study on human subjects, we manipulated sustained task demands toward one of the 2 possible percepts in the bistable Ternus display, emphasizing either temporal integration or segregation. First, the prestimulus peak alpha frequency, which gated the temporal window of temporal integration, was effectively modulated by task demands. Furthermore, time-resolved decoding analyses showed that task demands biased neural representations toward the preferred percepts after the full presentation of bottom-up stimuli. More importantly, sensory templates resembling the preferred percepts emerged even before the bottom-up sensory evidence were sufficient enough to induce explicit percepts. Taken together, task demands modulate both prestimulus alpha frequency and sensory templates, to eventually bias subjective perception toward the preferred percepts.

Risk factors of perioperative acute kidney injury in elderly patients: a single-center retrospective study.

PURPOSE: The elderly are vulnerable to perioperative acute kidney injury. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors that associated with acute kidney injury among elderly patients. METHODS: Clinical data of elderly patients (> 65 years) who underwent noncardiac, nonrenal surgery between Dec 1 2009 and July 1 2016 were collected for this single-centered historical cohort study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the risk factors that contribute to acute kidney injury, which was defined as a serum creatinine increase >0.3 mg/dL within 48 h or 1.5 times increase in serum creatinine within 7 days after surgery. RESULTS: 7775 patients were eligible for the final analysis, among which 511 (6.57%) patients developed acute kidney injury. We observed 21 risk factors being associated with perioperative acute kidney injury, with the most important disposing factors being history of kidney disease (adjusted OR = 2.94, 95% CI 2.25-3.84), operation time > 180 min (aOR = 2.93, 95% CI 2.04-4.24), preoperative eGFR [15, 30) (aOR = 2.43, 95% CI 1.29-4.45), and protective factor being intraoperative use of sufentanil (aOR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.23-0.54). CONCLUSION: This study determined risk factors for perioperative acute kidney injury among the elderly in the Second Xiangya Hospital and visualized the risk factors using nomogram and Excel calculator, which may provide some clues to further investigations. Overall, the prevalence of AKI among this large cohort is 6.57%. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: http://www.chictr.org.cn ; ChiCTR1900027007; October 28, 2019.

Achievement Emotions in Selective Schools: Reexamining the Happy-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in an Extreme Case from the Chinese Collectivist Context.

Achievement emotions, defined as the emotions generated in the academic process or by achievement results, are critical for an individual's mental health, personality development, and academic productivity. Referring to the well-known big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept, which describes the well-known phenomenon that students in selective schools/classes tend to have lower academic self-concepts than those who are comparably competent but attend regular schools/classes, Pekrun and colleagues focused on German students and proposed a similar happy-fish-little-pond effect on achievement emotions in 2019. In our paper, we examined whether this effect exists in extreme cases. To maximize the positive reflected-glory effect of being in a selective school and minimize the negative social comparison contrast effects that result from being ranked low in the school, we conducted an investigation in the Chinese collectivist cultural setting and compared the achievement emotions of students from a highly selective senior middle school with those of students from a regular school where the top-ranking students fell short of the bottom-ranking students in the selective school in terms of academic performance. Through an analysis of variance and a moderated serial mediation model, our study revealed that the bottom-ranking students in the selective school had less positive achievement emotions, lower academic self-concepts, and more negative achievement emotions than the top-ranking students in the regular school, providing strong evidence that students rely more on social comparison than on objective self-evaluation standards to evaluate themselves. The implications of the results for educational policies are discussed.

The relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity is modulated by spontaneous activities of the dACC.

Although it has been found that self-esteem and self-concept clarity are positively correlated, self-determination theory shows that the positive relationship might be lowered for individuals whose basic psychological needs are chronically thwarted. The exact neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity are still not fully understood. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) plays an important role in monitoring basic psychological needs, considering that it is more active when some basic psychological needs are actually or potentially thwarted. To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity, we investigated the differences in the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity among healthy adults with different levels of spontaneous activities of the dACC using rs-fMRI combined with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). As expected, the results showed that the positive relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity was modulated by the ALFF value of the right dACC, which indicated that the positive relationship was significant when the ALLF value of the right dACC was lower, but the positive relationship was not significant when the ALFF value of the right dACC was higher. The modulating roles of right dACC might also reflect that the individuals with higher ALFF value of dACC might experience chronically thwarted relatedness of basic psychological needs, which means the more disturbed by thwarting relatedness information in individuals, the lower positive relationship emerged.

Cognitive mechanisms of the face context effect: An event related potential study of the effects of emotional contexts on neutral face perception.

Face context effect refers to the influence of the emotional context on facial expression perception. Numerous empirical studies have explored the mechanisms of the face context effect, but no consistent conclusions have been drawn. Hence, we investigated the cognitive mechanisms of the face context effect using recordings of event-related potentials. In Experiment 1, we adopted the context-target paradigm to explore the mechanisms of the effect of context with different emotional valences on the neutral face perception (emotional valence-based face context effect). In Experiment 2, we explored the mechanisms of the effect of context with different emotional types on the neutral face perception (specific emotion-based face context effect). The results of Experiment 1 indicated that the participants were biased toward contextual valence when recognizing the emotional valence of neutral faces, and that the neutral target faces under emotional contexts with different valences induced significant differences in the P1, N170, and LPP amplitudes. In Experiment 2, the results of Experiment 2 indicated that the participants were biased toward specific contextual emotions when recognizing the emotion type of neutral faces, and that the neutral target faces under contexts of different emotional types induced significant differences in the LPP amplitude, but not in the P1 or N170 amplitude. We concluded that the emotional valence-based face context effect occurred in the early processing stage, whereas the specific emotion-based face context effect occurred in the late processing stage.

Understanding Zhongyong Using a Zhongyong Approach: Re-examining the Non-linear Relationship Between Creativity and the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean.

Zhongyong, a central theme of Confucian thought, refers to the "doctrine of the mean," or the idea that moderation in all things is the optimal path. Despite considerable interest in the relationship between zhongyong and creativity, especially in China, studies of this relationship have not yielded consistent results. Based on a review of the literature, we hypothesized that this inconsistency arises from the dual nature of zhongyong itself, which has both a positive side, promoting creativity, and a negative side, inhibiting creativity. We also hypothesized that the negative side of zhongyong takes the form of excessive zhongyong. Indeed, the observations that every coin has two sides and that too much of a good thing is as bad as too little are core principles of zhongyong in traditional Chinese culture. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two empirical studies (measuring explicit and implicit zhongyong personality, respectively) to examine the relationships between positive and negative zhongyong and creativity (measured in terms of creative personality, divergent thinking, and convergent thinking). The results of both studies revealed an interaction between positive zhongyong and negative zhongyong, indicating that only a moderate level of zhongyong is conducive to creativity; both deficiency and excess are harmful. We discuss the implications of these results, suggesting that a zhongyong approach can help to clarify non-linear relationships between things, and recommending to re-assess the creativity of Chinese culture from a neutral and objective outlook. This paper deepens understanding of zhongyong and offers clear insights into creativity from an in-depth cultural perspective.

Uncovering neural distinctions and commodities between two creativity subsets: A meta-analysis of fMRI studies in divergent thinking and insight using activation likelihood estimation.

The dual-process theory that two different systems of thought coexist in creative thinking has attracted considerable attention. In the field of creative thinking, divergent thinking (DT) is the ability to produce multiple solutions to open-ended problems in a short time. It is mainly considered an associative and fast process. Meanwhile, insight, the new and unexpected comprehension of close-ended problems, is frequently marked as a deliberate and time-consuming thinking process requiring concentrated effort. Previous research has been dedicated to revealing their separate neural mechanisms, while few studies have compared their differences and similarities at the brain level. Therefore, the current study applied Activation Likelihood Estimation to decipher common and distinctive neural pathways that potentially underlie DT and insight. We selected 27 DT studies and 30 insight studies for retrospective meta-analyses. Initially, two single analyses with follow-up contrast and conjunction analyses were performed. The single analyses showed that DT mainly involved the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), cuneus, and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while the precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), parahippocampal gyrus (PG), amygdala (AMG), and superior parietal lobe were engaged in insight. Compared to insight, DT mainly led to greater activation in the IPL, the crucial part of the default mode network. However, insight caused more significant activation in regions related to executive control functions and emotional responses, such as the IFG, MFG, PG, and AMG. Notably, the conjunction analysis detected no overlapped areas between DT and insight. These neural findings implicate that various neurocognitive circuits may support DT and insight.

Altered Brain Connectivity Patterns of Individual Differences in Insightful Problem Solving.

Insightful problem solving (IPS) attracts widespread attention in creative thinking domains. However, the neural underpinnings of individual differences in IPS are still unclear. The purpose of this research was to investigate inherent full-brain connectivity patterns at voxel-level in IPS. Sixty-two healthy participants were enrolled in the study. We used a voxelwise full-brain network measurement, degree centrality (DC), to depict the characteristics of cerebral network involved in individual differences in IPS. For each participant, we employed a chunk decomposition paradigm, using Mandarin characters as stimuli, to estimate the individual differences in IPS. Results showed that DC in the inferior frontal gyrus, and the middle frontal gyrus/precentral gyrus positively correlated with IPS, while the anterior cingulate cortex, and the brainstern/cerebellum/thalamus exhibited negative correlations with IPS. Using each cluster above as a seed, we performed seed-based functional connectivity analysis further. Results showed that IPS was mainly involved in the default mode network, containing the key regions of precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex. All in all, this research may shed new lights on understanding the neural underpinnings of individual differences in IPS.

Splenic Volume, an Easy-To-Use Predictor of HCC Late Recurrence for HCC Patients After Hepatectomy.

Purpose: The high recurrence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a poor impact on the quality of life and survival time of patients. Especially for late recurrence, poor data are available in analysis. We aim to evaluate whether the splenic volume (SV) measured from preoperative CT images could predict late recurrence in HCC patients after hepatectomy. Patients and Methods: A cohort of 300 HCC patients hospitalized at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University between January 2015 and June 2018 was retrospectively analyzed. The SV was calculated by using automated volumetry software from preoperative CT images. A total of 300 HCC patients were separated into the early recurrence cohort (n=167), the late recurrence cohort (n=39), and the no recurrence cohort (n=94) according to whether there is a recurrence and the recurrence time. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to identify the independent risk factors of both early and late recurrence. Results: AFP, Microvascular invasion (MVI), satellitosis, and BCLC staging were independent risk factors of HCC early recurrence. Splenic volume (HR=1.003, 95%CI:1.001-1.005, P<0.001) was the only predictor of HCC late recurrence. Based on X-tile software, 133 non-early recurrence patients were divided into two groups according to SV: low SV (<165ml, n=45) and high SV (≥165ml, n= 88). The low SV group had a significantly better RFS compared with the high SV group (P=0.015). Nomogram was built on the base of SV to get the probability of 3-year RFS, 4-year RFS, and 5-year RFS. Conclusion: In our study, we drew a conclusion that splenic volume was the only predictor of HCC late recurrence because of its association with portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis. High splenic volume often indicated a worse recurrence.

Do Immediate External Rewards Really Enhance Intrinsic Motivation?

Researchers have conducted many studies on the relationship between external rewards and intrinsic motivation. A recent study showed that, compared with delayed rewards, rewards delivered immediately after the experiment enhanced the participants' intrinsic motivation. However, this study did not rule out the possibility of a misattribution effect of extrinsic motivation. The present research conducted three studies to explore whether immediate rewards actually enhance intrinsic motivation. To rule out the interference of the misattribution effect of extrinsic motivation, according to the different characteristics of extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation, Study 1 and Study 2 improved the prior experimental paradigm, and the results indicated that the intrinsic motivation of participants who received extra rewards immediately after completing experimental tasks was stronger than that of participants who received the delayed extra reward. Furthermore, to rule out the potential interference of temporal discounting, Study 3 introduced a new variable-reward magnitude. The results showed that the delivery time of the extra reward had an independent effect on intrinsic motivation and that the immediacy of the extra reward could enhance intrinsic motivation. In all, the three studies strongly demonstrated that immediate external extra rewards could truly enhance intrinsic motivation.

Hsa_circ_0006427 Suppresses Multiplication, Migration and Invasion of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells through miR-346/VGLL4 Pathway.

Objective: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are identified as key modulators in cancer biology. Nonetheless, the role of circ_0006427 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its modulatory mechanism are undefined. This study aimed to investigate the potential function and mechanism of circ_0006427 in NSCLC. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, circ_0006427, miR-346 and vestigial like family member 4 (VGLL4) mRNA expressions were analyzed in NSCLC tissues and cells, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Multiplication, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells were examined using the CCK-8 method and Transwell experiment, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporter gene experiments were conducted to identify the paring relationship between circ_0006427 and miR-346. Western blot was employed to determine expressions of VGLL4 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers on protein levels. Immuno-histochemistry (IHC) method was adopted to assess VGLL4 protein expression in NSCLC tissues. Results: Circ_0006427 expression was down-regulated in NSCLC tissues and cells, and circ_0006427 suppressed multiplication, migration, invasion and EMT of NSCLC cells. miR-346 expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cells, and miR-346 worked as a target of circ_0006427. VGLL4 was down-regulated in NSCLC tissues and cells, and knockdown of VGLL4 accelerated multiplication, migration, invasion and EMT of NSCLC cells. Circ_0006427 enhanced VGLL4 expression by competitively binding with miR-346. Conclusion: Circ_0006427/miR-346/VGLL4 axis regulated NSCLC progression.

Positive and Negative Psychological Derailment in Chinese Adolescents and the Mechanism by Which It Affects Mental Health: A Mediated Moderation Model.

Psychological derailment refers to the phenomenon whereby original self-expectations are seriously inconsistent with developments in reality. Research to date has neglected the valence of derailment and the mechanism by which it affects mental health. To improve the mental health of Chinese adolescents from the perspective of psychological derailment, after validating the translated Chinese versions of the derailment measurement instruments, we conducted an empirical study on the freshmen in senior high schools and universities in China and obtained three major results. First, the study revealed the prevalence of psychological derailment among Chinese adolescents and its strong correlation with mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress and satisfaction with life). Second, the study found significant differences in all mental health indicators among the non-derailed group, the positively derailed group and the negatively derailed group, and suggested that positive psychological derailment may help to ease mental health problems. Third, using path analysis to establish a mediated moderation model relating psychological derailment, psychological derailment valence, self-esteem and depression, the study uncovered that the valence of psychological derailment moderated the effect of psychological derailment on depression, while self-esteem mediated the moderating effect. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.