The lexical processing of Japanese collocations by Chinese Japanese-as-a-Foreign-Language learners: An experimental study by manipulating the presentation modality, semantic transparency, and translational congruency.

Introduction: Research on collocations has become an essential issue in L2 acquisition and cognitive psychology. Previous studies have mainly focused on phonographic languages such as English, Swedish, and German, and primarily discussed the effect of semantic transparency and translational congruency. However, these studies have lacked (1) an analysis of the interactions between presentation modalities (visual vs. auditory) and the semantic transparency and translational congruency, and (2) a discussion of an ideographic language, such as Chinese and Japanese. Methods: We conducted an experiment with 36 Chinese Japanese-as-a-Foreign-Language learners to examine the processing of Japanese collocations. In the experiment, we manipulated the presentation modality, semantic transparency, and translational congruency during a lexical judgment task. Results: Data analysis using linear mixed-effects models revealed the following. (1) In both conditions of semantic transparency and translational congruency, the auditory presentation was associated with longer reaction times than the visual presentation. (2) In the visual presentation condition, neither semantic transparency nor translational congruency showed significant effects. (3) In the auditory presentation condition, the reaction time for collocations with high semantic transparency tended to be longer than that for collocations with medium semantic transparency and significantly longer than that for collocations with low semantic transparency. The reaction time for collocations with congruent translation was longer than that for collocations with incongruent translation. Discussion: These results support the dual-route model of Japanese collocational processing by Chinese Japanese-as-a-Foreign-Language learners. Our findings suggest that whether the analytic or holistic processing dominates is closely related to the learners' knowledge of Chinese and Japanese Kanji words and strongly influenced by the presentation modality, semantic transparency, and translational congruency.

Effects of executive functions on consecutive interpreting for Chinese-Japanese unbalanced bilinguals.

Introduction: Previous research on performance in interpreting has focused primarily on the influence of interpreting experience on executive functions, such as shifting, updating, and inhibition. However, limited research has explored the effects of executive functions on performance. Understanding how different executive functions affect interpreting performance can provide valuable insights for teaching methods. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the effects of executive functions on comprehension and output performance during bidirectional consecutive interpreting between Chinese and Japanese. Methods: This study involved 48 Chinese advanced Japanese language learners. Self-assessment results indicated that all participants were unbalanced bilingual individuals. All participants took part in consecutive interpreting, completed comprehension tests, and underwent executive function tests. Executive functions were assessed using the color-shape switching task, 1-back task, and Stroop task. Results: Analysis using Bayesian linear regression revealed the following. (1) Updating exhibited a significant impact on both Japanese-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-Japanese interpreting, indicating that higher updating ability was associated with better interpreting performance. (2) Inhibition showed a significant effect on Japanese-to-Chinese interpreting performance, whereas the effect was not significant in Chinese-to-Japanese interpreting. (3) No significant effects of shifting were observed in either Japanese-to-Chinese or Chinese-to-Japanese interpreting. Discussion: The results indicate that executive functions have different effects on the interpreting performance of unbalanced bilinguals, while these effects are also influenced by the direction of the source language. Based on these findings, it is recommended that executive function training should be included in interpreter teaching and training programs, with a specific focus on the updating and inhibition functions.

Factors in cognitive processing of Japanese loanwords by advanced Chinese Japanese-as-a-foreign-language learners.

Introduction: Previous studies have highlighted the challenges faced by Chinese Japanese-as-a-foreign-language (JFL) learners (whose L2 is English) in acquiring L3 Japanese loanwords. These challenges arise from the linguistic characteristics of loanwords and the limited emphasis on teaching and learning them. However, there is a lack of research on the specific factors that influence the processing of Japanese loanwords among Chinese JFL learners. Significant motivation exists, therefore, to investigate these influencing factors as they provide valuable insight into the integration of phonographic and ideographic language systems, ultimately facilitating future lexical acquisition. Methods: In this study, an experiment was conducted on 31 Chinese JFL learners to investigate the effects of loanword familiarity, English vocabulary proficiency, English-Japanese phonological similarity, and context on the processing of Japanese loanwords. Results: Data analysis, using a (generalized) linear mixed-effect model, provided the following insights: (1) the processing of Japanese loanwords is influenced by English-Japanese phonological similarity, loanword familiarity, context, and learner English proficiency. Among these four factors, familiarity has the most significant impact on Japanese loanword processing; (2) the effects of context and phonological similarity on the processing of Japanese loanwords are not consistently positive. As learners improve their proficiency in L3 Japanese, they tend to decrease their reliance on English knowledge and instead access loanword representations directly to conceptual representations. Discussion: Based on the findings of this study, a processing model for Japanese loanwords among advanced Chinese JFL learners is proposed. The model emphasizes the critical importance of the characteristics of loanwords, including phonological similarity and familiarity. It is necessary to determine the specific circumstances in which context considerably enhances learner processing ability.

The integrative effects of population density, photoperiod, temperature, and host plant on the induction of alate aphids in Schizaphis graminum.

The wheat aphid Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) displays wing dimorphism with both winged and wingless adult morphs. The winged morph is an adaptive microevolutionary response to undesirable environmental conditions, including undesirable population density, photoperiod, temperature, and host plant. Here we studied the integrative effects of population density, photoperiod, temperature, and host plant on the induction of alate aphids in S. graminum. The present results show that these four factors all play roles in inducing alate aphids in S. graminum but population density is the most important under almost all circumstances. In importance, population density is followed by photoperiod, host plant, and temperature, in that order. These results indicate that ambient environmental factors are highly important to stimulation of alate aphids in S. graminum, especially when population density reaches 64 individuals per leaf.

BRD4 inhibitor GNE987 exerts anti-cancer effects by targeting super-enhancers in neuroblastoma.

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma (NB) is a common extracranial malignancy with high mortality in children. Recently, super-enhancers (SEs) have been reported to play a critical role in the tumorigenesis and development of NB via regulating a wide range of oncogenes Thus, the synthesis and identification of chemical inhibitors specifically targeting SEs are of great urgency for the clinical therapy of NB. This study aimed to characterize the activity of the SEs inhibitor GNE987, which targets BRD4, in NB. RESULTS: In this study, we found that nanomolar concentrations of GNE987 markedly diminished NB cell proliferation and survival via degrading BRD4. Meanwhile, GNE987 significantly induced NB cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Consistent with in vitro results, GNE987 administration (0.25 mg/kg) markedly decreased the tumor size in the xenograft model, with less toxicity, and induced similar BRD4 protein degradation to that observed in vitro. Mechanically, GNE987 led to significant downregulation of hallmark genes associated with MYC and the global disruption of the SEs landscape in NB cells. Moreover, a novel candidate oncogenic transcript, FAM163A, was identified through analysis of the RNA-seq and ChIP-seq data. FAM163A is abnormally transcribed by SEs, playing an important role in NB occurrence and development. CONCLUSION: GNE987 destroyed the abnormal transcriptional regulation of oncogenes in NB by downregulating BRD4, which could be a potential therapeutic candidate for NB.

Cell adhesion downregulates the expression of Homer1b/c and contributes to drug resistance in multiple myeloma cells.

Previous studies have demonstrated that Homer1b/c plays an important pro-apoptotic role through classical mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. The present study was undertaken to determine the expression and functional significance of Homer1b/c in multiple myeloma (MM). We found that Homer1b/c was lowly expressed in MM cell apoptotic model induced by doxorubicin. The positive role of Homer1b/c in cell apoptosis was further confirmed by knocking down Homer1b/c. Further study confirmed that Homer1b/c was able to affect the CAM-DR via pro-apoptotic activity regulating the ability of cell adhesion. Collectively, these data indicate that Homer1b/c may represent a good candidate for pursuing clinical trial in MM.

Poor response to platinum-based chemotherapy is associated with KRAS mutation and concomitant low expression of BRAC1 and TYMS in NSCLC.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate treatment response, survival, and the associations between KRAS mutation status and tumour expression levels of BRCA1, TYMS and SRC retrospectively in a cohort of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), treated exclusively with conjunctive platinum-based doublet chemotherapy. METHODS: KRAS mutation status was determined via amplification refractory mutation and multiple quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Tumour expression levels of BRCA1, TYMS and SRC were determined via real time quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Patients with KRAS mutations (n = 3) had significantly shorter survival duration than patients with wild type KRAS (n = 42). Tumour expression levels of BRCA1 and TYMS, but not SRC, were significantly lower in patients with, than in those without, KRAS mutations. Tumour expression level of BRCA1 was positively correlated with survival duration. CONCLUSIONS: KRAS mutation status and BRCA1 tumour expression are potential biomarkers for tailoring chemotherapy and predicting clinical outcome.