The automated valuation of benchmark land price plays an essential role in regulating land demand in Chinese real-estate market as the big data are currently accumulated rapidly. However, this problem becomes highly challenging due to the multidimension, large volume, and nonlinearity of the land price-influencing factors. In this paper, an effective data-driven automated valuation framework is proposed for valuing real estate assets by combining a GIS and neural network technologies. This framework can automatically obtain the values of spatial factors affecting (...) land price from GIS and generate training set data for training the neural network to identify the complex relationship between all kinds of factors and benchmark land prices. The effectiveness and universality of the framework is verified via the data of benchmark land prices in Wuhan. The framework can be applied for automated benchmark land price valuation in other cities. (shrink)

Objectives: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of all intervention for learning burnout by meta-analyzing their effects.Methods: Relevant studies that had been published up to September 18, 2020, were identified through a systematic search of the PubMed, Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan Fang databases. Eligible studies included randomized control trials of any learning burnout intervention conducted among students. The Jadad scale was used to evaluate the quality of the study. Random-effect meta-analyses, subgroup analyses, (...) meta-regression analysis, and sensitivity analysis were conducted. Funnel plots and Egger's tests were used to evaluate publication bias. Duval and Tweedie's non-parametric trim-and-fill method was used to adjust the effect of publication bias.Results: Of the 5,245 articles found, 39 met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. There were 3,400 students, including 1,847 students in the intervention group and 1,553 in the control group. A meta-analysis of 44 studies showed that the interventions were effective. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to education, scales, intervention measures, and intervention time. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the learning burnout scores of undergraduates, secondary vocational students, and middle school students were significantly lower. Based on different scales, all interventions were also effective. The funnel plot was asymmetric and consistent with the results of Egger's test. The trim-and-fill method was used, and seven missing studies were merged to obtain a symmetric funnel plot.Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that learning burnout interventions are effective. The subgroup analyses showed that group counseling is the most widely used, exercise intervention is probably the most effective, and 8 weeks or more is the appropriate intervention time. An integrated intervention study based on the factors of learning burnout adds value. More studies are needed to supplement the results in the future. (shrink)

The value–attitude–behavior and the theory of planned behavior appear to provide limited explanation for consumer green purchase behavior. This study aims to examine the relationship between pro-environmental value, consumption value, and TPB toward green car purchasing intention among the young Chinese generation. A total of 541 student responses were collected, and the results showed that altruistic value positively influenced subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, but negatively influenced green purchase attitude. Biospheric value positively influenced GPA and PBC. Function value and (...) emotional value positively influenced GPA, respectively, and emotional value fully mediated the relationship between function value and GPA. Furthermore, GPA, SN, PBC positively influenced intention toward green car purchasing behavior, respectively, and SN mediated the relationship between GPA and intention. This study shows how pro-environmental value and consumption value can influence components of TPB in green car purchase intention. (shrink)

To clarify the relationship between higher vocational students’ liking of teachers and their learning engagement, based on the theory of social exchange, 1,279 vocational students in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta in China are used as the research objects. From the perspective of students and teachers, SPSS and AMOS are used to conduct a two-stage linear regression analysis. The results show that students’ liking of their teachers has a positive effect on learning engagement; liking positively affects (...) students’ psychological empowerment; liking of teachers indirectly influences learning engagement through psychological empowerment; teacher’s support positively moderates the indirect relationship between liking of teachers and learning engagement through psychological empowerment. This study attempts to provide practical guidance for college students to provide learning engagement. (shrink)

This study investigated the status quo of article retractions by Chinese researchers. The bibliometric information of 834 retractions from the Web of Science SCI-expanded database were downloaded and analysed. The results showed that the number of retractions increased in the past two decades, and misconduct such as plagiarism, fraud, and faked peer review explained approximately three quarters of the retractions. Meanwhile, a large proportion of the retractions seemed typical of deliberate fraud, which might be evidenced by retractions authored by repeat (...) offenders of data fraud and those due to faked peer review. In addition, a majority of Chinese fraudulent authors seemed to aim their articles which contained a possible misconduct at low-impact journals, regardless of the types of misconduct. The system of scientific evaluation, the “publish or perish” pressure Chinese researchers are facing, and the relatively low costs of scientific integrity may be responsible for the scientific integrity. We suggested more integrity education and severe sanctions for the policy-makers, as well as change in the peer review system and transparent retraction notices for journal administrators. (shrink)

Familiarity and green image influencing travelers’ green hotel patronage have often been overlooked in previous research. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of the two dimensions of familiarity and the two dimensions of image with the overall image, satisfaction, and loyalty. The theoretical research model used in this study was based on the stimulus–organism–response framework. The research design for this study employed a quantitative approach using a purposive sampling method involving 488 student responses. The tests of (...) the proposed hypotheses were conducted using SPSS and AMOS. The results of the study showed that experiential familiarity and informational familiarity positively influenced cognitive image and affective image, respectively, while cognitive image had a positive influence on the affective image. In addition, cognitive and affective images have a positive influence on the overall image, and the overall image is shown to have a positive impact on satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, satisfaction was found to have a positive influence on loyalty, while satisfaction plays a partial meditation role in the relationship between overall image and loyalty. (shrink)

In this study, we demonstrate a previously unknown finding that mindful learning can improve an individual’s spatial cognition without regard to gender differences. Thirty-two volunteers participated in the experiment. Baselines for spatial ability were first measured for the reaction time on the mental rotation task. Next, the participants were randomly assigned to either a mindful or mindless learning condition. After learning, the mental rotation task showed that those in the mindful learning condition responded faster than those in the mindless learning (...) condition. This study provides promising evidence for applying mindful learning to education. (shrink)

Resumen: La ola creciente de la China-chic proporciona un nuevo modo de presentación para la excelente cultura tradicional, permitiendo a la gente volver a ser testigo de la vitalidad innovadora de la cultura local y brindando una nueva vía de creación para la cultura popular rural. En este contexto, el diseño con el tema de la cultura popular rural se enfrenta tanto a nuevas oportunidades como a nuevos retos. En este artículo, basado en el estudio de caso del diseño folclórico (...) rural del Templo señorial del condado de Hexian, en la provincia de Anhui, se analizan brevemente la relación dialéctica y la práctica de la herencia y la innovación en el trabajo de diseño bajo el trasfondo del China-chic. Se propusieron estrategias de diseño innovador para revitalizar el énfasis de la gente en la cultura tradicional, reavivar la atención de la gente hacia la cultura tradicional y ampliar la vía de diseño innovador de una vía de comunicación de la cultura tradicional para promover la transformación creativa y el desarrollo innovador de la cultura tradicional china. (shrink)

Protein redox reactions are one of the most basic and important biochemical actions. As amino acids are weak redox mediators, most protein redox functions are undertaken by protein cofactors, which include organic ligands and transition metal ions. Since both kinds of redox cofactors were available in the pre‐protein RNA world, it is challenging to explore which one was more involved in redox processes of primitive proteins? In this paper, using an examination of the redox cofactor usage of putative ancient proteins, (...) we infer that organic ligands participated more frequently than transition metals in redox reactions of primitive proteins, at least as protein cofactors. This is further supported by the relative abundance of amino acids in the primordial world. Supplementary material for this article can be found on the BioEssays website. BioEssays 30:766–771, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This paper investigates the nonlinear vehicle platoon control problems with external disturbances. The quadratic spacing policy is applied into the platoon control, in which the desired intervehicle distance is a quadratic function in terms of the vehicle’s velocities. Comparing with the general constant time headway policy, the QSP is more suitable to the human driving behaviors and can improve the traffic capacity. Then, a novel platoon control scheme is proposed based on the distributed integrated sliding mode. Since the external disturbances (...) are taken into consideration, the sliding mode method is employed to handle the disturbances. Moreover, the stability and string stability of the proposed platoon control system are strictly analyzed. In final, numerical simulations are provided to verify the proposed approaches. (shrink)

Objective: Tangent Space Mapping using the geometric structure of the covariance matrices is an effective method to recognize multiclass motor imagery. Compared with the traditional CSP method, the Riemann geometric method based on TSM takes into account the nonlinear information contained in the covariance matrix, and can extract more abundant and effective features. Moreover, the method is an unsupervised operation, which can reduce the time of feature extraction. However, EEG features induced by MI mental activities of different subjects are not (...) the same, so selection of subject-specific discriminative EEG frequency components play a vital role in the recognition of multiclass MI. In order to solve the problem, a discriminative and multi-scale filter bank tangent space mapping algorithm is proposed in this article to design the subject-specific Filter Bank so as to effectively recognize multiclass MI tasks. Methods: On the 4-class BCI competition IV-2a dataset, first, a non-parametric method of multivariate analysis of variance based on the sum of squared distances is used to select discriminative frequency bands for a subject; next, a multi-scale FB is generated according to the range of these frequency bands, and then decompose multi-channel EEG of the subject into multiple sub-bands combined with several time windows. Then TSM algorithm is used to estimate Riemannian tangent space features in each sub-band and finally a liner Support Vector Machines is used for classification. Main Results: The analysis results show that the proposed discriminative FB enhances the multi-scale TSM algorithm, improves the classification accuracy and reduces the execution time during training and testing. On the 4-class BCI competition IV-2a dataset, the average session to session classification accuracy of nine subjects reached 77.33 ± 12.3%. When the training time and the test time are similar, the average classification accuracy is 2.56% higher than the latest TSM method based on multi-scale filter bank analysis technology. When the classification accuracy is similar, the training speed is increased by more than three times, and the test speed is increased two times more. Compared with Supervised Fisher Geodesic Minimum Distance to the Mean, another new variant based on Riemann geometry classifier, the average accuracy is 3.36% higher, we also compared with the latest Deep Learning method, and the average accuracy of 10-fold cross validation improved by 2.58%. Conclusion: Research shows that the proposed DMFBTSM algorithm can improve the classification accuracy of MI tasks. Significance: Compared with the MFBTSM algorithm, the algorithm proposed in this article is expected to select frequency bands with good separability for specific subject to improve the classification accuracy of multiclass MI tasks and reduce the feature dimension to reduce training time and testing time. (shrink)

Evidence supports predictive roles of non-social smartphone use for smartphone addiction, but the relationship of social smartphone use and smartphone addiction is unclear. This study explored whether social smartphone use has a double-edged impact on smartphone addiction. Using data from a sample of 909 Chinese undergraduates, we tested a parallel mediation model that considered online social support and realistic social support as mediators. As predicted, social smartphone use weakened smartphone addiction through realistic social support and contributed to smartphone addiction through (...) online social support. Moreover, we tested the moderating role of agreeableness in the mediation path of online social support. Agreeableness only moderated the indirect effects. Specifically, the predictive effects of online social support on smartphone addiction was greater for lower rather than higher agreeableness. The results suggest that social needs play an important role in the formation of smartphone addiction. Several limitations and implications are also discussed herein. (shrink)

Remanufacturing has become an important way to realize sustainable development strategy. For remanufacturing closed-loop supply chain under different circumstances, many factors are considered, such as consumers’ different preferences for the purchase and payment of remanufactured products and the quality of recycled products. In this study, three models are presented for supply chain system, including a manufacturer lead and a retailer recycle. While nongovernment participation and non-supply-chain coordination are considered in model I, model II has government participation but non-supply-chain coordination, and (...) model III has both government participation and supply chain coordination. The equilibrium decisions are derived for each model using the game-theoretic approach. The study found that consumers’ preferences affect the pricing decisions of remanufactured products. When consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for remanufactured products is close to that of new products, the total profit of the supply chain will significantly increase; the quality of recycled products will also influence the pricing decisions of new/remanufactured products, which in turn will affect the market demand for products. Government participation is conducive to encouraging manufacturer, retailer, and consumers to actively participate in the recycling and remanufacturing activities of used products. Supply chain coordination contracts can further enhance the role of the consumer market and promote the implementation of government policies. Under certain conditions, revenue sharing contract coordination can significantly increase the total profit of the supply chain system. The research conclusions have certain reference value for the coordination among the nodes of the remanufacturing supply chain and the formulation of policies with government participation. (shrink)

To improve the accuracy and timeliness of the trajectory tracking control of the driverless racing car during the race, this paper proposes a track tracking control method that integrates the rear wheel differential drive and the front wheel active steering based on optimal control theory and fuzzy logic method. The model of the lateral track tracking error of the racing car is established. The model is linearized and discretized, and the quadratic optimal steering control problem is constructed. Taking advantage of (...) the differential drive of dual-motor-driven racing car, the dual motors differential drive fuzzy controller is designed and integrated driving with active steering control. Simulation analysis and actual car verification show that this integrated control method can ensure that the car tracks different race tracks well and improve the track tracking control accuracy by nearly 30%. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to apply deep learning to music perception education. Music perception therapy for autistic children using gesture interactive robots based on the concept of educational psychology and deep learning technology is proposed. First, the experimental problems are defined and explained based on the relevant theories of pedagogy. Next, gesture interactive robots and music perception education classrooms are studied based on recurrent neural networks. Then, autistic children are treated by music perception, and an electroencephalogram is used (...) to collect the music perception effect and disease diagnosis results of children. Due to significant advantages of signal feature extraction and classification, RNN is used to analyze the EEG of autistic children receiving different music perception treatments to improve classification accuracy. The experimental results are as follows. The analysis of EEG signals proves that different people have different perceptions of music, but this difference fluctuates in a certain range. The classification accuracy of the designed model is about 72–94%, and the average classification accuracy is about 85%. The average accuracy of the model for EEG classification of autistic children is 85%, and that of healthy children is 84%. The test results with similar models also prove the excellent performance of the design model. This exploration provides a reference for applying the artificial intelligence technology in music perception education to diagnose and treat autistic children. (shrink)

Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging is a diffusion model specifically designed for brain magnetic resonance imaging. Despite recent studies suggesting that NODDI modeling might be more sensitive to brain development than diffusion tensor imaging, these studies were limited to a relatively small age range and mainly based on the manually operated region of interest analysis. Therefore, this study applied NODDI to investigate brain development in a large sample size of 214 subjects ranging in ages from 0 to 14. The (...) whole brain was automatically segmented into 122 regions. The maturation trajectory of each region was characterized by the time course of diffusion metrics and further quantified using nonlinear regression. The NODDI-derived metrics, neurite density index and orientation dispersion index, increased with age. And these two metrics were superior to the DTI-derived metrics in SVM regression models of age. The NDI in white matter exhibited a more rapid growth than that in gray matter. These diffusion indicators experienced conspicuous increases during early childhood and the growth speed slowed down in adolescence. Region-specific maturation patterns were described throughout the brain, including white matter, cortical and deep gray matter. These development patterns were evaluated and discussed on the basis of NODDI’s model assumptions. To summarize, this study verified the high sensitivity of NODDI to age over a crucial developmental period from newborn to adolescence. Moreover, the existing knowledge of brain development has been complemented, suggesting that NODDI has a potential capability in the investigation of brain development. (shrink)

This paper addresses the sliding mode control problem for a class of networked control systems with long time delay and consecutive packet dropout. A new modeling method is proposed, through which time delay and packet dropout are modeled in a unified model described by one Markov chain. To avoid the chattering problem of classic reaching law, a new chattering-free reaching law is proposed. Then with a focus on the problem that controller-actuator channel network condition cannot be foreseen by the controller, (...) a new compensation strategy is proposed, which can effectively compensate for the effect of time delay and packet dropout in controller-actuator channel. Finally, a simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important in China. This paper investigates the implementation of instruments for dimensions of CSR that are relevant for the Chinese context and the challenges that Chinese companies face. Based on a survey among 109 Chinese companies, we find that formal instruments to implement CSR are rather common. Companies spend most effort in improving the economic aspects of CSR, such as competitiveness, product innovation and process innovation. Only a small minority of the companies set (...) concrete targets and report the realization of these targets for social and environmental goals. This indicates that the attention to social and environmental aspects of CSR is still rather loose. The most important challenges for improving CSR are strong competitive pressure, insufficient support from the government and/or nongovernmental organizations and high costs of CSR implementation. Multiple regression analysis shows that the use of instruments is positively related to company size and foreign ownership and negatively related to lack of resources and support for CSR by investors and consumers. (shrink)

Jiren (畸人), literally translated as irregular (Ji) person (ren), is a critical concept in the classical Daoist text the Zhuangzi (5th–3rd century BC.).1 The concept refers to individuals with atypical body shapes. Some of them lack body parts of the standard human body, like a leg or toes. Some others have an atypical anatomy, like having a chin stuck down their navel; and some of them are, by social standards of the time, considered to be extremely ugly.1 These individuals are (...) described as incredibly virtuous. The description of Jiren individuals as virtuous does not simply aim to show there may be hidden virtues that social conventions blur. The point is not to show that we should also care for those with atypical bodies who have a hidden virtue. Rather, the point is to show that all human beings have an unconditional intrinsic value and moral worth. So, Jiren prescribes that an atypical body shape does not reflect inferiority. The variation of body anatomies should be understood as how the world is, not a value hierarchy. The concept of Jiren encourages, therefore, to consider one’s own and others’ value beyond their physical appearance. What’s more, Jiren encourages individuals to resist social pressures to fit a standard and to search inward for who they really are and accept it. This ethical groundwork set by the Jiren aims at freeing people from existing physical and mental boundaries to their well-being and helping them rethink …. (shrink)

As of the end of October 2020, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has exceeded 45 million and the cumulative number of deaths has exceeded 1.1 million all over the world. Faced with the fatal pandemic, countries around the world have taken various prevention and control measures. One of the important issues in epidemic prevention and control is the assessment of the prevention and control effectiveness. Changes in the time series of daily new confirmed cases can reflect the (...) impact of policies in certain regions. In this paper, a smooth transition autoregressive model is applied to investigate the intrinsic changes during the epidemic in certain countries and regions. In order to quantitatively evaluate the influence of the epidemic control measures, the sequence is fitted to the STAR model; then, comparisons between the dates of transition points and those of releasing certain policies are applied. Our model well fits the data. Moreover, the nonlinear smooth function within the STAR model reveals that the implementation of prevention and control policies is effective in some regions with different speeds. However, the ineffectiveness is also revealed and the threat of a second wave had already emerged. (shrink)

At present, customers’ low satisfaction and loyalty to city express service have restricted the development of city express. It is particularly important to analyze the factors causing customers’ low satisfaction and loyalty, which will promote the development of city express industry effectively. Based on SERVQUAL model and CCSI model, this paper constructs a new evaluation index system from the perspective of service quality. Through this new system, this paper first explores the factors that affect customers’ satisfaction and loyalty, respectively, by (...) fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and hierarchical regression analysis, taking the expected and perceived service quality as conversion variables. And then it analyzes the common factors that affect customers’ satisfaction and loyalty comprehensively. These two analyses will provide reference for solving the problem of low customer satisfaction and loyalty of city express enterprises. The results show that popularity and credibility, delivery time commitment, and mailing security are the common main factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty. Easy-to-understand receipts, the three-level index corresponding to the empathy dimension, is the most significant factor affecting customers’ loyalty in city express industry; Delivery time commitment, the three-level index corresponding to the reliability dimension, is the most significant factor affecting customers’ loyalty in city express industry. (shrink)

Background: High ethical sensitivity positively affects the quality of nursing care; nevertheless, Chinese nurses’ ethical sensitivity and the factors influencing it have not been described. Research objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe ethical sensitivity and to explore factors influencing it among Chinese-registered nurses, to help nursing administrators improve nurses’ ethical sensitivity, build harmony between nurses and patients, and promote the patients’ health. Research design: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Participants and research context: We recruited 500 nurses (...) from several departments in three tertiary hospitals. The Chinese Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire–Revised version and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professionals were used to assess the nurses’ ethical sensitivity and empathy ability, respectively. Fifteen sociodemographic variables were included in the questionnaires. Ethical considerations: Informed consent was obtained from the participants regarding participation and data storage and handling. This program has been examined and supported by the research center of medical ethics and professional ethics of Guilin Medical University. The Approval No. was 2016RWYB04. The whole research process is conducted strictly according to ethical requirements. Results: The valid response rate was 84.40%. The total score of Chinese Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire–Revised was 35.82 ± 8.17. The subscale scores of moral responsibility and strength and sense of moral burden were 21.50 ± 4.91 and 14.33 ± 3.98, respectively. Significant differences were found among age groups, gender, years of working, category of profession, and quality of family communication regarding nurses’ ethical sensitivity. Regression analysis showed that the main factors influencing nurses’ ethical sensitivity were gender, years of working, quality of family communication, career satisfaction, and empathic ability. Discussion: Our findings suggest that Chinese nurses’ ethical sensitivity in tertiary hospitals in Guilin is at a medium level. Conclusion: The director of nursing schools and hospitals in China should pay attention to nurses’ ethical sensitivity and should intensify education and training to improve nurses’ ethical sensitivity. Further studies should focus on interventions aimed at improving Chinese nurses’ ethical sensitivity. (shrink)

This work presents a distributed generation system that combines system of a wind turbine and photovoltaic using a unified power quality conditioner. Along with providing active power to the utility grid, Wind-PV-UPQC improves PQ indicators, for example, voltage drops/surges, harmonics of grid voltages, and PF. Since Wind-PV-UPQC depends on dual compensation scheme, the parallel converter works as a sinusoidal voltage source, while the series converter works as a sinusoidal current source. In this way, a smooth transition from grid operation to (...) island operation and vice versa can be achieved without load voltage transitions. In addition, in order to overcome the problems through abrupt solar radiation or wind speed variations, a faster power balance is achieved between the wind turbines, the PV array, and the grid, as FFCL pursue the production of the current references of series converter. Consequently, the dynamic reactions of the converter currents and the voltage of dc bus are enhanced. A comprehensive analysis of flow of the AP through the converters is done to ensure a proper understanding of how Wind-PV-UPQC works. Finally, the simulation results are shown to estimate the dynamic and static performance of Wind-PV-UPQC in conjunction with the power distribution system. (shrink)

PurposeWhite matter damage (WMD) was defined as the appearance of rough and uneven echo enhancement in the white matter around the ventricle. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a risk prediction model for neonatal WMD.Materials and MethodsWe collected data for 1,733 infants hospitalized at the Department of Neonatology at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from 2017 to 2020. Infants were randomly assigned to training (n= 1,216) or validation (n= 517) cohorts at a ratio of (...) 7:3. Multivariate logistic regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses were used to establish a risk prediction model and web-based risk calculator based on the training cohort data. The predictive accuracy of the model was verified in the validation cohort.ResultsWe identified four variables as independent risk factors for brain WMD in neonates by multivariate logistic regression and LASSO analysis, including gestational age, fetal distress, prelabor rupture of membranes, and use of corticosteroids. These were used to establish a risk prediction nomogram and web-based calculator (https://caowenjun.shinyapps.io/dynnomapp/). The C-index of the training and validation sets was 0.898 (95% confidence interval: 0.8745–0.9215) and 0.887 (95% confidence interval: 0.8478–0.9262), respectively. Decision tree analysis showed that the model was highly effective in the threshold range of 1–61%. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 82.5 and 81.7%, respectively, and the cutoff value was 0.099.ConclusionThis is the first study describing the use of a nomogram and web-based calculator to predict the risk of WMD in neonates. The web-based calculator increases the applicability of the predictive model and is a convenient tool for doctors at primary hospitals and outpatient clinics, family doctors, and even parents to identify high-risk births early on and implementing appropriate interventions while avoiding excessive treatment of low-risk patients. (shrink)

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is related to a variety of cognitive impairments that may even progress to dementia. Studies have found the angular gyrus is a cross-modal integration hub that is involved in a variety of cognitive processes. However, few studies have focused on the patterns of resting-state functional connections of the AG in patients with T2DM. This study explored the functional connection between the AG and the whole brain and the relationship between the FC and clinical/cognitive variables in patients (...) with T2DM. 44 patients with T2DM and 43 sex-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state fMRI and received neuropsychological assessments. Compared with the control group, the T2DM group showed abnormal rsFCs between the AG and multiple brain regions. The FC between the left AG and the left medial temporal lobe in the T2DM group was positively correlated with scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, after a Bonferroni correction. Collectively, patients with T2DM have abnormal FCs between the AG and extensive brain regions that may be related to various cognitive processes. (shrink)

ObjectivesSeveral studies have examined the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on associative memory (AM) but findings were inconsistent. Here, we aimed to test whether twice-daily rTMS could significantly improve AM.MethodsIn this single-blind, sham-controlled experiment, 40 participants were randomized to receive twice-daily sham or real rTMS sessions for five consecutive days (a total of 16,000 pulses). The stimulation target in left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) exhibiting peak functional connectivity to the left hippocampus was individually defined for each participant. Participants (...) completed both a picture-cued word association task and Stroop test at baseline and 1 day after the final real or sham rTMS session. Effects of twice-daily rTMS on AM and Stroop test performance were compared using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance with main factors Group (real vs. sham) and Time (baseline vs. post-rTMS).ResultsThere was a significant Group × Time interaction effect. AM score was significantly enhanced in the twice-daily real group after rTMS, but this difference could not survive the post hoc analysis after multiple comparison correction. Further, AM improvement in the twice-daily real group was not superior to a previously reported once-daily rTMS group receiving 8,000 pulses. Then, we combined the twice- and once-daily real groups, and found a significant Group × Time interaction effect. Post hoc analysis indicated that the AM score was significantly enhanced in the real group after multiple comparisons correction.ConclusionOur prospective experiment did not show significant rTMS effect on AM, but this effect may become significant if more participants could be recruited as revealed by our retrospective analysis. (shrink)

To explore whether the generation of new protein folds could be linked to metallic cofactor recruitment, we identified the oldest examples of folds for manganese, iron, zinc, and copper proteins by analyzing their fold‐domain mapping patterns. We discovered that the generation of these folds was tightly coupled to corresponding metals. We found that the emerging order for these folds, i.e., manganese and iron protein folds appeared earlier than zinc and copper counterparts, coincides with the putative bioavailability of the corresponding metals (...) in the ancient anoxic ocean. Therefore, we conclude that metallic cofactors, like organic cofactors, play an evolutionary role in the formation of new protein folds. This link could be explained by the emergence of protein structures with novel folds that could fulfill the new protein functions introduced by the metallic cofactors. These findings not only have important implications for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of protein architectures, but also provide a further interpretation for the evolutionary story of superoxide dismutases. (shrink)

Mathematically gifted students are precious human resources, educators of which make a great difference in helping them realize their potential. The retention of qualified teachers of mathematically gifted students is an issue worthy of in-depth exploration. In China, mathematics competitions are an important part of mathematics gifted education, and the teaching of the Mathematical Olympiad is a challenging profession with a high attrition rate. This qualitative study takes four seasoned and outstanding Chinese teachers as cases, collects data through individual semi-structured (...) interviews, and uses the thematic analysis method based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory to analyze why they can persist in the field of Mathematical Olympiad teaching for more than 20 years. The results show that the motivation factors affecting retention are recognition, achievement, possibility of growth, work itself, and responsibility, and the hygiene factors are policy and interpersonal relationships. Motivation factors are the main reason for their long-term persistence, while hygiene factors are conducive to their persistence as a whole. Finally, enlightenment to educational policy and school management and suggestions for retention and development of teachers of the mathematically gifted are provided. (shrink)

Important strides have been made toward understanding the relationship between self-efficacy and life satisfaction. However, existing studies have largely focused on work and academic domains, leaving self-efficacy in the finance domain less frequently investigated. The present study applied the self-efficacy construct to the finance domain, namely “financial self-efficacy”, and tested the sequential mediating roles of high standards tendency and investment satisfaction in the relationship between FSE and general life satisfaction. A total of 323 employees from finance-related businesses completed anonymous questionnaires (...) regarding FSE, high standards tendency, investment satisfaction, and general life satisfaction. Results indicated that FSE influenced general life satisfaction through investment satisfaction, and sequentially through high standards tendency and investment satisfaction. These results provide contributions to the current literature on life satisfaction, and positive psychology literature by shedding light on the roles of high standards tendency and investment satisfaction in the relation between FSE and general life satisfaction. (shrink)

ObjectiveThe study aimed to enhance the learning motivation of college physical education students and improve their learning outcomes. Based on the perspective of the self-determination theory, this study explores the influence of “Small Private Online Course + flipped classroom” teaching on the learning motivation of students majoring in physical education and profoundly analyzes the influencing factors and promotion paths of learning motivation using this model.Materials and methodsA total of four classes of physical education majors in a university were selected and (...) randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received “SPOC + flipped classroom” teaching, the control group received traditional teaching. Before and after the 16-week intervention, learning motivation, teacher support perception, basic psychological need satisfaction, and academic emotions of the 64 students were measured, and the data were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance and partial least square regression.Results The instructional intervention reduced non-regulation, external regulation, and introjected regulation, while increased identified regulation, intrinsic regulation, and self-determination levels in the students. The levels of non-regulation, external regulation, identified regulation, and self-determination were also significantly different from those of the control group. After the intervention, the scores of support for autonomy, support for competence, support for relatedness, and need for relatedness in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Support for autonomy, support for competence, support for relatedness, need for competence and need for relatedness positively predicted the self-determination level, and intrinsic regulation and identified regulation negatively predicted non-regulation, external regulation, and introjected regulation.Conclusion“SPOC + flipped classroom” teaching has a positive impact on students’ learning motivation of basketball skills and promotes students’ motivation autonomy. The improvement of support for autonomy, support for competence, support for relatedness, need for competence, and need for relatedness may be related to the improvement of learning motivation of college students majoring in Physical Education. “SPOC + flipped classroom” teaching enables students to obtain more demand satisfaction by giving them more demand support, while demand support and demand satisfaction can promote the internalization of learning motivation so that students can maintain high autonomy motivation. (shrink)