FoxP2 is significantly associated with schizophrenia and major depression in the Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Li, Tao; Zeng, Zhen; Zhao, Qian; Wang, Ti; Huang, Ke; Li, Junyan; Li, You; Liu, Jie; Wei, Zhiyun; Wang, Yang; Feng, Guoyin; He, Lin; Shi, Yongyong

2013-03-01

The FoxP2 gene, located on 7q31, encodes a transcription factor. It was first discovered through investigations of a large multigenerational family (the KE family) with a rare severe speech and language disorder (Fisher et al., Nat. Genet. 1998;18:168; Lai et al., Nature 2001;413:519). Subsequent studies gave powerful and convincing functional evidence to the connection between FoxP2 and language disorder ( Vernes et al. 2006 ; Groszer et al., Curr Biol 2008;18:354; Vernes et al., New Engl J Med 359(22):2337). Language disorder is commonly considered as a core symptom of schizophrenia and some other mental diseases; thus, we decided to investigate whether the FoxP2 gene played a significant role in schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder in a sample set recruited from the Chinese Han population. In this study, we focused on 12 SNPs in the FoxP2 gene and carried out case-control studies in 1135 schizophrenia patients, 1135 unrelated major depression patients, 1135 unrelated bipolar disorder patients and 1135 unrelated normal controls recruited from the Chinese Han population. We found rs10447760 was significantly associated with schizophrenia (allelic P = 0.00069) and major depression (allelic P = 0.0011). Our study indicated that the rare variant rs10447760 in FoxP2 may play an important role in schizophrenia and major depression in the Chinese Han population.

Do Reincarnation Beliefs Protect Older Adult Chinese Buddhists against Personal Death Anxiety?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui, Victoria Ka-Ying; Coleman, Peter G.

2012-01-01

The aim of this exploratory survey study was to develop and validate a Buddhist reincarnation beliefs scale and explore the relation between Buddhist reincarnation beliefs and personal death anxiety in 141 older adult Hong Kong Chinese Buddhists. Buddhist reincarnation beliefs were unrelated to personal death anxiety. This suggests that not all…

SNP rs356219 of the α-synuclein (SNCA) gene is associated with Parkinson's disease in a Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Pan, Fenghua; Dong, Hairong; Ding, Haixia; Ye, Min; Liu, Weiguo; Wu, Yanfeng; Zhang, Xueling; Chen, Zhuoyou; Luo, Yang; Ding, Xinsheng

2012-06-01

Over the last decades, increasing knowledge about the genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease(PD) has provided novel insights into the pathogenesis of the disorder. Recently, several studies in different populations have found a strong association between idiopathic PD and the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs356219, which is located in the 3'UTR of the SNCA gene. In this study, we aimed to verify these findings and to explore further the nature of the association in a subset of Chinese Han PD patients. Four hundred and three unrelated patients with sporadic PD and 315 healthy ethnically matched control subjects were recruited consecutively for the study. Patients and normal controls were genotyped for SNCA rs356219 variant by ligase detection reaction (LDR). A statistically significant difference was found in the frequencies of the single alleles of rs356219 (χ(2) = 12.986,P = 0.002) between PD patients and normal subjects. The distribution of A > G genotypes was different between patients and controls (χ(2) = 13.243, P < 0.001). The OR for subjects with the variant genotypes (AG and GG) was 1.88 (95%CI = 1.27-2.78, P = 0.001). The frequencies of the homozygous genotype for this variant was 42.2% (170 patients), which was significantly higher than that in controls (32.4%, P < 0.001). The results suggested that SNCA rs356219 variant might have an increased risk of susceptibility to PD in a Chinese Han population. Further studies are needed to replicate the association that we found. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preview Fixation Duration Modulates Identical and Semantic Preview Benefit in Chinese Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yan, Ming; Risse, Sarah; Zhou, Xiaolin; Kliegl, Reinhold

2012-01-01

Semantic preview benefit from parafoveal words is critical for proposals of distributed lexical processing during reading. Semantic preview benefit has been demonstrated for Chinese reading with the boundary paradigm in which unrelated or semantically related previews of a target word "N" + 1 are replaced by the target word once the eyes cross an…

Association of cognitive impairment with smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption, and exercise among Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians.

PubMed

Huang, Chang-Quan; Dong, Bi-Rong; Zhang, Yan-Ling; Wu, Hong-Mei; Liu, Qing-Xiu

2009-09-01

In the present study, we observed the association of cognitive impairment with current/former habits of smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption, and exercise among very old people using a Chinese cohort aged 90 to 108 years. A cross-sectional study. The sample included 681 unrelated Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians (67.25% women). In men, compared with subjects without cognitive impairment, those with cognitive impairment had significantly higher prevalence of habits of smoking (P=0.048 and 0.004, for former/current, respectively) and alcohol consumption (P=0.003 and 0.049, for former/current, respectively) but had significantly lower prevalence of habits of tea consumption (P=0.041 and 0.044, for former/current, respectively) and current exercise (P=0.020). Subjects with habits of smoking had significantly lower cognitive function scores than those without these habits (mean difference=1.78 and 1.69, P=0.029 and 0.035, for former/current, respectively), but subjects with habit of current exercise had significantly higher cognitive function scores than those without this habit (mean difference=1.53, P=0.038). However, in women, there were no significant differences in prevalence of these habits between subjects with and without cognitive impairment and also no significant differences in cognitive function scores between subjects with and without these habits. Only current smoking habits in men had a significant odds ratio for cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 2.125; 95% confidence interval, 1.186-3.998). Among nonagenarians/centenarians, in men, there are associations of cognitive impairment with habits of former/current smoking and current exercise, as well as indefinite associations with habits of alcohol and tea consumption. Smoking may have a significant negative impact on cognitive function, but current exercise significantly improve cognitive function. However, in women, there are no associations of cognitive impairment with all the habits.

Normative data for Chinese compound remote associate problems.

PubMed

Wu, Ching-Lin; Chen, Hsueh-Chih

2017-12-01

The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is a well-known measure of creativity, with each item on the RAT is composed of three unrelated stimulus words. The participant's task is to find an answer in the form of a word that could combine with each of the stimulus words, thus forming three new actual nouns. Researchers have modified the RAT to develop compound remote associate problems that emphasize combining vocabulary to form compound words. In the field of creativity research for Mandarin speakers, the Chinese RAT has been widely applied for over 10 years. The original RAT, compound remote associate problems, and Chinese RAT have various common advantages, such as being convenient to use and having objective scoring; additionally, the development of items for certain tests is easy and satisfies the requirements of psychological assessments in terms of the quantity of items. Currently, many language editions of the RAT and compound remote associate problems already exist. In particular, the English and Italian versions of these tests already have derived normative data. Because approximately 20% of the world's population are native Mandarin speakers, and because increasing numbers of people are choosing Mandarin as a second language, the need to increase Mandarin-language resources is growing; however, normative data for the Chinese RAT still do not exist. To address this issue, in the present study we developed Chinese compound remote associate problems and analyzed the passing rates by items, problem solving times, and various normative data, using the responses of 253 subjects in three experiments.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is associated with the mitochondrial ND4 G11696A mutation in five Chinese families

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou Xiangtian; Wei Qiping; Yang Li

2006-02-03

We report here the clinical, genetic, and molecular characterization of five Chinese families with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Clinical and genetic evaluations revealed the variable severity and age-of-onset in visual impairment in these families. Strikingly, there were extremely low penetrances of visual impairment in these Chinese families. Sequence analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes in these pedigrees showed the distinct sets of mtDNA polymorphism, in addition to the identical ND4 G11696A mutation associated with LHON. Indeed, this mutation is present in homoplasmy only in the maternal lineage of those pedigrees but not other members of these families. In fact,more » the occurrence of the G11696A mutation in these several genetically unrelated subjects affected by visual impairment strongly indicates that this mutation is involved in the pathogenesis of visual impairment. Furthermore, the N405D in the ND5 and G5820A in the tRNA{sup Cys}, showing high evolutional conservation, may contribute to the phenotypic expression of G11696A mutation in the WZ10 pedigree. However, there was the absence of functionally significant mtDNA mutations in other four Chinese pedigrees carrying the G11696A mutation. Therefore, nuclear modifier gene(s) or environmental factor(s) may play a role in the phenotypic expression of the LHON-associated G11696A mutation in these Chinese pedigrees.« less

Chinese Learners of English See Chinese Words When Reading English Words.

PubMed

Ma, Fengyang; Ai, Haiyang

2018-06-01

The present study examines when second language (L2) learners read words in the L2, whether the orthography and/or phonology of the translation words in the first language (L1) is activated and whether the patterns would be modulated by the proficiency in the L2. In two experiments, two groups of Chinese learners of English immersed in the L1 environment, one less proficient and the other more proficient in English, performed a translation recognition task. In this task, participants judged whether pairs of words, with an L2 word preceding an L1 word, were translation words or not. The critical conditions compared the performance of learners to reject distractors that were related to the translation word (e.g., , pronounced as /bei 1/) of an L2 word (e.g., cup) in orthography (e.g., , bad in Chinese, pronounced as /huai 4/) or phonology (e.g., , sad in Chinese, pronounced as /bei 1/). Results of Experiment 1 showed less proficient learners were slower and less accurate to reject translation orthography distractors, as compared to unrelated controls, demonstrating a robust translation orthography interference effect. In contrast, their performance was not significantly different when rejecting translation phonology distractors, relative to unrelated controls, showing no translation phonology interference. The same patterns were observed in more proficient learners in Experiment 2. Together, these results suggest that when Chinese learners of English read English words, the orthographic information, but not the phonological information of the Chinese translation words is activated. In addition, this activation is not modulated by L2 proficiency.

ANXA11 mutations prevail in Chinese ALS patients with and without cognitive dementia.

PubMed

Zhang, Kang; Liu, Qing; Liu, Keqiang; Shen, Dongchao; Tai, Hongfei; Shu, Shi; Ding, Qingyun; Fu, Hanhui; Liu, Shuangwu; Wang, Zhili; Li, Xiaoguang; Liu, Mingsheng; Zhang, Xue; Cui, Liying

2018-06-01

To investigate the genetic contribution of ANXA11 , a gene associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in Chinese ALS patients with and without cognitive dementia. Sequencing all the coding exons of ANXA11 and intron-exon boundaries in 18 familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), 353 unrelated sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS), and 12 Chinese patients with ALS-frontotemporal lobar dementia (ALS-FTD). The transcripts in peripheral blood generated from a splicing mutation were examined by reverse transcriptase PCR. We identified 6 nonsynonymous heterozygous mutations (5 novel and 1 recurrent), 1 splice site mutation, and 1 deletion of 10 amino acids (not accounted in the mutant frequency) in 11 unrelated patients, accounting for a mutant frequency of 5.6% (1/18) in FALS, 2.3% (8/353) in SALS, and 8.3% (1/12) in ALS-FTD. The deletion of 10 amino acids was detected in 1 clinically undetermined male with an ALS family history who had atrophy in hand muscles and myotonic discharges revealed by EMG. The novel p. P36R mutation was identified in 1 FALS index, 1 patient with SALS, and 1 ALS-FTD. The splicing mutation (c.174-2A>G) caused in-frame skipping of the entire exon 6. The rest missense mutations including p.D40G, p.V128M, p.S229R, p.R302C and p.G491R were found in 6 unrelated patients with SALS. The ANXA11 gene is one of the most frequently mutated genes in Chinese patients with SALS. A canonical splice site mutation leading to skipping of the entire exon 6 further supports the loss-of-function mechanism. In addition, the study findings further expand the ANXA11 phenotype, first highlighting its pathogenic role in ALS-FTD.

Association of keratin 8/18 variants with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and insulin resistance in Chinese patients: A case-control study.

PubMed

Li, Rui; Liao, Xian-Hua; Ye, Jun-Zhao; Li, Min-Rui; Wu, Yan-Qin; Hu, Xuan; Zhong, Bi-Hui

2017-06-14

To test the hypothesis that K8/K18 variants predispose humans to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression and its metabolic phenotypes. We selected a total of 373 unrelated adult subjects from our Physical Examination Department, including 200 unrelated NAFLD patients and 173 controls of both genders and different ages. Diagnoses of NAFLD were established according to ultrasonic signs of fatty liver. All subjects were tested for population characteristics, lipid profile, liver tests, as well as glucose tests. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood with a DNeasy Tissue Kit. K8/K18 coding regions were analyzed, including 15 exons and exon-intron boundaries. Among 200 NAFLD patients, 10 (5%) heterozygous carriers of keratin variants were identified. There were 5 amino-acid-altering heterozygous variants and 6 non-coding heterozygous variants. One novel amino-acid-altering heterozygous variant (K18 N193S) and three novel non-coding variants were observed (K8 IVS5-9A→G, K8 IVS6+19G→A, K18 T195T). A total of 9 patients had a single variant and 1 patient had compound variants (K18 N193S+K8 IVS3-15C→G). Only one R341H variant was found in the control group (1 of 173, 0.58%). The frequency of keratin variants in NAFLD patients was significantly higher than that in the control group (5% vs 0.58%, P = 0.015). Notably, the keratin variants were significantly associated with insulin resistance (IR) in NAFLD patients (8.86% in NAFLD patients with IR vs 2.5% in NAFLD patients without IR, P = 0.043). K8/K18 variants are overrepresented in Chinese NAFLD patients and might accelerate liver fat storage through IR.

Abdominal Pain-Associated Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder Prevalence in Children and Adolescents with Celiac Disease on Gluten-Free Diet: A Multinational Study.

PubMed

Saps, Miguel; Sansotta, Naire; Bingham, Sean; Magazzu, Giuseppe; Grosso, Caterina; Romano, Simone; Pusatcioglu, Cenk; Guandalini, Stefano

2017-03-01

To test the hypothesis that children with celiac disease (CD) on gluten-free diet are at increased risk of abdominal pain (AP) associated-functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). This was a multinational cross-sectional study performed from 2014 to 2015. Patients 4-18 years of age with CD on gluten-free diet for longer than 6 months were recruited from pediatric CD clinics in US and Italy. Control groups included siblings of children with CD (with normal tissue transglutaminase levels) and unrelated controls. Subjects or parents completed the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III. Children (n = 289) were recruited (55% US, 45% Italy): 96 children with CD, 96 sibling controls, and 97 unrelated controls. Chronic AP was present in 30 (30.9%) subjects with CD, 22 (22.7%) sibling controls, and 21 (21.6%) unrelated controls (P = .26 patients with CD vs siblings; P = .18 patients with CD vs unrelated; P = .96 siblings vs unrelated). AP-FGIDs were present in 8 (8.2%) subjects with CD, 8 (8.2%) sibling controls, and 2 (2.1%) unrelated controls (P = 1.00 subjects with CD vs sibling controls; P = .06 subjects with CD vs unrelated controls; P = .06 sibling controls vs unrelated controls). This multinational study evaluated the prevalence of chronic abdominal pain and AP-FGIDs in the pediatric population with CD. We found that subjects with CD and controls have a similar prevalence of chronic AP and AP-FGIDs. This suggests that not all types of gastrointestinal inflammation result in AP-FGIDs in children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is associated with mitochondrial ND6 T14502C mutation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Fuxin; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325003; Guan, Minqiang

2009-11-20

We report here the clinical, genetic, and molecular characterization of three Chinese families with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). There were variable severity and age of onset in visual impairment among these families. Strikingly, there were extremely low penetrances of visual impairment in these Chinese families. Sequence analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes in these pedigrees showed the homoplasmic T14502C (I58V) mutation, which localized at a highly conserved isoleucine at position 58 of ND6, and distinct sets of mtDNA polymorphisms belonging to haplogroups M10a, F1a1, and H2. The occurrence of T14502C mutation in these several genetically unrelated subjects affected by visualmore » impairment strongly indicates that this mutation is involved in the pathogenesis of visual impairment. Here, mtDNA variants I187T in the ND1, A122V in CO1, S99A in the A6, and V254I in CO3 exhibited an evolutionary conservation, indicating a potential modifying role in the development of visual impairment associated with T14502C mutation in those families. Furthermore, nuclear modifier gene(s) or environmental factor(s) may play a role in the phenotypic manifestation of the LHON-associated T14502C mutation in these Chinese families.« less

FGFR2 molecular analysis and related clinical findings in one Chinese family with Crouzon Syndrome

PubMed Central

Lin, Ying; Liang, Xuanwei; Ai, Siming; Chen, Chuan; Liu, Xialin; Luo, Lixia; Ye, Shaobi; Li, Baoxin; Yang, Huasheng

2012-01-01

Purpose The purposed of this study was to investigate the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) gene in one Chinese family with Crouzon syndrome and to characterize the related clinical features. Methods One family underwent complete ophthalmic examinations, and two patients were diagnosed with Crouzon syndrome. Genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes of peripheral blood collected from the family and 100 unrelated control subjects from the same population. Exons 8 and 10 of FGFR2 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and directly sequenced. We performed ophthalmic examinations, including best-corrected visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, fundus examination, Pentacam, Goldmann perimetry, and computed tomography (CT) of the skull. Results The two patients were affected with shallow orbits and ocular proptosis, accompanied by midface hypoplasia, craniosynostosis, and clinically normal hands and feet. A heterozygous FGFR2 missense mutation c.866A>C (Gln289Pro) in exon 8 was identified in the affected individuals, but not in any of the unaffected family members and the normal controls. Conclusions Although FGFR2 mutations and polymorphisms have been reported in various ethnic groups, especially in the area of osteology, we report, for the first time, the identification of one new FGFR2 mutation in Chinese patients with Crouzon syndrome. PMID:22355256

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-4 gene polymorphisms in Chinese patients with gout.

PubMed

Chen, M-L; Tsai, F-J; Tsai, C-H; Huang, C-M

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether polymorphisms of interleukin-4 (IL-4) (promoter-590 and intron 3) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter-308 genes are markers of susceptibility to or clinical manifestations of gout in Taiwanese patients. The study included 196 Taiwanese patients with gout and 103 unrelated healthy control subjects living in central Taiwan. Polymorphisms of the IL-4 (promoter-590 and intron 3) and TNF-alpha (promoter-308) genes were typed from genomic DNA. Allelic frequencies and carriage rates were then compared between gout patients and control subjects. The correlation between allelic frequencies, carriage rates and clinical manifestations of gout were evaluated. No significant differences were observed in the allelic frequencies and carriage rates of the IL-4 (promoter-590 and intron 3) and TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms between patients with gout and healthy control subjects. Furthermore, the IL-4 (promoter-590 and intron 3) and TNF-alpha genotypes were not found to be associated with the clinical and laboratory profiles in gout patients. However, there was a significant difference in the TNF-alphapolymorphism genotype between patients with and without hypertriglyceridemia (P=0.001, xi2=11.47, OR=10.3, 95%CI=3.57-29.7). The results of our study suggest that polymorphisms of the IL-4 (promoter-590 and intron 3) and TNF-alpha promoter-308 genes are not related to gout in Chinese patients in Taiwan.

Relationship of obesity with osteoporosis

PubMed Central

Zhao, Lan-Juan; Liu, Yong-Jun; Liu, Peng-Yuan; Hamilton, James; Recker, Robert R.; Deng, Hong-Wen

2007-01-01

Context The relationship between obesity and osteoporosis has been widely studied, and epidemiological evidence shows that obesity is correlated with increased bone mass. Previous analyses, however, did not control for the mechanical loading effects of total body weight on bone mass and may have generated a confounded or even biased relationship between obesity and osteoporosis. Objective To re-evaluate the relationship between obesity and osteoporosis by accounting for the mechanical loading effects of total body weight on bone mass. Methods We measured whole body fat mass, lean mass, percentage fat mass (PFM), body mass index (BMI), and bone mass in two large samples of different ethnicity: 1,988 unrelated Chinese subjects and 4,489 Caucasian subjects from 512 pedigrees. We first evaluated the Pearson correlations among different phenotypes. We then dissected the phenotypic correlations into genetic and environmental components, with bone mass unadjusted, or adjusted, for body weight. This allowed us to compare the results with and without controlling for mechanical loading effects of body weight on bone mass. Results In both Chinese and Caucasians, when the mechanical loading effect of body weight on bone mass was adjusted for, the phenotypic correlation (including its genetic and environmental components) between fat mass (or PFM) and bone mass was negative. Further multivariate analyses in subjects stratified by body weight confirmed the inverse relationship between bone mass and fat mass, after mechanical loading effects due to total body weight was controlled. Conclusions Increasing fat mass may not have a beneficial effect on bone mass. PMID:17299077

Association of osteoporotic fracture with smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption and exercise among Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians.

PubMed

Du, F; Birong, D; Changquan, H; Hongmei, W; Yanling, Z; Wen, Z; Li, L

2011-05-01

To observe the association of osteoporotic fracture with habits of smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption and exercise among very old people. A cross-sectional study conducted in Dujiangyan Sichuan China. 703 unrelated Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians (67.76% women, mean age 93.48 years) resident in Dujiangyan. Medical history of osteoporosis and the statement of fracture and habits (current and former) of smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption and exercise were collected. In women, subjects with current or former habit of alcohol consumption had significantly higher prevalence osteoporotic fracture than those without this habit; but subjects with former habit of exercise had significantly lower prevalence osteoporotic fracture than those without this habit. However, in men, there was no significant difference in prevalence of these habits between subjects with and without osteoporotic fracture. After adjust for age, gender, sleep habits educational levels, religion habits and temperament, we found that former habit of alcohol consumption had a significant odds ratio (OR=2.473 95% CI (1.074, 5.526)) for osteoporotic fracture. In summary, among nonagenarians and centenarians, among habits (current and former) of smoking, alcohol consumption, tea consumption and exercise, there seems to be significant association of osteoporotic fracture only with current or former habits of alcohol consumption, former habit of exercise. The habit of alcohol consumption might be associated with a greater risk of osteoporotic fracture, but the former habit of exercise might be associated with a lower risk of osteoporotic fracture.

Cross-language parafoveal semantic processing: Evidence from Korean-Chinese bilinguals.

PubMed

Wang, Aiping; Yeon, Junmo; Zhou, Wei; Shu, Hua; Yan, Ming

2016-02-01

In the present study, we aimed at testing cross-language cognate and semantic preview effects. We tested how native Korean readers who learned Chinese as a second language make use of the parafoveal information during the reading of Chinese sentences. There were 3 types of Korean preview words: cognate translations of the Chinese target words, semantically related noncognate words, and unrelated words. Together with a highly significant cognate preview effect, more critically, we also observed reliable facilitation in processing of the target word from the semantically related previews in all fixation measures. Results from the present study provide first evidence for semantic processing from parafoveally presented Korean words and for cross-language parafoveal semantic processing.

First Report of Arg587Cys Mutation of Notch3 Gene in Two Chinese Families with CADASIL.

PubMed

You, Jinsong; Liao, Shaojun; Zhang, Foming; Ma, Zhaohui; Li, Guifu

2017-01-01

To explore Notch3 mutation sites of Chinese patients with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Direct sequencing of all exons in Notch3 gene was performed on 12 unrelated suspected CADASIL cases from mainland China. A missense p.Arg587Cys (1759C>T) mutation in exon 11 was identified in 2 patients through genetic analysis. Chinese patients with CADASIL of R587C mutation in exon 11 was firstly reported. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of a possible role of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene in paranoid schizophrenia among a Chinese population.

PubMed

Sun, Yuhui; Zhang, Jiexu; Yuan, Yanbo; Yu, Xin; Shen, Yan; Xu, Qi

2012-01-01

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is the enzyme responsible for degradation of several monoamines, such as dopamine and serotonin that are considered as being two of the most important neurotransmitters involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To study a possible role of the MAOA gene in conferring susceptibility to schizophrenia, the present study genotyped the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism and 41 SNPs across this gene among 555 unrelated patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 567 unrelated healthy controls. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis was employed to quantify expression of MAOA mRNA in 73 drug-free patients. While none of these genotyped DNA markers showed allelic association with paranoid schizophrenia, haplotypic association was found for the VNTR-rs6323, VNTR-rs1137070, and VNTR-rs6323-rs1137070 haplotypes in female subjects. Nevertheless, no significant change of the expression of MAOA mRNA was detected in either female or male patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Our study suggests that the interaction between genetic variants within the MAOA gene may contribute to an increased risk of paranoid schizophrenia, but the precise mechanism needs further investigation. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Identification of novel compound heterozygous mutations of USH2A gene in a family with Usher syndrome type II].

PubMed

Jiang, Haiou; Ge, Chuanqin; Wang, Yiwang; Tang, Genyun; Quan, Qingli

2015-06-01

To identify potential mutations in a Chinese family with Usher syndrome type II. Genomic DNA was obtained from two affected and four unaffected members of the family and subjected to amplification of the entire coding sequence and splicing sites of USH2A gene. Mutation detection was conducted by direct sequencing of the PCR products. A total of 100 normal unrelated individuals were used as controls. The patients were identified to be a compound heterozygote for two mutations: c.8272G>T (p.E2758X) in exon 42 from his mother and c.12376-12378ACT>TAA(p.T4126X) in exon 63 of the USH2A gene from his father. Both mutations were not found in either of the two unaffected family members or 100 unrelated controls, and had completely co-segregated with the disease phenotype in the family. Neither mutation has been reported in the HGMD database. The novel compound heterozygous mutations c.8272G>T and c.12376-12378ACT>TAA within the USH2A gene may be responsible for the disease. This result may provide new clues for molecular diagnosis of this disease.

Three novel PHEX gene mutations in four Chinese families with X-linked dominant hypophosphatemic rickets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kang, Qing-lin; Xu, Jia; Metabolic Bone Disease and Genetic Research Unit, Department of Osteoporosis and Bone Diseases, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200233

2012-07-13

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In our study, all of the patients were of Han Chinese ethnicity, which were rarely reported. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We identified three novel PHEX gene mutations in four unrelated families with XLH. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We found that the relationship between the phenotype and genotype of the PHEX gene was not invariant. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We found that two PHEX gene sites, p.534 and p.731, were conserved. -- Abstract: Background: X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), the most common form of inherited rickets, is a dominant disorder that is characterized by renal phosphate wasting with hypophosphatemia, abnormal bone mineralization, short stature, and rachitic manifestations. The related genemore » with inactivating mutations associated with XLH has been identified as PHEX, which is a phosphate-regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidases on the X chromosome. In this study, a variety of PHEX mutations were identified in four Chinese families with XLH. Methods: We investigated four unrelated Chinese families who exhibited typical features of XLH by using PCR to analyze mutations that were then sequenced. The laboratory and radiological investigations were conducted simultaneously. Results: Three novel mutations were found in these four families: one frameshift mutation, c.2033dupT in exon 20, resulting in p.T679H; one nonsense mutation, c.1294A > T in exon 11, resulting in p.K432X; and one missense mutation, c.2192T > C in exon 22, resulting in p.F731S. Conclusions: We found that the PHEX gene mutations were responsible for XLH in these Chinese families. Our findings are useful for understanding the genetic basis of Chinese patients with XLH.« less

Lexical processing of Chinese sub-character components: Semantic activation of phonetic radicals as revealed by the Stroop effect.

PubMed

Yeh, Su-Ling; Chou, Wei-Lun; Ho, Pokuan

2017-11-17

Most Chinese characters are compounds consisting of a semantic radical indicating semantic category and a phonetic radical cuing the pronunciation of the character. Controversy surrounds whether radicals also go through the same lexical processing as characters and, critically, whether phonetic radicals involve semantic activation since they can also be characters when standing alone. Here we examined these issues using the Stroop task whereby participants responded to the ink color of the character. The key finding was that Stroop effects were found when the character itself had a meaning unrelated to color, but contained a color name phonetic radical (e.g., "guess", with the phonetic radical "cyan", on the right) or had a meaning associated with color (e.g., "pity", with the phonetic radical "blood" on the right which has a meaning related to "red"). Such Stroop effects from the phonetic radical within a character unrelated to color support that Chinese character recognition involves decomposition of characters into their constituent radicals; with each of their meanings including phonetic radicals activated independently, even though it would inevitably interfere with that of the whole character. Compared with the morphological decomposition in English whereby the semantics of the morphemes are not necessarily activated, the unavoidable semantic activation of phonetic radicals represents a unique feature in Chinese character processing.

Associations of Genetic Risk Score with Obesity and Related Traits and the Modifying Effect of Physical Activity in a Chinese Han Population

PubMed Central

Zhu, Jingwen; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Lu, Ling; Zong, Geng; Gan, Wei; Ye, Xingwang; Sun, Liang; Li, Huaixing; Lin, Xu

2014-01-01

Background/Objectives Recent large-scale genome-wide association studies have identified multiple loci robustly associated with BMI, predominantly in European ancestry (EA) populations. However, associations of these loci with obesity and related traits have not been well described in Chinese Hans. This study aimed to investigate whether BMI-associated loci are, individually and collectively, associated with adiposity-related traits and obesity in Chinese Hans and whether these associations are modified by physical activity (PA). Subjects/Methods We genotyped 28 BMI-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a population-based cohort including 2,894 unrelated Han Chinese. Genetic risk score (GRS), EA and East Asian ancestry (EAA) GRSs were calculated by adding BMI-increasing alleles based on all, EA and EAA identified SNPs, respectively. Interactions of GRS and PA were examined by including the interaction-term in the regression model. Results Individually, 26 of 28 SNPs showed directionally consistent effects on BMI, and associations of four loci (TMEM18, PCSK1, BDNF and MAP2K5) reached nominal significance (P<0.05). The GRS was associated with increased BMI, trunk fat and body fat percentages; and increased risk of obesity and overweight (all P<0.05). Effect sizes (0.11 vs. 0.17 kg/m2) and explained variance (0.90% vs. 1.45%) of GRS for BMI tended to be lower in Chinese Hans than in Europeans. The EA GRS and EAA GRS were associated with 0.11 and 0.13 kg/m2 higher BMI, respectively. In addition, we found that PA attenuated the effect of the GRS on BMI (P interaction = 0.022). Conclusions Our observations suggest that the combined effect of obesity-susceptibility loci on BMI tended to be lower in Han Chinese than in EA. The overall, EA and EAA GRSs exert similar effects on adiposity traits. Genetic predisposition to increased BMI is attenuated by PA in this population of Han Chinese. PMID:24626232

Characterization of G6PD Genotypes and Phenotypes on the Northwestern Thailand-Myanmar Border

PubMed Central

Somsakchaicharoen, Raweewan; Chowwiwat, Nongnud; Parker, Daniel M.; Charunwatthana, Prakaykaew; White, Nicholas J.; Nosten, François H.

2014-01-01

Mutations in the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) gene result in red blood cells with increased susceptibility to oxidative damage. Significant haemolysis can be caused by primaquine and other 8-aminoquinoline antimalarials used for the radical treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria. The distribution and phenotypes of mutations causing G6PD deficiency in the male population of migrants and refugees in a malaria endemic region on the Thailand-Myanmar border were characterized. Blood samples for G6PD fluorescent spot test (FST), G6PD genotyping, and malaria testing were taken from 504 unrelated males of Karen and Burman ethnicities presenting to the outpatient clinics. The overall frequency of G6PD deficiency by the FST was 13.7%. Among the deficient subjects, almost 90% had the Mahidol variant (487G>A) genotype. The remaining subjects had Chinese-4 (392G>T), Viangchan (871G>A), Açores (595A>G), Seattle (844G>C) and Mediterranean (563C>T) variants. Quantification of G6PD activity was performed using a modification of the standard spectrophotometric assay on a subset of 24 samples with Mahidol, Viangchan, Seattle and Chinese-4 mutations; all samples showed a residual enzymatic activity below 10% of normal and were diagnosed correctly by the FST. Further studies are needed to characterise the haemolytic risk of using 8-aminoquinolines in patients with these genotypes. PMID:25536053

MICA genetic polymorphism and HLA-A,C,B,MICA and DRB1 haplotypic variation in a southern Chinese Han population: identification of two new MICA alleles, MICA*060 and MICA*062.

PubMed

Tian, Wei; Cai, JinHong; Liu, XueXiang

2011-06-01

In this study, 201 healthy, unrelated Han subjects in Hunan province, southern China, were investigated by sequence-based typing (SBT) for the allelic variation of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I chain-related gene A (MICA). Nineteen MICA alleles were observed, among which MICA*008:01 predominated with gene frequency of 30.35%. There was significant linkage disequilibrium (LD) of MICA*012:01 with HLA-B*54 and HLA-B*55, which was not observed in a northern Chinese Han population. Haplotype HLA-A*11-C*07-B60-MICA*008:01 (9.16%) was highly specific to this southern Chinese Han population. The most common five-locus haplotype in this population was HLA-A*02-C*01-B*46-MICA*010-DRB1*09 (8.73%). A new MICA allele, MICA*060, was identified on an HLA-A*02-C*01-B*55:02-DRB1*14 haplotype through extended family analysis. MICA*060 has probably arisen from MICA*012:01. Another new MICA allele, MICA*062, was identified by screening 1432 subjects using polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific priming technology. MICA*062 has probably derived from MICA*010. Of particular interest is that MICA*062 was carried on an HLA-C*08-B*48:01-DRB1*14 haplotypic segment, as HLA-B*48 has been consistently shown to be primarily linked to MICA gene deletion in east Asian populations. Our results provide new insight into MICA genetic polymorphism in human populations. The findings reported here are of importance for future studies on the potential role of MICA in allogeneic organ transplantation and disease association in populations of Chinese ancestry. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A cis-phase interaction study of genetic variants within the MAOA gene in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Zhang, JieXu; Chen, YanBo; Zhang, KeRang; Yang, Hong; Sun, Yan; Fang, Yue; Shen, Yan; Xu, Qi

2010-11-01

The genetic basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) has been explored extensively, but the mode of transmission of the disease has yet to be established. To better understand the mechanism by which the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene may play a role in developing MDD, the present work examined the cis-phase interaction between genetic variants within the MAOA gene for the pathogenesis of MDD. A variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) and 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the gene were genotyped in 512 unrelated patients with MDD and 567 unrelated control subjects among a Chinese population. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was applied to test the effect of genetic variants on expression of the MAOA gene in MDD. Neither the VNTR polymorphism nor seven informative SNPs showed allelic association with MDD, but the cis-acting interactions between the VNTR polymorphism and four individual SNPs were strongly associated with MDD risk, of which the VNTR-rs1465107 combination showed the strongest association (p = .000011). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that overall relative quantity of MAOA messenger RNA was significantly higher in patients with MDD than in control subjects (fold change = 5.28, p = 1.7 × 10⁻⁷) and that in the male subjects carrying the VNTR-L, rs1465107-A, rs6323-G, rs2072743-A, or rs1137070-T alleles, expression of MAOA messenger RNA was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group. The cis-phase interaction between the VNTR polymorphism and functional SNPs may contribute to the etiology of MDD. Copyright © 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Analysis of genetic polymorphism in randomized donor's HPA 1-16 antigens and establishment of typed platelet donor data bank].

PubMed

Sun, Guo-Dong; Duan, Xian-Min; Zhang, Yan-Ping; Yin, Zhi-Zhu; Niu, Xiao-Li; Li, Yan-Feng; Niu, Hai-Jiang; Zhao, You-Liang

2005-10-01

To study the genetic polymorphism of HPA 1-16 platelet antigen alleles among unrelated volunteer donors and establish a typed platelet donor panel in Handan, typing was perfomed by polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers (SSP-PCR); 148 random unrelated blood donors in Handan were genotyped for each of the HPA 1-16 antigen. The gene frequencies were analyzed and the genetype frequencies were determined by direct counting, and these data were compared with HPA distribution among various population by the chi-square test. The results indicated that HPA-1a, 2a, 4a-14a, 16a genes were found among the 16 HPAs in every sample tested. Monomorphic HPA-4a, 7a-14a, 16a were found in the samples. For HPA-1, 2, 5 and 6, a/a homozygosity was predominant with frequencies of 0.9595, 0.8108, 0.9865, 0.9797, respectively, and none of HPA b/b was found in the samples. HPA-1b, 2b, 5b, 6b were rarely found among subjects. HPA-15 had the greatest heterozygosity with a gene frequency of 0.2230, 0.5270, 0.2500 for HPA15a/15a, HPA15a/15b, HPA15b/15b, respectively. HPA-3 showed the second greatest heterozygosity with a gene frequency of 0.3851, 0.5135, 0.1014 for HPA3a/3a, HPA3a/3b, HPA3b/3b, respectively. HPA genotype frequencies showed a good fit to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. HPA1-5 gene frequencies for Chinese people in Handan were consistent with those of Chinese people in Shijiazhuang (P > 0.05). Among the HPA1-13, -15, the frequencies of HPA-1, -2, -6 for Chinese people in Handan differed appreciably from those for Chinese people in Taiwan (P < 0.05), others were similar to those of Chinese people in Taiwan. Among the HPA 1 - 8, a similarity was noted between Chinese people in Handan and Koreans (P > 0.05), except for HPA-3. Frequencies of HPA-1, -2, -5 significantly were differed from those in African Americans, as compared with HPA 1-5 (P < 0.05). Comparison of gene frequencies from HPA-1 and -5 showed significant differences between Chinese people in Handan and people in UK (P < 0.05). It is concluded that HPA-2, -3, -5, -15 of people in Western region of China have polymorphism, incompatible frequency of HPA antigen distribution is higher, which inevitably results in the increase of immunologic exposure, therefore attention must be paid to the importance of HPA-2, -3, -5, -15 in clinical disorders. This study for the first time completely analyses HPA1-16 gene frequencies in China, and provides data for establishing a typed platelet donor panel in Handan, China.

Diversified clinical presentations associated with a novel sal-like 4 gene mutation in a Chinese pedigree with Duane retraction syndrome.

PubMed

Yang, Ming-ming; Ho, Mary; Lau, Henry H W; Tam, Pancy O S; Young, Alvin L; Pang, Chi Pui; Yip, Wilson W K; Chen, LiJia

2013-01-01

To determine the underlying genetic cause of Duane retraction syndrome (DRS) in a non-consanguineous Chinese Han family. Detailed ophthalmic and physical examinations were performed on all members from a pedigree with DRS. All exons and their adjacent splicing junctions of the sal-like 4 (SALL4) gene were amplified with polymerase chain reaction and analyzed with direct sequencing in all the recruited family members and 200 unrelated control subjects. Clinical examination revealed a broad spectrum of phenotypes in the DRS family. Mutation analysis of SALL4 identified a novel heterozygous duplication mutation, c.1919dupT, which was completely cosegregated with the disease in the family and absent in controls. This mutation was predicted to cause a frameshift, introducing a premature stop codon, when translated, resulting in a truncated SALL4 protein, i.e., p.Met640IlefsX25. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the affected region of SALL4 shared a highly conserved sequence across different species. Diversified clinical manifestations were observed in the c.1919dupT carriers of the family. We identified a novel truncating mutation in the SALL4 gene that leads to diversified clinical features of DRS in a Chinese family. This mutation is predicted to result in a truncated SALL4 protein affecting two functional domains and cause disease development due to haploinsufficiency through nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

mtDNA mutation C1494T, haplogroup A, and hearing loss in Chinese

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang Chengye; Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resource, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091; Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039

2006-09-22

Mutation C1494T in mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was recently reported in two large Chinese families with aminoglycoside-induced and nonsyndromic hearing loss (AINHL) and was claimed to be pathogenic. This mutation, however, was first reported in a sample from central China in our previous study that was aimed to reconstruct East Asian mtDNA phylogeny. All these three mtDNAs formed a subclade defined by mutation C1494T in mtDNA haplogroup A. It thus seems that mutation C1494T is a haplogroup A-associated mutation and this matrilineal background may contribute a high risk for the penetrance of mutation C1494T in Chinese with AINHL. To testmore » this hypothesis, we first genotyped mutation C1494T in 553 unrelated individuals from three regional Chinese populations and performed an extensive search for published complete or near-complete mtDNA data sets (>3000 mtDNAs), we then screened the C1494T mutation in 111 mtDNAs with haplogroup A status that were identified from 1823 subjects across China. The search for published mtDNA data sets revealed no other mtDNA besides the above-mentioned three carrying mutation C1494T. None of the 553 randomly selected individuals and the 111 haplogroup A mtDNAs was found to bear this mutation. Therefore, our results suggest that C1494T is a very rare event. The mtDNA haplogroup A background in general is unlikely to play an active role in the penetrance of mutation C1494T in AINHL.« less

A novel mutation of PAX3 in a Chinese family with Waardenburg syndrome.

PubMed

Qin, Wei; Shu, Anli; Qian, Xueqing; Gao, Jianjun; Xing, Qinghe; Zhang, Juan; Zheng, Yonglan; Li, Xingwang; Li, Sheng; Feng, Guoyin; He, Lin

2006-08-28

The molecular characterization of 34 members of a Chinese family, with 22 members in four generations, affected with Waardenburg syndrome (WS1). A detailed family history and clinical data were collected. A genome-wide scan by two-point linkage analysis using more than 400 microsatellite markers in combination with haplotype analysis was performed. Mutation screening was carried out in the candidate gene by sequencing of amplified products. A maximum two-point lod score of 6.53 at theta = 0.00 was obtained with marker D2S2248. Haplotype analysis placed the WS1 locus to a 45.74 cM region between D2S117 and D2S206, in close proximity to the PAX3 gene on chromosome 2q35. Mutation screening in PAX3 identified a 701T > C mutation which converted a highly conserved Leu to Pro. This nucleotide alteration was neither seen in unaffected members of the family nor found in 50 unrelated control subjects. The present study identified a novel 701T > C mutation in PAX3. The mutation observed in this family highlights the phenotypic heterogeneity of the disorder.

Relationship between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and post-stroke depression.

PubMed

Guo, W Y; Zhang, Z H; Mu, J L; Liu, D; Zhao, L; Yao, Z Y; Song, J G

2016-02-19

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is a mental illness characterized by subjective feelings of depression, cognitive dysfunction, and decreased interest. The serotoninergic system is involved in the pathogenesis of depressive disorders and is regulated by the serotonin transporter gene. The serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been examined as a factor associated with depression and other mental disorders. This study was performed to explore the relationship between 5-HTTLPR and PSD in a Han Chinese population. In total, 199 patients with PSD and 202 unrelated non-PSD patients were recruited from psychiatric hospitals. Depression was diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition. Blood samples were collected from all patients for 5-HTTLPR genotyping. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared between the two groups. SS genotype frequency was significantly higher in the PSD group than in the non-PSD group. LL genotype frequency was significantly higher in the non-PSD group than in the PSD group (P < 0.01). This study describes a positive association between 5-HTTLPR and PSD in a Han Chinese population and provides genetic evidence to support the genetic susceptibility of PSD.

Does N200 reflect semantic processing?--An ERP study on Chinese visual word recognition.

PubMed

Du, Yingchun; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, John X

2014-01-01

Recent event-related potential research has reported a N200 response or a negative deflection peaking around 200 ms following the visual presentation of two-character Chinese words. This N200 shows amplitude enhancement upon immediate repetition and there has been preliminary evidence that it reflects orthographic processing but not semantic processing. The present study tested whether this N200 is indeed unrelated to semantic processing with more sensitive measures, including the use of two tasks engaging semantic processing either implicitly or explicitly and the adoption of a within-trial priming paradigm. In Exp. 1, participants viewed repeated, semantically related and unrelated prime-target word pairs as they performed a lexical decision task judging whether or not each target was a real word. In Exp. 2, participants viewed high-related, low-related and unrelated word pairs as they performed a semantic task judging whether each word pair was related in meaning. In both tasks, semantic priming was found from both the behavioral data and the N400 ERP responses. Critically, while repetition priming elicited a clear and large enhancement on the N200 response, semantic priming did not show any modulation effect on the same response. The results indicate that the N200 repetition enhancement effect cannot be explained with semantic priming and that this specific N200 response is unlikely to reflect semantic processing.

Racial Categorization Predicts Implicit Racial Bias in Preschool Children.

PubMed

Setoh, Peipei; Lee, Kristy J J; Zhang, Lijun; Qian, Miao K; Quinn, Paul C; Heyman, Gail D; Lee, Kang

2017-06-12

This research investigated the relation between racial categorization and implicit racial bias in majority and minority children. Chinese and Indian 3- to 7-year-olds from Singapore (N = 158) categorized Chinese and Indian faces by race and had their implicit and explicit racial biases measured. Majority Chinese children, but not minority Indian children, showed implicit bias favoring own race. Regardless of ethnicity, children's racial categorization performance correlated positively with implicit racial bias. Also, Chinese children, but not Indian children, displayed explicit bias favoring own race. Furthermore, children's explicit bias was unrelated to racial categorization performance and implicit bias. The findings support a perceptual-social linkage in the emergence of implicit racial bias and have implications for designing programs to promote interracial harmony. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A Comparison of the Chinese and Indian Education Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnove, Robert F.

1984-01-01

Despite remarkable progress in education, China and India still face problems of massive illiteracy; lack of universal access to education; a hierarchical, elitist, examination-oriented system unrelated to economic needs and productive labor; a large number of unemployed school leavers; and dependence on foreign models, particularly at the higher…

The E23K and A190A variations of the KCNJ11 gene are associated with early-onset type 2 diabetes and blood pressure in the Chinese population.

PubMed

Zhuang, Langen; Zhao, Yu; Zhao, Weijing; Li, Ming; Yu, Ming; Lu, Ming; Zhang, Rong; Ge, Xiaoxu; Zheng, Taishan; Li, Can; Yin, Jun; Yin, Jingyuan; Bao, Yuqian; Liu, Limei; Jia, Weiping; Liu, Yanjun

2015-06-01

Conflicting associations between define (KCNJ11) variations and susceptibility to late-onset (>40 years old) type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been reported in different ethnic groups. We investigated whether the E23K (G→A, rs5219) or A190A (C→T, rs5218) variations in KCNJ11 are associated with early-onset T2DM and blood pressure in the Chinese population. Case-control study of 175 unrelated Chinese patients with early-onset T2DM (age of onset <40 years old) who receive (ins+, n = 57) or do not receive insulin (ins-, n = 118), and 182 non-diabetic control subjects. PCR-direct sequencing was performed to genotype E23K and A190A; the genotypic frequencies and associations with clinical characteristics were analyzed. The genotypic frequencies of E23K-GA+AA were higher and A190A-TT was lower in the early-onset T2DM group, especially the T2D-ins+ group, compared to the non-diabetic control group (p < 0.01 or 0.05, respectively). In non-diabetic subjects, E23K-AA carriers had significantly higher 2 h plasma glucose and lower 2 h insulin than E23K-GG carriers (both p < 0.05). A190A-TT or E23K-GG carriers had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) than CC or AA carriers in the non-diabetic control and T2DM groups (both p < 0.05). In the T2DM ins+ group, E23K-AA carriers had lower onset age and duration of diabetes and higher BMI than GG carriers, and A190A-TT carriers had higher SBP than CC carriers (all p < 0.05). The E23K-GA or AA genotypes may increase the susceptibility to early-onset T2DM, while A190A-TT may protect against early-onset T2DM. On the other hand the A190A-TT or E23K-GG genotypes may increase the risk of hypertension in the Chinese population.

Morpho-Semantic Processing in Word Recognition: Evidence from Balanced and Biased Ambiguous Morphemes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsang, Yiu-Kei; Chen, Hsuan-Chih

2013-01-01

The role of morphemic meaning in Chinese word recognition was examined with the masked and unmasked priming paradigms. Target words contained ambiguous morphemes biased toward the dominant or the subordinate meanings. Prime words either contained the same ambiguous morphemes in the subordinate interpretations or were unrelated to the targets. In…

[Frequency of intron 1 inversion of factor VIII gene in Chinese hemophilia A patients with case report of a female patient with heterozygous intron 1 inversion].

PubMed

Yan, Zhen-yu; Liang, Yan; Yan, Mei; Fan, Lian-kai; Xiao, Bai; Hua, Bao-lai; Liu, Jing-zhong; Zhao, Yong-qiang

2008-10-21

To investigate the frequency of intron 1 inversion (inv1) in FVIII gene in Chinese hemophilia A (HA) patients and to investigate the mechanism of pathogenesis. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 158 unrelated HA patients, aged 20 (1 - 73), including one female HA patient, aged 5, and several family members of a patient positive in inv1. One-stage method was used to assay the FVIII activity (FVIII:C). Long distance PCR and multiple PCR in duplex reactions were used to screen for the intron 22 inversion (inv22) and inv1 of the FVIII coding gene (F8). The F8 coding sequence was amplified with PCR and sequenced with an automatic sequencer. Two unrelated patients (pedigrees) were detected as inv1 positive with a positive rate of 1.26%. A rare female HA patient with inv1 was also discovered in a positive family (3 HA cases were found in this family and regarded as one case in calculating the total detection rate). The full length of FVIII was sequenced, and no other mutation was detected. There frequency of FVIII inv1 is low in Chinese HA patients compared with other populations. Female HA patients are heterozygous for FVIII inv1 and that may be resulted from nonrandom inactivation of X chromosome.

Functional Analyses of a Novel CITED2 Nonsynonymous Mutation in Chinese Tibetan Patients with Congenital Heart Disease.

PubMed

Liu, Shiming; Su, Zhaobing; Tan, Sainan; Ni, Bin; Pan, Hong; Liu, Beihong; Wang, Jing; Xiao, Jianmin; Chen, Qiuhong

2017-08-01

CITED2 gene is an important cardiac transcription factor that plays a fundamental role in the formation and development of embryonic cardiovascular. Previous studies have showed that knock-out of CITED2 in mice might result in various cardiac malformations. However, the mechanisms of CITED2 mutation on congenital heart disease (CHD) in Chinese Tibetan population are still poorly understood. In the present study, 187 unrelated Tibetan patients with CHD and 200 unrelated Tibetan healthy controls were screened for variants in the CITED2 gene; we subsequently identified one potential disease-causing mutation p.G143A in a 6-year-old girl with PDA and functional analyses of the mutation were carried out. Our study showed that the novel mutation of CITED2 significantly enhanced the expression activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) under the role of co-receptor hypoxia inducible factor 1-aipha (HIF-1A), which is closely related with embryonic cardiac development. As a result, CITED2 gene mutation may play a significant role in the development of pediatric congenital heart disease.

A large deletion of PROP1 gene in patients with combined pituitary hormone deficiency from two unrelated Chinese pedigrees.

PubMed

Zhang, Huiwen; Wang, Yi; Han, Lianshu; Gu, Xuefan; Shi, Dingping

2010-01-01

Familial combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD) appears to have a genetic cause, PROP1 gene mutations being the most common one. We investigated whether PROP1 plays a role in two Chinese familial cases of CPHD. PROP1 gene and adjacent sequences from genomic samples from two unrelated families were amplified to investigate molecular variations and define the extension of a potential deletion. A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted to analyze the copy number of PROP1 gene in the probands' mothers. The relationship of the two distantly located families was further analyzed using microsatellite markers. A segment of about 53.2 kilobases (kb) comprehending PROP1 and another gene encoding a hypothetical protein Q6ZTH3 was deleted in both pedigrees. The mother of one of the probands was hemizygous for this large deletion, which confirmed the assumption that the affected children inherited the deletion allele from their consanguineous parents. The difference of three microsatellites surrounding the absent segment indicated that the two pedigrees were genetically unrelated. We report the largest genomic deletion including PROP1 gene associated with CPHD. Q6ZTH3 is unlikely to exert an indispensable function during embryogenesis or organogenesis. The 7.7-kb segment upstream of the transcription of PROP1 probably harbors a fragile site that favors the occurrence of breakpoints. Copyright (c) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A novel homozygous no-stop mutation in G6PC gene from a Chinese patient with glycogen storage disease type Ia.

PubMed

Gu, Lei-Lei; Li, Xin-Hua; Han, Yue; Zhang, Dong-Hua; Gong, Qi-Ming; Zhang, Xin-Xin

2014-02-25

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder resulting in hypoglycemia, hepatomegaly and growth retardation. It is caused by mutations in the G6PC gene encoding Glucose-6-phosphatase. To date, over 80 mutations have been identified in the G6PC gene. Here we reported a novel mutation found in a Chinese patient with abnormal transaminases, hypoglycemia, hepatomegaly and short stature. Direct sequencing of the coding region and splicing-sites in the G6PC gene revealed a novel no-stop mutation, p.*358Yext*43, leading to a 43 amino-acid extension of G6Pase. The expression level of mutant G6Pase transcripts was only 7.8% relative to wild-type transcripts. This mutation was not found in 120 chromosomes from 60 unrelated healthy control subjects using direct sequencing, and was further confirmed by digestion with Rsa I restriction endonuclease. In conclusion, we revealed a novel no-stop mutation in this study which expands the spectrum of mutations in the G6PC gene. The molecular genetic analysis was indispensable to the diagnosis of GSD-Ia for the patient. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

THAP1/DYT6 sequence variants in non-DYT1 early-onset primary dystonia in China and their effects on RNA expression.

PubMed

Cheng, Fu Bo; Ozelius, Laurie J; Wan, Xin Hua; Feng, Jia Chun; Ma, Ling Yan; Yang, Ying Mai; Wang, Lin

2012-02-01

Mutations in the THAP1 gene were recently identified as the cause of DYT6 primary dystonia. More than 40 mutations in this gene have been described in different populations. However, no previous report has identified sequence variations that affect the transcript process of the THAP1 gene. In addition, the mutation frequency in Chinese early-onset primary dystonia has not been well characterized. One hundred and two unrelated patients with non-DYT1 early-onset primary dystonia (age at onset <26 years), family members of participants with mutations, and 200 neurologically normal controls were screened for THAP1 gene mutations. The effects of the identified mutations on RNA expression were analyzed using semi-quantitative real-time PCR. Seven sequence variants (c.63_66del TTTC, c.161G>T, c.224A>T, c.267G>A, c.339T>C, c.449A>C, and c.539T>C) were identified in this group of patients (6.9%). In this cohort, 15 subjects (seven unrelated patients and eight family members) were detected to have THAP1 sequence variants. Among these 15 subjects, 11 were manifested (penetrance of DYT6 was 73.3%) and seven presented with craniocervical involvement (63.6%). However, one patient manifested paroxysmal headshake, and one presented with essential hand tremor. Semi-quantitative real-time PCR indicated that a novel silent mutation (c.267G>A) decreased the expression of THAP1 in human lymphocytes. Our findings indicated that THAP1 sequence variants are not common in non-DYT1 early-onset primary dystonia in China and that the clinical manifestation may vary. One silent mutation (c.267G>A) was shown to affect THAP1 expression.

Masked syllable priming effects in word and picture naming in Chinese.

PubMed

You, Wenping; Zhang, Qingfang; Verdonschot, Rinus G

2012-01-01

Four experiments investigated the role of the syllable in Chinese spoken word production. Chen, Chen and Ferrand (2003) reported a syllable priming effect when primes and targets shared the first syllable using a masked priming paradigm in Chinese. Our Experiment 1 was a direct replication of Chen et al.'s (2003) Experiment 3 employing CV (e.g., ,/ba2.ying2/, strike camp) and CVG (e.g., ,/bai2.shou3/, white haired) syllable types. Experiment 2 tested the syllable priming effect using different syllable types: e.g., CV (,/qi4.qiu2/, balloon) and CVN (,/qing1.ting2/, dragonfly). Experiment 3 investigated this issue further using line drawings of common objects as targets that were preceded either by a CV (e.g., ,/qi3/, attempt), or a CVN (e.g., ,/qing2/, affection) prime. Experiment 4 further examined the priming effect by a comparison between CV or CVN priming and an unrelated priming condition using CV-NX (e.g., ,/mi2.ni3/, mini) and CVN-CX (e.g., ,/min2.ju1/, dwellings) as target words. These four experiments consistently found that CV targets were named faster when preceded by CV primes than when they were preceded by CVG, CVN or unrelated primes, whereas CVG or CVN targets showed the reverse pattern. These results indicate that the priming effect critically depends on the match between the structure of the prime and that of the first syllable of the target. The effect obtained in this study was consistent across different stimuli and different tasks (word and picture naming), and provides more conclusive and consistent data regarding the role of the syllable in Chinese speech production.

Intentional Forgetting Reduces Color-Naming Interference: Evidence from Item-Method Directed Forgetting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Yuh-shiow; Lee, Huang-mou; Fawcett, Jonathan M.

2013-01-01

In an item-method-directed forgetting task, Chinese words were presented individually, each followed by an instruction to remember or forget. Colored probe items were presented following each memory instruction requiring a speeded color-naming response. Half of the probe items were novel and unrelated to the preceding study item, whereas the…

Association of Interleukin-1 Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Keratoconus in Chinese Han Population.

PubMed

Wang, Yani; Wei, Wei; Zhang, Changning; Zhang, XueHui; Liu, Ming; Zhu, Xiuping; Xu, Kun

2016-05-01

To investigate whether interleukin-1 alpha (IL1A) and interleukin-1 beta (IL1B) polymorphisms are associated with keratoconus (KC) in unrelated Chinese Han patients. The IL1A (rs2071376) and IL1B (rs1143627, rs16944) polymorphisms were genotyped in 115 unrelated Chinese Han KC patients and 101 healthy Chinese Han volunteers with the Sequenom MassARRAY RS1000. Sequenom Typer 4.0 software, PLINK 1.07, Haploview 4.0 software platform were used to analyze the allelic variants of IL1A and IL1B genes, and their association with KC risk factors were assessed. Among the variants, the three SNPs (rs2071376 in IL1A, rs1143627 and rs16944 in the promoter region of IL1B) were different between the two groups. The A allele of rs2071376 (A > C, p = 0.017, OR = 1.968, 95% C.I. 1.313-3.425), the C allele of rs1143627 (C > T, p < 0.001, OR = 2.864, 95% C.I. 1.631-4.968) and the A allele of rs16944 (A > G, p = 0.002, OR = 2.401, 95% C.I. 1.396-4.161) were associated with a increased risk of KC in Chinese Han patients. This study showed that rs2071376, rs1143627 and rs16944 had significant differences in associations between KC patients and the control group when different genotypes were analyzed in three models (dominant, recessive, and additive). In the haplotype analysis, the two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs1143627 and rs16944 showed strong linkage disequilibrium. In addition, Haplotype "ACA" was found to be associated with a higher risk of developing KC (OR = 12.91, p < 0.001). Keratocyte apoptosis is an initiating event in the pathogenesis of KC which could be induced by the altered levels of IL1 gene. These findings confirmed that polymorphisms in IL1 genes were associated with risk of KC in the Chinese Han population, which help us to gain insight into the pathogenesis of KC.

Age of Acquisition Effects on Word Processing for Chinese Native Learners’ English: ERP Evidence for the Arbitrary Mapping Hypothesis

PubMed Central

Xue, Jin; Liu, Tongtong; Marmolejo-Ramos, Fernando; Pei, Xuna

2017-01-01

The present study aimed at distinguishing processing of early learned L2 words from late ones for Chinese natives who learn English as a foreign language. Specifically, we examined whether the age of acquisition (AoA) effect arose during the arbitrary mapping from conceptual knowledge onto linguistic units. The behavior and ERP data were collected when 28 Chinese-English bilinguals were asked to perform semantic relatedness judgment on word pairs, which represented three stages of word learning (i.e., primary school, junior and senior high schools). A 3 (AoA: early vs. intermediate vs. late) × 2 (regularity: regular vs. irregular) × 2 (semantic relatedness: related vs. unrelated) × 2 (hemisphere: left vs. right) × 3 (brain area: anterior vs. central vs. posterior) within-subjects design was adopted. Results from the analysis of N100 and N400 amplitudes showed that early learned words had an advantage in processing accuracy and speed; there is a tendency that the AoA effect was more pronounced for irregular word pairs and in the semantic related condition. More important, ERP results showed early acquired words induced larger N100 amplitudes for early AoA words in the parietal area and more negative-going N400 than late acquire words in the frontal and central regions. The results indicate the locus of the AoA effect might derive from the arbitrary mapping between word forms and semantic concepts, and early acquired words have more semantic interconnections than late acquired words. PMID:28572785

Children's associative learning: automatic and deliberate encoding of meaningful associations.

PubMed

Guttentag, R

1995-01-01

Three experiments were conducted examining 10- and 11-year-old children's deliberate and automatic encoding of meaningful associative relationships on a paired-associate learning task. Subjects in Experiment 1 were presented pairs of related and unrelated words under deliberate memorization and item-specific incidental-learning conditions. Cued-recall performance was superior with related relative to unrelated pairs under both instructional conditions, suggesting that the encoding of an association between items occurred automatically with meaningfully related words. In Experiment 2, it was found that execution of a verbal elaboration strategy required more time with unrelated than with related pairs, suggesting greater ease of elaboration strategy execution with related materials. Experiment 3 monitored strategy use online using a think-aloud procedure. Cued-recall performance was superior with related pairs when subjects used rehearsal. In contrast, elaboration produced equivalent levels of recall with both types of items, but subjects executed the strategy successfully more often with related than with unrelated pairs. These findings are discussed in terms of the role of automatic processes and the effort demands of strategy execution in children's strategy use.

No association of dopamine D2 receptor molecular variant Cys311 and schizophrenia in Chinese patients

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chia-Hsiang Chen; Shih-Hsiang Chien; Hai-Gwo Hwu

A serine-to-cysteine mutation of dopamine D2 receptor at codon 311 (Cys311) was found to have higher frequency in schizophrenic patients than in normal controls in Japanese by Arinami et al. The Cys311 allele was found to be associated with patients with younger age-of-onset, positive family history, and more positive symptoms. To investigate the possible involvement of Cys311 in schizophrenia in the Chinese population, 114 unrelated Taiwanese Chinese schizophrenic patients with positive family history and 88 normal controls were genotyped for Cys311. Four patients and 5 normal controls were heterozygotes of Ser311/Cys311; no homozygotes of Cys311 were identified in either group.more » The allele frequencies of Cys311 in Chinese schizophrenic patients and normal controls were 2% and 3%, respectively. No significant difference was detected between the two groups. Our results do not support the argument that the Cys311 allele of DRD2 poses a genetic risk for certain types of schizophrenia in Chinese populations. 18 refs.« less

Chinese Social Media Reaction to Information about 42 Notifiable Infectious Diseases.

PubMed

Fung, Isaac Chun-Hai; Hao, Yi; Cai, Jingxian; Ying, Yuchen; Schaible, Braydon James; Yu, Cynthia Mengxi; Tse, Zion Tsz Ho; Fu, King-Wa

2015-01-01

This study aimed to identify what information triggered social media users' responses regarding infectious diseases. Chinese microblogs in 2012 regarding 42 infectious diseases were obtained through a keyword search in the Weiboscope database. Qualitative content analysis was performed for the posts pertinent to each keyword of the day of the year with the highest daily count. Similar posts were grouped and coded. We identified five categories of information that increased microblog traffic pertaining to infectious diseases: news of an outbreak or a case; health education/information; alternative health information/Traditional Chinese Medicine; commercial advertisement/entertainment; and social issues. News unrelated to the specified infectious diseases also led to elevated microblog traffic. Our study showcases the diverse contexts from which increased social media traffic occur. Our results will facilitate better health communication as causes underlying increased social media traffic are revealed.

Screening for NDP mutations in 44 unrelated patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy or Norrie disease.

PubMed

Yang, Huiqin; Li, Shiqiang; Xiao, Xueshan; Guo, Xiangming; Zhang, Qingjiong

2012-08-01

To screen mutations in the norrin (NDP) gene in 44 unrelated Chinese patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR, 38 cases) or Norrie disease (6 cases) and to describe the associated phenotypes. Of the 44 patients, mutation in FZD4, LRP5, and TSPAN12 was excluded in 38 patients with FEVR in previous study. Sanger sequencing was used to analyze the 2 coding exons and their adjacent regions of NDP in the 44 patients. Clinical data were presented for patients with mutation. NDP variants in 5 of the 6 patients with Norrie disease were identified, including a novel missense mutation (c.164G>A, p.Cys55Phe) in one patient, two known missense mutations (c.122G>A, p.Arg41Lys; c.220C>T, p.Arg74Cys) in two patients, and a gross deletion encompassing the two coding exons in two patients. Of the 5 patients, 3 had a family history and 2 were singleton cases. No mutation in NDP was detected in the 38 patients with FEVR. NDP mutations are common cause of Norrie disease but might be rare cause for FEVR in Chinese.

Assessing Subjective Well-Being in Chinese Older Adults: The Chinese Aging Well Profile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ku, Po-Wen; Fox, Kenneth R.; McKenna, Jim

2008-01-01

Subjective well-being has increasingly been used as a key indicator of quality of life in older people. Existing evidence shows that it is likely that eastern cultures carry different life values and so the Chinese Aging Well Profile was devised for measuring subjective well-being in Chinese adults (50+). Data was collected from 1,906…

Different roles of the posterior inferior frontal gyrus in Chinese character form judgment differences between literate and illiterate individuals.

PubMed

Wu, Jinglong; Wang, Bin; Yan, Tianyi; Li, Xiujun; Bao, Xuexiang; Guo, Qiyong

2012-01-11

In the present study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the different roles of the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) in Chinese character form judgment between literate and illiterate subjects. Using event-related fMRI, 24 healthy right-handed Chinese subjects (12 literates and 12 illiterates) were asked to perform Chinese character and figure form judgment tasks. The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) differences in pIFG were examined with general linear modeling (GLM). We found differences in reaction times and accuracy between subjects as they performed these tasks. These behavioral differences reflect the different cognitive demands of character form judgment for literate and illiterate individuals. The results showed differences in the BOLD response patterns in the pIFG between the two discrimination tasks and the two subject groups. A comparison of the character and figure tasks showed that literate and illiterate subjects had similar BOLD responses in the inferior frontal gyrus. However, differences in behavioral performance suggest that the pIFG plays a different role in Chinese character form judgment for each subject group. In literate subjects, the left pIFG mediated access to phonology in achieving Chinese character form judgment, whereas the right pIFG participated in the processing of the orthography of Chinese characters. In illiterate subjects, the bilateral frontal gyrus participated in the visual-spatial processing of Chinese characters to achieve form judgment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chinese speech intelligibility and its relationship with the speech transmission index for children in elementary school classrooms.

PubMed

Peng, Jianxin; Yan, Nanjie; Wang, Dan

2015-01-01

The present study investigated Chinese speech intelligibility in 28 classrooms from nine different elementary schools in Guangzhou, China. The subjective Chinese speech intelligibility in the classrooms was evaluated with children in grades 2, 4, and 6 (7 to 12 years old). Acoustical measurements were also performed in these classrooms. Subjective Chinese speech intelligibility scores and objective speech intelligibility parameters, such as speech transmission index (STI), were obtained at each listening position for all tests. The relationship between subjective Chinese speech intelligibility scores and STI was revealed and analyzed. The effects of age on Chinese speech intelligibility scores were compared. Results indicate high correlations between subjective Chinese speech intelligibility scores and STI for grades 2, 4, and 6 children. Chinese speech intelligibility scores increase with increase of age under the same STI condition. The differences in scores among different age groups decrease as STI increases. To achieve 95% Chinese speech intelligibility scores, the STIs required for grades 2, 4, and 6 children are 0.75, 0.69, and 0.63, respectively.

Interleukin-6 genotypes and serum levels in Chinese Hui population

PubMed Central

Gao, Shu-Ping; Liang, Shu; Pan, Min; Sun, Rong-Liang; Chen, Chu; Luan, Hong; Jiang, Min-Hui

2014-01-01

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in different physiologic and pathophysiologic processes, and circulating levels of IL-6 differ greatly between individuals. The Chinese Hui is one of the largest ethnic minorities, little is known about the distribution of IL-6 genetic variations and their effects on serum levels in Hui population. The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of -174G/C (rs1800795), -597G/A (rs1800797), and -634C/G (rs1800796) polymorphisms in the IL-6 gene promoter region and their association with IL-6 serum levels in the Ningxia Hui population. A total of 96 Hui subjects, (57 men and 39 women; mean age 49.65 ± 19.73 years) unrelated nationality residents in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were enrolled. Genotyping of the three polymorphisms were performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) combined with gel electrophoresis and then confirmed by direct sequencing. The -174G/C (97.92% GG, 2.08% GC, and 0% CC) and -597G/A (98.96% GG, 1.04% GA, and 0% AA) polymorphisms were rare. The frequencies of -634C/G genotypes CC, CG, and GG were found to be 54.17%, 40.62%, and 5.21%, respectively in total studied subjects, the derived allele frequencies for the C and G alleles were 74.48% and 25.52%. Increased IL-6 levels were correlated with the IL-6 -634G allele carriers (CG+GG genotypes). The results suggest that IL-6 -174G/C and -597G/A are rare but -634C/G is common in the Ningxia Hui population, and the -634G allele is associated with circulating levels of IL-6. PMID:25356148

Identification of Rare Variants in TNNI3 with Atrial Fibrillation in a Chinese GeneID Population

PubMed Central

Wang, Chuchu; Wu, Manman; Qian, Jin; Li, Bin; Tu, Xin; Xu, Chengqi; Li, Sisi; Chen, Shanshan; Zhao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Yufeng; Shi, Lisong; Cheng, Xiang; Liao, Yuhua; Chen, Qiuyun; Xia, Yunlong; Yao, Wei; Wu, Gang; Cheng, Mian; Wang, Qing K.

2015-01-01

Despite advances by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), much of heritability of common human diseases remains missing, a phenomenon referred to as ‘missing heritability’. One potential cause for ‘missing heritability’ is the rare susceptibility variants overlooked by GWAS. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia seen at hospitals and increases risk of stroke by 5-fold and doubles risk of heart failure and sudden death. Here we studied one large Chinese family with AF and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Whole-exome sequencing analysis identified a mutation in TNNI3, R186Q, that co-segregated with the disease in the family, but did not exist in >1,583 controls, suggesting that R186Q causes AF and HCM. High-resolution melting curve analysis and direct DNA sequence analysis were then used to screen mutations in all exons and exon-intron boundaries of TNNI3 in a panel of 1,127 unrelated AF patients and 1,583 non-AF subjects. Four novel missense variants were identified in TNNI3, including E64G, M154L, E187G and D196G in four independent AF patients, but no variant was found in 1,583 non-AF subjects. All variants were not found in public databases, including the ExAC Browser database with 60,706 exomes. These data suggests that rare TNNI3 variants are associated with AF (P=0.03). TNNI3 encodes troponin I, a key regulator of the contraction-relaxation function of cardiac muscle and was not previously implicated in AF. Thus, this study may identify a new biological pathway for the pathogenesis of AF and provides evidence to support the rare variant hypothesis for missing heritability. PMID:26169204

Both interleukin-23A polymorphism and serum interlukin-23 expression are associated with Graves' disease risk.

PubMed

Jia, Huiying; Tao, Feng; Liu, Changqin; Guo, Ting; Zhu, Wei; Wang, Shu; Cui, Bin; Ning, Guang

2015-03-01

Two independent Chinese cohorts were used to study the genetic association between the interleukin-23A (IL-23A) gene polymorphism (rs11171806) and susceptibility to Graves' disease (GD). The initial Shanghai cohort consisted of 712 unrelated patients with GD and 705 healthy control subjects, and the replication cohort from Xiamen Island included 433 patients with GD and 410 healthy control subjects. The serum concentration of IL-23 in GD patients was measured significantly higher than in health controls. Moreover in the subgroup analysis, higher concentrations of IL-23 were identified in patients of older age (⩾40 years) and female gender. We also performed an association study with the IL-23 gene polymorphism rs11171806 in both cohorts, in Shanghai cohorts, the frequencies of rs11171806 alleles were strongly different between Graves' disease patients (G 95.7% and A 4.3%) and healthy controls (G 97.7% and A 2.3%) (P=2.6×10(-3), OR=1.93 (95% CI: 1.25-2.97)), and in Xiamen cohorts, the proportion of individuals carrying the A allele of rs11171806 was the same significantly higher in Graves' disease patients than in controls [Graves' disease vs. control, 4.8% vs. 4.3%, OR=2.15 (95% CI: 1.23-3.79), P(allele)=6.3×10(-3)]. The distribution of rs11171806 genotype was also investigated in subgroups according to the age and gender. All of these findings suggested that IL-23 may play an important role in the development of GD, and the IL-23A gene is a genetic risk marker for GD in Han Chinese population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and its association with bipolar disorder across different ethnic groups in Malaysia.

PubMed

Mohamed Saini, Suriati; Nik Jaafar, Nik Ruzyanei; Sidi, Hatta; Midin, Marhani; Mohd Radzi, Azizah; Abdul Rahman, Abdul Hamid

2014-01-01

The risk variants have been shown to vary substantially across populations and a genetic study in a heterogeneous population might shed a new light in the disease mechanism. This preliminary study aims to determine the frequency of the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia and its association with bipolar disorder. This is a candidate gene association study of randomly selected forty five unrelated bipolar disorder probands and sixty six controls. Diagnosis was evaluated using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). The control group consisted of healthy volunteers without personal psychiatric history and family history of mood disorder. Patients' whole blood was collected for genotyping. This study revealed that the frequency of the short variant of 5-HTTLPR in healthy control group was highest in Indians (42.9%) followed by Malays (23.5%) and was absent in Chinese. The association between the homozygous ss genotype of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism with bipolar disorder was not found in the pooled subjects (χ(2)=1.52, d.f.=1, p=0.218, OR=4.67, 95% C.I.=0.69-7.58) and after stratification into Malays (p=0.315, OR=2.03, 95% CI=0.50-8.17), Indians (p=0.310; OR=0.44, 95% CI=0.21-0.92) and Chinese. The differences in the frequency of the short allele of 5-HTTLPR across the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia were noteworthy. The present study showed no significant association between the homozygous short variant of the 5-HTTLPR and bipolar disorder in the pooled subject and after stratification into the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exome Sequencing Identifies a Novel CEACAM16 Mutation Associated with Autosomal Dominant Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss DFNA4B in a Chinese Family

PubMed Central

He, Chufeng; Li, Haibo; Qing, Jie; Grati, Mhamed; Hu, Zhengmao; Li, Jiada; Hu, Yiqiao; Xia, Kun; Mei, Lingyun; Wang, Xingwei; Yu, Jianjun; Chen, Hongsheng; Jiang, Lu; Liu, Yalan; Men, Meichao; Zhang, Hailin; Guan, Liping; Xiao, Jingjing; Zhang, Jianguo; Liu, Xuezhong; Feng, Yong

2014-01-01

Autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL/DFNA) is a highly genetically heterogeneous disorder. Hitherto only about 30 ADNSHL-causing genes have been identified and many unknown genes remain to be discovered. In this research, genome-wide linkage analysis mapped the disease locus to a 4.3 Mb region on chromosome 19q13 in SY-026, a five-generation nonconsanguineous Chinese family affected by late-onset and progressive ADNSHL. This linkage region showed partial overlap with the previously reported DFNA4. Simultaneously, probands were analyzed using exome capture followed by next generation sequencing. Encouragingly, a heterozygous missense mutation, c.505G>A (p.G169R) in exon 3 of the CEACAM16 gene (carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 16), was identified via this combined strategy. Sanger sequencing verified that the mutation co-segregated with hearing loss in the family and that it was not present in 200 unrelated control subjects with matched ancestry. This is the second report in the literature of a family with ADNSHL caused by CEACAM16 mutation. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blots also prove CEACAM16 to be a secreted protein. Furthermore, our studies in transfected HEK293T cells show that the secretion efficacy of the mutant CEACAM16 is much lower than that of the wild-type, suggesting a deleterious effect of the sequence variant. PMID:25589040

Exome sequencing identifies a novel CEACAM16 mutation associated with autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNA4B in a Chinese family.

PubMed

Wang, Honghan; Wang, Xinwei; He, Chufeng; Li, Haibo; Qing, Jie; Grati, Mhamed; Hu, Zhengmao; Li, Jiada; Hu, Yiqiao; Xia, Kun; Mei, Lingyun; Wang, Xingwei; Yu, Jianjun; Chen, Hongsheng; Jiang, Lu; Liu, Yalan; Men, Meichao; Zhang, Hailin; Guan, Liping; Xiao, Jingjing; Zhang, Jianguo; Liu, Xuezhong; Feng, Yong

2015-03-01

Autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL/DFNA) is a highly genetically heterogeneous disorder. Hitherto only about 30 ADNSHL-causing genes have been identified and many unknown genes remain to be discovered. In this research, genome-wide linkage analysis mapped the disease locus to a 4.3 Mb region on chromosome 19q13 in SY-026, a five-generation nonconsanguineous Chinese family affected by late-onset and progressive ADNSHL. This linkage region showed partial overlap with the previously reported DFNA4. Simultaneously, probands were analyzed using exome capture followed by next-generation sequencing. Encouragingly, a heterozygous missense mutation, c.505G>A (p.G169R) in exon 3 of the CEACAM16 gene (carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 16), was identified via this combined strategy. Sanger sequencing verified that the mutation co-segregated with hearing loss in the family and that it was not present in 200 unrelated control subjects with matched ancestry. This is the second report in the literature of a family with ADNSHL caused by CEACAM16 mutation. Immunofluorescence staining and western blots also prove CEACAM16 to be a secreted protein. Furthermore, our studies in transfected HEK293T cells show that the secretion efficacy of the mutant CEACAM16 is much lower than that of the wild type, suggesting a deleterious effect of the sequence variant.

Chinese Social Media Reaction to Information about 42 Notifiable Infectious Diseases

PubMed Central

Fung, Isaac Chun-Hai; Ying, Yuchen; Schaible, Braydon James; Yu, Cynthia Mengxi; Tse, Zion Tsz Ho; Fu, King-Wa

2015-01-01

This study aimed to identify what information triggered social media users’ responses regarding infectious diseases. Chinese microblogs in 2012 regarding 42 infectious diseases were obtained through a keyword search in the Weiboscope database. Qualitative content analysis was performed for the posts pertinent to each keyword of the day of the year with the highest daily count. Similar posts were grouped and coded. We identified five categories of information that increased microblog traffic pertaining to infectious diseases: news of an outbreak or a case; health education / information; alternative health information / Traditional Chinese Medicine; commercial advertisement / entertainment; and social issues. News unrelated to the specified infectious diseases also led to elevated microblog traffic. Our study showcases the diverse contexts from which increased social media traffic occur. Our results will facilitate better health communication as causes underlying increased social media traffic are revealed. PMID:25946020

Seven novel mutations in the long isoform of the USH2A gene in Chinese families with nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa and Usher syndrome Type II.

PubMed

Xu, Wenjun; Dai, Hanjun; Lu, Tingting; Zhang, Xiaohui; Dong, Bing; Li, Yang

2011-01-01

To describe the clinical and genetic findings in one Chinese family with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP) and in three unrelated Chinese families with Usher syndrome type II (USH2). One family (FR1) with arRP and three unrelated families (F6, F7, and F8) with Usher syndrome (USH), including eight affected members and seven unaffected family individuals were examined clinically. The study included 100 normal Chinese individuals as normal controls. After obtaining informed consent, peripheral blood samples from all participants were collected and genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping and haplotyping analyses were performed on the known genetic loci for arRP with a panel of polymorphic markers in family FR1. In all four families, the coding region (exons 2-72), including the intron-exon boundary of the USH2A (Usher syndrome type -2A protein) gene, was screened by PCR and direct DNA sequencing. Whenever substitutions were identified in a patient, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, or high resolution melt curve analysis (HRM) was performed on all available family members and on the 100 normal controls. The affected individuals presented with typical fundus features of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), including narrowing of the vessels, bone-spicule pigmentation, and waxy optic discs. The electroretinogram (ERG) wave amplitudes of the available probands were undetectable. Audiometric tests in the affected individuals in family FR1 were normal, while indicating moderate to severe sensorineural hearing impairment in the affected individuals in families F6, F7, and F8. Vestibular function was normal in all patients from all four families. The disease-causing gene in family FR1 was mapped to the USH2A locus on chromosome 1q41. Seven novel mutations (two missenses, one 7-bp deletion, two small deletions, and two nonsenses) were detected in the four families after sequencing analysis of USH2A. The results further support that mutations of USH2A are also responsible for non-syndromic RP. The mutation spectrum among Chinese patients might differ from that among European Caucasians.

Screening Mutations of MYBPC3 in 114 Unrelated Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy by Targeted Capture and Next-generation Sequencing.

PubMed

Liu, Xuxia; Jiang, Tengyong; Piao, Chunmei; Li, Xiaoyan; Guo, Jun; Zheng, Shuai; Zhang, Xiaoping; Cai, Tao; Du, Jie

2015-06-19

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a major cause of sudden cardiac death. Mutations in the MYBPC3 gene represent the cause of HCM in ~35% of patients with HCM. However, genetic testing in clinic setting has been limited due to the cost and relatively time-consuming by Sanger sequencing. Here, we developed a HCM Molecular Diagnostic Kit enabling ultra-low-cost targeted gene resequencing in a large cohort and investigated the mutation spectrum of MYBPC3. In a cohort of 114 patients with HCM, a total of 20 different mutations (8 novel and 12 known mutations) of MYBPC3 were identified from 25 patients (21.9%). We demonstrated that the power of targeted resequencing in a cohort of HCM patients, and found that MYBPC3 is a common HCM-causing gene in Chinese patients. Phenotype-genotype analyses showed that the patients with double mutations (n = 2) or premature termination codon mutations (n = 12) showed more severe manifestations, compared with patients with missense mutations (n = 11). Particularly, we identified a recurrent truncation mutation (p.Y842X) in four unrelated cases (4/25, 16%), who showed severe phenotypes, and suggest that the p.Y842X is a frequent mutation in Chinese HCM patients with severe phenotypes.

Genetic Variation of 25 Y-Chromosomal and 15 Autosomal STR Loci in the Han Chinese Population of Liaoning Province, Northeast China

PubMed Central

Yao, Jun; Wang, Bao-jie

2016-01-01

In the present study, we investigated the genetic characteristics of 25 Y-chromosomal and 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci in 305 unrelated Han Chinese male individuals from Liaoning Province using AmpFISTR® Yfiler® Plus and IdentifilerTM PCR amplification kits. Population comparison was performed between Liaoning Han population and different ethnic groups to better understand the genetic background of the Liaoning Han population. For Y-STR loci, the overall haplotype diversity was 0.9997 and the discrimination capacity was 0.9607. Gene diversity values ranged from 0.4525 (DYS391) to 0.9617 (DYS385). Rst and two multi-dimensional scaling plots showed that minor differences were observed when the Liaoning Han population was compared to the Jilin Han Chinese, Beijing Han Chinese, Liaoning Manchu, Liaoning Mongolian, Liaoning Xibe, Shandong Han Chinese, Jiangsu Han Chinese, Anhui Han Chinese, Guizhou Han Chinese and Liaoning Hui populations; by contrast, major differences were observed when the Shanxi Han Chinese, Yunnan Bai, Jiangxi Han Chinese, Guangdong Han Chinese, Liaoning Korean, Hunan Tujia, Guangxi Zhuang, Gansu Tibetan, Xishuangbanna Dai, South Korean, Japanese and Hunan Miao populations. For autosomal STR loci, DP ranged from 0.9621 (D2S1338) to 0.8177 (TPOX), with PE distributing from 0.7521 (D18S51) to 0.2988 (TH01). A population comparison was performed and no statistically significant differences were detected at any STR loci between Liaoning Han, China Dong, and Shaanxi Han populations. The results showed that the 25 Y-STR and 15 autosomal STR loci in the Liaoning Han population were valuable for forensic applications and human genetics, and Liaoning Han was an independent endogenous ethnicity with a unique subpopulation structure. PMID:27483472

PPARγ gene C161T substitution alters lipid profile in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is a ligand-activated transcription factor, which regulates gene expression of the key proteins involved in lipid metabolism, vascular inflammation, and proliferation. PPARγ may contribute to attenuating atherogenesis and postangioplasty restenosis. PPARγ C161→T substitution is associated with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Whether or not the gene substitution alters the risk of CAD in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients remains unclear. Methods A total of 556 unrelated subjects from a Chinese Han population, including 89 healthy subjects, 78 CAD patients, 86 T2DM patients, and 303 CAD combined with T2DM patients, were recruited to enroll in this study. PPARγC161→T gene polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Plasma levels of lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, glucose, and insulin were measured by ELISA or radioimmunoassay (RIA). The coronary artery lesions were evaluated by coronary angiography. Results The frequency of the 161T allele in CAD, T2DM, and CAD combined with T2DM patients was similar to that observed in the healthy control group. However, in CAD combined with T2DM patients, the group with angiographically documented moderate stenoses had a higher frequency of the 161T allele in comparison to the group with severe stenoses (P < 0.05). Moreover, in CAD with T2DM patients, the triglyceride levels and apoB in CC homozygote carriers were significantly higher than those in "T" allele carriers. Conclusions PPARγC161→T genotypes weren't significantly associated with the risk of CAD, but were markedly correlated with severity of disease vessels in patients with CAD and T2DM. Furthermore, PPARγC161→T substitution was associated with an altered adipose, but not glucose metabolism. These results indicate that the PPARγ C161→T polymorphism may reduce the risk of severe atherogenesis by modulation of adipose metabolism, especially triglycerides and apoB, in Chinese patients with CAD and T2DM. PMID:20334678

Cognitive function and distress after common whiplash injury.

PubMed

Smed, A

1997-02-01

In a prospective study 29 patients fulfilled the criteria of Whiplash-Associated Disorders grade III in the Quebec classification. One month postinjury, computerized neuropsychological tests, a clinical interview and the symptom checklist SCL-90-R were administered. Three whiplash scales were extrapolated from SCL-90-R: pain, subjective cognitive difficulties and sleep disorders. SCL-90-R was repeated 6 months later. One month after the accident, 85% of the patients had resumed work. Subjective cognitive disturbances, however, were frequent but unrelated to test performances, which were within the normal range. Patients reporting stressful life events unrelated to the injury had more symptoms and elevated levels of distress on all SCL-90-R syndrome scales. At follow-up their distress was unchanged, and subjective cognitive function had deteriorated. Stressful life events unrelated to the accident and a high level of distress 1 month postinjury may augment the risk of "late whiplash syndrome". Reassessment 3-6 weeks postinjury as recommended by the Quebec Task Force should include assessment of complicating social factors and a psychological symptom checklist.

Factors Influencing Subjective Orthodontic Treatment Need and Culture-related Differences among Chinese Natives and Foreign Inhabitants

PubMed Central

Li, Xiao-ting; Tang, Yin; Huang, Xue-lian; Wan, Hua; Chen, Yang-xi

2010-01-01

Aim The aim of this survey was to compare Chinese natives and foreign inhabitants in Chengdu, China, with respect to: (1) attitudes towards dental appearance, (2) subjective orthodontic treatment need, and (3) the main factors influencing orthodontic treatment need. Methodology A total of 522 subjects, including 227 foreign inhabitants and 295 Chinese natives in Chengdu participated in the survey. A simple random sampling method was adopted and a face-to-face interview was conducted at some public sites using a questionnaire. Data was entered by two persons synchronously using Epidata 3.0, and SPSS 13.0 was used to analyze these data. Results 89.0% of foreign inhabitants were satisfied with their teeth compared to only 46.8% of Chinese natives. Females were more dissatisfied with their teeth than males. Chinese natives put improving appearance as the top priority (55.9%) for seeking orthodontic treatment; however, in foreign inhabitants, the main reason for seeking treatment was to improve masticatory function (44.1%), followed by ”to be pretty“ (35.2%). The importance of well-aligned teeth and self-perception of psycho-social impact of malocclusion were the same two main factors influencing subjective orthodontic treatment need (P<0.05) in foreign inhabitants and Chinese natives. Subjective orthodontic treatment need between the two target groups was significantly different (P<0.05). Conclusion (1) It was very common that Chinese natives were dissatisfied with their dental appearance, and their subjective orthodontic treatment needs were high. (2) There were some differences in orthodontic treatment motives between the two target groups. (3) There were differences in subjective orthodontic treatment needs between foreign inhabitants and Chinese natives. However, the prominent influential factors were almost the same. There may be benefit to understanding subjective orthodontic needs of different races. PMID:21125793

Factors influencing subjective orthodontic treatment need and culture-related differences among Chinese natives and foreign inhabitants.

PubMed

Xiao-Ting, Li; Tang, Yin; Huang, Xue-Lian; Wan, Hua; Chen, Yang-Xi

2010-09-01

The aim of this survey was to compare Chinese natives and foreign inhabitants in Chengdu, China, with respect to: (1) attitudes towards dental appearance, (2) subjective orthodontic treatment need, and (3) the main factors influencing orthodontic treatment need. A total of 522 subjects, including 227 foreign inhabitants and 295 Chinese natives in Chengdu participated in the survey. A simple random sampling method was adopted and a face-to-face interview was conducted at some public sites using a questionnaire. Data was entered by two persons synchronously using Epidata 3.0, and SPSS 13.0 was used to analyze these data. 89.0% of foreign inhabitants were satisfied with their teeth compared to only 46.8% of Chinese natives. Females were more dissatisfied with their teeth than males. Chinese natives put improving appearance as the top priority (55.9%) for seeking orthodontic treatment; however, in foreign inhabitants, the main reason for seeking treatment was to improve masticatory function (44.1%), followed by "to be pretty" (35.2%). The importance of well-aligned teeth and self-perception of psychosocial impact of malocclusion were the same two main factors influencing subjective orthodontic treatment need (P < 0.05) in foreign inhabitants and Chinese natives. Subjective orthodontic treatment need between the two target groups was significantly different (P < 0.05). (1) It was very common that Chinese natives were dissatisfied with their dental appearance, and their subjective orthodontic treatment needs were high. (2) There were some differences in orthodontic treatment motives between the two target groups. (3) There were differences in subjective orthodontic treatment needs between foreign inhabitants and Chinese natives. However, the prominent influential factors were almost the same. There may be benefit to understanding subjective orthodontic needs of different races.

Dose-response relationships of propranolol in Chinese subjects with different CYP2D6 genotypes.

PubMed

Huang, Chin-Wei; Lai, Ming-Liang; Lin, Min-Shung; Lee, Hwei-Ling; Huang, Jin-Ding

2003-01-01

For clinical treatment, a smaller dosage of propranolol is often used among Chinese people. Propranolol is metabolized by polymorphic CYP2D6. We postulate that the lower propranolol dosage in Chinese is due to a slower CYP2D6 metabolism. A majority of the Chinese population has the nucleotide T188 in the CYP2D6 gene (CYP2D6*10) instead of C188 (CYP2D6*1), which most white subjects have. Chinese subjects of different CYP2D6*1/CYP2D6*10 genotypes have been shown to have different propranolol pharmacokinetic characteristics. In this study, we compared the beta-blockade effects of propranolol in Chinese subjects of the two different CYP2D6 genotypes. Based on the nucleotide 188 genotypes, two groups of 10 healthy subjects each were selected. Each subject was given a 10-, 20-, or 40-mg rac-propranolol tablet three times a day for 3 days in 3 different phases. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured in both supine and upright positions. The heart rate was also determined during treadmill exercise test. Plasma concentration of S-propranolol at 2 hrs after the last-dose administration was measured. Despite therebeing higher S-propranolol plasma concentration in CYP2D6*10 subjects than in CYP2D6*1 subjects at 10- and 20-mg dosage, the dose-response relationship was not significantly different in these subjects. Our results do not support the hypothesis that CYP2D6*1/CYP2D6*10 polymorphism may affect the beta-blockade effect of propranolol in Chinese subjects.

The Role of Subjective Task Value in Service-Learning Engagement among Chinese College Students.

PubMed

Li, Yulan; Guo, Fangfang; Yao, Meilin; Wang, Cong; Yan, Wenfan

2016-01-01

Most service-learning studies in higher education focused on its effects on students' development. The dynamic processes and mechanisms of students' development during service-learning, however, have not been explored thoroughly. Student engagement in service-learning may affect service-learning outcomes and be affected by subjective task value at the same time. The present study aimed to explore the effect of subjective task value on Chinese college student engagement during service-learning. Fifty-four Chinese college students participated in a 9-weeks service-learning program of interacting with children with special needs. Students' engagement and subjective task value were assessed via self-report questionnaires and 433 weekly reflective journals. The results indicated that the cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement of Chinese college students demonstrated different developmental trends during service-learning process. Subjective task value played an essential role in student engagement in service-learning activities. However, the role of subjective task value varied with different stages. Finally, the implications for implementing service-learning in Chinese education were discussed.

[Response to US review rules on patent subject matter of traditional Chinese medicine compositions].

PubMed

Liu, Pan; Cao, Ya-di; Gong, Rui-Juan; Liu, Wei

2018-02-01

The United States Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) issued Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility on December 16， 2014， bringing certain effects to the review rules on patent application of Chinese medicine compositions. Based on the Interim Guidance， cases analysis was used in this paper to analyze the patent subject matter issues of traditional Chinese medicine compositions in the United States. The researches have shown that the application documents should be properly written in the United States when the patent for Chinese medicine compositions is applied， which can improve the probability of authorization. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Chinese hyper-susceptibility to vection-induced motion sickness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, Robert M.; Hu, Senqi; Leblanc, Ree; Koch, Kenneth L.

1993-01-01

Little is known about the factors that control individual differences in susceptible to motion sickness. A serendipitous observation in our laboratory that most Chinese subjects become motion sick prompted this study. We used a rotating optokinetic drum to provoke motion sickness and compared gastric responses and symptom reports of Chinese, European-American, and African-American subjects. There was no difference in the responses of European-American and African-American subjects; however, Chinese subjects showed significantly greater disturbances in gastric activity and reported significantly more severe symptoms. We suggest that this hypersusceptibility presents a natural model for the study of physiological mechanisms of nausea and other symptoms of motion sickness.

Truthiness and falsiness of trivia claims depend on judgmental contexts.

PubMed

Newman, Eryn J; Garry, Maryanne; Unkelbach, Christian; Bernstein, Daniel M; Lindsay, D Stephen; Nash, Robert A

2015-09-01

When people rapidly judge the truth of claims presented with or without related but nonprobative photos, the photos tend to inflate the subjective truth of those claims--a "truthiness" effect (Newman et al., 2012). For example, people more often judged the claim "Macadamia nuts are in the same evolutionary family as peaches" to be true when the claim appeared with a photo of a bowl of macadamia nuts than when it appeared alone. We report several replications of that effect and 3 qualitatively new findings: (a) in a within-subjects design, when people judged claims paired with a mix of related, unrelated, or no photos, related photos produced truthiness but unrelated photos had no significant effect relative to no photos; (b) in a mixed design, when people judged claims paired with related (or unrelated) and no photos, related photos produced truthiness and unrelated photos produced "falseness;" and (c) in a fully between design, when people judged claims paired with either related, unrelated, or no photos, neither truthiness nor falsiness occurred. Our results suggest that photos influence people's judgments when a discrepancy arises in the expected ease of processing, and also support a mechanism in which-against a backdrop of an expected standard-related photos help people generate pseudoevidence to support claims. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Analysis of CYP3A4 genetic polymorphisms in Han Chinese.

PubMed

Zhou, Qing; Yu, Xiaomin; Shu, Chang; Cai, Yimei; Gong, Wei; Wang, Xumin; Wang, Duen-mei; Hu, Songnian

2011-06-01

Our study aimed to comprehensively investigate the genetic polymorphisms of CYP3A4 in Han Chinese. We sequenced the gene regions of CYP3A4, including its promoter, exons, surrounding introns and 3' untranslated region (3'UTR), from 100 unrelated-healthy Han Chinese individuals. We detected 11 SNPs, three of which are novel. According to in silico functional prediction of novel variants, 20148 A>G in exon 10, resulting in substitution of Tyr319 with Cys (CYP3A4*21), may induce dramatic alteration of protein conformation, and 26908 G>A in 3'UTR may disrupt post-transcriptional regulation. We identified five alleles in Han Chinese, the allele frequencies of CYP3A4*1, *5, *6, *18 and *21 are 97, 0.5, 1, 1 and 0.5%, respectively. Haplotype inference revealed 14 haplotypes, of which the major haplotype CYP3A4*1A constitutes 59% of the total chromosomes. We also examined the possible role of natural selection in shaping the variation of CYP3A4 and confirmed a trend, consistent with the action of positive selection. We systematically screened the genetic polymorphisms of CYP3A4 in Han Chinese, highlighted possible functional impairment of the novel allele and summarized the distinct allele and haplotype frequency distribution, with an emphasis on detecting the footprint of recent positive selection on the CYP3A4 gene in Han Chinese.

Differences in school climate and student engagement in China and the United States.

PubMed

Bear, George G; Yang, Chunyan; Chen, Dandan; He, Xianyou; Xie, Jia-Shu; Huang, Xishan

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine differences between American and Chinese students in their perceptions of school climate and engagement in school, and in the relation between school climate and engagement. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to support the factor structure and measurement invariance of the two measures administered: The Delaware School Climate Survey-Student and the Delaware Student Engagement Scale. Differences in latent means were tested, and differences in relations between variables were examined using multilevel hierarchical linear modeling. Participants consisted of 3,176 Chinese and 4,085 American students, Grades 3-5, 7-8, and 10-12. Chinese students perceived school climate more favorably than American students, particularly beyond elementary school. Findings were more complex for student engagement. In elementary school, American students reported greater cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement, and especially the former. In middle school and high school, Chinese students reported greater emotional engagement; however, no significant differences were found for cognitive-behavioral engagement. Most intriguing were results of multilevel hierarchical modeling that examined associations between school climate and student engagement: They were significant in American schools but not Chinese schools. Chinese students, compared with American students, perceived the climate of their schools more favorably, especially after elementary school. However, among Chinese students, their perceptions of school climate were unrelated to their self-reported engagement in school-school climate did not seem to matter as much. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Inhibitory Mechanism in Learning Ambiguous Words in a Second Language.

PubMed

Lu, Yao; Wu, Junjie; Dunlap, Susan; Chen, Baoguo

2017-01-01

Ambiguous words are hard to learn, yet little is known about what causes this difficulty. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between the representations of new and prior meanings of ambiguous words in second language (L2) learning, and to explore the function of inhibitory control on L2 ambiguous word learning at the initial stage of learning. During a 4-day learning phase, Chinese-English bilinguals learned 30 novel English words for 30 min per day using bilingual flashcards. Half of the words to be learned were unambiguous (had one meaning) and half were ambiguous (had two semantically unrelated meanings learned in sequence). Inhibitory control was introduced as a subject variable measured by a Stroop task. The semantic representations established for the studied items were probed using a cross-language semantic relatedness judgment task, in which the learned English words served as the prime, and the targets were either semantically related or unrelated to the prime. Results showed that response latencies for the second meaning of ambiguous words were slower than for the first meaning and for unambiguous words, and that performance on only the second meaning of ambiguous words was predicted by inhibitory control ability. These results suggest that, at the initial stage of L2 ambiguous word learning, the representation of the second meaning is weak, probably interfered with by the representation of the prior learned meaning. Moreover, inhibitory control may modulate learning of the new meanings, such that individuals with better inhibitory control may more effectively suppress interference from the first meaning, and thus learn the new meaning more quickly.

The genetic spectrum and the evaluation of CADASIL screening scale in Chinese patients with NOTCH3 mutations.

PubMed

Liu, Xiao; Zuo, Yuehuan; Sun, Wei; Zhang, Wei; Lv, He; Huang, Yining; Xiao, Jiangxi; Yuan, Yun; Wang, Zhaoxia

2015-07-15

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is an inherited small artery disease caused by NOTCH3 gene mutation. Here we report clinical, pathological and genetic profiles of 29 newly-diagnosed CADASIL patients, evaluation of the CADASIL scale in Chinese CADASIL patients, and reanalysis of all reported mainland Chinese patients with identified NOTCH3 gene mutation. We found two novel mutations (p.C134G and p.C291Y) and 13 reported NOTCH3 mutations in the newly-diagnosed group. CADASIL scale score was less than the cutoff score in 19 of 53 Chinese patients with NOTCH3 mutation, generating only a sensitivity of 64.1%. At the time of study, the total number of genetically confirmed CADASIL cases reached 158 from 97 unrelated mainland Chinese families, with 9/97 (9.3%) sporadic patients. The NOTCH3 gene mutation profile showed 43 mutations, with hotspots in exon 4, followed by exon 3. The considerable variability in onset age and CADASIL scale score in patients carrying the same NOTCH3 missense mutation suggested no obvious phenotype-genotype correlation. In conclusion, we report two novel mutations which expand the NOTCH3 mutational spectrum. Exons 4 and 3 are hotspots in mainland Chinese patients with NOTCH3 mutation. The low sensitivity of CADASIL scale in our patients group indicated that the CADASIL scale should be refined according to the clinical characteristics of Chinese CADASIL patients when used in Chinese populations. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The common single-nucleotide polymorphism rs2681472 is associated with early-onset preeclampsia in Northern Han Chinese women.

PubMed

Wan, Ji-Peng; Wang, Hong; Li, Chang-Zhong; Zhao, Han; You, Li; Shi, Dong-Hong; Sun, Xiu-Hua; Lv, Hong; Wang, Fei; Wen, Ze-Qing; Wang, Xie-Tong; Chen, Zi-Jiang

2014-11-01

Preeclampsia, characterized by hypertension and proteinuria, remains a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Recently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified the single-nucleotide polymorphism, rs2681472, as a new hypertension susceptibility genetic variant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between preeclampsia and rs268172 in a Northern Han Chinese population. We genotyped 1218 unrelated Northern Han Chinese women, including 515 patients with preeclampsia and 703 healthy controls. No significant differences were detected in the allele frequencies between patients and controls (P = .23). When patients were divided into early-onset and late-onset preeclampsia according to gestational age of disease onset, the allele frequencies significantly differed between controls and patients with early-onset preeclampsia (P = .02). Genotype frequencies also were significantly different between controls and patients early-onset preeclampsia when data were analyzed under additive (P = .03) and dominant (P = .009) models. We replicated this association in an independent Northern Han Chinese population and observed a significant difference in the allele frequencies between patients with early-onset preeclampsia and controls (P = .011). We report that rs2681472 is associated with early-onset preeclampsia in Northern Han Chinese women. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Role of Subjective Task Value in Service-Learning Engagement among Chinese College Students

PubMed Central

Li, Yulan; Guo, Fangfang; Yao, Meilin; Wang, Cong; Yan, Wenfan

2016-01-01

Most service-learning studies in higher education focused on its effects on students’ development. The dynamic processes and mechanisms of students’ development during service-learning, however, have not been explored thoroughly. Student engagement in service-learning may affect service-learning outcomes and be affected by subjective task value at the same time. The present study aimed to explore the effect of subjective task value on Chinese college student engagement during service-learning. Fifty-four Chinese college students participated in a 9-weeks service-learning program of interacting with children with special needs. Students’ engagement and subjective task value were assessed via self-report questionnaires and 433 weekly reflective journals. The results indicated that the cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement of Chinese college students demonstrated different developmental trends during service-learning process. Subjective task value played an essential role in student engagement in service-learning activities. However, the role of subjective task value varied with different stages. Finally, the implications for implementing service-learning in Chinese education were discussed. PMID:27445919

Twins and virtual twins: Do genetic (as well as experiential) factors affect developmental risks?

PubMed

Segal, Nancy L; Tan, Tony Xing; Graham, Jamie L

2015-08-01

Factors underlying developmental delays and psychosocial risks are of interest to international adoption communities. The current study administered a Pre-Adoption Adversity (PAA) Questionnaire to mostly American parents raising (a) adopted Chinese twins or (b) same-age unrelated adopted siblings. A goal was to replicate earlier analyses of pre-adoption adversity/adjustment among adopted preschool-age Chinese girls. A second goal was to conduct genetic analyses of four content areas (Developmental Delays at Adoption, Initial Adaptation to Adoption, Crying/Clinging, and Refusal/Avoidance) derived from the PAA Questionnaire. A key finding was that age at adoption added less than other predictors to adoptees' externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Family factors (e.g., parental education) contributed significantly to behavioral outcomes among the adopted Chinese twins. Genetic effects were indicated for all four content areas, with shared environmental effects evident for Developmental Delays at Adoption and Crying/Clinging. Future investigators should consider incorporating genetically sensitive designs into developmental research programs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Accuracy of body weight perception and obesity among Chinese Americans

PubMed Central

Liu, Shan; Hu, Sophia H.; Wang, Vincent Y.; Crupi, Robert; Qiu, Jeanna M.; Cleland, Chuck; Melkus, Gail D’Eramo

2015-01-01

Background Accuracy of body weight perception is an individual’s perception of their body weight in comparison with actual body weight and is associated with weight related behaviors. Chinese Americans have increased risk for obesity but no studies have examined accuracy of body weight perception. Methods This study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study, which was conducted in a community health center in New York. Study subjects were all Chinese-American adults. Demographic information, accuracy of perception of body weight, anthropometric measures (Weight, Height, BMI, weight to height ratio, weight to hip ratio), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1C and obesity related disease including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke were assessed. Results A total of 162 Chinese American were recruited.52 subjects (32%) did not perceive body weight correctly, in which 32 subjects had underestimation and 20 subjects had overestimation of body weight. Significant differences were found among subjects in three groups of different accuracy of body weight perception in terms of gender (p=0.003), age (p=0.003), education years (p=0.047). WC (p<0.001), HC (p=<0.001), weight/height ratio (p=0.001), BMI (p<0.001). Subjects in consistent/accurate estimation group and underestimation group had similar obesity related-characteristics but different from subjects in overestimation group. Discussion and Conclusion The study identified around one third of Chinese American did not perceive their body weight correctly. Intervention studies for obesity management in Chinese American should address gender difference, target on older subjects, and focus on educating the normal values and significances of WC, HC and HbA1C among Chinese Americans. PMID:25937164

Blood pressure changes following aerobic exercise in Caucasian and Chinese descendants.

PubMed

Sun, P; Yan, H; Ranadive, S M; Lane, A D; Kappus, R M; Bunsawat, K; Baynard, T; Li, S; Fernhall, B

2015-03-01

Acute aerobic exercise produces post-exercise hypotension (PEH). Chinese populations have lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease compared to Caucasians. PEH may be associated cardiovascular disease through its influence on hypertension. The purpose of this study was to compare PEH between Caucasian and Chinese subjects following acute aerobic exercise. 62 (30 Caucasian and 32 Chinese, 50% male) subjects underwent measurement of peripheral and central hemodynamics as well as arterial and cardiac evaluations, 30 min and 60 min after 45 min of treadmill exercise. Caucasians exhibited significantly higher baseline BP than the Chinese. While the reduction in brachial artery systolic BP was greater in Caucasian than in the Chinese, there was no difference in changes in carotid systolic BP between the groups. The increase in cardiac output and heart rate was greater in the Chinese than Caucasians, but total peripheral resistance and leg pulse wave velocity decreased by a similar magnitude in the Chinese and Caucasian subjects. We conclude that acute aerobic exercise produces a greater magnitude of PEH in peripheral systolic BP in Caucasian compared to Chinese subjects. The different magnitude in PEH was caused by the greater increase in cardiac output mediated by heart rate, with no change in stroke volume. It is possible that initial BP differences between races influenced the findings. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Pharmacokinetics of the BCL-2 Inhibitor Venetoclax in Healthy Chinese Subjects.

PubMed

Cheung, Tommy T; Salem, Ahmed Hamed; Menon, Rajeev M; Munasinghe, Wijith P; Bueno, Orlando F; Agarwal, Suresh K

2018-05-01

Venetoclax has been approved in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia for appropriate patients with difficult-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The objective of this phase 1 study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of venetoclax in Chinese subjects to inform the dose selection of venetoclax in a phase 2 study of patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) CLL in China. Twelve healthy first-generation Han Chinese subjects received a single 100-mg dose of venetoclax following a low-fat breakfast. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated using noncompartmental methods. After a single dose of venetoclax in healthy Chinese subjects, the median time to peak concentration was 6 hours (range, 4 to 6 hours), and the mean ± SD C max , AUC inf , and terminal half-life were 1.0 ± 0.32 μg/mL, 12.6 ± 5.4 μg·h/mL, and 18.4 ± 2.97 hours, respectively. On average, venetoclax C max and AUC inf values were 94% and 66% higher, respectively, in Chinese subjects compared with those observed historically for non-Asian subjects receiving the same dose. Based on these pharmacokinetic results and the established exposure-response relationship of venetoclax in non-Asian CLL subjects, a 400-mg once-daily dosage regimen was selected for evaluating the venetoclax pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety in the venetoclax phase 2 open-label study in Chinese subjects with R/R CLL. © 2017, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

[Investigation on the difference of intolerance to food between southern and northern middle-aged Chinese and its association with eating habits].

PubMed

Shi, Hai-Yan; Wang, Jian-Rong; Cao, Jian; Wang, Qing-Yun; Liu, Cui-Ping

2013-05-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the difference of intolerance to food between southern and northern middle-aged Chinese, and furthermore analyze its association with eating habits in both study population. ELISA was applied to determine the serum concentrations of specific IgG of 14 food anaphylactogen in 1568 healthy subjects from totally 9 districts in both southern and northern China. Life style questionnaire was also applied to investigate the daily intake of six categorizes of food associated with food intolerance. 45.8% of all subjects were found to be intolerant to certain food. 62.3% of subjects from southern China and 40.4% of subjects from northern China were found to be intolerant to certain food, the difference between southern and northern Chinese was statistically significant. Top three foods intolerant by southern Chinese were crab, egg, and cold fish, while top three food intolerant by northern Chinese were egg, crab, and milk. The differences of intolerance to crab, cold fish, soy bean, rice, and tomato between southern and northern Chinese were statistically significant. Investigation on eating habits revealed that cereals and fish were the major food consumed by subjects in our study. There was no certain association between food intolerance and eating habits. Considering that there are differences between southern and northern Chinese, southern and northern Chinese should pay attention to their daily food in order to avoid food allergy.

Association between cognitive impairment and eating habits in elderly Chinese subjects over 90 years of age.

PubMed

Gao, Lingyun; Dong, Birong; Hao, Qiu Kui; Ding, Xiang

2013-08-01

Eating habits may have a key influence on cognitive function, however, the relationship between dietary intake and cognitive impairment in the elderly Chinese population has not been explored. The present study investigated the association between cognitive impairment and eating habits in elderly Chinese subjects >90 years of age. This study comprised data from subjects included in the 2005 Project of Longevity and Ageing in Dujiangyan, China. Subjects were divided into two groups: cognitive impairment group and normal group. Sociodemographic and dietary habit data were collected and cognitive function was assessed in all subjects using the Mini-Mental State Examination. Data from 763 subjects (249 men, 514 women) were included. There was no statistically significant difference in eating habits between the two groups. Education level in the cognitive impairment group was significantly lower than in the normal group. Significant between-group differences were detected in factors relating to subjects' professions. Eating habits were not related to cognitive impairment in elderly Chinese people >90 years of age.

[Discussion on strengthening yin of chinese herbs with bitter-flavor clinical traditional Chinese pharmacology noun terminology standardization research].

PubMed

Liu, Xiao-Mei; Bao; Zhaorigetu; Zhuang, Xin-Ying; Que, Ling; Tian, Chang-Jiang

2013-10-01

Clinical traditional Chinese pharmacology is the subject that study of basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, property of Chinese materia medica and clinical application. The study on the standardization research of the terminology of clinical traditional Chinese pharmacology is an important premise and foundation to standardization, modernization and internationalization, informationization construction of clinical traditional Chinese pharmacology and is also the important content of the subject construction. To provide some exploring ideas for clinical traditional Chinese pharmacology noun terminology standardization, this article elaborates the concept of strengthening Yin with bitter-flavor herbs in several aspects, such as connotation and the historical origin, the clinical application in the traditional, modern clinic application, and the modern basic research and so on.

Seven novel mutations in the long isoform of the USH2A gene in Chinese families with nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa and Usher syndrome Type II

PubMed Central

Xu, Wenjun; Dai, Hanjun; Lu, Tingting; Zhang, Xiaohui; Dong, Bing

2011-01-01

Purpose To describe the clinical and genetic findings in one Chinese family with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP) and in three unrelated Chinese families with Usher syndrome type II (USH2). Methods One family (FR1) with arRP and three unrelated families (F6, F7, and F8) with Usher syndrome (USH), including eight affected members and seven unaffected family individuals were examined clinically. The study included 100 normal Chinese individuals as normal controls. After obtaining informed consent, peripheral blood samples from all participants were collected and genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping and haplotyping analyses were performed on the known genetic loci for arRP with a panel of polymorphic markers in family FR1. In all four families, the coding region (exons 2–72), including the intron-exon boundary of the USH2A (Usher syndrome type −2A protein) gene, was screened by PCR and direct DNA sequencing. Whenever substitutions were identified in a patient, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, or high resolution melt curve analysis (HRM) was performed on all available family members and on the 100 normal controls. Results The affected individuals presented with typical fundus features of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), including narrowing of the vessels, bone-spicule pigmentation, and waxy optic discs. The electroretinogram (ERG) wave amplitudes of the available probands were undetectable. Audiometric tests in the affected individuals in family FR1 were normal, while indicating moderate to severe sensorineural hearing impairment in the affected individuals in families F6, F7, and F8. Vestibular function was normal in all patients from all four families. The disease-causing gene in family FR1 was mapped to the USH2A locus on chromosome 1q41. Seven novel mutations (two missenses, one 7-bp deletion, two small deletions, and two nonsenses) were detected in the four families after sequencing analysis of USH2A. Conclusions The results further support that mutations of USH2A are also responsible for non-syndromic RP. The mutation spectrum among Chinese patients might differ from that among European Caucasians. PMID:21686329

Objective and Subjective Cancer Knowledge Among Faith-Based Chinese Adults.

PubMed

Hou, Su-I; Liu, Ling Jie

2017-10-01

This study examined cancer knowledge between church-going younger versus older Chinese adults. Hou's 8-item validated cancer screening knowledge test (CSKT) and a new 14-item cancer warning signs test (CWST) were used to assess objective knowledge. Subjective knowledge was measured by one overall 5-point Likert scale item. A total of 372 Taiwanese and Chinese Americans from nine churches participated. Although there were no significant differences by age on either the CSKT scores (younger = 5.89 vs. older = 5.71; p = .297) or the CWST (younger = 6.27 vs. older = 5.86; p = .245), subjective knowledge was higher among older Chinese adults (younger = 2.44 vs. older = 3.05, p < .001). Older Chinese adults were also more likely to identify cancer warning signs correctly, while younger adults were more likely to identify false warning signs correctly. Results have implication on tailoring cancer knowledge type (subjective vs. objective) and content domain (screening vs. warning signs). Findings can help health educators better understand cancer education needs among Chinese adults.

Novel GATAD2B loss-of-function mutations cause intellectual disability in two unrelated cases.

PubMed

Luo, Xiaomei; Zou, Yongyi; Tan, Bo; Zhang, Yue; Guo, Jing; Zeng, Lanlan; Zhang, Rui; Tan, Hu; Wei, Xianda; Hu, Yiqiao; Zheng, Yu; Liang, Desheng; Wu, Lingqian

2017-04-01

GATA zinc finger domain-containing 2B (GATAD2B) is a subunit of the methyl-CpG-binding protein-1 complex (MECP1), which deacetylates methylated nucleosomes and regresses transcriptional activity. Recently, GATAD2B has been elucidated as a candidate gene in patients with intellectual disability (ID). In this study, we identified two novel heterozygous frameshift mutations of GATAD2B in two unrelated ID cases through next-generation sequencing (NGS). Both of the mutations c.80_81insGATGT and c.552_555delGAAA cause truncated proteins that might be detrimental to neurodevelopment. We performed western blotting and observed a reduction in the target protein compared with normal controls. This is the first report of GATAD2B in Chinese ID patients. Our findings will broaden the spectrum of GATAD2B mutations and facilitate genetic diagnosis and counseling.

Association and interaction of myopia with SNP markers rs13382811 and rs6469937 at ZFHX1B and SNTB1 in Han Chinese and European populations.

PubMed

Li, Jiali; Jiao, Xiaodong; Zhang, Qingjiong; Hejtmancik, J Fielding

2017-01-01

Previously, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified rs13382811 (near ZFHX1B) and rs6469937 (near SNTB1) to be associated with high myopia. The present study evaluates the association of these two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with moderate to high myopia in two Chinese cohorts and two cohorts of European populations. Two Chinese university student cohorts, including one with 300 unrelated subjects with high myopia and 308 emmetropic controls from Guangzhou and a second with 96 unrelated individuals with moderate to high myopia and 96 emmetropic controls of Chaoshanese origin in Guangzhou, were enrolled in this study. Two SNPs, rs6469937 and rs13382811, were selected for genotyping based on their reported associations with severe myopia. The SNPs were genotyped via DNA sequencing. In addition, association analysis of both SNPs was performed using genotype data from the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) involving a total of 2,423 samples in two independent cohorts of European-derived populations, as follows: Kooperative Gesundheitsforschung in der Region Augsburg (KORA) and TwinsUK. The allelic and genotypic distribution among cases and controls were analyzed using the Chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the SNP-SNP interaction. Fisher's exact test was used for two-SNP comparisons. In the Guangzhou cohort, SNP rs13382811 near ZFHX1B showed significant association with high myopia ( p allelic = 0.0001, p genotypic = 4.07 × 10 -5 ), with the minor T allele showing an increased risk of high myopia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28-2.20). SNP rs6469937 near SNTB1 showed nominal evidence of association ( p allelic = 0.0085, p genotypic = 0.0166), which did not withstand correction for multiple testing. No significant association was detected in the smaller Chaoshan cohort alone. The association of SNPs rs13382811 and rs6469937 remained significant when both Han Chinese cohorts were combined ( p allelic = 0.0033 and 0.0016, respectively), and it was also significant under the genotypic test ( p genotypic = 0.0036 and 0.0053, respectively). When both SNPs were considered together under a recessive model, their significance increased ( p = 8.37 × 10 -4 ), as did their effect (OR = 4.09, 95%CI = 1.7-9.8). The association between either of these two SNPs alone and myopia did not replicate significantly in the combined cohorts of European descent, providing only suggestive results ( p allelic = 0.0088 for rs13382811 and p allelic = 0.0319 for rs6469937). However, the effects of the combined SNPs showed significant association ( p = 8.2 × 10 -4 ; OR = 1.56, 95%CI = 1.2-2.0). While the risk for myopia increased with risk alleles from both SNPs, the increase was additive rather representing a multiplicative interaction in both populations. Our study confirms that the two susceptibility loci ZFHX1B and SNTB1 are associated with moderate to high myopia in a Han Chinese population, as well as in a European population, when both SNPs are combined. These results confirm previous reports of their associations, extend these observations to a European population, and suggest that additional interactive and possibly population-specific genetic or environmental factors may affect their contribution to myopia.

A preliminary study of subjective frequency estimates of words spoken in Cantonese.

PubMed

Yip, M C

2001-06-01

A database is presented of the subjective frequency estimates for a set of 30 Chinese homophones. The estimates are based on analysis of responses from a simple listening task by 120 University students. On the listening task, they are asked to mention the first meaning thought of upon hearing a Chinese homophone by writing down the corresponding Chinese characters. There was correlation of .66 between the frequency of spoken and written words, suggesting distributional information about the lexical representations is generally independent of modality. These subjective frequency counts should be useful in the construction of material sets for research on word recognition using spoken Chinese (Cantonese).

Electrophysiological Correlates of Familiarity and Recollection in Associative Recognition: Contributions of Perceptual and Conceptual Processing to Unitization

PubMed Central

Li, Bingcan; Mao, Xinrui; Wang, Yujuan; Guo, Chunyan

2017-01-01

It is generally accepted that associative recognition memory is supported by recollection. In addition, recent research indicates that familiarity can support associative memory, especially when two items are unitized into a single item. Both perceptual and conceptual manipulations can be used to unitize items, but few studies have compared these two methods of unitization directly. In the present study, we investigated the effects of familiarity and recollection on successful retrieval of items that were unitized perceptually or conceptually. Participants were instructed to remember either a Chinese two-character compound or unrelated word-pairs, which were presented simultaneously or sequentially. Participants were then asked to recognize whether word-pairs were intact or rearranged. Event-related potential (ERP) recordings were performed during the recognition phase of the study. Two-character compounds were better discriminated than unrelated word-pairs and simultaneous presentation was found to elicit better discrimination than sequential presentation for unrelated word-pairs only. ERP recordings indicated that the early intact/rearranged effects (FN400), typically associated with familiarity, were elicited in compound word-pairs with both simultaneous and sequential presentation, and in simultaneously presented unrelated word-pairs, but not in sequentially presented unrelated word-pairs. In contrast, the late positive complex (LPC) effects associated with recollection were elicited in all four conditions. Together, these results indicate that while the engagement of familiarity in associative recognition is affected by both perceptual and conceptual unitization, conceptual unitization promotes a higher level of unitization (LOU). In addition, the engagement of recollection was not affected by unitized manipulations. It should be noted, however, that due to experimental design, the effects presented here may be due to semantic rather than episodic memory and future studies should take this into consideration when manipulating rearranged pairs. PMID:28400723

[Association of HLA-DPA1 and -DPB1 polymorphisms with Posner-Schlossman syndrome among southern Chinese Han population].

PubMed

Zhao, Jun; Zhu, Tianhui; He, Liumei; Shen, Xiaoli; Wang, Yanjun; Deng, Zhihui

2015-04-01

To assess the association of HLA-DPA1 and -DPB1 polymorphisms with Posner-Schlossman syndrome (PSS) in southern Chinese Han population. A total of 100 randomly selected PSS patients of southern Chinese Han origin were served as the experimental group, while 128 unrelated healthy blood donors of the same origin were served as the control group. All samples were subjected to sequencing-based typing (SBT) for exon 2 of HLA-DPA1 and -DPB1 loci in both directions. HLA genotype was assigned using an Assign 3.5 HLA SBT software. The allele frequencies and haplotype frequencies of HLA-DPA1 and -DPB1 of the two groups were compared. x² test, P value and odds ratio (OR) value were calculated. Six HLA-DPA1 alleles in the experimental group and 4 HLA-DPA1 alleles in the healthy control group were identified. The allelic frequency for HLA-DPA1*02:01 in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (4.50% vs. 12.109%; x²=8.124, P=0.004). Sixteen HLA-DPB1 alleles were identified in both the experimental and control groups. The allelic frequencies for HLA-DPB1*14:01 and - DPB1*17:01 in the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group ( DPB1*14:01: 1.00% vs. 4.688%, x²=5.130, P=0.024; DPB1*17:01: 0% vs. 2.344%, x²=3.897, P=0.048). The DPA1-DPB1 haplotypes for the experimental and control groups were 23 and 25, respectively. The haplotype frequencies for both DPA1*02:01- DPB1*14:01 and DPA1*02:01- DPB1*17:01 were significantly lower than those of the control group. DPA1*02:01- DPB1*14:01 and DPA1*02:01- DPB1*17:01 haplotypes may provide considerable protection effect against PSS in the southern Chinese Han population.

Forensic genetic informativeness of an SNP panel consisting of 19 multi-allelic SNPs.

PubMed

Gao, Zehua; Chen, Xiaogang; Zhao, Yuancun; Zhao, Xiaohong; Zhang, Shu; Yang, Yiwen; Wang, Yufang; Zhang, Ji

2018-05-01

Current research focusing on forensic personal identification, phenotype inference and ancestry information on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been widely reported. In the present study, we focused on tetra-allelic SNPs in the Chinese Han population. A total of 48 tetra-allelic SNPs were screened out from the Chinese Han population of the 1000 Genomes Database, including Chinese Han in Beijing (CHB) and Chinese Han South (CHS). Considering the forensic genetic requirement for the polymorphisms, only 11 tetra-allelic SNPs with a heterozygosity >0.06 were selected for further multiplex panel construction. In order to meet the demands of personal identification and parentage identification, an additional 8 tri-allelic SNPs were combined into the final multiplex panel. To ensure application in the degraded DNA analysis, all the PCR products were designed to be 87-188 bp. Employing multiple PCR reactions and SNaPshot minisequencing, 511 unrelated Chinese Han individuals from Sichuan were genotyped. The combined match probability (CMP), combined discrimination power (CDP), and cumulative probability of exclusion (CPE) of the panel were 6.07 × 10 -11 , 0.9999999999393 and 0.996764, respectively. Based on the population data retrieved from the 1000 Genomes Project, Fst values between Chinese Han in Sichuan (SCH) and all the populations included in the 1000 Genomes Project were calculated. The results indicated that two SNPs in this panel may contain ancestry information and may be used as markers of forensic biogeographical ancestry inference. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Expansion of the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of xeroderma pigmentosum in Chinese population.

PubMed

Zhang, Jia; Cheng, Ruhong; Yu, Xia; Sun, Zhonghui; Li, Ming; Yao, Zhirong

2017-01-01

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare genodermatosis characterized by exaggerated sunburn reactions, freckle-like pigmentation, and a high possibility of developing cutaneous tumors. XP comprised seven complementation groups (from XP-A to XP-G) and a variant form XP-V. This study was based on five unrelated Chinese families with six patients clinically suspected to be XP. Mutation screening was performed by direct sequencing of the entire coding region of eight XP genes. All of the pathogenic mutations were identified by mutational analysis, including four novel mutations. Our study successfully identified the pathogenic mutations in six XP patients (three XP-A, one XP-G, one XP-V, and a rare XP-D group in Chinese population). We reviewed the reported XP cases with mutations in the Chinese population and concluded that four complementation groups (XP-A, XP-C, XP-G, and XP-V) that occupy the major proportion should be considered as a first step in genetic detection (especially, XPA is the most common group, and unlike in other populations, XP-G is not rare in the Chinese population). Moreover, XP-D and XP-F, two rare subgroups, should also be added for further mutational analysis. Further, we provide some information for Chinese dermatologists that, when an early diagnosis is made, XP-C and XP-V patients can have relatively good prognoses. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Acculturation and changes in dietary behavior and anthropometric measures among Chinese international students in South Korea

PubMed Central

Lee, Jounghee; Gao, Ran-Ran

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES International students face dissimilar food environments, which could lead to changes in dietary behaviors and anthropometric characteristics between before and after migration. We sought to examine the risk factors, including dietary behaviors, acculturation, and demographic characteristics, related to overweight subjects residing in South Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study, collecting data from 142 Chinese international students (63 males, 79 females) in 2013. RESULTS The mean age of the subjects was 25.4 years, and almost half of them immigrated to South Korea to earn a master's degree or doctoral degree (n = 70, 49.3%). Chinese international students showed an increase in skipping meals and eating speed, but a decrease in the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption in South Korea compared to when they lived in China. We found a statistically significant increase in weight (69.4 → 73.9 kg) and BMI (22.4 → 23.8 kg/m2) for male subjects (P < 0.001) but no change for female subjects. We also found that overweight subjects were more likely to be highly acculturated and male compared with normal-weight subjects. CONCLUSION Among Chinese international students living in South Korea, male and more highly acculturated subjects are more vulnerable to weight gain. This study provides useful information to design tailored nutrition intervention programs for Chinese international students. PMID:26060543

Happy Family Kitchen II: a cluster randomized controlled trial of a community-based positive psychology family intervention for subjective happiness and health-related quality of life in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Ho, Henry C Y; Mui, Moses; Wan, Alice; Ng, Yin-Lam; Stewart, Sunita M; Yew, Carol; Lam, Tai Hing; Chan, Sophia S

2016-07-29

Most positive psychology interventions conducted in the West have been focused on the individual. Family relationships are highly valued in the Chinese collectivist culture, and it is of interest to know whether family-focused interventions can improve the well-being of Chinese people. We have previously reported the effectiveness of a positive psychology family intervention in terms of family well-being. Based on the data derived from the Happy Family Kitchen II project, this paper examines the effectiveness of a community-based positive psychology family intervention on subjective happiness and health-related quality of life. Thirty-one social service units and schools organized intervention programs for 2070 participants in Hong Kong. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned on the basis of computer-generated numbers into the intervention group or the control group. The intervention programs emphasized one of five positive psychology themes: joy, gratitude, flow, savoring, and listening. The control group engaged in activities unrelated to the intervention, such as arts and crafts workshops. Subjective happiness and mental and physical quality of life were assessed at baseline and at 4 weeks and 12 weeks postintervention. Data of 1261 participants were analyzed. The results showed that the intervention was more effective than the control condition in improving subjective happiness, with a small effect size, at 12 weeks postintervention (β = .15, p = .020, Cohen's d = .16). However, there were no improvements in mental and physical quality of life in the intervention group compared with the control group at 4 weeks (β = .39, p = .494, d = .05; β = -.10, p = 1.000, d = -.01, respectively) and 12 weeks postintervention (β = .71, p = .233, d = .08; β = -.05, p = 1.000, d = -.01, respectively). Furthermore, the booster session was no more effective than the tea gathering session in improving subjective happiness (β = .00, p = .990, d = .00) or mental (β = 1.20, p = 1.000, d = -.04) and physical quality of life (β = .15, p = 1.000, d = -.01). The analyses extend previous findings of salutary effects on family well-being by showing that positive psychology family interventions can improve subjective happiness. Suggestions for future research are proposed. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01796275 . Retrospectively registered 19 February 2013.

Being Chinese or Being Different: Chinese Undergraduates' Use of Discourses of Chineseness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skyrme, Gillian

2014-01-01

Myths about "the Chinese learner" developed from an outsider perspective abound in the Western world. The focus of this article, however, is how discourses of Chineseness were used by the Chinese international students themselves who, as undergraduate students in a New Zealand university, were the subjects of my doctoral research. It…

Relationship of genetically transmitted alpha EEG traits to anxiety disorders and alcoholism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Enoch, M.A.; Rohrbaugh, W.; Harris, C.R.

We tested the hypothesis that a heritable EEG trait, the low voltage alpha (LV), is associated with psychiatric disorders. Modest to moderate evidence for genetic linkage of both panic disorder and the low voltage alpha trait to the same region of chromosome 20q has recently been reported, raising the issue of whether there is a phenotypic correlation between these traits. A total of 124 subjects including 50 unrelated index subjects and 74 relatives were studied. Alpha EEG power was measured and EEG phenotypes were impressionistically classified. Subjects were psychiatrically interviewed using the SADS-L and blind-rated by RDC criteria. Alcoholics weremore » four times more likely to be LV (including so-called borderline low voltage alpha) than were nonalcoholic, nonanxious subjects. Alcoholics with anxiety disorder are 10 times more likely to be LV. However, alcoholics without anxiety disorder were similar to nonalcoholics in alpha power. An anxiety disorder (panic disorder, phobia, or generalized anxiety) was found in 14/17 LV subjects as compared to 34/101 of the rest of the sample (P < 0.01). Support for these observations was found in the unrelated index subjects in whom no traits would be shared by familial clustering. Lower alpha power in anxiety disorders was not state-dependent, as indicated by the Spielberger Anxiety Scale. Familial covariance of alpha power was 0.25 (P < 0.01). These findings indicate there may be a shared factor underlying the transmissible low voltage alpha EEG variant and vulnerability to anxiety disorders with associated alcoholism. This factor is apparently not rare, because LV was found in approximately 10% of unrelated index subjects and 5% of subjects free of alcoholism and anxiety disorders. 43 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.« less

Novel HSF4 mutation causes congenital total white cataract in a Chinese family.

PubMed

Ke, Tie; Wang, Qing K; Ji, Binchu; Wang, Xu; Liu, Ping; Zhang, Xianqin; Tang, Zhaohui; Ren, Xiang; Liu, Mugen

2006-08-01

To identify the disease-causing gene (mutation) in a Chinese family affected with autosomal dominant congenital total white cataract. Observational case series. Genotyping and linkage analyses were used to identify the linkage of the disease-causing gene in the Chinese family to the HSF4 gene encoding a member of the family of heat shock transcription factors (HSFs). Direct DNA sequence analysis was used to identify the disease-causing mutation. Polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to demonstrate cosegregation of the HSF4 mutation with the cataract and the absence of the mutation in the normal controls. The cataract gene in the Chinese family was linked to marker D16S3043, and further haplotype analysis defined the causative gene between D16S515 and D16S415 within which HSF4 is located. A novel mutation c.221G>A was identified in HSF4, which results in substitution of a highly conserved arginine residue by histidine at codon 74 (p.R74H). The R74H mutation cosegregated with the affected individuals in the family and did not exist in unaffected family members and 150 unrelated normal controls. These results identified a novel missense mutation R74H in the transcription factor gene HSF4 in a Chinese cataract family and expand the spectrum of HSF4 mutations causing cataract.

The Processing of Visual and Phonological Configurations of Chinese One- and Two-Character Words in a Priming Task of Semantic Categorization.

PubMed

Ma, Bosen; Wang, Xiaoyun; Li, Degao

2015-01-01

To separate the contribution of phonological from that of visual-orthographic information in the recognition of a Chinese word that is composed of one or two Chinese characters, we conducted two experiments in a priming task of semantic categorization (PTSC), in which length (one- or two-character words), relation, prime (related or unrelated prime-target pairs), and SOA (47, 87, or 187 ms) were manipulated. The prime was similar to the target in meaning or in visual configuration in Experiment A and in meaning or in pronunciation in Experiment B. The results indicate that the two-character words were similar to the one-character words but were less demanding of cognitive resources than the one-character words in the processing of phonological, visual-orthographic, and semantic information. The phonological primes had a facilitating effect at the SOA of 47 ms but an inhibitory effect at the SOA of 187 ms on the participants' reaction times; the visual-orthographic primes only had an inhibitory influence on the participants' reaction times at the SOA of 187 ms. The visual configuration of a Chinese word of one or two Chinese characters has its own contribution in helping retrieve the word's meanings; similarly, the phonological configuration of a one- or two-character word plays its own role in triggering activations of the word's semantic representations.

Application of the COOP/WONCA charts to aged patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a comparison between Japanese and Chinese populations

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is similar in Japan and China and is increasing due to high rates of smoking in these countries. Reducing COPD is an important public health issue. The goals of this study were to verify the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the COOP/WONCA charts, a tool for measuring health status, and to examine the qualitative differences in health status between Japanese and Chinese patients with COPD and between these patients and healthy subjects. Methods From 2008 to 2011, we examined the factors affecting the health status of Japanese and Chinese populations living in six cities. Participants were patients with COPD staged according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria (140 Japanese, 201 Chinese) and healthy subjects (243 Japanese, 199 Chinese), all 50 to 79 years old. Health status was measured by using the COOP/WONCA charts, and basic information such as smoking status and medical history was reported by the participants. Results The Japanese and Chinese versions of the COOP/WONCA charts were shown to be reliable and valid by test-retest, comparison with the SF-36 and respiratory symptoms, and correlation of results obtained from patients and their physicians. Stepwise multiple regression analyses demonstrated that “Physical fitness”, “Daily activities”, and “Social activities” were predicted by COPD status and/or respiratory symptoms; “Feelings” by nationality and respiratory symptoms; “Pain” by sex and respiratory symptoms; and “Overall health” by nationality. When the COOP/WONCA scores were stratified by nationality, age, sex, and COPD status, the difference of each score between the patients and healthy subjects was larger for the Chinese subjects than for the Japanese. The physical, psychosocial activities, and pain scores increased significantly as COPD status worsened in Chinese subjects, whereas these scores were not affected by sex, age, or COPD status for Japanese subjects. Brinkman index and use of smoky fuel indoors affected the COOP/WONCA scores in Chinese patients but not in Japanese patients. Conclusions The Japanese COOP/WONCA charts are reliable and valid. COPD more severely affected the health status of Chinese participants than of Japanese participants. These results suggest that countermeasures against insufficient health care and smoky environments may improve the health status of Chinese patients with COPD. PMID:23945173

Self-Esteem as Mediator and Moderator of the Relationship between Social Support and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Feng; Zhao, Jingjing; You, Xuqun

2013-01-01

This study examined both the mediating and moderating effects of global self-esteem on the relationship between social support and subjective well-being among Chinese university students. Three hundred and ninety-one university students (260 males and 131 females) from two different Chinese universities completed the social support scale, the…

Alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase polymorphisms in Chinese and Indian populations.

PubMed

Tan, Ene-Choo; Lim, Leslie; Leong, Jern-Yi; Lim, Jing-Yan; Lee, Arthur; Yang, Jun; Tan, Chay-Hoon; Winslow, Munidasa

2010-01-01

The association between two functional polymorphisms in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH2/ADH1B) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) genes and alcohol dependence was examined in 182 Chinese and Indian patients undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence and 184 screened control subjects from Singapore. All subjects were screened by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Patients were also administered the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ). Polymorphisms were genotyped by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction and selected genotypes confirmed by DNA sequencing or restriction fragment length polymorphism. Our results showed that frequencies of ADH1B*2 and ALDH2*2 were higher in controls compared to alcohol-dependent subjects for both Chinese and Indians. Frequencies of these two alleles were also higher in the 104 Chinese controls compared to the 80 Indian controls. None of the eight Chinese who were homozygous for both protective alleles was alcohol dependent. The higher frequencies of the protective alleles could explain the lower rate of alcohol dependence in Chinese.

The fractal characteristic of facial anthropometric data for developing PCA fit test panels for youth born in central China.

PubMed

Yang, Lei; Wei, Ran; Shen, Henggen

2017-01-01

New principal component analysis (PCA) respirator fit test panels had been developed for current American and Chinese civilian workers based on anthropometric surveys. The PCA panels used the first two principal components (PCs) obtained from a set of 10 facial dimensions. Although the PCA panels for American and Chinese subjects adopted the bivairate framework with two PCs, the number of the PCs retained in the PCA analysis was different between Chinese subjects and Americans. For the Chinese youth group, the third PC should be retained in the PCA analysis for developing new fit test panels. In this article, an additional number label (ANL) is used to explain the third PC in PCA analysis when the first two PCs are used to construct the PCA half-facepiece respirator fit test panel for Chinese group. The three-dimensional box-counting method is proposed to estimate the ANLs by calculating fractal dimensions of the facial anthropometric data of the Chinese youth. The linear regression coefficients of scale-free range R 2 are all over 0.960, which demonstrates that the facial anthropometric data of the Chinese youth has fractal characteristic. The youth subjects born in Henan province has an ANL of 2.002, which is lower than the composite facial anthropometric data of Chinese subjects born in many provinces. Hence, Henan youth subjects have the self-similar facial anthropometric characteristic and should use the particular ANL (2.002) as the important tool along with using the PCA panel. The ANL method proposed in this article not only provides a new methodology in quantifying the characteristics of facial anthropometric dimensions for any ethnic/racial group, but also extends the scope of PCA panel studies to higher dimensions.

Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: prospective relations to Chinese children's psychological adjustment.

PubMed

Tao, Annie; Zhou, Qing; Wang, Yun

2010-04-01

The prospective relations between five types of parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) and children's psychological adjustment (behavioral problems and social competence) were examined in a two-wave longitudinal study of 425 school-age children in China. Parents (mostly mothers) reported their own PRCNE. Parents, teachers, and children or peers reported on children's adjustment. Parental punitive reactions positively predicted externalizing problems (controlling for baseline), whereas emotion- and problem-focused reactions were negatively related to internalizing problems. Parental minimizing and encouragement of emotion expression were unrelated to adjustment. Concurrent relations were found between PRCNE and parents' authoritative and authoritarian parenting dimensions. However, PRCNE did not uniquely predict adjustment controlling for global parenting dimensions. The findings have implications for cultural adaptation of parent-focused interventions for families of Chinese origin. 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Acculturation and changes in dietary behavior and anthropometric measures among Chinese international students in South Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Jounghee; Gao, Ran-Ran; Kim, Jung-Hee

2015-06-01

International students face dissimilar food environments, which could lead to changes in dietary behaviors and anthropometric characteristics between before and after migration. We sought to examine the risk factors, including dietary behaviors, acculturation, and demographic characteristics, related to overweight subjects residing in South Korea. We conducted a cross-sectional study, collecting data from 142 Chinese international students (63 males, 79 females) in 2013. The mean age of the subjects was 25.4 years, and almost half of them immigrated to South Korea to earn a master's degree or doctoral degree (n = 70, 49.3%). Chinese international students showed an increase in skipping meals and eating speed, but a decrease in the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption in South Korea compared to when they lived in China. We found a statistically significant increase in weight (69.4 → 73.9 kg) and BMI (22.4 → 23.8 kg/m(2)) for male subjects (P < 0.001) but no change for female subjects. We also found that overweight subjects were more likely to be highly acculturated and male compared with normal-weight subjects. Among Chinese international students living in South Korea, male and more highly acculturated subjects are more vulnerable to weight gain. This study provides useful information to design tailored nutrition intervention programs for Chinese international students.

Rocuronium blockade reversal with sugammadex vs. neostigmine: randomized study in Chinese and Caucasian subjects

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background This study compared efficacy and safety of the selective relaxant binding agent sugammadex (2 mg/kg) with neostigmine (50 μg/kg) for neuromuscular blockade (NMB) reversal in Chinese and Caucasian subjects. Methods This was a randomized, active-controlled, multicenter, safety-assessor-blinded study (NCT00825812) in American Society of Anesthesiologists Class 1-3 subjects undergoing surgery with propofol anesthesia. Rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg was administered for endotracheal intubation, with 0.1–0.2 mg/kg maintenance doses given as required. NMB was monitored using TOF-Watch® SX. At second twitch reappearance, after last rocuronium dose, subjects received sugammadex 2 mg/kg or neostigmine 50 μg/kg plus atropine 10–20 μg/kg, according to randomization. Primary efficacy variable was time from sugammadex/neostigmine to recovery of the train-of-four (TOF) ratio to 0.9. Results Overall, 230 Chinese subjects (sugammadex, n = 119, neostigmine, n = 111); and 59 Caucasian subjects (sugammadex, n = 29, neostigmine, n = 30) had evaluable data. Geometric mean (95% CI) time to recovery to TOF ratio 0.9 was 1.6 (1.5–1.7) min with sugammadex vs 9.1 (8.0–10.3) min with neostigmine in Chinese subjects. Corresponding times for Caucasian subjects were 1.4 (1.3–1.5) min and 6.7 (5.5–8.0) min, respectively. Sugammadex 2 mg/kg was generally well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. There was no residual NMB or recurrence of NMB. Conclusion Both Chinese and Caucasian subjects recovered from NMB significantly faster after sugammadex 2 mg/kg vs neostigmine 50 μg/kg, with a ~5.7 times (p < 0.0001) faster recovery with sugammadex vs neostigmine in Chinese subjects. Sugammadex was generally well tolerated. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00825812. PMID:25187755

Rocuronium blockade reversal with sugammadex vs. neostigmine: randomized study in Chinese and Caucasian subjects.

PubMed

Wu, Xinmin; Oerding, Helle; Liu, Jin; Vanacker, Bernard; Yao, Shanglong; Dahl, Vegard; Xiong, Lize; Claudius, Casper; Yue, Yun; Huang, Yuguang; Abels, Esther; Rietbergen, Henk; Woo, Tiffany

2014-01-01

This study compared efficacy and safety of the selective relaxant binding agent sugammadex (2 mg/kg) with neostigmine (50 μg/kg) for neuromuscular blockade (NMB) reversal in Chinese and Caucasian subjects. This was a randomized, active-controlled, multicenter, safety-assessor-blinded study (NCT00825812) in American Society of Anesthesiologists Class 1-3 subjects undergoing surgery with propofol anesthesia. Rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg was administered for endotracheal intubation, with 0.1-0.2 mg/kg maintenance doses given as required. NMB was monitored using TOF-Watch(®) SX. At second twitch reappearance, after last rocuronium dose, subjects received sugammadex 2 mg/kg or neostigmine 50 μg/kg plus atropine 10-20 μg/kg, according to randomization. Primary efficacy variable was time from sugammadex/neostigmine to recovery of the train-of-four (TOF) ratio to 0.9. Overall, 230 Chinese subjects (sugammadex, n = 119, neostigmine, n = 111); and 59 Caucasian subjects (sugammadex, n = 29, neostigmine, n = 30) had evaluable data. Geometric mean (95% CI) time to recovery to TOF ratio 0.9 was 1.6 (1.5-1.7) min with sugammadex vs 9.1 (8.0-10.3) min with neostigmine in Chinese subjects. Corresponding times for Caucasian subjects were 1.4 (1.3-1.5) min and 6.7 (5.5-8.0) min, respectively. Sugammadex 2 mg/kg was generally well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. There was no residual NMB or recurrence of NMB. Both Chinese and Caucasian subjects recovered from NMB significantly faster after sugammadex 2 mg/kg vs neostigmine 50 μg/kg, with a ~5.7 times (p < 0.0001) faster recovery with sugammadex vs neostigmine in Chinese subjects. Sugammadex was generally well tolerated. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00825812.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Nestor, Paul G.; Piech, Richard; Allen, Christopher; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Shenton, Martha; McCarley, Robert W.

2009-01-01

Retrieving category associates (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE) may induce forgetting other category members (e.g., FRUIT-BANANA), a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). We designed 2 experiments to examine the role of RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia (SZ). Subjects studied 36 category-exemplar pairs, generated from 6 categories composed of 6 members each. For half of the studied category-exemplar pairs, subjects practiced retrieval by completing word stems, followed by a delayed category-cued recall on all of the practiced and unpracticed items. Experiment 1 used unrelated category exemplars-pairs (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE, METALS-IRON), whereas experiment 2 included related category exemplar pairs (e.g., COTTON-SHIRT, LEATHER-SKIRT). SZ showed reduced associative memory but normal RIF for unrelated categories used in experiment 1. For experiment 2, SZ showed a significant decline in associative memory for related but not unrelated category-exemplars in comparison to controls. Results suggested faulty specificity/distinctiveness for encoding and retrieval, but not abnormal RIF in the associative memory disturbance of SZ. PMID:15885511

Retrieval-induced forgetting in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Nestor, Paul G; Piech, Richard; Allen, Christopher; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Shenton, Martha; McCarley, Robert W

2005-06-15

Retrieving category associates (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE) may induce forgetting other category members (e.g., FRUIT-BANANA), a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). We designed 2 experiments to examine the role of RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia (SZ). Subjects studied 36 category-exemplar pairs, generated from 6 categories composed of 6 members each. For half of the studied category-exemplar pairs, subjects practiced retrieval by completing word stems, followed by a delayed category-cued recall on all of the practiced and unpracticed items. Experiment 1 used unrelated category exemplars-pairs (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE, METALS-IRON), whereas experiment 2 included related category exemplar pairs (e.g., COTTON-SHIRT, LEATHER-SKIRT). SZ showed reduced associative memory but normal RIF for unrelated categories used in experiment 1. For experiment 2, SZ showed a significant decline in associative memory for related but not unrelated category-exemplars in comparison to controls. Results suggested faulty specificity/distinctiveness for encoding and retrieval, but not abnormal RIF in the associative memory disturbance of SZ.

The time course of morphological processing during spoken word recognition in Chinese.

PubMed

Shen, Wei; Qu, Qingqing; Ni, Aiping; Zhou, Junyi; Li, Xingshan

2017-12-01

We investigated the time course of morphological processing during spoken word recognition using the printed-word paradigm. Chinese participants were asked to listen to a spoken disyllabic compound word while simultaneously viewing a printed-word display. Each visual display consisted of three printed words: a semantic associate of the first constituent of the compound word (morphemic competitor), a semantic associate of the whole compound word (whole-word competitor), and an unrelated word (distractor). Participants were directed to detect whether the spoken target word was on the visual display. Results indicated that both the morphemic and whole-word competitors attracted more fixations than the distractor. More importantly, the morphemic competitor began to diverge from the distractor immediately at the acoustic offset of the first constituent, which was earlier than the whole-word competitor. These results suggest that lexical access to the auditory word is incremental and morphological processing (i.e., semantic access to the first constituent) that occurs at an early processing stage before access to the representation of the whole word in Chinese.

Association of the g.19074G>A genetic variant in the osteoprotegerin gene with bone mineral density in Chinese postmenopausal women.

PubMed

Zhang, Y D; Zhang, Z; Zhou, N F; Jia, W T; Cheng, X G; Wei, X J

2014-08-28

Primary osteoporosis is a common health problem in postmenopausal women. This study aimed to detect the association of the g.19074G>A genetic variant in the osteoprotegerin gene (OPG) with bone mineral density (BMD) and primary osteoporosis. The created restriction site-polymerase chain reaction method was used to investigate the g.19074G>A genetic variant. The BMD of the femoral neck hip, lumbar spine (L2-4), and total hip were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in 856 unrelated Chinese postmenopausal women. We found significant differences in the BMDs of the femoral neck hip, lumbar spine (L2-4), and total hip among different genotypes; individuals with the GG genotype had significantly higher BMDs than those with the GA and AA genotypes (P < 0.05). Our results indicated that the A allele was an increased risk factor for primary osteoporosis and the g.19074G>A genetic variant of the OPG gene was associated with BMD and primary osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Cleft lip with or without cleft palate and dermatoglyphic asymmetry: evaluation of a Chinese population.

PubMed

Neiswanger, K; Cooper, M E; Weinberg, S M; Flodman, P; Keglovits, A Bundens; Liu, Y; Hu, D N; Melnick, M; Spence, M A; Marazita, M L

2002-08-01

To determine if Chinese individuals with non syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) display more dermatoglyphic asymmetry than unaffected relatives or controls. Case-control study with two control groups (genetically related and unrelated). A total of 500 CL/P probands from Shanghai, China, 421 unaffected relatives, and 66 controls of Chinese heritage. Finger and palm prints were collected, and pattern frequencies, total ridge counts (TRC), and atd angles were calculated. Asymmetry scores between right and left hands were defined for each of the three dermatoglyphic measures. Probands' asymmetry scores were compared statistically with the scores of unaffected relatives and controls. In general, the probands' asymmetry scores for TRC and atd angle did not differ significantly from the scores of either unaffected relatives or controls. However, probands with a positive family history of clefting showed significantly more asymmetry in their pattern types than either probands without a family history, unaffected relatives or controls. These results suggest that a unique genetic mechanism of developmental instability may obtain in CL/P individuals with a positive family history of clefting.

Two Novel HOGA1 Splicing Mutations Identified in a Chinese Patient with Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 3.

PubMed

Wang, Xinsheng; Zhao, Xiangzhong; Wang, Xiaoling; Yao, Jian; Zhang, Feifei; Lang, Yanhua; Tuffery-Giraud, Sylvie; Bottillo, Irene; Shao, Leping

2015-01-01

Twenty-six HOGA1 mutations have been reported in primary hyperoxaluria (PH) type 3 (PH3) patients with c.700 + 5G>T accounting for about 50% of the total alleles. However, PH3 has never been described in Asians. A Chinese child with early-onset nephrolithiasis was suspected of having PH. We searched for AGXT, GRHPR and HOGA1 gene mutations in this patient and his parents. All coding regions, including intron-exon boundaries, were analyzed using PCR followed by direct sequence analysis. Two heterozygous mutations not previously described in the literature about HOGA1 were identified (compound heterozygous). One mutation was a successive 2 bp substitution at the last nucleotide of exon 6 and at the first nucleotide of intron 6, respectively (c.834_834 + 1GG>TT), while the other one was a guanine to adenine substitution of the last nucleotide of exon 6 (c.834G>A). Direct sequencing analysis failed to find these mutations in 100 unrelated healthy subjects and the functional role on splicing of both variants found in this study was confirmed by a minigene assay based on the pSPL3 exon trapping vector. In addition, we found a SNP in this family (c.715G>A, p.V239I). There were no mutations detected in AGXT and GRHPR. Two novel HOGA1 mutations were identified in association with PH3. This is the first description and investigation on mutant gene analysis of PH3 in an Asian. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Targeted case finding for hepatitis B using dry blood spot testing in the British-Chinese and South Asian populations of the North-East of England.

PubMed

McPherson, S; Valappil, M; Moses, S E; Eltringham, G; Miller, C; Baxter, K; Chan, A; Shafiq, K; Saeed, A; Qureshi, R; Hudson, M; Bassendine, M F

2013-09-01

Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a frequent cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Targeted HBV screening is recommended by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention for subjects born in countries with >2% HBV prevalence. However, there are no UK guidelines. Here, we applied the (CDC) recommendations to the British-Chinese and British-South Asian community of North-East (NE) England. British-Chinese and South Asian subjects were invited to attend for HBV education and screening sessions held in community centres. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core total antibody (HBcAb) were tested with dry blood spot tests. South Asians were also tested for hepatitis C antibody (HCVAb). A total of 1126 subjects (606 Chinese and 520 South Asian) were screened. Sixty-two (5.5%) were HBsAg positive. Ten of these reported a previous diagnosis of HBV. The prevalence of HBsAg positivity was 4.6% when previously diagnosed individuals were excluded. The HBsAg prevalence was significantly higher in the Chinese subjects compared with South Asians (8.7% VS. 1.7% P < 0.001). In Chinese subjects, HBsAg positivity was highest in subjects born in Vietnam (17.4%), followed by China (11%), Hong Kong (7.8%) and the UK (6.7%). Subjects from Pakistan had the highest HBsAg and HCV Ab prevalence in the South Asians (3.1% and 1.8%, respectively). Ten percentage of HBsAg positive patients who had follow-up assessment had active disease requiring antiviral treatment. Undiagnosed HBV infection was above the 2% threshold for screening suggested by the CDC in the British-Chinese and Pakistani community of NE England, which provides evidence for a UK HBV-targeted screening programme. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Genetic analysis of 19 X chromosome STR loci for forensic purposes in four Chinese ethnic groups

PubMed Central

Yang, Xingyi; Zhang, Xiaofang; Zhu, Junyong; Chen, Linli; Liu, Changhui; Feng, Xingling; Chen, Ling; Wang, Huijun; Liu, Chao

2017-01-01

A new 19 X- short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex PCR system has recently been developed, though its applicability in forensic studies has not been thoroughly assessed. In this study, 932 unrelated individuals from four Chinese ethnic groups (Han, Tibet, Uighur and Hui) were successfully genotyped using this new multiplex PCR system. Our results showed significant linkage disequilibrium between markers DXS10103 and DXS10101 in all four ethnic groups; markers DXS10159 and DXS10162, DXS6809 and DXS6789, and HPRTB and DXS10101 in Tibetan populations; and markers DXS10074 and DXS10075 in Uighur populations. The combined powers of discrimination in males and females were calculated according to haplotype frequencies from allele distributions rather than haplotype counts in the relevant population and were high in four ethnic groups. The cumulative powers of discrimination of the tested X-STR loci were 1.000000000000000 and 0.999999999997940 in females and males, respectively. All 19 X-STR loci are highly polymorphic. The highest Reynolds genetic distances were observed for the Tibet-Uighur pairwise comparisons. This study represents an extensive report on X-STR marker variation in minor Chinese populations and a comprehensive analysis of the diversity of these 19 X STR markers in four Chinese ethnic groups. PMID:28211539

Components of Implicit Stigma against Mental Illness among Chinese Students

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiaogang; Huang, Xiting; Jackson, Todd; Chen, Ruijun

2012-01-01

Although some research has examined negative automatic aspects of attitudes toward mental illness via relatively indirect measures among Western samples, it is unclear whether negative attitudes can be automatically activated in individuals from non-Western countries. This study attempted to validate results from Western samples with Chinese college students. We first examined the three-component model of implicit stigma (negative cognition, negative affect, and discriminatory tendencies) toward mental illness with the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT). We also explored the relationship between explicit and implicit stigma among 56 Chinese university college students. In the three separate SC-IATs and the combined SC-IAT, automatic associations between mental illness and negative descriptors were stronger relative to those with positive descriptors and the implicit effect of cognitive and affective SC-IATs were significant. Explicit and implicit measures of stigma toward mental illness were unrelated. In our sample, women's overall attitudes toward mental illness were more negative than men's were, but no gender differences were found for explicit measures. These findings suggested that implicit stigma toward mental illness exists in Chinese students, and provide some support for the three-component model of implicit stigma toward mental illness. Future studies that focus on automatic components of stigmatization and stigma-reduction in China are warranted. PMID:23029366

Nagashima-type palmoplantar keratosis in a Chinese Han population

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jia; Zhang, Guolong; Ni, Cheng; Cheng, Ruhong; Liang, Jianying; Li, Ming; Yao, Zhirong

2016-01-01

Nagashima-type palmoplantar keratosis (NPPK) is an autosomal recessive form of palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK), which is caused by mutations in the SERPINB7 gene. NPPK has only been reported in Japanese and Chinese populations. The present study was conducted on 12 unrelated Chinese patients who were clinically predicted to suffer from NPPK. Mutation screening was performed by direct sequencing of the entire coding regions of SERPINB7, SLURP1, AQP5, CSTA, KRT1 and KRT9 genes. Direct sequencing of SERPINB7 revealed five homozygous founder mutations (c.796C>T) and four compound heterozygous mutations in nine patients, including one novel mutation (c.122_127delTGGTCC). Nine out of the 12 patients were diagnosed with NPPK due to SERPINB7 pathogenic mutations, and the results expanded the known mutation spectrum of NPPK. Taking the other seven reported Chinese patients, who had been definitively diagnosed with NPPK by genetic testing, into account, the present study further demonstrated that NPPK is a common entity in Mainland China, and c.796C>T is the most prevalent mutation and exerts a founder effect. Furthermore, the NPPK cases described in the current study presented a consistently mild phenotype, as compared with the degrees of phenotypic variability associated with other types of relatively severe PPK, including Mal de Meleda and Olmsted syndrome. PMID:27666198

Limited role of phonology in reading Chinese two-character compounds: evidence from an ERP study.

PubMed

Wong, A W-K; Wu, Y; Chen, H-C

2014-01-03

This study investigates the role of phonology in reading logographic Chinese. Specifically, whether phonological information is obligatorily activated in reading Chinese two-character compounds was examined using the masked-priming paradigm with event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Twenty-two native Cantonese Chinese speakers participated in a lexical decision experiment. The targets were visually presented Chinese two-character strings and the participants were asked to judge whether the target in each trial was a legitimate compound word in Chinese. Each target was preceded by a briefly presented word prime. The prime and target shared an identical constituent character in the Character-related condition, a syllable in the Syllable-related condition, were semantically related in the Semantic-related condition, and were unrelated (both phonologically and semantically) in the control condition. The prime–target relationship was manipulated to probe the effects of word-form (i.e., character- or syllable-relatedness) and word-semantic relatedness on phonological (as indexed by an N250 ERP component) and semantic (as indexed by an N400 ERP component) processing. Significant and comparable facilitation effects in reaction time, relative to the control, were observed in the Character-related and the Semantic-related conditions. Furthermore, a significant reduction in ERP amplitudes (N250), relative to the control, was obtained in the Character-related condition in the time window of 150-250 ms post target. In addition, attenuation in ERP amplitudes was found in the Semantic-related condition in the window of 250-500 ms (N400). However, no significant results (neither behavioral nor ERP) were found in the Syllable-related condition. These results suggest that phonological activation is not mandatory and the role of phonology is minimal at best in reading Chinese two-character compounds.

A Functional Study of "zhi [Chinese character omitted]" in the Chinese Nominal Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Weiwei; Li, Manliang

2017-01-01

Over the past decades, subjects concerned with the Chinese character "zhi [Chinese character omitted]", i.e. grammatical structure, in ancient Chinese language, have been widely explored. This paper conducts a research from a new dimension: the Cardiff Grammar, an integral part of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) which is famous for…

Prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine, western medicine, and integrated Chinese-Western medicine for allergic rhinitis under the National Health Insurance in Taiwan.

PubMed

Huang, Sheng-Kang; Ho, Yu-Ling; Chang, Yuan-Shiun

2015-09-15

Allergic rhinitis has long been a worldwide health problem with a global growth trend. The use of traditional Chinese medicines alone or integrated Chinese-Western medicines for its treatment is quite common in Taiwan. Respiratory diseases account for the majority of outpatient traditional Chinese medicine treatment, while allergic rhinitis accounts for the majority of respiratory diseases. We hereby conduct a comparative analysis between traditional Chinese medicine treatments and western medicine treatments for allergic rhinitis in Taiwan. The results of the analysis on the prescription difference of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine treatments would be helpful to clinical guide and health policy decision making of ethnopharmacological therapy. Patients diagnosed as allergic rhinitis with diagnostic code 470-478 (ICD-9-CM) were selected as subjects from 2009-2010 National Health Insurance Research Database based on the claim data from the nationwide National Health Insurance in Taiwan. This retrospective study used Chi-Square test to test the effects of gender and age on visit of traditional Chinese medicine, western medicine, and integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatments. A total of 45,804 patients diagnosed as allergic rhinitis with ICD-9-CM 470-478 were identified from 2009-2010 NHIRD. There were 36,874 subjects for western medicine treatment alone, 5829 subjects for traditional Chinese medicine treatment alone, and 3101 subjects for integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment. Female patients were more than male in three treatments. 0-9 years children had the highest visit frequency in western medicine and integrated Chinese-Western medicine groups, while 10-19 years young-age rank the highest in traditional Chinese medicine group. The Chi-square test of independence showed that the effects of gender and age on visit of three treatments were significant. The prescription drugs of western medicine treatment alone were almost for relieving the symptoms of allergic rhinitis. That leads to the little difference between 2009 and 2010. The same phenomenon occurs in integrated Chinese-Western medicine. However, the prescription drugs of traditional Chinese medicine treatment vary considerably. Multiple-composition medicine been replaced by single-composition medicine implied that syndrome differentiation and treatment were used and the synergistic effects of multiple-composition medicine were no longer suitable for the most patients of 2010. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of periodontal health status and oral health behavior between Japanese and Chinese dental students.

PubMed

Ohshima, Mitsuhiro; Zhu, Ling; Yamaguchi, Yoko; Kikuchi, Motohiro; Nakajima, Ichiro; Langham, Clive S; Lin, Wang; Otsuka, Kichibee; Komiyama, Kazuo

2009-06-01

A survey was carried out to compare periodontal health status and oral health behavior between Japanese and Chinese dental students. Subjects consisted of 118 students at Nihon University School of Dentistry and 92 students at the school of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University. Saliva occult blood test was performed to classify whether subjects may have periodontal disease. Further questionnaires were given to evaluate different lifestyles and oral hygiene habit. The positive rate of the saliva occult blood test in Japanese dental students was 13.6%, and that of Chinese dental students was 43.5%. Bleeding from gingiva as a subjective symptom was as follows: Japansese 7.6%, Chinese 37.0%. Japanese dental students brushed for 13.5 min each day. The rate for Chinese students was 4.6 min. Use of interdental devices was as follows: Japanese 33.1%, Chinese 7.6%. Differences of periodontal disease rates between Japanese and Chinese dental students are thought to be differences in oral hygiene, indicating the need for improvements in hygiene measures in Nanjing City. The establishment and strengthening of oral hygiene education, including the importance of tooth brushing for prevention of periodontal disease, has been proposed.

Acculturation and adjustment among immigrant Chinese parents: mediating role of parenting efficacy.

PubMed

Costigan, Catherine L; Koryzma, Céline M

2011-04-01

This study examined parenting efficacy beliefs as a mediator of the association between acculturation and adjustment. The sample consisted of 177 immigrant Chinese mothers and fathers with early adolescent children in Canada. Acculturation was assessed bidimensionally as Canadian and Chinese orientations. A latent psychological adjustment variable was composed of symptoms of depression, feelings of self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Results showed that relations between Canadian orientation and psychological adjustment were partially mediated by parenting efficacy. As expected, the more parents were oriented toward Canadian culture, the more efficacious they felt in their parenting, which in turn was associated with better psychological adjustment. In contrast, mediation of relations between Chinese orientation and psychological adjustment was not supported, as Chinese orientation was not associated with parenting efficacy and was positively associated with psychological adjustment for mothers only. Similar results were found when the meditational model was extended to evaluate parenting practices as an outcome (i.e., warmth, reasoning, and monitoring). That is, parenting efficacy mediated the relation between higher Canadian orientation and more positive parenting practices, whereas Chinese orientation was unrelated to parenting practices. Invariance testing suggested that the models were similar for mothers and fathers. Results support the theory that higher orientation to Canadian culture may advance feelings of parenting efficacy because parents have the cultural knowledge and skills to feel confident parenting in a new intercultural context. Further, they support the expectation that parenting efficacy beliefs, in turn, are important determinants of psychological adjustment and effective parenting for immigrant parents. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

The Effects of Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Subjective Well-Being among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: The Moderating Role of Subjective Social Mobility

PubMed Central

Huang, Silin; Hou, Jiawei; Sun, Ling; Dou, Donghui; Liu, Xia; Zhang, Hongchuan

2017-01-01

Although previous investigations have agreed that Chinese rural-to-urban migrants’ socioeconomic status (SES) increases with their migration, the association between SES and subjective well-being is uncertain. To address this research gap, the present study proposed that the association between objective SES and subjective well-being is mediated by subjective SES. This model was tested with a sample of 432 Chinese rural-to-urban migrants. The results indicate a significant association between objective SES and subjective well-being and a partial mediating effect of subjective SES. Furthermore, subjective social mobility, which is one’s expectation about the possibility to move upward in the social hierarchy, was found to moderate both the direct path from objective SES to subjective well-being and the indirect path from subjective SES to subjective well-being. These findings suggest that Chinese rural-to-urban migrants gained in subjective well-being not only because of direct financial achievement but also because of their perceptions and beliefs about their relative social status. PMID:28588531

Gender difference of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in DD genotype of ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism in elderly Chinese.

PubMed

Zhang, Ya-Feng; Cheng, Qiong; Tang, Nelson L S; Chu, Tanya T W; Tomlinson, Brian; Liu, Fan; Kwok, Timothy C Y

2014-12-01

In this study we investigated the gender difference of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in a population of Hong Kong-dwelling elderly Chinese. A total of 1767 (843 male, 924 female) Hong Kong-dwelling elderly Chinese were recruited. ACE I/D genotypes were identified by polymerase chain reaction amplification and serum ACE activity was determined using a commercially available kinetic kit. ACE I/D genotype distribution was compared by chi-square test, the correlation between ACE I/D polymorphism and serum ACE activity was analysed by ANOVA test and gender difference of serum ACE activity of different genotypes was compared by independent sample t-test. No statistically significant difference of genotype distribution between male and female subjects was found. Serum ACE activity was significantly correlated with ACE genotype. Overall, there was no gender difference of serum ACE activity; however, when sub-grouping the subjects by ACE I/D genotype, male subjects with DD genotype had higher serum ACE activity than female subjects with DD genotype. No significant gender difference of genotype distribution was found in elderly Chinese. Serum ACE activity was significantly correlated with ACE I/D polymorphism in elderly Chinese. Male subjects with DD genotype had higher serum ACE activity than female subjects with DD genotype. © The Author(s) 2013.

Prediction of intellectual deficits in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trautman, P.D.; Erickson, C.; Shaffer, D.

1988-06-01

Possible predictors of reported lower cognitive functioning in irradiated children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were investigated. Thirty-four subjects, 5-14 years old, with ALL in continuous complete remission and without evidence of current or past central nervous system disease, were examined 9-110 months after diagnosis, using standard measures of intelligence and academic achievement. Subjects with a history of post-irradiation somnolence syndrome were significantly older at diagnosis than nonsomnolent subjects. Intelligence (IQ) was found to be unrelated to history of somnolence syndrome. IQ and achievement were unrelated to age at irradiation, irradiation-examination interval, and radiation dosages. The strongest predictor of IQmore » by far is parental social class. The importance of controlling for social class differences when searching for treatment effects on IQ and achievement is stressed.« less

Empirical Research on Factors Related to the Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Urban Residents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Peigang; VanderWeele, Tyler J.

2011-01-01

Data from the China General Social Survey are used in order to investigate the factors that are related to the subjective well-being of Chinese urban residents. Factors predicting higher subjective well-being include female gender, high-income class, marriage, employment, fashionable consumption, less sense of relative deprivation, and party…

DNA database of populations from different parts in the Kingdom of Thailand.

PubMed

Shotivaranon, Jittima; Chirachariyavej, Thamrong; Leetrakool, Nipapan; Rerkamnuaychoke, Budsaba

2009-12-01

The polymorphism of 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci-D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA from AmpFlSTR Identifiler PCR amplification kit were analysed in 929 unrelated individuals living in the north, northeast, central and south of Thailand. The comparison between these four subpopulations demonstrated that subpopulations in the north and northeast were different in two loci from all paired groups while those in the north, central and south were closely related. The inter-population comparisons between combined Thai population and other ethnic groups including Eastern Chinese, Japanese, Iraq and Egyptian revealed that Eastern Chinese and Thai were closely related.

Query-seeded iterative sequence similarity searching improves selectivity 5–20-fold

PubMed Central

Li, Weizhong; Lopez, Rodrigo

2017-01-01

Abstract Iterative similarity search programs, like psiblast, jackhmmer, and psisearch, are much more sensitive than pairwise similarity search methods like blast and ssearch because they build a position specific scoring model (a PSSM or HMM) that captures the pattern of sequence conservation characteristic to a protein family. But models are subject to contamination; once an unrelated sequence has been added to the model, homologs of the unrelated sequence will also produce high scores, and the model can diverge from the original protein family. Examination of alignment errors during psiblast PSSM contamination suggested a simple strategy for dramatically reducing PSSM contamination. psiblast PSSMs are built from the query-based multiple sequence alignment (MSA) implied by the pairwise alignments between the query model (PSSM, HMM) and the subject sequences in the library. When the original query sequence residues are inserted into gapped positions in the aligned subject sequence, the resulting PSSM rarely produces alignment over-extensions or alignments to unrelated sequences. This simple step, which tends to anchor the PSSM to the original query sequence and slightly increase target percent identity, can reduce the frequency of false-positive alignments more than 20-fold compared with psiblast and jackhmmer, with little loss in search sensitivity. PMID:27923999

Accuracy of body weight perception and obesity among Chinese Americans.

PubMed

Liu, Shan; Fu, Mei R; Hu, Sophia H; Wang, Vincent Y; Crupi, Robert; Qiu, Jeanna M; Cleland, Chuck; D'Eramo Melkus, Gail

2016-09-01

Accuracy of body weight perception is an individual's perception of their body weight in comparison with actual body weight and is associated with weight-related behaviors. Chinese Americans have increased risk for obesity but no studies have examined accuracy of body weight perception. This study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study, which was conducted in a community health center in New York. Study subjects were all Chinese-American adults. Demographic information, accuracy of perception of body weight, anthropometric measures (weight, height, body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], hip circumference [HC], weight to height ratio, weight to hip ratio), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and obesity-related diseases (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke) were assessed. A total of 162 Chinese Americans were recruited. 52 subjects (32%) did not perceive body weight correctly: 32 subjects had underestimation and 20 subjects had overestimation of body weight. Significant differences were found among subjects in the three groups of different accuracy of body weight perception in terms of gender (p=0.003), age (p=0.003), education years (p=0.047), WC (p<0.001), HC (p≤0.001), weight/height ratio (p=0.001), and BMI (p<0.001). Accuracy of perception of body weight significantly predicted WC (p<0.001), HC (p<0.001), weight to height ratio (p=0.001), BMI (p<0.001) and weight (<0.001) even after controlling for all demographic factors. The study identified that around one-third of Chinese Americans did not perceive their body weight correctly. Intervention studies for obesity management in Chinese Americans should address gender difference, target on older subjects, and focus on educating the normal values and significances of WC, HC and HbA1C among Chinese Americans. Copyright © 2015 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective Well-Being in Older Chinese and Korean Immigrants in the United States: Effects of Self-Rated Health and Employment Status.

PubMed

Kim, Bum Jung; Jun, Hyeyoun; Lee, Jisun; Linton, Kristen; Kim, Meehye; Browne, Colette

2017-01-01

This study examined the effects of association between self-rated health and employment status on subjective well-being among older Chinese and Korean immigrants in the United States. Data were collected from 171 Chinese and 205 Korean older adult immigrants living in Los Angeles County. The primary variables included demographic data, subjective index of well-being, self-rated health, and employment status. Data support the association between self-rated health and subjective well-being for both groups. Employment, education, and age were associated with the level of subjective well-being only for older Korean immigrants. Similarities and differences were noted in these two Asian American subgroups. Findings suggest the need to develop health promotion services for both populations and employment opportunities targeted more so for Korean older immigrants to further support their subjective well-being. Results may have implications for other for older immigrants.

[Prognostic value of JAK2, MPL and CALR mutations in Chinese patients with primary myelofibrosis].

PubMed

Xu, Z F; Li, B; Liu, J Q; Li, Y; Ai, X F; Zhang, P H; Qin, T J; Zhang, Y; Wang, J Y; Xu, J Q; Zhang, H L; Fang, L W; Pan, L J; Hu, N B; Qu, S Q; Xiao, Z J

2016-07-01

To evaluate the prognostic value of JAK2, MPL and CALR mutations in Chinese patients with primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Four hundred and two Chinese patients with PMF were retrospectively analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method, the Log-rank test, the likelihood ratio test and the Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate the prognostic scoring system. This cohort of patients included 209 males and 193 females with a median age of 55 years (range: 15- 89). JAK2V617F mutations were detected in 189 subjects (47.0% ), MPLW515 mutations in 13 (3.2%) and CALR mutations in 81 (20.1%) [There were 30 (37.0%) type-1, 48 (59.3%) type-2 and 3 (3.7%) less common CALR mutations], respectively. 119 subjects (29.6%) had no detectable mutation in JAK2, MPL or CALR. Univariate analysis indicated that patients with CALR type-2 mutations or no detectable mutations had inferior survival compared to those with JAK2, MPL or CALR type- 1 or other less common CALR mutations (the median survival was 74vs 168 months, respectively [HR 2.990 (95% CI 1.935-4.619),P<0.001]. Therefore, patients were categorized into the high-risk with CALR type- 2 mutations or no detectable driver mutations and the low- risk without aforementioned mutations status. The DIPSS-Chinese molecular prognostic model was proposed by adopting mutation categories and DIPSS-Chinese risk group. The median survival of patients classified in low risk (132 subjects, 32.8% ), intermediate- 1 risk (143 subjects, 35.6%), intermediate- 2 risk (106 subjects, 26.4%) and high risk (21 subjects, 5.2%) were not reached, 156 (95% CI 117- 194), 60 (95% CI 28- 91) and 22 (95% CI 10- 33) months, respectively, and there was a statistically significant difference in overall survival among the four risk groups (P<0.001). There was significantly higher predictive power for survival according to the DIPSS-Chinese molecular prognostic model compared with the DIPSS-Chinese model (P=0.005, -2 log-likelihood ratios of 855.6 and 869.7, respectively). The impact of the CALR type- 2 mutations or no detectable driver mutation on survival was independent of current prognostic scoring systems. The DIPSS- Chinese molecular prognostic model based on the molecular features of Chinese patients was proposed and worked well for prognostic indication.

Publishing trends in Chinese medicine and related subjects documented in WorldCat.

PubMed

Leung, Shirley; Chan, Kylie; Song, Lisa

2006-03-01

Chinese medicine (CM) has been the subject of increasing interest in the past 30 years, both as a discipline and in the larger context of alternative medicine. It has steadily been accepted by and integrated into the medical and health-care fields in many countries. This study aims to gain an overview of how CM has been interpreted and presented to the world outside China and to identify emerging trends. This study is designed to analyse the publishing trends of CM and related subjects in all languages except Chinese, ranging from books and serials to audio-visual and electronic resources found in WorldCat, the world's largest bibliographic database produced by OnLine Computer Library Center (OCLC). The findings showed a flourishing growth of publications in CM and related subjects beginning in the 1970s with greater coverage on acupuncture. The materials in English language constitute the major portion of total output. We conclude that Chinese medicine has steadily gained recognition in the world based on the analysis of publication records. The translation of original works and analysis of journal literature and conference proceedings on Chinese medicine merit further study.

A 3-dimensional anthropometric evaluation of facial morphology among Chinese and Greek population.

PubMed

Liu, Yun; Kau, Chung How; Pan, Feng; Zhou, Hong; Zhang, Qiang; Zacharopoulos, Georgios Vasileiou

2013-07-01

The use of 3-dimensional (3D) facial imaging has taken greater importance as orthodontists use the soft tissue paradigm in the evaluation of skeletal disproportion. Studies have shown that faces defer in populations. To date, no anthropometric evaluations have been made of Chinese and Greek faces. The aim of this study was to compare facial morphologies of Greeks and Chinese using 3D facial anthropometric landmarks. Three-dimensional facial images were acquired via a commercially available stereophotogrammetric camera capture system. The 3dMD face system captured 245 subjects from 2 population groups (Chinese [n = 72] and Greek [n = 173]), and each population was categorized into male and female groups for evaluation. All subjects in the group were between 18 and 30 years old and had no apparent facial anomalies. Twenty-five anthropometric landmarks were identified on the 3D faces of each subject. Soft tissue nasion was set as the "zeroed" reference landmark. Twenty landmark distances were constructed and evaluated within 3 dimensions of space. Six angles, 4 proportions, and 1 construct were also calculated. Student t test was used to analyze each data set obtained within each subgroup. Distinct facial differences were noted between the subgroups evaluated. When comparing differences of sexes in 2 populations (eg, male Greeks and male Chinese), significant differences were noted in more than 80% of the landmark distances calculated. One hundred percent of the angular were significant, and the Chinese were broader in width to height facial proportions. In evaluating the lips to the esthetic line, the Chinese population had more protrusive lips. There are differences in the facial morphologies of subjects obtained from a Chinese population versus that of a Greek population.

Differences in Optic Nerve Head, Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer, and Ganglion Cell Complex Parameters Between Caucasian and Chinese Subjects.

PubMed

Chansangpetch, Sunee; Huang, Guofu; Coh, Paul; Oldenburg, Catherine; Amoozgar, Behzad; He, Mingguang; Lin, Shan C

2018-04-01

To compare optic nerve head, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), and ganglion cell complex (GCC) parameters between Caucasian and ethnic Chinese. Normal subjects above 40 years old and self-identified as being Caucasian and Chinese were recruited. They were evaluated with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (RTVue-100). Parameters related to the optic nerve head, pRNFL, and GCC analysis protocols were acquired. Multivariable linear regression was performed adjusting for potential confounders. Data from 116 Caucasian and 130 Chinese subjects were available for analysis. Mean age of all participants was 66.72 (SD 10.82) years. There were statistically significant differences for disc area (DA), area cup-to-disc, vertical cup-to-disc, and cup volume (P=0.02, 0.004, 0.02, and 0.03, respectively), greater in Chinese. After adjusting for age, sex, axial length (AL), intraocular pressure (IOP), DA, and GCC thickness, Chinese subjects had significantly greater thickness in all pRNFL parameters (mean differences ranged between 4.29 and 9.93 μm; all P<0.001) except the nasal quadrant. GCC outcomes were also adjusted for DA and pRNFL; Caucasians had significantly higher average GCC and inferior GCC (mean difference 2.97 and 3.45 μm, respectively; P<0.01), whereas the Chinese group had significantly higher ganglion cell global loss volume (mean difference 2.47 %, P<0.001). This study suggests there is significantly greater pRNFL thickness in Chinese, which were independent of age, AL, IOP, and DA, and possibly greater GCC in Caucasians after adjustment for age, AL, IOP, DA, and pRNFL thickness.

Chinese isms dimensions in mainland China and Taiwan: Convergence and extension of American isms dimensions.

PubMed

Chen, Zhuo Job; Hsu, Kung-Yu; Zhou, Xinyue; Saucier, Gerard

2017-07-21

Previous studies of American English isms terms have uncovered as many as five broad factors: tradition-oriented religiousness (TR), subjective spirituality (SS), communal rationalism (CR), unmitigated self-interest (USI), and inequality aversion (IA). The present studies took a similar lexical approach to investigate the Chinese-language isms structures in both mainland China and Taiwan. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses with 915 mainland Chinese subjects uncovered four interpretable factors dimensionalizing 165 mainland Chinese dictionary isms terms. These factors represented contents of a combination of TR and SS, USI, CR, and a culturally unique Communist Party of China (CPC) ideology factor. In Study 2, exploratory factor analyses with 467 Taiwan Chinese subjects revealed four interpretable factors categorizing 291 Taiwan Chinese dictionary isms terms. These factors represented contents of a combination of TR and SS, USI, CR, and a culturally unique dimension expressing aspirations for happiness. The results gave evidence for the existence of the isms factors TR and SS, USI, and CR in Chinese culture. Cultural uniqueness was reflected in the merging of TR and SS into the factor Syncretic Religiousness and the culture-specific factors of CPC ideology in China and Happiness/Peace Promotion in Taiwan. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Task factor usability ratings for different age groups writing Chinese.

PubMed

Chan, A H S; So, J C Y

2009-11-01

This study evaluated how different task factors affect performance and user subjective preferences for three different age groups of Chinese subjects (6-11, 20-23, 65-70 years) when hand writing Chinese characters. The subjects copied Chinese character sentences with different settings for the task factors of writing plane angle (horizontal 0 degrees , slanted 15 degrees ), writing direction (horizontal, vertical), and line spacing (5 mm, 7 mm and no lines). Writing speed was measured and subjective preferences (effectiveness and satisfaction) were assessed for each of the task factor settings. The result showed that there was a conflict between writing speed and personal preference for the line spacing factor; 5 mm line spacing increased writing speed but it was the least preferred. It was also found that: vertical and horizontal writing directions and a slanted work surface suited school-aged children; a horizontal work surface and horizontal writing direction suited university students; and a horizontal writing direction with either a horizontal or slanted work surface suited the older adults.

Speed-difficulty trade-off in speech: Chinese versus English

PubMed Central

Sun, Yao; Latash, Elizaveta M.; Mikaelian, Irina L.

2011-01-01

This study continues the investigation of the previously described speed-difficulty trade-off in picture description tasks. In particular, we tested a hypothesis that the Mandarin Chinese and American English are similar in showing logarithmic dependences between speech time and index of difficulty (ID), while they differ significantly in the amount of time needed to describe simple pictures, this difference increases for more complex pictures, and it is associated with a proportional difference in the number of syllables used. Subjects (eight Chinese speakers and eight English speakers) were tested in pairs. One subject (the Speaker) described simple pictures, while the other subject (the Performer) tried to reproduce the pictures based on the verbal description as quickly as possible with a set of objects. The Chinese speakers initiated speech production significantly faster than the English speakers. Speech time scaled linearly with ln(ID) in all subjects, but the regression coefficient was significantly higher in the English speakers as compared with the Chinese speakers. The number of errors was somewhat lower in the Chinese participants (not significantly). The Chinese pairs also showed a shorter delay between the initiation of speech and initiation of action by the Performer, shorter movement time by the Performer, and shorter overall performance time. The number of syllables scaled with ID, and the Chinese speakers used significantly smaller numbers of syllables. Speech rate was comparable between the two groups, about 3 syllables/s; it dropped for more complex pictures (higher ID). When asked to reproduce the same pictures without speaking, movement time scaled linearly with ln(ID); the Chinese performers were slower than the English performers. We conclude that natural languages show a speed-difficulty trade-off similar to Fitts’ law; the trade-offs in movement and speech production are likely to originate at a cognitive level. The time advantage of the Chinese participants originates not from similarity of the simple pictures and Chinese written characters and not from more sloppy performance. It is linked to using fewer syllables to transmit the same information. We suggest that natural languages may differ by informational density defined as the amount of information transmitted by a given number of syllables. PMID:21479658

Prevalence and characteristics of plateau iris configuration among American Caucasian, American Chinese and mainland Chinese subjects.

PubMed

Li, Yingjie; Wang, Ye Elaine; Huang, Guofu; Wang, Dandan; He, Mingguang; Qiu, Mary; Lin, Shan

2014-04-01

To investigate the prevalence, risk factors and characteristics of plateau iris configuration (PIC) among American Caucasian, American Chinese and mainland Chinese. This multicentre, cross-sectional study of non-glaucomatous subjects (40-80 years) included 111 American Caucasian, 116 American Chinese and 110 mainland Chinese. Prevalence of PIC based on ultrasound biomicroscopy imaging was compared among the different ethnic groups. Risk factors and anterior segment optical coherence tomography-measured iris and angle parameters in eyes with PIC were compared. The prevalence of PIC was 25.2% in American Caucasian, 24.1% in American Chinese and 20.9% in mainland Chinese (p=0.73). The presence of PIC was associated with more positive spherical equivalence (OR=1.31, p=0.002) and shorter axial length (OR=0.75, p=0.04). There were significant differences in angle recess area (ARA) (p=0.04), IT750 (p=0.007) and IT2000 (p<0.001) between Chinese and Caucasians who have PIC. The prevalence of PIC did not differ among American Caucasian, American Chinese and mainland Chinese. PIC was associated with non-myopia and shorter axial length. Chinese eyes with PIC had smaller ARA and thicker irides than Caucasian ones. PIC might be a physiological variation of the iris and ciliary body that exists in normal eyes, both in Chinese and Caucasians.

Electroencephalogram oscillations support the involvement of task-unrelated thoughts in the mechanism of boredom: A pilot study.

PubMed

Miyauchi, Eri; Kawasaki, Masahiro

2018-06-11

Boredom is a universal experience; however, the neural mechanisms underlying the phenomenon remain unclear. Previous research suggests that boredom is related to attentional failure and derives a possible explanation for the cognitive processes of boredom as a product of appraisals made about task-unrelated thoughts. There are little published data regarding proposed processes from neuroscientific perspectives. Therefore, the authors aimed to examine whether cognitive processes of boredom with task-unrelated thoughts followed by appraisals of them can be explained by examining oscillatory correlates. Electroencephalography was used to measure changes in neural oscillatory activity during subjective experiences of boredom or dislike in healthy subjects. Using this approach, temporal information of brain activity particular to the boredom experience was acquired. Additionally, the Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale was used to evaluate the effects of attentional deficits in the neural processing of boredom. Tonic increase in theta and transient increases in alpha activity were exhibited before the key press response for experiencing boredom; however, only tonic increases in theta amplitudes were boredom specific. The results of this pilot study suggest that the boredom experience is possibly associated with cognitive processes involved in task-unrelated thoughts, followed by their appraisals to be bored, mediated by alpha and theta activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Led into temptation? Rewarding brand logos bias the neural encoding of incidental economic decisions.

PubMed

Murawski, Carsten; Harris, Philip G; Bode, Stefan; Domínguez D, Juan F; Egan, Gary F

2012-01-01

Human decision-making is driven by subjective values assigned to alternative choice options. These valuations are based on reward cues. It is unknown, however, whether complex reward cues, such as brand logos, may bias the neural encoding of subjective value in unrelated decisions. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we subliminally presented brand logos preceding intertemporal choices. We demonstrated that priming biased participants' preferences towards more immediate rewards in the subsequent temporal discounting task. This was associated with modulations of the neural encoding of subjective values of choice options in a network of brain regions, including but not restricted to medial prefrontal cortex. Our findings demonstrate the general susceptibility of the human decision making system to apparently incidental contextual information. We conclude that the brain incorporates seemingly unrelated value information that modifies decision making outside the decision-maker's awareness.

Led into Temptation? Rewarding Brand Logos Bias the Neural Encoding of Incidental Economic Decisions

PubMed Central

Murawski, Carsten; Harris, Philip G.; Bode, Stefan; Domínguez D., Juan F.; Egan, Gary F.

2012-01-01

Human decision-making is driven by subjective values assigned to alternative choice options. These valuations are based on reward cues. It is unknown, however, whether complex reward cues, such as brand logos, may bias the neural encoding of subjective value in unrelated decisions. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we subliminally presented brand logos preceding intertemporal choices. We demonstrated that priming biased participants' preferences towards more immediate rewards in the subsequent temporal discounting task. This was associated with modulations of the neural encoding of subjective values of choice options in a network of brain regions, including but not restricted to medial prefrontal cortex. Our findings demonstrate the general susceptibility of the human decision making system to apparently incidental contextual information. We conclude that the brain incorporates seemingly unrelated value information that modifies decision making outside the decision-maker's awareness. PMID:22479547

The YWHAE gene confers risk to major depressive disorder in the male group of Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Liu, Jie; Zhang, Hong-Xin; Li, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Tao; Li, Jun-Yan; Wang, Ti; Li, You; Feng, Guo-Yin; Shi, Yong-Yong; He, Lin

2017-07-03

Schizophrenia and major depressive disorder are two major psychiatric illnesses that may share specific genetic risk factors to a certain extent. Increasing evidence suggests that the two disorders might be more closely related than previously considered. To investigate whether YWHAE gene plays a significant role in major depressive disorder in Han Chinese population, we recruited 1135 unrelated major depressive disorder patients (485 males, 650 females) and 989 unrelated controls (296 males, 693 females) of Chinese Han origin. Eleven common SNPs were genotyped using TaqMan® technology. In male-group, the allele and genotype frequencies of rs34041110 differed significantly between patients and control (P allele =0.036486, OR[95%CI]: 1.249442(1.013988-1.539571); P genotype =0.045301). Also in this group, allele and genotype frequencies of rs1532976 differed significantly (P allele =0.013242, OR[95%CI]: 1.302007(1.056501-1.604563); genotype: P=0.039152). Haplotype-analyses showed that, in male-group, positive association with major depressive disorder was found for the A-A-C-G haplotype of rs3752826-rs2131431-rs1873827-rs12452627 (χ 2 =20.397, P=6.38E-06, OR[95%CI]: 7.442 [2.691-20.583]), its C-A-C-G haplotype (χ 2 =19.122, P=1.24E-05, OR and 95%CI: 0.402 [0.264-0.612]), its C-C-T-G haplotype (χ 2 =9.766, P=0.001785, OR[95%CI]: 5.654 [1.664-19.211]). In female-group, positive association was found for the A-A-C-G haplotype of rs3752826-rs2131431-rs1873827-rs12452627 (χ 2 =78.628, P=7.94E-19, OR[95%CI]: 50.043 [11.087-225.876]), its A-C-T-G haplotype (χ 2 =38.806, P=4.83E-10, OR[95%CI]: 0.053 [0.015-0.192]), the C-A-C-G haplotype (χ 2 =18.930, P=1.37E-05, OR[95%CI]: 0.526 [0.392-0.705]), and the C-C-T-G haplotype (χ 2 =38.668, P=5.18E-10, OR[95%CI]: 6.130 [3.207-11.716]). Our findings support YWHAE being a risk gene for Major Depressive Disorder in the Han Chinese population. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive behavioral therapy of minor depressive symptoms in elderly Chinese Americans: a pilot study.

PubMed

Dai, Y; Zhang, S; Yamamoto, J; Ao, M; Belin, T R; Cheung, F; Hifumi, S S

1999-12-01

There is a high prevalence of suicide among elderly Chinese, and particularly among elderly Chinese women in Mainland China with a prevalence of 19.6 per hundred thousand. Since Chinese individuals may much more highly value education, a cognitive-behavioral package originated by Ricardo Munoz, Ph.D. was adapted for Chinese American subjects. The material was videotaped in eight sessions, approximately 25 minutes in length, to be shown to community subjects who were at least 40 years and over. In addition, a videotape of muscular relaxation techniques was made. A manual written in Chinese about the content of each class, was given to each subject when he/she attended. The experimental group showed significant improvement in the scores in the Hamilton Depression Scale, including the Somatic Subscale in the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. There was no significant improvement in the control group on any of the measures. Thus the study suggests the efficacy of psychoeducational classes in reducing symptoms of depression in non-patient community elderly. Other studies are being conducted among Korean Americans and Japanese Americans in the United States, and also in the Orient among Japanese elderly.

Refusals in Chinese: How Do L1 and L2 Differ?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Wei

2011-01-01

This article reports on an empirical study of refusal strategies in Chinese by native speakers (NS) and nonnative Chinese learners (NNS). Sixty subjects (perceived as "students") were to refuse an invitation by "the professor" to a Chinese New Year's party. The study found that the NS group produced 10 strategies, whereas the…

Chinese-English and English-Chinese Dictionaries in the Library of Congress. An Annotated Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Robert, Comp.

An annotated bibliography of the Library of Congress' Chinese-English holdings on all subjects, as well as certain polyglot and multilingual dictionaries with English and Chinese entries. Included are general, encyclopaedic and comprehensive dictionaries; vocabularies; word lists; syllabaries; lists of place names, personal names, nomenclature,…

Comparison of Selected Physical Parameters between American and Chinese Male College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Kwok W.; Chai, Dennis X.

The physical fitness status of Chinese college students was evaluated, and selected physical fitness characteristics were compared between American and Chinese college students. Male college freshmen (112 Americans, mostly Caucasian, from a university in the Midwest and 261 Chinese from a college in southern China) were the subjects. All subjects…

Nutritional situation of a Chinese community.

PubMed

Suriah, A R; Chong, T J; Yeoh, B Y

1998-08-01

To evaluate the anthropometric measurements and dietary intake of the free-living elderly in a Chinese community. A survey was carried out on 48 male and female subjects aged 60 to 96 years using anthropometric, dietary intake and questionnaire techniques. The study indicated female subjects to have more health problems, like pain at the joints (33%), hypertension (17%) and diabetes (27%) as compared to the male subjects. Dietary intake analysis showed the Chinese male subjects to have a higher energy intake (1,623 kcal) compared to the females (1,197 kcal) even though they did not fulfill the recommended dietary intake. The intake for energy, fats and carbohydrates, was found to be significantly different (p < 0.05) between both sexes. Anthropometric measurements indicated male elderly subjects to be significantly heavier (p < 0.05, 55.4 kg) and taller (161.8 cm) than female elderly subjects (49.5 kg; 146.2 cm respectively). About half of the elderly were normal in their BMI (male 55.6%; female 50%) and only 6.6% of the female subjects were obese. More male subjects were found to be underweight (33%) compared to female subjects (17%). Waist hip ratio was 0.92 for male and 0.87 for female. Our study showed that female elderly subjects had more health problems compared to male elderly subjects. On the whole, the elderly did not fulfill the recommended amount for energy intake while the percentage for carbohydrates, fats and protein from the total calorie intake were not in accordance with the healthy diet guidelines. Anthropometrically, male subjects were heavier and taller than female subjects. Looking at body mass index, most of the male elderly subjects were in the normal to underweight range. With these results, more research is warranted to give a clearer picture of the Chinese elderly in the country.

Body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and glucose intolerance in Chinese and Europid adults in Newcastle, UK.

PubMed Central

Unwin, N; Harland, J; White, M; Bhopal, R; Winocour, P; Stephenson, P; Watson, W; Turner, C; Alberti, K G

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of glucose intolerance (impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes), and its relationship to body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio in Chinese and Europid adults. DESIGN: This was a cross sectional study. SETTING: Newcastle upon Tyne. SUBJECTS: These comprised Chinese and Europid men and women, aged 25-64 years, and resident in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two hour post load plasma glucose concentration, BMI, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio. METHODS: Population based samples of Chinese and European adults were recruited. Each subject had a standard WHO oral glucose tolerance test. RESULTS: Complete data were available for 375 Chinese and 610 Europid subjects. The age adjusted prevalences of glucose intolerance in Chinese and Europid men were 13.0% (p = 0.04). Mean BMIs were lower in Chinese men (23.8 v 26.1) and women (23.5 v 26.1) than in the Europids (p values < 0.001), as were waist circumferences (men, 83.3 cm v 90.8, p < 0.001; women, 77.3 cm v 79.2, p < 0.05). Mean waist-hip ratios were lower in Chinese men (0.90 v 0.91, p = 0.02) but higher in Chinese women (0.84 v 0.78, p < 0.001) compared with Europids. In both Chinese and Europid adults, higher BMI, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio were associated with glucose intolerance. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of glucose intolerance in Chinese men and women, despite lower BMIs, is similar to or higher than that in local Europid men and women and intermediate between levels found in China and those in Mauritius. It is suggested that an increase in mean BMI to the levels in the Europid population will be associated with a substantial increase in glucose intolerance in Chinese people. PMID:9196645

A Unified Syntactic Account of Mandarin Subject Nominals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yi-Hsien

2013-01-01

This dissertation investigates the Mandarin Chinese nominals [Numeral-Classifier-("de")-Noun] and their functions as preverbal and post-verbal subjects and topics. It starts with a close analysis of the internal structure of the Chinese nominals. I propose a set of syntactic structures that capture the behaviors and distinctions between…

Genetic structure of Tibetan populations in Gansu revealed by forensic STR loci.

PubMed

Yao, Hong-Bing; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Wang, Jiang; Tao, Xiaolan; Shang, Lei; Wen, Shao-Qing; Du, Qiajun; Deng, Qiongying; Xu, Bingying; Huang, Ying; Wang, Hong-Dan; Li, Shujin; Bin Cong; Ma, Liying; Jin, Li; Krause, Johannes; Li, Hui

2017-01-23

The origin and diversification of Sino-Tibetan speaking populations have been long-standing hot debates. However, the limited genetic information of Tibetan populations keeps this topic far from clear. In the present study, we genotyped 15 forensic autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) from 803 unrelated Tibetan individuals from Gansu Province (635 from Gannan and 168 from Tianzhu) in northwest China. We combined these data with published dataset to infer a detailed population affinities and genetic substructure of Sino-Tibetan populations. Our results revealed Tibetan populations in Gannan and Tianzhu are genetically very similar with Tibetans from other regions. The Tibetans in Tianzhu have received more genetic influence from surrounding lowland populations. The genetic structure of Sino-Tibetan populations was strongly correlated with linguistic affiliations. Although the among-population variances are relatively small, the genetic components for Tibetan, Lolo-Burmese, and Han Chinese were quite distinctive, especially for the Deng, Nu, and Derung of Lolo-Burmese. Han Chinese but not Tibetans are suggested to share substantial genetic component with southern natives, such as Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien speaking populations, and with other lowland East Asian populations, which implies there might be extensive gene flow between those lowland groups and Han Chinese after Han Chinese were separated from Tibetans. The dataset generated in present study is also valuable for forensic identification and paternity tests in China.

Genetic structure of Tibetan populations in Gansu revealed by forensic STR loci

PubMed Central

Yao, Hong-Bing; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Wang, Jiang; Tao, Xiaolan; Shang, Lei; Wen, Shao-Qing; Du, Qiajun; Deng, Qiongying; Xu, Bingying; Huang, Ying; Wang, Hong-Dan; Li, Shujin; Bin Cong; Ma, Liying; Jin, Li; Krause, Johannes; Li, Hui

2017-01-01

The origin and diversification of Sino-Tibetan speaking populations have been long-standing hot debates. However, the limited genetic information of Tibetan populations keeps this topic far from clear. In the present study, we genotyped 15 forensic autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) from 803 unrelated Tibetan individuals from Gansu Province (635 from Gannan and 168 from Tianzhu) in northwest China. We combined these data with published dataset to infer a detailed population affinities and genetic substructure of Sino-Tibetan populations. Our results revealed Tibetan populations in Gannan and Tianzhu are genetically very similar with Tibetans from other regions. The Tibetans in Tianzhu have received more genetic influence from surrounding lowland populations. The genetic structure of Sino-Tibetan populations was strongly correlated with linguistic affiliations. Although the among-population variances are relatively small, the genetic components for Tibetan, Lolo-Burmese, and Han Chinese were quite distinctive, especially for the Deng, Nu, and Derung of Lolo-Burmese. Han Chinese but not Tibetans are suggested to share substantial genetic component with southern natives, such as Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien speaking populations, and with other lowland East Asian populations, which implies there might be extensive gene flow between those lowland groups and Han Chinese after Han Chinese were separated from Tibetans. The dataset generated in present study is also valuable for forensic identification and paternity tests in China. PMID:28112227

Effects of SNPs at newly identified lipids loci on blood lipid levels and risk of coronary heart disease in Chinese Han population: a case control study.

PubMed

Zhuang, Ke; Zhang, Wencai; Zhang, Xiaobo; Wu, Fangqin; Cheng, Longxian

2011-08-01

Associations between "lipid-related" candidate genes, blood lipid concentrations and coronary artery disease (CHD) risk are not clear. We aimed to investigate the effect of three newly identified lipids loci from genome-wide association studies on CHD and blood lipid levels in Chinese Han population. The genotypes of SNPs at three newly identified lipid loci and blood lipids concentrations were examined in 1360 CHD patients and 1360 age- and sex-frequency matched controls from an unrelated Chinese Han population. Allele T of rs16996148 occurred less frequently in CHD patients with the odds ratio (OR) being 0.64 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.81), after adjusting for conventional risk factors and was associated with a 33% decreased CHD risk (P<0.01) comparing with the major allele G. Individuals with GT genotype had the lowest CHD risk. No associations were found between the polymorphisms of other two loci with CHD risk and all three SNPs had no effect on lipid profile in this population. SNP rs16996148 on chromosome 19p13 is significantly associated with lower risk for CHD in Chinese Han population. However, it remains unresolved why these lipid-related loci had significantly less effects than the correspondingly expected effects on blood lipids levels in this population.

A large-scale survey of genetic copy number variations among Han Chinese residing in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Lin, Chien-Hsing; Li, Ling-Hui; Ho, Sheng-Feng; Chuang, Tzu-Po; Wu, Jer-Yuarn; Chen, Yuan-Tsong; Fann, Cathy SJ

2008-01-01

Background Copy number variations (CNVs) have recently been recognized as important structural variations in the human genome. CNVs can affect gene expression and thus may contribute to phenotypic differences. The copy number inferring tool (CNIT) is an effective hidden Markov model-based algorithm for estimating allele-specific copy number and predicting chromosomal alterations from single nucleotide polymorphism microarrays. The CNIT algorithm, which was constructed using data from 270 HapMap multi-ethnic individuals, was applied to identify CNVs from 300 unrelated Han Chinese individuals in Taiwan. Results Using stringent selection criteria, 230 regions with variable copy numbers were identified in the Han Chinese population; 133 (57.83%) had been reported previously, 64 displayed greater than 1% CNV allele frequency. The average size of the CNV regions was 322 kb (ranging from 1.48 kb to 5.68 Mb) and covered a total of 2.47% of the human genome. A total of 196 of the CNV regions were simple deletions and 27 were simple amplifications. There were 449 genes and 5 microRNAs within these CNV regions; some of these genes are known to be associated with diseases. Conclusion The identified CNVs are characteristic of the Han Chinese population and should be considered when genetic studies are conducted. The CNV distribution in the human genome is still poorly characterized, and there is much diversity among different ethnic populations. PMID:19108714

Population data and mutation rates of 20 autosomal STR loci in a Chinese Han population from Yunnan Province, Southwest China.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiufeng; Liu, Linlin; Xie, Runfang; Wang, Guiyi; Shi, Yuan; Gu, Tao; Hu, Liping; Nie, Shengjie

2018-07-01

The genetic polymorphisms of 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the PowerPlex® 21 kit were evaluated from 2068 unrelated, healthy individuals from the Chinese Han population of Yunnan Province in southwest China. All of the loci reached Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These loci were examined to determine allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The genetic relationships among the Yunnan Han and other Chinese populations were also estimated. The combined discrimination power and probability of excluding paternity of the 20 STR loci were 0.99999999999999999999999126 and 0.999999975, respectively. In addition, mutation rates from 4363 parentage cases (2215 trios and 2148 duos) were investigated in this study. A total of 164 mutations were observed in 6578 meioses from the 20 loci. The highest mutation rate was observed in D12S391 (0.30%), and the lowest mutation rates were observed in D13S317 (0.03%) and TPOX (0.03%). The average mutation rate for the 20 loci was estimated to be 1.246 × 10 -3 per meiosis. The mutations were primarily single-step and paternal mutations.

Sequence-length variation of mtDNA HVS-I C-stretch in Chinese ethnic groups.

PubMed

Chen, Feng; Dang, Yong-hui; Yan, Chun-xia; Liu, Yan-ling; Deng, Ya-jun; Fulton, David J R; Chen, Teng

2009-10-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable segment-I (HVS-I) C-stretch variations and explore the significance of these variations in forensic and population genetics studies. The C-stretch sequence variation was studied in 919 unrelated individuals from 8 Chinese ethnic groups using both direct and clone sequencing approaches. Thirty eight C-stretch haplotypes were identified, and some novel and population specific haplotypes were also detected. The C-stretch genetic diversity (GD) values were relatively high, and probability (P) values were low. Additionally, C-stretch length heteroplasmy was observed in approximately 9% of individuals studied. There was a significant correlation (r=-0.961, P<0.01) between the expansion of the cytosine sequence length in the C-stretch of HVS-I and a reduction in the number of upstream adenines. These results indicate that the C-stretch could be a useful genetic maker in forensic identification of Chinese populations. The results from the Fst and dA genetic distance matrix, neighbor-joining tree, and principal component map also suggest that C-stretch could be used as a reliable genetic marker in population genetics.

Genetic polymorphisms of 54 mitochondrial DNA SNP loci in Chinese Xibe ethnic minority group

PubMed Central

Shen, Chun-Mei; Hu, Li; Yang, Chun-Hua; Yin, Cai-Yong; Li, Zhi-Dan; Meng, Hao-Tian; Guo, Yu-Xin; Mei, Ting; Chen, Feng; Zhu, Bo-Feng

2017-01-01

We analyzed the genetic polymorphisms of 54 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants in Chinese Xibe ethnic minority group. A total of 137 unrelated healthy volunteers from Chinese Xibe group were the objects of our study. Among the selected loci, there were 51 variable positions including transitions and transversions, and single nucleotide transitions were common (83.93%) versus transversions. These variations defined 64 different mtDNA haplotypes exclusive of (CA)n and 9 bp deletion variation. The haplotype diversity and discrimination power in Xibe population were 0.9800 ± 0.004 and 0.9699, respectively. Besides, we compared Xibe group with 18 other populations and reconstructed a phylogenetic tree using Neighbor-Joining method. The result revealed that Xibe group was a close to Xinjiang Han and Yanbian Korean groups. Our data also indicated that Xibe group has a close relationship with Daur and Ewenki groups, which is reflected by the history that Xibe was influenced by Daur and Ewenki groups during the development of these groups. In conclusion, the variants we studied are polymorphic and could be used as informative genetic markers for forensic and population genetic application. PMID:28327596

Adult Playfulness, Humor Styles, and Subjective Happiness.

PubMed

Yue, Xiao D; Leung, Chun-Lok; Hiranandani, Neelam A

2016-12-01

Playfulness has been referred to as a disposition that involves reframing a situation to amuse others and to make the situation more stimulating and enjoyable. It may serve to shift one's perspective when dealing with environmental threats. Despite all the benefits of playfulness towards psychological well-being, it remains a largely understudied subject in psychology, particularly in Chinese societies. Hence, this study examined the association between adult playfulness, humor styles, and subjective happiness among a sample of 166 university students in Hong Kong and 159 students in Guangzhou, who completed a self-administered questionnaire, including the Short Measure for Adult Playfulness, the Chinese Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. Results showed that adult playfulness was positively correlated with affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, and subjective happiness in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou samples. By its implication, highly playful Chinese students preferred using affiliative and self-enhancing humor to amuse themselves and others. © The Author(s) 2016.

Genome-wide copy number variant analysis for congenital ventricular septal defects in Chinese Han population.

PubMed

An, Yu; Duan, Wenyuan; Huang, Guoying; Chen, Xiaoli; Li, Li; Nie, Chenxia; Hou, Jia; Gui, Yonghao; Wu, Yiming; Zhang, Feng; Shen, Yiping; Wu, Bailin; Wang, Hongyan

2016-01-08

Ventricular septal defects (VSDs) constitute the most prevalent congenital heart disease (CHD), occurs either in isolation (isolated VSD) or in combination with other cardiac defects (complex VSD). Copy number variation (CNV) has been highlighted as a possible contributing factor to the etiology of many congenital diseases. However, little is known concerning the involvement of CNVs in either isolated or complex VSDs. We analyzed 154 unrelated Chinese individuals with VSD by chromosomal microarray analysis. The subjects were recruited from four hospitals across China. Each case underwent clinical assessment to define the type of VSD, either isolated or complex VSD. CNVs detected were categorized into syndrom related CNVs, recurrent CNVs and rare CNVs. Genes encompassed by the CNVs were analyzed using enrichment and pathway analysis. Among 154 probands, we identified 29 rare CNVs in 26 VSD patients (16.9 %, 26/154) and 8 syndrome-related CNVs in 8 VSD patients (5.2 %, 8/154). 12 of the detected 29 rare CNVs (41.3 %) were recurrently reported in DECIPHER or ISCA database as associated with either VSD or general heart disease. Fifteen genes (5 %, 15/285) within CNVs were associated with a broad spectrum of complicated CHD. Among these15 genes, 7 genes were in "abnormal interventricular septum morphology" derived from the MGI (mouse genome informatics) database, and nine genes were associated with cardiovascular system development (GO:0072538).We also found that these VSD-related candidate genes are enriched in chromatin binding and transcription regulation, which are the biological processes underlying heart development. Our study demonstrates the potential clinical diagnostic utility of genomic imbalance profiling in VSD patients. Additionally, gene enrichment and pathway analysis helped us to implicate VSD related candidate genes.

Systematic investigation of the relationship between high myopia and polymorphisms of the MMP2, TIMP2, and TIMP3 genes by a DNA pooling approach.

PubMed

Leung, Kim Hung; Yiu, Wai Chi; Yap, Maurice K H; Ng, Po Wah; Fung, Wai Yan; Sham, Pak Chung; Yip, Shea Ping

2011-06-01

This study examined the relationship between high myopia and three myopia candidate genes--matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 and -3 (TIMP2 and TIMP3)--involved in scleral remodeling. Recruited for the study were unrelated adult Han Chinese who were high myopes (spherical equivalent, ≤ -6.0 D in both eyes; cases) and emmetropes (within ±1.0 D in both eyes; controls). Sample set 1 had 300 cases and 300 controls, and sample set 2 had 356 cases and 354 controls. Forty-nine tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected from these candidate genes. The first stage was an initial screen of six case pools and six control pools constructed from sample set 1, each pool consisting of 50 distinct subjects of the same affection status. In the second stage, positive SNPs from the first stage were confirmed by genotyping individual samples forming the DNA pools. In the third stage, positive SNPs from stage 2 were replicated, with sample set 2 genotyped individually. Of the 49 SNPs screened by DNA pooling, three passed the lenient threshold of P < 0.10 (nested ANOVA) and were followed up by individual genotyping. Of the three SNPs genotyped, two TIMP3 SNPs were found to be significantly associated with high myopia by single-marker or haplotype analysis. However, the initial positive results could not be replicated by sample set 2. MMP2, TIPM2, and TIMP3 genes were not associated with high myopia in this Chinese sample and hence are unlikely to play a major role in the genetic susceptibility to high myopia.

Correlation between the NPPB gene promoter c.-1298 G/T polymorphism site and pulse pressure in the Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Zeng, K; Wu, X D; Cai, H D; Gao, Y G; Li, G; Liu, Q C; Gao, F; Chen, J H; Lin, C Z

2014-04-29

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the natriuretic peptide precursor B (NPPB) gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) c.-1298 G/T and pulse pressure (PP) of the Chinese Han population and the association between genotype and clinical indicators of hypertension. Peripheral blood was collected from 180 unrelated patients with hypertension and 540 healthy volunteers (control group), and DNA was extracted to amplify the 5'-flanking region and 2 exons of the NPPB gene by polymerase chain reaction; the fragment was sequenced after purification. The clinical data of all subjects were recorded, the distribution of the NPPB gene c.-1298 G/T polymorphism was determined, and differences in clinical indicators between the two groups were evaluated. The mean arterial pressure PP, and creatinine levels were significantly higher in the hypertension group than in the control group (P<0.05), but no other clinical indicators differed between the groups. There were no significant differences in genotype frequency and distribution of the NPPB gene c.-1298 G/T polymorphism between the hypertension group and the control group (P>0.05); in the control group, the mean PP of individuals with the SNP c.-1298 GG genotype was greater than that of individuals with the GT+TT genotype (P<0.05). In conclusion, there was no significant correlation between the NPPB gene c.-1298 G/T polymorphism and the incidence of essential hypertension in the Han population; however, the PP of the SNP c.-1298 GG genotype was greater than that of the GT+TT genotype in the control group.

The Influence of Concreteness of Concepts on the Integration of Novel Words into the Semantic Network

PubMed Central

Ding, Jinfeng; Liu, Wenjuan; Yang, Yufang

2017-01-01

On the basis of previous studies revealing a processing advantage of concrete words over abstract words, the current study aimed to further explore the influence of concreteness on the integration of novel words into semantic memory with the event related potential (ERP) technique. In the experiment during the learning phase participants read two-sentence contexts and inferred the meaning of novel words. The novel words were two-character non-words in Chinese language. Their meaning was either a concrete or abstract known concept which could be inferred from the contexts. During the testing phase participants performed a lexical decision task in which the learned novel words served as primes for either their corresponding concepts, semantically related or unrelated targets. For the concrete novel words, the semantically related words belonged to the same semantic categories with their corresponding concepts. For the abstract novel words, the semantically related words were synonyms of their corresponding concepts. The unrelated targets were real words which were concrete or abstract for the concrete or abstract novel words respectively. The ERP results showed that the corresponding concepts and the semantically related words elicited smaller N400s than the unrelated words. The N400 effect was not modulated by the concreteness of the concepts. In addition, the concrete corresponding concepts elicited a smaller late positive component (LPC) than the concrete unrelated words. This LPC effect was absent for the abstract words. The results indicate that although both concrete and abstract novel words can be acquired and linked to their related words in the semantic network after a short learning phase, the concrete novel words are learned better. Our findings support the (extended) dual coding theory and broaden our understanding of adult word learning and changes in concept organization. PMID:29255440

The Influence of Concreteness of Concepts on the Integration of Novel Words into the Semantic Network.

PubMed

Ding, Jinfeng; Liu, Wenjuan; Yang, Yufang

2017-01-01

On the basis of previous studies revealing a processing advantage of concrete words over abstract words, the current study aimed to further explore the influence of concreteness on the integration of novel words into semantic memory with the event related potential (ERP) technique. In the experiment during the learning phase participants read two-sentence contexts and inferred the meaning of novel words. The novel words were two-character non-words in Chinese language. Their meaning was either a concrete or abstract known concept which could be inferred from the contexts. During the testing phase participants performed a lexical decision task in which the learned novel words served as primes for either their corresponding concepts, semantically related or unrelated targets. For the concrete novel words, the semantically related words belonged to the same semantic categories with their corresponding concepts. For the abstract novel words, the semantically related words were synonyms of their corresponding concepts. The unrelated targets were real words which were concrete or abstract for the concrete or abstract novel words respectively. The ERP results showed that the corresponding concepts and the semantically related words elicited smaller N400s than the unrelated words. The N400 effect was not modulated by the concreteness of the concepts. In addition, the concrete corresponding concepts elicited a smaller late positive component (LPC) than the concrete unrelated words. This LPC effect was absent for the abstract words. The results indicate that although both concrete and abstract novel words can be acquired and linked to their related words in the semantic network after a short learning phase, the concrete novel words are learned better. Our findings support the (extended) dual coding theory and broaden our understanding of adult word learning and changes in concept organization.

Glucuronic Acid Epimerase Is Associated with Plasma Triglyceride and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Turks

PubMed Central

Hodoğlugil, Uğur; Williamson, David W.; Yu, Yi; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Mahley, Robert W.

2011-01-01

Summary We narrowed chromosome 15q21-23 linkage to plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in atherogenic dyslipidemic Turkish families by fine mapping, then focused on glucuronic acid epimerase (GLCE), a heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) biosynthesis enzyme. HSPGs participate in lipid metabolism along with apolipoprotein (apo) E. Of 31 SNPs in the GLCE locus, nine analyzed by haplotype were associated with plasma HDL-C and triglyceride levels (permuted p = 0.006 and 0.013, respectively) in families. Of five tagging GLCE SNPs in two cohorts of unrelated subjects, three (rs16952868, rs11631403, rs3865014) were associated with triglyceride and HDL-C levels in males (non-permuted p < 0.05). The association was stronger in APOE 2/3 subjects (apoE2 has reduced binding to HSPGs) and reached multiple-testing significance (p < 0.05) in both males and females (n = 2612). Similar results were obtained in the second cohort (n = 1164). Interestingly, at the GLCE locus, bounded by recombination hotspots, Turks had a minor allele frequency of SNPs resembling Chinese more than European ancestry; adjoining regions on chromosome 15 resembled the European pattern. Studies of glce+/–apoe–/– mice fed a chow or high-fat diet supported a role for GLCE in lipid metabolism. Thus, SNPs in GLCE are associated with triglyceride and HDL-C levels in Turks, and mouse studies support a role for glce in lipid metabolism. PMID:21488854

Estimation of nitrate metabolism in intestinal tract by measuring breath nitrous oxide concentration in Chinese and Japanese.

PubMed

Mitsui, T; Kato, N; Kondo, T

2000-05-01

We have previously reported that ingestion of vegetables containing high nitrate (NO3-) increases breath nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration, probably due to denitrification. In the present study, we estimated NO3- metabolism in the intestine by determining exhaled breath N2O concentration after the ingestion of vegetables by 16 healthy Chinese and Japanese. Breath samples were collected at 15-min intervals for 4 hr after subjects ingested 180 g of vegetable juice or 50 g of lettuce. Breath N2O concentration was measured by an IR-PAS analyzer. Lettuce but not vegetable juice increased N2O concentrations similarly in Japanese and Chinese. In control subjects who ingested nothing, there were significant differences between Chinese and Japanese in peak N2O concentrations (334 +/- 91 vs 140 +/- 24 ppb, P = 0.027) and total excretions (535 +/- 143 vs 214 +/- 36 microg, P = 0.036). Although the reason for this difference is unclear, Chinese subjects could produce breath N2O from other metabolic pathways than denitrification of dietary NO3.

Self-rated health status and subjective health complaints associated with health-promoting lifestyles among urban Chinese women: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Cheng, Jingru; Wang, Tian; Li, Fei; Xiao, Ya; Bi, Jianlu; Chen, Jieyu; Sun, Xiaomin; Wu, Liuguo; Wu, Shengwei; Liu, Yanyan; Luo, Ren; Zhao, Xiaoshan

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate whether self-rated health status (SRH) and subjective health complaints (SHC) of urban Chinese women are associated with their health-promoting lifestyles (HPL). We conducted a cross-sectional study on 8142 eligible Chinese participants between 2012 and 2013. Demographic and SHC data were collected. Each subject completed the SRH questionnaire and the Chinese version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II). Correlation and binary regression analyses were performed to examine the associations of SRH and SHC with HPL. Both SRH and HPL of urban Chinese women were moderate. The most common complaints were fatigue (1972, 24.2%), eye discomfort (1571, 19.3%), and insomnia (1542, 18.9%). Teachers, highly educated subjects and elderly women had lower SRH scores, while college students and married women had better HPL. All items of HPLP-II were positively correlated with SRH (r = 0.127-0.533, P = 0.000) and negatively correlated with SHC to a significant extent (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40-11.37). Aspects of HPL, particularly stress management and spiritual growth, are associated with higher SRH and lower SHC ratings among urban Chinese women. Physical activity and health responsibility are additionally related to reduced fatigue and nervousness. We believe that these findings will be instrumental in encouraging researchers and urban women to adopt better health-promoting lifestyles with different priorities in their daily lives.

Optimized Motor Imagery Paradigm Based on Imagining Chinese Characters Writing Movement.

PubMed

Qiu, Zhaoyang; Allison, Brendan Z; Jin, Jing; Zhang, Yu; Wang, Xingyu; Li, Wei; Cichocki, Andrzej

2017-07-01

motor imagery (MI) is a mental representation of motor behavior. The MI-based brain computer interfaces (BCIs) can provide communication for the physically impaired. The performance of MI-based BCI mainly depends on the subject's ability to self-modulate electroencephalogram signals. Proper training can help naive subjects learn to modulate brain activity proficiently. However, training subjects typically involve abstract motor tasks and are time-consuming. to improve the performance of naive subjects during motor imagery, a novel paradigm was presented that would guide naive subjects to modulate brain activity effectively. In this new paradigm, pictures of the left or right hand were used as cues for subjects to finish the motor imagery task. Fourteen healthy subjects (11 male, aged 22-25 years, and mean 23.6±1.16) participated in this study. The task was to imagine writing a Chinese character. Specifically, subjects could imagine hand movements corresponding to the sequence of writing strokes in the Chinese character. This paradigm was meant to find an effective and familiar action for most Chinese people, to provide them with a specific, extensively practiced task and help them modulate brain activity. results showed that the writing task paradigm yielded significantly better performance than the traditional arrow paradigm (p < 0.001). Questionnaire replies indicated that most subjects thought that the new paradigm was easier. the proposed new motor imagery paradigm could guide subjects to help them modulate brain activity effectively. Results showed that there were significant improvements using new paradigm, both in classification accuracy and usability.

Genotype-phenotype correlation of xeroderma pigmentosum in a Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Sun, Z; Zhang, J; Guo, Y; Ni, C; Liang, J; Cheng, R; Li, M; Yao, Z

2015-04-01

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by extreme sensitivity to sunlight, freckle-like pigmentation and a greatly increased incidence of skin cancers. Genetic mutation detection and genotype-phenotype analysis of XP are rarely reported in the Chinese Han population. To investigate the mutational spectrum of XP in a Chinese Han population, to discover any genotype-phenotype correlation and, consequently, to propose a simple and effective tool for the molecular diagnosis of XP. This study was carried out on 12 unrelated Chinese families that included 13 patients with clinically suspected XP. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. Mutation screening was performed by direct sequencing of exons and flanking intron-exon boundaries for the entire coding region of eight XP genes. In 12 patients, direct sequencing of the whole coding region of eight XP genes revealed pathogenic mutations, including seven compound heterozygous mutations, three homozygous mutations and a Japanese founder mutation. Thirteen mutations have not been previously identified. This cohort was composed of four patients with XP-C (XPC), two with XP-G (ERCC5), three with XP-A (XPA) and three with XP-V (POLH). This study identified 13 novel mutations and extended the mutation spectrum of XP in the Chinese Han population. In this cohort, we found that patients with XP-G have no neurological symptoms, and patients with XP-A and XP-V have a high incidence of malignancy. Furthermore, lack of stringent protection against sunlight, late diagnosis and long duration of disease play an important role. © 2014 British Association of Dermatologists.

Identification of five novel STAR variants in ten Chinese patients with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia.

PubMed

Huang, Zhuo; Ye, Jun; Han, Lianshu; Qiu, Wenjuan; Zhang, Huiwen; Yu, Yongguo; Liang, Lili; Gong, Zhuwen; Gu, Xuefan

2016-04-01

Congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (CLAH) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by defective synthesis of all steroids. This disorder is characterized by 46,XY sex reversal, skin hyperpigmentation, early-onset adrenal crisis and enlarged adrenal with fatty accumulation. CLAH is caused by mutations in the STAR gene. The clinical features and STAR gene mutation spectrum of a large cohort of Chinese patients with CLAH were not reported previously. We performed clinical retrospective review and genetic analysis of the STAR gene in ten unrelated Chinese phenotypic female patients who were clinically diagnosed with CLAH and followed up in our hospital from 2006 to 2015. All ten patients, including two 46,XY females and eight 46,XX females, presented skin hyperpigmentation and early salt-wasting episode, and showed normal growth and development after steroid replacement treatment. Totally 20 mutant alleles containing 11 different STAR gene mutations were identified in these ten patients, including five novel variants (two missense and three null variants), all predicted to be pathogenic in bioinformatics analysis, and six mutations described in previous literature. Among these 11 mutations, a reported mutation c.772C>T and a novel variant c.707_708delinsCTT were most frequent, accounting for 35% and 15% of the total mutant alleles, respectively. This is the first report of a large Chinese cohort with CLAH, presenting the mutation spectrum of the STAR gene and two possible founder mutations in the Chinese population, which may contribute to better genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deep whole-genome sequencing of 90 Han Chinese genomes.

PubMed

Lan, Tianming; Lin, Haoxiang; Zhu, Wenjuan; Laurent, Tellier Christian Asker Melchior; Yang, Mengcheng; Liu, Xin; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jian; Yang, Huanming; Xu, Xun; Guo, Xiaosen

2017-09-01

Next-generation sequencing provides a high-resolution insight into human genetic information. However, the focus of previous studies has primarily been on low-coverage data due to the high cost of sequencing. Although the 1000 Genomes Project and the Haplotype Reference Consortium have both provided powerful reference panels for imputation, low-frequency and novel variants remain difficult to discover and call with accuracy on the basis of low-coverage data. Deep sequencing provides an optimal solution for the problem of these low-frequency and novel variants. Although whole-exome sequencing is also a viable choice for exome regions, it cannot account for noncoding regions, sometimes resulting in the absence of important, causal variants. For Han Chinese populations, the majority of variants have been discovered based upon low-coverage data from the 1000 Genomes Project. However, high-coverage, whole-genome sequencing data are limited for any population, and a large amount of low-frequency, population-specific variants remain uncharacterized. We have performed whole-genome sequencing at a high depth (∼×80) of 90 unrelated individuals of Chinese ancestry, collected from the 1000 Genomes Project samples, including 45 Northern Han Chinese and 45 Southern Han Chinese samples. Eighty-three of these 90 have been sequenced by the 1000 Genomes Project. We have identified 12 568 804 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 2 074 210 short InDels, and 26 142 structural variations from these 90 samples. Compared to the Han Chinese data from the 1000 Genomes Project, we have found 7 000 629 novel variants with low frequency (defined as minor allele frequency < 5%), including 5 813 503 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 1 169 199 InDels, and 17 927 structural variants. Using deep sequencing data, we have built a greatly expanded spectrum of genetic variation for the Han Chinese genome. Compared to the 1000 Genomes Project, these Han Chinese deep sequencing data enhance the characterization of a large number of low-frequency, novel variants. This will be a valuable resource for promoting Chinese genetics research and medical development. Additionally, it will provide a valuable supplement to the 1000 Genomes Project, as well as to other human genome projects. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Rethinking the advantage of zero-HLA mismatches in unrelated living donor kidney transplantation: implications on kidney paired donation.

PubMed

Casey, Michael Jin; Wen, Xuerong; Rehman, Shehzad; Santos, Alfonso H; Andreoni, Kenneth A

2015-04-01

The OPTN/UNOS Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) Pilot Program allocates priority to zero-HLA mismatches. However, in unrelated living donor kidney transplants (LDKT)-the same donor source in KPD-no study has shown whether zero-HLA mismatches provide any advantage over >0 HLA mismatches. We hypothesize that zero-HLA mismatches among unrelated LDKT do not benefit graft survival. This retrospective SRTR database study analyzed LDKT recipients from 1987 to 2012. Among unrelated LDKT, subjects with zero-HLA mismatches were compared to a 1:1-5 matched (by donor age ±1 year and year of transplantation) control cohort with >0 HLA mismatches. The primary endpoint was death-censored graft survival. Among 32,654 unrelated LDKT recipients, 83 had zero-HLA mismatches and were matched to 407 controls with >0 HLA mismatches. Kaplan-Meier analyses for death-censored graft and patient survival showed no difference between study and control cohorts. In multivariate marginal Cox models, zero-HLA mismatches saw no benefit with death-censored graft survival (HR = 1.46, 95% CI 0.78-2.73) or patient survival (HR = 1.43, 95% CI 0.68-3.01). Our data suggest that in unrelated LDKT, zero-HLA mismatches may not offer any survival advantage. Therefore, particular study of zero-HLA mismatching is needed to validate its place in the OPTN/UNOS KPD Pilot Program allocation algorithm. © 2014 Steunstichting ESOT.

Chinese English Learners' Strategic Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Dianjian; Lai, Hongling; Leslie, Michael

2015-01-01

The present study aims to investigate Chinese English learners' ability to use communication strategies (CSs). The subjects are put in a relatively real English referential communication setting and the analyses of the research data show that Chinese English learners, when encountering problems in foreign language (FL) communication, are…

How Can "Problem Subjects" Be Made Less of a Problem?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warwick, Philip; Ottewill, Roger

2004-01-01

Many higher education courses, across the whole range of disciplines, include subjects that are somewhat problematic because they appear to be unrelated to other components of the curriculum. Students frequently perceive them as irrelevant and boring. This makes it extremely difficult for lecturers to stimulate interest and results in an…

Attention and Semantic Processing during Speech: An fMRI Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rama, Pia; Relander-Syrjanen, Kristiina; Carlson, Synnove; Salonen, Oili; Kujala, Teija

2012-01-01

This fMRI study was conducted to investigate whether language semantics is processed even when attention is not explicitly directed to word meanings. In the "unattended" condition, the subjects performed a visual detection task while hearing semantically related and unrelated word pairs. In the "phoneme" condition, the subjects made phoneme…

Association of Genetic Variants with Isolated Fasting Hyperglycaemia and Isolated Postprandial Hyperglycaemia in a Han Chinese Population

PubMed Central

Chen, Ying; Chen, Li; Zhao, Zhigang; Li, Qiang; Ge, Jiapu; Chen, Gang; Guo, Xiaohui; Lu, Juming; Weng, Jianping; Jia, Weiping; Ji, Linong; Xiao, Jianzhong; Shan, Zhongyan; Liu, Jie; Tian, Haoming; Ji, Qiuhe; Zhu, Dalong; Zhou, Zhiguang; Shan, Guangliang; Yang, Wenying

2013-01-01

Background Though multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified, the genetic bases of isolated fasting hyperglycaemia (IFH) and isolated postprandial hyperglycaemia (IPH) were still unclear. In present study, we aimed to investigate the association of genome-wide association study-validated genetic variants and IFH or IPH in Han Chinese. Methods/Principal Findings We genotyped 27 validated SNPs in 6,663 unrelated individuals comprising 341 IFH, 865 IPH, 1,203 combined fasting hyperglycaemia and postprandial hyperglycaemia, and 4,254 normal glycaemic subjects of Han ancestry. The distributions of genotype frequencies of FTO, CDKAL1 and GCKR were significant different between individuals with IFH and those with IPH (SNP(ptrend): rs8050136(0.0024), rs9939609(0.0049), rs7756992(0.0122), rs780094(0.0037)). Risk allele of FTO specifically increased the risk of IFH (rs8050136: OR 1.403 [95% CI 1.125–1.750], p = 0.0027; rs9939609: 1.398 [1.120–1.744], p = 0.0030). G allele of CDKAL1 specifically increased the risk of IPH (1.217 [1.092–1.355], p = 0.0004). G allele of GCKR increased the risk of IFH (1.167 [0.999–1.362], p = 0.0513), but decreased the risk of IPH (0.891 [0.801–0.991], p = 0.0331). In addition, TCF7L2 and KCNQ1 increased the risk of both IFH and IPH. When combined, each additional risk allele associated with IFH increased the risk for IFH by 1.246-fold (p<0.0001), while each additional risk allele associated with IPH increased the risk for IPH by 1.190-fold (p<0.0001). Conclusion/Significance Our results indicate that genotype distributions of variants from FTO, GCKR, CDKAL1 were different between IPH and IFH in Han Chinese. Variants of genes modulating insulin sensitivity (FTO, GCKR) contributed to the risk of IFH, while variants of genes related to beta cell function (CDKAL1) increase the risk of IPH. PMID:23990951

Subjective Well-Being of Hong Kong Chinese Teachers: The Contribution of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and the Orientations to Happiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, David W.

2013-01-01

This study investigated whether gratitude and forgiveness contribute to subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) above the contribution of the three orientations to happiness in a sample of 143 Hong Kong Chinese teachers. Gratitude and forgiveness correlated substantially and significantly with each other,…

Thesaurus Dataset of Educational Technology in Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Linjing; Liu, Qingtang; Zhao, Gang; Huang, Huan; Huang, Tao

2015-01-01

The thesaurus dataset of educational technology is a knowledge description of educational technology in Chinese. The aims of this thesaurus were to collect the subject terms in the domain of educational technology, facilitate the standardization of terminology and promote the communication between Chinese researchers and scholars from various…

Topic Prominence in Chinese EFL Learners' Interlanguage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Shaopeng; Yang, Lianrui

2014-01-01

The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004). The…

Effects of ethnicity and gender on motion sickness susceptibility.

PubMed

Klosterhalfen, Sibylle; Kellermann, Sandra; Pan, Fang; Stockhorst, Ursula; Hall, Geoffrey; Enck, Paul

2005-11-01

Susceptibility to motion sickness (MS) is known to be affected by gender and ethnic origin, but whether gender and ethnicity are interacting is unknown. We investigated MS development in healthy Caucasian subjects (n = 227), and in subjects of Chinese origin (n = 82). All subjects were exposed to nausea-inducing body rotations in a rotation chair, and rotated around the yaw axis for 5 x 1 min, while they were instructed to move their heads. Prior to rotation, subjects had to fill out a motion-sickness susceptibility questionnaire (MSSQ). Total rotation tolerance time (RT) was noted. Symptom ratings (SR) were performed at the beginning, and immediately after the end of each rotation, and 15 and 30 min later. The average RT was significantly higher in Caucasian (163 +/- 6 s) than in Chinese subjects (111 +/- 7 s) (F = 24.84, p < 0.0001). The adult MSSQ score was significantly lower in Caucasians (17.8 +/- 1.1) than in Chinese volunteers (24.2 +/- 2.1) (F = 6.05, p = 0.014). Maximal SR post rotation was similar in Chinese and Caucasian subjects. RT was highly predictable from the MSSQ scores, but separate for both genders. Susceptibility to MS is affected by both ethnic origin and by gender in a rather complex fashion. The most reliable prediction of RT can be based on the individual's history as assessed by the MSSQ.

Toll-like receptor 3 polymorphism rs3775291 is not associated with choroidal neovascularization or polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in Chinese subjects.

PubMed

Sng, Chelvin C A; Cackett, Peter D; Yeo, Ian Y; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Venkatraman, Anandalakshmi; Venkataraman, Divya; Koh, Adrian H; Tai, E-Shyong; Wong, Tien Y; Aung, Tin; Vithana, Eranga N

2011-01-01

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs3775291) in the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) gene has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of AMD in Caucasian populations. The aim of this study was to examine this association in Chinese persons with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to AMD and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). This was an observational cross-sectional study in Singapore. Study subjects were of Chinese ethnicity and included patients with exudative maculopathy and normal control subjects. The diagnoses of CNV and PCV were made based on fundus examination, fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography findings. Genomic DNA was extracted, and genotypes were determined by bidirectional DNA sequencing. We compared the allele and genotype frequencies between subjects with CNV and PCV with controls using the software PLINK. A total of 246 subjects with exudative maculopathy (consisting of 126 with CNV and 120 with PCV) and 274 normal control subjects were recruited. The distribution of rs3775291 SNP genotypes for CNV and PCV was not significantly different from that for normal controls. This study indicates that the TLR3 rs3775291 gene polymorphism is not associated with CNV and PCV in Singaporean Chinese patients. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Changes in Chinese hair growth along a full year.

PubMed

Liu, C; Yang, J; Qu, L; Gu, M; Liu, Y; Gao, J; Collaudin, C; Loussouarn, G

2014-12-01

To confirm the existence of seasonal hair growth cycle among Chinese subjects and objectivize the seasonal effect of hair loss; the hair growth parameters of Chinese volunteers were followed monthly for an entire year on the same area of vertex. The hair growth parameters of 41 Chinese volunteers (women and men), free from alopecia, were recorded monthly along an entire year using the phototrichogram technique. Results show an increased rate of telogen hairs (growing arrest) around August-September in the study group, as previously reported in European subjects albeit of a lower extent and remaining within the normal range of healthy head hair parameters. The possible effects of latitude and daylight duration are discussed. Data confirm that Chinese hairs present characteristics of the most developed and fast growing terminal fibres, as compared to other non-Asian ethnics. © 2014 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

Identification of Genetic Defects Underlying FXII Deficiency in Four Unrelated Chinese Patients.

PubMed

Yang, Lihong; Wang, Yingyu; Zhou, Jianpin; Cheng, Xiaoli; Hao, Xiuping; Xie, Haixiao; Jin, Yanhui; Wang, Mingshan

2016-01-01

Congenital factor XII (FXII) dexFB01;ciency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, characterized by a great variability in its clinical manifestations. In this study, we screened for mutations in the F12 gene of 4 unrelated patients with FXII coagulant activity <10% of that of normal human plasma. To investigate the molecular defects in these FXII-deficient patients, we performed FXII mutation screening. By sequencing all coding exons as well as xFB02;anking intronic regions of the F12 gene, 6 different mutations, including 3 missense mutations (Gly341Arg, Glu502Lys and Gly542 Ser), 1 insertion (7142insertC) and 2 deletions (5741-5742 delCA and 6753-6755delACA), were identixFB01;ed on the F12 gene. Three of them (Gly341Arg, 5741-5742delCA and 6753-6755delACA) are reported here for the first time. Computer-based algorithms predicted these missense mutations to be deleterious. This study has increased our knowledge of the mutational spectrum underlying FXII deficiency. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The perception of FM sweeps by Chinese and English listeners.

PubMed

Luo, Huan; Boemio, Anthony; Gordon, Michael; Poeppel, David

2007-02-01

Frequency-modulated (FM) signals are an integral acoustic component of ecologically natural sounds and are analyzed effectively in the auditory systems of humans and animals. Linearly frequency-modulated tone sweeps were used here to evaluate two questions. First, how rapid a sweep can listeners accurately perceive? Second, is there an effect of native language insofar as the language (phonology) is differentially associated with processing of FM signals? Speakers of English and Mandarin Chinese were tested to evaluate whether being a speaker of a tone language altered the perceptual identification of non-speech tone sweeps. In two psychophysical studies, we demonstrate that Chinese subjects perform better than English subjects in FM direction identification, but not in an FM discrimination task, in which English and Chinese speakers show similar detection thresholds of approximately 20 ms duration. We suggest that the better FM direction identification in Chinese subjects is related to their experience with FM direction analysis in the tone-language environment, even though supra-segmental tonal variation occurs over a longer time scale. Furthermore, the observed common discrimination temporal threshold across two language groups supports the conjecture that processing auditory signals at durations of approximately 20 ms constitutes a fundamental auditory perceptual threshold.

Acupuncture in the treatment of tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Fenye; Han, Xiuli; Li, Yunfeng; Yu, Shudong

2016-02-01

This study aimed at a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using acupuncture to treat tinnitus. Five electronic databases, in both English and Chinese, were searched. All studies in our review and meta-analysis included parallel RCTs of tinnitus patients which compared subjects receiving acupuncture (or its other forms, such as electroacupuncture) to subjects receiving no treatment, sham treatment, drugs or basic medical therapy. Data from the articles were validated and extracted using a predefined data extraction form. Nearly all of Chinese studies reported positive results, while most of English studies reported negative results. Analysis of the combined data found that the acupuncture treatments seemed to provide some advantages over conventional therapies for tinnitus. It had difference in acupuncture points and sessions between Chinese studies and English studies. Methodological flaws were also found in many of the RCTs, especially in Chinese studies. The results of this review suggest that acupuncture therapy may offer subjective benefit to some tinnitus patients. Acupuncture points and sessions used in Chinese studies may be more appropriate, whereas these studies have many methodological flaws and risk bias, which prevents us making a definitive conclusion.

Chinese adolescents with higher social dominance orientation are less prosocial and less happy: A value-environment fit analysis.

PubMed

Yang, Ying; Li, Wenqi; Sheldon, Kennon M; Kou, Yu

2018-01-10

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and subjective well-being among Chinese adolescents (N = 4246), and to examine the mediating role of prosocial behaviour in this relationship. The structural equation model's results showed that SDO was negatively associated with prosocial behaviour and subjective well-being, that prosocial behaviour was positively associated with subjective well-being, and also that (low) prosocial behaviour partially mediated the negative relationship between SDO and subjective well-being. Multi-group analyses showed that the mediation model was generally similar between boys and girls, but that the negative relationship between SDO and prosocial behaviour was somewhat stronger among girls than boys. This study sheds light on how SDO is associated with positive outcomes among Chinese adolescents and highlights the mediating role of prosocial behaviour as an underlying mechanism between SDO and subjective well-being. Future studies are needed to further discover the role of culture values in the association between SDO and subjective well-being. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

Three cases of congenital dysfibrinogenemia in unrelated Chinese families: heterozygous missense mutation in fibrinogen alpha chain Argl6His

PubMed Central

Luo, Meiling; Deng, Donghong; Xiang, Liqun; Cheng, Peng; Liao, Lin; Deng, Xuelian; Yan, Jie; Lin, Faquan

2016-01-01

Abstract Congenital dysfibrinogenemia (CD) is a qualitative fibrinogen disorder caused by an abnormal fibrinogen molecule structure, leading to dysfunctional blood coagulation. This study describes 3 cases of dysfibrinogenemia identified in the unrelated Chinese pedigrees. Routine coagulation screening tests were performed on the probands and their families. The antigens and functionality of fibrinogen was measured using an immunoturbidimetry assay and the Clauss method, respectively. To identify the genetic mutation responsible for these dysfibrinogens, genomic DNA extracted from the blood was analyzed using PCR amplification and direct sequencing. The presence of the mutant chains was determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy. Purified plasma fibrinogen of 3 probands was analyzed using SDS–PAGE, fibrinogen clottability, fibrin polymerization, fibrinopeptide release, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The 3 probands had a long thrombin time. Levels of functional fibrinogen were found to be very low, while the fibrinogen antigen was within the normal range. DNA sequencing revealed a heterozygous Arg16His substitution in the fibrinogen Aα chain (FGA). The mutant chains were found to be expressed using MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy. SDS–PAGE did not reveal any difference in the molecular weights of 3 polypeptide chains between normal and abnormal fibrinogens. Fibrinogen clottability showed a slower fibrin clot formation than the healthy control. Fibrin polymerization, after addition of thrombin, showed a prolonged lag phase and decreased final turbidity. The kinetics of fibrinopeptides release revealed a decreased amount of the released fibrinopeptide A. SEM of the patient's fibrin clot was found to be abnormal. Results indicate that the 3 probands with dysfibrinogenemia were caused by mutations of Aα chain Arg16His. Mutation of this fibrinogen induced dysfunction of plasma fibrinogen. PMID:27684817

No association between polymorphisms and haplotypes of COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes and osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal Chinese women

PubMed Central

Hu, Wei-wei; He, Jin-wei; Zhang, Hao; Wang, Chun; Gu, Jie-mei; Yue, Hua; Ke, Yao-hua; Hu, Yun-qiu; Fu, Wen-zhen; Li, Miao; Liu, Yu-juan; Zhang, Zhen-lin

2011-01-01

Aim: To study whether genetic polymorphisms of COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes affected the onset of fracture in postmenopausal Chinese women. Methods: SNPs in COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes were identified via direct sequencing in 32 unrelated postmenopausal Chinese women. Ten SNPs were genotyped in 1252 postmenopausal Chinese women. The associations were examined using both single-SNP and haplotype tests using logistic regression. Results: Twenty four (4 novel) and 28 (7 novel) SNPs were identified in COL1A1 and COL1A2 gene, respectively. The distribution frequencies of 2 SNPs in COL1A1 (rs2075554 and rs2586494) and 3 SNPs in COL1A2 (rs42517, rs1801182, and rs42524) were significantly different from those documented for the European Caucasian population. No significant difference was observed between fracture and control groups with respect to allele frequency or genotype distribution in 9 selected SNPs and haplotype. No significant association was found between fragility fracture and each SNP or haplotype. The results remained the same after additional corrections for other risk factors such as weight, height, and bone mineral density. Conclusion: Our results show no association between common genetic variations of COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes and fracture, suggesting the complex genetic background of osteoporotic fractures. PMID:21602843

Genetic analysis and literature review of Chinese patients with familial renal glucosuria: Identification of a novel SLC5A2 mutation.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaojing; Yu, Miao; Wang, Tong; Zhang, Huabing; Ping, Fan; Zhang, Qian; Xu, Jianping; Feng, Kai; Xiao, Xinhua

2017-06-01

Familial renal glucosuria (FRG) is an inherited renal tubular disorder characterized by persistent isolated glucosuria with normal blood glucose. SLC5A2 gene mutation was the causative of FRG. Molecular genetic analysis of SLC5A2 gene by Sanger sequencing was conducted in two unrelated non-consanguineous Chinese families with isolated glucosuria. Extensive laboratory test and physical examination were performed. In silico algorithms were used to explore the potential effect of novel mutation on SGLT2 function. We also summarized the reported SLC5A2 mutations in the Chinese patients with FRG. A novel missense mutation (c.877A>T, p.Ser293Cys) in exon 3 was detected in proband 1 with weight loss accompanying by glucosuria and in her father with normal phenotype. In family 2, a previously reported compound heterozygous mutation (c.229G>C, p.Gly77Arg; c.1540C>T, p.Pro514Ser) was identified, and her healthy parents were heterozygous mutation carriers. The p.S293C mutation was predicted to be pathogenic. No hot spot mutation was found in reported Chinese patients with FRG. The novel pathogenic SLC5A2 mutation p.S293C was responsible for the onset of FRG. Our study further confirmed the co-dominant inheritance trait with variable penetrance and expanded the clinical and genetic spectrum of FRG. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gratitude, Gratitude Intervention and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese School Teachers in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, David W.

2010-01-01

This study assessed the dispositional gratitude and its relationships with orientations to happiness and burnout in a sample of 96 Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong and investigated the effectiveness of an eight-week gratitude intervention programme using a pre-test/post-test design with outcome measures of subjective well-being in the same…

Prescription frequency and patterns of Chinese herbal medicine for liver cancer patients in Taiwan: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health Insurance Research Database.

PubMed

Ting, Chin-Tsung; Kuo, Chian-Jue; Hu, Hsiao-Yun; Lee, Ya-Ling; Tsai, Tung-Hu

2017-02-20

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is frequently provided to HCC patients. The aim of this study was to understand the prescription frequency and patterns of CHM for HCC patients by analyzing the claims data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan. We identified 73918 newly diagnosed HCC subjects from the database of Registry for Catastrophic Illness during 2002 to 2009 and to analyze the frequency and pattern of corresponding CHM prescriptions for HCC patients. There were a total of 685,079 single Chinese herbal prescriptions and 553,952 Chinese herbal formula prescriptions used for 17,373 HCC subjects before 2 years of HCC diagnosis. Among the 13,093 HCC subjects who used CHMs after HCC diagnosis, there were 462,786 single Chinese herbal prescriptions and 300,153 Chinese herbal formula prescriptions were counted. By adjusting with person-year and ratio of standardized incidence rate, the top ten prescribed single herbal drugs and Chinese herbal formulas for HCC patients were described in our study. Among them, we concluded that, Oldenlandia diffusa (Chinese herbal name: Bai-Hua-She-She-Cao), Radix et Rhizoma Rhei (Da Huang) and the herbal preparation of Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang and Gan-Lu-Yin, were the most obviously increased and important CHMs been used for HCC patients. We established an accurate and validated method for the actual frequency and patterns of CHM use in treating HCC in Taiwan. We propose that these breakthrough findings may have important implications for HCC therapy, clinical trials and modernization of CHM.

Development of the Chinese-version of the exercise self-regulatory efficacy scale for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

PubMed

Tsai, Yu-Han; Chen, Jyu-Lin; Davis, Amy H T; Yen, Wen-Jiuan; Lin, Yen-Ju; Chiang, Li-Chi; Chen, Yu-Ju

A valid and reliable instrument for assessing exercise self-regulatory efficacy (Ex-SRE) is lacking in Taiwan. To develop and validate a Chinese-version of the Ex-SRE scale (Ex-SRES-Chinese). Published guidelines were followed for cross-cultural adaptation of Ex-SRES-Chinese. Psychometric testing was conducted in 76 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Ex-SRES-Chinese achieved clarity, culture appropriateness, and functional equivalence for measuring Ex-SRE. The scale-level content validity index of the Ex-SRES-Chinese was 0.99. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) was 0.925. Factor analysis identified a single factor with a high eigenvalue of 7.6 accounting for 47.5% of the total variance. The construct validity of Ex-SRES-Chinese was supported by higher Ex-SRE in subjects who exercise regularly in the past than those who did not (p = 0.033). In addition, Ex-SRE was positively associated with weekly exercise time (r = 0.58; p < 0.0001). Ex-SRES-Chinese is a useful cross-culturally adapted instrument with good psychometric properties for measuring Ex-SRE in COPD patients in Taiwan. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subjective cognitive impairment of older adults: a comparison between the US and China.

PubMed

Wu, Qiong

2016-03-01

Subjective assessment may be incomparable across countries due to differences in reporting styles. Based on two nationally representative surveys from the US and China, this study used data from three anchoring vignettes to estimate to what extent the US and Chinese older adults aged 50 and above differed in their reporting styles of subjective cognitive impairment. Cross country differences of subjective cognitive impairment were then estimated, both before and after adjusting for reporting heterogeneity. Directly assessed word recall test scores were analyzed to evaluate whether findings based on subjective cognitive impairment was consistent with objective performance. The results revealed a discrepancy between self-reported subjective cognitive impairment and directly assessed memory function among older adults: while Chinese respondents reported lower severity levels of subjective cognitive impairment, the US respondents demonstrated better performance in immediate word recall tests. By accounting for differences in reporting styles using anchoring vignettes data, Chinese older adults showed higher levels of subjective cognitive impairment than the US older adults, which was consistent with results from direct assessment of memory function. Non-negligible differences are present in reporting styles of subjective cognitive impairment. Cross country comparison needs to take into account such reporting heterogeneity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Association of TMPRSS6 polymorphisms with ferritin, hemoglobin, and type 2 diabetes risk in a Chinese Han population.

PubMed

Gan, Wei; Guan, Yu; Wu, Qian; An, Peng; Zhu, Jingwen; Lu, Ling; Jing, Li; Yu, Yu; Ruan, Sheng; Xie, Dong; Makrides, Maria; Gibson, Robert A; Anderson, Gregory J; Li, Huaixing; Lin, Xu; Wang, Fudi

2012-03-01

Transmembrane protease serine 6 (TMPRSS6) regulates iron homeostasis by inhibiting the expression of hepcidin. Multiple common variants in TMPRSS6 were significantly associated with serum iron in recent genome-wide association studies, but their effects in the Chinese remain to be elucidated. The objective was to determine whether the TMPRSS6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs855791(V736A) and rs4820268(D521D) were associated with blood hemoglobin and plasma ferritin concentrations and risk of type 2 diabetes in Chinese individuals. The SNPs rs855791(V736A) and rs4820268(D521D) in the TMPRSS6 gene were genotyped and tested for their associations with plasma iron and type 2 diabetes risk in 1574 unrelated Chinese Hans from Beijing. The 2 TMPRSS6 SNPs rs855791(V736A) and rs4820268(D521D) were both significantly associated with plasma ferritin (P ≤ 0.0058), hemoglobin (P ≤ 0.0013), iron overload risk (P ≤ 0.0068), and type 2 diabetes risk (P ≤ 0.0314). None of the associations with hemoglobin or plasma ferritin remained significant (P ≥ 0.1229) when the 2 variants were both included in one linear regression model. A haplotype carrying both iron-lowering alleles from the 2 TMPRSS SNPs showed significant associations with lower hemoglobin (P = 0.0014), lower plasma ferritin (P = 0.0027), and a reduced risk of iron overload (P = 0.0017) and of type 2 diabetes (P = 0.0277). These findings suggest that TMPRSS6 variants were significantly associated with plasma ferritin, hemoglobin, risk of iron overload, and type 2 diabetes in Chinese Hans. The type 2 diabetes risk conferred by the TMPRSS6 SNPs is possibly mediated by plasma ferritin.

[A total of 362 HLA different haplotypes and HLA recombination haplotypes based on analysis of their family pedigree in Chinese partial Han populations].

PubMed

Gao, Su-Qing; Cheng, Xi; Li, Qian; Li, Yu-Zhu; Deng, Zhi-Hui

2009-06-01

This study was aimed to discover the novel HLA recombination haplotypes and investigate the distribution of haplotypes in Chinese Han population. Based on the HLA-A, B, DRB1 typing results of 179 family members, 791 haplotypes were assigned by the mode of inheritance. The results showed that a total of 4 novel recombinant haplotypes in HLA-DRB1 locus region were observed in 4 families, which ratio of paternal to maternal chromosomes was 3:1. The recombination ratio between HLA-DRB1 and HLA-A or B loci was 0.92% (4/433). There were a total of 362 kinds of HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 haplotypes to be confirmed in Chinese Han partial population. A33-B58-DR17, A2-B46-DR9, A30-B13-DR7, A11-B13-DR15, A11-B75-DR12 and A2-B46-DR14 were the most common haplotypes that was consistent with the distribution of HLA alleles in unrelated donors. There were A1-B63-DR12, A29-B46-DR15, A1-B61-DR10, A34-B35-DR9, A29-B54-DR4, A23-B13-DR16 and A34-B62-DR15 haplotypes and so on, which were rare haplotypes not yet reported in Chinese. It is concluded that the HLA-A-B-DRB1 haplotypes would be confirmed by analysis of their family pedigree. The results obtained in this study are basic data for study of Chinese anthropology, organ transplantation and disease correlation analysis.

Forensic ancestry analysis in two Chinese minority populations using massively parallel sequencing of 165 ancestry-informative SNPs.

PubMed

He, Guanglin; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Mengge; Luo, Tao; Liu, Jing; Zhou, You; Gao, Bo; Hou, Yiping

2018-06-04

Ancestry inference based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with marked allele frequency differences in diverse populations (called ancestry-informative SNP, AISNP) is rapidly developed with the technology advancements of massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Despite the decade of exploration and broad public interest in the peopling of East-Asians, the genetic landscape of Chinese Silk Road populations based on the AISNPs is still little known. In this work, 206 unrelated individuals from Chinese Uyghur and Hui populations were firstly genotyped by 165 AISNPs (The Precision ID Ancestry Panel) using the Ion Torrent PGM system. The ethnic origin of two investigated populations and population structures and genetic relationships were subsequently investigated. The 165 AISNPs panel not only can differentiate Uyghur and Hui populations but also has potential applications in individual identification. Comprehensive population comparisons and admixture estimates demonstrated a predominantly higher European-related ancestry (36.30%) in Uyghurs than Huis (3.66%). Overall, the Precision ID Ancestry Panel can provide good resolution at the intercontinental level, but has limitations on the genetic homogeneous populations, such as the Hui and Han. Additional population-specific AISNPs remain necessary to get better-scale resolution within geographically proximate populations in East Asia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Serum Uric Acid Levels were Dynamically Coupled with Hemoglobin A1c in the Development of Type 2 Diabetes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Fengjiang; Chang, Baocheng; Yang, Xilin; Wang, Yaogang; Chen, Liming; Li, Wei-Dong

2016-06-01

The aim of the study was to decipher the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) or fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in both type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and normal subjects. A total of 2,250 unrelated T2DM patients and 4,420 Han Chinese subjects from a physical examination population were recruited for this study. In T2DM patients SUA levels were negatively correlated with HbA1c (rs = -0.109, P = 0.000) and 2 h plasma glucose levels (rs = -0.178, P = 0.000). In the physical examination population, SUA levels were inversely correlated with HbA1c (rs = -0.175, P = 0.000) and FPG (rs = -0.131, P = 0.009) in T2DM patients but positively correlated with HbA1c (rs = 0.040, P = 0.012) and FPG (rs = 0.084, P = 0.000) in normal-glucose subjects. Multivariate analyses showed that HbA1c was significantly negatively associated with HUA both in T2DM patients (OR = 0.872, 95% CI: 0.790~0.963) and in the physical examination T2DM patients (OR = 0.722, 95% CI: 0.539~0.968). Genetic association studies in T2DM patients showed that alleles of two glucose-uric acid transporter genes, ABCG2 and SLC2A9 were significantly associated with SUA levels (P < 0.05). SUA level is inversely correlated with HbA1c in T2DM patients but positively correlated with HbA1c in normal-glucose subjects. The reverse transporting of uric acid and glucose in renal tubules might be accounted for these associations.

Proficient Readers' Reading Behavior in Taiwan: The Study of Young Chinese Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Li-Chun

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the reading behavior of young proficient Chinese readers at preschool age. Especially, the roles of phonetic skill and Chinese Character recognition in reading comprehension were explored. 10 kindergartens were recruited to participate in the study. Subjects were 72-98 kindergarten children. Instruments…

Paradox of Student Gender: A Case Study of Economic Education from China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jian; Qiao, Fangbin; Li, Binbin

2016-01-01

In many Chinese universities and colleges, female students outperform male students in social science subjects. This paper presents a case study, which examines gender difference in economic education in a Chinese university. We look at a sample of students from the Chinese university and find that holding constant observed student…

Differences in Self-Disclosure Patterns among Americans versus Chinese: A Comparative Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Guo-Ming

A study investigated differences in self-disclosure, comparing patterns in Americans versus Chinese. Subjects, 198 American college students and 146 Chinese (Taiwan) students studying in the United States, completed a 200-item self-disclosure chart to target persons on special topics. Results of t-tests and analysis of variance indicated that…

Sentence Integration Processes: An ERP Study of Chinese Sentence Comprehension with Relative Clauses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Chin Lung; Perfetti, Charles A.; Liu, Ying

2010-01-01

In an event-related potentials (ERPs) study, we examined the comprehension of different types of Chinese (Mandarin) relative clauses (object vs. subject-extracted) to test the universality and language specificity of sentence comprehension processes. Because Chinese lacks morphosyntactic cues to sentence constituent relations, it allows a test of…

Dental age assessment of southern Chinese using the United Kingdom Caucasian reference dataset.

PubMed

Jayaraman, Jayakumar; Roberts, Graham J; King, Nigel M; Wong, Hai Ming

2012-03-10

Dental age assessment is one the most accurate methods for estimating the age of an unknown person. Demirjian's dataset on a French-Canadian population has been widely tested for its applicability on various ethnic groups including southern Chinese. Following inaccurate results from these studies, investigators are now confronted with using alternate datasets for comparison. Testing the applicability of other reliable datasets which result in accurate findings might limit the need to develop population specific standards. Recently, a Reference Data Set (RDS) similar to the Demirjian was prepared in the United Kingdom (UK) and has been subsequently validated. The advantages of the UK Caucasian RDS includes versatility from including both the maxillary and mandibular dentitions, involvement of a wide age group of subjects for evaluation and the possibility of precise age estimation with the mathematical technique of meta-analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the United Kingdom Caucasian RDS on southern Chinese subjects. Dental panoramic tomographs (DPT) of 266 subjects (133 males and 133 females) aged 2-21 years that were previously taken for clinical diagnostic purposes were selected and scored by a single calibrated examiner based on Demirjian's classification of tooth developmental stages (A-H). The ages corresponding to each stage of tooth developmental stage were obtained from the UK dataset. Intra-examiner reproducibility was tested and the Cohen kappa (0.88) showed that the level of agreement was 'almost perfect'. The estimated dental age was then compared with the chronological age using a paired t-test, with statistical significance set at p<0.01. The results showed that the UK dataset, underestimated the age of southern Chinese subjects by 0.24 years but the results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the UK Caucasian RDS may not be suitable for estimating the age of southern Chinese subjects and there is a need for an ethnic specific reference dataset for southern Chinese. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Differences in Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceived Risks Regarding Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Sub-Groups

PubMed Central

Le, T Domi; Lee-Lin, Frances; Mori, Motomi; Chen, Zunqiu; Leung, Holden; Lau, Christine; Lieberman, David

2013-01-01

Background Asian ethnic subgroups are often treated as a single demographic group in studies looking at cancer screening and health disparities. Purpose To evaluate knowledge and health beliefs associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and CRC screening among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese subgroups. Methods A survey assessed participants’ demographic characteristics, healthcare utilization, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes associated with CRC and CRC screening. Exploratory factor analysis identified six factors accounting >60% of the total variance in beliefs and attitudes. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients assessed internal consistency. Differences among Asian subgroups were assessed using a chi-square, Fisher’s exact, or Kruskal-Wallis test. Pearson’s correlation coefficient assessed an association among factors. Results 654 participants enrolled: 238 Chinese, 217 Korean, and 199 Vietnamese. Statistically significant differences existed in demographic and health care provider characteristics, knowledge, and attitude/belief variables regarding CRC. These included knowledge of CRC screening modalities, reluctance to discuss cancer, belief that cancer is preventable by diet and lifestyle, and intention to undergo CRC screening. Chinese subjects were more likely to use Eastern medicine (52% Chinese, 25% Korean, 27% Vietnamese; p < 0.001); Korean subjects were less likely to see herbs as a form of cancer prevention (34% Chinese, 20% Korean, 35% Vietnamese; p < 0.001). Vietnamese subjects were less likely to consider CRC screening (95% Chinese, 95% Korean, 80% Vietnamese; p < 0.0001). Conclusion Important differences exist in knowledge, attitudes, and health beliefs among Asian subgroups. Understanding these differences will enable clinicians to deliver tailored, effective health messages to improve CRC screening and other health behaviors. PMID:24142376

Differences in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and perceived risks regarding colorectal cancer screening among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese sub-groups.

PubMed

Le, T Domi; Carney, Patricia A; Lee-Lin, Frances; Mori, Motomi; Chen, Zunqiu; Leung, Holden; Lau, Christine; Lieberman, David A

2014-04-01

Asian ethnic subgroups are often treated as a single demographic group in studies looking at cancer screening and health disparities. To evaluate knowledge and health beliefs associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and CRC screening among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese subgroups, a survey assessed participants' demographic characteristics, healthcare utilization, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes associated with CRC and CRC screening. Exploratory factor analysis identified six factors accounting >60 % of the total variance in beliefs and attitudes. Cronbach's alpha coefficients assessed internal consistency. Differences among Asian subgroups were assessed using a Chi square, Fisher's exact, or Kruskal-Wallis test. Pearson's correlation coefficient assessed an association among factors. 654 participants enrolled: 238 Chinese, 217 Korean, and 199 Vietnamese. Statistically significant differences existed in demographic and health care provider characteristics, knowledge, and attitude/belief variables regarding CRC. These included knowledge of CRC screening modalities, reluctance to discuss cancer, belief that cancer is preventable by diet and lifestyle, and intention to undergo CRC screening. Chinese subjects were more likely to use Eastern medicine (52 % Chinese, 25 % Korean, 27 % Vietnamese; p < 0.001); Korean subjects were less likely to see herbs as a form of cancer prevention (34 % Chinese, 20 % Korean, 35 % Vietnamese; p < 0.001). Vietnamese subjects were less likely to consider CRC screening (95 % Chinese, 95 % Korean, 80 % Vietnamese; p < 0.0001). Important differences exist in knowledge, attitudes, and health beliefs among Asian subgroups. Understanding these differences will enable clinicians to deliver tailored, effective health messages to improve CRC screening and other health behaviors.

Genetic Association Study of KCNQ5 Polymorphisms with High Myopia.

PubMed

Liao, Xuan; Yap, Maurice K H; Leung, Kim Hung; Kao, Patrick Y P; Liu, Long Qian; Yip, Shea Ping

2017-01-01

Identification of genetic variations related to high myopia may advance our knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of refractive error. This study investigated the role of potassium channel gene (KCNQ5) polymorphisms in high myopia. We performed a case-control study of 1563 unrelated Han Chinese subjects (809 cases of high myopia and 754 emmetropic controls). Five tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of KCNQ5 were genotyped, and association testing with high myopia was conducted using logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex and age to give P asym values, and multiple comparisons were corrected by permutation test to give P emp values. All five noncoding SNPs were associated with high myopia. The SNP rs7744813, previously shown to be associated with refractive error and myopia in two GWAS, showed an odds ratio of 0.75 (95% CI 0.63-0.90; P emp = 0.0058) for the minor allele. The top SNP rs9342979 showed an odds ratio of 0.75 (95% CI 0.64-0.89; P emp = 0.0045) for the minor allele. Both SNPs are located within enhancer histone marks and DNase-hypersensitive sites. Our data support the involvement of KCNQ5 gene polymorphisms in the genetic susceptibility to high myopia and further exploration of KCNQ5 as a risk factor for high myopia.

Prescriptions of Chinese Herbal Medicines for Insomnia in Taiwan during 2002

PubMed Central

Chen, Fang-Pey; Jong, Maw-Shiou; Chen, Yu-Chun; Kung, Yen-Ying; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Chen, Fun-Jou; Hwang, Shinn-Jang

2011-01-01

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been commonly used for treating insomnia in Asian countries for centuries. The aim of this study was to conduct a large-scale pharmaco-epidemiologic study and evaluate the frequency and patterns of CHM use in treating insomnia. We obtained the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outpatient claims from the National Health Insurance in Taiwan for the year 2002. Patients with insomnia were identified from the diagnostic code of International Classification of Disease among claimed visiting files. Corresponding prescription files were analyzed, and an association rule was applied to evaluate the co-prescription of CHM. Results showed that there were 16 134 subjects who visited TCM clinics for insomnia in Taiwan during 2002 and received a total of 29 801 CHM prescriptions. Subjects between 40 and 49 years of age comprised the largest number of those treated (25.3%). In addition, female subjects used CHMs for insomnia more frequently than male subjects (female : male = 1.94 : 1). There was an average of 4.8 items prescribed in the form of either an individual Chinese herb or formula in a single CHM prescription for insomnia. Shou-wu-teng (Polygonum multiflorum) was the most commonly prescribed single Chinese herb, while Suan-zao-ren-tang was the most commonly prescribed Chinese herbal formula. According to the association rule, the most commonly prescribed CHM drug combination was Suan-zao-ren-tang plus Long-dan-xie-gan-tang, while the most commonly prescribed triple drug combination was Suan-zao-ren-tang, Albizia julibrissin, and P. multiflorum. Nevertheless, further clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CHMs for treating insomnia. PMID:19339485

Child Physical Abuse and the Related PTSD in Taiwan: The Role of Chinese Cultural Background and Victims' Subjective Reactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Chia-Ying; Su, Yi-Jen; Wu, Ho-Mao; Chen, Sue-Huei

2011-01-01

Objective: This study aimed to investigate child physical abuse (CPA) while taking into account the more rigorous definitions of CPA in the Chinese societies. The prevalence of CPA and CPA-related PTSD were estimated, together with the examination of peri-traumatic subjective reactions and their impacts on PTSD. Methods: In a Taiwanese sample of…

Exploring an Approach for Teaching Subject Specific Genres in Chinese: The Case of Post-Colonial Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shum, Mark Shiu Kee

2006-01-01

This research seeks both to describe Chinese genres found in a range of school subjects and to develop models of pedagogical principles for their teaching. Thus far, most of the research has been devoted to the teaching of genres for first and second language teaching, though there is a developing interest in research into the teaching of genres…

China and Latin America: The Other Option

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-09

maps, graphics, and any other works incorporated into this manuscript. A work of the United States Government is not subject to copyright, however... government adjust its priorities to mitigate the growing Chinese influence in Latin America. 15. SUBJECT TERMS China, Latin America, national...environment, should the U.S. government adjust its priorities to mitigate the growing Chinese influence in Latin America. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No great

Doctor-family-patient relationship: the Chinese paradigm of informed consent.

PubMed

Cong, Yali

2004-04-01

Bioethics is a subject far removed from the Chinese, even from many Chinese medical students and medical professionals. In-depth interviews with eighteen physicians, patients, and family members provided a deeper understanding of bioethical practices in contemporary China, especially with regard to the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) and informed consent. The Chinese model of doctor-family-patient relationship (DFPR), instead of DPR, is taken to reflect Chinese Confucian cultural commitments. An examination of the history of Chinese culture and the profession of medicine in China is used to disclose the deep roots of these commitments. The author predicts that the DFPR model will further develop in China but that it will maintain its Chinese character.

Executive function impairment in community elderly subjects with questionable dementia.

PubMed

Lam, Linda C W; Lui, Victor W C; Chiu, Helen F K; Chan, Sandra S M; Tam, Cindy W C

2005-01-01

The neurocognitive profile of community-dwelling Chinese subjects with 'questionable' dementia was studied. One hundred and fifty-four ambulatory Chinese subjects were recruited from local social centers for the elderly. Each subject was examined using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), the Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE), the Chinese version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog), the Category Verbal Fluency Test (CVFT), digit and visual span tests, and the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. The neurocognitive profile of nondemented subjects (CDR 0) was compared with that of subjects with 'questionable' dementia (CDR 0.5). Subjects with 'questionable' dementia were older, and had lower educational levels and global cognitive assessment scores than the controls (CMMSE and ADAS-Cog; t tests, p < 0.001). In addition, they also had significantly lower scores in delayed recall, reverse span, verbal fluency tests and worse performance in complex motor tasks related to executive function (Mann-Whitney tests, p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that ADAS-Cog, CVFT, and reverse visual span were significant predictors for the CDR of 'questionable' dementia. Aside from memory impairment, executive function deficits were also present in subjects with 'questionable' dementia. To identify groups cognitively at risk for dementia, concomitant assessments of memory and executive function are suggested.

Cephalometric norms for the Chinese: a compilation of existing data.

PubMed

Moate, S J; Darendeliler, M A

2002-03-01

The intention of this paper is to compile Chinese cephalometric norms for a more objective orthodontic diagnosis of Chinese patients so that their orthodontic treatment may be better planned. Studies on cephalometric norms of Chinese and subjects of Chinese descent were reviewed. Some important studies were available only in the Chinese journals and they were especially procured and translated for this purpose. A normal range of anteroposterior apical base differences, concomitant nterincisal inclinations and locations, were derived from different Chinese groups and were tabulated. The differences between Chinese and Caucasian norms are discussed. A distinctive craniofacial and dental pattern of the people of Chinese origin was found and is reflected in the cephalometric measurements. Compared with Caucasian norms, Chinese norms have skeletal, dental and soft-tissue variations. The Chinese have a shorter cranial base and a larger ANB. The Chinese dentition demonstrates greater bimaxillary-alveolar protrusion, with a decreased interincisal angle. The Chinese soft-tissue profile shows a less prominent nose, with a less obtuse nasolabial angle, and more protrusive lips.

Pharmacokinetics of Mirabegron, a β3-Adrenoceptor Agonist for Treatment of Overactive Bladder, in Healthy East Asian Subjects.

PubMed

Iitsuka, Hiromi; van Gelderen, Marcel; Katashima, Masataka; Takusagawa, Shin; Sawamoto, Taiji

2015-05-01

The objective of these studies was to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile, safety, and tolerability of mirabegron, a β3-adrenoceptor agonist for the treatment of overactive bladder, including food effects (low- or high-fat meals) and sex, in healthy East Asian subjects. In total, 5 pharmacokinetic studies of mirabegron were conducted in healthy East Asian subjects. Food effects were assessed in 3 randomized, single-dose studies in young Japanese male subjects (study 1), male and female subjects (study 2), and young Taiwanese male and female subjects (study 3). In the other 2 single- and multiple-dose studies in young Chinese male and female subjects (study 4 and study 5), mirabegron was administered as a single dose under fasted conditions. After the washout period, mirabegron was administered once daily under fed conditions for 8 days. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using noncompartmental methods. Safety and tolerability assessments included physical examinations, vital signs, 12-lead ECG, clinical laboratory tests (biochemistry, hematology, and urinalysis), and adverse event monitoring. After administration of single oral doses of mirabegron, exposure under fed conditions was lower than under fasted conditions in Japanese and Taiwanese subjects. In Japanese subjects, a greater reduction in mirabegron Cmax and AUC0-∞ was observed after a low-fat meal compared with a high-fat meal. In Chinese subjects, Cmax was reached at approximately 4.0 hours after single oral doses. Mirabegron accumulated 2- to 3-fold on once-daily dosing of multiple-dose relative to single-dose data. Steady state was reached within 7 days. After administration of mirabegron, mean values for Cmax and AUC in female subjects were higher than those in male subjects. Mirabegron was well tolerated in Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese subjects. Our studies confirm the higher exposure levels of mirabegron in female compared with male East Asian subjects as found earlier in Western subjects. Furthermore, the effects of food on the pharmacokinetic profiles appeared to be similar among the 3 populations tested in our studies. The findings suggest that there are no significant pharmacokinetic differences among the Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese populations. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MTHFR C677T polymorphism, homocysteine and B-vitamins status in a sample of Chinese and Malay subjects in Universiti Putra Malaysia.

PubMed

Choo, S C; Loh, S P; Khor, G L; Sabariah, M N; Rozita, R

2011-08-01

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T is involved in folate and homocysteine metabolism. Disruption in the activity of this enzyme will alter their levels in the body. This study assessed MTHFR C677T polymorphism and its relationship with serum homocysteine and B-vitamins levels in a sample of Chinese and Malays subjects in UPM, Serdang. One hundred subjects were randomly selected from among the university population. Folate, vitamin B12, B6, and homocysteine levels were determined using MBA, ECLIA, and HPLC, respectively. PCR coupled with HinfI digestion was used for detection of MTHFR C677T polymorphism. The frequency of T allele was higher in the Chinese subjects (0.40) compared to the Malay (0.14). Folate, vitamin B12 and B6 levels were highest in the wild genotype in both ethnic groups. Subjects with heterozygous and homozygous genotype showed the highest homocysteine levels. The serum folate and homocysteine were mainly affected by homozygous genotype. MTHFR C677T polymorphism plays an important role in influencing the folate and homocysteine metabolism.

Passion for a Cause: How It Affects Health and Subjective Well-Being.

PubMed

St-Louis, Ariane C; Carbonneau, Noémie; Vallerand, Robert J

2016-06-01

Using the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003), this research investigated how harmonious passion (HP) or obsessive passion (OP) for a cause can affect volunteers' health and subjective well-being. Three studies with volunteers for local (local emergency crises and community help) and international (humanitarian missions) causes assessed physical and psychological health using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Study 1 (N = 108) showed that HP was positively related to satisfaction with one's involvement in the cause and unrelated to physical injuries due to cause involvement. OP was unrelated to satisfaction but positively associated with injuries. Findings were replicated in Study 2 (N = 83). Moreover, self-neglect mediated the positive and negative effects of HP and OP, respectively, on injuries. Study 3 (N = 77) revealed that HP predicted an increase in satisfaction and health over a 3-month mission. OP predicted an increase in physical symptoms and a decrease in health. Furthermore, OP before a mission was positively related to self-neglect that was positively associated with physical symptoms after a mission. OP also positively predicted rumination that was conducive to posttraumatic stress disorder. HP was unrelated to these variables. Findings underscore the role of passion for a cause in predicting intrapersonal outcomes of volunteers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Body dissatisfaction among Chinese undergraduates and its implications for eating disorders in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Lee, S; Leung, T; Lee, A M; Yu, H; Leung, C M

1996-07-01

To study the body dissatisfaction of Chinese undergraduates and its implications for eating disorders in Hong Kong. A large sample of 1,581 subjects completed a "Body Dissatisfaction Questionnaire" (BDQ) which included 25 items about various body parts and questions on body indices, body shape dissatisfaction, and dieting. Whereas male subjects wanted to be taller and stronger in their upper body, the majority of female subjects felt fat in their lower body and were cognitively inclined to weigh less even though they were not obese. They desired a slimming of the stomach, thighs, waist and hip, but not the breasts. Body dissatisfaction was substantially intensified in females who reported a history of dieting in the previous year. Factor analysis of the BDQ affirmed the gender specificity and multidimensionality of body dissatisfaction. The typically "Western" pattern of body dissatisfaction has overshadowed the traditional Chinese notions of female beauty based on the face and other nontruncal features. In the context of a rapidly urbanizing Chinese society, this will predispose more females to weight control behavior and eating disorders.

Lateralization of the arcuate fasciculus and its differential correlation with reading ability between young learners and experienced readers: a diffusion tensor tractography study in a Chinese cohort.

PubMed

Qiu, Deqiang; Tan, Li-Hai; Siok, Wai-Ting; Zhou, Ke; Khong, Pek-Lan

2011-12-01

As Chinese reading engages a different neural network from alphabetic language reading, we investigate whether leftward lateralization of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), as observed in the Western population, is also present in the Chinese population and if it does, whether it is associated with better reading ability. Diffusion tensor tractography analysis on 75 Chinese subjects of three age groups (first graders, fourth graders, and college students) showed that 70-83% of them had leftward lateralization of the AF. The pattern of lateralization did not differ significantly among the three groups, suggesting that lateralization of the AF is formed at an early age and before one enters first grade. Among the first graders, who had just started to learn to read, subjects with strongly leftward lateralized AF scored significantly higher than those with other defined lateralization patterns in Chinese (P = 0.001) and English (P = 0.036) reading tasks. This association was not observed among the fourth graders and college students who were experienced Chinese readers. Among the fourth graders, females were found to obtain significantly higher Chinese (P = 0.033) and English reading scores than males (P = 0.002). Our study suggests a differential effect of leftward lateralization of the AF on reading ability at different stages of reading development in the Chinese population. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Speaker normalization for chinese vowel recognition in cochlear implants.

PubMed

Luo, Xin; Fu, Qian-Jie

2005-07-01

Because of the limited spectra-temporal resolution associated with cochlear implants, implant patients often have greater difficulty with multitalker speech recognition. The present study investigated whether multitalker speech recognition can be improved by applying speaker normalization techniques to cochlear implant speech processing. Multitalker Chinese vowel recognition was tested with normal-hearing Chinese-speaking subjects listening to a 4-channel cochlear implant simulation, with and without speaker normalization. For each subject, speaker normalization was referenced to the speaker that produced the best recognition performance under conditions without speaker normalization. To match the remaining speakers to this "optimal" output pattern, the overall frequency range of the analysis filter bank was adjusted for each speaker according to the ratio of the mean third formant frequency values between the specific speaker and the reference speaker. Results showed that speaker normalization provided a small but significant improvement in subjects' overall recognition performance. After speaker normalization, subjects' patterns of recognition performance across speakers changed, demonstrating the potential for speaker-dependent effects with the proposed normalization technique.

The Effect of Subjective Risk Attitudes and Overconfidence on Risk Taking Behaviors: A Experimental Study Based on Traders of the Chinese Stock Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qi-An; Xiao, Yinghong; Chen, Hui; Chen, Liang

Our research analyzes the effect of the traders’ subjective risk attitude, optimism and overconfidence on their risk taking behaviors on the Chinese Stock Market by experimental study method. We find that investors’ risk taking behavior is significantly affected by their subjective risk attitude, optimism and overconfidence. Our results also argue that the objective return and volatility of stock are not as good predictors of risk taking behavior as subjective risk and return measures. Moreover, we illustrate that overconfidence and optimism have an significant impact on risk taking behavior In line with theoretical models.

Prioritizing Site-Selection And Use

EPA Science Inventory

Land subject to remediation is usually considered relative to its availability and its potential financial return-on-investment. Typically, these short-term considerations are unrelated to the long-term conditional relationships that exist between humanity and a sustainable envi...

Evaluation on the persistence of anti-HPV immune responses to the quadrivalent HPV vaccine in Chinese females and males: Up to 3.5 years of follow-up.

PubMed

Huang, Teng; Liu, Youping; Li, Yanping; Liao, Yuqin; Shou, Qiong; Zheng, Minghuan; Liao, Xueyan; Li, Rongcheng

2018-03-07

This was an extension study of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled immunogenicity and safety study of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) (HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18) vaccine conducted in Chinese female subjects aged 9-45 years and male subjects aged 9-15 years. To investigate the persistence of anti-HPV 6, -11, -16, and -18 responses among Chinese subjects, subjects enrolled in the base study were followed up at around month 42 (approximately 3.5 years after vaccination). Among 600 subjects enrolled in the base study, a total of 468 subjects consented for participation in the extension study. Anti-HPV 6, -11, -16, and -18 antibodies were detected by the competitive Luminex immunoassay (cLIA) and total IgG Luminex immunoassay (IgG LIA). Among the female subjects who received the qHPV vaccine, the proportions of subjects remained seropositive were high with both the cLIA and IgG LIA for HPV type 6, 11, and 16 through approximately 42 months following the first dose vaccination. For HPV 18, the seropositivity rate remained high as 82.0% with the IgG LIA, while it decreased to 53.6% with the cLIA, which was similar to the findings observed in other studies. The seropositivity rates remained high at month 42 for all qHPV types with both the cLIA and IgG LIA among the male subjects. Administration of a 3-dose regimen of qHPV vaccine induces durable anti-HPV 6, anti-HPV 11, anti-HPV 16, and anti-HPV 18 responses among Chinese subjects for at least 3.5 years after vaccination. ClinicalTrials.gov registry:NCT01427777. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Reliability and validity analysis of the open-source Chinese Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS).

PubMed

Ling, Samuel K K; Chan, Vincent; Ho, Karen; Ling, Fona; Lui, T H

2017-12-21

Develop the first reliable and validated open-source outcome scoring system in the Chinese language for foot and ankle problems. Translation of the English FAOS into Chinese following regular protocols. First, two forward-translations were created separately, these were then combined into a preliminary version by an expert committee, and was subsequently back-translated into English. The process was repeated until the original and back translations were congruent. This version was then field tested on actual patients who provided feedback for modification. The final Chinese FAOS version was then tested for reliability and validity. Reliability analysis was performed on 20 subjects while validity analysis was performed on 50 subjects. Tools used to validate the Chinese FAOS were the SF36 and Pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Internal consistency between the FAOS subgroups was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Spearman's correlation was calculated between each subgroup in the FAOS, SF36 and NRS. The Chinese FAOS passed both reliability and validity testing; meaning it is reliable, internally consistent and correlates positively with the SF36 and the NRS. The Chinese FAOS is a free, open-source scoring system that can be used to provide a relatively standardised outcome measure for foot and ankle studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Borderline personality disorder subscale (Chinese version) of the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis II personality disorders: a validation study in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese.

PubMed

Wong, H M; Chow, L Y

2011-06-01

Borderline personality disorder is an important but under-recognised clinical entity, for which there are only a few available diagnostic instruments in the Chinese language. None has been tested for its psychometric properties in the Cantonese-speaking population in Hong Kong. The present study aimed to assess the validity of the Chinese version of the Borderline Personality Disorder subscale of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese. A convenience sampling method was used. The subjects were seen by a multidisciplinary clinical team, who arrived at a best-estimate diagnosis and then by application of the SCID-II rater using the Chinese version of the Borderline Personality Disorder subscale. The study was carried out at the psychiatric clinic of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. A total of 87 patients of Chinese ethnicity aged 18 to 64 years who attended the clinic in April 2007 were recruited. The aforementioned patient parameters were used to examine the internal consistency, best-estimate clinical diagnosis-SCID diagnosis agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of the Chinese version of the subscale. The Borderline Personality Disorder subscale (Chinese version) of SCID-II had an internal consistency of 0.82 (Cronbach's alpha coefficient), best-estimate clinical diagnosis-SCID diagnosis agreement of 0.82 (kappa), sensitivity of 0.92, and specificity of 0.94. The Borderline Personality Disorder subscale (Chinese version) of the SCID-II rater had reasonable validity when applied to Cantonese-speaking Chinese subjects in Hong Kong.

SUBJECTIVE MEMORY IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS

PubMed Central

Sims, Regina C.; Whitfield, Keith E.; Ayotte, Brian J.; Gamaldo, Alyssa A.; Edwards, Christopher L.; Allaire, Jason C.

2013-01-01

The current analysis examined (a) if measures of psychological well-being predict subjective memory, and (b) if subjective memory is consistent with actual memory. Five hundred seventy-nine older African Americans from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging completed measures assessing subjective memory, depressive symptomatology, perceived stress, locus of control, and verbal and working memory. Higher levels of perceived stress and greater externalized locus of control predicted poorer subjective memory, but subjective memory did not predict objective verbal or working memory. Results suggest that subjective memory is influenced by aspects of psychological well-being but is unrelated to objective memory in older African Americans. PMID:21424958

Validation of the American Board of Orthodontics Objective Grading System for assessing the treatment outcomes of Chinese patients.

PubMed

Song, Guang-Ying; Baumrind, Sheldon; Zhao, Zhi-He; Ding, Yin; Bai, Yu-Xing; Wang, Lin; He, Hong; Shen, Gang; Li, Wei-Ran; Wu, Wei-Zi; Ren, Chong; Weng, Xuan-Rong; Geng, Zhi; Xu, Tian-Min

2013-09-01

Orthodontics in China has developed rapidly, but there is no standard index of treatment outcomes. We assessed the validity of the American Board of Orthodontics Objective Grading System (ABO-OGS) for the classification of treatment outcomes in Chinese patients. We randomly selected 108 patients who completed treatment between July 2005 and September 2008 in 6 orthodontic treatment centers across China. Sixty-nine experienced Chinese orthodontists made subjective assessments of the end-of-treatment casts for each patient. Three examiners then used the ABO-OGS to measure the casts. Pearson correlation analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were conducted to evaluate the correspondence between the ABO-OGS cast measurements and the orthodontists' subjective assessments. The average subjective grading scores were highly correlated with the ABO-OGS scores (r = 0.7042). Four of the 7 study cast components of the ABO-OGS score-occlusal relationship, overjet, interproximal contact, and alignment-were statistically significantly correlated with the judges' subjective assessments. Together, these 4 accounted for 58% of the variability in the average subjective grading scores. The ABO-OGS cutoff score for cases that the judges deemed satisfactory was 16 points; the corresponding cutoff score for cases that the judges considered acceptable was 21 points. The ABO-OGS is a valid index for the assessment of treatment outcomes in Chinese patients. By comparing the objective scores on this modification of the ABO-OGS with the mean subjective assessment of a panel of highly qualified Chinese orthodontists, a cutoff point for satisfactory treatment outcome was defined as 16 points or fewer, with scores of 16 to 21 points denoting less than satisfactory but still acceptable treatment. Cases that scored greater than 21 points were considered unacceptable. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Myeloperoxidase mediated HDL oxidation and HDL proteome changes do not contribute to dysfunctional HDL in Chinese subjects with coronary artery disease

PubMed Central

Yu, Haiyi; Li, Lei; He, Liyun; Gao, Wei; Liu, Xiaodan; Guo, Yanhong; Byun, Jaeman; Zhang, Jifeng; Chen, Y. Eugene

2018-01-01

High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) are inversely correlated with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) derived oxidants and HDL proteome changes are implicated in HDL dysfunction in subjects with CAD in the United States; however, the effect of MPO on HDL function and HDL proteome in ethnic Chinese population is unknown. We recruited four matched ethnic Chinese groups (20 patients each): subjects with 1) low HDL levels (HDL levels in men <40mg/dL and women <50mg/dL) and non-CAD (identified by coronary angiography or cardiac CT angiography); 2) low HDL and CAD; 3) high HDL (men >50mg/dL; women >60mg/dL) with no CAD; and 4) high HDL with CAD. Serum cytokines, serum MPO levels, serum CEC, MPO-oxidized HDL tyrosine moieties, and HDL proteome were assessed by mass spectrometry individually in the four groups. The cytokines, MPO levels, and HDL proteome profiles were not significantly different between the four groups. As expected, CEC was depressed in the entire CAD group but more specifically in the CAD low-HDL group. HDL of CAD subjects had significantly higher 3-nitrotyrosine than non-CAD subjects, but the MPO-specific 3-chlorotyrosine was unchanged; CEC in the CAD low-HDL group did not correlate with either HDL 3-chlorotyrosine or 3-nitrotyrosine levels. Neither 3-chlorotyrosine, which is MPO-specific, nor 3-nitrotyrosine generated from MPO or other reactive nitrogen species was associated with CEC. MPO mediated oxidative stress and HDL proteome composition changes are not the primary cause HDL dysfunction in Chinese subjects with CAD. These studies highlight ethnic differences in HDL dysfunction between United States and Chinese cohorts raising possibility of unique pathways of HDL dysfunction in this cohort. PMID:29505607

Three-dimensional analysis of facial morphology.

PubMed

Liu, Yun; Kau, Chung How; Talbert, Leslie; Pan, Feng

2014-09-01

The objectives of this study were to evaluate sexual dimorphism for facial features within Chinese and African American populations and to compare the facial morphology by sex between these 2 populations. Three-dimensional facial images were acquired by using the portable 3dMDface System, which captured 189 subjects from 2 population groups of Chinese (n = 72) and African American (n = 117). Each population was categorized into male and female groups for evaluation. All subjects in the groups were aged between 18 and 30 years and had no apparent facial anomalies. A total of 23 anthropometric landmarks were identified on the three-dimensional faces of each subject. Twenty-one measurements in 4 regions, including 19 distances and 2 angles, were not only calculated but also compared within and between the Chinese and African American populations. The Student's t-test was used to analyze each data set obtained within each subgroup. Distinct facial differences were presented between the examined subgroups. When comparing the sex differences of facial morphology in the Chinese population, significant differences were noted in 71.43% of the parameters calculated, and the same proportion was found in the African American group. The facial morphologic differences between the Chinese and African American populations were evaluated by sex. The proportion of significant differences in the parameters calculated was 90.48% for females and 95.24% for males between the 2 populations. The African American population had a more convex profile and greater face width than those of the Chinese population. Sexual dimorphism for facial features was presented in both the Chinese and African American populations. In addition, there were significant differences in facial morphology between these 2 populations.

Porphyromonas endodontalis: prevalence and distribution of restriction enzyme patterns in families.

PubMed

Petit, M D; van Winkelhoff, A J; van Steenbergen, T J; de Graaff, J

1993-08-01

In this study we determined the prevalence and distribution of Porphyromonas endodontalis in 26 families consisting of 107 subjects. P. endodontalis was present in 24% of the investigated subjects and was recovered most often from the dorsum of the tongue (50%). Isolation was also possible from the tonsils, the buccal mucosa, the saliva and the periodontal pocket. The usefulness of restriction endonuclease analysis as a typing method for this particular species was investigated by typing 19 isolates from unrelated individuals. All these isolates had unique restriction endonuclease patterns. The observed heterogeneity indicates that restriction endonuclease analysis is a sensitive measure of genetic dissimilarity between P. endodontalis isolates and is able to characterize individual isolates. Application of restriction endonuclease analysis to the obtained clinical isolates in this study shows the possibility of the presence of multiple clonal types within one subject. The DNA patterns of all P. endodontalis isolates from unrelated individuals were found to be distinct. In 3 families the DNA patterns of isolates from the mother and her child were indistinguishable. These data indicate the possibility of intrafamilial transmission of P. endodontalis.

[Polymorphism analysis of 20 autosomal short-tandem repeat loci in southern Chinese Han population].

PubMed

Chen, Ling; Lu, Hui-Jie; DU, Wei-An; Qiu, Ping-Ming; Liu, Chao

2016-02-20

To evaluate the value of PowerPlex ® 21 System (Promega) and study the genetic polymorphism of its 20 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci in southern Chinese Han population. We conducted genotyping experiments using PowerPlex ® 21 System on 20 autosomal STR loci (D3S1358, D1S1656, D6S1043, D13S317, Penta E, D16S539, D18S51, D2S1338, CSF1PO, Penta D, TH01, vWA, D21S11, D7S820, D5S818, TPOX, D8S1179, D12S391, D19S433 and FGA) in 2367 unrelated Chinese Han individuals living in South China. The allele frequencies and parameters commonly used in forensic science were statistically analyzed in these individuals and compared with the reported data of other populations. The PowerPlex ® 21 System had a power of discrimination (PD) ranging from 0.7839 to 0.9852 and a power of exclusion (PE) ranging from 0.2974 to 0.8099 for the 20 loci. No significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg expectations was found for all the loci except for D5S818. This southern Chinese Han population had significant differences in the allele frequencies from 8 ethnic groups reported in China, and showed significant differences at 8 to 20 STR foci from 5 foreign populations. The allele frequency at the locus D1S1656 in this southern Chinese Han population differed significantly from those in the 5 foreign populations and from 3 reported Han populations in Beijing, Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province of China. The neighbor-joining phylogenetictree showed clustering of all the Asian populations in one branch, while the northern Italian and Argentina populations clustered in a separate branch. This southern Chinese Han population had the nearest affinity with the Yi ethnic population in Yunnan Province of China. The 20 STR loci are highly polymorphic in this southern Chinese Han population, suggesting the value of this set of STR loci in forensic personal identification, paternity testing and anthropological study.

Testing the Improvement of English as a Foreign Language Instruction among Chinese College Students through Computerized Graphic Visuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Quan; Miller, Michael; Bai, Kang

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if animated illustrations would increase the recall and comprehension of a subject matter, English as a foreign language (EFL), among Chinese college students. The study was specifically designed to identify the influence of graphics on Chinese EFL students' learning by comparing abstract versus concrete…

Information Processing Models of Skilled Reading: The Relationship Between Chinese Orthography and Coding Tactics in Primary Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shwedel, Allan M.

A probe recall short-term retention task was used to test the applicability of the "phonological recoding" (Conrad, 1972) and "flexible decoding" (Smith, 1972) models to processing tactics used by readers of Chinese. Subjects were 45 adult speakers of Cantonese. Stimuli were lists of Chinese characters which varied in terms of phonological and…

International note: between-domain relations of Chinese high school students' academic achievements.

PubMed

Yangyang, Liu

2012-08-01

The present study examined the between-domain relations of Chinese high school students' academic achievements. In a sample of 1870 Chinese 10th grade students, the results indicated that Chinese high school students' academic achievements were correlated across nine subjects. In line with the previous Western findings, the findings suggested that academic achievement was largely domain-general in nature. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution in the Civil-Military Relationship in the People’s Republic of China and the Potential Impact on the Recent Endeavor to Professionalize the People’s Liberation Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

on advanced agricultural collectivization also fueled Sino-Soviet tensions as the Chinese economic development veered from the Soviet model of...professionalization of the PLA. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Professionalization, Civil-Military, People’s Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party...LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CCP Chinese Communist Party CPV Chinese People’s Volunteers DIC Discipline Inspection Commission GLF

Phonetic radicals, not phonological coding systems, support orthographic learning via self-teaching in Chinese.

PubMed

Li, Luan; Wang, Hua-Chen; Castles, Anne; Hsieh, Miao-Ling; Marinus, Eva

2018-07-01

According to the self-teaching hypothesis (Share, 1995), phonological decoding is fundamental to acquiring orthographic representations of novel written words. However, phonological decoding is not straightforward in non-alphabetic scripts such as Chinese, where words are presented as characters. Here, we present the first study investigating the role of phonological decoding in orthographic learning in Chinese. We examined two possible types of phonological decoding: the use of phonetic radicals, an internal phonological aid, andthe use of Zhuyin, an external phonological coding system. Seventy-three Grade 2 children were taught the pronunciations and meanings of twelve novel compound characters over four days. They were then exposed to the written characters in short stories, and were assessed on their reading accuracy and on their subsequent orthographic learning via orthographic choice and spelling tasks. The novel characters were assigned three different types of pronunciation in relation to its phonetic radical - (1) a pronunciation that is identical to the phonetic radical in isolation; (2) a common alternative pronunciation associated with the phonetic radical when it appears in other characters; and (3) a pronunciation that is unrelated to the phonetic radical. The presence of Zhuyin was also manipulated. The children read the novel characters more accurately when phonological cues from the phonetic radicals were available and in the presence of Zhuyin. However, only the phonetic radicals facilitated orthographic learning. The findings provide the first empirical evidence of orthographic learning via self-teaching in Chinese, and reveal how phonological decoding functions to support learning in non-alphabetic writing systems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

Yik, Michelle; Widen, Sherri C; Russell, James A

2013-01-01

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

Cross-cultural aging in cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being.

PubMed

Pethtel, Olivia; Chen, Yiwei

2010-09-01

The present study examined age and cultural differences in cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being. A sample of 188 American and Chinese young and older adults completed surveys measuring self-life satisfaction, perceived family's life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Across cultures, older adults reported lower negative affect than did young adults. Americans reported higher self-life satisfaction, perceived family's life satisfaction, and positive affect than did Chinese. In addition, perceived family's life satisfaction was more related to self-life satisfaction for Chinese than for Americans. Findings are discussed in light of socioemotional selectivity theory and theories on culture and self-construal. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Semantic and Plausibility Preview Benefit Effects in English: Evidence from Eye Movements

PubMed Central

Schotter, Elizabeth R.; Jia, Annie

2016-01-01

Theories of preview benefit in reading hinge on integration across saccades and the idea that preview benefit is greater the more similar the preview and target are. Schotter (2013) reported preview benefit from a synonymous preview, but it is unclear whether this effect occurs because of similarity between the preview and target (integration), or because of contextual fit of the preview—synonyms satisfy both accounts. Studies in Chinese have found evidence for preview benefit for words that are unrelated to the target, but are contextually plausible (Yang, Li, Wang, Slattery, & Rayner, 2014; Yang, Wang, Tong, & Rayner, 2012), which is incompatible with an integration account but supports a contextual fit account. Here, we used plausible and implausible unrelated previews in addition to plausible synonym, antonym, and identical previews to further investigate these accounts for readers of English. Early reading measures were shorter for all plausible preview conditions compared to the implausible preview condition. In later reading measures, a benefit for the plausible unrelated preview condition was not observed. In a second experiment, we asked questions that probed whether the reader encoded the preview or target. Readers were more likely to report the preview when they had skipped the word and not regressed to it, and when the preview was plausible. Thus, under certain circumstances, the preview word is processed to a high level of representation (i.e., semantic plausibility) regardless of its relationship to the target, but its influence on reading is relatively short-lived, being replaced by the target word, when fixated. PMID:27123754

Cardiovascular disease in Chinese Canadians: a case-mix study from an urban tertiary care cardiology clinic.

PubMed

Tso, David K; Moe, Gordon

2002-08-01

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in Canada. Non-European ethnic groups such as the Chinese constitute an increasingly significant sector of the Canadian population. To compare the frequency and risk factors of CVD in Chinese and white Canadians in a cardiology referral clinic that saw a high number of ethnic Chinese patients and provided equal access to advanced diagnostic facilities. Clinic charts of patients referred between 1994 and 1999 were reviewed. Patients of Chinese descent were identified by their names. Primary cardiovascular and secondary cardiovascular diagnoses, as well as risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD), were established. The frequency of disease and risk factors were age-standardized. The sample of patients with CVD consisted of 404 Chinese and 1129 white subjects. Chinese patients were older (median age 65 versus 62 years, P=0.006). CAD, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease were less frequent in Chinese than in white patients. On the other hand, valvular heart disease was more frequent in Chinese patients. Diabetes, smoking and family history of heart disease were less frequent in Chinese subjects, whereas the frequencies of hypertension and hypercholerolemia were similar to those of white patients. In patients who had undergone coronary angiography, the frequency of multivessel CAD was less in Chinese patients (40% versus 56%, P=0.0016). Angina pectoris was a more common manifestation of CAD in Chinese patients, whereas myocardial infarction was more common in people who were white. In patients with heart failure, the median left ventricular ejection fraction was higher in Chinese than in white patients (34% versus 28%, P=0.031). In patients referred to a cardiology clinic, the diagnosis of CAD and the majority of other CVDs was less frequent in Chinese Canadians than in white Canadians. However, selected modifiable risk factors for CAD, such as hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, were equally frequent. Further research at the population level is warranted to define the characteristics of CVD in Chinese Canadians, and may be useful to the future design of disease management and prevention programs tailored to the needs of this growing ethnic population.

Moving, sensing intersectionality: a case study of Miss China Europe.

PubMed

Chow, Yiu Fai

2011-01-01

Every year, Miss China Europe, a transnational beauty pageant organized for the Chinese diaspora, is held in the Netherlands. The hypervisuality of Chinese diasporic women at the event stands in painful contrast to their everyday invisibility, whether in the Netherlands, China, or elsewhere in the world. Informed by intersectional and transnational feminist scholarship, this empirical study zooms in on one group of women, ethnic Chinese born and/or growing up in the Netherlands, to identify and recuperate their neglected lived experience in a particular historical-cultural context. It takes their own voices as central, hopefully to contribute to their visibility. It aims to provide an understanding of diasporic Chinese women as living in the dynamics not only of their multiple subordinations but also of their subjective consciousness, experienced autonomy, and agency. Drawing insights from the subjective accounts of both contestants and audiences of Miss China Europe, I suggest that one way to foreground marginalized women's agency is to understand their intersectionality in terms of movements and sensory experiences. On the one hand, while the contestants articulated a readiness to perform their modern and yet Chinese selves, they were making movements along two intersecting axes of inequality and power relations - Chineseness and Dutchness - precisely to negotiate their sense of inequality and power relations. On the other hand, among the audiences, two major topics - the blood issue (or whether Chineseness should be defined by ancestry) and the language problem (or whether Chineseness should be defined by the ability to speak Chinese) - were raised regularly, underscoring a complex viewing experience of seeing and hearing, of the tension between visual and audio identifications.

Menopause in German and Chinese women--an analysis of symptoms, TCM-diagnosis and hormone status.

PubMed

Rampp, Thomas; Tan, Linda; Zhang, Lin; Sun, Zhuo-Jun; Klose, Petra; Musial, Frauke; Dobos, Gustav Jürgen

2008-09-01

To investigate menopause-related symptoms, traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-diagnosis and hormone status of two comparable urban samples of menopausal women, one in Essen (Germany) and the other in Shanghai (China). Patients suffering from menopause-syndrome were recruited from the TCM-outpatient clinic of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany (35 subjects) and from the Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China (35 subjects). The Kupperman-Index for tracing menopausal symptoms was applied. The complete TCM-diagnosis was carried out by the same investigator in China as well as in Germany. Testosterone and estrogen blood samples were collected once from every woman. There were significant differences in specific symptoms of the Kupperman-Index, such as a higher prevalence of formication and depression in German menopausal women; whereas Chinese menopausal women suffered significantly more from vertigo, headache and paraesthesia symptoms. Concerning TCM-diagnosis, Shen ()-yang deficiency was diagnosed in 51.43% of the German women in contrast to 5.71% of the Chinese women; 17.14% of the German women were diagnosed as having Shen-yin deficiency compared to 74.29% of the Chinese women. The German women showed significantly lower mean hormone levels for testosterone compared to the Chinese women (P

Comparison of factors associated with occludable angle between american Caucasians and ethnic Chinese.

PubMed

Wang, Ye Elaine; Li, Yingjie; Wang, Dandan; He, Mingguang; Lin, Shan

2013-11-21

To determine if factors associated with gonioscopy-determined occludable angle among American Caucasians are similar to those found in ethnic Chinese. This is a prospective cross-sectional study with 120 American Caucasian, 116 American Chinese, and 116 mainland Chinese subjects. All three groups were matched for sex and age (40-80 years). Gonioscopy was performed for each subject (occludable angles = posterior trabecular meshwork not visible for ≥2 quadrants). Anterior segment optical coherence tomography and customized software was used to measure anterior segment biometry and iris parameters, including anterior chamber depth/width (ACD, ACW), lens vault (LV), and iris thickness/area/curvature. In both Chinese and Caucasians, eyes with occludable angles had smaller ACD and ACW, and larger LV and iris curvature than eyes with open angles (all P < 0.005). Chinese eyes had smaller ACD and ACW than Caucasian eyes (both P < 0.01) in the occludable angle cohort. Iris characteristics did not differ significantly between Chinese and Caucasians in the occludable angle cohort. Based on multivariate logistic regression, gonioscopy-determined occludable angle was significantly associated with LV, iris area, and sex (all P < 0.03) in Chinese; and with LV, ACD, iris thickness, age, and sex (all P < 0.04) in Caucasians. Several factors associated with occludable angle differed between Caucasians and Chinese, suggesting potentially different mechanisms in occludable angle development in the two racial groups. This is the first study to demonstrate that lens vault is an important anterior segment optical coherence tomography parameter in the screening for angle closure in Caucasians. In addition, iris thickness was a significant predictor for occludable angles in Caucasians but was not in ethnic Chinese.

Comparison of Factors Associated With Occludable Angle Between American Caucasians and Ethnic Chinese

PubMed Central

Wang, Ye Elaine; Li, Yingjie; Wang, Dandan; He, Mingguang; Lin, Shan

2013-01-01

Purpose. To determine if factors associated with gonioscopy-determined occludable angle among American Caucasians are similar to those found in ethnic Chinese. Methods. This is a prospective cross-sectional study with 120 American Caucasian, 116 American Chinese, and 116 mainland Chinese subjects. All three groups were matched for sex and age (40–80 years). Gonioscopy was performed for each subject (occludable angles = posterior trabecular meshwork not visible for ≥2 quadrants). Anterior segment optical coherence tomography and customized software was used to measure anterior segment biometry and iris parameters, including anterior chamber depth/width (ACD, ACW), lens vault (LV), and iris thickness/area/curvature. Results. In both Chinese and Caucasians, eyes with occludable angles had smaller ACD and ACW, and larger LV and iris curvature than eyes with open angles (all P < 0.005). Chinese eyes had smaller ACD and ACW than Caucasian eyes (both P < 0.01) in the occludable angle cohort. Iris characteristics did not differ significantly between Chinese and Caucasians in the occludable angle cohort. Based on multivariate logistic regression, gonioscopy-determined occludable angle was significantly associated with LV, iris area, and sex (all P < 0.03) in Chinese; and with LV, ACD, iris thickness, age, and sex (all P < 0.04) in Caucasians. Conclusions. Several factors associated with occludable angle differed between Caucasians and Chinese, suggesting potentially different mechanisms in occludable angle development in the two racial groups. This is the first study to demonstrate that lens vault is an important anterior segment optical coherence tomography parameter in the screening for angle closure in Caucasians. In addition, iris thickness was a significant predictor for occludable angles in Caucasians but was not in ethnic Chinese. PMID:24168992

Forensic molecular genetic diversity analysis of Chinese Hui ethnic group based on a novel STR panel.

PubMed

Fang, Yating; Guo, Yuxin; Xie, Tong; Jin, Xiaoye; Lan, Qiong; Zhou, Yongsong; Zhu, Bofeng

2018-03-26

In present study, the genetic polymorphisms of 22 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci were analyzed in 496 unrelated Chinese Xinjiang Hui individuals. These autosomal STR loci were multiplex amplified and genotyped based on a novel STR panel. There were 246 observed alleles with the allele frequencies ranging from 0.0010 to 0.3609. All polymorphic information content values were higher than 0.7. The combined power of discrimination and the combined probability of exclusion were 0.999999999999999999999999999426766 and 0.999999999860491, respectively. Based on analysis of molecular variance method, genetic differentiation analysis between the Xinjiang Hui and other reported groups were conducted at these 22 loci. The results indicated that there were no significant differences in statistics between Hui group and Northern Han group (including Han groups from Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi provinces), and significant deviations with Southern Han group (including those from Guangdong, Guangxi provinces) at 7 loci, and Uygur group at 10 loci. To sum up, these 22 autosomal STR loci were high genetic polymorphic in Xinjiang Hui group.

A novel mutation of the beta myosin heavy chain gene responsible for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

PubMed

Wang, Juan; Xu, Shi-Jie; Zhou, Hua; Wang, Li-Jie; Hu, Bo; Fang, Fang; Zhang, Xu-Min; Luo, Yi-Wei; He, Xiao-Yan; Zhuang, Shao-Wei; Li, Xin-Ming; Liu, Zhong-Ming; Hu, Da-Yi

2009-09-01

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common inherited cardiac disorder and shows high variability in genetic heterogeneity and phenotypic characteristics. The genetic etiology responsible for HCM in many individuals remains unclear. This instigation was sought to identify novel genetic determinants for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Six unrelated Chinese families with HCM were studied. For each of the 13 established HCM-susceptibility genes, 3 to 5 microsatellite markers were selected to perform genotyping and haplotype analysis. The linked genes were sequenced. Haplotype analyses on candidate genetic loci revealed cosegregation of the gene beta-myosin heavy chain (MYH7) with HCM in a single family. A novel double heterozygous missense mutation of Ala26Val plus Arg719Trp in MYH7 was subsequently identified by sequencing in this family and was associated with a severe phenotype of HCM. The novel double mutation of Ala26Val plus Arg719Trp in MYH7 identified in a Chinese family highlights the remarkable genetic heterogeneity of HCM, which provides important information for genetic counseling, accurate diagnosis, prognostic evaluation, and appropriate clinical management. Copyright 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chinese herbal prescriptions for osteoarthritis in Taiwan: analysis of national health insurance dataset

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been commonly used for treating osteoarthritis in Asia for centuries. This study aimed to conduct a large-scale pharmaco-epidemiologic study and evaluate the frequency and patterns of CHM used in treating osteoarthritis in Taiwan. Methods A complete database (total 22,520,776 beneficiaries) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outpatient claims offered by the National Health Insurance program in Taiwan for the year 2002 was employed for this research. Patients with osteoarthritis were identified according to the diagnostic code of the International Classification of Disease among claimed visiting files. Corresponding prescription files were analyzed, and an association rule was applied to evaluate the co-prescription of CHM for treating osteoarthritis. Results There were 20,059 subjects who visited TCM clinics for osteoarthritis and received a total of 32,050 CHM prescriptions. Subjects between 40 and 49 years of age comprised the largest number of those treated (19.2%), followed by 50-59 years (18.8%) and 60-69 years group (18.2%). In addition, female subjects used CHMs for osteoarthritis more frequently than male subjects (female: male = 1.89: l). There was an average of 5.2 items prescribed in the form of either an individual Chinese herb or formula in a single CHM prescription for osteoarthritis. Du-zhong (Eucommia bark) was the most commonly prescribed Chinese single herb, while Du-huo-ji-sheng-tang was the most commonly prescribed Chinese herbal formula for osteoarthritis. According to the association rule, the most commonly prescribed formula was Du-huo-ji-sheng-tang plus Shen-tong-zhu-yu-tang, and the most commonly prescribed triple-drug combination was Du-huo-ji-sheng-tang, Gu-sui-pu (Drynaria fortune (Kunze) J. Sm.), and Xu-Duan (Himalaya teasel). Nevertheless, further clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CHMs for treating osteoarthritis. Conclusions This study conducted a large scale pharmaco-epidemiology survey of Chinese herbal medicine use in OA patients by analyzing the NHIRD in Taiwan in year 2002. PMID:24606767

[A novel M142T mutation in the B glycosyltransferase gene associated with B3 variant in Chinese].

PubMed

Xu, Xian-guo; Hong, Xiao-zhen; Liu, Ying; Zhu, Fa-ming; Lv, Hang-jun; Yan, Li-xing

2009-06-01

To investigate the molecular genetic basis of the B3 variant of ABO blood group system with mixed-field hemagglutination in Chinese. Serological techniques were performed to characterize the erythrocyte phenotype of two discrepant samples. A sequential agglutination method and 13 short tandem repeat (STR) loci were tested to exclude the possibility of exogenous or endogenous DNA chimera. Mutations in exons 6 and 7, including partial intron of the ABO gene, were screened by polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Haplotypes of the two individuals were also analyzed by sequencing. A mixed-field hemagglutination of RBCs with anti-B and anti-AB antibodies was detected in the two unrelated individuals. Exogenous ABO-incompatible RBC transfusion and endogenous genetic chimera were excluded by sequential agglutination method and STR. The ABO phenotypes of the two individuals were classified as A1B3 according to the ABO subgroup definition. The sequence region from intron 5 to 3'-UTR of the B allele was identical to that of ABO*B101 allele, except for a T to C substitution at nucleotide position 425 in exon 7. This substitution resulted in an amino acid change of M142T in the B glycosyltransferase. A novel B allele with 425T>C substitution resulting in B3 subgroup was identified in two Chinese individuals.

Activation of semantic information at the sublexical level during handwriting production: Evidence from inhibition effects of Chinese semantic radicals in the picture-word interference paradigm.

PubMed

Chen, Xuqian; Liao, Yuanlan; Chen, Xianzhe

2017-08-01

Using a non-alphabetic language (e.g., Chinese), the present study tested a novel view that semantic information at the sublexical level should be activated during handwriting production. Over 80% of Chinese characters are phonograms, in which semantic radicals represent category information (e.g., 'chair,' 'peach,' 'orange' are related to plants) while phonetic radicals represent phonetic information (e.g., 'wolf,' 'brightness,' 'male,' are all pronounced /lang/). Under different semantic category conditions at the lexical level (semantically related in Experiment 1; semantically unrelated in Experiment 2), the orthographic relatedness and semantic relatedness of semantic radicals in the picture name and its distractor were manipulated under different SOAs (i.e., stimulus onset asynchrony, the interval between the onset of the picture and the onset of the interference word). Two questions were addressed: (1) Is it possible that semantic information could be activated in the sublexical level conditions? (2) How are semantic and orthographic information dynamically accessed in word production? Results showed that both orthographic and semantic information were activated under the present picture-word interference paradigm, dynamically under different SOAs, which supported our view that discussions on semantic processes in the writing modality should be extended to the sublexical level. The current findings provide possibility for building new orthography-phonology-semantics models in writing. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Simultaneous genotyping of HPA-17w to -21w by PCR-SSP in Chinese Cantonese.

PubMed

Zhou, Haojie; Ding, Haoqiang; Chen, Yangkai; Li, Xiaofan; Ye, Xin; Nie, Yongmei

2015-01-01

Studies have reported the polymorphism of human platelet antigen (HPA)-17w, -18w, -19w, -20w, and -21w. However, the distribution of these five antigens in Chinese Cantonese is still unknown. In this study, we designed new sequence-specific primers for HPA-19w to -21w and used published primers for HPA-17w and -18w to develop a polymerase chain reaction with the sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method for simultaneously genotyping HPA-17w to -21w. A total of 820 unrelated Cantonese apheresis platelet donors in Guangzhou were involved in this study. Among the five HPAs, complete a/a homozygosity was observed for HPA-17w to -20w with an allele frequency of 1.0000. For HPA-21w, nine individuals (9/820, 1.10%) were found to be HPA-21a/bw heterozygous and the allele frequencies of HPA-21a and HPA-21bw were 0.9945 (1631/1640) and 0.0055 (9/1640), respectively. The reliability of the PCR-SSP method was determined by comparing with the genotyping results by DNA sequencing, and no inconsistencies were observed between the two methods. This study provides a reliable PCR-SSP method for simultaneously genotyping HPA-17w to -21w and could improve HPA-matched platelet transfusion in Chinese Cantonese.

The cultural shaping of alexithymia: values and externally oriented thinking in a Chinese clinical sample.

PubMed

Dere, Jessica; Tang, Qiuping; Zhu, Xiongzhao; Cai, Lin; Yao, Shuqiao; Ryder, Andrew G

2013-05-01

Alexithymia is a multi-faceted personality construct characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotional states. Originally based on observations of American psychosomatic patients, the construct is now studied in a variety of cultural contexts. However, few studies have critically examined alexithymia from a cultural perspective. Dere et al. [1] recently found support for the hypothesis that one alexithymia component - externally oriented thinking (EOT) - is linked to cultural values, among Euro-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian students. The current study examines this association in a Chinese clinical sample. Outpatients presenting at three hospital-based psychology clinics in Hunan province, China (N=268) completed a structured clinical interview and self-report measures of alexithymia and cultural values. All participants endorsed clinically significant levels of depressed mood, anhedonia, and/or fatigue. As expected, EOT was negatively predicted by Modernization and Euro-American values. Two other alexithymia components, difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings, were unrelated to cultural values. These findings suggest that cultural variations in the importance placed on emotional experience must be taken into account in cross-cultural alexithymia research. Such studies should also consider separately the specific components of alexithymia; failure to do so can lead to overestimation of alexithymia in groups where scores are driven by culturally-promoted EOT. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Forensic and population genetic analysis of Xinjiang Uyghur population on 21 short tandem repeat loci of 6-dye GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification kit.

PubMed

Zhang, Honghua; Xia, Mingying; Qi, Lijie; Dong, Lei; Song, Shuang; Ma, Teng; Yang, Shuping; Jin, Li; Li, Liming; Li, Shilin

2016-05-01

Estimating the allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters of commonly used short tandem repeat (STR) loci of the Uyghur population, which is the fifth largest group in China, provides a more precise reference database for forensic investigation. The 6-dye GlobalFiler™ Express PCR Amplification kit incorporates 21 autosomal STRs, which have been proven that could provide reliable DNA typing results and enhance the power of discrimination. Here we analyzed the GlobalFiler STR loci on 1962 unrelated individuals from Chinese Uyghur population of Xinjiang, China. No significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium were detected within and between the GlobalFiler STR loci. SE33 showed the greatest power of discrimination in Uyghur population, whereas TPOX showed the lowest. The combined power of discrimination was 99.999999999999999999999998746%. No significant difference was observed between Uyghur and the other two Uyghur populations at all tested STRs, as well as Dai and Mongolian. Significant differences were only observed between Uyghur and other Chinese populations at TH01, as well as Central-South Asian at D13S317, East Asian at TH01 and VWA. The phylogenetic analysis showed that Uyghur is genetically close to Chinese populations, as well as East Asian and Central-South Asian. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

JARID1A, JMY, and PTGER4 polymorphisms are related to ankylosing spondylitis in Chinese Han patients: a case-control study.

PubMed

Chai, Wei; Lian, Zijian; Chen, Chao; Liu, Jingyi; Shi, Lewis L; Wang, Yan

2013-01-01

Susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is largely genetically determined. JARID1A, JMY and PTGER4 have recently been found to be associated with AS in patients of western European descent. We aim to examine the influence of JARID1A, JMY, and PTGER4 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to and the severity of ankylosing spondylitis in Chinese ethnic majority Han population. This work can lead the clinical doctors to intervene earlier. Blood samples were drawn from 396 AS patients and 404 unrelated healthy controls. Both the AS patients and the controls are Han Chinese. The AS patients are classified based on the severity of the disease. Thirteen tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in JARID1A, JMY and PTGER4 are selected and genotyped. Frequencies of different genotypes and alleles are analyzed among the different severity AS patients and the controls. The rs2284336 SNP in JARID1A, the rs16876619 and rs16876657 SNPs in JMY are associated with susceptibility of AS. The rs11062357 SNP in JARID1A, the rs2607142 SNP in JMY and rs10440635 in PTGER4 are related to severity of AS. Haplotype analyses indicate PTGER4 is related to susceptibility to AS; JARID1A and JMY are related to severity of AS.

JARID1A, JMY, and PTGER4 Polymorphisms Are Related to Ankylosing Spondylitis in Chinese Han Patients: A Case-Control Study

PubMed Central

Chen, Chao; Liu, Jingyi; Shi, Lewis L.; Wang, Yan

2013-01-01

Susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is largely genetically determined. JARID1A, JMY and PTGER4 have recently been found to be associated with AS in patients of western European descent. We aim to examine the influence of JARID1A, JMY, and PTGER4 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to and the severity of ankylosing spondylitis in Chinese ethnic majority Han population. This work can lead the clinical doctors to intervene earlier. Blood samples were drawn from 396 AS patients and 404 unrelated healthy controls. Both the AS patients and the controls are Han Chinese. The AS patients are classified based on the severity of the disease. Thirteen tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in JARID1A, JMY and PTGER4 are selected and genotyped. Frequencies of different genotypes and alleles are analyzed among the different severity AS patients and the controls. The rs2284336 SNP in JARID1A, the rs16876619 and rs16876657 SNPs in JMY are associated with susceptibility of AS. The rs11062357 SNP in JARID1A, the rs2607142 SNP in JMY and rs10440635 in PTGER4 are related to severity of AS. Haplotype analyses indicate PTGER4 is related to susceptibility to AS; JARID1A and JMY are related to severity of AS. PMID:24069348

Heterozygous deletion at the SOX10 gene locus in two patients from a Chinese family with Waardenburg syndrome type II.

PubMed

Wenzhi, He; Ruijin, Wen; Jieliang, Li; Xiaoyan, Ma; Haibo, Liu; Xiaoman, Wang; Jiajia, Xian; Shaoying, Li; Shuanglin, Li; Qing, Li

2015-10-01

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is a rare disease characterized by sensorineural deafness and pigment disturbance. To date, almost 100 mutations have been reported, but few reports on cases with SOX10 gene deletion. The inheritance pattern of SOX10 gene deletion is still unclear. Our objective was to identify the genetic causes of Waardenburg syndrome type II in a two-generation Chinese family. Clinical evaluations were conducted in both of the patients. Microarray analysis and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) were performed to identify disease-related copy number variants (CNVs). DNA sequencing of the SOX10, MITF and SNAI2 genes was performed to identify the pathogenic mutation responsible for WS2. A 280kb heterozygous deletion at the 22q13.1 chromosome region (including SOX10) was detected in both of the patients. No mutation was found in the patients, unaffected family members and 30 unrelated healthy controls. This report is the first to describe SOX10 heterozygous deletions in Chinese WS2 patients. Our result conform the thesis that heterozygous deletions at SOX10 is an important pathogenicity for WS, and present as autosomal dominant inheritance. Nevertheless, heterozygous deletion of the SOX10 gene would be worth investigating to understand their functions and contributions to neurologic phenotypes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prescriptions of Chinese herbal medicine for constipation under the national health insurance in Taiwan.

PubMed

Jong, Maw-Shiou; Hwang, Shinn-Jang; Chen, Yu-Chun; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Chen, Fun-Jou; Chen, Fang-Pey

2010-07-01

Constipation is a common gastrointestinal problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of use and prescriptive patterns of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in treating constipation by analyzing the claims data of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from the National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan. The computerized claims dataset of the TCM office visits and the corresponding prescription files in 2004 compiled by the NHI Research Institute in Taiwan were linked and processed. Visit files with the single diagnostic coding of constipation (ICD-9-CM code 564.0) were extracted to analyze the frequency and pattern of corresponding CHM prescriptions. The association rule was applied to analyze the co-prescription of CHM in treating constipation. There were 152,564 subjects who visited TCM clinics only for constipation in Taiwan during 2004 and received a total of 387,268 CHM prescriptions. Subjects between 20 and 29 years of age comprised the largest number of those treated (25.5%). Female subjects used CHM for constipation more frequently than male subjects (female:male = 3.31:1). There was an average of 4.6 items of single Chinese herbs or formula in a single prescription for constipation. Ma-zi-renwan was the most commonly prescribed herbal formula, while Da-huang (Rheum palmatum) was the most commonly used single Chinese herb. According to the association rule, the most common prescribed pattern of 2-drug combination of CHM for treating constipation was Ban-xia-xie-xin-tang plus Ma-zi-ren-wan, while the 3-drug combination of CHM was Fang-feng-tong-sheng-san, Rheum palmatum and Ma-zi-ren-wan. This study showed the pattern of single Chinese herbs or herbal formulae used in treating constipation in Taiwan. Further clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CHMs in treating constipation. 2010 Elsevier. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pharmacokinetics of Ombitasvir, Paritaprevir, Ritonavir, and Dasabuvir in Healthy Chinese Subjects and HCV GT1b-Infected Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese Patients.

PubMed

Zha, Jiuhong; Ding, Bifeng; Wang, Haoyu; Zhao, Weihan; Yu, Chen; Alves, Katia; Mobashery, Niloufar; Luo, Yan; Menon, Rajeev M

2018-06-16

The 3 direct-acting antiviral (3D) regimen of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir plus dasabuvir has recently been approved in several Asian geographic regions for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (GT) 1 infection. The pharmacokinetics of the components of the 3D regimen with or without ribavirin were evaluated in healthy Chinese subjects and HCV GT1b-infected Chinese, South Korean, and Taiwanese patients, with or without cirrhosis, to determine how the drug exposures in Asian populations compare with historical data in Western populations. Participants received ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir 25/150/100 mg once daily plus dasabuvir 250 mg twice daily for 14 days (healthy subjects, n = 36) or 12 weeks (HCV patients, n = 754). Patients with compensated cirrhosis also received ribavirin 1000 or 1200 mg divided twice daily, per the local label. Intensive or sparse pharmacokinetic sampling was performed for assessments of plasma drug concentrations. The exposures [maximum plasma concentration (C max ) and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC)] of the components of the 3D regimen were comparable (< 20% difference) in healthy Chinese subjects residing in China or the United States. In addition, the trough plasma concentrations (C trough ) in HCV GT1b-infected Asian patients were either similar to (ombitasvir) or within 75% of (paritaprevir and dasabuvir) those in Western patients without cirrhosis, or similar to (ombitasvir and paritaprevir) or within 100% of (dasabuvir) those in Western patients with cirrhosis, with widely overlapping ranges of individual values. Generally comparable drug exposures were observed among Chinese, South Korean, and Taiwanese ethnicities for noncirrhotic and cirrhotic patients. Collectively, the results of these pharmacokinetic analyses support the use of the same dose of the 3D regimen for Asian and Western patients. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT02534870, NCT02517515, NCT02517528.

[Safety and immunogenicity of a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevenar) booster dose in healthy Chinese toddlers].

PubMed

Li, Rong-cheng; Li, Feng-xiang; Li, Yan-ping

2009-06-01

To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the booster dose of 7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) to the healthy Chinese toddlers who had received 3 primary doses. Four hundred and eighty-eight Chinese toddlers received a booster dose of PCV7 at age of 12-15 months following a primary series of the vaccine given at ages 3, 4, 5 months separately with Diphtheria Tetanus Acellular Pertussis Combined Vaccine (DTaP) in Group 1 or concurrently with DTaP in Group 2. Following the booster dose immunization, each subject was followed up for 30 days to observe the safety of the vaccine. Blood samples were taken from a subset of subjects prior and post 30 days the booster dose immunization to evaluate immunogenicity. A high proportion of subjects in Group 1 (89%) and Group 2 (91%) remained afebrile after the booster dose. Local reactions to the PCV7 booster dose were generally mild. For each serotype, the rise in GMC (post-/pre-vaccination) showed a statistically significant difference (P<0.0001) between both groups. PCV7 administered as a booster dose is generally safe, well tolerate, and immunogenic in healthy Chinese toddlers.

17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 deficiency: Three case reports and a systematic review.

PubMed

Yang, Zuwei; Ye, Lei; Wang, Wei; Zhao, Yu; Wang, Wencui; Jia, Huiying; Dong, Zhiya; Chen, Yuhong; Wang, Weiqing; Ning, Guang; Sun, Shouyue

2017-11-01

17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive cause of 46, XY disorders of sex development resulting from HSD17B3 gene mutations, however, no case has been reported in East Asia. The aim of this study was to report three Chinese 46, XY females with 17β-HSD3 deficiency in a single center and perform a systematic review of the literature. Clinical examination, endocrine evaluation and HSD17B3 gene sequencing were performed in the three Chinese phenotypically females (two sisters and one unrelated patient). Relevant articles were searched by using the term "HSD17B3" OR "17beta-HSD3 gene" with restrictions on language (English) and species (human) in Pubmed and Embase. All the three phenotypically female subjects showed 46, XY karyotype, inguinal masses, decreased testosterone and increased androstenedione. Two novel homozygous mutations (W284X and c.124_127delTCTT) in HSD17B3 gene were identified. A systematic review found a total of 121 pedigrees/158 patients, with 78.5% (124/158) of patients assigned as females, 15.2% (24/158) from females to males, and 5.1% (8/158) raised as males. The most common mutation was c.277+4C>T (allele frequency: 25/72) for patients from Europe, and R80Q (allele frequency: 21/54) for patients from West Asia. The testicular histology showed normal infantile testicular tissue in 100% (9/9) infantile patients, normal quantity germ cells in 44.4% (8/18) prepubertal patients and 19.0% (4/21) pubertal and adult patients. We reported the first East Asian 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 deficiency cases. Additional literature reviews found founder effects among patients with different ethnic background and early orchiopexy may benefit fertility in patients assigned as males. These findings may significantly expand the clinical, ethnic and genetic spectrum of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 deficiency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of DLG5 and SLC22A5 gene polymorphisms in Malaysian patients with Crohn's disease.

PubMed

Chua, Kek Heng; Lian, Lay Hoong; Kee, Boon Pin; Thum, Chooi Mei; Lee, Way Seah; Hilmi, Ida; Goh, Khean Lee

2011-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of DLG5 and SLC22A5 gene polymorphisms with the onset of Crohn's disease (CD) in a Malaysian cohort. Genomic DNA of 80 CD patients and 100 healthy unrelated control individuals was extracted and analyzed via polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) on DLG5 (4136 C/A), DLG5_e26 and SLC22A5 (-207 G/C) genetic polymorphisms. Data obtained from the study were then subjected to statistical analysis to test for risk association. Significant associations of both DLG5 polymorphisms with the development of CD in the Malaysian patients were observed in this study. The homozygous C genotype of the DLG5 polymorphism was significantly related to CD patients (P = 0.0023, OR = 2.5320), while the homozygous A was significant in control individuals (P = 0.0224, OR = 0.4480). In DLG5_e26 polymorphisms, we found a significant distribution of the homozygous insA genotype in CD patients (P = 0.0006, OR = 2.8916), whereas the heterozygous insA/delA genotype was significant in controls (P = 0.0007, OR = 0.3487). We hypothesized that there might be a complex interaction of both alleles, which confered a protective effect against the onset of CD. However, we did not observe any significant correlation of SLC22A5 polymorphisms with this disease. In our study, both polymorphisms in the DLG5 gene were found to be associated with CD patients in Malaysia. Therefore, these loci can be potentially used as susceptibility markers in the Malaysian population. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Digestive Diseases © 2011 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Development of a Chinese version of the Suicide Intent Scale.

PubMed

Gau, Susan S F; Chen, Chin-Hung; Lee, Charles T C; Chang, Jung-Chen; Cheng, Andrew T A

2009-06-01

This study established the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) in a clinic- and community-based sample of 36 patients and 592 respondents, respectively. Results showed that the Chinese SIS demonstrated good inter-rater and test-retest reliability. Factor analysis generated three factors (Precautions, Planning, and Seriousness) explaining 92.9% of the total variance with high internal consistency. It was moderately correlated with depressive symptoms. Results suggest that the Chinese SIS is a reliable and valid instrument for use in assessing the extent of suicidal intention among subjects with deliberate self-harm in ethnic Chinese populations.

Social Support and Performance in Complex Organizations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-30

which subjects’ perceptions of their parents ’ interest in and overprotection of them were related to current social support levels. The findings...support levels are related to subjects’ perceptions of experiences earlier in life. Using the Parental Bonding Instrument, studies were carried out in...indicated clearly that, while parental over-protection is unrelated to scores on the Social Sarason 7 Support Questionnaire there is a highly significant

Frequency and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Presenilin 1 Gly206Ala Mutation in Puerto Rican Hispanics with Dementia

PubMed Central

Arnold, Steven E.; Vega, Irving E.; Karlawish, Jason H.; WoIk, David A.; Nunez, Jessica; Negron, Mirna; Xie, Sharon X.; Wang, Li-San; Dubroff, Jacob G.; McCarty-Wood, Elisabeth; Trojanowski, John Q.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna

2012-01-01

The frequency and clinical and pathological characteristics associated with the Gly206Ala presenilin 1 (PSEN1) mutation in Puerto Rican and non-Puerto Rican Hispanics were evaluated at the University of Pennsylvania’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center. DNAs from all cohort subjects were genotyped for the Gly206Ala PSEN1 mutation. Carriers and non-carriers with neurodegenerative disease dementias were compared for demographic, clinical, psychometric, and biomarker variables. Nineteen (12.6%) of 151 unrelated subjects with dementia were discovered to carry the PSEN1 Gly 206Ala mutation. Microsatellite marker genotyping determined a common ancestral haplotype for all carriers. Carriers were all of Puerto Rican heritage with significantly younger age of onset, but otherwise were clinically and neuropsychologically comparable to those of non-carriers with AD. Three subjects had extensive topographic and biochemical biomarker assessments that were also typical of non-carriers with AD. Neuropathological examination in one subject revealed severe, widespread plaque and tangle pathology without other meaningful disease lesions. The PSEN1 Gly206Ala mutation is notably frequent in unrelated Puerto Rican immigrants with dementia in Philadelphia. Considered together with the increased prevalence and mortality of AD reported in Puerto Rico, these high rates may reflect hereditary risk concentrated in the island which warrants further study. PMID:23114514

Frequency of under-corrected refractive errors in elderly Chinese in Beijing.

PubMed

Xu, Liang; Li, Jianjun; Cui, Tongtong; Tong, Zhongbiao; Fan, Guizhi; Yang, Hua; Sun, Baochen; Zheng, Yuanyuan; Jonas, Jost B

2006-07-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of under-corrected refractive error among elderly Chinese in the Beijing area. The population-based, cross-sectional, cohort study comprised 4,439 subjects out of 5,324 subjects asked to participate (response rate 83.4%) with an age of 40+ years. It was divided into a rural part [1,973 (44.4%) subjects] and an urban part [2,466 (55.6%) subjects]. Habitual and best-corrected visual acuity was measured. Under-corrected refractive error was defined as an improvement in visual acuity of the better eye of at least two lines with best possible refractive correction. The rate of under-corrected refractive error was 19.4% (95% confidence interval, 18.2, 20.6). In a multiple regression analysis, prevalence and size of under-corrected refractive error in the better eye was significantly associated with lower level of education (P<0.001), female gender (P<0.001), and age (P=0.001). Under-correction of refractive error is relatively common among elderly Chinese in the Beijing area when compared with data from other populations.

Effect of conjugated linoleic acid supplementation on weight loss and body fat composition in a Chinese population.

PubMed

Chen, Shu-Chiun; Lin, Yu-Hsien; Huang, Hui-Ping; Hsu, Wan-Ling; Houng, Jer-Yiing; Huang, Chih-Kun

2012-05-01

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has several benefits, including body fat reduction, as proved in animals. However, the results of CLA-induced body composition alterations in humans are inconsistent, and no related data are available for Chinese populations. This study aimed to determine whether CLA affects body weight (BW) loss and body composition of overweight and obese Chinese subjects. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, subjects with a body mass index (BMI) of 24 to 35 kg/m(2) randomly received 1.7 g of cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 CLA (n = 30) or placebo (salad oil; n = 33) in 200 mL of sterilized milk twice daily for 12 wk. Changes in body composition were determined by bioimpedance measurements. Sixty-three subjects completed the study (CLA, n = 30). After 12 wk, compared with the baseline, the BW, BMI, total fat mass, fat percentage, subcutaneous fat mass, and waist-to-hip ratio decreased in the CLA group (P < 0.05). The CLA group was stratified by BMI and gender. The BW, BMI, subcutaneous fat mass, and waist-to-hip ratio decreased in 27 subjects with a BMI ≥ 27, and these indices, except subcutaneous fat mass, were lower in female subjects. The levels of total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density lipoprotein, and plasma fasting glucose increased, whereas those of high-density lipoprotein decreased after 3 mo of CLA treatment. The changes were not significantly different from the baseline values. The supplementation of CLA for 12 wk in overweight and grade I obese Chinese subjects yielded lower obesity indices, with no obvious adverse effects. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Culture modulates brain activity during empathy with anger.

PubMed

de Greck, Moritz; Shi, Zhenhao; Wang, Gang; Zuo, Xiangyu; Yang, Xuedong; Wang, Xiaoying; Northoff, Georg; Han, Shihui

2012-02-01

Interdependent cultures (such as the Chinese) and independent cultures (such as the German) differ in their attitude towards harmony that is more valued in interdependent cultures. Interdependent and independent cultures also differ in their appreciation of anger--an emotion that implies the disruption of harmony. The present study investigated if interdependent and independent cultures foster distinct brain activity associated with empathic processing of familiar angry, familiar neutral, and unfamiliar neutral faces. Using functional MRI, we scanned Chinese and German healthy subjects during an intentional empathy task, a control task (the evaluation of skin color), and a baseline condition. The subject groups were matched with regard to age, gender, and education. Behaviorally, Chinese subjects described themselves as significantly more interdependent compared to German subjects. The contrast 'intentional empathy for familiar angry'>'baseline' revealed several regions, including the left inferior frontal cortex, the left supplementary motor area, and the left insula, that showed comparable hemodynamic responses in both groups. However, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex had stronger hemodynamic responses in Chinese subjects in the contrast 'intentional empathy for familiar angry'>'baseline'. Germans, in contrast, showed stronger hemodynamic responses in the right temporo-parietal junction, right inferior and superior temporal gyrus, and left middle insula for the same contrast. Hemodynamic responses in the latter three brain regions correlated with interdependences scores over all subjects. Our results suggest that enhanced emotion regulation during empathy with anger in the interdependent lifestyle is mediated by the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Increased tolerance towards the expression of anger in the independent lifestyle, in contrast, is associated with increased activity of the right inferior and superior temporal gyrus and the left middle insula. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anthropometry of eyelid and orbit in four southern Thailand ethnic groups.

PubMed

Preechawai, Passorn

2011-02-01

To study the basic eyelid and orbital measurement in the four main ethnic groups of southern Thailand. The basic eyelid and orbital surface anatomy of 101 normal subjects aged 20-40 years old were measured in the four ethnic groups of which the majority of people in southern Thailand belong to: Thai, Chinese, Thai-Malay, and Thai-Chinese. Of the 101 subjects, 51 were male and 50 were female. Each ethnic group had at least 12 normal subjects. Male-female data were analyzed separately and compared between groups. The palpebral fissure heights in Thai, Chinese, Thai-Malay, and Thai-Chinese males were 9.5, 9.0, 10.2 and 9.6 mm respectively, which demonstrated statistically significant differences between Thai-Malay versus Thai, and Thai-Malay versus Chinese. The palpebral fissure lengths were 30.4, 29.8, 30.5 and 30.5 mm, but without statistically significant differences. The marginal reflex distances were 3.2, 2.8, 3.7 and 3.1 mm respectively with a statistically significant difference only between Thai-Malay versus Chinese. The levator functions were 15.2, 15.2, 15.3 and 15.2 mm. The upper lid creases were 7.1, 4.0, 6.6, and 4.4 mm, statistically significantly different in Thai versus Chinese, Thai versus Thai-Chinese and Chinese versus Thai-Malay. The Hertel exophthalmometer measurements were 15.4, 16.3, 16.6 and 15.9 mm without statistically significant differences. The female measurements were overall similar to the male measurements, with some parallel differences between the groups. The eyebrow position in this age group was mostly at and above the orbital rim in both genders and all ethnic groups. An absence of upper lid crease and an epicanthal fold were found in significantly greater numbers in the Chinese group compared to the others, while parallel lid crease was significantly found in greater numbers in the Thai-Malay group than in the others. Different eyelid characteristics in diferent ethnic groups are an important feature to note when planning for eyelid surgery. As there is a wide range of ethnic groups in Asia, with many differences in eyelid characteristics, it is important for the ophthalmologist to be aware of and understanding these anatomical variations in clinical assessment and treatment in Asians.

Subjective and Objective Cancer Screening Knowledge Among White- and Blue-Collar Chinese Midlife Adults.

PubMed

Hou, Su-I

2018-02-01

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Chinese, yet little is known about cancer knowledge among this population. The study described the subjective and objective cancer screening knowledge among white- versus blue-collar Chinese midlife adults. A convenient sample of white-collar adults age 40+ years was recruited from government and academic agencies; and blue-collar adults age 40+ years were recruited from manufactory companies in Taiwan. An eight-item cancer screening knowledge test (CSKT) was used to measure objective knowledge and one five-point Likert scale item for assessing subjective (perceived) cancer screening knowledge. A total of 208 white- and 533 blue-collar workers completed the survey during 2008-2011. Mean ages between groups were comparable (41.1 versus 46.3 years), as well as family cancer history (41.5 %). About 76 % of the white-collar and 43 % of the blue-collar adults had college education. The mean score of the CSKT was lower in the blue-collar versus white-collar workers, 5.4 (SD = 1.76) versus 6.1 (SD = 1.40), indicating on average, 68 versus 76 % of the participants answered the cancer knowledge correctly. The subjective knowledge levels were, however, higher among the blue-collar workers (mean rating of 3.22 versus 2.78). The CSKT showed a good mix of relatively easy and moderately difficult items in both groups. Study showed that overall cancer screening knowledge was low among Chinese midlife adults. Although blue-collar workers scored lower on CSKT, the perceived knowledge level was higher. Results also suggest attention to communicating cancer screening information among Chinese blue-collar midlife workers in particular.

Subject, function, and trend in medical ethics research: a comparative study of Chinese and non-Chinese literature using bibliometrics.

PubMed

Jiang, Lanhui; Shen, Jiantong; Li, Youping; Deng, Shaolin; Wu, Taixiang; Chen, Baoqing; Xie, Zhiyi; Qin, Chaoyi; Yu, Zhiyuan; Qin, Chuan; Huang, Jin; Liu, Xuemei; Li, Yan; Jiang, Jie

2012-05-01

To perform a comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of Chinese and non-Chinese medical ethics literature using systematic research and literature analysis in order to discern research trends in the area and provide baseline data as a reference for relevant decision making and further study. We retrieved articles using MeSH terms and keywords related to medical ethics in PubMed and CNKI, and then constructed a set of charts by applying word co-occurrence, The Pathfinder Networks algorithms, an included subject chart, a research field relationship chart, and strategy coordination charts. The total of number of papers retrieved from PubMed was six times that retrieved from CNKI. Outside China, medical ethics has been studied in eight fully shaped subject fields, including morals, ethical review, physician-patient relationships, clinical trials, euthanasia, ethics education, clinical ethics, and health policy. In contrast, medical ethics research in China is still confined to five subject fields: morals, physician-patient relations, medical ethics education, ethical review, and medical research. Medical ethics research outside China emphasizes the application of medical ethics to solve emerging problems in clinical and medical research. It is mainly centered on morals, ethical review, and physician-patient relations. By comparison, medical ethics research in China places greater emphasis on morals and medical education. In order to narrow this gap between China and other countries, we should broaden the research scope of medical ethics and add more applied research, such as ethical review and medical education. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

X-linked congenital panhypopituitarism.

PubMed

Schimke, R N; Spaulding, J J; Hollowell, J G

1971-05-01

Two half brothers with panhypopituitary dwarfism are reported who have the same mother and different, unrelated fathers. The subject of hereditary panhypopituitarism is reviewed briefly. It is concluded that there are at least two forms of hereditary panhypopituitary dwarfism, one of which may be X-linked.

Chinese Doctoral Students' Perceptions of Academic Achievement, Identity Investment and Use of English in an American University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Liang-Yin

2013-01-01

For Chinese doctoral students, English is the most essential subject when studying in U.S. universities and living life in the U.S. Using English not only promotes academic success, but also helps them to pursue better job opportunities and a better life in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese doctoral students' English use,…

Electrocardiographic abnormalities in amateur male marathon runners.

PubMed

Kaleta, Anna M; Lewicka, Ewa; Dąbrowska-Kugacka, Alicja; Lewicka-Potocka, Zuzanna; Wabich, Elżbieta; Szerszyńska, Anna; Dyda, Julia; Sobolewski, Jakub; Koenner, Jakub; Raczak, Grzegorz

2018-06-18

Sports activity has become extremely popular among amateurs. Electrocardiography is a useful tool in screening for cardiac pathologies in athletes; however, there is little data on electrocardiographic abnormalities in the group of amateur athletes. The aim of this study was to analyze the abnormalities in resting and exercise electrocardiograms (ECGs) in a group of amateur athletes, and try to determine whether the criteria applied for the general population or for athletes' ECGs should be implemented in this group. In 40 amateur male marathon runners, 3 consecutive 12-lead ECGs were performed: 2-3 weeks before (stage 1), just after the run (stage 2) and 2-3 weeks after the marathon (stage 3). Resting (stage 1) and exercise (stage 2) ECGs were analyzed following the refined criteria for the assessment of athlete's ECG (changes classified as training-related, borderline or training-unrelated). In resting ECGs, at least 1 abnormality was found in 92.5% of the subjects and the most common was sinus bradycardia (62.5%). In post-exercise ECGs, at least 1 abnormality was present in 77.5% of the subjects and the most common was right atrium enlargement (RAE) (42.5%). Training-related ECG variants were more frequent at rest (82.5% vs 42.5%; p = 0.0008), while borderline variants - after the run (22.5% vs 57.5%; p = 0.0004). Training-unrelated abnormalities were found in 15% and 10% of the subjects, respectively (p-value - nonsignificant), and the most common was T-wave inversion. Even if the refined criteria rather than the criteria used for normal sedentary population were applied, the vast majority of amateur runners showed at least 1 abnormality in resting ECGs, which were mainly training-related variants. However, at rest, in 15% of the subjects, pathologic training-unrelated abnormalities were found. The most frequent post-exercise abnormality was right atrial enlargement. General electrocardiographic screening in amateur athletes should be taken into consideration.

Genome-wide association study of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese subjects identifies susceptibility loci at PLCE1 and C20orf54.

PubMed

Wang, Li-Dong; Zhou, Fu-You; Li, Xue-Min; Sun, Liang-Dan; Song, Xin; Jin, Yan; Li, Jiang-Man; Kong, Guo-Qiang; Qi, Hong; Cui, Juan; Zhang, Lian-Qun; Yang, Jie-Zhi; Li, Ji-Lin; Li, Xing-Chuan; Ren, Jing-Li; Liu, Zhi-Cai; Gao, Wen-Jun; Yuan, Ling; Wei, Wu; Zhang, Yan-Rui; Wang, Wei-Peng; Sheyhidin, Ilyar; Li, Feng; Chen, Bao-Ping; Ren, Shu-Wei; Liu, Bin; Li, Dan; Ku, Jian-Wei; Fan, Zong-Min; Zhou, Sheng-Li; Guo, Zhi-Gang; Zhao, Xue-Ke; Liu, Na; Ai, Yong-Hong; Shen, Fang-Fang; Cui, Wen-Yan; Song, Shuang; Guo, Tao; Huang, Jing; Yuan, Chao; Huang, Jia; Wu, Yue; Yue, Wen-Bin; Feng, Chang-Wei; Li, Hong-Lei; Wang, Yan; Tian, Jin-Ya; Lu, Yue; Yuan, Yi; Zhu, Wen-Liang; Liu, Min; Fu, Wen-Jing; Yang, Xia; Wang, Han-Jing; Han, Suo-Li; Chen, Jie; Han, Min; Wang, Hai-Yan; Zhang, Peng; Li, Xiu-Min; Dong, Jin-Cheng; Xing, Guo-Lan; Wang, Ran; Guo, Ming; Chang, Zhi-Wei; Liu, Hai-Lin; Guo, Li; Yuan, Zhi-Qing; Liu, Hai; Lu, Qin; Yang, Liu-Qin; Zhu, Fu-Guo; Yang, Xiu-Feng; Feng, Xiao-Shan; Wang, Zhou; Li, Yin; Gao, She-Gan; Qige, Qirenwang; Bai, Long-Tang; Yang, Wen-Jun; Lei, Guang-Yan; Shen, Zhong-Ying; Chen, Long-Qi; Li, En-Min; Xu, Li-Yan; Wu, Zhi-Yong; Cao, Wei-Ke; Wang, Jian-Po; Bao, Zhi-Qin; Chen, Ji-Li; Ding, Guang-Cheng; Zhuang, Xiang; Zhou, Ying-Fa; Zheng, Hou-Feng; Zhang, Zheng; Zuo, Xian-Bo; Dong, Zi-Ming; Fan, Dong-Mei; He, Xin; Wang, Jin; Zhou, Qi; Zhang, Qin-Xian; Jiao, Xin-Ying; Lian, Shi-Yong; Ji, Ai-Fang; Lu, Xiao-Mei; Wang, Jin-Sheng; Chang, Fu-Bao; Lu, Chang-Dong; Chen, Zhi-Guo; Miao, Jian-Jun; Fan, Zeng-Lin; Lin, Ruo-Bai; Liu, Tai-Jiang; Wei, Jin-Chang; Kong, Qing-Peng; Lan, Yu; Fan, Yu-Jing; Gao, Fu-Sheng; Wang, Tian-Yun; Xie, Dong; Chen, Shu-Qing; Yang, Wan-Cai; Hong, Jun-Yan; Wang, Liang; Qiu, Song-Liang; Cai, Zhi-Ming; Zhang, Xue-Jun

2010-09-01

We performed a genome-wide association study of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by genotyping 1,077 individuals with ESCC and 1,733 control subjects of Chinese Han descent. We selected 18 promising SNPs for replication in an additional 7,673 cases of ESCC and 11,013 control subjects of Chinese Han descent and 303 cases of ESCC and 537 control subjects of Chinese Uygur-Kazakh descent. We identified two previously unknown susceptibility loci for ESCC: PLCE1 at 10q23 (P(Han combined for ESCC) = 7.46 x 10(-56), odds ratio (OR) = 1.43; P(Uygur-Kazakh for ESCC) = 5.70 x 10(-4), OR = 1.53) and C20orf54 at 20p13 (P(Han combined for ESCC) = 1.21 x 10(-11), OR = 0.86; P(Uygur-Kazakh for ESCC) = 7.88 x 10(-3), OR = 0.66). We also confirmed association in 2,766 cases of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma cases and the same 11,013 control subjects (PLCE1, P(Han for GCA) = 1.74 x 10(-39), OR = 1.55 and C20orf54, P(Han for GCA) = 3.02 x 10(-3), OR = 0.91). PLCE1 and C20orf54 have important biological implications for both ESCC and GCA. PLCE1 might regulate cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. C20orf54 is responsible for transporting riboflavin, and deficiency of riboflavin has been documented as a risk factor for ESCC and GCA.

The Influence of MDR1 G2677T/a genetic polymorphisms on the pharmacokinetics of repaglinide in healthy Chinese volunteers.

PubMed

Xiang, Qian; Cui, Yi Min; Zhao, Xia; Yan, Liang; Zhou, Ying

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacogenetic variability in the disposition of repaglinide in healthy Chinese subjects. A single dose of 2 mg repaglinide was orally administered to 24 healthy Chinese subjects. The serum concentrations of repaglinide were measured by using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. We determined the polymorphic alleles of MDR1 C1236T, MDR1 G2677T/A, MDR1 C3435T, CYP3A4*18, OATP1B1 G388A, and OATP1B1 T521C in each subject. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time 0 to infinity (AUC((0-inf))) of repaglinide was significantly higher in subjects possessing the MDR1 2677GT and 2677TT alleles than in those with the MDR1 2677GG and 2677TA alleles (p = 0.007). The mean AUCs and peak plasma concentration were higher in subjects with the 521TC allele than in those with the OATP1B1 521TT allele, and the OATP1B1 388A allele is associated with a reduced trend of pharmacokinetic exposure; however, these trends were not statistically significant. The pharmacokinetics of repaglinide was not associated with MDR1 C1236T, MDR1 C3435T, and CYP3A4*18. This study shows that the genetic polymorphisms of MDR1 G2677T/A might explain the variability in the pharmacokinetics of repaglinide in the Chinese population. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Lumbar disc degeneration was not related to spine and hip bone mineral densities in Chinese: facet joint osteoarthritis may confound the association.

PubMed

Pan, Jianjiang; Lu, Xuan; Yang, Ge; Han, Yongmei; Tong, Xiang; Wang, Yue

2017-12-01

A sample of 512 Chinese was studied and we observed that greater disc degeneration on MRI was associated with greater spine DXA BMD. Yet, this association may be confounded by facet joint osteoarthritis. BMD may not be a risk factor for lumbar disc degeneration in Chinese. Evidence suggested that lumbar vertebral bone and intervertebral disc interact with each other in multiple ways. The current paper aims to determine the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and lumbar disc degeneration using a sample of Chinese. We studied 165 patients with back disorders and 347 general subjects from China. All subjects had lumbar spine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and dual- energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) spine BMD studies, and a subset of general subjects had additional hip BMD measurements. On T2-weighted MR images, Pfirrmann score was used to evaluate the degree of lumbar disc degeneration and facet joint osteoarthritis was assessed as none, slight-moderate, and severe. Regression analyses were used to examine the associations between lumbar and hip BMD and disc degeneration, adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), lumbar region, and facet joint osteoarthritis. Greater facet joint osteoarthritis was associated with greater spine BMD (P < 0.01) in both patients and general subjects. For general subjects, greater spine BMD was associated with severe disc degeneration, controlling for age, gender, BMI, and lumbar region. When facet joint osteoarthritis entered the regression model, however, greater spine BMD was associated with greater facet joint osteoarthritis (P < 0.01) but not greater disc degeneration (P > 0.05). No statistical association was observed between spine BMD and lumbar disc degeneration in patients with back disorders (P > 0.05), and between hip BMD and disc degeneration in general subjects (P > 0.05). BMD may not be a risk factor for lumbar disc degeneration in Chinese. Facet joint osteoarthritis inflates DXA spine BMD measurements and therefore, may confound the association between spine BMD and disc degeneration.

Fifteen non-CODIS autosomal short tandem repeat loci multiplex data from nine population groups living in Taiwan.

PubMed

Hwa, Hsiao-Lin; Chang, Yih-Yuan; Lee, James Chun-I; Lin, Chun-Yen; Yin, Hsiang-Yi; Tseng, Li-Hui; Su, Yi-Ning; Ko, Tsang-Ming

2012-07-01

The analysis of autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci is a powerful tool in forensic genetics. We developed a multiplex system in which 15 non-Combined DNA Index System autosomal STRs (D3S1744, D4S2366, D8S1110, D10S2325, D12S1090, D13S765, D14S608, Penta E, D17S1294, D18S536, D18S1270, D20S470, D21S1437, Penta D, and D22S683) could be amplified in one single polymerase chain reaction. DNA samples from 1,098 unrelated subjects of nine population groups living in Taiwan, including Taiwanese Han, indigenous Taiwanese of Taiwan Island, Tao, mainland Chinese, Filipinos, Thais, Vietnamese, Indonesians, and Caucasians, were collected and analyzed using this system. The distributions of the allelic frequencies and the forensic parameters of each population group were presented. The combined discrimination power and the combined power of exclusion were high in all population groups tested in this study. A multidimensional scaling plot of these nine population groups based on the Reynolds' genetic distances calculated from 15 autosomal STRs was constructed, and the genetic substructure in this area was presented. In conclusion, this 15 autosomal STR multiplex system provides highly informative STR data and appears useful in forensic casework and parentage testing in different populations.

Investigating the genetic basis of theory of mind (ToM): the role of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene polymorphisms.

PubMed

Xia, Haiwei; Wu, Nan; Su, Yanjie

2012-01-01

The ability to deduce other persons' mental states and emotions which has been termed 'theory of mind (ToM)' is highly heritable. First molecular genetic studies focused on some dopamine-related genes, while the genetic basis underlying different components of ToM (affective ToM and cognitive ToM) remain unknown. The current study tested 7 candidate polymorphisms (rs4680, rs4633, rs2020917, rs2239393, rs737865, rs174699 and rs59938883) on the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. We investigated how these polymorphisms relate to different components of ToM. 101 adults participated in our study; all were genetically unrelated, non-clinical and healthy Chinese subjects. Different ToM tasks were applied to detect their theory of mind ability. The results showed that the COMT gene rs2020917 and rs737865 SNPs were associated with cognitive ToM performance, while the COMT gene rs5993883 SNP was related to affective ToM, in which a significant gender-genotype interaction was found (p = 0.039). Our results highlighted the contribution of DA-related COMT gene on ToM performance. Moreover, we found out that the different SNP at the same gene relates to the discriminative aspect of ToM. Our research provides some preliminary evidence to the genetic basis of theory of mind which still awaits further studies.

Prevalence of c.2268dup and detection of two novel alterations, c.670_672del and c.1186C>T, in the TPO gene in a cohort of Malaysian–Chinese with thyroid dyshormonogenesis

PubMed Central

Lee, Ching Chin; Harun, Fatimah; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid; Heh, Choon Han; Othman, Rozana; Junit, Sarni Mat

2015-01-01

Objectives The c.2268dup mutation in the thyroid peroxidase (TPO) gene is the most common TPO alteration reported in Taiwanese patients with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. The ancestors of these patients are believed to originate from the southern province of China. Our previous study showed that this mutation leads to reduced abundance of the TPO protein and loss of TPO enzyme activity in a Malaysian–Chinese family with goitrous hypothyroidism. The aim of our study was to provide further data on the incidence of the c.2268dup mutation in a cohort of Malaysian–Chinese and its possible phenotypic effects. Setting Cohort study. Participants Twelve biologically unrelated Malaysian–Chinese patients with congenital hypothyroidism were recruited in this study. All patients showed high thyrotropin and low free thyroxine levels at the time of diagnosis with proven presence of a thyroid gland. Primary outcome measure Screening of the c.2268dup mutation in the TPO gene in all patients was carried out using a PCR–direct DNA sequencing method. Secondary outcome measure Further screening for mutations in other exonic regions of the TPO gene was carried out if the patient was a carrier of the c.2268dup mutation. Results The c.2268dup mutation was detected in 4 of the 12 patients. Apart from the c.2268dup and a previously documented mutation (c.2647C>T), two novel TPO alterations, c.670_672del and c.1186C>T, were also detected in our patients. In silico analyses predicted that the novel alterations affect the structure/function of the TPO protein. Conclusions The c.2268dup mutation was detected in approximately one-third of the Malaysian–Chinese patients with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. The detection of the novel c.670_672del and c.1186C>T alterations expand the mutation spectrum of TPO associated with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. PMID:25564141

Willingness to Participate in Clinical Trials among Patients of Chinese Heritage: A Meta-Synthesis

PubMed Central

Limkakeng, Alexander; Phadtare, Amruta; Shah, Jatin; Vaghasia, Meenakshi; Wei, Ding Ying; Shah, Anand; Pietrobon, Ricardo

2013-01-01

Background Subjects of Chinese heritage have been found to participate in clinical research at lower rates than other groups despite growing in numbers as a population. While much research has examined research participants' motivation, there has not been a comprehensive synthesis of this information with respect to participants of Chinese descent. We sought to identify the factors that promote and hinder participation in clinical research among participants of Chinese heritage. Methodology/Principal Findings We conducted a systematic review of the literature in Pubmed, OpenJGATE, SCIRUS, and COCHRANE databases and performed a meta-synthesis of retrieved articles. We extracted qualitative data, such as quotes to identify emerging themes. We identified five studies that met our selection criteria. Of them, only one (1/5) was conducted in China while other studies involved Chinese emigrants in USA (3/5) and Singapore (1/5). Participants from China were similar to emigrants with regard to factors that either promoted or decreased research participation. Four studies reported data exclusively on Chinese subjects. Three of the five studies involved qualitative interviews while the others were conducted using a survey design. Six themes favoring research participation were identified: Personal Benefit to Participants, Financial Incentives, Participant Sense of Altruism, Family or Physician Recommendations, Advertisements, and Convenience to the Participant. Five factors were seen as a barrier to participation in clinical trials: Mistrust of Researchers, Language Barrier, Lack of Financial and Other Support, Cultural and Social Barriers, Lack of Knowledge about Clinical Trials. Conclusions/Significance Chinese heritage clinical research participants value personal benefit, financial incentives, the ability to help others, recommendations of others, advertisements, and convenience when considering clinical research participation. In addition, the establishment of trust and addressing knowledge deficits are important factors to them. Investigators seeking to optimize enrolment in these populations should incorporate these findings into their study design and subject handouts. PMID:23349672

A Meta-Analysis of Treatments for Panic Disorder.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clum, George A.; And Others

1993-01-01

Used metanalysis to compare effectiveness of psychological and pharmacological treatments for panic disorder. Percentage of agoraphobic subjects in sample and duration of illness were unrelated to effect size (ES). Psychological coping strategies involving relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure yielded most consistent ESs;…

BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in ovarian cancer patients from China: ethnic-related mutations in BRCA1 associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

PubMed

Shi, Tingyan; Wang, Pan; Xie, Caixia; Yin, Sheng; Shi, Di; Wei, Congchong; Tang, Wenbin; Jiang, Rong; Cheng, Xi; Wei, Qingyi; Wang, Qing; Zang, Rongyu

2017-05-01

BRCA1/2 are cancer predisposition genes involved in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). Mutation carriers display an increased sensitivity to inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Despite a number of small-size hospital-based studies being previously reported, there is not yet, to our knowledge, precise data of BRCA1/2 mutations among Chinese ovarian cancer patients. We performed a multicenter cohort study including 916 unselected consecutive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients from eastern China to screen for BRCA1/2 mutations using the next-generation sequencing approach. A total of 153 EOC patients were found to carry pathogenic germline mutations in BRCA1/2, accounting for an overall mutation incidence of 16.7% with the predominance in BRCA1 (13.1%) compared with BRCA2 (3.9%). We identified 53 novel pathogenic mutations, among which the c.283_286delCTTG and the c.4573C > T of BRCA1 were both found in two unrelated patients. More importantly, the most common mutation found in this study, c.5470_5477del8 was most likely to be Chinese population-related without an apparent founder origin. This hot-spot mutation was presumably associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Taken together, germline BRCA1/2 mutations were common in Chinese EOC patients with distinct mutational spectrum compared to Western populations. Our study contributes to the current understanding of BRCA1/2 mutation prevalence worldwide. We recommend BRCA1/2 genetic testing to all Chinese women diagnosed with EOC to identify HBOC families, to provide genetic counseling and clinical management for at-risk relatives. Mutation carriers may also benefit from PARP-targeted therapies. © 2017 UICC.

Low Prevalence of CHEK2 Gene Mutations in Multiethnic Cohorts of Breast Cancer Patients in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Mohamad, Suriati; Isa, Nurismah Md; Muhammad, Rohaizak; Emran, Nor Aina; Kitan, Nor Mayah; Kang, Peter; Kang, In Nee; Taib, Nur Aishah Mohd; Teo, Soo Hwang; Akmal, Sharifah Noor

2015-01-01

CHEK2 is a protein kinase that is involved in cell-cycle checkpoint control after DNA damage. Germline mutations in CHEK2 gene have been associated with increase in breast cancer risk. The aim of this study is to identify the CHEK2 gene germline mutations among high-risk breast cancer patients and its contribution to the multiethnic population in Malaysia. We screened the entire coding region of CHEK2 gene on 59 high-risk breast cancer patients who tested negative for BRCA1/2 germline mutations from UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC), Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) and Hospital Putrajaya (HPJ). Sequence variants identified were screened further in case-control cohorts consisting of 878 unselected invasive breast cancer patients (180 Malays, 526 Chinese and 172 Indian) and 270 healthy individuals (90 Malays, 90 Chinese and 90 Indian). By screening the entire coding region of the CHEK2 gene, two missense mutations, c.480A>G (p.I160M) and c.538C>T (p.R180C) were identified in two unrelated patients (3.4%). Further screening of these missense mutations on the case-control cohorts unveiled the variant p.I160M in 2/172 (1.1%) Indian cases and 1/90 (1.1%) Indian control, variant p.R180C in 2/526 (0.38%) Chinese cases and 0/90 Chinese control, and in 2/180 (1.1%) of Malay cases and 1/90 (1.1%) of Malay control. The results of this study suggest that CHEK2 mutations are rare among high-risk breast cancer patients and may play a minor contributing role in breast carcinogenesis among Malaysian population. PMID:25629968

Trans-ethnic fine mapping identifies a novel independent locus at the 3' end of CDKAL1 and novel variants of several susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes in a Han Chinese population.

PubMed

Kuo, Jane Z; Sheu, Wayne Huey-Herng; Assimes, Themistocles L; Hung, Yi-Jen; Absher, Devin; Chiu, Yen-Feng; Mak, Jordan; Wang, Jun-Sing; Kwon, Soonil; Hsu, Chih-Cheng; Goodarzi, Mark O; Lee, I-Te; Knowles, Joshua W; Miller, Brittany E; Lee, Wen-Jane; Juang, Jyh-Ming J; Wang, Tzung-Dau; Guo, Xiuqing; Taylor, Kent D; Chuang, Lee-Ming; Hsiung, Chao A; Quertermous, Thomas; Rotter, Jerome I; Chen, Yii-Der I

2013-12-01

Candidate gene and genome-wide association studies have identified ∼60 susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes. A majority of these loci have been discovered and tested only in European populations. The aim of this study was to assess the presence and extent of trans-ethnic effects of these loci in an East Asian population. A total of 9,335 unrelated Chinese Han individuals, including 4,535 with type 2 diabetes and 4,800 non-diabetic ethnically matched controls, were genotyped using the Illumina 200K Metabochip. We tested 50 established loci for type 2 diabetes and related traits (fasting glucose, fasting insulin, 2 h glucose). Disease association with the additive model of inheritance was analysed with logistic regression. We found that 14 loci significantly transferred to the Chinese population, with two loci (p = 5.7 × 10(-12) for KCNQ1; p = 5.0 × 10(-8) for CDKN2A/B-CDKN2BAS) reaching independent genome-wide statistical significance. Five of these 14 loci had similar lead single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as were found in the European studies while the other nine were different. Further stepwise conditional analysis identified a total of seven secondary signals and an independent novel locus at the 3' end of CDKAL1. These results suggest that many loci associated with type 2 diabetes are commonly shared between European and Chinese populations. Identification of population-specific SNPs may increase our understanding of the genetic architecture underlying type 2 diabetes in different ethnic populations.

The effect of cytochrome P2C19 and interleukin-1 polymorphisms on H. pylori eradication rate of 1-week triple therapy with omeprazole or rabeprazole, amoxycillin and clarithromycin in Chinese people.

PubMed

Zhang, L; Mei, Q; Li, Q S; Hu, Y M; Xu, J M

2010-12-01

Genetic polymorphism of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1rα) are associated with efficacy of acid suppression, whereas cytochrome P (CYP) 2C19 polymorphism influences the metabolism of proton pump inhibitor family. Thus, CYP2C19 and IL-1 polymorphisms may affect the efficacy of H. pylori eradication therapy. We compared the efficacies of omeprazole and rabeprazole on eradication of H. pylori in relation to CYP2C19, IL-1B and IL-1RN genotypes in Chinese people. Two hundred and forty Chinese with peptic ulcer disease were randomly assigned to the following regimens: amoxicillin and clarithromycin together with omeprazole (OAC) or rabeprazole (RAC). CYP2C19*2 and *3, IL1B-511, IL1B-31, IL1B+ 3954 and intron 2 of the IL-1RN genotypes were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The intention-to-treat-based cure rate of the OAC regimen was significantly lower than that of the RAC regimen in the CYP2C19 wild-type homozygotes (P = 0·014). No significant differences in the cure rates were observed among the IL-1RN and the IL-1B genotype groups. The rabeprazole-based triple regimen was better than the omeprazole in Chinese patients with the CYP2C19 extensive metabolizer genotype. The effectiveness of the PPI/AC regimen is unrelated to IL-1B and IL1-RN genetic polymorphism. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Low prevalence of CHEK2 gene mutations in multiethnic cohorts of breast cancer patients in Malaysia.

PubMed

Mohamad, Suriati; Isa, Nurismah Md; Muhammad, Rohaizak; Emran, Nor Aina; Kitan, Nor Mayah; Kang, Peter; Kang, In Nee; Taib, Nur Aishah Mohd; Teo, Soo Hwang; Akmal, Sharifah Noor

2015-01-01

CHEK2 is a protein kinase that is involved in cell-cycle checkpoint control after DNA damage. Germline mutations in CHEK2 gene have been associated with increase in breast cancer risk. The aim of this study is to identify the CHEK2 gene germline mutations among high-risk breast cancer patients and its contribution to the multiethnic population in Malaysia. We screened the entire coding region of CHEK2 gene on 59 high-risk breast cancer patients who tested negative for BRCA1/2 germline mutations from UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC), Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) and Hospital Putrajaya (HPJ). Sequence variants identified were screened further in case-control cohorts consisting of 878 unselected invasive breast cancer patients (180 Malays, 526 Chinese and 172 Indian) and 270 healthy individuals (90 Malays, 90 Chinese and 90 Indian). By screening the entire coding region of the CHEK2 gene, two missense mutations, c.480A>G (p.I160M) and c.538C>T (p.R180C) were identified in two unrelated patients (3.4%). Further screening of these missense mutations on the case-control cohorts unveiled the variant p.I160M in 2/172 (1.1%) Indian cases and 1/90 (1.1%) Indian control, variant p.R180C in 2/526 (0.38%) Chinese cases and 0/90 Chinese control, and in 2/180 (1.1%) of Malay cases and 1/90 (1.1%) of Malay control. The results of this study suggest that CHEK2 mutations are rare among high-risk breast cancer patients and may play a minor contributing role in breast carcinogenesis among Malaysian population.

Novel mutations of ABCB6 associated with autosomal dominant dyschromatosis universalis hereditaria.

PubMed

Cui, Ying-Xia; Xia, Xin-Yi; Zhou, Yang; Gao, Lin; Shang, Xue-Jun; Ni, Tong; Wang, Wei-Ping; Fan, Xiao-Buo; Yin, Hong-Lin; Jiang, Shao-Jun; Yao, Bing; Hu, Yu-An; Wang, Gang; Li, Xiao-Jun

2013-01-01

Dyschromatosis universalis hereditaria (DUH) is a rare heterogeneous pigmentary genodermatosis, which was first described in 1933. The genetic cause has recently been discovered by the discovery of mutations in ABCB6. Here we investigated a Chinese family with typical features of autosomal dominant DUH and 3 unrelated patients with sporadic DUH. Skin tissues were obtained from the proband, of this family and the 3 sporadic patients. Histopathological examination and immunohistochemical analysis of ABCB6 were performed. Peripheral blood DNA samples were obtained from 21 affected, 14 unaffected, 11 spouses in the family and the 3 sporadic patients. A genome-wide linkage scan for the family was carried out to localize the causative gene. Exome sequencing was performed from 3 affected and 1 unaffected in the family. Sanger sequencing of ABCB6 was further used to identify the causative gene for all samples obtained from available family members, the 3 sporadic patients and a panel of 455 ethnically-matched normal Chinese individuals. Histopathological analysis showed melanocytes in normal control's skin tissue and the hyperpigmented area contained more melanized, mature melanosomes than those within the hypopigmented areas. Empty immature melanosomes were found in the hypopigmented melanocytes. Parametric multipoint linkage analysis produced a HLOD score of 4.68, with markers on chromosome 2q35-q37.2. A missense mutation (c.1663 C>A, p.Gln555Lys) in ABCB6 was identified in this family by exome and Sanger sequencing. The mutation perfectly cosegregated with the skin phenotype. An additional mutation (g.776 delC, c.459 delC) in ABCB6 was found in an unrelated sporadic patient. No mutation in ABCB6 was discovered in the other two sporadic patients. Neither of the two mutations was present in the 455 controls. Melanocytes showed positive immunoreactivity to ABCB6. Our data add new variants to the repertoire of ABCB6 mutations with DUH.

1979 National Unified Entrance Examination for Institutions of Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chinese Education, 1979

1979-01-01

The article presents translations of Chinese college entrance examinations in the fields of politics, Chinese language and literature, mathematics, humanities, physics, chemistry, history, geography, and English. Translations are also presented of the 1979 review syllabus for 1979 for the same subject areas. (DB)

How does the size and shape of local populations in China compare to general anthropometric surveys currently used for product design?

PubMed

Daniell, Nathan; Fraysse, François; Paul, Gunther

2012-01-01

Anthropometry has long been used for a range of ergonomic applications & product design. Although products are often designed for specific cohorts, anthropometric data are typically sourced from large scale surveys representative of the general population. Additionally, few data are available for emerging markets like China and India. This study measured 80 Chinese males that were representative of a specific cohort targeted for the design of a new product. Thirteen anthropometric measurements were recorded and compared to two large databases that represented a general population, a Chinese database and a Western database. Substantial differences were identified between the Chinese males measured in this study and both databases. The subjects were substantially taller, heavier and broader than subjects in the older Chinese database. However, they were still substantially smaller, lighter and thinner than Western males. Data from current Western anthropometric surveys are unlikely to accurately represent the target population for product designers and manufacturers in emerging markets like China.

Cultural differences in the relationships among autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, subjective vitality, and effort in British and Chinese physical education.

PubMed

Taylor, Ian M; Lonsdale, Chris

2010-10-01

Using basic psychological needs theory (BPNT; Ryan & Deci, 2000) as our guiding framework, we explored cultural differences in the relationships among physical education students' perceptions of teacher autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, subjective vitality and effort in class. Seven hundred and fifteen students (age range from 13 to 15 years) from the U.K. and Hong Kong, China, completed a multisection inventory during a timetabled physical education class. Multilevel analyses revealed that the relationships among autonomy support, subjective vitality and effort were mediated by students' perceptions of psychological need satisfaction. The relationship between autonomy support and perceptions of competence was stronger in the Chinese sample, compared with the U.K. sample. In addition, the relationship between perceptions of relatedness and effort was not significant in the Chinese students. The findings generally support the pan-cultural utility of BPNT and imply that a teacher-created autonomy supportive environment may promote positive student experiences in both cultures.

Dental age estimation from the developmental stage of the third molars in western Chinese population.

PubMed

Li, Guo; Ren, Jiayin; Zhao, Shuping; Liu, Yuanyuan; Li, Na; Wu, Wanhong; Yuan, Shanshan; Wang, Hu

2012-06-10

The purpose of this study is to provide reference data about estimating dental age from third molars of the western Chinese population for comparing with other populations and being applied to the age estimation of western Chinese juveniles and adolescents. A total of 2078 digital panoramic radiographs of 989 male and 1089 female Chinese subjects aged between 5 and 23 years were examined. The mineralization status of the third molars was assessed using the formation stages described by Demirjian et al. with two modifications. The results showed that the development of third molars in the western Chinese population was likely to begin at age 5 in both males and females. The third molars 28 and 48 showed significantly higher frequency in females than in males. The third molars 18 in the stage 1, 38 in the stages 1, A and G, and 48 in the stage H showed significantly older average age in females than in males. The Demirjian's stages C and D could be used as a reference stage to determine dichotomously whether a western Chinese is more likely to be under or above age 14 or 16, respectively. This study provided reference data for the age estimation of western Chinese juveniles and adolescents by the mineralization stages of the third molar. Apart from forensic age determination in living subjects, the presented reference data can also be used for age estimations of unidentified corpses and skeletons. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interpreting weightings of the peer assessment rating index and the discrepancy index across contexts on Chinese patients.

PubMed

Liu, Siqi; Oh, Heesoo; Chambers, David William; Xu, Tianmin; Baumrind, Sheldon

2018-04-06

Determine optimal weightings of Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) index and Discrepancy Index (DI) for malocclusion severity assessment in Chinese orthodontic patients. Sixty-nine Chinese orthodontists assessed a full set of pre-treatment records from a stratified random sample of 120 subjects gathered from six university orthodontic centres. Using professional judgment as the outcome variable, multiple regression analyses were performed to derive customized weighting systems for the PAR index and DI, for all subjects and each Angle classification subgroup. Professional judgment was consistent, with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.995. The PAR index or DI can be reliably measured, with ICC = 0.959 and 0.990, respectively. The predictive accuracy of PAR index was greatly improved by the Chinese weighting process (from r = 0.431 to r = 0.788) with almost equal distribution in each Angle classification subgroup. The Chinese-weighted DI showed a higher predictive accuracy, at P = 0.01, compared with the PAR index (r = 0.851 versus r = 0.788). A better performance was found in the Class II group (r = 0.890) when compared to Class I (r = 0.736) and III (r = 0.785) groups. The Chinese-weighted PAR index and DI were capable of predicting 62 per cent and 73 per cent of total variance in the professional judgment of malocclusion severity in Chinese patients. Differential prediction across Angle classifications merits attention since different weighting formulas were found.

Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Aspirations in Chinese Families: Identifying Mediators and Moderators.

PubMed

Wu, Nini; Hou, Yang; Wang, Qian; Yu, Chengfu

2018-06-01

Parents' educational aspirations for youth play an important role in shaping youth's own educational aspirations; however, little is known about how and in what context parents may transmit their aspirations to youth effectively. This is of particular interest and import to be examined in Chinese families, given Chinese cultural emphasis on educational achievement and Chinese youth's outstanding academic performance internationally. By integrating several key theories of motivation and parental socialization (i.e., the expectancy-value model of academic achievement, the two-step model of value transmission, the contextual model of parenting, and the self-determination theory), the current study investigated simultaneously the mediating roles of parental involvement in youth's learning and youth's perceptions of parental aspirations, as well as the moderating role of parental warmth in the intergenerational transmission process of educational aspirations in Chinese families. A two-wave longitudinal study spanning about half a year was conducted among 323 Chinese seventh graders (54% female; M age  = 13.25 years) and one of their parents (median educational attainment = completion of high school, median monthly income = USD 766-1226). It was found that parental educational aspirations for youth were related positively both indirectly through parental involvement and directly to youth's perceptions of parental aspirations, which in turn were associated positively with youth's own educational aspirations about half a year later. It was also found that parental educational aspirations for youth and youth's own educational aspirations were associated positively with each other only when youth reported experiencing high levels of parental warmth, but unrelated when youth reported experiencing low levels of parental warmth, whereas such moderating effects of parental warmth were absent on the links from parental aspirations to youth's perceptions of parental aspirations and parental involvement. These findings highlight the importance of integrating multiple theories to understand parent-to-youth transmission of educational aspirations in non-western cultures, which helps not only reveal generalizability, as well as boundary conditions for Western-originated theories, but also inform practical endeavors at promoting youth's educational achievement worldwide to draw on strengths of different cultures.

Influences on Understanding and Belief About the Origin of Species in Chinese and American Adolescents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Erin Irene

Although beliefs about origins and evolutionary knowledge have been considered independent, research has suggested that both are influenced by cognitive constraints of psychological essentialism and teleology. Most research supporting these claims has been conducted with children from Western cultures; little is known about the psychological processes underpinning beliefs and knowledge about the natural world outside Western contexts or during adolescence. Claims about the universality of beliefs, knowledge, and the possible relationship between should be made after examining samples that differ in theoretically relevant ways from a typical Western sample, such as a Chinese sample in which religious explanations are rare or an adolescent sample in which brain development promotes the coordination of conflicting information. To examine how belief and knowledge are related in Western- and non-Western samples, as well as the factors that predict both independently, 238 Chinese (M = 15.85 years old, SD = .85 years; 36.6% male) and 277 American adolescents (M = 15.80 years, SD = 1.34 years; 51.6% male) were recruited from their high schools to participate. Adolescents completed a survey measuring beliefs about the origin of living and non-living exemplars, evolutionary knowledge, and variables that were likely to influence belief and knowledge such as science preference, epistemology, psychological essentialism, teleological reasoning, and religious beliefs. American adolescents were more creationist than Chinese adolescents. Chinese adolescents displayed more sophisticated evolutionary knowledge than American adolescents although overall performance was low. Finally, there was no relationship between belief and knowledge for American adolescents yet there was a small, positive relationship for Chinese adolescents such that adolescents who believed in creation also tended to demonstrate more evolutionary knowledge. Additional analyses employed mediation techniques to explain why cultural differences in creation belief and evolutionary knowledge exist. Age was unrelated to belief and to knowledge. The discussion focuses on the aspects of cultural membership that contribute to belief and evolutionary knowledge. Additional discussion highlights the role of classroom curriculum, curriculum testing, and focusing on uncovering variables and techniques that promote evolutionary learning.

Effects of 8-Week Hatha Yoga Training on Metabolic and Inflammatory Markers in Healthy, Female Chinese Subjects: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Chen, Neng; Xia, Xianghou; Qin, Liqiang; Luo, Li; Han, Shufen; Wang, Guiping; Zhang, Ru; Wan, Zhongxiao

2016-01-01

We aimed to determine the effects of an 8 wk Hatha yoga training on blood glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and inflammatory status in healthy, lean, and female Chinese subjects. A total of 30 healthy, female Chinese subjects were recruited and randomized into control or yoga practice group. The yoga practice included 8 wks of yoga practice (2 times/wk) for a total of 16 times. Fasting blood samples were collected before and after yoga training. Plasma was isolated for the measurement of lipid profiles, glucose, insulin, EMPs, and inflammatory cytokines. Whole blood was cultured ex vivo and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Pam3Cys-SK4. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated for the measurement of TLR2 and TLR4 protein expression. Yoga practice significantly reduced plasma cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, insulin levels, and CD31+/CD42b- EMPs. Cultured whole blood from the yoga group has reduced proinflammatory cytokines secretion both at unstimulated condition and when stimulated with Pam3Cys-SK4; this might be associated with reduced TLR2 protein expression in PBMCs after yoga training. Hatha yoga practice in healthy Chinese female subjects could improve hallmarks related to MetS; thus it can be considered as an ancillary intervention in the primary MetS prevention for the healthy population. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-IOR-14005747.

Pharmacokinetics of sugammadex 16 mg/kg in healthy Chinese volunteers.

PubMed

de Kam, Pieter-Jan; Hou, Jie; Wang, Zaiqi; Lin, Wen Hong; van den Heuvel, Michiel

2015-06-01

Elimination of sugammadex occurs predominantly via the kidneys, with the majority of the drug excreted unchanged in the urine. To date, most studies with sugammadex have been performed in non-Asian populations. The objectives of this open-label study were to determine the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of single-dose sugammadex (16 mg/kg) in healthy Chinese adult volunteers. 12 Chinese subjects (6 male; 6 female) received intravenous sugammadex (16 mg/kg) as a 10-second bolus infusion. Blood samples were collected pre-sugammadex and at regular intervals up to 24 hours post-sugammadex for PK assessment. Safety was assessed via AEs, vital signs, electrocardiogram, and laboratory parameters. Following sugammadex 16 mg/kg infusion, peak sugammadex concentration was 197 μg/mL, clearance was 99.7 mL/min, and apparent volume of distribution at equilibrium was 10.5 L. Plasma sugammadex concentrations showed a polyexponential decline over time, with an overall geometric mean (CV%) terminal half-life of 145 minutes (17.9%) (139 minutes (17.7%) for males; 152 minutes (18.6%) for females). No influence of gender on the PK of sugammadex was observed. Three subjects experienced an adverse events (AE) (dysgeusia of mild intensity), which was considered possibly or probably related to sugammadex. There were no clinically significant changes in vital signs, electrocardiography or laboratory parameters. PK of sugammadex (16 mg/kg) was characterized in healthy Chinese subjects. Overall between-subject variability on clearance and apparent volume of distribution was ~ 10%. Sugammadex was generally well tolerated.

Does Chinese calligraphy therapy reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Chu, Kuan-Yu; Huang, Chih-Yang; Ouyang, Wen-Chen

2018-03-07

There are currently no systematic reviews or meta-analyses of Chinese calligraphy therapy (CCT) to reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the efficacy of CCT for people with neuropsychiatric symptoms. We searched Chinese and English databases, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Wanfang Data for relevant articles published between the earliest year available and December 2016. The search was limited to randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical studies and the associated keywords were "handwriting," "Chinese calligraphy," "Chinese calligraphy therapy," "Calligraphy exercise," and "Calligraphy training." The 21 articles that met these criteria were used in the analysis. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist was used to assess methodological quality. CCT significantly reduced psychosis (10 studies, 965 subjects, standardized mean difference [SMD] = - 0.17, 95% confidence intervals [CI] [- 0.30, - 0.40], Z = 2.60, p < 0.01), anxiety symptoms (9 studies, 579 subjects, SMD = - 0.78, 95% CI [- 0.95, - 0.61], Z = 8.98, p < 0.001), and depressive symptoms (7 studies, 456 subjects, SMD = - 0.69, 95% CI [- 0.88, - 0.50], Z = 7.11, p < 0.001). CCT also significantly improved cognitive function (2 studies, 55 subjects, MD = 2.17, 95% CI [- 0.03, 4.38], Z = 1.93, p = 0.05) and neurofeedback (3 studies, 148 subjects, SMD = - 1.09, 95% CI [- 1.44, - 0.73], Z = 6.01, p < 0.001). The therapy also significantly reduced the positive psychopathological expression of schizophrenia symptoms (4 studies, 287 subjects, SMD = - 0.35, 95% CI [- 0.59, - 0.12], Z = 2.96, p = 0.003) and reduced the negative symptoms of schizophrenia (4 studies, 276 subjects, SMD = - 1.39, 95% CI [- 1.65, - 1.12], Z = 10.23, p < 0.001). CCT exerts a curative effect on neuropsychiatric symptoms, but the evidence remains insufficient. A large number of RCTs are needed to facilitate additional systematic reviews of evidence for CCT.

Pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of two strontium ranelate formulations after single oral administration in healthy Chinese subjects.

PubMed

Zhang, Dan; Du, Aihua; Wang, Xiaolin; Zhang, Lina; Yang, Man; Ma, Jingyi; Deng, Ming; Liu, Huichen

2018-05-08

Pharmacokinetics of exogenous strontium (Sr) and bioequivalence of a new oral formulation of strontium ranelate compared with the brand-name drug in healthy Chinese subjects was evaluated. A balanced, randomized, single-dose, two-treatment parallel study was conducted in 36 healthy Chinese subjects. Subjects were randomly allocated into two groups of 18 to receive a single oral dose of test formulation and reference formulation under a fasting state, respectively. Blood samples were collected at 19 designated time points up to 240-h post-dose. Serum concentrations of Sr were quantified by ICP-MS. A total of 36 subjects were enrolled and completed the study. Nine mild adverse events in 6 subjects were reported. The C max , AUC 0-72 h , AUC 0- t , and AUC 0-∞ of test and reference formulations shown as mean ± SD were 6.97 ± 1.78 and 6.78 ± 1.80 µg/mL, 199 ± 51 and 187 ± 38 µg·h/mL, 303 ± 89 and 278 ± 54 µg·h/mL, and 337 ± 109 and 305 ± 60 µg·h/mL, respectively. Two formulations were bioequivalent, and both were generally well tolerated.

Atomoxetine pharmacokinetics in healthy Chinese subjects and effect of the CYP2D6*10 allele.

PubMed

Cui, Yi M; Teng, Choo H; Pan, Alan X; Yuen, Eunice; Yeo, Kwee P; Zhou, Ying; Zhao, Xia; Long, Amanda J; Bangs, Mark E; Wise, Stephen D

2007-10-01

To characterize atomoxetine pharmacokinetics, explore the effect of the homozygous CYP2D6*10 genotype on atomoxetine pharmacokinetics and evaluate the tolerability of atomoxetine, in healthy Chinese subjects. Twenty-four subjects, all CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers (EM), were randomized to receive atomoxetine (40 mg qd for 3 days, then 80 mg qd for 7 days) or matching placebo (2 : 1 ratio) in a double-blind fashion. Atomoxetine serum concentrations were measured following single (40 mg) and multiple (80 mg) doses. Adverse events, clinical safety laboratory data and vital signs were assessed during the study. Atomoxetine was rapidly absorbed with median time to maximum serum concentrations of approximately 1.5 h after single and multiple doses. Atomoxetine concentrations appeared to decrease monoexponentially with a mean apparent terminal half-life (t(1/2)) of approximately 4 h. The apparent clearance, apparent volume of distribution and t(1/2) following single and multiple doses were similar, suggesting linear pharmacokinetics with respect to time. Homozygous CYP2D6*10 subjects had 50% lower clearances compared with other EM subjects, resulting in twofold higher mean exposures. No clinically significant changes or abnormalities were noted in laboratory data and vital signs. The pharmacokinetics of atomoxetine in healthy Chinese subjects appears comparable to other ethnic populations. Multiple dosing of 80 mg qd atomoxetine was well tolerated in this study.

Association between late-onset depression and incident dementia in Chinese older persons.

PubMed

Tam, C W C; Lam, L C W

2013-12-01

OBJECTIVE. Previous studies have shown that depression is a precursor / prodrome or susceptible state for the development of dementia. This study aimed to examine the relationship between late-onset depression and subsequent cognitive and functional decline in a cohort of non-demented older Chinese persons at their 2-year follow-up and investigate for possible predictors of cognitive decline. METHODS. A total of 81 depressed subjects and 468 non-depressed community controls were recruited. RESULTS. Subjects with late-onset depression showed significantly more incident Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale decline (odds ratio = 3.87, 95% confidence interval = 2.23-6.70) and dementia (odds ratio = 3.44, 95% confidence interval = 1.75-6.77) than those without depression. A higher proportion of depressed CDR 0 subjects had CDR and functional decline than their non-depressed counterparts. Depressed CDR 0.5 subjects had significantly higher rates of functional decline and lower rates of improvement in CDR than their non-depressed counterparts. CONCLUSION. Diagnosis of depression was a robust predictor of incident very mild dementia (i.e. CDR of 0.5) and depression severity was a predictor of progression to dementia from CDR of 0.5. The association between depression and the risk of CDR decline and dementia was observed in non-demented Chinese subjects. Depression was also associated with persistent mild cognitive deficits in CDR 0.5 subjects.

No significant association between the genetic polymorphisms in the GSK-3 beta gene and schizophrenia in the Chinese population.

PubMed

Meng, Junwei; Shi, Yongyong; Zhao, Xinzhi; Zhou, Jian; Zheng, Yonglan; Tang, Ruqi; Ma, Gang; Zhu, Xuming; He, Zangdong; Wang, Zhe; Xu, Yifeng; Feng, Guoyin; He, Lin

2008-04-01

The GSK-3 beta gene encodes a protein kinase which is abundant in the brain, and its product is involved in signal transduction cascades of neuronal cell development, energy metabolism and body pattern formation. Previous studies have suggested that GSK-3 beta might act as a potential candidate locus for schizophrenia susceptibility. We genotyped six SNPs within the gene and conducted a case-control study involving 329 schizophrenic patients and 288 healthy subjects in the Chinese population. We examined allele and genotype frequencies and haplotype distributions in the subtype of paranoid schizophrenic patients as well as schizophrenic subjects in general. Our results fail to replicate the association of the GSK-3 beta gene with susceptibility to schizophrenia in the Chinese population.

Self-identity Changes and English Learning among Chinese Undergraduates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yihong, Gao; Ying, Cheng; Yuan, Zhao; Yan, Zhou

2005-01-01

This quantitative study investigated Chinese college students' self-identity changes associated with English learning. The subjects were 2,278 undergraduates from 30 universities, obtained from a stratified sampling. Based on existing literature of bilinguals identities, the self-designed questionnaire defined six categories of self-identity…

A Test of the Discrimination Account in Equivalence Class Formation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ting; McHugh, Louise A.; Whelan, Robert

2012-01-01

An equivalence class is typically established when a subject is taught a set of interrelated conditional discriminations with physically unrelated stimuli and additional, untaught, conditional discriminations are then demonstrated. Interestingly, and perhaps counter-intuitively, the relations among the stimuli within such a class are not…

Translation and Validation of the Malay Subjective Happiness Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swami, Viren

2008-01-01

The Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky and Lepper, "Social Indicators Research," 46, 137-155, 1999) is a brief measure for assessing subjective happiness. The reliability and validity of the Malay version of the Subjective Happiness Scale was investigated in a community sample of 290 Chinese and 227 Malays in Malaysia. Results…

Evaluation of sleep quality in subjects with chronic nononcologic pain.

PubMed

Covarrubias-Gomez, Alfredo; Mendoza-Reyes, Jonathan J

2013-08-01

A survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 20% of Americans have sleep disorders and 45% experience chronic pain. Several authors evaluated the interrelationship between these functions using various instruments such the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and identified that 34% of subjects in the general population have a poor quality of sleep, but there are few studies that assess the quality of sleep in patients with chronic pain of nonmalignant origin. We undertook this study to evaluate the quality of sleep using the PSQI in patients with chronic pain unrelated to cancer. We conducted a clinical, nonrandomized, uncontrolled, descriptive, and prospective study, applying the PSQI through a direct one-time interview to 311 subjects with chronic pain unrelated to cancer. According to the categorization of the PSQI between good and poor sleepers, 89% of the subjects were poor sleepers (n = 276). There are significant differences in pain intensity according to the categorization of the PSQI, with a higher intensity shown in the "poor sleepers" (analysis of variance [ANOVA], P = .030). Using a linear regression model to estimate the curve, a higher score is rated on the PSQI global score (ANOVA, P = .000, R(2) = .46) with the increase of the intensity of the pain. We conclude that "poor sleepers" or those who considered their sleep as "poor quality" have significantly higher pain intensity. This suggests that intensity of pain plays a role in evaluating the quality of sleep in the subjective perception of sleep and instruments that assess quality.

Identification and functional characterization of three novel human melanocortin-4 receptor gene variants in an obese Chinese population.

PubMed

Rong, Rong; Tao, Ya-Xiong; Cheung, Bernard M Y; Xu, Aimin; Cheung, Grace C N; Lam, Karen S L

2006-08-01

Mutations in the melanocortin-4 receptor gene (MC4R) are the most common monogenic form of human obesity. However, the contribution of MC4R mutations to obesity in Chinese has not been investigated. We studied the frequency of MC4R mutations in an obese southern Chinese population and the functional consequences of the novel variants identified. We screened for MC4R mutations in 227 obese [body mass index (BMI) 35.29 +/- 5.75 kg/m2] and 100 lean (BMI 21.57 +/- 0.29 kg/m2) southern Chinese subjects using PCR-direct sequencing. In vitro functional studies, including cell surface expression, ligand binding, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation, were performed to examine the functional properties of three novel missense mutations. Apart from two previously reported polymorphisms, V103I and -176 A > C, three novel missense heterozygous variants (Y35C, C40R and M218T) were identified. The polymorphisms -176 A > C and Y35C were detected in both obese and normal subjects with similar frequency. C40R was identified only in an obese subject. Pedigree analysis revealed M218T carriers in both lean and obese subjects. The prevalence of V103I carriers in normal-weight controls was significantly higher than that in obese subjects (5.3%vs. 1.3%, P < 0.05). In vitro functional studies showed that all three novel missense variants have normal functions. Two known polymorphisms and three novel variants of the MC4R were identified. No overt functional defects were observed for the three novel MC4R variants, suggesting that they might not be the cause of obesity in variant carriers.

Evaluation of the chronic disease self-management program in a Chinese population.

PubMed

Siu, Andrew M H; Chan, Chetwyn C H; Poon, Peter K K; Chui, Dominic Y Y; Chan, Sam C C

2007-01-01

This study evaluated the 6-week Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) in Hong Kong. A total of 148 subjects with chronic illness were recruited. Subjects were matched on duration of illness and gender, and then randomly allocated to experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group participated in the CDSMP, while the comparison group joined a Tai-Chi interest class in a mass-activity format. Subjects completed evaluation questionnaires before beginning their program and 1 week following the program. Analysis of covariance showed that the CDSMP participants demonstrated significantly higher self-efficacy in managing their illness, used more cognitive methods to manage pain and symptoms, and felt more energetic than the subjects in the comparison group. The CDSMP participants also demonstrated changes in their profile of coping strategies, having a tendency to adopt the cognitive methods of diverting attention, reinterpreting pain, ignoring sensations, and making positive self-statements. The short-term evaluation results showed that the CDSMP primarily increased the self-efficacy, exercise behavior, and application of cognitive coping strategies of the participants. The effect of the CDSMP in a Chinese population is similar to that found in studies in Western cultures, and the CDSMP could be applied effectively in a Chinese population.

Environment and subjective well-being of rural Chinese elderly: a multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Yeatts, Dale E; Cready, Cynthia M; Pei, Xiaomei; Shen, Yuying; Luo, Hao

2014-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of environment on the subjective well-being (SWB) of older Chinese villagers after controlling for personal and social characteristics. Data collected from the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey Pilot Study were used to examine the relationship between (a) SWB (i.e., happiness and depressive symptoms) of Chinese rural elderly and (b) environmental characteristics, controlling for personal and social characteristics. A total of 850 older villagers from 2 Chinese provinces were analyzed using multilevel regression models. Five of the 8 environmental variables had significant effects on SWB: A natural disaster in the past 5 years, rainy days, and use of coal in the home were associated with lower SWB, whereas village wealth and sewer system were associated with higher SWB. Personal and social characteristics of importance included health, age, place of birth, perception that future help is available if needed, and providing help to others. The proposition that the environment of older Chinese villagers is associated with their SWB was supported after accounting for personal and social characteristics. SWB may be improved by improving environments as well as by changes to personal and social conditions. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Comparison of facial morphologies between adult Chinese and Houstonian Caucasian populations using three-dimensional imaging.

PubMed

Wirthlin, J; Kau, C H; English, J D; Pan, F; Zhou, H

2013-09-01

The objective of this study was to compare the facial morphologies of an adult Chinese population to a Houstonian white population. Three-dimensional (3D) images were acquired via a commercially available stereophotogrammetric camera system, 3dMDface™. Using the system, 100 subjects from a Houstonian population and 71 subjects from a Chinese population were photographed. A complex mathematical algorithm was performed to generate a composite facial average (one for males and one for females) for each subgroup. The computer-generated facial averages were then superimposed based on a previously validated superimposition method. The facial averages were evaluated for differences. Distinct facial differences were evident between the subgroups evaluated. These areas included the nasal tip, the peri-orbital area, the malar process, the labial region, the forehead, and the chin. Overall, the mean facial difference between the Chinese and Houstonian female averages was 2.73±2.20mm, while the difference between the Chinese and Houstonian males was 2.83±2.20mm. The percent similarity for the female population pairings and male population pairings were 10.45% and 12.13%, respectively. The average adult Chinese and Houstonian faces possess distinct differences. Different populations and ethnicities have different facial features and averages that should be considered in the planning of treatment. Copyright © 2013 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Imperative in Chinese.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hashimoto, Anne Yue

A preliminary study of the syntactic characteristics of the imperative construction in modern Chinese is presented. The term "imperative" is used to refer to the type of syntactic construction which is marked by an implicit or explicit second person subject, and which expresses a direct command. Indirect or implied commands expressed by a…

Teaching with "Liangxin" (Virtuous Heart) Held in Hands or Not: Untangling Self- and State-Governmentalization of Contemporary Chinese Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Weili

2014-01-01

Contemporary Chinese teachers are being transformed into morally divided subjects by institutional teacher-evaluation governance. They claim such institutional governance can "devour" their basic professional ethics of "teaching with 'liangxin'" (??), a reinvoked Confucian ethical notion. Then, how does "liangxin"…

Parenting Style and Only Children's School Achievement in China.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, Qing; And Others

This report describes a study which examined the relation of Chinese parenting style to only-children's academic achievement. Subjects, 186 middle-class parents of fifth and sixth graders (10-13 years old) from one Beijing elementary school, completed a Chinese translation of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ). Four approximately equal…

Chinese herbal medicine use in Taiwan during pregnancy and the postpartum period: a population-based cohort study.

PubMed

Chuang, Chao-Hua; Chang, Pei-Jen; Hsieh, Wu-Shiun; Tsai, Yih-Jian; Lin, Shio-Jean; Chen, Pau-Chung

2009-06-01

Using Chinese herbal medicines during pregnancy and postpartum is common in the Chinese community. The purpose of this current study is to explore the use of Chinese herbal medicines by women during pregnancy and postpartum in Taiwan. It is an on-going prospective longitudinal study design. We used multistage stratified systematic sampling to recruit 24,200 pairs, postpartum women and newborns, from the Taiwan national birth register in 2005. Subjects underwent a home interview 6 months after their deliveries between June 2005 and July 2006. A structured questionnaire was successfully administered to 87.8% of the sampled population. At least one Chinese herbal medicine was used by 33.6% and 87.7% of the interviewed subjects during pregnancy and the postpartum period, respectively. An-Tai-Yin, Pearl powder, and Huanglian were the most commonly used during pregnancy, while Shen-Hua-Tang and Suz-Wu-Tang were the most commonly used by postpartum women. Pregnant women aged 20-34, with high education, threatened abortion, chronic disease, and primipara appeared to use more Chinese herbal medicines than others in the sample. Postpartum women with high education, primipara, normal spontaneous delivery, and breastfeeding were found to use more Chinese herbal medicines; but women with pregnancy-related illness used less. Chinese herbal medicines are frequently used by women during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Taiwan and those with high education and primipara used more such herbs. Due to limited safety information on these herbs, we would advise caution regarding their use either during pregnancy or postpartum breastfeeding period. Moreover, it is important for nurses/midwifes enquiring about such habits, and providing the adequate education to women during prenatal and postpartum care to prevent potential side effects.

Mental Health Consequences of Childhood Physical Abuse in Chinese Populations: A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Ip, Patrick; Wong, Rosa S; Li, Sophia L; Chan, Ko Ling; Ho, Frederick K; Chow, Chun-Bong

2016-12-01

Childhood physical abuse (CPA) can lead to adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood, but its potential impact on Chinese populations is still unclear. This meta-analysis is the first to examine the association between CPA and mental health outcomes in Chinese populations. Studies published before December 31, 2014 were identified from Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Studies with data on the association between CPA and mental health outcomes from Chinese subjects were included. Twenty-four studies were initially identified but two were excluded because of poor quality. Two reviewers independently extracted data to generate summary effect sizes using a random-effects meta-analytic model. A priori subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate heterogeneity and bias in these studies. Our meta-analysis of 22 studies found a significant positive association between CPA and overall mental health outcomes among all Chinese subjects (pooled effect size: odds ratio [OR] = 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.87, 2.49]) and among community samples (pooled effect size: OR = 2.06, 95% CI [1.71, 2.48]). Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, diagnostic criteria, CPA was more strongly associated with Axis II (OR = 2.62, 95% CI [2.13, 3.22]) than Axis I disorders (OR = 1.85, 95% CI [1.58, 2.17]). The detrimental effects of CPA on mental health outcomes in Chinese populations were comparable to, if not more than, the West. Contrary to the Chinese belief that physical punishment is a safe way to discipline children, our findings highlight the potential harm to mental health and the need to change this parenting practice. © The Author(s) 2015.

Syllabic encoding during overt speech production in Cantonese: Evidence from temporal brain responses.

PubMed

Wong, Andus Wing-Kuen; Wang, Jie; Ng, Tin-Yan; Chen, Hsuan-Chih

2016-10-01

The time course of phonological encoding in overt Cantonese disyllabic word production was investigated using a picture-word interference task with concurrent recording of the event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Participants were asked to name aloud individually presented pictures and ignore a distracting Chinese character. Participants' naming responses were faster, relative to an unrelated control, when the distractor overlapped with the target's word-initial or word-final syllables. Furthermore, ERP waves in the syllable-related conditions were more positive-going than those in the unrelated control conditions from 500ms to 650ms post target onset (i.e., a late positivity). The mean and peak amplitudes of this late positivity correlated with the size of phonological facilitation. More importantly, the onset of the late positivity associated with word-initial syllable priming was 44ms earlier than that associated with word-final syllable priming, suggesting that phonological encoding in overt speech runs incrementally and the encoding duration for one syllable unit is approximately 44ms. Although the size of effective phonological units might vary across languages, as suggested by previous speech production studies, the present data indicate that the incremental nature of phonological encoding is a universal mechanism. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Array-Based Gene Discovery with Three Unrelated Subjects Shows SCARB2/LIMP-2 Deficiency Causes Myoclonus Epilepsy and Glomerulosclerosis

PubMed Central

Berkovic, Samuel F.; Dibbens, Leanne M.; Oshlack, Alicia; Silver, Jeremy D.; Katerelos, Marina; Vears, Danya F.; Lüllmann-Rauch, Renate; Blanz, Judith; Zhang, Ke Wei; Stankovich, Jim; Kalnins, Renate M.; Dowling, John P.; Andermann, Eva; Andermann, Frederick; Faldini, Enrico; D'Hooge, Rudi; Vadlamudi, Lata; Macdonell, Richard A.; Hodgson, Bree L.; Bayly, Marta A.; Savige, Judy; Mulley, John C.; Smyth, Gordon K.; Power, David A.; Saftig, Paul; Bahlo, Melanie

2008-01-01

Action myoclonus-renal failure syndrome (AMRF) is an autosomal-recessive disorder with the remarkable combination of focal glomerulosclerosis, frequently with glomerular collapse, and progressive myoclonus epilepsy associated with storage material in the brain. Here, we employed a novel combination of molecular strategies to find the responsible gene and show its effects in an animal model. Utilizing only three unrelated affected individuals and their relatives, we used homozygosity mapping with single-nucleotide polymorphism chips to localize AMRF. We then used microarray-expression analysis to prioritize candidates prior to sequencing. The disorder was mapped to 4q13-21, and microarray-expression analysis identified SCARB2/Limp2, which encodes a lysosomal-membrane protein, as the likely candidate. Mutations in SCARB2/Limp2 were found in all three families used for mapping and subsequently confirmed in two other unrelated AMRF families. The mutations were associated with lack of SCARB2 protein. Reanalysis of an existing Limp2 knockout mouse showed intracellular inclusions in cerebral and cerebellar cortex, and the kidneys showed subtle glomerular changes. This study highlights that recessive genes can be identified with a very small number of subjects. The ancestral lysosomal-membrane protein SCARB2/LIMP-2 is responsible for AMRF. The heterogeneous pathology in the kidney and brain suggests that SCARB2/Limp2 has pleiotropic effects that may be relevant to understanding the pathogenesis of other forms of glomerulosclerosis or collapse and myoclonic epilepsies. PMID:18308289

Job satisfaction mediates subjective social status and turnover intention among Chinese nurses.

PubMed

Feng, Danjun; Su, Shan; Yang, Yang; Xia, Jinghua; Su, Yonggang

2017-09-01

Nurse turnover is one of the reasons for the global nurse shortage. Although previous studies have examined the determinants of turnover intention in detail, there is limited knowledge on the effect of subjective social status on nurse turnover intention. Therefore, in this study, we examined this relationship, including job satisfaction as a mediator, among Chinese nurses. This cross-sectional study employed questionnaires to assess subjective social status, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in 581 nurses who were randomly recruited from 10 hospitals in Jinan, China. The results partially supported our model. Although subjective social status exerted no significant direct effect on turnover intention, it exerted a significant indirect effect through job satisfaction. These results provide a new insight into why nurses leave their jobs, and possible new solutions to the nurse turnover problem. Efforts should be made to improve nurses' subjective social status. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Can we spice up our Christmas dinner? : Busting the myth of the 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'.

PubMed

van den Berg, N W E; Neefs, J; Berger, W R; Baalman, S W E; Meulendijks, E; Kawasaki, M; Kemper, E M; Piersma, F R; Veldkamp, M W; Wesselink, R; Krul, S P J; de Groot, J R

2017-12-01

Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also referred to as Vetsin or E621, is a flavour enhancer frequently used in Asian cuisine and abundantly present in the famous Chinese dish Peking duck. MSG is notorious for triggering the onset of the so-called 'Chinese restaurant syndrome' (CRS), a complex of unpleasant symptoms, which might include flushing, sweating and the onset of atrial fibrillation (AF). This study aims to determine the effects of MSG on the occurrence of AF. We conducted a placebo self-controlled single-arm study in the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam. We included paroxysmal AF patients who reported a consistent onset of AF upon MSG intake. During three admissions, participants were subsequently administered: placebo, 1.5 g and 3 g MSG. If AF was recorded after the dose of 1.5 g MSG, patients were given another placebo instead of 3 g MSG. The primary outcome was the onset of AF registered by 24-hour Holter monitoring. The secondary outcomes were any other arrhythmia and the onset of CRS defined as two or more symptoms of CRS after MSG intake. Six men participated in the study. Both 1.5 g and 3 g MSG were unrelated to CRS, arrhythmias or AF occurrence. Peking duck can be put on the Christmas menu without risking guests to be admitted to the emergency department with new episodes of AF.

Targeted exome sequencing reveals novel USH2A mutations in Chinese patients with simplex Usher syndrome.

PubMed

Shu, Hai-Rong; Bi, Huai; Pan, Yang-Chun; Xu, Hang-Yu; Song, Jian-Xin; Hu, Jie

2015-09-16

Usher syndrome (USH) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hearing impairment and vision dysfunction due to retinitis pigmentosa. Phenotypic and genetic heterogeneities of this disease make it impractical to obtain a genetic diagnosis by conventional Sanger sequencing. In this study, we applied a next-generation sequencing approach to detect genetic abnormalities in patients with USH. Two unrelated Chinese families were recruited, consisting of two USH afflicted patients and four unaffected relatives. We selected 199 genes related to inherited retinal diseases as targets for deep exome sequencing. Through systematic data analysis using an established bioinformatics pipeline, all variants that passed filter criteria were validated by Sanger sequencing and co-segregation analysis. A homozygous frameshift mutation (c.4382delA, p.T1462Lfs*2) was revealed in exon20 of gene USH2A in the F1 family. Two compound heterozygous mutations, IVS47 + 1G > A and c.13156A > T (p.I4386F), located in intron 48 and exon 63 respectively, of USH2A, were identified as causative mutations for the F2 family. Of note, the missense mutation c.13156A > T has not been reported so far. In conclusion, targeted exome sequencing precisely and rapidly identified the genetic defects in two Chinese USH families and this technique can be applied as a routine examination for these disorders with significant clinical and genetic heterogeneity.

Genetic heterogeneity of pseudoxanthoma elasticum: the Chinese signature profile of ABCC6 and ENPP1 mutations.

PubMed

Jin, Liang; Jiang, Qiujie; Wu, Zhengsheng; Shao, Changxia; Zhou, Yong; Yang, Luting; Uitto, Jouni; Wang, Gang

2015-05-01

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by ectopic mineralization, is caused by mutations in the ABCC6 gene. We examined clinically 29 Chinese PXE patients from unrelated families, so far the largest cohort of Asian PXE patients. In a subset of 22 patients, we sequenced ABCC6 and another candidate gene, ENPP1, and conducted pathogenicity analyses for each variant. We identified a total of 17 distinct mutations in ABCC6, 15 of them being, to our knowledge, previously unreported, including 5 frameshift and 10 missense variants. In addition, a missense mutation in combination with a recurrent nonsense mutation in ENPP1 was discovered in a pediatric PXE case. No cases with p.R1141X or del23-29 mutations, common in Caucasian patient populations, were identified. The 10 missense mutations in ABCC6 were expressed in the mouse liver via hydrodynamic tail-vein injections. One mutant protein showed cytoplasmic accumulation indicating abnormal subcellular trafficking, while the other nine mutants showed correct plasma membrane location. These nine mutations were further investigated for their pathogenicity using a recently developed zebrafish mRNA rescue assay. Minimal rescue of the morpholino-induced phenotype was achieved with eight of the nine mutant human ABCC6 mRNAs tested, implying pathogenicity. This study demonstrates that the Chinese PXE population harbors unique ABCC6 mutations. These genetic data have implications for allele-specific therapy currently being developed for PXE.

The relationship of hostility, negative affect and ethnicity to cardiovascular responses: an ambulatory study in Singapore.

PubMed

Enkelmann, Hwee Chong; Bishop, George D; Tong, Eddie M W; Diong, Siew Maan; Why, Yong Peng; Khader, Majeed; Ang, Jansen

2005-05-01

This study tested the hypotheses that ambulatory heart rate and blood pressure would be higher for individuals high but not low in hostility when they experienced negative affect or social stress and that this interaction would be stronger for Indians compared with other Singapore ethnic groups. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was done on 108 male Singapore patrol officers as they went about their daily duties. After each BP measurement participants completed a computerized questionnaire including items on emotional experience. Individuals high in hostility showed higher systolic blood pressure when reporting negative affect whereas this was not true for those low in hostility. Ethnic differences were obtained such that Indians showed an increase in mean arterial pressure when angered whereas MAP was negatively related to anger for Malays and unrelated for Chinese. Also a three-way interaction between ethnicity, hostility, and social stress indicated that hostility and social stress interacted in their effects on DBP for Indian participants but not for Chinese or Malays. Finally, a three-way interaction was obtained between ethnicity, hostility and negative affect for heart rate in which heart rate increased with increasing levels of negative affect for Chinese high in hostility and Malays low in hostility but decreased with increasing negative affect for all other participants. These data are consistent with higher CHD rates among individuals high in hostility and also provide additional evidence on ethnic differences in cardiovascular reactivity in Singapore.

Replication Study Confirms the Association of the Common rs1800629 Variant of the TNFα Gene with Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Susceptibility in the Han Chinese Population.

PubMed

Jin, Xiaona; Zhou, Baozhen; Zhang, Dangfeng

2018-04-01

Previous studies have suggested that tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), encoded by the TNFα gene, can increase osteoclast formation, and that specific alleles of the TNFα gene are associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis susceptibility in some populations; however, the exact molecular mechanism remains unknown. To investigate the potential association of nineteen polymorphisms of the TNFα gene with postmenopausal osteoporosis and bone mineral density (BMD) traits in a sample of 1288 postmenopausal women from the Han Chinese population. A total of 437 postmenopausal osteoporosis patients and 851 unrelated age-matched healthy women were recruited to the study. Single marker and haplotype based analyses were conducted to evaluate the association of nineteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in both patient and control groups. The SNP rs1800629 was identified as being highly significantly associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis after accounting for age and body mass index (p = 0.000087). In addition, the GG genotype of this SNP was associated with significantly lower measures of femoral neck BMD and lumbar spine BMD. Moreover, haplotype based analyses suggested significant association signals between the haplotype block, including rs1800629 with postmenopausal osteoporosis (p < 0.001). We have shown that a TNFα gene polymorphism, rs1800629, is highly significantly associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis and BMD in the female Han Chinese population. Additional sequencing-based studies are needed to investigate the genetic architecture of this genomic region and its relationship with osteoporosis-related phenotypes.

PAX3 mutations and clinical characteristics in Chinese patients with Waardenburg syndrome type 1.

PubMed

Wang, Juan; Li, Shiqiang; Xiao, Xueshan; Wang, Panfeng; Guo, Xiangming; Zhang, Qingjiong

2010-06-22

To detect paired box gene 3 (PAX3) mutations and associated phenotypes in Chinese patients with Waardenburg syndrome type 1 (WS1). Five unrelated families with suspected WS1 were selected from our Genomic DNA Repository for Hereditary Eye Diseases. The coding and adjacent intronic regions of PAX3 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and the amplicons were then analyzed by cycle sequencing. Variations detected were further evaluated in available family members as well as one hundred controls with heteroduplex-single strand conformational polymorphism (heteroduplex-SSCP) analysis and/or clone sequencing. Three novel and two known mutations in PAX3 were detected in five patients, respectively: c.567_586+17del (p.Asp189_Gln505delinsGluGlyGlyAlaLeuAlaGly), c.456_459dupTTCC (p.Ile154PhefsX162), c.795_800delCTGGTT (p.Trp266_Phe267del), c.799T>A (p.Phe267Ile), and c.667C>T (p.Arg223X). Two novel mutations proved to be de novo as their parents did not carry the mutations. All five patients with PAX3 mutations had dystopia canthorum and different iris color and fundi between their two eyes. However, none had white forelock, skin hypopigmentation, and deafness. Our findings expand the frequency and spectrum of PAX3 mutations and ethnic-related phenotypes in Chinese patients with WS1. De novo mutations in PAX3 have not been reported before.

PAX3 mutations and clinical characteristics in Chinese patients with Waardenburg syndrome type 1

PubMed Central

Wang, Juan; Li, Shiqiang; Xiao, Xueshan; Wang, Panfeng; Guo, Xiangming

2010-01-01

Purpose To detect paired box gene 3 (PAX3) mutations and associated phenotypes in Chinese patients with Waardenburg syndrome type 1 (WS1). Methods Five unrelated families with suspected WS1 were selected from our Genomic DNA Repository for Hereditary Eye Diseases. The coding and adjacent intronic regions of PAX3 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and the amplicons were then analyzed by cycle sequencing. Variations detected were further evaluated in available family members as well as one hundred controls with heteroduplex-single strand conformational polymorphism (heteroduplex-SSCP) analysis and/or clone sequencing. Results Three novel and two known mutations in PAX3 were detected in five patients, respectively: c.567_586+17del (p.Asp189_Gln505delinsGluGlyGlyAlaLeuAlaGly), c.456_459dupTTCC (p.Ile154PhefsX162), c.795_800delCTGGTT (p.Trp266_Phe267del), c.799T>A (p.Phe267Ile), and c.667C>T (p.Arg223X). Two novel mutations proved to be de novo as their parents did not carry the mutations. All five patients with PAX3 mutations had dystopia canthorum and different iris color and fundi between their two eyes. However, none had white forelock, skin hypopigmentation, and deafness. Conclusions Our findings expand the frequency and spectrum of PAX3 mutations and ethnic-related phenotypes in Chinese patients with WS1. De novo mutations in PAX3 have not been reported before. PMID:20664692

Unrelated business income tax: an update.

PubMed

Fama, A J

1984-02-01

To meet spiraling costs, tax-exempt hospitals increasingly are operating businesses unrelated to direct patient care. Knowing which activities may be open to challenge by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is essential to avoid the unrelated business income (UBI) tax. Three criteria must be met for an activity to be taxable as UBI: It must constitute a trade or business; It must be regularly carried on; and It must be unrelated to the organization's exempt purpose. The Internal Revenue Code and IRS rulings clearly exclude the following areas from UBI taxation: Activities performed by unpaid volunteers (e.g., hospital auxiliaries' fund-raising dinners and bazaars and the operation of thrift stores); Operations conducted for the convenience of the organization's members, students, patients, or employees (e.g., gift shops, cafeterias, coffee shops, parking lots, lounges, vending machines, pharmaceutical sales to inpatients and emergency room outpatients, and research activities for students' benefit; The sale of merchandise that has been received by gift (e.g., flea markets, baked goods sales, book sales, and rummage sales); Investment income such as dividends, interest, annuities, royalties, certain rents, and capital gains from the sale of investment assets; Gifts or contributions made directly to the facility; and Bingo games that are conducted commercially. Areas which may be subject to UBI taxation, or in which there have been controversial or contradictory court rulings, include: Pharmaceutical sales to the public or private physicians' patients; and Laboratory services provided to private physicians for treating their patients. IRS private letter rulings, though not precedential, have excluded from UBI taxation the x-ray income from a hospital's branch facility and rental income from property leased for use as a clinic or medical office building that is substantially related to the hospital's exempt functions. Private letter rulings have subjected to UBI taxation the income for a professional standards review organization's private review activities and debt-financed income from property that is not substantially related to the organization's exempt purpose.

A Bootstrapped Approach to Multilingual Text Stream Parsing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Londhe, Nikhil

2017-01-01

The ubiquitous hashtag has disruptively transformed how news stories are reported and shared across social media networks. Often, such text streams are massively multilingual with 50 different languages on an average and contain a combination of subjective user opinion, objective evolving information about the story and unrelated spam. This is in…

Young Infants Prefer Prosocial to Antisocial Others

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamlin, J. Kiley; Wynn, Karen

2011-01-01

The current study replicates and extends the finding (Hamlin, Wynn & Bloom, 2007) that infants prefer individuals who act prosocially toward unrelated third parties over those who act antisocially. Using different stimuli from those used by Hamlin et al. (2007), somewhat younger subjects, and 2 additional social scenarios, we replicated the…

Distinct genotype distribution and haplotype profiles in MDR1 gene among Chinese Han, Bai, Wa and Tibetan ethnic groups.

PubMed

Lai, Yong; Huang, Min; Li, Hui; Wang, Xue-Ding; Li, Jia-Li

2012-11-01

P-Glycoprotein (P-gp, encoded by MDR1 gene) plays an important role in determining bioavailability and pharmacologic effects of many drugs. There is increasing evidence that P-gp activity may be genetically determined. In this study, we investigated the genotype distribution and the haplotype profiles of MDR1 gene in Chinese Han, Bai, Wa and Tibetan subjects. Much lower frequencies of the 1236T allele and the 2677T allele were found in Wa subjects than those in other three ethnic groups, while the 2677A allele was found about 6-fold more frequently in Han subjects than in subjects of other three ethnic groups. The Han, Bai and Tibetan subjects share the same three predominant haplotypes (T-T-T, T-G-C and C-G-C), and T-T-T is the highest and accounts for more than one third of the number of haplotypes in the subjects from each ethnic group. However, T-T-T was less common than T-G-C, T-G-T and C-G-C and occurring at only 13.8% in Wa subjects, furthermore, higher frequencies of T-G-T, C-T-C, C-G-T and C-T-T were observed in Wa subjects compared to those in other three ethnic groups. Frequencies of C-A-C and T-A-C in Han subjects were higher than those in other three ethnic groups. The findings of this study will be of some relevance in predicting MDR1 phenotype and pharmacokinetics as well as pharmacodynamic effects of many commonly used drugs that are P-gp substrates in these four Chinese ethnic groups.

The Temporal Courses of Phonological and Orthographic Encoding in Handwritten Production in Chinese: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Zhang, Qingfang; Wang, Cheng

2016-01-01

A central issue in written production concerns how phonological codes influence the output of orthographic codes. We used a picture-word interference paradigm combined with the event-related potential technique to investigate the temporal courses of phonological and orthographic activation and their interplay in Chinese writing. Distractors were orthographically related, phonologically related, orthographically plus phonologically related, or unrelated to picture names. The behavioral results replicated the classic facilitation effect for all three types of relatedness. The ERP results indicated an orthographic effect in the time window of 370–500 ms (onset latency: 370 ms), a phonological effect in the time window of 460–500 ms (onset latency: 464 ms), and an additive pattern of both effects in both time windows, thus indicating that orthographic codes were accessed earlier than, and independent of, phonological codes in written production. The orthographic activation originates from the semantic system, whereas the phonological effect results from the activation spreading from the orthographic lexicon to the phonological lexicon. These findings substantially strengthen the existing evidence that shows that access to orthographic codes is not mediated by phonological information, and they provide important support for the orthographic autonomy hypothesis. PMID:27605911

Primary phonological planning units in spoken word production are language-specific: Evidence from an ERP study.

PubMed

Wang, Jie; Wong, Andus Wing-Kuen; Wang, Suiping; Chen, Hsuan-Chih

2017-07-19

It is widely acknowledged in Germanic languages that segments are the primary planning units at the phonological encoding stage of spoken word production. Mixed results, however, have been found in Chinese, and it is still unclear what roles syllables and segments play in planning Chinese spoken word production. In the current study, participants were asked to first prepare and later produce disyllabic Mandarin words upon picture prompts and a response cue while electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded. Each two consecutive pictures implicitly formed a pair of prime and target, whose names shared the same word-initial atonal syllable or the same word-initial segments, or were unrelated in the control conditions. Only syllable repetition induced significant effects on event-related brain potentials (ERPs) after target onset: a widely distributed positivity in the 200- to 400-ms interval and an anterior positivity in the 400- to 600-ms interval. We interpret these to reflect syllable-size representations at the phonological encoding and phonetic encoding stages. Our results provide the first electrophysiological evidence for the distinct role of syllables in producing Mandarin spoken words, supporting a language specificity hypothesis about the primary phonological units in spoken word production.

Inner and inter population structure construction of Chinese Jiangsu Han population based on Y23 STR system

PubMed Central

Yang, Chun; Zhang, Jianqiu

2017-01-01

In this study, we analyzed the genetic polymorphisms of 23 Y-STR loci from PowerPlex® Y23 system in 916 unrelated healthy male individuals from Chinese Jiangsu Han, and observed 912 different haplotypes including 908 unique haplotypes and 4 duplicate haplotypes. The haplotype diversity reached 0.99999 and the discrimination capacity and match probability were 0.9956 and 0.0011, respectively. The gene diversity values ranged from 0.3942 at DYS438 to 0.9607 at DYS385a/b. Population differentiation within 10 Jiangsu Han subpopulations were evaluated by RST values and visualized in Neighbor-Joining trees and Multi-Dimensional Scaling plots as well as population relationships between the Jiangsu Han population and other 18 Eastern Asian populations. Such results indicated that the 23 Y-STR loci were highly polymorphic in Jiangsu Han population and played crucial roles in forensic application as well as population genetics. For the first time, we reported the genetic diversity of male lineages in Jiangsu Han population at a high-resolution level of 23 Y-STR set and consequently contributed to familial searching, offender tracking, and anthropology analysis of Jiangsu Han population. PMID:28704439

Clinical and genetic analyses reveal novel pathogenic ABCA4 mutations in Stargardt disease families

PubMed Central

Lin, Bing; Cai, Xue-Bi; Zheng, Zhi-Li; Huang, Xiu-Feng; Liu, Xiao-Ling; Qu, Jia; Jin, Zi-Bing

2016-01-01

Stargardt disease (STGD1) is a juvenile macular degeneration predominantly inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, characterized by decreased central vision in the first 2 decades of life. The condition has a genetic basis due to mutation in the ABCA4 gene, and arises from the deposition of lipofuscin-like substance in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) with secondary photoreceptor cell death. In this study, we describe the clinical and genetic features of Stargardt patients from four unrelated Chinese cohorts. The targeted exome sequencing (TES) was carried out in four clinically confirmed patients and their family members using a gene panel comprising 164 known causative inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) genes. Genetic analysis revealed eight ABCA4 mutations in all of the four pedigrees, including six mutations in coding exons and two mutations in adjacent intronic areas. All the affected individuals showed typical manifestations consistent with the disease phenotype. We disclose two novel ABCA4 mutations in Chinese patients with STGD disease, which will expand the existing spectrum of disease-causing variants and will further aid in the future mutation screening and genetic counseling, as well as in the understanding of phenotypic and genotypic correlations. PMID:27739528

Does network topology influence systemic risk contribution? A perspective from the industry indices in Chinese stock market.

PubMed

Long, Haiming; Zhang, Ji; Tang, Nengyu

2017-01-01

This study considers the effect of an industry's network topology on its systemic risk contribution to the stock market using data from the CSI 300 two-tier industry indices from the Chinese stock market. We first measure industry's conditional-value-at-risk (CoVaR) and the systemic risk contribution (ΔCoVaR) using the fitted time-varying t-copula function. The network of the stock industry is established based on dynamic conditional correlations with the minimum spanning tree. Then, we investigate the connection characteristics and topology of the network. Finally, we utilize seemingly unrelated regression estimation (SUR) of panel data to analyze the relationship between network topology of the stock industry and the industry's systemic risk contribution. The results show that the systemic risk contribution of small-scale industries such as real estate, food and beverage, software services, and durable goods and clothing, is higher than that of large-scale industries, such as banking, insurance and energy. Industries with large betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and clustering coefficient and small node occupancy layer are associated with greater systemic risk contribution. In addition, further analysis using a threshold model confirms that the results are robust.

The Impact of Genetic Variants for Different Physiological Characterization of Type 2 Diabetes Loci on Gestational Insulin Signaling in Nondiabetic Pregnant Chinese Women.

PubMed

Liao, Shunyao; Liu, Yunqiang; Chen, Xiaojuan; Tan, Yuande; Mei, Jie; Song, Wenzhong; Gan, Lu; Wang, Hailian; Yin, Shi; Dong, Xianjue; Chi, Shu; Deng, Shaoping

2015-11-01

We investigate the impact of genetic variants on transiently upregulated gestational insulin signaling. We recruited 1152 unrelated nondiabetic pregnant Han Chinese women (age 28.5 ± 4.1 years; body mass index [BMI] 21.4 ± 2.6 kg/m(2)) and gave them oral glucose tolerance tests. Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, indices of insulin disposition, early-phase insulin release, fasting state, and 0 to 120 minute's proinsulin to insulin conversion were used to dissect insulin physiological characterization. Several variants related to β-cell function were genotyped. The genetic impacts were analyzed using logistic regression under an additive model. By adjusting for maternal age, BMI, and the related interactions, the genetic variants in ABCC8, CDKAL1, CDKN2A, HNF1B, KCNJ11, and MTNR1B were detected to impact gestational insulin signaling through heterogeneous mechanisms; however, compared with that in nonpregnant metabolism, the genetic effects seem to be eminently and heavily influenced by maternal age and BMI, indicating possible particular mechanisms underlying gestational metabolism and diabetic pathogenesis. © The Author(s) 2015.

Genetic polymorphism analyses of a novel panel of 19 X-STR loci in the Chinese Uygur ethnic minority* #

PubMed Central

Guo, Yu-xin; Chen, Jian-gang; Wang, Yan; Yan, Jiang-wei; Chen, Jing; Yao, Tian-hua; Zhang, Li-ping; Yang, Guang; Meng, Hao-tian; Zhang, Yu-dang; Mei, Ting; Liu, Yao-shun; Dong, Qian; Zhu, Bo-feng

2016-01-01

The population genetic data and forensic parameters of 19 X-chromosome short tandem repeat (X-STR) loci in Chinese Uygur ethnic minority are presented. These loci were detected in a sample of 233 (94 males and 139 females) unrelated healthy individuals. We observed 238 alleles at the 19 X-STR loci, with the corresponding gene frequencies spanning the range from 0.0021 to 0.5644. After Bonferroni correction (P>0.0026), there were no significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The cumulative power of discrimination in females and males, and the probability of exclusion of the 19 X-STR loci were 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 998 091, 0.999 999 999 999 966, and 0.999 999 986 35, respectively. The cumulative mean exclusion chance was 0.999 999 992 849 in deficiency cases, 0.999 999 999 999 628 in normal trios, and 0.999 999 998 722 in duo cases. The high value of the forensic parameters mentioned above revealed that the novel panel of 19 loci had important values for forensic applications in the Uygur group. PMID:27143264

Object-based attention in Chinese readers of Chinese words: beyond Gestalt principles.

PubMed

Li, Xingshan; Logan, Gordon D

2008-10-01

Most object-based attention studies use objects defined bottom-up by Gestalt principles. In the present study, we defined objects top-down, using Chinese words that were seen as objects by skilled readers of Chinese. Using a spatial cuing paradigm, we found that a target character was detected faster if it was in the same word as the cued character than if it was in a different word. Because there were no bottom-up factors that distinguished the words, these results showed that objects defined by subjects' knowledge--in this case, lexical information--can also constrain the deployment of attention.

Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Migrant Adolescents: Collective and Personal Self-esteem As Mediators

PubMed Central

Jia, Xuji; Liu, Xia; Shi, Baoguo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to examine whether collective and personal self-esteem serve as mediators in the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents. Six hundred and ninety-two adolescents completed a perceived discrimination scale, a collective self-esteem scale, a personal self-esteem scale, and a subjective well-being scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The analysis indicated that both collective and personal self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. The final model also revealed a significant path from perceived discrimination through collective and personal self-esteem to subjective well-being. These findings contribute to the understanding of the complicated relationships among perceived discrimination, collective and personal self-esteem, and subjective well-being. The findings suggest that collective and personal self-esteem are possible targets for interventions aimed at improving subjective well-being. Programs to nurture both the personal and collective self-esteem of migrant adolescents may help to weaken the negative relationships between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. PMID:28769850

Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Migrant Adolescents: Collective and Personal Self-esteem As Mediators.

PubMed

Jia, Xuji; Liu, Xia; Shi, Baoguo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to examine whether collective and personal self-esteem serve as mediators in the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents. Six hundred and ninety-two adolescents completed a perceived discrimination scale, a collective self-esteem scale, a personal self-esteem scale, and a subjective well-being scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The analysis indicated that both collective and personal self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. The final model also revealed a significant path from perceived discrimination through collective and personal self-esteem to subjective well-being. These findings contribute to the understanding of the complicated relationships among perceived discrimination, collective and personal self-esteem, and subjective well-being. The findings suggest that collective and personal self-esteem are possible targets for interventions aimed at improving subjective well-being. Programs to nurture both the personal and collective self-esteem of migrant adolescents may help to weaken the negative relationships between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being.

Correlation between chronological age, cervical vertebral maturation and Fishman's skeletal maturity indicators in southern Chinese.

PubMed

Alkhal, Hessa Abdulla; Wong, Ricky W K; Rabie, A Bakr M

2008-07-01

To investigate the correlation between chronological age, cervical vertebral maturation (CVM), and Fishman's hand-wrist skeletal maturity indicators in southern Chinese. Four hundred contemporary hand-wrist and lateral cephalometric radiographs of southern Chinese subjects were randomly selected and analyzed. The female subjects were between 10 and 15 years of age, and the male subjects were between 12 and 17 years of age; all subjects were within the circumpubertal period. The CVM was assessed using the method developed by Baccetti and coworkers, but the hand-wrist maturation was assessed using the method developed by Fishman. These two methods and the chronological age were correlated using the Spearman rank correlation analysis. The CVM was significantly correlated with the hand-wrist skeletal age (Spearman r male = 0.9206, female = 0.9363). All patients in the cervical maturation stage (CS3) of CVM were discovered to be in the skeletal maturational indicator (SMI2 or SMI3) stages of hand-wrist maturation (HWM), which was around the peak of the growth spurt. Low correlations were found between the CVM and chronological age (male r = 0.7577; female r = 0.7877) and between the HWM and chronological age (male r = 0.7492; female r = 0.7758). CVM is a valid indicator of skeletal growth during the circumpubertal and has a high correlation with the HWM for the southern Chinese population. However, the low correlations found between the chronological age and both CVM and HWM showed that the chronological age was not suitable to measure skeletal maturity.

A comparison of beliefs about exercise during pregnancy between Chinese and Australian pregnant women.

PubMed

Guelfi, Kym J; Wang, Chen; Dimmock, James A; Jackson, Ben; Newnham, John P; Yang, Huixia

2015-12-22

Despite the well-established benefits of exercise during pregnancy, many women remain inactive. This may be related, in part, to women's beliefs about exercise in pregnancy, which are likely influenced by cultural background. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control toward exercise, together with current levels of exercise participation between Chinese and Australian women during pregnancy. A second aim was to determine the extent to which these factors predict intention to exercise within a Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. Pregnant women (22 ± 2 weeks of gestation) living in China (n = 240) and Australia (n = 215) completed a questionnaire designed to assess a) maternal beliefs regarding the importance of exercise in relation to other health behaviours, b) attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions toward exercise, and c) current levels of physical activity. One-way analyses of variance were used to compare the demographics, maternal beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions to exercise, and current physical activity levels between the Chinese and Australian samples. Structural equation modelling was used to determine which factors predicted intention to exercise in the two samples. Australian women reported higher levels of current exercise and intentions to exercise in the next four weeks of pregnancy compared with Chinese women. These observations were associated with higher instrumental attitudes, ratings of subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control toward exercise in the Australian women. Instrumental attitudes and perceived behavioural control predicted intention to exercise in the Australian women, while perceived behavioural control was the only predictor of intentions to exercise in the Chinese sample. Beliefs, attitudes, barriers and intentions towards exercise during pregnancy differ between cultures. Understanding these differences may assist in the design of exercise interventions to maximise exercise adherence and lifelong physical activity patterns.

Development and validation of the interview version of the Hong Kong Chinese WHOQOL-BREF.

PubMed

Leung, K F; Wong, W W; Tay, M S M; Chu, M M L; Ng, S S W

2005-06-01

The Hong Kong Chinese version of the WHOQOL-BREF was designed as a self-administered questionnaire and has limitations in clinical application on subjects who have limitations in reading or writing. An interview version is therefore needed to avoid sampling biases in clinical studies. Since there are significant differences in the written Chinese and spoken Cantonese, which is a dialect commonly spoken among people in Hong Kong, and adaptation process for converting the written Chinese into spoken Cantonese was necessary. The interview version was designed to allow administration in both face-to-face interview and telephone interview mode. Three members of the research team translated the formal written Chinese in the self-administered version of the WHOQOL-BREF(HK) into colloquial Cantonese separately. Brief notes extracted from the facet definitions of the WHOQOL-100 were added in brackets after some questions to further explain the intention of the questions. Two series of focus groups were conducted and subsequently the field test version was produced. 329 subjects were recruited by convenient sampling method for the field test. The interview version and the self-administered version was found equivalent. The ICC values of the domain scores ranged from 0.73 in the environment domain to 0.83 in the psychological domain. The face-to-face interview and telephone interview mode of administration were also found equivalent. The ICC for the domain scores ranged from 0.76 in the social interaction domain to 0.84 in the psychological domain. The other psychometric properties of the interview version were found comparable to the self-administered version. The self-administered and the interview version of the WHOQOL-BREF are regarded as identical in group comparison. The authors advise that it is acceptable to use different versions on different subjects in the same study, provided that the same version is applied on the same subject throughout the study.

Novel mutations of CYP3A4 in Chinese.

PubMed

Hsieh, K P; Lin, Y Y; Cheng, C L; Lai, M L; Lin, M S; Siest, J P; Huang, J D

2001-03-01

Human cytochrome P450 3A4 is a major P450 enzyme in the liver and gastrointestinal tract. It plays important roles in the metabolism of a wide variety of drugs, some endogenous steroids, and harmful environmental contaminants. CYP3A4 exhibits a remarkable interindividual activity variation as high as 20-fold. To investigate whether the interindividual variation in CYP3A4 levels can be partly explained by genetic polymorphism, we analyzed DNA samples from 102 Chinese subjects by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis for novel point mutation in the CYP3A4 coding sequence and promoter region. Using PCR and directed sequencing method to establish the complete intron sequence of CYP3A4 from leukocytes, the complete genomic sequence from exon 1 through 13 of CYP3A4 was determined and published in the GenBank database (accession no. AF209389). CYP3A4-specific primers were designed accordingly. After PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism and restriction fragment length polymorphism screening, we found three novel mutations; two are point mutations and one is insertion. The first variant allele (CYP3A4*4), an Ile118Val change, was found in 3 of 102 Chinese subjects. The next allele (CYP3A4*5), which causes a Pro218Arg amino acid change, was found in 2 of 102 subjects. We found an insertion in A(17776), designated as CYP3A4*6, which causes frame shift and an early stop codon in exon 9, in one heterozygous subject. We also investigated the CYP3A4 activity in these mutant subjects by measuring the morning spot urinary 6beta-hydroxycortisol to free cortisol ratio with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. When compared with healthy Chinese population data, the 6beta-hydroxycortisol to free cortisol ratio data suggested that these alleles (CYP3A4*4, CYP3A4*5, and CYP3A4*6) may decrease the CYP3A4 activity. Incidences of these mutations in Chinese subjects are rare. The prevalence of these point mutations in other ethnic groups and its effect on the metabolic activity of CYP3A4 remain to be further evaluated.

An Integrated Curriculum for Kindergarten/First Grade Children Utilizing Project Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Yuehkuei

An integrated curriculum allows children's learning in all traditional subject areas to occur primarily through projects that the teachers plan and that reflect children's interests. This paper presents a curriculum web on Chinese festivals, specifically, the Chinese New Year, for kindergarten and first grade levels. The paper first presents a…

Young Chinese Australians' Subjectivities of "Health" and "(Un)Healthy Bodies"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pang, Bonnie; Alfrey, Laura; Varea, Valeria

2016-01-01

Young people with English as an Additional Language/Dialect backgrounds are often identified in public health messages and popular media as "bodies at risk" because they do not conform to the health regimens of contemporary Western societies. With increasing numbers of Chinese students in Australian schools, it is necessary to advance…

Pronunciation Problems of Chinese Learners of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Feifei

2013-01-01

Increasingly, Chinese students are pursuing their studies abroad in English-speaking countries, such as the USA, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite the fact that they have studied English as a compulsory subject for a number of years and have passed multiple English proficiency tests, many still find it is difficult to communicate well in…

Educational Discipline, Ritual Governing, and Chinese Exemplary Society: Why China's Curriculum Reform Remains a Difficult Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Jinting

2016-01-01

This article explores the exam-oriented, ritualistic, and exemplary Chinese education system through a double-layered historical and ethnographic analysis. Firstly, I examine three aspects of the educational governing complex--exemplarity, ritual, and examination. Historically, education has been a key locus to craft exemplary subjects through…

Chinese Opportunities in Career Education (Project CHOICE) 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Lin, Jan C.

Project CHOICE was designed to offer Chinese-speaking students of limited English proficiency (LEP) the opportunity to study business, technical, and computer subjects at Seward Park, and Washington Irving High Schools; subsequently, Norman Thomas High School was substituted for the latter school. Students received instruction in English as a…

Self-Esteem of American and Chinese Children: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiu, Lian-Hwang

The construct of self-esteem has received considerable attention in recent years. Self-esteem is defined as a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in attitudes that individuals hold for themselves. This study compared self-esteem of American and Chinese children. Subjects included 446 American elementary school students from the…

The Effects of Change in Spousal Power on Intimate Partner Violence among Chinese Immigrants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Xiaochun; Keat, Jane E.

2010-01-01

This study explored how changes in power relations within couples after immigrating from more patriarchal societies contribute to intimate partner violence (IPV). Both subjective decision-making power and objective power bases were examined in Chinese immigrant couples. Batterers and nonviolent men both experienced loss of decision-making power in…

The role of size of input box, location of input box, input method and display size in Chinese handwriting performance and preference on mobile devices.

PubMed

Chen, Zhe; Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick

2017-03-01

This study presented two experiments on Chinese handwriting performance (time, accuracy, the number of protruding strokes and number of rewritings) and subjective ratings (mental workload, satisfaction, and preference) on mobile devices. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of size of the input box, input method and display size on Chinese handwriting performance and preference. It was indicated that the optimal input sizes were 30.8 × 30.8 mm, 46.6 × 46.6 mm, 58.9 × 58.9 mm and 84.6 × 84.6 mm for devices with 3.5-inch, 5.5-inch, 7.0-inch and 9.7-inch display sizes, respectively. Experiment 2 proved the significant effects of location of the input box, input method and display size on Chinese handwriting performance and subjective ratings. It was suggested that the optimal location was central regardless of display size and input method. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Both obesity and lack of physical activity are associated with a less favorable health-related quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese.

PubMed

Ko, Gary T C

2006-01-01

To investigate the relationships among obesity, physical activity and quality of life (QOL) in Hong Kong Chinese adults. A cross-sectional study involving 876 subjects (32.9% men and 67.1% women, mean age: 34.8 +/- 7.9 years) from a nonmanual working population. The Medical Outcome Study Short Form 36 (SF-36, Chinese version) was used for health-related QOL. Level of physical activity was assessed with self-reported questionnaire. Obesity was defined as body mass index > or = 25 kg/m2. 31% of men and 9% of women were obese (overall 16.0%). Obese subjects had lower scores on some of the SF-36 subscales. As the level of physical activity decreased, mean scores on most SF-36 subscales also progressively decreased. Obese women who had no regular physical activity had lower scores on some QOL subscales than obese women who had some regular physical activity. Among this Hong Kong Chinese sample, both obesity and lack of physical activity are associated with lower scores on QOL.

GeoSegmenter: A statistically learned Chinese word segmenter for the geoscience domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Lan; Du, Youfu; Chen, Gongyang

2015-03-01

Unlike English, the Chinese language has no space between words. Segmenting texts into words, known as the Chinese word segmentation (CWS) problem, thus becomes a fundamental issue for processing Chinese documents and the first step in many text mining applications, including information retrieval, machine translation and knowledge acquisition. However, for the geoscience subject domain, the CWS problem remains unsolved. Although a generic segmenter can be applied to process geoscience documents, they lack the domain specific knowledge and consequently their segmentation accuracy drops dramatically. This motivated us to develop a segmenter specifically for the geoscience subject domain: the GeoSegmenter. We first proposed a generic two-step framework for domain specific CWS. Following this framework, we built GeoSegmenter using conditional random fields, a principled statistical framework for sequence learning. Specifically, GeoSegmenter first identifies general terms by using a generic baseline segmenter. Then it recognises geoscience terms by learning and applying a model that can transform the initial segmentation into the goal segmentation. Empirical experimental results on geoscience documents and benchmark datasets showed that GeoSegmenter could effectively recognise both geoscience terms and general terms.

Effects of exercise dependence on psychological health of Chinese college students.

PubMed

Li, Menglong; Nie, Jingsong; Ren, Yujia

2015-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise dependence on the psychological health of Chinese college students. A total of 1601 college students from three universities in Hunan, China, were selected as research subjects. Several measurement scales, including the Exercise Addiction Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Subjective Well-being Scale, were used to survey the psychological health problem of these students and to analyze the effects of exercise dependence on their psychological health. Exercise dependence, based on the structural equation model analysis, can positively influence state anxiety (P<0.05), depression (P<0.05), and subjective well-being (P<0.05) of Chinese students. By contrast, exercise dependence negatively influences students' self-satisfaction (P<0.05), social behavior (P<0.05), and vigor (P<0.05). Exercise dependence adversely affects the psychological health of college students. Further research using multi-dimensional exercise addiction scales should be conducted to identify all the negative effects of exercise addiction factors on psychological health.

Comparative research on response stereotypes for daily operation tasks of Chinese and American engineering students.

PubMed

Yu, Rui-Feng; Chan, Alan H S

2004-02-01

A group of Mainland Chinese engineering students were asked to respond to 12 questions by indicating their design conventions and expectations about operations, directions-of-motion, and descriptions of movement for items such as doors, keys, taps, and knobs. Chi-square tests demonstrated strong response stereotypes for tasks of all 12 questions. A comparison of the stereotype strengths found here with that of Hong Kong Chinese and American engineering students reported earlier indicated that stereotype strengths of engineering students from the three regions were generally different. For some cases stereotype characteristics of two regions were more alike than the other, and also for some subjects in the three regions performed similarly. The Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese were more alike in making their choices on questions of conceptual compatibility, while more consistent preferences on movement compatibility and spatial compatibility were noted between the Mainland Chinese and American students than Hong Kong Chinese.

Designing Peptide-Based HIV Vaccine for Chinese

PubMed Central

Fan, Xiaojuan

2014-01-01

CD4+ T cells are central to the induction and maintenance of CD8+ T cell and antibody-producing B cell responses, and the latter are essential for the protection against disease in subjects with HIV infection. How to elicit HIV-specific CD4+ T cell responses in a given population using vaccines is one of the major areas of current HIV vaccine research. To design vaccine that targets specifically Chinese, we assembled a database that is comprised of sequences from 821 Chinese HIV isolates and 46 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR alleles identified in Chinese population. We then predicted 20 potential HIV epitopes using bioinformatics approaches. The combination of these 20 epitopes has a theoretical coverage of 98.1% of the population for both the prevalent HIV genotypes and also Chinese HLA-DR types. We suggest that testing this vaccine experimentally will facilitate the development of a CD4+ T cell vaccine especially catered for Chinese. PMID:25136573

Designing peptide-based HIV vaccine for Chinese.

PubMed

Shu, Jiayi; Fan, Xiaojuan; Ping, Jie; Jin, Xia; Hao, Pei

2014-01-01

CD4+ T cells are central to the induction and maintenance of CD8+ T cell and antibody-producing B cell responses, and the latter are essential for the protection against disease in subjects with HIV infection. How to elicit HIV-specific CD4+ T cell responses in a given population using vaccines is one of the major areas of current HIV vaccine research. To design vaccine that targets specifically Chinese, we assembled a database that is comprised of sequences from 821 Chinese HIV isolates and 46 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR alleles identified in Chinese population. We then predicted 20 potential HIV epitopes using bioinformatics approaches. The combination of these 20 epitopes has a theoretical coverage of 98.1% of the population for both the prevalent HIV genotypes and also Chinese HLA-DR types. We suggest that testing this vaccine experimentally will facilitate the development of a CD4+ T cell vaccine especially catered for Chinese.

Personal Conflict Impairs Performance on an Unrelated Self-Control Task: Lingering Costs of Uncertainty and Conflict.

PubMed

Alquist, Jessica L; Baumeister, Roy F; McGregor, Ian; Core, Tammy J; Benjamin, Ilil; Tice, Dianne M

2018-01-01

People have the ability to make important choices in their lives, but deliberating about these choices can have costs. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that writing about conflicted personal goals and values (conflict condition) would impair self-control on an unrelated subsequent task as compared to writing about clear personal goals and values (clarity condition). Personal conflict activates the behavioral inhibition system (BIS; Hirsh, Mar, & Peterson, 2012), which may make it harder for participants to successfully execute self-control. In this large ( N =337), pre-registered study participants in the conflict condition performed worse on anagrams than participants in the clarity condition, and the effect of condition on anagram performance was mediated by a subjective uncertainty measure of BIS activation. This suggests that BIS activation leads to poor self-control. Moreover, given that conflict is inherent in the exercise of self-control, results point to BIS activation as a mechanism for why initial acts of self-control impair self-control on subsequent, unrelated tasks.

Food sharing is linked to urinary oxytocin levels and bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

PubMed Central

Wittig, Roman M.; Crockford, Catherine; Deschner, Tobias; Langergraber, Kevin E.; Ziegler, Toni E.; Zuberbühler, Klaus

2014-01-01

Humans excel in cooperative exchanges between unrelated individuals. Although this trait is fundamental to the success of our species, its evolution and mechanisms are poorly understood. Other social mammals also build long-term cooperative relationships between non-kin, and recent evidence shows that oxytocin, a hormone involved in parent–offspring bonding, is likely to facilitate non-kin as well as kin bonds. In a population of wild chimpanzees, we measured urinary oxytocin levels following a rare cooperative event—food sharing. Subjects showed higher urinary oxytocin levels after single food-sharing events compared with other types of social feeding, irrespective of previous social bond levels. Also, urinary oxytocin levels following food sharing were higher than following grooming, another cooperative behaviour. Therefore, food sharing in chimpanzees may play a key role in social bonding under the influence of oxytocin. We propose that food-sharing events co-opt neurobiological mechanisms evolved to support mother–infant bonding during lactation bouts, and may act as facilitators of bonding and cooperation between unrelated individuals via the oxytocinergic system across social mammals. PMID:24430853

Non-Heme Iron Absorption and Utilization from Typical Whole Chinese Diets in Young Chinese Urban Men Measured by a Double-Labeled Stable Isotope Technique

PubMed Central

Yang, Lichen; Zhang, Yuhui; Wang, Jun; Huang, Zhengwu; Gou, Lingyan; Wang, Zhilin; Ren, Tongxiang; Piao, Jianhua; Yang, Xiaoguang

2016-01-01

Background This study was to observe the non-heme iron absorption and biological utilization from typical whole Chinese diets in young Chinese healthy urban men, and to observe if the iron absorption and utilization could be affected by the staple food patterns of Southern and Northern China. Materials and Methods Twenty-two young urban men aged 18–24 years were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups in which the staple food was rice and steamed buns, respectively. Each subject received 3 meals containing approximately 3.25 mg stable 57FeSO4 (the ratio of 57Fe content in breakfast, lunch and dinner was 1:2:2) daily for 2 consecutive days. In addition, approximately 2.4 mg 58FeSO4 was administered intravenously to each subject at 30–60 min after dinner each day. Blood samples were collected from each subject to measure the enrichment of the 57Fe and 58Fe. Fourteen days after the experimental diet, non-heme iron absorption was assessed by measuring 57Fe incorporation into red blood cells, and absorbed iron utilization was determined according to the red blood cell incorporation of intravenously infused 58Fe SO4. Results Non-heme iron intake values overall, and in the rice and steamed buns groups were 12.8 ±2.1, 11.3±1.3 and 14.3±1.5 mg, respectively; the mean 57Fe absorption rates were 11±7%, 13±7%, and 8±4%, respectively; and the mean infused 58Fe utilization rates were 85±8%, 84±6%, and 85±10%, respectively. There was no significantly difference in the iron intakes, and 57Fe absorption and infused 58Fe utilization rates between rice and steamed buns groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion We present the non-heme iron absorption and utilization rates from typical whole Chinese diets among young Chinese healthy urban men, which was not affected by the representative staple food patterns of Southern and Northern China. This study will provide a basis for the setting of Chinese iron DRIs. PMID:27099954

V1 projection zone signals in human macular degeneration depend on task, not stimulus.

PubMed

Masuda, Yoichiro; Dumoulin, Serge O; Nakadomari, Satoshi; Wandell, Brian A

2008-11-01

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess abnormal cortical signals in humans with juvenile macular degeneration (JMD). These signals have been interpreted as indicating large-scale cortical reorganization. Subjects viewed a stimulus passively or performed a task; the task was either related or unrelated to the stimulus. During passive viewing, or while performing tasks unrelated to the stimulus, there were large unresponsive V1 regions. These regions included the foveal projection zone, and we refer to them as the lesion projection zone (LPZ). In 3 JMD subjects, we observed highly significant responses in the LPZ while they performed stimulus-related judgments. In control subjects, where we presented the stimulus only within the peripheral visual field, there was no V1 response in the foveal projection zone in any condition. The difference between JMD and control responses can be explained by hypotheses that have very different implications for V1 reorganization. In controls retinal afferents carry signals indicating the presence of a uniform (zero-contrast) region of the visual field. Deletion of retinal input may 1) spur the formation of new cortical pathways that carry task-dependent signals (reorganization), or 2) unmask preexisting task-dependent cortical signals that ordinarily are suppressed by the deleted signals (no reorganization).

V1 Projection Zone Signals in Human Macular Degeneration Depend on Task, not Stimulus

PubMed Central

Dumoulin, Serge O.; Nakadomari, Satoshi; Wandell, Brian A.

2008-01-01

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess abnormal cortical signals in humans with juvenile macular degeneration (JMD). These signals have been interpreted as indicating large-scale cortical reorganization. Subjects viewed a stimulus passively or performed a task; the task was either related or unrelated to the stimulus. During passive viewing, or while performing tasks unrelated to the stimulus, there were large unresponsive V1 regions. These regions included the foveal projection zone, and we refer to them as the lesion projection zone (LPZ). In 3 JMD subjects, we observed highly significant responses in the LPZ while they performed stimulus-related judgments. In control subjects, where we presented the stimulus only within the peripheral visual field, there was no V1 response in the foveal projection zone in any condition. The difference between JMD and control responses can be explained by hypotheses that have very different implications for V1 reorganization. In controls retinal afferents carry signals indicating the presence of a uniform (zero-contrast) region of the visual field. Deletion of retinal input may 1) spur the formation of new cortical pathways that carry task-dependent signals (reorganization), or 2) unmask preexisting task-dependent cortical signals that ordinarily are suppressed by the deleted signals (no reorganization). PMID:18250083

Lactose (mal)digestion evaluated by the 13C-lactose digestion test.

PubMed

Vonk, R J; Lin, Y; Koetse, H A; Huang, C; Zeng, G; Elzinga, H; Antoine, J; Stellaard, F

2000-02-01

The prevalence of genetically determined lactase nonpersistence is based on the results of the lactose H2 breath test. This test, however, is an indirect test, which might lead to misinterpretation. We determined lactase activity in healthy Chinese and Dutch students using a novel 13C-lactose digestion test. The cut-off value of this test was established in a Chinese population with a homogenous genetic background of lactase nonpersistence and was compared with the results obtained in a Caucasian population. Twenty-five grams of a 13C-lactose solution was consumed by 12 known H2-positive and 5 H2-negative Chinese students and 48 Dutch students and, subsequently, 13C-glucose concentration in plasma and H2 excretion in breath were measured. A similar 13C-glucose response curve was found in all Chinese students. The mean response curve in the Dutch students was more pronounced (P < 0.01). The 1 h (peak) plasma 13C-glucose concentration was the best discriminator between lactose digesting and maldigesting subjects. The cut-off level of 2 mmol L-1 13C-glucose in plasma was defined in the H2-positive Chinese students group. Based on the 13C-glucose response the prevalence of lactose maldigestion in the Dutch subjects was 25%; based on the lactose H2 breath test 17%. Using the 13C-lactose digestion test the results demonstrate a higher prevalence of lactose maldigestion in a Caucasian population than indicated by the results of the H2 breath test. A moderate increase in the plasma 13C-glucose concentration after consumption of 13C-lactose in the young adult Chinese subjects indicates a residual lactase activity in that age group, even when a positive H2 breath test result is obtained. These results indicate that the 13C-glucose concentration in plasma more accurately reflects the small intestinal lactose digestion capacity than the lactose H2 breath test.

Finding Words in a Language that Allows Words without Vowels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El Aissati, Abder; McQueen, James M.; Cutler, Anne

2012-01-01

Across many languages from unrelated families, spoken-word recognition is subject to a constraint whereby potential word candidates must contain a vowel. This constraint minimizes competition from embedded words (e.g., in English, disfavoring "win" in "twin" because "t" cannot be a word). However, the constraint would be counter-productive in…

Conceptual Similarity Promotes Generalization of Higher Order Fear Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunsmoor, Joseph E.; White, Allison J.; LaBar, Kevin S.

2011-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that conceptual similarity promotes generalization of conditioned fear. Using a sensory preconditioning procedure, three groups of subjects learned an association between two cues that were conceptually similar, unrelated, or mismatched. Next, one of the cues was paired with a shock. The other cue was then reintroduced to…

Readability and Its Effects on Reading Rate, Subjective Judgments of Comprehensibility and Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coke, Esther U.

Prose passages read aloud or silently were rated for pronounceability and comprehensibility. The relationships of text-derived readability indices to reading rate, comprehensibility ratings and comprehension test scores were explored. Reading rate in syllables per minute was unrelated to readability. The high correlation between rate in words per…

32 CFR 634.9 - Suspension or revocation of driving or privately owned vehicle registration privileges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TRAFFIC SUPERVISION Driving Privileges § 634.9 Suspension or revocation of driving or privately owned... revocation of installation driving privileges or POV registrations, for lawful reasons unrelated to traffic... occurring on the installation or in areas subject to military traffic supervision. After a review of...

The Impact of Subjective Age and Stigma on Older Persons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Russell A.

1977-01-01

This study investigated the impact of shifts in age identification by older people (N=323) from "middle-aged" to "elderly" within the context of the labeling theory of deviance. Age identification was unrelated to attitudes toward old people and the label "elderly" did not affect self-esteem through any "gate-keeping" process. (Author)

Aging and the Category-Recall Relationship.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Worden, Patricia E.; Meggison, David L.

A sorting-recall procedure was used to investigate how long-term memory in elderly subjects is affected by categorical organization. Sixty-four young adults (average age 20 years) and retirees (average age 67) sorted 48 unrelated words into two, four, six, or eight categories prior to recall. High- and low-frequency lists were tested, a…

Effects of Studying to Music and Post-Study Relaxation on Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etaugh, Claire; Ptasnik, Patricia

1982-01-01

Twenty female and 20 male college students studied a passage in quiet surroundings or while listening to preferred music and then either relaxed or read unrelated material. Reading comprehension of the passage was facilitated by silent study for subjects who seldom listen to music and by poststudy relaxation. (Author)

Comparison of Journal Self-Citation Rates between Some Chinese and Non-Chinese International Journals

PubMed Central

Yang, Zu-Guo; Gao, Feng; Zhang, Chun-Ting

2012-01-01

Background The past 3 decades have witnessed a boost in science development in China; in parallel, more and more Chinese scientific journals are indexed by the Journal Citation Reports issued by Thomson Reuters (SCI). Evaluation of the performance of these Chinese SCI journals is necessary and helpful to improve their quality. This study aimed to evaluate these journals by calculating various journal self-citation rates, which are important parameters influencing a journal impact factor. Methodology/Principal Findings We defined three journal self-citation rates, and studied these rates for 99 Chinese scientific journals, almost exhausting all Chinese SCI journals currently available. Likewise, we selected 99 non-Chinese international (abbreviated as ‘world’) journals, with each being in the same JCR subject category and having similar impact factors as their Chinese counterparts. Generally, Chinese journals tended to be higher in all the three self-citation rates than world journal counterparts. Particularly, a few Chinese scientific journals had much higher self-citation rates. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that generally Chinese scientific journals have higher self-citation rates than those of world journals. Consequently, Chinese scientific journals tend to have lower visibility and are more isolated in the relevant fields. Considering the fact that sciences are rapidly developing in China and so are Chinese scientific journals, we expect that the differences of journal self-citation rates between Chinese and world scientific journals will gradually disappear in the future. Some suggestions to solve the problems are presented. PMID:23173041

[Association of muscle segment homeobox gene 1 polymorphisms with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate].

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Tang, Jun-Ling; Liang, Shang-Zheng

2008-06-01

Muscle segment homeobox gene (MSX)1 has been proposed as a gene in which mutations may contribute to nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P). To study MSX1 polymorphisms in NSCL/ P by means of polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), and investigate the association of MSX1 exons 1 polymorphisms with NSCL/P. DNA were extracted from blood samples from NSCL/P and unrelated normal subjects. Genome DNA from peripheral leukocyte with these blood samples were extracted, which was used as template to amplify desired gene fragment of MSX1 exons 1 by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were examined by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). The MSX1 exons 1 polymorphisms were examined by sequencing if mutations were found. MSX1 genes of exon 1 mutation was not been found in the NSCL/P and unrelated normal subjects by SSCP. No correlation between MSX1 exon 1 and NSCL/P was found. MSX1 exon 1 may not be a key gene (susceptibility gene) in NSCL/P.

Chinese character recognition based on Gabor feature extraction and CNN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Yudian; Lu, Tongwei; Jiang, Yongyuan

2018-03-01

As an important application in the field of text line recognition and office automation, Chinese character recognition has become an important subject of pattern recognition. However, due to the large number of Chinese characters and the complexity of its structure, there is a great difficulty in the Chinese character recognition. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a method of printed Chinese character recognition based on Gabor feature extraction and Convolution Neural Network(CNN). The main steps are preprocessing, feature extraction, training classification. First, the gray-scale Chinese character image is binarized and normalized to reduce the redundancy of the image data. Second, each image is convoluted with Gabor filter with different orientations, and the feature map of the eight orientations of Chinese characters is extracted. Third, the feature map through Gabor filters and the original image are convoluted with learning kernels, and the results of the convolution is the input of pooling layer. Finally, the feature vector is used to classify and recognition. In addition, the generalization capacity of the network is improved by Dropout technology. The experimental results show that this method can effectively extract the characteristics of Chinese characters and recognize Chinese characters.

Chinese moral perspectives on abortion and foetal life: an historical account.

PubMed

Nie, Jing-Bao

2002-10-01

It is accepted wisdom that, at the present time as well as historically, the typical Chinese attitude toward abortion is very permissive or 'liberal'. It has been widely perceived that Chinese people usually do not consider abortion morally problematic and that they think a human life starts at birth. As part of a bigger research project on Chinese views and experiences of abortion, this article represents a revisionist historical account of Chinese moral perspectives on abortion and foetal life. By presenting Buddhist and Confucian views of abortion, traditional Chinese medical understandings of foetal life, the possible moral foundation of a 'conservative' Confucian position, and some historical features of abortion laws and policies in twentieth-century China, this paper shows that blanket assumptions that the Chinese view of abortion has always been permissive are historically unfounded. As in the present, there existed different and opposing views about abortion in history, and many Chinese, not only Buddhists but also Confucians, believed that deliberately terminating pregnancy is to destroy a human life which starts far earlier than at birth. The current dominant and official line on the subject does not necessarily accord with historical Chinese values and practices.

Serum ARCHITECT PIVKA-II reference interval in healthy Chinese adults: Sub-analysis from a prospective multicenter study.

PubMed

Yan, Cunling; Hu, Jian; Yang, Jia; Chen, Zhaoyun; Li, Huijun; Wei, Lianhua; Zhang, Wei; Xing, Hao; Sang, Guoyao; Wang, Xiaoqin; Han, Ruilin; Liu, Ping; Li, Zhihui; Li, Zhiyan; Huang, Ying; Jiang, Li; Li, Shunjun; Dai, Shuyang; Wang, Nianyue; Yang, Yongfeng; Ma, Li; Soh, Andrew; Beshiri, Agim; Shen, Feng; Yang, Tian; Fan, Zhuping; Zheng, Yijie; Chen, Wei

2018-04-01

Protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) has been widely used as a biomarker for liver cancer diagnosis in Japan for decades. However, the reference intervals for serum ARCHITECT PIVKA-II have not been established in the Chinese population. Thus, this study aimed to measure serum PIVKA-II levels in healthy Chinese subjects. This is a sub-analysis from the prospective, cross-sectional and multicenter study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03047603). A total of 892 healthy participants (777 Han and 115 Uygur) with complete health checkup results were recruited from 7 regional centers in China. Serum PIVKA-II level was measured by ARCHITECT immunoassay. All 95% reference ranges were estimated by nonparametric method. The distribution of PIVKA-II values showed significant difference with ethnicity and sex, but not age. The 95% reference range of PIVKA-II was 13.62-40.38 mAU/ml in Han Chinese subjects and 15.16-53.74 mAU/ml in Uygur subjects. PIVKA-II level was significantly higher in males than in females (P < 0.001). The 95% reference range of PIVKA-II was 15.39-42.01 mAU/ml in Han males while 11.96-39.13 mAU/ml in Han females. The reference interval of serum PIVKA-II on the Architect platform was established in healthy Chinese adults. This will be valuable for future clinical and laboratory studies performed using the Architect analyzer. Different ethnic backgrounds and analytical methods underline the need for redefining the reference interval of analytes such as PIVKA-II, in central laboratories in different countries. Copyright © 2018 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reliability and concurrent validity of the adapted Chinese version of Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) questionnaire.

PubMed

Cheung, Kenneth M C; Senkoylu, Alpaslan; Alanay, Ahmet; Genc, Yasemin; Lau, Sarah; Luk, Keith D

2007-05-01

Validation study to define validity and reliability of an adapted and translated questionnaire. Assessment of the concurrent validity and reliability of a Chinese version of SRS-22 outcome instrument. No valid health-related quality of life (HRQL) outcome instrument exists for patients with spinal deformity in Chinese. The modified SRS-22 questionnaire was proven to be an appropriate outcome instrument in English, and has already been translated and validated in several other languages. The English version of the SRS-22 questionnaire was adapted to Chinese according to the International Quality of Life Assessment Project guidelines. To assess reliability, 48 subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (mean age, 16.5 years) filled the questionnaire on 2 separate occasions (Group 1). To assess concurrent validity, 50 subjects (mean age, 21 years) filled in the same questionnaire and a previously validated Chinese version of the Short Form-36 (SF36) questionnaire (Group 2). Internal consistency, reproducibility and concurrent validity were determined with Cronbach's alpha coefficient, interclass correlation coefficient and Pearson correlation coefficient, respectively. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 4 major domains (function/activity, pain, self-image/appearance and mental health) were high. Intraclass correlation was also excellent for all domains. For concurrent validity, excellent correlation was found in 1 domain, good in 12 domains, moderate in 3 domains, and poor in 1 domain of the 17 relevant domains. Both cultural adaptation and linguistic translation are essential in any attempt to use a HRQL questionnaire across cultures. The Chinese version of the SRS-22 outcome instrument has satisfactory internal consistency and excellent reproducibility. It is ready for use in clinical studies on idiopathic scoliosis in Chinese-speaking societies.

Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Molecular Imaging of Neurological Disorders.

PubMed

Yao, Yao; Chen, Ting; Huang, Jing; Zhang, Hong; Tian, Mei

2017-01-01

Chinese herbal medicine has been used to treat a wide variety of neurological disorders including stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. However, its mechanism behind the effectiveness remains unclear. Recently, molecular imaging technology has been applied for this purpose, since it can assess the cellular or molecular function in a living subject by using specific imaging probes and/or radioactive tracers, which enable efficient analysis and monitoring the therapeutic response repetitively. This chapter reviews the in vivo functional and metabolic changes after administration of Chinese herbal medicine in various neurological disorders and provides perspectives on the future evaluations of therapeutic response of Chinese herbal medicine. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Commentary on self-compiled teaching materialsby Singapore Chinese Physician Training College].

PubMed

Chen, S H; Cai, H X

2017-05-28

The Singapore Chinese Physician Training College has been playing a role in the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the training of TCM talents in modern and contemporary Singapore not to be ignored. Due to the limitations of the objective condition, the College had to creatively compile by themselves 115 volumes of teaching materials with rather complete subjects, which did pay attention to applying theory to practice, ran through the thought of Chinese integrating with western medicine, and is of literature and cultural significance.As a carrier of educational contents and methods, these teaching materials not only embodied the educational idea of the editor, but also reflected the status of TCM development in modern Singapore.

Gender, BMI, Values, and Learning in Physical Education: A Study on Chinese Middle Schoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ding, Haiyong; Sun, Haichun; Chen, Ang

2011-01-01

Students' different perceptions of task values influence their learning experience and achievement in physical education. Framed using the subjective task value construct, this study was conducted to determine the extent to which male and female Chinese middle schoolers with different body sizes differed in their perception of the task values. A…

Pair-List Readings in Korean-Japanese, Chinese-Japanese and English-Japanese Interlanguage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsden, Heather

2008-01-01

In English and Chinese, questions with a "wh"-object and a universally quantified subject (e.g. "What did everyone buy?") allow an individual answer ("Everyone bought apples.") and a pair-list answer ("Sam bought apples, Jo bought bananas, Sally bought..."). By contrast, the pair-list answer is reportedly unavailable in Japanese and Korean. This…

Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) utilization: characterization of extractives and cell-wall chemistry

Treesearch

Thomasl L. Eberhardt; Xiaobo Li; Todd F. Shupe; Chung Y. Hse

2007-01-01

Wood, bark, and the wax-coated seeds from Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. syn. Triadica sebifera (L.) Small), an invasive tree species in the southeastern United States, were subjected to extractions and degradative chemical analyses in an effort to better understand the mechanism(s) by which this tree species...

Career Locus of Control and Career Success among Chinese Employees: A Multidimensional Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guan, Yanjun; Wang, Zhen; Dong, Zhilin; Liu, Yukun; Yue, Yumeng; Liu, Haiyang; Zhang, Yuqing; Zhou, Wenxia; Liu, Haihua

2013-01-01

The current research aimed to develop a multidimensional measure of career locus of control (LOC) and examine its predictive validity on objective and subjective career success among Chinese employees. Items of career LOC were generated based on literature review of the significant predictors of career success, as well as the open-ended responses…

Knowing and Teaching Fractions: A Cross-Cultural Study of American and Chinese Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Zheng; Peverly, Stephen T.; Xin, Tao

2006-01-01

Guided by Shulman, 1986 and Shulman, 1987 tripartate model of teacher expertise [subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK)], the present study examined 162 U.S. and Chinese 3rd grade mathematics teachers' expertise in teaching fractions. Results show that U.S. teachers lag…

Is Chinese Software Engineering Professionalizing or Not?: Specialization of Knowledge, Subjective Identification and Professionalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Yan

2012-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the challenge for the classical idea of professionalism in understanding the Chinese software engineering industry after giving a close insight into the development of this industry as well as individual engineers with a psycho-societal perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The study starts with the general…

Psychometric Characteristics of the Duke Social Support Index in a Young Rural Chinese Population

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jia, Cunxian; Zhang, Jie

2012-01-01

The study is aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Duke Social Support Scale (DSSI) in young rural Chinese individuals (379 suicides, 411 controls) aged 15-34 years. Social support was measured by 23-item DSSI, which included Social Interaction Scale, Subjective Social Support, and Instrumental Social Support. DSSI had high…

Interrogating the Learning Sciences as a Design Science: Leveraging Insights from Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Medicine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chee, Yam San

2014-01-01

Design research has been positioned as an important methodological contribution of the learning sciences. Despite the publication of a handbook on the subject, the practice of design research in education remains an eclectic collection of specific approaches implemented by different researchers and research groups. In this paper, I examine the…

Longitudinal Study of a Dual-Factor Model of Mental Health in Chinese Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiong, Junmei; Qin, Yi; Gao, Miaomiao; Hai, Man

2017-01-01

By incorporating psychopathology and subjective well-being (SWB), the dual-factor model of mental health (DFM) can comprehensively measure psychological health. We examined the utility of the DFM among 1,293 Chinese adolescents (Grades 7-12). Furthermore, we examined the dynamics of mental health group membership via a two-wave longitudinal study…

Decision-making in information seeking on texts: an eye-fixation-related potentials investigation.

PubMed

Frey, Aline; Ionescu, Gelu; Lemaire, Benoit; López-Orozco, Francisco; Baccino, Thierry; Guérin-Dugué, Anne

2013-01-01

Reading on a web page is known to be not linear and people need to make fast decisions about whether they have to stop or not reading. In such context, reading, and decision-making processes are intertwined and this experiment attempts to separate them through electrophysiological patterns provided by the Eye-Fixation-Related Potentials technique (EFRPs). We conducted an experiment in which EFRPs were recorded while participants read blocks of text that were semantically highly related, moderately related, and unrelated to a given goal. Participants had to decide as fast as possible whether the text was related or not to the semantic goal given at a prior stage. Decision making (stopping information search) may occur when the paragraph is highly related to the goal (positive decision) or when it is unrelated to the goal (negative decision). EFRPs were analyzed on and around typical eye fixations: either on words belonging to the goal (target), subjected to a high rate of positive decisions, or on low frequency unrelated words (incongruent), subjected to a high rate of negative decisions. In both cases, we found EFRPs specific patterns (amplitude peaking between 51 to 120 ms after fixation onset) spreading out on the next words following the goal word and the second fixation after an incongruent word, in parietal and occipital areas. We interpreted these results as delayed late components (P3b and N400), reflecting the decision to stop information searching. Indeed, we show a clear spill-over effect showing that the effect on word N spread out on word N + 1 and N + 2.

Decision-making in information seeking on texts: an eye-fixation-related potentials investigation

PubMed Central

Frey, Aline; Ionescu, Gelu; Lemaire, Benoit; López-Orozco, Francisco; Baccino, Thierry; Guérin-Dugué, Anne

2013-01-01

Reading on a web page is known to be not linear and people need to make fast decisions about whether they have to stop or not reading. In such context, reading, and decision-making processes are intertwined and this experiment attempts to separate them through electrophysiological patterns provided by the Eye-Fixation-Related Potentials technique (EFRPs). We conducted an experiment in which EFRPs were recorded while participants read blocks of text that were semantically highly related, moderately related, and unrelated to a given goal. Participants had to decide as fast as possible whether the text was related or not to the semantic goal given at a prior stage. Decision making (stopping information search) may occur when the paragraph is highly related to the goal (positive decision) or when it is unrelated to the goal (negative decision). EFRPs were analyzed on and around typical eye fixations: either on words belonging to the goal (target), subjected to a high rate of positive decisions, or on low frequency unrelated words (incongruent), subjected to a high rate of negative decisions. In both cases, we found EFRPs specific patterns (amplitude peaking between 51 to 120 ms after fixation onset) spreading out on the next words following the goal word and the second fixation after an incongruent word, in parietal and occipital areas. We interpreted these results as delayed late components (P3b and N400), reflecting the decision to stop information searching. Indeed, we show a clear spill-over effect showing that the effect on word N spread out on word N + 1 and N + 2. PMID:23966913

A comparison of Chinese and non-Chinese Canadian patients hospitalized with heart failure

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Canadians of Chinese descent, represent one of the fastest growing visible minority groups in Canada, (as well as the second largest), but relatively little is known about the clinical features of heart failure (HF) in Chinese-Canadian versus non-Chinese Canadian patients. Methods We conducted a population-based analysis of urban patients hospitalized in Ontario, Canada for the first time with a most responsible diagnosis of HF between April 1, 1995 and March 31, 2008. Among the 99,278 patients, 1,339 (1.3%) were classified as Chinese using a previously validated list of Chinese surnames. Through linkage to other administrative databases, we compared the clinical characteristics, pharmacological management, and outcomes of Chinese versus non-Chinese HF patients. Results Ischemic heart disease was identified as the possible etiology of HF in a greater proportion of non-Chinese patients (47.7% vs. 35.3%; p < 0.001) whereas hypertension (26.1% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001) and valvular heart disease (11.6% vs. 7.2%; p < 0.001) were relatively more common in Chinese patients. Chinese patients were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors less frequently (57.5% vs. 66.4%, p < 0.001) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) more frequently (17.4% vs. 8.9%, p < 0.001) compared to non-Chinese patients. They were also less likely to be adherent to ACE inhibitors over a 1-year follow up period. However, the 1-year case-fatality rates were comparable between the Chinese (31.7%) and non-Chinese (30.2%) subjects (p = 0.24). Conclusion There are important differences in the causes and medical management of HF in Chinese and non-Chinese patients residing in Canada. Despite these differences, the long-term outcomes of HF patients were similar. PMID:24325765

Population Genetics of Identifiler System in Malaysia.

PubMed

Nakamura, Yasutaka; Samejima, Michinaga; Minaguchi, Kiyoshi; Nambiar, Phrabhakaran

2016-01-01

Short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms were investigated in 341 unrelated Malay individuals (218 males and 123 females) living in or around Kuala Lumpur by using a forensic analysts kit. The following STRs were targeted: D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, and FGA. The purpose of this study was to elucidate population genetics in Malaysia and calculate statistical parameters for forensic and anthropological research. Data on these STRs in the target population were obtained and subjected to statistical analysis. Accordance with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was proven for all the loci targeted. The combined power of discrimination was greater than 0.9999999999, indicating that this multiplex system is an excellent tool for forensic casework. The allele frequency in the data were weighed against that in four other local populations (Chinese, Iranian, Belgian, and African). The average coefficient of correlation was strongest in the order of Africa (0.092522), Belgium (0.264822), Iran (0.404363), and China (0.706661). These results are consistent with what is known about the anthropological history of and prehistoric human migration in the Malay region. We believe that these data offer a valuable anthropological resource, being applicable to the statistical evaluation of DNA evidence in human identification, as well as the determination of ethnicity in healthy populations.

Mutational screening of CHX10, GDF6, OTX2, RAX and SOX2 genes in 50 unrelated microphthalmia-anophthalmia-coloboma (MAC) spectrum cases.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Rodriguez, J; Pelcastre, E L; Tovilla-Canales, J L; Garcia-Ortiz, J E; Amato-Almanza, M; Villanueva-Mendoza, C; Espinosa-Mattar, Z; Zenteno, J C

2010-08-01

Microphthalmia-anophthalmia-coloboma (MAC) are congenital eye malformations causing a significant percentage of visually impairments in children. Although these anomalies can arise from prenatal exposure to teratogens, mutations in well-defined genes originate potentially heritable forms of MAC. Mutations in genes such as CHX10, GDF6, RAX, SOX2 and OTX2, among others, have been recognised in dominant or recessive MAC. SOX2 and OTX2 are the two most commonly mutated genes in monogenic MAC. However, as more numerous samples of MAC subjects would be analysed, a better estimation of the actual involvement of specific MAC-genes could be made. Here, a comprehensive mutational analysis of the CHX10, GDF6, RAX, SOX2 and OTX2 genes was performed in 50 MAC subjects. PCR amplification and direct automated DNA sequencing of all five genes in 50 unrelated subjects. Eight mutations (16% prevalence) were recognised, including four GDF6 mutations (one novel), two novel RAX mutations, one novel OTX2 mutation and one SOX2 mutation. Anophthalmia and nanophthalmia, not previously associated with GDF6 mutations, were observed in two subjects carrying defects in this gene, expanding the spectrum of GDF6-linked ocular anomalies. Our study underscores the importance of genotyping large groups of patients from distinct ethnic origins for improving the estimation of the global involvement of particular MAC-causing genes.

Sleep History and Hypertension Burden in First-Generation Chinese Migrants Settled in Italy: The CHIinese In Prato Cross-Sectional Survey

PubMed Central

Modesti, Pietro A.; Calabrese, Maria; Perruolo, Eleonora; Bussotti, Alessandro; Malandrino, Danilo; Bamoshmoosh, Mohamed; Biggeri, Annibale; Zhao, Dong

2016-01-01

Abstract Migration flows from China are largely directed towards the South of Europe, Chinese being now the third largest overseas-born population in Italy. The aim of the study was to investigate hypertension burden and self-reported sleep disorders among 1608 first-generation Chinese migrants aged 16 to 59 years settled in Prato and recruited in a cross-sectional survey. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg or self-reported antihypertensive treatment; potential impact of sleep disorders was analyzed by logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, marital status, education, health insurance, current smoking, parental hypertension, alcohol drinking, overweight or obesity, central obesity, diabetes, high total cholesterol, and high triglycerides. Among the 1608 participants, 21.7% were hypertensive (age-standardized prevalence 19.2%; 95% Cl: 18.5–20.0); 54% of hypertensive subjects were aware of their condition; 70% of aware hypertensive subjects received drugs, and 39% of treated subjects had blood pressure controlled. Self-reported snoring increased the risk of hypertension; when compared with no snoring, the age- and sex-adjusted OR for hypertension of snoring 3 to 6 d/week was 2.11 (95% Cl: 1.48–3.01) and 2.48 (95% Cl: 1.79–3.46) of snoring every day. When compared with a sleep duration ≤5 hours, subjects with sleep duration of 7 hours had reduced risk of high triglycerides (adjusted OR: 0.66; 95% Cl: 0.43–0.95). Despite a high level of awareness, low treatment rates for hypertension were observed among Chinese participants, independently of health insurance. Sleep history is to be considered in screening and prevention programs. PMID:27057856

Single- and multiple-dose pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of apixaban in healthy Chinese subjects

PubMed Central

Cui, Yimin; Song, Yan; Wang, Jessie; Yu, Zhigang; Schuster, Alan; Barrett, Yu Chen; Frost, Charles

2013-01-01

Background The pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and safety of apixaban were assessed in healthy Chinese subjects in this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, single-sequence, single- and multiple-dose study. Subjects and methods Eighteen subjects 18–45 years of age were randomly assigned (2:1 ratio) to receive apixaban or matched placebo. Subjects received a single 10 mg dose of apixaban or placebo on day 1, followed by 10 mg apixaban or placebo twice daily for 6 days (days 4–9). The PK and PD of apixaban were assessed by collecting plasma samples for 72 hours following the dose on day 1 and the morning dose on day 9, and measuring apixaban concentration and anti-Xa activity. Safety was assessed via physical examinations, vital sign measurements, electrocardiograms, and clinical laboratory evaluations. Results PK analysis showed similar characteristics of apixaban after single and multiple doses, including a median time to maximum concentration of ~3 hours, mean elimination half-life of ~11 hours, and renal clearance of ~1.2 L/hour. The accumulation index was 1.7, consistent with twice-daily dosing and the observed elimination half-life. Single-dose data predict multiple-dose PK, therefore apixaban PK are time-independent. The relationship between anti-Xa activity and plasma apixaban concentrations appears to be linear. Apixaban was safe and well tolerated, with no bleeding-related adverse events reported. Conclusion Apixaban was safe and well tolerated in healthy Chinese subjects. Apixaban PK and PD were predictable and consistent with findings from previous studies in Asian and non-Asian subjects. The administration of apixaban does not require any dose modification based on race. PMID:24353445

The effects of change in spousal power on intimate partner violence among Chinese immigrants.

PubMed

Jin, Xiaochun; Keat, Jane E

2010-04-01

This study explored how changes in power relations within couples after immigrating from more patriarchal societies contribute to intimate partner violence (IPV). Both subjective decision-making power and objective power bases were examined in Chinese immigrant couples. Batterers and nonviolent men both experienced loss of decision-making power in favor of their spouses postimmigration. For the batterers, this loss appeared materialized by lower gains in education and lack of significant gains in income compared to their spouses. However, it was subjective power loss that was related to the batterers' attitudes toward IPV. The study highlights the significance of understanding changes in power dynamics postimmigration among immigrants and the importance of distinguishing between subjective and material power to better capture power imbalance within couples.

MTNR1B rs10830963 is associated with fasting plasma glucose, HbA1C and impaired beta-cell function in Chinese Hans from Shanghai

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in White Europeans have shown that genetic variation rs10830963 in melatonin receptor 1B gene (MTNR1B) is associated with fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes, which has also been replicated in several Asian populations. As a variant in the gene involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms, the effect of the variant on sleep status remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MTNR1B rs10830963 on fasting glucose, type 2 diabetes and sleep status in Chinese Hans. Methods MTNR1B rs10830963 was genotyped in a population-based cohort including 3,210 unrelated Chinese Hans from Beijing and Shanghai, and tested for associations with risk of type 2 diabetes, diabetes-related traits and sleep status. Results We confirmed the associations of MTNR1B rs10830963 with fasting glucose (beta = 0.11 mmol/l, 95%CI [0.03, 0.18], P = 0.005), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (beta = 0.07%, 95%CI [0.02,0.12], P = 0.004) and homeostasis model assessment of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) (beta = -5.01%, 95%CI [-8.24,-1.77], P = 0.003) in the Shanghai, but not in the Beijing subpopulation (P ≥ 0.58). The effect size of MTNR1B rs10830963 on fasting glucose in Shanghai Chinese Hans was comparable to that reported from other Asian populations. We found no evidence of associations with type 2 diabetes (OR 1.05 [0.90-1.23], P = 0.54), homeostasis model assessment of insulin sensitivity (HOMA-S) (P = 0.86) or sleep status (P ≥ 0.44). Conclusions A common variant in MTNR1B was associated with fasting glucose, HbA1C and HOMA-B but not with sleep status in Chinese Hans from Shanghai, strengthening the role of MTNR1B rs10830963 in fasting glycemia and impaired beta-cell function. PMID:20398260

Prevalence of c.2268dup and detection of two novel alterations, c.670_672del and c.1186C>T, in the TPO gene in a cohort of Malaysian-Chinese with thyroid dyshormonogenesis.

PubMed

Lee, Ching Chin; Harun, Fatimah; Jalaludin, Muhammad Yazid; Heh, Choon Han; Othman, Rozana; Junit, Sarni Mat

2015-01-05

The c.2268dup mutation in the thyroid peroxidase (TPO) gene is the most common TPO alteration reported in Taiwanese patients with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. The ancestors of these patients are believed to originate from the southern province of China. Our previous study showed that this mutation leads to reduced abundance of the TPO protein and loss of TPO enzyme activity in a Malaysian-Chinese family with goitrous hypothyroidism. The aim of our study was to provide further data on the incidence of the c.2268dup mutation in a cohort of Malaysian-Chinese and its possible phenotypic effects. Cohort study. Twelve biologically unrelated Malaysian-Chinese patients with congenital hypothyroidism were recruited in this study. All patients showed high thyrotropin and low free thyroxine levels at the time of diagnosis with proven presence of a thyroid gland. Screening of the c.2268dup mutation in the TPO gene in all patients was carried out using a PCR-direct DNA sequencing method. Further screening for mutations in other exonic regions of the TPO gene was carried out if the patient was a carrier of the c.2268dup mutation. The c.2268dup mutation was detected in 4 of the 12 patients. Apart from the c.2268dup and a previously documented mutation (c.2647C>T), two novel TPO alterations, c.670_672del and c.1186C>T, were also detected in our patients. In silico analyses predicted that the novel alterations affect the structure/function of the TPO protein. The c.2268dup mutation was detected in approximately one-third of the Malaysian-Chinese patients with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. The detection of the novel c.670_672del and c.1186C>T alterations expand the mutation spectrum of TPO associated with thyroid dyshormonogenesis. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Tolerability of Single and Multiple Doses of Trandolapril, an Effective Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor, in Healthy Chinese Subjects.

PubMed

Li, Xiaojiao; Liu, Chang; Wu, Min; Zhang, Hong; Sun, Yanfu; Cheng, Longmei; Chen, Hong; Liu, Chengjiao; Yang, Lizhi; Zhang, Qi; Cao, Yuchen; Gu, Jingkai; Ding, Yanhua

2016-08-01

Trandolapril is the pro-drug of trandolaprilat, a non-sulfhydryl angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. This study was designed to assess the pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and tolerability of single and multiple doses of trandolapril in healthy Chinese subjects. Healthy subjects (six men and six women) were randomized into a single-dose, 3 × 3 crossover study (1-2-4 mg, 2-4-1 mg, and 4-1-2 mg), and a multiple-dose study (2 mg/day, 6 days). Serial blood and urine samples were collected after drug administration and analyzed using a validated LC-MS/MS method, and the trandolapril and trandolaprilat PK parameters were obtained. PD was evaluated by the changes in blood pressure and heart rates after dosing. Tolerability was assessed by monitoring adverse events, vital signs, ECGs, and changes in laboratory tests. In the single-dose study, trandolapril was absorbed rapidly, and peak plasma levels (C max, 1.57, 3.77, and 7.99 ng/mL) and AUCs (1.89, 3.46, and 6.47 ng/mL) were dose-dependent. The AUC0-∞ of trandolaprilat was dose-dependent, but in a non-linear fashion. The cumulative urine excretion of trandolapril and trandolaprilat was 5.51, 6.20, and 7.41 % for three doses, respectively. In the multiple-dose study, steady-state pharmacokinetics was observed; there was no trandolapril accumulation, but there was mild trandolaprilat accumulation (R = 1.67). Trandolapril was well tolerated. The most pronounced reductions in blood pressure were observed at 8 h after administration, which was later than T max. No orthostatic hypotension occurred. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics following single and multiple oral doses trandolapril in healthy Chinese subjects are similar to those observed in non-Chinese healthy subjects.

Progressive sutural cataract associated with a BFSP2 mutation in a Chinese family.

PubMed

Zhang, Lu; Gao, Linghan; Li, Zhijian; Qin, Wei; Gao, Weiqi; Cui, Xiaobo; Feng, Guoyin; Fu, Songbin; He, Lin; Liu, Ping

2006-12-20

To identify the mutation underlying the segregation of progressive sutural congenital cataracts in a four-generation Chinese pedigree. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood samples of members of the pedigree. A genome-wide scan was performed using microsatellite markers spaced at about 10 cM intervals. Linkage analysis was carried out using a Linkage software package. Ten additional microsatellite markers for the positive region were selected for precise targeting, and haplotype data were processed using Cyrillic software to define the region of the disease gene. Mutation detection was carried out by sequencing candidate genes. Significant evidence of linkage was obtained at marker D3S1279 (LOD score [Z] =2.32, recombination fraction [theta]=0.0). Precise targeting and haplotype analysis traced the disease gene to a 38.6 cM region bounded by D3S1267 and D3S1614 at 3q21.1- q26.2 near BFSP2, which encodes a lens-specific beaded filament protein. Sequencing results revealed a 3-bp deletion of nucleotides 696-698 (GAA) in exon 3 of BFSP2, which is predicted to cause an in-frame deletion of glutamic acid residue 233 from the polypeptide encoded by the mutant gene. This deletion was seen neither in any unaffected member of the family nor in 50 unrelated control individuals. We observed progressive isolated sutural cataract associated with a deletion mutation of the BFSP2 gene in a Chinese pedigree. It highlights the physiological importance of the beaded filament protein and supports the role of BFSP2 in human cataract formation.

Genetic Association Analysis of Common Variants in FOXO3 Related to Longevity in a Chinese Population

PubMed Central

Yan, Dongjing; Liao, Xiaoping; Wang, Xianshou; Fu, Yunxin; Cai, Wangwei

2016-01-01

Recent studies suggested that forkhead box class O3 (FOXO3) functions as a key regulator for the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1signaling pathway that influence aging and longevity. This study aimed to comprehensively elucidate the association of common genetic variants in FOXO3 with human longevity in a Chinese population. Eighteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FOXO3 were successfully genotyped in 616 unrelated long-lived individuals and 846 younger controls. No nominally significant effects were found. However, when stratifying by gender, four SNPs (rs10499051, rs7762395, rs4946933 and rs3800230) previously reported to be associated with longevity and one novel SNP (rs4945815) showed significant association with male longevity (P-values: 0.007–0.032), but all SNPs were not associated with female longevity. Correspondingly, males carrying the G-G-T-G haplotype of rs10499051, rs7762395, rs4945815 and rs3800230 tended to have longer lifespan than those carrying the most common haplotype A-G-C-T (odds ratio = 2.36, 95% confidence interval = 1.20–4.63, P = 0.013). However, none of the associated SNPs and haplotype remained significant after Bonferroni correction. In conclusion, our findings revealed that the FOXO3 variants we tested in our population of Chinese men and women were associated with longevity in men only. None of these associations passed Bonferroni correction. Bonferroni correction is very stringent for association studies. We therefore believe the effects of these nominally significant variants on human longevity will be confirmed by future studies. PMID:27936216

Establishing a comprehensive genetic diagnosis strategy for hemophilia B and its application in Chinese population.

PubMed

Lin, X Y; Wang, J; Xiao, X; Xu, Y W; Yan, Q J; Jiang, W Y

2018-04-01

To reduce the incidence of hemophilia B (HB) which with no complete cure currently, prenatal diagnosis and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) are effective and feasible means. However, previous studies about genetic diagnosis in HB mostly just focused on the detection of patients and carriers. Here, we established a comprehensive genetic diagnosis strategy for HB and worked it out in Chinese population. The strategy includes the detection of patients and carriers, prenatal diagnosis, and PGD. Seven unrelated HB families from Chinese population involved in this study. Firstly, probands and available members were carried out coagulation laboratory assays, and the clinical information has been recorded. Secondly, we used DNA direct sequencing to screen the whole FIX gene of them. The pathogenicity of novel mutations was verified according to 2015 ACMG-AM guidelines. For prenatal diagnosis, a mix of DNA direct sequencing and STR linkage analysis was employed. To explore a better PGD protocol, Karyomapping was first applied in PGD of HB, comparing with conventional PCR-based methods. Six different pathogenic mutations including 1 novel duplication (c.660_661dup ATCA) were identified. The results of prenatal diagnosis were consistent with birth outcomes. In the PGD case, 4 of 11 embryos were confirmed to be normal and one of them was transferred and led to a healthy birth. The established genetic diagnosis strategy for HB in our study was comprehensive and well applied in clinic practice. Besides, we recommended that DNA direct sequencing combined with Karyomapping was a better PGD protocol. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

KCNQ1 Haplotypes Associate with Type 2 Diabetes in Malaysian Chinese Subjects

PubMed Central

Saif-Ali, Riyadh; Ismail, Ikram S.; Al-Hamodi, Zaid; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.; Siang, Lee C.; Alabsi, Aied M.; Muniandy, Sekaran

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes of potassium voltage-gated channel, KQT-like subfamily, member 1 (KCNQ1) with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Malaysian Chinese subjects. The KCNQ1 SNPs rs2237892, rs2283228 and rs2237895 were genotyped in 300 T2D patients and 230 control subjects without diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Two logistic regression models of analysis were applied, the first adjusted for age and gender while the second adjusted for age, gender and body mass index. The additive genetic analysis showed that adjusting for body mass index (BMI) even strengthened association of rs2237892, rs2283228 and rs2237895 with T2D (OR = 2.0, P = 5.1 × 10−5; OR = 1.9, P = 5.2 × 10−5; OR = 1.9, P = 7.8 × 10−5, respectively). The haplotype TCA containing the allele of rs2237892 (T), rs2283228 (C) and rs2237895 (A) was highly protective against T2D (Second model; OR = 0.17, P = 3.7 × 10−11). The KCNQ1 rs2237892 (TT), and the protective haplotype (TCA) were associated with higher beta-cell function (HOMA-B) in normal subjects (P = 0.0002; 0.014, respectively). This study found that KCNQ1 SNPs was associated with T2D susceptibility in Malaysian Chinese subjects. In addition, certain KCNQ1 haplotypes were strongly associated with T2D. PMID:22016621

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency at the China-Myanmar Border.

PubMed

Li, Qing; Yang, Fang; Liu, Rong; Luo, Lan; Yang, Yuling; Zhang, Lu; Liu, Huaie; Zhang, Wen; Fan, Zhixiang; Yang, Zhaoqing; Cui, Liwang; He, Yongshu

2015-01-01

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked hereditary disease that predisposes red blood cells to oxidative damage. G6PD deficiency is particularly prevalent in historically malaria-endemic areas. Use of primaquine for malaria treatment may result in severe hemolysis in G6PD deficient patients. In this study, we systematically evaluated the prevalence of G6PD deficiency in the Kachin (Jingpo) ethnic group along the China-Myanmar border and determined the underlying G6PD genotypes. We surveyed G6PD deficiency in 1770 adult individuals (671 males and 1099 females) of the Kachin ethnicity using a G6PD fluorescent spot test. The overall prevalence of G6PD deficiency in the study population was 29.6% (523/1770), among which 27.9% and 30.6% were males and females, respectively. From these G6PD deficient samples, 198 unrelated individuals (147 females and 51 males) were selected for genotyping at 11 known G6PD single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Southeast Asia (ten in exons and one in intron 11) using a multiplex SNaPshot assay. Mutations with known association to a deficient phenotype were detected in 43.9% (87/198) of cases, intronic and synonymous mutations were detected alone in 34.8% (69/198) cases and no mutation were found in 21.2% (42/198) cases. Five non-synonymous mutations, Mahidol 487G>A, Kaiping 1388G>A, Canton 1376G>T, Chinese 4 392G>T, and Viangchan 871G>A were detected. Of the 87 cases with known deficient mutations, the Mahidol variant was the most common (89.7%; 78/87), followed by the Kaiping (8.0%; 7/87) and the Viangchan (2.2%; 2/87) variants. The Canton and Chinese 4 variants were found in 1.1% of these 87 cases. Among them, two females carried the Mahidol/Viangchan and Mahidol/Kaiping double mutations, respectively. Interestingly, the silent SNPs 1311C>T and IVS11nt93T>C both occurred in the same 95 subjects with frequencies at 56.4% and 23.5% in tested females and males, respectively (P<0.05). It is noteworthy that 24 subjects carrying the Mahidol mutation and two carrying the Kaiping mutation also carried the 1311C>T/IVS11nt93T>C SNPs. Further studies are needed to determine the enzyme levels of the G6PD deficient people and presence of additional G6PD mutations in the study population.

Evaluating the Training of Chinese-Speaking Community Health Workers to Implement a Small-Group Intervention Promoting Mammography.

PubMed

Gu, Jiayan; Maxwell, Annette E; Ma, Grace X; Qian, Xiaokun; Tan, Yin; Hsieh, Hsing-Chuan; Tu, Shin-Ping; Wang, Judy Huei-Yu

2018-04-14

This study evaluated the training of Chinese American Community Health Workers (CHWs) to implement a small-group mammography video and discussion program as part of a randomized controlled trial that had the goal to increase adherence to mammography screening guidelines among Chinese American women. A total of 26 Chinese American CHWs in the metropolitan Washington DC area, Southern California, and New York City participated in a 4-h training workshop and completed surveys before and after the workshop to assess their knowledge regarding mammography screening guidelines and human subjects protection rules. The results showed significantly increased knowledge of mammography screening guidelines and human subjects protection rules (both p < 0.01) after the training. CHWs were also trained to lead a discussion of the video, including screening benefits and misconceptions. Forty-three audio recordings of discussions led by 13 active CHWs were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed to assess implementation fidelity. Ten out of 13 active CHWs fully addressed about 3 of the 5 benefit items, and 11 out of 13 CHWs fully addressed more than 5 of the 9 misconception items. Chinese CHWs can be trained to implement research-based intervention programs. However, a one-time training resulted in moderate adherence to the discussion protocol. Ongoing or repeat trainings throughout the intervention period may be needed to enhance implementation fidelity.

Doubling over ten years of central obesity in Hong Kong Chinese working men.

PubMed

Ko, Tin-choi Gary; Chan, Juliana; Chan, Amy; Wong, Patrick; Hui, Stanley; Chow, Ferrie; Tong, Spencer; Chan, Cecilia

2007-07-05

Obesity is now an epidemic in most parts of the world. In this cross sectional study, we report the most recent data on obesity in Hong Kong Chinese working population and compare the changes over 10 years. Between July 2000 and March 2002, 5882 adult subjects from the working class in Hong Kong were recruited (2716 men (46.2%) and 3166 women (53.8%)). They were randomly selected using computer generated codes according to the distribution of occupational groups. Results of this study were compared with the data collected from a prevalence survey for cardiovascular risk factors in a Hong Kong Chinese working population conducted in 1990 (1513 subjects, 910 men (60.1%) and 603 women (39.9%)). Standardized percentages of overweight, obesity, and central obesity, in Hong Kong Chinese working population were 59.7%, 35.0%, 26.7% in men and 32.0%, 21.7%, 26.7% in women. Compared to the data collected in 1990, the percentage of obesity increased by 5% in men and reduced by 6% in women. The percentage of central obesity doubled in men (from 12.2% to 26.7%) but remained stable in women. There is a doubling of the percentage of central obesity in Hong Kong Chinese working men over previous decade. Education and proper lifestyle modification program to tackle this social health issue are urgently indicated.

BASIC Programming for the Integration of Money, Demand Deposits Creation, and the Hicksian-Keynesian Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tom, C. F. Joseph

Money, banking, and macroeconomic textbooks traditionally present the topics of money, the creation of demand deposits by depository institutions, and the Hicksian-Keynesian Theory of Income and Interest separately, as if they were unrelated. This paper presents an integrated approach to those subjects using computer programs written in BASIC, the…

Individual Differences in the Fan Effect and Working Memory Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunting, M.F.; Conway, A.R.A.; Heitz, R.P.

2004-01-01

In opposition to conceptualizing working memory (WM) in terms of a general capacity, we present four experiments that favor the view that individual differences in WM depend on attentional control. High- and low-WM participants, as assessed by the operation span task, learned unrelated sentences for which the subject and predicate of the sentences…

The Nature, Prevalence and Correlates of Generativity among Men in Middle Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Mike; Arnold, John

2008-01-01

Multiple methods were used to explore the character, contexts, and correlates of generativity among 41 men aged 45-55. Generativity in the role of worker was unrelated to generativity in men's roles as father, citizen and "leisurite". Individuals who were generative in their work reported greater job satisfaction and subjective career success.…

Illness beliefs of Chinese American immigrants with major depressive disorder in a primary care setting.

PubMed

Chen, Justin A; Hung, Galen Chin-Lun; Parkin, Susannah; Fava, Maurizio; Yeung, Albert S

2015-02-01

Underutilization of mental health services in the U.S. is compounded among racial/ethnic minorities, especially Chinese Americans. Culturally based illness beliefs influence help-seeking behavior and may provide insights into strategies for increasing utilization rates among vulnerable populations. This is the first large descriptive study of depressed Chinese American immigrant patients' illness beliefs using a standardized instrument. 190 depressed Chinese immigrants seeking primary care at South Cove Community Health Center completed the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue, which probes different dimensions of illness beliefs: chief complaint, labeling of illness, stigma perception, causal attributions, and help-seeking patterns. Responses were sorted into categories by independent raters and results compared to an earlier study at the same site and using the same instrument. Contrary to prior findings that depressed Chinese individuals tend to present with primarily somatic symptoms, subjects were more likely to report chief complaints and illness labels related to depressed mood than physical symptoms. Nearly half reported they would conceal the name of their problem from others. Mean stigma levels were significantly higher than in the previous study. Most subjects identified psychological stress as the most likely cause of their problem. Chinese immigrants' illness beliefs were notable for psychological explanations regarding their symptoms, possibly reflecting increased acceptance of Western biomedical frameworks, in accordance with recent research. However, reported stigma regarding these symptoms also increased. As Asian American immigrant populations increasingly accept psychological models of depression, stigma may become an increasingly important target for addressing disparities in mental health service utilization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Construction of population-specific Indian MRI brain template: Morphometric comparison with Chinese and Caucasian templates.

PubMed

Bhalerao, Gaurav Vivek; Parlikar, Rujuta; Agrawal, Rimjhim; Shivakumar, Venkataram; Kalmady, Sunil V; Rao, Naren P; Agarwal, Sri Mahavir; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Reddy, Y C Janardhan; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan

2018-06-01

Spatial normalization of brain MR images is highly dependent on the choice of target brain template. Morphological differences caused by factors like genetic and environmental exposures, generates a necessity to construct population specific brain templates. Brain image analysis performed using brain templates from Caucasian population may not be appropriate for non-Caucasian population. In this study, our objective was to construct an Indian brain template from a large population (N = 157 subjects) and compare the morphometric parameters of this template with that of Chinese-56 and MNI-152 templates. In addition, using an independent MRI data of 15 Indian subjects, we also evaluated the potential registration accuracy differences using these three templates. Indian brain template was constructed using iterative routines as per established procedures. We compared our Indian template with standard MNI-152 template and Chinese template by measuring global brain features. We also examined accuracy of registration by aligning 15 new Indian brains to Indian, Chinese and MNI templates. Furthermore, we supported our measurement protocol with inter-rater and intra-rater reliability analysis. Our results showed that there were significant differences in global brain features of Indian template in comparison with Chinese and MNI brain templates. The results of registration accuracy analysis revealed that fewer deformations are required when Indian brains are registered to Indian template as compared to Chinese and MNI templates. This study concludes that population specific Indian template is likely to be more appropriate for structural and functional image analysis of Indian population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cross-Lagged Cross-Subject Bidirectional Predictions among Achievements in Mathematics, English Language and Chinese Language of School Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mok, Magdalena Mo Ching; Zhu, Jinxin; Law, Cecilia Lai Kwan

2017-01-01

This study aimed to explore the cross-lagged association of achievements in mathematics and languages. While the effect of language on achievements in mathematics is well-documented, few studies have examined the reciprocal relationships among mathematics, the Chinese language and the English language in the same study. This study conducted a…

Mother-Toddler Interaction and Maternal Perception of Child Temperament in Two Ethnic Groups: Chinese-American and European-American.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Sheila; Freedman, Daniel G.

A study was conducted to compare experiential features of mother/toddler interaction and maternal perception of toddler temperament in two ethnic groups: Chinese-Americans and European-Americans. Subjects were 16 mother/toddler dyads with five girls and three boys in each group matched for sex, age, and birth order. Caucasian mothers were…

A Comparative Analysis of the Emotional Intelligence Levels of American and Chinese Business Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Margavio, Thomas M.; Margavio, Geanie W.; Hignite, Michael A.; Moses, Duane R.

2012-01-01

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a characteristic of business students that has been the subject of significant research. This study was designed to extend that prior research by comparing the EI scores of American business students with those of Chinese business students. The study further focuses on those factors which may be related to ways in…

Validity Evidence for the Chinese Version Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands (CARD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Juan; Wang, Chuang; Lambert, Richard; Wu, Chenggang; Wen, Hongbo

2017-01-01

The Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands (CARD) was designed to evaluate teacher stress based on subjective evaluations of classroom demands and resources. However, the CARD has been mostly utilized in western countries. The aim of the current study was to provide aspects of the validity of responses to a Chinese version of the CARD that…

The Current State of Medical Education in Chinese Medical Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosik, Russell Oliver; Huang, Lei; Cai, Qiaoling; Xu, Guo-Tong; Zhao, Xudong; Guo, Li; Tang, Wen; Chen, Qi; Fan, Angela Pei-Chen

2014-01-01

Today's doctor is as much a humanist as a scientist. Medical schools have responded to this change by introducing a variety of courses, most notably those concerning the humanities and ethics. Thus far, no one has examined the extent of use of these subjects in Chinese medical schools. The goal of this study is to determine how many and in what…

"Crossing the Rubicon": Understanding Chinese EFL Students' Volitional Process Underlying In-Class Participation with the Theory of Planned Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girardelli, Davide; Patel, Vijay K.; Martins-Shannon, Janine

2017-01-01

An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students' in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign…

Perceived Treatment Effectiveness of Family Therapy for Chinese Patients Suffering from Anorexia Nervosa: A Qualitative Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Joyce L. C.; Lai, Kelly

2006-01-01

Although family therapy has become highly acceptable in the West, its applicability and acceptability for Chinese adolescents and young women with anorexia nervosa (AN) remains unknown. In this article, we report the results of a qualitative study using post-treatment in-depth interviews to understand the subjective perceptions of sufferers of AN…

Implementations of clinical functional magnetic resonance imaging using character-based paradigms for the prediction of Chinese language dominance.

PubMed

Liu, Ho-Ling; Wu, Chien-Te; Chen, Jian-Chuan; Hsu, Yuan-Yu; Wai, Yau-Yau; Wan, Yung-Liang

2003-01-01

Recently, functional MRI (fMRI) using word generation (WG) tasks has been shown to be effective for mapping the Chinese language-related brain areas. In clinical applications, however, patients' performance cannot be easily monitored during WG tasks. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of a word choice (WC) paradigm in the clinical setting and compared the results with those from WG tasks. Intrasubject comparisons of fMRI with both WG and WC paradigms were performed on six normal human subjects and two tumor patients. Subject responses in the WC paradigm, based on semantic judgments, were recorded. Activation strength, extent, and laterality were evaluated and compared. Our results showed that fMRI with the WC paradigm evoked weaker neuronal activation than that with the WG paradigm in Chinese language-related brain areas. It was sufficient to reveal language laterality for clinical use, however. In addition, it resulted in less nonlanguage-specific brain activation. Results from the patient data demonstrated strong evidence for the necessity of incorporating response monitoring during fMRI studies, which suggested that fMRI with the WC paradigm is more appropriate to be implemented for the prediction of Chinese language dominance in clinical environments.

Body image attitude among Chinese college students.

PubMed

Wang, Kui; Liang, Rui; Ma, Zhen-Ling; Chen, Jue; Cheung, Eric F C; Roalf, David R; Gur, Ruben C; Chan, Raymond C K

2018-03-01

The present study aimed to examine body image attitude in Chinese college students and related psychological consequences. A silhouette-matching test was administered to 425 college students in mainland China. Self-esteem, negative emotions, subjective well-being, and eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors were also measured. Only 12.9% of the participants were satisfied with their figure and the extent of body image dissatisfaction was comparable for both sexes. The majority of the female participants indicated a preference to be more slender. Their ideal figure was underweight and was far smaller than the most attractive female figure chosen by male participants. For male participants, the proportion wanting a fuller figure was comparable to that wanting a slimmer figure. Among female participants, body image dissatisfaction negatively correlated with self-esteem and subjective well-being, and positively correlated with negative emotions. Drive for thinness correlated with eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors not only for females, but also for males. Body image dissatisfaction, as a diagnostic feature for major subtypes of eating disorders, may signal serious concern among Chinese college students. © 2018 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Thematic orders and the comprehension of subject-extracted relative clauses in Mandarin Chinese

PubMed Central

Lin, Chien-Jer Charles

2015-01-01

This study investigates the comprehension of three kinds of subject-extracted relative clauses (SRs) in Mandarin Chinese: standard SRs, relative clauses involving the disposal ba construction (“disposal SRs”), and relative clauses involving the long passive bei constructions (“passive SRs”). In a self-paced reading experiment, the regions before the relativizer (where the sentential fragments are temporarily ambiguous) showed reading patterns consistent with expectation-based incremental processing: standard SRs, with the highest constructional frequency and the least complex syntactic structure, were processed faster than the other two variants. However, in the regions after the relativizer and the head noun where the existence of a relative clause is unambiguously indicated, a top-down global effect of thematic ordering was observed: passive SRs, whose thematic role order conforms to the canonical thematic order of Chinese, were read faster than both the standard SRs and the disposal SRs. Taken together, these results suggest that two expectation-based processing factors are involved in the comprehension of Chinese relative clauses, including both the structural probabilities of pre-relativizer constituents and the overall surface thematic orders in the relative clauses. PMID:26441697

[Effect of removable partial dentures restoration on oral health-related quality of life of patients with shortened dental arch].

PubMed

Fu, Zhen-nan; Lin, Xue-feng

2013-11-01

To assess the effect of removable partial dentures (PRD) restoration on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) of subjects with shortened dental arches (SDA) using the Chinese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Consecutive patients with shortened dental arches were recruited from the Department of Prosthodontics, Foshan Chancheng Hospital of Stomatology. The Chinese version of OHIP-14 was administered to each subject before treatment and after treatment. The subjective outcomes of removable partial dentures therapy on SDA were collected and the pre- and post-treatment scores of the Chinese version of OHIP-14 were compared. After treatment, significant decrease in patients' total score of OHRQOL [before: 9 (6, 12) ; after: 4 (2.25, 6)] was detected, as well as physical pain subscale, physical disability subscale and handicap subscale; and the score of OHRQOL in function limitation subscale increased [before: 0(0,0); after: 2(1, 2)]. The main impacts of shortened dental arch with intact anterior region affecting patients' OHRQOL are physical disability.From a quality-of-life perspective, patients with SDA can perceive benefits from RPD.

Detailed analysis of the Japanese version of the Rapid Dementia Screening Test, revised version.

PubMed

Moriyama, Yasushi; Yoshino, Aihide; Muramatsu, Taro; Mimura, Masaru

2017-11-01

The number-transcoding task on the Japanese version of the Rapid Dementia Screening Test (RDST-J) requires mutual conversion between Arabic and Chinese numerals (209 to , 4054 to , to 681, to 2027). In this task, question and answer styles of Chinese numerals are written horizontally. We investigated the impact of changing the task so that Chinese numerals are written vertically. Subjects were 211 patients with very mild to severe Alzheimer's disease and 42 normal controls. Mini-Mental State Examination scores ranged from 26 to 12, and Clinical Dementia Rating scores ranged from 0.5 to 3. Scores of all four subtasks of the transcoding task significantly improved in the revised version compared with the original version. The sensitivity and specificity of total scores ≥9 on the RDST-J original and revised versions for discriminating between controls and subjects with Clinical Dementia Rating scores of 0.5 were 63.8% and 76.6% on the original and 60.1% and 85.8% on revised version. The revised RDST-J total score had low sensitivity and high specificity compared with the original RDST-J for discriminating subjects with Clinical Dementia Rating scores of 0.5 from controls. © 2017 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Reading Words or Pictures: Eye Movement Patterns in Adults and Children Differ by Age Group and Receptive Language Ability

PubMed Central

An, Licong; Wang, Yifang; Sun, Yadong

2017-01-01

This study was conducted to explore the differences in the degree of attention given to Chinese print and pictures by children and adults when they read picture books with and without Chinese words. We used an eye tracker from SensoMotoric Instruments to record the visual fixations of the subjects. The results showed that the adults paid more attention to Chinese print and looked at the print sooner than the children did. The stronger the children’s receptive language abilities were, the less time it took them to view the pictures. All participants spent the same amount of time looking at the pictures whether Chinese words were present or absent. PMID:28588526

[The Yin and Yang movement in the cosmology of Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Coutinho, Bernardo Diniz; Dulcetti, Pérola Goretti Sichero

2015-01-01

After being developed in the East, based on Taoist cosmology, Chinese medicine has been practiced in the West based on scientific foundations and biomedical paradigms. Some traditional elements of this philosophy were abandoned, such as the theory of Yin and Yang, knowledge that is essential for understanding the health-disease process resulting from the circulation of the body's energy flow. This article studies the movement of the dual elements of Yin and Yang in Chinese medical teaching, seeking to understand how this line of thought developed and how it has contributed towards establishing a system of diagnosis and therapy. The methodology employed was to analyze literature on the subject, based on theoretical references to Taoist thought and traditional Chinese medicine.

Development and validation of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument.

PubMed

Leung, Kwok-fai; Liu, Feng-bin; Zhao, Li; Fang, Ji-qian; Chan, Kelvin; Lin, Li-zhu

2005-04-16

This paper describes the development of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument (ChQOL) which is a self-report health status instrument. Chinese Medicine relies very much on asking subjective feelings of patients in the process of diagnosis and monitoring of treatment. For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine practitioners have accumulated a good wealth of experiences in asking questions about health of their patients based on the concept of health in Chinese Medicine. These experiences were then transformed into questions for the ChQOL. It is believed that ChQOL can contribute to the existing Patient Report Outcome measures. This paper outlines the concept of health and disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the building of the conceptual framework of the ChQOL, the steps of drafting, selecting and validating the items, and the psychometric properties of the ChQOL. The development of the ChQOL was based on the concept of health in Traditional Chinese Medicine with a theory driven approach. Based on the results of literature review, the research team developed an initial model of health which encompassed the concept of health in TCM. An expert panel was then invited to comment and give suggestions for improvement of the initial model. According to their suggestions, the model was refined and a set of initial items for the ChQOL was drafted. The refined model, together with the key domains, facets and initial items of the ChQOL were then mailed to a sample of about 100 Chinese medicine practitioners throughout Mainland China for their comments and advice. A revised set of items were developed for linguistic testing by a convenience sample consisting of both healthy people and people who attended Chinese Medicine treatment. After that, an item pool was developed for field-testing. Field test was conducted on a convenience sample of healthy and patient subjects to determine the construct validity and psychometric properties of the ChQOL. Construct validity was established by various methods, i.e. the internal consistency in all facets and domains were good; the correlation between facets to domain, and domains to overall ChQOL correlation were high; confirmatory factor analysis showed that the structure fitness of all facets, domain and overall structure were good with CFI > 0.9. Test-retest reliability was also good, especially in the domain scores with ICC value ranging from 0.83 to 0.90. No ceiling or floor effect was noted which indicated that ChQOL can be applied to subjects with a wide range of health status. Most facet scores, domain scores and the overall CHQOL scores were able to discriminate groups of subjects with known differences in health status. The ChQOL had mild positive convergence with the other generic health related QOL measures, i.e. the WHOQOL-100 and the SF-36, with moderate correlations. In conclusion, the study indicated that the ChQOL is conceptually valid with satisfactory psychometric properties. It can provide additional information on health and QOL on top of the existing generic health related QOL measures. Furthermore, it forms basis for further testing and applications in clinical trials.

Identification of five novel mutations in the long isoform of the USH2A gene in Chinese families with Usher syndrome type II.

PubMed

Dai, Hanjun; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhao, Xin; Deng, Ting; Dong, Bing; Wang, Jingzhao; Li, Yang

2008-01-01

Usher syndrome type II (USH2) is the most common form of Usher syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by moderate to severe hearing loss, postpuberal onset of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and normal vestibular function. Mutations in the USH2A gene have been shown to be responsible for most cases of USH2. To further elucidate the role of USH2A in USH2, mutation screening was undertaken in three Chinese families with USH2. Three unrelated Chinese families, consisting of six patients and 10 unaffected relatives, were examined clinically, and 100 normal Chinese individuals served as controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from the venous blood of all participants. The coding region (exons 2-72), including the intron-exon boundary of USH2A, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products amplified from the three probands were analyzed using direct sequencing to screen sequence variants. Whenever substitutions were identified in a patient, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, or single strand conformation polymorphism analysis was performed on all available family members and the control group. Fundus examination revealed typical fundus features of RP, including narrowing of the vessels, bone-speckle pigmentation, and waxy optic discs. The ERG wave amplitudes of three probands were undetectable. Audiometric tests indicated moderate to severe sensorineural hearing impairment. Vestibular function was normal. Five novel mutations (one small insertion, one small deletion, one nonsense, one missense, and one splice site) were detected in three families after sequence analysis of USH2A. Of the five mutations, four were located in exons 22-72, specific to the long isoform of USH2A. The mutations found in our study broaden the spectrum of USH2A mutations. Our results further indicate that the long isoform of USH2A may harbor even more mutations of the USH2A gene.

Seven novel mutations of the SMPD1 gene in four Chinese patients with Niemann-Pick disease type A and prenatal diagnosis for four fetuses.

PubMed

Ding, Yuan; Li, Xiyuan; Liu, Yupeng; Hua, Ying; Song, Jinqing; Wang, Liwen; Li, Mengqiu; Qin, Yaping; Yang, Yanling

2016-04-01

Niemann-Pick disease type A (NPD-A) is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by acid sphingomyelinase deficiency. Only a few cases have been documented in mainland China, and prenatal diagnosis has not been performed to date. In this study, the clinical and laboratory features of four Chinese patients with early-onset NPD-A were summarized. Four patients with NPD-A were the firstborns of non-consanguineous parents from four unrelated Chinese families. Bone marrow analysis, acid sphingomyelinase assay and genetic studies were performed. SMPD1 gene studies on amniocytes were performed for the prenatal diagnosis of four fetuses from three families. Four patients were admitted at the age of 1-10 months due to jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly and psychomotor retardation. Liver histopathological analysis revealed glucolipid accumulation. Massive foamy histiocytes were found in the bone marrow. Acid sphingomyelinase activities of peripheral blood leukocytes were significantly decreased (4.05-21.9 nmol/h/mg protein, normal range 216.1-950.9 nmol/h/mg protein). Seven novel mutations (c.518-519insT, c.562_563insC, c.792Gdel, c.949G>A, c.1487_1499delACCGTGTGTACCA, c.1495T>C and c.1670T>C) of the SMPD1 gene were identified in four patients. Only one fetus had two mutations of the SMPD1 gene of amniocytes. The results suggested that the fetus was affected by NPD-A. The mother chose artificial abortion. The other three fetuses were not affected by NPD-A. No mutation of the SMPD1 gene was detected in the cultured amniocytes from the mothers. Postnatal genetic analysis and normal development of the three infants confirmed the prenatal diagnosis. Seven novel mutations associated with NPD-A were identified in the Chinese population. Prenatal diagnosis for four fetuses of three families was successfully performed by amniocyte gene analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling for Waardenburg syndrome type I and II in Chinese families.

PubMed

Wang, Li; Qin, Litao; Li, Tao; Liu, Hongjian; Ma, Lingcao; Li, Wan; Wu, Dong; Wang, Hongdan; Guo, Qiannan; Guo, Liangjie; Liao, Shixiu

2018-01-01

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is an auditory‑pigmentary disorder with varying combinations of sensorineural hearing loss and abnormal pigmentation. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying molecular pathology and provide a method of prenatal diagnosis of WS in Chinese families. A total of 11 patients with WS from five unrelated Chinese families were enrolled. A thorough clinical examination was performed on all participants. Furthermore, patients with WS underwent screening for mutations in the following genes: Paired box 3 (PAX3), melanogenesis associated transcription factor (MITF), SRY‑box 10, snail family transcriptional repressor 2 and endothelin receptor type B using polymerase chain reaction sequencing. Array‑based comparative genomic hybridization was used for specific patients whose sequence results were normal. Following identification of the genotype of the probands and their parents, prenatal genetic diagnosis was performed for family 01 and 05. According to the diagnostic criteria for WS, five cases were diagnosed as WS1, while the other six cases were WS2. Genetic analysis revealed three mutations, including a nonsense mutation PAX3 c.583C>T in family 01, a splice‑site mutation MITF c.909G>A in family 03 and an in‑frame deletion MITF c.649_651delGAA in family 05. To the best of the authors' knowledge the mutations (c.583C>T in PAX3 and c.909G>A in MITF) were reported for the first time in Chinese people. Mutations in the gene of interest were not identified in family 02 and 04. The prenatal genetic testing of the two fetuses was carried out and demonstrated that the two babies were normal. The results of the present study expanded the range of known genetic mutations in China. Identification of genetic mutations in these families provided an efficient way to understand the causes of WS and improved genetic counseling.

Prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling for Waardenburg syndrome type I and II in Chinese families

PubMed Central

Wang, Li; Qin, Litao; Li, Tao; Liu, Hongjian; Ma, Lingcao; Li, Wan; Wu, Dong; Wang, Hongdan; Guo, Qiannan; Guo, Liangjie; Liao, Shixiu

2018-01-01

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is an auditory-pigmentary disorder with varying combinations of sensorineural hearing loss and abnormal pigmentation. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying molecular pathology and provide a method of prenatal diagnosis of WS in Chinese families. A total of 11 patients with WS from five unrelated Chinese families were enrolled. A thorough clinical examination was performed on all participants. Furthermore, patients with WS underwent screening for mutations in the following genes: Paired box 3 (PAX3), melanogenesis associated transcription factor (MITF), SRY-box 10, snail family transcriptional repressor 2 and endothelin receptor type B using polymerase chain reaction sequencing. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization was used for specific patients whose sequence results were normal. Following identification of the genotype of the probands and their parents, prenatal genetic diagnosis was performed for family 01 and 05. According to the diagnostic criteria for WS, five cases were diagnosed as WS1, while the other six cases were WS2. Genetic analysis revealed three mutations, including a nonsense mutation PAX3 c.583C>T in family 01, a splice-site mutation MITF c.909G>A in family 03 and an in-frame deletion MITF c.649_651delGAA in family 05. To the best of the authors' knowledge the mutations (c.583C>T in PAX3 and c.909G>A in MITF) were reported for the first time in Chinese people. Mutations in the gene of interest were not identified in family 02 and 04. The prenatal genetic testing of the two fetuses was carried out and demonstrated that the two babies were normal. The results of the present study expanded the range of known genetic mutations in China. Identification of genetic mutations in these families provided an efficient way to understand the causes of WS and improved genetic counseling. PMID:29115496

Differences in cytochrome p450-mediated pharmacokinetics between chinese and caucasian populations predicted by mechanistic physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling.

PubMed

Barter, Zoe E; Tucker, Geoffrey T; Rowland-Yeo, Karen

2013-12-01

International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) guidelines emphasize the need for better understanding of the influence of ethnicity on drug response to minimize duplication of clinical studies, thereby expediting drug approval. We have developed a Chinese database for the prediction of differences in the population kinetics of drugs mainly metabolized by cytochromes P450 (CYPs) relative to Caucasian populations. Such predictions should help to inform the need for duplication of in vivo pharmacokinetic studies in the two ethnic groups and the design of such studies. Demographic and physiological data for Chinese, along with information on CYP abundances and the frequencies of associated genetic polymorphisms in Chinese, were collated from literature sources and incorporated within the Simcyp Population-based Simulator(®) (v11.1). Default Simcyp parameter values for a virtual Caucasian population and for model compounds metabolized principally by specific CYPs were used as the point of reference. The drugs and the main CYPs involved in their metabolism were phenacetin (CYP1A2), desipramine (CYP2D6), tolbutamide (CYP2C9), omeprazole (CYP2C19), and alprazolam and midazolam (CYP3A). Hydroxy bupropion formation was used as a more sensitive marker of CYP2B6 activity than bupropion kinetics. Observed plasma drug concentration-time profiles and pharmacokinetic parameters after oral and, where possible, intravenous dosing were obtained from published in vivo studies in both Chinese and Caucasian subjects. Virtual subjects generated within Simcyp were matched to the subjects used in the in vivo studies with respect to age, sex, dosage and, where possible, CYP phenotype frequency. Predicted and observed plasma drug concentrations and weight-normalized clearances were compared between the ethnic groups. Significant differences were identified between Chinese and Caucasian populations in the frequency of CYP2C19 poor metabolizers (PMs) [Chinese 13 %; Caucasian 2.4 %], CYP2D6 PMs and intermediate metabolizers (IMs) [Chinese PMs 0.3 %, IMs 39 %; Caucasian PMs 8 %, IMs <1 %], the hepatic abundance of CYP2C19 (mean values: Chinese 8 pmol/mg; Caucasian 14 pmol/mg) and liver weight (mean values: Chinese 1198 g; Caucasian 1603 g). The observed plasma drug concentration-time profiles and weight-normalized clearances were predicted with reasonable accuracy (100 % within twofold; 89 % within 1.5-fold) in both ethnic groups. The predicted phenacetin, tolbutamide, omeprazole, desipramine, midazolam (intravenous), midazolam (oral), alprazolam (intravenous) and alprazolam (oral) clearances were 36, 25, 51, 43, 24, 17, 21 and 22 % lower, respectively, in Chinese than in Caucasians; the observed clearances were 28, 2, 75, 42, 19, 62, 20 and 21 % lower, respectively. Predicted and observed formation of hydroxy bupropion was lower in Caucasians than in Chinese (6 and 20 %, respectively). Differences between ethnic groups were less after normalization for body weight. The results of this study indicate the value of simulation based on mechanistic physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling (PBPK) in anticipating the likely extent of any differences in the kinetics of CYP substrates in Chinese and Caucasian populations arising from demographic, physiological and genetic differences.

Utility of AD8 for Cognitive Impairment in a Chinese Physical Examination Population: A Preliminary Study

PubMed Central

Xie, Yue; Gao, Ya; Jia, Jianjun; Wang, Xiaohong; Wang, Zhenfu; Xie, Hengge

2014-01-01

Objective. To investigate the utility of AD8 for cognitive impairment in a Chinese physical examination population. Methods. Military cadres who took routine physical examination in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Jan 1, 2013, to Dec 31, 2013, were subjected to AD8 scale. Individual information such as age, gender, and education was also collected. All data were analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results. 1544 subjects were enrolled in this study with mean age 75.4 ± 10.6 years. The subjects who scored 0 to 8 of AD8 scale were 1015, 269, 120, 60, 30, 14, 19, 8, and 9, respectively. Corresponding proportions were 65.7%, 17.4%, 7.8%, 3.9%, 2.0%, 0.9%, 1.2%, 0.5%, and 0.6%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of 8 questions was 5.6%, 9.2%, 6.6%, 9.2%, 4.8%, 4.5%, 8.9%, and 24.1%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of question 8 was significantly higher than others (P < 0.05). 260 subjects were scored equal to or greater than 2. The abnormal rate was 16.9%. All the participants were stratified into 9 groups by age; the prevalence of dementia was highly correlated with age (P < 0.01). Conclusion. AD8 scale is a convenient and effective tool for cognitive screening in routine physical examination population. PMID:25436227

The discriminatory capability of existing scores to predict advanced colorectal neoplasia: a prospective colonoscopy study of 5,899 screening participants.

PubMed

Wong, Martin C S; Ching, Jessica Y L; Ng, Simpson; Lam, Thomas Y T; Luk, Arthur K C; Wong, Sunny H; Ng, Siew C; Ng, Simon S M; Wu, Justin C Y; Chan, Francis K L; Sung, Joseph J Y

2016-02-03

We evaluated the performance of seven existing risk scoring systems in predicting advanced colorectal neoplasia in an asymptomatic Chinese cohort. We prospectively recruited 5,899 Chinese subjects aged 50-70 years in a colonoscopy screening programme(2008-2014). Scoring systems under evaluation included two scoring tools from the US; one each from Spain, Germany, and Poland; the Korean Colorectal Screening(KCS) scores; and the modified Asia Pacific Colorectal Screening(APCS) scores. The c-statistics, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values(PPVs), and negative predictive values(NPVs) of these systems were evaluated. The resources required were estimated based on the Number Needed to Screen(NNS) and the Number Needed to Refer for colonoscopy(NNR). Advanced neoplasia was detected in 364 (6.2%) subjects. The German system referred the least proportion of subjects (11.2%) for colonoscopy, whilst the KCS scoring system referred the highest (27.4%). The c-statistics of all systems ranged from 0.56-0.65, with sensitivities ranging from 0.04-0.44 and specificities from 0.74-0.99. The modified APCS scoring system had the highest c-statistics (0.65, 95% C.I. 0.58-0.72). The NNS (12-19) and NNR (5-10) were similar among the scoring systems. The existing scoring systems have variable capability to predict advanced neoplasia among asymptomatic Chinese subjects, and further external validation should be performed.

Utility of AD8 for cognitive impairment in a Chinese physical examination population: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Xie, Yue; Gao, Ya; Jia, Jianjun; Wang, Xiaohong; Wang, Zhenfu; Xie, Hengge

2014-01-01

To investigate the utility of AD8 for cognitive impairment in a Chinese physical examination population. Military cadres who took routine physical examination in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Jan 1, 2013, to Dec 31, 2013, were subjected to AD8 scale. Individual information such as age, gender, and education was also collected. All data were analyzed by SPSS 19.0. 1544 subjects were enrolled in this study with mean age 75.4 ± 10.6 years. The subjects who scored 0 to 8 of AD8 scale were 1015, 269, 120, 60, 30, 14, 19, 8, and 9, respectively. Corresponding proportions were 65.7%, 17.4%, 7.8%, 3.9%, 2.0%, 0.9%, 1.2%, 0.5%, and 0.6%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of 8 questions was 5.6%, 9.2%, 6.6%, 9.2%, 4.8%, 4.5%, 8.9%, and 24.1%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of question 8 was significantly higher than others (P < 0.05). 260 subjects were scored equal to or greater than 2. The abnormal rate was 16.9%. All the participants were stratified into 9 groups by age; the prevalence of dementia was highly correlated with age (P < 0.01). AD8 scale is a convenient and effective tool for cognitive screening in routine physical examination population.

Child physical abuse and the related PTSD in Taiwan: The role of Chinese cultural background and victims' subjective reactions.

PubMed

Chou, Chia-Ying; Su, Yi-Jen; Wu, Ho-Mao; Chen, Sue-Huei

2011-01-01

This study aimed to investigate child physical abuse (CPA) while taking into account the more rigorous definitions of CPA in the Chinese societies. The prevalence of CPA and CPA-related PTSD were estimated, together with the examination of peri-traumatic subjective reactions and their impacts on PTSD. In a Taiwanese sample of 1966 4th to 8th graders, the Chinese version of UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-IV (Steinberg, Brymer, Decker, & Pynoos, 2004) was used to investigate the lifetime exposure to CPA. A sub-sample of 236 traumatized CPA victims was examined with respect to related PTSD symptoms. Thirty-four percent of the children had been exposed to CPA. The estimated current prevalence of full and partial PTSD was 13.6% and 16.9%, respectively. The current CPA prevalence was found to be higher than the Western countries, but lower than the previous findings in other East Asian societies. The full PTSD prevalence was close to the findings in the Western countries, whereas sub-clinical PTSD was less observed in Taiwan. Peri-traumatic subjective reactions, that is, Criterion A2 and perceived threat, were shown to be major predictors of PTSD symptom severity. The role of attitudes of child discipline in the Chinese societies in the prevalence of CPA and CPA-related PTSD is discussed. By providing explicit epidemiological information of CPA and CPA-related PTSD in Taiwan, the current study extends our understanding of CPA and CPA-related PTSD more broadly from Western countries to the Eastern societies. By separately investigating CPA relating to different perpetrators, cross-study comparison is enhanced. In the current study, the significance of considering cultural background in defining CPA and examining CPA-related PTSD was pointed out. Meanwhile, the role of victims' subjective reactions in the psychopathology of PTSD is highlighted. The findings and discussions could contribute for generating a more sophisticated clinical practice, especially with Asian or Chinese cases. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pleiotropy across academic subjects at the end of compulsory education

PubMed Central

Rimfeld, Kaili; Kovas, Yulia; Dale, Philip S.; Plomin, Robert

2015-01-01

Research has shown that genes play an important role in educational achievement. A key question is the extent to which the same genes affect different academic subjects before and after controlling for general intelligence. The present study investigated genetic and environmental influences on, and links between, the various subjects of the age-16 UK-wide standardized GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examination results for 12,632 twins. Using the twin method that compares identical and non-identical twins, we found that all GCSE subjects were substantially heritable, and that various academic subjects correlated substantially both phenotypically and genetically, even after controlling for intelligence. Further evidence for pleiotropy in academic achievement was found using a method based directly on DNA from unrelated individuals. We conclude that performance differences for all subjects are highly heritable at the end of compulsory education and that many of the same genes affect different subjects independent of intelligence. PMID:26203819

CYP2R1 mutations causing vitamin D-deficiency rickets.

PubMed

Thacher, Tom D; Levine, Michael A

2017-10-01

CYP2R1 is the principal hepatic 25-hydroxylase responsible for the hydroxylation of parent vitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D reflect vitamin D status, because 25(OH)D is the major circulating metabolite of vitamin D. The 1α-hydroxylation of 25(OH)D in the kidney by CYP27B1 generates the fully active vitamin D metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH) 2 D). The human CYP2R1 gene, located at 11p15.2, has five exons, coding for an enzyme with 501 amino acids. In Cyp2r1-/- knockout mice, serum 25(OH)D levels were reduced by more than 50% compared wild-type mice. Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2R1 account for some of the individual variability of circulating 25(OH)D values in the population. We review the evidence that inactivating mutations in CYP2R1 can lead to a novel form of vitamin D-deficiency rickets resulting from impaired 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D. We sequenced the promoter, exons and intron-exon flanking regions of the CYP2R1 gene in members of 12 Nigerian families with rickets in more than one family member. We found missense mutations (L99P and K242N) in affected members of 2 of 12 families. The L99P mutation had previously been reported as a homozygous defect in an unrelated child of Nigerian origin with rickets. In silico analyses predicted impaired CYP2R1 folding or reduced interaction with substrate vitamin D by L99P and K242N mutations, respectively. In vitro studies of the mutant CYP2R1 proteins in HEK293 cells confirmed normal expression levels but completely absent or markedly reduced 25-hydroxylase activity by the L99P and K242N mutations, respectively. Heterozygous subjects had more moderate biochemical and clinical features of vitamin D deficiency than homozygous subjects. After an oral bolus dose of 50,000 IU of vitamin D 2 or vitamin D 3 , heterozygous subjects had lower increases in serum 25(OH)D than control subjects, and homozygous subjects had minimal increases, supporting a semidominant inheritance of these mutations. No CYP2R1 mutations were found in 27 Nigerian children with sporadic rickets, a cohort of 50 unrelated Nigerian subjects, or in 628 unrelated subjects in the 1000 Genomes Project. We conclude that mutations in CYP2R1 are responsible for an atypical form of vitamin D-deficiency rickets, which has been classified as vitamin D dependent rickets type 1B (VDDR1B, MIM 600081). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Theory and practice of bionic cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Liu, Dahui; Huang, Luqi; Guo, Lanping; Shao, Aijuan; Chen, Meilan

2009-03-01

The bionic cultivation of medicinal plant is an ecological cultivation pattern, which is adopting ecological engineering and modern agricultural techniques to simulate the natural ecosystem of wild medicinal plant community, and has been given greater attention on the agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is also the cross subject that combines Chinese traditional medicine, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, agricultural engineering and management. Moreover, it has significant technology advantages of promoting the sustainable utilization of medicinal plant resources, improving the ecological environment and harmonizing man and nature. So it's important to develop the bionic cultivation of TCM.

Time course of syllabic and sub-syllabic processing in Mandarin word production: Evidence from the picture-word interference paradigm.

PubMed

Wang, Jie; Wong, Andus Wing-Kuen; Chen, Hsuan-Chih

2017-06-05

The time course of phonological encoding in Mandarin monosyllabic word production was investigated by using the picture-word interference paradigm. Participants were asked to name pictures in Mandarin while visual distractor words were presented before, at, or after picture onset (i.e., stimulus-onset asynchrony/SOA = -100, 0, or +100 ms, respectively). Compared with the unrelated control, the distractors sharing atonal syllables with the picture names significantly facilitated the naming responses at -100- and 0-ms SOAs. In addition, the facilitation effect of sharing word-initial segments only appeared at 0-ms SOA, and null effects were found for sharing word-final segments. These results indicate that both syllables and subsyllabic units play important roles in Mandarin spoken word production and more critically that syllabic processing precedes subsyllabic processing. The current results lend strong support to the proximate units principle (O'Seaghdha, Chen, & Chen, 2010), which holds that the phonological structure of spoken word production is language-specific and that atonal syllables are the proximate phonological units in Mandarin Chinese. On the other hand, the significance of word-initial segments over word-final segments suggests that serial processing of segmental information seems to be universal across Germanic languages and Chinese, which remains to be verified in future studies.

Novel de novo nonsense mutation of the PHEX gene (p.Lys50Ter) in a Chinese patient with hypophosphatemic rickets.

PubMed

Huang, Yanru; Mei, Libin; Pan, Qian; Tan, Hu; Quan, Yi; Gui, Baoheng; Chang, Jiazhen; Ma, Ruiyu; Peng, Ying; Yang, Pu; Liang, Desheng; Wu, Lingqian

2015-07-01

X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLHR), the most common form of inherited rickets, is a dominant disorder characterized by hypophosphatemia, abnormal bone mineralization, and short stature. Mutations in the PHEX gene are major causes of XLHR. Herein, we clinically characterized four unrelated families with hypophosphatemia, bone abnormalities, short stature, and dentin malformation. Mutational analysis of the PHEX gene using Sanger sequencing revealed three recurrent mutations (c.2197T>C, c.1646G>C, and c.2198G>A) and a de novo nonsense mutation (c.148A>T). The novel mutation was not found in any of the unaffected family members or in the 100 healthy controls and was predicted to produce a truncated protein (p.K50X), a truncated form of the PHEX protein caused by nonsense mutations has been frequently detected in XLHR individuals. Thus, our work indicated that the c.148A>T (p.K50X) mutation was the likely pathogenic mutation in individual III-2 in family 2, and that PHEX gene mutations were responsible for XLHR in these Chinese families. These findings expand the mutation spectrum of PHEX and may help us to understand the molecular basis of XLHR in order to facilitate genetic counseling. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Replication of british rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility Loci in two unrelated chinese population groups.

PubMed

Li, Hua; Hu, Yonghe; Zhang, Tao; Liu, Yang; Wang, Yantang; Yang, Tai; Li, Minhui; Luo, Qiaoli; Cheng, Yu; Zou, Qiang

2013-01-01

Previous genome-wide association study by WTCCC identified many susceptibility loci of common autoimmune diseases in British, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Because of the genetic heterogeneity of RA, it is necessary to replicate these susceptibility loci in other populations. Here, three SNPs with strong RA association signal in the British were analyzed in Han Chinese, and two SNPs (rs6457617 and rs11761231) were genotyped in the test cohort firstly. The rs6457617 was significantly associated with RA in the test cohort. The individuals bearing the homozygous genotype CC had 0.39-fold risk than these bearing the wild-type genotype TT (P = 0.004, OR 0.39, [95% CI 0.21-0.74]). And the protective effect of allele C was confirmed in another validation cohort with 1514 samples (P genotye CC/TT = 5.9 ×  10(-10), OR 0.34, [95% CI 0.24-0.48]). The rs6457617 can be used as a tagSNP of HLA-DQA1∗03 which encoded MHC-II α chain. Since MHC restriction is important for primary T-cells in positive selection and negative selection stages, MHC protein polymorphisms may be implicated in shaping the T-cell repertoire, including the emergence of a T-cell clone involved in the inflammatory arthritis.

Identification of the sequence variations of 15 autosomal STR loci in a Chinese population.

PubMed

Chen, Wenjing; Cheng, Jianding; Ou, Xueling; Chen, Yong; Tong, Dayue; Sun, Hongyu

2014-01-01

DNA sequence variation including base(s) changes and insertion or deletion in the primer binding region may cause a null allele and, if this changes the length of the amplified fragment out of the allelic ladder, off-ladder (OL) alleles may be detected. In order to provide accurate and reliable DNA evidence for forensic DNA analysis, it is essential to clarify sequence variations in prevalently used STR loci. Suspected null alleles and OL alleles of PlowerPlex16® System from 21,934 unrelated Chinese individuals were verified by alternative systems and sequenced. A total of 17 cases with null alleles were identified, including 12 kinds of point mutations in 16 cases and a 19-base deletion in one case. The total frequency of null alleles was 7.751 × 10(-4). Eight hundred and forty-four OL alleles classified as being of 97 different kinds were observed at 15 STR loci of the PowerPlex®16 system except vWA. All the frequencies of OL alleles were under 0.01. Null alleles should be confirmed by alternative primers and OL alleles should be named appropriately. Particular attention should be paid to sequence variation, since incorrect designation could lead to false conclusions.

Chinese traffic fatalities and injuries in police reports, hospital records, and in-depth records from one city.

PubMed

Qiu, Jun; Zhou, Jihong; Zhang, Liang; Yao, Yuan; Yuan, Danfeng; Shi, Jianguo; Gao, Zhiming; Zhou, Lin; Wang, Zhengguo; Evans, Leonard

2015-01-01

Claims of sharp reductions in Chinese traffic casualties after 2002 based on police-reported data have been questioned in the literature. The objective of this study is to determine whether a decline in casualties occurred and to better understand the police data. The first of 2 unrelated studies analyzed data from 210 military hospitals throughout China providing records for inpatients injured in traffic accidents (2001-2007). The second compared in-depth crash records (2000-2006) from one city to officially released data. Hospital data showed that casualties increased from 2002 to 2007. The city investigation showed consistently far more fatalities and injuries in the in-depth data than officially released. For example, in-depth data showed 1,720 fatalities. Only 557 of these were reported officially (data loss = 68%). Disaggregating into 3 regions showed a data loss of 41% in urban areas, 63% in rural areas, and 90% in rural-urban fringe zones. For injuries, data losses were even greater. Traffic fatalities and injuries did not decrease from 2002 to 2006. The in-depth city data contained 3 times as many fatalities and 5 times as many injuries as reported by police. Reasons why this occurred and suggestions to improve data collection and reduce casualties are given.

Does network topology influence systemic risk contribution? A perspective from the industry indices in Chinese stock market

PubMed Central

Long, Haiming; Tang, Nengyu

2017-01-01

This study considers the effect of an industry’s network topology on its systemic risk contribution to the stock market using data from the CSI 300 two-tier industry indices from the Chinese stock market. We first measure industry’s conditional-value-at-risk (CoVaR) and the systemic risk contribution (ΔCoVaR) using the fitted time-varying t-copula function. The network of the stock industry is established based on dynamic conditional correlations with the minimum spanning tree. Then, we investigate the connection characteristics and topology of the network. Finally, we utilize seemingly unrelated regression estimation (SUR) of panel data to analyze the relationship between network topology of the stock industry and the industry’s systemic risk contribution. The results show that the systemic risk contribution of small-scale industries such as real estate, food and beverage, software services, and durable goods and clothing, is higher than that of large-scale industries, such as banking, insurance and energy. Industries with large betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and clustering coefficient and small node occupancy layer are associated with greater systemic risk contribution. In addition, further analysis using a threshold model confirms that the results are robust. PMID:28683130

Evaluation of the Microhaplotypes panel for DNA mixture analyses.

PubMed

Chen, Peng; Yin, Caiyong; Li, Zheng; Pu, Yan; Yu, Youjia; Zhao, Peng; Chen, Dexin; Liang, Weibo; Zhang, Lin; Chen, Feng

2018-05-12

The identification of a suspect in a DNA mixture typed with the standard short tandem repeat polymorphism (STR) kits has faced challenges. Several improved methods or technologies have been introduced to address this issue. However, some complex situations in the process remain elusive. In the present study, we presented a panel of 26 tiny microhaplotypes, each generating a relatively high (>3.0) effective number of alleles (A e ) and possessing low (<50 bp) sequence lengths. The average A e and heterozygosity values among the 9 populations of 26 microhaps were in ranges from 2.60 to 4.54 and 0.59 to 0.96, respectively. Power of discrimination and power of exclusion values were ranged from 0.49 to 0.87 and 0.29 to 0.94, respectively. Significant positive correlations have been found between A e values and heterozygosity (r = 0.43, p = 0.02) or power of discrimination values (r = 0.55, p = 0.003), respectively. The cumulative probability of detecting a mixture of two unrelated individuals could reach 0.9999998 when using a panel of 26 microhaps with A e  = 3. We further tested the panel by using massively parallel sequencing, and 14 out of 26 microhaps were successfully genotyped in a single multiplex system. 60 unrelated Chinese Han individuals and 2 artificially prepared samples mixed by two unrelated contributors (in duplicate, ie. 4 mixtures) were sequenced. Approximately 32.14% of the 14 loci presented three or four alleles in the two mixtures. The likelihood ratio values to cognizance the mixtures' contributor were in a range from 1.95 × 10 6 to 1.10 × 10 7 . The results demonstrated that the present panel could offer a valuable complementary tool in forensic applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Examination of the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale as a Subjective Quality-of-Life Measure in Elderly Hong Kong Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Eric; Woo, Jean; Hui, Elsie; Ho, Suzanne C.

2004-01-01

Purpose: We examine the psychometric properties of the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (PGMS) in an elderly Chinese population in Hong Kong. Design and Methods: The study consisted of two cohorts: (a) 759 participants aged 70 years and older living in the community who were recruited as part of a territory-wide health survey and interviewed in…

Effects of Working Memory Capacity in Processing Wh-Extractions: Eye-Movement Evidence from Chinese-English Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Huixia; Rossi, Sonja; Li, Juan; Liu, Huanhuan; Chen, Ran; Chen, Baoguo

2017-01-01

By using the eye-tracking method, the present study explores whether working memory capacity assessed via the second language (L2) reading span (L2WMC) as well as the operational span task (OSPAN) affects the processing of subject-extraction and object-extraction in Chinese-English bilinguals. Results showed that L2WMC has no effects on the…

Levamisole and/or Chinese medicinal herbs can modulate the serum level of squamous cell carcinoma associated antigen in patients with erosive oral lichen planus.

PubMed

Sun, A; Chiang, C P

2001-10-01

The serum levels of squamous cell carcinoma associated antigen (SCCA) were determined by a microparticle enzyme immunoassay in a group of patients with stage I oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), major or minor type erosive oral lichen planus (EOLP), recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS), Behçet's disease (BD), oral leukoplakia (OL), or oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), and in normal control subjects. About 97% of the normal control subjects and the patients with minor type EOLP, RAS, BD, OL or OSF had a serum level of SCCA within the normal limit of 1.2 ng/ml. However, 6 of the 12 (50%) patients with stage I OSCC and 14 of the 31 (45.2%) patients with major type EOLP had a serum level of SCCA greater than 1.2 ng/ml. The mean serum level of SCCA in stage I OSCC patients (1.38+/-1.16 ng/ml) or in major type EOLP patients (1.32+/-1.23 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in normal control subjects (P<0.001) and that in the patients with minor type EOLP (P<0.001), RAS (P<0.001), BD (P<0.05), OL (P<0.05), or OSF (P<0.05). Either major or minor type EOLP patients could obtain a significant mean reduction of the serum SCCA level of 0.34-0.63 ng/ml after treatment with levamisole and/or Chinese medicinal herbs for 1-30 months. Combination therapy with levamisole plus Chinese medicinal herbs could achieve a shorter duration of treatment to get complete remission than the single therapy with either levamisole only or Chinese medicinal herbs only. We conclude that levamisole and/or Chinese medicinal herbs can modulate the serum SCCA level in EOLP patients. SCCA may be a useful marker in evaluating therapeutic effects and in monitoring the disease status of EOLP. For EOLP patients, the combination therapy is superior to the single therapy of levamisole or of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Airway assessment by volumetric computed tomography in snorers and subjects with obstructive sleep apnea in a Far-East Asian population (Chinese).

PubMed

Chen, Ning-Hung; Li, Kasey K; Li, Shia-Yu; Wong, Chao-Reng; Chuang, Ming-Lung; Hwang, Chung-Chi; Wu, Yao-Kaung

2002-04-01

To evaluate the airway dimension of simple snorers and subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a Far-East Asian population (Chinese). Prospective study of 117 near-consecutive patients evaluated for snoring and possible OSA from January 1998 to December 1998 in a sleep laboratory. Overnight polysomnography (PSG) was performed on all patients and the sleep parameters, including respiratory disturbance index (RDI), snoring index, minimal oxygen saturation (min O2), percentage of slow wave sleep (SWS), and rapid eye movement (REM) were recorded. Three-dimensional computerized tomography (CT) during awake periods was performed. The anteroposterior (AP) and the lateral distance of the retropalatal (RP) region in the oropharynx, the smallest area of RP, and retroglossal (RG) regions, and the total volume of the oropharynx were measured. Ninety-eight patients were diagnosed with OSA (mean RDI, 41.48 +/- 26.45 events per hour; min O2, 72.82 +/- 12.86%), whereas 19 were simple snorers. The AP and the lateral distance of the RP region, as well as the smallest area of the RP region, are significantly smaller in subjects with OSA. However, no differences in the RG region and the total volume of the oropharynx were found between the two groups. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that the lateral dimension and the smallest RP area in overweight subjects inversely correlated with the RDI, but only the AP dimension of the RP area was found to have an inverse correlation with the RDI in the underweight subjects. In Far-East Asians (Chinese), the RP airway was found to be the primary site of narrowing in subjects with OSA, and the narrowest RP area was inversely correlated with RDI. Furthermore, weight may influence the pattern of RP narrowing by contributing to lateral collapse.

Efficacy of combination treatment with anti-IgE plus specific immunotherapy in polysensitized children and adolescents with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

PubMed

Kuehr, Joachim; Brauburger, Jens; Zielen, Stefan; Schauer, Uwe; Kamin, Wolfgang; Von Berg, Andrea; Leupold, Wolfgang; Bergmann, Karl-Christian; Rolinck-Werninghaus, Claudia; Gräve, Michael; Hultsch, Thomas; Wahn, Ulrich

2002-02-01

Specific immunotherapy (SIT) and treatment with monoclonal anti-IgE antibody have complementary modes of action. The purpose of this study was to determine whether combined therapy could provide better efficacy than either treatment alone. We conducted a randomized, double-blinded trial to assess the efficacy and safety of subcutaneously administered anti-IgE (omalizumab) or placebo in children and adolescents with seasonal allergic rhinitis in both a birch pollen season and a grass pollen season (sequential seasons together lasting an average of 84 days). There were 4 treatment arms. Each subject was started on SIT-birch or SIT-grass, and anti-IgE or placebo was started before and maintained during the anticipated pollen seasons (a total of 24 weeks). The primary efficacy variable was symptom load, the sum of daily symptom severity score plus rescue medication use. A total of 221 subjects (intent-to-treat population) aged 6 to 17 years were analyzed for efficacy. Combination therapy reduced symptom load over the 2 pollen seasons by 48% (P <.001) over SIT alone. When analyzed separately by season, the 2 groups receiving unrelated SIT were considered placebo controls. In the grass season, symptom loads were as follows: unrelated (birch) SIT + placebo, 0.89 (reference value); unrelated (birch) SIT + anti-IgE, 0.49 (-45%); SIT-grass + placebo, 0.61 (-32%); SIT-grass + anti-IgE, 0.26 (-71%). Anti-IgE therapy conferred a protective effect independent of the type of allergen. Additional clinical benefit was demonstrated in both pollen seasons, whether there was coverage by SIT or not. This combination might prove useful for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, particularly for polysensitized patients.

Living related versus deceased donor liver transplantation for maple syrup urine disease.

PubMed

Feier, Flavia; Schwartz, Ida Vanessa D; Benkert, Abigail R; Seda Neto, Joao; Miura, Irene; Chapchap, Paulo; da Fonseca, Eduardo Antunes; Vieira, Sandra; Zanotelli, Maria Lúcia; Pinto e Vairo, Filippo; Camelo, Jose Simon; Margutti, Ana Vitoria Barban; Mazariegos, George V; Puffenberger, Erik G; Strauss, Kevin A

2016-03-01

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is an inherited disorder of branched chain ketoacid (BCKA) oxidation associated with episodic and chronic brain disease. Transplantation of liver from an unrelated deceased donor restores 9-13% whole-body BCKA oxidation capacity and stabilizes MSUD. Recent reports document encouraging short-term outcomes for MSUD patients who received a liver segment from mutation heterozygous living related donors (LRDT). To investigate effects of living related versus deceased unrelated grafts, we studied four Brazilian MSUD patients treated with LRDT who were followed for a mean 19 ± 12 postoperative months, and compared metabolic and clinical outcomes to 37 classical MSUD patients treated with deceased donor transplant. Patient and graft survival for LRDT were 100%. Three of 4 MSUD livers were successfully domino transplanted into non-MSUD subjects. Following LRDT, all subjects resumed a protein-unrestricted diet as mean plasma leucine decreased from 224 ± 306 μM to 143 ± 44 μM and allo-isoleucine decreased 91%. We observed no episodes of hyperleucinemia during 80 aggregate postoperative patient-months. Mean plasma leucine:isoleucine:valine concentration ratios were ~2:1:4 after deceased donor transplant compared to ~1:1:1.5 following LRDT, resulting in differences of predicted cerebral amino acid uptake. Mutant heterozygous liver segments effectively maintain steady-state BCAA and BCKA homeostasis on an unrestricted diet and during most catabolic states, but might have different metabolic effects than grafts from unrelated deceased donors. Neither living related nor deceased donor transplant affords complete protection from metabolic intoxication, but both strategies represent viable alternatives to nutritional management. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The balanced mind: the variability of task-unrelated thoughts predicts error monitoring

PubMed Central

Allen, Micah; Smallwood, Jonathan; Christensen, Joanna; Gramm, Daniel; Rasmussen, Beinta; Jensen, Christian Gaden; Roepstorff, Andreas; Lutz, Antoine

2013-01-01

Self-generated thoughts unrelated to ongoing activities, also known as “mind-wandering,” make up a substantial portion of our daily lives. Reports of such task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) predict both poor performance on demanding cognitive tasks and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in the default mode network (DMN). However, recent findings suggest that TUTs and the DMN can also facilitate metacognitive abilities and related behaviors. To further understand these relationships, we examined the influence of subjective intensity, ruminative quality, and variability of mind-wandering on response inhibition and monitoring, using the Error Awareness Task (EAT). We expected to replicate links between TUT and reduced inhibition, and explored whether variance in TUT would predict improved error monitoring, reflecting a capacity to balance between internal and external cognition. By analyzing BOLD responses to subjective probes and the EAT, we dissociated contributions of the DMN, executive, and salience networks to task performance. While both response inhibition and online TUT ratings modulated BOLD activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the DMN, the former recruited a more dorsal area implying functional segregation. We further found that individual differences in mean TUTs strongly predicted EAT stop accuracy, while TUT variability specifically predicted levels of error awareness. Interestingly, we also observed co-activation of salience and default mode regions during error awareness, supporting a link between monitoring and TUTs. Altogether our results suggest that although TUT is detrimental to task performance, fluctuations in attention between self-generated and external task-related thought is a characteristic of individuals with greater metacognitive monitoring capacity. Achieving a balance between internally and externally oriented thought may thus aid individuals in optimizing their task performance. PMID:24223545

Chinese and Korean Characters Engage the Same Visual Word Form Area in Proficient Early Chinese-Korean Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Bai, Jian'e; Shi, Jinfu; Jiang, Yi; He, Sheng; Weng, Xuchu

2011-01-01

A number of recent studies consistently show an area, known as the visual word form area (VWFA), in the left fusiform gyrus that is selectively responsive for visual words in alphabetic scripts as well as in logographic scripts, such as Chinese characters. However, given the large difference between Chinese characters and alphabetic scripts in terms of their orthographic rules, it is not clear at a fine spatial scale, whether Chinese characters engage the same VWFA in the occipito-temporal cortex as alphabetic scripts. We specifically compared Chinese with Korean script, with Korean script serving as a good example of alphabetic writing system, but matched to Chinese in the overall square shape. Sixteen proficient early Chinese-Korean bilinguals took part in the fMRI experiment. Four types of stimuli (Chinese characters, Korean characters, line drawings and unfamiliar Chinese faces) were presented in a block-design paradigm. By contrasting characters (Chinese or Korean) to faces, presumed VWFAs could be identified for both Chinese and Korean characters in the left occipito-temporal sulcus in each subject. The location of peak response point in these two VWFAs were essentially the same. Further analysis revealed a substantial overlap between the VWFA identified for Chinese and that for Korean. At the group level, there was no significant difference in amplitude of response to Chinese and Korean characters. Spatial patterns of response to Chinese and Korean are similar. In addition to confirming that there is an area in the left occipito-temporal cortex that selectively responds to scripts in both Korean and Chinese in early Chinese-Korean bilinguals, our results show that these two scripts engage essentially the same VWFA, even at the level of fine spatial patterns of activation across voxels. These results suggest that similar populations of neurons are engaged in processing the different scripts within the same VWFA in early bilinguals. PMID:21818386

Individual Differences in Subjective Utility and Risk Preferences: The Influence of Hedonic Capacity and Trait Anxiety

PubMed Central

Howlett, Jonathon R.; Paulus, Martin P.

2017-01-01

Individual differences in decision-making are important in both normal populations and psychiatric conditions. Variability in decision-making could be mediated by different subjective utilities or by other processes. For example, while traditional economic accounts attribute risk aversion to a concave subjective utility curve, in practice other factors could affect risk behavior. This distinction may have important implications for understanding the biological basis of variability in decision-making and for developing interventions to improve decision-making. Another aspect of decision-making that may vary between individuals is the sensitivity of subjective utility to counterfactual outcomes (outcomes that could have occurred, but did not). We investigated decision-making in relation to hedonic capacity and trait anxiety, two traits that relate to psychiatric conditions but also vary in the general population. Subjects performed a decision-making task, in which they chose between low- and high-risk gambles to win 0, 20, or 40 points on each trial. Subjects then rated satisfaction after each outcome on a visual analog scale, indicating subjective utility. Hedonic capacity was positively associated with the subjective utility of winning 20 points but was not associated with the concavity of the subjective utility curve (constructed using the mean subjective utility of winning 0, 20, or 40 points). Consistent with economic theory, concavity of the subjective utility curve was associated with risk aversion. Hedonic capacity was independently associated with risk seeking (i.e., not mediated by the shape of the subjective utility curve), while trait anxiety was unrelated to risk preferences. Contrary to our expectations, counterfactual sensitivity was unrelated to hedonic capacity and trait anxiety. Nevertheless, trait anxiety was associated with a self-report measure of regret-proneness, suggesting that counterfactual influences may occur via a pathway that is separate from immediate counterfactual processing biases. Taken together, our results show that hedonic capacity but not trait anxiety affects risk-taking through a mechanism that appears independent of the shape of the subjective utility curve, while hedonic capacity and trait anxiety do not affect the influence of counterfactual outcomes on subjective utility. The results have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of variable decision-making and for developing interventions to improve decision-making. PMID:28588508

Individual Differences in Subjective Utility and Risk Preferences: The Influence of Hedonic Capacity and Trait Anxiety.

PubMed

Howlett, Jonathon R; Paulus, Martin P

2017-01-01

Individual differences in decision-making are important in both normal populations and psychiatric conditions. Variability in decision-making could be mediated by different subjective utilities or by other processes. For example, while traditional economic accounts attribute risk aversion to a concave subjective utility curve, in practice other factors could affect risk behavior. This distinction may have important implications for understanding the biological basis of variability in decision-making and for developing interventions to improve decision-making. Another aspect of decision-making that may vary between individuals is the sensitivity of subjective utility to counterfactual outcomes (outcomes that could have occurred, but did not). We investigated decision-making in relation to hedonic capacity and trait anxiety, two traits that relate to psychiatric conditions but also vary in the general population. Subjects performed a decision-making task, in which they chose between low- and high-risk gambles to win 0, 20, or 40 points on each trial. Subjects then rated satisfaction after each outcome on a visual analog scale, indicating subjective utility. Hedonic capacity was positively associated with the subjective utility of winning 20 points but was not associated with the concavity of the subjective utility curve (constructed using the mean subjective utility of winning 0, 20, or 40 points). Consistent with economic theory, concavity of the subjective utility curve was associated with risk aversion. Hedonic capacity was independently associated with risk seeking (i.e., not mediated by the shape of the subjective utility curve), while trait anxiety was unrelated to risk preferences. Contrary to our expectations, counterfactual sensitivity was unrelated to hedonic capacity and trait anxiety. Nevertheless, trait anxiety was associated with a self-report measure of regret-proneness, suggesting that counterfactual influences may occur via a pathway that is separate from immediate counterfactual processing biases. Taken together, our results show that hedonic capacity but not trait anxiety affects risk-taking through a mechanism that appears independent of the shape of the subjective utility curve, while hedonic capacity and trait anxiety do not affect the influence of counterfactual outcomes on subjective utility. The results have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of variable decision-making and for developing interventions to improve decision-making.

Spicing Things up by Adding Color and Relieving Pain: The Use of "Napoleon's Buttons" in Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bucholtz, Kevin M.

2011-01-01

For some students, organic chemistry can be a distant subject and unrelated to any courses they have seen in their college careers. To develop a more contextual learning experience in organic chemistry, an additional text, "Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History," by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, was incorporated as a…

Can Victoria's Secret Change the Future? A Subjective Time Perception Account of Sexual-Cue Effects on Impatience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, B. Kyu; Zauberman, Gal

2013-01-01

Sexual cues influence decisions not only about sex, but also about unrelated outcomes such as money. In the presence of sexual cues, individuals are more "impatient" when making intertemporal monetary tradeoffs, choosing smaller immediate amounts over larger delayed amounts. Previous research has emphasized the power of sexual cues to induce a…

An fMRI Investigation of the Neural Correlates Underlying the Processing of Novel Metaphoric Expressions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mashal, N.; Faust, M.; Hendler, T.; Jung-Beeman, M.

2007-01-01

The neural networks associated with processing related pairs of words forming literal, novel, and conventional metaphorical expressions and unrelated pairs of words were studied in a group of 15 normal adults using fMRI. Subjects read the four types of linguistic expressions and decided which relation exists between the two words (metaphoric,…

When does meaning making predict subjective well-being? Examining young and older adults in two cultures.

PubMed

Alea, Nicole; Bluck, Susan

2013-01-01

Two studies in different cultures (Study 1: USA, N=174, Study 2: Trinidad, N=167) examined whether meaning making, (i.e., both searching for meaning, and directing behaviour) is positively related to subjective well-being (SWB) by age (younger, older adults). In both studies, participants self-reported engagement in meaning making, and SWB (e.g., affect, future time perspective, psychological well-being). In Study 1, young Americans (compared to older) more frequently used their past to direct behaviour but doing so was unrelated to SWB. In older Americans, both types of meaning making were positively associated with SWB. In Study 2, Trinidadian younger adults were again more likely than older adults to engage in meaning making. Unlike in the American sample, however, directing behaviour was positively related to SWB for both young and older adults. The studies demonstrate that whether meaning making shows benefits for SWB may depend on type of meaning, age and culture. Note that although meaning making was sometimes unrelated to SWB, no detrimental relations to meaning making were found. The discussion focuses on the role of moderators in understanding when meaning making should lead to benefits versus costs to SWB.

Exploring nutrition education resources and barriers, and nutrition knowledge in teachers in California.

PubMed

Jones, Anna Marie; Zidenberg-Cherr, Sheri

2015-01-01

To determine barriers to nutrition education, nutrition education resources used, and the relationship between nutrition knowledge and whether public school teachers in California teach nutrition in the classroom. A total of 102 teachers in California participated in a Web-based survey about nutrition education barriers, resources used to plan nutrition lessons, and factors that would encourage inclusion of nutrition. A validated questionnaire was used to assess nutrition knowledge. Analyses included ordinary least-squares regression. Common barriers were lack of instructional time and unrelated subject. Teachers were unaware of many nutrition education resources. Nutrition knowledge was not associated with nutrition lessons but was positively associated with teaching high school (β = 5.13; P < .05) and female gender (β = 6.78; P < .05), and negatively associated with identifying as Hispanic or Latino (β = -15.50; P < .001). Barriers of time and lack of unrelated subject matter are difficult to address but lack of awareness of resources indicates that promotion of existing resources may encourage teachers to provide nutrition education. Larger studies are needed to determine whether this holds true in a broader sample. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human neutrophil antigen profiles in Banjar, Bugis, Champa, Jawa and Kelantan Malays in Peninsular Malaysia

PubMed Central

Manaf, Siti M.; NurWaliyuddin, Hanis Z.A.; Panneerchelvam, Sundararajulu; Zafarina, Zainuddin; Norazmi, Mohd N.; Chambers, Geoffrey K.; Edinur, Hisham A.

2015-01-01

Background Human neutrophil antigens (HNA) are polymorphic and immunogenic proteins involved in the pathogenesis of neonatal alloimmune neutropenia, transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) and transfusion-related alloimmune neutropenia. The characterisation of HNA at a population level is important for predicting the risk of alloimmunisation associated with blood transfusion and gestation and for anthropological studies. Materials and methods Blood samples from 192 healthy, unrelated Malays were collected and genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (HNA-1, -3, -4) and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (HNA-5). The group comprised 30 Banjar, 37 Bugis, 51 Champa, 39 Jawa and 35 Kelantan Malays. Results The most common HNA alleles in the Malays studied were HNA-1a (0.641–0.765), -3a (0.676–0.867), -4a (0.943–1.000) and -5a (0.529–0.910). According to principal coordinate plots constructed using HNA allele frequencies, the Malay sub-ethnic groups are closely related and grouped together with other Asian populations. The risks of TRALI or neonatal neutropenia were not increased for subjects with HNA-1, -3 and -4 loci even for donor and recipient or pairs from different Malay sub-ethnic groups. Nonetheless, our estimates showed significantly higher risks of HNA alloimmunisation during pregnancy and transfusion between Malays and other genetically differentiated populations such as Africans and Europeans. Discussion This study reports HNA allele and genotype frequencies for the five Malay sub-ethnic groups living in Peninsular Malaysia for the first time. These Malay sub-ethnic groups show closer genetic relationships with other Asian populations than with Europeans and Africans. The distributions of HNA alleles in other lineages of people living in Malaysia (e.g. Chinese, Indian and Orang Asli) would be an interesting subject for future study. PMID:26057487

Possible cross-cultural differences in the perception of impact of voice disorders.

PubMed

Yiu, Edwin M-L; Ho, Elaine M; Ma, Estella P-M; Verdolini Abbott, Katherine; Branski, Ryan; Richardson, Katherine; Li, Nicole Y-K

2011-05-01

Perception of the impact of voice disorders may differ across different cultural backgrounds. This study investigated the difference in the perception of the impact of voice disorders between the American (Pittsburgh) and Chinese (Hong Kong) cultures. Sixty dysphonic subjects from Hong Kong, China, and 60 dysphonic subjects from Pittsburgh, USA, were recruited to complete the Chinese and English versions of the Voice Activity and Participation Profile (VAPP), respectively. Data analyses using independent t tests were conducted on (1) the total profile scores; (b) total activity limitation score (ALS) and total participation restriction score (PRS); (c) section scores of job, daily communication, and social communication; and (d) section ALS and section PRS. Hong Kong subjects showed significantly higher scores than the Pittsburgh subjects in total profile and other subsections except in the job PRS. RESULTS support the possible influence of individualist and collectivist cultures on the perceived impact of voice disorders on the activity and participation. Copyright © 2011 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pharmacokinetics of Lidocaine Hydrochloride Metabolized by CYP3A4 in Chinese Han Volunteers Living at Low Altitude and in Native Han and Tibetan Chinese Volunteers Living at High Altitude.

PubMed

Zhang, Juanling; Zhu, Junbo; Yao, Xingchen; Duan, Yabin; Zhou, Xuejiao; Yang, Meng; Li, Xiangyang

2016-01-01

To investigate the pharmacokinetics of lidocaine hydrochloride metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) in Chinese Han volunteers living at low altitude (LA) and in native Han and Tibetan Chinese volunteers living at high altitude, lidocaine hydrochloride 10 mg was given by intramuscular injection to 3 groups: Han volunteers living at LA, and native Han and Tibetan volunteers living at a high altitude. Blood samples were collected before the (baseline) study drug was given and at 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 h after study drug administration. Lidocaine hydrochloride in plasma was determined by RP-HPLC. Pharmacokinetics parameters of lidocaine hydrochloride showed that there were no significant difference between the native Han and Tibetan volunteers, but the t(1/2) was 29.8 and 29.8% higher in 2 groups, respectively, than in the LA group. To study related mechanism, the effects of exposure to chronic high-altitude hypoxia (CHH) on the activity and expression of CYP3A1 were examined in rats. Rats were divided into LA, chronic moderate altitude hypoxia, and CHH groups. CHH caused significant decreases in the activity and protein and mRNA expression of rat CYP3A1 in vivo. This study found significant changes in the disposition of lidocaine hydrochloride in native healthy Tibetan and Han Chinese subjects living at a high altitude in comparison to healthy Han Chinese subjects living at LA, it might be due to significant decreases in the activity and protein and mRNA expression of CYP3A4 under CHH condition. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Association and Interaction Effect of AGTR1 and AGTR2 Gene Polymorphisms with Dietary Pattern on Metabolic Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Malaysian Adults

PubMed Central

Yap, Roseline Wai Kuan; Shidoji, Yoshihiro; Yap, Wai Sum; Masaki, Motofumi

2017-01-01

Gene-diet interaction using a multifactorial approach is preferred to study the multiple risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study examined the association and gene-diet interaction effects of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1) gene (rs5186), and type 2 receptor (AGTR2) gene (rs1403543) polymorphisms on metabolic risk factors of CVD in Malaysian adults. CVD parameters (BMI, blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and TC/HDL-C ratio), and constructed dietary patterns “vegetables, fruits, and soy diet” (VFSD), and “rice, egg, and fish diet” (REFD) were obtained from previous studies. Genotyping analysis was performed by real-time PCR using Taqman probes. The subjects were 507 adults (151 Malays; 179 Chinese; and 177 Indians). Significant genetic associations were obtained on blood lipids for rs5186 in Malays and Chinese, and rs1403543 in Chinese females. The significant gene-diet interaction effects after adjusting for potential confounders were: rs5186 × VFSD on blood pressure in Malays (p = 0.016), and in Chinese on blood lipids for rs5186 × REFD (p = 0.009–0.023), and rs1403543 × VFSD in female subjects (p = 0.001–0.011). Malays and Chinese showed higher risk for blood pressure and/or lipids involving rs5186 and rs1403543 SNPs together with gene-diet interactions, but not Indians. PMID:28792482

The regulation of induced depression during a frustrating situation: benefits of expressive suppression in Chinese individuals.

PubMed

Yuan, Jiajin; Liu, Yingying; Ding, Nanxiang; Yang, Jiemin

2014-01-01

Studies from European-American cultures consistently reported that expressive suppression was associated with worse emotional consequence (e.g. depression) in comparison with acceptance. However, this conclusion may not apply to Chinese, as suppressing emotional displays to maintain relational harmony is culturally valued in East Asian countries. Thus, the present study examined the effects of suppression and acceptance on the depressive mood induced by a frustrating task in a Chinese sample. Sixty-four subjects were randomly assigned to one of three instructions: suppression, acceptance or no-regulation during a frustrating arithmetic task. The experience of depressive emotion and skin conductance response (SCR) were recorded during pre-frustration baseline, frustration induction and post-frustration recovery phases, respectively. Compared with the control and acceptance instructions, suppression instruction was associated with decreased depressive experiences and smaller SCR activity during frustration. There were no significant differences between acceptance and control groups in both subjective depression and SCR activity during frustration. Moreover, the suppression group showed a better emotional recovery after the frustrating task, in comparison with the acceptance and control groups. Correlation analyses verified that SCR reactivity was a reliable index of experienced depression during the frustration. Expressive suppression is effective in reducing depressive experiences and depression-related physiological activity (SCR) when Chinese people are involved. By contrast, the acceptance of depressive emotion in Chinese people does not produce a similar regulation effect. These findings suggest that cultural context should be considered in understanding the emotional consequences of suppression and acceptance strategies.

Association and Interaction Effect of AGTR1 and AGTR2 Gene Polymorphisms with Dietary Pattern on Metabolic Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Malaysian Adults.

PubMed

Yap, Roseline Wai Kuan; Shidoji, Yoshihiro; Yap, Wai Sum; Masaki, Motofumi

2017-08-09

Gene-diet interaction using a multifactorial approach is preferred to study the multiple risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study examined the association and gene-diet interaction effects of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor ( AGTR1 ) gene (rs5186), and type 2 receptor ( AGTR2 ) gene (rs1403543) polymorphisms on metabolic risk factors of CVD in Malaysian adults. CVD parameters (BMI, blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and TC/HDL-C ratio), and constructed dietary patterns "vegetables, fruits, and soy diet" (VFSD), and "rice, egg, and fish diet" (REFD) were obtained from previous studies. Genotyping analysis was performed by real-time PCR using Taqman probes. The subjects were 507 adults (151 Malays; 179 Chinese; and 177 Indians). Significant genetic associations were obtained on blood lipids for rs5186 in Malays and Chinese, and rs1403543 in Chinese females. The significant gene-diet interaction effects after adjusting for potential confounders were: rs5186 × VFSD on blood pressure in Malays ( p = 0.016), and in Chinese on blood lipids for rs5186 × REFD ( p = 0.009-0.023), and rs1403543 × VFSD in female subjects ( p = 0.001-0.011). Malays and Chinese showed higher risk for blood pressure and/or lipids involving rs5186 and rs1403543 SNPs together with gene-diet interactions, but not Indians.

Sequential mediating effects of provided and received social support on trait emotional intelligence and subjective happiness: A longitudinal examination in Hong Kong Chinese university students.

PubMed

Ye, Jiawen; Yeung, Dannii Y; Liu, Elaine S C; Rochelle, Tina L

2018-04-03

Past research has often focused on the effects of emotional intelligence and received social support on subjective well-being yet paid limited attention to the effects of provided social support. This study adopted a longitudinal design to examine the sequential mediating effects of provided and received social support on the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and subjective happiness. A total of 214 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates were asked to complete two assessments with a 6-month interval in between. The results of the sequential mediation analysis indicated that the trait emotional intelligence measured in Time 1 indirectly influenced the level of subjective happiness in Time 2 through a sequential pathway of social support provided for others in Time 1 and social support received from others in Time 2. These findings highlight the importance of trait emotional intelligence and the reciprocal exchanges of social support in the subjective well-being of university students. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

[Metrology research on biomedical engineering publications from China in recent years].

PubMed

Yu, Lu; Su, Juan; Wang, Ying; Sha, Xianzheng

2014-12-01

The present paper is to evaluate the scientific research level and development trends of biomedical engineering in China using metrology analysis on Chinese biomedical engineering scientific literatures. Pubmed is used to search the biomedical engineering publications in recent 5 years which are indexed by Science Citation Index, and the number and cited times of these publications and the impact factor of the journals are analyzed. The results show that comparing with the world, although the number of the publication in China has increased in recent 5 years, there is still much room for improvement. Among Chinese mainland, Hongkong and Taiwan, Chinese mainland maintains the obvious advantage in this subject, but Hongkong has the highest average cited number. Shanghai and Beijing have better research ability than other areas in Chinese mainland.

The Association of DRD2 with Insight Problem Solving.

PubMed

Zhang, Shun; Zhang, Jinghuan

2016-01-01

Although the insight phenomenon has attracted great attention from psychologists, it is still largely unknown whether its variation in well-functioning human adults has a genetic basis. Several lines of evidence suggest that genes involved in dopamine (DA) transmission might be potential candidates. The present study explored for the first time the association of dopamine D2 receptor gene ( DRD2 ) with insight problem solving. Fifteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering DRD2 were genotyped in 425 unrelated healthy Chinese undergraduates, and were further tested for association with insight problem solving. Both single SNP and haplotype analysis revealed several associations of DRD2 SNPs and haplotypes with insight problem solving. In conclusion, the present study provides the first evidence for the involvement of DRD2 in insight problem solving, future studies are necessary to validate these findings.

The Association of DRD2 with Insight Problem Solving

PubMed Central

Zhang, Shun; Zhang, Jinghuan

2016-01-01

Although the insight phenomenon has attracted great attention from psychologists, it is still largely unknown whether its variation in well-functioning human adults has a genetic basis. Several lines of evidence suggest that genes involved in dopamine (DA) transmission might be potential candidates. The present study explored for the first time the association of dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) with insight problem solving. Fifteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering DRD2 were genotyped in 425 unrelated healthy Chinese undergraduates, and were further tested for association with insight problem solving. Both single SNP and haplotype analysis revealed several associations of DRD2 SNPs and haplotypes with insight problem solving. In conclusion, the present study provides the first evidence for the involvement of DRD2 in insight problem solving, future studies are necessary to validate these findings. PMID:27933030

Phylogenic analysis and forensic genetic characterization of Chinese Uyghur group via autosomal multi STR markers.

PubMed

Jin, Xiaoye; Wei, Yuanyuan; Chen, Jiangang; Kong, Tingting; Mu, Yuling; Guo, Yuxin; Dong, Qian; Xie, Tong; Meng, Haotian; Zhang, Meng; Li, Jianfei; Li, Xiaopeng; Zhu, Bofeng

2017-09-26

We investigated the allelic frequencies and forensic descriptive parameters of 23 autosomal short tandem repeat loci in a randomly selected sample of 1218 unrelated healthy Uyghur individuals residing in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwest China. A total of 281 alleles at these loci were identified and their corresponding allelic frequencies ranged from 0.0004 to 0.5390. The combined match probability and combined probability of exclusion of all loci were 5.192 × 10 -29 and 0.9999999996594, respectively. The results of population genetic study manifested that Uyghur had close relationships with those contiguous populations, such as Xibe and Hui groups. In a word, these autosomal short tandem repeat loci were highly informative in Uyghur group and the multiplex PCR system could be used as a valuable tool for forensic caseworks and population genetic analysis.

Two cases of X-linked juvenile retinoschisis with different optical coherence tomography findings and RS1 gene mutations.

PubMed

Chan, Wai Man; Choy, Kwong Wai; Wang, Jianghua; Lam, Dennis S C; Yip, Wilson W K; Fu, Weiling; Pang, Chi Pui

2004-08-01

The optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, clinical features, and mutations in the RS1 gene of two unrelated patients with X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) are reported herein. Two Chinese patients with early onset XLRS were given a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination and OCT investigation. The RS1 gene was screened for sequence alterations in all exons and splice regions. The two patients presented with different phenotypic features and OCT findings. One patient with more severe clinical presentation had a RS1 exon 1 deletion and a P193S mutation was found in the other patient with mild macular involvement. OCT demonstrates the markedly different features of XLRS patients with different RS1 mutations. This study strengthens the role of OCT in the diagnosis and monitoring of XLRS.

Effectiveness of cognitive training for Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

PubMed Central

Kwok, Timothy; Wong, Anita; Chan, Grace; Shiu, YY; Lam, Ko-Chuen; Young, Daniel; Ho, Daniel WH; Ho, Florence

2013-01-01

In Hong Kong, the evidence for cognitive-training programs in fighting against memory complaints is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Active Mind cognitive-training program in improving the cognitive function and quality of life (QoL) for local community-dwelling Chinese older adults. A total of 200 subjects were recruited from 20 different district elderly community centers (DECCs). Centers were randomly assigned into either the intervention group or control group. The intervention group underwent eight 1-hour sessions of cognitive training, while the control group were included in the usual group activities provided by the DECCs. Standardized neuropsychological tests (the Chinese version of Mattis Dementia Rating Scale [CDRS] and the Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination) and the QoL questionnaire SF12 were used to assess participants’ cognitive function and QoL before and after the trial. A total of 176 subjects completed the study. The intervention group showed greater improvement in the cognitive function measured by total CDRS score (treatment: 12.24 ± 11.57 vs control: 4.37 ± 7.99; P < 0.001) and QoL measured by total SF12 score (treatment: 7.82 ± 13.19 vs control: 3.18 ± 11.61; P = 0.014). Subjects with lower education level were associated with better cognitive response to the cognitive-training program. The current findings indicated that the Active Mind cognitive-training program was effective in improving the cognitive function and QoL for community-dwelling Chinese older adults in Hong Kong. PMID:23440076

Incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese immigrants, compared with Chinese in China and South East Asia: review.

PubMed

Yu, W M; Hussain, S S M

2009-10-01

To evaluate the literature and to compare published data on age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese people living in and outside China. Systematic review of incidence rate studies and statistical incidence data concerning nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese populations from 1960 to 2008. Sixteen papers were identified from the PubMed, Embase and Scopus electronic databases and from a hand search of the reference lists of the retrieved papers. Further searches for raw data on age-specific and age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were conducted. Textbooks on relevant subjects were referred to for background information. A total of 19 papers met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies included raw data on age-specific and age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese people. Twelve other studies reported on changes in the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese populations in selected countries or regions. Studies on age-specific and age-standardised rates obtained data from individual registries. Studies on incidence rates obtained data from hospital records, cancer notifications (from all sections of the medical profession), pathology records and death certificates. The results showed a decline in age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese immigrant populations, compared with Chinese people in China. There was also a trend towards decreasing incidence the further the population had immigrated. Thus, the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Singaporean Chinese was higher than that in Hawaiian Chinese, and that in Hawaiian Chinese was higher than that in Californian Chinese. This review found a decreasing trend in the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese migrants living in countries with a low risk of the disease.

[Discussion on knowledge structural system of modern acupuncture professionals].

PubMed

Wang, Qin-Yu; Li, Su-He

2012-02-01

To explore the knowledge structural system that the modern acupuncture professionals should have. The current situation of personnel training for modern acupuncture professionals was multi-dimensionally and comprehensively analyzed from course offering of higher education, laws of famous physicians growth, and discipline development features of the acupuncture and moxibustion subject, and suggestions were made to the shortages. The reasonable knowledge structural system that the modern acupuncture professionals should have included establishment of good Chinese medicine thoughts, mastery of complete Chinese medicine therapy, and ability of followup of dynamic development of subject. The reformation of course design is imperative in order to promote the reasonable knowledge structural system formation of modern acupuncture professionals.

The Short Form 36 English and Chinese versions were equivalent in a multiethnic Asian population.

PubMed

Tan, Maudrene L S; Wee, Hwee-Lin; Lee, Jeannette; Ma, Stefan; Heng, Derrick; Tai, E-Shyong; Thumboo, Julian

2013-07-01

The primary aim of this article was to evaluate measurement equivalence of the English and Chinese versions of the Short Form 36 version 2 (SF-36v2) and Short Form 6D (SF-6D). In this cross-sectional study, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured from 4,973 ethnic Chinese subjects using the SF-36v2 questionnaire. Measurement equivalence of domain and utility scores for the English- and Chinese-language SF-36v2 and SF-6D were assessed by examining the score differences between the two languages using linear regression models, with and without adjustment for known determinants of HRQoL. Equivalence was achieved if the 90% confidence interval (CI) of the differences in scores, due to language, fell within a predefined equivalence margin. Compared with English-speaking Chinese, Chinese-speaking Chinese were significantly older (47.6 vs. 55.5 years). All SF-36v2 domains were equivalent after adjusting for known HRQoL. SF-6D utility/items had the 90% CI either fully or partially overlap their predefined equivalence margin. The English- and Chinese-language versions of the SF-36v2 and SF-6D demonstrated equivalence. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Angular photogrammetric comparison of the soft-tissue facial profile of Kenyans and Chinese.

PubMed

Wamalwa, Peter; Amisi, Stella Kabarika; Wang, Yunji; Chen, Song

2011-05-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the average angular dimensions that define the normal soft-tissue facial profiles of black Kenyans and Chinese and compare them with each other and with values proposed for whites. Standardized facial profile photographs, taken in natural head position, of 177 black Kenyans and 156 Chinese with normal occlusion and well-balanced faces were analyzed for 12 angular parameters. Two-sample t-tests were used to determine sex and racial differences. Kenyan and Chinese averages were compared with proposed white values using 1-sample t-tests. Eight parameters in Kenyans and 7 in Chinese showed sex differences. All angles, except for facial convexity, nasal dorsum, and inferior facial height, were different between Kenyans and Chinese. Kenyan and Chinese averages for all parameters were different from proposed white average, except for facial convexity. Nasolabial and mentolabial angles showed large individual variability and racial differences. The study demonstrated many differences in average angular measurements of the facial profiles of black Kenyans, Chinese, and white standards. Orthodontists, maxillofacial and plastic surgeons, and other clinicians working in the craniofacial region should bear these in mind when setting aesthetic treatment goals for patients of different races. Mean values from this study can be used for comparison with similar records of subjects with same ethnicity.

A Genome Wide Association Study Identifies Common Variants Associated with Lipid Levels in the Chinese Population

PubMed Central

Wu, Chen; Yang, Handong; Yu, Dianke; Yang, Xiaobo; Zhang, Xiaomin; Wang, Yiqin; Sun, Jielin; Gao, Yong; Tan, Aihua; He, Yunfeng; Zhang, Haiying; Qin, Xue; Zhu, Jingwen; Li, Huaixing; Lin, Xu; Zhu, Jiang; Min, Xinwen; Lang, Mingjian; Li, Dongfeng; Zhai, Kan; Chang, Jiang; Tan, Wen; Yuan, Jing; Chen, Weihong; Wang, Youjie; Wei, Sheng; Miao, Xiaoping; Wang, Feng; Fang, Weimin; Liang, Yuan; Deng, Qifei; Dai, Xiayun; Lin, Dafeng; Huang, Suli; Guo, Huan; Lilly Zheng, S.; Xu, Jianfeng; Lin, Dongxin; Hu, Frank B.; Wu, Tangchun

2013-01-01

Plasma lipid levels are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease and are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Recent genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several lipid-associated loci, but these loci have been identified primarily in European populations. In order to identify genetic markers for lipid levels in a Chinese population and analyze the heterogeneity between Europeans and Asians, especially Chinese, we performed a meta-analysis of two genome wide association studies on four common lipid traits including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) in a Han Chinese population totaling 3,451 healthy subjects. Replication was performed in an additional 8,830 subjects of Han Chinese ethnicity. We replicated eight loci associated with lipid levels previously reported in a European population. The loci genome wide significantly associated with TC were near DOCK7, HMGCR and ABO; those genome wide significantly associated with TG were near APOA1/C3/A4/A5 and LPL; those genome wide significantly associated with LDL were near HMGCR, ABO and TOMM40; and those genome wide significantly associated with HDL were near LPL, LIPC and CETP. In addition, an additive genotype score of eight SNPs representing the eight loci that were found to be associated with lipid levels was associated with higher TC, TG and LDL levels (P = 5.52×10-16, 1.38×10-6 and 5.59×10-9, respectively). These findings suggest the cumulative effects of multiple genetic loci on plasma lipid levels. Comparisons with previous GWAS of lipids highlight heterogeneity in allele frequency and in effect size for some loci between Chinese and European populations. The results from our GWAS provided comprehensive and convincing evidence of the genetic determinants of plasma lipid levels in a Chinese population. PMID:24386095

Prevalence of stroke among Chinese, Malay, and Indian Singaporeans: a community-based tri-racial cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Venketasubramanian, Narayanaswamy; Tan, Louis C S; Sahadevan, Suresh; Chin, Jing J; Krishnamoorthy, Ennapadam S; Hong, Ching Y; Saw, Seang M

2005-03-01

Stroke prevalence data among mixed Asian populations are lacking. Prevalence rates of stroke were studied among Singaporeans aged > or =50 years of Chinese, Malay, and Indian origin. Study participants were selected by disproportionate stratified random sampling by race. Trained interviewers performed face-to-face interviews with subjects using the World Health Organization screening protocol for neurological diseases. Data were also collected on a self-report of stroke. Subjects suspected to have had a stroke underwent a clinical evaluation to diagnose or exclude stroke. Case notes review was performed for those who were unable to come for clinical evaluation. The study involved 14 906 participants: 6734 men, 8172 women, age range 52 to 106 years, Chinese:Malay:Indian ratio 3:1:1. Participation rate was 66.9%. Six hundred and six were diagnosed to have a stroke, yielding a crude prevalence rate of 4.05% (95% CI, 3.75 to 4.38) and a World Health Organization world population age-gender-standardized rate of 3.65% (95% CI, 3.36 to 3.96). Prevalence rates rose with age (P<0.001 for trend) and were higher among men compared with women, 4.53% (95% CI, 4.05 to 5.07) versus 2.91% (95% CI, 2.57 to 3.29), P<0.01. Age and gender-standardized rates among Chinese, Malays, and Indians were 3.76% (95% CI, 3.38 to 4.17), 3.32 (95% CI, 2.72 to 4.07), and 3.62% (95% CI, 2.95 to 4.44), respectively, P>0.2. Prevalence was highest among Chinese men at 4.78% (95% CI, 4.14 to 5.50) and lowest among Malay women at 2.81% (95% CI, 2.08 to 3.81), P=0.01. There is no difference in stroke prevalence among Chinese, Malay, and Indian Singaporeans. Prevalence is highest among Chinese men and lowest among Malay women. The reasons for these differences warrant further investigation.

Cognitive impairment using education-based cutoff points for CMMSE scores in elderly Chinese people of agricultural and rural Shanghai China.

PubMed

Cui, G-H; Yao, Y-H; Xu, R-F; Tang, H-D; Jiang, G-X; Wang, Y; Wang, G; Chen, S-D; Cheng, Q

2011-12-01

To evaluate cognitive impairment (CI) in rural China using the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (CMMSE) and compare the prevalence of CI using two different cutoff points. A population-based survey was conducted of 2809 people aged 60 years and above in a community of two towns (Huaxin and Xujing) in the Qingpu district, located in the western suburb of Shanghai. Face-to-face interviews were carried out to collect relevant information with questionnaires. The Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination with either a 23/24 cutoff point or a cutoff point varying according to education level (AEL) was used to screen subjects for CI. Among these subjects, the mean age was 70.6 years (SD = 6.6) and ranged from 60 to 92 years and included 1010 (36.0%) men and 1799 (64.0%) women. The mean age was 70.7 years (SD = 6.4) for men and 70.5 years (SD = 6.7) for women. Of the 2809 subjects, 2010 (71.5%) had no formal education, 607 (21.6%) completed 1-6 years of education, and 173 (6.2%) completed more than 6 years of school education. The prevalence of CI was 35.6% (95% CI: 33.8-37.4) for both genders when the cutoff point of 23/24 was used. However, when the cutoff point was altered with respect to different education levels, the prevalence of CI was 7.0%. For each item of the CMMSE, increased years of education correlated with a higher item score, with the exception of the 'Naming' item score. This study demonstrates that screening of CI using the AEL cutoff scores is feasible in a low-education population. Determining whether the 23/24 cutoff point is suitable for the Chinese people requires future prospective studies in a large Chinese population. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Repaglinide-irbesartan drug interaction: effects of SLCO1B1 polymorphism on repaglinide pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in Chinese population.

PubMed

Pei, Qi; Liu, Jun-Yan; Yin, Ji-Ye; Yang, Guo-Ping; Liu, Shi-Kun; Zheng, Yi; Xie, Pan; Guo, Cheng-Xian; Luo, Mi; Zhou, Hong-Hao; Li, Xi; Liu, Zhao-Qian

2018-05-11

On account of the potential inhibition of OATP1B1 (organic anion transporting polypeptide) by angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and the effects of SLCO1B1 (solute carrier organic anion transporter family member) polymorphism, the aim of current study is to assess the impact of ARBs on the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of repaglinide in Chinese healthy volunteers with different SLCO1B1 genotypes. The in vitro study was conducted on irbesartan, valsartan, olmesartan, and losartan by using HEK293 cells transfected with OATP1B1. Data on drug interactions between repaglinide and irbesartan from 21 healthy Chinese-Han male volunteers were collected and analyzed. IC 50 from in vitro study suggested irbesartan was the most potent inhibitor of OATP1B1 transporter. Clinical data from single dose of repaglinide indicated SLCO1B1 c.521 T>C polymorphism influenced the PK and PD of repaglinide in healthy Chinese-Han male volunteers. In subjects with SLCO1B1 c.521 TT genotype, irbesartan comedication increased the exposure of repaglinide. In details, the peak plasma concentration [C max ] increased 84% (P = 0.003) and the area under the curve of plasma concentration 0-8 h [AUC 0-8 ] increased 34% (P = 0.004), while the minimum blood glucose concentration [C min ] decreased 33.8% (P = 0.005). No significant change was observed in repaglinide exposure in subjects with SLCO1B1 c.521 TC genotype in presence or absence of irbesartan. SLCO1B1 c.521 T>C polymorphism affects the PK of repaglinide in Chinese population. Irbesartan increased repaglinide exposure in subjects with SLCO1B1 c.521 TT genotype, but not SLCO1B1 c.521 TC genotype.

Cannabis in Chinese Medicine: Are Some Traditional Indications Referenced in Ancient Literature Related to Cannabinoids?

PubMed Central

Brand, E. Joseph; Zhao, Zhongzhen

2017-01-01

Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabaceae) has a long history of utilization as a fiber and seed crop in China, and its achenes (“seeds”) as well as other plant parts have been recorded in Chinese medical texts for nearly 2000 years. While the primary applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine center around the use of the achenes, ancient indications for the female inflorescence, and other plant parts include conditions such as pain and mental illness that are the subject of current research into cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, little previous research has been conducted to analyze the Chinese medical literature in light of recent advances in the pharmacology and taxonomy of cannabis, and most of the relevant Chinese historical records have not yet been translated into Western languages to facilitate textual research. Furthermore, many key questions remain unresolved in the Chinese literature, including how various traditional drug names precisely correspond to different plant parts, as well as the implications of long-term selection for fiber-rich cultivars on the medical applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine. In this article, prominent historical applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine are chronologically reviewed, and indications found in ancient Chinese literature that may relate to cannabinoids such as CBD and Δ9-THC are investigated. PMID:28344554

Evaluation of symptom, clinical chemistry and metabolomics profiles during Rehmannia six formula (R6) treatment: an integrated and personalized data analysis approach.

PubMed

van Wietmarschen, Herman A; van der Greef, Jan; Schroën, Yan; Wang, Mei

2013-12-12

Rehmannia Six Formula (R6, Chinese name is Liu Wei Di Huang Wan) is one of the most important classic Chinese medicine formula used to treat metabolic disorders related to aging. It was first reported in the Chinese medicine book titled 'Xiao Er Yao Zheng Zhi Jue by Qian Yi' (Chinese Song dynasty: 1035-1117). In modern times it is therefore often used to treat diabetes, pre-diabetes, fatigue and people with metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study is to measure changes in symptoms, clinical parameters and serum metabolite profiles during R6 treatment of human subjects with features of metabolic syndrome. Symptoms, clinical parameters and serum metabolites were measured before and after 4 and 8 weeks of R6 treatment. Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis was applied for the first time to conduct an integrated analysis of the three data sets. Correlation structures were compared before treatment and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Additionally, a State Space Grid approach was used to study personalized changes in symptom profiles. The symptoms 'hectic fever' and 'spontaneous sweating' were found to be most relieved during R6 treatment. Most of the symptoms were less correlated with other variables after 8 weeks of R6 treatment. LDL-C, total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and waist size were found to decrease during R6 treatment. Additionally, 10 of the 15 measured phosphatidylcholines were found to decrease. Personalized symptom profiles as described by Chinese medical terms show that most Yin deficiencies are addressed first by R6 treatment. However, in subjects with reduced or less Yin deficiency but which do have a substantial Qi deficiency a reduction of Qi deficiency is subsequently observed. R6 treatment was shown to improve the lipid profile indicating a reduction of cardiovascular risk. Additionally, the changes observed in correlation structure indicate a different angle of looking at treatment effects. Less strong correlations between symptoms and metabolites suggest a healthier situation after R6 treatment. A State Space Grid analysis showed that the effect of R6 was different for the Yin deficiency subjects and the Qi deficiency subjects. The observed decrease of Yin deficiency related symptoms is in agreement with the use of R6 in Chinese medicine to nourish Yin. Observing individual differences in treatment effects is therefore an essential step in the development of personalized medicine. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of malingering: psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the structured interview of reported symptoms-2

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Malingering detection has emerged as an important issue in clinical and forensic settings. The Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms-2 (SIRS-2) was designed to assess the feigned symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical subjects. The aim of the study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of this scale. Methods Two studies were conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese Version of SIRS-2. In Study one, with a simulation design, the subjects included a. 40 students asked to simulate symptoms of mental illness; b. 40 general psychiatric inpatients and c. 40 students asked to reply to questions honestly. Scales scores for feigning symptoms among three groups were carried out for discriminant validity of the Chinese Version of SIRS-2. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2(MMPI-2) was administered in 80 undergraduate students. In Study two, with a known-groups comparison design, scales scores for feigning symptoms were compared between 20 suspected malingerers and 80 psychiatric outpatients from two forensic centers using the Chinese Version of SIRS-2. Results The Chinese Version of SIRS-2 demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency in both study one and two. In study one, criterion validity of this scale was supported by its significantly positive correlation with the MMPI-2 (r = 0.282 ~ 0.481 for Infrequency), and by its significantly negative correlation with the MMPI-2 (r = -0.255 ~ -0.519 for Lie and -0.205 ~ 0.391 for Correction). Scores of 10 out of 13 subscales of the Chinese Version of SIRS-2 for simulators were significantly higher than scores of honest students and general psychiatric patients. In study two, the mean scores of the Chinese Version of 13 subscales for suspected malingerers were significantly higher than those of psychiatric outpatients. For discriminant validity, it yielded a large effect size (d = 1.80) for the comparison of the participant groups in study one and two. Moreover, the sensitivity (proportion of malingerers accurately identified by the measure) and specificity (proportion of people accurately classified as responding honestly) of the Chinese version of SIRS-2 in the detection of malingering in these two studies are acceptable. Conclusions The Chinese version of the SIRS-2 has good psychometric properties and is a valid and reliable tool for detection of malingering in Chinese populations. PMID:24106829

Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) Test Norms for Mandarin Chinese-Speaking Chinese Children.

PubMed

Xie, Yachun; Shi, Chunmei; Tong, Meiling; Zhang, Min; Li, Tingting; Xu, Yaqin; Guo, Xirong; Hong, Qin; Chi, Xia

2016-01-01

The Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test is commonly used as a clinical visual-verbal ocular motor assessment tool to screen and diagnose reading problems at the onset. No established norm exists for using the DEM test with Mandarin Chinese-speaking Chinese children. This study aims to establish the normative values of the DEM test for the Mandarin Chinese-speaking population in China; it also aims to compare the values with three other published norms for English-, Spanish-, and Cantonese-speaking Chinese children. A random stratified sampling method was used to recruit children from eight kindergartens and eight primary schools in the main urban and suburban areas of Nanjing. A total of 1,425 Mandarin Chinese-speaking children aged 5 to 12 years took the DEM test in Mandarin Chinese. A digital recorder was used to record the process. All of the subjects completed a symptomatology survey, and their DEM scores were determined by a trained tester. The scores were computed using the formula in the DEM manual, except that the "vertical scores" were adjusted by taking the vertical errors into consideration. The results were compared with the three other published norms. In our subjects, a general decrease with age was observed for the four eye movement indexes: vertical score, adjusted horizontal score, ratio, and total error. For both the vertical and adjusted horizontal scores, the Mandarin Chinese-speaking children completed the tests much more quickly than the norms for English- and Spanish-speaking children. However, the same group completed the test slightly more slowly than the norms for Cantonese-speaking children. The differences in the means were significant (P<0.001) in all age groups. For several ages, the scores obtained in this study were significantly different from the reported scores of Cantonese-speaking Chinese children (P<0.005). Compared with English-speaking children, only the vertical score of the 6-year-old group, the vertical-horizontal time ratio of the 8-year-old group and the errors of 9-year-old group had no significant difference (P>0.05); compared with Spanish-speaking children, the scores were statistically significant (P<0.001) for the total error scores of the age groups, except the 6-, 9-, 10-, and 11-year-old age groups (P>0.05). DEM norms may be affected by differences in language, cultural, and educational systems among various ethnicities. The norms of the DEM test are proposed for use with Mandarin Chinese-speaking children in Nanjing and will be proposed for children throughout China.

Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) Test Norms for Mandarin Chinese-Speaking Chinese Children

PubMed Central

Tong, Meiling; Zhang, Min; Li, Tingting; Xu, Yaqin; Guo, Xirong; Hong, Qin; Chi, Xia

2016-01-01

The Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test is commonly used as a clinical visual-verbal ocular motor assessment tool to screen and diagnose reading problems at the onset. No established norm exists for using the DEM test with Mandarin Chinese-speaking Chinese children. This study aims to establish the normative values of the DEM test for the Mandarin Chinese-speaking population in China; it also aims to compare the values with three other published norms for English-, Spanish-, and Cantonese-speaking Chinese children. A random stratified sampling method was used to recruit children from eight kindergartens and eight primary schools in the main urban and suburban areas of Nanjing. A total of 1,425 Mandarin Chinese-speaking children aged 5 to 12 years took the DEM test in Mandarin Chinese. A digital recorder was used to record the process. All of the subjects completed a symptomatology survey, and their DEM scores were determined by a trained tester. The scores were computed using the formula in the DEM manual, except that the “vertical scores” were adjusted by taking the vertical errors into consideration. The results were compared with the three other published norms. In our subjects, a general decrease with age was observed for the four eye movement indexes: vertical score, adjusted horizontal score, ratio, and total error. For both the vertical and adjusted horizontal scores, the Mandarin Chinese-speaking children completed the tests much more quickly than the norms for English- and Spanish-speaking children. However, the same group completed the test slightly more slowly than the norms for Cantonese-speaking children. The differences in the means were significant (P<0.001) in all age groups. For several ages, the scores obtained in this study were significantly different from the reported scores of Cantonese-speaking Chinese children (P<0.005). Compared with English-speaking children, only the vertical score of the 6-year-old group, the vertical-horizontal time ratio of the 8-year-old group and the errors of 9-year-old group had no significant difference (P>0.05); compared with Spanish-speaking children, the scores were statistically significant (P<0.001) for the total error scores of the age groups, except the 6-, 9-, 10-, and 11-year-old age groups (P>0.05). DEM norms may be affected by differences in language, cultural, and educational systems among various ethnicities. The norms of the DEM test are proposed for use with Mandarin Chinese-speaking children in Nanjing and will be proposed for children throughout China. PMID:26881754

Promoting Physical Activity in Hong Kong Chinese Young People: Factors Influencing Their Subjective Task Values and Expectancy Beliefs in Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pang, Bonnie

2014-01-01

According to Eccles et al.'s (1983) Expectancy Value Model, the two major constructs that influence young people's activity choice are subjective task value and expectancy beliefs (Eccles et al., 1983). Eccles et al. (1983) conceptually distinguished four dimensions of subjective task value: attainment value, intrinsic value, utility value and…