Muscarinic suppression in stratum radiatum of CA1 shows dependence on presynaptic M1 receptors and is not dependent on effects at GABA(B) receptors

Cholinergic modulation of synaptic transmission is vital to memory processes and may be responsible for setting network dynamics in the hippocampus appropriate for encoding of information. found evidence suggesting M1 receptors cause presynaptic inhibition of glutamatergic transmission, while research supports a role of the M2 receptor. We examined muscarinic inhibition of fEPSPs in stratum radiatum of mice lacking m1 subtype receptors (KO) compared to wild type (WT) controls. WT mice exhibit greater suppression of transmission by muscarine as compared to KO in a dose dependent fashion. Oxotremorine shows no significant difference in suppression between WT and KO, while MCN-A-343, an M1 agonist, exhibits a significant difference between KO and WT, with KO showing no suppression. One hundred micromolar SGS-742, a selective GABA(B) antagonist, fails to affect either normal transmission or muscarinic suppression in either WT or KO suggesting that differences in suppression between the groups is not attributable to differences in GABA(B) receptor activation due to muscarinic activation of GABAergic interneurons. These findings support a role for presynaptic m1 mAChRs in modulation of synaptic transmission in CA1, but indicate that other muscarinic receptor subtypes, such as M2, are also involved in suppression of synaptic potentials.     

中小学教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点的关系研究

本研究旨在探讨中小学教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点的关系。用教师职业倦怠问卷、工作压力调查表、自尊量表和控制点量表对766名教师进行了问卷调查。结果发现：教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点之间存在显著的相关关系;教师的工作压力、自尊、控制点分别对职业倦怠的情绪衰竭、非人性化、低成就感具有显著的预测作用。     

Mechanisms linking employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions

Past empirical evidence has indicated that employee affective delivery can influence customer reactions (e.g., customer satisfaction, service quality evaluation). This study extends previous research by empirically examining mediating processes underlying the relationship between employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions. Data were collected from 352 employee-customer pairs in 169 retail shoe stores in Taiwan. Results showed that the influence of employee affective delivery on customers' willingness to return to the store and pass positive comments to friends was indirect through the mediating processes of customer in-store positive moods and perceived friendliness. The study also indicated that employee affective delivery influences customers' time spent in store, which, in turn, influences customer behavioral intentions.     

中国思想史中"身体观"研究的新视野

本文在评介日本中国“身体观”研究著作的基础上,提出了中国身体观研究的三个新视野：作为思维方法的“身体”、作为精神修养呈现的“身体”与作为展现场所的“身体”,并指出中国文化中身体之“内外交辉”的特质。     

Implicit statistical learning in language processing: Word predictability is the key

Fundamental learning abilities related to the implicit encoding of sequential structure have been postulated to underlie language acquisition and processing. However, there is very little direct evidence to date supporting such a link between implicit statistical learning and language. In three experiments using novel methods of assessing implicit learning and language abilities, we show that sensitivity to sequential structure – as measured by improvements to immediate memory span for structurally-consistent input sequences – is significantly correlated with the ability to use knowledge of word predictability to aid speech perception under degraded listening conditions. Importantly, the association remained even after controlling for participant performance on other cognitive tasks, including short-term and working memory, intelligence, attention and inhibition, and vocabulary knowledge. Thus, the evidence suggests that implicit learning abilities are essential for acquiring long-term knowledge of the sequential structure of language – i.e., knowledge of word predictability – and that individual differences on such abilities impact speech perception in everyday situations. These findings provide a new theoretical rationale linking basic learning phenomena to specific aspects of spoken language processing in adults, and may furthermore indicate new fruitful directions for investigating both typical and atypical language development.     

Curriculum-based measurement of math problem solving: A methodology and rationale for establishing equivalence of scores

The purpose of this article is to discuss curriculum-based measurement (CBM) as it is currently utilized in research and practice and to propose a new approach for developing measures to monitor the academic progress of students longitudinally. To accomplish this, we first describe CBM and provide several exemplars of CBM in reading and mathematics. Then, we present the research context for developing a set of seven curriculum-based measures for monitoring student progress in math problem solving. The rationale for and advantages of using statistical equating methodology are discussed. Details of the methodology as it was applied to the development of these math problem solving measures are provided.     

On the Contextual Turn in the Tokugawa Japanese Interpretation of the Confucian Classics: Types and Problems

This article discusses the “contextual turn” in the interpretation of Chinese classics: the contextuality of Confucian classics in China was latent, tacit, and almost imperceptible; however, it became salient and explicit once the Confucian classics were introduced to Tokugawa Japan. Many a Japanese Confucian took ideas and values expressed in the Chinese classics and transplanted them into the context of Japanese politics and thoughts, in light of which the Japanese scholars staked out new interpretations of the classics. This “contextual turn” involved issues of two levels: the material political order (especially the Chinese-barbarian distinction) and the abstract political thought (especially the ruler-subject relation). It is pointed out that the Chinese empire was the Japanese Confucians’ “political foreign country” and “cultural homeland,” and the tension was evidenced by their interpretations of the term “Zhong’guo” appearing in the Confucian classics. The usual strategy adopted by the Japanese Confucians in interpreting Chinese classics was to “de-contextualize” them and then to “re-contextualize” them in their own Japanese environment.     

Sadder but wiser: Emotional reactions and wisdom in a simulated suicide intervention

Scholars within the Berlin paradigm have analysed participants' responses to a hypothetical vignette about a friend's suicide ideation. However, no study has yet focused on participants' emotional reactions to this scenario, an important aspect of wisdom performance. We conducted a Thin‐Slice Wisdom study where participants were asked to give advice to a hypothetical friend contemplating suicide. We analysed their emotional profiles using facial expression analysis software (FACET2.1 and FACEREADER7.1). Participants' verbal responses were also transcribed and then scored by 10 raters using the Berlin criteria. Results revealed that the sadder the participants felt, the wiser their performance. Wiser participants may have been better at exploring this sad, but true, existential human dilemma.     

Latent Class Dynamic Mediation Model with Application to Smoking Cessation Data

Traditional mediation analysis assumes that a study population is homogeneous and the mediation effect is constant over time, which may not hold in some applications. Motivated by smoking cessation data, we propose a latent class dynamic mediation model that explicitly accounts for the fact that the study population may consist of different subgroups and the mediation effect may vary over time. We use a proportional odds model to accommodate the subject heterogeneities and identify latent subgroups. Conditional on the subgroups, we employ a Bayesian hierarchical nonparametric time-varying coefficient model to capture the time-varying mediation process, while allowing each subgroup to have its individual dynamic mediation process. A simulation study shows that the proposed method has good performance in estimating the mediation effect. We illustrate the proposed methodology by applying it to analyze smoking cessation data.