Object decision test (BORB): normative data for the adult Quebec population and performance in Alzheimer’s disease and the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia

Object decision (OD) test is one subtest of the Birmingham Object Recognition Battery (BORB). It is useful for differential diagnosis among several neurodegenerative diseases. However, normative data provided with this battery count on very few subjects and do not control for the effect of age, which limits interpretability. The purpose of Study 1 was to provide normative data for the OD test of the BORB (version A—hard). The objectives of Study 2 were to establish the diagnostic validity of this task and predictive validity of the normative data in the case of the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).Based on multiple linear regressions, equations to calculate Z-scores corrected for age were provided for 130 participants aged from 47 to 89 years. Performance of 20 healthy participants was compared to that of 14 individuals with svPPA and 18 with AD. After controlling for confounders, participants with svPPA had a lower total score than controls and AD participants. AD participants had a poorer performance than controls only when chimeric objects were considered. Among those with a deficit on the total score of the test, 94% (17/18, including 12 with svPPA) were correctly identified as having a pathological condition (svPPA or AD). This test could help refine differential diagnosis between svPPA and AD patients, especially before the deficits of episodic memory show up.     

Enterprise credit risk evaluation based on neural network algorithm

To explore the enterprise credit risk evaluation, the application effect of several common neural network models in Chinese small and medium-sized enterprise data sets was compared and the optimal parameters for each model were determined. In addition, the classification accuracy and the applicability of the model were compared, and finally the common problem of optimization neural network algorithm based on population was solved: need to determine the dimensions in advance. The experimental results showed that the probabilistic neural network (PNN) had the minimum error rate and second types of errors, while the PNN model had the highest AUC value and was robust. To sum up, the algorithm makes some contributions to solve the financing problem of small and medium-sized enterprises in China.     

Uterus Transplantation: The Ethics of Using Deceased Versus Living Donors

Research teams have made considerable progress in treating absolute uterine factor infertility through uterus transplantation, though studies have differed on the choice of either deceased or living donors. While researchers continue to analyze the medical feasibility of both approaches, little attention has been paid to the ethics of using deceased versus living donors as well as the protections that must be in place for each. Both types of uterus donation also pose unique regulatory challenges, including how to allocate donated organs; whether the donor / donor's family has any rights to the uterus and resulting child; how to manage contact between the donor / donor's family, recipient, and resulting child; and how to track outcomes moving forward.     

Exploring the Factor Structure of the RTI Readiness and Implementation Survey

Response to intervention (RtI) models have increasingly been adopted to improve outcomes for all students through the delivery of a continuum of supports and making timely responsive instructional decisions based on data. With this increasing popularity, researchers and practitioners have developed several RtI-related assessments, many of which have no known psychometric properties. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop psychometrically sound RtI readiness and implementation assessments that possess technical adequacy and practical utility. This study surveyed 377 participants to examine the factor structure of the author-developed RtI survey. An exploratory factor analysis identified seven relevant factors (system support, belief, conceptual knowledge, practical knowledge, resource, time, and system barrier) from the initial pool of 49 items. Results of reliability estimates supported the internal consistency of each subscale. Collectively, this validated RtI survey can be used to help district and school leaders efficiently screen a system's current RtI readiness and implementation status. The data may also inform successful RtI initiation and sustainment of the reform. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

自适应分组认知诊断测验设计及其选题策略

应用OMST在线装配模式,提出自适应分组认知诊断测验（CD-AMGT）。由于知识状态的先决关系是偏序关系,而且构成格（lattice),利用知识状态当前估计值在格中的上下确界对被试真实知识状态的可能范围进行界定,由此装配下一分组,分组中结合PWKL策略或SHE策略进行选题以兼顾诊断精度、效率和安全性。模拟实验表明,CD-AMGT与PWKL、SHE对比,当题目类型丰富时,以分类准确率略微降低为代价,其题库使用均匀性和计算用时均表现出较大优势。     

特质正念与控制点调节日常生活中知觉压力对消极情绪的影响

考察日常生活中知觉压力对消极情绪的动态影响,检验特质正念的调节作用,并进一步探索正念的调节作用是否在不同控制点的个体中存在差异。共有95名在校大学生完成正念注意觉知量表（MAAS）,罗特控制点量表（LOCS）,并通过动态评估的方式,完成每天2次,持续14天的在日常生活情境中针对知觉压力和消极情绪的密集型追踪测量。多层线性模型结果表明：（1）在个体内水平,个体某一时刻的知觉压力可以显著预测个体下一时刻的消极情绪;（2）个体的正念水平越高,日常生活中知觉压力对消极情绪的预测力越低;（3）个体越倾向于内控,日常生活中知觉压力对消极情绪的预测力越低;（4）个体越倾向于外控,正念对日常生活中知觉压力影响消极情绪的调节作用越强。本研究验证了正念对日常生活中压力反应的保护作用,并提示外控者在面临压力时更有可能从正念中获益。     

学校正念干预的应用与特点

“学校正念干预”(School-Based Mindfulness Intervention)是将正念理论及技术应用到教育领域而形成的非医疗健康干预新策略。一方面,学校正念干预能有效帮助学生改善身心行为问题,提高认知能力;另一方面,它能够增强教师压力管理能力和幸福感。总的来说,学校正念干预是以“大健康”为目标、以“非评判接纳”为视角、以校园为干预情境、以传统学校项目为基础的校园非医疗健康干预,是学校心理健康工作者、学校专业社工可采取的策略。未来研究应注重其成效评估和测量、理论机制及应用问题的研究。     

The neural control of mood: the possible role of the adrenergic system in the medulla

Mood in humans is a complex phenomenon that integrates emotion (e.g. happiness and sadness), cognition, perception, ideation, and action in a coherent manner. In bipolar disorder extremes of mood (up or down) occur outside the normal range, in which all the above functions are coherently affected. Mood is controlled by a series of separate but interactive brain circuits that involve much of the brain, but particularly the limbic system. The question addressed in this paper is whether the coordination of all these separate systems into one coherent functional mood is mediated by non-linear dynamics acting between these systems as equal participants; or whether it is affected by a single master regulator controlling the others. The possible roles, as master regulators, of non-linear dynamically linked populations of neurons, and of the C1–C3 adrenergic nuclei in the medulla is discussed.     

Ursolic acid attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced cognitive deficits in mouse brain through suppressing p38/NF-κB mediated inflammatory pathways

Evidence indicates that systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces brain inflammation, ultimately resulting in cognitive deficits. Ursolic acid (UA), a plant-derived pentacyclic triterpenoid, is well known to possess multiple biological functions, including antioxidant, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, we assessed the protective effect of UA against the LPS-induced cognitive deficits in mice. We found that UA significantly improved cognitive deficits of LPS-treated mice in open field, step-through passive avoidance and Morris water maze tasks. One potential mechanism of this action was attributed to the decreased production of pro-inflammatory markers including COX-2, iNOS, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2 and IL-6 in LPS-treated mouse brain. Mechanistically, UA markedly inhibited LPS-induced IκBα phosphorylation and degradation, NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation and p38 activation in mouse brain, but did not affect the activation of TLR4, MyD88, ERK, JNK and Akt. Taken together, these results suggest that UA may be useful for mitigating inflammation-associated brain disorders by inhibiting pro-inflammatory factors production, at least in part, through blocking the p38/NF-κB signaling pathways.     

流畅体验、内/外动机、数学焦虑及数学成绩的路径分析

目的：研究旨在考察数学学习中的流畅体验,探讨流畅体验、内/外动机、数学焦虑及数学成绩的关系。方法：招募296名高中生,在数学月考后完成自编考试流畅体验量表、学习动机量表、数学焦虑量表。结果：路径分析表明,存在四条显著路径,即内部动机→流畅状态→数学成绩;数学焦虑→流畅状态→数学成绩;外部动机→流畅状态→数学成绩;外部动机→数学成绩。结论：只有通过考试过程中的流畅体验,内部动机和数学焦虑才能影响考试成绩。