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Reproduction (Cambridge, England) Feb 2023dmrtb1 performs critical functions in sex determination/differentiation and gonadal development in many organisms, but its role in teleost is rarely studied. Through...
IN BRIEF
dmrtb1 performs critical functions in sex determination/differentiation and gonadal development in many organisms, but its role in teleost is rarely studied. Through gene cloning, in situ hybridization, and RNA interference technology, the function of dmrtb1 in testicular development of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) was studied; our study will be helpful in understanding further the molecular regulation mechanism of Lcdmrtb1/Lcdmrt6 in testicular development in L. crocea, and our results enrich the theory of fish dmrts involved in reproductive regulation and provide a new idea for sex control breeding of L. crocea by manipulating reproductive pathway.
ABSTRACT
Doublesex- and mab-3-related transcription factor B1 (dmrtb1/dmrt6) belongs to one of the members of DMRT family, which performs critical functions in sex determination and differentiation, gonadal development, and functional maintenance. However, knowledge of its exact mechanism remains unclear in teleost. Very little is known about the role of dmrtb1 in the gonad development of Larimichthys crocea. In this study, a dmrtb1 homolog in L. crocea named as Lcdmrtb1 with the full-length cDNA was isolated and characterized. Except for the conserved DM domain, the other regions had low homology. Of the tissues sampled, Lcdmrtb1 was only found to be highly expressed in the testis. In situ hybridization of testis revealed Lcdmrtb1 in both spermatogonia and spermatocytes. After Lcdmrtb1 interference in the testis cells (LYCT) of L. crocea, the expression levels of Lcdmrtb1 and Lcdmrt1 were significantly decreased; subsequently, testicular cell morphology changed from fibrous to round and their growth rate slowed. Similarly, the expression levels of Lcdmrtb1, Lcdmrt1, sox9a/b, and amh were significantly decreased after RNAi in the testis. Furthermore, it was discovered that the spermatogonia had disappeared, and the Sertoli cells had been reduced. The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of Sox9 protein in the testis was not detected after dmrtb1 was knocked down. These results indicated that the absence of Lcdmrtb1 not only greatly inhibited cell growth and destroyed the morphology of testis cells but also down-regulated Lcdmrt1 expression in the testis. This study will be helpful in understanding further the molecular regulation mechanism of Lcdmrtb1/Lcdmrt6 in testicular development in L. crocea.
Topics: Male; Animals; Perciformes; Testis; Fishes; Sertoli Cells; Spermatogonia; Fish Proteins
PubMed: 36342669
DOI: 10.1530/REP-22-0214 -
Cognitive Neuropsychology 2020What role does language play in our thoughts? A longstanding proposal that has gained traction among supporters of embodied or grounded cognition suggests that it serves...
What role does language play in our thoughts? A longstanding proposal that has gained traction among supporters of embodied or grounded cognition suggests that it serves as a cognitive scaffold. This idea turns on the fact that language-with its ability to capture statistical regularities, leverage culturally acquired information, and engage grounded metaphors-is an effective and readily available support for our thinking. In this essay, I argue that language should be viewed as more than this; it should be viewed as a neuroenhancement. The neurologically realized language system is an important subcomponent of a flexible, multimodal, and multilevel conceptual system. It is not merely a source for information about the world but also a computational add-on that extends our conceptual reach. This approach provides a compelling explanation of the course of development, our facility with abstract concepts, and even the scope of language-specific influences on cognition.
Topics: Cognition; Concept Formation; Humans; Language; Mental Status and Dementia Tests
PubMed: 31269862
DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1637338 -
Gynecologie, Obstetrique, Fertilite &... Feb 2023The idea of using an instrument to assist natural childbirth is not new and it was in the 18th and 19th centuries that the forceps was developed. It is only after the... (Review)
Review
The idea of using an instrument to assist natural childbirth is not new and it was in the 18th and 19th centuries that the forceps was developed. It is only after the Second World War that the suction cup provides an alternative to instrumental childbirth, but still based on prehension and traction. In 1950, Emile Thierry, in France, presented his spatulas based on the then original principle of propulsion. The diffusion of spatulas is almost non-existent in the Anglo-Saxon world but is not limited to France since its use was real by the Iberians and Latin Americans. There are currently three types of spatula, two of which are French and one Colombian. This review takes up the saga of this instrument for more than 70 years, develops its particularities and describes the present literature.
Topics: Pregnancy; Female; Humans; Extraction, Obstetrical; Obstetrical Forceps; Colombia; Delivery, Obstetric; Surgical Instruments
PubMed: 36436820
DOI: 10.1016/j.gofs.2022.11.009 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Oct 2021Social learning is often portrayed as a passive process of copying and trusting others. This view, however, does not fully capture what makes human social learning so... (Review)
Review
Social learning is often portrayed as a passive process of copying and trusting others. This view, however, does not fully capture what makes human social learning so powerful: social information is often 'curated' by helpful teachers. I argue that both learning from others (social learning) and helping others learn (teaching) can be characterized as probabilistic inferences guided by an intuitive understanding of how people think, plan, and act. Consistent with this idea, even young children draw rich inferences from evidence provided by others and generate informative evidence that helps others learn. By studying social learning and teaching through a common theoretical lens, inferential social learning provides an integrated account of how human cognition supports acquisition and communication of abstract knowledge.
Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Cognition; Humans; Knowledge; Social Learning; Trust
PubMed: 34417094
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.008 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Sep 2023Reports an error in "The role of memory in counterfactual valuation" by Natalie Biderman, Samuel J. Gershman and Daphna Shohamy (, 2023[Jun], Vol 152[6], 1754-1767). In...
Reports an error in "The role of memory in counterfactual valuation" by Natalie Biderman, Samuel J. Gershman and Daphna Shohamy (, 2023[Jun], Vol 152[6], 1754-1767). In this article, several corrections have been made to two equations, the text, and Figure 3. First, there was an error in two equations of the policy gradient model depicted in the Model Description section. The correction did not alter the main conclusion of the model, but it did change slightly the comparison between experimental conditions of each model depicted in the Results section. The correct Equation 3 and correct Equation 4 are present in the erratum. Additionally, the last four sentences in the first paragraph of the A Policy Gradient Model Captures the Memory-Based Inverse Decision Bias have been revised. Finally, the model predictions shown in the gray bars of Figure 3 were slightly modified. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2023-72914-001.) Value-based decisions are often guided by past experience. If a choice led to a good outcome, we are more likely to repeat it. This basic idea is well-captured by reinforcement-learning models. However, open questions remain about how we assign value to options we did not choose and which we therefore never had the chance to learn about directly. One solution to this problem is proposed by policy gradient reinforcement-learning models; these do not require direct learning of value, instead optimizing choices according to a behavioral policy. For example, a logistic policy predicts that if a chosen option was rewarded, the unchosen option would be deemed less desirable. Here, we test the relevance of these models to human behavior and explore the role of memory in this phenomenon. We hypothesize that a policy may emerge from an associative memory trace formed during deliberation between choice options. In a preregistered study ( = 315) we show that people tend to invert the value of unchosen options relative to the outcome of chosen options, a phenomenon we term . The inverse decision bias is correlated with memory for the association between choice options; moreover, it is reduced when memory formation is experimentally interfered with. Finally, we present a new memory-based policy gradient model that predicts both the inverse decision bias and its dependence on memory. Our findings point to a significant role of associative memory in valuation of unchosen options and introduce a new perspective on the interaction between decision-making, memory, and counterfactual reasoning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
PubMed: 37603003
DOI: 10.1037/xge0001478 -
American Journal of Obstetrics &... May 2022The use of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is predicated on the idea that the study group is representative of the overall clinical population; however, recent studies... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The use of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is predicated on the idea that the study group is representative of the overall clinical population; however, recent studies have suggested that this may not be the case in obstetrics. The generalizability of several seminal obstetrical RCTs, including the A Randomized Trial of Induction Versus Expectant Management trial, has been questioned because of the high ratio of assessed-to-enrolled individuals. Although difficulty in recruitment for obstetrical RCTs is known, it has been postulated that this high ratio increases the likelihood of the study population not being truly representative. Our primary objective was to analyze the assessed-to-enrolled ratio in contemporary obstetrical RCTs.
STUDY DESIGN
During a 4-year period (January 2017 to December 2020), we identified all obstetrical RCTs published in 6 journals (The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology). The journals were manually reviewed by 2 coauthors to ensure all obstetrical RCTs were identified and abstracted accurately. Reported patient recruitment data, per Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials recommendations, were abstracted from each RCT. Based on the primary outcome of the study, the purpose of the trial was categorized as preventative or treatment. Medians were compared using Wilcoxon rank-sum testing, and P<.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
Of 240 obstetrical RCTs that were identified, 193 (80%) reported data on the number of individuals screened and recruited. The median number of individuals screened per trial was 850 (interquartile range [IQR], 323-2582), of which 348 were eligible (IQR, 201-1347) and 300 (IQR, 133-894) were randomized. There was no difference in trials based internationally or in the United States (P=.26). Compared with preventative RCTs, the trials that had treatment as the primary outcome were significantly more likely to screen a larger number of individuals for eligibility (P<.01) and subsequently randomize (P<.02). There was no difference in the median number of individuals who declined enrollment between trials with prevention or treatment as their objective (P=.12). More individuals were lost to follow-up in trials with prevention as the primary outcome (P<.01), although the median number lost was low at 3 (IQR, 0-21).
CONCLUSION
The low assessed-to-enrolled ratio found in this study suggested that researchers are casting a large net for patient recruitment. The relatively high eligible-to-randomized ratio suggested that most individuals are willing to participate in obstetrical RCTs. This finding was at odds with previous critiques of obstetrical RCTs that had called in to question study results secondary to high eligible-to-randomized ratios. Further research into how patients are recruited and counseled is indicated, to explore this variation. The ratio of patients assessed for study eligibility to patients enrolled in preventative vs treatment RCTs was not substantially different. Based on this result, patients seemed to be similarly interested in being enrolled to prevent a complication from pregnancy as in treating one. These results supported the concept that most individuals in the obstetrical RCTs represent the eligible population.
Topics: Gynecology; Humans; Obstetrics; Patient Selection; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Research Design
PubMed: 35031522
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2022.100564 -
American Journal of Health Promotion :... Nov 2023The aim of this study is to scope the literature on what is currently known between physical activity and presenteeism. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to scope the literature on what is currently known between physical activity and presenteeism.
DATA SOURCE
A search strategy was conducting in six scientific databases.
STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Studies written in English about the relation between physical activity and presenteeism were considered for inclusion.
DATA EXTRACTION
Data on definitions and measurement of presenteeism and physical activity were extracted.
DATA SYNTHESIS
The data is categorized according to the understanding of presenteeism of the studies to give a better idea of how this phenomenon is studied in relation to physical activity.
RESULTS
After screening 9773 titles and abstracts and 269 full-text articles, 57 unique articles fulfilled our eligibility criteria. The majority of the articles were published since 2010 and originated predominantly in the United States. Most studies (70%) define presenteeism as lost productivity due to health problems, according to the American line of research, whereas 19% of the studies define it as "working while ill" which refers to the European line of research. The studies that reflected the American school of thought tends to report more results that supported their hypothesis (i.e., that more physical activity is associated with less presenteeism).
CONCLUSION
This review has highlighted the homogeneity in how presenteeism is conceptualized and measured in studies included in our sample. Research on physical activity and presenteeism should be expanded across various disciplines in social sciences to respond to the needs that many researchers have expressed to promote healthier organizations.
Topics: Humans; Efficiency; Presenteeism; United States; Exercise
PubMed: 37542375
DOI: 10.1177/08901171231193781 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Jul 2023Letter-similarity effects are elusive with common words in lexical decision experiments: and (base word: ) produce similar error rates and rejection latencies....
Letter-similarity effects are elusive with common words in lexical decision experiments: and (base word: ) produce similar error rates and rejection latencies. However, they are robust for stimuli often presented with the same appearance (e.g., misspelled logotypes such as [base word: ] produce more errors and longer latencies than ). Here, we examine whether letter-similarity effects occur in reading braille. The rationale is that braille is a writing system in which the sensory information is processed in qualitatively different ways than in visual reading: the form of the word's letters is highly stable due to the standardisation of braille and the sensing of characters is transient and somewhat serial. Hence, we hypothesised that the letter similarity effect would be sizable with misspelled common words in braille, unlike the visual modality. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a lexical decision experiment with blind adult braille readers. Pseudowords were created by replacing one letter of a word with a tactually similar or dissimilar letter in braille following a tactile similarity matrix (e.g., [ausor] vs [aucor]; baseword: [autor]). Bayesian linear mixed-effects models showed that the responses to tactually similar pseudowords were less accurate than to tactually dissimilar pseudowords-the response times (RTs) showed a parallel trend. This finding supports the idea that, when reading braille, the mapping of input information onto abstract letter representations is done through a noisy channel.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Bayes Theorem; Language; Reading; Touch; Reaction Time; Pattern Recognition, Visual
PubMed: 36382890
DOI: 10.1177/17470218221142145 -
Journal of Cognition 2022ion, one of the hallmarks of human cognition, continues to be the topic of a strong debate. The primary disagreement concerns whether or not abstract concepts can be...
ion, one of the hallmarks of human cognition, continues to be the topic of a strong debate. The primary disagreement concerns whether or not abstract concepts can be accounted for within the scope of embodied cognition. In this paper, we introduce the embodied approach to conceptual knowledge and distinguish between embodiment and grounding, where grounding is the general term for how concepts initially acquire their meaning. Referring to numerous pieces of empirical evidence, we emphasise that, ultimately, all concepts are acquired via interaction with the world via two main pathways: embodiment and social interaction. The first pathway is direct and primarily involves action/perception, interoception and emotions. The second pathway is indirect, being mediated by language in particular. Evidence from neuroscience, psychology and cognitive linguistics shows these pathways have different properties, roles in cognition and temporal profiles. Human development also places revealing constraints on how children develop the ability to reason more abstractly as they grow up. We recognize language as a crucial cognitive faculty with several roles enabling the acquisition of abstract concepts indirectly. Three detailed case studies on body-specificity hypothesis, abstract verbs and mathematics are used to argue that a compelling case has accumulated in favour of the ultimate grounding of abstract concepts in an agent's interaction with its world, primarily relying on the direct pathway. We consolidate the debate through multidisciplinary evidence for the idea that abstractness is a graded, rather than a binary property of concepts.
PubMed: 36072124
DOI: 10.5334/joc.214 -
International Journal of STEM Education 2022The goal of this research was to determine students' perceived self-efficacy in science classes through involving students in expanding disciplinary core idea (DCI) and...
BACKGROUND
The goal of this research was to determine students' perceived self-efficacy in science classes through involving students in expanding disciplinary core idea (DCI) and interdisciplinary core idea (ICI) maps, as a method to visualize knowledge (utilizing mind mapping and concept mapping) to support students to integrate interdisciplinary learning. The research involved (a) creating (by science educators) eight curriculum-related, disciplinary core idea maps and two interdisciplinary core idea maps; (b) teachers guiding students in an experimental group, to make interdisciplinary connections so as to expand DCI and ICI maps in an intervention lasting a year and a half from grade 10 to 11; (c) providing feedback on students' developed DCI and ICI maps; (d) administering questionnaires seeking students' perceptions about their self-efficacy towards core ideas, both before and after the intervention and (e) interviewing science teachers (5) and selected students (25), after the intervention, about their perceptions towards the use and outcomes of their DCI and ICI maps. Besides the experimental group, a control group (no intervention) was involved.
RESULTS
Outcomes showed that the intervention (guiding students in creating disciplinary and interdisciplinary core idea maps to visualize their learning) supported students significantly in their perceived self-efficacy in the fields of Life Science and Earth Science, plus in the use of Models and Systems. In Physics and Chemistry, the students' perceived self-efficacy was not statistically significantly positive after the conducted intervention. This stemmed from disciplinary core ideas, related to Physics and Chemistry, being more abstract, with students making fewer connections and integrating less new knowledge into the related DCI and ICI maps. In the interviews, both teachers and students stated that the intervention (including expansion of DCI and ICI maps) supported students' science learning.
CONCLUSIONS
Creating and expanding disciplinary and interdisciplinary core ideas more clearly indicates students' learning, through their ability to make meaningful connections, enabling students to raise their self-efficacy in preparing for their future. The results from this research demonstrate that students' perceived self-efficacy can occur through knowledge visualization by expanding both DCI and ICI maps enabling the making of greater interdisciplinary connections.
PubMed: 36120166
DOI: 10.1186/s40594-022-00374-8