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Previous research on emotion-induced blindness (EIB) argues emotional distractors capture attention in a bottom-up manner due to their physical and emotional salience. However, recent research has shown it is controversial whether EIB will be modulated by top-down factors. The present study further investigated whether the magnitude of EIB would be modulated by top-down factors, specifically the emotional relevance between tasks and distractors. Participants were divided into two groups having the same targets except for different task instructions. The orientation judgment group was asked to judge the orientation of the target (an emotionally irrelevant task), and the emotion judgment group was required to judge the emotional valence of the target (an emotionally relevant task). It was found the emotional relevance between tasks and distractors has no modulation on the magnitudes of EIB in two groups when targets and distractors are from different categories (Experiment 1), but a modulation when they are from the same category (Experiment 2). Consequently, we contend top-down task relevance modulates the EIB effect and distractors’ priority is regulated by the emotional relevance between tasks and distractors. The current study holds attentional capture by stimulus-driven is unconditional in EIB, while attentional capture by goal-driven requires certain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-based beverages have become a hot spot in the development of functional foods with the increasing demand for nutrition and health food in recent years. However, common plant-based beverages have been plagued with poor sensory, flavor and stability. To solve these problems, fermentation of beneficial active strains (lactobacillus and yeasts) and non-thermal processing techniques were studied. Fermentation and non-thermal processing technologies had significant advantages in improving the flavor and quality of plant-based beverages and in retaining their nutritional properties, respectively. Therefore, this paper provided an overview of plant-based fermented beverages and emerging non-thermal processing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean isoflavones are secondary metabolites of bisphenol with various biological activities that are formed during the growth of legumes. Improving the bioaccessibility of soybean isoflavones is of great significance for their optimal bioactivity in humans. On the basis of soybean isoflavones' chemical composition and metabolic pathways, this review analyzes the effects of food components, especially processing methods, on the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of soybean isoflavones. The application progress of soybean isoflavones in food is summarized. This will provide some reference value for developing functional foods high in aglycone isoflavones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how transnational campuses can enhance educational leadership and management in 2023 and beyond by drawing on case study examples from one provider in eastern China. It considers the importance of recruitment and retention initiatives, and the roles that employment motivation, job satisfaction, and employee well-being play. Through utilizing a qualitative interview-based approach to data collection, the findings from this case study suggest that transnational campus leaders and managers should consider paying attention to several factors to meet potential employees' expectations concerning what good leadership and management consist of in order to enhance recruitment and retention initiatives. The findings also indicate that staff perceive leadership and management facets as overlapping and complementary in many areas and believe that leadership is not solely reliant on position. Indeed, the belief is that good examples of leadership can be found throughout an organization and that these examples can be learned from. Finally, the results highlight the importance of role models, experience, people skills, and guided learning in shaping the next generation of leaders and how they approach their potential leadership tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beans are a rich source of high quality protein and oil, and have attracted increasing interest from both nutrition researchers and health-conscious consumers. This review aims to provide a foundation for the future research and development of bean polysaccharides, by summarizing the sources, structure, and functions of bioactive bean polysaccharides. Structure/function relationships are described, for biological activities, such as immunological, antioxidant and anti-diabetes. This will provide useful guidance for further optimization of polysaccharide structure and the development of bean polysaccharides as a novel functional material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurodegenerative disorders, including spinal cord injury (SCI), result in oxidative stress-induced cell damage. Morroniside (MR), a major active ingredient of the Chinese herb Shan Zhu Yu, has been shown to ameliorate oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Our previous study also confirmed that morroniside protects SK-N-SH cell line (human neuroblastoma cells) against oxidative impairment. However, it remains unclear whether MR also plays a protective role for oligodendrocytes that are damaged following SCI. The present study investigated the protective effects of MR against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell death in OLN-93 cells. MR protected OLN-93 cells from H2O2-induced injury, attenuated H2O2-induced increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and blocked the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) induced by H2O2. MR enhanced the activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) and suppressed H2O2-induced downregulation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and activation of the proapoptotic protein caspase-3. Finally, we found that LY294002, a specific inhibitor of the PI3K/Akt pathway, inhibited the protective effect of MR against H2O2-induced OLN-93 cell injury in the MTT and TUNEL assays. LY294002 also inhibited the expression of SOD and Bcl-2, and increased the expression of iNOS and c-caspase-3 induced by MR treatment. MR exerts protective effects against H2O2-induced OLN-93 cell injury through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway-mediated antioxidative stress and antiapoptotic activities. MR may provide a potential strategy for SCI treatment or other related neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large genome-wide association study showed that five new variants, {EPDR1 (rs3816415), CHAT (rs1258267), GLIS3 (rs736893), FERMT2 (rs7494379), and DPM2–FAM102A (rs3739821)}, were associated primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG). Considering the shared clinical features between primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and PACG, this study was conducted to investigate the association of these genetic variants with POAG in a Han Chinese population. A total 799 POAG patients and 799 controls are enrolled in this case–control study. All individuals were genotyped for the five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using ABI SNaPshot method. Four genetic models (homozygous, heterozygous, dominant, and recessive) were applied to further evaluate the possible correlation between the five SNPs and POAG. In our study, rs736893 in the GLIS3 gene was found to be associated with POAG (Bonferroni corrected p =.001, OR = 1.282, 95% CI = 1.103–1.491). Rs736893-AA and rs736893-AA/AG carriers showed an increase risk for POAG compared with rs736893-GG carriers (corrected p =.028, OR = 1.605, 95% CI = 1.137–2.267; corrected p =.012, OR = 1.349, 95% CI = 1.108–1.642; respectively) in homozygous and dominant models. For rs3816415 in the EPDR1 gene, rs3816415-AG and rs3816415-AA/AG carriers have a marginally lower risk than rs3816415-GG carriers (corrected p =.036, OR = 0.710, 95% CI = 0.548–0.919; corrected p =.04, OR = 0.718, 95% CI = 0.557–0.925) in heterozygous and dominant models. Our findings indicated that GLIS3 (rs736893) was associated with POAG in this Chinese population. Further genetic epidemiologic studies and functional work are necessary to reveal their pathogenesis with POAG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, China's defence industry has experienced significant reforms, with increasing numbers of defence companies being listed on the stock market. Meanwhile, China's stock market has suffered from dramatic fluctuations. This article, therefore, attempts to break new ground on an empirical research agenda to detect bubbles in the defence sector of China's stock market and how these bubbles can be impacted by the entire stock market and defence industry. To explain this issue, sequential unit root tests are introduced to investigate the existence of bubbles in the defence sector using monthly frequency data from China's stock market from January 2005 to June 2016. The empirical results show strong evidence of explosive behaviours in the defence sector during the past decade. Moreover, the number of bubbles has changed greatly when accounting for the entire stock market. The empirical results indicate that bubbles in the middle of 2006 and at the end of 2014 were driven by the defence industry because of the sharp increase of military expenditure and the release of innovative defence reforms. Finally, we suggest that the government could control the annual budget increase at a steady pace and implement defence reforms by carrying out experimental units gradually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been shown that genetic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). This study was conducted to investigate the association between the polymorphism rs11656696 located in the growth arrest-specific 7 gene (GAS7) and POAG. Methods: A cohort of 799 unrelated POAG patients and 799 unrelated control subjects was enrolled in this case-control association study. The polymorphism rs11656696 was genotyped using the SNaPshot method. The genotype and allele frequencies were evaluated using the χ2 tests. Results: The allele frequency distribution of rs11656696 in the GAS7 gene showed that there was significant difference between POAG cases and controls (P=.006448, OR = 0.82, 95%CI = (0.72–0.95). The minor "A" allele frequency of this polymorphism was 0.477 in the POAG cases, whereas it was 0.526 in controls, suggesting a protective effect for POAG. Significant associations were detected under the homozygous model (p =.006425, OR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.51–0.90) and recessive model (p =.0003432, OR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.52–0.84), indicating that subjects carrying rs11656696 AA genotype were less likely to suffer from POAG than those carrying AC/CC genotypes. Conclusion: This case-control association study showed that polymorphism rs11656696 in GAS7 is related to POAG and might be a protective factor against POAG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether military spending is capable of promoting social welfare is currently a controversial issue. The aim of this paper is to investigate how military spending affects the input and output of social welfare (i.e. social welfare expenditures and social welfare index). A panel cointegration analysis and an impulse response function are conducted with multi-country panel data, over two time periods, 1998–2011 and 1993–2007. In addition, to extend a comparative analysis over different economies, BRICS (i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and G7 (i.e. the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Canada) countries are selected as representatives of emerging economies and developed countries, respectively. The empirical results show that military spending enhances social welfare expenditures in developed countries, while the effect is ambiguous in emerging economies. Also, military spending is capable of promoting the social welfare index based on the FMOLS estimation. The comparative analyses indicate that unlike in the G7, the effect of the growth of military spending on the growth of social welfare expenditures is negative and shorter in the BRICS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR) and fully covered retrievable self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) placement for this kind of tumors. Methods: A total of six consecutive patients, presenting with esophageal and GE junction SMTs, received EFTR and SEMSs placement at the our endoscopic center between January 2015 and June 2015. Their medical records were thoroughly investigated. Results: EFTR was performed successfully in all cases. The en bloc resection rate was 100%. The final pathological diagnoses were leiomyomas in all six cases. No patients developed delayed bleeding. SEMSs were placed immediately after EFTR during the same endoscopic session except patient #1. Complete healing of esophageal leakage after stent placement was achieved for 6/6 patients (100%) without the need for surgical interventions. Stent migration occurred in one patient. No residual tumor or tumor recurrence was observed during the follow-up period. Conclusions: EFTR combined with fully covered retrievable self-expandable metallic stents placement is a feasible and effective new method for providing radical treatments for SMTs from the deep MP layer of esophagus and GE junction. Standardization of the procedure should be studied further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]