Metacognition of emotion (meta-emotion) refers to the ability to evaluate and identify one's emotional feelings. No previous study has defined and measured this construct through objective and ...quantitative procedures. We established a reliable method to measure meta-emotion. With a two-interval forced-choice procedure, participants selected which of two pictures elicited stronger positive emotion; via the Law of Comparative Judgment, their responses were used to compute individual psychological distances for the emotional responses triggered by the pictures. Then, participants were asked to judge whether a pre-exposed picture induced a stronger positive emotion than the median of that elicited by the whole picture set, followed by a confidence rating. By utilizing each individual's psychological distance, the correctness of a participant's emotional experience was quantified by d', and meta-emotion was quantified using meta-d', M-ratio, and M-diff as indices of metacognitive sensitivity and efficiency based on Signal-Detection Theory. Test-retest reliabilities, validated by Spearman correlation, were observed in meta-d', M-ratio, and marginally with M-diff, suggesting the stability of meta-emotion in the current design. This study unveils a validated procedure to quantify meta-emotion, extendable for assessing metacognition of other subjective feelings. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in interpretation, as the measured processes may be influenced by non-metacognitive factors.
PARK14 patients with homozygous (D331Y) PLA2G6 mutation display motor deficits of pure early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aim of this study is to investigate the pathogenic mechanism of mutant ...(D331Y) PLA2G6-induced PD. We generated knockin (KI) mouse model of PARK14 harboring homozygous (D331Y) PLA2G6 mutation. Then, we investigated neuropathological and neurological phenotypes of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
KI mice and molecular pathogenic mechanisms of (D331Y) PLA2G6-induced degeneration of substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic neurons. Six-or nine-month-old PLA2G6
D331Y/D331
Y KI mice displayed early-onset cell death of SNpc dopaminergic neurons. Lewy body pathology was found in the SN of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice. Six-or nine-month-old PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
KI mice exhibited early-onset parkinsonism phenotypes. Disrupted cristae of mitochondria were found in SNpc dopaminergic neurons of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice. PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice displayed mitochondrial dysfunction and upregulated ROS production, which may lead to activation of apoptotic cascade. Upregulated protein levels of Grp78, IRE1, PERK, and CHOP, which are involved in activation of ER stress, were found in the SN of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice. Protein expression of mitophagic proteins, including parkin and BNIP3, was downregulated in the SN of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice, suggesting that (D331Y) PLA2G6 mutation causes mitophagy dysfunction. In the SN of PLA2G6
D331Y/D331Y
mice, mRNA levels of eight genes that are involved in neuroprotection/neurogenesis were decreased, while mRNA levels of two genes that promote apoptotic death were increased. Our results suggest that PARK14 (D331Y) PLA2G6 mutation causes degeneration of SNpc dopaminergic neurons by causing mitochondrial dysfunction, elevated ER stress, mitophagy impairment, and transcriptional abnormality.
MicroRNAs (miRs) downregulate or upregulate the mRNA level by binding to 3’-untranslated region (3’UTR) of target gene. Dysregulated miR levels can be used as biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease (PD) ...and could participate in the etiology of PD. In the present study, 45 brain-enriched microRNAs were evaluated in serum samples from 50 normal subjects and 50 sporadic PD patients. The level of miR-204-5p was upregulated in serum samples from PD patients. Upregulated level of miR-204-5p was also observed in the serum and SN of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of PD. Expression of miR-204-5p increased the level of α-synuclein (α-Syn), phospho-α-Syn, tau or phospho-tau protein and resulted in the activation of ER stress in SH-SY5Y dopaminergic cells. Expression of miR-204-5p caused autophagy impairment and activation of JNK-mediated apoptotic cascade in SH-SY5Y dopaminergic cells. Our study using bioinformatic method and dual-luciferase reporter analysis suggests that miR-204-5p positively regulates mRNA expression of dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) by directly interacting with 3’UTR of DYRK1A. The mRNA and protein levels of DYRK1A were increased in SH-SY5Y dopaminergic cells expressing miR-204-5p and substantia nigra (SN) of MPTP- induced PD mouse model. Knockdown of DYRK1A expression attenuated miR-204-5p-induced increase in protein expression of phospho-α-Syn or phospho-tau, ER stress, autophagy impairment and activation of JNK-mediated apoptotic pathway. Our results suggest that upregulated expression of miR-204-5p leads to the death of dopaminergic cells by targeting DYRK1A-mediated ER stress and apoptotic signaling cascade.
Abstract
Objectives
Perceiving simultaneity of a visual and an auditory signal is critical for humans to integrate these multisensory inputs effectively and respond properly. We examined age-related ...changes in audiovisual simultaneity perception, and the relationships between this perception and working memory performances with aging.
Methods
Audiovisual simultaneity perception of young, middle-aged, and older adults was measured using a simultaneity judgment (SJ) task, in which a flash and a beep were presented at 1 of 11 stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs). Participants judged whether these two stimuli were perceived simultaneously. Precision of simultaneity perception, the SOA corresponding to the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS), and response errors at each SOA were estimated using model fitting. The precision and PSS are associated with multisensory perception per se, whereas the response error reflects executive ability when performing the SJ task. Visual working memory of the same middle-aged and older adults was measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) beforehand.
Results
Compared to young adults’ performances, middle-aged and older adults showed a decreased precision, a shift of PSS toward the visual-leading SOAs, and increased response errors at the visual-leading SOAs. Among these changes, only the increased response errors correlated with worse spatial recognition memory in middle-aged and older adults.
Discussion
Age-related decrements in audiovisual simultaneity perception start from middle age and are manifested in both perceptual and executive parameters. Furthermore, higher-order executive ability is plausibly a common cause for age-related degenerations in the audiovisual simultaneity perception and visual working memory.
Bank Liquidity Risk and Performance Chen, Yi-Kai; Shen, Chung-Hua; Kao, Lanfeng ...
Review of Pacific Basin financial markets and policies/Review of pacific basin financial markets and policies,
03/2018, Letnik:
21, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This study employs an alternative measure of liquidity risk to investigate its determinants by using an unbalanced panel dataset of commercial banks in 12 advanced economies over the period ...1994–2006. Dependence on liquid assets for external funding, supervisory and regulatory factors, and macroeconomic factors are all determinants of liquidity risk. Because of higher funding costs for obtaining liquidity, liquidity risk is regarded as a discount for bank profitability, yet liquidity risk shows a premium on bank performance in terms of banks’ net interest margins. Liquidity risk has reverse impacts on bank performance in a market-based financial system.
Electrospinning of polylactide–polyglycolide (PLGA)/collagen in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) to fabricate a biomimetic nanofibrous extracellular membranes for wound dressing and tissue ...engineering was investigated. The morphology of as-spun PLGA/collagen nanofibers was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The average diameter of electrospun nanofibers was 250
nm (range of 150–650
nm). Degradation rate of PLGA/collagen nanofibrous membranes, cytocompatibility and cellular responses to membranes, cell and nanofibers interactions, and open wound healing in rats were studied. It was found that nanofibrous membranes made of PLGA/collagen were functionally active in responses in human fibroblasts, and were very effective as wound-healing accelerators in early-stage wound healing. The empirical results in this study indicate that electrospun PLGA/collagen nanofibers may be a good candidate as a wound dressing for skin regeneration.
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Microglial activation-induced neuroinflammation contributes to onset and progression of sporadic and hereditary Parkinson’s disease (PD). Activated microglia secrete pro-inflammatory ...and neurotoxic IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, which subsequently promote neurodegeneration. Formyl peptide receptor-1 (FPR1) of CNS microglia functions as pattern recognition receptor and is activated by N-formylated peptides, leading to microglial activation, induction of inflammatory responses and resulting neurotoxicity. In this study, it was hypothesized that FPR1 activation of microglia causes loss of dopaminergic neurons by activating inflammasome and upregulating IL-1β, IL-6 or TNF-α and that FPR1 antagonist HCH6-1 exerts neuroprotective effect on dopaminergic neurons. FPR1 agonist fMLF induced activation of microglia cells by causing activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and upregulation and secretion of IL-1β, IL-6 or TNF-α. Conditioned medium (CM) of fMLF-treated microglia cells, which contains neurotoxic IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, caused apoptotic death of differentiated SH-SY5Y dopaminergic neurons by inducing mitochondrial oxidative stress and activating pro-apoptotic signaling. FPR1 antagonist HCH6-1 prevented fMLF-induced activation of inflammasome and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in microglia cells. HCH6-1 co-treatment reversed CM of fMLF-treated microglia-induced apoptotic death of dopaminergic neurons. FPR1 antagonist HCH6-1 inhibited rotenone-induced upregulation of microglial marker Iba-1 protein level, cell death of dopaminergic neurons and motor impairment in zebrafish. HCH6-1 ameliorated rotenone-induced microglial activation, upregulation of FPR1 mRNA, activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, cell death of SN dopaminergic neurons and PD motor deficit in mice. Our results suggest that FPR1 antagonist HCH6-1 possesses anti-neuroinflammatory and neuroprotective effects on dopaminergic neurons by inhibiting microglial activation and upregulation of inflammasome activity and pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Perceiving simultaneity is critical in integrating visual and auditory signals that give rise to a unified perception. We examined whether background color modulates people’s perception of ...audiovisual simultaneity. Two hypotheses were proposed and examined: (1) the red-impairment hypothesis: visual processing speed deteriorates when viewing a red background because the magnocellular system is inhibited by red light; and (2) the blue-enhancement hypothesis: the detection of both visual and auditory signals is enhanced when viewing a blue background because it stimulates the blue-light sensitive intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which trigger a higher alert state. Participants were exposed to different backgrounds while performing an audiovisual simultaneity judgment (SJ) task: a flash and a beep were presented at pre-designated stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) and participants judged whether or not the two stimuli were presented simultaneously. Experiment 1 demonstrated a shift of the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS) toward the visual-leading condition in the red compared to the blue background when the flash was presented in the periphery. In Experiment 2, the stimulation of ipRGCs was specifically manipulated to test the blue-enhancement hypothesis. The results showed no support for this hypothesis, perhaps due to top-down cortical modulations. Taken together, the shift of PSS toward the visual-leading condition in the red background was attributed to impaired visual processing speed with respect to auditory processing speed, caused by the inhibition of the magnocellular system under red light.
This study investigated the association of statin use with sepsis risk in patients with dementia. This retrospective cohort study was conducted in Taiwan by using data from the National Health ...Insurance Research Database. We identified and enrolled 308 patients with newly diagnosed dementia who used statin after dementia diagnosis. These patients were individually propensity score matched (1:1) according to age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, renal disease, liver disease, asthma, malignancy, parkinsonism, and dementia drugs used (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine) with 251 controls (statin non-users). A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio for sepsis in statin users and non-users. After adjustment for other confounding factors, the incidence of sepsis in statin users was 1.42-fold higher than that in non-users (95% confidence interval = 0.81-2.5). In conclusion, our analysis showed no positive association of sepsis with statin use in patients with dementia.
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