Chinese Research Articles

Comparative genomics of dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus, Sciaenidae) conspecifics: Evidence for speciation and the genetic mechanisms underlying traits.

Dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) is a commercially important finfish, indigenous to South Africa, Australia, and China. Previous studies highlighted differences in genetic composition, life history, and morphology of the species across geographic regions. A draft genome sequence of 0.742 Gb (N50 = 5.49 Mb; BUSCO completeness = 97.8%) and 22,438 predicted protein-coding genes was generated for the South African (SA) conspecific. A comparison with the Chinese (CN) conspecific revealed a core set of 32,068 orthologous protein clusters across both genomes. The SA genome exhibited 440 unique clusters compared to 1928 unique clusters in the CN genome. Transportation and immune response processes were overrepresented among the SA accessory genome, whereas the CN accessory genome was enriched for immune response, DNA transposition, and sensory detection (FDR-adjusted p < 0.01). These unique clusters may represent an adaptive component of the species' pangenome that could explain population divergence due to differential environmental specialisation. Furthermore, 700 single-copy orthologues (SCOs) displayed evidence of positive selection between the SA and CN genomes, and globally these genomes shared only 92% similarity, suggesting they might be distinct species. These genes primarily play roles in metabolism and digestion, illustrating the evolutionary pathways that differentiate the species. Understanding these genomic mechanisms underlying adaptation and evolution within and between species provides valuable insights into growth and maturation of kob, traits that are particularly relevant to commercial aquaculture.

Using simulated microhaplotype genotyping data to evaluate the value of machine learning algorithms for inferring DNA mixture contributor numbers

Inferring the number of contributors (NoC) is a crucial step in interpreting DNA mixtures, as it directly affects the accuracy of the likelihood ratio calculation and the assessment of evidence strength. However, obtaining the correct NoC in complex DNA mixtures remains challenging due to the high degree of allele sharing and dropout. This study aimed to analyze the impact of allele sharing and dropout on NoC inference in complex DNA mixtures when using microhaplotypes (MH). The effectiveness and value of highly polymorphic MH for NoC inference in complex DNA mixtures were evaluated through comparing the performance of three NoC inference methods, including maximum allele count (MAC) method, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method, and random forest classification (RFC) algorithm. In this study, we selected the top 100 most polymorphic MH from the Southern Han Chinese (CHS) population, and simulated over 40 million complex DNA mixture profiles with the NoC ranging from 2 to 8. These profiles involve unrelated individuals (RM type) and related pairs of individuals, including parent-offspring pairs (PO type), full-sibling pairs (FS type), and second-degree kinship pairs (SE type). Our results indicated that how the number of detected alleles in DNA mixture profiles varied with the markers’ polymorphism, kinship’s involvement, NoC, and dropout settings. Across different types of DNA mixtures, the MAC and MLE methods performed best in the RM type, followed by SE, FS, and PO types, while RFC models showed the best performance in the PO type, followed by RM, SE, and FS types. The recall of all three methods for NoC inference were decreased as the NoC and dropout levels increased. Furthermore, the MLE method performed better at low NoC, whereas RFC models excelled at high NoC and/or high dropout levels, regardless of the availability of a priori information about related pairs of individuals in DNA mixtures. However, the RFC models which considered the aforementioned priori information and were trained specifically on each type of DNA mixture profiles, outperformed RFC_ALL model that did not consider such information. Finally, we provided recommendations for model building when applying machine learning algorithms to NoC inference.

Electromagnetic analysis of HCCB TBM-set during plasma major disruptions

Electromagnetic (EM) loads (i.e., Lorentz and Maxwell loads) on the Chinese (CN) Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) Test Blanket Module set (TBM-set) as well as on the installation Frame are numerically estimated using the ANSYS software. ITER Global Model (IGM) based on the edge-flux formulation is utilized in EM analysis. The current Preliminary Design (PD) model of HCCB TBM-set is taken into account. Four typical plasma Major Disruptions (MDs) are considered in accordance with the system load specifications. It is discovered that both kinds of EM loads are dominated by the radial component. The MD_DW_III is the worst case in terms of Lorentz loads, while the considered MDs have almost the same maximum Maxwell loads which appear under the condition of plasma start of burn. Regarding the EM loads on two TBMs, the Maxwell Force (MF) is much larger compared with the Lorentz Force (LF), however the Maxwell Torque (MT) is far smaller than the maximum Lorentz Torque (LT). The obtained results will be applied in corresponding structural analysis to ensure the integrity of HCCB TBM-set in the further work.

ACP Conversations with Chinese and South Asian Patients: Physicians' Perspectives of Barriers and Facilitating Factors.

Advance Care Planning (ACP) discussions are infrequently conducted with physicians, even fewer among minorities. We explored physicians' experiences in engaging Chinese (CH) and South Asian (SA) patients in ACP conversations to understand initiation and participation patterns, topics covered, and barriers and facilitating factors. Twenty-two physicians with 15%+ SA patients aged 55+ and 19 with 15%+ CH patients aged 55+ were interviewed. SA- and CH-serving physicians described similar initiation patterns, cultural context, and need for standardized ACP routines. However, the SA-serving physicians described greater involvement of family members, while CH-serving physicians described more communication barriers and family members' desire to hide the diagnosis from patients. Cultural taboos surrounding discussion around death and dying appear to influence CH older adults and families strongly. Lack of familiarity with ACP amongst the SA population accounts more for their limited engagement in ACP discussions.

Speech disturbances in schizophrenia: Assessing cross-linguistic generalizability of NLP automated measures of coherence.

Language disorders - disorganized and incoherent speech in particular - are distinctive features of schizophrenia. Natural language processing (NLP) offers automated measures of incoherent speech as promising markers for schizophrenia. However, the scientific and clinical impact of NLP markers depends on their generalizability across contexts, samples, and languages, which we systematically assessed in the present study relying on a large, novel, cross-linguistic corpus. We collected a Danish (DK), German (GE), and Chinese (CH) cross-linguistic dataset involving transcripts from 187 participants with schizophrenia (111DK, 25GE, 51CH) and 200 matched controls (129DK, 29GE, 42CH) performing the Animated Triangles Task. Fourteen previously published NLP coherence measures were calculated, and between-groups differences and association with symptoms were tested for cross-linguistic generalizability. One coherence measure, i.e. second-order coherence, robustly generalized across samples and languages. We found several language-specific effects, some of which partially replicated previous findings (lower coherence in German and Chinese patients), while others did not (higher coherence in Danish patients). We found several associations between symptoms and measures of coherence, but the effects were generally inconsistent across languages and rating scales. Using a cumulative approach, we have shown that NLP findings of reduced semantic coherence in schizophrenia have limited generalizability across different languages, samples, and measures. We argue that several factors such as sociodemographic and clinical heterogeneity, cross-linguistic variation, and the different NLP measures reflecting different clinical aspects may be responsible for this variability. Future studies should take this variability into account in order to develop effective clinical applications targeting different patient populations.

DC/TMD Axis I diagnostic subtypes in TMD patients from Confucian heritage cultures: a stratified reporting framework.

This study proposed a conceptual framework for reporting Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) Axis I conditions and investigated the prevalence of TMD subtypes/categories in patients from Confucian heritage cultures. Variances in gender, age, and TMD chronicity between Chinese (CN) and Korean (KR) patients were also explored. Subjects were recruited from consecutive patients seeking care at two University-based centers in Beijing and Seoul. Eligible patients completed a demographic survey as well as the DC/TMD Symptom Questionnaire and were clinically examined according to the DC/TMD methodology. Axis I diagnoses were subsequently rendered with the DC/TMD algorithms and documented using the stratified reporting framework. Statistical evaluations were performed with chi-square, Mann-Whitney U tests, and logistic regression analysis (α = 0.05). Data of 2008 TMD patients (mean age 34.8 ± 16.2years) were appraised. Substantial differences in female-to-male ratio (CN > KR), age (KR > CN), and TMD duration (KR > CN) were observed. Ranked frequencies of the most common Axis I diagnoses were: CN - disc displacements (69.7%) > arthralgia (39.9%) > degenerative joint disease (36.7%); KR - disc displacements (81.0%) > myalgia (60.2%) > arthralgia (56.1%). Concerning TMD categories, notable differences in the prevalence of intra-articular (CN 55.1% > KR 15.4%) and combined (KR 71.8% > CN 33.4%) TMDs were discerned. Though culturally similar, the two countries require disparate TMD care planning/prioritization. While TMJ disorders in children/adolescents and young adults should be emphasized in China, the focus in Korea would be on TMD pain in young and middle-aged adults. Besides culture, other variables including socioeconomic, environmental, and psychosocial factors can influence the clinical presentation of TMDs. Chinese and Korean TMD patients exhibited significantly more intra-articular and combined TMDs respectively.

Chi nese Middle-class Travelers’ Characteristics and Their Perceptions of Japan's National Image

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, China was the largest source country in Japan’s inbound tourism market. The middle class, with its high consumption desire, was the main contributor of Chinese tourists to Japan, an important force driving the Japanese economy and influencing the spread of Japan’s national image in China through the Internet. For this study, I collected 4,785 text data from Japan travelogues on two major Chinese travel websites between January 2016 and March 2022, conducted data mining and content analysis, and combined the texts to reveal the basic characteristics of Chinese middle-class tourists to Japan, as well as their perceptions and evaluations of Japan’s national image. The results show a change in the travel needs of the Chinese middle class from shopping, etc., to diverse, specific, and individual travel experiences and an obvious willingness to revisit. Regarding their perceptions and evaluations of Japan's macro national image, Japan’s national capacity is mainly reflected in its culture and economic technology, while its national characteristics are mainly reflected in hospitability. Although most impressed with Japan’s environmental management, mainly its infrastructure and natural resources, the macro sentiment of the tourists is influenced by historical Sino-Japanese relations and reveals reservations about Japan. Japan’s micro national image, as perceived by the tourists through tourist attractions, mainly relates to activities, while their perceptions of the tourist environment are the richest, focusing on popular attractions and landscapes. Their perceptions of tourism facilities cover various aspects such as catering, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, and services. Furthermore, their micro-emotions are mainly reflected in their satisfaction and praise of the destination environment. These results have several implications for tourism marketing and national image promotion in the post-pandemic era, when outbound tourism has fully recovered.

Defining Computational Thinking as an Evident Tool in Problem-Solving: Comparative Research on Chinese and Canadian Mathematics Textbooks

Purpose To analyze mathematics problem-solving (PS) procedures in Chinese (CH) and Canadian (CA) elementary mathematics textbooks that leverage computational thinking (CT) as a cognitive tool, which have evidently existed and been implemented. Design/Approach/Methods In this study, an analysis framework was developed to investigate the characteristics of CT tools for three PS steps—understand the problem, devise and conduct plans, and look back into textbooks—in four contexts: data practices, modeling and simulation practices, computational tools practices, and systemic thinking practices. Findings Our results demonstrate the tools (CT) employed in the PS process in CH and CA mathematics textbooks. The strong connections between the “look back” stage and CT tools were explored. During the “look back” stage, both countries required students to transfer their knowledge and perform generalization. In addition, CT is regarded as a basic skill analysis for students in mathematics education and has received significant attention at every stage of the PS process. Originality/Value This study brings a new perspective to CT research in education by regarding CT as a cognitive tool for students in mathematics PS.

Forensic efficiency evaluation of a novel multiplex panel of InDels and STRs in the Guizhou Han population and its phylogenetic relationships with other reference populations

Background Insertion/deletion polymorphism (InDel), as the third genetic marker, has been given a lot of attention by forensic geneticists since it has the advantages of extensive distributions in the human genome, small amplicon, and low mutation rate. However, the extant InDel panels were only viewed as supplemental tools for kinship analyses. In addition, these panels were not conductive to mixture deconvolution because InDels in these panels mainly displayed two alleles. Aims The purpose of this study is to investigate genetic distributions of a novel panel of InDels and STRs in the Guizhou Han population; assess the forensic application value of the panel; and conduct population genetic analyses of the Guizhou Han and other reference populations based on the overlapping loci. Subjects and methods The bloodstain samples of 209 Guizhou Han were gathered and genotyped by the novel panel. Allelic frequencies and forensic parameters of two miniSTRs and 59 InDels in the panel were estimated. In addition, we assessed phylogenetic relationships among the Guizhou Han and other reference populations by principal component analysis, DA genetic distance, and neighbor-joining tree. Results A total of 139 alleles of 61 loci could be observed in the Guizhou Han population. Polymorphic information content values of 59 InDels were greater than 0.3 in the Guizhou Han population. The cumulative power of discrimination and probability of exclusion of two miniSTRs and 59 InDels in the Guizhou Han population were 0.999999999999999999999999997984 and 0.9999986, respectively. Principal component analysis of 14 populations showed that the Guizhou Han population located closer to Hunan Han and Southern Han Chinese (CHS) populations. Similar results were also discerned from DA genetic distances and the neighbor-joining tree. Conclusion To sum up, the novel panel could be employed for forensic personal identification and paternity testing in the Guizhou Han population as a promising independent tool. Besides, the principal component analysis and phylogenetic tree of the Guizhou Han and other compared populations revealed that the Guizhou Han population possesses close genetic affinities with Hunan Han, CHS, and Han Chinese in Beijing (CHB) populations.

Hamate classification method based on feature‐enhanced residual network and probabilistic joint judgment

Accurate analysis of the maturity grade of the reference bone in the wrist is critical for bone age assessment. The main difference between the maturity grades of the reference bone in the wrist X-ray image is the difference in the texture and morphological characteristics of the bone, and the difference in the characteristics between adjacent levels is small, which brings great challenges in bone age assessment. The hamate (the wrist bone in line with the 4th and 5th fingers) is one of the most important reference bones in the standards of skeletal maturity of the hand and wrist for the Chinese (CHN) method. Aiming at the problem of hamate maturity level evaluation, a method of hamate maturity level classification based on feature enhanced residual network and probability joint judgment is proposed. In this method, we propose the enhanced characteristic residual network (ECR-Net) is proposed to enhance the feature extraction capability of the network and improve the loss function to reduce the impact of cross-grade errors on the accuracy of bone age assessment. On this basis, multiple convolutional neural networks to make joint probabilistic judgments are relied on to obtain the final hamate maturity grade. The proposed ECR-Net achieves a macro accuracy of 96.92% on the hamate maturity evaluation, and there are no errors across two levels. Also, this approach achieves a macro accuracy of 97.15% when the probabilistic joint judgment method is employed while avoiding errors that span more than two levels. The network model and method proposed in this paper have good accuracy and practicability for the automatic identification of the hamate maturity level, which is of great significance for the accurate assessment of bone age.

Different colour predictions of facial preference by Caucasian and Chinese observers

Facial colour characteristics convey vital personal information and influence social interactions and mate choices as contributing factors to perceived beauty, health, and age. How various colour characteristics affect facial preference and whether there are cultural differences are not fully understood. Here, we provide a useful and repeatable methodology for skin colour research based on a realistic skin model to investigate the effect of various facial colour characteristics on facial preference and compare the role of colour predictors in Caucasian (CA) and Chinese (CN) samples. Our results show that, although the average skin colour of facial areas plays a limited role, together with colour variation and contrast, there are stronger links between colour and facial preference than previously revealed. We also find large cultural differences in facial colour perceptions; Chinese observers tend to rely more heavily on colour and lightness cues to judge facial preference than Caucasian observers.

Maxwell force analysis of CN HCCB TBM based on preliminary design

The Chinese (CN) Helium Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) will be tested in ITER according to the ITER TBM program. In order to well achieve the test goals and to meet the ITER technical requirements, the design of CN HCCB TBM is continuously updating since 2004 and it is currently in preliminary design (PD) phase. As an in-vessel component of ITER, TBM will be exposed to strong magnetic field. Consequently, large electromagnetic (EM) loads may generate on TBM structures and should be quantitatively evaluated to provide input for the structural integrity assessment of TBM. In this paper, the Maxwell force (MF), one of the EM loads, is numerically calculated and discussed. To improve the calculation efficiency, the finite element (FE) model is simplified by ignoring the cooling channels. Hence, the corrected B-H curve based on effective volume ratio of ferrite material is adopted to exclude the influence caused by absence of cooling channels. Current obtained results are comparable with those in previous work and agree well with analytical ones also, which indicates that the global FE model developed here is acceptable and the analytical equation derived in this paper can be used to approximately predict the MF on TBM.

Entrelinhas

Neste artigo, é analisado como a China foi discutida nos documentos do Representante Comercial dos Estados Unidos (USTR) entre 2001 e 2016. A hipótese é que o USTR deixou de perceber a China como um “Estado normal” e passou a percebê-la como um “Estado adversário”, sendo o ponto de virada o período entre 2003 e 2005, no governo de George W. Bush. Utiliza-se a análise de conteúdo para testar a hipótese em dois documentos: a President’s Trade Policy Agenda e o Special 301 Report. Observa-se que desde o período de 2003-2005 as menções à China passaram de um nível normal para um nível extraordinário e o discurso do USTR começou a caracterizar a China de modo mais negativo, anunciando o uso de “todas as ferramentas disponíveis” para responder às práticas comerciais injustas da China. Conclui-se que há lastro empírico para a hipótese e que a percepção de que a China é uma “adversária comercial” dos Estados Unidos tem forte enraizamento burocrático.

Chronological Age Prediction: Developmental Evaluation of DNA Methylation-Based Machine Learning Models.

Epigenetic clock, a highly accurate age estimator based on DNA methylation (DNAm) level, is the basis for predicting mortality/morbidity and elucidating the molecular mechanism of aging, which is of great significance in forensics, justice, and social life. Herein, we integrated machine learning (ML) algorithms to construct blood epigenetic clock in Southern Han Chinese (CHS) for chronological age prediction. The correlation coefficient (r) meta-analyses of 7,084 individuals were firstly implemented to select five genes (ELOVL2, C1orf132, TRIM59, FHL2, and KLF14) from a candidate set of nine age-associated DNAm biomarkers. The DNAm-based profiles of the CHS cohort (240 blood samples differing in age from 1 to 81 years) were generated by the bisulfite targeted amplicon pyrosequencing (BTA-pseq) from 34 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs) of five selected genes, revealing that the methylation levels at different CpGs exhibit population specificity. Furthermore, we established and evaluated four chronological age prediction models using distinct ML algorithms: stepwise regression (SR), support vector regression (SVR-eps and SVR-nu), and random forest regression (RFR). The median absolute deviation (MAD) values increased with chronological age, especially in the 61–81 age category. No apparent gender effect was found in different ML models of the CHS cohort (all p > 0.05). The MAD values were 2.97, 2.22, 2.19, and 1.29 years for SR, SVR-eps, SVR-nu, and RFR in the CHS cohort, respectively. Eventually, compared to the MAD range of the meta cohort (2.53–5.07 years), a promising RFR model (ntree = 500 and mtry = 8) was optimized with an MAD of 1.15 years in the 1–60 age categories of the CHS cohort, which could be regarded as a robust epigenetic clock in blood for age-related issues.

Research on the Problems and Countermeasures of Salary Management in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises as the main body of Chinese enterprises should be an important driving force for China's economic development. However, the problems of salary management faced by small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly hindering their own survival and development. Whether it is standing on the position of the enterprise or the workers, the pay problem is that they are more concerned about the problem, while the remuneration is also an indispensable modern means of competition and incentives. Salary management is not only indispensable content of enterprise human resources, but also the establishment of modern enterprise system, and optimization of the allocation of social resources requirements. Enterprise salary management operation flexibility or not, directly affect the production and operation management, which will affect the long-term development of enterprises. This paper analyzes the problems of salary management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as unreasonable pay system, lack of forward-looking management system, and so on, and analyzes and discusses their own countermeasures.

AI-SNPs screening based on the whole genome data and research on genetic structure differences of subcontinent populations.

The genetic structure differences in population is one of the key elements in medical research involving multi-population samples. A set of ancestry-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (AI-SNPs) can be utilized to analyze genetic component of a population, infer ancestral origin of individuals and pre-filter samples to reduce the impact of population genetic structure differences on medical research. However, most of the published studies were focused on revealing the differences between populations of continents or regions of a continent. In this paper, AI-SNPs were screened by calculating FST value in each pair of five East Asian populations: Japanese in Tokyo (JPT), Han Chinese in Beijing (CHB), Southern Han Chinese (CHS), Chinese Dai in Xishuangbanna (CDX) and Kinh in Ho Chi Minh City (KHV) in the 1000 Genomes Project phase 3 (GRCh37.p13) to analyze differences in subcontinent populations. The results demonstrate that the five East Asian populations in our study were assigned to three clusters: JPT, CHB and CHS, CDX and KHV. A set of AI-SNPs can be used for analysis of individual genetic composition and selection of representative individuals. Individuals with over 80% population representative genetic components have good representativeness of a population. This paper demonstrated the practical value of the method, which was performed to verify the ancestral composition and select representative samples with a panel of screened AI-SNPs by FST value, thereby reducing the influence of genetic structure differences in subcontinent populations on population-related medical research.

The Influence of Extracts from Common Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) on the Metabolic Activity of Human Melanoma Cells WM-266-4

Human melanoma cells are known as one of the most aggressive cancer cells, and consequently, melanoma is one of the most incurable cancer diseases. There is intense activity in research and development of potential medicines for malignant diseases, including alternative forms of remedies. Therefore, the purpose of our work was testing extracts from the common houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) grown in Slovenia to establish its impact on human melanoma cells. Namely, we wanted to verify if the extracts inhibit growth of malignant cells and their metabolic activity. Soxhlet, cold solvent, ultrasound, and supercritical extraction methods were applied to obtain S. tectorum extracts. Polyphenols and proanthocyanins content in acquired extracts was determined as well as their antioxidative potential. For a relevant comparison, Chinese (CHI) dried and Slovenian (SLO) lyophilized S. tectorum was used. Results showed that the highest contents of polyphenols and proanthocyanins were yielded from lyophilized material, which also had the highest antioxidative potential. The focus of our work was on analysis of possible inhibition effects of the extracts on human melanoma cells since no past studies were found regarding the possible effects of S. tectorum on metabolic activity of WM-266-4. We established that in a 24-h incubation period, the extracts inhibited metabolic activity of the cells at their concentrations of 20, 10, 4, 2, 1, 0.2, and 0.02 mg/mL. Extract obtained from SLO S. tectorum (ultrasound extraction with acetone as a solvent), which showed promising results of inhibitory effect on the mentioned cells, was further described since the local plant was the focus of our study. CHI S. tectorum extract (Soxhlet extraction with ehtanol:water mixture = 1:1 as a solvent) showed the highest inhibitory effect on human melanoma cells WM-266-4, although both obtained extracts are suitable for their growth inhibition of this specific cell line. Our results suggest inhibitory ability of S. tectorum extracts on the metabolic activity of WM-266-4 metastatic cell line, suggesting their potential use as an anticancer agent.

Expert consensus on perioperative vascular complications for liver transplantation(2021)

Vascular complications after liver transplantation are important causes of liver dysfunction and graft loss.The incidence rate range is from 5% to 25%,and the mortality rate is high.The complex and changeable vascular conditions of the donor and recipient,anastomosis techniques,infection,and acute and chronic rejection after transplantation can all cause vascular complications of liver transplantation.The types of vascular complications are diverse and complex.According to the vascular structure,they can be divided into arterial and venous complications; according to the characteristics of blood flow,they can be divided into inflow tract (hepatic artery,portal vein) or outflow tract (hepatic vein,vena cava) disorders; according to the nature of the lesion,they can be divided into rupture,stenosis,thrombosis and pseudoaneurysm,etc; according to the time of occurrence,they can be divided into early or late.Surgical plan design and surgical operation techniques are the technical factors of early vascular complications after liver transplantation.The types of vascular complications and their accompanying clinical manifestations are closely related to the choice of diagnosis and treatment strategies and clinical outcomes.Therefore,the Perioperative Management Group of Chinese Society of Organ Transplantation of Chinese Medical Association formulated the Expert Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Perioperative Vascular Complications of Liver Transplantation,aiming to standardize and optimize the clinical diagnosis and treatment of common perioperative vascular complications in liver transplant recipients.

Emotion depends on context, culture and their interaction: evidence from effective connectivity.

Situated models of emotion hypothesize that emotions are optimized for the context at hand, but most neuroimaging approaches ignore context. For the first time, we applied Granger causality (GC) analysis to determine how an emotion is affected by a person’s cultural background and situation. Electroencephalographic recordings were obtained from mainland Chinese (CHN) and US participants as they viewed and rated fearful and neutral images displaying either social or non-social contexts. Independent component analysis and GC analysis were applied to determine the epoch of peak effect for each condition and to identify sources and sinks among brain regions of interest. We found that source–sink couplings differed across culture, situation and culture × situation. Mainland CHN participants alone showed preference for an early-onset source–sink pairing with the supramarginal gyrus as a causal source, suggesting that, relative to US participants, CHN participants more strongly prioritized a scene’s social aspects in their response to fearful scenes. Our findings suggest that the neural representation of fear indeed varies according to both culture and situation and their interaction in ways that are consistent with norms instilled by cultural background.

Chinese expert consensus on comprehensive management of cardiovascular risk in patients with cardiovascular diseases and abnormal glucose metabolism

Chinese expert consensus on comprehensive management of cardiovascular risk in patients with cardiovascular diseases and abnormal glucose metabolism