Neuropeptide cholecystokinin:a key neuromodulator for hippocampal functions

Spatial memory is crucial for survival within external surroundings and wild environments.The hippocampus,a critical hub for spatial learning and memory formation,has received extensive investigations on how neuromodulators shape its functions(Teixeira et al.,2018;Zhang et al.,2024).However,the landscape of neuromodulations in the hippocampal system remains poorly understood because most studies focus on classical monoamine neuromodulators,such as acetylcholine,serotonin,dopamine,and noradrenaline.The neuropeptides,comprising the most abundant neuromodulators in the central nervous system,play a pivotal role in neural information processing in the hippocampal system.Cholecystokinin(CCK),one of the most abundant neuropeptides,has been implicated in regulating various physiological and neurobiological statuses(Chen et al.,2019).CCK-A receptor(CCK-AR)and CCK-B receptors(CCK-BR)are two key receptors mediating the biological functions of CCK,both of which belong to class-A sevenfold transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors(Nishimura et al.,2015).CCK-AR preferentially reacts to sulfated CCK,whereas CCK-BR binds both CCK and gastrin with similar affinities(Ding et al.,2022).The expression patterns of CCK-AR and CCK-BR are distinct,implying that CCK has various functions in target regions.For instance,CCK-AR is widely expressed in the GI and brain subregions and is hence implicated in the control of digestive function and satiety regulation.Conversely,CCK-BR is abundantly and widely distributed in the central nervous system,which majorly regulates anxiety,learning,and memory(Ding et al.,2022).However,the roles of endogenous CCK and CCK receptors in regulating hippocampal function at electrophysiological and behavioral levels have received less attention.

The Vagueness in Business English Interpretation and its Pragmatic Functions

In BE interpretation process, interpreters will inevitably encounter the fuzzy phenomenon when inputting and outputting the message and they will adopt some vague language to fulfill the communication task. The proper analysis of pragmatic function of vagueness in BE interpretation will contribute to the realization of business communication.

On the pragmatic functions of non-restrictive relational clauses in English news report discourse

Traditional syntactic or semantic theories failed to provide a satistactory explanation for the unique features of non-restrictive relational clauses in people＇s daily use of English language. This paper would adopt the theoretical framework of pragmatics and use relevance theory as well as face theory to discuss the unique pragmatic functions of non-restrictive relational clauses in English news report discourse. The three major pragmatic functions are： （1） optimizing the relevance of information; （2） seeking for the consistence with readers; and （3） avoiding imposing the author＇s opinion on readers.

An Analysis of Certain Aspects of Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language

This paper is an attempt to analyze vague language from the perspective of pragmatics.It deals with the pragmatic functions of vague language and,because of the limitation of space,will focus on those in daily communication.

Different Functions,Different Strategies——The Application of Functional Translation Theory in Pragmatic Translation

By illustrating news reports,tourist materials,public notices and advertisements,the guidelines of functional translation theory approach to the pragmatic translation are explained.Translators should adapt different translation strategies according to the texts'functions.

Analysis of the Pragmatic Functions of Double Negative

Double negative in English has three functions： to strengthen the affirmatives, and to affirm euphemism and to strengthen the negative meaning, which are analyzed in the present paper.

A Brief Study of the Pragmatic Functions of English Euphemism in Social Life

Euphemism,as a unique form in language expression,conveys a lot about the society and culture in which it exits.This paper studies the functions of euphemism and its application of euphemisms in social-cultural activities.

Pragmatic Functions of Discourse Marker I mean—a case study

The present study examines the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker I mean based on a case study of an American soap opera Desperate Housewives.Four pragmatic functions of I mean are detected and discussed.Among them,two functions are more frequently used including supplementary and explanatory function,reminding and emphasizing function.

Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in Business Letters

The aim of the present research to explore the hedges used English business letters. Several samples have been chosen to make qualitative study in order to achieve the goal of answering the following question: what are the pragmatic functions of hedges being used in business letters? After analyzing the samples, the conclusion could be came that the employment of hedges in business letters has three pragmatic functions-giving the right amount of information, being polite and self-production.

The Implication of Prosodic Features' Pragmatic Functions-For Teaching Listening and Speaking

Interactive communication is not straightforward but complicated. Prosodic features play an influential role in English communication. They can be used to signal certain pragmatic purposes in real situations for listeners and speakers to have mutual understanding. Identifying the pragmatic functions of prosodic features will facilitate the teaching of listening and speaking. English teachers need to clarify and emphasize the relationship between prosodic features and their pragmatic functions, attempting to work out how to combine them together into teaching in order to teach students to communicate effectively.

On the Pragmatic Functions of Pun in Advertisements

This paper contributes to discuss what functions puns can fulfill in advertisements. Based on the characters of pun, the author analyzes why pun is an important and effective device and how puns can serve the advertisement successfully. The results and conclusions was drawn by a survey which aims to help the advertisers have a good command of pun in advertisements and help customers understand the deep meaning and figurative effects well.

A Corpus-Based Study of the Discourse Marker“Well”and Its Pragmatic Functions in L2 Learners’Dialogues

This paper focuses on the pragmatic function of the discourse marker“well”in conversational interaction of second language learners.Based on the corpus,we divide the pragmatic functions of“well”into four levels:content level,structural level,interpersonal level,and without level(interlanguage marker).This will help us understand the use of markers,such as“well”in interlanguage and provide references for improving the pragmatic competence of second language learners.

Analysis of Pragmatic Functions of Vague Expressions in Advertisements

Pragmatic vagueness is a manifestation that language has elasticity and is one of attributes of nature language. Pragmatic vagueness phenomenon exists in news report, law version and commerce report. Nowadays in adverting creations, advertisers take pragmatic vagueness as the strategy in order to make the most effective to strengthen the advertising attention, memory and persuasion in the limited time and space. At the same time, the pragmatic vagueness strategy also strengthens the advertising flexibility and appropriateness, compresses information and produces advertising aesthetic effect. In most circumstances, advertising companies use pragmatic vagueness to realize their advertising purpose and pragmatic vagueness offers strangely psychological hint to customers. This paper will firstly state pragmatic vagueness and advertising activities, and then analysis the function of pragmatic vagueness in advertisements.

Analysis of Pragmatic Functions of“Smile”Emoji in Chinese WeChat Communication Between People of Different Ages

With the rapid development of social media,emojis have gradually become an indispensable communication tool in computer-mediated communication(CMC).In recent years,researchers have found that emojis not only have semantic and syntax functions(e.g.,punctuation),but also perform pragmatic functions.Therefore,this thesis is to investigate the differences in pragmatic functions of“smile”emoji between people of different ages.And this paper is a small-scale quantitative research based on the eight pragmatic functions of emoticons proposed by Yus(2014).To find out similarities and differences of“smile”emoji between people of different ages,this paper compared the use frequency and pragmatic functions of“smile”emoji in two WeChat groups which are from youth and middle-aged people and did statistical analysis by Statistic Package for Social Science(SPSS).According to similarities and differences in frequency and pragmatic functions,“smile”emoji can be divided into four categories,which are:(1)similar frequency but different functions;(2)different frequency but similar function,(3)emojis exist only in one group;and(4)similar in both use frequency and function.So,the results suggest that there is a difference between people of different ages using“smile”emoji in WeChat communication.Thus,this study will provide insights into how to use emojis in WeChat when people at different ages communicate with each other can make a successful conversation.

Study on Pragmatic Functions of Irony

Irony is frequently used in our daily life.Traditionally,Irony is only considered as a figure of speech.Because of its importance and prevalence,irony has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years.In this paper,I concentrate on the pragmatic perspective of irony and try to find out the characteristics and functions of irony.In addition,the reasons of people choose to use irony in dairy life.At the beginning,I will introduce the basic definition and types of irony.Then I try to analyze the irony according to cooperative principles,politeness principle,irony principle,speech act theory of communication to explore the generation and comprehension of irony.Moreover,I illustrate the pragmatic functions of irony with appropriate examples.Finally,the paper emphasizes the importance of irony and predicts future development of irony.

Interpretation of Power and Solidarity from Perspective of Pragmatic Functions

Since Brown and Gilman pioneered the concepts of power and solidarity in 1960 and because of people's continued research in them,the two terms have been fundamental to sociolinguistic theory.What are the pragmatic functions of them? In order to answer the question,an analysis of power and solidarity is conducted in view of deictic terms,address terms,verb patterns,code-switching and style variation and it tries to probe into the pragmatic functions of power and solidarity on the basis of Jakobson's theory of language functions.

On Pragmatic Functions of Discourse Marker I mean

Discourse markers are among the basic building blocks of spoken language.This study gauges the use of the discourse marker I mean in spoken English,specifically in the talk show setting,with the aim of providing a comprehensive description of the pragmatic functions of I mean.After extracting large quantities of extended conversations from various talk shows,a corpus for fur⁃ther extensive discourse analysis will then be established.Our small-scale yet fine-grained study proposes that the core functions of I mean includes reformulation,elaboration,lexical search and interpersonal management.The wide use of discourse markers in TV talk shows serves to promote the logic and organization of interviewing language as well as the overall discourse setting whereby the talk shows proceed smoothly with the interlocutors’dynamic devotion into conversation.

Cerebral arterial blood flow,attention,and executive and cognitive functions in depressed patients after acute hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage

BACKGROUND Intracerebral hemorrhage mainly occurs in middle-aged and elderly patients with hypertension,and surgery is currently the main treatment for hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage,but the bleeding caused by surgery will cause damage to the patient's nerve cells,resulting in cognitive and motor dysfunction,resulting in a decline in the patient's quality of life.AIM To investigate associations between cerebral arterial blood flow and executive and cognitive functions in depressed patients after acute hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage.METHODS Eighty-nine patients with depression after acute hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage who were admitted to our hospital between January 2019 and July 2021 were selected as the observation group,while 100 patients without depression who had acute hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage were selected as the control group.The attention span of the patients was assessed using the Paddle Pin Test while executive function was assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST)and cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale(MoCA).The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HAMD-24)was used to evaluate the severity of depression of involved patients.Cerebral arterial blood flow was measured in both groups.RESULTS The MoCA score,net scores I,II,III,IV,and the total net score of the scratch test in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).Concurrently,the total number of responses,number of incorrect responses,number of persistent errors,and number of completed responses of the first classification in the WCST test were significantly higher in the observation group than those in the control group(P<0.05).Blood flow in the basilar artery,left middle cerebral artery,right middle cerebral artery,left anterior cerebral artery,and right anterior cerebral artery was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group(P<0.05).The basilar artery,left middle cerebral artery,right middle cerebral artery,left anterior cerebral artery,and right anterior cerebral artery were positively correlated with the net and total net scores of each part of the Paddle Pin test and the MoCA score(P<0.05),and negatively correlated with each part of the WCST test(P<0.05).In the observation group,the post-treatment improvement was more prominent in the Paddle Pin test,WCST test,HAMD-24 score,and MoCA score compared with those in the pre-treatment period(P<0.05).Blood flow in the basilar artery,left middle cerebral artery,right middle cerebral artery,left anterior cerebral artery,and right anterior cerebral artery significantly improved in the observation group after treatment(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Impaired attention,and executive and cognitive functions are correlated with cerebral artery blood flow in patients with depression after acute hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage and warrant further study.

Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase:ion pump,signal transducer,or cytoprotective protein,and novel biological functions

Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase is a transmembrane protein that has important roles in the maintenance of electrochemical gradients across cell membranes by transporting three Na^(+)out of and two K^(+)into cells.Additionally,Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase participates in Ca^(2+)-signaling transduction and neurotransmitter release by coordinating the ion concentration gradient across the cell membrane.Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase works synergistically with multiple ion channels in the cell membrane to form a dynamic network of ion homeostatic regulation and affects cellular communication by regulating chemical signals and the ion balance among different types of cells.Therefo re,it is not surprising that Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase dysfunction has emerged as a risk factor for a variety of neurological diseases.However,published studies have so far only elucidated the important roles of Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase dysfunction in disease development,and we are lacking detailed mechanisms to clarify how Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase affects cell function.Our recent studies revealed that membrane loss of Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase is a key mechanism in many neurological disorders,particularly stroke and Parkinson's disease.Stabilization of plasma membrane Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase with an antibody is a novel strategy to treat these diseases.For this reason,Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase acts not only as a simple ion pump but also as a sensor/regulator or cytoprotective protein,participating in signal transduction such as neuronal autophagy and apoptosis,and glial cell migration.Thus,the present review attempts to summarize the novel biological functions of Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase and Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase-related pathogenesis.The potential for novel strategies to treat Na^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase-related brain diseases will also be discussed.

A Cognitive Study on Politeness Intention Processing and Its Association with Pragmatic Failure in Cross-Cultural Communication

Although a large number of studies have focused on various aspects of politeness,very little is known about how politeness intention is activated cognitively during verbal communication.The present study aims to explore the cognitive mechanism of politeness intention processing,and how it is related to pragmatic failure during cross-cultural communication.Using 30 Chinese EFL university students who were instructed to finish a probe word judgment task with 96 virtual scenarios,the results indicate that within both mono-and cross-cultural contexts,the response time in the experimental scenarios was significantly slower than that of the filler scenarios.This suggests that politeness intention was activated while understanding the surface meaning of the conversation;however,the EFL learners could not completely avoid the negative transfer of their native politeness conventions when they were comprehending the conversational intention of the target language.Furthermore,no significant differences in response time were found between the groups with high and low English pragmatic competence,illustrating that transferring the pragmatic rules and principles into cross-cultural communication skills was more cognitively demanding.Overall,this study adds to the literature on politeness research and provides some implications for foreign language pragmatic instructions.