This paper introduces a virtual instrument based on VC++, which can be used to measure the working memory capacity of visual modality, auditory modality and mixed modalities, thus a convenient and cheap method for working capacity measurement in clinical and psychological applications is provided.

BACKGROUND:Researches on attentional blink (AB) emphasized the importance of the distractors directly following targets and that of the leading distractors in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams in the production of the AB,but little has been mentioned about the subsequent distractors after the second target (except the one in direct succession to it).OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of subsequent distractors in RSVP stream on AB after the second target (T2).DESIGN: A randomized and controlled study.SETTING: Laboratory of Cognitive Science, South-central University for Nationalities.PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five undergraduates aging 18-21 years with the mean age of 19 years were selected from South-central University for Nationalities. All undergraduates participated in the experiment did not have nervous mental diseases but had normal sight or corrected visual acuity; meanwhile, all of them provided the confirmed consent. The subjects were divided into experimental group (n =14) and control group (n =11). There were no significant differences between the two groups in age and sex (P ＞ 0.05).METHODS: The experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Cognitive Science, South-central University for Nationalities from January to April 2007. ① Experimental intervention: The stimuli were RSVP streams consisted of digit distractors and two letter targets (T1 and T2). ② Experimental grouping: The experimental group participated in the omitted condition and the control group participated in the preserved condition. ③ Experimental analysis: One-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the data for statistically significant difference in the same group, and t test was used to compare data between two groups.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Report accuracy of T1 and T2.RESULTS: A total of 25 subjects were involved in the final analysis. ① Report accuracy in the preserved condition:Correct identification of the first target, averaged across all lags, was 94.6%. The percentages of correct identification of the second target as a function of lag was high at Lag1 (92.7%), dropped dramatically at Lag2 (79.8%), then kept improving with increase of lag, revealing a significant effect of lag [F(4,40) = 10.98, P＜ 0.01]. ② Report accuracy in the omitted condition: Correct identification of the first target T1, averaged across all lags, was 96.2%. The percentages of correct identification of the second target as a function of lag, T2 report was high at Lag1 (94.4%), decreased at Lag2(84.4%), then improved at Lag3 (91.1%), but dropped remarkably again at Lag5 and Lag7 (44.9 vs. 43.9%), revealing a significant effect of lag [F (4,52) = 224.0, P ＜ 0.01]. ③ Comparison of the results in two conditions: T2 accuracy in the omitted condition was significantly lower than that in the preserved condition at Lag5 [t (23)=34.44, P ＜ 0.01], and Lag7 [t (23)=42.56, P ＜ 0.01], but did not differ from each other at Lag1 [t (23)=0.65, P ＞ 0.05], at Lag2 [t (23)=1.04, P ＞0.05], and at Lag3 [t (23)=0.64, P ＞ 0.05].CONCLUSION: The absence of subsequent distractors after T2 can introduce a bias on the attentional status of subjects to bring the T2 accuracy down to unusual low level at long lags.

Objective To explore the similarities and differences in endoscopic and pathological characteristics between elderly and non-elderly patients with Barrett esophagus (BE). Methods Three hundred and seventy-one cases with BE were divided into elderly group (n=254) and nonelderly group (n=117). The detection rate, endoscopic findings and pathological changes were assessed. Results The detection rate of BE was 2.9% in the elderly, and 0. 9% in the non-elderly(χ2 =127.8, P＜0.01). The 112 cases (44.1%) of the elderly had reflux symptoms, and so did 87cases (66.7%) of the non-elderly (χ2 =55.9, P＜0.01). The detection rate of BE in the two groups was increased year by year from 2004 to 2008. The detection rate of ring pattern was significantly higher in elderly group than in non-elderly group (28.7% vs. 10.3%, χ2=14.5, P＜0.01). Nonelderly patients had higher rate of island pattern than elderly patients (59.5% vs. 71.7%, χ2=4.7,P＜0.05). There were significant differences in the rate of specialized intestinal metaplasia between elderly and non-elderly patients (42.1% vs. 27.4%, χ2=6.9, P＜0.01). The difference in low and medium grade intraepithelial neoplasm between the two groups had statistical significance (21.3% vs.11.1%, χ2=4.9, P＜0.05). There were two cases with adenocarcinoma in elderly group, but no case was found in non-elderly group. The detection rate of H. pylori was comparable between elderly group and non-elderly group (35.5% vs. 40.9%, χ2=0.40, P＞0.05). Conclusions The elderly patients have the 3.2 times higher detection rate of BE than non-elderly patients. The detection rates of specialized intestinal metaplasia and intraepithelial neoplasm are higher in elderly group than in nonelderly group.

Aneurysm, False ; therapy ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; therapy ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; pathology ; Humans

Along with the rapid research of neural molecular biology, abundant data are produced so that the collection and coordination of high-throughout data about nervous system relative proteins and genes are imperative. Through analyzing the biological primary databases maintained by NCBI and RCSB as the main data source and designing a new data model, a local specialized secondary database is constructed, which mainly includes nucleotide sequences, protein sequences and protein structures, and is established on Sun Blade 2000 System and Oracle 9i. All programs are developed by Java technology. A method of web information automatic retrieval with XML is proposed for sequence data collection and submission to the database. JSP + JavaBean technology is used to support data promulgation on Internet. The establishment of this database provides an excellent platform for the research of neural molecular biology and the pathogenesis of related diseases.
Database Management Systems ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Databases, Protein ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Nervous System ; Proteins ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of patients with dentatorubro-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA).

METHODSDNA analysis for DRPLA gene was performed in two patients. Clinical features and genetic testing of Chinese DRPLA patients reported in the literature were reviewed in terms of initial symptoms, CAG repeat and age of onset.

RESULTSBoth families were confirmed by genetic analysis. In family 1, the number of CAG repeat in the proband, his brother and his mother was determined respectively as 8/65, 8/53 and 8/18. In family 2, the number of CAG repeat was respectively 13/63, 13/18, 18/52 and 13/13 in the proband, his brother, his father and his mother. The size of the expanded CAG repeats has inversely correlated with the age at onset (P<0.05, r=- 0.555). The age at onset of epilepsy was 10 and that for the onset of ataxia is forty years in initial symptom.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical characteristics of DRPLA include epilepsy, ataxia and cognitive impairment. The initial symptoms are epilepsy in adolescence and ataxia in adults. The size of expanded CAG repeats inversely correlates with the age at onset. The initial symptoms are different with different age of onset. It is difficult to diagnose DRPLA at an early stage.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Atrophy ; genetics ; Basal Ganglia Diseases ; diagnosis ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Dentate Gyrus ; pathology ; Family Health ; Female ; Globus Pallidus ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; genetics ; Pedigree ; Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion ; genetics ; Young Adult

A novel bioinspired phospholipid copolymer has been synthesized by the radical polymerization of poly2-Methacryloyloxyethylphosphorylcholine (MPC), stearyl methacrylate (SMA), hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) and trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate (TSMA). Contact angle results indicated that the coating surface rearranged to get a more hydrophilic surface at the polymer/water interface. The membrane mimic phosphorylcholine coating surface could resist the platelet adhesion and prolong plasma recalcification time significantly. Rapamycin was used as model drugs to prepare drug-eluting coating. The animal experiments showed that this novel drug-eluting stent could effectively prevent the phenomena of restenosis.
Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; instrumentation ; Animals ; Coated Materials, Biocompatible ; Coronary Restenosis ; prevention & control ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Materials Testing ; Methacrylates ; chemistry ; Phosphorylcholine ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Pilot Projects ; Polymers ; chemistry ; Prosthesis Design ; Random Allocation ; Sirolimus ; chemistry ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature

Immunoparalysis is the main cause of death in patients with intermediate and terminal sepsis. The correction of immunoparalysis is an important direction of sepsis treatment. In the pathological process of sepsis, a variety of factors contribute to the imbalanced secretion of cytokines, weakened function of antigen-presenting cells, apoptosis and depletion of lymphocytes, and ultimately lead to immunoparalysis, secondary infection, and even patient deaths. Cytokines such as GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-7, and IL-15, immune checkpoint-related therapies such as PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies, CTLA-4 antibodies, TIM-3 antibodies, and LAG-3 antibodies, and immunoreactive substances such as thymosin α1 and immunoglobulin might be beneficial to correct the immune paralysis of patients. the progress of immunotherapy to correct immune paralysis in sepsis were reviewed in this article.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of flexion-lateral curvature-supination reduction combined with primary anterior surgery for the treatment of lower cervical dislocation with unilateral facet inter-locking.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed in the 32 patients who had been admitted to Department of Spine Surgery, Honghui Hospital for lower cervical dislocation with unilateral facet interlocking from November 2015 to October 2018. According to their treatments, they were divided into 2 groups. In the emergency group treated by flexion-lateral curvature-supination reduction combined with primary anterior surgery, there were 13 males and 3 females, aged from 24 to 63 years. In the traction group treated by cranial traction reduction combined with secondary anterior surgery, there were 12 males and 4 females, aged from 20 to 64 years. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, bone graft fusion, American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score were compared between the 2 groups.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing they were comparable ( P<0.05). All patients were followed up from 26 to 40 months. The hospital stay for the emergency group [(7.2±1.2) d] was significantly shorter than that for the traction group[(10.9±1.2) d] ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the operation time, blood loss, ASIA grade or JOA score between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). All patients achieved osseous fusion of intervertebral space. Conclusion:Compared with traditional methods, flexion-lateral curvature-supination reduction combined with primay anterior surgery shows no significant difference in the recovery of neurological function but leads to a shorter hospital stay.

Sepsis is life-threatening with complex pathogenesis. It is a big problem in the medical field. Clinically, antibiotics, hormones and mechanical ventilation are the main treatments. There is a lack of specific therapeutic drugs. The treatment effect is not good. In recent years, more and more progress has been made in the treatment of sepsis with traditional Chinese medicine. This article reviews the etiology, pathogenesis and treatment strategies of sepsis. It focuses on four therapies, including clearing away heat and detoxification, clearing the interior, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and strengthening the foundation. We further discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of sepsis, in order to provide reference for the clinical treatment of sepsis.