The main manefestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is cognitive decline. An important reason for this decline lies in the defects of vision and hearing. Stimuli information from vision and hearing are transmitted in different modes, resulting in a time difference between the receiving and encoding of these different types of information. Normal aging individuals are well capable of integrating information from different sensory modalities and respond to it, whereas AD patients cannot integrate such visual and auditory information very well due to pathological aging and impaired audiovisual integration ability. A series of studies have investigated the impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients, focusing on their behavioral performance and the underlying neurophysiological mechanism. Their findings indicate that the impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients could be caused by pathological changes in the superior temporal sulcus, as well as anomaly in brain connectivity and brain activity pattern and so on, which provide insights into potential intervention and prevention methods. This paper reviews the physiological, pathological, and behavioral manifestations of impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients, summarizes some intervention and prevention methods, and provides prospect for future research.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the epidemiological characteristics of human infections with avian influenza A (H7N9) in China and to provide scientific evidence for the adjustment of preventive strategy and control measures.

METHODSDemographic and epidemiologic information on human cases were collected from both reported data of field epidemiological investigation and the reporting system for infectious diseases.

RESULTSA total of 433 cases including 163 deaths were reported in mainland China before June 4, 2014. Two obvious epidemic peaks were noticed, in March to April, 2013 and January to February, 2014. Confirmed cases emerged in 14 areas of China. Five provinces, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Hunan, reported about 85% of the total cases. Median age of the confirmed cases was 58 years (range, 1-91), with 70% as males. Of the 418 cases with available data, 87% had ever exposed to live poultry or contaminated environments. 14 clusters were identified but human to human transmission could not be ruled out in 9 clusters.

CONCLUSIONHuman infections with avian influenza A (H7N9) virus showed the characteristics of obvious seasonal distribution, with certain regional clusters. The majority of confirmed cases were among the elderly, with more males seen than the females. Data showed that main source of infection was live poultry and the live poultry market had played a significant role in the transmission of the virus.

Adaptation, Psychological ; Aged ; Animals ; China ; epidemiology ; Demography ; Environmental Pollution ; Female ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Male ; Meat ; Poultry ; Research Design