Working memory is a core component of human cognitive functions, responsible for the temporary storage and manipulation of information, and plays a vital role in the execution of daily tasks. Working memory includes information encoding, maintenance, manipulation, and retrieval, with the underlying mechanisms corresponding to neural oscillations. The frequency bands most related to each step of working memory are θ (4-8 Hz), α (8-13 Hz), and γ (>30 Hz) waves. θ waves mainly correspond to the temporal organization of memory items; γ waves are related to information maintenance; α waves indicate inhibition of irrelevant information. These neural oscillations can be regulated by external rhythmic stimulation, gradually synchronizing to the rhythm and phase of external stimulation. This phenomenon is called neural entrainment. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) can regulate working memory related neural oscillations through entrainment, and has the potential to become a method to enhance working memory performance. Another possible intervention approach to improve working memory is to enhance the excitability of key brain regions involved in working memory through NIBS. In this review, we reviewed more than 50 studies applying NIBS for working memory in healthy adults, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), and other NIBS techniques. In terms of research paradigm, working memory NIBS studies with healthy adults usually adopt classic working memory behavioral paradigms, e.g., n-back tasks with numbers or space positions, Sternberg tasks, relatively few stimulating sessions, mainly focus on the simultaneous or short-term effects on behavioral performance. For stimulation sites, the prefrontal cortex (especially dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is the most commonly choice for it’s a vital role in functions such as information maintenance and cognitive resource allocation. The parietal lobe (especially the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) also plays an important role in information maintenance and manipulation, and is the second common stimulation site after DLPFC. Studies targeting the temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and motor cortex are relatively limited. For stimulation methods, TMS studies mainly use repetitive TMS (rTMS) and θ burst stimulation (TBS) with stimulating frequency in θ or γ band, one-sided or bilateral prefrontal cortex as the stimulation site. The specific intervention effects may also depend on the phase of the neural oscillation that TMS targets. For tDCS studies, anodal stimulation of DLPFC or parietal lobe is widely utilized. The heterogeneous intervention effects such as relatively weak enhancement or impairment of working memory performance after intervention, may result from varied stimulation protocol or participants’ factors (e.g., small sample size, inconsistent baseline levels). For tACS studies, the most widely used stimulation frequencies are θ and γ bands, usually with in-phase manner, fixed or individualized frequencies. Enhancement of working memory performance has been reported for both settings, and the effects are also affected by stimulation parameters, task difficulty and baseline levels of participants. Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), temporal interference stimulation (TIS), transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) are emerging NIBS techniques, of which TIS and TUS can stimulate deep brain regions. Current studies modulating working memory based on these cutting-edge techniques are limited, but they have potential in mechanism exploration and clinical applications in working memory research.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of metoprolol standard dosing pathway (MSDP) in Chinese patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: In this multicenter, prospective, open label, single-arm and interventional study that was conducted from February 2018 to April 2019 in fifteen Chinese hospitals. A total of 998 hospitalized patients aged ≥ 18 years and diagnosed with ACS were included. The MSDP was applied to all eligible ACS patients based on the standard treatment recommended by international guidelines. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving the target dose at discharge (V2). The secondary endpoints included the heart rate and blood pressure at V2 and four weeks after discharge (V4), and percentage of patients experiencing bradycardia (heart rate < 50 beats/min), hypotension (blood pressure < 90/60 mmHg) and transient cardiac dysfunction at V2 and V4. RESULTS: Of the 998 patients, 29.46% of patients achieved the target dose (≥ 95 mg/d) at V2. The total population was divided into two groups: target group (patients achieving the target dose at V2) and non-target group (patients not achieving the target dose at V2). There was significant difference in the reduction of heart rate from baseline to discharge in the two groups (-4.97 ± 11.90 beats/min vs. -2.70 ± 9.47 beats/min, P = 0.034). There was no significant difference in the proportion of bradycardia that occurred in the two groups at V2 (0 vs. 0, P = 1.000) and V4 (0.81% vs. 0.33%, P = 0.715). There was no significant difference in the proportion of hypotension between the two groups at V2 (0.004% vs. 0.004%, P = 1.000) and V4 (0 vs. 0.005%, P = 0.560). No transient cardiac dysfunction occurred in two groups during the study. A total of five adverse events (1.70%) and one serious adverse event (0.34%) were related to the pathway in target group. CONCLUSIONS In Chinese ACS patients, the feasibility and tolerability of the MSDP have been proved to be acceptable.

Objective: To evaluate the associations of sarcopenia, handgrip strength and calf circumference with cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults. Methods: Totally 2,525 older adults were recruited from the Healthy Aging and Biomarkers Cohort Study. Cognitive impairment was assessed by the Chinese Mini-Mental State Examination. Handgrip strength was calculated from the means of the right and left hand values. Calf circumference was measured at the site of maximum circumference of the non-dominant leg. The formula developed by Ishii was used to define sarcopenia. Multiple logistic regression was performed to evaluate the associations of sarcopenia, handgrip strength, and calf circumference with cognitive impairment. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 34.36%. The adjusted odds ratio ( Conclusion Sarcopenia, identified by low handgrip strength and low calf circumference, was positively associated with cognitive impairment.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China/epidemiology* ; Cognitive Dysfunction/etiology* ; Female ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Leg/anatomy & histology* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Sarcopenia/pathology*

BACKGROUNDCarotid artery stenting (CAS) as a competing treatment modality has had to adhere to limits to gain widespread acceptance in some studies. This study analyzed the clinical data of 1700 consecutive patients after CAS to retrospectively evaluate the 30-day outcome of CAS for internal carotid artery stenosis in a Chinese population.

METHODSMedical records of 1700 patients who underwent CAS at Xuanwu Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University between January 2001 and August 2012 were reviewed. Postoperative 30-day complication rates were analyzed and compared with those of other studies. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with perioperation myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and death.

RESULTSThe overall 30-day rate of MI, stroke, and death after CAS was 2.53%. In univariate analysis, patients who were symptomatic, had a neurological deficit (modified Rankin score (mRS) ≥3; P = 0.001), and who were not taking statins experienced a significantly increased rate of MI, stroke, and death (P = 0.017). In multivariate Logistic regression analysis, the presence of symptoms (odds ratio (OR) = 2.485; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.267-4.876; P = 0.008) and a neurological deficit (mRS ≥3) (OR = 3.025; 95% CI = 1.353-6.763; P = 0.007) were independent risk factors for perioperative MI, stroke, and death.

CONCLUSIONSAccording to this single-center experience, CAS may effectively prevent and treat carotid artery stenosis that would otherwise lead to stroke. Being symptomatic and having a neurological deficit (mRS ≥3) increased the risk of perioperative MI, stroke, and death.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carotid Stenosis ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction ; Stents ; Stroke ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDFew data on ankle fractures in China from large multicenter epidemiological and clinical studies are available. The aim of this research was to evaluate the epidemiological features and surgical outcomes of ankle fractures by reviewing 235 patients who underwent ankle fracture surgery at five hospitals in China.

METHODSThis study included patients who underwent ankle fracture surgery at five Chinese hospitals from January 2000 to July 2009. Age, gender, mechanism of injury, Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) fracture type, fracture pattern, length of hospital stay and treatment outcome were recorded. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS software. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale, visual analogue scale (VAS), and arthritis scale were used to evaluate outcome.

RESULTSOf 235 patients with ankle fractures, 105 were male with an average age of 37.8 years and 130 were female with an average age of 47.3 years. The average follow-up period was 55.7 months. There were significant differences in the ratios of patients in different age groups between males and females, and in mechanisms of injury among different age groups. There were also significant differences in the length of hospital stay among different fracture types and mechanisms of injury. In healed fractures, the average AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score was 95.5, with an excellence rate of 99.6%, the average VAS score was 0.17, and the average arthritis score was 0.18. Movement of the injured ankle was significantly different to that of the uninjured ankle. There were no significant differences between AO fracture types, fracture patterns or follow-up periods and AOFAS score, but there were some significant differences between these parameters and ankle joint movements, pain VAS score and arthritis score.

CONCLUSIONSAnkle fractures occur most commonly in middle-aged and young males aged 20 - 39 years and in elderly females aged 50 - 69 years. The most common mechanisms of injury are twisting injuries and falls from a standing height or less. The results of surgical treatment are satisfactory.

Adult ; Age Distribution ; Ankle Injuries ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sex Distribution ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the ASES, Constant and HSS score systems and their significance on postoperative function of the shoulder.

METHODSTotally 172 cases of proximal humeral fracture of five affiliated hospital from September 2004 to September 2008 were analyzed. All the functional outcome of the involved shoulder were evaluated by ASES, Constant, HSS score and patient self score. The correlations and agreement of three shoulder scales were analyzed with Pearson correlation test and Bland-Altman plot in different age groups and fracture types.

RESULTS(1) The Constant score were lower than other two scores in the same age group and fracture type (F = 13.62 and 4.80, P < 0.05). (2) The correlations between three shoulder scales: ASES and Constant (r = 0.754, P = 0.0003), ASES and HSS (r = 0.755, P = 0.0001), Constant and HSS (r = 0.858, P = 0.0002). The correlations between three shoulder scales and patient self evaluation: ASES (r = 0.602, P = 0.0002), Constant (r = 0.705, P = 0.0001), HSS (r = 0.663, P = 0.0037). The Bland-Altman plot shows three shoulder scales have good agreement. (3)The correlation between Constant score and patient self evaluation decreased in the elder group and severe fracture type.

CONCLUSIONSASES, Constant, HSS shoulder score systems are all fit to evaluate the functional outcome of the shoulder, they have good correlation and agreement. Constant score in recommended for its high correlation coefficient with patient self evaluation score. However, its age bias must be paid attention in clinical practice. ASES shoulder score can be used in remote follow-up.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Shoulder Fractures ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Shoulder Joint ; physiopathology ; Trauma Severity Indices ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the clinical features of femoral neck fractures and analyze related causes.

METHODSThe clinical data of patients with femoral neck fractures from June 2002 to August 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. The gender, age, fracture side, fracture type, basic social data, activities before injury, injury causes and treatment were analyzed.

RESULTSA total of 219 patients (106 male and 113 female) was analyzed. All patients were divided into children group (age < 16 years), adult group (age ranged from 16 to 60 years) and older group (> 60 years). There were 5 patients (2.3%) in the children group, 81 patients (37.0%) in the adult group and 133 patients (60.7%) in the older group. There were 11 patients (5.0%) with Garden I fractures, 32 patients (14.6%) with Garden II fractures, 90 patients (41.1%) with Garden III fractures and 86 patients (39.3%) with Garden IV fractures. Fall damage and traffic injury were the main injury types. Home and public place were the main injury sites.

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of femoral neck fracture shows the highest in the old persons. The male patients with femoral neck fractures are more than female patients in children and adult group, while the male patients with femoral neck fractures are less than female patients in older group. The dominant fractures type according to Garden classification is Garden III fractures in children and adult groups, but Garden IV fractures in older group. Fall damage and traffic injury are the main injury types. Home and public place are the main injury sites.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo discuss the estimation on gene-environment interaction in partial case-control studies when gene information of the controls was partly missing.

METHODSThe results of hot deck multiple imputation and listwise deletion analysis were compared when missing data was generated using Monte Carlo method in Stata 9.0.

RESULTSCoefficients of environment effect, gene effect and gene-environment interaction were respectively estimated by means of hot deck multiple imputation and listwise deletion when approaching to those complete data with missing part less than 50 percent. Both estimated variances of the two methods were increasing with the increased proportion of missing data, but the estimated variance of hot deck multiple imputation was smaller than the one with listwise deletion in each proportion.

CONCLUSIONHot deck imputation could be adopted to make full use of existing information to estimate gene-environment interaction in the partial case-control study when missing proportion of gene data of controls was less than 50 percent so as to increase the precision of the estimation.

Case-Control Studies ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Environment ; Genotype ; Humans ; Models, Statistical ; Monte Carlo Method

OBJECTIVETo introduce the approaches for estimating gene-environment interaction based on partial case-control studies.

METHODSThe effects of logistic model and log-linear model for estimating the main effects and gene-environment interaction effect were estimated by means of maximum likelihood methods in traditional case-control studies, case-only studies and partial case-control studies, respectively. An example was also illustrated.

RESULTSIn traditional case-control study with complete data, the results of logistic model and log-linear model were equivalent. In case-only study without any information about controls, the logistic model can also efficiently estimate gene-environment interaction. In partial case-control study, environmental information was collected from all of the cases and controls, while genetic information was only collected from cases. For this case-control study with incomplete data, a suitable parameterized log-linear model could simultaneously and efficiently estimate the main effect of environment and gene-environment interaction, whereas the logistic model could not.

CONCLUSIONFor a partial case-control study, log-linear model could estimate not only the main effect of environment but also gene-environment interaction. If genotype and exposure were independent, estimators from partial case-control were as precisely as those from complete-data case-control studies.

Case-Control Studies ; Environment ; Genotype ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; Models, Statistical ; Reproducibility of Results