Social working memory (SWM)-the ability to maintain and manipulate social information in the brain-plays a crucial role in social interactions. However, research on SWM is still in its infancy and is often treated as a unitary construct. In the present study, we propose that SWM can be conceptualized as having two relatively independent components: "externally oriented SWM" (e-SWM) and "internally oriented SWM" (i-SWM). To test this external-internal hypothesis, participants were tasked with memorizing and ranking either facial expressions (e-SWM) or personality traits (i-SWM) associated with images of faces. We then examined the neural correlates of these two SWM components and their functional roles in empathy. The results showed distinct activations as the e-SWM task activated the postcentral and precentral gyri while the i-SWM task activated the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus. Distinct multivariate activation patterns were also found within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex in the two tasks. Moreover, partial least squares analyses combining brain activation and individual differences in empathy showed that e-SWM and i-SWM brain activities were mainly correlated with affective empathy and cognitive empathy, respectively. These findings implicate distinct brain processes as well as functional roles of the two types of SWM, providing support for the internal-external hypothesis of SWM.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term/physiology* ; Male ; Female ; Empathy/physiology* ; Young Adult ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Adult ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Brain Mapping ; Facial Expression ; Social Behavior ; Facial Recognition/physiology* ; Social Perception ; Personality/physiology*

Objective:The investigation and research on the application status of Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) is very important to understand the real situation and future development of this technology in China.Methods:This study comprehensively investigated the basic situation of HVPG technology in China, including hospital distribution, hospital level, annual number of cases, catheters used, average cost, indications and existing problems.Results:According to the survey, there were 70 hospitals in China carrying out HVPG technology in 2021, distributed in 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central Government). A total of 4 398 cases of HVPG were performed in all the surveyed hospitals in 2021, of which 2 291 cases (52.1%) were tested by HVPG alone. The average cost of HVPG detection was (5 617.2±2 079.4) yuan. 96.3% of the teams completed HVPG detection with balloon method, and most of the teams used thrombectomy balloon catheter (80.3%).Conclusion:Through this investigation, the status of domestic clinical application of HVPG has been clarified, and it has been confirmed that many domestic medical institutions have mastered this technology, but it still needs to continue to promote and popularize HVPG technology in the future.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of adenovirus (HAdVs) pneumonia in children.Methods:The clinical manifestations, laboratory results, imaging features and treatment courses of 541 children with HAdVs pneumonia treated in Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from January 2017 to August 2019 were retrospectively studied.Results:The number of children diagnosed with HAdVs pneumonia increased year by year.A total of 541 patients were included in this study (214 females and 327 males, median age 31 months). The majority of patients (89.3%, 483/541 cases) were less than 6 years of age.Cough (98.3%, 532/541 cases) was the most common symptom, followed by fever (93.7%, 507/541 cases), tachypnea (36.6%, 198/541 cases) and wheeting (32.5%, 176/541 cases). Thirteen point three percent patients (72/541 cases) had existing primary diseases.Severe HAdVs pneumonia was observed in 33.8% of patients (183/541 cases), the most common intrapulmonary complication were pleural effusion(18.6%, 101/541 cases) and respiratory failure (7.0%, 38/541 cases). In co-infection cases, 46.9% of the patients (254/541 cases) suffered from co-infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae, 21.6% of the patients (117/541 cases) suffered from bacterial co-infection.Ninety-eight point five percent of the patients (533/541 cases) were cured, and 1.5% of the patients (8/541 cases) died or discharged voluntarily.Convulsions [ P=0.026, OR=7.312 (95% CI: 1.267-42.191)] and bacterial co-infections [ P=0.030, OR=2.724 (95% CI: 1.101-6.741)] were independently correlated with the occurrence of severe HAdVs pneumonia. Conclusions:Pre-school aged children are at higher risks of developing HAdVs pneumonia.The majority of patients presents with fever and cough as primary manifestations.Tachypnea and wheezing are also common clinical features of HAdVs pneumonia patients.Approximately a third of children with HAdVs pneumonia may develop into severe pneumonia.The presentation of convulsion and the exis-tence of bacterial co-infections may help to predict the development of severe HAdVs pneumonia in pediatric patients.

Objective:To evaluate the current status and long-term trend of kidney cancer mortality in China from 1992 to 2016.Methods:Mortality data of kidney cancer were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The online analysis tool of age-period-cohort model provided by the National Institutes of Health was used to analyze the death data of kidney cancer in China from 1992 to 2016.Results:From 1992 to 2016, the crude and standardized mortality rates of kidney cancer in Chinese men and women showed an overall increasing trend, with a large increase. The estimated average annual percentage change (AAPC) in kidney cancer mortality for men was 2.85% (95% CI: 2.68%-3.02%) and that for women was 1.25% (95% CI: 1.04%-1.45%). From 1992 to 2016, the local drift values of both men and women were greater than 0 (all P<0.05). In terms of age effect, after adjusting for cohort effect and period effect, the risk of death of kidney cancer in men and women increased exponentially with age from the age of 15. From 15 to 19 years old to 75 to 79 years old, the RR of kidney cancer death was 1.85 in male and 1.59 in female. The cohort and period effects of the two genders were statistically significant ( P<0.05), the AAPC for the whole and all age groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusion:The mortality rate of kidney cancer increased greatly, and more attention should be paid to the prevention and treatment of kidney cancer.

To investigate the effect of Toxoplasma gondii infection upon the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA and N-methyl-D-aspirate receptor (NMDA) subunits NR2A and NR2B,Wistar rats of 4 weeks old were randomly divided into 3 groups with 10 rats in each group in which 2 mL suspensions of T.gondii tachyzoits in the concentrations of 2×10~7/mL and 2×10~5/mL were injected intra-peritoneally to rats in group A and group B respectively, serving as the experimental groups, while 2 mL of sterile physiologic saline was injected intra-peritoneally in group C serving as the control group. Four weeks after injection, the expressions of BDNF mRNA and BDNF protein in the brain tissues were detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical assay and the expressions of NR2A and NR2B immune activity in the hippocampal CA1,CA3 and DG were investigated by using computer-assisted image analysis system. Compared with the control group, the expression of BDNF protein in the hippocampus of the experimental groups was significantly enhanced [(64.27±23.18), (50.39±19.34) vs (44.68±22.74)/mm~2,P＜0.05]. In addition, the increased expressions of BDNF mRNA in the hippocampus of the experimental groups were also demonstrated [(0.13±0.02), (0.12±0.02) vs (0.09±0.01); P＜0.05]. In the expression of the NR2A protein, their expressions in group A and B of rats were significantly lower than that of group C in CA3 (P＜0.05),but there was no significant change in CA1 and DG. In the expression of NR2B protein, the expressions in group A and B were also lower than that of group C in CA1 and CA3, and had no significant change in DG. It is evident that the expressions of BDNF mRNA and BDNF protein in hippocampal tissues were significantly increased following chronic infection with T.gondii, supporting the hypothesis that BDNF may be involved in the intrinsic neuro-protective mechanism.