Analysis of young children’s abilities to cluster and switch during a verbal fluency task

To investigate developmental changes that take place in verbal fluency (VF) performance during early childhood, a VF task was administered to 225 healthy, Dutch-speaking children aged between 4.14 and 6.89 years. Three categories of VF outcome measures were included: i.e., word productivity, mean cluster size, and number of switches. Age influenced performance on all VF outcome measures linearly; i.e., older children produced more words, made longer clusters, and switched more. Higher levels of intelligence were associated with increased VF word productivity, but not with measures of switching and clustering. When leaving intelligence out of these analyses, we additionally found an interaction between level of parental education (LPE) and sex on total word productivity, i.e., girls with parents who had lower LPE produced fewer words than the other children. Furthermore, a similar interaction of LPE and sex was found for the number of switches: i.e., girls who had parents with lower LPE made fewer switches than the other children. Findings suggest that even in 4 to 6-year-old children important changes take place over time in VF and in processes underlying successful performance. Attention should be paid to age-extrinsic factors, such as LPE and sex, since these have been found to influence VF performance in young children.     

Impulsive synchronization schemes of stochastic complex networks with switching topology: Average time approach

In this paper, a novel impulsive control law is proposed for synchronization of stochastic discrete complex networks with time delays and switching topologies, where average dwell time and average impulsive interval are taken into account. The side effect of time delays is estimated by Lyapunov–Razumikhin technique, which quantitatively gives the upper bound to increase the rate of Lyapunov function. By considering the compensation of decreasing interval, a better impulsive control law is recast in terms of average dwell time and average impulsive interval. Detailed results from a numerical illustrative example are presented and discussed. Finally, some relevant conclusions are drawn.     

The efficacy and safety of bucillamine as a second-line DMARD in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study

We investigated the efficacy and safety of bucillamine administered as a second-line DMARD compared to administration as a first-line DMARD in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We conducted a retrospective cohort study and reviewed medical records of 86 patients with active RA who began to receive bucillamine at Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital between January 1998 and July 2004. The efficacy of treatments was compared based on rates of achievement of 20, 50, and 70% improvement in ACR core set 6 months after initiation of the therapy. In the group administered bucillamine as a first-line DMARD (18 patients), 44.4, 22.2, and 11.1% of patients achieved ACR 20, 50, 70, respectively, while 56.5, 34.1, and 19.5% achieved ACR 20, 50, 70, respectively, in the group administered bucillamine following switching from MTX (46 patients), and 53.3, 33.3, and 13.3% achieved ACR 20, 50, and 70, respectively, in the group administered bucillamine following switching from Sulfasalazine (SSZ) (15 patients). The rates of achievements of ACR 20, 50, 70 did not differ statistically between the three groups and there was no increase in risk of serious adverse effects related to previous DMARDs. The usefulness of bucillamine as a second-line DMARD was demonstrated.     

左乙拉西坦的国产仿制药替换治疗儿童癫痫的疗效及安全性研究北大核心CSCD

目的评价左乙拉西坦的国产仿制药替换原研药进口左乙拉西坦治疗儿童癫痫的疗效及安全性。方法回顾性分析2019年5月至2020年12月在广东省人民医院住院或门诊接受左乙拉西坦的国产仿制药替换治疗的154例癫痫患儿的临床资料,分析比较左乙拉西坦的国产仿制药替换原研药治疗的效果及安全性。结果154例患儿基线期癫痫控制率为77.3%(119/154),替换治疗6个月后癫痫控制率达83.8%(129/154),差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。基线期与替换治疗6个月后癫痫发作频率比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。替换治疗后无效患儿出现难治性癫痫比例高于有效患儿(P<0.05)。替换治疗前,仅1例患儿(0.6%)出现嗜睡;替换治疗后,3例患儿(1.9%)观察到轻度药物不良反应,包括头晕、嗜睡、易激惹、脾气暴躁,与替换治疗前比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论左乙拉西坦的国产仿制药替换原研药进口左乙拉西坦治疗儿童癫痫是安全有效的,值得推广,但是需要更多的前瞻性随机对照试验来证实。     

序贯性机械通气治疗COPD并呼吸衰竭切换时点的随机对照研究

目的：通过随机对照研究对序贯性机械通气三种切换时点进行比较,以探索序贯通气治疗COPD并呼吸衰竭的最优切换点。方法：选择本院ICU住院的COPD合并Ⅱ型呼吸衰竭的患者90例,治疗采用有创-无创序贯机械通气策略,按随机数字表法分为三组,改良GCS评分组以改良GCS评分达到15分并稳定2 h以上为切换点、感染控制窗组以达到肺部感染控制窗为切换点、自主呼吸试验组以自主呼吸试验成功为切换点。观察并记录三组有创通气时间、总机械通气时间、入住ICU时间、呼吸机相关性肺炎（VAP）发生率、再插管率及死亡率等指标。结果：（1）改良GCS评分组及感染控制窗组有创机械通气时间、总机械通气时间、ICU住院时间、VAP发生率均低于自主呼吸试验组（P〈0.05）;（2）改良GCS评分组有创机械通气时间低于感染控制窗组（P〈0.05）,但两组总机械通气时间、ICU住院时间、VAP发生率等指标比较差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;（3）三组间再插管率、院内死亡率比较差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）。结论：虽然尚无证据证明三种不同的切换时机可降低死亡率,但改良GCS评分可全面反映患者的整体病情变化和机体状态,可最大限度地降低有创通气时间,降低VAP发生率及ICU住院时间,且应用简便、安全,是值得在临床推广的序贯机械通气策略。     

The Effectiveness of Cross-Tapering Switching to Ziprasidone in Patients with Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder

Objective

Switching antipsychotics is one useful therapeutic option when the treatment of schizophrenia encounters suboptimal efficacy and intolerability issues. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of cross-tapering switching to ziprasidone from other antipsychotics.

Methods

A total of 67 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited in this 12-week, multicenter, non-comparative, open-label trial. Prior antipsychotics were allowed to be maintained for up to 4 weeks during the titration of ziprasidone. Efficacy was primarily measured using the 18-item Brief Psychotic Rating Scale (BPRS) at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks. Efficacy was secondarily measured by the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale at each visit. Regarding the metabolic effects of switching to ziprasidone, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and lipid profile-including triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and total cholesterol levels-were measured at each follow-up visit.

Results

The BPRS scores were significantly improved at 12 weeks after switching to ziprasidone (F=5.96, df=2.11, p=0.003), whereas the CGI-S and GAF scores were not significantly changed. BMIs, WHRs, and TG levels were significantly decreased, with no significant changes in other lipid profiles.

Conclusion

Cross-tapering switching to ziprasidone is effective for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Beyond the efficacy of the procedure, favorable metabolic profiles show that switching to ziprasidone may be helpful for maintenance therapy over an extended period.     

A new switching design to finite-time stabilization of nonlinear systems with applications to neural networks

This paper is concerned with the optimal finite-time stabilization problem for nonlinear systems. For the given stabilization strength, a new switching protocol is designed to stabilize the system with a fast speed. The obtained protocol covers both continuous control and discontinuous one under the framework of Filippov solutions. Some criteria are discussed in detail on how to choose an optimal protocol such that the finite stabilization time can be shortened. Finally, the main theory results are applied to the general neural networks by one numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.     

Local-global processing in Alzheimer's disease: an examination of interference, inhibition and priming

Impairments of memory, praxis, gnosis, language and executive functioning are well documented in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Functions, such as attention, however, have only recently been systematically investigated. We used Navon-type stimuli (large "global" digits composed of smaller "local" digits) to assess 12 AD participants' plus age-matched controls' ability to focus and alter the scale of their spatial attention. In the first experiment, participants responded to either the global or local characters within a block, ignoring characters at the other spatial scale. Healthy young adults (n=12) demonstrated the normal 'global precedence' effect on this task. In contrast, participants with AD and their age-matched controls were significantly faster on the local task than on the global task, suggesting in these groups a 'local precedence' effect. This consisted of both a local advantage and a local-on-global interference effect. In a second experiment, participants searched for designated targets which occurred unpredictably at either the local or global spatial scale. Participants with AD were significantly slower and more error-prone than older controls. In addition, participants with AD showed a greater cost in reaction time (RT) when required to switch spatial scales on consecutive trials, compared to no switch responses at the same spatial scale on consecutive trials. Thus, AD may impair the ability to process global figures, due perhaps to involvement of posterior parietal areas. Further, participants with AD were poor at inhibiting irrelevant stimuli and at inhibiting attentional allocation to an irrelevant spatial scale, which may relate to prefrontal pathology.