Cortical activation by a salient sound modulates visual temporal order judgments: An electrophysiological study of multisensory attentional processes

Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies show that a salient lateral sound activates the visual cortex more strongly contralateral to the sound, observed as an auditory-evoked contralateral occipital positivity (ACOP). Studies showed that this activation enhances the early cortical processing of co-localized visual stimuli presented after, reflected by better detection rates, better discrimination, and sharper perceived contrast. We replicated the ACOP, using earphones, and tested whether auditory cuing can influence temporal order judgments (TOJ) for two visual stimuli (horizontal arrangement) as well as if the ACOP would predict the amplitude of this influence. A lateral salient sound was followed, after 150 or 630 ms, by the visual presentation of a pair of disks, one in left and one in right hemifield, with variable SOA. The TOJ task was to indicate which disk appeared first or which disk appeared second (controlling for response bias). We observed an ACOP at posterior electrode sites and confirmed our hypothesis that the lateral sound influenced TOJ by accelerating the perception of the disk presented on the cued side, even though the sound was irrelevant to the task. Furthermore, the ACOP amplitude was correlated to this visual perceptual change, indicating that a larger change in brain activity was associated with a faster processing of co-localized visual stimuli.     

维吾尔医“库西提”法炮制技术规范化研究及巴豆脂肪油含量测定

目的:评价维吾尔医“各立衣克买提”泥法炮制技术和在这种炮制方法前提下改进的新“库西提”法炮制技术对巴豆中脂肪油的含量测定的影响。方法:利用两种炮制方法炮制生巴豆,按《中国药典》2015年版一部巴豆项下的脂肪油含量测定方法进行测定。结果:采用这两种方法炮制的巴豆根据炮制时间不同脂肪油含量依次递减。结论:采用新“库西提”法炮制技术炮制的巴豆的脂肪油含量明显降低。     

Effect of carbon-rich biochar on mechanical properties of PLA-biochar composites

Agricultural biomass residues are emerged from harvesting and processing of agricultural crops. When the crop production increases, a large amount of biomass residues is produced and remained after cutting of peel, bunch, straw and stalk of crops. In this work, agricultural biomass residues (cassava rhizome, durian peel, pineapple peel and corncob) were selected as feedstock for carbon-rich biochar (CRB) production using a facile pyrolysis method. Proximate analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize biomass feedstock. The results showed that the percentage of fixed carbon in biomass feedstock ranged between 11.91% and 17.51%. Characteristic differences of the CRB were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. The carbon content in the CRB was found to significantly depend on biomass origin. Interestingly, cassava rhizome, which has a higher percentage of fixed carbon, is a superior precursor for CRB production. The study of different pyrolysis temperature indicated that the carbon content of cassava rhizome derived CRB is increased with pyrolysis temperature. The tensile properties of composite between poly(lactic acid) PLA and different types of biomass-derived CRB were investigated. PLA composite incorporated with a higher carbon content-CRB tended to exhibit improved mechanical properties. Specifically, the elastic modulus and impact energy of PLA/CRB composite specimens increased remarkably with the incorporation of CRB powder. The current research indicates that CRB prepared from agricultural biomass residues could be a sustainable material for utilization in PLA biocomposites.     

中药临床应用的适当性探索

目的 探讨和阐述中药临床应用的适当性原则，提高临床中药师运用适当性原则指导临床用药的技能，促进临床合理用药。方法 通过文献梳理及理论分析，结合中医药理论基础以及中药临床应用的复杂性，探讨中药临床应用的适当性原则，明确中药临床应用"适当性"的学术内涵。结果 中药临床应用的适当性表现在用药过程的各个环节，是合理用药的基本要求之一。中药临床应用适当性的基本内容应充分考虑用药对象、适当的药物、适当的剂量及疗程、适当的给药途径和煎煮方式、适当的服药方法、适当的治疗目标等各个用药环节。结论 中药临床应用的适当性是合理用药的基本要求，将适当的药品，以适合的剂量，在合适的时间内经适当的用药途径给相应的患者使用，以达到预期的治疗目的。