Connecting the P300 to the diagnosis and prognosis of unconscious patients

The residual consciousness of unconscious patients can be detected by studying the P300, a wave among event-related potentials. Previous studies have applied tones, the subject's name and other names as stimuli. However, the results were not satisfactory. In this study, we changed the constituent order of subjects' two-character names to create derived names. The subject's derived names, together with tones and their own names, were used as auditory stimuli in event-related potential experiments. Healthy controls and unconscious patients were included in this study and made to listen to these auditory stimuli. In the two paradigms, a sine tone followed by the subject's own name and the subject's derived name followed by the subject's own name were used as standard and deviant stimuli, respectively. The results showed that all healthy controls had the P300 using both paradigms, and that the P300 in the second paradigm had a longer latency and two peaks. All minimally conscious state patients had the P300 in the first paradigm and the majority of them had the P300 in the second paradigm. Most vegetative state patients had no P300. Patients who showed the P300 in the two paradigms had more residual consciousness, and patients with the two-peak P300 had a higher probability of awakening within a short time. Our experimental findings suggest that the P300 event-related potential could reflect the conscious state of unconscious patients.     

Regulating emotion to improve physical health through the amygdala

The opinion of mind–body interaction has been increasingly acknowledged in recent years, as exemplified by accumulating evidence indicating that physical health (body) is associated with emotion and emotion regulation (mind). Yet, the neural basis linking emotion regulation with physical health remains largely uninvestigated. Here we used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural basis of this pathway in a large population of healthy young adults. With a systematic study revealing the association of self-reported physical health and emotion traits of personality and general affective experiences, we further demonstrated that, for better physical health, individuals needed to regulate their emotion more effectively. Importantly, individuals who had larger gray matter (GM) volume in the amygdala reported not only a higher ability of emotion regulation but also better physical health. Further, GM volume in the amygdala mediated the correlation between emotion regulation ability and physical health. Our findings suggest that the amygdala plays a critical role in the neural circuit through which emotion regulation may influence physical health. Therefore, our study takes the first step toward exploring the neuroanatomical basis for body–mind interaction and may inform interventions aimed at promoting physical health by augmenting skills of emotion regulation.     

Clinical Utility of an Automated Pupillometer in Patients with Acute Brain Lesion

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility and validity of using a pupillometer to assess patients with acute brain lesions.MethodsPupillary examinations using an automated pupillometer (NeurOptics®NPi™-100 Pupillometer) were performed every 4 hours and were simultaneously assessed using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and for intracranial pressure (ICP), from admission to discharge or expire in neuro-intensive care unit (NICU). Manual pupillary examinations were also recorded for comparison. By comparing these data, we evaluated the validity of using automated pupillometers to predict clinical outcomes.ResultsThe mean values of the Neurologic Pupillary index (NPi) were different in the groups examined manually. The GCS correlated well with NPi values, especially in severe brain injury patients (GCS below 9). However, the NPi values were weakly correlated with intracranial pressure (ICP) when the ICP was lower than 30 cm H₂O. The NPi value was not affected by age or intensity of illumination. In patients with a "poor" prognosis who had a Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) of 1 or 2, the mean initial NPi score was 0.88±1.68, whereas the value was 3.89±0.97 in patients with a "favorable" prognosis who had a GOS greater than 2 (p<0.001). For predicting clinical outcomes, the initial NPi value of 3.4 had the highest sensitivity and specificity.ConclusionAn automated pupillometer can serve as a simple and useful tool for the accurate measurement of pupillary reactivity in patients with acute brain lesions.     

应用6S管理模式提高临床护理管理质量

目的探讨6S管理模式对提高临床护理管理质量的作用。方法成立6S管理小组,采用6S管理模式对病区进行现场管理,包括整理、整顿、清扫、清洁、素养、安全。结果实施6S管理模式后,病房护理质量各项评分、患者满意度与实施前相比均显著性提高(均P0.01)。结论 6S管理模式的实施,改善了工作环境、护理服务质量,患者满意度得到了明显提升。     

Immunoassays for the cancer biomarker CA125 based on a large-birefringence nematic liquid-crystal mixture

The use of fluorescence is ubiquitously found in the detection of immunoreaction; though with good sensitivity, this technique requires labeling as well as other time-consuming steps to perform the measurement. An alternative approach involving liquid crystals (LCs) was proposed, based on the fact that an immunocomplex can disturb the orientation of LCs, leading to an optical texture different from the case when only antigen or antibody exists. This method is label-free, easy to manipulate and low-cost. However, its sensitivity was low for practical usage. In this study, we adopted a high-birefringence liquid crystal (LC) to enhance the sensitivity for the immunodetection. Experiments were performed, targeting at the cancer biomarker CA125. We showed that the larger birefringence (Δn = 0.33 at 20 °C) amplifies the detected signal and, in turn, dramatically improves the detection limit. To avoid signal loss from conventional rinsing steps in immunodetection, CA125 antigen and antibody were reacted before immobilized on substrates. We studied the specific binding events and obtained a detection limit as low as 1 ng/ml. The valid temperature ranges were compared by using the typical single-compound LC 5CB and the high-birefringence LC mixture. We further investigated time dependency of the optical textures and affirmed the capability of LC-based immunodetection in distinguishing between specific and nonspecific antibodies.OCIS codes: (160.3710) Liquid crystals, (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology