Effectiveness of supplemental grasp-force feedback in the presence of vision

Previous studies have shown that supplemental grasp-force feedback can improve control for users of a hand prosthesis or neuroprosthesis under conditions where vision provides little force information. Visual cues of force are widely available in everyday use, however, and may obviate the utility of supplemental force information. The purpose of the present study was to use a video-based hand neuroprosthesis simulator to determine whether grasp-force feedback can improve control in the presence of realistic visual information. Seven able-bodied subjects used the simulator to complete a simple grasp-and-hold task while controlling and viewing pre-recorded, digitised video clips of a neuroprosthesis user's hand squeezing a compliant object. The task was performed with and without supplemental force feedback presented via electrocutaneous stimulation. Subjects had to achieve and maintain the (simulated) grasp force within a target window of variable size (±10–40% of full scale). Force feedback improved the success rate significantly for all target window sizes (8–16%, on average), and improved the success rate at all window sizes for six of the seven subjects. Overall, the improvement was equivalent functionally to a 35% increase in the window size. Feedback also allowed subjects to identify the direction of grasp errors more accurately, on average by 10–15%. In some cases, feedback improved the failure identification rate even if success rates were unchanged. It is thus concluded that supplemental grasp-force feedback can improve grasp control even with access to rich visual information from the hand and object.     

口服维生素C对人眼房水中抗坏血酸盐浓度的影响(英文)

AIM: To study oral administration of vitamin C onhuman aqueous humour ascorbate concentration.METHODS: High performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) coupled with electrochemical detector (ECD)was used. The effect of oral administraion of variousdoses of ascorbic acid, 0 (control), 1.0, 1.5., 2.0,3.0, and 5.0 g, on its concentration in aqueoushumour, obtained from volunteer cataract patients wasstudied. RESULTS: The concentration of ascorbicacid in aqueous humour of control group (without     

Erratum to: Engineering cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) for resistance to cotton leaf curl disease using viral truncated AC1 DNA sequences

Virus Genes - An error notified in the labelling of Fig.&;nbsp;1b, 3′tAC1 has been erroneously published as 5′tAC1.     

Blurred vision as the sole initial presentation of disseminated lung malignancy

Symptomatic choroidal metastasis (CM) is a rare presenting feature of disseminated lung malignancy. Detection of the primary malignancy usually precedes ocular findings. We report a rare case of blurred vision secondary to bilateral CM as the sole initial manifestation of disseminated lung malignancy in a female patient. Pulmonary symptoms appeared 2 months later. She received radiotherapy and palliative chemotherapy and survived for 7 months after the initial presentation.     

Valproate (depakine-chrono) in the acute treatment of outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder without psychiatric comorbidity: randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in population of European countries. However, the effect of Valproate (depakine-chrono) on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has not been studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled design. METHOD: Eighty patients (all men) were washout from the all medications. Each patient was randomized to receive either depakine-chrono (40 patients) for 6 weeks or matched placebo (40 patients) in a double-blind manner. Eligible participants, in addition to meeting the DSM-IV criteria for GAD and having a minimum score of 25 and more on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, were required to be between 18 and 65 years. Response was defined as a 50% reduction in the Hamilton anxiety scale score. Response and side effects with depakine-chrono and placebo were compared by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests. Six patients did not return for at least one subsequent assessment, leaving 74 patients (36 taking depakine-chrono and 38 taking placebo) in the valuables study group. RESULTS: Twenty six of the 36 depakine-chrono-treated participants responded by 6 weeks, versus six of the 38 placebo-treated participants (p<0.001). The most common and problematic side effect in the depakine-chrono group was dizziness and nausea. CONCLUSIONS: The authors believe this to be the first double-blind placebo-controlled randomization study to test the efficacy of a depakine-chrono in the management of anxiety disorders. They need to be replicated in a larger study group.