Inhibition control and error processing in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An event-related potentials study

We studied inhibitory control and error processing in a task requiring inhibition of a motor response. Behavioral and ERP indices were recorded in fourteen ADHD and fourteen healthy children aged between 6 and 10 years during the Stop signal task (SST). The ADHD group made more variable in RT and showed less accuracy, more omissions and choice errors. Also, the ADHD group had a tendency toward a lower probability of inhibition and a longer Stop signal reaction time. The ADHD group also displayed a flatter response inhibition slope compared to the control group. Smaller P1 in ADHD group reflected that the ADHD group has less efficient attention than the control group. Furthermore, the ADHD group showed normal ERN, reduced Pe (retrieved from response-locked epochs), and reduced LPW (retrieved from Stop signal-locked epochs), suggesting that they might be normal in early error monitoring process related to error detection, but show abnormal in later error monitoring process associated with a conscious evaluation of the error. Behavioral and ERP data of the present study show deficient selective attention, inhibitory control, and error processing in children of ADHD.     

不同炮制方法炮制的何首乌的质量标准探讨

目的为修订何首乌质量标准积累数据。方法用偏光显微镜观察淀粉粒在何首乌炮制过程中的变化,并比较何首乌各炮制品中的蒽醌类成分、总糖、卵磷脂、二苯乙烯苷、水溶性浸出物的含量。结果采用同一种炮制方法炮制,随着蒸制次数增加,水溶性浸出物的含量不断增加,何首乌中结合蒽醌含量越来越低,游离蒽醌、总糖、卵磷脂等成分的含量在一定蒸晒次数范围内随着蒸晒次的增多而增加,二苯乙烯苷的含量随着蒸晒次数的增加而逐渐降低。以反复蒸晒7次含量最高,随后各成分的含量有所下降。结论何首乌作为补益药应用时,采用七蒸七晒炮制品较好。用偏光显微镜观察了淀粉粒在何首乌炮制过程中的变化,能有效控制何首乌炮制品的质量。     

64排螺旋CT仿真结肠镜在结肠癌诊断中的应用

目的探讨64排螺旋CT仿真结肠镜(CT virtual colonoscopy,CTVC)及其二维三维重建在结肠占位的CT表现及临床应用。方法回顾分析52例行64排螺旋CT双体位结肠扫描的结肠癌病例,所有患者均进行结肠充气仰卧位及俯卧位增强扫描,其中20例增加了左或右侧位三期扫描,将MSCT扫描原始数据传送至ADW4.4工作站采用CT仿真结肠镜(CTVC)、多平面重建(MPR)、表面遮盖显示(SSD)、透明重建显示(Raysum)4种方法进行结肠重建处理,对病灶的形态、大小、密度、结肠壁受损的程度、范围以及结肠外情况、淋巴结转移情况进行综合分析,做出准确判断。结果结肠、直肠癌52例,全部病例均经过手术及纤维结肠镜检查活检病理证实。结论 MSCT仿真结肠镜可显示结肠占位病变的形态、大小及肠壁、肠周侵犯情况,多体位扫描能使病变肠管扩张充分,更好地显示病灶的细节,提高病变检出的敏感性,为临床选择合理的治疗提供有价值的依据,是诊断结肠占位的一种有效检查方法。     

关于玉竹产地加工传统法和机器法的比较研究

目的 找出玉竹传统“揉糖”加工方法与机器加工方法加工的药材内在品质的差异,揭示玉竹这一传统加工工序的效用并探索其中的原理.方法 将新鲜玉竹分别采用传统揉糖方法与机器加工方法进行加工,分别测定干燥速率、水浸出物、醇浸出物、总灰分、多糖含量等指标考察2种加工方法之间的差异.结果 传统“揉糖”加工方法加工的药材在浸出物、多糖含量均明显高于机器加工法,总灰分低于机器加工法,差异具有统计学意义.结论 揉糖工序有其明显的效用性.     

Evaluation of the use of digital images for a national prostate core external quality assurance scheme

Harnden P, Coleman D, Moss S, Kodikara S, Griffin N R & Melia J

(2011) Histopathology 59 , 703–709 Evaluation of the use of digital images for a national prostate core external quality assurance scheme Aims: To evaluate the use of virtual images as an alternative to glass slides to expand the number of participants in the External Quality Assurance Scheme for prostatic biopsies. Methods and results: Benign and neoplastic cases, previously circulated as glass slides, were selected to include cases that had demonstrated a high level of agreement (n = 10) and a lesser degree of agreement (n = 10). Whole slide virtual images were circulated to 68 pathologists; 51 responses were returned. The levels of agreement for the primary diagnosis and for Gleason grading of cancers were analysed using kappa statistics. Responses for glass slides versus images were compared for the 24 pathologists for whom data were available. Levels of agreement for diagnostic categories using virtual slides were moderate to substantial, comparable to those found using glass slides. The level of agreement for Gleason grades 8–10 was substantial, but for lower grades was fair or moderate, poorer than for the glass slide circulation. Conclusions: Circulation of virtual images of biopsy material is a suitable alternative to glass slide‐based schemes for the evaluation of diagnostic consistency. The majority of participants agreed that the ability to evaluate limited diagnostic material outweighed the disadvantages of a virtual system.     

Endometrial cell counts in recurrent miscarriage: a comparison of counting methods

Drury J A, Nik H, van Oppenraaij R H F, Tang A‐W, Turner M A & Quenby S
(2011 Histopathology  59 , 1156–1162
Endometrial cell counts in recurrent miscarriage: a comparison of counting methods Aims: Studies of uterine natural killer (uNK) cells require reliable measurements of uNK cell density among diverse endometrial tissue. The aim of this study was to compare cell counting manually with two computer‐aided methods based on a public domain software package, ImageJ. Methods and results: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of CD56⁺ uNK cells was performed on endometrium from recurrent miscarriage patients. Numbers of stromal cells per high‐power field (HPF) were counted by two observers using: (i) manual tally counter and graticule; (ii) ImageJ ‘point picker’ tool; and (iii) ImageJ ‘particle analysis’ tool. Coefficients of variation (CV) and Bland–Altman plots were used to evaluate interobserver differences. Evaluation of %uNK using ImageJ particle analysis for stromal cell counts and point picker tool for uNK counts was undertaken. Point picker and particle analysis were significantly better than manual counting [interobserver CVs mean (standard deviation) 6.1% (3.3%); 4.7% (3.9%), 8.2% (6.5%), respectively]. Mean inter‐ and intra‐observer CVs for %uNK were 10.3% (6.6%), 8.5% (4.9%) and 6.8% (4.3%), respectively. Bland–Altman analysis revealed no systematic differences in cell counts with the number of cells in the image for each method. Conclusions: Compared to manual cell counting, computer‐aided image analysis yields more reproducible results for the assessment of uNK cells density using IHC.     

Will the glass be half full or half empty? Brain potentials and emotional expectations

Brainwave responses to words in context depend on semantic and world-knowledge expectations. Using the N400 component of event-related potentials as an index of word expectation, we explored brain responses to negatively and positively biased sentence frames randomly presented with their emotionally matched highly expected outcome or with violations that included switches to unexpected emotionally opposite outcomes or nonsense. Nonsense elicited large N400 responses regardless of the bias of the preceding sentence frame. Unexpected emotionally opposite outcomes elicited smaller than nonsense N400 responses and subsequent post-N400 frontal positivities, both unaffected by sentence frame bias. Over a midline-posterior scalp region, expected positive outcomes elicited larger N400 responses than negative ones, despite a high and matched word probability. Our study reveals that brains respond to unexpected emotional outcomes regardless of the direction of the emotional switch and hints at the possibility that the strength of positive and negative expectations may be adjusted before experiencing unexpected events.     

mGluRs modulate neuronal firing in the auditory midbrain

The mechanisms underlying sound-evoked suppression of neuronal firing in the auditory system are poorly understood. To explore these mechanisms in the inferior colliculus (IC), agonists and antagonists targeting different groups of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) were applied iontophoretically to IC neurons in awake mice. We found that a group I-specific mGluR agonist predominantly increased neuronal firing in 52% of neurons, whereas group I antagonist had the opposite effect in 51% of neurons. A group II specific agonist showed no effect on neuronal firing but an antagonist increased firing rate in 48% of neurons. Neither a group III-specific mGluR agonist nor an antagonist had an effect on neuronal firing in the IC. We also found that sound stimuli triggered suppression of spontaneous firing in 70% of IC neurons. This suppression was reversibly blocked by group I mGluR antagonists. There is a possible link between this suppression and two perceptual phenomena: forward masking and "residual inhibition," the brief reduction/elimination of tinnitus following an appropriate masking sound.     

Molecular pathogenesis and extraovarian origin of epithelial ovarian cancer--shifting the paradigm

Recent morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic studies have led to the development of a new paradigm for the pathogenesis and origin of epithelial ovarian cancer based on a dualistic model of carcinogenesis that divides epithelial ovarian cancer into 2 broad categories designated types I and II. Type I tumors comprise low-grade serous, low-grade endometrioid, clear cell and mucinous carcinomas, and Brenner tumors. They are generally indolent, present in stage I (tumor confined to the ovary), and are characterized by specific mutations, including KRAS, BRAF, ERBB2, CTNNB1, PTEN, PIK3CA, ARID1A, and PPP2R1A, which target specific cell signaling pathways. Type I tumors rarely harbor TP53 mutations and are relatively stable genetically. Type II tumors comprise high-grade serous, high-grade endometrioid, malignant mixed mesodermal tumors (carcinosarcomas), and undifferentiated carcinomas. They are aggressive, present in advanced stage, and have a very high frequency of TP53 mutations but rarely harbor the mutations detected in type I tumors. In addition, type II tumors have molecular alterations that perturb expression of BRCA either by mutation of the gene or by promoter methylation. A hallmark of these tumors is that they are genetically highly unstable. Recent studies strongly suggest that fallopian tube epithelium (benign or malignant) that implants on the ovary is the source of low-grade and high-grade serous carcinoma rather than the ovarian surface epithelium as previously believed. Similarly, it is widely accepted that endometriosis is the precursor of endometrioid and clear cell carcinomas and, as endometriosis, is thought to develop from retrograde menstruation; these tumors can also be regarded as involving the ovary secondarily. The origin of mucinous and transitional cell (Brenner) tumors is still not well established, although recent data suggest a possible origin from transitional epithelial nests located in paraovarian locations at the tuboperitoneal junction. Thus, it now appears that type I and type II ovarian tumors develop independently along different molecular pathways and that both types develop outside the ovary and involve it secondarily. If this concept is confirmed, it leads to the conclusion that the only true primary ovarian neoplasms are gonadal stromal and germ cell tumors analogous to testicular tumors. This new paradigm of ovarian carcinogenesis has important clinical implications. By shifting the early events of ovarian carcinogenesis to the fallopian tube and endometrium instead of the ovary, prevention approaches, for example, salpingectomy with ovarian conservation, may play an important role in reducing the burden of ovarian cancer while preserving hormonal function and fertility.