RESUMO
Gestalten in visual perception are defined by emergent properties of the whole, which cannot be predicted from the sum of its parts; rather, they arise by virtue of inherent principles, the Laws of Seeing. This review attempts to assign neurophysiological correlates to select emergent properties in motion and contour perception and proposes parallels to the processing of local versus global attributes by classical versus contextual receptive fields. The aim is to identify Gestalt neurons in the visual system to account for the Laws of Seeing in causal terms and to explain "Why do things look as they do" (Koffka, 1935, p. 76).
Assuntos
Percepção de Forma , Percepção de Movimento , Humanos , Percepção Visual/fisiologia , Neurônios/fisiologia , Percepção de Forma/fisiologia , Percepção de Movimento/fisiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: People with heightened emotional sensitivity can perceive better how others feel. Students admitted to medical school by interviews for assessing pre-set personal qualities, such as emotional sensitivity, may be more likely to meet patients' satisfaction in the future. We tested whether a student enrolled by passing the interview would have more emotional sensitivity than those by taking an exam. We also investigated what impact the enrolment protocols might have on students' internship performance. METHODS: Participants were first- and second-year medical students and assigned into the interviewed group or examined group according to the entrance protocols. Two emotion-related tasks and one control task were adopted. Subsequently, the performance evaluation of clinical work from students' advisors about these two groups of participants were collected after they finished the internship training at the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Students selected through the pre-programmed interview which is based on personal qualities showed greater emotional sensitivity than those selected by the exam. Those students with better emotional sensitivity also performed better when they were in the internship training. Emotional sensitivity is a valid index to predict students' future performance and could be used in the selection protocol for medical students.
Assuntos
Internato e Residência , Estudantes de Medicina , Humanos , Capacitação em Serviço , Faculdades de MedicinaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to develop a methodology to identify the best use of a longitudinally measured biomarker in relevance to prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) from 770 patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were used. The pretreatment, nadir, and time-dependent SCC-Ag values were analyzed in relevance to disease relapse and death with univariate and multivariate analysis side by side with a variety of available clinicopathologic factors. The predictive power of the significant variates was evaluated by C-index with 5-fold cross validation. RESULTS: The pretreatment, nadir, and time-dependent SCC-Ag were all significant risk factors for both relapse and death in the univariate analysis (p < .05), and the time-dependent SCC-Ag had the highest C-index in both events. The nadir and time-dependent SCC-Ag were both independently significant in response to relapse with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage as the covariate, and the latter had a higher C-index (0.745). Only the time-dependent SCC-Ag was independently significant together with FIGO stage in response to death with the C-index at 0.844. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in the serum level of SCC-Ag in cervical SCC patients suggest a higher risk of both relapse and death. The best use of serial SCC-Ag measurements is to include the time-dependent value in prognostic assessment with FIGO stage also accounted for. Cervical SCC patients should be followed up on their levels of SCC-Ag, and prognostic evaluation should be updated with recent measurements.
Assuntos
Antígenos de Neoplasias/sangue , Carcinoma/diagnóstico , Carcinoma/patologia , Regras de Decisão Clínica , Morte , Serpinas/sangue , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/diagnóstico , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/patologia , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Humanos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Valor Preditivo dos Testes , Prognóstico , Recidiva , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Análise de Sobrevida , Fatores de Tempo , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The morphological constituents of English compounds (e.g., "butter" and "fly" for "butterfly") and two-character Chinese compounds may differ in meaning from the whole word. Subjective differences and ambiguity of transparency make judgments difficult, and a computational alternative based on a general model might be a way to average across subjective differences. In the present study, we propose two approaches based on latent semantic analysis (Landauer & Dumais in Psychological Review 104:211-240, 1997): Model 1 compares the semantic similarity between a compound word and each of its constituents, and Model 2 derives the dominant meaning of a constituent from a clustering analysis of morphological family members (e.g., "butterfingers" or "buttermilk" for "butter"). The proposed models successfully predicted participants' transparency ratings, and we recommend that experimenters use Model 1 for English compounds and Model 2 for Chinese compounds, on the basis of differences in raters' morphological processing in the different writing systems. The dominance of lexical meaning, semantic transparency, and the average similarity between all pairs within a morphological family are provided, and practical applications for future studies are discussed.
Assuntos
Julgamento , Idioma , Modelos Psicológicos , Modelos Estatísticos , Psicolinguística/métodos , Semântica , Adulto , Área Sob a Curva , Povo Asiático , Feminino , Humanos , Valor Preditivo dos Testes , Psicolinguística/estatística & dados numéricos , Curva ROC , VocabulárioRESUMO
Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), also known as osteopontin (OPN), is located on chromosome 4q22.1. This multifunctional secreted acidic glycoprotein is expressed intracellularly and extracellularly in various tissues, where it interacts with regulatory proteins and pro-inflammatory immune chemokines, contributing to the pathogenesis of multiple diseases. Nevertheless, the intricate genetic connections between SPP1 and ovarian aging remain largely unexplored. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by delving into ovarian aging and its associations with SPP1 using multi-omics data analysis. Our findings indicate that SPP1 is a potential gene related to ovarian aging. To comprehend the role of SPP1, we conducted spatial transcriptomic analyses on young and aged female mouse ovaries, revealing a significant decline in SPP1 expression in the aging group compared to the young group. Similarly, a significantly low level of SPP1 was found in the 73-year-old sample. Additionally, in-depth single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis identified associations between SPP1 and ITGAV, ITGB1, CD44, MMP3, and FN1. Notably, co-expression analysis highlighted a strong correlation between SPP1 and ITGB1. In summary, this study pioneers the identification of SPP1 as a gene implicated in ovarian aging. Further research into the role of SPP1 has the potential to advance precision medicine and improve treatment strategies for ovarian aging-related conditions.
RESUMO
A new azaphilonidal derivative, monapurpyridine A (MPA), has recently been isolated from the fermented products of Monascus purpureus NTU 568. The structure of MPA was elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) and other spectroscopic analyses. Biological evaluation revealed that MPA could induce cell death in human breast adenocarcinoma cells MCF-7, and it has no significant toxicity to normal mammary epithelial cells M10. The MTT assay and flow cytometric analysis were employed to investigate cell viability and cell cycle influenced by MPA. Moreover, we used Western blot and caspase activity assay to demonstrate the activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9 resulted from MPA. All evidence supported that MPA was suitable for developing into a chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agent against breast cancer.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Monascus/metabolismo , Piridinas/farmacologia , Adenocarcinoma , Antineoplásicos/química , Antineoplásicos/isolamento & purificação , Neoplasias da Mama , Caspases/metabolismo , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Sobrevivência Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Meios de Cultura/química , Ativação Enzimática , Feminino , Fermentação , Humanos , Estrutura Molecular , Oryza/química , Piridinas/química , Piridinas/isolamento & purificaçãoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: This is an investigation of the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and its correlation with the risk of ectopic pregnancy (EP). METHODS: The cohort study includes 11,239 patients with newly diagnosed HPV infections between 2000 and 2012, and by using computer-generated random numbers, patients who do not have HPV infections are selected randomly as the comparison cohort. The HPV infection cohort is matched to comparison individuals at a 1:10 ratio by age and index year. All individuals included in the study were followed up to the point they developed EP, pulled-out from the insurance program, lost to follow-up, or until the end of 2013. A Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the risk of EP with the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the HPV and control cohort. RESULTS: The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of EP for HPV patients relative to controls is 1.70 (95% CI = 1.04, 2.78), indicating a positive correlation between EP and HPV in the 13-year follow-up period, after adjusting for age and relevant comorbidities. The sensitivity analyses yield similar results. CONCLUSIONS: A history of HPV infection is a potential risk factor associated with the development of subsequent EP in Taiwanese individuals, especially those diagnosed with an HPV infection within 3 years.
RESUMO
Six azaphilonoid derivatives, including two new blue fluorescent monapurfluores A (1) and B (2), two known pyridine-containing molecules, monascopyridines C (3) and D (4), and two known monasfluores A (5) and B (6), were isolated and characterized from red mold rice fermented by Monascus purpureus NTU 568. Structural elucidation of new isolates was based on nuclear magnetic resonance (1H- NMR, 13C-NMR, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) and other spectroscopic analyses. Bioactivity evaluation indicated that 1-6 possessed anti-inflammatory activities with dose-dependent relationships for lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide production. Furthermore, 1-4 also showed moderate antiproliferative effects against human laryngeal carcinoma (HEp-2) (IC(50) = 14.81~20.06 µg/mL) and human colon adenocarcinoma (WiDr) (IC(50) = 12.89~21.14 µg/mL).
Assuntos
Anti-Inflamatórios/farmacologia , Monascus/química , Animais , Anti-Inflamatórios/química , Anti-Inflamatórios/isolamento & purificação , Linhagem Celular , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Fermentação , Humanos , Macrófagos/efeitos dos fármacos , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Camundongos , Estrutura Molecular , Óxido Nítrico/metabolismo , Piridinas/química , Piridinas/isolamento & purificaçãoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether women with a history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection have an increased risk of infertility. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients with an HPV infection (n = 11,198) in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (2000-2012) were propensity score matched with control subjects (n = 11,198) without an HPV infection by age, sex, index year, and relevant co-morbidities. Both groups were tracked until a diagnosis of infertility was recorded. The Chi-square test was used to analyze the distribution of demographic characteristics in the HPV group and non-HPV group. A Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for the development of infertility, adjusting for age, sex, and co-morbidities. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the cumulative incidence curves. We also performed negative controls to test for possible unmeasured confounding. RESULTS: The HPV cohort had a higher risk of infertility. The adjusted HR (aHR) was found to be 1.39 (95% CI = 1.19-1.63) after adjusting for demographic characteristics and relevant co-morbidities. In the age subgroup analysis, patients with an HPV infection had an increased risk of infertility compared to the non-HPV cohort in the group aged 26 to 35 years (aHR, 1.53; 95% CI = 1.24-1.88). As we used propensity score matching to treat measurable confounders and negative controls to access unmeasured confounders, the findings of the study are robust. CONCLUSIONS: Among females of reproductive age, HPV infection is a potential risk factor that predisposes individuals to subsequent infertility.
Assuntos
Infertilidade Feminina , Infecções por Papillomavirus , Adulto , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Humanos , Incidência , Infertilidade Feminina/virologia , Infecções por Papillomavirus/complicações , Infecções por Papillomavirus/epidemiologia , Modelos de Riscos Proporcionais , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
A new dimeric phenylpropanoid namely podonaka A (1), along with the 13 known compounds including diterpenes (2 and 3), norditerpenes (4 and 5), benzenoids (6-10), steroids (11 and 12), chalcone (13), and megastigmane (14), was isolated from the EtOH extract of Podocarpus nakaii Hayata. The structure of 1 was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR and MS techniques. Biological evaluation showed that norditerpenes, inumakilactone B (4), and podolactone E (5) have potent cytotoxic activities against Daoy, WiDr, KB, and HeLa tumor cell lines. Moreover, low dosage of 5 may induce early apoptosis in KB cells before 12 h.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/isolamento & purificação , Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/farmacologia , Diterpenos/isolamento & purificação , Diterpenos/farmacologia , Fenilpropionatos/isolamento & purificação , Fenilpropionatos/farmacologia , Plantas Medicinais/química , Traqueófitas/química , Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/química , Diterpenos/química , Ensaios de Seleção de Medicamentos Antitumorais , Células HeLa , Humanos , Células KB , Estrutura Molecular , Ressonância Magnética Nuclear Biomolecular , Fenilpropionatos/química , Casca de Planta/química , Caules de Planta/química , TaiwanRESUMO
Six saponins, sapinmusaponin K (1) [hederagenin-3-O-(3-O-acetyl-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl)-(1-->3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside], sapinmusaponin L (2) [hederagenin-3-O-(4-O-acetyl-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl)-(1-->3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabino-pyranoside], sapinmusaponin M (3) [hederagenin-3-O-(2,3-O-diacetyl-beta-D-xylopyranosyl)-(1-->3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside], sapinmusaponin N (4) [hederagenin-3-O-(2,4-O-diacetyl-beta-D-xylopyranosyl)-(1-->3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside], sapinmusaponin O (5) [3,7,20(S)-trihydroxydammar-24-ene-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside], and sapinmusaponin P (6) [3,7,20(R)-trihydroxydammar-24-ene-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-d-glucopyranoside], along with seven known saponins (7-13), were isolated from fruits and the galls of Sapindus mukorossi. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques and acid hydrolysis. Biological evaluation indicated that saponins 1-4 and 7-13 showed moderate cytotoxicity against several human tumor cell lines.
Assuntos
Frutas/química , Sapindus/química , Saponinas/química , Triterpenos/química , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Estrutura MolecularRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) and to identify the predictive risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant women with a newly diagnosed PIH (between 2000 and 2013) from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) were compared with a matched (with respect to age and year of delivery) cohort of pregnant women without PIH. The occurrence of TTN was evaluated in both cohorts. RESULTS: Among the 23.3 million individuals registered in the NHIRD, 29,013 patients with PIH and 116,052 matched controls were identified. According to a multivariate analysis, PIH (odds ratio [OR] = 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.69-2.03, p < 0.0001), age ≥ 30 years (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.26-1.51, p < 0.0001), primiparity (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.24-1.5, p < 0.0001), preterm birth (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 3.09-3.75, p < 0.0001), multiple births (OR = 2.54, 95% CI = 2.24-2.89, p < 0.0001), and cesarean section (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.56-1.88, p < 0.0001) were independent risk factors for the development of TTN. CONCLUSION: Women with PIH have an increased risk of having infants who develop TTN compared with those without PIH. Additionally, age ≥30 years, primiparity, preterm birth, multiple births, and cesarean section were independent risk factors for the development of TTN.
Assuntos
Hipertensão Induzida pela Gravidez/fisiopatologia , Taquipneia Transitória do Recém-Nascido/epidemiologia , Adulto , Cesárea/efeitos adversos , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Idade Gestacional , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Idade Materna , Razão de Chances , Paridade , Gravidez , Nascimento Prematuro , Fatores de Risco , Taiwan/epidemiologiaRESUMO
According to the context updating theory, the oddball P300 component indexes brain activities underlying revision of the mental representation induced by incoming stimuli. It involves an attention-driven comparison process that evaluates the representation of the previous event in working memory. Delayed latencies have been reported for various types of stroke such as unilateral thalamic stroke. We investigated memory updating effects in patients with putamen stroke. Two groups of patients with putamen and thalamic stroke were recruited along with two control groups of young and old healthy participants. Auditory and visual P300 were elicited respectively in a two-stimulus oddball paradigm. The auditory P300 peak latencies were significantly longer in patients with a putamen lesion than in the aged and young control groups and the same pattern was found in the thalamus-lesioned patient. The delayed auditory P300 component in both patient groups but neither control group suggests impairment of memory updating in patients with putamen stroke comparable with thalamic stroke. Our study illustrates the important role of subcortical structures subserved in context updating.
Assuntos
Potenciais Evocados P300/fisiologia , Transtornos da Memória/fisiopatologia , Putamen/fisiopatologia , Acidente Vascular Cerebral/fisiopatologia , Adulto , Ondas Encefálicas/fisiologia , Eletroencefalografia , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos/fisiologia , Potenciais Evocados Visuais/fisiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos da Memória/etiologia , Acidente Vascular Cerebral/complicaçõesRESUMO
Perceptual-filling-in (PFI) and motion-induced-blindness (MIB) are two phenomena of temporary blindness in which, after prolonged viewing, perceptually salient targets repeatedly disappear and reappear, amidst a field of distracters (i.e., non-targets). Past studies have shown that boundary adaptation is important in PFI, and that depth ordering between target and distracter pattern is important in MIB. Here we show that the reverse is also true; that boundary adaptation is important in MIB, and that depth ordering is important in PFI. Results corroborate our earlier conjecture that PFI and MIB are highly related phenomena that share a common underlying mechanism. We argue that this mechanism involves boundary adaptation, but also that the depth effect shows that boundary adaptation can be no more than a sufficient cause of PFI and MIB, and not a necessary one.
Assuntos
Percepção de Movimento/fisiologia , Ilusões Ópticas/fisiologia , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos/fisiologia , Adaptação Fisiológica/fisiologia , Área de Dependência-Independência , Humanos , Mascaramento Perceptivo/fisiologia , Estimulação Luminosa/métodos , PsicofísicaRESUMO
Because of dopaminergic neurodegeneration, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) show impairment in the recognition of negative facial expressions. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether PD patients with more advanced motor problems would show a much greater deficit in recognition of emotional facial expressions than a control group and whether impairment of emotion recognition would extend to positive emotions. Twenty-nine PD patients and 29 age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Participants were asked to discriminate emotions in Experiment 1 and identify gender in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, PD patients demonstrated a recognition deficit for negative (sadness and anger) and positive faces. Further analysis showed that only PD patients with high motor dysfunction performed poorly in recognition of happy faces. In Experiment 2, PD patients showed an intact ability for gender identification, and the results eliminated possible abilities in the functions measured in Experiment 2 as alternative explanations for the results of Experiment 1. We concluded that patients' ability to recognize emotions deteriorated as the disease progressed. Recognition of negative emotions was impaired first, and then the impairment extended to positive emotions.
Assuntos
Doença de Parkinson/psicologia , Reconhecimento Psicológico , Idoso , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Emoções/fisiologia , Expressão Facial , Reconhecimento Facial/fisiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Escalas de Graduação Psiquiátrica , Percepção SocialAssuntos
Carcinossarcoma/patologia , Neoplasias do Endométrio/patologia , Neoplasias Císticas, Mucinosas e Serosas/patologia , Neoplasias Ovarianas/patologia , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/patologia , Adulto , Antineoplásicos Imunológicos/administração & dosagem , Bevacizumab/administração & dosagem , Carcinossarcoma/terapia , Neoplasias do Endométrio/terapia , Feminino , Humanos , Neoplasias Císticas, Mucinosas e Serosas/terapia , Neoplasias Primárias Múltiplas/patologia , Neoplasias Ovarianas/terapia , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/terapiaRESUMO
"Motion-induced blindness" and "perceptual filing-in" are two phenomena in which perceptually salient stimuli repeatedly disappear and reappear after prolonged viewing. Despite the many similarities between MIB and PFI, two differences suggest that they could be unrelated phenomena: (1) An area surrounded by background stimuli can be perceived to disappear completely in PFI but not in MIB and (2) high contrast stimuli are perceived to disappear less easily in PFI but, remarkably enough, more easily in MIB. In this article we show that the apparent differences between MIB and PFI disappear when eccentricity, contrast, and perceptual grouping are taken into account and that both are most likely caused by the same underlying mechanism.
Assuntos
Área de Dependência-Independência , Percepção de Movimento , Ilusões Ópticas , Adaptação Fisiológica , Sensibilidades de Contraste , Humanos , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos , Estimulação Luminosa/métodos , PsicofísicaRESUMO
Monascus-fermented products, including red mold rice and red mold dioscorea, have been developed as functional foods with many health benefits. We performed safety and mutagenic evaluations on red mold dioscorea powder (RMDP) fermented from Monascus purpureus NTU 568. The results of Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97a, TA98, TA100, TA102, and TA1535 showed that RMDP (⩽5 mg/plate) was not mutagenic. The mammalian chromosomal aberration test showed that the number of Chinese hamster ovary cells with abnormal chromosomes was <3% after RMDP treatment (maximum concentration: 5 mg/mL). Imprinting control region mice were used to estimate the genotoxicity of RMDP. Compared with the control, high-dose RMDP administration (2000 mg/kg) did not show significant differences in the number of reticulocytes or the occurrence of micronucleated reticulocytes. A 28-day oral toxicity assay in Sprague-Dawley rats was performed to investigate the no observed adverse effect level of RMDP. Compared with the control, high-dose RMDP administration (2000 mg/kg) caused no toxicological responses such as mortality, variation in body weight, or toxicopathologic lesions. Thus, RMDP from M. purpureus NTU 568 shows no significant mutagenic or toxic effects.