Suddenly safe: Processing of conflicting feedback in assisted driving.

Based on a conceptual model of operational anticipation, we propose an experimental paradigm for assisted car driving. In a pilot study, unpredicted negative outcomes, but not ambiguous intermediate feedback with positive outcomes, led to reduced feeling of safety and heightened brain activations in left anterior insular cortex attributable to error awareness.

Mercury behaviour in flue gas from sewage sludge incinerators and melting furnace.

Thermal conversion of sewage sludge can be a clean source of renewable energy if the emission of air pollutants from the source is controlled. In 2013, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted, placing greater emphasis on the control of mercury emissions, including mercury emissions from sewage sludge incinerators. To characterise the behaviour of mercury in flue gas, particulate and gaseous mercury concentrations in two incinerators and a melting furnace were measured by manual sampling. In a third facility, continuous emission monitoring was used to characterise temporal trends in gaseous mercury concentrations. Wet scrubbers were determined to be effective air pollution control devices suitable for mercury removal. Stack mercury concentrations were found to be <10 µg/Nm3, which meets the mercury emission standard for existing plants (50 µg/Nm3).

Human-vehicle embodiment when predictability is violated.

Embodiment in human-vehicle interaction is higher for perceived safety than for perceived risk. When operational anticipations are violated, experiencing a vehicle as body-extension is negatively correlated with operational effort as indicated by neural activation in the motor system.

Large or persistent lymphocyst increases the risk of lymphedema, lymphangitis, and deep vein thrombosis after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy for gynecologic malignancy.

PURPOSE: This retrospective study examined the incidence of lymphocyst formation after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy in patients with gynecologic malignancy as well as the relation between lymphocyst formation and such complications as lymphedema, lymphangitis, ileus, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). METHODS: Three hundred twenty-one patients who underwent primary surgery with pelvic (90 patients) or combined pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy (231 patients) for gynecologic malignancy between January 2001 and December 2009 were enrolled. The incidences of lymphocyst identified by computed tomography at 3 weeks and 1 year after surgery were analyzed in relation to the types of surgery and types of complications. RESULTS: At 3 weeks after surgery, lymphocysts were observed in 282/321 patients (88 %). At 1 year after surgery, lymphocysts persisted in 69 patients (21 %). Lymphedema was observed in 34/321 (11 %) patients, lymphangitis in 36/321 (11 %), ileus in 14/321 (4 %), and DVT in 24/321 (7 %). The incidence of lymphedema was significantly greater in patients with persistent lymphocyst than in those with without (17 vs. 9 %) (p = 0.038); the incidences of lymphangitis (20 vs. 9 %) (p = 0.007) were also greater in this group. Multivariate analysis showed a large lymphocyst (>50 mm) at 3 weeks after surgery to be an independent risk factor for lymphedema (odds ratio 2.76, p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: A large lymphocyst at 3 weeks after surgery or persistent lymphocyst increases the risk of lymphedema, lymphangitis, and DVT.

Torsion of a hydrosalpinx in a virgin patient with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome: report of a rare condition and its possible etiology.

BACKGROUND: To describe a rare case of hydrosalpinx torsion in a virgin patient with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. CASE: A 25-year-old woman with previously diagnosed MRKH syndrome in whom lower abdominal pain led to discovery and resection of a hydosalpinx of unusual origin in a university hospital department of obstetrics and gynecology, Japan. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy revealed a twisted left-sided hydrosalpinx, and the mass was resected laparoscopically. Results of the blood test for Chlamydia trachomatis were positive, but results of the PCR test were negative. Our case was unusual in that hydrosalpinx is rare in virgin patients with MRKH. The cause of the hydrosalpinx was unclear, but one possibility is excess tubal secretions from the fallopian tube.

The pupil as a possible premonitor of drowsiness.

Prediction of drowsiness based on an objective measure is demanded in machine and vehicle operations in which human errors may cause fatal accidents. Currently we focused on the pupil of the eye which is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, and easily observable non-invasively from the outside of the body. We employed uneventful driving simulation to induce drowsiness of human subjects, and an anti-saccade task to evaluate their cognitive and motor performance. First we confirmed that pupil diameter fluctuates with large amplitude at low frequencies when the subject is aware of his/her drowsiness as reported previously. During this period, the latency of anti-saccade initiation was elongated and varied. We then found that prior to this fluctuation, pupil diameter decreases gradually in most subjects, and they were not aware of sleepiness during this period. We conclude that this monotonic gradual miosis can be a reliable premonitor of drowsiness.

A hierarchical model of operational anticipation windows in driving an automobile.

Driving an automobile is an example of a goal-directed activity with high complexity in which different behavioral elements have to be integrated and brought into a sequential order. On the basis of the reafference principle and experimental results on temporal perception and cognitive control, we propose a hierarchical model of driving behavior, which can also be adapted to other goal-directed activities. Driving is conceived of as being controlled by anticipatory neuronal programs; if these programs are disrupted by unpredictable stimuli, which require an instantaneous reaction, behavioral control returns after completion of the reactive mode to the anticipatory mode of driving. In the model different levels of anticipation windows are distinguished which, however, are interconnected, in a bi-directional way: (a) Strategic level with a representation of the driving activity from the beginning to reaching the final goal; (b) Segmented tactical level with the sequence of necessary milestones to reach the goal; (c) Maneuver level where actions like passing another car or keeping a lane are controlled; (d) Short-term integration level of a few seconds which allows immediate anticipations; and (e) Synchronization level for sensorimotor control and complexity reduction within neuronal assemblies. A flow diagram schematically describes different driving situations stressing the anticipatory mode of control. In a pilot experiment with 20 subjects using a virtual driving situation in a car simulator predictions of the model could be verified, i.e., subjects showed a significant preference for the anticipatory mode of driving.

Growing teratoma syndrome as an unusual cause of gliomatosis peritonei: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Growing teratoma syndrome (GTS) is defined as enlarging peritoneal implants that occur during or after chemotherapy for malignant germ cell tumors, but are histologically mature teratomas without any malignant components. GTS is a synonym for "chemotherapeutic retroconversion", i.e., conversion from a metastatic immature teratoma to a mature tumor by chemotherapy. Gliomatosis peritonei (GP) is a rare condition associated with ovarian teratomas of any grade, in which benign glial implants develop on the peritoneal surface. CASE: We present a case of a 34-year-old woman with GTS. CONCLUSIONS: Present case supported by review of the literatures suggests that GTS can be a part of GP, because both GTS and GP are associated with benign peritoneal glial implants regardless of grade of malignancy of their original tumor.

CD4+ CD25+ T cells responding to serologically defined autoantigens suppress antitumor immune responses.

A variety of tumor-derived antigens have been defined by IgG antibodies in tumor bearers' sera with serological identification of antigens by recombinant expression cloning (SEREX), a serological expression cloning method. The majority of these antigens show no structural abnormality and seem to be wild-type autoantigens. Coimmunization with DNA encoding these autoantigens and tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes epitopes heightened CD8+ T cell responses and increased resistance to tumor challenge in a CD4+ T cell-dependent manner. In contrast, immunization with these SEREX-defined autoantigens alone leads to heightened susceptibility to tumor challenge. This suppressive effect of immunization is mediated by CD4+ CD25+ T cells. In mice immunized with one of the SEREX-defined autoantigens, Dna J-like 2, the number of alpha-GalCer/CD1d tetramer+ CD3+ T cells [representing natural killer T (NKT) cells] was reduced in the pulmonary compartment, whereas no evident change in the number of other T cell subsets was observed. Experiments with Jalpha281-/- mice lacking most NKT cells indicate that NKT cells are primarily responsible for metastasis suppression and that their activity is inhibited by immunization with Dna J-like 2. We propose that SEREX identifies a pool of autoantigens that maintains and regulates immunological homeostasis via CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells.