Backward illusory line motion: Visual motion perception can be influenced by retrospective stimulation.

When a visual cue appears beside a horizontal line segment before the line appears, the illusory motion is perceived as a line extending from the side closest to the side farthest from the cue. This is known as illusory line motion (ILM). In Experiment 1, we presented the cue after the line onset and found that the line seemed to extend toward the side of the cue (backward ILM). In Experiment 2, we confirmed the robustness and replicability of the backward ILM. In Experiments 3 to 5, we investigated the role of endogenous and exogenous attention in the generation of backward ILM and found effects of attention, but not large enough to explain the backward ILM in Experiments 1 and 2. The current findings suggest that the direction of ILM depended on the temporal relation of whether the cue precedes or follows the stimulus appearance, and that attentional shift played a role in the perception of backward ILM.

Correlation Analysis Between Time Awareness and Morningness-Eveningness Preference.

The circadian clock is adjusted by light inputs via the retinohypothalamic tract. Because environmental light is controllable for modern humans at the individual's preference although under social schedules, individual differences in time-related psychology and behavior may be associated with morningness-eveningness preference (M-E preference). To examine this hypothesis, we used the Time Management Scale and Time Anxiety Scale to quantify time-related psychology and behavior. These scales aim to evaluate "awareness of effective time management and utilization" and "anxiety about uncontrollable time schedule and unexpected time-related outcome", respectively. According to our correlation analysis using mid-sleep time as a marker for M-E preference, we obtained results supporting our hypothesis in the correlation between the M-E preference values and the Time Management Scale scores, with larger "time estimation" and "taking each moment as it comes" scores associated with more morningness and eveningness, respectively. Considering that modern humans likely become night owls under artificial light conditions, it appears plausible that lower awareness of time management leads to more eveningness.

[Visual processing of names in mental rotation tasks].

In this study, we examined the difference in the processing of one's own name and other people's names using a mental rotation task. In Experiment 1, the observer's own name and other common names were presented visually. In Experiment 2, the observer's name and the names of people who were familiar to the observer were presented. The observer saw the name and judged whether it was mirror-reversed or not. The results show that reaction times and error rates were shorter, when the observer processed his/her own name compared to when processing others names. These findings might be due to peculiarities and familiarity of one's own name.

[A case of a patient with gastric cancer and peritoneal dissemination who survived for more than 10 years after successful treatment with S-1].

A 50-year-old female patient underwent distal gastrectomy and intraperitoneal CDDP administration for advanced gastric cancer accompanied by severe peritoneal dissemination. She valued her quality of life and chose an oral anticancer drug, S-1, as a postoperative chemotherapy agent. S-1 was administered at a dose of 100mg/body/day for 4 weeks, followed by a 2- week rest. There were no adverse events due to S-1 and no exacerbation of peritoneal dissemination in the 5 years following surgery. The S-1 administration schedule was then changed to alternate-day administration. Eight years after the surgery, the patient discontinued S-1 treatment and has since survived for 11 years with no obvious cancer recurrence.

[Sequential effect in attractiveness judgement of multiple faces].

A large number of studies have demonstrated the sequential effect, in which the response in the current trial is assimilated towards that of the immediately preceding trial in a decision making task. However, most previous studies have only examined the effect in situations where the response was given after each stimulus presentation. In this study, we examined whether the sequential effect existed when observers responded after the presentation of two stimuli. After two pictures of male faces were presented successively, participants rated the attractiveness of each face on a 9-point scale. The results showed that the second response was assimilated towards the first (Experiment 1), but the first response contrasted with (shifted away from) the second (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that preceding and succeeding contexts may differentially modulate our decision making.

Retrospective attention: The effects on time perception.

Attention has a significant effect on time perception, as a person's perception of duration varies depending on the object of one's attention, even when the visual stimulus is consistent. This study aimed to identify the effects of directing participants' attention after a stimulus has disappeared on time perception, as prior studies have examined only pre-stimulus direction. The stimulus used comprised two overlapping figures - one large and one small. After the stimulus was removed, participants were asked to judge the length of the presentation time and shape of one of the two figures. Consequently, the participants perceived a longer presentation duration when their attention was directed to a large figure than when directed to a small figure. This finding suggests that even after an event has occurred, the time perception of the event changes depending on the feature receiving one's attention.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and S-1 for resectable and borderline pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: results from a prospective multi-institutional phase 2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is the only curative strategy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but recurrence rates are high even after purported curative resection. First-line treatment with gemcitabine and S-1 (GS) is associated with promising antitumor activity with a high response rate. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of GS in the neoadjuvant setting. METHODS: In a multi-institutional single-arm phase 2 study, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with gemcitabine and S-1, repeated every 21 days, was administered for two cycles (NAC-GS) to patients with resectable and borderline PDAC. The primary end point was the 2-year survival rate. Secondary end points were feasibility, resection rate, pathological effect, recurrence-free survival, and tumor marker status. RESULTS: Of 36 patients enrolled, 35 were eligible for this clinical trial conducted between 2008 and 2010. The most common toxicity was neutropenia in response to 90% of the relative dose intensity. Responses to NAC included radiological tumor shrinkage (69%) and decreases in CA19-9 levels (89%). R0 resection was performed for 87% in resection, and the morbidity rate (40%) was acceptable. The 2-year survival rate of the total cohort was 45.7%. Patients who underwent resection without metastases after NAC-GS (n = 27) had an increased median overall survival (34.7 months) compared with those who did not undergo resection (P = 0.0017). CONCLUSIONS: NAC-GS was well tolerated and safe when used in a multi-institutional setting. The R0 resection rate and the 2-year survival rate analysis are encouraging for patients with resectable and borderline PDAC.

Spatial distortion induced by imperceptible visual stimuli.

Previous studies have explored the effects of attention on spatial representation. Specifically, in the attentional repulsion effect, a transient visual cue that captures attention has been shown to alter the perceived position of a target stimulus to the direction away from the cue. The effect is also susceptible to retrospective influence, that attention appears to attract the target when the cue appears afterwards. This study examined the necessity of visual awareness of the cue in these phenomena. We found that when the cues were rendered invisible by backward visual masks, both repulsion and attraction effects were weakened but still observed. The results suggest that the effects possibly depend on processes that are not necessarily associated with conscious visual awareness of the cues. We conjecture that attentional shift produced by the weak, invisible cues may play a role in spatial distortion; but other possible accounts including non-attentional ones are also discussed.

[A case of osteonecrosis of the jaw during treatment by bevacizumab for sigmoid colon cancer].

A 67-year-old man was diagnosed to have sigmoid colon cancer with peritonitis carcinomatosa. The cancer was surgically resected, and he thereafter underwent chemotherapy with mFOLFOX6+bevacizumab. He complained of gingival swelling throughout treatment and osteonecrosis of the jaw was noted. The bevacizumab therapy was therefore discontinued and the necrotic tissue removed. No recurrent necrosis has occurred. The addition of bevacizumab to the FOLFOX or FOLFIRI chemotherapy regimens has been shown to improve the survival rate and response rate in colorectal cancer. Osteonecrosis of the jaw is a rare toxicity of bevacizumab. Bevacizumab might compromise the microvessel integrity in the jaw, which thus may lead to bone necrosis. Osteonecrosis of the jaw in this case recovered after the discontinuation of bevacizumab and the removal of the necrotic tissue. The pathogenesis and treatment of osteonecrosis have not been elucidated.

Hemothorax caused by spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature.

We report a rare case in which hemothorax occurred in addition to hemoperitoneum due to spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) originating from the caudate lobe of the liver. The case pertains to a 56-year-old female who was transported to our hospital for impaired consciousness due to hemorrhagic shock. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated ruptured HCC originating from the caudate lobe and accompanying hemoperitoneum and right hemothorax. Hemostasis was carried out by transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), and surgery was conducted approximately one month after TAE. In the present case, no lesions as possible sources of bleeding were observed inside the pleural cavity, and, moreover, the diaphragm had no abnormalities in the intraoperative findings, suggesting that blood from the ruptured tumor may have traversed the intact diaphragm to enter the right pleural cavity soon after the HCC rupture. However, to the best of our knowledge, no similar cases of HCC have been reported to date, and this case is thus believed to be very rare. This unusual phenomenon may therefore be strongly associated with the location of the ruptured tumor and the formation of a hematoma inside the omental bursa. We discuss the mechanism causing hemothorax in the present case and also review the previously reported cases of ruptured HCC complicated by hemothorax.

Attention can retrospectively distort visual space.

A brief visual cue that attracts attention repels the perceived location of a subsequent visual stimulus away from the focus of attention (attentional repulsion). In the first experiment reported here, we presented a visual cue after a visual target and found that the perceived location of the target stimulus shifted toward the location of the cue (attentional attraction). The subsequent experiments ruled out nonattentional hypotheses and indicated that the mislocalization effect is attributable to the attentional shift. The results of this study suggest that preceding and succeeding contexts differentially modulate the perceived location of a briefly presented stimulus. Our findings also underscore the importance of retrospective processes in visual attention.

Clinical efficacy and safety of second line and salvage aflibercept for advanced colorectal cancer in Akita prefecture.

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis inhibitors (AIs) combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy is a promising treatment for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Aflibercept (AFL) is an option for second-line treatment of CRC, according to the 'VELOUR' trial. Currently, we can choose from three AIs, including bevacizumab, ramucirumab, and AFL. Different AIs can be used in subsequent treatment because of their distinctive mechanisms of action. We addressed the uncertainty regarding AFL efficacy and safety in heavily-treated patients by comparing outcomes of survival treatment with second-line treatment. AIM: To determine and compare the efficacy and safety profiles of AFL in the second-line and salvage therapy settings. METHODS: Clinical data of 41 patients with advanced CRC who received intravenous AFL combined with the folinic acid-fluorouracil-irinotecan (FOLFIRI) regimen were collected retrospectively from six institutions in Japan, for the period from May 2017 to March 2019. Patient characteristics collected included age, sex, tumor location, RAS and RAF status, metastatic sites, number of previous treatment cycles, therapeutic response, adverse events, duration of previous AI treatment, and survival time. The end points were time to AFL treatment failure (aTTF) and median survival time post-AFL (aMST). Statistical analyses were performed to compare the efficacy and safety in the second-line setting with those of the salvage therapy setting, which was defined as the days since the end of second-line therapy. RESULTS: All 41 patients who received AFL + FOLFIRI for advanced CRC had metastatic or unresectable cancer. Twenty-two patients received AFL in the second-line setting and nineteen in the salvage therapy setting. The patient characteristics were similar in the two groups, except for two factors. The median duration of the previous AI administration was shorter in the second-line patients compared with that in the salvage therapy patients (144 d vs 323 d, P = 0.006). In the second-line and salvage therapy groups, the objective response rates were 11% and 0%, respectively (P = 0.50), and the disease control rates were 53% and 50%, respectively (P = 1.00). In the second-line and salvage therapy groups, the aTTF (123 d vs 71 d, respectively), aMST (673 d vs 396 d, respectively), and incidence of adverse events of grade 3 [8 (36%) vs 9 (47%)] were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: AFL can be used to treat advanced CRC patients, with a similar safety and efficacy in the salvage therapy setting as in the second-line setting.

The effect of marker size on the perception of an empty interval.

Research shows that the time that is spent perceiving a brief visual stimulus is experienced as increasing as the size of the stimulus increases. We examined whether the experienced duration of time that is spent attending the perception of an empty interval--demarcated by the offset of one marker and the onset of a second marker--depends on the size of the markers themselves. Previous theories predict that the perceived time that is spent viewing offset-to-onset intervals decreases as the size of the markers increases, and that the perceived time that is spent viewing the markers increases. We demonstrated that empty intervals between the presentations of large markers were perceived to be longer in duration than those occurring between the presentations of small markers, and that the second marker was critical to this effect of physical size on apparent duration. We report that the size effect disappeared when the interval was filled with the presentation of a circle, and we conclude that the intensity of the second marker altered perceptions in an empty-interval-specific manner.

The effect of false memory on temporal perception.

This study examined the effect of false memory on temporal perception. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, which elicits false recognition of a nonpresented word, was used to determine whether the perceived duration of falsely remembered words was longer than that for control words. The study results revealed that the perceived duration for falsely recognized words was longer than that for correctly rejected words. This is the first study to show the effect of false memory on temporal perception and suggests that temporal perception can be affected by conceptual fluency without any perceptual repetition.

The Effect of Ratio of Changing to Static Stimuli on the Attentional Capture.

Studies have shown that appearing or disappearing objects attract more attention than static objects. This study examined the modulation of attention attracted by transient signals by systematically manipulating the ratio of changing (appearing/disappearing) to static stimuli. The results revealed that the effect of transient stimuli in attracting attention was diminished by simultaneously appearing (disappearing) peripheral stimuli and that the position where nothing was presented (the remaining stimulus) attracted attention when the number of appearing (disappearing) peripheral stimuli was increased. These findings suggest that the sudden change does not always capture attention, and whether changed things are attended or unchanged things are attended is determined depending on the proportion of things that change and do not change.

[Dynamic Attending Binds Time and Rhythm Perception].

Relations between time and rhythm perception are discussed in this review of psychophysical research relevant to the multiple-look effect and dynamic-attending theory. Discrimination of two neighboring intervals that are marked by three successive sounds is improved when the presentation of the first (standard, S) interval is repeated before that of the second (comparison, C), as SSSSC. This improvement in sensitivity, called the multiple-look effect, occurs because listeners (1) perceive regular rhythm during the repetition of the standard interval, (2) predict the timing of subsequent sounds, and (3) detect sounds that are deviated from the predicted timing. The dynamic-attending theory attributes such predictions to the entrainment of attentional rhythms. An endogenous attentional rhythm is synchronized with the periodic succession of sounds marking the repeated standard. The standard and the comparison are discriminated on the basis of whether the ending marker of the comparison appears at the peak of the entrained attentional rhythm. This theory is compatible with the findings of recent neurophysiological studies that relate temporal prediction to neural oscillations.

Intertrial temporal contextual cuing: association across successive visual search trials guides spatial attention.

Contextual cuing refers to the facilitation of performance in visual search due to the repetition of the same displays. Whereas previous studies have focused on contextual cuing within single-search trials, this study tested whether 1 trial facilitates visual search of the next trial. Participants searched for a T among Ls. In the training phase, the spatial layout on trial N=1 was predictive of the target location on trial N. In the testing phase, the predictive value was removed. Results revealed an intertrial temporal contextual cuing effect: Search speed became progressively shorter in the training phase, but it significantly lengthened during testing. The authors conclude that the visual system is capable of retaining spatial contextual memory established earlier to facilitate perception.

[Are the visually marked items encoded as a context?].

We examined the attentional constraints of the contextual cueing effect known to occur only for attended items. We focused on whether the items not only attended to but also inhibited afterwards yield the effect or not. We adopted a hybrid paradigm of visual marking and contextual cueing procedures. In the experiment, half the distractors preceded the others and a target for one second. The results showed the contextual cueing effect even with visually marked items. These results suggest that spatial configurations previously attended to and inhibited afterwards can be encoded as visual context.

Shape-assimilation effect: retrospective distortion of visual shapes.

A brief visual stimulus distorts the perceived shape of a subsequent visual stimulus as being dissimilar to the shape of a previous stimulus (shape-contrast effect). In this study, we presented a visual stimulus after a to-be-estimated target stimulus and found that the perceived shape of the target stimulus appeared to be similar to the shape of the following stimulus (shape-assimilation effect). The assimilation effect occurred even when the following stimulus was presented at positions different from that of the target stimulus, indicating that the shape-assimilation effect is a nonretinotopic distortion. The results suggest that the preceding and succeeding stimuli differentially modulate the perceived shape of a briefly presented stimulus.

A transient auditory signal shifts the perceived offset position of a moving visual object.

Information received from different sensory modalities profoundly influences human perception. For example, changes in the auditory flutter rate induce changes in the apparent flicker rate of a flashing light (Shipley, 1964). In the present study, we investigated whether auditory information would affect the perceived offset position of a moving object. In Experiment 1, a visual object moved toward the center of the computer screen and disappeared abruptly. A transient auditory signal was presented at different times relative to the moment when the object disappeared. The results showed that if the auditory signal was presented before the abrupt offset of the moving object, the perceived final position was shifted backward, implying that the perceived visual offset position was affected by the transient auditory information. In Experiment 2, we presented the transient auditory signal to either the left or the right ear. The results showed that the perceived visual offset shifted backward more strongly when the auditory signal was presented to the same side from which the moving object originated. In Experiment 3, we found that the perceived timing of the visual offset was not affected by the spatial relation between the auditory signal and the visual offset. The present results are interpreted as indicating that an auditory signal may influence the offset position of a moving object through both spatial and temporal processes.