Anticipation from biological motion: the goalkeeper problem

People can often anticipate the outcome of another person's actions based on visual information available in the movements of the other person's body. We investigated this problem by studying how goalkeepers anticipate the direction of a penalty kick in soccer. The specific aim was to determine whether the information used to anticipate kick direction is best characterized as local to a particular body segment or distributed across multiple segments. In Experiment 1, we recorded the movements of soccer players as they kicked balls into a net. Using a novel method for analyzing motion capture data, we identified sources of local and distributed information that were reliable indicators of kick direction. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects were presented with animations of kickers' movements prior to foot-to-ball contact and instructed to judge kick direction. Judgments were consistent with the use of distributed information, with a possible small contribution of local information.     

Contrast polarity preservation's role in perception: explained and unexplained stimuli

Roncato and Casco (2003, Perception & psychophysics 65 1252-1272) had shown that in situations where the Gestalt principle of good continuity is put into conflict with preservation of contrast polarity (CP) the perception that preserves CP prevails. Parlangeli and Roncato (2010, Perception 39 255-259) have studied this question of preservation of CP more closely and have added an addendum to the rule. They have used stimuli consisting of a checkerboard of perpendicularly arranged rectangular bricks (white, gray, or black) and draughtsmen white, gray, or black disks placed at the corners of the bricks. This study has caused them to add an addendum to the rule of CP-preserved path-conjunction binding: if there are two contour completions that preserve the CP, the one with the higher contrast will prevail. Parlangeli and Roncato find that, for certain shades of the disks and bricks, the perpendicular lines of the checkerboard appear strikingly to be slanted or undulating. Here we consider all possible arrangements of relative magnitudes of checkerboards consisting of bricks of two different shades and disks of two shades as well, as such arrangements with widely varying differences in the magnitude of brightness. We have found a number of cases where the perception is not explained by the rule and addendum of Roncato and Casco, and Parlangeli and Roncato, and a case where preservation of "distant" as well as local CP plays a role in perception. The previously known cases, and the new exceptional unexplained stimuli we have found, warrant further study.     

Eye gaze metrics reflect a shared motor representation for action observation and movement imagery

Action observation (AO) and movement imagery (MI) have been reported to share similar neural networks. This study investigated the congruency between AO and MI using the eye gaze metrics, dwell time and fixation number. A simple reach-grasp-place arm movement was observed and, in a second condition, imagined where the movement was presented from the first person perspective (1PP) and the third person perspective (3PP). Dwell time and number of fixations were calculated for whole scene and regions of interest (ROIs). For whole scene, no significant differences were found in the number of fixations for condition (AO, MI) or perspective. Dwell time, however, was significantly longer in AO than MI. For ROIs, the number of fixations was significantly greater in 1PP than 3PP. The data provide support for congruence between motor simulation states but also indicate some functional differences.     

Trait Self-esteem Moderates Decreases in Self-control Following Rejection: An Information-processing Account

In the current paper, the authors posit that trait self-esteem moderates the relationship between social rejection and decrements in self-control, propose an information-processing account of trait self-esteem's moderating influence and discuss three tests of this theory. The authors measured trait self-esteem, experimentally manipulated social rejection and assessed subsequent self-control in Studies 1 and 2. Additionally, Study 3 framed a self-control task as diagnostic of social skills to examine motivational influences. Together, the results reveal that rejection impairs self-control, but only among low self-esteem individuals. Moreover, this decrement in self-control only emerged when the task had no social implications-suggesting that low self-esteem individuals exert effort on tasks of social value and are otherwise preoccupied with belonging needs when completing nonsocial tasks.     

Delineating potential mechanisms of implicit alcohol cognitions: drinking restraint, negative affect, and their relationship with approach alcohol associations

Problem drinkers may use alcohol to avoid negative mood states and may develop implicit cognitive associations between negative emotional states and reinforcing properties of drinking. It is paradoxical that attempts to control drinking, such as among those high in drinking restraint, may inadvertently increase desire to drink and subsequent alcohol consumption, and this may be exaggerated under times of emotional distress when urges to drink are high. We examined whether individuals who are high on drinking restraint would demonstrate stronger alcohol-related thoughts elicited by stimuli that represent the desire to use alcohol, in response to stronger versus weaker negative mood arousal. Seventy hazardous drinkers completed measurements of drinking restraint, alcohol consumption, and consequences of use. After being randomized to view negative or positive pictures sets, participants completed an Implicit Association Task (IAT) to test differences in the strength of the association between desire to approach or avoid alcohol or water cues, and then a measurement of subjective craving following the IAT. Regression analyses showed that trait restriction not temptation was positively related to IAT scores, after controlling for relevant covariates and explained 7% of the total variance. Trait temptation not IAT predicted subjective craving. Negative affect was unrelated to IAT scores, singly or in conjunction with measures of drinking restraint, contrary to predictions. In sum, implicit alcohol cognitions are related to attempts to restrict drinking not temptation to drink and are less strongly influenced by mood state.     

HBV相关肝细胞癌综合治疗中抗病毒的作用

分析抗病毒治疗在乙型肝炎病毒相关肝细胞癌的综合治疗中所起的作用.随着肝细胞癌治疗模式的转变,目前认为抗HBV治疗是HCC综合治疗的重要组成部分,应针对患者进行个体化、优化的多学科综合治疗,选择合适的高效、低耐药、低副作用的抗病毒药物,才能达到提高患者生活质量和延长生存时间的目的.     

临床医生医护合作态度及影响因素的研究

良好的医护合作态度是医生开展医疗活动的基础,同时对建立和谐的医护关系有重要意义.通过对辽宁省6所三级甲等医院的933名临床医生进行问卷调查,了解临床医生医护合作态度的现状,揭示职称、工作年限、是否参加过医护合作有关课程的学习以及对目前工作环境的满意度是影响临床医生对医护合作态度的主要因素.     

纤维乳管镜临床应用中的问题与争议

纤维乳管镜主要应用于乳头溢液的诊断,提高了诊断的准确率,减小了手术切除范围,并修改了部分乳腺疾病的手术指征.但由于乳腺导管系统解剖的复杂性以及乳管镜本身的限制,乳管镜在乳腺导管内病变的切除、导管炎症治疗、乳腺癌筛查、保乳手术中辅助判定切缘等临床应用方面,尚存在诸多的问题与争议.     

老年人合并冠心病的血压控制

高血压病和冠心病是与年龄密切相关的心血管疾病.老年人(包括年龄在80岁以上的)同时存在此两种疾病的情况正在逐渐增加.流行病学研究已经证明,高血压和冠心病有密切的联系.老年高血压患者药物的选择仍有一定的争议,而在合并冠心病时合理治疗的临床研究也不多.本文根据目前循证医学资料提出了可用于老年高血压合并冠心病患者合适的降压策略和冠心病的药物治疗.     

影响晚期胃癌患者生活质量的因素分析

分析晚期胃癌患者的生活质量情况及其影响因素,为晚期胃癌患者的临床护理干预提供科研数据.选择2010年5月至2011年5月在辽宁医学院附属第一医院胃肠外科及肿瘤科的晚期胃癌患者173名进行生活质量的乱查,并通过EORTC QLQ —C30,SSRS,MCMQ,SAS等量表和一般人口学资料及临床病例资料进行评估.晚期胃癌患者总体生活质量评分低,仅29.54±12.21;社会支持、医学应对方式、焦虑及患者临床资料(除放疗外)对晚期胃癌患者总体生活质量影响较明显(P＜0.05).晚期胃癌患者的生活质量较差,其影响因素是多方面的,临床上医务人员应采取必要的措施提高晚期胃癌患者的生活质量.