Development of a vocabulary of object shapes in a child with a very-early-acquired visual agnosia: A unique case

We report a longitudinal study of an exceptional child (S.R.) whose early-acquired visual agnosia, following encephalitis at 8 weeks of age, did not prevent her from learning to construct an increasing vocabulary of visual object forms (drawn from different categories), albeit slowly. S.R. had problems perceiving subtle differences in shape; she was unable to segment local letters within global displays; and she would bring complex scenes close to her eyes: a symptom suggestive of an attempt to reduce visual crowding. Investigations revealed a robust ability to use the gestalt grouping factors of proximity and collinearity to detect fragmented forms in noisy backgrounds, compared with a very weak ability to segment fragmented forms on the basis of contrasts of shape. When contrasts in spatial grouping and shape were pitted against each other, shape made little contribution, consistent with problems in perceiving complex scenes, but when shape contrast was varied, and spatial grouping was held constant, S.R. showed the same hierarchy of difficulty as the controls, although her responses were slowed. This is the first report of a child's visual–perceptual development following very early neurological impairments to the visual cortex. Her ability to learn to perceive visual shape following damage at a rudimentary stage of perceptual development contrasts starkly with the loss of such ability in childhood cases of acquired visual agnosia that follow damage to the established perceptual system. Clearly, there is a critical period during which neurological damage to the highly active, early developing visual–perceptual system does not prevent but only impairs further learning.     

Additive factors and stages of mental processes in task networks

To perform a task a subject executes mental processes. An experimental manipulation, such as a change in stimulus intensity, is said to selectively influence a process if it changes the duration of that process leaving other process durations unchanged. For random process durations a definition of a factor selectively influencing a process by increments is given in terms of stochastic dominance (also called “the usual stochastic order”). A technique for analyzing reaction times, Sternberg’s Additive Factor Method, assumes all the processes are in series. When all processes are in series, each process is called a stage. With the Additive Factor Method, if two experimental factors selectively influence two different stages by increments, the factors will have additive effects on reaction time. An assumption of the Additive Factor Method is that if two experimental factors interact, then they influence the same stage. We consider sets of processes in which some pairs of processes are sequential and some are concurrent (i.e., the processes are partially ordered). We propose a natural definition of a stage for such sets of processes. For partially ordered processes, with our definition of a stage, if two experimental factors selectively influence two different processes by increments, each within a different stage, then the factors have additive effects. If each process selectively influenced by increments is in the same stage, then an interaction is possible, although not inevitable.     

Navigating Critical Theory and Postmodernism: Social Justice and Therapist Power in Family Therapy

The family therapy field encourages commitment to diversity and social justice, but offers varying ideas about how to attentively consider these issues. Critical informed models advocate activism, whereas postmodern informed models encourage multiple perspectives. It is often not clear how activism and an emphasis on multiple perspectives connect, engendering the sense that critical and postmodern practices may be disparate. To understand how therapists negotiate these perspectives in practice, this qualitative grounded theory analysis drew on interviews with 11 therapists, each known for their work from both critical and postmodern perspectives. We found that these therapists generally engage in a set of shared constructionist practices while also demonstrating two distinct forms of activism: activism through countering and activism through collaborating. Ultimately, decisions made about how to navigate critical and postmodern influences were connected to how therapists viewed ethics and the ways they were comfortable using their therapeutic power. The findings illustrate practice strategies through which therapists apply each approach.     

融通以达变:论钱穆先生对《易传》的诠释

钱穆先生在<易传>的研究上,先从文献入手,发表<论十翼非孔子作>以厘清孔孟旧儒与战国时代新儒的不同;其后发表<易传与小戴礼记中之宇宙论>讲述代表战国新儒思想的<易传>,虽然与孔孟旧儒不同,但仅限于天体宇宙论的建构方面,盖因此领域为道家所擅.<易传>作者吸收道家之长,融通道家宇宙论,转而建立属于儒家的宇宙论,这是值得肯定的转变.正如钱先生文中一再致意的:<易传>虽吸收道家宇宙论的思想,但并未背弃儒家人生论的精髓,所以在吸收过程中皆予以转化,换句话说,便是将老庄自然宇宙观变成儒家德性的宇宙观,以求合于传统儒家的人生哲学.     

《齐物论》与竹林玄学

《庄子》作为“三玄”之一,在魏晋玄学中大行其道。阮籍和嵇康是两位在任自然的旗帜下发挥庄子思想的名士。分析发现,阮籍对庄子的理解,大致来自《齐物论》。然《齐物论》对他的意义是双重的：既排遣其对现实的不满,又给因对现实的无能为力而游戏人生的生活态度提供掩饰。嵇康学理上的表现在于,其“声无哀乐”的见解,以乐论的形式,对《齐物论》中齐是非的观点作独特的补充,同时,却又在讨论人格的公（诚）私（伪）之分时,把它同是非问题联系起来,从而显露自己无法掩饰的价值立场。阮、嵇无论是言还是行的矛盾,都与庄子齐是非的悖论有关。     

Conflict partners and infrastructure use in safety critical events in cycling – Results from a naturalistic cycling study

Accident statistics show that cyclists are at considerable risk of being involved in a crash. However, statistics based on police reports are often heavily biased towards on-road, bicycle–motor vehicle crashes. Crashes that do not involve motorised vehicles or that occur on other types of infrastructure are neglected. Naturalistic cycling methodology appears to be a promising approach to address these issues. The goal of this study was to identify and classify safety critical cycling events involving a variety of conflict partners and covering all types of infrastructure. Thirty-one participants in three age groups had their own bicycles equipped with a data acquisition system. Participants rode their modified bike as usual for a period of four weeks. Over 1600 trips were recorded overall. We were able to identify 77 safety critical events during the observation period. Only 43% of these events involved motorised vehicles as conflict partners. Conflicts with other cyclists and pedestrians accounted for about 57% of the situations. Likewise, less than 35% of the events occurred on-road. The data show that although motorised vehicles are still the single biggest threat to cycling safety, and roads still constitute one of the most crash prone types of infrastructure, the importance of crashes that do not involve motorised road users or occur not on-road should not be underestimated.     

Distorted subjective reports of stimulus onsets under dual-task conditions: Delayed conscious perception or estimation bias?

We investigated whether selecting a response for one task delays the conscious perception of another stimulus (delayed conscious perception hypothesis). In two experiments, participants watched a revolving clock hand while performing two tasks in close succession (i.e. a dual-task). Two stimuli were presented with varying stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). After each trial, participants separately estimated the onsets of the two stimuli on the clock face. Across two experiments and four conditions, we manipulated response requirements and assessed their impact on perceived stimulus onsets. Results showed that (a) providing speeded responses to the stimuli did lead to greater SOA-dependent misperceptions of both stimulus onsets as compared to a solely perceptual condition, and (b) that response grouping reduced these misperceptions. Overall, the results provide equivocal evidence for the delayed conscious perception hypothesis. They rather suggest that participants’ estimates of the two stimulus onsets are biased by the interval between their responses.     

右美托咪定与丙泊酚在胸科手术中的麻醉效果对比

观察右美托咪定（Dex）联合瑞芬太尼在胸科手术麻醉过程中的应用。选取择期全麻下行开胸手术患者78倒,按随机分为两组（每组39例）：试验组采用Dex、瑞芬太尼和七氟烷静吸复合麻醉（I组）,对照组采用瑞芬太尼、丙泊酚和七氟烷静吸复合麻醉（Ⅱ组）。试验组患者苏醒期躁动明显少于对照组（P〈0．05）,两组苏醒时间差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。因此,Dex联合瑞芬太尼在胸科手术麻醉中能够安全有效地抑制双腔气管插管反应,保持血流动力学的稳定,同时明显减少患者在苏醒期躁动。     

围手术期医疗质量管理策略

围手术期是手术患者在医院诊疗过程中的最重要时期,隐患多、风险大,历来是医疗质量管理的重点和难点。本文介绍了中国医科大学附属盛京医院加强围手术期管理的措施,只有加强对手术全程的监管,促进围手术期抗菌药物的合理使用,提供术后规范化的护理,加强质量教育和培训,才能确保围手术期的医疗质量。     

民主建设的逻辑、次序与策略:延安时期毛泽东的思考与实践

延安时期毛泽东提出了大众民主（人民民主）的建设目标,并对于这种民主建设的逻辑、次序和策略等相关问题做出了努力的探索。延安时期毛泽东领导的边区民主建设是中国本土的一次民主操练,对于当前中国民主政治关系的建设具有重要借鉴意义。