The Effect of Real-World Personal Familiarity on the Speed of Face Information Processing

Background. Previous studies have explored the effects of familiarity on various kinds of visual face judgments, yet the role of familiarity in face processing is not fully understood. Across different face judgments and stimulus sets, the data is equivocal as to whether or not familiarity impacts recognition processes. Methodology/Principal Findings. Here, we examine the effect of real-world personal familiarity in three simple delayed-match-to-sample tasks in which subjects were required to match faces on the basis of orientation (upright v. inverted), gender and identity. We find that subjects had a significant speed advantage with familiar faces in all three tasks, with large effects for the gender and identity matching tasks. Conclusion/Significance. Our data indicates that real-world experience with a face exerts a powerful influence on face processing in tasks where identity information is irrelevant, even in tasks that could in principle be solved via low-level cues. These results underscore the importance of experience in shaping visual recognition processes

Depression care management for late-life depression in China primary care: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As a major public health issue in China and worldwide, late-life depression is associated with physical limitations, greater functional impairment, increased utilization and cost of health care, and suicide. Like other chronic diseases in elders such as hypertension and diabetes, depression is a chronic disease that the new National Health Policy of China indicates should be managed in primary care settings. Collaborative care, linking primary and mental health specialty care, has been shown to be effective for the treatment of late-life depression in primary care settings in Western countries. The primary aim of this project is to implement a depression care management (DCM) intervention, and examine its effectiveness on the depressive symptoms of older patients in Chinese primary care settings.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The trial is a multi-site, primary clinic based randomized controlled trial design in Hangzhou, China. Sixteen primary care clinics will be enrolled in and randomly assigned to deliver either DCM or care as usual (CAU) (8 clinics each) to 320 patients (aged ≥ 60 years) with major depression (20/clinic; n = 160 in each treatment condition). In the DCM arm, primary care physicians (PCPs) will prescribe 16 weeks of antidepressant medication according to the treatment guideline protocol. Care managers monitor the progress of treatment and side effects, educate patients/family, and facilitate communication between providers; psychiatrists will provide weekly group psychiatric consultation and CM supervision. Patients in both DCM and CAU arms will be assessed by clinical research coordinators at baseline, 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months. Depressive symptoms, functional status, treatment stigma and clients' satisfaction will be used to assess patients' outcomes; and clinic practices, attitudes/knowledge, and satisfaction will be providers' outcomes.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This will be the first trial of the effectiveness of a collaborative care intervention aiming to the management of late-life depression in China primary care. If effective, its finding will have relevance to policy makers who wish to scale up DCM treatments for late-life depression in national wide primary care across China.</p> <p>Study Registration</p> <p>The DCM project is registered through the National Institutes of Health sponsored by clinical trials registry and has been assigned the identifier: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01287494">NCT01287494</a></p

Drenagem endoscópica transmural de pseudocisto pancreático: resultados a longo prazo Transmural endoscopy drainage of pancreatic pseudocyst: long-term outcome

RACIONAL: Os pseudocistos pancreáticos são complicações relativamente comuns em pacientes adultos com pancreatite. OBJETIVO: Avaliar os resultados a longo prazo da drenagem endoscópica transmural, estabelecendo seu papel no manejo do pseudocisto pancreático. MÉTODOS: Foram estudados 14 pacientes com pseudocisto de pâncreas, cuja principal queixa à apresentação foi dor no andar superior do abdome e massa abdominal palpável, submetidos a cistogastrostomia (n = 12) e cistoduodenostomia (n = 2), acompanhados clinicamente e com tomografia computadorizada de abdome por até 51 meses. A colangiopancreatografia endoscópica retrógrada era tentada em todos os casos para estudo do ducto pancreático e classificação dos cistos. RESULTADOS: A pancreatite crônica alcoólica agudizada foi responsável por 10 casos (71,5%) e a biliar por 4 (28,5%). As duas formas de drenagens (cistogastrostomia e cistoduodenostomia) endoscópicas foram efetivas. Não houve mudança na conduta terapêutica proposta; em dois pacientes a migração da órtese para o interior do pseudocisto, no momento da inserção, foi a principal complicação, sendo possível sua retirada no mesmo ato, com o uso da cesta de Dormia, sob o auxílio de fluoroscopia. Não houve mortalidade, nem recidiva até o momento. O tempo médio de permanência hospitalar foi de 3 dias. CONCLUSÃO: A drenagem endoscópica transmural se apresentou como terapêutica eficaz, com baixo índice de complicações, mortalidade nula e pequeno tempo de internação hospitalar.<br>BACKGROUND: Pancreatic pseudocysts are relatively common complications of pancreatitis in adults. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term results from transmural endoscopic drainage and thus to establish its role in managing pancreatic pseudocyst. METHODS: Fourteen patients with pancreatic pseudocyst were studied. Their main complaint was pain in the upper levels of the abdomen. They presented palpable abdominal mass and underwent cystogastrostomy (n = 12) and cystoduodenostomy (n = 2), with clinical follow-up using abdominal computed tomography for up to 51 months. Retrograde endoscopic cholangiopancreatography was attempted in all cases to study the pancreatic duct and classify the cysts. RESULTS: There were 10 cases (71.5%) of chronic pancreatitis that had become acute through alcohol abuse and 4 (28.5%) that had become acute through biliary disorders. Both types of endoscopic drainage (cystogastrostomy and cystoduodenostomy) were effective. There was no change in the therapeutic management proposed. Migration of the orthesis into the pseudocyst at the time of insertion (two cases) was the principal complication, and these could be removed during the same operation, by means of a Dormia basket, with the aid of fluoroscopy. There has so far not been any mortality or relapse. The mean hospital stay was 3 days. CONCLUSION: Transmural endoscopic drainage was an efficacious form of therapy, presenting a low complication rate and no mortality, and only requiring a short stay in hospital