Effects of Cognitive Tasks on Drivers\u27 Eye Behavior and Performance

Safe driving involves obtaining and using required visual information. Recent studies have shown that this information acquisition is compromised as a driver performs other mental tasks. We conducted an experiment, inspired by Recarte and Nunes (2000), to investigate the effect of cognitive tasks on drivers’ eye behavior and performance in a single monitor, PC-based driving simulator. The eye behavior (i.e., gaze direction and duration) and driving performance (i.e., lane keeping and speed control) of twelve college students were recorded as they drove in three environments (i.e., highway, rural, urban) under three secondary task conditions (none, verbal task, spatial-imagery task). The results confirmed Recarte and Nunes (2000) observation that such tasks greatly reduce the time and frequency of such safety-related behaviors as checking the speedometer and rear view mirrors, with the spatial-imagery task having the largest effect. Pupil diameter increases significantly when performing secondary tasks, confirming the usefulness of that measure as an indicator of processing load. In contrast, these secondary tasks have no effect on lane-keeping accuracy, though they do increase variation in speed. From the perspective of multiple resource theory (Wickens, 2002; Wickens & Hollands, 2000), this suggests that lane keeping, speed control and other safety-monitoring activities (i.e., checking mirrors and speedometer) all require attentional resources, and that when resources must be given to some new task, there is a prioritization of the remaining tasks. Lane-keeping, the failure of which would produce the most apparent driving failures, is given the highest priority, with other safetymonitoring activities given lower priority. The method employed here can be used to examine the effect of driver activities and devices on their monitoring of safety-related information

Viscum album extract suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in bladder cancer cells

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of Viscum album (VA) extract on the progression of bladder cancer (BC) and its effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of T24 and J82 bladder cancer cells. Methods: 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay (MTT assay) was conducted to examine the proliferation of bladder cancer cells. Flow cytometry (FCM) was employed to assess changes in the cell cycle of bladder cancer cells. The expression levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), CLND1 (cyclin D1), p21, and p27 in control and VA extract-treated (100, 200, or 300 μg/mL) T24 and J82 cells were measured by immunoblot assay. The effects of VA extract on T24 or J82 cell apoptosis were evaluated using FCM. Immunoblot assay was performed to evaluate Bcl2, Bax, and cleaved caspase 3 expression in control or VA extract-treated bladder cancer cells. In addition, the effect of VA extract on Axl-AKT pathways was also evaluated by immunoblot assay. Results: Viscum album extract treatment significantly blocked bladder cancer cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest. In addition, VA extract stimulated bladder cancer cell apoptosis. Moreover, this study found that VA extract suppressed Axl-AKT pathways in bladder cancer. Conclusion: Viscum album extract exerts anti-proliferation and pro-apoptosis effects on bladder cancer cells. These abilities render Viscum album extract as promising agent in bladder cancer treatment

Updates on precision medicine of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor

Since the concept of precision medicine proposed in 2011, the treatment of solid tumors has entered era of precision medicine led by gene testing. As a rare tumor, the incidence rate of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PanNET) is increasing gradually. In the past, clinicopathological factors such as stage and grade system were used as criteria in the diagnosis and prognostic prediction of PanNET patients, and there were few biomarkers guiding the selection of PanNET diagnosis and treatment. As the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of PanNET have been updated these years, and genomics and molecular testing are wildly used in PanNET research, can precision bring new changes to the diagnosis, treatment and prognostic prediction of PanNET? This article reviewed the current status of PanNET precision therapy through the latest literature

Current evidences on XPC polymorphisms and gastric cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Reduced DNA repair capacities due to inherited polymorphisms may increase the susceptibility to cancers including gastric cancer. Previous studies investigating the association between Xeroderma Pigmentosum group C (XPC) gene polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk reported inconsistent results. We performed a meta-analysis to summarize the possible association. METHODS: All studies published up to January 2014 on the association between XPC polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk were identified by searching electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM). The association between XPC polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk was assessed by odds ratios (ORs) together with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Six studies with 1,355 gastric cancer cases and 2,573 controls were finally included in the meta-analysis. With respect to Lys939Gln polymorphism, we did not observe a significant association when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis. When stratified by ethnicity, source of control, and study quality, statistical significant association was not detected in all subgroups. With respect to Ala499Val and PAT−/+polymorphisms, we also did not observe any significant association with gastric cancer risk in the pooled analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis based on current evidences suggested that the XPC polymorphisms (Lys939Gln, Val499Arg, and PAT−/+) did not contribute to gastric cancer risk. Considering the limited sample size and ethnicity included in the meta-analysis, further larger scaled and well-designed studies are needed to confirm our results. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/148588031255506

Prognostic Significance of Altered ATRX/DAXX Gene in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Meta-Analysis

BackgroundPancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with increasing incidence and unpredictable behavior. Whole-exome sequencing recently has shown very frequent somatic mutations in the alpha-thalassemia/mental retardation X-linked (ATRX) and death domain-associated protein (DAXX) genes in PanNETs. And the prognostic significance of altered ATRX/DAXX genes in PanNETs patients have been revealed in several reports. However, many of these include small sample size and hold controversial opinions. To increase statistical power, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine a pooled conclusion. We examined the impact of altered ATRX/DAXX genes mainly on overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) in PanNETs.MethodsEligible studies were identified and quality was assessed using multiple search strategies (last search May 2021). Data were collected from studies about prognostic significance of altered ATRX/DAXX in PanNETs. Studies were pooled, and combined hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate strength of the associations.ResultsFourteen studies involving 2313 patients treated for PanNETs were included. After evaluating for publication bias, disease-free survival and relapse-free survival was significantly shortened in patients with altered ATRX/DAXX gene, with combined HR 5.05 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.58-16.20, P = 0.01) and 3.21 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.44-7.16, P < 0.01) respectively. However, the combined data showed there were no difference between patients with altered ATRX/DAXX gene or not in overall survival, with a combined HR 0.71 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44-1.15, P = 0.23). We also performed a subgroup analysis with metastatic patients in overall survival, showing a combined HR 0.22 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.11-0.48, P = 0.96). The small number of studies and paucity of multivariate analyses are the limitations of our study.ConclusionsThis is the first rigorous pooled analysis assessing ATRX/DAXX mutation as prognostic biomarkers in PanNETs. Patients with altered ATRX/DAXX gene would have poor DFS according to the combined data. And altered ATRX/DAXX genes in metastatic patients showed a trend towards improved overall survival, although the difference did not reach statistical significance

Epidemiological and virological characteristics of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in school outbreaks in China

Background: During the 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1 (2009) virus (pH1N1) outbreak, school students were at an increased risk of infection by the pH1N1 virus. However, the estimation of the attack rate showed significant variability. Methods: Two school outbreaks were investigated in this study. A questionnaire was designed to collect information by interview. Throat samples were collected from all the subjects in this study 6 times and sero samples 3 times to confirm the infection and to determine viral shedding. Data analysis was performed using the software STATA 9.0. Findings: The attack rate of the pH1N1 outbreak was 58.3% for the primary school, and 52.9% for the middle school. The asymptomatic infection rates of the two schools were 35.8% and 37.6% respectively. Peak virus shedding occurred on the day of ARI symptoms onset, followed by a steady decrease over subsequent days (p = 0.026). No difference was found either in viral shedding or HI titer between the symptomatic and the asymptomatic infectious groups. Conclusions: School children were found to be at a high risk of infection by the novel virus. This may be because of a heightened risk of transmission owing to increased mixing at boarding school, or a lack of immunity owing to socioeconomic status. We conclude that asymptomatically infectious cases may play an important role in transmission of the pH1N1 virus