The neural correlates of working memory training in typically developing children

Working memory training improves children's cognitive performance on untrained tasks; however, little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms. This was investigated in 32 typically developing children aged 10–14 years (19 girls and 13 boys) using a randomized controlled design and multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (Devon, UK; 2015–2016). Training improved working memory performance and increased intrinsic functional connectivity between the bilateral intraparietal sulci. Furthermore, improvements in working memory were associated with greater recruitment of the left middle frontal gyrus on a complex span task. Repeated engagement of fronto-parietal regions during training may increase their activity and functional connectivity over time, affording greater working memory performance. The plausibility of generalizable cognitive benefits from a neurobiological perspective and implications for neurodevelopmental theory are discussed.     

The Unintentional Effects on Body Donation Programs of a Competency-Based Curriculum in Postgraduate Medical Education

As medical programs place increasing importance on competency-based training and surgical simulations for residents, anatomy laboratories, and body donation programs find themselves in a position of adapting to changing demands. To better assess the demand for “life-like” cadaveric specimens and evaluate the possible impacts that competency-based medical education could have upon the body donation program of McGill University, Canada, the authors tracked, over the course of the last 10 years, the number of soft-embalmed specimens, along with the number of teaching sessions and the residents enrolled in competency-based programs that are using cadaveric material. The results reveal that the number of soft-embalmed specimens used within residency training increased from 5 in 2009 to 35 in 2019, representing an increase from 6% of bodies to 36.5% of the total number of body donors embalmed in this institution. Correspondingly, the number of annual teaching sessions for residents increased from 19 in 2012 to 116 in 2019. These increases in teaching are correlated with increasing number of residents enrolled in competency-based programs over the last 3 years (Pearson r ranging from 0.9705 to 0.9903, and R² ranging from 0.9418 to 0.9808). Those results suggest that the new skill-centered curricula which require residents to perform specific tasks within realistic settings, exhibit a growing demand for “life-like” cadaveric specimens. Institutions’ body donation programs must, therefore, adapt to those greater need for cadaveric specimens, which presents many challenges, ranging from the logistical to the ethical.     

在线健康社区用户个人健康信息管理行为特征研究

[目的/意义] 旨在对在线健康社区用户的个人健康信息管理行为特征进行分析，并在此基础上，对"平台-PHIM-健康目标"这一模式中的元素之间的关系进行探讨。[方法/过程] 选择患有红斑狼疮的在线健康社区用户作为调查对象。采用聚类方法对个人健康信息管理行为的总体测度水平不同的群体进行识别；利用单因素方差分析（One-way ANOVA）对不同群组进行比较研究。[结果/结论] 将依托在线健康社区进行的个人健康信息管理行为界定为健康信息发现、健康信息互动和健康信息分享。从数据分析结果来看，首先，在线健康社区的红斑狼疮患者在个人健康信息管理行为水平上存在显著的高低差异。第二，用户所感知到的社会支持与其个人健康信息管理水平存在正相关关系。第三，个人健康信息管理与用户健康目标之间存在正相关关系。本研究为在线健康社区完善其服务方式，促进慢性病人个人健康信息管理水平提高提供合理建议。     

The resilience of scientific publication: From elite ancient academies to open access

• Scientific publication has been a key part of the scientific method since the inception of Philosophical Transactions in 1665.
• The scientific publications industry has grown exponentially along with science, incorporating technological innovations along the way, and adapting journal processes and practices to changing needs of science as it matured.
• Of all the technological innovations over more than 300 years, the move to online journals may be the most significant, making open access to content practical for the first time.
• The open‐access movement is disrupting the economics of journal publishing, which is hoped will make the industry more competitive: the ability of the publications industry to adapt to open access will be a measure of its resilience.
• The demand for articles published in reputable journals continues to grow as readers trust the credibility of peer reviewed journal articles, and good authors value the prestige of publishing in the best journals.
• It is difficult to predict what new functionalities may be included in articles of the future or what additional services publishers and editors will provide, but there is every reason to believe that scientific journal articles are here to stay.

     

Early Childhood Parenting Predicts Late Childhood Brain Functional Connectivity During Emotion Perception and Reward Processing

Seventy-nine 3-year olds and their mothers participated in a laboratory-based task to assess maternal hostility. Mothers also reported their behavioral regulation of their child. Seven years later, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while viewing emotional faces and completing a reward processing task. Maternal hostility predicted more negative amygdala connectivity during exposure to sad relative to neutral faces with frontal and parietal regions as well as more negative left ventral striatal connectivity during monetary gain relative to loss feedback with the right posterior orbital frontal cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast, maternal regulation predicted enhanced cingulo-frontal connectivity during monetary gain relative to loss feedback. Results suggest parenting is associated with alterations in emotion and reward processing circuitry 7–8 years later.     

被子植物精细胞分离和特性研究进展

精细胞分离是研究雄性生殖发育的前提之一,近半个世纪以来,人们运用不断更新的生物实验技术,对被子植物精细胞开展了分离及细胞分子特征的研究。分析被子植物精细胞分离方法,总结精细胞二型性与倾向性、细胞融合方面的研究成果,并对其研究意义和前景进行讨论。