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Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Baliao point on short-term complications, such as anal pain and swelling, after procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids (PPH) in patients with mixed hemorrhoids. Methods A total of 124 eligible patients undergoing PPH surgery were included in this study and randomly divided into a control group (n = 67) and an EA group (n = 57), with patients in the control group receiving only PPH surgery and patients in the EA group receiving PPH surgery and EA at Baliao point. Results The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of EA group at 8, 24, 48, and 72 h after operation were significantly lower than those of control group. The anal distension scores at 8, 48, and 72 h after operation were also significantly lower than those of control group. The number of postoperative analgesic drug administration per patient was also significantly lower in the EA group. The incidence of urinary retention and tenesmus in EA group was significantly lower than that in control group within the first day after surgery. Conclusion EA treatment at the Baliao point can alleviate short-term anal pain and anal swelling after the procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids, reduce the incidence of urinary retention, and decrease the use of postoperative analgesic drugs. Trial registration This study was approved and registered by the Chinese Clinical Trial Center, Registration number: ChiCTR2100043519, Registration time: February 21, 2021 (https://www.chictr.org.cn/).

Misunderstandings in the relative efficacy of pro-environmental behaviors may have important consequences for climate mitigation efforts. In this study, we evaluate the ability to perceive the carbon footprint associated with individual actions, known as “carbon numeracy,” in 965 members of the North American public using ranking and tradeoff questions. The questions are designed to independently assess the role of knowledge, ability to do tradeoffs, and basic numeracy skills in determining carbon numeracy. We report multiple lines of evidence suggesting that people underestimate greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel and, to a lesser extent, meat consumption. They are also largely incapable of making tradeoffs between different actions (e.g., the number of hamburgers that would be equivalent to a trans-Atlantic flight in terms of climate impact). Concern for climate change, political orientation, and education were not significant predictors of accuracy in making tradeoffs, but basic numeracy was linked with increased accuracy. The results suggest that further education may be necessary to improve carbon numeracy by providing the public with a basic hierarchy of actions according to carbon reduction efficacy. Consumers seeking to balance their carbon budgets may benefit from external aids (e.g., carbon labels associated with actions) to guide emission-related decision-making.

The cognitive system readily detects statistical relationships where a cue predicts a specific outcome. What is less known is how the mind generates predictions when multiple cues are presented simultaneously that predict different outcomes. Here, we examine the nature of such predictions. Specifically, we examine whether the presence of joint cues leads to conjunctive predictions that represent the overlap between the outcomes associated with the cues, or disjunctive predictions that represent the total possible outcomes. To test this, we used a visual search paradigm where participants first viewed a cue and then searched for a target in an array. Each cue predicted where the target would appear in one of the four quadrants in the array. After learning the cue-location associations, two cues were presented simultaneously, and participants searched for the target where the target now appeared in each quadrant with equal probability. We found that participants were faster to find the target in conjunctive locations over disjunctive ones upon seeing two cues (Experiment 1). This attentional prioritization was not solely driven by the smaller spatial scope of conjunctive locations (Experiment 2), and was present when two cues were presented in two feature dimensions in a single object (Experiment 3). These results were consistent with a conjunctive account, where the presence of joint cues led to a conjunctive prediction that represented the overlap of the different outcomes associated with each cue. The study sheds a new light on how the mind makes predictions in novel contexts based on existing knowledge.

Activation of inflammatory responses regulates the transmission of pain pathways through an integrated network in the peripheral and central nervous systems. The immunopotentiator thymosin alpha-1 (Tα1) has recently been reported to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions in rodents. However, how Tα1 affects inflammatory pain remains unclear. In the present study, intraperitoneal injection of Tα1 attenuated complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced pain hypersensitivity, and decreased the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) in inflamed skin and the spinal cord. We found that CFA-induced peripheral inflammation evoked strong microglial activation, but the effect was reversed by Tα1. Notably, Tα1 reversed the CFA-induced up-regulation of vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) and down-regulated the vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT) in the spinal cord. Taken together, these results suggest that Tα1 plays a therapeutic role in inflammatory pain and in the modulation of microglia-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in addition to mediation of VGLUT and VGAT expression in the spinal cord. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12264-019-00346-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A challenge for the visual system is to detect regularities from multiple dimensions of the environment. Here we examine how regularities in multiple feature dimensions are distinguished from randomness. Participants viewed a matrix containing a structured half and a random half, and judged whether the boundary between the two halves was horizontal or vertical. In Experiments 1 and 2, the cells in the matrix varied independently in the color dimension (red or blue), the shape dimension (circle or square), or both. We found that boundary discrimination accuracy was higher when regularities were present in the color dimension than in the shape dimension, but the accuracy was the same when regularities were present in the color dimension alone or in both dimensions. By adding a third surface dimension (hollow or filled) in Experiments 3 and 4, we found that discrimination accuracy was higher when regularities were present in the surface dimension than in the color dimension, but was the same when regularities were present in the surface dimension alone or in all three dimensions. Moreover, when there were two conflicting boundaries, participants chose the boundary defined by the surface dimension, followed by the color dimension as more visible than the shape dimension (Experiments 5 and 6). Finally, participants were faster at detecting differences in the surface dimension, followed by the color and the shape dimensions (Experiments 7 and 8). These results suggest that perception of regularities in multiple feature dimensions is driven by the presence of regularities in the most salient feature dimension.

Despite the scientific consensus, there is widespread public controversy about climate change. Previous explanations focused on interpretations hampered by political bias or insufficient knowledge of climate facts. We propose that public views of climate change may also be related to an attentional bias at a more basic level of cognitive processing. We hypothesized that selective visual attention towards or away from climate-related information would be associated with climate concern. To test prioritization of climate-related stimuli under conditions of limited attention, we asked participants to identify climate-related and neutral words within a rapid stream of stimuli. Undergraduate students attended to climate-related words more readily than neutral words. This attentional prioritization correlated with self-rated climate concern. We then examined this relationship in a more diverse community sample. Principal component analysis of survey data in the community sample revealed a component indexing a relationship between climate concern and political orientation. That component was correlated with the degree of selective inattention to climate-related words. Our findings suggest that climate-related communications may be most effective if tailored in a manner accounting for how attentional priorities differ between audiences—particularly those with different political orientations.

Principles of behavioral economics have been used to change human behavior effectively in a variety of disciplines. For the field of transportation, however, there have only been a few cases where behavioral economics was applied to change behavior in randomized field experiments. In our current study, we aimed to increase vehicle inspection behavior among carsharing users, as an example to apply behavioral principles to transportation. Specifically, we developed a simple nudge in the form of a reminder card to visually remind users to inspect the vehicle prior to their trip. The effects of the card were tested in a randomized field experiment by observing and interviewing users of a carsharing service. We found that significantly more users inspected the vehicle in the presence of the reminder card, compared to a control group where no card was used. Over 4 weeks, the improvement in inspection behavior was constant. Critically, the inspection increased even in the absence of the reminder card in the last 2 weeks of the experiment in one of the two observation sites, revealing a persistence effect of the reminder card. The current study not only demonstrates the effectiveness of a simple reminder based on the behavioral principle of salience, but also offers the potential to apply behavioral economics to the field of transportation.

The environment often is stable, but some aspects may change over time. The challenge for the visual system is to discover and flexibly adapt to the changes. We examined how attention is shifted in the presence of changes in the underlying structure of the environment. In six experiments, observers viewed four simultaneous streams of objects while performing a visual search task. In the first half of each experiment, the stream in the structured location contained regularities, the shapes in the random location were randomized, and gray squares appeared in two neutral locations. In the second half, the stream in the structured or the random location may change. In the first half of all experiments, visual search was facilitated in the structured location, suggesting that attention was consistently biased toward regularities. In the second half, this bias persisted in the structured location when no change occurred (Experiment 1), when the regularities were removed (Experiment 2), or when new regularities embedded in the original or novel stimuli emerged in the previously random location (Experiments 3 and 6). However, visual search was numerically but no longer reliably faster in the structured location when the initial regularities were removed and new regularities were introduced in the previously random location (Experiment 4), or when novel random stimuli appeared in the random location (Experiment 5). This suggests that the attentional bias was weakened. Overall, the results demonstrate that the attentional bias to regularities was persistent but also sensitive to changes in the environment.

Background Valid and comparable cause of death (COD) statistics are crucial for health policy analyses. Variations in COD assignment across geographical areas are well-documented while socio-institutional factors may affect the process of COD and underlying cause of death (UCD) determination. This study examines the comparability of UCD statistics in Hong Kong and Shanghai, having two political systems within one country, and assesses how socio-institutional factors influence UCD comparability. Methods A mixed method was used. Quantitative analyses involved anonymized official mortality records. Mortality rates were analyzed by location of death. To analyze the odds ratio of being assigned to a particular UCD, logistic regressions were performed. Qualitative analyses involved literature reviews and semi-structural interviews with key stakeholders in death registration practices. Thematic analysis was used. Results Age-standardized death rates from certain immediate conditions (e.g., septicemia, pneumonia, and renal failure) were higher in Hong Kong. Variations in UCD determination may be attributed to preference of location of death, procedures of registering deaths outside hospital, perceptions on the causal chain of COD, implications of the selected UCD for doctors’ professional performance, and governance and processes of data quality review. Conclusions Variations in socio-institutional factors were related to the process of certifying and registering COD in Hong Kong and Shanghai. To improve regional data comparability, health authorities should develop standard procedures for registering deaths outside hospital, provide guidelines and regular training for doctors, develop a unified automated coding system, consolidate a standard procedure for data review and validity checks, and disseminate information concerning both UCD and multiple causes of death.

The interfacial energies of MC/γ-Fe and formation energies of MC carbides have been investigated using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). Results show that the replacement of Nb by Mo in the NbC lattice is unfavorable with respect to the formation energy. However, it reduces the lattice parameter of MC and decreases the $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ (interfacial chemical energy) of MC/γ-Fe, thus favoring the formation of complex (Nb, Mo)C carbide. The substitution of Nb by Mo at the interface of MC/γ-Fe system promotes the hybridizations of Mo–1NNFe and C–1NNFe (or 2NNFe) (the first or second nearest neighboring Fe atoms), which leads to a decrease in $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ . The influence of bond energy is estimated using the discrete lattice plane/nearest neighbor broken bond (DLP/NNBB) model. It is found that the reduced $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ is attributed to the much smaller value of $$e_{{{\rm{Fe-C}}}} - e_{{{\rm{Mo-C}}}}$$ (the difference between Fe–C and Mo–C interactions) compared to $$e_{{{\rm{Fe-C}}}} - e_{{{\rm{Nb-C}}}}$$ (the difference between Fe–C and Nb–C interactions). The results obtained from the analysis of the precipitates in Nb- and Nb–Mo-bearing steels are in a good agreement with the calculations.

Phthalic acid ester (PAE) pollution to soil can lead to phytotoxicity in plants and potential health risks to human being. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as a kind of PAE has a large usage amount and large residues in soil. To analyze antioxidant responses of plants to DBP stress, effects of varying DBP concentrations on cucumber seedlings growth had been investigated. Malonaldehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), chlorophyll, proline, glutathione (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSH) contents and activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and peroxidase (POD) were studied. The results showed that H2O2 content increased in cucumber seedlings with the increase of DBP concentration. The chlorophyll content in the higher DBP significantly declined compared to the control. In the present study, a disturbance of the GSH redox balance was evidenced by a marked decrease in GSH/GSSG ratio in cucumber seedlings subjected DBP stress. Our results indicated that DBP treatment not only inhibited antioxidant capacity and antioxidant enzyme activity in seedlings' leaves but might also induce chlorophyll degradation or reduce the synthesis of chlorophyll. Moreover, it could also enhance the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which induced membrane lipid peroxidation. DBP also altered the ultrastructure of mesophyll cells, damaged membrane structure of chloroplast and mitochondrion, and increased the number and size of starch grains in chloroplasts reducing the photosynthetic capacity.

Policymakers play a critical role in the global response to climate change. Now, research reveals an effective visual strategy for communicating climate science to policymakers and climate negotiators.

We present a computational model which predicts people's switching behaviour in repeated gambling scenarios such as the Iowa Gambling Task. This Utility-Caution model suggests that people's tendency to switch away from an option is due to a utility factor which reflects the probability and the amount of losses experienced compared to gains, and a caution factor which describes the number of choices made consecutively in that option. Using a novel next-choice-prediction method, the Utility-Caution model was tested using two sets of data on the performance of participants in the Iowa Gambling Task. The model produced significantly more accurate predictions of people's choices than the previous Bayesian expected-utility model and expectancy-valence model.