Procaine (Novocain) Treatment of Patients with Senile and Arteriosclerotic Brain Disease

Of 32 patients (13 men and 19 women) with a mean age of 81.1 years committed to a mental hospital for senile or arteriosclerotic psychoses, 11 received 2% procaine hydrochloride according to Aslan''s method, for an average of 13 months, 11 for 6 months, and 10 normal saline. Of 20 patients, with a mean age of 72 years, who attended the geriatric psychiatric clinic of a general hospital, 10 were treated with procaine hydrochloride and 10 with normal saline for six months. Procaine hydrochloride applied for six or 12 months did not appreciably alter the symptomatology and course of senile and arteriosclerotic brain disease. It did not improve the senile amnestic syndrome or neurological symptomatology, when present. The general mood and level of activity improved temporarily. It was also temporarily helpful in alleviating depressive symptoms in patients suffering from arteriosclerotic brain disease.     

Comparative Energy, Environmental, and Economic Analysis of Traditional and E-commerce DVD Rental Networks

This study is a comparative life-cycle assessment (LCA) of two competing digital video disc (DVD) rental networks: the e-commerce option, where the customer orders the movies online, and the traditional business option, where the customer goes to the rental store to rent a movie. The analytical framework proposed is for a customer living in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. The primary energy and environmental performance for both networks are presented using a multicriterion LCA. The package selected by the traditional network is responsible for 67% of the difference in total energy consumption of the two alternatives. Results show that the e-commerce alternative consumed 33% less energy and emitted 40% less CO2 than the traditional option. A set of sensitivity analyses test the influence of distance traveled, transportation mode, and reuse of DVD and DVD packaging on the final results. The mode of transportation used by the customer in the traditional business model also affects global emissions and energy consumption. The customer walking to the store is by far the best option in the traditional network; however, the e-commerce option performed comparatively better despite all transportation modes tested. A novel economic indicator, ESAL, is used to compare different transportation modes based on the level of stress exerted on the pavement. The two networks are compared on the basis of cost accounting; consistent with its energy and environmental advantages, the e-commerce network also exerts lesser economic impact, by $1.17, for the functional unit tested.     

Using crowdsourcing to examine relations between delay and probability discounting

Although the extensive lines of research on delay and/or probability discounting have greatly expanded our understanding of human decision-making processes, the relation between these two phenomena remains unclear. For example, some studies have reported robust associations between delay and probability discounting, whereas others have failed to demonstrate a consistent relation between the two. The current study sought to clarify this relation by examining the relation between delay and probability discounting in a large sample of internet users (n = 904) using the Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) crowdsourcing service. Because AMT is a novel data collection platform, the findings were validated through the replication of a number of previously established relations (e.g., relations between delay discounting and cigarette smoking status). A small but highly significant positive correlation between delay and probability discounting rates was obtained, and principal component analysis suggested that two (rather than one) components were preferable to account for the variance in both delay and probability discounting. Taken together, these findings suggest that delay and probability discounting may be related, but are not manifestations of a single construct (e.g., impulsivity).     

基于ISSR标记的辽宁4个东北林蛙种群遗传多样性分析

辽宁是东北林蛙Rana dybowskii主要分布地之一,种群数量巨大,其群体遗传多样性有待评估.本研究应用ISSR标记技术对东北林蛙4个种群105个样本进行研究,5个引物共获得44条清晰谱带,4个种群的多态位点率均大于75%,Nei's基因多样性为0.2851,Shannon信息指数为0.4476,显示了较高的遗传多样性.对遗传分化系数、Nei's遗传距离、AMOVA分子变异巢式方差分析和F-统计量等遗传参数的统计结果表明,辽宁东北林蛙种群间已经出现一定程度的遗传分化,分析认为,自然屏障(高山和平原等)以及栖息地片段化是其遗传分化形成的主要因素.