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Time-dependent increases in cue-induced nicotine and methamphetamine craving during abstinence were recently reported in human drug-dependent individuals. In the present study, we sought to determine whether this 'incubation of craving' phenomenon also occurs in alcoholics. Four groups of 80 inpatient adult male alcoholics were assessed in a single session (between-group design) for cue-induced alcohol craving at 7, 14, 30 and 60 days of abstinence. Another group that included 19 patients was repeatedly tested for cue-induced alcohol craving at the same abstinence days as above. Other psychological and physiological measures were assessed at the four abstinence timepoints. Cue-induced alcohol craving measured with visual analogue scales was the highest at 60 days of abstinence both between and within groups. However, heart rate, blood pressure and skin conductance responses did not differ between abstinent groups. These results provide evidence of the incubation of alcohol craving in humans, extending previous reports with smokers and methamphetamine addicts.

In conclusion, the systolic performance of the dilated ventricle, which depends on an elevated preload, is critically affected by the appropriate timing of the AVD during exercise. In contrast to normal pacemaker patients, in CRT the relatively short baseline AVD should be prolonged at increased heart rates. Further studies with other means of measuring exercise cardiac performance are needed to confirm these unexpected findings.

The typicality effect describes a phenomenon whereby a typical item is easier to be judged as a member of a category than are atypical items. This effect has been intensively studied in the context of category verification tasks. The present study further investigated the typicality effect using our newly developed category-based deductive reasoning task. Subjects were required to judge whether an incoming stimulus had the properties described in the premise presented before. The stimuli were either typical or atypical members of four target semantic categories or were non-target stimuli. According to the ERP results, three phases were needed to determine whether the object has the property associated with the category in the premise. First, significant amplitude differences were seen between typical and atypical items at N1, which suggested that attention processing was influenced by the expectation in this up-to-down (deductive) process. The premise automatically induced the expectation of the prototype of one concept, i.e. the expectation for the prototype of birds was induced when the premise was "Birds possess the property C". Typical items (e.g., sparrow) were more similar to the prototype; hence, they were easier to be matched with the prototype induced by the premise than were atypical items (e.g., ostrich). Additionally, there was a dissociation between typical and atypical items at P2, which suggested that the participants' early detection of an item's category membership was influenced by the typicality. Thirdly, N400 effect is related to the process of semantic processes and determining whether the object has the property associated with the category in the premise. N400 mean amplitudes during the 300-500 ms epoch were significantly greater for non-target members than for target members, while words of lower typicality (atypical) evoked greater N400 amplitudes during the 350-450 ms epoch than did words of higher typicality (typical).

To determine whether cardiac failure produced by chronic coronary artery stenosis was associated with the activation of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the myocardium, the changes in number and size of left ventricular myocytes were measured in rats 3 months after surgery. The hypertrophied left ventricle was found to possess 44%, 32%, 49%, and 48% fewer mononucleated, binucleated, trinucleated, and tetranucleated myocytes, respectively. In contrast, the hypertrophied right ventricle contained 1.49 x 10(6) more myocytes as a result of a 2.1-fold, 1.4-fold, and 1.4-fold increase in mononucleated, binucleated, and tetranucleated myocytes. Myocyte cell volume was seen to increase 49% and 21% in left and right ventricular myocytes, respectively. The process of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the right ventricular myocardium was accompanied by capillary proliferation, and these events were responsible for the parallel addition of newly formed cells and capillaries within the wall and mural thickening. Moreover, the in-series insertion of new myocytes contributed to right ventricular dilatation after coronary artery stenosis. In view of the fact that extensive myocardial damage and cell loss may have masked the phenomenon of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the left ventricle, the presence of DNA synthesis in myocyte nuclei was evaluated at 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after coronary artery stenosis. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling markedly increased in myocyte nuclei of both ventricles, reaching its peak at 1 and 2 weeks. BrdU labeling of nonmyocyte nuclei also increased but mostly at 2 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the relationship between body image, selfefficacy, self-esteem, and sports participation by gender, grade, and specialty and then to provide a reference for promoting participation in sports and physical activities in college students. Methods: Using stratified random sampling, undergraduate students in western China were selected as participants. The data obtained in this study were processed by SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 21.0 statistical software. Results: Body image was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy, selfesteem, and sports participation. Self-efficacy was significantly positively correlated with self-esteem and sports participation. Self-esteem was significantly positively correlated with sports participation. Body image had a direct effect on sports participation, with an effect value of 0.124. Furthermore, the mediating effects of self-efficacy (0.079) and self-esteem (0.108) were significant in the relationship between body image and sports participation. Meanwhile, the chain mediating role of self-efficacy-self-esteem was also obvious (0.035). Conclusion: Body image, self-efficacy, and self-esteem had significant influence on sports participation in college students. At the same time, the mediating effect of self-efficacy, self-esteem, and self-efficacy-self-esteem on body image and sports participation were established, and self-esteem was the key factor to sports participation.

BackgroundIt is well established that increased internet use is related to an increased risk of musculoskeletal pain among adolescents. The relationship between internet addiction (IA), a unique condition involving severe internet overuse, and musculoskeletal pain has, however, not been reported. This study aimed to investigate the association between IA and the risk of musculoskeletal pain among Chinese college students.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 4211 Chinese college freshmen. IA status was evaluated using the 20-item Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT). IA was defined as internet addiction score ≥50 points. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine association between IA categories (normal, mild, and moderate-to-severe) and musculoskeletal pain.ResultsAmong all participants; neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, and low back and waist pain was reported by 29.2, 33.9, 3.8, 7.9, and 27.9%, respectively. The prevalence of IA was 17.4%. After adjusting for potential confounders, the results showed significant differences in the risk of musculoskeletal pain among different IA categories. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for neck pain with IA categories were 1.000 (reference), 1.451 (1.221, 1.725), and 1.994 (1.608, 2.473), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For shoulder pain, these were 1.000 (reference), 1.520 (1.287, 1.795), and 2.057 (1.664, 2.542), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For elbow pain, ORs (95% CIs) were 1.000 (reference), 1.627 (1.016, 2.605), and 2.341 (1.382, 3.968), respectively (P for trends: 0.001). Those for wrist/hand pain were 1.000 (reference), 1.508 (1.104, 2.060), and 2.236 (1.561, 3.202), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For low back and waist pain with severe IA categories, these were 1.000 (reference), 1.635 (1.368, 1.955), and 2.261 (1.813, 2.819), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001).ConclusionThis cross-sectional study showed that severe IA was associated with a higher risk of musculoskeletal pain in Chinese college freshmen. In future research, it will be necessary to explore causality regarding this relationship using interventional studies.

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