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The study was done to check replication of changes in sensitivity with a simple simulator as had been obtained in an experiment using the real road situation. Another purpose was to control simulator sickness which could have confounded data from testing with a simulator or in actual driving. Sensitivity of the drivers (72 healthy young adults, M age=24 yr., SD=5) while performing the driving task was measured in terms of subjective ratings of simulator sickness and affect, and physiological measures (i.e., galvanic skin responses and skin temperature) at different driving speeds and in driving mode conditions, using a simple vehicle simulator. Analysis showed measures of drivers' state, including simulator sickness, physiological indices, and subjective reports, increased with driving speed (30→90→120 km/hr.) and driving mode change from the regular speed to sudden increasing to sudden decreasing speeds. Particularly, the results suggest that she increased autonomic nervous activation induces increase of rated simulator sickness. Based upon the same tendency in change of the simulator sickness and physiological state with driving speed and driving mode conditions, it was concluded that, if the results obtained from the simulator experiment can be generalized to the real situation, the simulator sickness must be considered a confounding factor. The results also suggest that the changes in human sensitivity are dependent upon aspects related to speed of a vehicle and driving mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been an established treatment for indicated early gastric cancer (EGC) without deterioration of quality of life (QOL) compared with surgical resection. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term QOL in patients undergoing ESD for EGC. Methods: Patients scheduled to undergo curative ESD for EGC were prospectively enrolled from 12 institutions between May 2010 and December 2011. Assessments of QOL with Korean versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QOL questionnaire-core (QLQ-C30) and a gastric cancer-specific questionnaire (STO22) were performed at baseline and at 7 days, 3 months, and 6 months after ESD. Results: A total of 666 subjects were assessed for QLQ-C30 and QLQ-STO22. The mean QLQ-C30 score was 69.5 at baseline, 68.8 at 7 days, 73.1 at 3 months, and 73.2 at 6 months. The global health status on the EORTC QLQ-C30 was significantly improved after 3 and 6 months (p=0.0003 and p<0.0001, respectively). The QLQ-C30 and STO22 scores were not significantly different, or they only slightly deteriorated between before and immediately after ESD, but they were significantly improved after 3 and 6 months (p<0.05). Conclusions: QOL did not deteriorate immediately after ESD, and it improved more significantly at up to 6 months in patients who underwent curative ESD for EGC without significant complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is an effective treatment for early gastric cancer (EGC) that has demonstrated a minimal risk of lymph node metastasis in retrospective studies. We sought to prospectively evaluate the short-term outcomes of ESD treatment in EGCs. Methods: A prospective multicenter cohort study of neoplasms 3 cm or less in diameter at endoscopic size evaluation was performed in 12 Korean ESD study grouprelated university hospitals and the National Cancer Center. Resected specimens were evaluated by the central pathologic review board. Results: A patient cohort (n=712) with a total of 737 EGCs was analyzed. The margin-free en bloc resection rate was 97.3%, and curative resection of 640 lesions (86.8%) was achieved. Lower curative resection rates were associated with lesions 2 to 3 cm in size prior to ESD compared with lesions 2 cm or less in size (78.6% vs 88.1%, respectively, p=0.009). Significant factors associated with noncurative resection were moderately or poorly differentiated histological type, posterior wall tumor location, tumor size larger than 3 cm, ulceration, and submucosal invasion. Delayed bleeding occurred in 49 patients (6.9%), and 12 patients (1.7%) exhibited perforations. Conclusions: ESD is an effective treatment with a high curative resection rate for EGCs that meets relatively conservative pre-ESD indications. Long-term survival outcomes should be evaluated in followup studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a tactile stimulator that could separately or simultaneously display the vibrotactile and pressure sense was developed. The developed system consisted of a control unit, a drive unit, and an actuator, and can be operated with PC or manually. This system quantitatively controls the stimulation parameters such as the stimulation intensity, duration, frequency, and stimulation type. A preliminary electroencephalogram (EEG) experiment for three types of stimulation (vibrotactile, pressure sense, vibrotactile + pressure sense) highlights that the system could be used in complex tactile cognitive studies. An event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS) were measured at the area of C3 and C4 for all three types of stimulation, and a clear response was identified in the contralateral somatosensory area from the brain topology. Therefore, it is expected that this system could be widely used in single and complex human tactile cognition and perception studies for vibrotactile and pressure sensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated neuronal activation differences under two conditions: driving only and distracted driving. Driving and distraction tasks were performed using a Magnetic Resonance (MR)-compatible driving simulator with a driving wheel and pedal. The experiment consisted of three blocks, and each block had both a Rest phase (1 min) and a Driving phase (2 min). During the Rest phase, drivers were instructed to simply look at the stop screen without performing any driving tasks. During the Driving phase, each driver was required to drive at 110 km/h under two conditions: driving only and driving while performing additional distraction tasks. The results show that the precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, cuneus, and declive are less activated in distracted driving than in driving only. These regions are responsible for spatial perception, spatial attention, visual processing and motor control. However, the cingulate gyrus and sub-lobar regions (lentiform nucleus and caudate), which are responsible for error monitoring and control of unnecessary movement, show increased activation during distracted driving compared with driving only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Real-Time Subjective Emotionality Assessment (RTSEA) system was developed for this study. The system is composed of two parts: an emotionality input and evaluation parts. An experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of the RTSEA system. The present study compared Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) with the RTSEA by presenting 28 subjects with pictures that aroused either positive or negative emotion. Following the experiment, a subjective assessment using a questionnaire was given to the same subjects. According to the correlation coefficients, changes of the RTSEA had strong correlations with the changes of the GSR. Also, the questionnaire results showed marked similarity to the average responses of the RTSEA. In conclusion, the most remarkable characteristic of the present system is that it not only assesses the average emotionality when stimuli are presented, but also shows the trend of change in emotionality over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]