Tracking hand movements captures the response dynamics of the evaluative priming effect.

We tested the response dynamics of the evaluative priming effect (i.e. facilitation of target responses following evaluatively congruent compared with evaluatively incongruent primes) using a mouse tracking procedure that records hand movements during the execution of categorisation tasks. In Experiment 1, when participants performed the evaluative categorisation task but not the non-evaluative semantic categorisation task, their mouse trajectories for evaluatively incongruent trials curved more toward the opposite response than those for evaluatively congruent trials, indicating the emergence of evaluative priming effects based on response competition. In Experiment 2, implementing a task-switching procedure in which evaluative and non-evaluative categorisation tasks were intermixed, we obtained reliable evaluative priming effects in the non-evaluative semantic categorisation task as well as in the evaluative categorisation task when participants assigned attention to the evaluative stimulus dimension. Analyses of hand movements revealed that the evaluative priming effects in the evaluative categorisation task were reflected in the mouse trajectories, while evaluative priming effects in the non-evaluative categorisation tasks were reflected in initiation times (i.e. the time elapsed between target onset and first mouse movement). Based on these findings, we discuss the methodological benefits of the mouse tracking procedure and the underlying processes of evaluative priming effects.

When You Become a Superman: Subliminal Exposure to Death-Related Stimuli Enhances Men's Physical Force.

Research based on terror management theory (TMT) has consistently found that reminders to individuals about their mortality engender responses aimed at shoring up faith in their cultural belief system. Previous studies have focused on the critical role that the accessibility of death-related thought plays in these effects. Moreover, it has been shown that these effects occur even when death-related stimuli are presented without awareness, suggesting the unconscious effects of mortality salience. Because one pervasive cultural ideal for men is to be strong, we hypothesized that priming death-related stimuli would lead to increasing physical force for men, but not for women. Building on self-escape mechanisms from TMT, we propose that the mechanism that turns priming of death-related stimuli into physical exertion relies on the co-activation of the self with death-related concepts. To test this hypothesis, we subjected 123 participants to a priming task that enabled us to combine the subliminal priming of death-related words with briefly presented self-related words. Accordingly, three different conditions were created: a (control) condition in which only self-related stimuli were presented, a (priming) condition in which death-related words were subliminally primed but not directly paired with self-related stimuli, and a (priming-plus-self) condition in which death-related words were subliminally primed and immediately linked to self-related stimuli. We recorded handgrip force before and after the manipulations. Results showed that male participants in the priming-plus-self condition had a higher peak force output than the priming and control conditions, while this effect was absent among female participants. These results support the hypothesis that unconscious mortality salience, which is accompanied with self-related stimuli, increases physical force for men but not for women. The gender difference may reflect the cultural belief system, in which individuals are taught that men should be strong. Thus, the unconscious mortality salience produced by exposure to the death-related stimuli motivates need to conform to this internalized cultural standard.

Can Magic Deception Be Detected at an Unconscious Level?

Magicians present magic tricks that seem to defy the laws of nature, entertaining us by manipulating our attention, perception, and awareness. However, although we are unaware of these manipulations at the level of conscious experience, we may still be aware of them at an unconscious level. We examined whether people can detect a magic deception outside of conscious awareness using an indirect measure. In the present study, we used the Cups and Balls magic trick, which is the transposition of balls between two cups. Participants viewed a video of the magic performance and were required to indicate the position of the ball in a direct self-report measure and completed the Single Category Implicit Association Test as an indirect measure. The results showed that the indirect measure of trick detection had higher accuracy than the direct measure. Our results suggest that while humans cannot consciously detect the magic deception, they do have a sense of what occurred on an unconscious level.

Incisional bladder hernia following appendectomy: report of a case.

We herein report the case of a 68-year-old male who presented with a few years' history of swelling at the scar of an appendectomy, which he had undergone nearly 40 years earlier, and which was associated with radiating pain towards the penis when he pushed on the swelling. The scar was located in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. Abdominal sonography and a computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated the presence of an incisional bladder hernia, and surgery was performed. The herniated bladder was successfully replaced into the preperitoneal space, and the orifice was covered with a polypropylene mesh. Most bladder hernias develop in the inguinal and/or femoral region, and an incisional bladder hernia is extremely rare, especially after abdominal surgery. To our knowledge, this is the fourth report of an incisional bladder hernia following abdominal surgery.

[A case of long-term survival after resection of metastatic lymph nodes along the superior mesenteric vein from early gastric cancer].

A 63-year-old man underwent distal gastrectomy and D1 + beta lymph node dissection for type II c early gastric cancer in the posterior wall of the antrum. In the fifth postoperative month, a mass appeared in the epigastric region, and serum tumor marker levels rose. Abdominal CT revealed a 4-cm mass anterior to the superior mesenteric vein. He was diagnosed with recurrence in the lymph nodes along the superior mesenteric vein (No. 14v). Since there was no evidence of recurrence elsewhere, the patient underwent resection of the lymph nodes and transverse colectomy, followed by five courses of chemotherapy with S-1 + cisplatin. At present, more than 38 months after surgery, he is alive without recurrence. Generally, chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for recurrent gastric cancer; however, surgery appears to be a treatment option if the tumor is localized and resectable.

Early use of brachial-basilic arteriovenous fistula.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term patency rate and complications associated with the use of the BBAVF in the early period. METHODS: The records of all patients undergoing BBAVFs for hemodialysis access between June 2001 and June 2011 were retrospectively evaluated. We allowed the use of the BBAVF beginning two weeks after the fistula creation. The primary and secondary patencies were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: A total of 44 BBAVFs were created for 41 patients. Most (73.2%) of the patients had previously been on hemodialysis. A previous history of AVG creation was noted in 36.6% and previous insertion of a catheter was reported for 72.7% of the patients, respectively. The mean time to the first cannulation of the BBAVF was 18.8 days (13-42 days). In two cases, the BBAVFs were not used. Postoperative complications were noted in 2 cases, and included prolonged arm edema and thrombosis. There was no infection of the wound or steal syndrome. The primary and secondary patency rates were 68.1% and 84.2% at 1 year, 55.0% and 80.7% at 2 years, and 38.1% and 70.1% at 5 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the patency rates following the early use of the BBAVFs were not inferior to the previously reported patency rates in the literature. In cases where the patients already have an inserted central catheter, the early use of the BBAVFs decreases the complications associated with catheters.

Sural Artery Bypass in Buerger's Disease: Report of a Case.

A 72 year-old man was admitted to the hospital to receive treatment for resting pain and an ulcer, which had developed on an amputation stump, 4 months after he had undergone a thrombectomy, below-the-knee popliteal-dorsal pedis artery bypass of his left leg, and digital amputation of his 2nd toe. Angiography demonstrated diffuse arterial and bypass occlusion in his left leg that did not include a sural artery, which was the main collateral. Therefore, the patient underwent reversed saphenous vein bypass from the common femoral artery to the medial sural artery. His leg pain disappeared, and the ulcer healed promptly.

Femoral vein compression resulting from a ganglion of the hip joint: a case report.

The development of a ganglion in the hip joint is a rare cause of lower limb swelling. We herein describe a case of a ganglion of the hip with compression of the femoral vein that produced signs and symptoms that mimicked a deep vein thrombosis. Needle aspiration of the ganglion was easily performed, and swelling of the left lower limb promptly improved. Intensive follow-up of this case was important because the recurrence rate of ganglions after needle aspiration is high.

Novel DNA virus isolated from samples showing endothelial cell necrosis in the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica.

Economic loss due to viral endothelial cell necrosis of eel (VECNE) of Anguilla japonica is a serious problem for the cultured Japanese eel market. However, the viral genome responsible for VECNE is unknown. We recently developed a rapid determination system for viral nucleic acid sequences (RDV) to determine viral genome sequences. In this study, viral DNA fragments were obtained using RDV, and approximately 15-kbp circular full genome sequences were determined using a next-generation sequencing system, overlapping PCR, and Southern blot analysis. One open reading frame (ORF) was homologous to the large T-antigen of polyomavirus; other ORFs have no homology with any nucleic or amino acid sequences of polyomavirus. Therefore, as this DNA virus might comprise a novel virus family, we provisionally named it Japanese eel endothelial cells-infecting virus (JEECV). JEECV was detected in both naturally and experimentally infected eels, suggesting that JEECV potentially causes VECNE.