The Electrophysiology of Semantic Processing in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder:A Meta-Analysis

Language difficulties vary widely among people with autism spectrum disorder(ASD).However,the semantic processing of autistic person and its underlying electrophysiological mechanism are still unclear.This meta-analysis aimed to explore the disturbance of semantic processing in patients with ASD.PubMed,Web of Science,and Embase were searched for eventrelated potential(ERP)studies on semantic processing in autistic people published in English before September 01,2022.Pooled estimates were calculated by fixed-effects or random-effects models according to the heterogeneity using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 2.0.The potential moderators were explored by meta-regression and subgroup analysis.This meta-analysis has been registered at the Prospero International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews(no.CRD 42021265852).A total of 14 articles and 18 studies,including 254 autistic people and 262 neurodevelopmental people were included in this meta-analysis.Compared to the comparison group,autistic people showed an overall reduced N400 amplitude(Hedges’g=0.350,p<0.001)in response to linguistic stimuli instead of non-linguistic stimuli.The N400 amplitude was affected by verbal intelligence and gender.The reduced overall N400 amplitude in autistic people under linguistic stimuli suggests a linguistic-specific deficit in semantic processing in individuals of autism.The decrease of N400 amplitude might be a promising indication of the pool language capacity of autism.

Comparative Study on the Trans-Province Transfer of the Multiple Trauma Patients after Sichuan Earthquake

Background: Trans-province transfer of the patients has been successfully carried out and has greatly relieved the burden of the hospitals in Sichuan Province after Sichuan earthquake. The aim of the study was to retrospectively analyze the efficacy and feasibility of the trans-province transfer of the multiple trauma patients after Sichuan earthquake. Methods: A retrospective and descriptive analysis was conducted based on the medical records of the multiple trauma patients (ISS ≥ 16) transferred to the Grade 3A hospitals outside Sichuan province. The patients were divided into two groups based on the distance to Sichuan province, i.e., Group A (the seismic patients transferred to Chongqing) and Group B (the seismic patients transferred to the other provinces/ municipalities). A comparison was done in aspects of distance of transfer, time from injury to transfer, vital signs, the infection rates (at transfer and on discharge), injury severity and prognostic indices (cure rate, disability rate and mortality). Results: The distance between Chengdu and the other places was at a wide range of 313 - 1653 km, whereas the time from injury to transfer showed no statistical difference between groups (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences between both groups with respects to patient demographics, injury mechanism, time from injury to transfer, vital signs, infection rate and injury severity. The prognostic indices showed no significant difference, except for FIM scores (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that the different distance of the transfer of the multiple trauma patients does not aggravate the severity or deteriorate the prognosis, which proves that the medical supportive transfer system is acceptable, effective and worthy of further implementation in China, which may be ascribed to the advanced transportation system and high level of therapeutic capacity of the hospitals. In the meantime, attention should be paid to psychological intervention and functional rehabilitation during the treatment of the transferred seismic patients.