Perseveringly Striving for Artistic Perfection Rooting in Belief

Established in 1957, Shaanxi Acrobatic Troupe has developed so rapidly with the effort of several generations that she has formed her unique artistic style and performing characteristics. Her performance is exquisite and fabulous and shows great skills. There are more than 130 performers in the troupe at present and the troupe mainly gives acrobatic and magic performances. As one of the most well-known acrobatic troupes in China. Shaanxi Acrobatic Troupe has overcome trials and hardships in the last 49 y...

Wish a Perseveringly and Fantastic 2019

Dear readers: The year of 2018 is the fourth decade of China’s Reform and Opening Up. After the great endeavour of past forty years, China has developed into the world’s second largest consumer market in terms of daily chemical industry, which has also made tremendous achievements till now.

Cognitive inflexibility in Japanese adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders

AIM: To investigate executive function in Japanese adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders(ASD) compared to Japanese controls.METHODS: Thirty-three individuals with ASD and 33 controls participated. The ASD and control groups' demographic variables were matched for gender(male/female: 20/13 vs 20/13), age(26.1 ± 11.5 vs 26.8 ± 9.6), years of education(13.2 ± 2.9 vs 14.2 ± 1.9), full-scale intelligence quotient(IQ)(103.0 ± 16.7 vs 103.7 ± 14.7), performance IQ(96.2 ± 16.1 vs 97.8 ± 15.0), and verbal IQ(107.9 ± 16.3 vs 107.7 ± 14.4). Participants performed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST), which assesses the executive processes involved in problem solving and cognitive flexibility, and the Continuous Performance Test(CPT), which assesses attention and impulsivity. Symptoms were assessed by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient Japanese version(AQ-J). First, we compared the scores of the WCST between the groups using a Mann-Whitney U-test and conducted an analysis of covariance for the variables with the scores of category archives and CPT scores as covariates. Second, we analyzed the correlation between the scores of the WCST and the AQ-J in the ASD group using Pearson's r.RESULTS: The total errors(TE) and the percentages of perseverative errors of the Milner type(%PEM) and Nelson type(%PEN) among the TE in the ASD group were significantly worse compared with the control group(ASD vs Control, respectively: TE: 16.0 ± 6.2 vs 12.6 ± 3.5, P = 0.012; %PEM: 11.7 ± 10.7 vs 6.6 ± 8.9, P = 0.037; %PEN: 20.1 ± 14.5 vs 8.7 ± 10.4, P = 0.0011). In contrast, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in the scores of categories achieved on the WCST or the CPT. An analysis of covariance revealed significant differences between the groups in the %PEN scores(P = 0.0062) but not in the TE or the %PEM scores. These results suggest that Japanese adolescents and adults with ASD have cognitive inflexibility. Furthermore, our results suggest that Japanese adolescents and adults with ASD may have difficulties using negative feedback because perseverative errors of the Nelson type indicate persistence in choosing the incorrect reaction. By contrast, there was no significant correlation between the WCST and AQ-J scores.CONCLUSION: We confirmed the presence of cognitive inflexibility in Japanese adolescents and adults with ASD. Our results also indicated that subjects with ASD may not use negative feedback effectively.

Cognitive attentional syndrome and metacognitive beliefs as potential treatment targets for metacognitive therapy in bipolar disorder

Most treatment guidelines emphasize the use of psychotropic drugs for both the acute and maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder(BD).However,relying only on psychotropics without adjunctive psychosocial interventions may be insufficient in treating patients with BD.Given its unique view in the explanation of psychopathological states,metacognitive therapy(MCT)might be helpful for BD.Metacognitive theory posits that psychopathology is a result of the cognitive attentional syndrome(CAS)and that it is influenced and maintained by dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs,perseverative thinking,attentional biases,and dysfunctional coping strategies.In this review,literature data regarding these areas in BD are examined.Studies suggest that perseverative thinking might be among the emotion regulation strategies endorsed in individuals with BD.Regarding attentional biases,literature data show that state-dependent,moodchanging attentional biases and a ruminative self-focused attention are present.Studies also suggest that cognitive self-consciousness is higher in BD compared to controls.It is seen that maladaptive coping strategies are frequently reported in BD,and that these strategies are associated with depression severity,negative affect and relapse risk.Studies focusing on dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs in BD reported that individuals with BD had higher scores for negative metacognitive beliefs,self-consciousness,need to control thoughts,and a lack of cognitive confidence.Also,dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs were associated with depressive symptomatology.These findings suggest that the components of CAS and dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs are evident in BD.For a subgroup of patients with BD who fail to respond to evidence-based psychopharmacological and adjunctive psychotherapeutic interventions,MCT might be an alternative way to consider as a treatment option.In conclusion,taken the available data together,we propose a sequential treatment protocol for BD,mainly based on the MCT treatment plan of depressive disorders.