The ability to predict how efficiently a person finds an object in the environment is a crucial goal of attention research. Central to this issue are the similarity principles initially proposed by Duncan and Humphreys, which outline how the similarity between target and distractor objects (TD) and between distractor objects themselves (DD) affect search efficiency. However, the search principles lack direct quantitative support from an ecological perspective, being a summary approximation of a wide range of lab-based results poorly generalisable to real-world scenarios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPseudowords offer a unique opportunity to investigate how humans deal with new (verbal) information. Within this framework, previous studies have shown that, at the implicit level, humans exploit systematic associations in the form-meaning interface to process new information by relying on (sub-lexical) contents already mapped in semantic memory. However, whether speakers exploit such processes in explicit decisions about the meanings elicited by unfamiliar terms remains an open, important question.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe incidence of surgical infections after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is reported to be <2%, because of the minimal trauma due to this approach. We report the results of a prospective study of antibiotic prophylaxis in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, comparing ceftriaxone vs ceftazidime. From Jan 1 to Dec 31 2002 a consecutive series of 242 cholecystectomies were performed, consisting in 18 open cholecystectomies and 224 laparoscopic cholecystectomies, 7 of which (3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurgical sepsis is still too frequent (the thirteenth cause of death in the U.S.) with an estimated cost of 5-10 billion dollars.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF