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Observers can accurately compute summary statistics from a set of similar objects, which is referred to as ensemble coding. Few studies have investigated whether ensemble coding can be modulated by attention (i.e., whether attention can be selectively deployed to exclude irrelevant items from the ensemble coding of relevant items), and no studies have tested whether this coding represents the average of a relevant subset, the average of an irrelevant subset, or the average of the entire set. The present study employed an adapted paradigm of the multiple object tracking (MOT) task in which participants viewed multiple moving target faces and were asked to indicate whether a subsequent test face was one of the preceding targets. Experiment 1 showed that ensemble coding occurred for moving faces, and Experiments 2, 3, and 4 showed that participants were more likely to judge the individual and the average of tracked target faces than the average of all (target and nontarget) faces in the display and average nontarget faces. These findings suggest that ensemble coding for facial identities is hierarchical and can, at least partially, be modulated by attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

AIMTo investigate whether hepatitis viral DNA load at 24 wk of treatment predicts response at 96 wk in patients with chronic hepatitis B.METHODSA total of 172 hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B patients who received initial treatment at 16 tertiary hospitals in Hunan Province, China were enrolled in this study. All patients received conventional doses of lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil, telbivudine, entecavir dispersible tablets, or entecavir tablets for 96 wk. Patients who used other antiviral drugs or antitumor and immune regulation therapy were excluded. Patients were stratified into three groups according to their viral DNA load at 24 wk: < 10 IU/mL (group 1), 10-103 IU/mL (group 2), and > 103 IU/mL (group 3). Correlations of 24-wk DNA load with HBeAg negative status and HBeAg seroconversion at 96 wk were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to test the predictive value of the HBV DNA load at 24 wk for long-term response.RESULTSThe rates of conversion to HBeAg negative status and HBeAg seroconversion rates were 53.7% and 51.9%, respectively, in group 1; 35.21% and 32.39% in group 2; and 6.38% and 6.38% in group 3. The receiver operating characteristic curves for the three subgroups revealed that the lowest DNA load (< 10 IU/mL) was better correlated with response at 96 wk than a higher DNA load (10-103 IU/mL). Nested PCR was used for amplifying and sequencing viral DNA in patients with a viral DNA load > 200 IU/mL at 96 wk; resistance mutations involving different loci were present in 26 patients, and three of these patients had a viral DNA load 10-103 IU/mL at 96 wk.CONCLUSIONHepatitis B viral DNA load at 24 wk of antiviral treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B is a predictor of the viral load and response rate at 96 wk.

HeRO (Heliophysics Radio Observer) is a hybrid ground and space mission concept for radio interferometry of solar radio bursts. The space segment (HeRO-S) covers low frequencies, 100 kHz-20 MHz, and is composed of 6 free-flying Cube-Sats equipped with vector sensors. The ground segment (HeRO-G), covers higher frequencies, 15 MHz-300 MHz. HeRO will explore conditions and disturbances in a key region of the heliosphere, from two to tens of solar radii, using interferometric observations of solar radio bursts over three decades in frequency. Spot mapping across the full frequency range will provide precise positions and basic structural information about type II and III radio bursts. The morphology of CME shock fronts will be traced via type II burst emissions, and heliospheric magnetic field geometries will be probed by measuring precise trajectories of type III bursts. Refraction in the heliospheric plasma on large and intermediate scales will be investigated throughout large volumes via the frequency dependence of accurate interferometric positional data on bursts. The HeRO data will be information rich with high resolution in time, frequency and spatial position, and high SNR, creating fertile ground for discovery of new phenomena.

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