Summary Background Since December, 2019, Wuhan, China, has experienced an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 have been reported but risk factors for mortality and a detailed clinical course of illness, including viral shedding, have not been well described. Methods In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included all adult inpatients (≥18 years old) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from Jinyintan Hospital and Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital (Wuhan, China) who had been discharged or had died by Jan 31, 2020. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data, including serial samples for viral RNA detection, were extracted from electronic medical records and compared between survivors and non-survivors. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. Findings 191 patients (135 from Jinyintan Hospital and 56 from Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital) were included in this study, of whom 137 were discharged and 54 died in hospital. 91 (48%) patients had a comorbidity, with hypertension being the most common (58 [30%] patients), followed by diabetes (36 [19%] patients) and coronary heart disease (15 [8%] patients). Multivariable regression showed increasing odds of in-hospital death associated with older age (odds ratio 1·10, 95% CI 1·03–1·17, per year increase; p=0·0043), higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (5·65, 2·61–12·23; p Interpretation The potential risk factors of older age, high SOFA score, and d-dimer greater than 1 μg/mL could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage. Prolonged viral shedding provides the rationale for a strategy of isolation of infected patients and optimal antiviral interventions in the future. Funding Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences; National Science Grant for Distinguished Young Scholars; National Key Research and Development Program of China; The Beijing Science and Technology Project; and Major Projects of National Science and Technology on New Drug Creation and Development.

Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study

The aim of the present review article is to guide the reader through portions of the human time perception, or temporal processing, literature. After distinguishing the main contemporary issues related to time perception, the article focuses on the main findings and explanations that are available in the literature on explicit judgments about temporal intervals. The review emphasizes studies that are concerned with the processing of intervals lasting a few milliseconds to several seconds and covers studies issuing from either a behavioral or a neuroscience approach. It also discusses the question of whether there is an internal clock (pacemaker counter or oscillator device) that is dedicated to temporal processing and reports the main hypotheses regarding the involvement of biological structures in time perception.

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Timing and time perception: A review of recent behavioral and neuroscience findings and theoretical directions

Suppose someone had to prepare a review article on visual perception, instead of time perception. This individual would probably ask for a series of reviews, with at least one—and probably several—dedicated to color, distance, shape, and motion perception, and maybe to other aspects of visual perception. It would be very difficult to complete the same exercise for time perception since the categories of temporal experiences are not as clearly defined. However, for a reader to understand the scope of a text on time perception, it is essential to develop a representation of what the main research avenues or categories are. The present text should help the reader to grasp the scope of recent literature related to psychological time and time perception. After a brief overview of the various perspectives on what could be meant by psychological time, the review will propose to identify of series of key concepts and empirical findings that should delineate the field of time perception and timing, and will discuss some models of time perception. The article also provides a review of the main recent findings in the field in which a neuroscientific approach to timing is adopted. In this section, the roles of the cerebellum, of the cerebral cortices, and of the basal ganglia in the timing processes are emphasized. Time Perception Beyond the Focus of the Present Review

TUTORIAL REVIEW Timing and time perception: A review of recent behavioral and neuroscience findings and theoretical directions

The quarterly journal of experimental psychology

After bilateral ablation of orbital and lower mesial frontal cortices, a patient had profound changes of behavior that have remained stable for 8 years. Although he could not meet personal and professional responsibilities, his “measurable” intelligence was superior, and he was therefore considered a “malingerer.” Neurologic and neuropsychological examinations were otherwise intact. CT, MRI, and SPET revealed a localized lesion of the orbital and lower mesial frontal cortices. All other cerebral areas had normal structure and radioactivity patterns. Such impairments of motivation and complex social behavior were not seen in control cases with superior mesial or dorsolateral frontal lesions.

Severe disturbance of higher cognition after bilateral frontal lobe ablation: Patient EVR

In March 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK Government imposed social and physical distancing measures on the population. These lockdown measures caused significant changes to all aspects of daily life. The current study examined how the passage of time was distorted during the lockdown period. Using an online questionnaire, day and week passage of time judgments were collected. In addition, measures of affect, task load and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction were taken. The results show that over 80% of participants experienced distortion to the passage of time during lockdown in comparison with normal. The passage of time during the day was predicted by age, stress, task load and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction. A slowing of the passage of time was associated with increasing age, increasing stress, reduced task load and reduced satisfaction with current levels of social interaction. Only age and satisfaction with current levels of social interaction predicted passage of time across a week. Again, increasing age and reduced satisfaction with levels of social interaction were associated with a slowing of the passage of time. These findings demonstrate that significant changes to daily life have a significant impact on our experience of time, with younger, more socially satisfied people more likely to experience time as passing more quickly during the lockdown.

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The passage of time during the UK Covid-19 lockdown.

We investigated whether visual complexity of novel abstract patterns affects perceived duration Previous research has reported that complex visual stimuli led to an underestimation of durations However, to clarify the nature of the time estimation process, it is necessary to establish which component of image complexity, spatial or semantic, plays the critical role Here we tested the impact of specific spatial properties We used unfamiliar and abstract patterns made using black-and-white checkerboards in which the difference between stimuli was exclusively in configuration Visual complexity was quantified by the GIF index based on a compression algorithm, which scanned the pattern in both horizontal and vertical directions This metric correlated positively with subjective complexity (Experiment 1A) In the second study, we increased variability in the stimuli by changing the number of items across patterns while keeping overall size constant A high positive correlation was found between objective and subjective complexity (r = 095) (Experiment 2A) In Experiments 1B and 2B, observers estimated pattern durations in seconds using a continuous scale A multilevel linear analysis found that perceived duration was not predicted by visual complexity for either of the two sets of stimuli These results provide new constraints to theories of time perception, hypothesizing that complexity leads to an underestimation of duration when it reduces attention to time

Examining visual complexity and its influence on perceived duration.

Rationale/Objectives: Previous research shows that the use of ecstasy results in working memory and executive impairments in some users. The present study sought to assess the functional significance of such deficits using a virtual reality task. Methods: Twenty-three ecstasy-polydrug users and 26 nonusers were recruited. Individuals completed a drug use questionnaire measures of sleep quality and fluid intelligence. Participants also completed a virtual reality executive function task in which they play the role of an office worker for the day completing predefined tasks such as prioritising different activities according to their importance, organising the physical office environment and managing the outgoing mail in accordance with a delivery schedule. Results: MANOVA revealed that ecstasy users performed worse on the virtual reality task overall, and this was due to poorer performance on the planning and selection subscales. Contrary to expectations, ecstasy-polydrug users performed better on the time-based prospective memory subscale. Indices of ecstasy use were correlated with the planning subscale of the virtual task. Conclusions: The present study provides further support for ecstasy/polydrug related deficits in executive functioning. As it is possible that this task is more ecologically valid and relevant to day-to-day activities of many users, previous research finding null results on executive function tasks may have underestimated the impact of ecstasy-polydrug use on executive functioning.

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Assessing the functional significance of ecstasy-related memory deficits using a virtual paradigm

The role of executive functions in human prospective interval timing

Six experiments examined human performance on a modified temporal generalization task when either 1 or 2 standard durations were encoded. In most conditions, participants were presented with a 1st standard duration (A), then judged whether a number of comparison stimuli had the same duration as A. They were then presented with a 2nd standard (B) and again judged whether other comparison stimuli had the same duration as B. Then, after a delay period of 0-45 s, further comparison stimuli were presented, and participants judged whether those stimuli had the same duration as A, without A being represented. A was either the same length as B or shorter or longer than it, so potential retroactive interference effects of B on A could be examined. After a short delay before retesting of A comparisons, the peak of the temporal generalization gradient shifted toward the shortest of the comparisons when A B. The results suggest that certain combinations of delay and interference might render the memory of A unusable, so that a new standard is constructed on the basis of the remembered relationship between A and B, a kind of "false memory" for duration.

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Ruth S. Ogden

Papers

The passage of time during the UK Covid-19 lockdown.

Examining visual complexity and its influence on perceived duration.

Assessing the functional significance of ecstasy-related memory deficits using a virtual paradigm

The role of executive functions in human prospective interval timing

The remembrance of times past: interference in temporal reference memory.