Psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidity before and one year after epilepsy surgery.

Introduction Epilepsy is a common disease with a prevalence of 0.5-1% of the population. The literature on psychopathology in refractory epilepsy is conflicting. In refractory epilepsy, surgical intervention is considered to reduce seizure frequency and in some cases prevent seizures. It has been reported that neurosurgical intervention for epilepsy is associated with significant undesirable psychiatric consequences. This study looked at psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidity in a sample of pre-operative epilepsy surgery candidates and also examined patients who proceeded to surgery at one year post-operatively to see whether surgery had positive or negative consequences on patients\u27 mental health. Methods This study examined a sample of patients with medically refractory epilepsy and a prospective cohort study was conducted on a sub-group of this sample who underwent surgery and had psychiatric follow-up at one year postoperatively. This study used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV (SCID I) to examine for an Axis I psychiatric diagnosis and the presence o f a personality disorder was assessed for using SCID II. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Quality of Life in Epilepsy 89 (QOLIE 89) were the subjective rating scales utilized. Results The findings of this study demonstrated the high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity (54.4%) in patients with medically refractory epilepsy. A total of 48 patients had pre-operative and post-operative assessments at one year. There was a highly significant reduction post-operatively with the number of patients with a psychiatric diagnosis (p Conclusions Overall, this study demonstrated that undergoing surgery for medically refractory epilepsy had an overall positive impact on mental health with a significant reduction in the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and an improved quality of life for patients

The prevalence of psychosis in epilepsy; a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy has long been considered to be a risk factor for psychosis. However there is a lack of consistency in findings across studies on the effect size of this risk which reflects methodological differences in studies and changing diagnostic classifications within neurology and psychiatry. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of psychosis in epilepsy and to estimate the risk of psychosis among individuals with epilepsy compared with controls. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of all published literature pertaining to prevalence rates of psychosis in epilepsy using electronic databases PUBMED, OVIDMEDLINE, PsychINFO and Embase from their inception until September 2010 with the following search terms: prevalence, incidence, rate, rates, psychosis, schizophrenia, schizophreniform illness, epilepsy, seizures, temporal lobe epilepsy. RESULTS: The literature search and search of reference lists yielded 215 papers. Of these, 58 (27%) had data relevant to the review and 157 were excluded following a more detailed assessment. 10% of the included studies were population based studies. The pooled odds ratio for risk of psychosis among people with epilepsy compared with controls was 7.8. The pooled estimate of prevalence of psychosis in epilepsy was found to be 5.6% (95% CI: 4.8-6.4). There was a high level of heterogeneity. The prevalence of psychosis in temporal lobe epilepsy was 7% (95% CI: 4.9-9.1). The prevalence of interictal psychosis in epilepsy was 5.2% (95% CI: 3.3-7.2). The prevalence of postictal psychosis in epilepsy was 2% (95% CI: 1.2-2.8). CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic review found that up to 6% of individuals with epilepsy have a co-morbid psychotic illness and that patients have an almost eight fold increased risk of psychosis. The prevalence rate of psychosis is higher in temporal lobe epilepsy (7%). We suggest that further investigation of this association could give clues to the aetiology of psychosis

The water cycle and regolith-atmosphere interaction at Gale crater, Mars

We perform mesoscale simulations of the water cycle in a region around Gale crater, including the diffusion of water vapour in and out of the regolith, and compare our results with measurements from the REMS instrument on board the Curiosity rover. Simulations are performed at three times of year, and show that diffusion in and out of the regolith and adsorption/desorption needs to be taken into account in order to match the diurnal variation of relative humidity measured by REMS. During the evening and night, local downslope flows transport water vapour down the walls of Gale crater. When including regolith-atmosphere interaction, the amount of vapour reaching the crater floor is reduced (by factors of 2–3 depending on season) due to vapour diffusing into the regolith along the crater walls. The transport of vapour into Gale crater is also affected by the regional katabatic flow over the dichotomy boundary, with the largest flux of vapour into the regolith initially occurring on the northern crater wall, and moving to the southern wall by early morning. Upslope winds during the day transport vapour desorbing and mixing out of the regolith up crater walls, where it can then be transported a few hundred metres into the atmosphere at convergence boundaries. Regolith-atmosphere interaction limits the formation of surface ice by reducing water vapour abundances in the lower atmosphere, though in some seasons ice can still form in the early morning on eastern crater walls. Subsurface ice amounts are small in all seasons, with ice only existing in the upper few millimetres of regolith during the night. The results at Gale crater are representative of the behaviour at other craters in the mesoscale domain

How smoke-free laws improve air quality: a global study of irish pubs

The present study examined indoor air quality in a global sample of smoke-free and smoking-permitted Irish pubs. We hypothesized that levels of respirable suspended particles, an important marker of secondhand smoke, would be significantly lower in smoke-free Irish pubs than in pubs that allowed smoking. Indoor air quality was assessed in 128 Irish pubs in 15 countries between 21 January 2004 and 10 March 2006. Air quality was evaluated using an aerosol monitor, which measures the level of fine particle (PM(2.5)) pollution in the air. A standard measurement protocol was used by data collectors across study sites. Overall, the level of air pollution inside smoke-free Irish pubs was 93% lower than the level found in pubs where smoking was permitted. Levels of indoor air pollution can be massively reduced by enacting and enforcing smoke-free policies

Microwave Sounding Of The Martian Atmosphere With Mambo

International audienc

Microwave Sounding Of The Martian Atmosphere With Mambo

International audienc

Microwave Sounding Of The Martian Atmosphere With Mambo

International audienc

How smoke-free laws improve air quality: A global study of Irish pubs

INTRODUCTION: The present study examined indoor air quality in a global sample of smoke-free and smoking-permitted Irish pubs. We hypothesized that levels of respirable suspended particles, an important marker of secondhand smoke, would be significantly lower in smoke-free Irish pubs than in pubs that allowed smoking. METHODS: Indoor air quality was assessed in 128 Irish pubs in 15 countries between 21 January 2004 and 10 March 2006. Air quality was evaluated using an aerosol monitor, which measures the level of fine particle (PM(2.5)) pollution in the air. A standard measurement protocol was used by data collectors across study sites. RESULTS: Overall, the level of air pollution inside smoke-free Irish pubs was 93% lower than the level found in pubs where smoking was permitted. DISCUSSION: Levels of indoor air pollution can be massively reduced by enacting and enforcing smoke-free policie