Cognitive deficits associated with prolonged seizures

Study aims are to assess cognitive dysfunction in nine individuals with one or more episodes of status epilepticus(SE)and to compare performance against control patients with brief seizures(idiopathic generalised epilepsy IGE, temporal lobe epilepsy TLE), and against adult performance norms. Participants with SE (30-60 minutes seizure duration) were recruited from the Cairns Base Hospital's epilepsy clinic, and included non-convulsive SE (NCSE, N=3) and generalised convulsive SE (GCSE, N=6) patients. Neuropsychological tasks assessed cognitive domains of intelligence, attention, verbal and visual memory, and executive functions. The absence SE (ASE) patient functioned normally in all cognitive domains. The patient with left complex partial status (CPSE) was significantly worse in attention; while the right CPSE patient was weakest in verbal episodic memory. GCSE patients performed worse on Sustained Attention NTS tasks than control IGE and TLE patients with brief seizures. Verbal memory was preserved. Number of SE seizures correlated negatively with estimated I.Q., visual abilities and working memory. In the absence of localised neuropsychological deficits, the deficits in stained attention and intellectual abilities of patients with GCSE suggest global cognitive dysfunction can result from relatively brief SE seizures. Generalisation of seizures cannot account for this, since the IGE performances were not affected

Cognitive deficits associated with prolonged seizures

Study aims are to assess cognitive dysfunction in nine individuals with one or more episodes of status epilepticus(SE)and to compare performance against control patients with brief seizures(idiopathic generalised epilepsy IGE, temporal lobe epilepsy TLE), and against adult performance norms. Participants with SE (30-60 minutes seizure duration) were recruited from the Cairns Base Hospital's epilepsy clinic, and included non-convulsive SE (NCSE, N=3) and generalised convulsive SE (GCSE, N=6) patients. Neuropsychological tasks assessed cognitive domains of intelligence, attention, verbal and visual memory, and executive functions. The absence SE (ASE) patient functioned normally in all cognitive domains. The patient with left complex partial status (CPSE) was significantly worse in attention; while the right CPSE patient was weakest in verbal episodic memory. GCSE patients performed worse on Sustained Attention NTS tasks than control IGE and TLE patients with brief seizures. Verbal memory was preserved. Number of SE seizures correlated negatively with estimated I.Q., visual abilities and working memory. In the absence of localised neuropsychological deficits, the deficits in stained attention and intellectual abilities of patients with GCSE suggest global cognitive dysfunction can result from relatively brief SE seizures. Generalisation of seizures cannot account for this, since the IGE performances were not affected

A trial of home-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for arthritis in a regional center

Residents of rural and regional areas often have limited access to health care professionals. This study investigated the ability of a modification of the Arthritis Basics for Change program developed by the American Arthritis Foundation to improve psychosocial functioning in a group of individuals with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis who lived in northern Queensland. The program comprised five, home-based sessions spaced over three weeks incorporating an audio CD and two 10-minute telephone consultations. A total of 34 individuals (7 males, mean age 59 years) were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait list control group. Measures were administered before, after and at three-months follow up and included the Arthritis Helplessness Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Health Assessment Questionnaire, and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Improvements in both groups were noted in helplessness, anxiety, and depression following the program and at a three-month follow up. No changes were observed for pain, disability, or coping skills across time and between groups. A higher proportion of individuals in the intervention group than in the control group attained clinically significant improvement on the HADS Depression scale. Despite the small sample size, results showed that some significant gains can be made through short, specifically tailored interventions

A Trial of Home-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Arthritis in a Regional Center

Residents of rural and regional areas often have limited access to health care professionals. This study investigated the ability of a modification of the Arthritis Basics for Change program developed by the American Arthritis Foundation to improve psychosocial functioning in a group of individuals with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis who lived in northern Queensland. The program comprised five, home-based sessions spaced over three weeks incorporating an audio CD and two 10-minute telephone consultations. A total of 34 individuals (7 males, mean age 59 years) were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait list control group. Measures were administered before, after and at three-months follow up and included the Arthritis Helplessness Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Health Assessment Questionnaire, and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Improvements in both groups were noted in helplessness, anxiety, and depression following the program and at a three-month follow up. No changes were observed for pain, disability, or coping skills across time and between groups. A higher proportion of individuals in the intervention group than in the control group attained clinically significant improvement on the HADS Depression scale. Despite the small sample size, results showed that some significant gains can be made through short, specifically tailored interventions

On Optimal Harvesting in Stochastic Environments: Optimal Policies in a Relaxed Model

This paper examines the objective of optimally harvesting a single species in a stochastic environment. This problem has previously been analyzed in Alvarez (2000) using dynamic programming techniques and, due to the natural payoff structure of the price rate function (the price decreases as the population increases), no optimal harvesting policy exists. This paper establishes a relaxed formulation of the harvesting model in such a manner that existence of an optimal relaxed harvesting policy can not only be proven but also identified. The analysis embeds the harvesting problem in an infinite-dimensional linear program over a space of occupation measures in which the initial position enters as a parameter and then analyzes an auxiliary problem having fewer constraints. In this manner upper bounds are determined for the optimal value (with the given initial position); these bounds depend on the relation of the initial population size to a specific target size. The more interesting case occurs when the initial population exceeds this target size; a new argument is required to obtain a sharp upper bound. Though the initial population size only enters as a parameter, the value is determined in a closed-form functional expression of this parameter.Comment: Key Words: Singular stochastic control, linear programming, relaxed contro

Variations in cognitive functioning in genetic generalized epilepsy: four case studies

Introduction. The traditional view of cognition in idiopathic or genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) is that "one size fits all" i.e. only very mild generalized impairment might be detected, if any. This paper describes four case studies of cognitive functioning in GGE patients with photosensitivity and reflexive seizures. Aim. The aim was to discover whether each individual's set of cognitive deficits varied in accordance with his/her other clinical phenomena such as photosensitivity and kinds of reflexive seizures. Method. Neurological and cognitive performance was assessed by comprehensive evaluation of each patient based on interviews, neurologist's EEG reports and neuropsychological tests. Assessment of cognitive domains included estimated pre-morbid I.Q. based on reading ability and demographic norms, current I.Q., attention factors, verbal memory, visual memory and executive functions. Results. Clinical signs and investigative studies indicated that two cases typically began reflexive seizure episodes with facial myoclonia which evolved into tonic-clonic convulsions or generalized myoclonic seizures. These patients had widespread attention and working memory deficits, some severe, together with lowered intelligence scores. In contrast, two other cases (with no history of myoclonus) had generalized reflexive seizures originating in the occipital lobes, very mild localized visual dysfunction and high intelligence. Conclusions. The systematic variation in extent and nature of cognitive dysfunction illustrated in these cases with reflexive seizures (preceded by myoclonia or visual phenomena) would be explained by a more recent conceptualization of GGE as encompassing regional differences in variable hyperexcitability located at cortical levels or functional neural networks

Automatic detection of adult cardiomyocyte for high throughput measurements of calcium and contractility

Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi

Training Models in Professional Psychology Education (A Literature Review)

Intense debate on training models used in professional psychology education, including discussion on the specific training models most appropriate for educating future psychologists is far from finished. The authors reviewed articles discussing training models including results of empirical studies in professional psychology programs, which were published in several psychology journals databases (1949 to 2014). The authors have identified (a) the scientist-practitioner; (b) the practitioner model and its derivatives; (c) the clinical-scientist; and (d) the competency-based models. This article also outlines the historical development of each model and a consideration of the main principles espoused by each training model. It seems that discussion on the concept of training models and empirical studies on how these models are used in professional psychology programs outside the context of Western countries, is rare. Thus, this review could serve as a theoretical foundation for the implementation of a study aimed at filling the gap in the discussion of professional psychology program curricula, including the training models used, especially in other contexts than the Western

The Euler-Maruyama approximation for the absorption time of the CEV diffusion

A standard convergence analysis of the simulation schemes for the hitting times of diffusions typically requires non-degeneracy of their coefficients on the boundary, which excludes the possibility of absorption. In this paper we consider the CEV diffusion from the mathematical finance and show how a weakly consistent approximation for the absorption time can be constructed, using the Euler-Maruyama scheme

Dynamical Mean-Field Theory

The dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) is a widely applicable approximation scheme for the investigation of correlated quantum many-particle systems on a lattice, e.g., electrons in solids and cold atoms in optical lattices. In particular, the combination of the DMFT with conventional methods for the calculation of electronic band structures has led to a powerful numerical approach which allows one to explore the properties of correlated materials. In this introductory article we discuss the foundations of the DMFT, derive the underlying self-consistency equations, and present several applications which have provided important insights into the properties of correlated matter.Comment: Chapter in "Theoretical Methods for Strongly Correlated Systems", edited by A. Avella and F. Mancini, Springer (2011), 31 pages, 5 figure