Studying connectivity between time-series using an interactive application

[Otros] Connectivity is a complex concept whose meaning varies for each domain. In a broad sense, it is possible to divide the connectivity in two main groups: physical and statistical. The former represents whether there is a physical link connecting the elements, like the telephone line, while the latter indicates a relation between the dynamics of the elements, as the number of sales and the income of a company. In several scientific fields, including economics, physics and neuroscience, the statistical connectivity is computed based on the analysis of time-series. Several different methods can be applied on the data, using different features of the signals, like covariance and frequency, to estimate the connectivity, yielding different results and interpretations. The covariance indicates if two elements follow the same dynamics, i.e., if they increase or decrease at the same time. On the other hand, the frequency is related to the time required for the elements to change, which can be daily in the case of the tides, or milliseconds if referred to the computations in a microchip. A third factor is the directionality, with one element depending on the other, but not in the opposite case. This work proposes an interactive computer-based application to generate a three-node network and estimate its connectivity following different approaches. We describe how the application is structured, from the selection of the parameters to the interpretation of the output results, detailing the skills in connectivity that can be developed by the students.López-Madrona, VJ.; Moratal, D.; Bénar, CG. (2021). Studying connectivity between time-series using an interactive application. IATED Academy. 6635-6638. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2021.1342S6635663

Development of the Checklist of Psychomotor Activities for 5- to 6-Year-Old Children

The present research aimed to develop the Checklist of Psychomotor Activities (CPA) to measure psychomotor development in 5-6 year old children. We recruited 694 preschool children in the province of Albacete; their teachers were trained to use and complete this instrument to gather data for testing its psychometric properties (reliability, and content, construct, and discriminant validity). The CPA is composed of three subtests measuring children's performance in motor, perceptual, and emotional-social aspects of psychomotor functioning. To gather evidence of content validity, we applied the Delphi method, based on the comments of seven judges. We assessed construct validity with confirmatory factor analysis, and we tested discriminant validity by comparing the scores of premature and typically developing children and separate groups of children defined by their body mass index. We found adequate item consistency on each scale and evidence of validity from the various methods outlined. We conclude that the CPA is an effective and comprehensive tool for the assessment of psychomotor skills in children at this important stage of development.2018-1

Unexpected Consequences: Women’s experiences of a self-hypnosis intervention to help with pain relief during labour.

Background Self-hypnosis is becoming increasingly popular as a means of labour pain management. Previous studies have produced mixed results. There are very few data on women’s views and experiences of using hypnosis in this context. As part of a randomized controlled trial of self-hypnosis for intra-partum pain relief (the SHIP Trial) we conducted qualitative interviews with women randomized to the intervention arm to explore their views and experiences of using self-hypnosis during labour and birth. Methods Participants were randomly selected from the intervention arm of the study, which consisted of two antenatal self-hypnosis training sessions and a supporting CD that women were encouraged to listen to daily from 32 weeks gestation until the birth of their baby. Those who consented were interviewed in their own homes 8-12 weeks after birth. Following transcription, the interviews were analysed iteratively and emerging concepts were discussed amongst the authors to generate organizing themes. These were then used to develop a principal organizing metaphor or global theme, in a process known as thematic networks analysis. Results Of the 343 women in the intervention group, 48 were invited to interview, and 16 were interviewed over a 12 month period from February 2012 to January 2013. Coding of the data and subsequent analysis revealed a global theme of ‘unexpected consequences’, supported by 5 organising themes, ‘calmness in a climate of fear’, ‘from sceptic to believer’, ‘finding my space’, ‘delays and disappointments’ and ‘personal preferences’. Most respondents reported positive experiences of self-hypnosis and highlighted feelings of calmness, confidence and empowerment. They found the intervention to be beneficial and used a range of novel strategies to personalize their self-hypnosis practice. Occasionally women reported feeling frustrated or disappointed when their relaxed state was misinterpreted by midwives on admission or when their labour and birth experiences did not match their expectations. Conclusion The women in this study generally appreciated antenatal self-hypnosis training and found it to be beneficial during labour and birth. The state of focused relaxation experienced by women using the technique needs to be recognized by providers if the intervention is to be implemented into the maternity service

Sexism and intimate partner violence in adolescents

Objetivo: A pesar de los esfuerzos para reducir la desigualdad de género, el sexismo persiste. Todavía son escasos los estudios sobre este fenómeno que contemplen variables como el deseo sexual o los antecedentes migratorios. El objetivo del estudio es analizar las circunstancias sociales (individuales y del contexto inmediato) asociadas al sexismo y su relación con la conducta violenta en la pareja en población adolescente. Método: Estudio transversal con 1421 estudiantes de 13 a 17 años de Alicante y Terrassa (2019-2020). El sexismo se midió mediante el Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, que valora el sexismo ambivalente, hostil y benevolente. Se utilizaron modelos lineales generalizados estratificados por sexo para identificar variables asociadas al sexismo, y regresión logística para analizar la asociación del sexismo con la conducta violenta en la pareja. Resultados: La probabilidad de puntuar alto en sexismo ambivalente fue mayor en migrantes (chicas y chicos: p < 0,01) e hijos/as de migrantes (chicas: p < 0,01; chicos: p < 0,05). El deseo no heterosexual se asoció negativamente con el sexismo en chicas (benevolente: p < 0,01) y en chicos (ambivalente y hostil: p < 0,01; benevolente: p < 0,05). El sexismo hostil mostró asociación con cometer violencia de pareja, independientemente del resto de las variables, tanto en chicas (odds ratio [OR]: 1,07; intervalo de confianza del 95% [IC95%]: 1,00-1,14) como en chicos (OR: 1,11; IC95%: 1,03-1,20). Conclusiones: El sexismo está presente entre adolescentes y se confirma su relación con la conducta violenta en la pareja. El deseo sexual y los antecedentes migratorios son variables a tener en cuenta en su prevención.Objective: Despite the efforts to reduce gender inequality, sexism persists. There are still few studies on this matter that consider variables such as sexual desire or migration background. The aim of this study is to analyse the social circumstances (individual and from the immediate context) associated with sexism as well as its relationship with intimate partner violence perpetration amongst adolescents. Method: Cross-sectional study with 1421 students aged 13–17 from Alicante and Terrassa (2019–2021). Sexism was measured with the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, which assesses ambivalent, hostile and benevolent sexism. Generalized linear models were carried out and stratified by sex to identify variables associated with sexism. A logistic regression model was used to assess the association between sexism and intimate partner violence. Results: The likelihood of a high score in ambivalent sexism was higher in migrants (girls and boys: p < 0.01) and adolescents with migrant parents (girls: p < 0.01; boys: p < 0.05). Non-heterosexual desire was negatively associated with sexism in girls (benevolent: p < 0.01) and boys (ambivalent and hostile: p < 0.01; benevolent: p < 0.05). Hostile sexism showed association with intimate partner violence perpetration, independently of the rest of the adjustment variables included in the model, for both girls (odds ratio [OR]: 1.07; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.00–1.14) and boys (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.20). Conclusions: Sexism is present amongst teenagers and its relationship with intimate partner violence is confirmed. Sexual desire and migration background should be taken into account for intimate partner violence prevention.Instituto de Salud Carlos III, FEDER y FSE al proyecto «Promoción de activos protectores de la violencia de género en la adolescencia y pre-adolescencia» (2019-2021) (PI18/00590 y PI18/00544)

Brain multiplexes reveal morphological connectional biomarkers fingerprinting late brain dementia states

Accurate diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) before conversion to Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is invaluable for patient treatment. Many works showed that MCI and AD affect functional and structural connections between brain regions as well as the shape of cortical regions. However, \u27shape connections\u27 between brain regions are rarely investigated -e.g., how morphological attributes such as cortical thickness and sulcal depth of a specific brain region change in relation to morphological attributes in other regions. To fill this gap, we unprecedentedly design morphological brain multiplexes for late MCI/AD classification. Specifically, we use structural T1-w MRI to define morphological brain networks, each quantifying similarity in morphology between different cortical regions for a specific cortical attribute. Then, we define a brain multiplex where each intra-layer represents the morphological connectivity network of a specific cortical attribute, and each inter-layer encodes the similarity between two consecutive intra-layers. A significant performance gain is achieved when using the multiplex architecture in comparison to other conventional network analysis architectures. We also leverage this architecture to discover morphological connectional biomarkers fingerprinting the difference between late MCI and AD stages, which included the right entorhinal cortex and right caudal middle frontal gyrus

Studying memory processes at different levels with simultaneous depth and surface EEG recordings

Investigating cognitive brain functions using non-invasive electrophysiology can be challenging due to the particularities of the task-related EEG activity, the depth of the activated brain areas, and the extent of the networks involved. Stereoelectroencephalographic (SEEG) investigations in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy offer an extraordinary opportunity to validate information derived from non-invasive recordings at macro-scales. The SEEG approach can provide brain activity with high spatial specificity during tasks that target specific cognitive processes (e.g., memory). Full validation is possible only when performing simultaneous scalp SEEG recordings, which allows recording signals in the exact same brain state. This is the approach we have taken in 12 subjects performing a visual memory task that requires the recognition of previously viewed objects. The intracranial signals on 965 contact pairs have been compared to 391 simultaneously recorded scalp signals at a regional and whole-brain level, using multivariate pattern analysis. The results show that the task conditions are best captured by intracranial sensors, despite the limited spatial coverage of SEEG electrodes, compared to the whole-brain non-invasive recordings. Applying beamformer source reconstruction or independent component analysis does not result in an improvement of the multivariate task decoding performance using surface sensor data. By analyzing a joint scalp and SEEG dataset, we investigated whether the two types of signals carry complementary information that might improve the machine-learning classifier performance. This joint analysis revealed that the results are driven by the modality exhibiting best individual performance, namely SEEG

Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Global COVID-19 Stroke Registry

Recent case-series of small size implied a pathophysiological association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe large-vessel acute ischemic stroke. Given that severe strokes are typically associated with poor prognosis and can be very efficiently treated with recanalization techniques, confirmation of this putative association is urgently warranted in a large representative patient cohort to alert stroke clinicians, and inform pre- and in-hospital acute stroke patient pathways. We pooled all consecutive patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke in 28 sites from 16 countries. To assess whether stroke severity and outcomes (assessed at discharge or at the latest assessment for those patients still hospitalized) in patients with acute ischemic stroke are different between patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, we performed 1:1 propensity score matching analyses of our COVID-19 patients with non-COVID-19 patients registered in the Acute Stroke Registry and Analysis of Lausanne Registry between 2003 and 2019. Between January 27, 2020, and May 19, 2020, 174 patients (median age 71.2 years; 37.9% females) with COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke were hospitalized (median of 12 patients per site). The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was 10 (interquartile range [IQR], 4-18). In the 1:1 matched sample of 336 patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was higher in patients with COVID-19 (10 [IQR, 4-18] versus 6 [IQR, 3-14]), P=0.03; (odds ratio, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.08-2.65] for higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score). There were 48 (27.6%) deaths, of which 22 were attributed to COVID-19 and 26 to stroke. Among 96 survivors with available information about disability status, 49 (51%) had severe disability at discharge. In the propensity score-matched population (n=330), patients with COVID-19 had higher risk for severe disability (median mRS 4 [IQR, 2-6] versus 2 [IQR, 1-4], P<0.001) and death (odds ratio, 4.3 [95% CI, 2.22-8.30]) compared with patients without COVID-19. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 associated ischemic strokes are more severe with worse functional outcome and higher mortality than non-COVID-19 ischemic strokes

Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Global COVID-19 Stroke Registry.

Recent case-series of small size implied a pathophysiological association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe large-vessel acute ischemic stroke. Given that severe strokes are typically associated with poor prognosis and can be very efficiently treated with recanalization techniques, confirmation of this putative association is urgently warranted in a large representative patient cohort to alert stroke clinicians, and inform pre- and in-hospital acute stroke patient pathways. We pooled all consecutive patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke in 28 sites from 16 countries. To assess whether stroke severity and outcomes (assessed at discharge or at the latest assessment for those patients still hospitalized) in patients with acute ischemic stroke are different between patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, we performed 1:1 propensity score matching analyses of our COVID-19 patients with non-COVID-19 patients registered in the Acute Stroke Registry and Analysis of Lausanne Registry between 2003 and 2019. Between January 27, 2020, and May 19, 2020, 174 patients (median age 71.2 years; 37.9% females) with COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke were hospitalized (median of 12 patients per site). The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was 10 (interquartile range [IQR], 4-18). In the 1:1 matched sample of 336 patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19, the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was higher in patients with COVID-19 (10 [IQR, 4-18] versus 6 [IQR, 3-14]), P=0.03; (odds ratio, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.08-2.65] for higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score). There were 48 (27.6%) deaths, of which 22 were attributed to COVID-19 and 26 to stroke. Among 96 survivors with available information about disability status, 49 (51%) had severe disability at discharge. In the propensity score-matched population (n=330), patients with COVID-19 had higher risk for severe disability (median mRS 4 [IQR, 2-6] versus 2 [IQR, 1-4], P&lt;0.001) and death (odds ratio, 4.3 [95% CI, 2.22-8.30]) compared with patients without COVID-19. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 associated ischemic strokes are more severe with worse functional outcome and higher mortality than non-COVID-19 ischemic strokes

From benzos to berries: treatment offered at an Aboriginal youth solvent abuse treatment centre relays the importance of culture.

First Nations and Inuit youth who abuse solvents are one of the most highly stigmatized substance-abusing groups in Canada. Drawing on a residential treatment response that is grounded in a culture-based model of resiliency, this article discusses the cultural implications for psychiatry's individualized approach to treating mental disorders. A systematic review of articles published in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry during the past decade, augmented with a review of Canadian and international literature, revealed a gap in understanding and practice between Western psychiatric disorder-based and Aboriginal culture-based approaches to treatment and healing from substance abuse and mental disorders. Differing conceptualizations of mental health and substance abuse are discussed from Western psychiatric and Aboriginal worldviews, with a focus on connection to self, community, and political context. Applying an Aboriginal method of knowledge translation-storytelling-experiences from front-line workers in a youth solvent abuse treatment centre relay the difficulties with applying Western responses to Aboriginal healing. This lends to a discussion of how psychiatry can capitalize on the growing debate regarding the role of culture in the treatment of Aboriginal youth who abuse solvents. There is significant need for culturally competent psychiatric research specific to diagnosing and treating First Nations and Inuit youth who abuse substances, including solvents. Such understanding for front-line psychiatrists is necessary to improve practice. A health promotion perspective may be a valuable beginning point for attaining this understanding, as it situates psychiatry's approach to treating mental disorders within the etiology for Aboriginal Peoples