Nap sleep spindle correlates of intelligence

Contains fulltext : 152518.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Sleep spindles are thalamocortical oscillations in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, that play an important role in sleep-related neuroplasticity and offline information processing. Several studies with full-night sleep recordings have reported a positive association between sleep spindles and fluid intelligence scores, however more recently it has been shown that only few sleep spindle measures correlate with intelligence in females, and none in males. Sleep spindle regulation underlies a circadian rhythm, however the association between spindles and intelligence has not been investigated in daytime nap sleep so far. In a sample of 86 healthy male human subjects, we investigated the correlation between fluid intelligence and sleep spindle parameters in an afternoon nap of 100 minutes. Mean sleep spindle length, amplitude and density were computed for each subject and for each derivation for both slow and fast spindles. A positive association was found between intelligence and slow spindle duration, but not any other sleep spindle parameter. As a positive correlation between intelligence and slow sleep spindle duration in full-night polysomnography has only been reported in females but not males, our results suggest that the association between intelligence and sleep spindles is more complex than previously assumed

A decision-support methodology for assessing the sustainability of natural risk management strategies in urban areas

International audienceThis paper attempts to provide a decision support framework that can help risk managers in urban areas to improve their decision-making processes related to sustainable management. Currently, risk management strategies should no longer be selected based primarily on economic and technical insight. Managers must address the sustainability of risk management by assessing the impacts of their decisions on the sustainable development of a given territory. These assessments require tools that allow ex ante comparisons of the effectiveness and the likely economic, social and ecological impacts of the alternative management strategies. Therefore, this paper reports a methodological and operational framework, which aims to incorporate sustainability principles in a particular decision by taking all the dimensions that affect sustainability into account. This paper is divided into two main parts: one on the theoretical aspects of the proposed methodology and the other on its application to a flood risks management case in a municipality located in Meurthe-et-Moselle county (France). The results of the case study have shown how the methodology can be suitable for determining the most sustainable decision

An improved methodology for applying the influence function for subsidence hazard prediction

The extraction of ore and minerals by underground mining often presents important risk for surface infrastructures. Several methods that have been developed to predict ground subsidence, and the influence function method (IFM) is one of the most efficient for predicting this phenomenon in the context of mining engineering. However, applying this method to a specific mining site requires adjustments that are difficult to achieve. In this paper, a methodology is proposed for adjusting the IFMs to each mining site. It is shown that the maximum subsidence depends on both the Width(W)/Height(H) and Length(L)/W ratios of mine panel. Moreover, the effect of the length variation becomes negligible for L/W ratio values greater than 4, but it is significant for values around 1. The influence angle of each mine panel has a significant effect on the subsidence, and a variation of 5° may lead to significant variations in the prediction. A coefficient of dimensions reduction (CDR) used for adjusting the IFM results in each mine panels is used to adjust the value of subsidence above the border of the mine panels. The appropriate influence angle and CDR parameters should be calculated for each mining region

Modeling Of Waiting Lists For Chronic Heart Failure In The Wake Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted access to health services globally for patients with non-Covid-19 conditions. We consider the condition of heart failure and describe a discrete event simulation model built to describe the impact of the pandemic and associated societal lockdowns on access to diagnosis procedures. The number of patients diagnosed with heart failure fell during the pandemic and in the UK, the number of GP referrals for diagnostic tests in November 2020 were at 20% of their pre-pandemic levels. While the numbers in the system have fallen clinicians believe that this is not reflective of a change in need, suggesting that many patients are delaying accessing care during pandemic peaks. While the effect of this is uncertain, it is thought that this could have a significant impact on patient survival. Initial results reproduce the observed increase in the number of patients waiting

Assessment of a wireless headband for automatic sleep scoring

Purpose Classically, professional assessment of sleep is done in the sleep laboratory using whole-night polysomnography (PSG). However, given a misbalance between accredited sleep laboratories and the large amount of patients suffering from sleep disorders, only few receive appropriate diagnostic assessment. Recently, some low-cost home sleep scoring systems have been proposed, yet such systems are rarely tested scientifically. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the staging accuracy of the home sleep scoring system Zeo (Newton, MA, USA). Methods A final sample of 21 nights from ten subjects (aged 2345) was digitally recorded with PSG as well as with the Zeo system. We compared scorings of Zeo (on an epoch-be-epoch basis) with the Somnolyzer 247 (an automatic staging algorithm), expert scorers as well as the freeware SleepExplorer. Results It was revealed that Zeo shows moderate overall agreement as compared to our study standard Somnolyzer 247 (=0.56). The most obvious performance difference between Zeo and both other scoring approaches was stage wake (sleep onset latency+wake after sleep onset). While Zeo detected only 40.8 % of the study standard wake epochs, 70.1 % were detected by the expert scorers and 83.4 % by the SleepExplorer, respectively. Conclusions Data suggest that the Zeo system produces acceptable sleep scoring for stage REM, light and deep sleep, with a specific weakness in correctly detecting waking periods.(VLID)405325

STAMS : New tools for monitoring flooded and nonflooded mine shaft

International audienceIn European coalmines, there are many unequipped, abandoned shafts (in Poland, Germany, France, Spain, UK and other countries) in which the long term stability is a cause of concern. The need for continuous assessment and monitoring of the stability of abandoned shafts present a real challenge particularly for deep shafts. The European STAMS research project (Long term STability Assessment and Monitoring of flooded Shafts), subsidized by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel programme (RFCS), is addressing this issue. The objective of the STAMS project is to implement Periodic Inspection Modules, and to design permanently installed monitoring systems, to achieve periodic and long term continuous monitoring and condition assessment of flooded mine shafts. The project proposes solutions to monitor and to assess the stability and the conditions of flooded shafts, including the non flooded portions of partially flooded shafts, for long periods of time. The Multi functional Monitoring Module is able to make periodic measurements in order to assess the stability of a flooded shaft. The Ultrasonic Inspection Module allows the detection of lining deformations with high precision between periodic inspections of shafts. In addition to monitoring, a modelling approach has been developed to assess the long term stability of shafts during and after flooding by coupling the hydro mechanical behaviour with the chemical reactions which occur between the mine water and the shaft lining components. A database of the flooded shafts has been established. Laboratory and trials tests are carried out by the partners of the project to check the tools and to test them under real conditions. This paper presents and describes the developed modules and the first obtained results