A comparison of computerized versus pen-and-paper cognitive tests for monitoring electroconvulsive therapy-related cognitive side effects

Objective Cognitive side effects are a common unintended outcome of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Routine cognitive assessment is important for monitoring patient outcomes, although it can pose challenges in busy clinical settings. Computerized cognitive testing has advantages that can facilitate routine monitoring. This study explored the construct and criterion validity of computerized cognitive testing compared with standard pen-and-paper tests for monitoring cognition in ECT patients. Methods The study included 24 participants with major depression who received an acute course of ECT. Cognition was assessed at pretreatment and at posttreatment with 3 computerized tests from the CogState battery (International Shopping List task, One-Card Learning, and One-Back Task) and 3 conceptually matched pen-and-paper-administered neuropsychological tests. Results At pretreatment, only performance on the computer-administered test of verbal anterograde memory (International Shopping List task) was significantly correlated with the analogous pen-and-paper measure, whereas the other computerized tests were not. Of the computerized measures, only the International Shopping List task showed significant changes from pretreatment to posttreatment (P 1.0). In contrast, all the pen-and-paper-administered tests showed significant changes from pretreatment to posttreatment (P < 0.01, Cohen d range, 0.8-1.2). Pretreatment to posttreatment cognitive changes on the computerized measures were not correlated with changes on the pen-and-paper-administered tests. Conclusion Construct and criterion validity and tolerability varied between the computerized measures. The results highlighted potentially important issues related to the interpretation and utility of computerized tests in this patient population

A novel approach for targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for transcranial magnetic stimulation using a cognitive task

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has the potential to be developed as a novel treatment for cognitive dysfunction. However, current methods of targeting rTMS for cognition fail to consider inter-individual functional variability. This study explored the use of a cognitive task to individualise the target site for rTMS administered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC). Twenty-five healthy participants were enrolled in a sham-controlled, crossover study. Participants performed a random letter generation task under the following conditions: no stimulation, sham and active ‘online’ rTMS applied to F3 (International 10–20 System) and four standardised surrounding sites. Across all sites combined, active ‘online’ rTMS was associated with significantly reduced performance compared to sham rTMS for unique trigrams (p = 0.012), but not for unique digrams (p > 0.05). Using a novel localisation methodology based on performance outcomes from both measures, a single optimal individualised site was identified for 92% [n = 23] of participants. At the individualised site, performance was significantly poorer compared to a common standard site (F3) and both control conditions (ps < 0.01). The current results suggest that this localisation methodology using a cognitive task could be used to individualise the rTMS target site at the L-DLPFC for modulating and potentially enhancing cognitive functioning

Decoupling heavy sparticles in Effective SUSY scenarios: Unification, Higgs masses and tachyon bounds

Using two-loop renormalization group equations implementing the decoupling of heavy scalars, Effective SUSY scenarios are studied in the limit in which there is a single low energy Higgs field. Gauge coupling unification is shown to hold with similar or better precision than in standard MSSM scenarios. b-tau unification is examined, and Higgs masses are computed using the effective potential, including two-loop contributions from scalars. A 125 GeV Higgs is compatible with stops/sbottoms at around 300 GeV with non-universal boundary conditions at the scale of the heavy sparticles if some of the trilinear couplings at this scale take values of the order of 1-2 TeV; if more constrained boundary conditions inspired by msugra or gauge mediation are set at a higher scale, heavier colored sparticles are required in general. Finally, since the decoupled RG flow for third-generation scalar masses departs very significantly from the MSSM DR-bar one, tachyon bounds for light scalars are revisited and shown to be relaxed by up to a TeV or more.Comment: 35 pages, 17 figures. v2: Updated some scans, allowing for changes in sign of some parameters, minor improvements. v3: Typos corrected in formulae in the appendices, added some clarifying remarks about flavor mixing being ignore

A new small-bodied azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England and its implications for pterosaur anatomy, diversity and phylogeny

BACKGROUND: Pterosaurs have been known from the Cretaceous sediments of the Isle of Wight (southern England, United Kingdom) since 1870. We describe the three-dimensional pelvic girdle and associated vertebrae of a small near-adult pterodactyloid from the Atherfield Clay Formation (lower Aptian, Lower Cretaceous). Despite acknowledged variation in the pterosaur pelvis, previous studies have not adequately sampled or incorporated pelvic characters into phylogenetic analyses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The new specimen represents the new taxon Vectidraco daisymorrisae gen. et sp. nov., diagnosed by the presence of a concavity posterodorsal to the acetabulum and the form of its postacetabular process on the ilium. Several characters suggest that Vectidraco belongs to Azhdarchoidea. We constructed a pelvis-only phylogenetic analysis to test whether the pterosaur pelvis carries a useful phylogenetic signal. Resolution in recovered trees was poor, but they approximately matched trees recovered from analyses of total evidence. We also added Vectidraco and our pelvic characters to an existing total-evidence matrix for pterosaurs. Both analyses recovered Vectidraco within Azhdarchoidea. CONCLUSIONS/ SIGNIFICANCE: The Lower Cretaceous strata of western Europe have yielded members of several pterosaur lineages, but Aptian pterosaurs from western Europe are rare. With a pelvis length of 40 mm, the new animal would have had a total length of c. 350 mm, and a wingspan of c. 750 mm. Barremian and Aptian pterodactyloids from western Europe show that small-bodied azhdarchoids lived alongside ornithocheirids and istiodactylids. This assemblage is similar in terms of which lineages are represented to the coeval beds of Liaoning, China; however, the number of species and specimens present at Liaoning is much higher. While the general phylogenetic composition of western European and Chinese communities appear to have been approximately similar, the differences may be due to different palaeoenvironmental and depositional settings. The western Europe pterodactyloid record may therefore be artificially low in diversity due to preservational factors

Cognitive Effects Following Offline High-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HF-rTMS) in Healthy Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) is a commonly used form of rTMS to treat neuropsychiatric disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that ‘offline’ HF-rTMS may have cognitive enhancing effects, although the magnitude and moderators of these effects remain unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to clarify the cognitive effects of offline HF-rTMS in healthy individuals. A literature search for randomised controlled trials with cognitive outcomes for pre and post offline HF-rTMS was performed across five databases up until March 2022. This study was registered on the PROSPERO international prospective protocol for systematic reviews (PROSPERO 2020 CRD 42,020,191,269). The Risk of Bias 2 tool was used to assess the risk of bias in randomised trials. Separate analyses examined the cognitive effects of excitatory and inhibitory forms of offline HF-rTMS on accuracy and reaction times across six cognitive domains. Fifty-three studies (N = 1507) met inclusion criteria. Excitatory offline HF-rTMS showed significant small sized effects for improving accuracy (k = 46, g = 0.12) and reaction time (k = 44, g = -0.13) across all cognitive domains collapsed. Excitatory offline HF-rTMS demonstrated a relatively greater effect for executive functioning in accuracy (k = 24, g = 0.14). Reaction times were also improved for the executive function (k = 21, g = -0.11) and motor (k = 3, g = -0.22) domains following excitatory offline HF-rTMS. The current review was restricted to healthy individuals and future research is required to examine cognitive enhancement from offline HF-rTMS in clinical cohorts

Responsibility modelling for civil emergency planning

This paper presents a new approach to analysing and understanding civil emergency planning based on the notion of responsibility modelling combined with HAZOPS-style analysis of information requirements. Our goal is to represent complex contingency plans so that they can be more readily understood, so that inconsistencies can be highlighted and vulnerabilities discovered. In this paper, we outline the framework for contingency planning in the United Kingdom and introduce the notion of responsibility models as a means of representing the key features of contingency plans. Using a case study of a flooding emergency, we illustrate our approach to responsibility modelling and suggest how it adds value to current textual contingency plans