In recent years, the clinical usefulness of the Wada test (WT) has been debated among researchers in the field. Therefore, we aimed to assess its contribution to the prediction of change in verbal ...learning and verbal memory function after epilepsy surgery. Data from 56 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent WT and subsequent surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Additionally, a standard neuropsychological assessment evaluating attentional, learning and memory, visuospatial, language, and executive function was performed both before and 12 months after surgery. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to determine the incremental value of WT results over socio-demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological characteristics in predicting postsurgical change in patients' verbal learning and verbal memory function. The incorporation of WT results significantly improved the prediction models of postsurgical change in verbal learning (∆R
= 0.233, p = .032) and verbal memory function (∆R
= 0.386, p = .005). Presurgical performance and WT scores accounted for 41.8% of the variance in postsurgical change in verbal learning function, and 51.1% of the variance in postsurgical change in verbal memory function. Our findings confirm that WT results are of significant incremental value for the prediction of postsurgical change in verbal learning and verbal memory function. Thus, the WT contributes to determining the risks of epilepsy surgery and, therefore, remains an important part of the presurgical work-up of selected patients with clear clinical indications.
•After first seizure patients reported few memory complaints overall.•Memory complaints did not correlate with objective memory performance.•Patients with/without epilepsy did not differ in memory ...complaints after first seizure.
Memory complaints in patients with epilepsy have been well-studied. Although memory complaints are commonly reported by patients with chronic epilepsy, to date, few studies exist on memory complaints at the onset of epilepsy. The present study investigated the presence of memory complaints and their relation to mood and memory performance in patients after their first seizure. Thereby, we examined differences between individuals who received a diagnosis of epilepsy immediately with the occurrence of their first seizure and those who were diagnosed as having the first epileptic seizure, without fulfilling the ILAE criteria for the diagnosis of epilepsy.
Sixty-one patients participated in the study and completed, among others, a memory task and questionnaires on memory complaints and depression after their first epileptic seizure. We investigated the level of memory complaints and their correlation and accuracy in classification with a memory measure. We compared patients who received an epilepsy diagnosis after the first seizure with those who did not.
Memory complaints did not correlate with objective memory performance. Classification into impaired/unimpaired showed low concordance between memory complaints and neuropsychological memory measures. After their first epileptic seizure, patients reported few memory complaints overall (10%), and there were no differences in memory complaints between patients with and without an epilepsy diagnosis.
At epilepsy onset, in contrast to established epilepsies, memory complaints are rare. Although influences of anticonvulsant drugs and seizures are not present at the beginning of epilepsy, this substantial absence of memory complaints at epilepsy onset emphasizes the need for comprehensive neurological and psychological treatment early with the given diagnosis. Treatment should focus on anticonvulsant drug regimens, patients’ concerns and convey realistic expectations.
Objective
This study was undertaken to identify temporal encephaloceles (TEs) and examine their characteristics in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and extratemporal lobe epilepsy (ETLE), ...as well as in asymptomatic cases.
Methods
Four hundred fifty‐eight magnetic resonance imaging scans were examined retrospectively to identify TE in 157 patients with TLE, 150 patients with ETLE, and 151 healthy controls (HCs).
Results
At least one TE was identified in 9.6% of the TLE patients (n = 15, 95% confidence interval CI = 5.3%–15.3%), in 3.3% of patients with ETLE (n = 5, 95% CI = 1.1%–7.6%), and in 2.0% of the HCs (n = 3, 95% CI = .4%–5.7%), indicating a significantly higher frequency in patients with TLE compared to ETLE and HC subjects (p = .027, p = .005). Examining the characteristics of TEs in both asymptomatic and epilepsy patients, we found that TEs with a diameter of less than 6.25 mm were more likely to be asymptomatic, with a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 73.3% (area under the curve = .867, 95% CI = .723–1.00, p = .001).
Significance
Temporal encephaloceles may occur without presenting any clinical symptoms. Patients with TLE show a higher frequency of TEs compared to the ETLE and HC groups. According to our study, TE size could be used to suggest potential epileptogenicity.
•Methohexital has several advantages over amobarbital during Wada testing•Wada tests using methohexital can be performed more efficiently•Wada tests using methohexital allow a more constant level of ...hemispheric inactivation•Wada language and memory testing might be affected by the anesthetic agent used
Due to supply shortage, amobarbital, the traditional anesthetic agent in Wada testing, was replaced by methohexital in many epilepsy centers. This study aimed to compare the two barbiturates to identify possible advantages or disadvantages of methohexital as compared to amobarbital with regard to the adequacy of language and memory testing during the Wada test.
Data from 75 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent bilateral Wada tests using either amobarbital (n = 53) or methohexital (n = 22) as part of presurgical work-up were analyzed retrospectively. The two subgroups were compared regarding hemispheric language and memory lateralization results and Wada testing characteristics, and the adequacy of language and memory testing was assessed.
We observed shorter durations of motor-, speech-, and EEG recovery after each injection in patients receiving methohexital compared to amobarbital. In addition, significantly more items could be presented during effective hemispheric inactivation in the methohexital group. Moreover, significant correlations of Wada memory scores with standard neuropsychological memory test scores could be found in the methohexital group.
Our findings confirm that methohexital is not only equally suitable for Wada testing but has several advantages over amobarbital. Wada testing can be performed more efficiently and under more constant hemispheric inactivation using methohexital. Furthermore, the adequacy of language and memory testing during the Wada test might be affected by the anesthetic agent used.
The Flynn effect describes an increase in intelligence quotient (IQ) in the general population of about 3 points per decade. While this effect is well established in healthy individuals, research ...exploring the link to brain pathologies is scarce. We investigated the Flynn effect in a German sample of 203 patients with epilepsy with left, right, and bilateral lesions. Intelligence quotient values were obtained using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales (WAIS) III and IV. Our results showed a stable Flynn effect with nearly no difference in adjusted full scale IQ (FSIQ) scores (0.02 IQ points) between the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV samples. There were no significant interactions between the side of pathology and corrected IQ values. Our sample showed a tendency towards performing worse in the WAIS-IV in three out of four subscales independently of the Flynn effect, pointing out methodological differences between the newer Wechsler editions. However, although patients with bilateral lesions performed worst across all subscales, they exhibited a similar pattern as patients with lesions in the left or right hemisphere, indicating that also more severe forms of brain pathologies can profit from the mechanisms behind the Flynn effect.
•The Flynn effect could be observed in patients tested with the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV.•No performance differences between patients with left- or right-sided pathologies•Uncorrected WAIS-III subscale leads to overestimation of patients' abilities.•Group differences seem to reflect methodological differences between the tests.
Biology textbooks and books on the history of science generally give a limited picture of the roles women have played in the growth and development of the biological sciences, mentioning primarily ...the Nobel laureates. This book provides a definitive archival collection of essays on a larger group of women, profiling both their work and their lives. The volume includes 65 representative women from different countries and eras, and from as many branches of biological investigation as possible. In addition to biographical information and an evaluation of the woman's career and significance, each entry provides a full bibliographic listing of works by and about the subject.The volume includes entries on women who have gained recognition through attainment of advanced degrees despite familial and societal pressures, innovative research results, influence exerted in teaching and guidance of students, active participation and leadership in professional societies, extensive scholarly publication, participation on journal editorial boards, extensive field experience, and influence on public and political scientific policymaking. A woman was considered eligible for inclusion if she met several of these criteria. Providing a historical perspective, the book is limited to women who were born before 1930 or are deceased.
Airborne and spaceborne remote sensing (RS) collecting hyperspectral imagery provides unprecedented opportunities for the detection and monitoring of floating riverine and marine plastic debris. ...However, a major challenge in the application of RS techniques is the lack of a fundamental understanding of spectral signatures of water-borne plastic debris. Recent work has emphasised the case for open-access hyperspectral reflectance reference libraries of commonly used polymer items. In this paper, we present and analyse a high-resolution hyperspectral image database of a unique mix of 40 virgin macroplastic items and vegetation. Our double camera setup covered the visible to shortwave infrared (VIS-SWIR) range from 400 to 1700 nm in a darkroom experiment with controlled illumination. The cameras scanned the samples floating in water and captured high-resolution images in 336 spectral bands. Using the resulting reflectance spectra of 1.89 million pixels in linear discriminant analyses (LDA), we determined the importance of each spectral band for discriminating between water and mixed floating debris, and vegetation and plastics. The absorption peaks of plastics (1215 nm, 1410 nm) and vegetation (710 nm, 1450 nm) are associated with high LDA weights. We then compared Sentinel-2 and Worldview-3 satellite bands with these outcomes and identified 12 satellite bands to overlap with important wavelengths for discrimination between the classes. Lastly, the Normalised Vegetation Difference Index (NDVI) and Floating Debris Index (FDI) were calculated to determine why they work, and how they could potentially be improved. These findings could be used to enhance existing efforts in monitoring macroplastic pollution, as well as form a baseline for the design of future multispectral RS systems.
Green tides of macroalgae have been negatively affecting the coasts of Brittany, France, for at least five decades, caused by excessive nitrogen inputs from the farming sector. Regular areal ...estimates of green tide surfaces are publicly available but only from 2002 onwards. Using free and openly accessible Landsat satellite imagery archives over 35 years (1984–2019), this study explores the potential of remote sensing for detection and long-term monitoring of green macroalgae blooms. By using a Google Earth Engine (GEE) script, we were able to detect and quantify green tide surfaces using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) at four highly affected beaches in Northern Brittany. Mean green tide coverage was derived and analyzed from 1984 to 2019, at both monthly and annual scales. Our results show important interannual and seasonal fluctuations in estimated macroalgae cover. In terms of trends over time, green tide events did not show a decrease in extent at three out of four studied sites. The observed decrease in nitrogen concentrations for the rivers draining the study sites has not resulted in a reduction of green tide extents.
Abstract
Water hyacinth is an aquatic free-floating plant that is highly invasive, to the extent that it is now present in most freshwater bodies in sub-tropical and tropical regions worldwide. Due ...to the ecological and socio-economic damages these plants can cause, monitoring their spatial coverage and seasonality is key for development of timely and efficient mitigation measures. Hyacinth patches are sufficiently large to be detectable in high-resolution satellite imagery, allowing for monitoring using freely available remote sensing data collected by platforms such as Sentinel-2. In this study, we estimated water hyacinth coverage and seasonal dynamics over three years (2018–2020) for the Saigon river, Vietnam. Using a Naïve Bayes classifier, hyacinth coverage was mapped in Sentinel-2 imagery with an accuracy of 91%. We show that the dry season (December-May) corresponds to highest water hyacinth abundance, with maximum coverage in February. Lower rainfall and relative humidity were found to be highly correlated (
r
= −0.56 and
r
= −0.64, respectively) with higher hyacinth cover. We also detected substantial interannual variability: annual means in hyacinth coverage varied by a factor of five between the 2018/2019 and 2020 yearly averages, with peak cover occurring in February 2020. The percentage of Saigon river covered by hyacinths over the entire study area peaked at 14% and reached as much as 24% for the upstream section. This confirms the prevalence of these invasive plants in the region, and the growing threat to river navigability and biodiversity. Our study provides an openly available automated workflow for long-term monitoring of hyacinth coverage, which can be scaled-up and extended to other freshwater systems. As such, it provides a step for building a large-scale monitoring tool of this highly invasive species, which may also be used for designing mitigation and reduction strategies of hyacinth and the pollutants it carries along.
Water hyacinths retain river plastics Schreyers, Louise J.; van Emmerik, Tim H.M.; Bui, Thanh-Khiet L. ...
Environmental pollution,
09/2024, Letnik:
356
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Rivers represent one of the main conduits for the delivery of plastics to the sea, while also functioning as reservoirs for plastic retention. In tropical regions, rivers are exposed to both high ...levels of plastic pollution and invasion of water hyacinths. This aquatic plant forms dense patches at the river surface that drift due to winds and currents. Recent work suggests that water hyacinths play a crucial role in influencing plastic transport, by efficiently trapping the majority of surface plastic within their patches. However, a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between water hyacinths and plastics is still lacking. We hypothesize that the properties relevant to plastic transport change due to their trapping in water hyacinth patches. In particular, the length scale, defined as the characteristic size of the transported material, is a key property in understanding how materials move within rivers. Here, we show that water hyacinth patches trap on average 54%–77% of all observed surface plastics at the measurement site (Saigon river, Vietnam). Both temporally and spatially, we found that plastic and water hyacinth presence co-occur. The formation of plastic-plant aggregates carries significant implications for both clean-up and monitoring purposes, as these aggregates can be detected from space and need to be jointly removed. In addition, the length scale of trapped plastics (∼4.0 m) was found to be forty times larger than that of open water plastics (∼0.1 m). The implications of this increased length scale for plastic transport dynamics are yet to be fully understood, calling for further investigation into travel distances and trajectories. The effects of plastic trapping likely extend to other key properties of plastic-plant aggregates, such as effective buoyancy and mass. Given the prevalence of plant invasion and plastic pollution in rivers worldwide, this research offers valuable insights into the complex environmental challenges faced by numerous rivers.
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•Water hyacinths trap between 54% and 77% of surface plastics in the Saigon river.•Plastic concentrations in plant patches are 32 times higher than at the river surface.•Length-scale of plastic-plant is 40 times larger than plastic only (4.0 m vs 0.1 m).•We hypothesize plastic trapping impacts plastic transport and retention dynamics.
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