Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: The Trail Making Test (TMT) is one of the tests most commonly included in neuropsychological batteries to assess executive functions. A digitized version of TMT would provide objective measurements of time to complete (TTC) and total number of errors (TE) with minimal training, and eventually enable process metrics including detailed evaluation of drawing behavior. Here we evaluated the test-retest reliability and validity of a new digital TMT Part B (dTMT-B).

Erector spinae plane blocks for opioid-sparing multimodal pain management after pediatric cardiac surgery.

Objective: Peripheral regional anesthesia is proposed to enhance recovery. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral continuous erector spinae plane blocks (B-ESpB) for postoperative analgesia and the impact on recovery in children undergoing cardiac surgery.

Methods: Patients aged 2 through 17 years undergoing cardiac surgery in the enhanced recovery after cardiac surgery program were prospectively enrolled to receive B-ESpB at the end of the procedure, with continuous infusions via catheters postoperatively.

Clinical classification of memory and cognitive impairment with multimodal digital biomarkers.

Introduction: Early detection of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment is critical to improving the healthcare trajectories of aging adults, enabling early intervention and potential prevention of decline.

Methods: To evaluate multi-modal feature sets for assessing memory and cognitive impairment, feature selection and subsequent logistic regressions were used to identify the most salient features in classifying Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test-determined memory impairment.

Results: Multimodal models incorporating graphomotor, memory, and speech and voice features provided the stronger classification performance (area under the curve = 0.

Quantifying the Contribution of Habitats and Pathways to a Spatially Structured Population Facing Environmental Change.

The consequences of environmental disturbance and management are difficult to quantify for spatially structured populations because changes in one location carry through to other areas as a result of species movement. We develop a metric, , for measuring the contribution of a habitat or pathway to network-wide population growth rate in the face of environmental change. This metric is different from other contribution metrics, as it quantifies effects of modifying vital rates for habitats and pathways in perturbation experiments.

Electrocolonography: Non-Invasive Detection of Colonic Cyclic Motor Activity From Multielectrode Body Surface Recordings.

Objective: This work validates a novel non-invasive method to identify periods of cyclic motor activity in the colon using multichannel skin-surface electrical recordings on the lower abdominal region, termed electrocolonography (EColG).

Methods: EColG recordings were made from 21 human subjects during a 3 hr meal-response study. A signal processing pipeline based on Continuous Wavelet Transform time-frequency analysis was used to quantify the spectral power in the colonic frequency band ( ≈ 2-6 cycles per minute; cpm) during the fasted and fed states.