Does epilepsy differentially affect different types of memory?

Despite the recognition that epilepsy can substantially disrupt memory, there are few published accounts of whether and how this disruption varies across different types of memory and/or different types of epilepsy. This review explores four main questions: (1) Are working, episodic and semantic memory differentially affected by epilepsy? (2) Do various types of epilepsy, and their treatment, have different, specifiable effects on memory? (3) Are the usual forms of neuropsychological assessments of memory - many or most designed for other conditions - appropriate for patients with epilepsy? (4) How can research on epilepsy contribute to our understanding of the neuroscience of memory? We conclude that widespread and multifactorial problems are seen in working memory in all patient groups, while patients with temporal lobe epilepsy seem particularly prone to episodic memory deficit, and those with frontal lobe epilepsy to executive function deficits that may in turn impair semantic control. Currently, it is difficult to make individual patient predictions about likely memory deficits based on seizure aetiology and type, but it is possible to guide and tailor neuropsychological assessments in an individualised way.

A review of radiation doses and associated parameters in Western Australian mining operations (2020-23).

Government policies have stimulated the Western Australian (WA) mining industry to position itself as a significant global supplier of critical minerals, including lithium and rare earths. In WA the lithology that supports these minerals is often associated with elevated concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) and the increase in the number of mining operations pursuing the minerals has witnessed a commensurate increase in the number of workers potentially exposed to the radiation emitted from the NORMs. The regulatory framework for radiation protection in WA mining operations underwent significant change with the implementation of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 and Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 which both came into effect on the 31 of March 2022.

A mathematical model for the role of dopamine-D2 self-regulation in the production of ultradian rhythms.

Many self-motivated and goal-directed behaviours display highly flexible, approximately 4 hour ultradian (shorter than a day) oscillations. Despite lacking direct correspondence to physical cycles in the environment, these ultradian rhythms may be involved in optimizing functional interactions with the environment and reflect intrinsic neural dynamics. Current evidence supports a role of mesostriatal dopamine (DA) in the expression and propagation of ultradian rhythmicity, however, the biochemical processes underpinning these oscillations remain to be identified.

The Nitrous Oxide Project: assessment of advocacy and national directives to deliver mitigation of anaesthetic nitrous oxide.

The environmental emissions attributed to anaesthetic nitrous oxide across the NHS are comparable to the carbon dioxide released by 135,000 flights from Frankfurt to New York. Much of these emissions are attributable to cumbersome and inadequately managed piped systems, resulting in excessive loss and waste. Since 2020, multiple hospital sites have been engaging with the Nitrous Oxide Project, a quality improvement method supporting a 'lean systems' approach to the provision of nitrous oxide.

The neural substrates of transdiagnostic cognitive-linguistic heterogeneity in primary progressive aphasia.

Background: Clinical variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) are diagnosed based on characteristic patterns of language deficits, supported by corresponding neural changes on brain imaging. However, there is (i) considerable phenotypic variability within and between each diagnostic category with partially overlapping profiles of language performance between variants and (ii) accompanying non-linguistic cognitive impairments that may be independent of aphasia magnitude and disease severity. The neurobiological basis of this cognitive-linguistic heterogeneity remains unclear.

Priority setting for non-communicable disease prevention - Co-producing a regulatory agenda informing novel codes of practice in Australia.

There are a range of priority setting methods for non-communicable disease (NCDs) prevention. However, existing methods are often designed without detailed consideration of local context and political economy- critical success factors for implementation. In Australia, codes of practice under state government Public Health Acts could be used for NCD prevention.

Reliance on Community Emergency Departments by People Ever Detained in Jail: Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Millions are confined in U.S. jails each year, often with unmet health and social needs.

Relationships between substance use disorders, 'severe mental illness' and re-arrest in a county detention facility: A 4-year follow-up cohort study.

Background: A growing body of literature demonstrates strong association between poor mental health and criminal recidivism, but research from county jails is limited.

Aims: Our aim was to examine the relationship between re-arrest and severe mental illnesses-schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder-together and separately and with substance use disorders, separately and as comorbid conditions, in a mid-sized county jail cohort in the southeastern United States.

Methods: We examined the full cohort of 8097 individuals who were booked into the County Detention Facility between 31 January 2014 and 31 January 2015.

An efficient, accurate and clinically-applicable index of content word fluency in Aphasia.

Background: Despite the clinical importance of assessing the efficiency and accuracy of fluency in terms of content words production during connected speech, assessments based on discourse tasks are very time-consuming and thus not clinically feasible.

Aims: (1) Examine the relationship between single-word naming and word retrieval during discourse production. (2) Investigate the relationship between word retrieval and content word fluency derived from a simple versus naturalistic discourse tasks.

Dataset for measuring the conceptual understanding of optics in Rwanda.

This dataset is an accumulation of data collected to test Rwandan physics students' conceptual understanding of light phenomena and to assess instructional tools for active learning of optics. We collected and analysed data from 251 grade 11 (senior 5) students using our Light Phenomena Conceptual Assessment (LPCA) tool and from 136 grade 10 (senior 4) students using Geometric Optics Conceptual Understanding Test (GOCUT) in 2019. Before collecting data, we designed and validated LPCA and GOCUT, and tested their reliability.

A Phenomenological Mouse Circadian Pacemaker Model.

Mathematical models have been used extensively in chronobiology to explore characteristics of biological clocks. In particular, for human circadian studies, the Kronauer model has been modified multiple times to describe rhythm production and responses to sensory input. This phenomenological model comprises a single set of parameters which can simulate circadian responses in humans under a variety of environmental conditions.

A review of radiation doses and associated parameters in Western Australian mining operations (2018-20).

In the 2019-20 reporting period, 19 mining operations in Western Australia were identified as having workers who were likely to be exposed to ionising radiation stemming from naturally occurring radioactive materials, 17 of which, known hereinafter as reporting entities (REs), were required to submit an annual report of the dose estimates of their workforce to the mining regulatory authority. In 2018 the International Commission for Radiological Protection published the revision of the dose coefficients (DCs) for occupational intakes of radionuclides of the uranium-238 and thorium-232 decay series, in ICRP-137 and ICRP-141. The 2019-20 annual reports are the first to apply the revised DCs to estimate worker doses.

Face-selective responses in combined EEG/MEG recordings with fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS).

Fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) allows the recording of objective brain responses of human face categorization (i.e., generalizable face-selective responses) with high signal-to-noise ratio.

PERSIANN Dynamic Infrared-Rain Rate (PDIR-Now): A Near-Real-Time, Quasi-Global Satellite Precipitation Dataset.

This study presents the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks-Dynamic Infrared Rain Rate (PDIR-Now) near-real-time precipitation dataset. This dataset provides hourly, quasi-global, infrared-based precipitation estimates at 0.04° × 0.

High Sensitivity of the Circadian Clock in the Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus to Glucocorticoid- and GSK3-Beta-Dependent Signals.

Aims: Circadian clocks in the hippocampus (HPC) align memory processing with appropriate time of day. Our study was aimed at ascertaining the specificity of glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta (GSK3β)- and glucocorticoid (GC)-dependent pathways in the entrainment of clocks in individual HPC regions, CA1-3, and dentate gyrus (DG).

Methods: The role of GCs was addressed in vivo by comparing the effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) and subsequent dexamethasone (DEX) supplementation on clock gene expression profiles (Per1, Per2, Nr1d1, and Bmal1).

Distinct and common neural coding of semantic and non-semantic control demands.

The flexible retrieval of knowledge is critical in everyday situations involving problem solving, reasoning and social interaction. Current theories emphasise the importance of a left-lateralised semantic control network (SCN) in supporting flexible semantic behaviour, while a bilateral multiple-demand network (MDN) is implicated in executive functions across domains. No study, however, has examined whether semantic and non-semantic demands are reflected in a common neural code within regions specifically implicated in semantic control.

Targeted modification of the Per2 clock gene alters circadian function in mPer2luciferase (mPer2Luc) mice.

Modification of the Per2 clock gene in mPer2Luc reporter mice significantly alters circadian function. Behavioral period in constant dark is lengthened, and dissociates into two distinct components in constant light. Rhythms exhibit increased bimodality, enhanced phase resetting to light pulses, and altered entrainment to scheduled feeding.

Fire safety and emergency evacuation guidelines for intensive care units and operating theatres: for use in the event of fire, flood, power cut, oxygen supply failure, noxious gas, structural collapse or other critical incidents: Guidelines from the Association of Anaesthetists and the Intensive Care Society.

The need to evacuate an ICU or operating theatre complex during a fire or other emergency is a rare event but one potentially fraught with difficulty: Not only is there a risk that patients may come to harm but also that staff may be injured and unable to work. Designing newly-built or refurbished ICUs and operating theatre suites is an opportunity to incorporate mandatory fire safety features and improve the management and outcomes of such emergencies: These include well-marked manual fire call points and oxygen shut off valves (area valve service units); the ability to isolate individual zones; multiple clear exit routes; small bays or side rooms; preference for ground floor ICU location and interconnecting routes with operating theatres; separate clinical and non-clinical areas. ICUs and operating theatre suites should have a bespoke emergency evacuation plan and route map that is readily available.

Perspectives for the use of latex peptidases from Calotropis procera for control of inflammation derived from Salmonella infections.

Background: Anti-inflammatory properties have been attributed to latex proteins of the medicinal plant Calotropis procera.

Purpose: A mixture of cysteine peptidases (LPp2) from C. procera latex was investigated for control of inflammatory mediators and inflammation in a mouse model of Salmonella infection.

Impacts of revised dose coefficients for the inhalation of NORM-containing dusts encountered in the Western Australian Mining Industry.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of recent revisions to the dose coefficients published in ICRP-137 and ICRP-141 for members of theTh,U andU decay series on radiation doses received by Western Australian mine workers via the inhalation of insoluble dusts containing long-lived alpha particle emitting radionuclides.Whilst some dose coefficients for individual members of the decay series have decreased, the nett effect is that the sum of all dose coefficients in all three decay series have increased as a result of the revisions. The increase is inversely related to Activity Median Aerodynamic Diameter.

A review of radiation doses and associated parameters in Western Australian mining operations that process ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides for 2018-19.

Naturally occurring radionuclides (NORs) are encountered in varying concentrations in a wide range of commodities that are mined and processed in Western Australia (WA), including mineral sands, coal, phosphate ores, sandblasting materials, and the production of bauxite, titanium dioxide pigment, copper, zinc, lead, tin, tantalum and the refining of zircon.Because they have the potential for workers to receive annual doses in excess of 1 mSv, 14 mining operations in WA are required to submit an annual report of worker doses to the regulatory authority. This research provides a summary of the workforce demographics and radiation doses reported by mining operations for the 2018-19 reporting period in order to establish a benchmark against which to compare future worker exposures.

REASSESSMENT OF RADIATION EXPOSURES OF UNDERGROUND NON-URANIUM MINE WORKERS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

In the 1990, radon and radon progeny was reported to contribute approximately 70% of the average 1.4 + 1.0-mSv annual dose across 26 Western Australian underground non-uranium mines.