Psychological assessment in XLMR: a proposal for setting international standards

The need for an agreed upon set of standards for assessing individuals with XLMR was made quite evident this past year at the Fragile X and XLMR Workshop in Strasbourg. Several affected individuals from different families may have been incorrectly diagnosed as MR. Many factors can have a negative affect on IQ testing. As a result, evaluating individuals with cognitive deficits can be problematic. To be effective, psychological assessments must produce uniform results that are consistent with the definition of MR. Therefore, to foster international research in XLMR. I propose a two-stage standardized protocol. To determine which tests may be suitable. I review an assortment of instruments for psychological assessment at each stage, noting their strengths and weaknesses. Afterward, I present a set of standardized protocols based on age and language ability.     

Network security and data integrity in academia: an assessment and a proposal for large-scale archiving

A direct impediment to the optimal use of online databases is the increasing prevalence, severity, and toll of computer and network security incidents. Funding agencies should set up working groups that can provide essential services such as universal backup, archival storage, and mirroring of community resources, consistent with the key goal of security in academia: to preserve data and results for posterity.     

A proposal for accounting for biodiversity in life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing the environmental impacts associated with products throughout their lifecycle. Many impacts are accounted for within the LCA framework, but to date biodiversity impacts have received little attention. There are a number of existing direct and indirect measures of biodiversity within the ecological field, some of which have the potential to be developed into a useable method for LCA. However, our assessment is that considerable development would be required and their implementation for LCA is not likely in the foreseeable future. Here an alternative approach is proposed for rapidly incorporating biodiversity impacts into LCA. The approach relies on expert opinions through a series of questions which aim to encapsulate the main issues relating to biodiversity within a disturbance impact framework. While the technique is in its infancy we outline a foundation for the approach and identify the steps required to develop this method for implementation into LCA.     

Towards an agroecological assessment of dairy systems: proposal for a set of criteria suited to mountain farming

Ruminant production systems have been facing the sustainability challenge, namely, how to maintain or even increase production while reducing their environmental footprint, and improving social acceptability. One currently discussed option is to encourage farmers to follow agroecological principles, that is, to take advantage of ecological processes to reduce inputs and farm wastes, while preserving natural resources, and using this diversity to increase system resilience. However, these principles need to be made more practical. Here, we present the procedure undertaken for the collaborative construction of an agroecological diagnostic grid for dairy systems with a focus on the mountain farming relying on the use of semi-natural grasslands. This diagnosis will necessarily rely on a multicriteria evaluation as agroecology is based on a series of complementary principles. It requires defining a set of criteria, based on practices to be recommended, that should be complied with to ensure agroecological production. We present how such agroecological criteria were identified and organized to form the architecture of an evaluation model. As a basis for this work, we used five agroecological principles already proposed for animal production systems. A group of five experts of mountain production systems and of their multicriteria evaluation was selected, with a second round of consultation with five additional experts. They first split up each principle into three to four generic sub-principles. For each principle, they listed three to eight categories of state variables on which the fulfilment of the principle should have a positive impact (e.g. main health disorders for the integrated health management principle). State variables are specific for a given production, for example, dairy farms. Crossing principles with state variables enabled experts to build five matrices, with 75 cells relevant for dairy systems. In each cell, criteria are specific to the local context, for example, mountain dairy systems in this study. Finally, we discuss the opportunities offered by our methodology, and the steps remaining for the construction of the evaluation model.     

24-hour assessment of performance on a palmtop computer: validating a self-constructed test battery

A test battery was constructed on a palmtop computer for ambulatory purposes. This study explored whether the test battery could assess circadian rhythmicity under constant routine conditions. Performance, body temperature, and subjective sleepiness of 12 healthy subjects were measured. The test battery consisted of a sleepiness questionnaire and three performance tests: a vigilance detection test, a working memory test, and a choice-reaction time test. The subjects were divided into early-start and late-start groups and were subjected to the constant-routine protocol. All tests showed a trough in performance in the early morning around 07:00h and a peak in the evening between 21:00 and 23:00h. In addition, an afternoon decrement in performance was observed between 15:00 and 17:00h. On average, the circadian (peak-to-trough) variation of the performance variables amounted to 16.9%±1.7 SEM of the maximum across subjects. The late starters showed a larger impairment in performance during the morning than the early starters. This could be attributed to prior wakefulness. The characteristics of the performance rhythms found in this study replicate findings in several other studies carried out under constant routine conditions. In conclusion, the present test battery appeared to be a good tool for future assessment of performance under natural conditions.     

Uniform nomenclature for bacterial plasmids: a proposal

[This corrects the article on p. 168 in vol. 40.].     

Consciousness and body image: lessons from phantom limbs,Capgras syndrome and pain asymbolia.

Words such as ''consciousness'' and ''self'' actually encompass a number of distinct phenomena that are loosely lumped together. The study of neurological syndromes allows us to explore the neural mechanisms that might underlie different aspects of self, such as body image and emotional responses to sensory stimuli, and perhaps even laughter and humour. Mapping the ''functional logic'' of the many different attributes of human nature on to specific neural circuits in the brain offers the best hope of understanding how the activity of neurons gives rise to conscious experience. We consider three neurological syndromes (phantom limbs, Capgras delusion and pain asymbolia) to illustrate this idea.     

A computerized test battery for the assessment of cardiovascular reactivity

Recent evidence has suggested a possible relationship between the tendency to exhibit excessive cardiovascular reactions during psychological challenge and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Valid techniques for reliably assessing such reactions are, however, minimally available. A test battery for the assessment of cardiovascular reactivity to experimental challenge is currently being developed at the University of Pittsburgh in conjunction with the University of Miami and Duke University. An IBM-AT compatible microcomputer is being used for the concurrent collection of physiological data and presentation of the laboratory stressors. Digitized cardiovascular data being collected include EKG, Impedance Cardiogram (ICG), phonocardiogram, and a peripheral pulse wave measure. Blood pressure readings are also being collected and stored on disk. The computer presents three challenging video games, each designed to elicit cardiovascular reactions. Processing programs are being used and developed for the standardized scoring of the digitized signals. To assist in epidemiological research a mobile testing unit has been assembled for the easy administration of the test battery in varying geographical locations. The test battery being developed will increase the feasibility of epidemiological and clinical assessment of stress-induced cardiovascular responses which may substantiate a link between reactivity and cardiovascular disease.     

Validation of a brief telephone battery for neurocognitive assessment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Background

The effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension on brain function are not understood, despite patients'' frequent complaints of cognitive difficulties. Using clinical instruments normally administered during standard in-person assessment of neurocognitive function in adults, we assembled a battery of tests designed for administration over the telephone. The purpose was to improve patient participation, facilitate repeated test administration, and reduce the cost of research on the neuropsychological consequences of acute and chronic cardiorespiratory diseases. We undertook this study to validate telephone administration of the tests.

Methods

23 adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension underwent neurocognitive assessment using both standard in-person and telephone test administration, and the results of the two methods compared using interclass correlations.

Results

For most of the tests in the battery, scores from the telephone assessment correlated strongly with those obtained by in-person administration of the same tests. Interclass correlations between 0.5 and 0.8 were observed for tests that assessed attention, memory, concentration/working memory, reasoning, and language/crystallized intelligence (p ≤ 0.05 for each). Interclass correlations for the Hayling Sentence Completion test of executive function approached significance (p = 0.09). All telephone tests were completed within one hour.

Conclusion

Administration of this neurocognitive test battery by telephone should facilitate assessment of neuropsychological deficits among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension living across broad geographical areas, and may be useful for monitoring changes in neurocognitive function in response to PAH-specific therapy or disease progression.     

Parameters of analytic morphometry: proposal for a symmetry evaluator

A morphometrical analytical evaluator of asymmetries of biological structures bonded by a closed curve was suggested. A second degree equation couple was found in order to detect, respectively according X and Y axis, first main asymmetry whereas third degree equation revealed first and second asymmetry for both abscissa and ordinate values. Final evaluator, named S.A.E. (Shape Analytical Evaluator), was computed as arch/cord ratio between function curve and its cord, it was equal to 1 for circles and any ellipse and symmetrical shapes whereas it was of different value for asymmetrical shapes.     

Ecosystem classification and mapping: a proposal for Italian landscapes

Abstract. This paper deals with the development of a hierarchical land classification for describing and mapping landscapes at different scales. After a brief overview of the theoretical background, an integrative framework is proposed which incorporates different hierarchical levels from plant sociology as diagnostic attributes. The feasibility of this proposal has been tested in different sample landscapes in central Italy. This system has a potential for applications to Italian landscapes from national to local scales, because it is based on solid theory and on information which is generally available in Italy.     

Cryptosporidium species found in cattle: a proposal for a new species

Humans and animals are infected worldwide by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium. Yet, parasitologists are continuously surprised by the expanding complexity of this genus. Over the past 20 years, cattle were identified as being a reservoir host for taxa transmitted from animals to humans. However, a remarkable assemblage of species affects cattle, including both cattle-specific, in addition to a zoonotic, species. To clarify species classification, Cryptosporidium pestis n. sp. is proposed for the species formerly recognized as the "bovine genotype" of C. parvum. The observed increasing complexity of Cryptosporidium species, along with recent advances in knowledge, should be reconsidered in the context of past records, and not vice versa. In this way, the gaps in our understanding of Cryptosporidium species can be identified and addressed in a scientific manner.