Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: The impact of clinical variables and psychiatric disorders on executive profile assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery

Executive dysfunction is reported in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). However, batteries employed in previous studies included no more than three tests of executive function. In this study, we aimed to assess executive and attentional functions in JME using a comprehensive battery of eight tests (encompassing fifteen subtests). We also evaluated neuropsychological profiles using a clinical criterion of severity and correlated these findings with epilepsy clinical variables and the presence of psychiatric disorders. We prospectively evaluated 42 patients with JME and a matched control group with Digit Span tests (forward and backward), Stroop Color-Word Test, Trail Making Test, Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test, Matching Familiar Figures Test and Word Fluency Test. We estimated IQ with the Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale. The patients with JME showed specific deficits in working memory, inhibitory control, concept formation, goal maintenance, mental flexibility, and verbal fluency. We observed attentional deficits in processes such as alertness and attention span and those requiring sustained and divided attention. We found that 83.33% of the patients had moderate or severe executive dysfunction. In addition, attentional and executive impairment was correlated with higher frequency of seizures and the presence of psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, executive dysfunction correlated with a longer duration of epilepsy. Our findings indicate the need for comprehensive neuropsychological batteries in patients with JME, in order to provide a more extensive evaluation of attentional and executive functions and to show that some relevant deficits have been overlooked. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory in children with temporal lobe epilepsy is at least partially explained by executive dysfunction

An association between memory and executive dysfunction (ED) has been demonstrated in patients with mixed neurological disorders. We aimed to investigate the impact of ED in memory tasks of children with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We evaluated 36 children with TLE and 28 controls with tests for memory, learning, attention, mental flexibility, and mental tracking. Data analysis was composed of comparison between patients and controls in memory and executive function; correlation between memory and executive function tests; and comparison between patients with mild and severe ED in memory tests. Children with TLE had worse performance in focused attention, immediate and delayed recall, phonological memory, mental tracking, planning, and abstraction. Planning, abstraction, and mental tracking were correlated with visual and verbal memory. Children with severe ED had worse performance in verbal and visual memory and learning tests. This study showed that ED was related to memory performance in children with TLE. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Desempenhos neuropsicológicos em um caso com sequência de Robin

Objetivo: Caracterizar os desempenhos neuropsicológicos de um caso com sequência de Robin. Método: Participou um sujeito com 11 anos e 11 meses, sexo masculino, com Sequência de Robin e fissura completa de palato e queixa de baixo aproveitamento acadêmico. Foram utilizados: Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas, Teste Gestaltico Bender, Escala de Inteligência para Crianças - WISC III; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-WCST, Teste de Atenção Visual-Tavis-4. Resultados: O raciocínio espaço-temporal lógico apresentou-se na média para a idade. A análise das funções cognitivas para a aprendizagem revelou desempenhos com classificação na média em escalas verbal (QIV=112), execução (QIE=99) e global (QIT=106). No entanto, apresentou desempenhos inferiores em tarefas com sobrecarga, que exigiam atenção sustentada, agilidade e flexibilidade mental, memória de trabalho visual e gerenciamento de estratégias para resolução de problemas. O desempenho em provas perceptivas visiomotoras foi inferior ao esperado, compatível a oito anos de idade, com evidentes dificuldades na construção de ângulos, organização espacial e posição relativa. As habilidades de atenção mostraram-se preservadas em provas de sustentadas e alternadas; naquelas envolvendo a atenção seletiva, cujo estímulo exigiu capacidade de rastreamento e velocidade da resposta, o desempenho foi significativamente inferior ao esperado para a idade. Conclusão: Apesar do nível intelectual satisfatório, a avaliação evidenciou déficits neuropsicológicos importantes interferentes na aprendizagem, tais como, a atenção, memória de trabalho, percepção visomotora e gerenciamento executivo. Estes achados justificam os prejuízos do sujeito em atividades acadêmicas que envolvem as habilidades de leitura, escrita e aritmética.

The methylation patterns of the IGF2 and IGF2R genes in bovine spermatozoa are not affected by flow-cytometric sex sorting

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of sexing by flow cytometry on the methylation patterns of the IGF2 and IGF2R genes. Frozen-thawed, unsorted, and sex-sorted sperm samples from four Nellore bulls were used. Each ejaculate was separated into three fractions: non-sexed (NS), sexed for X-sperm (SX), and sexed for Y-sperm (SY). Sperm were isolated from the extender, cryoprotectant, and other cell types by centrifugation on a 40:70% Percoll gradient, and sperm pellets were used for genomic DNA isolation. DNA was used for analyses of the methylation patterns by bisulfite sequencing. Methylation status of the IGF2 and IGF2R genes were evaluated by sequencing 195 and 147 individual clones, respectively. No global differences in DNA methylation were found between NS, SX, and SY groups for the IGF2 (P=0.09) or IGF2R genes (P=0.38). Very specific methylation patterns were observed in the 25th and 26th CpG sites in the IGF2R gene. representing higher methylation in NS than in the SX and SY groups compared with the other CpG sites. Further, individual variation in methylation patterns was found among bulls. In conclusion, the sex-sorting procedure by flow cytometry did not affect the overall DNA methylation patterns of the IGF2 and IGF2R genes, although individual variation in their methylation patterns among bulls was observed. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 79:7784, 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm Based on Reinforcement Learning to Optimization of Broad-Band Reflector Antennas Satellite

This paper aims to provide an improved NSGA-II (Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-version II) which incorporates a parameter-free self-tuning approach by reinforcement learning technique, called Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm Based on Reinforcement Learning (NSGA-RL). The proposed method is particularly compared with the classical NSGA-II when applied to a satellite coverage problem. Furthermore, not only the optimization results are compared with results obtained by other multiobjective optimization methods, but also guarantee the advantage of no time-spending and complex parameter tuning.