5th Block Research Articles

Integrated management of rodent pests in sugarcane using rodenticides and antifertilty agent triptolide

Five blocks of farmer’s sugarcane fields were selected in district Jalandhar, Punjab during December 2016 to February 2017. These blocks were treated with 2% zinc phosphide (ZnP), 2% ZnP+ 0.005% bromadiolone (Br), 2% ZnP+ 0.25% triptolide (Tr) and 2% ZnP+ 0.005% Br+ 0.25% Tr at cane maturation stage; and 5th block was kept as untreated control. The post census and % re-buildup of rodents after 30 and 45 days of Tr treatment and cut canes (%) were significantly less in rodenticides+ Tr treated blocks (ZnP+ Tr and ZnP+ Br+ Tr) as compared to blocks treated only with rodenticides (ZnP alone and ZnP + Br). However, burrows and yield loss were found to be significantly less with ZnP+ Br+ Tr treatment. Thus, antifertilty agent, triptolide can be used along with rodenticides for better control of rodents in sugarcane.

Decision making under ambiguity and risk in adolescent-onset schizophrenia

ObjectiveNumerous studies have identified impaired decision making (DM) under both ambiguity and risk in adult patients with schizophrenia. However, the assessment of DM in patients with adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS) has been challenging as a result of the instability and heterogeneity of manifestations. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Game of Dice Task (GDT), which are frequently used to evaluate DM respectively under ambiguity and risk, are sensitive to adolescents and neuropsychiatric patients. Our research intended to examine the performance of DM in a relatively large sample of patients with AOS using the above-mentioned two tasks. We also aimed to take a closer look at the relationship between DM and symptom severity of schizophrenia.MethodsWe compared the performance of DM in 71 patients with AOS and 53 well-matched healthy controls using IGT for DM under ambiguity and GDT for DM under risk through net scores, total scores and feedback ration. Neuropsychological tests were conducted in all participants. Clinical symptoms were evaluated by using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in 71 patients with AOS. Pearson’s correlation revealed the relationship among total score of DM and clinical and neuropsychological data.ResultsCompared to healthy controls, patients with AOS failed to show learning effect and had a significant difference on the 5th block in IGT and conducted more disadvantageous choices as well as exhibited worse negative feedback rate in GDT. Apart from DM impairment under risk, diminished DM abilities under ambiguity were found related to poor executive function in AOS in the present study.ConclusionsOur findings unveiled the abnormal pattern of DM in AOS, mainly reflected under the risky condition, extending the knowledge on the performance of DM under ambiguity and risk in AOS. Inefficient DM under risk may account for the lagging impulse control and the combined effects of developmental disease. In addition, our study demonstrated that the performance on IGT was related to executive function in AOS.

Behavioural and electrophysiological evaluation of the impact of different cue types upon individuals with acquired anomia

ABSTRACT Background Lexical retrieval models help to determine the locus of difficulty in individuals with anomia. It is generally assumed that phonological cueing facilitates naming in individuals with phonological output lexicon deficits while semantic cueing facilitates naming in those with semantic lexical deficits. Evidence from treatment studies is not always consistent with this assumption, showing positive effects for both types of cues regardless of the types of deficits in some studies. Recently, behavioural and electrophysiological markers for patient engagement and effort during motor rehabilitation have been suggested. Thus, we set out to evaluate, in a preliminary manner, whether there is an association between the locus of the naming difficulty, the relevancy of the type of cue to this locus and the degree of patient cognitive engagement and effort, as measured by these markers. Aims To evaluate the applicability of a behavioural marker of temporary functional change (TFC) and of a single-channel EEG marker, the Brain Engagement Index (BEI), during naming treatment specifically designed to test the efficacy of semantic and phonological cueing treatment in 23 individuals with phonological output lexicon anomia and in four individuals with lexico-semantic anomia following acquired brain damage. Methods and Procedures Two-hundred pictures of nouns were divided into five blocks of 40 pictures each. The blocks were matched in the frequency of use and number of letters. Three of the blocks were non-cued blocks: the pre-treatment block (first block), the 3rd block and the 5th block. The 2nd and the 4th blocks provided either semantic cues or phonological cues simultaneously with the presentation of the picture. The order of the cued sessions varied among the patients. Participants underwent BEI monitoring (EEG) during all sessions. Outcome and Results Most of the individuals, whether with predominantly semantic or phonological impairment, profited immediately from both types of cues. In addition, generalization to non-cued pictures was observed for 23 of the 27 individuals following the cueing blocks. Importantly, this generalization was related to the type of impairment for most participants, but this effect was transient. Finally, it was found that the patients’ impairment interactions with the type of cue used were associated with the degree of patient cue type-induced effort, as could be measured by this temporary generalization (or TFC) and by the BEI.

Modulation of Corticospinal Excitability during Acquisition of Action Sequences by Observation

Excitability of the corticospinal pathway increases during observation of an action. However, how corticospinal excitability changes during observation of sequential actions in the course of acquiring novel skills (observational learning) remains unexplored. To investigate this, we used a previously unpracticed sequence of ten hand postures. Participants were asked to repeat observation and replication of the sequence. This block of observation and replication was repeated 5 times. During observation of a given hand posture (OK sign), motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation were recorded from hand muscles. In experiment 1, the OK sign appeared in the 9th position of the sequence. Almost all participants could replicate the OK sign only at the 5th block of the experiment. MEP amplitude was greater than that in the control, and decreased with the stages. This suggested that during observational learning of sequential hand postures MEP changed with the progress of the learning. To evaluate this idea, we performed two additional experiments. In experiment 2, the OK sign appeared in the 2nd position. Almost all participants replicated the OK sign even in the 1st block. The MEP amplitude did not change across stages. In experiment 3, the OK sign appeared in the 9th position, but the order of other signs was randomized in every stage. Many participants were not able to replicate the OK sign even during the 5th block of the experiment. The MEP amplitude did not change across stages. These results suggest that: (1) During observational learning modulation of corticospinal excitability is associated with the learning process. (2) Corticospinal excitability decreases as learning progresses.

PW01-215 - Connections between trait anxiety and the mechanisms of decision making in alcohol dependence

ObjectivesAccording to recent studies anxiety has a significant impact on cognitive functioning, especially on decision-making. Alcohol dependent patients (ADP) achieve worse performance on decision-making simulation tasks compared to healthy controls. Our aim was to investigate how trait anxiety is connected to decision-making mechanisms in ADP.MethodsThe data of 76 ADP have been analyzed. To examine decision-making mechanisms we used the “ABCD” version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The IGT total score was calculated and we divided the task into 5 equal blocks to study the pattern of the decision-making process. We administered the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The patient group was arranged into two subgroups with median split method based on the STAI scores. One group (N=38) was characterized by low trait anxiety level, and the other (N=38) had high level of trait anxiety. For comparing the two groups’ decision-making mechanisms we used independent samples t-test.ResultsThe group with higher level of trait anxiety performed significantly poorer on the IGT (t=2.09, p=0.04). The detailed analysis of the two groups’ decision-making mechanisms showed that the difference between the groups became significant in the 5th block (t=2.57, p=0.01).ConclusionsDecision-making deficit is not homogenous in the ADP group, as according to our results the trait anxiety level influences the adequacy of decision-making. Psycho-biological background of the inadequate decision-making needs further investigation and this knowledge could be used in the future to improve decision-making mechanisms of the ADP.

Leaching Decontamination of Soil of the 5th Block of the Vasil'evskii Island District (St. Petersburg) from 137Cs

Leaching decontamination of soil taken from the 5th block of the Vasil'evskii Island district (St. Petersburg) from 137Cs with Na2EDTA, HNO3, and FeCl3 aqueous solutions was studied. The highest degree of decontamination (60%) was reached in leaching 137Cs with solutions containing equimolar amounts (0.02 M) of FeCl3 and NH4Cl at the liquid to solid phase ratio V/m = 20 l/kg. The distribution factor of cesium between the soil and eluate Ds/l is equal to 12. This distribution factor practically coincides with that obtained in leaching decontamination of the soil collected from Bryansk oblast but is significantly lower than the distribution factor for the soil taken from Gur'ev oblast. This difference in Ds/l reflects specificity in mineral composition of these soils.

Pilot Technology for Soil Deactivation To Remove 90Sr

Pilot soil deactivation technologies to remove 90Sr from the soil are tested under field conditions of the former cantonment no. 6 of the 5th block of the Vasil'evskii Ostrov district (St. Petersburg, Russia). Heap leaching with HNO3 and FeCl3 solutions provides the decontamination factor of about 3, and stepwise elution with stirring, 9.0±0.3 which increases with the number of leaching cycles. The 90Sr distribution coefficient between the soil and the eluent is determined, allowing estimation of the number of cycles needed to reach a fixed degree of decontamination.

Comparison of visual and auditory evoked cortical potentials in migraine patients between attacks

Objective: As both habituation of pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEP) (Schoenen J, Wang W, Albert A, Delwaide PJ. Potentiation instead of habituation characterizes visual evoked potentials in migraine patients between attacks. Eur J Neurol 1995;2:115–122) and intensity dependence of auditory evoked cortical potentials (IDAP) (Wang W, Timsit-Berthier M, Schoenen J. Intensity dependence of auditory evoked potentials in migraine: an indication of cortical potentiation and low serotonergic neurotransmission? Neurology 1996;46:1404–1409) were found abnormal in migraine between attacks, we have searched for intraindividual correlations between both tests in 59 migraine patients (22 with aura [MA], 37 without aura [MO]) and in 23 healthy volunteers (HV).Methods: Amplitude change of the PR-VEP N1–P1 was measured between the 1st and 5th block of 50 sequential averagings during continuous stimulation at 3.1 Hz. IDAP was computed from N1–P2 amplitudes of 100 averagings during stimulations at 40, 50, 60 and 70 dB SL. Amplitude-stimulus intensity function (ASF) slopes and amplitude changes between 40 and 70 dB were calculated. MO and MA differed from HV in PR-VEP amplitude change (P=0.007) and IDAP slope (P=0.0004).Results: There was no significant correlation between VEP amplitude changes and IDAP slopes, nor between the latter two and attack frequency or disease duration. A negative correlation was found between the amplitude of the first block of averaged responses and potentiation of VEP in all subject groups (P=0.03) as well as between the amplitude of the auditory evoked potential, at 40 dB, and the percentage of amplitude increase between 40 and 70 dB in MO (P=0.004) and MA (P=0.007). ASF slopes and 40 dB amplitudes were significantly correlated only in the MA group (P=0.002). These results confirm the interictal deficit of habituation in cortical processing of repetitive visual and auditory information in migraine. Since there is no intraindividual correlation between the cortical responses to these sensory modalities they are complementary tools for the study of migraine and may help to identify subgroups of patients with distinct pathlophysiological mechanisms.Conclusions: The strong negative correlation between the initial amplitude of evoked potentials and their amplitude increase during subsequent averaging confirms that the response potentiation in migraine is likely to be due to a reduced preactivation level of sensory cortices.

PS-23-7 Assessment of spastic gait — agonist-antagonist EMG ratio

Objective: As both habituation of pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEP) (Schoenen J, Wang W, Albert A, Delwaide PJ. Potentiation instead of habituation characterizes visual evoked potentials in migraine patients between attacks. Eur J Neurol 1995;2:115–122) and intensity dependence of auditory evoked cortical potentials (IDAP) (Wang W, Timsit-Berthier M, Schoenen J. Intensity dependence of auditory evoked potentials in migraine: an indication of cortical potentiation and low serotonergic neurotransmission? Neurology 1996;46:1404–1409) were found abnormal in migraine between attacks, we have searched for intraindividual correlations between both tests in 59 migraine patients (22 with aura [MA], 37 without aura [MO]) and in 23 healthy volunteers (HV).Methods: Amplitude change of the PR-VEP N1–P1 was measured between the 1st and 5th block of 50 sequential averagings during continuous stimulation at 3.1 Hz. IDAP was computed from N1–P2 amplitudes of 100 averagings during stimulations at 40, 50, 60 and 70 dB SL. Amplitude-stimulus intensity function (ASF) slopes and amplitude changes between 40 and 70 dB were calculated. MO and MA differed from HV in PR-VEP amplitude change (P=0.007) and IDAP slope (P=0.0004).Results: There was no significant correlation between VEP amplitude changes and IDAP slopes, nor between the latter two and attack frequency or disease duration. A negative correlation was found between the amplitude of the first block of averaged responses and potentiation of VEP in all subject groups (P=0.03) as well as between the amplitude of the auditory evoked potential, at 40 dB, and the percentage of amplitude increase between 40 and 70 dB in MO (P=0.004) and MA (P=0.007). ASF slopes and 40 dB amplitudes were significantly correlated only in the MA group (P=0.002). These results confirm the interictal deficit of habituation in cortical processing of repetitive visual and auditory information in migraine. Since there is no intraindividual correlation between the cortical responses to these sensory modalities they are complementary tools for the study of migraine and may help to identify subgroups of patients with distinct pathlophysiological mechanisms.Conclusions: The strong negative correlation between the initial amplitude of evoked potentials and their amplitude increase during subsequent averaging confirms that the response potentiation in migraine is likely to be due to a reduced preactivation level of sensory cortices.

Serial pattern learning by event observation.

Serial pattern learning was investigated in a variation of the task introduced by Nissen and Bullemer (1987). We presented an asterisk at 1 of 4 spatial locations on each trial, and Ss either responded with a keypress or observed the event. The first 4 blocks contained 10 repetitions of a 10- or 16-element pattern, and the 5th block contained a random sequence. The difference in response time on the 5th random block and the previous patterned block served as an indirect measure of pattern learning. A direct measure was obtained in a final test block in which Ss predicted the next asterisk position. Equivalent learning occurred for responding and observing with indirect measures, but observation was superior with direct measures. These findings indicate that knowledge of serial order can develop through simple perceptual experience, and this is more available to deliberate recall than is knowledge acquired while responding.

Age differences in learning serial patterns: direct versus indirect measures.

Adult age differences in learning and retention of a nonverbal sequence were examined using the serial reaction-time task of Nissen and Bullemer (1987), with 20 younger and 20 older Ss. An asterisk appeared in one of 4 spatial locations, and the Ss responded with a corresponding key press. The first 4 blocks each contained 10 repetitions of a 10- or 16-element spatial sequence, and the 5th block contained a random sequence. The difference between response time on Blocks 5 and 4 served as an indirect measure of pattern learning. The direct measure was accuracy in a final generation block in which the Ss predicted which location would appear next. Results were similar to those with verbal materials; the indirect measure revealed age similarity for patterns of both lengths, but the direct measure yielded age differences favoring the young. For both ages and types of measures, the long patterns led to poorer learning than did the short patterns.