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Dietary factors may be implicated in the formation of kidney stones and should be closely monitored. To achieve this aim, patients are routinely assessed by means of generic dietary recall, a tool widely used by authors in a range of extensive patient populations to record food intake; the findings obtained, however, may be skewed due to dietary variations and underestimation of the effect of food additives. Fifty Frequent Kidney Stone Formers (FKSFs, mean age: 54.3 ± 13.9 years) with normal kidney function, absence of comorbidities, and reliable compliance were selected from a total of 68 patients' resident in Sardinia, an Italian island where genetic admixtures have been relatively rare for generations. The study, conducted from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023, was aimed at assessing nutritional values based on the meticulous recording of food quantities, quality, and potential modifications related to food preparation. Patients were selected during an initial clinical check-up and all efforts made to ensure they were capable of reliably recording all food and drinks consumed. A seven-day food diary was provided in which food and drink intake and their impact on 24 h urine output was recorded. The following parameters were measured in both foods and urine output: citrates, oxalates, calcium, phosphorous, uric acid, proteins and nitrogen compounds, magnesium, sulfates, potassium, carbohydrates, free fatty acids. Study outcomes established the presence of hypocitraturia, hyperoxaluria, hypercalciuria, and moderately high levels of nitrogen compounds. Univariate analysis followed by multivariate analysis for further confirmation were performed and the following observations made. Citrate intake correlated with citraturia but did not promote oxaluria; calcium intake promoted onset of sulfaturia, azoturia, and ammoniuria, whilst magnesium correlated with magnesiuria but not with oxaluria, calciuria, phosphaturia, and azoturia; sulfate intake elicited onset of azoturia but not kaliuresis; potassium intake promoted oxaluria and protein intake resulted in onset of ammoniuria and azoturia. (A) The chemical composition of urine based on dietary intake is hard to predict without taking into account the presence of dietary and urinary interferents; (B) the geographic isolation of patients studied underlines the importance of epigenetics in maintaining a traditional dietary heritage. (C) Moreover, the widespread use of food additives should consistently be taken into account to ensure a correct diagnosis of FKSF and set up a valid treatment plan.

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BACKGROUND: How ambulance clinicians (ACs) handle a mass casualty incident (MCI) is essential for the suffered, but the training and learning for the ACs are sparse and they don't have the possibility to learn without realistic simulation training. In addition, it is unclear what type of dilemmas ACs process in their clinical reasoning during an MCI. With virtual reality (VR) simulation, the ACs clinical reasoning can be explored in a systematic way. Therefore, the objective was to explore ambulance clinicians' clinical reasoning when simulating a mass casualty incident using virtual reality. METHODS: This study was conducted as an explorative interview study design using chart- stimulated recall technique for data collection. A qualitative content analysis was done, using the clinical reasoning cycle as a deductive matrix. A high-fidelity VR simulation with MCI scenarios was used and participants eligible for inclusion were 11 senior ACs. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: All phases of the clinical reasoning cycle were found to be reflected upon by the participants during the interviews, however with a varying richness of analytic reflectivity. Non-analytic reasoning predominated when work tasks followed specific clinical guidelines, but analytical reasoning appeared when the guidelines were unclear or non-existent. Using VR simulation led to training and reflection on action in a safe and systematic way and increased self-awareness amongst the ACs regarding their preparedness for MCIs. This study increases knowledge both regarding ACs clinical reasoning in MCIs, and insights regarding the use of VR for simulation training.

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In four experiments, we describe the first finding of a Metrical Hebb Effect. Participants are shown to exhibit a Hebb Repetition Effect for repeating, list-wide stress patterns across sequences of familiar words, even though the lexical items within the "repeating" lists do not themselves repeat. Experiment 1 established the presence of a Hebb effect for metrical patterns, demonstrating significant learning of list-wide metrical patterns over successive presentations. Experiment 2 investigated the effect's longevity, showing persistence of learned metrical information after a spacing of three non-repeating lists. Experiment 3 revealed that the effect did not persist over a longer spacing, of eight intervening lists. Experiment 4 investigated the learning mechanism, suggesting that chunking, rather than item-position binding, might account for the observed learning of metrical patterns. The authors propose that metrical-pattern learning represents a process of gradual integration of sequences of weak and strong stress accents, into higher-level units representing the stress patterns within, and across, words. We briefly discuss some implications of the Metrical Hebb Effect for phonological word-form learning, and for speech perception and production.

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Despite bilateral hippocampal damage dating to the perinatal or early childhood period and severely impaired episodic memory, patients with developmental amnesia continue to exhibit well-developed semantic memory across the developmental trajectory. Detailed information on the extent and focality of brain damage in these patients is needed to hypothesize about the neural substrate that supports their remarkable capacity for encoding and retrieval of semantic memory. In particular, we need to assess whether the residual hippocampal tissue is involved in this preservation, or whether the surrounding cortical areas reorganize to rescue aspects of these critical cognitive memory processes after early injury. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis, automatic (FreeSurfer) and manual segmentation to characterize structural changes in the brain of an exceptionally large cohort of 23 patients with developmental amnesia in comparison with 32 control subjects. Both the VBM and the FreeSurfer analyses revealed severe structural alterations in the hippocampus and thalamus of patients with developmental amnesia. Milder damage was found in the amygdala, caudate, and parahippocampal gyrus. Manual segmentation demonstrated differences in the degree of atrophy of the hippocampal subregions in patients. The level of atrophy in CA-DG subregions and subicular complex was more than 40%, while the atrophy of the uncus was moderate (-24%). Anatomo-functional correlations were observed between the volumes of residual hippocampal subregions in patients and selective aspects of their cognitive performance, viz, intelligence, working memory, and verbal and visuospatial recall. Our findings suggest that in patients with developmental amnesia, cognitive processing is compromised as a function of the extent of atrophy in hippocampal subregions. More severe hippocampal damage may be more likely to promote structural and/or functional reorganization in areas connected to the hippocampus. In this hypothesis, different levels of hippocampal function may be rescued following this variable reorganization. Our findings document not only the extent, but also the limits of circuit reorganization occurring in the young brain after early bilateral hippocampal damage.

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BACKGROUND: High sodium intake has been linked to negative health effects, including cardiovascular and renal diseases. Traditional dietary sodium assessment methods are time-consuming and subjected to errors. Using technology may increase the efficiency and accuracy of dietary assessment. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) screener using software to assess sodium intake among the Palestinian population. METHODOLOGY: The study was conducted in four phases. In Phase 1, Palestinian foods were categorized and subcategorized according to their mode of consumption, sodium content, and food groups. The sodium content values were calculated from Palestinian food composition database. Content validity was done in Phase 2, while in Phase 3, a pilot study was conducted to determine test-retest reliability. In Phase 4, the criterion validity of the screener was assessed by comparing the results of sodium intake from the FFQ screener with the results from a 24-hour urinary sodium test and a 3-day diet recall. Correlations between the sodium intake values from the three methods were analyzed using Pearson correlation tests, and the difference was assessed using the Bland-Altman test. RESULTS: The developed FFQ screener sodium screener included 41 food items categorized into nine groups, with photo-based portion size estimation and frequency of consumption. The reliability test showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.7, p < 0.01 using test and retest. For criterion validity, the correlation coefficient between dietary sodium intake using the FFQ screener software and the 24-hour urine sodium test was (0.6, p < 0.000). The correlation coefficient between dietary sodium intake using the FFQ screener software and dietary sodium intake using a 3-day recall was (0.3, p < 0.000). Sodium intake was significantly correlated with preferences for low-sodium food and previous salt reduction, p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Using the FFQ screener software was a valid and reliable method for assessing dietary sodium intake. Using the photo-based method to estimate portion size improved precision and accuracy in diet assessment.

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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) represent a substantial global public health challenge with multifaceted impacts on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. Brief cognitive screening tools such as the Mini-Cog© can help improve recognition of ADRD in clinical practice, but widespread adoption continues to lag. We compared the Digital Clock and Recall (DCR), a next-generation process-driven adaptation of the Mini-Cog, with the original paper-and-pencil version in a well-characterized clinical trial sample. Methods: DCR was administered to 828 participants in the Bio-Hermes-001 clinical trial (age median ± SD = 72 ± 6.7, IQR = 11; 58% female) independently classified as cognitively unimpaired (n = 364) or as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 274) or dementia likely due to AD (DLAD, n = 190). MCI and DLAD cohorts were combined into a single impaired group for analysis. Two experienced neuropsychologists rated verbal recall accuracy and digitally drawn clocks using the original Mini-Cog scoring rules. Inter-rater reliability of Mini-Cog scores was computed for a subset of the data (n = 508) and concordance between Mini-Cog rule-based and DCR scoring was calculated. Results: Inter-rater reliability of Mini-Cog scoring was good to excellent, but Rater 2's scores were significantly higher than Rater 1's due to variation in clock scores (p < 0.0001). Mini-Cog and DCR scores were significantly correlated (τ B = 0.71, p < 0.0001). However, using a Mini-Cog cut score of 4, the DCR identified more cases of cognitive impairment (n = 47; χ 2 = 13.26, p < 0.0005) and Mini-Cog missed significantly more cases of cognitive impairment (n = 87). In addition, the DCR correctly classified significantly more cognitively impaired cases missed by the Mini-Cog (n = 44) than vice versa (n = 4; χ 2 = 21.69, p < 0.0001). Discussion: Our findings demonstrate higher sensitivity of the DCR, an automated, process-driven, and process-based digital adaptation of the Mini-Cog. Digital metrics capture clock drawing dynamics and increase detection of diagnosed cognitive impairment in a clinical trial cohort of older individuals.

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Entrainment emerges when oscillatory movements synchronize with environmental stimuli processing. The purpose of this experiment was to assess how cognitive-motor entrainment during a dual-task would influence the quality of gait and affect episodic long-term memory. Twenty-one participants (22.56 y/o; 64 % F) walked at preferred paces while listening to 40-item word lists. In separate sessions, unique word lists were presented predictably on every fourth stride, unpredictably related to stepping, or predictably while standing. Memory tests administered 24-hr after encoding revealed that predictable word presentation led to better free-recall performance than unpredicted (p = .044); recognition memory was not impacted. Gait phase parameters during the predicted condition were more stable than the unpredicted condition or baseline assessments. Cognitive-motor entrainment may alleviate dual-task costs and enhance memory retention.

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Background and aims: Current evidence shows that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) benefit from spaced retrieval during word learning activities. Word recall is quite good relative to recall with alternative word learning procedures. However, recall on an absolute basis can be improved further; many studies report that fewer than two-thirds of the words are learned, even with the assistance of spaced retrieval during the learning activities. In this article we identify details of spaced retrieval that are less well understood in an effort to promote more effective learning through retrieval practice. Main contribution: We discuss the importance of factors such as: (a) integrating immediate retrieval with spaced retrieval trials; (b) determining whether gradual increases in spacing have more than short-term benefits relative to equal spacing; (c) discovering the number of successful retrievals sufficient to ensure later recall; (d) using spaced retrieval to avoid erosion of phonetic details on later recall tests; and (e) whether the well-documented difficulties with learning word forms might be tied to a particular subgroup of children with DLD. We also speculate on some of the possible reasons why spaced retrieval is beneficial in the first place. Conclusions: Although many children with DLD make gains in word learning through procedures that incorporate spaced retrieval, there are numerous details involved in the process that can alter its success. Until we have a better understanding of the boundaries of spaced retrieval's effectiveness, we will not be taking full advantage of this promising addition to word learning procedures. Implications: Spaced retrieval activities can be an important addition to the resources that clinicians and educators have available to assist children in their word learning. With a deeper understanding of the issues discussed here, we should be able to put spaced retrieval to even greater use.

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The effects of speech-based variables on the immediate serial recall (ISR) task constitute fundamental evidence underpinning the concept of the Phonological Loop component of Working Memory. Somewhat surprisingly, the Phonological Loop has yet to be applied to the immediate free recall (IFR) task even though both tasks share similar memoranda and presentation methods. We believe that the separation of theories of ISR and IFR has contributed to the historical divergence between the Working Memory and Episodic Memory literatures. We review more recent evidence showing that the two tasks are approached by participants in similar ways, with similar encoding and rehearsal strategies, and are similarly affected by manipulations of word length, phonological similarity, articulatory suppression/concurrent articulation, and irrelevant speech/sound. We present new analyses showing that the outputs of the two tasks share similar runs of successive items that include the first and last items- which we term start- and end-sequences, respectively - that the remaining residual items exhibit strong recency effects, and that start- and end-sequences impose constraints on output order that help account for error transposition gradients in ISR. Such analyses suggest that similar mechanisms might convey serial order information in the two tasks. We believe that recency effects are often under-appreciated in theories of ISR, and IFR mechanisms could generate error transpositions. We hope that our review and new analyses encourage greater theoretical integration between ISR and IFR, and between the Working Memory and Episodic Memory literatures.

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Visuo-spatial bootstrapping refers to the well-replicated phenomena in which serial recall in a purely verbal task is boosted by presenting digits within the familiar spatial layout of a typical telephone keypad. The visuo-spatial bootstrapping phenomena indicates that additional support comes from long-term knowledge of a fixed spatial pattern, and prior experimentation supports the idea that access to this benefit depends on the availability of the visuo-spatial motor system (e.g., Allen et al., 2015). We investigate this by tracking participants' eye movements during encoding and retention of verbal lists to learn whether gaze patterns support verbal memory differently when verbal information is presented in the familiar visual layout. Participants' gaze was recorded during attempts to recall lists of seven digits in three formats: centre of the screen, typical telephone keypad, or a spatially identical layout with randomized number placement. Performance was better with the typical than with the novel layout. Our data show that eye movements differ when encoding and retaining verbal information that has a familiar layout compared with the same verbal information presented in a novel layout, suggesting recruitment of different spatial rehearsal strategies. However, no clear link between gaze pattern and recall accuracy was observed, which suggests that gazes play a limited role in retention, at best.

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Individuals can take on various roles in conversation. Some roles are more active, with the participant responsible for guiding that conversation in pursuit of the group's goals. Other roles are more passive, like when one is an overhearer. Classic accounts posit that overhearers do not form conversational common ground because they do not actively participate in the communication process. Indeed, empirical findings demonstrate that overhearers do not comprehend conversation as well as active participants. Little is known, however, about long-term memory for conversations in overhearers. Overhearers play an important role in legal settings and dispute resolution, and it is critical to understand how their memory differs in quality and content from active participants in conversation. Here we examine - for the first time - the impact of one's conversational role as a speaker, addressee, or overhearer on subsequent memory for conversation. Data from 60 participants recalling 60 conversations reveal that after a brief delay, overhearers recall significantly less content from conversation compared to both speakers and addressees, and that the content they do recall is less accurately sourced to its actual contributor. Mnemonic similarity is higher between active conversational participants than between active participants and overhearers. These findings provide key support for the hypothesis that the process of forming common ground in interactive conversation shapes and supports memory for that conversation.

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The amyloid beta (Aß) 42/40 ratio has been widely studied as a biomarker in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, other Aß peptides could also represent relevant biomarkers. We measured levels of Aß38/40/42 in plasma samples from cognitively-unimpaired older adults and determined the relationships between Aß levels and amyloid positron-emission-tomography (PET) and performance on a learning and memory task. We found that all Aß peptides individually and the Aß42/40 ratio, but not the Aß42/38 ratio, were significantly correlated with brain amyloid (Aß-PET). Multiple linear modeling, adjusting for age, sex, education, APOE4 and Aß-PET showed significant associations between the Aß42/38 ratio and memory. Further, associations between the Aß42/38 ratio and learning scores were stronger in males and in Aß-PET-negative individuals. In contrast, no significant associations were detected between the Aß42/40 ratio and any learning measure. These studies implicate the Aß42/38 ratio as a biomarker to assess early memory deficits and underscore the utility of the Aß38 fragment as an important biomarker in the AD field.

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A key question for understanding the function of the hippocampus in memory is how information is recalled from the hippocampus to the neocortex. This was investigated in a neuronal network model of the hippocampal system in which "What" and "Where" neuronal firing rate vectors were applied to separate neocortical modules, which then activated entorhinal cortex "What" and "Where" modules, then the dentate gyrus, then CA3, then CA1, then the entorhinal cortex, and then the backprojections to the neocortex. A rate model showed that the whole system could be trained to recall "Where" in the neocortex from "What" applied as a retrieval cue to the neocortex, and could in principle be trained up towards the theoretical capacity determined largely by the number of synapses onto any one neuron divided by the sparseness of the representation. The trained synaptic weights were then imported into an integrate-and-fire simulation of the same architecture, which showed that the time from presenting a retrieval cue to a neocortex module to recall the whole memory in the neocortex is approximately 100 ms. This is sufficiently fast for the backprojection synapses to be trained onto the still active neocortical neurons during storage of the episodic memory, and this is needed for recall to operate correctly to the neocortex. These simulations also showed that the long loop neocortex-hippocampus-neocortex that operates continuously in time may contribute to complete recall in the neocortex; but that this positive feedback long loop makes the whole dynamical system inherently liable to a pathological increase in neuronal activity. Important factors that contributed to stability included increased inhibition in CA3 and CA1 to keep the firing rates low; and temporal adaptation of the neuronal firing and of active synapses, which are proposed to make an important contribution to stabilizing runaway excitation in cortical circuits in the brain.

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Story recall is an episodic memory paradigm that is popular among researchers interested in the effects of aging, disease, and/or injury on memory functioning; it is less popular among individual-differences researchers studying neurotypical young adults. One reason differential psychologists may favor other episodic memory paradigms is that the prospect of scoring story recall is daunting, as it typically requires manually scoring hundreds or thousands of freely recalled narratives. In this study, I investigated two questions related to scoring story recall for individual differences research. First, whether there is anything to gain by scoring story recall for memory of central and peripheral details or if a single score is sufficient. Second, I investigated whether scoring can be automated using computational methods - namely, BERTScore and GPT-4. A total of 235 individuals participated in this study. At the latent variable level, central and peripheral factors were highly correlated (r = .99), and the two factors correlated with external factors (viz., fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and working memory capacity) similarly. Regarding automated scoring, both BERTScore and GPT-4 derived scores were strongly correlated with manually derived scores (r ≥ .97); additionally, factors estimated from the various scoring methods all showed a similar pattern of correlations with the external factors. Thus, differential psychologists may be able to streamline scoring by disregarding detail type and by using automated approaches. Further research is needed, particularly of the automated approaches, as both BERTScore and GPT-4 derived scores were occasionally leptokurtic while manual scores were not.

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This report explores the 24-hour dietary recall (24HDR) form used for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Dietary supplement use, amount of money spent on food, time being physically active, portion size consumed, foods reported by meals, and preparation of the meal were common components collected among 61 EFNEP programs. Components not included were instructions for the peer educator, use of food models/measuring cups, examples of foods/beverages, time food/beverages were consumed, color coding, and a prompt to review what was written. A standardized 24-hour dietary recall form with training protocols is recommended to uphold the integrity of data collection.

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The dynamic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants necessitates ongoing advancements in therapeutic strategies. Despite the promise of monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies like bebtelovimab, concerns persist regarding resistance mutations, particularly single-to-multipoint mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Our study addresses this by employing interface-guided computational protein design to predict potential bebtelovimab-resistance mutations. Through extensive physicochemical analysis, mutational preferences, precision-recall metrics, protein-protein docking, and energetic analyses, combined with all-atom, and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we elucidated the structural-dynamics-binding features of the bebtelovimab-RBD complexes. Identification of susceptible RBD residues under positive selection pressure, coupled with validation against bebtelovimab-escape mutations, clinically reported resistance mutations, and viral genomic sequences enhances the translational significance of our findings and contributes to a better understanding of the resistance mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2.

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Objective: To explore the activation patterns in the frontal cortex of patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment during the execution of working memory tasks. Methods: 15 patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment, 17 patients without cognitive impairment, and 15 healthy controls of similar age and sex were included. All participants under-went immediate recall task testing and near-infrared spectroscopy imaging to measure frontal cortex activation during the task. Results: The healthy control group performed the best in the immediate recall task, followed by the post-stroke non-cognitive impairment group. The post-stroke cognitive impairment group had the poorest performance. The near-infrared spectroscopy results revealed that during the immediate recall task, the healthy control group primarily activated the left frontal lobe region. In contrast, post-stroke patients exhibited reduced activation in the left frontal lobe and increased activation in the right frontal cortex, particularly in the right frontopolar and orbitofrontal regions, with the post-stroke cognitive impairment group displaying the most pronounced changes. Conclusion: Patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment exhibit reduced activation in the left prefrontal cortex during the working memory tasks. They rely on compensatory activation in the right prefrontal cortex, particularly in the frontopolar and orbitofrontal cortex, to successfully complete the task.

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Background: Training schoolchildren in basic life support ('Kids-Save-Lives' training) is widely believed to improve outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Numerous programmes have been launched, but to our knowledge, neither children nor schoolteachers have been directly involved in designing these courses. This is unfortunate, as it is well-known that children (as the target goup of training) learn differently from adults. We therefore sought to explore the view of schoolchildren and their teachers on the design of a 'Kids-Save-Lives' course. Methods: We designed a state-of-the-art, 90-min BLS training and delivered it to all 13 classes of a secondary community school (children aged 12-16). Directly after each training, we performed Video-Stimulated Recall (VSR) with 2 children and 2 schoolteachers. For VSR, we presented video sequences from defined sections of the training and related semi-structured questions to these sections. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Twenty-four children and 24 teachers participated in the VSR. The overall satisfaction with the training was very high. Participants especially appreciated the brief theoretical introduction using a video, the high practical involvement, and the final scenario. Children suggested the program could be improved by better linking the video to the children's world, increasing excitement and action, and limiting the group size in the final scenario. Teachers suggested incorporating more theoretical background, using terms and language more consistently, and better integrating the program into the school curriculum. Conclusions: Although very satisfied with a state-of-the-art 'Kids-Save-Lives' training, children and teachers made important suggestions for improvement.

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In the present study, two experiments were conducted to examine whether thematic relation can produce recognition without cued-recall effect and whether the direction of the association has an influence on this effect. The participants provided higher familiarity ratings for studied items than for unstudied items during target retrieval failure. Additionally, the thematic relation-elicited recognition without cued-recall effect was larger in the forward association than in the backward association. Collectively, these results indicated that thematic relations can elicit the recognition without cued-recall effect, and this effect is asymmetrical. The current findings support the features overlap hypothesis described in the global match model.

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Acoustic keyword spotting (KWS) plays a pivotal role in the voice-activated systems of artificial intelligence (AI), allowing for hands-free interactions between humans and smart devices through information retrieval of the voice commands. The cloud computing technology integrated with the artificial neural networks has been employed to execute the KWS tasks, which however suffers from propagation delay and the risk of privacy breach. Here, we report a single-node reservoir computing (RC) system based on the CuInP2S6 (CIPS)/graphene heterostructure planar device for implementing the KWS task with low computation cost. Through deliberately tuning the Schottky barrier height at the ferroelectric CIPS interfaces for the thermionic injection and transport of the electrons, the typical nonlinear current response and fading memory characteristics are achieved in the device. Additionally, the device exhibits diverse synaptic plasticity with an excellent separation capability of the temporal information. We construct a RC system through employing the ferroelectric device as the physical node to spot the acoustic keywords, i.e., the natural numbers from 1 to 9 based on simulation, in which the system demonstrates outstanding performance with high accuracy rate (>94.6%) and recall rate (>92.0%). Our work promises physical RC in single-node configuration as a prospective computing platform to process the acoustic keywords, promoting its applications in the artificial auditory system at the edge.