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The goal of this paper is to provide updated diagnostic criteria for the epilepsy syndromes that have a variable age of onset, based on expert consensus of the International League Against Epilepsy Nosology and Definitions Taskforce (2017-2021). We use language consistent with current accepted epilepsy and seizure classifications and incorporate knowledge from advances in genetics, electroencephalography, and imaging. Our aim in delineating the epilepsy syndromes that present at a variable age is to aid diagnosis and to guide investigations for etiology and treatments for these patients.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the link between environmental conditions and the vegetation pattern of mountain peatlands drained for forestry. We assumed that (a) water chemistry and soil properties differ between the investigated peatlands types—from fen to bog, (b) the vegetation pattern is dependent on water chemistry and soil properties, and (c) water chemistry and soil properties play different roles in determining peatland patterning. For our study, five ecologically and topographically diverse forestry‐drained shallow peatlands in Central Sudetes, Poland, were selected. A comparison between the studied peatlands and environmental variables was done by discriminant analysis, whereas vegetation–environmental relationship was analysed by canonical correspondence analysis. Results demonstrated that pH, HCO₃⁻, NO₃⁻, and Ca²⁺ best explained the variation in water chemistry (approximately 74%), whereas base saturation, pHwₐₜₑᵣ, and plant‐available phosphorus best explained the variation in soil properties. Plant assemblages within the peatlands exhibited three vegetation clusters that did not always correspond to peatland ecological type. The vegetation was mostly affected by water chemistry (explained up to 54% of variation), rather than by soil properties. Vegetation within such ecosystems seems to be a good indicator of differences in water chemistry, caused by differences in bedrock (soligenic fen peatlands) or atmospheric inputs (ombrogenic bogs). Our results will help improve our understanding of vegetation–environment relationships in degraded mountain peatland ecosystems in the temperate climate zone. They might also be useful for proper planning of restoration and monitoring of these ecosystems.

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on peatland formation in the Central Sudetes (central Europe) during the late Holocene. The research methodology adopted allowed us to determine whether vegetation development and shallow peatland formation were affected by human activity. Knowledge of past changes might be useful in evaluating recent and future changes, and to avoid pitfalls in the present management of peatland ecosystems. A palaeoecological research study of four peatlands was conducted in the Stolowe Mountains (Central Sudetes, SW Poland). The results showed that these shallow peatlands originated in the middle to late Holocene (from 3301 BC to AD 1137). Palaeoecological records reflect continuous human impact on vegetation development and peat accumulation from the Middle Ages to the present (late Holocene). The strongest agrarian settler activity is observed in the High Middle Ages (AD 1200–1500). The human-induced or wildfires observed in the late Holocene were an integral component of peatland ecosystems in the Central Sudetes. Moreover, palaeoecological analysis (sphagnum spores decline) and radiocarbon dating (AD 1870) confirmed drainage of the study area in the 19th century, which greatly affected the vegetation communities.

African trypanosomes express three virtually identical glutathione peroxidase (Px)-type enzymes that occur in the cytosol (Px I and II) and mitochondrion (Px III) and detoxify fatty acid-derived hydroperoxides. Selective deletion of the genes revealed that procyclic Trypanosoma brucei lacking either the cytosolic or mitochondrial enzyme proliferate nearly as wild-type parasites, whereas the knockout of the complete genomic locus is lethal. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence analyses revealed that the Px I-III-deficient parasites lose their mitochondrial membrane potential, which is followed by a loss of the lysosomal signal but not the glycosomal one. Mitochondrial damage and cell lysis are prevented by Trolox, ubiquinone derivatives and the iron chelator deferoxamine, whereas starch-deferoxamine is inefficient. In glucose-rich medium, cell death is attenuated suggesting that oxidants generated by the respiratory chain contribute to the lethal phenotype. Thus, the Px-type peroxidases protect procyclic cells from an iron-mediated oxidative membrane damage that originates at the mitochondrion. This contrasts with the situation in bloodstream cells, where the lysosome is the primarily affected organelle. Strikingly, either the cytosolic or the mitochondrial form of the peroxidases is required and sufficient to protect the mitochondrion and prevent cell lysis.

Several prominent neurocomputational models predict that an increase of choice alternatives is modulated by increased activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). In turn, increased STN activity allows prolonged accumulation of information. At the same time, areas in the medial frontal cortex such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the pre-SMA are hypothesized to influence the information processing in the STN. This study set out to test concrete predictions of STN activity in multiple-alternative decision-making using a multimodal combination of 7 Tesla structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and ancestral graph (AG) modeling. The results are in line with the predictions in that increased STN activity was found with an increasing amount of choice alternatives. In addition, our study shows that activity in the ACC is correlated with activity in the STN without directly modulating it. This result sheds new light on the information processing streams between medial frontal cortex and the basal ganglia.

A key pathology in the development of Parkinson's disease is the occurrence of persistent beta oscillations, which are correlated with difficulty in movement initiation. We investigated the network model composed of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus (GP) developed by A. Nevado Holgado et al. [(2010) Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 12340-12352], who identified the conditions under which this circuit could generate beta oscillations. Our work extended their analysis by deriving improved analytic stability conditions for realistic values of the synaptic transmission delay between STN and GP neurons. The improved conditions were significantly closer to the results of simulations for the range of synaptic transmission delays measured experimentally. Furthermore, our analysis explained how changes in cortical and striatal input to the STN-GP network influenced oscillations generated by the circuit. As we have identified when a system of mutually connected populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons can generate oscillations, our results may also find applications in the study of neural oscillations produced by assemblies of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in other brain regions.

SUMMARY Purpose: Previous studies have suggested that cognitive tasks modulate (provoke or inhibit) the epileptiform electroencephalography (EEG) discharges (EDs) in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Their inhibitory effect was found to be especially frequent (64‐90%). These studies arbitrarily defined modulation as a >100% increase or >50% decrease of the EDs compared with baseline, which may not sufficiently distinguish from spontaneous fluctuations. The aim of our study was to assess the modulation of EDs and the precipitation of myoclonic seizures by cognitive tasks and by conventional provocation methods, taking into account also the spontaneous fluctuation of EDs. Method: Sixty patients with JME underwent video-EEG recordings including 50-min baseline, sleep, hyperventilation, intermittent photic stimulation (IPS), and cognitive tasks. To account for spontaneous fluctuations of the EDs we divided the baseline period into 5-min epochs and calculated the 95% confidence interval for the baseline EDs in each patient. Modulation was assumed when the number of EDs during any 5-min test period was outside the 95% confidence interval. Key Findings: Using the arbitrary method, our results were similar to previous publications: Cognitive tasks seemed to inhibit the EDs in 94% of the patients, and to provoke them in 22%. However, when the spontaneous fluctuations were accounted for, inhibition was found in only 29% of the patients and provocation in 18%. A nonspecific effect of any cognitive task seemed to account for the observed significant inhibition in two-thirds of the cases, but was observed in only one of the patients with significant provocation. Photoparoxysmal response was observed in 23% of the patients. When accounting for the spontaneous occurrence of EDs, IPS had provocative effect in 10% of the patients. Hyperventilation and sleep had provocative effect on EDs to an extent similar to the cognitive tasks (hyperventilation: 22%; sleep: 18%). The conventional provocation methods tended to be more efficient in patients who were not seizure free. Myoclonia were recorded most often during the cognitive tasks (10 patients). Significance: Spontaneous fluctuations of EDs account for most of the previously described inhibitory effect of the cognitive tasks. The provocative effect of the cognitive tasks is task-specific, whereas the inhibitory effect seems to be related to cognitive activation in general.

Reinforcement learning involves a tight cou- pling of reward-associated behavior and a type of learning that is very different from that promoted by education. However, the emerging understanding of its underlying processes may help derive principles for effective learning games that have, until now, been elusive. This article first reviews findings from cognitive neuroscience and psychology to provide insight into the motivating role of uncertain reward in games, including educational games. Then, a short experiment is reported to illustrate the potential of reward-based neurocomputational models of behavior in the understanding and development of effective learning games. In this study, a reward-based model of behavior is shown to predict recall of newly learned information during a simple learning game.

Higher speed of rolling and heavy loads that subject the contact zone in rail-wheel contact require dynamic analysis with wave effects taken into account. In such a case we can observe polygonization and corrugation of wheels and rails. This phenomenon occurs and increases in nature with the increase of speed and load. Even the steady motion of the roller center along the flat surface without friction results in oscillation of the contact force. Its amplitude increases with the speed while the number of corrugations decreases in the same time. The simulation showed the rotation of the wheel material around the axle. The space-time element method was applied to refine the time step of integration only for elements being in contact. The spatial refinement allows to determine precisely the contact zone.

The influence of shear deformation and rotatory inertia on the dynamics of a beam under a moving harmonic force is studied. Solutions in the whole range of parameters for the shear beam and the Rayleigh beam on elastic foundation are presented. The obtained results are compared with solutions for the Timoshenko beam and the Bernoulli-Euler beam. The analysis makes it possible to determine separately the influence of shear deformations and rotatory inertia on the solutions of the generalized Mathews problem. Der Einflus der Schubverformung und der Rotationstragheit auf die Dynamik eines Balkens unter einer sich bewegenden harmonischen Kraft wird untersucht. Die Losungen fur den ganzen Wertebereich der Parameter fur den Schub- und den Rayleigh-Balken auf elastischer Unterlage werden vorgestellt. Die Resultate werden mit den Losungen fur den Timoshenko- und den Bernoulli-Euler-Balken verglichen. Die Rechnung macht es moglich, den Einflus der Schubverformungen und der Rotationstragheit auf die Losungen des verallgemeinerten Mathews-Problems separat zu bestimmen.

The θ-type vanadium oxide bronzes — θ-FexV2O5 (0.33 ≦ x ≦ 0.45), θ-AlxV2O5 (0.33 ≦ x ≦ 0.58) and θ-(Fe1−yAly)0.33 V2O5 (0 ≦ y ≦ 1) — are synthesized and investigated by the X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, magnetic susceptibility, and Mosbauer effect methods. Two transitions of unknown type are discovered: one at about 345 K while the other at temperatures close to 1000 K. The abrupt changes in the properties of the bronzes in the critical temperature region of the first transition are studied. [Russian Text Ignored.]