Training frequency for educating schoolchildren in basic life support: very brief 4-month rolling-refreshers versus annual retraining—a 2-year prospective longitudinal trial

ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of 4-month rolling-refreshers and annual retraining in basic life support (BLS) on a sample of schoolchildren.DesignProspective longitudinal trial.Setting and participantsFour hundred and seventy-two schoolchildren (8–12 years old).InterventionsSchoolchildren were instructed in BLS and then split into the following three groups: control group (CG), standard group (SG) and rolling-refresher group (RRG). Their BLS skills were assessed within 1 week (T1) and 2 years later (T2). Moreover, CG did not receive any additional training; SG received one 50 min retraining session 1 year later; RRG participated in very brief (5 min) rolling-refreshers that were carried out every 4 months.Primary and secondary outcomesHands-on skills of BLS sequence and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.ResultsBLS sequence performance was similar in all groups at T1, but SG and RRG followed the steps of the protocol in more proportion than CG at T2. When compared at T2, RRG showed higher proficiency than SG in checking safety, checking response, opening the airway and alerting emergency medical services. In addition, although the mean resuscitation quality was low in all groups, RRG participants reached a higher percentage of global quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CG: 16.4±24.1; SG: 25.3±28.8; RRG: 29.9%±29.4%), with a higher percentage of correct chest compressions by depth (CG: 3.9±11.8; SG: 10.8±22.7; RRG: 15.5±26.1 mm).ConclusionsIn 8-to-12-year-old schoolchildren, although annual 50 min retraining sessions help to maintain BLS performance, 4-month very brief rolling-refreshers were shown to be even more effective. Thus, we recommend implementing baseline BLS training at schools, with subsequently brief rolling-refreshers.

HyINDEL – A Hybrid approach for Detection of Insertions and Deletions

Insertion and deletion (INDELs) mutations, the most common type of structural variation in the human genome, have been implicated in numerous human traits and diseases including rare genetic disorders and cancer. Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have drastically reduced the cost of sequencing whole genomes, greatly contributing to genome-wide detection of structural variants. However, due to large variations in INDEL sizes and presence of low complexity and repeat regions, their detection remains a challenge. Here we present a hybrid approach, HyINDEL, which integrates clustering, split-mapping and assembly-based approaches, for the detection of INDELs of all sizes (from small to large) and also identifies the insertion sequences. The method starts with identifying clusters of discordant and soft-clip reads which are validated by depth-of-coverage and alignment of soft-clip reads to identify candidate INDELs, while the assembly -based approach is used in identifying the insertion sequence. Performance of HyINDEL is evaluated on both simulated and real datasets and compared with state-of-the-art tools. A significant improvement in recall and F-score metrics as well as in breakpoint support is observed on using soft-clip alignments. It is freely available at https://github.com/alok123t/HyINDEL.

A single-session of mindfulness meditation expedites immediate motor memory consolidation to improve wakeful offline learning

Post-training meditation has been shown to promote wakeful motor memory stabilization in experienced meditators. We investigated the effect of single-session mindfulness meditation on wakeful and sleep-dependent forms of implicit motor memory consolidation in mediation naïve adults. Immediately after implicit sequence training, participants (N = 20, 8 females, Mage = 23.9 years ± 3.3) completed either a 10-minute focused attention meditation (N = 10), aiming to direct and sustain attention to breathing, or a control listening task. They were then exposed to interference through novel sequence training. Trained sequence performance was tested following a 5-hour wakeful period and again after a 15-hour period, which included sleep. Bayesian inference was applied to group comparison of mean reaction time (MRT) changes across training, interference, wakeful and post-sleep time points. Relative to control conditions, post-training meditation reduced novel sequence interference (BF10 = 6.61) and improved wakeful motor memory consolidation (BF10 = 8.34). No group differences in sleep consolidation were evident (BF10 = 0.38). These findings illustrate that post-training mindfulness meditation expedites wakeful offline learning of an implicit motor sequence in meditation naïve adults. Interleaving mindfulness meditation between acquisition of a target motor sequence and exposure to an interfering motor sequence reduced proactive and retroactive inference. Post-training mindfulness meditation did not enhance nor inhibit sleep-dependent offline learning of a target implicit motor sequence. Previous meditation training is not required to obtain wakeful consolidation gains from post-training mindfulness meditation.

Competitive state of movements during planning predicts sequence performance

Sequence planning is an integral part of motor sequence control. Here, we demonstrate that the competitive state of sequential movements during sequence planning can be read out behaviorally through movement probes. We show that position-dependent differences in movement availability during planning reflect sequence preparedness and skill but not the timing of the planned sequence. Behavioral access to the preparatory state of movements may serve as a marker of sequence planning capacity.

Effects of tDCS Dose and Electrode Montage on regional cerebral blood flow and motor behavior

We used three dose levels (Sham, 2mA and 4mA) and two different electrode montages (unihemispheric or bihemispheric) to examine DOSE and MONTAGE effects on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) as a surrogate marker of neural activity, and on a finger sequence task, as a surrogate behavioral measure drawing on brain regions targeted by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). We placed the anodal electrode over the right motor region (C4) while the cathodal or return electrode was placed either over a left supraorbital region (unihemispheric montage) or over the left motor region (C3 in the bihemispheric montage). Performance changes in the finger sequence task for both hands (left hand: p = 0.0026, and right hand: p = 0.0002) showed a linear tDCS dose response, but no effect of montage. rCBF in the the right hemispheric perirolandic area increased with dose under the anodal electrode (p = 0.027), while in the perirolandic ROI in the left hemisphere, rCBF showed a trend to increase with dose (p = 0.053), and significant effect of montage (p = 0.00004). The bihemispheric montage showed additional rCBF increases in frontomesial regions in the 4mA condition but not in the 2mA condition. Furthermore, we found correlations between rCBF changes in the right perirolandic region and improvements in the finger sequence task performance (FSP) for left and right hand. Our data support not only a strong direct tDCS dose effect for rCBF and FSP as surrogate measures of targeted brain regions, but also indirect effects on rCBF in functionally connected regions (e.g., frontomesial regions), particularly in the higher dose condition, and on FSP of the ipsilateral hand (to the anodal electrode). At higher dose and irrespective of polarity, a wider network of sensorimotor regions is positively affected by tDCS.Graphical AbstractHighlightstDCS-DOSE had linear effect on finger sequence performance for both handsrCBF changes in both perirolandic ROIs demonstrated tDCS-DOSE effects and left perirolandic ROI demonstrated tDCS-MONTAGE effects.Simulated current intensity in the left and right perirolandic ROI strongly correlated with the contralateral hand’s finger sequence performance.tDCS-Tolerability scores did not correlate with change in rCBF or finger sequence performance of the left hand.

Evaluation of the Helicopter Emergency Breathing Apparatus on Egress Performance

BACKGROUND: Emergency helicopter landing at sea is dangerous. Specialized training, known as helicopter underwater escape training (HUET), prepares occupants to quickly exit the helicopter, which often inverts and sinks. In most jurisdictions, helicopter occupants are equipped with a helicopter underwater egress breathing apparatus (HUEBA) to provide sufficient air for escape. HUET trainees report that the HUEBA is easy to use, but it is well known that learners are often overconfident in their judgement of learning. To better understand how the HUEBA affects HUET sequence performance, we investigated whether using the HUEBA influences the sequence movement time and number of errors.METHODS: Twelve participants (7 men and 5 women, mean age 25.33 9.57 SD) with no prior experience with HUET performed consecutive trials of the HUET sequence, 5 with the HUEBA and 5 without the HUEBA. Video of each trial recorded the total movement time and enabled movement time analyses of each component of the sequence: crossing arms, tucking the head, pushing the window, inserting the regulator, and releasing the seatbelt. These recordings were also used to score performance errors according to a checklist.RESULTS: Analyses revealed that using a HUEBA increased the total movement time and time to release the seatbelt by 0.36 and 0.39 s, respectively, in comparison to without the HUEBA.DISCUSSION: Our study illustrates that using the HUEBA during the HUET sequence increases total movement time and time to release the seatbelt. However, this difference is marginal and unlikely to have practical significance during underwater escape.King M, Sanli E, Mugford K, Martina S, Brown R, Carnahan H. Evaluation of the helicopter emergency breathing apparatus on egress performance. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(12):962965.

Multisensory action effects facilitate the performance of motor sequences

Research has shown that contingent, distinct action effects have a beneficial influence on motor sequence performance. Previous studies showed the beneficial influence of task-irrelevant action effects from one modality (auditory) on motor sequence performance, compared with no task-irrelevant action effects. The present study investigated the influence of task-irrelevant action effects on motor sequence performance from a multiple-modality perspective. We compared motor sequence performances of participants who received different task-irrelevant action effects in an auditory, visual, or audiovisual condition. In the auditory condition, key presses produced tones of a C-major scale that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the visual condition, key presses produced rectangles in different locations on the screen that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the audiovisual condition, both tone and rectangle effects were produced simultaneously by key presses. There were advantages for the audiovisual group in motor sequence initiation and execution. The results implied that, compared with unimodal action effects, action effects from multiple sensory modalities can prime an action faster and strengthen associations between successive actions, leading to faster motor sequence performance.

Chemogenetic inhibition in the dorsal striatum reveals regional specificity of direct and indirect pathway control of action sequencing

Animals engage in intricate action sequences that are constructed during instrumental learning. There is broad consensus that the basal ganglia play a crucial role in the formation and fluid performance of action sequences. To investigate the role of the basal ganglia direct and indirect pathways in action sequencing, we virally expressed Cre-dependent Gi-DREADDs in either the dorsomedial (DMS) or dorsolateral (DLS) striatum during and/or after action sequence learning in D1 and D2 Cre rats. Action sequence performance in D1 Cre rats was slowed down early in training when DREADDs were activated in the DMS, but sped up when activated in the DLS. Acquisition of the reinforced sequence was hindered when DREADDs were activated in the DLS of D2 Cre rats. Outcome devaluation tests conducted after training revealed that the goal-directed control of action sequence rates was immune to chemogenetic inhibition—rats suppressed the rate of sequence performance when rewards were devalued. Sequence initiation latencies were generally sensitive to outcome devaluation, except in the case where DREADD activation was removed in D2 Cre rats that previously experienced DREADD activation in the DMS during training. Sequence completion latencies were generally not sensitive to outcome devaluation, except in the case where D1 Cre rats experienced DREADD activation in the DMS during training and test. Collectively, these results suggest that the indirect pathway originating from the DLS is part of a circuit involved in the effective reinforcement of action sequences, while the direct and indirect pathways originating from the DMS contribute to the goal-directed control of sequence completion and initiation, respectively.