Time-Based and Event-Based Prospective Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform planned actions in a future moment and it is of fundamental importance for an independent and autonomous lifestyle from development to late adulthood. Deficits in episodic memory and executive functions, which are involved in PM are characteristic features of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering that the number of older adults is drastically increasing over the next decades, it is of great interest to understand how PM decline in healthy older adults and patients with different degree of cognitive decline. The present meta-analysis included 46 studies investigating PM performance in AD patients (17 studies) and people with MCI (24 studies); 5 studies included both clinical conditions in the same article. The 46 studies contributed a total of 63 independent samples and 129 effect sizes from 4668 participants (2115 patients and 2553 controls). Unlike previous reviews of the literature, our results with a larger and updated sample of studies confirmed lower PM abilities in AD compared to MCI and controls, although we did not observe conclusive differences between event-based and time-based PM in patients. Surprisingly, PM deficits shown by MCI and AD patients have decreased across years, in parallel to a reduction of the evidence of publication bias and an increase in the number of observations per task. We propose the use of more reliable research designs as one plausible explanation for the reduction of PM impairments.

Collet-Sicard syndrome: a scoping review.

Collet-Sicard syndrome (CSS) is the unilateral palsy of the cranial nerves (CN) IX, X, XI, and XII. To our knowledge, no review describes the characteristics of patients diagnosed with CSS. Therefore, this review aims to collect and describe all cases in the literature labeled as CSS. We performed a scoping review of the literature and conducted a database search in Embase and PubMed. We included articles and abstracts with case reports or case series of patients with CSS diagnosis. We classified the cases into two groups: "CSS", referring to patients presenting exclusively with IX-XII nerve involvement, and "CSS-plus", which corresponds to cases with CSS and other neurological impairments. We included 135 patients from 126 articles, of which 84 (67.7%) were male. The most common clinical manifestations reported were dysphagia and dysphonia. The most common etiology was tumoral in 53 cases (39.6%) and vascular in 37 cases (27.6%). The majority of patients showed partial or total improvement, with just over half receiving conservative treatment. The most frequent anatomic space was the jugular foramen (44.4%) and the parapharyngeal retrostyloid space (28.9%). Approximately 21% of the patients had other CN impairments, with the seventh and eighth CN most frequently compromised. We conclude that although there is a need for greater rigor in CSS reporting, the syndrome has a clear utility in identifying the localization of jugular foramen and parapharyngeal retrostyloid space pathology.

Assessing the Evidential Value of Mental Fatigue and Exercise Research.

It has often been reported that mental exertion, presumably leading to mental fatigue, can negatively affect exercise performance; however, recent findings have questioned the strength of the effect. To further complicate this issue, an overlooked problem might be the presence of publication bias in studies using underpowered designs, which is known to inflate false positive report probability and effect size estimates. Altogether, the presence of bias is likely to reduce the evidential value of the published literature on this topic, although it is unknown to what extent. The purpose of the current work was to assess the evidential value of studies published to date on the effect of mental exertion on exercise performance by assessing the presence of publication bias and the observed statistical power achieved by these studies. A traditional meta-analysis revealed a Cohen's dz effect size of - 0.54, 95% CI [- 0.68, - 0.40], p < .001. However, when we applied methods for estimating and correcting for publication bias (based on funnel plot asymmetry and observed p-values), we found that the bias-corrected effect size became negligible with most of publication-bias methods and decreased to - 0.36 in the more optimistic of all the scenarios. A robust Bayesian meta-analysis found strong evidence in favor of publication bias, BFpb > 1000, and inconclusive evidence in favor of the effect, adjusted dz = 0.01, 95% CrI [- 0.46, 0.37], BF10 = 0.90. Furthermore, the median observed statistical power assuming the unadjusted meta-analytic effect size (i.e., - 0.54) as the true effect size was 39% (min = 19%, max = 96%), indicating that, on average, these studies only had a 39% chance of observing a significant result if the true effect was Cohen's dz = - 0.54. If the more optimistic adjusted effect size (- 0.36) was assumed as the true effect, the median statistical power was just 20%. We conclude that the current literature is a useful case study for illustrating the dangers of conducting underpowered studies to detect the effect size of interest.

The ANTI-Vea-UGR Platform: A Free Online Resource to Measure Attentional Networks (Alertness, Orienting, and Executive Control) Functioning and Executive/Arousal Vigilance.

The Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea) is a computerized task of 32 min duration in the standard format. The task simultaneously assesses the main effects and interactions of the three attentional networks (i.e., phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control) and two dissociated components of vigilance with reasonable reliability (executive and arousal vigilance). We present this free and publicly accessible resource (ANTI-Vea-UGR; https://anti-vea.ugr.es/) developed to easily run, collect, and analyze data with the ANTI-Vea (or its subtasks measuring some attentional and/or vigilance components embedded in the ANTI-Vea). Available in six different languages, the platform allows for the adaptation of stimulus timing and procedure to facilitate data collection from different populations (e.g., clinical patients, children). Collected data can be freely downloaded and easily analyzed with the provided scripts and tools, including a Shiny app. We discuss previous evidence supporting that attention and vigilance components can be assessed in typical lab conditions as well as online and outside the laboratory. We hope this tutorial will help researchers interested in measuring attention and vigilance with a tool useful to collect data from large sample sizes and easy to use in applied contexts.

Sphenoidal meningoencephalocele associated with CSF fistula and arteriovenous malformation Spetzler-Martin V: A case report / Meningoencefalocele esfenoidal asociado a fístula de líquido cefalorraquídeo y malformación arteriovenosa Spetzler-Martin V: reporte de caso

Cerebral Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are presumed congenital anomalies of the blood vessels, which can increase intracranial pressure by uncertain mechanisms. We report the rare case of a 55-year-old male patient who complained about CSF rhinorrhea. Persisting CSF leakage prompted CT, which evidenced a bone defect in the right middle cranial fossa with protruding brain tissue. The diagnosis of a sphenoidal meningoencephalocele was made. Neuroimaging evidenced an AVM Spetzler Martin V. The lesion was targeted via an endonasal approach with resection of the herniated brain tissue and closure of the bony and dural defects. The postoperative course was uneventful without recurrence of the CSF fistula. Documentation of these cases is essential to come up with standardized therapeutical protocols and follow-up. Nevertheless, conservative management of the AVM and surgical repair of the bone defects is an appropriate approach in the first instance, depending on the morphology and characterization of the AVM (AU)

Las malformaciones arteriovenosas (MAV) son consideradas anomalías congénitas de los vasos sanguíneos; estas pueden aumentar la presión intracraneal a través de mecanismos inciertos. Reportamos el caso de un hombre de 55 años con presencia de rinolicuorrea de larga data. Se realizó la toma de una TC de cráneo, evidenciando un defecto óseo en la fosa craneal media derecha con protrusión de tejido cerebral, diagnosticando un meningoencefalocele esfenoidal. Las imágenes complementarias evidenciaron una MAV Spetzler-Martin V. La lesión fue tratada con un abordaje endonasal resecando el tejido cerebral herniado con cierre de los defectos dural y óseo. En el postoperatorio no hubo recurrencia de rinolicuorrea. La documentación de estos casos es esencial para generar protocolos estandarizados de tratamiento y seguimiento. En nuestra experiencia el manejo conservador de la MAV y el reparo quirúrgico de los defectos es un abordaje adecuado, teniendo en cuenta la morfología y caracterización de la MAV (AU)

An umbrella review of randomized control trials on the effects of physical exercise on cognition.

Extensive research links regular physical exercise to an overall enhancement of cognitive function across the lifespan. Here we assess the causal evidence supporting this relationship in the healthy population, using an umbrella review of meta-analyses limited to randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Despite most of the 24 reviewed meta-analyses reporting a positive overall effect, our assessment reveals evidence of low statistical power in the primary RCTs, selective inclusion of studies, publication bias and large variation in combinations of pre-processing and analytic decisions. In addition, our meta-analysis of all the primary RCTs included in the revised meta-analyses shows small exercise-related benefits (d = 0.22, 95% confidence interval 0.16 to 0.28) that became substantially smaller after accounting for key moderators (that is, active control and baseline differences; d = 0.13, 95% confidence interval 0.07 to 0.20), and negligible after correcting for publication bias (d = 0.05, 95% confidence interval -0.09 to 0.14). These findings suggest caution in claims and recommendations linking regular physical exercise to cognitive benefits in the healthy human population until more reliable causal evidence accumulates.

Sphenoidal meningoencephalocele associated with CSF fistula and arteriovenous malformation Spetzler-Martin V: A case report.

Cerebral Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are presumed congenital anomalies of the blood vessels, which can increase intracranial pressure by uncertain mechanisms. We report the rare case of a 55-year-old male patient who complained about CSF rhinorrhea. Persisting CSF leakage prompted CT, which evidenced a bone defect in the right middle cranial fossa with protruding brain tissue. The diagnosis of a sphenoidal meningoencephalocele was made. Neuroimaging evidenced an AVM Spetzler Martin V. The lesion was targeted via an endonasal approach with resection of the herniated brain tissue and closure of the bony and dural defects. The postoperative course was uneventful without recurrence of the CSF fistula. Documentation of these cases is essential to come up with standardized therapeutical protocols and follow-up. Nevertheless, conservative management of the AVM and surgical repair of the bone defects is an appropriate approach in the first instance, depending on the morphology and characterization of the AVM.

Are there quantitative differences between eye-gaze and arrow cues? A meta-analytic answer to the debate and a call for qualitative differences.

Gaze acts from an early age as a cue to orient attention and, thereafter, to infer our social partners' intentions, thoughts, and emotions. Variants of the attentional orienting paradigm have been used to study the orienting capabilities associated to eye gaze. However, to date, it is still unclear whether this methodology truly assesses "social-specific" processes exclusively involved in attention to eye-gaze or the operation of domain-general attentional processes. The present study provides a comprehensive meta-analysis indicating that eye-gaze and non-social directional stimuli, such as arrows, produce equivalent attentional effects. This result casts doubt on the potential utility of the classic cueing task in revealing social-specific processes. On the other hand, we review behavioral evidence suggesting that eye-gaze stimuli may induce higher-order social processes when more specific experimental procedures that analyze qualitative rather than quantitative differences are used. These findings point to an integrated view in which domain-general and social specific processes both contribute to the attentional mechanisms induced by eye-gaze direction. Finally, some proposals about the social components specifically triggered by eye-gaze stimuli are discussed.

Changes in Response Criterion and Lapse Rate as General Mechanisms of Vigilance Decrement: Commentary on McCarley and Yamani (2021).

Multiple theories have used perceptual sensitivity and response criterion indices to explain the decrements in performance across time on task (i.e., vigilance decrement). In a recent study, McCarley and Yamani (2021) offered conceptual and methodological advances to this debate by using a vigilance task that parametrically manipulates noise and signal and analyzes the outcomes with psychometric curves. In the present Commentary, we reanalyze data (N = 553) from a different, already existing vigilance task, the Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea). Psychometric curves with the ANTI-Vea showed robust changes in response criterion and lapse rate, although not in sensitivity. Our interpretation is that the need to keep the standard in memory in McCarley and Yamani's task could produce a decrease in sensitivity and be related to reduced fidelity of the memory representation rather than to a decrement in perceptual abilities across time on task.

Suggestive but not conclusive: An independent meta-analysis on the auditory benefits of learning to play a musical instrument. Commentary on.

The literature on musical training suggests benefits of this activity on auditory skills (i.e., near transfer) and general cognitive abilities (i.e., far transfer). However, other positions have taken those results more skeptically, rather arguing that studies with positive outcomes suffer from methodological issues that impede inferences of causality. In the context of this debate, we conducted an independent meta-analysis similar to one recently published by Neves et al.'s, also showing auditory benefits of musical training. Our meta-analysis suggests that the available evidence is not sufficient to reach firm conclusions as interventions with design-quality features (randomization and active control) are still scarce. Moreover, the reviewed studies measured auditory skills with tests based on same/different judgments that rely on short-term memory, therefore being less sensitive to changes produced by musicmaking experiences. Although the evidence is not conclusive, the results are in line with those observed with other cognitively stimulating activities and suggest a positive impact of musical training on auditory skills. Thus, the available evidence does not support extreme versions of skepticism.

Efecto antiinflamatorio y antioxidante in vitro de Curcuma longa sobre macrófagos murinos durante la infección por Helicobacter pylori

RESUMEN Introducción: La colonización por Helicobacter pylori produce una inflamación en la mucosa gástrica con el consecuente desarrollo de enfermedades gastroduodenales. Frente a altas tasas de resistencia antimicrobiana y la ausencia de una vacuna en humanos, la alternativa ha sido la búsqueda de extractos de plantas con propiedades antimicrobiana, antiinflamatoria, antioxidante, antifúngica y anticancerígena como la Curcuma longa. Sin embargo, al ser una especie introducida y adaptada a las condiciones climáticas del país, son necesarios los estudios preclínicos que avalen su potencial antiinflamatorio y antioxidante. Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto del extracto de C. longa sobre macrófagos peritoneales infectados con H. pylori. Métodos: Para evaluar el efecto antiinflamatorio y antioxidante del extracto de C. longa sobre macrófagos murinos infectados por H. pylori, se evaluaron diferentes concentraciones del extracto y relaciones de bacteria, y se evaluó la muerte celular mediante DAPI. Se determinó la producción de óxido nítrico, peróxido de hidrógeno y los niveles de la interleucina-1β. Resultados: La viabilidad del macrófago se afectó frente a concentraciones de 100 µg/mL del extracto de cúrcuma y a partir de 25 bacterias/macrófago. Al combinar las diferentes concentraciones del extracto con las multiplicidades bacterianas se observó una reducción en los niveles de H2O2 e IL-1β; sin embargo, la reducción del óxido nítrico se observó en el rango de 6,25-50 µg/mL del producto natural. Conclusiones: El extracto de cúrcuma cubano mostró potencial antioxidante y antiinflamatorio al disminuir la citotoxicidad celular y la producción de especies reactivas del oxígeno en macrófagos peritoneales.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Colonization by Helicobacter pylori causes inflammation of the gastric mucosa with the consequent development of gastroduodenal diseases. In view of the high antimicrobial resistance rates and the absence of a vaccine for humans, the alternative has been to search for plant extracts with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal and anticancer properties. An example is Curcuma longa. However, being as it is a species introduced and adapted to the country's climate conditions, it is necessary to conduct preclinical studies demonstrating its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential. Objective: Evaluate the effect of a C. longa extract on peritoneal macrophages infected by H. pylori. Methods: With the purpose of describing the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect of C. longa on murine macrophages infected by H. pylori, an evaluation was conducted of various extract concentrations and bacterial relationships, while cell death was assessed by DAPI. Determination was made of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide production, as well as of interleukin-1β levels. Results: Viability of the macrophage was affected in the presence of 100 µg/ml concentrations of the turmeric extract and as from 25 bacteria / macrophage. When different concentrations of the extract were combined with the bacterial multiplicities, a reduction was observed in H2O2 and IL-1β levels. However, nitric oxide reduction was observed within the range of 6.25-50 µg/ml of the natural product. Conclusions: The Cuban turmeric extract was found to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential by reducing cell cytotoxicity and the production of reactive oxygen species in peritoneal macrophages.

Secured Perimeter with Electromagnetic Detection and Tracking with Drone Embedded and Static Cameras.

Perimeter detection systems detect intruders penetrating protected areas, but modern solutions require the combination of smart detectors, information networks and controlling software to reduce false alarms and extend detection range. The current solutions available to secure a perimeter (infrared and motion sensors, fiber optics, cameras, radar, among others) have several problems, such as sensitivity to weather conditions or the high failure alarm rate that forces the need for human supervision. The system exposed in this paper overcomes these problems by combining a perimeter security system based on CEMF (control of electromagnetic fields) sensing technology, a set of video cameras that remain powered off except when an event has been detected. An autonomous drone is also informed where the event has been initially detected. Then, it flies through computer vision to follow the intruder for as long as they remain within the perimeter. This paper covers a detailed view of how all three components cooperate in harmony to protect a perimeter effectively, without having to worry about false alarms, blinding due to weather conditions, clearance areas, or privacy issues. The system also provides extra information of where the intruder is or has been, at all times, no matter whether they have become mixed up with more people or not during the attack.

Target-background segregation in a spatial interference paradigm reveals shared and specific attentional mechanisms triggered by gaze and arrows.

Recent research has found that eye gaze and arrows yield opposite congruency effects in a spatial interference paradigm, arrows eliciting faster responses when their direction is congruent with their position (standard congruency effect), and gaze producing faster reaction times for incongruent conditions (reversed congruency effect). In addition, we observed by serendipity in a previous study that the standard effect with arrows was reduced when the target appeared within a complex background, presumably because of hindered figure-ground segregation. Under the same conditions, the reversed effect with gaze became more negative. To explain our previous results, we proposed the coexistence of two opposite attentional effects with eye gaze: a standard spatial interference component being common to both arrows and gaze, and a larger social-specific dimension leading to the overall reversion of the effect for gaze. Both in Experiments 1 and 2, gaze or arrow targets were presented after or concurrently with an irrelevant background (asynchronous vs. synchronous conditions, respectively). Consistent with our preregistered hypotheses, the standard effect with arrows was present in the asynchronous condition (automatic figure-ground segregation) but reduced in the synchronous one (difficult figure-ground segregation). Correspondingly with the effect on arrows interference, eye gaze triggered a significant reversed effect in the synchronous condition that decreased in the asynchronous one. These results underline the importance of the figure-ground segregation processes as modulators of the spatial conflict triggered by peripheral targets, and support our two-effect model, according to which gaze shares with nonsocial stimuli a domain-general orienting mechanism, but also triggers distinctive processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Eco-efficiency assessment of municipal solid waste services: Influence of exogenous variables.

Improving the eco-efficiency of municipalities in the provision of municipal solid waste (MSW) services is fundamental in the context of a circular economy. This study evaluates the eco-efficiency of a sample of Spanish municipalities, integrating the total cost as input, recyclable waste as desirable output, and unsorted waste as undesirable output. Following a pioneering approach, the weighted Russell directional distance model (a non-radial data envelopment analysis model) was employed, which allowed us to obtain a global inefficiency score and individual inefficiency scores for each variable integrated in the model. In the second stage of analysis, the potential factors affecting the previously computed inefficiency scores were investigated. The results indicated that one third of the municipalities evaluated were eco-efficient in the provision of MSW services with the total cost being the variable in which the municipalities exhibited the best performance. Moreover, the size of the municipalities, population served, population density, tourism, and availability of containers for separative collection of paper, glass, and plastic significantly affect the eco-efficiency of the municipalities. The findings of this study provide detailed information to support decision-making for the policy makers to improve the eco-efficiency of the municipalities in managing MSW.

Prospective and retrospective timing in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Performance on timing tasks changes with age. Whether these changes reflect a real "clock" problem due to aging or a secondary effect of the reduced cognitive resources of older adults is still an unsettled question. Research on processing of time in aged populations marked by severe mnemonic and/or attentional deficits, such as patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), may help elucidate the role of cognitive resources in age-related temporal distortions. To this end, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of timing studies in AD and MCI patients; both prospective and retrospective timing tasks were considered and analysed separately. As concerns prospective timing, a first random-effect model showed a medium overall effect of neurodegeneration on timing performance. When considering the role of moderator variables(i.e., neurodegenerative condition, type of measure, participants' age and years of education, interval length, and type of timing task), mean score appeared to be a less sensitive measure than accuracy and variability, and the observed temporal impairment was smaller in older samples. In addition, AD patients only exhibited medium-to-high impairment on prospective timing tasks, whereas MCI patients did not significantly differ from controls. However, assuming a mean age of 70 years old and absolute error as dependent variable, a second fitted meta-regression model predicted a significant outcome also for MCI patients. Concerning retrospective timing, a significant but small effect of neurodegeneration was observed for retrospective judgments. None of the moderators, however, explained between-studies variability. Collectively, our findings highlight a clear deficit in prospective timing for AD patients and underscore several issues that future work should carefully consider to better investigate the effect of MCI on prospective temporal judgements. Results from retrospective timing also point to a possible impairment of retrospective judgments in neurodegenerative conditions, albeit more studies are needed to substantiate this finding.

Developing a Web-Based Congress: The 2020 International Web-Based Neurosurgery Congress Method.

BACKGROUND: Continuing medical education and continuing professional development have been affected by the ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, we developed the 2020 International Web-Based Neurosurgery Congress (2020 IWBNC), which became the first successful virtual neurosurgical congress. The aim of this article was to describe the experience designing and organizing a web congress by the 2020 IWBNC method. METHODS: The 2020 IWBNC was organized by the Center for Research and Training in Neurosurgery (Centro de Investigación y Entrenamiento en Neurocirugía [CIEN]) in a record time of 4 weeks. Eight committees were created and assigned a specific task. The event followed a strict protocol based on the double-room method, which consisted of 2 virtual rooms (A and B) hosted from 4 different physical locations to avoid lecture overlapping and connection drops. Quality and impact were measured by a videoconferencing platform and social media parameters as well as an audience perception survey. RESULTS: High quality was achieved in academic standards, worldwide assistance, schedule adherence, and security. The 2020 IWBNC hosted 25 internationally renowned speakers and offered 30 top-of-the-line multidisciplinary conferences. There were 3096 participants from 125 countries, and 22,266 live-stream views were registered. No technical or cybersecurity-related issues occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Web-based academic meetings will continue to be a helpful educational tool for continuing medical education and continuing professional development. The 2020 IWBNC double-room method represents an alternative design that may be replicated by the academic community planning web congresses and similar events.

Attentional networks functioning and vigilance in expert musicians and non-musicians.

Previous literature has shown cognitive improvements related to musical training. Attention is one cognitive aspect in which musicians exhibit improvements compared to non-musicians. However, previous studies show inconsistent results regarding certain attentional processes, suggesting that benefits associated with musical training appear only in some processes. The present study aimed to investigate the attentional and vigilance abilities in expert musicians with a fine-grained measure: the ANTI-Vea (ANT for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components; Luna et al. in J Neurosci Methods 306:77-87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.05.011 , 2018). This task allows measuring the functioning of the three Posner and Petersen's networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) along with two different components of vigilance (executive and arousal vigilance). Using propensity-score matching, 49 adult musicians (18-35 years old) were matched in an extensive set of confounding variables with a control group of 49 non-musicians. Musicians showed advantages in processing speed and in the two components of vigilance, with some specific aspects of musicianship such as years of practice or years of lessons correlating with these measures. Although these results should be taken with caution, given its correlational nature, one possible explanation is that musical training can specifically enhance some aspects of attention. Nevertheless, our correlational design does not allow us to rule out other possibilities such as the presence of cognitive differences prior to the onset of training. Moreover, the advantages were observed in an extra-musical context, which suggests that musical training could transfer its benefits to cognitive processes loosely related to musical skills. The absence of effects in executive control, frequently reported in previous literature, is discussed based on our extensive control of confounds.

A High-Definition tDCS and EEG study on attention and vigilance: Brain stimulation mitigates the executive but not the arousal vigilance decrement.

Attention comprises a wide set of processes such as phasic alertness, orienting, executive control, and the executive (i.e., detecting infrequent targets) and arousal (i.e., sustaining a fast reaction) vigilance components. Importantly, the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over attentional functioning have been mostly addressed by measuring these processes separately and by delivering offline tDCS with low precision over the stimulation region. In the current study, we examined the effects of online High-Definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) over the behavioral and electrophysiological functioning of attentional and vigilance components. Participants (N = 92) were randomly assigned to one of three stimulation groups: right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation, right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) stimulation, and sham. All of them performed - in combination with the HD-tDCS protocol - an attentional networks task (ANTI-Vea) suitable to measure the executive and arousal components of vigilance along with three typical attentional functions: phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control. In addition, EEG was registered at the baseline and at the post-stimulation period. We observed that, regardless the stimulation region, online HD-tDCS: (a) reduced phasic alertness (p = .008), but did not modulated the orienting and executive control functioning; and (b) mitigated the executive vigilance decrement (p = .011), but did not modulated arousal vigilance across time-on-task. Interestingly, only HD-tDCS over PPC reduced considerably the increment of alpha power observed across time-on-task (p = .009). The current study provides further evidence for both an empirical dissociation between vigilance components and the cortical regions underlying attentional processes. We highlight the advantages of using online HD-tDCS to examine the stimulation effects on attentional and vigilance functioning.

Sustainable tourism tags to reward destination management.

This paper presents a system of Sustainable Tourism Tags to evaluate the management of tourist destinations, using the information from a composite indicator called the Differential Dynamic Index. This vectorial indicator has two components: one dynamic which shows the advance or regress in time of each destination in terms of sustainability; the other static that compares the situation, at a moment of time, of each zone using multiple benchmarks according to each territory's physical characteristics and tourist activity. The sustainable tourism tags are awarded to the places which show advances, thus rewarding the work carried out by their managers. This system is a practical tool to link the evaluation of the indicator with the planning and management decisions of the destinations. We therefore define a linear programming problem which enables, for each destination, determining the minimum change necessary in the indicators to improve their qualification in the tag system. Finally, we present a case study for the urban destinations of Andalusia (Spain) that illustrates the practical application of the proposed tool.