Background The evidence on the effects of chronic tobacco smoking on neuropsychological functions is conflicting. The literature remains limited by inconsistent accounting for potentially confounding biomedical and psychiatric conditions. This study aimed to assess the neuropsychological functions of adult chronic tobacco smokers in comparison to group-matched non-smokers. Method The study included 73 smokers and 84 group-matched non-smokers. The data was collected during the year 2019. After an initial interview to collect demographics and smoking profile, the subjects undertook neuropsychological assessments that targeted a wide range of cognitive domains. Results The performance of smokers was poorer on almost all neuropsychological domains, namely selective attention (p ≤ .001, p = .044), alternating attention (p = .002) working memory (p ≤ .001), Short-term memory (p = .006 and .003), Long-term memory (p ≤ .001), processing accuracy (p ≤ .001), and executive function (p = .011 and .026). Smokers were intact on processing speed. Smoking accumulation and lower age onset of regular smoking were correlated with lower neuropsychological function. Conclusion Our findings add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that chronic tobacco smoking impacts cognition negatively.

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Aim To investigate patterns of and factors associated with help-seeking behaviors among individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) and/or serious psychological distress (SPD). Methods The analysis was conducted with the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2011–2012 of 40,803 adults. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between the multiple facilitating/preventing factors and outcome, guided by the Andersen’s Health Care Utilization Model. Results The prevalence of DM and SPD were 10.9% and 3.4%, respectively, among participants in the survey. The participants with DM were more likely to experience SPD than those without DM (OR 1.46, 95% CI=1.11–1.91, p=0.006). Participants with combined DM and SPD, the most underserved, were less likely to perceive the need for mental health services and less likely to seek help, compared to those with only SPD. Need factors (SPD status and perceived need) were significantly associated with help-seeking behaviors for mental health, along with predisposing factors (age, gender, obesity, race, and employment), and enabling factors (insurance, English proficiency). Conclusions Perceptions about need for seeking help seem to play an important role in receiving mental health services in addition to other predisposing or enabling factors. Identification of these factors may improve clinical outcomes related to DM and SPD.

An iterative learning control (ILC) strategy is proposed, and implemented on simple pendulum and double pendulum models of an overhead crane undergoing simultaneous traveling and hoisting maneuvers. The approach is based on generating shaped commands using the full nonlinear equations of motion combined with the iterative learning control, to use as acceleration commands to the jib of the crane. These acceleration commands are tuned to eliminate residual oscillations in rest-to-rest maneuvers. The performance of the proposed strategy is tested using an experimental scaled model of an overhead crane with hoisting. The shaped command is derived analytically and validated experimentally. Results obtained showed that the proposed ILC control strategy is capable of eliminating travel and residual oscillations in simple and double pendulum models with hoisting. It is also shown, in all cases, that the proposed approach has a low sensitivity to the initial cable lengths.

Odor discrimination deficits were found in 80% of 20 schizophrenia patients and in none of the 20 age- and sex-matched comparison subjects. Olfactory discrimination was reliably measured in the patients. Twelve patients in this study also had smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) qualitatively recorded. The olfactory discrimination scores were highly correlated to SPEM but not to other clinical measures. This correlation suggests a shared neurobiology, possibly involving working memory.