Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Meta-Analysis of GBA-Related Clinical Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease

Background GBA gene had been proved to be a crucial gene to the risk of PD. Numerous studies had discussed about the unique clinical characteristics of PD patients with GBA carriers (GBA + PD). However, there was lack of updated comprehensive analysis on the topic. In order to clarify the association between GBA variants and the clinical phenotypes of PD, we conducted this comprehensive meta-analysis. Method Medline, Embase, and Cochrane were used to perform the searching. Strict selection criteria were followed in screening for new published articles or data. Revman 5.3 software was applied to perform the total statistical analysis, and funnel plots in the software were used to assess the publication biases. Results A total of 26 articles including 931 GBA + PD and 14861 GBA noncarriers of PD (GBA − PD) were involved in the final meta-analysis, and 14 of them were either newly added publications or related data newly analyzed compared with the version published in 2015. Then, a series of symptoms containing depression, orthostatic hypotension, motor fluctuation, wearing-off, and freezing were newly analyzed due to more articles eligible. Besides, clinical features like family history, AAO, UPDRS-III, H-Y, and dementia previously analyzed were updated with new data added. Significant statistical differences were found in wearing-off, family history, AAO, UPDRS-III, and dementia (OR: 1.14, 1.65; MD: −3.61, 2.17; OR: 2.44; p: 0.03, <0.00001, <0.00001, 0.003, and <0.00001). Depression was slightly associated with GBA + PD (OR: 1.47; p: 0.04). Clinical symptoms such as H-Y, orthostatic hypotension, motor fluctuation, and freezing did not feature GBA + PD. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that there were unique clinical features in GBA + PD which can help the management of the whole duration of PD patients.
Effects of Immediate or Delayed Estradiol on Behavior in Old Menopausal Macaques on Obesogenic Diet

Macaques have served as effective models of human disease, including pathological processes associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. This study approached several questions: (1) does a western-style diet (WSD) contribute to sedentary behavior or is sedentary behavior a consequence of obesity and (2) does estradiol (E) hormone therapy offset WSD or ameliorate sedentary behavior? We further questioned whether the timing of E administration (immediately following hysterectomy, ImE; or after a 2-year delay, DE) would impact behavior. Focal observations were taken on the animals in social housing over a period of 2.5 years before and after initiation of the WSD and hysterectomy. In addition, anxiety was assessed through the Human Intruder and Novel Object Tests. All animals gained weight, but ImE delayed the time to maximum weight achieved at 18 months. Over the course of the study, ImE-treated monkeys spent more time “alone” and less time in “close social” contact than placebo-controls. The DE-treated monkeys were not different from placebo-controls in these 2 outcomes. The placebo-control group exhibited more “self-groom” behavior, an indicator of anxiety, than did the ImE-treated group, and DE-treated animals approached levels observed in the ImE-treated animals. All animals exhibited an increase in “consume” behavior over time with no statistical difference between the groups. By the end of the protocol, the placebo-control group exhibited less activity compared to ImE + DE-treated animals combined. Animals also showed increased anxiety after starting on the WSD in the Human Intruder Test and the Novel Object Test. In summary, the data indicated that WSD per se promoted increased consummatory behavior, sedentary behavior, and anxiety-type behaviors, whereas ImE promoted activity. Thus, WSD may precipitate the behaviors observed in humans who then become obese, sedentary, anxious, and socially isolated. ImE replacement ameliorates some of these behaviors, but not all.
“Being a bully isn’t very cool…”: Rap & Sing Music Therapy for enhanced emotional self-regulation in an adolescent school setting – a randomized controlled trial

Music as an effective self-regulative tool for emotions and behavioural adaptation for adolescents might enhance emotion-related skills when applied as a therapeutic school intervention. This study investigated Rap & Sing Music Therapy in a school-based programme, to support self-regulative abilities for well-being. One-hundred-and-ninety adolescents in grade 8 of a public school in the Netherlands were randomly assigned to an experimental group involving Rap & Sing Music Therapy or a control group. Both interventions were applied to six classes once a week during four months. Measurements at baseline and again after four months provided outcome data of adolescents’ psychological well-being, self-description, self-esteem and emotion regulation. Significant differences between groups on the SDQ teacher test indicated a stabilized Rap & Sing Music Therapy group, as opposed to increased problems in the control group (p = .001; ηp2 = .132). Total problem scores of all tests indicated significant improvements in the Rap & Sing Music Therapy group. The RCT results imply overall benefits of Rap & Sing Music Therapy in a school setting. There were improved effects on all measures – as they are in line with school interventions of motivational engagement in behavioural, emotional and social themes – a promising result.
Evaluation of relationship between common carotid artery intima-media thickness and coronary in-stent restenosis: A case-control study

Aim The study was intended to evaluate relationship of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) with coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR) and to assess clinical profile of patients to determine the predictors of coronary ISR. Methods This was a single-center, case-control study performed between December 2012 and February 2015 in India. The study population consisted of PCI-treated patients with ISR (n = 32) and those without any post-PCI symptoms at least 6 months prior to the study period (n = 40). Quantitative coronary angiography was performed in patients to determine ISR. Results Average CIMT for cases and controls was 0.96 ± 0.23 and 0.66 ± 0.09 mm (OR = 57, p < 0.001), respectively. CIMT was <0.8 mm in 25% of cases and 95% of controls. On multivariate analysis, presence of hypertension (OR = 10.79, p = 0.026) and higher stent diameter (OR = 14.87, p = 0.039) were independently associated with increased presence of ISR. CIMT <0.8 mm (OR = 0.03, p = 0.025), STEMI (OR = 0.03, p = 0.004), and estimated glomerular filtration rate >50 ml/min (OR = 0.005, p = 0.014) were independently associated with lower presence of ISR. Conclusions Elevated CIMT appears to be an independent risk indicator for increased ISR. As CIMT is a non-invasive parameter, post-PCI follow-up measurements of CIMT in routine clinical practice will provide potential benefits to predict the restenosis rates.
Qatar welcomes the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation of the South and West Asia Chapter 2017 Conference

s are presented at the end of this QMJ issue and been presented either as short oral or poster presentations during the conference. All submissions have been subjected to a rigorous peer review process involving a team of reviewers with a range of subject expertise and to whom we are grateful. Overall, this QMJ special issue represents the scientific contributions from over 150 authors from 17 countries. The spread of the safe practice of ECLS, especially with regard to severe respiratory failure (SRF), relies on effective team training and education of the clinicians. To that effect, this year’s theme is "Bringing ECMO Simulation to Life" and is directly reflected in the series of simulation-based pre-conference workshops which include: Address for Correspondence: Guillaume Alinier Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service (HMCAS), PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar (http://as.hamad.qa) University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK (www.herts.ac.uk) Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7XA, UK (www.northumbria.ac.uk) School of Medicine, Discipline of Paramedicine, University of Tasmania, Rozelle Campus, Sydney, New South Wales 2015, Australia (www.utas.edu.au/health) (Previously HMCAS) Medical Intensive Care Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar (www.hamad.qa) Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar (www.hamad.qa) Nursing Education and Research Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar (www.hamad.qa) Email: galinier@hamad.qa http://dx.doi. org/10.5339/qmj.2017. swacelso.1 a 2017 Alinier, Campbell, Labib, Mehta, Hssain, Almomani, Hassan, licensee HBKU Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite this article as: Alinier G, Campbell C, Labib A, Mehta T, Hssain AA, Almomani EAH, Hassan IF. Qatar welcomes the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation of the South and West Asia Chapter 2017 Conference, Qatar Medical Journal, 4th Annual ELSO-SWAC Conference Proceedings 2017:1 http://dx.doi. org/ 10.5339/qmj.2017. swacelso.1 QATAR MEDICAL JOURNAL VOL. 2017 / SWAC ELSO / ART. 1 1 Adult respiratory ECMO Adult cardiac ECMO Neonatal and pediatric ECMO Percutaneous cannulation ECMO
Impact of Aging in Microglia-Mediated D-Serine Balance in the CNS

A mild chronic inflammatory state, like that observed in aged individuals, affects microglial function, inducing a dysfunctional phenotype that potentiates neuroinflammation and cytotoxicity instead of neuroprotection in response to additional challenges. Given that inflammatory activation of microglia promotes increased release of D-serine, we postulate that age-dependent inflammatory brain environment leads to microglia-mediated changes on the D-serine-regulated glutamatergic transmission. Furthermore, D-serine dysregulation, in addition to affecting synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity, appears also to potentiate NMDAR-dependent excitotoxicity, promoting neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. D-serine dysregulation promoted by microglia could have a role in age-related cognitive impairment and in the induction and progression of neurodegenerative processes like Alzheimer's disease.
The developmental path to adult-like prosodic focus-marking in Mandarin Chinese-speaking children

This study investigates how children acquire prosodic focus-marking in Mandarin Chinese. Using a picture-matching game, we elicited spontaneous production of sentences in various focus conditions from children aged four to eleven. We found that Mandarin Chinese-speaking children use some pitch-related cues in some tones and duration in all tones in an adult-like way to distinguish focus from non-focus at the age of four to five. Their use of pitch-related cues is not yet fully adult-like in certain tones at the age of eleven. Further, they are adult-like in the use of duration in distinguishing narrow focus from broad focus at four or five but in not using pitch-related cues for this purpose at seven or eight. The later acquisition of pitch-related cues may be related to the use of pitch for lexical purposes, and the differences in the use of pitch in different tones can be explained by differences in how easy it is to vary pitch-related parameters without changing tonal identity.
Emergency versus Elective Cervical Cerclage: An Audit of Our First Two Years of Service

One of the biggest obstetric challenges is the diagnosis and management of a short cervix as cervical length has an inverse relationship with risk of preterm birth. A cervical cerclage is a surgical procedure to reduce the risk of preterm birth and can be placed in an elective or emergency setting. This is a retrospective review of cervical cerclages inserted at an outer metropolitan hospital from February 2014 to May 2017. Since the introduction of the service, a total of 43 patients were identified as requiring a cervical cerclage. Four of these patients were transferred to tertiary hospitals. Of the 39 cerclages inserted, 26 were elective and 13 were emergency, placed at a mean gestation of 15.6 and 19.6 weeks. In total, there were 35 live births, 2 stillbirths, and 2 neonatal deaths. The maternal demographics (age, gravidity, parity, and preterm risk factors) were not statistically significant between the two groups. The mean pregnancy prolongation and birthweight was greater in the elective than the emergency group (21.4 versus 14.1 weeks; 3148.2 versus 2447.2 grams). There was no obvious pattern with which patients received antibiotics pre-, intra-, or postoperatively or received a vaginal swab. This audit identified the need for improvements to guidelines to standardise the use of antibiotics and progesterone in women with a cervical cerclage.
GPU-Accelerated Robotic Simulation for Distributed Reinforcement Learning

Most Deep Reinforcement Learning (Deep RL) algorithms require a prohibitively large number of training samples for learning complex tasks. Many recent works on speeding up Deep RL have focused on distributed training and simulation. While distributed training is often done on the GPU, simulation is not. In this work, we propose using GPU-accelerated RL simulations as an alternative to CPU ones. Using NVIDIA Flex, a GPU-based physics engine, we show promising speed-ups of learning various continuous-control, locomotion tasks. With one GPU and CPU core, we are able to train the Humanoid running task in less than 20 minutes, using 10-1000x fewer CPU cores than previous works. We also demonstrate the scalability of our simulator to multi-GPU settings to train more challenging locomotion tasks.
A Social Network Analysis of Articles on Social Network Analysis

A collection of articles on the statistical modelling and inference of social networks is analysed in a network fashion. The references of these articles are used to construct a citation network data set, which is almost a directed acyclic graph because only existing articles can be cited. A mixed membership stochastic block model is then applied to this data set to soft cluster the articles. The results obtained from a Gibbs sampler give us insights into the influence and the categorisation of these articles.
Distinguishing Brain Impact of Aging and HIV Severity in Chronic HIV Using Multiparametric MR Imaging and MR Spectroscopy

Abstract Background Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has transformed HIV into a manageable but complex chronic disease, in which it is uncertain which brain insults may relate to age vs initial disease severity. We evaluate N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr), white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and mean cortical thickness to identify which subclinical markers of brain insult best relate to CD4 nadir and aging. This is a prospective study of the association between brain markers with age and initial infection severity, based on CD4 nadir, in chronic HIV patients. Methods Thirty-seven chronic HIV patients (age 25–77 years) with successful viral suppression were scanned on a GE 3T magnetic resonance imaging scanner to obtain NAA/Cr (standardized and averaged over 5 brain regions), log-transformed WMH volume, and mean cortical thickness. The brain measures were fitted with both CD4 nadir and age to evaluate the significance of their relationship. Results NAA/Cr, WMH, and cortical thickness were all correlated with age and CD4 nadir in unadjusted associations. Stepwise regression models showed that NAA/Cr alone best predicted CD4 nadir (β = 40.1 ± 13.3; P = .005), whereas WMH (β = 2.3 ± .9; P = .02) and mean cortical thickness (β = –2.7 ± 6.6; P < .0001) together produced the best model fit with age. NAA/Cr was higher for HIV stage 1 (CD4 nadir ≥ 500 cells/ µL; n = 15) compared with stage 2 (200 ≥ CD4 nadir < 500; n = 13) and stage 3 (CD4 nadir < 200; n = 9; P < .01 for both). Conclusions In patients with effectively suppressed HIV, NAA reflects the subclinical brain impact of initial disease severity related to development of even mild immune compromise, whereas cortical thickness and WMH volume are useful to evaluate age-related changes.
A Whole-Body Model Predictive Control Scheme Including External Contact Forces and CoM Height Variations

In this paper, we present an approach for generating a variety of whole-body motions for a humanoid robot. We extend the available Model Predictive Control (MPC) approaches for walking on flat terrain to plan for both vertical motion of the Center of Mass (CoM) and external contact forces consistent with a given task. The optimization problem is comprised of three stages, i. e. the CoM vertical motion, joint angles and contact forces planning. The choice of external contact (e. g. hand contact with the object or environment) among all available locations and the appropriate time to reach and maintain a contact are all computed automatically within the algorithm. The presented algorithm benefits from the simplicity of the Linear Inverted Pendulum Model (LIPM), while it overcomes the common limitations of this model and enables us to generate a variety of whole body motions through external contacts. Simulation and experimental implementation of several whole body actions in multi-contact scenarios on a humanoid robot show the capability of the proposed algorithm.
Multilingualism and Out-Group Acceptance: The Mediating Roles of Cognitive Flexibility and Deprovincialization

In this research, we systematically study multilingualism as a predictor of acceptance of ethnic out-groups. It is argued that people who speak more languages are more cognitively flexible, that is, they have an enhanced flexibility in understanding and representing information. Higher cognitive flexibility is in turn expected to be related to higher deprovincialization: a reevaluation of one’s ethnocentric worldview. Deprovincialization is then expected to result in more openness toward ethnic out-groups, evidenced by a more inclusive notion of the national identity and reduced out-group dislike. Cross-sectional survey data among a representative sample of native Dutch participants from the Netherlands (N = 792) provide convincing support for these hypotheses and show that multilingualism is an important yet understudied factor in social–psychological research on prejudice reduction.
Obstructive sleep apnoea and the risk for coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes: a longitudinal population-based study in Finland

Objective To evaluate if obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) modifies the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and diabetic complications in a gender-specific fashion. Design and setting A longitudinal population-based study with up to 25-year follow-up data on 36 963 individuals (>500 000 person years) from three population-based cohorts: the FINRISK study, the Health 2000 Cohort Study and the Botnia Study. Main outcome measures Incident coronary heart disease, diabetic kidney disease, T2D and all-cause mortality from the Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register and the Finnish National Causes-of-Death Register. Results After adjustments for age, sex, region, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and total cholesterol, current cigarette smoking, body mass index, hypertension, T2D baseline and family history of stroke or myocardial infarction, OSA increased the risk for coronary heart disease (HR=1.36, p=0.0014, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.64), particularly in women (HR=2.01, 95% CI 1.31 to 3.07, p=0.0012). T2D clustered with OSA independently of obesity (HR=1.48, 95% CI 1.26 to 1.73, p=9.11× 10 − 7 ). The risk of diabetic kidney disease increased 1.75-fold in patients with OSA (95% CI 1.13 to 2.71, p=0.013). OSA increased the risk for coronary heart disease similarly among patients with T2D and in general population (HR=1.36). All-cause mortality was increased by OSA in diabetic individuals (HR=1.35, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.71, p=0.016). Conclusion OSA is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, T2D and diabetic kidney disease. This effect is more pronounced even in women, who until now have received less attention in diagnosis and treatment of OSA than men.
A 70-nA 13-ppm/°C All-MOSFET Voltage Reference for Low-Power IoT Systems

This paper presents a low-power All-MOSFET voltage reference implemented on a 0.18-μm standard CMOS technology. In order to improve the temperature coefficient (TC) of voltage reference, a TC compensation technique based on controlling bulk voltage is proposed. The proposed voltage reference achieves a TC of 13 ppm/°C from −40 °C to 125 °C while dissipating a supply current of 70 nA in normal temperature. The line regulation is 0.02%/V when the supply voltage varies from 1.3 V to 2.1 V, and the power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) at 100Hz is 74 dB due to the cascode current mirror. Moreover, the current mirror can be reconfigured easily so that the output voltage can be trimmed in this design.
Sweroside Alleviated Aconitine-Induced Cardiac Toxicity in H9c2 Cardiomyoblast Cell Line

Aconitine is the main bioactive ingredient of Aconitum plants, which are well-known botanical herbs in China. Aconitine is also notorious for its high cardiotoxicity, as it can induce life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Unfortunately, there are few effective antidotes to aconitine toxicity. This study aimed to evaluate the potent protective effects of the ingredients from V. baillonii on aconitine toxicity on H9c2 cell line. Cell viability was assessed by methylthiazoltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Intracellular Ca2+ concentration alteration and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were observed by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. Cellular oxidative stress was analyzed by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. Mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ) was determined using JC-1 kit. RT-PCR and Hoechst staining techniques were conducted to determine the levels of autophagy/apoptosis. The mRNA levels of dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), ryanodine receptors (RyR2) and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) were measured by RT-PCR. We screened six components from V. baillonii, among which, sweroside exhibited the strongest protective effects on aconitine-induced cardiac toxicity. Sweroside suppressed the aconitine-induced mRNA expressions of NaV1.5 (encoded by SCN5A), RyR2 and DHPR, and reversed the aconitine-induced decrease in mRNA level of SERCA, thus preventing the aconitine-induced persistent intracellular Ca2+ accumulation and avoiding intracellular Ca2+ overload. We further found that sweroside restabilized the aconitine-disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ) and reversed the aconitine-induced increase in the mRNA levels of cell autophagy-related factors (Beclin-1, Caspase-3, and LC3- II) in H9c2 cells. In the whole-animal experiments, we observed that sweroside (50 mg/kg) alleviated effectively aconitine-induced arrhythmias by analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) recording in rats. Our results demonstrate that sweroside may protect cardiomyocytes from aconitine toxicity by maintaining intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis, restabilizing mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ) and avoiding cell autophagy/apoptosis.