Caring for a child with severe intellectual disability in China: The example of Rett syndrome

Purpose: Rett syndrome is one of several genetic disorders known to cause severe intellectual and physical disability, mostly in girls. Girls affected by Rett syndrome appear to develop normally in the first 6 months of life, after which the usual clinical presentation comprises regression of communication and hand skills, the appearance of hand stereotypies and impaired gait. Intellectual disability affects more than 1.5% of the population of children in developing countries yet we know little about the daily lives and support services available for them and their caregivers. Method: This qualitative study explored the daily experiences of 14 mothers and one grandmother caring for a child with Rett syndrome in China via telephone interviews. Results: Participants reported a lack of education, rehabilitation and support services available to them. Limited access to information reduced families’ capacity to adequately meet the needs of their child. These gaps were further exacerbated by discrimination and perceived stigma from some members of the community. Conclusions: Additional support services and educational programs at the governmental level can improve the quality of life of persons with an intellectual disability and their families and programs involving community participation in the care of people with disabilities may help to address discrimination

Oncogenic state and cell identity combinatorially dictate the susceptibility of cells within glioma development hierarchy to IGF1R targeting

Glioblastoma is the most malignant cancer in the brain and currently incurable. It is urgent to identify effective targets for this lethal disease. Inhibition of such targets should suppress the growth of cancer cells and, ideally also precancerous cells for early prevention, but minimally affect their normal counterparts. Using genetic mouse models with neural stem cells (NSCs) or oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) as the cells‐of‐origin/mutation, it is shown that the susceptibility of cells within the development hierarchy of glioma to the knockout of insulin‐like growth factor I receptor (IGF1R) is determined not only by their oncogenic states, but also by their cell identities/states. Knockout of IGF1R selectively disrupts the growth of mutant and transformed, but not normal OPCs, or NSCs. The desirable outcome of IGF1R knockout on cell growth requires the mutant cells to commit to the OPC identity regardless of its development hierarchical status. At the molecular level, oncogenic mutations reprogram the cellular network of OPCs and force them to depend more on IGF1R for their growth. A new‐generation brain‐penetrable, orally available IGF1R inhibitor harnessing tumor OPCs in the brain is also developed. The findings reveal the cellular window of IGF1R targeting and establish IGF1R as an effective target for the prevention and treatment of glioblastoma

Improved RSSI Positioning Algorithm for Coal Mine Underground Locomotive

Aiming at the large positioning errors of traditional coal mine underground locomotive, an improved received signal strength indication (RSSI) positioning algorithm for coal mine underground locomotive was proposed. The RSSI value fluctuates heavily due to the poor environment of coal mine underground. The nodes with larger RSSI value corrected by Gaussian-weighted model were selected as beacon nodes. In order to reduce the positioning error further, the estimated positions of the locomotives were corrected by the weighted distance correction method. The difference between actual position and estimated position of beacon node was regarded as the positioning error and was given a corresponding weight. The results of simulation show that the positioning accuracy of Gaussian-weighted model is better than statistical average model and Gaussian model and it has a high positioning accuracy after correcting positioning error correction. In the 10 m of communication range, positioning error can be maintained at 0.5 m

Improved RSSI Positioning Algorithm for Coal Mine Underground Locomotive

Aiming at the large positioning errors of traditional coal mine underground locomotive, an improved received signal strength indication (RSSI) positioning algorithm for coal mine underground locomotive was proposed. The RSSI value fluctuates heavily due to the poor environment of coal mine underground. The nodes with larger RSSI value corrected by Gaussian-weighted model were selected as beacon nodes. In order to reduce the positioning error further, the estimated positions of the locomotives were corrected by the weighted distance correction method. The difference between actual position and estimated position of beacon node was regarded as the positioning error and was given a corresponding weight. The results of simulation show that the positioning accuracy of Gaussian-weighted model is better than statistical average model and Gaussian model and it has a high positioning accuracy after correcting positioning error correction. In the 10 m of communication range, positioning error can be maintained at 0.5 m

Semiconducting polymer nanoparticles as photoacoustic molecular imaging probes in living mice.

Photoacoustic imaging holds great promise for the visualization of physiology and pathology at the molecular level with deep tissue penetration and fine spatial resolution. To fully utilize this potential, photoacoustic molecular imaging probes have to be developed. Here, we introduce near-infrared light absorbing semiconducting polymer nanoparticles as a new class of contrast agents for photoacoustic molecular imaging. These nanoparticles can produce a stronger signal than the commonly used single-walled carbon nanotubes and gold nanorods on a per mass basis, permitting whole-body lymph-node photoacoustic mapping in living mice at a low systemic injection mass. Furthermore, the semiconducting polymer nanoparticles possess high structural flexibility, narrow photoacoustic spectral profiles and strong resistance to photodegradation and oxidation, enabling the development of the first near-infrared ratiometric photoacoustic probe for in vivo real-time imaging of reactive oxygen species--vital chemical mediators of many diseases. These results demonstrate semiconducting polymer nanoparticles to be an ideal nanoplatform for developing photoacoustic molecular probes

Sema3C Promotes the Survival and Tumorigenicity of Glioma Stem Cells through Rac1 Activation

Summary: Different cancer cell compartments often communicate through soluble factors to facilitate tumor growth. Glioma stem cells (GSCs) are a subset of tumor cells that resist standard therapy to contribute to disease progression. How GSCs employ a distinct secretory program to communicate with and nurture each other over the nonstem tumor cell (NSTC) population is not well defined. Here, we show that GSCs preferentially secrete Sema3C and coordinately express PlexinA2/D1 receptors to activate Rac1/nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling in an autocrine/paracrine loop to promote their own survival. Importantly, Sema3C is not expressed in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) or NSTCs. Disruption of Sema3C induced apoptosis of GSCs, but not NPCs or NSTCs, and suppressed tumor growth in orthotopic models of glioblastoma. Introduction of activated Rac1 rescued the Sema3C knockdown phenotype in vivo. Our study supports the targeting of Sema3C to break this GSC-specific autocrine/paracrine loop in order to improve glioblastoma treatment, potentially with a high therapeutic index. : Glioma stem cells (GSCs) have a high capacity for self-renewal, invasion, and survival. How they communicate with each other to survive and maintain their identity is not clear. Man et al. now show that GSCs have co-opted a neurodevelopmental program to activate Rac1 to promote defining features of GSCs

Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based semiconducting polymer nanoparticles for in vivo photoacoustic imaging

Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based semiconducting polymer nanoparticles with high photostability and strong photoacoustic brightness are designed and synthesized, which results in 5.3-fold photoacoustic signal enhancement in tumor xenografts after systemic administration