Meta-analysis: The Effect of Muscle Strength Training on Walking Ability of Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Objective: This Meta-analysis was aimed to systematically studying the effects of muscle strength training on the walking ability like balance ability, mobility ability of Parkinson's disease patients and then provide useful theoretical reference to further researches on exercise treatments on Parkinson’s disease by retrieving and collecting articles about muscle strength training. Methods This literature review was finally determined on searching PubMed, Elsevier, Web of science, China Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), WanFang Data and other Chinese and foreign databases and combined with manual search. The limit of the search time was from the date when the literature was recorded to 2019. A comprehensive collection of randomly controlled trials of muscle strength training on the walking ability of Parkinson's patients was done. Researchers used the Cochrance risk assessment tool to evaluate the methodological quality of the selected articles, and the ReMan 5.3.5 software to statistically process the obtained data. Results A total of 13 RCTs and 627 samples were included in this study. Meta-analysis of BBS balance scale show that MD=4.67 (95%CI, I2=97%, P=0.52) between muscle strength training group and non-exercise intervention group; MD=-2.67 between muscle strength training group and exercise intervention control group (95%CI, I2=7%, P<0.00001); TUGT Meta-analysis show that MD=-1.06 (95%CI, I2=75%, P=0.10) between muscle strength training group and non-exercise intervention group; MD=0.09 (95%CI, I2=0%, P=0.31) between the muscle strength training group and the control group with exercise intervention; 10MWT Meta-analysis show MD=-0.28 (95%CI), I2=98%, P<0.29) between the muscle strength training group and the control group with exercise intervention; Stride length Meta-analysis show MD=-1.85 (95%CI, I2=68%, P=0.63) between the muscle strength training group and the control group without exercise intervention; MD=-1.75 (95%CI, I2=32%, P=0.56) between the muscle strength training group and the control group with exercise intervention; MD=-1.75 (95%CI, I2=32%, P=0.56). Meta-analysis of stride speed show MD=-0.02 (95%CI, I2=0%, P=0.46) between muscle strength training group and control group without exercise intervention; MD=-0.03 (95%CI, I2=35%, P=0.52) between the muscle strength training group and control group with exercise intervention. Conclusion Muscle strength training can significantly improve the balance ability, mobility, and walking ability of Parkinson's disease patients, but it has no significant benefits on improving stride length and walking speed

Macrophages Expressing Uncoupling Protein 1 Increase in Adipose Tissue in Response to Cold in Humans

Acute cold induces beige adipocyte protein marker expression in human subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SC WAT) from both the cold treated and contralateral leg, and the immune system regulates SC WAT beiging in mice. Cold treatment significantly increased the gene expression of the macrophage markers CD68 and 86 in SC WAT. Therefore, we comprehensively investigated the involvement of macrophages in SC WAT beiging in lean and obese humans by immunohistochemistry. Cold treatment significantly increased CD163/CD68 macrophages in SC WAT from the cold treated and contralateral legs of lean and obese subjects, and had similar effects on CD206/CD68 macrophages, whereas the effects on CD86/CD68 macrophages were inconsistent between lean and obese. However, linear regression analysis did not find significant relationships between the change in macrophage numbers and the change in UCP1 protein abundance. A high percentage of CD163 macrophages in SC WAT expressed UCP1, and these UCP1 expressing CD163 macrophages were significantly increased by cold treatment in SC WAT of lean subjects. In conclusion, our results suggest that CD163 macrophages are involved in some aspect of the tissue remodeling that occurs during SC WAT beiging in humans after cold treatment, but they are likely not direct mediators of the beiging process

Making 2‐D Materials Mechanochemically by Twin‐Screw Extrusion:Continuous Exfoliation of Graphite to Multi‐Layered Graphene

Mechanochemistry has developed rapidly in recent years for efficient chemicals and materials synthesis. Twin screw extrusion (TSE) is a particularly promising technique in this regard because of its continuous and scalable nature. A key aspect of TSE is that it provides high shear and mixing. Because of the high shear, it potentially also offers a way to delaminate 2‐D materials. Indeed, the synthesis of 2‐D materials in a scalable and continuous manor remains a challenge in their industrialization. Here, as a proof‐of‐principle, the automated, continuous mechanochemical exfoliation of graphite to give multi‐layer graphene (MLG, ≈6 layers) by TSE is demonstrated. To achieve this, a solid‐and‐liquid‐assisted extrusion (SLAE) process is developed in which organic additives such as pyrene are rendered liquid due to the high temperatures used, to assist with the exfoliation, and simultaneously solid sodium chloride is used as a grinding aid. This gave MLG in high yield (25 wt%) with a short residence time (8 min) and notably with negligible evidence for structural deterioration (defects or oxidation)

Listening skills development in the process of learning Chinese as a foreign language of Russian Linguistics students

В данной статье говорится о преподавании китайского языка как иностранного в форме аудирования в русскоговорящей аудитории студентов-лингвистов. Подчеркивается актуальность изучения китайского языка в России, анализируются сложности аудирования китайского языка в целом и предлагаются варианты организации работы на занятиях ККИ, учитывающие особенности обучающихся студентов-лингвистов.This article talks about teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the form of listening to the Russian-speaking students of Linguistics. The relevance of studying the Chinese language in Russia is emphasized, the difficulties in developing Chinese listening skills are analyzed, and options for organizing work in the Chinese lessons as a foreign language are proposed, taking into account the peculiarities of studying students of Linguistics

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF SOLUTIONS FOR A SYSTEM OF GENERALIZED PARAMETRIC NONLINEAR QUASIVARIATIONAL INEQUALITIES

A new class of system of generalized parametric nonlinear quasivariational inequalities involving various classes of mappings is introduced and studied. With the properties of maximal monotone mappings, the equivalence between the class of system of generalized parametric nonlinear quasivariational inequalities and a class of fixed point problems is proved and an iterative algorithm with errors is constructed. A few existence and uniqueness results and sensitivity analysis of solutions are also established for the system of generalized nonlinear parametric quasivariational inequalities and some convergence results of iterative sequence generated by the algorithm with errors are proved

Adipose Tissue Mast Cells Promote Human Adipose Beiging in Response to Cold

In a recent study, repeated cold application induced beiging in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SC WAT) of humans independent of body mass index. To identify factors that promote or inhibit beiging, we performed multiplex analysis of gene expression with the Nanostring nCounter system (the probe set contained genes for specific immune cell markers, cytokines, and chemokines) on the SC WAT from lean subjects. Multiple correlations analysis identified mast cell tryptase and CCL26, a chemokine for mast cells, as genes whose change correlated positively with the change in UCP1 in SC WAT, leading to the hypothesis that mast cells promote SC WAT beiging in response to cold. We quantified mast cell recruitment into SC WAT and degranulation. Mast cells increased in number in SC WAT in lean subjects, and there was an increase in the number of degranulated mast cells in both lean subjects and subjects with obesity. We determined that norepinephrine stimulated mast cell degranulation and histamine release in vitro. In conclusion, cold stimulated adipose tissue mast cell recruitment in lean subjects and mast cell degranulation in SC WAT of all research participants independent of baseline body mass index, suggesting that mast cells promote adipose beiging through the release of histamine or other products

Highly Fluorinated Peptide Probes with Enhanced In Vivo Stability for 19^{19}F‐MRI

A labeling strategy for in vivo $^{19}$F-MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) based on highly fluorinated, short hydrophilic peptide probes, is developed. As dual-purpose probes, they are functionalized further by a fluorophore and an alkyne moiety for bioconjugation. High fluorination is achieved by three perfluoro-tert-butyl groups, introduced into asparagine analogues by chemically stable amide bond linkages. d-amino acids and β-alanine in the sequences endow the peptide probes with low cytotoxicity and high serum stability. This design also yielded unstructured peptides, rendering all 27 $^{19}$F substitutions chemically equivalent, giving rise to a single $^{19}$F-NMR resonance with <10 Hz linewidth. The resulting performance in $^{19}$F-MRI is demonstrated for six different peptide probes. Using fluorescence microscopy, these probes are found to exhibit high stability and long circulation times in living zebrafish embryos. Furthermore, the probes can be conjugated to bovine serum albumin with only amoderate increase in $^{19}$F-NMR linewidth to ≈30 Hz. Overall, these peptide probes are hence suitable for in vivo $^{19}$F-MRI applications

Male circumcision and the incidence and clearance of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men: the HPV Infection in men (HIM) cohort study

Background: Reported associations of male circumcision (MC) with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men have been inconsistent. Methods: 4,033 healthy men were examined every six months for a median of 17.5 months. In each study visit, exfoliated cell specimens from the coronal sulcus/glans penis, penile shaft, and scrotum were collected and combined into one sample per person for HPV DNA detection. Samples were tested for 37 HPV types. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between MC and the incidence and clearance of HPV infections and specific genotypes. Results: The overall incidence of new HPV infections did not differ by MC status (for any HPV, adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.91-1.27). However, incidence was significantly lower among circumcised versus uncircumcised men for HPV types 58 (p = 0.01), 68 (p < 0.001), 42 (p = 0.01), 61 (p < 0.001), 71 (p < 0.001), 81 (p = 0.04), and IS39 (p = 0.01), and higher for HPV types 39 (p = 0.01) and 51 (p = 0.02). Despite the lack of an overall association in the risk of HPV clearance by MC (for any HPV, aHR 0.95, 95% CI 0.88-1.02), median times to clearance were significantly shorter among circumcised than uncircumcised men for HPV types 33 (p = 0.02) and 64 (p = 0.04), and longer for HPV types 6 (p < 0.001), 16 (p < 0.001), and 51 (p = 0.02). Conclusions: MC is not associated with the incidence and clearance of genital HPV detection, except for certain HPV types. The use of a single combined sample from the penis and scrotum for HPV DNA detection likely limited our ability to identify a true effect of MC at the distal penis

The β3-Adrenergic Receptor Agonist Mirabegron Improves Glucose Homeostasis in Obese Humans

BACKGROUND. Beige adipose tissue is associated with improved glucose homeostasis in mice. Adipose tissue contains β3-adrenergic receptors (β3-ARs), and this study was intended to determine whether the treatment of obese, insulin-resistant humans with the β3-AR agonist mirabegron, which stimulates beige adipose formation in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SC WAT), would induce other beneficial changes in fat and muscle and improve metabolic homeostasis. METHODS. Before and after β3-AR agonist treatment, oral glucose tolerance tests and euglycemic clamps were performed, and histochemical analysis and gene expression profiling were performed on fat and muscle biopsies. PET-CT scans quantified brown adipose tissue volume and activity, and we conducted in vitro studies with primary cultures of differentiated human adipocytes and muscle. RESULTS. The clinical effects of mirabegron treatment included improved oral glucose tolerance (P \u3c 0.01), reduced hemoglobin A1c levels (P = 0.01), and improved insulin sensitivity (P = 0.03) and β cell function (P = 0.01). In SC WAT, mirabegron treatment stimulated lipolysis, reduced fibrotic gene expression, and increased alternatively activated macrophages. Subjects with the most SC WAT beiging showed the greatest improvement in β cell function. In skeletal muscle, mirabegron reduced triglycerides, increased the expression of PPARγ coactivator 1 α (PGC1A) (P \u3c 0.05), and increased type I fibers (P \u3c 0.01). Conditioned media from adipocytes treated with mirabegron stimulated muscle fiber PGC1A expression in vitro (P \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSION. Mirabegron treatment substantially improved multiple measures of glucose homeostasis in obese, insulin-resistant humans. Since β cells and skeletal muscle do not express β3-ARs, these data suggest that the beiging of SC WAT by mirabegron reduces adipose tissue dysfunction, which enhances muscle oxidative capacity and improves β cell function. TRIAL REGISTRATION. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02919176. FUNDING. NIH: DK112282, P30GM127211, DK 71349, and Clinical and Translational science Awards (CTSA) grant UL1TR001998