Hugus 哈格斯

Hugus is a pair of fluffy dolls designed for two parties who need to spend extended time periods separated by distance. Each of the parties owns one of the dolls. To connect the Hugus, all the parties have to do is to link up their smartphones with the Hugus App via Bluetooth, and set up a reunion date with a pairing code... 哈格斯是一對兩隻的毛毛玩偶，專為長期分隔異地的人而設計。二人雙方各擁一隻哈格斯玩偶，以智能手機透過藍芽接入哈格斯應用程式，再以配對碼設定相聚的日期，就能連結彼此的哈格斯... Award: Merit奬項: 優異

Non-adjacent dependency learning in Cantonese-speaking children with and without a history of specific language impairment

Purpose: This study investigated non-adjacent dependency learning in Cantonese-speaking children with and without a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in an artificial linguistic context. Method: Sixteen Cantonese-speaking children with SLI history and 16 Cantonese-speaking children with typical language development (TLD) were tested with a non-adjacent dependency learning task using artificial languages that mimic Cantonese. Results: Children with TLD performed above chance and were able to discriminate between trained and untrained non-adjacent dependencies. However, children with SLI history performed at chance and were not able to differentiate trained versus untrained non-adjacent dependencies. Conclusions: These findings, together with previous findings with English-speaking adults and adolescents with language impairments, suggested that individuals with atypical language development, regardless of age, diagnostic status, language and culture, showed difficulties in learning non-adjacent dependencies. This study provides evidence for early impairments to statistical learning in individuals with atypical language development

ITGAM is associated with disease susceptibility and renal nephritis of systemic lupus erythematosus in Hong Kong Chinese and Thai

ITGAM was recently found to be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in populations of not only European ancestry, but also in Hispanic- and African-Americans, Mexicans and Colombians. The risk alleles in the gene, however, were found to be monomorphic in two Asian populations examined: Japanese and Korean. In this study, using a collection of 910 SLE patients and 2360 controls from Chinese living in Hong Kong, analyzed by both genome-wide association and direct sequencing, we confirmed the association of the same risk alleles in ITGAM with the disease. These findings were further replicated in the Thai population with 278 patients and 383 ethnicity- and geography-matched controls. Subphenotype stratification analyses showed significantly more involvement of the gene in patients with renal nephritis and neurological disorders. Although our results support a pivotal role by rs1143679 (R77H) in disease association, our data also suggests an additional contribution from rs1143683, another non-synonymous polymorphism in this gene (A858V). Therefore, despite the low-allele frequencies of the risk alleles of the gene in our two Asian populations, ITGAM was confirmed to be a risk factor related to disease susceptibility and probably severe manifestations of SLE

Deleted in Liver Cancer 2 (DLC2) Was Dispensable for Development and Its Deficiency Did Not Aggravate Hepatocarcinogenesis

DLC2 (deleted in liver cancer 2), a Rho GTPase-activating protein, was previously shown to be underexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma and has tumor suppressor functions in cell culture models. We generated DLC2-deficient mice to investigate the tumor suppressor role of DLC2 in hepatocarcinogenesis and the function of DLC2 in vivo. In this study, we found that, unlike homologous DLC1, which is essential for embryonic development, DLC2 was dispensable for embryonic development and DLC2-deficient mice could survive to adulthood. We also did not observe a higher incidence of liver tumor formation or diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in DLC2-deficient mice. However, we observed that DLC2-deficient mice were smaller and had less adipose tissue than the wild type mice. These phenotypes were not due to reduction of cell size or defect in adipogenesis, as observed in the 190B RhoGAP-deficient mouse model. Together, these results suggest that deficiency in DLC2 alone does not enhance hepatocarcinogenesis

The effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation intervention for the caregivers of young adults with first-episode psychosis: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: In this study, we investigated the effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation (MBFPE) program on the mental-health outcomes of both caregivers and young adults with first-episode psychosis with an onset in the past three years through a multi-site randomized controlled trial. We also studied the outcomes of three potential mediating effects of interpersonal mindfulness, expressed emotions, and non-attachment on the program. Method: We randomly assigned 65 caregivers of young adults with psychosis to MBFPE (n = 33) or an ordinary family psychoeducation (FPE) program (n = 32); among them, 18 young adults in recovery also participated in the evaluation of outcomes. Results: Intent-to-treat analyses were conducted. No significant time × group interaction effects of MBFPE and FPE programs were found in any of the caregivers’ outcomes. However, the young adults with psychosis reported higher levels of recovery after the MBFPE program than after the ordinary FPE program (F = 8.268, p = 0.012, d = 1.484). They also reported a larger reduction in over-involvement of their caregivers (F = 4.846, p = 0.044, d = 1.136), showing that MBFPE had a superior effect to FPE in promoting recovery and reducing over-involvement. Conclusions: A brief psychoeducation program may not reduce the burden on or improve the mental-health outcome of caregivers of individuals with recent-onset psychosis. However, integrating mindfulness into a conventional family psychoeducation program may reduce the expressed emotions of caregivers, especially over-involvement. Further studies should explore how psychoeducation programs can reduce the impact of psychosis on family through sustainable effects in terms of reducing their burden and expressed emotions, using a rigorous study and adequate sample size

Upregulation of the Wnt Co-Receptor LRP6 Promotes Hepatocarcinogenesis and Enhances Cell Invasion

Background: Activation of the Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein-6 (LRP6) is one of the co-receptors of the Wnt/b-catenin pathway and forms a signaling complex with Wnt ligand and Frizzled receptor to activate downstream signaling. However, the role of LRP6 in hepatocarcinogenesis is unclear. In this study, we examined its expression and roles in human HCC. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using real-time quantitative RT-PCR, we found that LRP6 was frequently (45%) overexpressed in human HCCs (P = 0.003). In vitro studies showed that ectopic expression of LRP6 increased the protein level of b-catenin. Moreover, overexpression of the full-length and constitutively active LRP6, respectively, activated the WNT/b-catenin signaling pathway, as shown by the TCF/b-catenin reporter assay. With regard to the effects of LRP6 overexpression in HCC cells, stable overexpression of the constitutively active LRP6 in BEL-7402 HCC cells enhanced cell proliferation, cell migration, and invasion in vitro as well as tumorigenicity in nude mice. Conclusions/Significance: Our findings indicate that overexpression of LRP6 contributes to the hyperactivation of the Wnt

Meta-analysis Followed by Replication Identifies Loci in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Asians

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease with a strong genetic involvement and ethnic differences. Susceptibility genes identified so far only explain a small portion of the genetic heritability of SLE, suggesting that many more loci are yet to be uncovered for this disease. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on SLE in Chinese Han populations and followed up the findings by replication in four additional Asian cohorts with a total of 5,365 cases and 10,054 corresponding controls. We identified genetic variants in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as associated with the disease. These findings point to potential roles of cell-cycle regulation, autophagy, and DNA demethylation in SLE pathogenesis. For the region involving TET3 and that involving CDKN1B, multiple independent SNPs were identified, highlighting a phenomenon that might partially explain the missing heritability of complex diseases

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation Intervention for Chinese Young Adults With First Episode Psychosis: A Study Protocol

Family psychoeducation (FPE) has been recommended as a major component in the treatment of psychosis. Many previous studies have implemented an intensive program design that often only emphasized improvements in patients’ illness outcomes but the benefits for caregivers were limited. There have been calls for a time-limited but cost-effective FPE program to mitigate the looming reality of the suffering of people with psychosis and their families. A Brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation for psychosis program is developed to reduce caregivers’ burden and promote young adult’s recovery. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to compare this intervention with an ordinary FPE intervention. Both arms will involve six sessions, with a total contact time of 12 h. 300 caregivers of young adults who have experienced first episode psychosis within last 3 years will be recruited. Program effectiveness will be assessed by comparing outcomes measuring the caregivers’ burden, mental health symptoms, positive well-being, and the young adult’s mental health symptoms during the study and at 9-month post-randomization. The role of expressed emotions, interpersonal mindfulness, and non-attachment in mediating these outcomes will be explored. An additional qualitative approach Photovoice is selected to explore the complex family experiences and the benefits of mindfulness from the caregivers’ personal perspectives.Trial Registration: The trial is registered with the United States Clinical Trials Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov): NCT03688009

Genome-Wide Association Study in Asian Populations Identifies Variants in ETS1 and WDFY4 Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a complex and potentially fatal autoimmune disease, characterized by autoantibody production and multi-organ damage. By a genome-wide association study (320 patients and 1,500 controls) and subsequent replication altogether involving a total of 3,300 Asian SLE patients from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Thailand, as well as 4,200 ethnically and geographically matched controls, genetic variants in ETS1 and WDFY4 were found to be associated with SLE (ETS1: rs1128334, P = 2.33×10−11, OR = 1.29; WDFY4: rs7097397, P = 8.15×10−12, OR = 1.30). ETS1 encodes for a transcription factor known to be involved in a wide range of immune functions, including Th17 cell development and terminal differentiation of B lymphocytes. SNP rs1128334 is located in the 3′-UTR of ETS1, and allelic expression analysis from peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed significantly lower expression level from the risk allele. WDFY4 is a conserved protein with unknown function, but is predominantly expressed in primary and secondary immune tissues, and rs7097397 in WDFY4 changes an arginine residue to glutamine (R1816Q) in this protein. Our study also confirmed association of the HLA locus, STAT4, TNFSF4, BLK, BANK1, IRF5, and TNFAIP3 with SLE in Asians. These new genetic findings may help us to gain a better understanding of the disease and the functions of the genes involved

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700