Polysomnographic Findings between Obese and Non-Obese Pediatrics with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity, which is associated with the health risk of OSA, is increasing. This study aimed to assess the polysomnographic findings of obese and non-obese children and adolescents with OSA. Methods: In this cohort retrospective study, all the obese and non-obese children and adolescents with OSA referring to Sleep Disorders Clinic, Qazvin Children Hospital, during 2014-2019 were included. The participants were 52 pediatrics within the age range of 1-16 years old and mean age of 6.47±3.59 years, 20 (38.5%) of whom were female and 32 (61.5%) were male. The number of samples was determined according to previous studies, and the patients’ case information was applied in this research. Obese children and adolescents were determined according to their BMI. PSG was performed for all the participants and its variables including sleep onset, sleep efficiency, sleep stages (N1, N2, N3, rapid eye movement (REM)), arousal index (AI), apnea hypopnea index (AHI), mean arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), and total sleep time were determined and compared between the two groups. Results: Mann-Whitney test showed a statistically significant difference in the percentage of REM sleep stage between the obese and non-obese groups (P=0.017). There was no statistically significant difference in the other polysomnographic variables between the two groups. In the obese group, linear regression showed significant correlation between body mass index (BMI) and AHI as well as mean arterial SaO2. Conclusion: the percentage of REM sleep stage in the obese group with OSA was lower than that in the non-obese group. There was a correlation (P≤0.05) between obesity and respiratory events in sleep. It is predicted that with increasing age, obese people are more likely to have severe sleep apnea. Key Words: Adolescents, Children, Obesity, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Polysomnography (PS

Copy number analysis from whole-exome sequencing data revealed a novel homozygous deletion in PARK7 leads to severe early-onset Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by both motor neuron and non-motor neuron symptoms, is the most frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Both genetic and environmental factors take part in disease etiology. Most cases are considered complex multifactorial diseases. About 15% of PD appear in the familial form, and about 5% of all cases arise from a single gene mutation. Among Mendelian causes of PD, PARK7 is one of the autosomal recessive forms due to loss-of-function mutations in both gene alleles. Both single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and copy number variations (CNVs) are observed in PARK7. This study presents an Iranian family with familial PD where some relatives had psychiatric disorders. A homozygous 1617 bp deletion in a female with early-onset PD was detected through copy-number analysis from whole-exome sequencing (WES) data in this consanguineous family. Further investigation by surveying microhomology revealed that the actual size of the deletion is 3,625 bp. This novel CNV that was in the PARK7gene is supposed to co-relation with early-onset PD and infertility in this family

The treatment experience of patients with low back pain during pregnancy and their chiropractors: a qualitative study

Abstract Background Chiropractors regularly treat pregnant patients for low back pain during their pregnancy. An increasing amount of literature on this topic supports this form of treatment; however the experience of the pregnant patient with low back pain and their chiropractor has not yet been explored. The objective of this study is to explore the experience of chiropractic treatment for pregnant women with low back pain, and their chiropractors. Methods This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews of pregnant patients in their second or third trimester, with low back pain during their pregnancy, and their treating chiropractors in separate interviews. Participants consisted of 11 patients and 12 chiropractors. The interviews consisted of 10 open-ended questions for patients, and eight open-ended questions for chiropractors, asking about their treatment experience or impressions of treating pregnant patients with LBP, respectively. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and reviewed independently by the investigators to develop codes, super-codes and themes. Thematic saturation was reached after the eleventh chiropractor and ninth patient interviews. All interviews were analyzed using the qualitative analysis software N-Vivo 9. Results Five themes emerged out of the chiropractor and patient interviews. The themes consisted of Treatment and Effectiveness; Chiropractor-Patient Communication; Pregnant Patient Presentation and the Chiropractic Approach to Pregnancy Care; Safety Considerations; and Self-Care. Conclusions Chiropractors approach pregnant patients with low back pain from a patient-centered standpoint, and the pregnant patients interviewed in this study who sought chiropractic care appeared to find this approach helpful for managing their back pain symptoms.</p

Apparent motion during saccadic suppression periods

Sensitivity to many visual stimuli, and, in particular, image displacement, is reduced during a change in fixation (saccade) compared to when the eye is still. In these experiments, we studied the sensitivity of observers to ecologically relevant image translations of large, complex, real world scenes either during horizontal saccades or during fixation. In the first experiment, we found that such displacements were much less detectable during saccades than during fixation. Qualitatively, even when trans-saccadic scene changes were detectible, they were less salient and appeared slower than equivalent changes in the absence of a saccade. Two further experiments followed up on this observation and estimated the perceived magnitude of trans-saccadic apparent motion using a two-interval forcedchoice procedure (Experiment 2) and a magnitude estimation procedure (Experiment 3). Both experiments suggest that trans-saccadic displacements were perceived as smaller than equivalent inter-saccadic displacements. We conclude that during saccades, the magnitude of the apparent motion signal is attenuated as well as its detectability

Copy number analysis from whole-exome sequencing data revealed a novel homozygous deletion in PARK7 leads to severe early-onset Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by both motor neuron and non-motor neuron symptoms, is the most frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Both genetic and environmental factors take part in disease etiology. Most cases are considered complex multifactorial diseases. About 15% of PD appear in the familial form, and about 5% of all cases arise from a single gene mutation. Among Mendelian causes of PD, PARK7 is one of the autosomal recessive forms due to loss-of-function mutations in both gene alleles. Both single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and copy number variations (CNVs) are observed in PARK7. This study presents an Iranian family with familial PD where some relatives had psychiatric disorders. A homozygous 1617 bp deletion in a female with early-onset PD was detected through copy-number analysis from whole-exome sequencing (WES) data in this consanguineous family. Further investigation by surveying microhomology revealed that the actual size of the deletion is 3,625 bp. This novel CNV that was in the PARK7gene is supposed to co-relation with early-onset PD and infertility in this family