Smartphone Based Personalized Balance Training Platform

ME450 Capstone Design and Manufacturing Experience: Winter 2021Older adults are at high risk of falls, mainly due to the loss of balance control. It is important for them to regain balance control through balance training exercises for quality living. These exercises are conventionally done in a clinic-based setting under the supervision of a physical therapist (PT). However, this method comes with limitations such as cost, insurance reimbursement policies, and travel. Thus, there is a need for a portable balance training platform that can be used by older adults at home. Our team is developing a platform as such that can not only provide balance training to our users but can also measure kinematic data from multiple body parts and capture self-performance ratings after exercises are performed - these data are uploaded to a secure cloud account. The platform can also support a machine learning framework that generates a list of recommended exercises and simulated PT ratings for the users based on their performance during the balance training exercise sessions.Jamie Ferris, Safa Jabri, Christopher DiCesare, Xun Huan: Sienko Research Grouphttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167652/1/Team_8-Smartphone_Based_Personalized_Balance_Training_Platform.pd

Phenome-wide analysis of Taiwan Biobank reveals novel glycemia-related loci and genetic risks for diabetes

To explore the complex genetic architecture of common diseases and traits, we conducted comprehensive PheWAS of ten diseases and 34 quantitative traits in the community-based Taiwan Biobank (TWB). We identified 995 significantly associated loci with 135 novel loci specific to Taiwanese population. Further analyses highlighted the genetic pleiotropy of loci related to complex disease and associated quantitative traits. Extensive analysis on glycaemic phenotypes (T2D, fasting glucose and Hb

The Associations Between Preoperative Anthropometry and Postoperative Outcomes in Infants Undergoing Congenital Heart Surgery

Aim: We explored the association between preoperative anthropometry and biochemistry, and postoperative outcomes in infants with CHD after cardiac surgery, as infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) often have feeding difficulties and malnutrition. Methodology: This was a retrospective review of infants (≤ 1-year-old) who underwent congenital heart surgery. Preoperative anthropometryin terms of preoperative weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), length-for-age z-score (LAZ), as well as preoperative serum albumin and hemoglobin concentrations, were evaluated against 6-month mortality, and morbidity outcomes including postoperative complications, vasoactive inotrope score, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in the pediatric intensive care unit and in hospital, using the logistic regression or median regression models accounting for infant-level clustering. Results: One hundred and ninety-nine operations were performed in 167 infants. Mean gestational age at birth was 38.0 (SD 2.2) weeks (range 26 to 41 weeks). Thirty (18.0%) infants were born preterm (<37 weeks). The commonest acyanotic and cyanotic lesions were ventricular septal defect (26.3%, 44/167), and tetralogy of Fallot (13.8%, 23/167), respectively. Mean age at cardiac surgery was 94 (SD 95) days. Feeding difficulties, including increased work of breathing during feeding, diaphoresis, choking or coughing during feeding, and inability to complete feeds, was present in 54.3% (108/199) of infants prior to surgery, of which 21.6% (43/199) required tube feeding. The mean preoperative WAZ was−1.31 (SD 1.79). Logistic regression models showed that low preoperative WAZ was associated with increased risk of postoperative complications (odds ratio 1.82; p = 0.02), and 6-month mortality (odds ratio 2.38; p = 0.008) following CHD surgery. There was no meaningful association between the other preoperative variables and other outcomes. Conclusion: More than 50% of infants with CHD undergoing cardiac surgery within the first year of life have feeding difficulties, of which 22% require to be tube-fed. Low preoperative WAZ is associated with increased postoperative complications and 6-month mortality.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Well-aligned Nickel Nanochains Synthesized by a Template-free Route

Highly uniform and well-aligned one-dimensional Ni nanochains with controllable diameters, including 33, 78, and 120 nm, have been synthesized by applying an external magnetic field without any surface modifying agent. The formation can be explained by the interactions of magnetic dipoles in the presence of applied magnetic field. Magnetic measurements demonstrate that the shape anisotropy dominates the magnetic anisotropy. The demagnetization factor, ∆N, is in the range of 0.23–0.36

A drug targeting only p110α can block phosphoinositide 3-kinase signalling and tumour growth in certain cell types

Genetic alterations in PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) signalling are common in cancer and include deletions in PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10), amplifications of PIK3CA and mutations in two distinct regions of the PIK3CA gene. This suggests drugs targeting PI3K, and p110α in particular, might be useful in treating cancers. Broad-spectrum inhibition of PI3K is effective in preventing growth factor signalling and tumour growth, but suitable inhibitors of p110α have not been available to study the effects of inhibiting this isoform alone. In the present study we characterize a novel small molecule, A66, showing the S-enantiomer to be a highly specific and selective p110α inhibitor. Using molecular modelling and biochemical studies, we explain the basis of this selectivity. Using a panel of isoform-selective inhibitors, we show that insulin signalling to Akt/PKB (protein kinase B) is attenuated by the additive effects of inhibiting p110α/p110β/p110δ in all cell lines tested. However, inhibition of p110α alone was sufficient to block insulin signalling to Akt/PKB in certain cell lines. The responsive cell lines all harboured H1047R mutations in PIK3CA and have high levels of p110α and class-Ia PI3K activity. This may explain the increased sensitivity of these cells to p110α inhibitors. We assessed the activation of Akt/PKB and tumour growth in xenograft models and found that tumours derived from two of the responsive cell lines were also responsive to A66 in vivo. These results show that inhibition of p110α alone has the potential to block growth factor signalling and reduce growth in a subset of tumours

ENIGMA and global neuroscience: A decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries

This review summarizes the last decade of work by the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Consortium, a global alliance of over 1400 scientists across 43 countries, studying the human brain in health and disease. Building on large-scale genetic studies that discovered the first robustly replicated genetic loci associated with brain metrics, ENIGMA has diversified into over 50 working groups (WGs), pooling worldwide data and expertise to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and genetics. Most ENIGMA WGs focus on specific psychiatric and neurological conditions, other WGs study normal variation due to sex and gender differences, or development and aging; still other WGs develop methodological pipelines and tools to facilitate harmonized analyses of "big data" (i.e., genetic and epigenetic data, multimodal MRI, and electroencephalography data). These international efforts have yielded the largest neuroimaging studies to date in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. More recent ENIGMA WGs have formed to study anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts and behavior, sleep and insomnia, eating disorders, irritability, brain injury, antisocial personality and conduct disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Here, we summarize the first decade of ENIGMA's activities and ongoing projects, and describe the successes and challenges encountered along the way. We highlight the advantages of collaborative large-scale coordinated data analyses for testing reproducibility and robustness of findings, offering the opportunity to identify brain systems involved in clinical syndromes across diverse samples and associated genetic, environmental, demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors

A common variant near TGFBR3 is associated with primary open angle glaucoma

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), a major cause of blindness worldwide, is a complex disease with a significant genetic contribution. We performed Exome Array (Illumina) analysis on 3504 POAG cases and 9746 controls with replication of the most significant findings in 9173 POAG cases and 26 780 controls across 18 collections of Asian, African and European descent. Apart from confirming strong evidence of association at CDKN2B-AS1 (rs2157719 [G], odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, P = 2.81 × 10−33), we observed one SNP showing significant association to POAG (CDC7–TGFBR3 rs1192415, ORG-allele = 1.13, Pmeta = 1.60 × 10−8). This particular SNP has previously been shown to be strongly associated with optic disc area and vertical cup-to-disc ratio, which are regarded as glaucoma-related quantitative traits. Our study now extends this by directly implicating it in POAG disease pathogenesis

A new prognostic histopathologic classification of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background: The current World Health Organization (WHO) classification of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) conveys little prognostic information. This study aimed to propose an NPC histopathologic classification that can potentially be used to predict prognosis and treatment response. Methods: We initially developed a histopathologic classification based on the morphologic traits and cell differentiation of tumors of 2716 NPC patients who were identified at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) (training cohort). Then, the proposed classification was applied to 1702 patients (retrospective validation cohort) from hospitals outside SYSUCC and 1613 patients (prospective validation cohort) from SYSUCC. The efficacy of radiochemotherapy and radiotherapy modalities was compared between the proposed subtypes. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for overall survival (OS). Results: The 5-year OS rates for all NPC patients who were diagnosed with epithelial carcinoma (EC; 3708 patients), mixed sarcomatoid-epithelial carcinoma (MSEC; 1247 patients), sarcomatoid carcinoma (SC; 823 patients), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; 253 patients) were 79.4%, 70.5%, 59.6%, and 42.6%, respectively (P < 0.001). In multivariate models, patients with MSEC had a shorter OS than patients with EC (HR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.27–1.62), SC (HR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.76–2.28), or SCC (HR = 4.23, 95% CI = 3.34–5.38). Radiochemotherapy significantly improved survival compared with radiotherapy alone for patients with EC (HR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.56–0.80), MSEC (HR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.49–0.75), and possibly for those with SCC (HR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.40–0.98), but not for patients with SC (HR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.74–1.28). Conclusions: The proposed classification offers more information for the prediction of NPC prognosis compared with the WHO classification and might be a valuable tool to guide treatment decisions for subtypes that are associated with a poor prognosis