Efficient emotion recognition using hyperdimensional computing with combinatorial channel encoding and cellular automata

In this paper, a hardware-optimized approach to emotion recognition based on the efficient brain-inspired hyperdimensional computing (HDC) paradigm is proposed. Emotion recognition provides valuable information for human-computer interactions, however the large number of input channels (>200) and modalities (>3) involved in emotion recognition are significantly expensive from a memory perspective. To address this, methods for memory reduction and optimization are proposed, including a novel approach that takes advantage of the combinatorial nature of the encoding process, and an elementary cellular automaton. HDC with early sensor fusion is implemented alongside the proposed techniques achieving two-class multi-modal classification accuracies of >76% for valence and >73% for arousal on the multi-modal AMIGOS and DEAP datasets, almost always better than state of the art. The required vector storage is seamlessly reduced by 98% and the frequency of vector requests by at least 1/5. The results demonstrate the potential of efficient hyperdimensional computing for low-power, multi-channeled emotion recognition tasks

CD30 Expression Reveals that Culture Adaptation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Can Occur Through Differing Routes

Human embryonic stem cells undergo adaptive changes that can increase their growth capacity upon prolonged culture in vitro. This is frequently associated with nonrandom karyotypic changes, commonly involving amplification of genetic material from chromosomes 12, 17, and X. A recent study suggested that the karyotypically abnormal cells can be identified by their expression of CD30, which confers resistance to apoptosis. We have now investigated CD30 expression and apoptosis in karyotypically normal and abnormal sublines of the human ES cell line, H7, but our results were contrary to those previously observed. In this cell line, CD30 expression did not segregate the normal and abnormal cells, and abnormal cells were not protected from apoptosis. These data suggest that culture adaptation can occur through a variety of mechanisms

Immediate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient health, health-care use, and behaviours : results from an international survey of people with rheumatic diseases

Funding Information: We would like to thank all the clinicians, health-care providers, and patient organisations who helped to develop and disseminate this survey. A full list of all the contributors can be found in the appendix (pp 44?45). Preliminary results were presented at the American College of Rheumatology 2020 conference. The views expressed here are those of the authors and participating members of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and do not necessarily represent the views of the American College of Rheumatology, the European League Against Rheumatism, the UK National Health Service, the National Institute for Health Research, the UK Department of Health, or any other organisation. Funding Information: JSH reports grants from Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance and Rheumatology Research Alliance; and personal fees from Novartis, Pfizer, and Biogen, outside of the submitted work. JWL reports grants from Pfizer, outside of the submitted work. JAS reports grants and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb; and personal fees from Gilead, Inova Diagnostics, Optum, and Pfizer, outside of the submitted work. CH reports personal fees from AstraZeneca and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, outside of the submitted work. MJL reports grants from American College of Rheumatology during the conduct of the study and consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Actelion, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Celgene, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Sobi, and UCB, outside of the submitted work. SES is supported by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and Vasculitis Foundation outside of the submitted work. KLD reports grants from Novartis, Sobi, National Institutes of Health, and Horizon Bio, outside of the submitted work. EFM reports that the Liga Portuguesa Contra as Doenças Reumaticas received support for specific activities: grants from Abbvie, Novartis, Janssen-Cilag, Lilly Portugal, Sanofi, Grünenthal SA, MSD, Celgene, Medac, Pharmakern, GAfPA, AMGEN, A Menarini Portugal; grants and non-financial support from Pfizer; and non-financial support from Grünenthal GmbH and Tilray, outside of the submitted work. DPR is the volunteer Vice President of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, which is primarily supported by independent grants from pharmaceutical companies. DPR reports consulting fees from NovoNordisk Canada and speaking fees and an honoraria from Eli Lilly Canada, outside of the submitted work. DPR also lives with rheumatoid arthritis. SB reports personal fees from Novartis, AbbVie, Pfizer, and Horizon Pharma, outside of the submitted work. RG reports personal fees from AbbVie New Zealand, Cornerstones, Janssen New Zealand; and personal fees and non-financial support from Pfizer New Zealand, (all <$10 000) outside of the submitted work. PMM reports personal fees from Abbvie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB; and grants and personal fees from Orphazyme, outside of the submitted work. PCR reports personal fees from Abbvie, Gilead, Lilly, and Roche; grants and personal fees from Novartis, UCB Pharma, Janssen, and Pfizer; and non-financial support from BMS, outside of the submitted work. PS reports honoraria from being a social media editor for @ACR_Journals, outside of the submitted work. ZSW reports grants from National Institutes of Health, BMS, and Sanofi; and personal fees from Viela Bio and MedPace, outside of the submitted work. JY reports personal fees from Pfizer and Eli Lilly, and grants and personal fees from Astra Zeneca, outside of the submitted work. ES is a Board Member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, which is a patient-run, volunteer-based organisation whose activities are primarily supported by independent grants from pharmaceutical companies. All other authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier LtdBackground: The impact and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with rheumatic disease are unclear. We developed the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Patient Experience Survey to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with rheumatic disease worldwide. Methods: Survey questions were developed by key stakeholder groups and disseminated worldwide through social media, websites, and patient support organisations. Questions included demographics, rheumatic disease diagnosis, COVID-19 diagnosis, adoption of protective behaviours to mitigate COVID-19 exposure, medication access and changes, health-care access and communication with rheumatologists, and changes in employment or schooling. Adults age 18 years and older with inflammatory or autoimmune rheumatic diseases were eligible for inclusion. We included participants with and without a COVID-19 diagnosis. We excluded participants reporting only non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases such as fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis. Findings: 12 117 responses to the survey were received between April 3 and May 8, 2020, and of these, 10 407 respondents had included appropriate age data. We included complete responses from 9300 adults with rheumatic disease (mean age 46·1 years; 8375 [90·1%] women, 893 [9·6%] men, and 32 [0·3%] participants who identified as non-binary). 6273 (67·5%) of respondents identified as White, 1565 (16·8%) as Latin American, 198 (2·1%) as Black, 190 (2·0%) as Asian, and 42 (0·5%) as Native American or Aboriginal or First Nation. The most common rheumatic disease diagnoses included rheumatoid arthritis (3636 [39·1%] of 9300), systemic lupus erythematosus (2882 [31·0%]), and Sjögren's syndrome (1290 [13·9%]). Most respondents (6921 [82·0%] of 8441) continued their antirheumatic medications as prescribed. Almost all (9266 [99·7%] of 9297) respondents adopted protective behaviours to limit SARS-CoV-2 exposure. A change in employment status occurred in 2524 (27·1%) of 9300) of respondents, with a 13·6% decrease in the number in full-time employment (from 4066 to 3514). Interpretation: People with rheumatic disease maintained therapy and followed public health advice to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. Substantial employment status changes occurred, with potential implications for health-care access, medication affordability, mental health, and rheumatic disease activity. Funding: American College of Rheumatology.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Early experience of COVID-19 vaccination in adults with systemic rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey.

Background: We describe the early experiences of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: From 2 April to 30 April 2021, we conducted an online, international survey of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination. We collected patient-reported data on clinician communication, beliefs and intent about discontinuing disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around the time of vaccination, and patient-reported adverse events after vaccination. Results: We analysed 2860 adults with systemic rheumatic diseases who received COVID-19 vaccination (mean age 55.3 years, 86.7% female, 86.3% white). Types of COVID-19 vaccines were Pfizer-BioNTech (53.2%), Oxford/AstraZeneca (22.6%), Moderna (21.3%), Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (1.7%) and others (1.2%). The most common rheumatic disease was rheumatoid arthritis (42.3%), and 81.2% of respondents were on a DMARD. The majority (81.9%) reported communicating with clinicians about vaccination. Most (66.9%) were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy, although many (44.3%) were concerned about rheumatic disease flares. After vaccination, the most reported patient-reported adverse events were fatigue/somnolence (33.4%), headache (27.7%), muscle/joint pains (22.8%) and fever/chills (19.9%). Rheumatic disease flares that required medication changes occurred in 4.6%. Conclusion: Among adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination, patient-reported adverse events were typical of those reported in the general population. Most patients were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy. The relatively low frequency of rheumatic disease flare requiring medications was reassuring

Association of Race and Ethnicity With COVID‐19 Outcomes in Rheumatic Disease: Data From the COVID‐19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Physician Registry

OBJECTIVE: Racial/ethnic minorities experience more severe outcomes of COVID-19 in the general United States (US) population. The aim of this study was to examine the association between race/ethnicity and COVID-19 hospitalization, ventilation status, and mortality in people with rheumatic disease. METHODS: US patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 entered into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician registry March 24 - August 26, 2020 were included. Race/ethnicity was defined as white, Black, Latinx, Asian and other/mixed race. Outcomes included hospitalization, requirement for ventilatory support, and death. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals controlling for age, sex, smoking, rheumatic disease diagnosis, comorbidities, medications taken prior to infection, and rheumatic disease activity. RESULTS: A total of 1,324 patients were included, of whom 36% were hospitalized and 6% died; 26% of hospitalized patients required mechanical ventilation. In multivariable models, Black (OR=2.74, 95% CI 1.90, 3.95), Latinx (OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.18, 2.49), and Asian (OR=2.69, 95% CI 1.16, 6.24) patients had higher odds of being hospitalized compared to white patients. Latinx patients also had three-fold increased odds of requiring ventilatory support (OR=3.25, 95% CI 1.75, 6.05). No differences in mortality based on race/ethnicity were found, though power may have been limited to detect associations. CONCLUSION: Similar to findings in the general US population, racial/ethnic minorities with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 had increased odds of hospitalization and ventilatory support. These results illustrate significant health disparities related to COVID-19 in people with rheumatic diseases. The rheumatology community should proactively address the needs of patients currently experiencing inequitable health outcomes during the pandemic

Inflammatory profiles across the spectrum of disease reveal a distinct role for GM-CSF in severe COVID-19

While it is now widely accepted that host inflammatory responses contribute to lung injury, the pathways that drive severity and distinguish coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from other viral lung diseases remain poorly characterized. We analyzed plasma samples from 471 hospitalized patients recruited through the prospective multicenter ISARIC4C study and 39 outpatients with mild disease, enabling extensive characterization of responses across a full spectrum of COVID-19 severity. Progressive elevation of levels of numerous inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (including IL-6, CXCL10, and GM-CSF) were associated with severity and accompanied by elevated markers of endothelial injury and thrombosis. Principal component and network analyses demonstrated central roles for IL-6 and GM-CSF in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Comparing these profiles to archived samples from patients with fatal influenza, IL-6 was equally elevated in both conditions whereas GM-CSF was prominent only in COVID-19. These findings further identify the key inflammatory, thrombotic, and vascular factors that characterize and distinguish severe and fatal COVID-19