Notes

Compi: a composition with regard to portable as well as reproducible pipelines.
We could not identify preoperative factors that predicted improvement in PDSS or Scopa-Aut. There was a close relationship between improved autonomic symptoms and improved quality of life after 1 year. NMS and especially sleep and autonomic dysfunction deserve more focus to improve patient outcomes further.Social isolation and its deleterious effects on health increases with age in the general population. People with Parkinson's Disease (PWP) are no exception. Social isolation is a risk factor for worsened health outcomes and increased mortality. Symptoms such as depression and sleep dysfunction are adversely affected by loneliness. There is a paucity of research on social isolation in Parkinson's disease (PD), which is all the more critical now in the setting of social distancing due to COVID-19. The goal of this study was to survey individuals with PD to evaluate whether social isolation is associated with PD symptom severity and quality of life. Only individuals reporting a diagnosis of idiopathic PD were included in this analysis. The primary outcome measures were the Patient-Reported Outcomes in PD (PRO-PD) and questions from PROMIS Global related to social health. PRO-PD scores increased as social performance and social satisfaction scores diminished. Individuals who reported being lonely experienced a 55% greater symptom severity than those who were not lonely (P  less then  0.01). Individuals who documented having a lot of friends had 21% fewer symptoms than those with few or no friends (P  less then  0.01). Social isolation was associated with greater patient-reported PD severity and lower quality of life, although it is unclear whether this is the cause and/or a consequence of the disease. In essence, the Parkinson pandemic and the pandemic of social isolation have been further compounded by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The results emphasize the need to keep PWP socially connected and prevent loneliness in this time of social distancing. Proactive use of virtual modalities for support groups and social prescribing should be explored.To compare the differences between asleep and awake robot-assisted deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for Parkinson's Disease (PD), we conducted this retrospective cohort study included 153 PD patients undergoing bilateral robot-assisted DBS from June 2017 to August 2019, of which 58 cases were performed under general anesthesia (GA) and 95 cases under local anesthesia (LA). Procedure duration, stimulation parameters, electrode implantation accuracy, intracranial air, intraoperative electrophysiological signal length, complications, and Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) measurements were recorded and compared. The clinical evaluation was conducted by two raters who were blinded to the choice of anesthesia. Procedure duration was significantly shorter in the GA group, while on stimulation off medication motor scores (UPDRS-III) were significantly improved in both the GA and LA group. ANCOVA covariated for the baseline UPDRS-III and levodopa challenge exhibited no significant differences. In terms of amplitude, frequency, and pulse width, the stimulation parameters used for DBS power-on were similar. There were no significant differences in electrode implantation accuracy, intraoperative electrophysiological signal length, or intracerebral hemorrhage (no occurrences in either group). The pneumocephalus volume was significantly smaller in the GA group. Six patients exhibited transient throat discomfort associated with tracheal intubation in the GA group. The occurrence of surgical incision infection was similar in both groups. Compared with the awake group, the asleep group exhibited a shorter procedure duration with a similar electrode implantation accuracy and short-term motor improvement. Robot-assisted asleep DBS surgery is a promising surgical method for PD.Electric Extradural Motor Cortex Stimulation (EMCS) is a neurosurgical procedure suggested for treatment of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). We report two PD patients treated by EMCS, who experienced worsening of motor symptoms and cognition 5 years after surgery, when EMCS batteries became discharged. One month after EMCS restoration, they experienced a subjective improvement of motor symptoms and cognition. Neuropsychological assessments were carried out before replacement of batteries (off-EMCS condition) and 6 months afterward (on-EMCS condition). As compared to off-EMCS condition, in on-EMCS condition both patients showed an improvement on tasks of verbal episodic memory and backward spatial short-term/working memory task, and a decline on tasks of selective visual attention and forward spatial short-term memory. These findings suggest that in PD patients EMCS may induce slight beneficial effects on motor symptoms and cognitive processes involved in verbal episodic memory and in active manipulation of information stored in working memory.The pandemic of the SARS CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 sickness, constitutes a global challenge to well-being. Positive psychology constructs of grit and growth mindset may offer a solution to this challenge as both are associated with psychological resilience. A growth mindset describes the underlying beliefs people have about the malleability of intelligence, and grit refers to dedication to long-term goals. The present study explored whether such constructs could constitute protective factors against the academic stress associated with loneliness and perceived lack of control among international students (n = 170) during social isolation, induced by COVID-19 restrictions. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression model explained 36% of the variance in academic stress with a perceived lack of control (ß = .53, p  less then  .001) and growth mindset (ß = -.22, p  less then  .001) being significant direct predictors. see more Moderation analysis explained 17% of the variance and confirmed that a level of dispositional grit moderated the detrimental influence loneliness had on academic stress. Simple slopes analysis revealed a significant effect for moderate (β = .07, p = .01) and high (β = .16, p = .001) levels of grit. Our findings suggest that grit and growth mindset, as dynamic variables, could be taught to students as resilience-building prevention of academic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, our results have shown that parents (37%) and friends (32%) were most frequently identified by students as supporters during the COVID-19 pandemic with minimal reported support from universities (2.5%).
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