Low-frequency rTMS combined with intensive occupational therapy for upper limb hemiparesis after brain tumour resection.

Objective: To assess the safety, feasibility and efficacy of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with occupational therapy (OT) in a hemiparetic patient who had undergone brain tumour resection.

Participant: A 39-year-old right-handed woman underwent brain tumour resection and presented 5 years later with right upper limb hemiparesis. At admission, she was considered to have reached a probable plateau state of motor functional recovery of the affected upper limb in spite of conventional occupational therapy.

Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and intensive occupational therapy for poststroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis: preliminary study of a 15-day protocol.

The purpose of the study was to determine the safety and feasibility of a 15-day protocol of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with intensive occupational therapy (OT) on motor function and spasticity in hemiparetic upper limbs in poststroke patients.Fifteen poststroke patients (age at study entry 55 ± 17years, time after stroke 57± 55 months) with upper limb hemiparesis categorized as Brunnstrom stages 3–5 forhand–fingers were recruited. They were considered to have reached a plateau state at study entry, based on the lack of any increase in Fugl–Meyer Assessment (FMA) Score inthe last 3 months.

Low-frequency rTMS with language therapy over a 3-month period for sensory-dominant aphasia: case series of two post-stroke Japanese patients.

Purpose: To examine the safety and feasibility of therapeutic application of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with language therapy for post-stroke patients with sensory-dominant aphasia.

Subjects And Methods: Two post-stroke Japanese patients with sensory-dominant aphasia were studied. In both patients, 10 sessions of 20-minute low-frequency rTMS with 1 Hz to the Wernicke's area were provided throughout 6-day hospitalization, followed by weekly outpatient rTMS treatment for 3 months.

Aluminum stress increases carbon-centered radicals in soybean roots.

The formation of radical species was examined in roots of soybean seedlings exposed to aluminum (Al). Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra of root homogenates with the spin-trapping reagent 5-diethoxyphosphoryl-5-methyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DEPMPO) indicated the presence of carbon-centered radicals in plants not exposed to Al. Plants exposed to 50 microM Al showed a similar spectrum, with increased signal intensity.

Escherichia coli ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase and oxygen-insensitive nitroreductase are capable of functioning as ferric reductase and of driving the Fenton reaction.

Two free flavin-independent enzymes were purified by detecting the NAD(P)H oxidation in the presence of Fe(III)-EDTA and t-butyl hydroperoxide from E. coli. The enzyme that requires NADH or NADPH as an electron donor was a 28 kDa protein, and N-terminal sequencing revealed it to be oxygen-insensitive nitroreductase (NfnB).

Six-day course of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation plus occupational therapy for post-stroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis: a case series study.

Purpose: To clarify the safety and feasibility of a 6-day protocol of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with intensive occupational therapy (OT) for upper limb hemiparesis.

Methods: In-hospital combination treatment was provided for 5 post-stroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis after more than 12 months of the onset of stroke. Over 6 consecutive days, each patient received 10 sessions of combination treatment with 1 Hz rTMS and intensive OT (one-on-one training and self-training).

Risk factors for second hip fractures among elderly patients.

Background: Hip fractures following falls by the elderly, which increase with age, are increasing in number annually. The incidence of refracture (second hip fractures) has been reported to be 5%-10% in Japan and is expected to increase with the aging of the population in the future. Therefore, through a retrospective cohort study, we attempted to clarify the risk factors associated with second hip fractures.

Cell culture and motility study on a polymer surface with a nanometer-scaled stripe structure.

We developed a large cell culture surface with a nanostripe structure by paving polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replicas of a glass mold. The stripe structure has a height of 180 nm and top width of 500 nm with 400-nm intervals between stripes. Human stomach cancer SH-10-TC cells cultured on the surface changed their morphology to elongated shapes parallel to the nanostripes.

[Neuroimaging and neurorehabilitation for aphasia].

With the development of neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), many reports revealing the underlying mechanisms of functional recovery from aphasia have been published. Three types of compensatory mechanisms seem to operate in aphasic patients with left hemisphere damage: (1) functional recovery of the damaged area in the left hemisphere, (2) activation of the perilesional area in the left hemisphere, and (3) activation of the right frontal area (area homologous to the language-relevant area). Although there are some pitfalls in the interpretation of neuroimaging, it is recommended that the areas that compensate for impaired language function should be clarified prior to the initiation of neurorehabilitation for aphasia.

Revised version of the ability for basic movement scale (ABMS II) as an early predictor of functioning related to activities of daily living in patients after stroke.

Background: The objective of this study was to test the predictive validity of a new scale, the Revised Version of the Ability for Basic Movement Scale (ABMS II).

Methods: A total of 71 patients after stroke participated in this prospective study. In addition to the ABMS II score, age, limb paresis as measured by the Brunnström stage, and functional ability as measured by the Barthel Index were also selected as predictor variables.

Functional MRI-based therapeutic rTMS strategy for aphasic stroke patients: a case series pilot study.

Four poststroke patients with motor-dominant aphasia received 10 treatment sessions of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Each treatment session consisted of 1,200 pulses of stimulation and the site of stimulation was an area homologous to the most activated site on functional MRI performed prior to rTMS. Consequently, rTMS was applied to the right frontal lobe in two patients and to the left frontal lobe in two patients.

Bronchoconstriction-triggered cough is impaired in typical asthmatics.

Background And Objective: Cough is an essential innate protective behavior, which is experienced by even healthy individuals. The mechanism of cough triggered by bronchoconstriction is not yet clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between bronchoconstriction and cough caused by methacholine (Mch) inhalation in typical asthmatics and normal healthy subjects.

Bronchodilator effect of deep inspiration and bronchoconstriction-triggered cough.

Background: Cough in the patients with cough variant asthma is triggered by bronchoconstriction, which responds to bronchodilator therapy. Following airway narrowing induced by inhaled methacholine, deep inspiration (DI) causes dilation of the airways in both asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between bronchodilator effect of DI and bronchoconstriction-triggered cough.

Changes in regional cerebral blood flow in the right cortex homologous to left language areas are directly affected by left hemispheric damage in aphasic stroke patients: evaluation by Tc-ECD SPECT and novel analytic software.

Background: The objective of this study was to clarify the influence of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes in language-relevant areas of the dominant hemisphere on rCBF in each region in the non-dominant hemisphere in post-stroke aphasic patients.

Methods: The study subjects were 27 aphasic patients who suffered their first symptomatic stroke in the left hemisphere. In each subject, we measured rCBF by means of 99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimmer single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Effects of macrolides on antigen-induced increases in cough reflex sensitivity in guinea pigs.

Background: Macrolides are antibiotics that have anti-inflammatory activities. Hence, they are used for both acute and chronic inflammatory airway diseases. However, the effects of these agents on allergic airway disorders presenting with an isolated chronic cough, such as non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis and eosinophilic tracheobronchitis with cough hypersensitivity (atopic cough), still remain to be elucidated.

Revision of analytical conditions for determining ligand molecules specific to soft metal ions using dequenching of copper(I)-bathocuproine disulfonate as a detection system.

Reoptimization of analytical conditions was performed for a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) detection system for Cu(I) chelators based on the dequenching of Cu(I)-bathocuproine disulfonate complexes that occurs in the presence of Cu(I) chelators. The revision corrects for emission and excitation wavelengths that were in fact second-order light of the actual optimal wavelengths and for the composition of the postcolumn solution. These revisions resulted in an order of magnitude decrease in detection limits of phytochelatins, a class of cysteine-rich, heavy metal-binding peptides.

Evaluation of airway hyperresponsiveness and exhaled nitric oxide as risk factors for airway remodeling in patients with stable asthma.

Chronic eosinophilic airway inflammation, airflow limitation, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) are distinctive features of bronchial asthma. Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) is a marker of eosinophilic airway inflammation. Airway remodeling due to chronic airway inflammation results in fixed airway obstruction.

Specific Interactions between the ferredoxin and terminal oxygenase components of a class IIB Rieske nonheme iron oxygenase, carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase.

Carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase (CARDO) consists of terminal oxygenase (Oxy), ferredoxin (Fd), and ferredoxin reductase (Red) components and is a member of the Rieske nonheme iron oxygenases. Rieske nonheme iron oxygenases are divided into five subclasses (IA, IB, IIA, IIB, and III) based on the number of constituents and the nature of their redox centers. Each component of a class IIB CARDO from Nocardioides aromaticivorans IC177 was purified, and the interchangeability of the electron transfer reactions with each component from the class III CARDOs was investigated.

Abnormal regional benzodiazepine receptor uptake in the prefrontal cortex in patients with mild traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The diagnosis and management of mild traumatic brain injury continues to be a subject of debate, with varying opinions regarding the extent to which organically based impairments vs the impact of other stressors cause ongoing disability. The aim of this study was to elucidate the possible abnormalities in benzodiazepine receptor uptake in the brains of patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Nine unmedicated patients with mild traumatic brain injury were investigated using 123I-iomazenil single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT).

Influence of borate complexation on the electrophoretic behavior of 2-AA derivatized saccharides in capillary electrophoresis.

A complete separation with baseline resolution of the 2-AA derivatized saccharides, including mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides, was achieved using 50 mM sodium phosphate-150 mM borate solution, pH 7.0 as running buffer by capillary electrophoresis. It was thought to be a result of the inclusion of 150 mM borate in the running electrolyte solution.

Development of a 1.6 microm differential absorption lidar with a quasi-phase-matching optical parametric oscillator and photon-counting detector for the vertical CO2 profile.

We have developed a 1.6 microm carbon dioxide (CO(2)) differential absorption lidar utilizing a quasi-phase-matching optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and a photon-counting detector. The operating wavelengths were chosen based on their low interference from water vapor and low temperature sensitivity.

[Intravenous administration of a tissue plasminogen activator beyond 3 hours of the onset of acute ischemic stroke--MRI-based decision making].

After large CT-based clinical trials have failed to prove the benefits of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administration for ischemic stroke patients beyond 3 hours of the onset of the concept of PWI/DWI mismatch which is the volume difference between a PWI lesion and DWI lesion on MRI scans, has been proposed to facilitate the selection of patients with a salvageable area. PWI/DWI mismatch is considered to represent the tissue that is not irreversibly injured and can respond to early reperfusion therapy. When an ischemic lesion is divided into 4 regions, namely, ischemic core, reversible DWI lesion, penumbra and benign oligemia, both the reversible DWI lesion and penumbra are considered to be an optimal targets for thrombolysis.

Capillary electrophoretic analysis of dimethylsulfoniopropionate in sugarcane and marine algal extracts.

A simple and high-resolution analytical method for the determination of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in sugarcane and marine algae is described. Effective extraction of DMSP from plant samples was also investigated using organic solvents, 5% perchloric acid or deionised water. To increase the sensitivity, DMSP in the extracts was first converted to a phenacyl ester, and the reaction mixture was applied directly to capillary electrophoresis without any pretreatment.

[Case of long-term metamorphopsia caused by multiple cerebral infarction].

This report presents the case of a 79-year-old right-handed woman. One day on waking, she realized that the faces of her family members appeared distorted. She consulted an ophthalmologist at a nearby clinic in the vicinity and was diagnosed with left homonymous hemianopsia.