Reliability of range of motion in straight leg raise and hip extension tests among healthy young adults using a smartphone application.

Introduction: Measuring range of motion (ROM) is an important skill for clinicians because it can help in the accurate interpretation of a patient's condition. Recently, ROM tests using smartphone applications have been performed in clinical settings, with the tests demonstrating high reliability and validity. This study aimed to identify the usefulness of ROM tests conducted using smartphone applications by examining the reliability of straight leg raise (SLR) and hip extension (HE) tests.

Developmental Changes in the Excitation-Contraction Mechanisms of the Ventricular Myocardium and Their Sympathetic Regulation in Small Experimental Animals.

The developmental changes in the excitation-contraction mechanisms of the ventricular myocardium of small animals (guinea pig, rat, mouse) and their sympathetic regulation will be summarized. The action potential duration monotonically decreases during pre- and postnatal development in the rat and mouse, while in the guinea pig it decreases during the fetal stage but turns into an increase just before birth. Such changes can be attributed to changes in the repolarizing potassium currents.

Histological and biochemical changes in lymphatic vessels after skeletal muscle injury induced by lengthening contraction in male mice.

Lymphatic vessels are actively involved in the recovery process of inflamed tissues. However, the changes in intramuscular lymphatic vessels during inflammation caused by skeletal muscle injury remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to clarify the changes in lymphatic vessels after skeletal muscle injury.

AI-based diagnosis of nuclear cataract from slit-lamp videos.

In ophthalmology, the availability of many fundus photographs and optical coherence tomography images has spurred consideration of using artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnosing retinal and optic nerve disorders. However, AI application for diagnosing anterior segment eye conditions remains unfeasible due to limited standardized images and analysis models. We addressed this limitation by augmenting the quantity of standardized optical images using a video-recordable slit-lamp device.

Artificial intelligence to estimate the tear film breakup time and diagnose dry eye disease.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the diagnosis of dry eye disease (DED) remains limited due to the lack of standardized image formats and analysis models. To overcome these issues, we used the Smart Eye Camera (SEC), a video-recordable slit-lamp device, and collected videos of the anterior segment of the eye. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the AI algorithm in estimating the tear film breakup time and apply this model for the diagnosis of DED according to the Asia Dry Eye Society (ADES) DED diagnostic criteria.

Morphological and biochemical changes of lymphatic vessels in the soleus muscle of mice after hindlimb unloading.

Introduction/aims: Lymphatic vessels are responsible for the removal of metabolic waste from body tissues. They also play a crucial role in skeletal muscle functioning thorough their high-energy metabolism. In this study we investigated whether disuse muscle atrophy induced by hindlimb unloading is associated with an alteration in the number of lymphatic vessels and differential expression of lymphangiogenic factors in the soleus muscle.

Cessation of electrically-induced muscle contraction activates autophagy in cultured myotubes.

Exercise is known to improve skeletal muscle function. The mechanism involves muscle contraction-induced activation of the mTOR pathway, which plays a central role in protein synthesis. However, mTOR activation blocks autophagy, a recycling mechanism with a critical role in cellular maintenance/homeostasis.

Different exercises can modulate the differentiation/maturation of neural stem/progenitor cells after photochemically induced focal cerebral infarction.

Introduction: Exercise therapies during rehabilitation significantly promote recovery from various deficits after cerebral infarction, which is mediated by neuronal plasticity with distinct inputs. Although adult neurogenesis can also be modulated by neuronal activity before synaptogenesis, how distinct exercises contribute to the neurological reorganization of the injured cerebral cortex remains unclear. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the effects of different exercise therapies on motor recovery and neuronal reorganization after photochemically induced focal cerebral infarction.

Resistance of Fetal Guinea Pig Ventricular Myocardium to Hypoxia: Maintained Intracellular ATP Prevents the Opening of ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channels.

The presence and function of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel current (I) were examined in the guinea pig myocardium to clarify the mechanisms for the resistance of the fetal myocardium to hypoxia. Experimental hypoxia markedly reduced the action potential duration and contractile force in isolated ventricular myocardium from the adult, but only moderately in those from the fetus. In isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, the density of the I activated by cromakalim, as well as their sensitivity to intracellular ATP concentration, were not different between the fetus and adult.

Post-injury stretch promotes recovery in a rat model of muscle damage induced by lengthening contractions.

We investigated the cellular mechanisms and therapeutic effect of post-injury stretch on the recovery process from muscle injury induced by lengthening contractions (LC). One day after LC, a single 15-min bout of muscle stretch was applied at an intensity of 3 mNm. The maximal isometric torque was measured before and at 2-21 days after LC.

Low disease activity for up to 3 years after adalimumab discontinuation in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: 2-year results of the HOPEFUL-3 Study.

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of long-term adalimumab (ADA) discontinuation after achievement of low disease activity (LDA) in Japanese patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to identify predictors of LDA maintenance.

Methods: In the HOPEFUL-1 study, patients received initial therapy with either ADA plus methotrexate (MTX; intensive therapy) or MTX alone (standard therapy) for 26 weeks, followed by ADA + MTX for 26 weeks. In the HOPEFUL-2 study, patients received ADA + MTX (ADA continuation) or MTX alone (ADA discontinuation) for 52 weeks.

Impact of Adalimumab on Work Productivity and Activity Impairment in Japanese Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Large-Scale, Prospective, Single-Cohort ANOUVEAU Study.

Introduction: The Adalimumab Non-interventional Trial for Up-verified Effects and Utility (ANOUVEAU) was a large-scale, multicenter, prospective, observational, single-cohort study that evaluated the effects of adalimumab (ADA) on rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related work productivity and activity impairment (RA-related WPAI) and disease activity in routine rheumatology care in Japan.

Methods: Patients with RA were categorized as paid workers (PWs, ≥35 h/week), part-time workers (PTWs, <35 h/week), or homemakers (HMs, unemployed) and were administered the WPAI for RA (WPAI/RA) questionnaire. All patients who received ADA were followed for 48 weeks to evaluate safety and effectiveness.

Training at non-damaging intensities facilitates recovery from muscle atrophy.

Introduction: Resistance training promotes recovery from muscle atrophy, but optimum training programs have not been established. We aimed to determine the optimum training intensity for muscle atrophy.

Methods: Mice recovering from atrophied muscles after 2 weeks of tail suspension underwent repeated isometric training with varying joint torques 50 times per day.

Stretch speed-dependent myofiber damage and functional deficits in rat skeletal muscle induced by lengthening contraction.

Exercise involving lengthening contraction (LC) often results in delayed myofiber damage and functional deficits over the ensuing days. The present study examined whether the stretch speed of LC is a determinant of damage severity. Under isoflurane anesthesia, LC was repeatedly induced in rat ankle extensor muscles at different stretch speeds (angular velocities of 50, 100, 200, and 400 deg/sec) over a fixed stretch range of motion (90°).

Stand-up exercise training facilitates muscle recovery from disuse atrophy by stimulating myogenic satellite cell proliferation in mice.

Determining the cellular and molecular recovery processes in inactivity - or unloading -induced atrophied muscles should improve rehabilitation strategies. We assessed the effects of stand-up exercise (SE) training on the recovery of atrophied skeletal muscles in male mice. Mice were trained to stand up and press an elevated lever in response to a light-tone cue preceding an electric foot shock and then subjected to tail suspension (TS) for 2 weeks to induce disuse atrophy in hind limb muscles.

Complete genome sequence of Bacillus cereus NC7401, which produces high levels of the emetic toxin cereulide.

We report the complete and annotated genome sequence of Bacillus cereus NC7401, a representative of the strain group that causes emetic-type food poisoning. The emetic toxin, cereulide, is produced by a nonribosomal protein synthesis (NRPS) system that is encoded by a gene cluster on a large resident plasmid, pNCcld.

Sensitivity of Hep G2 cells to Bacillus cereus emetic toxin.

We herein examined the sensitivity of Hep G2 human hepatoma cells to Bacillus cereus emetic toxin. Hep G2 cells were treated with the emetic toxin, and the cell shape was observed. The same experiments were performed for comparison purposes, using HEp-2 cells, which are currently used by most laboratories for a bioassay of the emetic toxin.

H₂receptor-mediated positive inotropic effect of histamine in neonatal guinea-pig left atria.

The receptor type mediating the positive inotropic effect of histamine was examined in left atria from neonatal guinea pigs. The positive inotropic effect of histamine, as well as its action potential prolonging effect, was antagonized by ranitidine, but not by chlorpheniramine or thiperamide. The positive inotropic effect was enhanced by isobutylmethylxantine.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors valproic acid and depsipeptide sensitize retinoblastoma cells to radiotherapy by increasing H2AX phosphorylation and p53 acetylation-phosphorylation.

Although p53 is intact in most cases of retinoblastoma, it is largely inactivated by the ubiqutin-proteasome system through interaction with murine double minute 2 (MDM2) and murine double minute X (MDMX). The present study showed that the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors valproic acid (VPA) and depsipeptide (FK228) synergistically enhanced ionizing radiation (IR)-induced apoptosis, associated with activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in Y79 and WER1-Rb1 human retinoblastoma cells. Both VPA and FK228 enhanced IR-induced phosphorylation of histone H2AX on Ser139 preceding apoptosis.

Overall survival and updated results from a phase II study of sunitinib in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: In a phase II, open-label, multicentre Japanese study, sunitinib demonstrated antitumour activity and acceptable tolerability in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. Final survival analyses and updated results are reported.

Methods: Fifty-one Japanese patients with a clear-cell component of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (25 treatment-naïve; 26 cytokine-refractory) received sunitinib 50 mg orally, once daily (Schedule 4/2).

Rapid detoxification of cereulide in Bacillus cereus food poisoning.

Bacillus cereus is recognized as a major pathogenic bacterium that causes food poisoning and produces gastrointestinal diseases of 2 types: emetic and diarrheal. The emetic type, which is often linked to pasta and rice, arises from a preformed toxin, cereulide, in food. Rapid and accurate diagnostic methods for this emetic toxin are important but are limited.

A phase II study of sunitinib in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: insights into the treatment, efficacy and safety.

Objective: This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of sunitinib in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: Fifty-one Japanese patients with prior nephrectomy, 25 treatment-naive patients (first-line group) and 26 cytokine-refractory patients (pretreated group) were enrolled in this phase II trial. Patients received sunitinib 50 mg orally, once daily, in repeated 6-week cycles (4 weeks on treatment, 2 weeks off).

Involvement of PI3K/Akt/TOR pathway in stretch-induced hypertrophy of myotubes.

Skeletal muscle cells are hypertrophied by mechanical stresses, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Two signaling pathways, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt to target of rapamycin (TOR) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK) to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), have been proposed to be involved in muscle hypertrophy. In this study we examined the involvement of these pathways in primary cultures of chick skeletal myotubes subjected to passive cyclic stretching for 72 hours, a time that was sufficient to induce significant hypertrophy in our preparations.