Toe Clearance Rehabilitative Slippers for Older Adults With Fall Risk: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: To evaluate fall-prevention rehabilitative slippers for use by self-caring, independent older adults.

Materials And Methods: This assessor-blinded, randomized, and controlled 1-year study included 59 self-caring, independent participants (49 women) who attended day services. The mean age of participants was 84.

Contraceptive effect of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine on a captive female African Lion (Panthera leo): a case study.

Lions (Panthera leo) breed well under captivity, so contraception has been commonly conducted for population management, leading to a demand for a less invasive and reversible contraceptive approach in lions. In this study, we examined the efficacy of a commercial gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine as a method of suppressing reproductive activity in a sexually matured female lion. Under behavioral restraint, the vaccine was injected twice (days 0 and 109).

The Association of In-Hospital Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Availability on Outcomes of Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Elderly Patients.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been performed more and more frequently in elderly patients with aortic stenosis. We investigated the association of in-hospital availability of TAVR on outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in the era of TAVR.

Methods and results: We utilized data from the Japan Adult Cardiovascular Surgery Database.

Sedation With a Combination of Dexmedetomidine and Midazolam for Pediatric Dental Surgery.

Intravenous sedation (IVS) is commonly used to complete dental treatment for uncooperative pediatric patients. Propofol (PRO) is widely used for IVS because of its short context sensitive half-time and amnestic effect. However, administering PRO to patients who have a history of egg anaphylaxis is still somewhat controversial.

Effects of the HIF1 inhibitor, echinomycin, on growth and NOTCH signalling in leukaemia cells.

Aim: To examine the effects of echinomycin, a compound that inhibits DNA-binding activity of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF1), on leukaemia cell growth.

Materials And Methods: Three acute myeloid leukaemia cell lines and three T-lymphoblastic leukaemia cell lines were cultured with echinomycin. Cell growth, mRNA and protein expression levels were examined by WST-1 assay, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting, respectively.

Comparative effects of PP242 and rapamycin on mTOR signalling and NOTCH signalling in leukemia cells.

Aim: PP242 is a compound which inhibits both mammalian target of rapamycin complex-1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2. We examined the effects of PP242 and rapamycin on mTOR signalling and evaluated potential crosstalk with the NOTCH signalling in eight leukemia cell lines.

Materials And Methods: We examined the effects of treatment with these inhibitors on cell growth and protein expression.

Advantages of the quenching probe method over other PCR-based methods for detection of the JAK2 V617F mutation.

The detection of a V617F mutation (G to T exchange at nucleotide 1,849) in the JAK2 gene is crucial for the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) such as polycythemia vera. Although sequence analysis is the standard method for detection, it is not suitable for clinical examinations due to the requirement of expensive equipment. In this study, we evaluated the efficiencies of four PCR-based methods to detect JAK2 V617F: allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), high-resolution melting analysis (HRM) and the quenching probe method (QP).

Effect of BMP4 on the growth and clonogenicity of human leukemia and lymphoma cells.

Background: Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) signaling is involved in the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells. However, the effects of BMP4 on leukemia and lymphoma cells are unknown.

Materials And Methods: The effects of recombinant BMP4 on the in vitro growth of 12 leukemia and lymphoma cell lines were examined.