Modifiable Lifestyle Factors and Cognitive Function in Older People: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

The development of evidence-based interventions for delaying or preventing cognitive impairment is an important challenge. Most previous studies using self-report questionnaires face problems with reliability and consistency due to recall bias or misclassification among older people. Therefore, objective measurement of lifestyle components is needed to confirm the relationships between lifestyle factors and cognitive function.

DNA methylome of human neonatal umbilical cord: Enrichment of differentially methylated regions compared to umbilical cord blood DNA at transcription factor genes involved in body patterning and effects of maternal folate deficiency or children's sex.

The DOHaD (developmental origins of health and disease) hypothesis claims that fetal malnutrition or exposure to environmental pollutants may affect their lifelong health. Epigenetic changes may play significant roles in DOHaD; however, access to human fetuses for research has ethical and technical hurdles. Umbilical cord blood (CB) has been commonly used as an epigenetic surrogate of fetuses, but it does not provide direct evidence of fetal exposure to pollutants.

The relationship of maternal PCB, toxic, and essential trace element exposure levels with birth weight and head circumference in Chiba, Japan.

Maternal exposure to high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and trace elements is an important concern for fetal growth. In our previous study, we showed the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels in maternal serum from the Chiba Study of Mother and Child Health (C-MACH) cohort and their relationships between PCB levels in cord serum with birth weight of newborn. Various reports on the relationship between chemical exposure and birth status have been published; however, studies that analyze the effects of both PCB and metal exposure together in one cohort are still limited.

An epitope-directed antibody affinity maturation system utilizing mammalian cell survival as readout.

Upon developing therapeutically potent antibodies, there are significant requirements, such as increasing their affinity, regulating their epitope, and using native target antigens. Many antibody selection systems, such as a phage display method, have been developed, but it is still difficult to fulfill these requirements at the same time. Here, we propose a novel epitope-directed antibody affinity maturation system utilizing mammalian cell survival as readout.

Circulating Extracellular Vesicles and Their miR "Barcode" Differentiate Alcohol Drinkers With Liver Injury and Those Without Liver Injury in Severe Trauma Patients.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), released during tissue/cell injury, contain a "barcode" indicating specific microRNAs (miRs) that can uncover their origin. We examined whether systemic EVs possessing hepatic miR-signatures would indicate ongoing liver injury and clinical complications in trauma patients (TP). We grouped the patients of alcoholic drinkers into "alcohol-drinkers with liver injury (LI)" (EtOH with LI) or "alcohol-drinkers without LI" (EtOH w/o LI) and we compared these groups to "non-drinkers" (no EtOH).

Association between blood manganese level during pregnancy and birth size: The Japan environment and children's study (JECS).

Background: Manganese (Mn) is both an essential element and a potential toxicant. Although a few studies have suggested a nonlinear relationship between the maternal whole blood Mn level at delivery and infant birth weight, little is known about the effects of Mn levels during pregnancy on fetal growth, particularly with regard to sex-specific differences.

Methods: In this nationwide birth cohort study, we examined the association of maternal blood Mn level during pregnancy with infant birth weight, length, and head circumference in 16,473 mother-infant pairs.

Protecting the environment from psychoactive drugs: Problems for regulators illustrated by the possible effects of tramadol on fish behaviour.

There is concern that psychoactive drugs present in the aquatic environment could affect the behaviour of fish, and other organisms, adversely. There is considerable experimental support for this concern, although the literature is not consistent. To investigate why, fish were exposed to three concentrations of the synthetic opiate tramadol for 23-24 days, and their anxiolytic behaviour in a novel tank diving test was assessed both before and after exposure.

Extracellular vesicles in non-alcoholic and alcoholic fatty liver diseases.

Fatty liver diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are the most common causes of chronic liver disease around the world. NAFLD and ALD can progress towards a more severe form of the disease, including as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH). In both instances central pathogenic events include hepatocyte death, liver inflammation, pathological angiogenesis, and fibrosis, followed by cirrhosis and cancer.

Differential Activation of Hepatic Invariant NKT Cell Subsets Plays a Key Role in Progression of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

Innate immune mechanisms play an important role in inflammatory chronic liver diseases. In this study, we investigated the role of type I or invariant NKT (iNKT) cell subsets in the progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We used α-galactosylceramide/CD1d tetramers and clonotypic mAb together with intracytoplasmic cytokine staining to analyze iNKT cells in choline-deficient l-amino acid-defined (CDAA)-induced murine NASH model and in human PBMCs, respectively.

Differential impacts of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist potassium canrenoate on liver and renal changes in high fat diet-mediated early hepatocarcinogenesis model rats.

Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR)/NADPH oxidase (NOX) signaling is involved in the development of obesity, insulin resistance, and renal diseases; however, the role of this signaling on steatotic preneoplastic liver lesions is not fully elucidated. We determined the effects of the MR antagonist potassium canrenoate (PC) on MR/NOX signaling in hepatic steatosis and preneoplastic glutathione S-transferase placental form (GST-P)-positive liver foci. Rats were subjected to a two-stage hepatocarcinogenesis model and fed with basal diet or high fat diet (HFD) that was co-administered with PC alone or in combination with the antioxidant alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ).

Recent Progress on Cyclic Nitrenoid Precursors in Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Nitrene-Transfer Reactions.

Nitrene-transfer reactions are powerful synthetic tools for the direct incorporation of nitrogen atoms into organic molecules. The discovery of novel nitrene-transfer reactions has been dominantly supported not only by improvements in transition-metal catalysts but also by the employment of novel precursors of nitrenoids. Since pioneering work involving the use of organic azides and iminoiodinanes as practical synthetic tools for nitrogen-containing compounds was reported, a new approach using various N-heterocycles containing strain energy or a weak bond has emerged.

New Insights in Cardiac β-Adrenergic Signaling During Heart Failure and Aging.

Heart failure (HF) has become increasingly common within the elderly population, decreasing their survival and overall quality of life. In fact, despite the improvements in treatment, many elderly people suffer from cardiac dysfunction (HF, valvular diseases, arrhythmias or hypertension-induced cardiac hypertrophy) that are much more common in an older fragile heart. Since β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) signaling is abnormal in failing as well as aged hearts, this pathway is an effective diagnostic and therapeutic target.

A case of rapid recurrence of apocrine ductal carcinoma originating from the oral scent gland of a Richardson's ground squirrel ().

A 3-year-old female Richardson's ground squirrel developed a subcutaneous mass at the left oral angle. Seven days after removal of the mass, the mass recurred and metastasized to the cervical lymph node. Histologically, the primary mass was subdivided by fibrous trabeculae into various-sized neoplastic cell lobules showing a solid growth pattern with frequent mitoses and sometimes forming intracytoplasmic lumina.

Oxidized linoleic acid metabolites induce liver mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, and NLRP3 activation in mice.

Circulating oxidized linoleic acid (LA) metabolites (OXLAMs) are increased in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and their levels correlate with disease severity. However, the mechanisms by which OXLAMs contribute to NASH development are incompletely understood. We tested the hypothesis that LA or OXLAMs provided directly through the diet are involved in the development of hepatic injury.

Integrin and PD-1 Ligand Expression on Circulating Extracellular Vesicles in Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and Sepsis.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the plasma mediate important intercellular communications in the pathogenesis of cancer and inflammatory diseases. EVs express integrins that regulate target specificities and programmed cell death ligand 1 and 2 (PD-L1 and 2) that suppress lymphocyte activation. However, the roles of these molecules on EVs in systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis remain little understood.

Ratio between estimated glomerular filtration rates of creatinine and cystatin C predicts overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with sarcopenia have a poor survival, but there are no predictive markers for survival relating to muscle mass and liver function. Therefore, we investigated whether the ratio between estimated glomerular filtration rates of serum creatinine (Scre) and serum cystatin C (Scys) (eGFRcre/eGFRcys) can be used as a predictive marker of survival in HCC patients.

Methods: First, the correlation between Scre/Scys ratio and muscle mass was examined in 50 patients with chronic liver disease.

Alterations in urinary metabolomic profiles due to lead exposure from a lead-acid battery recycling site.

Lead poisoning is considered a public health threat, particularly in developing countries. Health problems from Pb exposure occur in many parts of the world, especially near Pb mines, Pb smelters, and used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling plants. In this study, we analyzed the urine metabolome of residents in a village located near a ULAB recycling facility to investigate the biological effects of Pb exposure (ULAB: n = 44, Reference: n = 51).

Exploration of predictive metabolic factors for gestational diabetes mellitus in Japanese women using metabolomic analysis.

Aims/introduction: We aimed to explore novel predictive markers for gestational diabetes mellitus using metabolomic analysis in pregnant Japanese women.

Materials And Methods: We carried out a case-control study with a cohort of participants enrolled during the first or early second trimester in the Center of Chiba Unit of the Japan Environment and Children's Study. Participants were classified as either gestational diabetes mellitus cases or matched controls based on age, body mass index and parity.

A new approach to solving the feature-binding problem in primate vision.

We discuss a recently proposed approach to solve the classic feature-binding problem in primate vision that uses neural dynamics known to be present within the visual cortex. Broadly, the feature-binding problem in the visual context concerns not only how a hierarchy of features such as edges and objects within a scene are represented, but also the hierarchical relationships between these features at every spatial scale across the visual field. This is necessary for the visual brain to be able to make sense of its visuospatial world.

Circulating extracellular vesicles are associated with lipid and insulin metabolism.

We have reported that hypertrophic adipocytes release extracellular vesicles (EVs) and the number of circulating adipocyte-derived EVs correlated with insulin and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in a pilot study using obese patients. Here, we explored the association between circulating EV level and various metabolic parameters, including obesity and lipid and glucose metabolisms, among 203 subjects (76 men and 127 women; median age, 54 yr) with or without risk factor for metabolic diseases, who received a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Circulating EV number was significantly higher in men than in women ( P < 0.

The emergence of polychronization and feature binding in a spiking neural network model of the primate ventral visual system.

We present a hierarchical neural network model, in which subpopulations of neurons develop fixed and regularly repeating temporal chains of spikes (polychronization), which respond specifically to randomized Poisson spike trains representing the input training images. The performance is improved by including top-down and lateral synaptic connections, as well as introducing multiple synaptic contacts between each pair of pre- and postsynaptic neurons, with different synaptic contacts having different axonal delays. Spike-timing-dependent plasticity thus allows the model to select the most effective axonal transmission delay between neurons.

Spironolactone in Combination with α-glycosyl Isoquercitrin Prevents Steatosis-related Early Hepatocarcinogenesis in Rats through the Observed NADPH Oxidase Modulation.

Administration of the diuretic, spironolactone (SR), can inhibit chronic liver diseases. We determined the effects of SR alone or in combination with the antioxidant α-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) on hyperlipidemia- and steatosis-related precancerous lesions in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed rats subjected to a two-stage hepatocarcinogenesis model. Rats were fed with control basal diet or HFD, which was administered with SR alone or in combination with an antioxidant AGIQ in drinking water.