Quadriceps muscle activity during walking with a knee ankle foot orthosis is associated with improved gait ability in acute hemiplegic stroke patients with severe gait disturbance.

Introduction: A knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) prevents knee buckling during walking and enables gait training for acute hemiplegic stroke patients with severe gait disturbances. Although the goal of gait training with a KAFO is to improve gait ability, that is, to acquire walking with an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), it is not clear how gait training with a KAFO contributes to improving gait ability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between muscle activities during walking with a KAFO and the improvement of gait ability in hemiplegic stroke patients with severe gait disturbance.

Rational design of prodrug-type apoB-targeted siRNA for nuclease resistance improvement without compromising gene silencing potency.

Synthetic siRNA molecules without chemical modifications are easily degraded in the body, and 2'-O-modifications are frequently introduced to enhance stability. However, such chemical modifications tend to impact the gene knockdown potency of siRNA negatively. To circumvent this problem, we previously developed a prodrug-type siRNA bearing 2'-O-methyldithiomethyl (MDTM) groups, which can be converted into unmodified siRNA under the reductive environment in cells.

Pneumococcal colonization and coinfecting respiratory viruses in children under 5 years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a prospective case-control study.

A comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization in conjunction with respiratory virus infections is essential for enhancing our knowledge of the pathogenesis and advancing the development of effective preventive strategies. Therefore, a case-control study was carried out in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to investigate the colonization rate of S. pneumoniae and its coinfection dynamics with respiratory viruses among children under the age of 5 years.