Effects of dance video game training on cognitive functions of community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Background: Some patients with minor cognitive impairment can revert to normal cognition if intervention is implemented early. Dance video games as multi-task training have shown beneficial effects on cognitive and physical functions in older adults.

Aims: This study aimed to elucidate the effects of dance video game training on cognitive functions and prefrontal cortex activity in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment.

Morphological plasticity in response to salinity change in the euryhaline diatom Pleurosira laevis (Bacillariophyta).

Pleurosira laevis is a salt-tolerant diatom distributed around the world. The valve of P. laevis has distinct structures called ocelli, which are sharply defined areas with fine, densely packed pores.

Relationship between nutritional status and phase angle as a noninvasive method to predict malnutrition by sex in older inpatients.

Phase angle has been suggested as a useful, noninvasive, and objective index to evaluate the nutritional status of older people. However, there are no studies analyzing the relationship between nutritional status and phase angle in older patients, according to sex. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between phase angle and malnutrition, and to calculate cut-off points of malnutrition with phase angle in older inpatients, according to sex.

Effect of ankle stretching combined with arm cycling on the improvement of calf muscle stiffness in patients with stroke: a pilot study.

[Purpose] This study aimed to ascertain whether ankle stretching combined with arm cycling compared with that without arm cycling results in greater improvement in maximum dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), calf muscle stiffness, and gait velocity in the affected limb of patients with stroke. [Participants and Methods] Random ABAB reversal design was used in this study involving nine patients with stroke. Participants performed 10 min of ankle plantar flexor stretching through weight bearing using the tilt table under the following 2 conditions: with or without arm cycling at 60 revolutions per minute.

Ontogenetic analysis of siliceous cell wall formation in Triparma laevis f. inornata (Parmales, Stramenopiles).

Triparma laevis f. inornata is a unicellular alga belonging to the Bolidophyceae, which is most closely related to diatoms. Like diatoms, T.

Visual experience regulates the development of long-term synaptic modifications induced by low-frequency stimulation in mouse visual cortex.

Manipulation of visual experience can considerably modify visual responses of visual cortical neurons even in adulthood in the mouse, although the modification is less profound than that observed during the critical period. Our previous studies demonstrated that low-frequency (2Hz) stimulation for 15min applied to layer 4 induces T-type Ca channel-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) at excitatory synapses in layer 2/3 neurons of visual cortex during the critical period. In this study, we investigated whether low-frequency stimulation could induce synaptic plasticity in adult mice.

Assessment of the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety of Single Doses of TV-1106, a Long-Acting Growth Hormone, in Healthy Japanese and Caucasian Subjects.

TV-1106 is a human serum albumin genetically fused to recombinant human growth hormone, designed to provide a long-acting alternative to daily growth hormone (GH) injections in patients with GH deficiency. This study investigated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of single subcutaneous doses of TV-1106 (7.5, 15, 50, and 100 mg) in Japanese (n = 44) and caucasian (n = 44) healthy subjects.

Effect of balance exercise in combination with whole-body vibration on muscle activity of the stepping limb during a forward fall in older women: a randomized controlled pilot study.

This study investigated the effects of balance exercise combined with whole-body vibration (WBV) on step performance and lower limb muscle activity during simulated forward falls using the tether-release method in older women. Twenty older women were assigned to either a WBV plus balance exercise group (WBV, n=10) or a balance exercise without vibration group (standard balance exercise group [STE], n=10). WBV performed weight-bearing exercises on a WBV platform combined with other balance exercises as a home program, whereas STE performed the same exercises without WBV.

Superconductivity in transparent zinc-doped InO films having low carrier density.

Thin polycrystalline zinc-doped indium oxide (InO-ZnO) films were prepared by post-annealing amorphous films with various weight concentrations of ZnO in the range 0⩽ ⩽0.06. We have studied the dependences of the resistivity ρ and Hall coefficient on temperature and magnetic field in the range 0.

Involvement of T-type Ca2+ channels in the potentiation of synaptic and visual responses during the critical period in rat visual cortex.

Neocortical neuronal circuits are refined by experience during the critical period of early postnatal life. The shift of ocular dominance in the visual cortex following monocular deprivation has been intensively studied to unravel the mechanisms underlying the experience-dependent modification. Synaptic plasticity is considered to be involved in this process.

State-dependent bidirectional modification of somatic inhibition in neocortical pyramidal cells.

Cortical pyramidal neurons alter their responses to input signals depending on behavioral state. We investigated whether changes in somatic inhibition contribute to these alterations. In layer 5 pyramidal neurons of rat visual cortex, repetitive firing from a depolarized membrane potential, which typically occurs during arousal, produced long-lasting depression of somatic inhibition.

Presynaptic activity and Ca2+ entry are required for the maintenance of NMDA receptor-independent LTP at visual cortical excitatory synapses.

We have shown that some neural activity is required for the maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) at visual cortical inhibitory synapses. We tested whether this was also the case in N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-independent LTP of excitatory connections in layer 2/3 cells of developing rat visual cortex. This LTP occurred after 2-Hz stimulation was applied for 15 min and always persisted for several hours while test stimulation was continued at 0.